Ehlian gasped, sobbing with relief. The grip wasn’t tight enough. He needed more, needed—then his hand began to move in a steady rhythm, sliding up and down his hard length. Gods, it felt like Hayce was touching him. And in a way, he was. Every movement, every little pause, every shift in pace was controlled by Hayce’s power, pleasuring him exactly as he wanted.
The strokes grew faster and faster, Ehlian’s grip tightening—just one more, just one more, just one more—then his orgasm tore through him with blinding force, leaving him trembling in its wake.
As though waiting for that very moment, Hayce followed only a few thrusts later, his fingertips sinking deep into Ehlian’s hips.
Ehlian collapsed onto the bed, a breathlessfuckslipping past his lips.
Hayce swept Ehlian’s damp hair away from his neck, his thumb stroking over the mark he had etched there. “This will do.”
Ehlian hummed, an unpleasant shiver running through his body when Hayce lifted himself, carrying his warmth with him.
“Cold,” he murmured.
Soon a blanket was draped over him, or maybe it was an arm, or a chest, or both. He wasn’t sure. He was already drifting into sleep.
*
Grasson’s disappointment hung thick in the air the next day. As he stared at the purplish mark on Ehlian’s neck, the flame of greed and lust finally died out in his eyes.
One threat was out, but the other, more dangerous threat was right next to him in the lounge, in the showers, in the cell, in bed. All day, all night. At this point, it was needless to deny how much he was attracted to Hayce, but that was his limit and he had no intention to stretch and widen it.
Like every Arox omega and alpha, he was blessed with accelerated recovery, and the faint purplish mark on his neck was gone completely in two days. Hayce seemed to take that as a personal offence. Every night, Ehlian’s hands gripped the sheet, the edge of the bar, or the cold window as Hayce peppered kisses and bites across his skin, licking, pulling, scraping over the new marks he left behind.
It was just sex.
And it wouldn’t ever be more.
He and Hayce simply didn’t… fit.
They would part one day and Ehlian wouldn’t shed a tear over it.
Chapter 12
Ehlian had no appetite.
Well, he never had any appetite for this bland mess, but usually he ignored the taste and forced it down. Now it made him slightly nauseous. He couldn’t quite pinpoint why. He was fine, as fine as anyone could be in a prison, yet frustration was building steadily under his skin.
After only one bite, he pushed the tray away.
Hayce nudged it back. “Eat more.”
“Not hungry,” Ehlian said, catching an alpha at another table staring at them, a curious glint in his eyes. A moment later, the alpha’s gaze wavered, slipping out of focus as a tremor ran through him. He looked ill. Pale. His tray was pushed aside as well, food untouched.
Maybe there was something wrong with the food, besides everything already wrong with it.
Then Ehlian recognised the alpha at once. He was always attached to his omega—the only couple in prison. But something in his aura made him appear oddly unfamiliar. The place beside him was empty, his omega nowhere in sight.
Ehlian leaned closer to Hayce. “Where’s his omega?”
“He’ll be back in a few days,” Hayce said, pressing the spoon into Ehlian’s hand. “Eat.”
Sighing, Ehlian dug in and took a bite. “Is he in solitary?”
“No. He was released.”
Ehlian’s hand froze mid-air before another spoonful. “So why would he be back?”
“I don’t call them mates for nothing.” Hayce’s glanced briefly toward the alpha. “They’re bondmates.”
