Chapter 12

Devin’s laughter dissolved into giggles, then faded all together. She gasped as Beau came nearer, her heels digging into the twisted sheets to shuffle up the bed until her back slapped the headboard.

“Beau, enough.”

“She’s fine.”

She supposed he meant to be sensuous, displaying his body to her, the play of muscles as he made his way towards her in a slow crawl. It took him an age to reach even her feet where Rey’s hand clamped down onto Beau’s shoulder to stop him. Glancing at her mate, she noted one of Beau’s hands on the rich ochre of a thigh, gripping the taut muscle.

Perhaps she should be terrified as Rey thought she would be, but the hint of levity still teased at her senses. Beau was dangerous, she had no illusions about that, but he wouldn’t hurt her with Rey so close. It made her braver than she should have been. Chin canting to the side, one side of her lips pulled up at Beau’s performance, rolling her eyes as he voiced a throaty growl.

She didn’t know where the playful tease came from, but she grabbed hold of it with both hands. Reveling in the not-so-simple act as heady warmth invaded her. One foot freed from the knotted sheets, she put her arch to the firm swell of his shoulder. Pushed hard, and it was only because he let her that the insignificant nudge made him sway. Neither missed the fact her new position opened her to him.

Neither did Rey. Possessive thunder vibrated through his chest as he launched himself at Devin. Would have hurt her if he landed on top of her as he aimed. Only Beau’s steady hands caught him, wrenching Rey back at the last moment. Forced to his knees, Rey jerked at the implacable grip Beau had on his arms.

“Maybe I do you like this, hm,” Beau whispered at Rey’s ear, though his piercing gaze never left Devin, their bodies swaying as she could only guess at what Beau hid behind Rey’s bulk. “Let you wet your dick inside of her so I can fuck you both.”

Devin’s inhale was shaky, eyes wide at the implications of what Beau was saying. She couldn’t begin to fathom it, though her body remembered well how it worked. That had been her body, though, caught between the two primal males as they used her. The vision of two Alphas caught up in the act… Devin couldn’t explain the rush of heat coiling low in the cradle of her hips, but she couldn’t deny it, either.

“Oh, she likes that idea,” Beau rasped, one hand sliding down the broad expanse of Rey’s chest. He kept going, fingers trilling against the dusting of wiry curls that arrowed down to bring Devin’s attention lower.

Rey was growing hard, chin tipped down so he could stare at Devin’s legs. It was then she saw the unconscious shifting of her thighs, seeking pressure against the tingling sensation running rampant through her.

Was this her? Did Rey want this, and the bond was infecting her thoughts? She couldn’t deny that the scene held appeal, that it had warm tendrils licking through the cradle of her hips.

The moment of confusion brought Rey’s eyes up to hers. Despite the furious glare of heat exuding from the depths of rich umber, he gave a terse shake of his head. In a move that bounced her down the mattress with the violence of it, Rey heaved Beau’s body around and slammed it into the bed to be pinned beneath the firm weight of Rey’s knee on his chest.

“That isn’t how this goes,” Rey husked, eyes still fixed on Devin as he leaned forward.

Beau’s sigh was dramatic despite its strained quality as he twirled two fingers through the air. “Fine. Always taking, never giving, Danny boy.”

Chuckling at Rey’s low growl, Beau slid his hand up Rey’s thigh, caressing the heavy power of it before brushing the tips of his fingers against the thick root of Rey’s cock. Beau’s eyebrows bounced once, an unasked question as he looked at Devin.

She was beyond lost, emotions waging a bloody war within her. Darkness scratched at the back of her mind but refused to make itself clear. Despite her anger at someone else touching her mate, the jealous possession of that particular part of him rearing its hideous head, she was… curious. Beau’s pale blue eyes were swimming with heat. Longing. His desire raging across the rugged charm of his features to turn his lips deep pink, a flush staining his cheeks as he sucked in a deep lungful of Rey’s scent.

Gnawing at her lower lip, Devin slid forward until her knees were flush to Beau’s side. Gasping and jostling at the first touch, she slapped Beau’s hand when it tickled up her thigh. Her other hand connected with Rey’s chest, shoving him back as she struggled to slow the careening tumult of her heart back to something approaching normal.

