There were a few scattered scars, and he longed to trace the knotted flesh with his tongue, sink his teeth in to rip them open again.
Roman disappeared around a corner, then reappeared a moment later, shaking out a wet washcloth that was warm anddamp as it glided over Sidian’s thighs and over his still-tingling pussy. “Was that good for you?”
“Kind of stupid question is that?” Sidian bit his lip as the terrycloth drew lightly over his still-swollen clit, but he was well and truly done for the time being. “Let me make one thing clear ahead of next time, though, in case we go any farther. You do anything I don’t want you to do, anything I don’t like, and I’ll rip your throat out. I’ll make what you did to the doc look like amateur hour. Goes for you and anyone else you might be packed up with.”
Instantly, Roman’s eyes darkened. “No pack. I’m not sharing. No other alphas deserve to serve you.”
“And you think you do?” It was hard not to tease him.
“No.” Roman leaned down and pressed a kiss to the slip of bare stomach just above Sidian’s cunt, and for one terrifying moment, he thought Roman knew, but nothing showed in his eyes or flared in his scent. “But I aim to be worthy.”
That sounded good to Sidian.
Roman tossed the washcloth aside and stretched out on the bed next to Sidian, who leaned down to tug his underwear and pants back up. They weren’t ideal, but considering he had no other clothes, he wasn’t sure about changing.
For now, though, Sidian was content to roll over and tuck his face into Roman’s bare chest, fingers brushing through the wispy line of chest hair between his pecs. Every inch of him was bronzed perfection, and Sidianknewhe’d have a good time taking Roman all the way apart and seeing just how far that servitude went. If he were half as devoted as he portrayed himself to be, then Sidian was going to enjoy what a potential bond between them might look like.
That was for later, though. Only when he had Amethyst back.
He traced his fingers over a line of scar tissue along Roman’s collarbone, leaning up to taste the texture of it with his tongue. “You got so sexy.”
“I’m glad you think so.” Roman sighed, his eyelids fluttering shut. It seemed almost miraculous he’d asked for nothing at all, not even Sidian’s hand on his cock, though Sidian didn’t think he’d agree just yet.
Maybe one day soon, but not right then.
“What do we do now?” he asked, looking up into Roman’s relaxed face. “Or did you think about what would come next after running off?”
Roman’s brows furrowed. “I thought I would let you choose. The Vipers will not be thrilled I ran, but I won’t be punished. But if you don’t want to go back, we don’t have to.”
“I don’t.” Not yet. There was only one thing that Sidian wanted, and he wasn’t sure that Roman would let him have it. “I know what I wanna do, though. Gonna depend on how up for it you are, though. "It will not be pretty, but it’s in your wheelhouse.”
“What is it?” Roman opened his eyes, his expression curious. “If I can give it to you, I will.”
How did Sidian explain this without divulging more than he was ready to tell? Roman wasn’t stupid; he lived simply, sure, but he had never been unintelligent. He could likely draw the most logical conclusion about what happened in breeding centers, which meant that Sidian had to tread carefully. Roman didn’t know about Amethyst, not when he didn’t know that Sidian was even in a breeding center.
And he couldn’t know. Sidian wanted to tell him, but he could not bear the possibility that Roman would saynoif he knew there was a child involved. When they’d been younger, neither of them had wanted children, and even a potential bond might nothave changed Roman’s opinion on that. Sidian would just have to hope that meeting Amey in the flesh would change his mind.
She was perfect. Roman would see that for himself.
“There was a pack who came to see me during my heats,” Sidian said, feeling Roman tense up under his hand.Good boy.“I want them dead. For everything they did to me, I want them dead. I want to see them on their knees, begging me for forgiveness, and then I want you to rip their guts out for me.”
Roman’s eyes snapped open, his face creased with a rage Sidian had never seen before. “What did they do to you, Sid?”
Sidian thought of Amethyst. He thought of her tiny face staring up at him for the brief seconds he held her. She didn’t cry when she was born, but she looked around the world that surrounded her like she wanted to take as much of it in as possible. Given how quickly she was ripped from his arms after the doctor placed her there, maybe she knew it would be the only time she’d get to see him. It had been well over a year since that day, but every single detail was all but emblazoned on his memory.
Her wide, dark blue eyes. The agony of feeling like his entire body was being torn apart. Pack Kincaid leered and laughed and did everything possible to shred the tiniest hints of safety so that Sidian was never under the impression that the doctors and nurses telling them to stay back could stop them. It was by their own power, and their own power alone.
That one last, dizzying remark right before they vanished with Amey. His firstborn child.
He stared at Roman’s chest, fingers smoothing over the scar tissue on Roman’s collarbone. “What didn’t they do to me?”
“Sidian?” Roman nudged their noses together, and Sidian squeezed his eyes shut. “I’ll kill them. Just for you, however you want me to.”
“That’s what I like to hear.” He rewarded Roman with a kiss, smiling at the deep alpha rumble that vibrated against his lips. “Do you care if I hop in the shower?”
Roman shook his head, leaning back just enough so Sidian could sit up, though he still felt shaky from the force of that orgasm. “Take your time. When you’re ready to go, we’ll go.”
Sidian stole one last kiss before heading to the shower, intent on scrubbing off the memory of Dax Kincaid’s fingers on his bloody skin.
