Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Emma Swan was sick. Her head pounded from the daylight that had crept its way through her bedroom curtains, slipping through the only space it could which lead right across her face. The orange blaze burned its mark into her forehead, finally annoying her enough that she opened her eyes the tiniest crack and lazily watched the specks of dust dancing in the beam. Luckily for her, the sun was slow moving, and she easily avoided it by rolling out of the way across the huge queen size bed that she shared with her husband.

Unluckily for her, he was still asleep right beside her. He was normally gone by now.

Graham Humbert was normally an early riser, waking, showering and eating his breakfast like a military man who had repeated the same morning every single day of his life. But he wasn’t any sort of combat veteran, and held no stories of anything more sinister than a board meeting. No. Routine was his everything. There was never any room in his busy CEO life for any deviation and as a consequence, Emma had paid the ultimate price of marrying him.

She was lonely. He was good looking, she couldn’t deny that, and as she gazed upon the gentle rise and fall of his smooth back muscles as he snored softly beside her, she couldn’t help the smile that had crept across her face. Lonely or not, he was still the man who had married her, despite all of her issues, and for that she would always love him. And it wasn’t just today that Emma was feeling out of sorts; she had been sick her entire life.

It had all begun when she was around five or six, but she didn’t remember much of it, only the constant trips to and from the doctor’s office, but when she really thought about it, they were nothing like what they are today. The offices always seemed darker, more shady, and despite her heavy diet of prescription vitamins and supplements to keep the sickness at bay, she never remembered an actual doctor ever examining her.

She was just sick.

Her foster father had been a loving man, doting on her despite having three sons of his own as well, and giving her everything that she wanted. That was, until she had gotten sick. He had changed, becoming nervous around her, which seemed to increase each year that she matured, constantly making sure she was taking her medication. He cared too much and it made the man slightly crazy, as well as gave Emma a hatred for the pills that supposedly kept her alive. He obsessed over her medication so much, that when she was fourteen, he was declared unfit to care for her any longer and she was sent to live with the Humbert family.

They were nice but very different from her old foster family, who mysteriously, despite always living on the poverty line, suddenly decided to vacation in the Maldives just after she had gone. The Humberts looked at her with distaste at first, the one she recognised from her foster father before, and it made Emma unsettled. What had she done to cause so many people in her life to suddenly look at her so differently? She didn’t know, but she had discovered one thing; Graham Humbert was another scrawny teenager just like her and they got on like a house on fire.

Growing up was weird in the Humbert house. Graham’s father was an Alpha, from a long line of them in fact, and his mother had long since died before Emma even arrived . Living with an Alpha was intense, but it had been worse for Graham who, at the age of eighteen, still hadn’t become what his family had expected him to. Coming from a long line of successful Alpha’s meant that as the only Beta born in over three hundred years, Graham was, essentially, as excluded from the family as the foster kid.

Emma had always told him, being a Beta wasn’t so bad though. He might not have any of the attributes of his forefathers, but Graham was a good, kind man, and Emma had on more than one occasion told him any woman would be lucky to have him. It wasn’t exactly what she had intended, but Graham had proposed to her less than a year later and now here she was, ten years into a marriage she felt she had to be in out of obligation and because, she had to face it, who would want to provide for all of her medical bills?

Emma was sick, and she was lonely.

The sheet around her was pulled away as Graham shifted his weight, a grumble escaping his throat as he rolled towards her and relaxed back into sleep once he was on his back. He twitched, one of his hands flying up to scratch at the stubble on his jaw before falling like a dead weight against the smooth contours of his chest. His hair was a mess, the curls stretched and fuzzy, the only evidence of his inability to sleep longer than a few hours that only Emma knew about.

To the world, Graham Humbert was one of the most successful business owners the world had ever known. He was rich, powerful and if it were not for his unfortunate luck, he would have been another generation of mighty Humbert Alphas with their own company and a whole army of staff at their every whim. But he wasn’t an Alpha. He had never found his way into the patriarchal values of his own family and Emma pitied him.

