Текст книги "Jace"

Автор книги: Hall Sam

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“Don’t care,” I snapped back.

“She’s not out there,” he continued, and I followed his eyes to the elevator doors.

She was in the building, she lived here, this Ella. She’d probably been sleeping on a floor above us as we… My breath came in noisy gulps, like I’d run halfway around the quarter and back again.

“Fuck it, I’ll take you to her.”

“Dane, we shouldn’t…”

The other alpha, Ryder, looked Dane over as he got to his feet and walked over to me.

“We shouldn’t what?” I asked.

“We shouldn’t interfere,” he replied in a flat voice. “Jace just needs a bit of time.”

“Yeah, that was before he claimed her,” Dane said, then turned back to me. “C’mon, I’ll take you to him.”

And so we got back into the elevator, Dane producing a key and putting it into the required slot before he could select a floor I’d never been to before.

“He keeps her locked down pretty tight,” he said by way of explanation, though it told me little. “Has to make sure she’s safe.”

And me? Where was his concern for my welfare, my safety? I hated being that bitch, but damn me if I wasn’t. Inside, the sense of discord was now flat and empty, and I almost thought that was worse. A small growl formed in my chest, Dane’s eyes shooting my way before he snorted, but before he could say more, the elevator door opened on what appeared to be the top floor, if the view from the windows was anything to go by, but that wasn’t what captured my focus. Through an expansive living area, on the other side of the building, was a balcony and two people sat there, sharing breakfast. The snarl inside me grew, too high-pitched to be threatening, but still, I couldn’t help it.

“Easy, omega,” Dane said. “This isn’t—”

I didn’t wait around to hear his heavily edited version of the events. I strode across the living area, skirting the lounge suite, my eyes caught by a massive bean bag piled up high with a cluster of fabrics carefully woven together—a nest. My head felt light, airy, like it was about to float off my shoulders as I staggered closer.

“Why on earth would you presume that?” the girl said, but right now, I found it difficult to register anything she said. There she was, sitting in the morning sun, seeming to absorb all available light, reflecting it back twice as radiant. Her long blonde hair, her pixie-like features, all the way down to her tiny little toes, she was the poster girl for omegas, the kind they used in movies to tug at your heartstrings.

“But, Ella, when you—” Jace rumbled.

“No ‘but, Ella.’” That cold knife, it drew back and then stabbed deeper as her hand reached out, instantly taken by his much bigger one, enfolding her fingers, then giving it a squeeze. “Jace, my past, my history, my experiences are exactly that—mine. You can’t use them as an excuse to avoid doing what you need to. The girl, Sloane, you know what you need to do.”

I put my hand on the screen door, sliding it open conspicuously enough to shift both their attention to me. I stared them down, the omega and the alpha.

“What do you need to do?” I asked, my voice pure ice. “Just what exactly do you need to do?”

This, this was the moment everything had been building towards. Jace was as hot as a thousand suns and then gone again, over and over. He’d jerked me back and forth, like my instincts had, and I was done with both. I was an omega, I accepted that now, knew right down to my toes that this was who I was, the previous Sloane a skin shed off like a snake does as it grows, but with that came a knowledge. An omega needed an alpha. Could I survive without one? Absolutely. I could march downstairs, quiz the other omegas, find out how they eked out a living here, and follow their lead, eschewing contact with alphas except when my heat reared its ugly head, but as I considered that life, my fingers went to the mark on my neck. A flare of heat and need came with that, but not for any alpha. For him.

I shortened my words this time.

“What do you need, Jace?”

“You.”

The pretty girl who had the same eyes as Jace—his sister, I realised—smiled at that, seemed to feel a hope I didn’t, but I planted my feet, waiting for the rest. There was relief in knowing it was his sister, that he’d been protecting her, but then came a twist of pain from wondering what would have happened if he’d only remained in the bed, held me, and talked to me about this. The omega in me wanted to rush towards him, get swept up in his arms, and be held tight to ease the ache inside me, but I knew now I would never allow anyone into my bed who thought it fine to sneak out on me, right after something as momentous as our mutual claiming. My fingers traced the scarred edges of my mark. I had a mate, the other half of my heart, or did I?

Jace rose, taking steps toward me, yet not close enough to crowd, while his sister slipped through the door beside me, giving us privacy, although I barely spared her a glance.

