He was delivering a lesson here, his voice cool and calm, but his expression? He stared at me, his brows shifting, like he couldn’t look away.
Don’t get swept away by the bullshit, I told myself. There’s no sex marathon in a stately home on your horizon.
He held out his arm and then said, “Move in closer, mould your body in against mine. Feel the weight of it, my arm, my ribcage. It creates a safe space for you, one where you can let go and let me…”
“Let you what?” I asked, but it came out all hushed and breathy, which I was sure he barely heard over the noise.
“Give me control. You resist, but it’s part of who you are. Let me take you to the office to meet my mates looking like the most malleable of omegas, and others will watch.” I buried my face in his chest, something that felt insanely intimate to do with someone I’d only just met, but when his hand went to the back of my neck, stroking the skin under my mane of hair, I didn’t care. “When you surrender is when you are the most beautiful. Those who watch us will see you doing it in a range of scenarios. You’ll just need to choose which one. Ready, omega?”
It was a question that wasn’t really one as he wrapped his arm around me and led us down the stairs. The sights and the spectacles all just blew by without really being seen, despite the crazy sounds and shouts I heard. He was right—I was in that omega headspace, could only feel the shift of him against me, the beat of his heart, the way our bodies moved together in perfect synchronisation. There was no me or him, only us.
In just a simple little move, with only a few words, Orion had managed to introduce me to a side of myself I’d never experienced, like doors opening to a whole other wing of the house I’d lived in all my life.
But of course, doors that are opened can also be closed.
We walked inside, the soft snick of the door and muffled sounds making my eyes flick open again. It was the stiffening of his body that had me freezing, then moving to pull out of his grip. But he held me where I was, a vibrating tension there now between us where there had been only accord.
“So this is her?”
That voice, I knew it, the harsh purr sliding up my spine, feeling like another hand on my neck. But would it stroke or squeeze? My eyes flicked sideways, taking them in with one quick glance. Marcus was a man now, as evidenced in the heavy set of his shoulders, those big strong hands forming a steeple. The Renaissance angel prettiness had hardened, becoming something much more brutal, which showed in his endless stare.
“Well, she’s fucking hot.” The russet haired boy had grown up too and was now the second tallest of all of them, that spare frame more than filled out, the old T-shirt he wore stretching over a broad chest. “So how far are we gonna take this? Because I, for one, want to see her stretched out over a pommel horse, strapped down and stroked until the slick runs down her thighs. She’ll get plenty of alpha attention that way.”
“We’re not doing that, Bren.”
That was all the sandy haired one said, that big body having swollen to become almost a caricature of an alpha. He was the tallest, the biggest, and he stood behind Marcus’ chair like a knight of old.
“No, we’re not,” Marcus agreed. “Not unless she asks very, very nicely. And signs a waiver.” The heat of his gaze dropped to the desk before him, fingers moving through the paperwork but not actually selecting any of it. “She’s the daughter of Miranda Rhodes. She doesn’t play with anyone or anything inside this club without one.”
“Before we jump straight into the kink negotiations, maybe introductions would be in order?” Orion said. “Omega, the red headed fucker over there is Brendan, Marcus is acting all lord of the manor there, and tall, fair, and mostly silent is Rhys. Boys, meet our temporary omega, Cyn.”
“Well, by her name, she’ll fit right into this dump,” Brendan said with a chuckle, but when he turned back to face me, something vulnerable appeared and disappeared, shoved to one side. “Nice to meet you, love. I won’t take too much of your time, just need you to turn up to a few family dos. They’ll be wetting their pants, me turning up with a high-class omega like you. That work for you?”
He seemed loose, chill, his smile at the ready, but that last sentence held enough alpha steel to have me answering.
“Sure. We’ll swap numbers, and I’ll fit them into my calendar.”
He smiled in response, but it wasn’t a happy thing. Then he turned to Marcus.
“I’ll need more.” He let those words sink in, let me imagine all that that might entail until finally he clarified. “This is my club, so any omega I’m considering making mine would need to make regular appearances here. There’s also some…other engagements I’ll require.”
Which I should have interrogated, drilled down into before I agreed to anything, but of course, I didn’t. I later blamed it on the thick stench of alpha pheromones in the room overwhelming me, but for the first time, I started to understand the girl in the forest. Being near the four of them was like a punch to the gut, every single little gesture and word slamming into me, reminding me of what I was.
Omegas submitted, omegas surrendered, omegas gave themselves entirely to alphas in w
ays betas couldn’t. I’d been in more rooms than I could count of alphas that expected just that, but never, never wanted to follow through.
Until now.
My knees sagged slightly, Orion gripping me harder to keep me upright.
“Easy, omega. No one’s going to hurt you.”
He misunderstood completely, but I didn’t have the words to correct him, breathing rapidly through my mouth, which just drew more of their scent inside me.
“And this is Rhys,” Marcus continued, turning to stare at the shaggy haired man, his mouth twisting into something mirthless at what Orion had said. “He won’t say much or want much. He’ll be your easiest assignment, but…” He leaned forward, eyes sharpening, stabbing into me. “I expect you to follow through on anything he does ask for, within reason of course. It’s all four of us or none. That’s how it always works. We’ll give you what you need, and you give us what you want. You in, omega?”
It felt like time stood still, that my heartbeat followed the same manic beat of the music outside. I was standing on the precipice, on the edge of the top floor, but it was up to me if I was going to climb over the barrier that stopped me from falling.