Omega’s Gamble by Claire Cullen

Chapter Thirty-Four

Raine staredat the shield machine in dismay. He was never going to be able to figure this out, especially not with a clock ticking down to the attack by the royal alliance.

“This is… this is too much, Darien. I’m barely an alchemist. You need a master of the trade, not a…”

“You’re exactly what we need. Alchemy isn’t a study to you; it’s instinct. You live and breathe it.” Darien’s hands caught his shoulders, turning him gently. “I have faith in you, Raine. So does my father, or he would never have let you see this. You were sent here for a reason. That’s clear to all of us. You heard what my father called you.”

“A blessing on your family,” Raine whispered, his stomach twisting.

Darien frowned at him. “Why do those words bother you so much?”

“It was part of that prophecy, the one that foretold my birth. I was supposed to be a celestial blessing, one of three. My father assumed that meant I’d be an alpha, like he wanted. It made him all the angrier when I was born an omega.”

The alpha’s frown turned to a look of surprise. “Celestial blessing?”

“I know. Ridiculous, isn’t it? The historian who unearthed the prophecy was exiled from the kingdom for being a charlatan. He’s lucky my father didn’t have him executed.”

“I hope he found good employment elsewhere. I suspect he knew his stuff.”

It was Raine’s turn to be surprised. “What?”

“Stormshield has its own ancient prophecy. It says our kingdom will be graced by three celestial spirits in our hour of greatest need. I’m not sure how much stock I put in those ramblings of old, but my father has no such qualms. He suspected from the moment you stepped foot on our soil that you were more than meets the eye.” He gestured to the machine. “How do you feel when you look at this?”

Raine turned again, startling a little when Darien’s warm hands landed on his shoulders.

“I feel awed by it,” he said, staring at the creation. “But it also feels… familiar somehow.”

“Familiar? You’ve seen something like it before?”

“Never. I don’t think there’s anything like it anywhere in the world.”

“If I asked you to make it work, could you?”

Raine knew the sane answer, the only answer, was no. But that wasn’t what slipped past his lips.

“Yes. I… I think I could.”

* * *

Darien was never verygood at watching other people work, but there wasn’t a lot he could do to help over the next few days as Raine worked hard to familiarize himself with the shield machine. It helped that Raine liked to talk through things out loud, and Darien learned a lot each day about the machine and its many components. His father had explained some of it, but hearing it from the lips of an alchemist was a very different thing.

“Explain it to me again,” he urged, feeling they were close to a breakthrough.

Raine sighed and put down his tools, his hands on his hips.

“The center of the shield is a generator, powered by celestial silver. The current runs along the seams of silver-blue alloy across the island and under the ocean, activating each of the sigils in turn. There’s a critical mass that has to be reached—enough of the sigils have to power up, and once they do, it creates a dome of kinetic energy around the island. A shield. Nothing from outside can come in, and nothing from inside can go out.”

“And the glass dome above the machine?” Darien was still a little lost as to its purpose.

“I suspect, when the machine powers up, it’ll map out the network of seams and sigils, showing which are active.” Raine ran a hand through his hair, letting out a long breath.

“Then the question is still the same. Why isn’t the machine powering up?”

The omega nodded. “That is the question. It should work. All the components seem to be functioning. I just don’t know why…”

“You said celestial silver needs a trigger, right? With the glove and the hammer, it was a combination of things. What if the machine is the same? What if we just haven’t figured out the trigger yet?”

“You’re right. That has to be it.”

Raine was moving, walking around the machine, ducking to look at different parts.

“Here, see this.”

Darien came to crouch next to him. “What am I looking at?”

“This, here.”

It was a piece of metal shaped like the base of a bowl but textured rather than smooth.

“What is it?”

“That’s just it. I have no idea. But there are four of them, one on each side of the machine.”

Darien examined the first one then circled to look at the rest. They were all the same size, all formed from the same metal. The only difference was the textured surface of each one.

“This one points due north,” he said. “The others east, south, and west. That can’t be a coincidence.”

“No,” Raine agreed. “And they’re shaped like they’re meant to contain something. But what?”

There were hundreds of elements or objects that could potentially fit into them, which made the possibilities endless, unless…

“Think simple, Raine. This has existed here for hundreds upon hundreds of years. It was meant to be dormant for long periods and activated when we needed it. They wouldn’t have made it impossible to use by triggering it with something rare. They’d have used something commonplace, found in abundance.”

Raine’s eyes lit up at his words.

“Each cup has a different texture… but it’s more than a texture, it’s a pattern. Small images repeated.”

