“Afterward, you’ll be rewarded by one of the things you are as green. A good green, not a punishment green.”
“Yes, Sir.” He repeated.
“Do you have any questions right now?”
Charlie opened and closed his mouth once. Twice. Then his cheeks heated at whatever thought he had come to pass.
I waited for him out, one hand slipping along his fingers in a gentle move, letting him know that I was listening.
“Can…can I be at your feet now, Sir?”
“There’s more to that question.” Just a statement, not a full order to have more information. But the words made the red in Charlie's cheeks deepen. “That makes me more curious. But I won’t push. Yet. Go use the bathroom and get a drink. Then you may kneel, or sit, at my feet in the living room while we find something on the TV to watch.”
Chapter 29
Charlie
The words had barely left Vincent’s mouth before I slipped out of the room. His soft laugh followed me down the hall. It was warm and unexpected. It wrapped around me like a blanket I hadn’t known I needed.
Butterflies stirred low in my stomach, light and clumsy, enough to make me nearly trip over my own feet.
I moved quickly—brushed my teeth, used the toilet, and drank a glass of water. Every motion was precise. Not a hair out of place.
Vincent hadn’t said anything about my appearance, but that didn’t mean I could let it slide. Perfection was protocol. And protocol was safety. Beneath all of it, the training, the rules, was the quiet ache to serve.
To be useful.
To be wanted.
The first time I’d knelt at Vincent’s feet, everything inside me had gone still. Not like a slave. Not like property.
Just… settled.
Like I’d finally found the one place I wasn’t in the way.
By the time I got to the living room, Vincent was already there. He sat on the couch, slouched down a tad to where his head rested against the back of the couch.He looked relaxed, phone in hand, TV already on. Like this was an every-night kind of thing.
Maybe for him, it was.
I was the outsider. I didn’t know this man, other than the fact that he was an Alpha and he now owned me.
The ownership of Lockswell wasn’t on my body. Sometime during the past few days, the bracelet had been removed. But I was still marked. The dark soon-to-be scarred letter on my shoulder wouldn’t disappear any time soon. If ever.
The hate I felt for that Alpha was at an all-time high. He destroyed me in ways that would forever be lost. No amount of time would bring those pieces back. I wasn’t sure I wanted them back, either.
No matter what Alpha Vincent Harris said, I was still an Omega. That didn’t change. I was here to serve him. To meet his needs. That was the reason I existed. And I would do everything in my power to be the best Omega I could be.
The checklist he’d given me for tomorrow was… different. Confusing. It asked for preferences, boundaries—things I wasn’t used to being asked. But I’d fill it out. Because Vincent asked. And if, somehow, I found something in it that felt good, something that felt like mine, then maybe that would be okay too.
Maybe.
Shaking the thoughts from my head, I got my feet moving once again. They led me right to Vincent. There, I gracefully fell to my knees right between his legs. It tookseconds to settle, shoulder leaning against one of his legs.
Vincent’s hand found its way to my hair. His touch was gentle, light enough that I could pull away if I wanted.
I didn’t want to pull away, though. I wanted the opposite. I wanted to be closer to him. I wanted to warm him, too, like before. I wouldn’t mind having the weight of him resting on my tongue.
A small part of me wanted the Alpha to force me closer. I wanted him todemandI do what I wanted.
