Page 9 of Merciless & Mated

The snap of her teeth when I pushed the truffle onto her tongue almost caught my skin, and she yelped when I gripped her jaw.

“Just because I haven’t punished you yet doesn’t mean I’m not going to. You’re going to wish you had behaved.”

She wrenched her face away and chewed silently on the sweet. Everything they had brought was decadent and calorie-dense so only a little needed to be consumed before everyone could get back to their fucking. All of the options were finger food, requiring no utensils, which was a smart move considering how many people were brought here against their will. Bad for business if the clientele was getting shanked by forks out of nowhere.

Gianna was much more cooperative as I fed her the deep-fried ravioli dipped in marinara. Her stomach growled while she ate, betraying how desperately she needed each bite.

Her hair dried while she ate, the sodden strands tightening slightly into soft, fuzzy waves. The peach tea scent that clung to her skin softened as her hunger diminished, letting her relax as I dismantled each of her discomforts. I couldn’t do anything about the one that was still coming, or the lifetime of discomfort she would likely face living at the compound with Bianca hanging over her head, but at the very least she would want for nothing, except her freedom. I couldn’t give her that even if I wanted to.

Between the two of us, we finished off the tray and Gianna sat in silence next to me. “Sleep while you can. You’ll need the energy.”

The fire in her eyes hadn’t dimmed one bit. She stood and rounded the bed, climbing under the blankets in her robe and curling into a ball. I’d expected her to have trouble sleeping with me so close, but my omega was out like a light in moments.

I should get some sleep as well, but I only stretched out on the bed, tucking my arm beneath my head and turning so I could watch her. She faced away from me, but I could still see the slow steady rise and fall of her breathing.

I was the first of Bianca’s inner circle to be given an omega, even if it was in a backhanded and roundabout way. We all had lovers as we chose, so long as we still warmed Bianca’s bed when she had the inclination to want one of us. Would that change now that I had a mate? Gianna probably wouldn’t give a fuck if I was in someone else’s bed, but the quiet distaste I had always felt when summoned to service Bianca was growing into an unbearable weight the closer I got to claiming Gianna. I could only hope that having a mate wouldn’t make me a novelty.

With a sigh, I closed my eyes, and let my fingers curl around Gianna’s damp hair.

CHAPTER 5

GIANNA

The moment I woke and sat up to look around the room, Marco’s eyes snapped open.

“It’s time,” he croaked groggily.

I was already sweating beneath my robe. The door blocked the majority of what was going on outside, but the muffled sounds had invaded my dreams nonetheless, and the air was saturated with heat hormones no matter how much I tried to ignore them. I didn’t move, instead letting my gaze sweep over the body that would be all over me soon enough. Marco’s blond hair was tied at his nape, his blue-gray eyes watching me with an unnerving focus. His features were all sharp and strong, from his hawk nose, to his jawline scattered with salted strands among the gold. Every inch of him was lean and compact, not entirely defined while he was laying down, but the strength tucked into each of those muscles was apparent even with their current softness. His cock was anything but soft, though, standing at full attention.

I tore my gaze away from it, the pulse of my slowly emerging heat already pounding between my thighs.

“Like what you see, hellcat?”

I didn’t answer. Instead, I pressed my lips together and tucked my knees up to my chest.

“Don’t pout. If it wasn’t me now, it would be someone else the moment you went home.”

“Do you even want me? Or do you just stick your dick in whoever Bianca tells you to?”

His eyes narrowed. “If you’re pissed about the bonding being an obligation, you can just say that.”

“I’m pissed about the bonding itself. You don’t have to fuck me for that.”

“You must think I’m the scum of humanity if you believe I’d trigger your heat just to bond you and then leave you in agony for days until it burned itself out. You’re mine and you’re going to need me.”

I ground my teeth together. He wasn’t wrong. I’d heard stories of omegas denied during their heats, how they emerged a husk of who they were, needing weeks or months of recovery to undo the damage. Without someone there to tend me, I’d take myself to the brink of starvation trying to satisfy the needs of the heat.

“And more than need,” Marco said as he crawled across the bed toward me and lifted my chin, brushing his nose along my jawline to nip my earlobe, “I want to experience you.”

My body reacted instantly, heat pulsing through me. I fought against every urge to tip my head in a silent request for him to do more.

“You can’t hide your desire from me, hellcat. You can give in now or later, but you don’t have a choice in the matter.”

“Don’t kiss me,” I blurted out. “Anything else, just…”

“One boundary,” he whispered against my skin, his fingers threading into my hair to tilt my head and rake his teeth over my skin. “I’ll give you that. The rest of you is mine.”

I couldn’t stop my shaking as he laid his mouth over the scent gland on my throat and sucked at the sensitive patch of skin until I tasted blood on my tongue from biting my lips so hard to keep silent.

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