Chapter 5

A shiver runs down my spine despite the heat of the water as it pummels me. The coldness in The Battleship’s bright green eyes chills me to the bone.

“You need me, kitten. Any other alpha would have made you watch as they murdered your brothers. You should thank me for letting them live,” he growls.

Not a single ounce of gratitude rises in my chest. I snarl and pull my legs underneath me.

“I’ll never thank you for anything. You’re no better than my father,” I hiss.

He lunges.

I roll.

He snags my ankle and yanks me back underneath him. Terror and heat pulse through my veins as he grinds the gigantic weapon between his legs against my back. He overpowers me with embarrassing ease, but I scratch at the floor and pour every ounce of effort into my escape.

“There’s my little feral kitten. Hissing and scratching, just how I like. Lift your hips and let me take care of you,” he murmurs against the side of my head.

The deep timbre of his voice promises pleasure, but the painful grip of his hands and the crushing weight of his body promises pain.

My hips tilt of their own accord as he rumbles out a purr, but I ball my hands into fists and press my hipbones against the hard floor.

His chuckle arrows straight to my core. My insides clench and slippery wetness coats my folds as the decadent scent of his lust filters in through the soap as it swirls the drain.

Massive digits close over my nape and pin my upper chest to the floor as he parts my knees with his and lifts my hips off the floor with an arm wrapped around my waist.

“Is this how your father took your mother? On all fours and from behind? Is that why you’re comparing me to him?”

His guttural growl distorts his words, but when the meaning sinks in, I realize my mistake.

“You’re not like him. I’m sorry,” I plead.

Icy terror clashes with the fiery need infecting my body. The side of my face aches from the unforgiving floor even as lightning spears between my legs as he thrusts the underside of his cock along my folds.

His partially inflated knot bumps a sensitive spot at the front of my entrance. I hiss at the intensity.

“Do you like that, kitten? Do you like how my knot teases your clit? Maybe I should give it more attention,” he snarls before teasing the tip of his fingers between my legs.

I jerk and twist my arms to reach back and push him away, but he nips my earlobe and strokes directly over the bundle of nerves.

My vision blips to white and a bolt of lightning spears into my abdomen, but he pulls his hand away before I detonate.

“Did your father ever pleasure your mother, or did she only know pain? Do you think I can’t get exactly what I want from your body without beating you into submission?”

Water cascades off his body and onto mine, revealing the thickness of his pheromones as he grinds his cock against me.

“There’s more to rutting than violence. Sometimes the worst pain is denial,” he snarls.

The world shifts and my head spins as he manhandles me onto my knees and spins me around. I push against his thighs, but he uses my hair as a handle and runs his cock over my face.

“Your father killed my family. He took them away from me. Permanently. But I might let you see your brothers again, if you’re a good girl. Tell me again how much you hate me?”

His goading fills me with dread. As terrifying as he was while lost to alpha instincts, his calculating words prove the depths of his evilness.

With the water pouring down on us and his massive cock running over my face, claustrophobia grips me. The walls close in, and my mind travels back to when my mother locked the hideaway panel, closing me in darkness for the first time.

Sticky warmth coats my fingers and the fresh scent of blood pierces my nostrils, adding to my panic. I jerk away, but unrelenting digits pry my jaw open.

Silky, smooth warmth slides between my lips and forces my teeth farther apart. Tangy sweetness coats my tongue. Explosions burst behind my eyelids, breaking my spiral into mania.

I open my eyes and meet bright emerald orbs. Despite the lust shining from his gaze, his pupils haven’t eaten up his irises.

I use the shock of color to ground me in the present, electing my current horror over the ones in the past.

He pushes his cock deeper into my mouth.

The urge to bite down tightens my jaw.

“Sink those teeth into my cock and I’ll mark you the same way. Want my bite marks on your pussy, kitten?”

My nostrils flare as my lungs burn for oxygen. His spicy scent burrows deeper into my psyche. I shake my head as far as his intrusion will allow.

He makes a sound of disappointment. I swallow. He groans and drops his head back into the spray. I wince as his fingers tighten in my hair.

“Are you ready to be a good little pet now?”

My jaw aches as he slides deeper into my mouth. I push my tongue against him, terrified of him invading too far, and lose pieces of my soul as his flavor fills my mouth.

He growls and aims blown pupils down at me.

“That’s right, little liar. Don’t be too good. Stay my feral kitten for just a little longer.”

