Auctioned: An Omegaverse Anthology Read online

  Getting to his feet and taking one step felt like knives of fire slicing his flesh. He’d shifted his weight to continue stalking his prey when the graceful form of the male who thought to be his owner stepped into view. Wisely, Lucius did not step between Ander and his target, but the other male’s cool appraisal washed over him.

  “Fascinating. The neural pod is at its highest setting. He should be on the ground begging for mercy. Instead he has only one goal: her.” Lucius nodded at the female. “I had an Alpha in my fighting stable, but he went into a rut and had to be put down when he attacked a client. I hadn’t planned on adding another as they’re unstable. Maybe with the right incentive, though…”

  Through a fog of rage and lust, Ander recognized an opening. Stopping his forward motion, he turned his head and met Lucius’ empty blue gaze, “I—I will—” The pain made even his teeth hurt as he tried to speak.

  Lucius raised his hand and swiped a long finger over the glowing surface of a palm-sized device on his wrist. The pain in Ander’s head and jaw receded, but it still had a tight grip on his limbs.

  “I will fight… willingly,” he ground out through clenched teeth. The pain made it hard to concentrate, but his mate was worth any pain or sacrifice. “Her. Need her.”

  Lucius’ pale eyes met Ander’s, and the two males stared at each other for a moment before Lucius tilted his head towards the auctioneer without breaking Ander’s gaze, “What was the last bid on her?”

  “We ha-hadn’t gotten started before—”

  “What did the last Omega sell for?”

  The Beta stammered out a price in credits and Lucius’ eyes never wavered from Ander’s. “Of course, I’ve heard of the famed Alpha/Omega bond, but I’ve never seen it in person. The estate has a steward who deals with the slaves while I focus on my hobby. Gladiator style fighting.”

  Lucius finally broke Ander’s stare as he raised a slender finger to his lips, looking at the Beta auctioneer and Ander’s trembling mate before swinging back to him. “You’ll fight willingly? No restraints? No disobedience?”

  Ander managed to nod his assent, and Lucius again looked to the naked Omega whose presence had turned the auction into a bloodbath. Ander wanted to rip Lucius’ eyes out for looking at his Omega, but the male didn’t smell of lust like the other buyers had when she had come out on stage. His scent and attitude were more of a cool assessment like when Ander purchased a mare for his stallion.

  Another slender male stepped into Ander’s line of sight, and he vaguely remembered him from the private box where he’d been chained to the wall. The other male’s posture spoke of deference as he waited for Lucius’ command.

  “We’ll take her too. She can go into the whores’ stable we keep for the fighters—”

  “No!” Ander roared, “Mine! My mate!” He started to struggle towards the Beta who still held his Omega. Each step was agony, but she was his! Picturing her under another male and the flash of fear in her eyes at Lucius’ words drove him insane with the need to reach her.

  “Sir, if he has his own female, the other fighters—”

  “Will have to get over it. I am their master, not the other way around. Look at him. He’s unstoppable.”

  The amazed tone in Lucius’ voice barely registered with Ander as the auctioneer still hiding behind the naked female hit the wall behind him with nowhere else to go. Realizing he was trapped, the Beta called out to Lucius, “You’ll take the girl? Sir? Sir? Si—”

  A strangled scream cut off the Beta’s annoying voice and his fear washed over Ander, who wrapped his left hand around the auctioneer’s throat. The pain in Ander’s torso lessened, and he reached out with his right hand to the collar that encircled his mate’s neck. Keeping his gaze on the Beta’s purpling face, he tucked a thick finger into the large ring on her collar and steadily drew her towards him.

  Her chilly skin raised the hair on his arms, but where her body pressed against him the contact scorched along his side. She whimpered as her velvety skin encountered the solid mass of his chest. Shifting his hold from her collar to her nape, he turned her face to hide it against his flesh. Already trembling with fear and shock, she didn’t need to see what would happen next.

  It was his duty and honor to see to her needs, to provide shelter and protection. Right now, all he could offer was the safety of his arms, and she burrowed into his side like she was trying to crawl inside him. Her breath ghosted over his skin as she tucked her head under his bicep. She’d appeared small in the Beta’s arms, but against Ander’s size she was downright diminutive, barely reaching the middle of his chest.

  Ander hummed in satisfaction. He couldn’t help the comforting purr that rumbled from his chest. She sighed at the sound and splayed her bound hands against him to feel the vibration in her fingers.

  He might have been broadcasting safety and security to his mate, but the hand wrapped around the Beta’s throat conveyed the fury that still had his internal savage raging. Ander didn’t release the auctioneer from his grip even as the pungent scent of his urine filled the air. The Beta had pissed himself in fear.

  Movement to his left caught his eye. Lucius stepped so close to the arm that held the Beta that he brushed against Ander’s elbow. His expression had lost its disinterest and instead reflected something that Ander knew well. Greed.

