Page 36 of Bonds of Pain
Cillian’s presence lingers in the back of my mind like an itch I can’t scratch. Alphas thrive on power—fighting, fucking, dominating. It’s instinctual. Primal. Relationships between Alphas aren’t confusing. We do what we want, when and how wewant to do it whenever we’re able. Two Alphas might fuck as an act of domination or to reinforce pack cohesion. Or just because it feels good.
Betas have the luxury of carving out whatever place in society that their individual skills allow. No expectations being put on them or their relationships can be as much of a gift as a hindrance.
Omegas belong with Alphas. They’re meant to be protected. They have to be because they are small, weak and the scent of their heat is enough to drive the average Alpha into a frenzy.
They’re also supposed to be female.
Cillian shouldn’t exist. What he accomplished—hiding his designation and impressing the trainers well enough to join the elite palace guard—shouldn’t have been possible.
Yet here he is. And somehow also mine.
I feel that familiar tug of ownership when he stands by my side, devoted in every way he possibly can be. It stirs something dark within me, even if I don’t understand it. Every instinct screams to assert control over him, to mark him as mine without hesitation or gentleness.
But I know he wants more from me than that.
He also probably deserves more, even if I’d never admit that out loud to him.
I care enough to do anything to keep him safe, to play the brutal prince for my father’s favor so that I have enough power to make my will reality. The day I’m named king, the true nature of our bond will no longer need to be this dark and terrible secret. No one will be able to gainsay me, and they’ll have to get through the man with an army behind him to reach Cillian.
That will have to be enough for him.
Even if it’s not, we’re bonded. We have an eternity to figure this shit out.
Maya exhales softly in her sleep, burrowing deeper into the pillow. She kicked the sheets off as she tossed and turned, but hugs one of the largest pillows to her body as if she is using it as a form of protection.
She’s naked. Another order I’d given through Cillian as my intermediary. As much as it infuriates me how easily she can disregard my commands, I have no problem using Cillian as my mouthpiece if that’s what it takes.
The sight of her is irresistible enough that I don’t question the urge to move closer to the bed.
Maya stirs, but doesn’t wake when I slide my hand up the curve of her bared thigh, climbing to her hip and the curve of her waist, then to the sensitive underside of a full, heavy breast.
She shivers hard enough to set the mattress squeaking. I pull back just far enough to strip off my own clothes, ripping buttons off my shirt in haste to use what little time I have before she wakes up.
In sleep, Maya is all soft sighs and pliable flesh. It’s so much easier to ignore the tension between us when I don’t have to see the fire and hatred in her eyes.
I know she isn’t here because she wants to be. I’m not a fucking idiot. But as much as I might enjoy her willing, the Alpha part of me—the part of me that craves domination and control—relishes the challenge of charging through her resistance, compelling her obedience even if it’s unwilling.
I want her to struggle for control as I wrest it away.
I’ve seen the way she manipulates, the influence she exerts over my pack. From day one, she had Ares doting on her like a manservant, obsessing over her meals and her pleasure. With just a little display of violence, she now has Poe wrapped around her finger and ready to give her anything she wants from him. Cillian couldn’t resist the compulsion to have her during their heat, and he isn’t even a damn Alpha. Even my father, whohas seen a veritable parade of Omegas over the years, seems particularly charmed by her.
She wants to be desired. She wants to be an object of obsession. The clever girl I met at the Enclave what feels like a lifetime ago was practically a shining jewel among river stones. She had my attention from the very beginning, and she fucking knew it.
Manipulative little thing that she is.
So, I might as well give her what she so clearly wants.
My dick has been hard for most of the day because of just how much I’ve been anticipating this moment. She had been so limp and pliant the last time I fucked her, until she ruined it by whispering a name that isn’t mine.
I remind myself that it doesn’t matter. I was the one who put that little furrow between her brows which each thrust, who drew a breathy moan from her lips when I gripped her thighs and put the twitch in her fingers when my lips closed over an erect nipple.
I don’t give a fuck whose name is on her tongue as long as I’m the one who gets to do this.
She rolls easily onto her back with gentle pressure on her shoulder. The sheets fall, and I sweep the pillow off the bed, revealing her entire body to my hungry gaze.
My hands move to her knees and urge her thighs apart. As her legs fall open, my gaze is immediately drawn to the violet thatch of dark violet hair between her thighs. No matter how many times I see it, the brilliance of the color always takes me by surprise. That particular shade of purple is a beautiful contrast to the dusky rose of her pretty mouth, her perky nipples and the pouting lips of her cunt.
I climb up onto the bed between her spread thighs, careful not to upset the mattress springs. A glance at Cillian confirmshis deep and steady breathing. No awareness from him filters through the bond.