His rumble deepens into euphoria. My insides turn to mush and liquid fire swirls in my core as he encompasses my head with both hands and works his shaft in and out of my mouth. I struggle to breathe, but my omega instincts demand something more potent than oxygen.

Mindless need takes over. Steel covered in silk pistons deeper into my mouth. My head spins. Flames spread through my extremities.

“Take a deep breath, kitten. Or don’t. I’ll enjoy your throat either way,” he snarls before thrusting his hips and pulling my face toward him.

Panic shatters the bubble of bliss as he shoves his thick cock into my throat. I can’t breathe. Can’t think. Can’t swallow.

He pulls back. I cough and try to push him out from between my lips, but he surges into my throat. I push and scratch at his thighs. My vision dims.

He sets a relentless rhythm. At first, I struggle for freedom, but as the seed leaking from his tip thickens, my omega instincts rise, and I lean into them, trusting them to keep me alive since they’ve protected my brothers for so long.

I inhale and exhale in time with his thrusts. Spit strings from my chin and drips onto my breasts despite the shower.

“Swallow every drop, kitten, or I’ll have to start over,” he growls before surging impossibly deeper into my throat.

His knot mashes my lips against my teeth as his shaft pulses on my compressed tongue. Black spots dance along my vision, but the tingling warmth as his seed hits my stomach and branches out into my body steals my panic and sends me into a faux state of joy.

Weight settles in my belly. I close my eyes and slip closer to the darkness.

He yanks himself free and hauls me onto my feet. I float through time as my senses reel.

Cold metal meets my backside and shocks me into awareness. I blink away my confusion and duck when something moves toward me.

Coarse fabric lands on my head. Unyielding hands scrub the towel over my head. I lift my arms to push him away, but gravity triples and sadness sucks me into a pit of despair.

My father hated my brothers, but he never separated us. This alpha must hate me even more than my sire to put me through this pain. It hurts to not have them by my side. I can’t protect them if they aren’t here. I can’t nurture them. Can’t give them the love they deserve.

A low rumble shakes my bones apart, yet my worry lessens. I scowl into the towel, reach deep into myself, and gather my resolve.

He’s using my dynamic against me. As long as my brothers are still alive, I must stay strong. The Battleship has to let his guard down at some point, and when he does, it’ll be my job to ensure he can’t hurt us anymore.

Somehow.

I shove at his hands, but he ignores me, drying my neck and arms with ruthless strokes. The freckles on his face continue down his body, creating a stark contrast to the white scars peppering his torso.

He drops the towel onto my lap and stands, putting his mammoth cock in line with my face. I ignore the heat creeping up my body and clutch at the fabric.

Fire licks up from my toes to the tip of my ears but dissipates so fast I wonder if I imagined it.

“Finish drying, but don’t stand up. You lift that ass from the bench and I’ll bend you over and knot you right there. Understand, kitten?”

I swallow the lump in my raw throat and nod, not trusting my voice.

He exits for a moment before returning with a bottle of liquor. The smell curdles my stomach, but instead of taking a swig, he angles his hip toward the mirror and pours half the bottle onto his side.

I cringe as he hisses. Sympathy pains pinch within my abdomen. I shake out the towel and start drying my legs to ignore my body’s ridiculous response, but can’t stop my eyes from drifting toward him.

He sets the bottle on the counter and soaps himself before rinsing off in the shower. After shutting off all six showerheads, he shakes his head and slicks his hand through his hair, but his curls spring back and fling water everywhere.

I scoot back on the bench before bringing my knees to my chest and wrapping the towel all the way around me.

He stalks toward me. Red oozes down his side. I lean away, but he grabs a clean towel and runs it over his body before dropping the crimson-stained fabric beside my hip.

Without a word, he strides back toward the counter and opens the waterproof box tucked in the corner. My fingers itch to help, but I curl into a tighter ball and watch as he smears ointment over his wounds before wrapping a long, white bandage around his midsection. He pulls the fabric tighter and continues to circle himself until he finds the end of the bandage. After tacking the fabric down, he tosses the ointment back into the box and flips the lid closed.

I pull the towel tighter around my shoulders as he stalks toward me.

Heat flashes up from my toes again, and the same pinching sensation haunts my lower belly. I shove it away and glare at my captor as he looms over me.

Even as I stare up into his mesmerizing green eyes, with tingling warmth lingering in my stomach from his seed and unwanted need pulsing in my clit, I cling to my hatred of him.

He took my brothers away from me. Every moment away from them is torture.

I need to pay it forward.

Somehow.