Author's Note: Okay... these characters. I don't know what to say. I didn't think this was going to be slow burn - that's not usually my thing - but yet... here we are. This chapter was supposed to have some smexy times, but Abby is like - nope. Not yet. Grrr.... Honestly not sure how I feel about that. I REALLY wanted there to be more heat here, but I tried to force it in and it just didn't fit. How is that fictional characters get to write their own story?? Oh well... hope you enjoy, and thanks for staying with me!
Also, I don't usually fish for feeback (even though I adore it and try to answer every comment), but I'm realizing (again... it's not a new realization), that I don't add a lot of description. I don't add all the setting stuff so that you can try and visualize the place. It's one of the things I need to add in when I go back and edit, but honestly, it feels kinda...extra. So... how much description do you need? Do you miss the description of places and things? Clothes? I dunno... what do y'all think?
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"I think I can see my reflection."
Abby started at the dry comment from next to her, and her hand froze in mid-wiping motion on the table in front of her. Glancing to her right, she spotted Catrina leaning with her hip resting on the back of one chair ringing the circular dining hall table Abby cleaned.
"If you rub that spot anymore, you'll wear a hole in it." The other Omega's smile widened.
Coming out of her self-imposed stupor, Abby's gaze darted around the room to see the other Omega's had already finished their chores. The door closed as a new Omega that Abby didn't know yet exited the large space. She and Catrina were the only ones left in the now empty dining hall. Well, almost the only ones left.
Without moving her head, Abby's eyes searched the shadows surrounding the exit. Nothing moved. Nothing gave him away, but she knew he was there. His burnt sugar scent, diffused by the large hall, still reached out to her curling around her senses like a warm blanket. A warm, sensuous blanket that snaked around her body and between her thighs -
No. There was nothing going on between her thighs.
Nothing.
Really? The little voice inside her head questioned.
When had her Omega become so sarcastic? It was quite rude. She knew what she was feeling. Didn't she?
A tiny trickle of slick escaping and dampening her folds stiffened her spine like a bolt of electric shock. This wasn't happening. She wouldn't allow it to happen. She never wanted to respond to another Alpha again.
Again? She'd never actually responded to an Alpha on her own. She'd rarely even seen another Alpha before her father handed her over to Tobias and Christoph. With Tobias, the only way she'd responded had been through growls and commands that forced her biology to respond with slick in a misguided attempt to appease and please an angry Alpha. She'd never even had a natural heat. She'd only had two so far, and Tobias had forced them on her with illegal heat stimulators so that he could get a time off from the OSF to travel with Christoph. Abby had been left behind to suffer alone.
Heats were awful. She never wanted to have one again. Ever. Phantom pain built low in her abdomen, and she broke out in a cold sweat as she remembered those awful days of feeling like she burned from the inside out. Like a hand had reached in through her channel, wrapped a fist around her insides, and squeezed in an attempt to drain the life out of her. Worse than the pain though... worse than the unrelenting fire that ate at her... the worst was the lust. The absolute raging desire that had her craving a knot.
The first time he'd induced her heat, Tobias hadn't returned until the day after it ended. She'd cleaned up as best she could, but she couldn't air out the house enough to rid the house of her heat-infused scent. He'd dragged her back to the heat room in a near rut, and while the day before, she'd have crawled over glass to welcome him into her scant nest, Abby had had to endure his lust without the haze of heat to blunt the horror.
The second time, he'd come home when the worst was over, but she'd still been in the throes of estrous. A tear came to her eye as she remembered that she'd begged him. Begged him to fill her. Pleaded with him to make it stop. To fill her. Knot her.
Being a sadistic bastard, he'd tried to hold off. He'd sat in a chair in a corner watching as she frantically tried to use the measly few blankets and pillows that he allowed for her nest to make it pleasing for him. She'd smooth out the rough fabric, and while her Omega instincts cried out it was all wrong, she turned to him for approval. Tobias sneered and made sure she knew he felt her nest was pathetic, and she'd start over. It seemed like forever before lust finally overcame his need to punish her for her sorry nesting skills.
