Page 43 of His Stolen Omega

“Like it?” Levi selected another round berry and repeated the process. “They don’t have this on Glyph. You probably haven’t tasted it before.” He gave him a third. “I don’t know what types of food you prefer. Salty? Sweet? Spicy? I’ll make you a deal. You can tell me and I’ll provide it. But no more refusing to eat, omega. Agreed?”

He nodded eagerly, then opened his mouth wide, asking for another.

“You’ll remember it this time,” Levi chuckled, giving him what he wanted, watching him chew and swallow and ask for more. “Remember how you ate from my hand like an obedient little thing. I bet you’ll hate it, won’t you?” An idea formulated. Twisted and dark. “Should I give you something to really be mad about?”

Levi was still seething.

But frostbite could hurt more than a burn.

He caught the omega by the chin and tipped his head back, then leaned in and sealed their mouths together.

A burst of fruit flavor hit his tongue the second he drove it into the omega’s mouth. He kept it steady, using his other hand to grab a fistful of the omega’s hair and force him in place when he tried to take control and speed things up.

It’d been a while since he’d last done this, but Levi fell into it with ease, stroking his tongue against the roof of the omega’s mouth, sucking lightly when the omega’s entered his. He licked at his bottom lip and pressed in closer, relishing in the duality of the softness of skin against skin and the edge whenever the omega nipped at him.

It was meant to be a taunt, a way to pass on the outrage and insult Levi was currently feeling, but he found himself enjoying it, deepening it, until the hand at the back of the omega’s skull was no longer holding him steady, but cradling him.

The second the kiss altered was signaled by the omega’s sultry moan. Pheromones shifted around them, going from plain and soothing to enticing, one calling to the other, urging them higher and higher until Levi felt himself swell uncomfortably in his dress pants.

With a growl, he tore his mouth free and retreated, blasting the omega with aggressive pheromones when the younger man tried to follow.

It worked in forcing him back down, but then that familiar defiance entered the omega’s eyes.

“No,” Levi stated firmly, pointing to the remaining fruit. “Eat.”

The omega hesitated, then seemed to realize pleasing him was the smartest move. He didn’t seem happy about it, but he ripped off a piece of fruit and shoved it into his mouth, practically sulking now.

Levi watched him closely as he ate, letting the silence blanket over them so all the omega had to focus on was soothing his body’s need for food and alpha pheromones.

He’d finally settled when the sound of pounding feet echoed from down the hall.

Fiora burst into the room, catching herself on the doorframe the second she spotted them and pulling herself to a halt. She was out of breath, eyes wide in a rare show of panic.

The omega hissed at her and went to stand, but Levi slammed a hand over his shoulder and pushed him back into the chair, keeping contact there so he could flood soothing pheromones directly into him.

“I’ll deal with you later,” Levi promised Fiora darkly, pointing at her and then motioning back at the hallway. “Go.”

Unlike the willful omega, she did not need to be told twice.

Chapter 10:

Logic and reason returned to him slowly, like a trickle, filling his cup until it was impossible to ignore the things he’d done or how unhinged he’d become.

Elm slowed his eating, noting there were only three grapes left, too afraid to confront the monster in the room.

The one who’d shifted his hand to the back of Elm’s nape and held him there ever since the Butcher had fled.

If the Butcher was scared, it served to show Elm should be terrified. And he was…but mostly he was embarrassed. So he nibbled on a grape, stalling, and kept his eyes glued to the white ceramic bowl holding the mostly skeletal remains of the bushel of fruit.

He could feel the alpha at his back, staring down at him, watching closely, and struggled not to give himself away. When Elm had decided to trick Fiora into coming close so he could overpower her and flee, he hadn’t thought much further ahead than that. Certainly hadn’t considered what he’d do if he was caught.

Botching his escape all on his own definitely hadn’t been in the forefront of his mind, but it probably should have been.

He’d known something was wrong with him, that his moods were wild and this new, strange energy source within him called pheromones was chaotic and out of his control. All week, he’d played along with Fiora for that reason, hoping to glean some information, some magic way to fix him so he could be free of this nightmare.

So he could go back to being himself.

Not eating…that’d been an active choice. A risky one, sure, but when locked in a cell with nothing but a mattress and a toilet, it wasn’t like he’d had anything else to utilize. Because he’d been faking the extent of his lack of appetite, he’d been clear headed enough to convince himself the other signs were nothing to be overly worried about.