Page 19 of Ruthless Alpha
“I made her a little slip to sleep in,” Lenise explained, “and I think it might be what you’re looking for.”
She held out the garment, a satisfied smile on her face. Admittedly, it was almost too perfect: the slip tied closed right beneath the bust, leaving the material to flirt with opening around the belly and hips before it finished at mid-thigh. It was made of linen so thin that it was almost translucent, and looking at it sent a thrill of terror through me.
“Thank you,” I said. Taking the slip felt like carrying stolen goods, like someone would take one look at me with it and know I was up to something, but I tried to look calm as I packed it away into the bag I’d brought with me.
“You’re lucky, Arbor,” said Gina. “The rest of us, we might get to spend a few weeks or months enjoying the Alpha’s company, but when he gets bored, we’re back to the dormitories and fighting off assholes who want the Alpha’s leftovers.”
I didn’t have anything to say to that. When I looked a little closer at her, I saw that there was a long scar running from the base of her neck and across her chest, disappearing beneath the neck of her tank. Had she got that fighting off a male who’d wanted more from her than she was willing to give? Was it a fight she’d won, or one she’d lost?
Another question echoed in the back of my mind, one I didn’t want to have to answer: would I use my magic if it was all that stood between me and a male who demanded more than I was willing to give? Would I use it if I could spare another female from that violation?
I was spared having to answer when Cole pushed open the door.
“You ready to get back?” he asked me, not sparing a glance for the laundresses, none of whom acknowledged him in return. It wasn’t really a question. He was clearly irritated at being asked to babysit me in the first place.
“I’m ready,” I told him. He only grunted in response before disappearing back out the door. I scrambled to get my bag and follow him out, sparing only a second to look over my shoulder and say, “Thank you.”
Lenise waved me off, and then I found myself back in the fall chill. Just like last time, Cole offered no small talk on the short walk back to the Alpha’s residence, standing stiffly at the door until I was inside and out of his sight.
I clutched my prize to my chest, more determined than ever to ensure my new owner’s favor. If I wanted to stay here in relative comfort, to be spared the dormitories and the males of Ensign, then I was going to have to get and keep Xander’s attention. There was no way he wouldn’t grow bored of having a housewife who didn’t perform her chief wifely duties.
I rushed through the day’s cleaning, fairly certain that Xander wouldn’t notice if the skirting board wasn’t dusted, to make time to shower and wash my hair before he returned home. Dinner was a simple steak and salad, and I tried to pass off my mortification as a coy blush when Xander asked if I’d managed to find anything that fit from the laundry.
He excused himself to bed early, as he usually did, and my stomach churned as I went through my almost-familiar evening routine. Only tonight, instead of pulling on the shirt he’d given me that first evening and crawling into bed, I slipped into that baby blue nightdress. There was no mirror in my room, but the material was tight around my breasts, squeezing them against my chest, while the skirt teased at the tops of my thighs.
Taking a deep breath, I reminded myself that my survival was more important than saving myself for my mate, or any romantic notions like that. There was no room for romance on Ensign. I might not have a mate or a male I’d chosen, but I had a husband on whom I relied for safety and a roof over my head. I had a male who required pleasing, and I was going to please him, whatever it took.
Chapter 9 - Xander
At first, I thought I’d imagined the soft click of my bedroom door opening. The house was old, and it creaked in the night. If I could smell wildflowers on the air, that wasn’t unusual: Rosie left little traces of herself everywhere, and I was still unused to sharing my space with someone, with having another scent to mingle with my own. I kept my eyes closed, chasing sleep, until I felt weight on the side of my bed.
I sat bolt upright.
“It’s just me.” Rosie’s voice was soft and low, and I could make out the shape of her even in the darkness of the room.
“Are you okay? What’s the matter?” I asked, scrambling for my bedside light. My fingers found the switch just as I felt Rosie move, and when I looked back at her, my eyes adjusting to the warm light, she was straddling my lap.
I quickly came to the conclusion that I must be dreaming; Rosie’s blond curls were loose around her shoulders, her blue eyes hooded, her white little teeth biting down on her bottom lip. That look alone would have been enough to make all the blood in my body rush to my cock, but then I realized what she was wearing. Light blue material caressed her body, inviting my eyes to linger on the generous line of her cleavage, following it down to the teasing little ribbons keeping the garment closed.
As my eyes moved down, I saw that it was barely closed at all. Beneath that tempting ribbon, the skirt was split down the middle. It might have been decent enough when she was standing, but the motion of straddling me had parted the two sections like curtains in the morning, exposing the soft, pale skin of her stomach and a pretty little patch of blonde curls at the junction of her thighs. My mind went blank. I didn’t have asingle thought beyond the desire to reach out, to run my hands over every inch of her skin, to kiss and lick and bite at the generous mounds of her breasts, to slip my fingers between her thighs and feel where she was hot and slick, but I was frozen where I sat, overwhelmed.
“Nothing’s the matter,” she said. I had asked her that question, hadn’t I? “I only—you bought a wife, not a housemaid. You’ve been so patient with me. I wanted to—to—” she rolled her hips, and for a moment it was enough for me to ignore exactly what she’d said. I was hardening rapidly beneath the sheets, my body trying valiantly to distract me from why she was really here.
When I really looked at her, when I forced myself to see past all the ways she was driving me wild, it was easy to see the fear. Her whole body was trembling, and her breathing was unsteady and a little panicked, her teeth digging down too hard into that pink lower lip. When I met her eyes, I could hardly stand it: she looked at me like I was a monster about to eat her alive.
“Get out,” I growled, my hands fisting in the sheets. Had I really let her think this was what I wanted? Had I been so unsubtle in my desire that she felt she had to do this to appease me?
“What?” she choked, her expression dropping from fear to—hurt? Whatever it was, I hated it, but I couldn’t do anything to appease her.
“I said, get out.”
“But—”
“Get out. Now.” This time, I infused my voice with Alpha authority, needing her to leave that very second if I was going to let her go at all.
I hated myself as she scrambled from the bed, fleeing toward the door with tears welling and spilling down her cheeks. She was probably going to hate me forever for this, but that was better than taking advantage of her. Letting her hate me for this was far better than allowing her to hate me for touching her when she didn’t want it.
I wanted to be gentler with her, to take her hand and tell her that none of this was necessary, that she was safe with me no matter what. However, I simply didn’t trust either of us to let that happen. If I was soft with her, she’d try to argue that it was fine, that she wanted this, and I didn’t know if I was strong enough to resist that—not when she was already on top of me, half naked and beautiful in the dim light.