Maybe that was why she had married him. Maybe she didn’t really think low enough of herself that she would have never found true love with anyone else because of her illness, but it didn’t stop her from saying yes. Graham hadn’t even gotten down on one knee, bought her a ring or taken off his damn business suit to ask her that day, but she had said yes and now, a decade later, they were both slaves to their own decisions.

If she had to really admit it, Emma knew they were both unhappy. They loved each other, and there had always been care between them, but lately Emma had noticed a distance between them that was gnawing away at their union. It seemed that not even the wealthy were immune to falling out of love, and despite what her head told her, Emma’s heart ached. She wanted more and had always felt like she needed something else, someone else. Graham had been the first and only man she had ever been with, as awkward as it was sometimes, and deep down Emma couldn’t help but think about the strangest thing.

Alphas.

Since she had turned twenty, just two years into her marriage and around the time Graham started to drift away from her, Emma had been fascinated with Alphas. Her friend and fellow socialite, Ruby Lucas, had told her stories, of all ratings, and Emma had guiltily wished she wasn’t married so she could experience one for herself. She hadn’t gone a single day of her life since then without imagining the strong arms of an Alpha male, holding her tightly as he emptied the frustrations of his rut into her. Alphas haunted her dreams, left her waking in a cold, horny sweat, but she was stuck with the man beside her; a Beta with an Alpha complex.

Graham stirred finally, Emma realising that for once, she had rose long before his body clock had him waking up. She blamed the sun, but if she was honest, she had been having the most amazing dream that had shaken her from her sleep with a coil in her belly and a welcome heat between her thighs that she hadn’t felt for an age in reality. A sex dream turned her on more than her own husband and Emma hadn’t had one of those for a good long time, just like she hadn’t had a good fuck either.

Graham was many things, including impotent at the worst times, and Emma hadn’t found a way to help him keep his erection long enough so that she could actually get off. Of course, that was her fault. Her mouth was too wet, her mouth was too dry, she was too wet, she was too dry - Graham had never once taken responsibility for his poor performance and a rift had formed between them. When things were good, they were great, but when it came down to pleasing his wife, Graham was filled with anger and contempt.

Emma watched him sleep, his fingers flexing against his chest and his eyelids fluttering, threatening to open. The sheet below his waist twitched, a gentle rise beginning to pleat the cotton. Things had been good lately, because Emma hadn’t broached the idea of sex, but with the intensity of her dream still fluttering between her legs, and Graham with evident morning wood, why not give it a go?

It was a sign.

With a smirk, Emma snuggled her body into Graham’s, snaking her hand over the bumps of his abs that he spent so much time toning. He was asleep, but Graham sucked in a breath, his leg twitching sideways and bumping against hers as she slid her hand lower. Her fingers brushed through the darkened hair over his groin and Emma watched the furrow of his brow as she scraped her nails lightly over the inside of his thigh.

She was trying to wake him, just like she had in the beginning of their relationship, except now she wasn’t out for his pleasure but simply and selfishly, just her own. Her dream had left an impression on her, her subconscious willing a beautiful man between her legs with a wicked tongue and a wit to match. If she squinted, Graham kind of looked like him as he slept, and after all, she could pretend. She had been faking orgasms for over half her marriage, what was one more to scratch an itch?

Emma’s fingertips danced around Graham’s now semi-hard erection, the organ stiffening and twitching under her light touches. Emma smiled when he groaned, his lips parting slightly to exhale and suck in another much needed breath to keep up with the rhythm of his heart, his thigh shaking a little under the thin sheet where they lay. It was fun, watching him helpless to her touch as he slept, because Emma knew if he was awake, things would be very different.