  “You’ll fight willingly if I provide you with your mate.” It was a statement, not a question.

  “Yes. Mine. Only for me,” he managed to grit out from behind his clenched jaw.

  Lucius’ eyes met his before flicking over Ander’s arm to someone beyond his line of sight. “Do you need this one?” Lucius tilted his head towards the Beta.

  “No,” a dark, smoky voice answered. “He put himself between an Alpha and his mate. That kind of stupidity is a liability.”

  Ander met Lucius’ gaze without flinching.

  “She’s yours,” Lucius said. “Kill him.”

  Before the final syllable had left those thin lips, the pain in the back of Ander’s neck released his limbs and his fingers flexed on the Beta’s neck. With only his hand on his throat, Ander raised the auctioneer into the air. His feet kicked futilely, and his hands scrabbled for purchase on Ander’s forearm. His frantic eyes met Ander’s, and he must have realized that he’d receive no quarter there because resignation entered his gaze before his stare went glassy.

  Ander kept his eyes on the Beta’s until the male hung limp in his grasp. He’d killed before, but always in self-defense. He thought he might feel something over taking the Beta’s life, but instead he roared in triumph. He’d kill anyone who threatened his mate.

  Chapter Four

  Kasi

  Kasi trembled as a thump sounded against the stage floor. She’d never been a violent person, but for a moment she fantasized about this fierce Alpha meeting the Beta who’d kidnapped her and locked her in a cage on the way to the city.

  Her reverie was interrupted when the Alpha lifted her into his arms. With a startled yelp, she wrapped her legs around his lean hips, her naked breasts pressing against his wide, muscular chest. He coaxed her arms around his shoulders before settling one hand under her bottom and the other on the back of her neck. While the position reminded her of the way one might carry a child, the heat spiking through her body felt anything but childish.

  Despite her current situation, she felt safe. She’d never expected to feel safe again, but this male who claimed she was his mate made her feel more secure than she had since presenting as an Omega. She didn’t even know his name, but as her hands brushed the flexing muscles of his back and she breathed in his warm, comforting scent, she felt that she was home.

  Until the one they called Lucius interrupted.

  “Credits are transferred for both of them. Anything else?”

  She tried to lift her head to get a glimpse of the male, but a squeeze on her nape accompanied by a bit of pressure to keep her face buried in his neck made her subside. She didn’t really need to see her ne
w owner. What did it matter? She’d been purchased.

  Like livestock.

  Just as harsh reality sent spikes of cold fear through her muscles, that vibrating purr began to sound from the Alpha’s chest.

  It rolled through her with the same devastating force as the time she’d tried her father’s dewberry wine with her brother. The wine had made her head spin, and everything had become fuzzy and light. When her father had entered to find them in one of his bottles, she’d known he’d been furious at them, but she’d been so warm and hazy that she hadn’t cared.

  This Alpha’s purr had the same effect. She could hear the male speaking, but the vibration that she could now feel in her bones made her indifferent.

  His chest flexed under her and a gentle swaying began that she thought meant they were moving. She didn’t know where he was taking her, but warm lassitude invaded her body and let her sink into the embrace of the giant male cradling her so gently.

  His chest rose and fell under her and she recalled this male had just fought his way to her. He had to be exhausted, and she was letting him take all her weight. She was much shorter than the Alpha, but she had full hips and breasts like many Omegas. Not wanting him to strain under her curvy figure, she tried to push out of his arms to walk on her own.

  The Alpha stopped moving. He tightened his grasp under her hips to stop her wiggling but relaxed his grip on her nape to allow her to lean back to meet his eyes. He didn’t say anything, but studied her face. It felt like fingers caressing over the skin of her brow, her cheeks, and the lightest of brushes over her mouth.

  Her lips parted on a soft inhale and he met her gaze.

  “Be still, mate,” he murmured.

  His deep voice caressed her skin, but this time she felt it in the tightening of her nipples and a ripple of heat that ran down her torso to pulse in her core.

  Without the bright lights of the stage blinding her, she could finally see his face clearly. His black hair gleamed under the lights, and his full lips quirked slightly under her roving stare. A dimple flashed briefly in his cheek, and her breath hitched in her chest for reason that had nothing to do with fear.

  She thought to say something, but when the bright green of his eyes was just a ring surrounding deep black, her mind tumbled and she lost her words. His fingers trailing her exposed skin sent more tendrils of heat to her core, but she forced her voice to work.

  “I’m too heavy. I—I can walk.”

  In answer his arms tightened around her splayed hips, pressing her tighter against his body. They were both still naked, both still slaves, but the eyes locked onto hers managed to make her feel like a queen.

