Savage Prince by Alison Aimes

16

Tess was flailing.

Palms flat on the sterile cell floor, her body shook, heaving for air that never came.

The pain was intense.

She didn’t know if it was the gas, or the choking weight of a betrayal so heavy it pressed down on her lungs and stole her breath.

The edges of her vision dimmed.

Could Rav really have owned her all this time while pretending to be her friend? Her ally? Her hope for freedom?

It seemed impossible, and yet a small part of her wondered.

He’d had more latitude than the rest of them. He’d disappeared for long periods under the excuse of being Aldar’s errand boy. The guards, even Nils, had been so careful with him.

No! It had to be a mistake.

Because if it wasn’t an error, everything she’d believed was a lie.

She didn’t know how to recover from the immensity of that kind of betrayal.

Fire singed her nostrils and throat. Her arms folded beneath her. Her head hit the ground.

Maybe this was better.

What did she have to look forward to? An actual interrogation? The guilt of watching Skolov die and knowing she was responsible for that too?

She’d always told herself she was a survivor, but she wasn’t so sure she could survive this.

Her eyes sunk shut.

No! She commanded herself to rise.

She did not give up. Rav might have deceived her, but she could still fix this. He couldn’t continue to steal her will unless she let him.

A shattering sound echoed—or maybe it was just her determination surging back to the fore.

Except her eyes wouldn’t open. Her lungs wouldn’t fill.

“Tess!” Big hands pulled her close. The heat of a warm, powerful chest slammed into her, anchoring her when she might otherwise have floated away. “Wake up. Now!”

Even without opening her eyes, her body knew him. Scented his power and his will. Maxheim Skolov. Wading into the wreckage of her life yet again. Snatching her up as if he had every right. As if she needed his help.

The force of his tenacity battered through their bond, bulldozing past her doubts, and refusing to allow her any quarter.

He cradled her to him as if she was something precious. As if he could protect her. Fix her. As if she wasn’t broken beyond repair.

A low rumbling purr vibrated from his strong chest to hers.

What was that? She pressed closer. The rumble soothed her as nothing ever had.

It was a confusing, lovely dream.

Because no one could break the reinforced glass. No one could fix her. And the truth was, Skolov wasn’t her salvation.

He would only bring greater ruin.

He was Brotherhood and he was a thousand times more powerful and ruthless than Rav. Look what had happened to her with her ex-friend? Lies. Deception. Pain.

Wouldn’t it be so much worse if she let herself be taken over by an Alpha like Skolov?

Whatever small pieces of herself she’d managed to hoard away would crumble, her will turned to ash, her sense of self obliterated.

Still, the Alpha holding her felt so real, the heat and scent of him solid and comforting. His purr calming and right. The only anchor left in a collapsing world.

Which was why she buried her nose into his throat and let herself cling.

It was only a dream, after all.

Once she awoke, she’d pick up her own pieces and endure.

* * *

Clank. Clank. Clank.

Tess blinked open bleary eyes to see a helmeted figure with empty, dead eyes being dragged by his ankles through a doorway, his armor knocking against the tiles as he disappeared out of sight.

Blinking, she tried to clear the fog from her mind.

She was wrapped in a blanket and leaning against a vibrating wall. Dents and head-sized holes pocketed the walls, along with crimson splatters.

There had been a battle. She was on a shuttle.

She sucked down a sharp breath, only to cough as the raw burn in her throat hit hard.

The memories struck even harder.

The gas. Rav’s betrayal. Shattering glass.

“Maxheim!” She pushed to standing. Or tried. Her legs were wobbly and wouldn’t hold her well.

She did it anyway, using her palms along the wall to drag herself upright. If he’d been hurt . . . There was no sign of shattered glass or the cells where they’d been kept. There were no other guards, either.

None of this made sense. The gas was making her sluggish.

A clanging sound echoed from outside the room. Her heart jolted.

Maxheim? Or someone else?

Her gift sparked, but it was hardly reliable. She looked around the space for some kind of weapon. The space looked as if had once been a control room, full of crew piloting the shuttle.

