Amethyst and his son were the only bright spots in the blackness of his suffering and anguish. He’d kill the alphas who took his daughter away from him, the alphas who’d hurt him, and then maybe he’d be at peace.
The beta passed out again just as Sidian reached the downturn of his arch, but Roman smacked him awake once more, the beta weeping. Blood coated Sidian’s hands, thick and sticky, the piece of flesh quivering and wet in the harsh light of the room. The scent of copper was a fucking aphrodisiac for how wet he got for it, how turned on he was knowing what pain he could inflict.
If he ever did this again, maybe he’d have Roman fuck him right before and right after.
“Ready to talk yet?” he asked, glancing up at the beta, who drooled from one corner of his mouth.
He managed to choke out a faint, weak sound. “I’ll tell you his name.”
Excellent.
And now the real fun could begin.
Chapter Twenty-Two
There was something so erotic about watching Sidian take his pleasure from inflicting pain.
Roman was hard as he twisted the beta’s limbs into place as Sidian requested, watching with bated breath as his mate sliced and sawed pieces off of the beta long after they’d gotten the information Hadeon requested. In his element, Sidian hummed what sounded like a lullaby to himself as he dug the blade into the beta’s flesh again and again, then used the pliers to peel chunks of skin away from the muscle beneath. There was an almost artistic pattern to the way he worked, the pink tip of his tongue caught between the white of his teeth.
The beta gurgled and wept, his head lolling from side to side as the inevitability of his fate seemed to settle on his shoulders. There would be no escaping this, no freedom, no light at the end of the tunnel. If the Mambas cared about his family, they might step in to shield his children, but Sidian had a point; the person who paid off their scummy little target might have alreadymoved in on the beta’s family the moment there was a wind of him missing.
It didn’t matter. Roman only cared about Sidian. Everything else fell by the wayside.
Sidian seemed to reach the end of his patience, placing the tip of the much larger knife he’d retrieved from the tray when his scalpel broke against bone between the beta’s collarbones, settled into the shadowy hollow of his throat… And dragged it straight down.
Fish-belly white flesh parted around the blade, blood dribbling from the open wound as Sidian drew it down, down, down. To the beta’s waistband where he tossed it aside and reached into the wound with his hands, gripping the edges of the beta’s gut to pull it open.
Slippery wet intestines spilled onto the floor in a heap, and Sidiangiggledwith delight, stepping back to admire the sight as they settled into messy, steaming coils. Roman whistled low in his throat while the beta gagged a few more times before falling silent, his head tilted back and his one good eye pointed toward the ceiling. What he saw in his last moments was of no interest to Roman.
The sort of bastard who would assist an omega trafficker deserved a slow and painful death.
“Fuck yeah.” Sidian sprang to his feet, almost bouncing, his entire body trembling with what smelled like euphoria as he gazed up at Roman with wide, wild eyes. “You didn’t wanna join in?”
Roman chuckled. “You looked like you were having fun.”
“I was. Goddess, yeah, I was. I’m so turned on it fucking hurts, but that was the most fun I’ve had in a long time.” Sidian’s fervent gaze made Roman’s cock pulse, his alpha straining at his self-control to get closer to his excited, trembling mate. “Cuntfeels like it’s going to burn up from how bad I want it. You gonna give it to me, alpha?”
“Tell me what you need from me.” Roman drifted away from the corpse, no longer interested in it, his eyes for Sidian and Sidian alone.
Without hesitation, Sidian tugged his shirt up and over his head, the pale perfection of his flesh smeared with blood that had soaked through the fabric. The air of the room was cool, hardening his pink nipples, and Roman wanted little more than to suck on them until they were swollen and red from the attention. He rumbled at the sight of his mate, desperate to sink to his knees and cover Sidian’s body in as many kisses as possible.
Would it ever become bearable, or would it always feel so overwhelming?
Roman waited until Sidian’s hands dropped to the buckle of his belt, the sleek black leather catching the light well. “Can I put this around your neck and choke you with it?”
“It may be dangerous,” Roman pointed out, relishing the adorable pout he received for the words. This was the playful, sweet side of his mate that belonged to him and only to him. “But I would be honored.”
He dropped to his knees without hesitation as Sidian approached him, holding as still as possible while the leather was looped around his throat, the tongue fed through the buckle to give Sidian a good grip on him. The leather pressed into Roman’s throat from all sides as the buckle dug into his Adam’s apple, his dick jumping at the sensation. Fortunately, he was just as wired for violence and danger as Sidian was, and he ached to prove it to his omega.
“I love the way you look at me.” Sidian stroked down the side of his face with bloody fingers, and Roman rumbled in response,his eyelids growing heavy at the touch. “Like I’m an actual person.”
That set off a snarl, but Roman choked it down.Not right now.“You’re my person.”
“You're no better than a dog. That’s my favorite thing about you, y’know. Obedient fucker.” Sidian caught a handful of his curls and pushed him down, and Roman took the hint, spreading his knees to better accommodate the difference between their heights.
He could smell the slick leaking through Sidian’s underwear without having to try. Slick absorbent underwear handled the average amounts of wetness, but there was nothing much that could be done for an omega as turned on as Sidian was. Roman watched, mouth watering, as Sidian unfastened his jeans and pushed the denim down his hips, revealing the growing patch of wetness between his thighs.
“Please,” Roman choked out, and Sidian laughed at him, then yanked the belt hard enough to squeeze, drawing him closer.
