End of Chapter 35

"I—" Seraphim's brows jolted, knotted together, lips almost twisting into faded static.

"I knew it," Rue stepped towards the door.

"Rue." She paused at the sweep of water before her, eyes sliding back. His body so close to her, that she could feel his heat radiating in the air. And his breath fanned over the length of her jaw, ghosting over the sensitive skin of her scent gland. "I don't make sandwiches for you every day just because I'm nice."

"So," Rue exhaled. "We're talking about payment now for the breakfast?"

"Gods no," he scrubbed a hand across his face, a long heavy sigh that had her insides melting. "I'll take care of you, whether you like it or not."

"That sounds like a threat."

"Rue, I'm as crippled as you are by this arrangement." His voice was low, so low her body stirred, slick almost puddling between her thighs. "I'm nothing with you. Do you understand what that means? I'm nothing."

"Nothing is a big fucking word."

"I'm weak with you," he whispered. "My poison does not protect me when I'm with you. I'm so weak, you could cut out my heart with your hands. You are my greatest weakness. And it's exhilarating, it's freeing, it's incredible. And I need you to know, you could practically do anything to me."

"I always knew you wanted to be spanked."

"Rue." His cheeks were pink, and so were his ears, when she cranked her head back to look. And his stupid mouth was lush with a full pout, red and swollen from his teeth. And suddenly she was aching for them, aching with a throbbing clit, with goose-fleshed skin. She swallowed down the purr that almost began, her Omega itching to sink into him the way she should. "You can do anything you want with me."

"And what do you want me to do with this information?"

His giggle was soft, light, and nervous but airy. "Just try to let me in."

"In what?" Rue laughed, but that sounded false.

"I'm not your enemy. I won't let Dante throw you out. There's a place for you with me on Planet 3, and it's not in a stupid cage. It'll be on a seat as an Alpha like you wanted. I can do that; I can make that happen." Seraphim's lips trembled. "If it's what you want."

"Big empty promises for the only cock sucker you have in this world."

"I don't need you to suck my cock," he mumbled. "I cum just from sucking on your clit. I'll love to just go down on you forever."

And Rue's eyes widened, widened as her heart soared and leapt to the sky. Because if that wasn't the sexiest shit she had ever heard from a man's lips, she didn't know what could be sexier. "You're giving up on getting your dick sucked?"

"I-it was never an option in my life. I'll be fine with…You."

"Oh," her words were messy now, choked up in her throat. "Besides, you can't promise anything."

"I'm the emperor," Seraphim murmured, nervously scratching his cheek. "It's the least I can do."

Rue shook her head, shoulders shaking. "What are you going to do when the whole world comes for you? When Dante barks a command at you?"

"I can ignore him."

"Don't be stupid, Dante is your pack Alpha."

"I don't know." Seraphim's giggles were sweet. "Aren't you my pack Alpha?"

And she stared then, stared at him long and hard. "God. You are so…" But her cheeks were warm and hot, sweat beading on her skin. He smelt fucking good. And she did just cum on his lips, lips that were juicy, swollen and so damn fucking kissable. She turned away and his exhale was loud, shaky and raw.

"Rue, I like you."

"Shut up."

"I might lo—"

"Shut the fuck up."

And she turned and for the first time in their lives, they shared a kiss. A genuine one. Lips parted, slick, carnal and slippery, with her tongue dipping in to meet his, drenching and twisting in the taste of him. It was filthy and raw, faint and burning. And she could smell them both in the air, the rush of neediness, the gasping breaths, the burn.

His Alpha purred under her skin when she dug her fingers into his skin when his hips pressed into her – cock swollen, throbbing and slotted between her thighs. He deepened the kiss, and she took it from him, exchanged heavy breaths, and made unfamiliar lips familiar. Oxygen was lost and then returned, lungs burning, and yet she was so fucking needy she couldn't stop. And he couldn't stop, had her slammed hard against a pillar. They were all sloppy, spiralling out of control, intensified by the jump of his cock between his thighs, almost pawing for more. And her slick was dribbling, wet and soaking onto him, drenching the hot, delicious bulge—

She parted from him with a snarl, and the vision of him was perfect, eyes wet and raw. His moans were sinful, her arousal like a deluge. His eyes were so glazed, so unfocussed he didn't even seem lucid, darkening into a shade she had never seen on him before. The dilation was incredible, from watery to a deep, hard and angry black.

That kiss has been serious, the blind fondling, the roaring pulse of his heart. The taste of him was so good, it was incredible, like sampling liquid gold, like the pure sweet tea of his pheromones. He wanted her, and she knew that, knew it when she looked at him. Her mother's words were pounding in her head, to lock him in to have her fill, to sink her teeth into his neck, to kiss those ripe, red lips again. She felt so fucking alive, with their hearts beating, with their breaths in sync.

And suddenly she was so damn fucking scared.

"You're so annoying." And then she stepped out of the tent with a curse on her tongue.