She was in control, she reminded herself. As much as she could be, anyway. Nothing happened to her without her say so. Dragging in a deep breath of spiced espresso, Devin leaned over Beau. Cradling Rey’s throbbing shaft before closing her fingers over it, she angled him down towards Beau’s parted lips.

Not without her say so.

She stared back into Beau’s eyes as she rubbed the velvety smoothness over his lips. Kept his gaze as she leaned closer and pressed her mouth against the opposite side. A pale brow slid up, a fiery shock of surprise racing through stormy blues before Beau opened his mouth wider and sucked. They worked in tandem, kissing and licking at Rey’s length. Both reveling in his low rumbles of pleasure, the sharp pain of his fingers in their hair. Devin watched from a mere inch away as Beau groaned at his first salty taste of Rey’s arousal, lashes fluttering as he savored it on his tongue.

Daring and possessive both, Devin pushed Beau’s head away as she covered the swollen crown. Sucking hard to bathe her tongue with the heady taste of espresso and strawberries. She didn’t have to worry. Beau didn’t complain, working his way down the thick shaft to mouth Rey’s balls. That suited her needs just fine as she worked the firm pressure of her lips further down Rey’s length. Laving the smooth flesh, she butted him against the back of her throat.

A hand glided across her shoulder, taking possession of her nape before it pushed her forward. It forced Rey deeper, down the tight ring of her throat that convulsed around the intrusion. Rey’s groan was a wild thing, a quiet roar that resonated through her. An almost call that urged her on.

With her eyes watering, she sunk deep into the dreamy haze. Swallowing around the pulsing thickness, feeling the hard pounding of Rey’s heartbeat against her tongue. A glancing touch of wet heat, the taste of cinnamon, and Devin didn’t mind the bite of nails along the back of her neck. She could ignore the grinding pain as the hand clamped around the delicate column to guide her into a steady rhythm.

Each breath labored into her lungs, a rasping gasp in the mere seconds allowed her before the stern grip pulled her back. Devin’s throat ached, abraded by the constant friction from Rey’s thickness. Stomach churning at the too swift intrusion, the slow drag back to the head taking forever. She tried to whine her discomfort, pet at Rey’s thighs to plead for gentleness. All for nothing as he bucked, smashing her nose against the flat planes of his body. Fucking her mouth with the same brutal urgency as the hands tugging at her hair, squeezing her throat.

Clarity was a surge of glacial water through her senses. It scoured away every particle of warmth, the liquid heat that was Rey’s need gone under the rising tide of icy realization. Two hands. The math was all wrong, the angles impossible. As soon as she jerked her head back only to be shoved forward, she understood what was happening.

Her stomach lurched. A threat and promise. She didn’t want this anymore. All she could sense was Rey’s lust, his need. Beau’s desire sat thick on her tongue as a breath rattled its way into her chest. They were lost in themselves, in each other.

Though her first instinct was to bite, she knew she couldn’t. Would never. Palm flat to Rey’s hip, she shoved. Hard. Dug her nails into the thin skin below it in an attempt to get his attention. Beau groaned low in his throat, his lips catching Devin’s as he forced her further down Rey’s shaft.

She propelled her body backwards the moment Rey’s fingers loosened. Using him as a springboard, she managed to topple into the pillows. She might have screamed. Wanted to as she wiped at her mouth as if she could rid herself of the very sensation and taste of them both.

“Sweetheart—”

“Leave me alone.” It wasn’t even a whisper. Her throat so abused, it was a breath of desert sand, the scrape of sandpaper over her eardrums. Devin curled on her side, tucking her knees to her chest. Making a smaller target for the two sets of eyes devouring every inch of her flesh. She wanted to be gone, and for a breathless moment, wished the hollow numbness would return, so she no longer had to feel the sucking guilt and swollen desire twining through the bond.

It hadn’t been her at all. Not a single part of it. At least, she didn’t think so. She couldn’t dissect the emotions flailing through her, the twisting of her heart, to be sure. From the moment the laughter began, she’d lost sight of everything.

