Page 35 of Bonds of Pain
“And that’s all you want from her?” he questions softly. “The truth?”
I think of Maya’s scent, and my mouth waters like a starving man at a feast.
That alone should be warning enough to stay away.
“That’s it,” I insist, even though we probably both know that’s a lie.
Poe makes a noise in the back of his throat that sounds suspiciously like a scoff. “If you say so. I’m going to go wait outside Logan’s door on the off chance he lets our Omega come out at some point.”
His cavalier acceptance of the situation annoys the hell out of me, even as I envy him a bit. That’s Poe all over. Once he makes a decision, even one completely counter to whatever perspective he held before, he is all in.
I’m already staring back at the grainy static where a camera feed should be when he closes the door behind him.
It was so easy when this all started, a little flirting and teasing domination to keep her off balance and entertain myself. But somewhere along the line, things changed.
At this point, falling for Maya might be the stupidest fucking thing I could possibly do. Even if I ignore the fact that Logan obviously doesn’t want us anywhere near her right now, the simple truth is I have no idea if I can trust her.
And it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that she still doesn’t trust us.
Poe is already getting attached. I can see it in his eyes, the way his gaze goes all soft around the edges when he looks at her. Pretty soon, he’ll be bringing her body parts from his targets as souvenirs and offering to show her the most painful way to slice someone up without letting them bleed out.
Our pack harmony is already fractured enough without me adding to the problem by losing my head.
Better to keep some emotional distance while drawing her closer. Get her to trust me so she’ll spill whatever secrets she has been keeping. Figure out what the hell is going on with this bond situation.
There can be no picking sides here. This pack has to operate as a unit, or it will cease to exist. Too many of Logan’s brothers would be overjoyed to steal his position the moment they sensed a weakness.
The last thing we can afford to be is weak.
Chapter Eleven
LOGAN
My Omegas are both in my bed.
Whatever emotions I’d been dealing with before—annoyance, resentment, the distinct desire to hurt something—get sucked up into the ether with the speed of a popping soap bubble. At the sight of them, together in my space, everything else that was on my mind might as well cease to exist entirely.
After ordering Maya to put herself away and then sending Cillian behind her right behind her after one of our constant arguments, I’d spent the rest of the evening in an excruciating string of council meetings. My father has subtly ceded a bit of authority since naming me heir, allowing me to join meetings that would typically occur behind very closed doors.
Enough to make me realize just how much unrest lies beneath the facade of a kingdom at peace.
Melilla might be on the brink of war with our neighbors, besieged from within by a growing resistance to the king’s rule,but even that isn’t enough to keep my mind from fixating on this moment.
Maya has become the bookend to my days. I start the morning practically already inside her, relishing the sedated acceptance that morphs into token resistance when she wakes up that I can always overcome with enough effort. There hasn’t been a single occasion when she didn’t end up clenching in pleasure around my knot, orgasm an inevitability. No matter how much she fights me, I know at least some part of her is deeply satisfied. The Omega in her knows that it is precisely where it needs to be.
I might suffer through whatever bullshit is required of me, but I can do it because I know she’s here waiting for me.
My Omega.
No. My Omegas. Plural.
Cillian lies on top of the covers, rolled on his side to face the edge of the bed and still fully clothed. The stubborn set of his mouth hasn’t relaxed even in sleep. Not sleep, more like a light doze. One creak of the floorboards under my feet and he’ll be wide awake, even if he pretends otherwise.
They clearly laid down on opposite ends of the bed, but they’re both nearly at the center of it now. Drawn together in sleep despite whatever they’re conscious minds might be convinced they want while awake.
Don’t think I haven’t caught him watching when I fuck Maya, lust and anger in his eyes despite the blank expression on his face. I’d ask him to join us if I thought he’d say yes. And I’d order him to do it if I thought he wouldn’t hate me for it.
My feelings where Cillian is concerned are…complicated.
