Page 34 of Captured

“It’s me. Let me in.”

His voice was rougher than normal, but he couldn’t help it. He’d fought his attraction to Flea from the beginning, and while he was giving in to the desire to have her during her heat, he still had to keep himself in check. He couldn’t let himself get carried away and mark her.

He barely heard her huff before she answered.

“Why should I?”

Gra’ar growled under his breath even as his lips ticked up in a grin. Flea would never do things the easy way.

“Because I told you to.”

The gravel in his voice should have warned her but the saucy omega just couldn’t resist pushing buttons. He could have given a better reason, like having medicine for her burn, but she knew what disobeying would lead to and he was testing her. She wasn’t naive enough to think an alpha would let her get away with challenging him with her body calling to the desire to dominate.

“That doesn’t sound like a very good reason. I could just leave the door locked, spend my heat in here alone. You can guard me from that side.”

“You’d suffer. Deny yourself the knot you so desperately need.”

He let the words hang in the air. Every omega’s cycle was different but hers seemed to be hitting fast, and the first was always the hardest. But Flea was also stronger and more independent than a lot of omegas, and Gra’ar knew she was capable of surviving on her own. She was right, so he was giving her the option. She could let him in or not.

But Flea wasn’t innocent and was almost as cocky as an alpha, so he appealed to another part of her. He let his voice drop, adding a hint of purr to his words.

“You know you want it. You want me locked deep in your core, spilling my seed to soothe your womb. You don’t want to sit in there alone when there’s a willing alpha right here.”

The wall popped in, swinging open to show Flea leaning against the wall in the candlelight, one brow raised.

“There’s always a willing alpha when an omega wants a knot, don’t think you’re special.”

His grin widened even as he pushed out a warning growl. She was right, but he wasn’t going to entertain the thought of another alpha knotting her.

Stepping in, a quick glance showed she hadn’t followed the second half of his instructions even if she’d behaved and stayed in the room. He knew her instincts would be riding her to build a nest, but she was fighting it for some reason.

Dropping what he carried except the little tube of cream, he kicked the door shut and watched as she turned to engage the lock. When it thumped into place some of the tension left his shoulders, letting him focus more on the little omega staring up at him. There wasn’t much space in the small room, so her position leaning against the wall by the controls meant she was well within arm’s reach.

Gra’ar placed a hand on the wall on each side of her shoulders, hemming her in but leaving enough room between their bodies for her to escape if she wanted to. The feisty little thing only narrowed her eyes, lips twitching as he leaned in to trail his nose along her shoulder and neck. Her scent was stronger, the smell of slick thick in the air, her pupils blown, but she kept herself still.

“What makes you think I’m not special? Even if you’ve had an alpha before, I can guarantee they weren’t like me.”

He felt the tremble that passed through her, delicate pink lips popping open with a quiet gasp. The furrow between her brows told him she was in pain, but she was holding herself together surprisingly well.

Moving his palm to her shoulder, he let his hand slide down her arm to cup her injured wrist. He straightened as he held up the cream to show her what it was before opening the cap. Squirting a small amount onto her wrist, he massaged it into the reddened flesh before tossing the tube aside and moving the hand he cupped to press against his erection.

Flea stammered something that he cut off by raising a finger to those lush lips, watching her to admire the sparks in her eyes as he hushed her.

“Where’s our nest? You were a good girl and stayed here like I told you to, so why is there nowhere for me to rut you.”

He only had a second’s warning before her teeth were clamped on his finger. She may have thought her growl was ferocious, but the delicate flutter did nothing but send more blood rushing below his belt. His already hard cock stiffened further, demanding release from its confines so they could show the omega who was in charge.

Gra’ar kept his reaction to a smile though he knew she felt the twitch, leaning in again to brush his lips along Flea’s throat, adding a scrape of his teeth just under her ear before thrumming a purr directly into the delicate shell. Flea’s entire body shuddered, a whimper escaping her as fresh slick perfumed the air and her fingers clenched around his trapped length.

“I brought you more bedding. Are you going to make us a nest?”

She cut off her high-pitched whine with a negative shake of her head. Pulling back and releasing her hand, he stared down into her eyes. He’d never been with an omega during her cycle before, but the nest was the one thing that was always stressed about an omega in heat.

It was their safe space. Something they needed.

His brow furrowed. Flea’s gaze was slightly unfocused, a light sheen of sweat shining on her forehead in the candlelight. One hand gripped her lower belly while she steadied herself with the other against the wall behind her. She’d removed the baggy outer shirt she’d worn and the tight tank top beneath did little to hide the way her chest heaved with each breath. She seemed on edge, but he didn’t know how to soothe her into doing what she needed to relax.

“Flea—”

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