Rey wanted it, whether he admitted it or not. The moment Beau laid his hands on Rey’s body, it ignited whatever they had between them. He wanted Beau. Wanted her as well. She could still feel the breadth of his need, devouring everything in its path to see three bodies entwined. Devin was a bystander, a crux in their desire for one another. If she’d had any interest at all, he’d latched onto it and fueled that flickering spark into a raging inferno. One that she let consume her.

“But you were doing so well, being such a good girl,” Beau husked, the heavy threat of his palm sliding from her ankle to thigh. Gripping the soft flesh and giving it a hard tug, he tried to drag her back to them.

Beau’s desire was a tangible thing. Flushed cheeks and reddened lips spreading with his cruel smile. He wanted the same as Rey. Wanted to enact all his pain onto her body as he reveled in Rey’s attention. His cake, and Devin had no doubt he’d consume her whole if he could.

“Get off of me!” She did scream then. As if from a long way off, she saw her leg moving. The gentle roundness of her heel connecting with the strong line of Beau’s jaw. Even beyond, slamming high on Rey’s thigh. Pain rocketed up her leg, twisting through her knee to make it pop.

Their shock was a bitter thing sliding down her throat, much as Rey had. Harsh, choking, unwanted. She used it, though. Devin scrambled from the bed in the stammering heartbeat it took them to collect themselves. She dove for the door and would have ripped it off of its hinges had it not opened under her hands. Running was bad. She knew they’d give chase. You never run from an Alpha, let alone two of them high on their pleasure. Yet there she was, sprinting through the dark halls. Aiming for the front of the house and beyond it, escape.

It was broad daylight, and she didn’t have a stitch of clothing. A car honked somewhere nearby, the jarring sound sending her soles stuttering over the gleaming wood floor. She didn’t want to go out there. Grabbing hold of the jamb, she swung around to the right. Throwing her whole body against the door, she slammed it in Rey’s face, shaking fingers throwing the pathetic excuse of a lock. It wouldn’t stop him, or Beau, who she heard pounding down the hall.

Bathed in brilliant golden light, Devin slid down the smooth wood at her back. She knew she should get away from it, that they’d hurt her just by busting through the damned thing, but she still brought her knees to her chest. Hugged them tight as the tears began to overflow. Bitter and hot, they trailed down cheeks warmed by her anger. Flush with her rage despite the fine trembling of fear that shook her limbs.

“Open the door.”

Calm. Collected. Devin wanted to hate Rey for how natural the words sounded as they filtered into the room. Labored breathing underlined the demand, proving Beau wasn’t half as in control. Grinding the heel of her palm against her chest, Devin’s head made a slow arc. Left, right, center. She wasn’t opening a damned thing.

He gave her the illusion of control. Didn’t barge in, no pounding fists. Voice coming nearer, deeper, he murmured quiet words of comfort through the door. The richness of his purr muted but no less unforgiveable as he plied her senses, using it against her. Their bond hummed, urgent whispers to obey seeping through her body. Making her limbs heavy, thoughts stumbling as Devin clung to her anger. Keeping it close to purge the hazy warmth invading her.

She wanted the caustic inferno to swallow her whole, but knew it wouldn’t. Not as she battled the internal pull his every breath had upon her. Slapping clammy palms against the floor, Devin struggled for a full breath around the cruel hunger to surrender.

“I want to go out. Do things,” Devin whispered into the too full silence. “If you’re going to make me a slave to your needs, then you give me that, Rey.”

“Sweetheart, I won’t let—”

“You promise me I can go outside, and I’ll do whatever you want.” Devin swallowed hard around the cold lump rising in her throat. She beat at the discordance of the bond, the short-lived ache helping nothing.

“You’ll do what I say regardless, girl.” Still so calm, the arrogance of an Alpha threaded through his voice. Lending it the heavy weight of a command, giving her no option to refuse.

The scream slammed into the back of gritted teeth. It fought hard to be free, pounding away at her temples as she rose from her defensive huddle. Between one strained breath and the next, she made her decision.

