Then he sits.
And pulls me across his lap.
My knees hit the floor. The hem of his t-shirt rides up around my hips. My legs are trapped between his thighs, strong and unmovable. I try to twist away—try to wriggle free—but his arm locks across my lower back, holding me tight.
“Wait,” I gasp.
He doesn’t wait.
His palm lands hard on my ass. The crack of it echoes in the chamber. White-hot pain flares, blooming out through my body like a brand.
The alphas laugh.
He spanks me again—harder. My whole body jerks with the force of it, a whimper escaping before I can catch it.
“That what it takes to get you to behave?” Javi growls low, his voice like gravel in my ear.
The third slap lands. My thighs clench without permission. My pussy aches. Heat licks down my spine and pools where it shouldn’t. My face burns, my ears ringing with the sounds of their laughter, the sick pleasure in their eyes—but I can’t stop it. I can’t stop the throb, the need, the way my body is betraying me.
“Little omega so desperate for discipline, you start dripping the second I lay a hand on you,” he murmurs, loud enough for them to hear, formeto hear.
Another slap. My hips buck. I bite down on my lip until I taste blood, the pain only grounding me in the sick, unbearable pleasure of being handled like this.
He leans down, his mouth brushing my ear as he brings his palm down again.
“You gonna keep mouthing off, sweetheart?” he rumbles. “Or you gonna learn your fuckin’ place?”
One last slap. My vision blurs. My body goes limp over his lap.
And then—without ceremony—Javi yanks my shirt back down, grabs me like I’m weightless, and tosses me over his shoulder.
“You make one more sound,” he snarls, just for me now, “and Iwilltake you apart in front of them.”
I whimper, swallowing it back, my entire body trembling—not just from shame.
But from want.
His arm wraps around my thighs, possessive, protective, his hand splayed over the backs of my legs to shield me from their eyes. My face is pressed to his bare back, and all I can feel is heat—his skin, my shame, the wet ache between my thighs.
“I’ll take care of this,” he snarls.
The room goes still.
And then it parts for him.
He walks out like a storm given flesh, my body draped over him, limp with confusion and unwanted need. I catch a glimpse of my father’s smug smile, Ephraim’s thin-lipped fury, Abel’s unholy glee.
And then we’re through the door.
I don’t know what he’s going to do next.
But I can’t deny the way my body is trembling for more.
13
PEACHES
We catch a lot of looks as Javi carries me back to the Citadel—alphas leering, betas ducking their heads. His hand stays firm on the back of my thigh where I’m slung over his shoulder, like he’s daring anyone to challenge him. No one does.