But it wasn’t operating now.

Except for a few crimson streaks splattered on the walls and flashing equipment, the flight center was empty, as if they’d fled in panic.

A massive figure appeared in the doorway.

The organ inside her chest surged with relief. She opened her mouth to cry out his name once more—only to trail off.

Maxheim had returned, but not like before.

The battle had pushed him over the edge.

Her savior was in full beast rut.

His fangs flashed while his horns jutted from his head, and the head of his cock pressed boldly against his trousers. The manacles from his earlier incarceration were still around his wrists and ankles, and the tail of the chains slapped the ground as he shifted restlessly in the doorway, the low purr rumbling from his chest once more.

He looked like a beast unleashed.

Need slammed through, her omega instincts clamoring in response.

She honestly didn’t know how he’d gotten them both out of that cell, but she was beyond grateful—and, gods, that purring sound. It arrowed right to her core.

“Mine.” He growled the word, his eyes tracking her like a predator did its prey.

She trembled in place.

She wasn’t afraid of him. Not any longer.

But she was afraid of her raw response to him. After Rav, could she truly trust another Alpha so soon? Her body gave a different answer than her mind.

Slick pooled in her folds. Goosebumps rose on her skin.

Skolov’s nostrils flared. His eyes narrowed. As if he sensed her need—and the battle that waged inside her.

“Mine,” he snarled once more.

Then he turned, biceps bunching as he cocked his fist.

He slammed his knuckles into the wall by the door. Crash.

She gasped.

Crash.He did it again. This time, she understood his purpose. He was punching the door’s control panel.

Crash.Crash.Crash. He slammed his fist against it three more times until smoke wafted from the wall and the electronic mechanism that controlled the door died.

He’d locked everyone else out.

Or, more accurately, he’d locked her in.

Heat kindled in her core.

She fought it. “Wait.” Panting, nipples already stiff against the rough blanket, she raised a hand to ward him off as he crowded close.

But he was too far gone.

Horns snapping straight, he pressed into her upraised palms. “Mine.”

She pressed her thighs together. His touch was so different from the others. So good.

Bending his head, he licked at the column of her throat, his thick shaft grinding into her belly. “I would never let them hurt you.”

Her hands curled against his chest, her hips rocking against him despite herself. “It’s not safe.” And she honestly wasn’t sure if she meant the current situation or something more.

He cocked his head, his nose still pressed to her skin. “All dead. My omega secured.”

All dead.

She looked him over. A few laser marks singed his skin, but no grave wounds. Manacles still encircled his wrists and ankles, making him look every bit the wild convict. Blood streaked across his massive chest, arms, and thighs, but most of it appeared not to be his.

Gods, he was so strong.

She mewled low, her nails raking his skin, the omega in her desperate to submit. Until she remembered all that was at stake. “We need to escape.”

“Brothers coming. Plan D. Plenty of time.” He nuzzled her throat once more. “Time meant for other things.”

“Maxheim,—”

“No more talk.” He wrenched the blanket away and tossed it to the ground. Then, with a growl, he dragged her down on top of it and flipped her onto her stomach.

“Mine.” Looming over her, his chest against her spine, he pressed his mouth to her ear. “Present.”

Her heart jolted against her ribs. His rumbled command vibrated straight to her clit. Her body screamed at her to lift to all fours and arch her back like a good omega should.

But her mind wasn’t so sure.

Skolov seemed different from Rav. Her body cried out that he was different. But what if she was wrong once more? She’d never doubted herself more than she did now.

Maxheim growled, low and fierce. “Mine.”

She pressed her lips together, the urge to whisper yours almost more than she could contain.

“Mine!” With a grunt, his lower body pinned hers to the ground, rocking his thick cock into the split of her bottom. He slid his palm beneath her hipbone, titling her bottom, a single finger ghosting between her folds to find her swollen clit.

They groaned in unison, her head falling back as her eyes sunk shut.

He was so much bigger. It was all too easy for him to move her however he wanted. Make her feel whatever he wanted.

Without warning, he flipped her over. Their gazes locked.

