Page 61 of Omega Chattel
Kee was beautiful, young and strong, with a pride about him that few Omegas possessed. It was easy to see at one glance how Tarin had been pulled into his orbit, attracted and aroused, yearning for knotting and a bond.
Curling myself into a ball, I grabbed a pillow and pulled it over my head. But the stormy pain of that sting and my own growing conviction that I could not offer anything close to what Kee could offer to Tarin tore through me. I wasn’t as gorgeous, I wasn’t smart, and I wasn’t experienced in sexual matters. Certainly, I was not exciting like Kee, who had exuded a charisma that seemed to bounce off the walls of the living room.
I squeezed my eyes tighter as I felt more tears gather. I didn’t want to feel this. As I had done when I’d been in Gray’s control at the Farm, I started to imagine a brick wall, building it up one piece at a time. Careful, controlled, methodical.
But as usual, it failed to comfort, or make me feel safe.
Chapter Sixteen
Tarin
It could not be true. Kee could not be here. Not now.
And yet the room was filled with him. His scent, his aura, his allure. His shining, raven hair striped with gold, a new hairstyle for him, and utterly becoming.
A windy night. A concoction of wild roaming and never ending thrills. That was what Kee offered.
“Good to see you, Tarin,” came the low, enticing voice.
Kee could monopolize a room just by walking into it. The power of him made me crave him. I’d never met an Omega like him.
“Kee. Gods. Where have you been?”
I heard rapid footfalls on the staircase.
Alli had left.
Immediately, I wanted to go to him, but the man in front of me needed to be dealt with. I did not want his brand of excitement anymore. I didn’t care about the beautiful sexual positions he’d offered up to me in the past, driving me crazy. It had been six months, but after the last twenty-four hours it felt like years since we’d been together. Decades.
I wanted only Alli now. With all my being.
Kee had denied a bond. I looked at him and felt no desire. I had what I wanted and needed now. An Omega who wanted me. An Omega who craved the bond as much as I, who worshipped me.
I owed Kee an explanation. If he had come back to stay, I had to let him down, tell him he wasn’t welcome any longer. I didn’t want to hurt him. I never wanted to hurt any Omega. But the circumstances between us had drastically changed.
Before I could utter one word, Kee said, “I came to tell you I won’t be back.”
“What?” His words threw me. Kee wanted something. He always wanted something.
“I’m here for a quick visit, that is all,” he said.
“Uh.”
“Tarin, will you sit for a minute? Please?”
He never asked for actions from me using polite mannerisms. A bit stunned, I backed up until I felt the edge of the couch and sat. Hard.
He leaned forward. His dark hair gleamed. He’d cut it since last I saw him, and it was professionally styled with the new gold strands throughout. When he walked the streets he liked it wild and rumpled, like his personality. This was different. This was not the Kee I knew.
Something feathered against the back of my mind, insistent, but I was so curious about Kee I ignored it.
He folded his hands between his knees and leaned forward. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you. If you left messages, I didn’t get them.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry for that.”
“You were never sorry about worrying me in the past.”
He glanced down at his hands, his breath coming out fast. “I’m sorry about that, too.”
Something had happened to this man, this Omega.
