Chapter 6

Discomfort emanates from the center of my chest despite the satisfaction pulsing through my cock.

She looked so perfect with her lips wrapped around my shaft. In contrast, the sorrow leaking from her eyes hurts the decrepit organ pounding against my sternum.

I don't enjoy seeing her so torn.

I push the weakness away and guide my tiny scorpion to her feet before rising and scooping her into my arms. When she doesn't fight, my chest tightens. I meet her gaze but look away.

She needs a moment to recover. So do I. The kernels of softness growing in my heart concern me. I've worked toward satisfying my need for revenge for so long. She will not thwart me. I will break her parents for their betrayal.

As I turn off the water and stride out of the shower, I wonder if I made a mistake. Taking her with the promise of breaking her and morphing her to my will seemed the perfect ending, but her silent tears after she fought so hard bother me.

I shove the worries away and stomp through the berthing area. Tucked in the nook on the far side of the room, a counter and cabinets hold both gardening and food supplies. I pull a tray from the fridge and place it beside the pitcher of water before pulling the first aid kit off the wall and sitting in the only chair.

With a shuddering breath, my tiny scorpion sheds her melancholy and pushes my arm away. I ignore her attempt at control and resituate her on my lap until her back presses against my front and her knees bracket mine. She wriggles until my cock hardens under her ass. Fear and intrigue wafts from her tense little body as I drape my arm across her lap and easily pin her in place.

"Eager for more already?" I murmur against her temple.

She doesn't respond. I brush my scarred cheek against her silky flesh and nip her ear before sitting up and perusing the tray. Deciding to offer her the simplest thing first, I pinch off a piece of flatbread and hold it in front of her lips.

"Eat, tiny scorpion. You'll need fuel to survive what I'm going to do to you," I promise.

Her reflection, although warped, shines clearly enough from the backsplash for me to see her lips twist. After a silent battle within herself, she opens her mouth and accepts the bite.

I pull her lower lip down with my thumb as I retreat. The softness of her delicate flesh sends desire pulsing down my spine and pooling into my balls. Her wetness seeps into my lap, but I pluck a small strip of chicken from the plate and bring it to her mouth.

She doesn't hesitate to take it this time. As the flavor bursts across her tongue, her eyelids slip closed and a small sound of delight leaks from her chest. I teeter on the edge of my control.

"What is this? What am I eating?" she asks after she swallows.

I slip another morsel between her teeth and relish her reaction.

"Roasted chicken."

My voice emerges like the low rumbling of thunder from a far-off storm.

She pauses mid chew and glances over at the plate with doubt in every curve of her profile.

"Tomorrow we'll have goat," I say.

She twists to look up at me.

I lose myself in her gorgeous, wide brown eyes.

"How?"

"My alliances run deep. My power runs deeper. Ever wonder why your father hid under the fighting pits?"

She shrinks in on herself and turns away, but I use my index finger under her chin to swivel her gaze back to mine.

"The pits are the only neutral territory in the entire city. Alphas from neighboring vessels visit to gamble and fight. He was hoping to buy passage off my destroyer. Do you know why he couldn't?"

She searches my face with wary eyes. My alpha instincts long to purr in delight. Her resilience astounds me.

"Because he isn't the only one who tried to stab me in the back, but he is the only one who survived my wrath. No one would dare help him. It was just a matter of time before I found him. Until I found you."

I stroke my finger over her cheek and cup her hip in my palm.

"I admire his perseverance as much as I hate his ability to hide from me. Evasion may have been the only thing I didn't teach him, which makes his skill that much more frustrating."

"You taught him?" The disbelief in her tone both amuses and insults me. I lift my lips in a lopsided smirk and wrap my hand around her throat.

"Yes, tiny scorpion. Whatever fighting skills he taught you won't be enough. I'm the original mastermind behind his moves. You have me to thank for having an appa who could protect you so well all these years."

Her throat moves against my palm as she swallows. I turn my attention to the plate, but when I return with another bite of chicken, she still stares up at me with wide eyes.

"You were my appa's mentor?"

"I pulled him from the slums and gave him purpose. He repaid me by betraying my trust and stealing my omega."

Her brows scrunch, but there's no challenge in her questioning stare. The urge to preen as she studies my face grows to an embarrassing level, so I push the food into her mouth and scoff.

"Don't tell me your appa never mentioned me? I spent years teaching him."

She grunts and shakes her head.

