So, no. I didn’t want to push Nitro when he seemed unstable.
My hand was beginning to go numb in his grasp. Nervously, I moved my fingers. When I did, he stiffened. I shouldn’t have moved at all, even that tiny bit.
He seemed to come up for air now, giving himself a full body shake. Then he pulled me again, slower this time, with less manic energy. He brought us to a gigantic, wooden circle. It stood upright; its surface patterned in concentric black and white rings that terminated into a red center. I was confused at first… then I saw the four restraints built into the wood.
My stomach clenched, panic trying to rise.
“You are not tying me to that,” I breathed out, voice cracking.
"Lucy," Nitro rasped, releasing my hand only to jerk my body roughly toward him. I stumbled, caught off guard, my heart quickening. He caught me, crushing me against his body and simultaneously pushing me forward with flattened palms at the small of my back. “Don’t test me right now.” He closed his eyes, mouth drawn in a harsh line.
I bit my lower lip. A smart woman would find a way to fight, find a way to run.A smart woman wouldn’t be here to begin with, I thought self-deprecatingly.A smart woman would have listened to all the warnings.
Nitro wasn’t blinking. He just stared at me in an unnerving way, the weight of his gaze threatening to flatten me.
Though his eyes held a strange, heavy blankness, his hands radiated heat. They sent tendrils of need through me. The nearness made me acutely aware of his scent, his carved muscles and our drastic size difference. All the Alphas made me feel incredibly small, but for some reason, right now, Nitro was shrinking me further.
Further and further.
Until I was Alice.
Drinking the potion.
And regretting it the minute I couldn’t reach the key to unlock the door and escape.
“Let me go,” I managed to whisper, staring straight at his chest, not wanting to look at his mossy, warm eyes anymore.
“I’m not sure I can,” he admitted, voice full of gravel. But then he took a shuddering breath and pushed me away. Away… towards the target. My back hit the wood. Desire faded, replaced by anxiety.
“No.” That’s all I could say now.
“Lift your arms, Lucy.” Was his firm response.
When I hesitated longer than he liked, Nitro grabbed my right wrist and lifted my arm. For some reason, I went limp, letting him treat me like a doll… a plaything… something to be manipulated anyway he saw fit. I stayed quiet as he worked, tightening the first leather strap. Refusing to cry, I blinked back dampness and tilted my face, eyes moving to the ceiling. I started counting the overhead lights. When I got to seven, a rush of déjà vu flooded through my system. Only it wasn’t lights, it was ceiling tiles. Rows and columns. Trying to distract myself from fear and uncertainty as I lay immobile, strapped to an operating table.
My left arm was up now, leather strap biting into my wrist. When Nitro’s hands fell away and didn’t immediately touch me again, I lowered my head, wondering if he wasn’t going to tie my legs. My gaze collided with Nitro’s and, as if he’d been waiting for me to look at him, he dropped to the floor before me. I inhaled sharply; he just wanted me to watch.
Nitro's calloused hands clamped around my ankles with bruising force, yanking my legs apart with a jerk that made the wooden target creak behind me. My eyes widened inalarm, pulse hammering against my throat as he knelt on the ground before me, his expression predatory. His moss-green eyes never left mine—achallenge sparking in the depths of his black pupils, almost daring me to protest. And then his rough fingertips began a deliberate journey up my left leg. He traced a burning path over the delicate skin of my calf, then kept moving higher and higher, until he reached the top of my inner thigh. His hand lingered there, thumb making small, possessive circles just inches from where I felt most vulnerable.
A shiver ran down my spine as he pushed dangerously close to my intimate regions. My inner Omega stretched toward him, recognizing something she wanted. I felt like I couldn’t breathe past the swelling, overwhelming need. Heat warmed my lower belly, and my scent swirled heavily, falling to blanket over Nitro. When it hit him, he inhaled deeply through his nose, eyes half closing. The sight of him breathing me in made a rush of slick coat my womanhood.
When he looked up the line of my body once more, his fingers moved that fractional distance to curl over my womanhood, cupping me as if I belonged to him. I gasped in his Alpha scent as it clouded upward, wrapping around me. Earthy layers of evergreen, clean soil, cedar, and beneath those notes were gasoline and the metallic taint of blood. For a heartbeat, I lost myself in the cocktail of his natural cologne and the way his touch made my heart skip and my toes curl. I forgot who he was and how he treated me. For a blissful moment, Nitro’s slate was wiped clean, and I wanted him desperately. I didn’t even care that he was wrapping the leather straps around my ankles and pulling them tight.
As I began to sway past the point of logic—my body screaming to touch him, mark him, mate him—Nitro abruptly stood. He gave my delicate regions a brutish squeeze, makingme gasp both from pleasure and pain, and then he turned on his heal and moved away.
All I felt was confusion as I watched his back grow further away.
But then he turned to face me.
His mouth wrapped by a wicked smile.
My stomach flipped.
As he unsheathed a knife and flicked it in my direction.
The blade sliced like lightning through the air, and I closed my eyes rather than see death coming.
I felt a whoosh of air by my cheek. Seconds later, a telltale sting and bubbling dampness.