*

"Levi," Rue hissed, stepped out, fingers combing through her hair. The air outside was cold and it chilled her quickly. She was shaking, her heart slowing with each icy breath. But she knew that the hades was there when her hips had slotted with Seraphim's, when her lips had pressed to the poseidon's. The shadows had jolted, had crept in. The world had grown darker as if jealous, as if envious "What do you think? Your man's just given up on you."

"There was no man to give," Levi replied, arriving like the devil he was. There was a darkness in his eyes, a tongue to his cheek. "Enjoyed that, Rue?" His smile was blinding, teeth white. "Did you enjoy kissing a mated man?"

"He just fucking told me he loved me," Rue snapped back. "He's so full of shit."

"He didn't say that" Levi stated. "But he tried to. I suppose unless he wanted to say, 'I long for you'. But you didn't let him finish, did you?"

"God, you slug, when do you even take a piss break?"

"Maybe I'm pissing while I talk to you."

Rue ignored that. "I might take them all away, break you all up," she hissed. "Have you thought about that?"

"Who?"

"Seraphim, Kieran, Halcyon, Valentino, Altair—"

"What, not going to take me away too?" Levi smiled; arms wide open. She hated how sexy he looked, decked out in armoured silver, hair-sleeked back, muscles rippling like a Greek God, and she supposed he was one. "You've already taken my shadows; Kieran and I are a package deal. He'll need me."

"Kieran was mine the day we met."

"But I allowed him to," Levi's scoff was sweet, sweet agony, a raspy timbre that had her shivering. "Darling, don't kid yourself. I let him go."

"What about all the shit you feel about Omegas?" She kicked her shoes in the dirt. "Have you thought about that? Your mate," she jerked a thumb at the tent, metres away in the distance, "wants to elope with me."

"Ah," Levi exhaled, lips quirked into a smirk. "That will be fun."

"What are you going to do when we start running away to pop out a million babies?"

"That does sound like the fish," Levi chuckled, nodding in Seraphim's direction. "He would try to lay as many eggs as possible to increase his chances. But it doesn't matter, he's my mate first. He'll come back with you. And if you didn't already notice. I can't be apart from you, can I? Odds are, if you tried to run, you'd find yourself happily surrounded by lights and shadows. Even Kieran waits by your side, if you call his name three times, he'll come running."

"That's fucking bullshit." Rue snarled. "You're so full of bullshit."

"Don't be disappointed. I thought you were going to be our little Twink. But now we're learning to love our handsome Omega butch," his tease was heavy with insinuation.

"Throwing out the word love too huh? But of course, you are," Rue snapped. "This is all part of the plan, isn't it? I'm just your precious baby machine. And you need that machine to relax and be happy. You don't see me for me, you don't look at me like I'm not an Omega."

"I don't know what you mean," Levi murmured, his voice was solemn now. "But you are an Omega."

"And what does that mean?"

"Like how I'm an Alpha, you're an Omega." Levi's brow was pinched. "You are what you are, you can't change that."

"But I'm Rue," she snapped back, stomping off. "I've always been just fucking Rue."

Levi called then his voice echoing across the wastelands. "You're also the only guide that hasn't died from Seraphim's Rampage."

*

An 'A' was stamped into her report later that day, brilliant and shiny on the console. And she huddled deeper into her jacket on the spacecraft back to Hakon. Theo sat by her side, weary and haggard, his body drenched in dust. Her classmates were in similar states of shock, a silence stretching in the once noisy vehicle. And Rue couldn't help but ask questions, her brow furrowed with concern at some empty seats.

She cleared her throat, whispering, "so, how was it?"

Theo paused and turned to look at her with a frown. "It was hard, so fucking hard I wanted to give up." He collapsed deeper into his seat; headphones plugged in. "A couple of people in our class failed, they won't come back."

"Why?"

"They almost died," Theo whispered. "One Esper went crazy. Some poison on the battlefield. He just came rushing in for guides. It wasn't supposed to happen, but they're in critical condition now. The Esper," his voice went rough, "he killed some of our seniors."

"I see, I'm sorry you had to..."

"God," Theo turned away, fists clenched, "it's what we get paid for, it's why the prestige we get is so high. Their families will be happy for them." His voice grew softer after. "You?"

"I guided one of the emperors," she shrugged. "Just a handshake wasn't—" Rue stopped herself from her complaints, suddenly realising she was being a whiny bitch. "I guided them properly, I guess. I just had to because the situation called for it."

"Yeah," Theo nodded, smile pinched. "It's good that you know now." He turned to look outside, headphones on, conversation over.

And Rue turned towards the window, a scowl growing on her face. She was the only guide that didn't die from Seraphim's rampage, the only guide that came out of the whole experience unscathed. And that meant if she quit…If she left, there would be more dead guides, more bodies, more deaths. Rue was quite literally the only one who could withstand the seven emperors and the only one who could save them from themselves.

Fuck.