Inhaling every breath deeply through my nose, like I could pretend I wasn’t purely doing it to catch the notes, I felt my arousal heighten.
I should have known my body would have problems listening to my demands. After all, tempering my arousal had workedsowell with Shan.
Slick gathered between my legs and I shifted, hoping a wet spot wasn’t forming right where Nolan could see my panties. It was bad enough he would scent me once my heightened perfume made it across the room to him. Right about… now.
His eyes widened, and his head snapped to glare at Clement. The man was standing stock still, not even looking at me. “Clement, leave,” Nolan barked.
My body tensed at being alone in this space with him, but he didn’t move. He didn’t focus his gaze back on my body, either. All he did was hunker down in the chair, rocking back and forth, pouting. The man was all big emotions. First, constant grinning and nonchalance. Then a brief flash of annoyance that lit up the entire space. Now, something bordering on dejection.
The silence was heavier with awkwardness now that we were alone, and I broke it. So much for claiming I wouldn’t be breathing a word. Apparently I’d be making chit chat and lusting after my captor.
“What does being a good captive for you entail?” I asked.
He looked up, pout falling into a grin again. His posture changed with the mood shift, and he pulled himself to sit up straight and exude an air of confidence. “I have no plans to rape you, if that’s what you’re asking. Unlike my beast of a cousin. Though, if you ask to fuck me, I’d never deny you the pleasure.”
I snorted. “In your dreams.”
“Only every night for the rest of my life,” he said with a sigh.
I fought back a blush. “If you don’t plan on raping me, why keep me? Oh wait, I know. You’ll sell me on the Zemterran black market or let your friends use me as a little Omega whore.”
A feral snarl, exposing a flash of fangs, melted into laughter. “I think I’ll keep you. Having you here will irk Kylan greatly.”
“In this cage forever? That sounds wonderfully pleasant.”
“You’ll graduate to a suite, eventually. I promise, by the time you do, you’ll never dream of leaving. My business is a wonderful place to work and I’m great company.”
“So far your company leaves a lot to be desired,” I said. “And whether you think I’ll end up with Stockholm Syndrome or if you plan on using mind control, I’d like to opt out. I’ll escape the second you give me a chance.”
Telling him my plans wasn’t wise, but his eyes sparkled at the admission. He enjoyed this back and forth as much as I did. “No mind control here, love. You haven’t even heard what your accommodations would be like here, or what job I would give you in the company. Harbour Assistance was voted best place to work for 2022 in the Black Market magazine.”
“Let me guess, you assist with procuring illegal goods, not setting appointments?” I asked, rolling my eyes.
“Well, that’s one facet I suppose. But mainly we assist with killing people and disposing of their bodies. That’s why I want your friend to come work for me. We pay very well due to the nature of the work and it’s so hard to find outstanding talent.”
He was chatting about assassination like he was a tech CEO looking for a new program developer. I tried to fight back a laugh and got by with only letting out an amused snort. “Do you do much of the killing yourself?”
“Only when we’re short staffed,” he said, flashing his fangs at me. “Or I need to let off some steam. Violence is a wonderful outlet, and it’s a shame more people don’t utilize it. I’m a huge fan of a good fistfight before my target’s inevitable death.”
I would agree, but I didn’t want him to know about my personal violent tendencies. Not until Mabel was in front of me and I no longer needed the bargaining chip. Maybe not even then. “I thought Betas were supposed to be passive,” I said. “Alphas are the violent ones.”
I’d hit a nerve without trying. Nolan’s expression soured so fast I was surprised he didn’t spit a lemon out onto the floor. He stood abruptly. “You should know better than anyone there are exceptions to every rule,” he said.
His sudden offense made me wonder what trauma he had surrounding Alphas. A lot of it probably had to do with him not being one. In a family like the Jitaras, that would be seen as an inherent, unchangeable weakness. Was stealing me from Kylan a way to prove he was stronger? He should have seen my taunt coming, considering he’d teased me about the general softness of Omegas.
Why did I care about his reasoning? The fact remained that I was here and not where I should be, priming to kill a vampire mafia leader and saving my cousin from harm.
“Someone will bring you food periodically,” Nolan stated, his feet carrying him toward the door. “Sleep. I don’t want a prisoner who’s about to keel over from exhaustion.”
The way he phrased it as a demand made me far less likely to listen, but I’d been up all night. Without his gaze burning into me, I curled up under the thin blanket on the bed and was asleep in seconds.
ChapterFour
CASPIAN
“Freya willnotdie,” I said firmly, panic swirling in the pit of my stomach.
Emmett’s gentle touch was the only thing keeping me grounded at the moment, and Shan might have ruined that for me too. How could he say I loved Em so nonchalantly? I hadn’t thought he realized the depth of my feelings. If this situation resulted in Em pushing me away and Freya captured, I wouldn’t have anyone left.