They checked each cup again carefully, sketching the four images into the dusty ground at their feet.

One of the images looked familiar. “What if that’s supposed to be a raindrop? It could mean water.”

“Yes!” Raine almost clapped his hands. “And that looks like a seeding sprouting up. Earth.”

“Which makes this fire.”

They both looked at the last symbol.

“That can’t be air, can it? How do we get air into a bowl?” Raine wondered.

“There’s air already in there. Maybe it doesn’t need to be filled, it just is?”

It was easy enough to test. They had a supply of water with them, and Darien had flint to strike a spark. They worked together, filling one cup with water from a flask, digging into a corner of the cave floor for soil, and tearing a few scraps of paper into pieces which Darien lit with a spark from the flint.

Then they stood back and held their breaths, hand in hand as they waited. Would it work? Or were they as lost as when they started?

It began with a creak, like the turn of a crank. As the seconds passed, it grew louder, and they could see the components of the machine start to move—a lever here, a cog there—whirling faster and faster. White light grew from the center, heat radiating from it. Above the machine, the frosted glass cleared. An image of the island appeared, with lines tracing the seams of silver, like spokes on a wheel. No, not a wheel. More precise than that, given the directions they aligned along. A compass.

“It works,” Darien breathed.

“It’s beautiful,” Raine murmured, entranced as he stared at it.

“You did it.” He took the omega into his arms.

“We did it,” Raine corrected.

“No.” Darien shook his head. “This… this was all you. We were fumbling around in the dark until you got here. This is hope, Raine. You brought us this. You. Amazing, beautiful, clever, and so strong.”

He drew Raine’s attention away from the glowing machine, stealing a kiss. The heat from the machine, and the excitement of their success, had his head buzzing. Raine was warm and willing in his arms, returning his kiss eagerly. He licked Raine’s lower lip, nudged his mouth open, and teased his tongue inside, loving the soft sounds the omega made.

Backing Raine across the room, he drew them both to the floor, on top of their abandoned coats. With sure fingers, he tugged Raine’s tunic off and undid his undershirt, button by button. Raine’s eyes were warm and dark, his gaze intent on him.

“Are you sure?” the omega asked.

“I want you. And I want to share myself with you.”

He pulled off his own tunic and undershirt, reaching down to untie his pants. Raine helped him push them off, his fingers skimming Darien’s thighs. The simple touch made his breath hitch, and he stole another kiss, refusing to let go until they were both breathless.

Raine grew restless, shoving off his pants in a rush. And then they were naked, lying together, nothing between them but skin. Darien let his fingers run down Raine’s body, brushing along his arm, his chest. He explored in slow sweeps, watching the way the omega reacted to his touch. Raine was all wide eyes and hitched breaths. When Darien teased a nipple, he bit back a whimper.

“Too much or not enough?” Darien murmured.

“I… I don’t know. Neither? Both?”

He circled Raine’s nipple with the pads of his fingers, giving him more, letting him get used to the sensation. When he brushed across it again, Raine let out a low moan, pushing into the touch. Darien wanted to see more, wanted to hear the omega’s voice in a way no one else had. His fingers found the omega’s other nipple, distracting him with teasing tweaks while he brought his mouth to Raine’s chest. His tongue found its target, and Raine’s quiet moan became a loud cry. He arched his back and pushed into Darien’s touch, his voice cracking. Darien sealed his lips and sucked, bringing Raine to new heights. The omega was panting and shivering, pushing into his touch one moment and pulling away the next. Darien turned his attentions to the other nipple, loving every reaction he pulled from Raine. The omega touched him cautiously at first but grew bolder as the minutes passed, his hand running possessively up and down Darien’s back.

“Darien,” he whispered, nudging Darien’s head up to press a kiss to his lips. “I want you. The way a husband wants a husband. I want you to make me yours.”

Darien laced his fingers with the omega’s. “We are husbands. And you are mine, body and soul.”

He eased Raine onto his back and pressed a hand to his stomach. “One day soon, you’ll carry our child.”

There’d been so much else to think about, that children had only come up in passing. But Raine’s reaction to his words told him enough.

“Soon?” the omega whispered, his eyes lighting up.

“Very soon, I hope.”

He eased his hand lower, fingers wrapping lightly around Raine’s half-hard shaft. He stroked it a few times, watching Raine’s eyes, diving in for another kiss, and swallowing the omega’s moan. He explored there just as thoroughly as elsewhere.