Even though Graham was not an Alpha, he liked to pretend he was, and that included in the bedroom. He had been loving at first, but then things had changed between them and he had become cruel, making her pleasure herself whilst he barely touched her. He liked to watch more than participate and Emma had found a huge void opening up in her sex life that had previously been occupied by the warmth of a man. Now all she had was sex toys and porn - if she was lucky.

“Mmmmm,” Graham hummed, the sound rumbling in his chest as Emma smoothed her palm over his length, swiping her thumb over the tip that had started to ooze under her assault.

“Does that feel good?” Emma purred into his ear, watching the hairs in his beard stand to attention under the soft warmth of her words. His skin prickled to life before her eyes and she smirked.

“Yes,” Graham hissed sleepily, his hips rutting up into her hand for more friction as his erection grew even larger under her hand, firming and springing from his body like a pole.

“Do you like that, baby?” Emma cooed, her tongue darting out to lick at his ear lobe.

“God, Ruby, yes,” Graham moaned, hissing through his teeth.

“Ruby?!” Emma snapped, pushing herself up into a sit beside him and pulling her hand away from him suddenly. She slapped his bare chest and he bolted awake with a fright.

“What? Emma, what’s going on?” Graham asked frantically, scanning the room, squinting when the light hit his face and then noticing that for the first time in a long time, he was lying next to his wife with an erection.

“Ruby?” Emma asked him sternly, folding her arms over her chest and arching an eyebrow at him.

Graham clutched the sheet to his lap, gulping hard and swallowing down the lump that had formed in his throat. His cheeks were pink, his eyes falling to his lap as he desperately tried to will away his shameful erection, pinching the bridge of his nose with a sigh. “I said that?”

Emma cast a knowing glance over his body, the position and language it was giving off telling her everything she needed to know. It all made sense now. The late nights away, helping out her friend in the absence of her own much older husband, constant invites and making sure he was seated next to Ruby at dinners. But still, she wanted to hear it from him. “Why would you think I was one of my best friends?” Emma prodded, watching him squirm.

“Don’t be crazy. It was just a dream,” Graham huffed, falling back against the pillows.

“Right, okay,” Emma nodded, turning from his obvious lies and feeling more than angry that her potential fun time had been ruined so abruptly.

“Don’t be like that,” Graham pleaded, sighing heavily. “It’s always the same with you,” he accused. “You can’t blame me for things I say in my sleep, Emma. That’s ridiculous.”

“Maybe,” Emma shrugged, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. She slipped her feet into her slippers and watched the bones in her feet moving under her skin. “Maybe you wish we weren’t married any more.”

“Come on,” Graham soothed, rolling over towards her and reaching a hand out to place on the bare skin of her hip. Emma was wearing just a loose fitting shirt and panties but Graham never noticed nowadays. “Come back and we can try again.”

Emma spun to face him, her frown so heavy on her brow that she thought it would leave lines. She was disgusted, more than that, she was hurt. “Try again?” She spat at him, batting his hand away from her thigh. “Like I’m not good enough?” Graham pulled his hand away, licking his lips nervously, rolling his eyes. “Whose fault is it that you can’t get an erection anymore, Graham, huh?” Emma snapped. “Whose fault is it that you can only get it up when you are thinking of another woman?”

“Emma-,” Graham began, but he was cut off abruptly when Emma slammed her palm into the mattress beside herself in frustration.

“Don’t ‘Emma’ me!” she screeched. “We both know I don’t do it for you anymore.”

“You’re my wife,” Graham ground out through clenched teeth, balling his fist.

“Bullshit,” Emma scoffed. “We both know that doesn’t mean a thing. Being married means love, it means you care, it means you have fucking sex with each other, not sit in the corner of a darkened room jacking off whilst your wife fucks herself.”

“But I like that,” Graham said defensively.

“Oh, good for you,” Emma growled. “It’s okay because you like it.”

“You don’t?” Graham asked dumbly.

Emma gave him a look, a mixture of disbelief and sadness. “If you cared about me, you would know the answer.”

