Page 35 of Hidden

I take a good swig, eyeing her. She keeps looking back and forth between James and I, maybe trying to picture us doing other things. “We’d be happy to stage a demonstration whenever you want,” I tell her with a wink.

“I’m quite alright.”

Kit turns around. “Hmm. Not a bad idea…” he eyes the handcuffs. I know as soon as he starts rubbing his hands together that this is either going to turn out really good or really bad. Maybe both.

“I don’t need to see anything,” Calai is quick to bite out. “I didn’t even see anything, not really.”

James approaches her, cornering her against the kitchen counter where she stands frozen so she can’t get away. “I think you saw quite a bit, omega. What do you think, doesn’t Colter look good with my dick shoved into his mouth?”

I watch her shudder and it’s game on.

“Did you see how hard he came? You know he was thinking about you, right? Fantasizing about how badly he wants to sink his cock into you and fill you up, knot you until you scream.”

James runs his nose along her throat, passing over his claiming mark. Calai whimpers and I find all my possessive, eager-to-please, dominant instincts rising to the fore, wanting to show her everything she’s curious about. Everything she’s never known.

“Come over here, Calai. Let’s get you back into bed and put you back in your time-out.”

“Are you seriously still cuffing me to the bed? Why? Where do you possibly think I’m going to try and go out here?”

“I’m not sure,” Kit replies, “but I think we can all agree that when you set your mind on escaping, you give it your best shot. I’d rather not have to hunt you down in the middle of the night through bear country when you decide you’ll find a better place to call home. Sooner or later, pet, you’re going to accept that we are your future. You’re claimed now, you wear our marks. No other alpha will take you and anyone that might be tempted to help you escape will know that coming in between a mated omega and her alphas is a death sentence.”

Kit struggles as he carries her to the bed, flopping her down onto her back and pinning her there with his body before even reaching for the cuffs. She’s got on another long, flowy dress and I’m dying to explore underneath it, to slowly peel it off her legs and taste every inch of her.

“Before we get to the fun part, how are you doing emotionally, pet?”

I would say I’m surprised that Kit is taking the time to evaluate her before trying to drive her wild enough to accept any of our touches, but as tough as he plays, he’s still an alpha hell-bent on pleasing his omega.

James and I follow them to the bed, lying on either side of Calai so that she’s surrounded by us on all sides. Her eyes meet mine, and I get the feeling she wants to reach out and touch my face, so I grab her hand and make it happen. Then she turns her head to James, inhaling his scent that always seems to calm her.

“Emotionally? Everything is so confusing.”

“You can do better than that,” Kit encourages her, settling in-between her legs so their hips are in contact.

“I don’t want to delve into my mind just for you to use it against me later as a punishment.”

“Why do you think we would exploit you like that?” I ask her.

“Example one, the handcuffs that won’t go away. Did you ever stop to ask or think aboutwhyI ran that day? Have any of you stopped, even once, to consider what I might be going through?”

Shit. She’s right. We’ve all been so bent on forcing her to fit in with us that we’ve failed to empathize. My heart sinks because I can’t lose this omega. If her heart were to close up to me before she ever opened, we’ve got a long, mated life to get through of being awkward and unhappy.

“I…” Kit starts, searching her face. Calai’s eyes tear up and she closes them, depriving us of seeing those beautiful brown orbs.

“Why would I open up to you? To any of you? You’ve provided shelter and food and clothing for me, yes, you’ve discovered I respond to your sexual stimuli when you try and work me up, but you have no desire to know my mind. I don’t understand anything that’s happening to me, inside or outside my body, and yet you want me to have a little chat with you about how I’m doingemotionally?”

James bows his head, then softens as he brushes some tears off her face. “We’ve never done this before. Clearly.”

“Yeah, and you think I have? My relationship with Eln might have been a big fat fake, but at least shepretendedto care about my thoughts and feelings when we were together. My life has never been my own, will likelyneverbe my own now, so what’s the point in taking time to know me? You’re just going to go on like you planned and take what you want eventually.”

“Calai, look at me right now,” Kit commands, and she’s as helpless against his alpha bark as we are. Her body stiffens underneath him, no doubt more confused again at why she’s reacting like that to his tone of voice.

“We’re assholes and are terrible with women, but we would never, and I meannever, take anything from you against your will. Do you hear me?”

“I hear what you’re saying, but I still don’t believe you. Don’t trust you.”

“And why not?”

“Gee, I don’t know, maybe because my first night with you, you fell asleep with your arms surrounding me; the second night you stripped me naked in the shower and you still refuse to give me any space to find myself when I sleep now. We’re all crammed into this bed, and I get no time to decompress, to be alone, to not be touched or gawked at. I feel raw and bare, and I hate it! Everything is too sensitive, too…exposed.”

---