His intense stare took in every reaction she tried to hide. The regret. The need. The relief.

“Tess.” The single word was a groan and a plea. A sudden streak of amber cut through the red in his eyes—as if he was fighting the rut. As if he was grasping for control.

“Maxheim.” She whispered his name. “W-what if this isn’t right?”

Anger flared in his gaze. “It is right. Always.”

But he didn’t move.

Instead, his eyes sunk shut, his jaw flexing.

Was he trying to control the rut once more? Did she even want him to?

She was desperate for him. Only him. But she was also afraid. “I don’t . . . please. I’m so confused. Lost.”

His eyes flared open. “Not lost. Found.”

“It doesn’t feel like that,” she whispered. “It feels like I’m drowning. It feels like I have nothing left. Like everything’s been taken from me.”

With a roar, he shoved back from her.

His spine hit the shuttle wall.

Shocked, she pushed to her elbows. “Maxheim—”

“You are mine. You just don’t know it yet.” Still in a crouch, he raised his hand. “All I have, I’ve had to take. It’s the Alpha way. But from you, I want what’s given, not seized. Earned, not stolen.”

Standing, he threaded the loose chain attached to his manacle through a handrail running the length of the control room. Wrapping it around the bar over and over, his gaze remained locked with hers.

Her heart stuttered. Given, not seized. Earned, not stolen.

Was that even possible between an Alpha Lord and an omega slave?

“Before we met, I preferred things simple. Not anymore.” He kept securing the chain to the rail. “Now, all I want is you and whatever complications come with it.”

She swallowed hard.

“Force won’t prove it.” He tightened the chain so his wrist was pinned to the wall at hip height. “You think you have nothing left. No choices to make. Think again.”

Then, gaze holding hers, he loosened the laces of his pants.

His hand shoved within, his veined lower arm flexing as he gripped his cock.

She gasped.

The corded muscles at his neck strained as he worked himself roughly, his handling far less gentle than she would ever have been. “You want me, Tess? You want this? Come and get it.”

She moaned, the sight of his veined lower arm flexing as it plunged into his trousers the sexiest sight she’d ever witnessed.

“L-let me see.” She whispered the words.

He grunted, satisfaction flaring in his gaze.

His wrist flexed as he pulled out his cock, his hides bunching beneath his hips while he worked his hand from balls to tip, his movement never slowing.

She couldn’t look away.

Precum leaked from the tip, the thick vein pulsing—in time with the ache in her clit.

She licked her lips, her nostrils flaring as her nipples tightened.

She wanted it to be her hand stroking up and down his length.

She wanted it to be her pussy gripping him tight.

And he knew it.

“Give me what I need,” he growled. “Take what’s yours.”

Excitement rippled through her. Her folds grew wetter with slick.

“You think you’ve lost everything?” he challenged. “Think again. You have so fucking much to gain.”

She swallowed hard, her stare never losing track of the slow, tantalizing grip of his fist as it slid up and down his cock.

“You’re not drowning, baby. I’d never let you. You just need to reach for me.” He paused. “Your choice.”

Her breathing hitched.

She’d already been primed by the memory of his arms around her, his refusal to leave her in that alley, his expression as he told her what Rav had done, the sound of his purr, the way he insisted what was between them was possible when every sensible part of her screamed it was wrong.

But now he’d added another irresistible lure: the freedom to choose.

“Maxheim.” Her body lurched toward him—only to be brought up short by the next words out of his mouth.

“Don’t forget, omega.” His voice was heavy with meaning. “Every choice comes with consequences.”

His warning rolled through her, as ominous as the winds before a storm.

Say no, and she’d lose this moment forever.

Say yes, and she’d be advancing her connection to this unpredictable male in ways she could not begin to fathom.

She eyed him, trying to think past the lust.

He was three steps ahead of her. She could see it in his gaze. Plotting, planning.

Her body didn’t seem to care.

Now that he’d given her the choice, she wanted his hands on her. His cock buried deep inside her.

“Come to me, Tessa.” He worked himself faster. “You want to choose? Choose me.”

Falling to her hands and knees, she crawled toward him.