Graham blinked at her accusation. “Of course I care.”

“If you cared for me, even a tiny bit, you’d let me have a divorce.” The sorrow in Emma’s voice hung between them, both looking away from each other to avoid the inevitable apologies that were to follow.

Graham always said how sorry he was, how it wasn’t his fault and it always ended with the same scenario; Emma riding herself into a muted oblivion on a fake Alpha sized cock Graham would strap around his waist. A silence fell between them, just as he had done the last time Emma brought up the subject of divorce. She was sure she was going to get the same excuse as last time, despite her sorrow, and it meant she was trapped.

“Humbert men don’t-,” Graham began in a well rehearsed voice.

“Don’t get divorced, I know.” Emma looked at him with a sigh, her arousal long since disappeared. For two people who were so similar, they sure like tearing each other apart piece by piece, until Emma finally approached the dreaded subject of separation. Emma knew she would never get a divorce, Graham was worth too much money to risk anything so public but that didn’t mean she couldn’t negotiate the terms of her marriage.

“I’m sorry,” Graham said with a sigh, his eyes dropping to the space between them.

“I want excitement, Graham,” Emma told him firmly and his gaze snapped up to meet hers. Her eyes were the most vibrant shade of green he had ever seen and he knew that she meant business. “I want sex, and I want it when I want it, not when you can fit me into your busy schedule.” He listened, blinking at her in disbelief. “I might only be a Beta, but you married me, you settled for me,” Emma said gruffly. “Even if you are fucking Ruby.”

Graham lifted his gaze once more, narrowing his eyes at the woman in front of him. He shifted his weight on his hip, his heart picking up its pace in his chest. “I’m-,”

“You are,” Emma laughed in defeat. “I’m not an idiot, Graham, so please don't take me for a fool.” Emma knew he was indeed fucking her friend, and she had known for a while now. Neither of them were discreet with their flirtation and their emails, which would make the most hardcore Alpha in rut blush, were easily accessible with their joint account. “So, here’s my offer.”

“Offer?” Graham cocked his head at her, intrigued. She nodded.

“I want sex. You can’t give me the sex I want. I want a nice, hard, real cock inside of me. You need to find me someone who can give me sex, and I’ll keep your little side piece a secret. You know, for public image purposes,” Emma smirked.

“That’s your offer?” Graham snorted.

“Take it or leave it,” Emma shrugged. “But every business journal from here to Japan will know about you and Ruby before nightfall.”

“You wouldn’t. You would be ruined too,” Graham told her darkly.

Emma shrugged and gently shook her head from side to side, her hair falling over her shoulders. “Graham, honey, at this point in my life, I have nothing left to lose.”

Graham narrowed his eyes with a sigh. He really was sorry, for what it was worth, but Emma was right. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Deadly,” Emma said coldly. “I couldn’t give a flying fuck if you were doing Ruby in the next room, as long as I am finally satisfied.”

“Can I watch?” Graham said hoarsely, the mere idea of seeing his wife in another man’s arms giving him a tingle downstairs that he hadn’t felt for an age.

“You wanna see me come, baby?” Emma cooed, leaning towards him and licking her lips. “You wanna see a big cock take me over and over until I scream?” Emma taunted him, her eyes darting between his and his slightly parted lips.

“You don’t get to have sex with another man if I don’t get to watch,” Graham grinned.

“Are you seriously negotiating this like a business deal?” Emma snorted, her lips twitching up into a smile and an eyebrow rising on her forehead.

“Of course,” Graham shrugged playfully. “It’s the only thing I am good at.”

Emma stifled a laugh and raised her eyebrows at him. “No deal, and I’d say fucking my best friend was enough leverage for me,” she began, inhaling hard and brushing a stray strand of her golden locks from her forehead. “So, I want someone tall, with a beard, blue eyes and very grabbable hair,” Emma told him firmly, biting her lip as she described the man of her dreams. “I want chest hair to rub my nipples and I want an accent. British.” Emma pointed at him, making sure he knew that detail was important. “Find all that, in one man, and you can fuck Ruby all you like.”