  It took a moment for the sharp crack to penetrate the haze the Alpha had lulled her into. Pain flared across her bottom before a palm big enough to cover both of her rounded cheeks rubbed the sting away.

  “You are perfect,” he growled.

  The sound rolled through her on a different path than his purr. His growl made her bones melt, but unlike his purr that made her feel safe and warm, this deep rumble made her core clench and her clit throb. Slick dripped from between her legs to where her center pressed against his stomach.

  Embarrassed at her body’s easy response to his call, she again tried to wiggle free of his hold, but froze in place as he slid his fingers between her legs. Heat blazed in his eyes and his nostrils flared when he found her soaked.

  His gaze never leaving hers, he lowered his head so that his lips met her bare shoulder. It was her turn to take in a quick breath as he lapped at her skin.

  He shifted her easily in his arms, looking over the naked flesh of her chest. Her nipples tightened in response to the blaze in his eyes. She couldn’t help the jerk and small whimper that escaped her when his fingers pressed against the sensitive skin at the top of her thighs where the crease of her legs met the pink lips of her sex. Using a gentle pressure, he ghosted over the petals at her center weeping for his touch. He tightened his arms around her before she could twitch again, withdrawing his thick fingers without penetrating any deeper.

  Shifting her in his arms, he moved his free hand from her neck under her hips. The hand that had been between her legs rose into her view, and in the dim lighting of the tunnel, she could see the glistening wetness that coated his fingers. He drew them close to his full lips, and time seemed to slow as he swept his tongue out to draw her essence into his mouth.

  The groan that left his throat and the flush of his cheeks sent another surge of heat through her. His giant hand gripped her backside again with a desperation she felt in the flex and release of his fingers. He dropped his head to her shoulder, bathing her in his warm breath as his massive chest rose and fell in deep pulls. He returned his hand to her nape to squeeze and force her face back to his neck.

  She wasn’t sure what made her do it, but before she thought of the consequences, she flicked out her tongue to taste the hot flesh beneath her cheek. A rich flavor of sweat and male burst across her taste buds. Her nose pressed to his nape, she breathed in his scent that reminded her of sandalwood and vanilla.

  The combination of his scent and his taste on her tongue caused her stomach to clench as a wave of longing swept through her sending more heat and wetness to gather at her core. Having never been this close to a non-related male before, Kasi didn’t know how to handle the flames that roared through her blood with that one simple taste.

  The Alpha crushed her into his chest like he could meld them into one. Despite his pained groan, he tilted his chin to give her better access to the scented skin of his neck.

  Heeding the unspoken command, Kasi opened her mouth to take a longer swipe of his flesh. Following her instincts, she closed her lips over the strong cord of his neck and sucked his rich, salty skin into her mouth, gently nibbling to let him feel the sharp edge of her teeth.

  He snarled, sending another pulse of heat through her loins. She released him from the suction of her mouth. Stretching her neck, Kasi wasn’t sure what she needed, but the flesh behind his ear seemed to call to her. She knew—just knew—that she needed to bury her nose in the soft spot. She needed to inhale him deep into her lungs.

  Her hand on his shoulder moved of its own accord to circle behind his neck, and using her thigh muscles, she lifted herself enough to reach that place where his scent called to her. When he didn’t help her reach her goal, she rumbled in frustration. Why was he denying her? He’d called her his mate. If true, then he should be giving her what she wanted. What she needed.

  A slight shake of her nape and another sharp crack on her ass had her gaze meeting his fiery green eyes.

  “Growling at me, mate?” The corner of his mouth quirked.

  Growl at him? Was that what she had done?

  Shock cleared some of the heated fog from Kasi’s mind. The flesh between her legs throbbed and her tongue swept around the inside of her mouth, still seeking the rich flavor of the Alpha beneath her hands.

  “The next time you challenge me, little mate, I’ll accept.” He squeezed her ass one more time before settling her back in his arms. “This isn’t the ideal place.”

  His gaze flickered to a point behind Kasi, and she twisted to see what’d caught his eye. Five feet from them stood the tall, slender male the auctioneer had called “Lucius.” While she’d been wrapped up in the intoxicating flesh and scent of the Alpha, her new master—she cringed internally at the thought—had finished his business.

  “Oh!” The quiet exhale of embarrassment had her ducking her head back against the flesh of her Alpha.

  Her Alpha? When had he become her Alpha?

  A low growl vibrating through the skin pressed to her breasts drew her eyes up to see him focused on the strange male watching them coolly.

  “Peace, Alpha. I have no use for your female. My kind gave up barbaric pleasures of the flesh millennia ago.” A pause. “Although I’ll admit to being curious. The Alpha/Omega bond is well-known, but I never really believed in something quite so… physical. You don�
�t even know her name, yet you’ve committed to a life in the fighter’s pit to have her.”