“I…I’ve never had an omega before you. Never wanted to.” He snorted, then shook his head. “Nah, that’s bullshit, I wanted ’em plenty, but I could hold back everything I felt. Mark, claim, breed.” His lips twisted as he said the words, even as they made me shiver. “That was just alpha bullshit.” But his eyes flicked up, spearing into me. “Until you. I thought you were safe.” He took another step towards me. “I thought you were just this hot little beta in her mother’s dress.” Another step, my breath starting to come in faster as he approached. “I thought you were some uptight chick looking for some alpha dick.”

“Maybe I was,” I rasped out. “And…?”

“And then I touched you, and I didn’t fucking care about anything that came before.” As if to reinforce his point, he placed a careful hand on my arm, his grip tightening when I didn’t pull away. “I’ve touched omegas before, picked them up when they were hurting, grabbed their hands to pull them out of the way of dickheads who’d hurt them, but none of them felt like you.”

The other hand, the back of his knuckles grazed down the side of my arm, just barely.

“All the usual alpha shit happened—my cock nearly punching through my zipper to get to you, my fangs aching to sink deep into your skin. But, Sloane…”

He tipped my chin upwards so I was forced to meet his eyes, and I was surprised to feel that didn’t make my eyes ache now. I could stare at Jace all day without a problem, and wasn’t that scary?

“That’s enough to send an alpha into rut, not enough to make him mate you.” His finger traced the line of my jaw. “It was you, beautiful girl, with that big fucking heart that was looking out for your sister, no matter what was happening to you, those sad eyes that seemed to hold a world of pain I couldn’t help but want to wipe away, and that steel spine” —his hand slid down my back– “that had you kicking that prick Snake in the side. This should’ve been simple. I knew you were mine from that first moment, but I fought it.” His brows creased at that. “I fought it for you. Everything I knew about the mating process was brutal, harsh, and painful for the omega in question. I couldn’t feel what I feel for you and want that for you, but at the same time, everything I did to hold that back fell to shit. An alpha protects, that’s what we do, and I thought I had to protect you from me.”

I shook my head, feeling his words washing over me, just focussing on my breathing for a second, before facing him again.

“I don’t deserve that.”

“No, love, I know that now.”

“I deserve a mate that’s all in.”

“You’ll have it. I’ve got no fucking boundaries left. I’m done with that shit.”

I stared at him now, hoping to use every ounce of my will to push my message home.

“I won’t accept anyone, any mating mark, any bond…” I hadn’t realised that was a possibility until the words spilled out, but as I saw his eyes widen along with mine, somehow, I knew that to be true. What we had was…fragile, could break if not tended. “With anyone who’s not one hundred percent in with me. You feel the need to mark, claim, breed me, because that’s what alphas do. They don’t only protect, they provide us with exactly what we need, what I need, Jace. Can you do that for me?”

“Fuck, baby, I feel like every fibre of my bloody being is geared up to do just that. To give in.” Pain scored his voice. “To surrender.”

“To surrender,” I agreed, and at that, I was swept up into his arms and marched through his sister’s living space, over to the elevator, Dane standing by it with a smirk on his face.

“Good choice, brother.” He nodded to Jace, then jerked himself away at my mate’s territorial growl. “I think I’ll catch the next one down,” he said as the elevator arrived, which was just fine because when it did, when we stepped inside, there was an enclosed space and him and me.

“Baby…”

That was all the warning I got before I was pressed against the smooth walls, the number of our floor punched in, his lips trailing down my neck as we went down.

“You’re gonna regret this,” he hissed, one last comment before devouring my mouth. “Surrender to the beast inside me? He’s hungry, baby, starving for you.”

15

Jace

I had some making up to do, I got that. I’d fucked up. I should’ve stayed with Sloane, should’ve been there when she woke up, but instead, I’d run off to fight the demons that didn’t really exist, upon reflection. And now? Now I felt strangely free, like a weight had been lifted that I’d never even realized had been holding me down.

There was a sweet omega in my arms, clinging and kissing me, showing me with her body and telling me with her words that she wanted to be mine, and I was so all in. Distantly, I heard the elevator ding as we arrived at my floor, then we somehow got out the door with her still in my arms, straight through to the bedroom, where I dropped her with a little whoosh on the bed. Her hair flew, and she huffed a little breath as she brushed it out the way

It was then that I noticed somebody had been in and cleaned the place. Doubtless, Ma had been involved in this. The bed was devoid of all bedding, but beside it was a great big pile of blankets, pillows, soft cushions, and throws—nesting materials. I wasn’t the only one staring at it. Sloane’s eyes slanted to the side and then popped open a little bit.

“Jesus!” she said.

“Do you want to…?” I swallowed, weirdly nervous about her potentially making a nest. “Do you want to use them?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve never made a real nest before.”

