Page 56 of Collateral Omega

He opened his eyes and stared at the devil.

“No. You can do whatever you want as long as it doesn’t involve hurting me,” Holi said. “Can we please stop this now? I’ll sign whatever contract you want.”

Xaine stared at him, his eyes blazing with something Holi didn’t want to acknowledge.

“I’ll never hurt you,” he said softly. But Holi heard him. Xaine’s words did something to him. Holi shoved the feeling away and got to his feet.

“If there’s nothing else. I want to get cleaned up, and maybe eat something. I’m hungry,” he said. Xaine stared at him for a beat before he nodded. Holi literally ran out of the office and down the hallway. He slowed down when he realized he didn’t know where he was going.

Dammit. He turned around in one spot, frustrated. The house was so damn big. Who’d want to live here anyway? Holi turned around to retrace his steps and was glad when he met with Klane.

“There you are,” he said as he came closer. “You ran out of the office so fast.”

“Sorry,” Holi said.

“There’s no need to apologize. I’ll take you to my master’s room, so you can get cleaned up,” Klane said, walking down the hallway and up the stairs. The beta kept glancing at him, adding to Holi’s discomfort.

“What?” Holi asked, having had enough. “I know I’m a bit dirty, but…”

“Oh, it’s not that.” He cleared his throat awkwardly. “It wasn’t my master’s intention to embarrass you back there.”

Holi wanted to laugh. But Klane looked sincere. It wasn’t his fault that his master was rude.

“He’s your master, of course you would say.”

“No. I’m not telling you this to make him look good, but to make you aware of what he’s been through with service omegas. They all came with conditions that my master had to meet. He wanted you to state yours, so that your stay here is comfortable.”

This time Holi did laugh.“He didn’t agree to anything I said. I really don’t know what you’re trying to say right now. But thanks for trying.” Holi patted the beta’s back and walked ahead of him. He stopped at the end of the hallway in front of a door. Xaine’s scent was strong there. “Is this his room?” he asked, still laughing.

Klane nodded.

“Right,” Holi said nervously.

Chapter 17

Holi

Here goes nothing, Holi thought as he pushed the door open. Xaine’s scent washed over him, making him moan a little as his body readily responded to it.

Stop! He silently hissed.

He walked to the washroom and quickly got cleaned up. He dropped the uniform in the waste bot. There was no way he was going to wear it again. But what was he going to wear now? He had nothing. He was at the mercy of the devil himself.

Holi sighed and walked back into the room, heading straight for Xaine’s clothing cubicle. He opened the door, and almost dropped to his knees as his stomach swooped. Xaine’s scent swirled all around him, enticing him to lean in and just inhale. Holi clenched his jaw, fighting the weird need.

I hate him. I hate him. I hate him, he chanted.

Focus, he told himself as he went through Xaine’s clothes. The cubicle was neat, and colour coordinated. The only thing that looked out of place was the overnight bag sitting at the bottom on top of Xaine’s footwear.

Was Xaine going somewhere any time soon? Holi asked himself. Not that it changed anything, but Holi felt a little hopeful. A moment away from the alpha would be nice.

“You’re just postponing the inevitable,” he told himself with a sigh. For a year, he belonged to Xaine Covus. He had better get used to it.

Holi continued to search for something to wear. The alpha was way bigger than him, but there was something of his he could wear. He refused to walk around the house naked.

Holi picked out sleeping pants and a matching shirt. The pants looked too big, so Holi didn’t bother trying them on. He folded and returned them to where he got them. Holi put the shirt on and wasn’t surprised when it came to his knees.

Xaine was big. Aggressive alphas were bigger, stronger and demanding. Staring down at himself in the shirt brought reality crushing down on him.

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