Sidian’s knees trembled beneath him, his body slumping forward without his permission. The exhaustion crept up on him so slowly he didn’t notice it until then, but it coiled through his muscles, forcing his body to bow. His lack of physical activity and wretched state in that fucking facility had left him far too weakened by something like running through the woods, and he couldn’t have that.
He had to be quick on his feet. He had to have the stamina necessary to escape any time another alpha tried to cage him.
Before he could hit the ground, Roman shifted closer with terrifying speed, his arms cinching around Sidian’s waist. Sidian didn’t have time to swing his arm out of the way, and a choked noise caught in his throat when the scalpel sliced through the meat of Roman’s cheek just enough to break the skin. The sight of dark blood bubbling out of the shallow wound stirred a part of him that wanted nothing more than retribution for all the pain he’d suffered, a visceral pleasure at seeing someone else hurt for once.
But Roman paid it no mind as he stabilized Sidian, letting him throw an arm around Roman’s broad shoulders to brace himself. “Easy, Sid. That was an impressive distance to cover.”
“Fuck off,” Sidian muttered, but there was no heat in the words. Not like there should have been.
Roman chuckled but made no move to touch Sidian further, his arms warm where they rested against Sidian’s skin, his gigantic hands fanning across Sidian’s back but otherwise remaining well above the waist. The heat that radiated off of him cut through the chill that had sunk deep into Sidian’s bones, soothing him in ways it shouldn’t have been able to. But of course, Roman was an alpha, and alphas and omegas were made for each other.
Sidian slumped forward against him, letting his face rest against the mop of Roman’s soft curls. He was so tall that even on his knees, Sidian didn’t have to bend down too far to reach him. “Feels like I’m not gonna be able to make it back.”
“It’s all right,” Roman soothed. “Just rest. When you’re ready, we’ll go back together.”
Sidian’s throat threatened to close as the thought of being left in the ruins of the center, separated from Roman yet again, even though he was furious at Roman for not being with him until now. “What happens next?”
“That depends on you. Think about it while you rest.” Roman bumped his forehead against Sidian’s chest right above his stomach, and Sidian tensed.
Had he noticed? He had said nothing about it, but why else would Sidian be at a place like the breeding center if not to be sold and bred?
What else were omegas even considered good for?
That Sidian couldn’t pick up Roman’s scent at all prickled his nerves, his omega disquieted even if he knew this was his alpha. Pretty unreasonable to expect the guy to just walk around the way Sidian wanted him to, but the scent said so much between mates that now, he craved it.
Roman leaned back to look up at him, and Sidian allowed him to do that, studying the strong lines of his face. “You look just as stunning as I remember.”
“Fucker. Last time you saw me, I was covered in blood you got all over the living room. And all over you.” Sidian shifted so he could trace a hand down the side of Roman’s face, remembering the smear of crimson that dripped down his jaw.
Roman rumbled deep in his chest, pressing into the touch like a cat as his eyelashes fluttered. “Goddess, I’ve missed you.”
Something in those words threatened to undo Sidian when he was already too weak to do much more than stand there. Roman was here. When Sidian was so sure he was dead in the ground for what happened—what Roman did for him, because of him, to protect him—he showed up. He was there, alive and well.
The only time he’d ever kissed someone by choice was Roman, his mouth wet with blood and tongue slick with copper. Sidian was bad at it then and maybe worse now, but he still mashed their lips together with a ferocity that shocked even him. His hands framed Roman’s face, nails digging in so the alpha couldn’t escape. A growl rumbled up his throat when Roman tried to shift, but it was only so their lips met seamlessly, warm and wet and so perfect it made his cunt throb.
Roman’s arms tightened around him, and the ground disappeared from beneath his feet as Roman stood, holding Sidian above him with an ease that made Sidian whine against Roman’s lush mouth. He should have been scared out of his fucking mind that Roman could do that, but he just wrapped himself around his mate as much as he could, clinging to Roman, shuddering when Roman’s tongue slipped into his mouth and curled against his own. It was slick and left him wanting more, and while the only thing that would make it better was Roman’s scent closing in around him, Sidian would take what he was given.
The kiss grew almost frantic on Roman’s end. Harsher, wetter, more demanding, his mouth devoured Sidian’s as his grip on Sidian tightened. Not to the point of pain, but if Sidian didn’tknow any better, he might think that Roman was just as afraid to lose him as he was scared to lose Roman.
He only ripped his mouth away from Roman’s so he could breathe, and Roman barely let him do that, brushing chaste little pecking kisses against Sidian’s lips as he set him down on his feet. The height difference between them meant that even on Sidian’s toes, Roman had to lean down to reach his lips, but Roman didn’t seem to mind. With one hand braced in the small of Sidian’s back, the other threaded through his hair to draw him closer.
He didn’t know an alpha could be so gentle.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner.” Roman kissed Sidian’s forehead, his nose, his cheeks, his eyelids, before returning to his mouth with a low, soft groan. “I looked. We couldn’t find you. But I looked.” Another harsh kiss left Sidian panting. “And I will never let you go ever again.”
Sidian grasped Roman’s arms as tight as he could. He wasn’t going anywhere.
Chapter Six
“Here.” Roman stripped off his long-sleeved black shirt and handed it to Sidian, who yanked it over his head without a word. “We should head back.”
He wasn’t sure how long they had been gone, but the rest of the Vipers should be gone by now. Extraction would be well on their way to taking the omegas to safety, and Jagger would be losing his mind at a disappearance; Ghost would have to explain what happened, which did not bode well for Roman. He would have to contact his captain, but it was the last thing on his mind.
His cell phone remained silent. An excellent sign.
Sidian slipped his hands beneath the fall of his raven hair to free it from the neck of the shirt. It was long enough to need that now, brushing the very tips of his shoulders as he ruffled his fingers through it. With Roman’s shirt looking more like a dress on Sidian’s lean frame than anything else, the omega looked so achingly beautiful that Roman had to blink to keep from tearing up.
It had been so long. So much longer than he wanted to think about. So much longer than he ever wanted it to be.