“It’s okay, baby. You don’t have to do a damn thing you don’t want to.” I came down beside her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. The rushing emotions that had been gripping me changed in that instant. Was this what being an alpha was about? Wanting to comfort your omega above anything else?

My dick throbbed. There was no doubt about that. The thought of her making a nest, of fucking her in it? Yeah, that interested me a lot, but only if that was what she wanted to do.

“Do you want to try?” I prodded. “See how it feels?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I think that I do.”

She wriggled away from me, getting to her feet and kicking off her shoes.

“Fuck,” I muttered roughly as her top came up and off, over her head. No bra, just creamy skin littered with the marks I’d put there.

She sent me a haughty look, one that dared me to try and touch. I swiped a hand over my face. “You’re gonna do it like that?” I asked. “You really are testing me.”

She grinned, and it turned into a smirk as her hands went to the buttons on her pants, undoing them slowly, taunting me.

I groaned as she turned her back to me and shimmied out, giving me a perfect view of her little heart-shaped arse, throwing a look over her shoulder that was pure temptation. I took in all of her beauty, the marks upon her skin, the flush to her cheeks. She was ready for this, and I was ready for this too.

“No,” she said. “I’m going to do it like this.”

She made a little shooing motion to me. “Get naked,” she said. “I want to try this on for size.”

I nearly fell out of the bed, I moved so fast, fingers flying to my waist and shucking my pants off, cock already leaking. I was damn near embarrassing myself by how much I was into her making her first real nest.

She was tentative at first. I watched her out of the corner of my eyes, yanking my shirt over my head before tossing it to the floor, captivated by my omega. It was like she’d forgotten I was there, her focus was so absolute. The pillows went in first, making an edge of sorts, followed by the softest throws, and yet more pillows, layering, making it deeper.

There I stood, mesmerised, thinking about how I was going to fist her hair as I rutted her…about how I was going to ruin the nest, ruin her in it.

Jesus! How much stuff was she going to put in? The nest seemed to be getting bigger and bigger as she worked. “Baby?” I said cautiously, almost terrified of rousing her from her task, but I was fucking impatient. She was kneeling in the centre of it, palms brushing over the softness with a cute, little smile on her face. “Baby?” She threw a look over her shoulder, eyes glazed. “Can I come in?”

She smiled, and there she was, with me again, my Sloane. “Only if you promise to be very gentle with it,” she said.

“You won’t believe how gentle I’m going to be with it.”

My smirk was the size of a planet. Yeah, I was gonna decimate the whole nest and drive her wild doing it. She issued a cute growl as my knee connected with the nearest cushion.

“What?” I said, torn by indecision. “Sloane, I need to get in somehow.” She’d made a fucking fort around herself. I waded in and gathered her up to her squeal of outrage. “I’m here now.”

I rolled, taking her under, fingers tangling in her hair, lips on her throat, seeking and finding the claiming mark. The moment I sucked on it, she turned wild, nails clawing at my arse, wet pussy rubbing against my thigh. I felt everything from her like an echo inside me—her rioting emotions, the rushing pleasure that felt too big for her body to contain.

“This is going to be hard and fast,” I said, lips trailing down her collarbone, finding her lush tit and feasting. Her back arched, fingers in my hair pulling me closer, and that need to connect demanded its dues. My hand shook as it skimmed over her shoulder, down her back, over her arse, my thigh pressing up against her drenched pussy that she was rubbing against me.

“I’ll make it up to you after, baby,” I mumbled against her tit, working my way back up, pushing my other knee between hers, spreading her open for me. “I need to get you good and bred.”

“Yes, please, Jace.”

She didn’t need to ask me twice. My cock found the entrance to her without help, and that was it—I was gone. My hips snapped, dick driving straight into the hot, wet, clenching heaven of her cunt. Rising, I took her hips in hand and hammered into her like my life depended on us being one.

The nest collapsed around us, but I couldn’t give a fuck. I just needed to get my seed in her womb. I needed to claim her, and my beast wasn’t going to be happy until she was completely tied to me.

“I’m going to come,” I said. Watching her face contort in pleasure was driving me straight for the end.

Then she came, pussy fisting my cock, pounding at the burgeoning knot, gripping me up and demanding I give her what she needed.

He growled his approval as she gushed cum, my knot blooming to the point of no return as my teeth gritted, then I pushed past her tight, slippery entrance and locked into place. My lips were at her throat again, teeth sinking into the flesh, tasting blood.

Her cry was guttural, her pussy choking out the first heady shot of cum. I growled against her throat, hips jerking as more and more cum was dumped deep where it needed to go.

