He loved to break my fingers. The snap of my bones would make him smile. I shove that thought away, but it lingers, grabbing me in a chokehold. I bounce off the door frame as I escape the room.
I’m sweating and whimpering and half-blind; all I can see is his smile as he casually cuts my skin apart.
Let’s see what’s inside an omega.
I’m screaming in my mind, screaming so loud. It never stops. I shove up against the wall and stumble down the hallway.
Help me.
Please help me.
I take a step when my wrist is grabbed, and I’m spun around. I barely have time to think before I’m slamming into a hard chest. A hand lands on the back of my neck, anchoring me. I stare at the black shirt and then tilt my head back.
“Who are you?” I whisper. My raspy breathing echoes around the room. “I feel like I’m supposed to know, but it’s lost in the memories. I can’t find you here; it’s too loud.”
He ducks his head down and kisses me. The moment our lips connect, the fear washes away on a sea of wonder. I know this kiss. My arms creep up until I’m holding his shoulders, clinging to him. The rock in an island of cold. He’s an icy wind sweeping away all the bad.
I pull back from the kiss, but he surges forward, pushing his tongue into my mouth. He lifts me up, and, without thought, I wrap my legs around his waist.
When he pulls his mouth from mine, I go for the spot on his neck, lathing it with my tongue and scraping my teeth over it. He shudders and walks us into another dark room. Light from a hole in the roof shines down onto a slab of concrete. I barely notice our surroundings as I turn my mouth back to his, sucking his bottom lip.
I’ve never felt this way. Heated, hot, needy. The ice of his scent burns over my skin, but when I open my eyes, it’s those ruby red sparks that I see, I fall into. No ghosts of the past can touch me. I thread my fingers through his silky hair and press our foreheads together, staring into his eyes.
“Don’t let me get lost,” I whisper.
He shuffles to the slab and lays me down, kneeling over me.
“Omega, how can I stop your pain?”
It’s the first thing he’s said, and it melts the phantoms that are clinging to my mind. His voice, it’s him. I’m safe, I know I am. I reach up, stroking his jaw. He turns his face into my hand, kissing my palm.
“I want you to make me forget, Alpha. We’re going to die here, and I don’t want the memories. Not anymore. Make them go away.”
I sit up, kissing him and pull my shirt off, and then the undergarments, until I’m naked from the chest up.
“You’re not going to die, Omega. Not while I’m here,” his growl is a promise that creates tethers between us. I’m helpless to stop them.
He looks down and freezes.
Is he going to reject me? Is he disgusted?
His index finger traces the scar that runs from my sternum to the bottom of my rib cage. I shudder, breathing hard, almost moaning. He traces every single mark marring my skin, even the accused brand. I stare past him, waiting for him to tell me I’m ugly or that he won’t touch someone who so clearly belongs to someone else. My mind at war with my body.
Needing my alpha, terrified of his imminent rejection.
“You’re beautiful, Kaida,” he whispers.
I feel it when he looks at me like that. I lay back on the stone, my heart racing as he ducks down, leaving open-mouthed kisses along the scar. The fear disappears under the heat of his mouth and hands. His scent fills the air, and I let out a whine, which switches the feeling between us into something hotter, more aggressive.
No one will touch me? That’s what he said.
“Tell me I’m yours,” I hiss desperately. “Lie to me.”
“So strong,” he whispers. “Survivor, warrior omega,” he breathes and kisses across my chest, drawing my nipple into his mouth.
My eyes roll. I pant and writhe under him, wordless whimpers leaving me. My lungs burn as I inhale that dark, icy scent of him. I dig my fingers into his hard muscles, clinging to him as if I let go I’ll shatter. I’m drowning in sensation, feelings I’ve never felt before.
I thread my fingers through his hair and tug him up to my lips, kissing him hard, changing the feel between us again. He tastes like strength and freedom. I want to give as much as I’m receiving; I need to touch him, too. I’m open and vulnerable now, and he responds, pressing his body onto mine, his hips settling between my thighs, his heavy weight pressing me down.
