Alphas of Pandora, page 18
Aura choked on the forkful of tart that she had just placed in her mouth, a gasp of surprise momentarily sealing the food in her airway. She strained for air as her eyes watered, coughing with wet gasps as she tried to clear the sudden obstruction. It was still possible to breathe, but only just, and she sounded like someone moments from succumbing to the coughing sickness that often ravaged the Citadel.
She distantly heard the sound of multiple people rising from their chairs and coming towards of her. But even though he was seated on the other side of the table, Castor was the one who got to her first. He wrapped solid arms around her waist and thrust up with his fist. Only once was enough for the unchewed morsel to be expelled from her throat, where it then shot across the room to strike the far wall.
Once it was clear that she wasn’t going to choke to death, Aura had to contend with the fact that she was back in Castor’s arms. He held her for a beat longer than was necessary, before finally releasing her so she slid back in the chair, body weak and boneless.
“Are you quite alright?” King Rolan asked as he struggled from his seat.
“I’m okay,” Aura said on a harsh croak, even as her throat burned. “Really.”
“Get over here and help us,” Rolan commanded of the nearest servant, gesturing with an imperious hand. “Take her back to the harem pavilion and call for a doctor.”
Guards came close to offer assistance but Castor stood in their way. “Calm down, father, before you strain your heart. I’ll see that she’s returned to the pavilion and appropriately recovers.”
Aura felt herself gathered up from the chair and into strong arms. Even though her eyes were open, they watered too much for her to clearly see her surroundings, but she became distantly aware of the fact that they were walking.
It was only moments later that she realized Castor carried her in his arms and that none of the others followed them.
She was once again alone with her Alpha.
Twenty-Two
The harem was deserted when Castor shoved open the doors, propelling Aura forward ahead of him after finally placing her on her feet. He had navigated the darkened hallways with sure steps, making the walls spin around her as he hurried with long-legged strides through the twists and turns.
Every place where his skin met hers, the hands that gripped at her shoulder and under her bent knees, the press of her cheek against his chest as he held her securely against him, was a flash point of electricity and desire.
When he laid her gently on the bed and took a step back, Aura could finally breathe again. But he didn’t leave the room and instead stood staring down at her with massive arms crossed over his chest. His gaze roved over her, as if assessing her for injury. She forced herself to take deep breaths in and out, as if proving to him she was fine would get him to go away faster.
Aura had been able to forget just how large he was until he loomed over her, filling her vision with his form until it was all she could see. She desperately wanted him to leave, almost as much as she hoped that he would stay.
And the mark burned, a painful fire that only he could extinguish.
Castor finally spoke, voice a low rumble. “Has my father visited you in the harem, or had you brought to his chambers?”
“You left me here. What does it matter to you?”
It was clear from the strain on his face that Castor had only a thread of control on his anger that was moments from snapping. “Answer me.”
His control had impressed her in the beginning, as other Alphas in the Forbidden Zone descended into madness and he remained able to manage himself. But now she understood that his control was not borne of exceptional willpower, but instead a deep-seeded need for self-flagellation and a denial of himself that bordered on self-hatred.
He couldn’t accept what he was, so how could he possibly accept her?
“Your father hasn’t touched me,” she snapped, glaring up at him. “And neither has anyone else, at least not yet.”
“What do you mean, anyone else?”
Perhaps Ianthe hadn’t spoken to him after all. The increased number of guards must have been Legion’s doing.
But Aura wasn’t feeling charitable, sick of his high-handedness. He may have saved her life, but he’d also made her a captive. “Do you really not know what happens here?”
A low growl escaped his lips before Castor realized what he was doing and caught himself. “Explain.”
“I’ve been told that other men visit the harem, not just the King.”
His voice was cold enough to freeze water into ice. “What men?”
“I have no idea,” Aura snapped, nearing the end of both her patience and her ability to tolerate his posturing. “There are a dozen other women living in this gilded cage. Feel free to ask any of them.”
“I’m asking you.”
“You’ve dumped me in a place where the women exist only to be used, if not by the King then by others. Perhaps I will ask to be taken to the King’s chambers tonight, at least he isn’t ashamed of wanting me. Now, please leave.”
For a moment, it almost seemed as if he would simply take that and do what she asked, leaving her alone there in the darkness and silence. His gaze shifted towards the door, profile cast in the shadows. But something seemed to come over him, as if the knowledge that someone else, even his own father, might touch her was too much for him to tolerate.
He was on her in an instant, crushing her body into the mattress as his full body weight came to rest on top of her.
Before Aura could gather breath to speak or scream, his hand wrapped around the fragile column of her throat, pressing down with just enough force to gain her attention, but not enough to do actual damage. She swallowed hard, a painful lump rising to push against his palm.
“I saved you from choking, just like I saved you from the Forbidden Zone.” The threat in his voice reverberated through his body and into hers. “I save you every day by keeping you safe here. And yet, all I earn from you is anger and resistance.”