Graham looked at her, his lips twitched up into a sly smile. “Alright,” he agreed with a nod, accepting the challenge. “Anything else?”

“Yes,” Emma grinned, the thought giving her a tingle just by imagining it. “I want an Alpha.”

--

“What do you mean, she knows?” Ruby screeched. Her hands were thrust into her hair, pulling it away from her forehead as she stared blankly at the floor she was pacing on.

“She knows,” Graham shrugged, his head in his hands. Sitting on a couch in his study, he had decided to tell Ruby, his lover, what Emma, his wife, had said. He’d left out the part about how she knew, a slip of the tongue during his dream state, but that didn’t matter anyway because if the way Ruby was stamping her feet back and forth, wall to wall in the room, it wouldn’t have been a sensible idea to anyway.

“Well, did you tell her?” Ruby accused dryly, her shoes scuffing the floor of his study as she made yet another turn at the apex of her pacing.

“Of course not,” Graham scoffed, his voice vibrating off the floor between his feet.

“Then how does she know?” Ruby demanded, her voice an octave higher in her panic.

“Will you just stop pacing?” Graham looked up with a sigh.

“No. You know what? I think I’ll keep wearing a hole into your expensive floor because I am entitled to!” Ruby stopped, despite her words and pursed her rouged lips. She closed her eyes, inhaled so deeply she thought her lungs were going to explode and then exhaled hard, shaking her dark brown hair over her shoulders with a flick of her head. “Okay, okay, let’s just think here for a second.”

“It’s fine,” Graham told her calmly. He hadn’t really contemplated what Emma had wanted until this exact second, Ruby reminding him that if their affair got out it would be disastrous. She, a woman of high society, would be made out as some common harlot, whilst his reputation, that relied heavily on his family image, would be over quicker than he could blink. Not to mention the shame he would bring to his entire Alpha dominated family, all but guaranteeing his immediate shunning.

“Fine?” Ruby scoffed with a grunt of distaste. “Graham, if this gets out-”

“Don’t worry,” Graham said, pushing himself to his feet with a grunt. “It won’t.”

Ruby laughed, dry and so sarcastically it shook her whole body. “Graham, don’t be naive. She’s your wife and my best friend. This is classic revenge, black mail ammo.”

“Listen,” Graham assured with a few tentative steps towards her. He placed his hands on her shoulders, brushing his thumbs over the patch of skin between the two straps of her top, and gave her a quick smile. He felt her calm instantly, her body swaying under his gentle caress. “Everything is going to be okay, believe me.”

“But how do you know?” Ruby pouted.

“She’s not going to tell anyone, I just have to-”

“To what?!” Ruby panicked again, her body tensing and whipping from his grasp. She took a step back, eyes wide with horror of the unknown. “To stop seeing me?”

Graham looked at her, her lip quivering as she waited for what she thought was their inevitable break up. “No!” He frowned. “God, no,” he laughed.

“This isn’t funny, Graham!” Ruby snapped, slapping his chest and attempting to push him away. “I love you and she’s dragging us apart!”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Graham chanted, clutching her fingers before she had time to totally pull away and yanking her to him. He wrapped her up in his arms, swaying from side to side. “That’s not what she wants.”

Ruby’s brow knitted together in her own confusion. “Then what does she want?”

“An Alpha.” Graham didn’t quite believe his own words but they fell from his mouth before his brain had time to stop them.

“An Alpha?” Ruby parroted.