Breed.

She wasn’t leaving this nest until she was bred—that was a given.

Her fingers were on my arse, pulling me closer, legs and arms clinging with the same fierce need I felt. Inside my chest, the awareness blossomed into life.

Love.

Rich, deep, complex, the vortex swirled around us. Her pleasure hit me like a fucking avalanche, and my balls reached for more and found nothing, yet I still felt the dizzying sensations, the shuddering bliss.

“Jace!”

“I’ve got you, baby.”

Jesus, what the fuck had been wrong with me to leave her like that? It terrified me how I might have lost her. It pained me that I’d hurt her and caused her to doubt.

“It’s okay,” she said. “It’s okay now. I can feel you—all of you.”

And she could. There was nothing I could hide from her, not any more. I was exposed. It should have frightened me, but it was comforting.

It was right.

My cock jerked. Damn, I wanted her again. I needed her again. I rocked my hips, testing the knot, stirring a growl from my mate when I tried to pull out.

Her arms and legs wrapped around me, tightened.

I grinned.

She shook her head in warning, trying to be stern and failing.

“What?” I said, all fake innocence.

“Don’t you dare.”

“Dare what, baby?” My cock jerked again. He was on board with round two.

A sudden thudding on the bedroom door brought a genuine growl to my lips.

“Jace! Sloane’s sister is here! She’s starting some fucking bullshit, demanding to see her sister.”

I glanced down at Sloane.

“Is she okay?” she asked.

“Handle her!” I hollered back. “She is now, baby. Ryder will take good care of her. Now, I’m going to take good care of your pussy.”

Chapter 16

Ryder

‘Handle her,’ he said. How the fuck was I supposed to handle a bratty beta who was now officially under Jace’s protection? He hadn’t said that part, but it was kind of an unwritten rule. Just like neither Dane nor me put our hands on Ella, touching Em felt much the same.

But as I exited the elevator…and was assaulted by a sharp bony finger in the centre of my chest, all that went out the window.

“Where’s Sloane?” Emma demanded. “You said you were fetching her.”

“I said I was going to check on her,” I replied, feeling that calm settle over me, the kind that usually foreshadowed someone getting fucked up…or a brat getting the spanking of their life. “And she was pretty busy.”

I didn’t point out that Jace had sounded like he would rearrange my face if I didn’t fuck off.

“It was implied,” she practically growled, giving another sharp poke.

“For fuck’s sake, Em, stop poking me in the damn chest!”

“Don’t ‘Em’ me, tough guy. I’m not afraid of you.”

On the other side of the room, the full crew was in attendance—omegas poised with food halfway to their lips, the guys looking on with amusement. Dane chuckled, the fucker.

Why exactly had I let Emma in the gates again?

Yeah, that was right—she’d been shaking the mesh like a madwoman, looking straight up at the surveillance camera, demanding to speak to the manager.

The fucking manager?! Like this was some kind of holiday resort.

She was batshit crazy. It was either bring her in, or have another damn riot on our hands when the rest of the deadbeats in this zone roused themselves to come and check what the fuck was going on.

“Are you even listening to me?” I asked. “You get your sister is newly mated, right? And from the sounds of things, they were busy alleviating their newly mated needs.”

The frown faded, her eyes went round, and she opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before spluttering, “Newly mated needs!” Her scowl was back in an instant, little chin tipping in defiance that might as well have been a red flag to the alpha side of me. “I demand to see my sister, this instant, before your ‘brother’” —she put air quotes on the word with an exaggerated roll of her eyes– “gets notions of breeding her.”

I rubbed my jaw as though pondering this. I was confident Jace was already balls deep and well into the process of breeding her formerly sensible sister, so I offered Emma a fake smile. “How about no.”

Then she poked me one time too fucking many.

“Oh!”

Her screech accompanied me tossing her over my shoulder. Small fists beat against my back, while she cursed me out like a pro.

And just like that, all the tension left me, because handling brats was a personal forte of mine. All alphas had a beast and all had a weakness. My beast’s weakness was taming querulous women, and this one needed a firm but loving lesson in boundaries and respect applied to her arse via my hand.

“Quiet down, princess.” I landed the first swat against her backside, chuckling when it roused an outraged squeal. I nodded my head to Dane, who was watching with a shit-eating grin. “If Jace and Sloane surface, tell them I’m going to be” —I gestured toward the wriggling spitfire hanging over my shoulder– “handling this little problem.”

I didn’t wait for a reply, just punched the button on the elevator, and with Emma still wailing about her rights, exited the room.