Aura shoved at his arm until his hand came briefly off of her throat, although the cage of his body around hers did not budge so much as an inch. “Keeping me prisoner isn’t the same as saving me.”
“Prisoner?” His expression was cast in stone, but the tone of his voice was mocking. “If all I bring you is pain, perhaps I should rip that translation unit out of your head and set you loose to wander on the streets of the slums. I’m sure you’d be much happier there.”
She stared up into his eyes, burning with anger, and felt scorched as if her whole body were on fire. “I hate you,” she spat, meaning it in that moment.
“No more than I hate myself. But that doesn’t change the fact that you are mine.”
But the hand on her neck lightened in pressure and shifted away. His fingers tangled in her hair, catching strands between his thumb and forefinger to gently rub it, as if memorizing the texture. His head descended so that his nose pressed against the fragile skin of her neck and he breathed deeply.
He seemed to be fighting himself. The anger had not receded from his face which was all harsh lines and tension, but his hands roamed her body with gentle possessiveness, as if he couldn’t help myself.
Even his threatening growl had changed in pitch, reverberating along her skin and causing muscles to clench deep in her belly. Her body responded to him as if it had been designed solely for that purpose, her own breathing coming in harsh gasps as she lay trapped beneath him.
When his growl echoed off of the high walls and drew no attention, Aura was once again reminded that they were completely alone in the pavilion.
“Everyone will be back soon,” Aura whispered, capable of producing no greater protest than that in the face of the overwhelming desire.
But his response was simple. “Let them come.”
There were no more words between them, only emotions that threatened to overwhelm everything, particularly the fragile hold on sanity that was barely maintained. And when he growled again, it was darker and sharper than any sound he had made before. Aura’s body bowed off of the bed, as much as the cage of his body allowed, her mind suddenly filled with carnal images and a desire so profound that it consumed her.
She wanted to beg or plead, but when her mouth opened only a plaintive moan came out, her mind beyond the capacity to perform words. But even that slight expression of desire seemed to make him hesitate, as if the fact that she was losing control allowed him to regain some small part of his. He always controlled their interactions, but now he forced himself to slow and his touch became more measured.
A gliding hand skimmed down her side, undoing the ties on her shoulders that kept her dress secured so the fabric slowly fell away, revealing more tantalizing skin for his perusal. He stared down at her in the low light, gaze roving over her features and lower as a stroke of his hand exposed her chest, pushing the dress down so that it pooled around the waist.
Aura anticipated his next move, but a keening sound still escaped her lips when his mouth closed on a peaked nipple, sucking the hardened flesh hard between his teeth. A shock of pleasure shot through her, as if the electrified nerve endings directly connected her breast to flesh down below. Nothing and no one had ever made her the feel how he could with only the slightest touch.
It bordered on madness.
Her hands came up to the back of his head, shoving frantic fingers into his hair to pull his head closer. He growled again, tone now one of displeasure, and her hands fell away to grip the bedspread underneath her as he compelled her with simply the force of his presence to submit.
His hands moved to her shoulders and tightened, forcing her down further into the mattress, as if he’d somehow become convinced that she would disappear if he did not hold on to her as tightly as he could. When his head lifted to stare down at her, she saw that the corner of his lip was curled into a snarl like an animal raising its hackles.
But then his mouth crashed onto hers in a kiss that was purely possessive. Her hands shifted to his chest, feeling the muscles jump against her palms. His tongue pushed into her mouth, the invasion a precursor to what would inevitably come next. One of his hands shifted on her shoulder, just enough that his thumb brushed across the claiming scar, setting her alight.
Without warning, connection flared between them that was more profound than simply the melding of two bodies. It was as if she had opened her mind to him, bathing in the knowledge of what it meant for him to be in this place with her. Emotions rushed over her, of fear and shame, but also a yearning profound that it suffused every cell of her being.
Aura surrendered to it as his lips continued to rove over hers, unconsciously opening her own mind and deepening the connection between them. He felt her pain and longing, just as clearly as she understood this. But both of them were trapped in a situation that had no pleasant solution.
Because Castor could not abandon his ideals and Aura would never be content with life in a cage.
For a moment, his palm rested fully on her scar. Her own hand rose to press against the much smaller mark on his chest in the perfect imprint of her teeth that was still hidden beneath the linen of his shirt.
Pain and light surged between them and a desire that could no longer be denied.
Her frantic hands pulled at his clothing, ripping at the buttons with a frustrated moan. His own hands coursed down her body and lifted the skirt of her dress to reveal slick-soaked thighs. Her hips lifted of their own volition to meet his touch as he pushed a thick finger inside of her, even though he had to be well aware of her readiness.
Even though his lips still covered hers, she imagined that she could hear whispered words in his voice floating through her mind.
Good girl, she heard as her hips rose and fell to match the rhythm of his finger’s thrusts. When he added a second and then a third, she moaned low, hips rising to force him deeper. She sensed the deep satisfaction within him. Mine.