Finally, he'd fucked her. He'd knotted her over and over. With the heat raging in her veins, she'd wanted his giant knot filling her. In her haze, she'd felt a moment of what it must be like to be wanted. To be desired.
But her heat broke before his rut, and while she only wanted to get away from her false Alpha and the tiny room that smelled like sex, she'd been trapped there for another day while he worked out his lust.
Because of biology, her cursed Omega nature, she couldn't help but respond to his call. When he growled, her body slickened. She obeyed when he used his bark to command her submission. When he really wanted to humiliate her, he'd order her to come. Unable to fight it, she'd feel ripples pulse around his shaft and sometimes a shadow of pleasure would roll through her veins.
But during a heat, she wanted it. Wanted him. Wanted that invading piece of him, and the pleasure she'd felt left her feeling dirty. More worthless than anything he and Christoph and done at any other time. Even when he'd carved the latest set of claiming marks into her neck, it translated as fiery strokes to her clit.
Useless Omega biology.
"Abby?" Catrina's whispered voice dragged her from her memories, "You're crying."
Pathetic. Her father's insidious voice whispered in her ear.
"Abby?" Catrina's voice pitched a little higher when Abby didn't respond.
Worthless.
Weak.
"Blossom." The deep, smokey voice came from her other side startling her from her memories.
Abby raised her gaze from where it had locked unseeingly onto the surface of the table. At her head's level, her eyes first locked on a broad chest covered in the black shirt all of Sanctuary's security staff wore. Numb, she let her eyes trail up and up and up. To meet his eyes, she had to tilt her head back until the strain in her neck brought more awareness.
A hand on her arm from her other side caused her to turn her head to face her friend. She felt as if the world around her had slowed down like she was moving underwater. Everything seemed muffled. Distorted.
"Abby? Abby?" Catrina's hand rubbing up and down her arm hurt. In her shocked state, Abby couldn't contain the whine that escaped at her friend's touch. A small part of her mind knew her friend meant to comfort her, but the survival part of Abby's brain that ruled her now only knew that she had to escape from the other Omega's touch. The male next to her was the only safe place for her.
What?
No. No that wasn't right. It was that thought. The belief that Killian represented safety that partially shook Abby from her stupor but not before she released another primal whine of distress.
A whine Alphas were biologically programmed to respond to.
The room spun briefly as Killian swept his enormous arm in front of and across Abby's body. Not actually putting his hands on her, but using the sheer size of his arm as a barricade, he pushed against her until she had to step back. Moving her far enough away from the table, he slid his bulk between her and Catrina.
"I will take care of her."
Abby could hear the barely restrained growl underlying his words. Apparently Catrina did not.
"She's my friend. I'll look after her," the petite brunette Omega whispered back.
Abby's eyes widened in surprise at the strained defiance in Catrina's tone. Her friend's fresh lemon scent took in a bitter tone conveying her agitation. Standing up to an Alpha was a challenge for Sanctuary's Omegas, and Abby had never heard her friend's tone take on that hard edge.
"She's in distress. It's part of my job description as security."
Abby couldn't see Killian's face from where he'd put her at his back when he stepped in front of her, but from his tone, she could picture the words escaping his mouth through gritted teeth.
Shifting her weight to the side, she tried to peek around his massive bulk to get a look at the standoff happening in front of her. She moved enough that she could see her Omega friend drawing herself up to her full height to face the immovable mountain of an Alpha in front of her.
"She's not in physical distress. She's upset and needs the comfort of another Omega. Abby doesn't need you." Catrina spat the last word in a tone that left no doubt she meant Killian specifically.
Killian went unnaturally still. If she weren't standing directly next to him, she wouldn't have even thought that he still breathed. Feeling the predator that roiled beneath his frozen exterior should have scared the life out of her.
But it didn't. She knew of the three people in this room that she was the safest she'd ever been.