Graham nodded. “With a very specific set of attributes.” He turned from her, a heavy sigh blowing past his lips as he contemplated his wife’s words. They were not unreasonable. Graham knew a lot of people, and his family had access to a fuck ton of Alphas because of, you know, all of them coming of age except him. Maybe Emma had already met this specific Alpha, maybe at one of his family parties. No. She wouldn’t be so shy. If there was one thing Graham knew about Emma, it was that she got what she wanted, especially if it hurt her husband. “I mean, it’s imposs-”

“Leave it with me,” Ruby interjected quickly and Graham gave her a questioning look. “What?” She smirked, sauntering over to him. “I know people and I’m very resourceful.”

“Mmmm,” Graham hummed as she pressed her body against his. “Yes, you are.”

Ruby glowed under his praise, a slight blush creeping across her cheeks. The tone of Graham’s voice made her skin come alive, dark and demanding, just like the colour of his eyes that had turned to a stormy grey. Ruby licked her lips, biting her bottom one with a playfully coy pout. “Does my Alpha approve?” She smiled sweetly, her hand finding the front of his pants and rubbing at his hardening length inside.

Graham loved it when she stroked his ego, amongst other things, the title from her lips fake but no less arousing. He growled, pulling her even harder to his body with a force that made her squeak excitedly for what was to come.

Chapter Text

Killian Jones was frustrated. His life hadn’t exactly taken the turn it was supposed to, being an Alpha and all. He was happy, there was no denying that fact, and like most Alphas, he could have his pick of any Omega he wanted. Only, Killian Jones had neglected to fuck anything outside of a Beta for reasons unknown. Maybe he was shy? No that wasn’t it. Killian was a proud Alpha, maybe a little on the small side, but his physical strength and quick tongue made up for his lack of a well defined stomach and bulging Alpha muscles any day.

Or so the ladies had told him. Maybe they were just being nice in the hopes of getting knotted.

But he was still frustrated. Killian Jones had never knotted anything other than a rut toy, only dreaming of the feeling of being tied to another. It wasn’t like an Alpha to feel this way, or yearn for the contact of an Omega so badly, but Killian couldn’t help but feel like his life missed that vital piece. There was a big, gaping hole in his life and in his heart, that he had resigned himself to accept would never be filled.

His brother, Liam Jones, owned a bar and had done since Killian was a kid. He remembered fond memories of Liam taking him to work, sitting him in the corner of the grimy, dive bar and telling him to keep his head down whilst he worked and earned their crust. Liam didn’t actually own the bar back then but worked for the previous owner instead, and neither of them were old enough to realise what Killian would become.

Becoming an Alpha was something Killian was proud of. He could hold his head up high and say that he had become something. Only, he hadn’t really. He was currently unemployed, which was basically the same as being castrated. Alpha’s were supposed to be successful, the top of their game, but all Killian could manage was dead end security jobs and the odd shift here and there in Liam’s bar. He had friends, flocks of people who wanted to say they knew an Alpha, but none of them meant anything really. When the chips were down, there was only one thing an Alpha could rely on, and that was themselves.

Killian had his brother Liam and his friend Will, also Alphas. The three of them had been inseparable as teens, creating all sorts of mischief in their town, but now they had all grown into Alphas and that came with a certain set of expectations, all of which, Killian, at the age of thirty-two, had yet to fulfill. He was unbonded, plagued by the scents of Omegas that were nothing more than a temptation for his primal instinct, and on top of that, he was jobless.

Killian Jones was broke, and he needed not to be.

“You should just take my advice,” Will slurred. He rocked back on his barstool, tossing the last dribble of alcohol down his throat from the glass in his hand.

“And sell myself?” Killian squeaked, aghast. He watched the rum swirl around the bottom of his glass, shaking his head at his friend’s suggestion. “No thanks, mate.”

Will slammed his glass down on the bar, making Killian jump. “It’s not selling yourself,” Will insisted, waving Liam over to their position. “William Jones!” He sang, grinning from ear to ear, his eyes wide with excitement.

Liam sighed as he approached, rubbing the inside of a glass with a towel. “My name is not William.”

Will screwed up his face. “Of course not,” he scoffed with a wrinkled nose. “There can’t be two of us named Will.”