With a primal instinct devoid of conscious thought, her thighs fell even further open. He broke their kiss and moved lower down her body, tracing his lips along the exposed skin in his path. Steam from the nearby pool surrounded them, combining with the moist heat of their bodies. His features blurred in the fog-thickened air that caught in her throat, but she saw the flash of his eyes in the darkness just before he buried his face between her thighs.
His lips found her clit with unerring accuracy, even as his stroking fingers continued their assault on her slick-drenched channel. Slurping and sucking sounds filled the air as his mouth captured her flesh. She keened beneath him, only capable of writhing desperately underneath his body as the pleasure spiked.
She was no longer concerned with the fact that the other Omegas would be returned to the harem at literally any moment. The only thing that mattered was having him inside of her as soon as possible.
“Please…”
“Spread your legs,” he commanded. “Wider.”
Aura complied because she had no choice, her legs falling as wide as she could spread them with a plaintive cry. The cool air that washed over her nether flesh as he shifted over her did little to soothe the heated ache. She wanted him with a single-mindedness that was inexplicable, capable of putting aside all the hurt and pain that he had put her through.
The tips of his fingers still played at her opening, spreading the slick on her flesh in concentrated circles, up to the exquisitely sensitive bud of her clit and down to stroke disturbingly close to her rear entrance.
She recognized that he teased her, prolonging the moment until she lost any hint of self-control and begged him to fuck her. But that recognition didn’t stop her from giving him exactly what he wanted, pleading with the frantic pull of her hands and whispered words for him to finally join with her.
Castor knew her body better than she did and played it like a virtuoso with his favored instrument. He kissed her with lips covered in her slick and the taste of her own arousal flavored her tongue. He growled again into her mouth, sending her inner channel into clenching spasms that sent another river of slick to drench the bedding beneath her hips. Her body needed him as much as she did, if not more.
There was no room for self-consciousness or shame. All she could experience was the pleasure that he inflicted on her like a weapon and hope to survive it.
As he kissed her, Aura sucked greedily at his tongue, inviting it further into her mouth in the frantic hope that he would take inspiration and enter her completely. Her hands caressed the hard planes of his back, distantly marveling at the barely restrained power of his musculature. He could destroy her body with the smallest amount of effort, snap her in half with just his bare hands.
And that knowledge somehow sent the spike of pleasure even higher, as if recognition of her vulnerability in the face of his strength was enough to undo her completely.
He shifted slightly and then he was inside of her, hard length of him filling her completely with one stroke. Aura screamed, he captured the sound with the seal of his mouth on hers. His face was one of intense concentration when he pulled away enough to break their kiss, teeth bared in a growl.
Mine.
She heard the word again in his voice, even though his lips had not so much as twitched. His member thrust into her, just as his mind invaded hers until she could not separate one sensation from another. Her body tightened around him, but still he forced himself deeper until he had overcome even the smallest hint of resistance.
Slowly and maddeningly, he moved in and out of her with his gaze trained on her face to watch the play of emotions that crossed her features with each deep stroke. Each thrust of his hips stoked the fire in her higher until it threatened to burn them both to dust.
Castor pushed forward until the heavy weight of his scrotum rested against her bottom, the full length of him swallowed up inside of her. He rotated his hips which forced the iron-hard flesh against the soft walls of her insides. The spark of pleasure and pain was enough to bring her head up from the pillow, forcing her mouth to open in a soundless gasp.
Aura was caught between twin and warring impulses, wanting desperately for him to relieve her from this torture and for it to never end. They stared into each other’s eyes but the connection between them ran deeper than such superficial contact.
Before she could gather herself, he shifted them so that her body rose above his, allowing her to control the speed of their mating. She traced his features in the low light, memorizing them as if she might never see them again. She tried to remind herself that he would soon tie himself to another and be lost to her forever. But in that moment, there was only space in her mind for the feel of him filling her and the look on his face as he shuddered toward completion.
He filled her more completely from this angle, striking the spot inside of her that made the pleasure spike and brought her that much closer to the ragged edge.
“Mine.” This time the growled words were said aloud. His hands rose to force her hips down as he thrust up, spearing her completely.
Aura’s body spasmed around him. His voice, touch and the exquisite stretch from the growing knot within her combined to trigger her orgasm. He had been merciless with his thrusts, but the force of her clamping down around him was enough to still his movements.
Her cunt milked his knot, drawing spurts of cum and bathing her insides until there was nothing less. And for the entirety of it, she stared down at him and marveled at how easy it would be to lose herself in the crystal depths of his eyes.
Eventually, he urged her down to rest against him so that her head pressed against the solid wall of his chest, gently rising and falling with each harsh breath that he took. The knot kept them bound together, but there was no fight left in her or even the desire to get away. Through the bond she sensed his temporary contentment and the self-hatred that would rear its head the moment that the haze of pleasure faded away. She felt cast adrift, as if only the mass of his body kept her afloat in an ocean of nothingness. Without him, she would be lost.