Finding courage she didn't know she possessed, she lightly placed her fingertips under his black jacket at the base of Killian's spine. She could just feel the thick leather belt that wrapped around his frame, but above it through the softness of his knit shirt, she could feel heat coming off his body. The fleeting image of her fingers turning red hot from the simple touch should have discouraged her, but it didn't. Without conscious thought, she flattened her hand against him so that her entire palm came to rest against him.
Against her hand, she felt him flex with a giant inhalation and some of the tension flooding the room eased. His scent filled the surrounding air until she felt wrapped in the warmth of his smokey essence.
"Catrina. It's okay. Just a bad memory caught me by surprise."
Abby watched Catrina's gaze flit from Killian's, and the other Omega visibly wilted from holding her standoff with the imposing Alpha between them. Cat's scent still broadcast her fear and a hint of desperation, but Abby appreciated her friend's willingness to stand up for her.
Cat reached out to the side, towards Abby, beckoning her with a flutter of her fingers, "Let's go, Abby. We can go to the library for a bit."
While the library would normally tempt her from just about anything, Abby felt a strange urge to linger. When his muscles tensed under her palm again, and he made no move to step out from in front of her, Abby tightened her fingers into a fist in the fabric at his back again holding herself steady.
"You go without me. I'll catch up to you there." Abby met Catrina's shocked gaze.
Catrina's mouth opened and shut for a moment, but when Abby's eyes calmly met her own, she gave a quick nod before turning and heading for one of the many exits from the dining hall. At the exit, she turned to look back at Abby for confirmation. Abby nodded at her slightly to confirm she hadn't changed her mind, and Catrina slipped silently from the room.
For a few heartbeats, they stood unmoving with Abby's hand still fisted in Killian's shirt, and him standing in front of her like a statue. Letting out a breath, Abby released her grip on his shirt, but before she could slide her hand from him entirely, his left hand reached back to capture her wrist and pressed her palm against his back. Turning to his right to face her, with his hand trapping hers against him, forced her to wrap her arm around his waist as if they were dancing. It resulted in Abby being pressed flush to his side as his free arm came up and over her shoulder to rest down the center line of her back. He didn't force her to press into his side, but the sheer weight of his muscled arm snuggled her against the heat from his body.
She didn't understand why she wasn't struggling. Part of her mind screamed at her to escape. Every time she'd been this close to an Alpha, pain and darkness followed. But the Omega side of her that raged every time Tobias touched her stretched in her mind like a lazy animal basking in his warmth.
Alpha. Warm. Safe.
Safe? Other than Malcolm, she'd never felt truly safe around an Alpha, and Selah's presence dictated even her comfort around Malcolm. Whenever she'd met with the other officers of OSF during questioning, Selah had been required to be there or she'd been a frozen mess of fear from the Alpha pheromones and scents.
So why did Killian's toasted sugar scent and the feel of him surrounding her make her want to melt into his side like a cat in heat?
At the thought of heat, a bolt of warmth shot down her spine to coalesce between her thighs and a trickle of slick leaked out of her pussy to dampen her panties. Her scent drifted up to fill the surrounding air and ruined any hope that Killian couldn't smell her arousal when his chest expanded on a large inhale. A soft rumble from his chest vibrated through her fingertips.
Alpha likes us, the hormonal Omega deep inside her mind seemed to preen at the giant Alpha's approval.
When his hand squeezed against her flesh, she inhaled a shocked breath and stilled under his touch. Killian was so much larger than her that with his arm just resting down the length of her spine, his hand that had kneaded at her flesh grabbed a handful of her ass. His fingers opened and closed over the plump roundness, massaging and creating friction between her increasingly damp thighs.
Warmth melted her bones from his simple touch, and while a tiny part of her consciousness screamed at her to get away from the massive Alpha who could easily break her in two, she couldn't seem to bring herself to really feel afraid of him. As the low purring rumble continued and his hand flexed against her flesh, she felt boneless. Resting her weight more against him so that he supported her fully, she let the incredible warmth from his body warm her from where her head now rested against the side of his chest to where her thighs now pressed against his legs.