“Well, there could,” an equally as drunk Killian countered.

“You’re right, mate, there bloody well could be,” Will agreed, swaying sideways.

“Did you call me for any particular reason?” Liam interrupted, flicking the slightly damp towel over his shoulder and leaning forward on to the bar.

“Oh, Liam! Good, you’re here,” Killian observed drunkenly as if his brother hadn’t been there the whole time. He licked his slightly dry lips before taking a breath and pointing to Will. “Now, tell Will here that I have no need for any of his schemes.”

“Schemes?” Liam asked, looking to Will.

“I simply suggested that your brother here,” Will emphasized by slapping Killian on the shoulder. “Takes my advice and takes the job I’m offering him.”

“It’s not a job.” Killian shook his head.

“You’re right, it’s a bloody privilege,” Will countered.

“What job?” Liam’s interest was piqued.

“It’s bloody prostitution,” Killian slurred.

“What job, lads?” Liam insisted in a parental tone. “Tell me now, or the bar’s closed.”

Will and Killian looked between each other and then back to Liam as if he had just punched them both in the face. “Alright, mate, no need to get larey.” Will scrunched his nose and Killian made a childish noise through his grin.

“Larey?” Liam echoed, high voice jumping higher. “Quite the contrary. If you have an idea that would get my little brother back into work and off my sofa, I would like to hear it.” He looked between the two men as if they were naughty children being scolded.

“Younger,” Killian grumbled through a burp in the back of his throat. “Nothing about me is little, brother, I assure you.”

Will laughed, deep and throaty, nudging Killian with a cheeky smile. “Exactly why I’m offering you this opportunity.”

“What opportunity?!” Liam shouted, slapping his hand down on the bar, silencing the near empty pub. A few men stopped their drinking, turning to look over to the three of them, before realising there was nothing worth stopping for and resuming their consuming.

Will tutted, rolling his eyes back in his head and slumping his shoulders as if Liam should already know. ”Knot for hire!” he declared enthusiastically, ignoring the way Killian brushed off his words with an exasperated sigh.

“I beg your pardon?” Liam blinked.

“Knot for hire!” Will repeated, rapping his knuckles on the bar proudly, ignoring the way Liam slowly blinked again. “You know,” he encouraged, “when an Alpha-”

Liam stopped him quickly, halting him with a wave of his hand. “I know what it means.”

“It’s bloody mad,” Killian declared, the room spinning.

“It’s bloody brilliant,” Will countered, shuffling himself forward on his stool until his knees bumped into the underside of the bar. “Imagine, fucking for money-”

“Like a prostitute,” Killian interrupted hastily.

“Like a professional,” Will said quickly. “All you have to do is give ‘em a taste of what they will never have! And not only that, you get paid to do it.”

“I can’t just knot on command,” Killian said defensively, the tips of his ears turning a rosy pink.

“You don’t actually knot ‘em,” Will shrugged.

“Then I can’t just-,” Killian scoffed, but he was quickly interrupted by his friend.

“It’s not that hard,” Will chuckled. “You just imagine the most beautiful lass you’ve ever seen, or lay back and think of England.”

“God save the Queen,” Liam added, smirking when Killian’s eyes met his.

“You can’t seriously think this venture to be a good idea?” He scoffed.

“Why not?” Liam shrugged, looking his brother up and down. “You’re a handsome young fellow with nothing but love to give,” he snorted, trying to finish his words before the laugh caught up with him. Killian shot him a glare and Liam covered his mouth to stifle another laugh. “Oh come on, Killian. You think I haven’t heard you in my bathroom? My walls are not that thick, brother,” he smirked.

Killian’s cheeks turned the same colour as his ear tips, only just hidden by the overbar lighting that cast a dim orange glow over the three of them. Liam was right, in the most embarrassing of ways.

“Say I do agree to this,” Killian began, waving a finger at Will. “What’s in it for me?”