Devin ripped the door open, the flimsy lock coming apart under the violence of her rage. Omegas were small, weak. They had a breaking point, too. Having long surpassed what she thought herself capable of enduring, she embraced the crimson mist overtaking her. Clutched it to her breast, letting it infect every part of her and pushing it through the bond. Forcing him to feel it. To feel her and the last fuck she had to give crumbling in sweet decay.

Rey didn’t fall to his knees. He’d prepared this time. The bond raged. Roared with all the violence of an Alpha as his will pushed and shoved at her. Demanding, refusing to be ignored.

“Is that so,” she asked in a grinding purr, lips spreading wide in a smile that fast approached deranged. “Are you prepared for that, Rey?”

A flicker of unease. The delicate bloom of uncertainty crushed under the chill of pride, but not before Devin saw it. She chuckled, the sound hoarse and raw. The scrape of fingernails over rotted wood as she stepped towards him, a slow sashay that promised pain. Line in the sand drawn, she stalked her prey.

“Stop this, Devin.”

“You think using my name is going to help?”

“Enough,” Rey said through a thundering purr, taking her arm to drag her closer. Forcing her to feel his heat, his brows crashed together when she didn’t melt against him.

“I tried playing nice,” Devin said in a singsong, trilling her fingers against his chest. “You brought this on yourself. Just remember that, mkay?”

“The fuck is wrong with her,” Beau murmured as he eased towards Devin’s back. Blocking her exit in case she tried for the front door again.

“Nothing’s wrong with me.” Devin scoffed, giving a slow shake of her head. “I told you I would make you regret ever laying eyes on me.”

“You need rest.” Rey took a step back, the fine lines around his eyes deepening when Devin stood her ground.

“What I need isn’t your concern, apparently,” Devin said, swaying as the bloody haze thickened. A roar built inside her head, drowning everything beneath the unbearable weight of it. “Let me go.”

“Never.”

Beau cleared his throat, looking between the two. “Get her back to bed, Rey.”

“If you hadn’t forced it—”

“Me?” Beau barked a caustic laugh, cupping Devin’s elbow. Pushing her a step forward, he compelled where Rey thought to cajole. “She would have gone for it if you hadn’t gotten all up in her head. You did that.”

Even now, they were ignoring her. Arguing amongst themselves as they drove her down the hall. She’d had enough. Devin closed her eyes, dragging in a slow breath. Savoring the richness of Rey’s scent for what would be the last time. She wouldn’t let him kill her by slow degrees. Wouldn’t succumb to whatever twisted needs he thought to enact on her. His lips might say he wouldn’t do it again, but she knew. Felt it all the way down to the marrow of her bones.

He”d never give her what she needed. Would always take and take. Rey would make more demands, each tearing away a little more of her soul until—poof—no more Devin. Reduced to a dead eyed breeder, a thing for him to amuse himself with.

She didn’t need to, but envisioning the bond as a tangled golden thread connecting her to him gave her something to hold on to in the real world. Fists at awkward angles, she clutched at the shimmering bond as if it was a tangible thing. Ripped at it, shredding it beneath fingers that turned to claws. Digging it out of her flesh, determined to scrape it from beneath her ribs.

Rey had prepared for a fight. A battle of wills he knew he’d win. He wouldn’t expect something like that. The deafening bellow rang through her ears, trying to drown the roar within her head. Shock attempted to drag her from under the bloody tide as her body connected with the wall. Flung against wood and plaster, her descent to the floor never completed as Rey grabbed her. He crushed Devin between his bulk and the wall to press their bodies together. Chest to chest, he sought to keep the shredded pieces of the bond between them.

Fire scoured her body. Raked bloody claws in the soft, wet places beneath her ribs as it lacerated her heart, her lungs. Her very soul. Whatever lay between Rey and her became caught in vicious teeth. Gnawed on until the delicate threads of Devin’s sanity split and snapped. It scraped through her, a bloodied edge snatching away every trace of warmth. Left her cold and desolate in a bitter wind that held the salty taste of her misery.

The numbness returned. No longer aching, she was a hollowed version of her former self. He couldn’t hurt her there. Couldn’t make his demands, force his will onto her.

For the first time in her life, Devin felt free. She only wished it hadn’t come at such a cost.

Desperation always demanded a price.

She’d finally paid it.