Page 66 of Knot Heirs: Serenity's Reign

Darius growled low in his throat, but Ronan continued undeterred.

"You two put on quite a show. I'd be lying if I said it didn't get me hard just thinking about it." He gestured with his glass toward Serenity. "The way you moan when he?—"

"That's enough," Serenity cut him off, though a traitorous heat bloomed across her cheeks. Damn her Omega biology. "You're not distributing it?"

"Who do you think I am?" Ronan's playfulness vanished, replaced by something darker, more genuine. "I might be a lot of things, but I'm not some cheap blackmailer. It's for my private collection." His intense green eyes locked with hers. "Just something to keep me company on cold nights."

Serenity found herself caught between outrage and a bizarre, twisted form of flattery. This was the man who'd protected her when the Vale empire first came crashing down on her head and chased in the streets when he could have taken her out like the hunt instructed him too. The same man who took a knife for her after that unexpected ambush.

"You're unbelievable," she said, but there was less venom in her voice than she'd intended.

"That's what they all say." Ronan winked, draining his glass. "Usually screaming it."

Serenity's gaze dropped to her glass. The amber liquid caught the light, reflecting fragments of her thoughts back at her. She owed Ronan—a debt that ran deeper than money could settle. When the world had tilted beneath her feet, revealing the treacherous legacy of the Vale empire, he'd been there. Not gentle, not kind, but present when she needed to survive. Solid.

"I never thanked you properly," she said finally, her voice low enough that Darius had to lean forward to catch it. "For the incident where you took the knife. That and me technically abandoned you in the neutral area to meet Lucian. ."

Ronan's eyebrow arched, his surprise genuine.

"You don't owe me thanks, little Omega. Self-preservation is an Alpha instinct." The words were dismissive, but something in his eyes belied them.

"Bullshit." Serenity set her glass down with a decisive clink. "You could have handed me over to a dozen different factions of Alphas that are probably still hunting me now and made a fortune. Instead, you put yourself between me and them, and you’ve been committed to this so called alliance between you, Darius, and Lucian, all for the sake of protecting me. It does deserve some sort of reward."

A muscle twitched in Ronan's jaw.

"Maybe I just wanted to piss off your daddy's old rivals."

"Maybe." She didn't believe it for a second. Trust wasn't something Serenity gave easily—her entire life had been built on shifting sands of half-truths—but something about Ronan's brutal honesty had always cut through her defenses. "Still, I repay my debts."

Darius tensed beside her, his fingers tightening imperceptibly around his glass.

Ronan leaned forward, the predatory gleam returning to his eyes. "Is that so?" His voice dropped an octave, sending an involuntary shiver down her spine.

"And how exactly were you planning to repay me, Serenity?"

The way he said her name—like he was tasting it—made her pulse quicken. She opened her mouth, but no words came.

"Because I can think of several ways," he continued, his gaze traveling lazily down her body, lingering on the curve of her neck where her scent was strongest. "All of them involve you making those pretty little sounds I heard through the walls. But this time"—he glanced at Darius—"with me."

Heat bloomed across Serenity's skin, not entirely from embarrassment. The air in the room seemed to thicken, charged with pheromones and unspoken possibilities. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a voice whispered caution, but it was growing fainter by the second.

"You've got a high opinion of yourself," she managed, but her voice betrayed her with a slight tremor.

Ronan's laugh was dark honey. "Not opinion. Experience." He reached across, his calloused fingers brushing a strand of hair from her face with surprising gentleness. "I bet you taste like fire, little Omega. Sweet and dangerous."

Darius growled again, but it wasn't entirely in warning. There was something else there—interest, perhaps. Curiosity.

Serenity felt caught between two gravitational pulls, her body responding to both men in ways her mind was still processing. Trust, she reminded herself. This wasn't about trust. This was about choice—her choice.

"And if I said yes?" The words escaped before she could reconsider. "What then?"

Ronan's eyes darkened, a predatory gleam igniting in those intense green depths.

He leaned back on the couch, spreading his arms across the backrest in open invitation.

"Then I'd say the choice is entirely yours, Vale." His lips curved into that dangerous half-smile. "Show me what you want."

Serenity felt something shift inside her—a decision crystallizing. For so long, she'd been reacting, surviving, adapting. Always on the defensive. The Golden Omega, the lost Vale heir, the prize to be claimed. But not tonight.

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