Apples and sugar surrounded them in a haze of heat and security. Abby's head nestled into his chest just under where his arm met his torso, and his burnt sugar scent was so much stronger there. Turning her head slightly, she rubbed her nose against the cotton knit of his security uniform. Her forehead brushed against something hard wrapped under his shoulder, but the hint of leather melded easily with Killian's natural scent. Opening her lips against the fabric of his shirt, she could almost taste his pheromones and desire in the air.
His purr changed to a growl that was almost subvocal in its depth, and more slick released from her cunt calling to her Alpha. Killian's growl abruptly cut off though, and his hand on her ass moved to her hip to gently set her a step or two back from him. His other hand released the one that had been holding her at his waist, and she almost stumbled from losing his support from where she'd been melting into his heat.
A click from a door opening nearby brought her head up and around to the exit that Catrina had left minutes before. Sanctuary's head of security Alpha Richard's black licorice scent preceded him into the room with such strength it was like he had bathed in his own pheromones. Straightening from the pungent anise aroma, Abby quickly found her balance and took an additional step back from Killian.
"Alpha Killian. Omega Catrina came to me most distressed that there was one of our security touching Omega Abby. I assured her I would come check. That's not how we interact with our Omegas at Sanctuary. Per the handbook -"
"I'm aware of the handbook," Killian's growl is so low and deep the words are almost unrecognizable.
"There's a handbook?" Abby's whisper escaping without conscious thought.
A rustle and the sound of a zipper had her head turning towards Killian. When he stretched out his hand towards her, it took her a moment to recognize the item dwarfed by his huge palm.
An unexpected sound burst forth from her, and both she and Killian froze at the happy giggle floating between them. With a grunt and a slight flick of his fingers to invite her to take it, Abby plucked the small rectangular shape from Killian's palm noticing the spark shooting through her fingertips when her hand brushed his skin.
"Chocolate?" She asked letting the smile she could no longer hide stretch across her lips.
Alpha Richard's officious voice answered when Killian said nothing but flicked his eyes from hers to her lips, "Omegas in distress find comfort with chocolate," a pause but Killian and Abby said nothing, he continued, "Per the handbook, it's comforting to Omegas in need."
Abby felt her lips tilting up even more when she noticed the corners of Killian's mouth quirking slightly.
"Do you feel... comforted, Blossom?" Killian whispered for her ears only.
A pulse of heat moved through her, and Killian's nostrils flared as he caught her scent on the air. When his lips quirked a little higher, she felt reckless for the first time with an Alpha.
Slowly unwrapping the chocolate, she brought it to her lips before replying in a barely audible whisper, "Not yet, but between your toasted marshmallow scent and the chocolate... it's like eating a s'more."
She knew she'd tempted the tiger when his lips bloomed into a wicked smirk, "Oh... you've thought about tasting me?"
Heat bloomed in her cheeks, and she felt the skin of her cheeks flush.
An electronic squawk from the radio clipped to Richard's belt saved her from responding, and when Killian's attention flickered to where the other Alpha floundered with his radio, she took the opportunity to swiftly retreat. Before she ducked out the same door Catrina had used earlier, she turned back to look at him.
Mistake. Complete mistake.
When completing a strategic retreat, one should never look back to the field of battle. Killian's electric blue eyes caught and held hers. HIs tongue slipped out to wet his lower lip, and even from across the room, she saw the blue of his iris shrink as his eyes dilated. She barely held back the whimper trying to escape her lips, but she couldn't stop the slick that ruined the gusset of her panties.
His nostrils flared, and Abby swore she felt his growl rumble through the soles of her feet. The sound attracted Richard's attention though, and his oblivious expression as he searched for the source of the noise roused her enough to finish making her escape.
The door closed with a quiet shushing sound behind her, but in her head, a low, feral growl followed her quick steps down the hallway. Heading to the library to meet up with Catrina, Abby tried to convince herself leaving the dining room had been the smart choice. Her inner Omega disagreed.
Vehemently.