When he urged Raine onto his stomach, the omega moved obligingly. Darien stroked the skin of his lower back, down across his cheeks, giving the omega a chance to get used to his touch, to relax again. Then he eased a finger into his cleft, stroking it lovingly. He found Raine already wet, making a pleased sound as his finger slowly circled the omega’s hole. Raine shivered and bit off a moan as he kept up the light, teasing touches.

He waited for the omega to beg, a choked out, “Please, Darien,” before he pressed just the tip of his finger inside. The low moan that escaped Raine’s lips went right to his groin, his cock hard and pulsing.

“How does it feel?” he whispered.

“Like… like you’re touching me everywhere, all at once.”

He pressed his finger deeper, loving how Raine’s body opened to him, welcomed him. Raine’s breath hitched, and his fingers scrabbled at the blankets beneath them as Darien took his time working him open. One finger became two, then three, the omega’s moans and pleas growing louder. And then it was time.

Darien eased his fingers out, ignoring Raine’s muffled protest, and helped the omega onto his back once more.

“I want to see you,” he told Raine. “See your eyes when I’m inside you.”

He watched as Raine’s gaze trailed down his body, the omega’s hand following. He ran a finger down Darien’s chest, splayed his hand across his stomach, and then slowly caressed downward until he could wrap his fingers around Darien’s cock. Darien hissed at the touch, resisting the urge to thrust into the warm heat of Raine’s hand.

“You’re going to put this inside me?” Raine asked, seemingly mesmerized by his cock.

“That’s the general idea,” Darien teased.

“It’ll feel good?”

“Very good, I hope. For both of us.”

“I’d like… I want… I want to feel good. Not much has ever felt good, except with you.”

He was sweet and eager, and Darien just loved it.

“I’ll take such good care of you,” he promised.

Raine moved willingly, bending his knees, letting Darien press them wide as he made room for himself between the omega’s legs. He rolled one of their cloaks up, slipping it under Raine’s back to prop his hips up just right.

He covered the omega’s body with his own, bringing their faces close, kissing Raine’s chin and cheek and then his lips. He kissed him breathless, easing closer with each passing second, and then pushed slowly inside him.

He swallowed Raine’s gasp as their bodies became one. The urge to rush was undeniable, but he wanted Raine’s first time to be memorable for both of them. With effort, he held back, giving Raine time to adjust to his size, to the press of him inside.

“Darien?”

“Raine?”

“I need… I think… You should move. Please.”

So he did, with slow, careful thrusts as Raine moaned and his breath hitched.

“Faster.”

That was easy to do, his body crying out to sink into Raine’s tight heat.

“Harder.”

“Are you sure?”

“Don’t argue,” Raine chided with a grin. “I’m clever, remember?”

The omega’s legs wrapped around his waist, shifting the angle between them. On Darien’s next thrust, he sank deeper. Raine’s body tightened around him, drawing a deep groan from his throat.

“You’re a quick study,” Darien teased

“It’s easier than alchemy. Harder, too. You’re a part of me but not, all at the same time.”

Darien pushed out and sank back in, stealing Raine’s breath away.

“My goal is to take you out of your head,” he said with a grin.

“No one’s ever done that,” Raine said, watching him with dark eyes as he moaned and shuddered.

“I’ll be the first, then.”

He liked a challenge, and learning the mysteries of Raine’s body was just the kind of challenge he had always wanted. He pressed a hand between them, stroking Raine’s hard cock and loving the way he thrust into his touch as if he couldn’t help himself.

“Darien, I can’t—”

The omega came, crying out as his back bowed. Darien held him through it, shushing him, murmuring sweet nothings in his ear. He kept thrusting, chasing his own release which was still building inside him.

“That… that was…” Raine stuttered.

“Not good enough,” Darien managed to say between pants. “Not if you can still talk.”

He redoubled his efforts. Words failed them both as he took up a faster pace, angling his thrusts, trying to find that elusive spot he knew would do the trick. When he found it, Raine’s reaction was glorious. Wide-eyed shock at the surge of pleasure, then pure joy when Darien did it again and again. His own climax crashed over him in a rush, just as Raine’s body tightened around him once more, the omega coming hard. They clung to each other, riding out the wave after wave of pure pleasure that drowned them.

As it ebbed, he rolled them both sideways, keeping hold of Raine. The omega was limp, his eyes dazed, his whole body relaxed—a deep contentment. He wasn’t thinking or talking, just present in the moment, there in Darien’s arms.

When he finally regained the ability to speak, his words made Darien laugh.

“I didn’t regret marrying you before, but I definitely don’t now.”

Darien kissed him again. “High praise indeed.”