Chapter 6

Tide

My legs give out. I sink to my knees and cup my omega's head as she mewls and grinds her teeth deeper into my flesh. Light bursts behind my eyes and pain spears through my chest even as joy wraps around my heart.

A partial bond forms between us. I ache to complete it, but she bites harder when I try to pull her away.

Her scent ripens. My cock pulses and leaks.

With my omega curled against my chest and water dripping down my naked body, I kneel in the center of our living room and eye the ladder to the upper level .

She deserves a better nest than the couch and throw pillows.

I grit my teeth and force myself to stand. My legs wobble like jelly. I haven't felt this weak since I lost my parents. I stumble to the ladder and grab the nearest rung as a wave of excruciating pain spears through me. My grip on the ladder saves us from tumbling to the ground.

"Pearl, stop. Let go, little love," I manage through clenched teeth as she grinds her jaw and deepens her bite.

She stiffens and snaps into awareness. My breath of relief catches in my throat, and I lean my hip on the ladder and hang my head, willing it to stop spinning.

The scent of her tears bothers me more than the coppery aroma of my blood as she extracts her teeth. The salty tang sours our mingled pheromones. Her sorrow cleaves my heart in two, and resolution settles over me, overriding my pain.

She licks my wound and wraps her arms around my neck. The bandages on her hands prevent her from scratching my nape, but she clings to me as best she can and drops her forehead to my collarbone. She runs her tongue over her bite mark in apology and licks her silent tears before they sting my torn flesh.

She's too fucking sweet. Too resilient. Too precious .

"Wrap your legs around my waist and hold tight, tiny treasure. Let's get you somewhere more comfortable," I murmur through the buzzing in my head.

It hurts. I hurt. The incomplete bond stabs deep into my heart and steals my strength, but I power through by sheer force of will and climb the ladder. Her soft tongue continues to caress my mating mark even after I step into the upper room and close the hatch over the ladder.

She doesn't lift her head when I stalk across the room and stop in front of the sleeping pad.

I prop my forearm under her ass, bite back a groan at the slick coating her legs, and reach back to unlock her arms, but she hiccups and nuzzles harder against me. A lump of emotions lodges at the base of my throat. I distract myself by pulling the stash of food from the closet and filling a pitcher with water from the small sink tucked in the corner and placing both on the shelf closest to the sleeping pad.

She refuses to lift her head with gentle prodding, so I grab her hair and force her to look at me.

I wipe my blood off her bottom lip with my thumb and cup her cheek. She hiccups and shakes her head. When she opens her mouth, the regret in her eyes tells me she means to apologize, but I don't want to hear it .

"You have nothing to be sorry for, tiny treasure."

Her brows scrunch. The petulance shining from her eyes fills me with mirth, but my heart hurts too much to laugh.

She squeaks when I peel her legs off my waist, push her feet to the floor, and spin her to face the sleeping pad.

"Nest. Now," I snarl.

Her ass is too perfect. I step back before I bend her over and take her right here, where we stand.

She gasps and stares in slack-jawed shock. Pride expands my chest, and a hint of a chuckle sneaks into my purr.

Floor to ceiling shelves hold every soft, fluffy thing I deemed worthy of my future mate over the last decade. Pillows, blankets, curtains, cushions, toys, foam, towels, and so much more line the entire room.

I take another step back and to the side, putting more distance between us but needing to watch her expression.

"W-what is this?" she whispers in a daze.

"It's yours, Pearl. All yours. Make a nest for us, tiny treasure."

She begins a slow turn as she peruses the full walls.

"Why?"

"Why what?" I ask .

"Why do you have all this?"

"For you."

She shakes her head.

"We just met a few hours ago. You didn't—" she tucks an arm around her midsection and breathes through a cramp before continuing, "You didn't know me when you started collecting this stuff. It must have taken years."

I swallow and firm my knees despite the urge to clear the distance between us and sink both my cock and my teeth into her.

"I knew I'd find an omega someday," I respond.

Her eyes catch on something above my shoulder, but she pulls her gaze to mine and grimaces through a mild cramp before shaking her head.

"You started collecting all this on the off chance you maybe found an omega one day?"

I purr as she shakes her head harder, the partial bond between us pulsing as she teeters on the edge of breaking.

"No, Pearl. I took over an entire ship and created a safe community, knowing the female I found would deserve all the protection and comfort I could offer."

She sobs and crumples, but I lunge forward and catch her before her knees hit the ground. The awkward angle and my aching soul make it too difficult to rise, so I brace an arm around her and lean my forehead against hers.

"How could you possibly find someone worthy of such devotion?"

Her whisper accompanies a flood of emotions through our bond, but the thin connection struggles to accept her outburst.

I weave my fingers through her hair, surrounding her head with both hands, and tilt her face to mine.

"I found you, Pearl. You're worthy."

She squeezes her eyes closed and shakes her head. I snarl and tighten my grip.

"You are worthy. You've done nothing but protect your sister since I pulled you from the ocean."

"No, you don't understand. I—" she gasps in pain and I struggle to remain still as the perfume of her slick thickens the air. "I failed her. I don't deserve any of this."

"She's alive because of you. You kept her afloat when she would've drowned. You—"

"I wasn't there when she needed me most!" She shoves at my shoulders despite her injured hands, but I growl and grit my teeth as she continues. "We got separated between hideaways, and by the time I found her, it was too late. The alpha who attacked her was too high to knot her, otherwise she would've— "

I pull my sobbing omega into my arms and stroke her hair and back. She cries until a cramp nearly folds her in half.

When she lifts her head, fury twists her features.

"I wish I had gotten there before he hurt her. I would have killed him, then my parents wouldn't have gotten involved. We wouldn't have had to get on that stupid fishing boat and they wouldn't be dead."

Her vehemence gives way to grief, and she tucks her face against my shoulder.

She's allowed the emotions, but the extreme swing between highs and lows is another marker of her strengthening estrous.

"I'm glad you didn't murder him, Pearl. That type of guilt never goes away," I mutter.

She jerks her head up and searches my face, but the nagging pain in my chest and the robust smell of her slick test my control. I shift my hands to her shoulders and twist her away to face the walls covered in nesting material and the empty sleeping pad.

"Yours. Mine. Worthy. Not worthy. None of it matters." I drop my hand to her lower back and give her a gentle nudge toward the shelf. She shuffles on her knees but glances over her shoulder at me. "You're here. I'm here. Build us a nest, tiny treasure," I command .

To my delight, she nods and reaches for the nearest stack.

My cock pulses and liquid fire drips onto the floor.

I want her more than I want my next breath, but I need her tucked away in the most luxurious nest before I wreck her.

Because the moment I lay hands on her again, I'm claiming her.

She's mine.