"On the contrary. He talked about his mentor all the time. He just never said it was you. And he didn't steal omma from you. She—"

I shove a large piece of flatbread into her mouth. Whatever she plans to say will only anger me, and with her slick coating my lap and her curves pressed against mine, I don't trust my tenuous control.

After a few rushed bites, her shoulders slump in defeat and she stops trying to speak. I slow and study her response to each new flavor and brush a finger over her swollen lips. Lust pools between my legs and my shaft pounds against her back.

The intimate act of feeding her from my hand endears me to her. Old yearnings spring to life.

This is what I wanted when I first found her mother. Someone to share quiet moments with. To build an unbreakable bond and have unending support out of view of the cruel world.

The horrendous acts I've committed to keep a modicum of peace for my ship's population would curdle the most fearsome alpha's stomach. I don't regret doing them, but they haunt me in my quiet moments.

I shove my musings aside and growl when she turns her face away.

"My stomach hurts," she says.

I slide my hand from her hip to her belly and eye the tray. Deciding she's had enough food for now, I pour water from the pitcher into a tin cup and press it to her lips.

She takes a sip and moans in surprise.

"Why is it sweet?"

"Honey," I say.

"How?"

With wonder and curiosity in her voice, she glances over her shoulder at me.

"Let me guess, your alliances run deep," she says.

I chuckle and respond, "And my power runs deeper."

I tilt the cup and let her drink half the water before making her take a break. As I eat the remaining food, she fights her exhaustion, relaxing to the edge of sleep only to jerk awake. I jostle her as I reach for the water. She accepts a few sips and remains tense for another moment, but as the silence stretches, her lids droop.

I pour another glass, mindful of the amount of slick dripping from her, and silently demand she drink it.

She will be fully hydrated and well rested before I knot her. I dip my head and check her scent. She's close to estrous, but a sliver of incompleteness plagues her otherwise robust bouquet.

I open the first aid kit and rifle through for the disinfectant and a bandage.

Shock spears through me when my tiny scorpion leans forward and takes the items from my hand. She tries to stand, but I tighten my arm around her and growl.

"Let me do it," she demands.

After a moment of thought, I flex my fingers into her hip before releasing her. She stands and turns to face me.

With a flush on her cheeks and breasts and her hips brushing against my inner thighs, she glances at the items in her hand before meeting my gaze.

"I'm not sorry for stabbing you."

The spark in her eyes lights an inferno in my veins. She antagonizes my alpha instincts, but the promise of having her hands on me silences my fury.

I quirk a brow. Her flush deepens even as she flattens her lips and steps out from between my legs. My cock bobs and a pearly drop trails from my tip, over my flange, and down my shaft to join the sheen of slick she left behind.

She takes a sterilized cloth from the first aid kit and sets the bandage on the counter before kneeling beside my hip. With a steely glance up at my face, she presses the cloth under my wound and pours the disinfectant. I flinch as pain sears through me, but exhale through my teeth as the agony fades into a dull throbbing.

She sets down the disinfectant and runs the cloth gently over the area. Her wet locks cling to her temples and breasts, and when she leans forward to check her work, a few strands transfer to my outer thigh.

"You need stitches," she says.

"You just want to stab me again, even if it's only with a needle, don't you, tiny scorpion?"

She doesn't deny it. I chuckle.

"No stitches. I'll just rip them open and make a bigger mess when I rut you. Cover it with a bandage and leave it be," I say.

She chews on the inside of her mouth. I growl and pinch her chin.

"Stop, tiny scorpion. I'm the only one allowed to hurt you."

Her pupils shrink. I ghost my thumb along her bottom lip and deepen my purr.

"What's your name?"

"Vynn."

She blinks, jerks back, and glares up at me as though I betrayed her. I smirk and pull her lower lip down.

"You've known my name for years, so it's only fair I know yours, although I think tiny scorpion is fitting, too. Your eyes tell me you'd like to sting me again. Do you need another lesson, Vynn?"

She rises in slow motion, unwilling to trigger my instincts but desperate to get off her knees. I track her movement, ready to pounce the moment she flees.

"No, I don't need another lesson, but I do need a better bandage. And tweezers. You've got metal in your back."

There's nothing wrong with the fabric clenched in her fist, and the tiny slivers of debris in my back and calves are so shallow they barely register, but I allow her the distraction and enjoy the view of her backside as she rummages through the first aid kit.

I stay in my seat solely through the promise of her hands on my flesh, but plan to ravage her the moment she finishes bandaging my hip.

My cock pulses in agreement.

My nose says she isn't ready.

I grind my teeth.

I'll make her ready.

And I'll enjoy it, too.