Caught redheaded

MARVEL’S POV

He chuckled, a low, predatory sound. "Eager, aren't we?"

I wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him closer. "I've been ready since we left the bar."

He reached for the nightstand, fetching condoms. His eyes met mine, dark and knowing.

"You're already wet for me, aren't you?"

I flushed, but didn't look away. My hole was betraying me in the best possible way, slick and ready despite every reason I had to say no.

He slipped two fingers inside me, groaning at what he found. "Fuck. So ready."

"Please." The word tasted foreign on my tongue. I didn't beg. I'd never begged. But with him, the word came out like a prayer. "Dmitri, please."

I hated how good it felt to say it.

He positioned himself at my entrance, his eyes locked on mine. "Look at me," he commanded again. "I want to see your face when I fuck you."

And then he was inside me, slow at first, like he was savoring it, then deeper, filling me completely. I cried out, my nails digging into his shoulders as he began to move. Each thrust hit something inside me I didn't know was there, pleasure building in waves that made me forget my own name.

"Harder," I gasped. "Faster."

He obliged, his movements becoming more erratic. The room was filled with the sounds of our bodies slapping together, our harsh breaths, our cries of pleasure.

I could feel myself getting close, the coil of tension in my stomach tightening with each thrust. "Dmitri," I cried out. "I'm gonna—"

"Come for me," he growled, his hand wrapping around my cock, stroking me in time with his thrusts.

And I did, my orgasm crashing over me as I spilled myself between us. He followed moments later, his own release filling me as he collapsed against me, his body trembling. Fuck. he never wore the condom. But I didn’t care, I was on birth control anyway. 

We lay there for a long time, our bodies tangled together, our breathing slowly returning just in time for more rounds. 

*

My head was pounding when my alarm blared. I turned my head. Dmitri was still asleep, looking annoyingly peaceful. His coffee-warm scent from last night lingered in the room, mixed with something clean and fresh. Did he naturally smell like coffee or did he wake up early to have one? I don't know.

I smiled despite myself.

Too bad this was all it would ever be.

One night.

Nothing more.

My body ached in ways I hadn't felt in years, bite marks and all. I told myself it was just sex. Just one night.

I dressed quietly, gave him one last glance, and slipped out.

I didn't expect to see anyone I knew.

The elevator doors were already closing when I stepped into the hallway.

Then the gap widened.

My steps stopped.

Blue eyes met mine from inside the elevator.

Crown Prince Alaric.

My stomach dropped.

And the elevator doors began closing again.

A second later, I almost slapped myself. Why was I acting like he'd just caught me cheating? I couldn't care what he thought. Hell, he should think the worst; maybe then he'd leave me alone.

As I waited for the elevator to return, someone stepped up beside me. I didn't bother lifting my head, too busy typing out a message to Jade, telling him to come pick me up.

"Dr. Marvel."

The voice made me turn. His scent hit me first, spices and wolfthorn. Familiar in a way that made my stomach turn before my brain caught up.

Kai Harrington. Billionaire. CEO of Harrington Pharmaceuticals. The company that manufactured everything alphas needed to keep omegas beneath them. Scent enhancers. Mate patches. Bonding accelerants. The only decent thing they'd ever produced was rut suppressants, and even those came with a laundry list of side effects.

I looked back at my phone. Ignored him completely. For half a second, I almost felt self-conscious about my appearance, the wrinkled shirt, the sex-ruined hair, the smell of Dmitri still clinging to my skin.

Then I remembered who I was standing next to, and the feeling evaporated.

"We have a meeting today, right?" He said it like I didn't already know.

I did know. The government was forcing Hayes Biotech and Harrington Pharmaceuticals to collaborate on a serum for the new alpha disease. Rare. Deadly. Spreading fast. Why they'd dragged me into it was anyone's guess, probably because the government wanted an excuse to keep Hayes Biotech on a short leash. Cooperate, or lose everything.

"Are you going to ignore me all morning?" he pressed, a small smile curving his lips. A dimple appeared on one side. Charming. Deliberately so.

His scent was too close. Overwhelming. I sighed and stepped aside. He actually respected the distance.

"You know we have to work together eventually. I just thought—"

The elevator chimed. I hit the close button. He slid through the gap at the last second.

The doors sealed behind him. Trapped. With the worst kind of alpha.

He chuckled. "Do you hate me that much?"

"I hate all of you." The first words I'd spoken since he appeared.

"Yet you reek of an alpha." His voice flattened. The amusement drained out of it. "Ironic, isn't it?"

I finally looked at him properly. Cognac brown eyes, dark brown hair swept back from his forehead. Taller than me, like they all were. I'd never met him in person before. I hadn't expected him to be handsome. A beauty mark sat beneath his left eye. It almost made my heart stutter.

Almost. Then I remembered who he was.

Kai Harrington didn't just profit from omega oppression. He advocated for it. Publicly. Passionately. He gave speeches about "traditional dynamics" and "natural order." He was the kind of alpha who thought suppressants were a crime against nature.

I said nothing. Stared at the elevator doors. Watched the numbers tick down. Counted the seconds until I could escape his scent.

"You're not going to say anything?" He sounded almost amused again. "Fine. I look forward to working with you, Dr. Hayes. Truly."

I caught his smile in my peripheral vision. Didn't react.

The doors opened.

And I walked straight into the crown prince.

Alaric stood in the lobby, flanked by two guards, his blue eyes already locked on me. Before I could step back, his hand closed around my wrist, and he yanked me forward.

"Let me go!" I twisted against his grip, struggling hard. People turned. They saw the royal crest on his uniform. They looked away.

Kai's hand caught my other wrist. For a second, I was suspended between them, Alaric pulling me forward, Kai pulling me back.

Then Kai yanked me free.

And with his free hand, he landed a clean punch across Alaric's jaw.

The national cherished citizen punched the national Crown Prince for my sake? What could go wrong?