“Are you hungry?”
He nodded. Of course, he was.
“I don’t know what they provide in the rooms, but is there anything in particular you want?”
“There’s a choice?” He wiggled his toes in the rising water. “Fruit and… uhhh… maybe cheese. Nothing heavy while I’m still in heat, or it’ll upset my stomach.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
A quick raid of the fridge got me a sealed platter of cheeses, grapes, and strawberries. I shoved some jerky into my mouth and gulped it down with soda before I took the rest of the food to the bathroom.
The tub was halfway full, and I stopped in my tracks to take in the relaxed expression on Oleander’s face. His head rested on the edge, his hands playing at the surface of the water. While I’d been gone, he’d washed his hair and his body, and now he looked like a prince, not the crazed omega I’d met mere hours ago.
“So, this is the dreaded auction Snake was talking about?” he asked without opening his eyes.
“Yes.” So, he was one of Snake’s kidnapped omegas.I’m gonna get that fucking bastard.
“You must have paid a pretty penny to fuck me, but now you’re being nice to me. Is it guilt?” Water sloshed when he turned to look at me.
“No, it’s not—”
“Ooh, grapes and cheese!” He reached for the platter, and I arranged it on a small table I dragged next to the tub. A grape flew into his mouth first, and he moaned as he chewed it. Two more and a piece of cheese. He paused with a strawberry in between his fingers, touched his belly with his other hand, and grimaced. After a momentary pause, he ate the strawberry and leaned back in the tub.
“You’re not getting in?” He spread his legs then pulled them together.
“You wouldn’t mind?” I was still crouched on the tiles, buck-ass naked. Relaxing my tired muscles in the water sounded fantastic.
“Did you fuck me once or twice without asking if I would mind?” He reached for a glass of water I’d brought and gulped down half of it.
I sputtered. That was not fair. “Twice, but you were—”
“Yeah, whatever. The tub is huge, and my next wave is coming, so…” He shrugged. “Even if I protest, you’d be compelled to knot me. That’s what alphas do.”
“I’m not an animal. I can control myself if you ask me to.” I dipped my toe in the water, and holy fucking hell, it was hot. He must have cranked it when I was gone. Keeping a straight face, I lowered myself into Satan’s cauldron, hoping the skin on my balls wouldn’t blister.
“So I can go insane again? No thanks. I’d rather get your dick.” He poked cheese cubes on the platter as if he hadn’t just told me that he’d only take my cock to avoid going nuts. “Anyway, why are you doing this?” Oleander asked, his inquisitive gaze watching me squirm in the tub. “You don’t belong here.”
Should I tell him? Would he rat me out to Snake? “I don’t know what you mean. I paid for a good fuck, and that’s exactly what I’m getting.” He was not the only one who could be brash.
“No.” He released a sardonic laugh. “You kissed my neck and whispered in my ear. Maybe I was out of it, but I remember. So, why are you really here?” He popped a grape into his mouth. “Come on. Whatever it is, even if I wanted to tell anyone, they wouldn’t believe me. Besides,I just want out of Snake’s clutches, and you said you can do that.”
Fuck. He was onto me. I was so stupid and loose-lipped when horny.
I let the flames of the water lick my back as I leaned against the cool rim. “I’ve been tracking Snake for a while. No one has been able to prove that he’s kidnapping omegas to sell them or display at events like this.”
“Ha!” He flicked the water at me with his fingers, a sneer on his beautiful face. “That’s because most of us weren’t kidnapped.”
“What?”
“My sister sold me to him.”
“That’s not possible.” I sat straighter, my body alert. This was news. “I have families looking for their sons and daughters. I’ve linked those cases to Snake, too.”
“Oh yeah? Maybe they were in debt, sold a child, and then regretted it. Or the other siblings did it. One of the parents without telling the other.”
“Fuck.” I swiped my hand down my face. I hadn’t thought of that.
“Nice work, Sherlock. And by that, I mean you’re shit at your job, dude.”