“You mean aside from the obvious?” Will winked cheekily but Killian just took a breath in frustration. “Alright then, let’s see.” He studied his friend, cocking his head from side to side as he sized him up, even going as far as to peel the sides of Killian’s jacket open to ‘inspect the goods’. “At your age-”

“Hey now, watch it mate,” Killian warned.

“I’d say about five to ten,” Will estimated, waving a hand from side to side in front of himself.

“Hundred?” Liam asked eagerly, the idea of getting his brother out of his flat too tempting.

“Thousand,” Will clarified, much to the shock of both Jones brothers. “More if someone really wants you.”

“That’s a lot of money,” Liam thought aloud.

“What do you mean by, ‘really wants you’? Killian asked his friend with a suspicious glare.

Will shrugged, his whole body moving. “They pick us out of a book, mate, I don’t know. All you have to do is be an Alpha with desirable traits.”

“Well, that’s me out then,” Killian sighed, deflated. He had never been as big and imposing as his brother, or as muscular as other Alphas. “Desirable traits I have not.”

“But have you looked in the mirror lately?” Will grabbed Killian’s shoulder and turned his friend until he was facing him. “Perfect blue eyes, just the right amount of hot to get ‘em going, and you know as well as I do, mate, that you can certainly turn on the charm when you need to.”

“I am hotter than you,” Killian grinned wickedly, nudging his friend with his elbow.

“Yes, you are,” Will agreed earnestly. “And if some rich Beta is willing to pay seven grand for me to fuck ‘em, just imagine what you could get.”

And Killian did. All night, in fact. He tossed around on the uneven cushions of Liam’s sofa two or three times before he decided enough was enough. Living with his brother had its perks, but it also had the inevitability that came from two Alphas living in such close quarters. So far, their ruts had never coincided, but it was only a matter of time before they synced and were at each other's throats.

Killian pushed himself over, fumbling around in the darkness for his cell phone nearby. He located it quickly, tugging the charging cable from the device and flopping back into position on the couch. The screen lit up the entire room when he unlocked it, the blue light dilating his pupils in the darkness. Killian located Will’s contact information, sending him the quick text message that would seal his fate, one way or another.

“I’m in.”

--

“This is a bad idea,” Killian whispered to himself as he drove up the very long driveway and the home of his first client came into view. It was massive, the outside as white as snow and every surface visibly as smooth as marble. Maybe it was marble, who knew? All Killian knew was that as he pulled up in his slightly worse for wear black Chevelle SS, the sound of the engine was drowned out by how awesome a sight the mansion was. Even the stones on the driveway were white, the chalking dust sticking to his tyres as the wheels crunched over them, the brakes only squeaking a little as he pulled to a stop directly outside the front door.

Killian let out a steadying breath, knuckles white with how hard he was gripping the steering wheel. Nervous didn’t cover how he felt. Will had assured him that when an agent of Mr. Humbert’s had approached him to go over some ‘important details regarding discretion’, that it was normal, par for the course, but now he was at the house, Killian couldn’t help but feel a little intimidated. Graham Humbert was a man well known, but not for what he was, but for what he wasn’t. Graham Humbert was a Beta, born into a long line of Alphas, and the man had an ego the size of a large country to compensate.

Intimidated just a little bit, Killian forced himself from the car and closed the door behind him. Somehow the house looked even bigger from the bottom of the twelve, huge, smooth, white stoned steps that stretched across the entire front of the house, but Killian decided that he had come this far. It was only a consultation of sorts, to see how ‘compatible’ he would be with the client, still a mystery in Killian’s eyes.

Was it Graham? Was there such a need for high discretion because the world’s most famous non-Alpha was actually gay? Killian himself was not opposed to male company, but as an Alpha, he was always in charge, something he didn’t think a man like Graham Humbert would submit to easily. Maybe Killian was wrong and he would, blaming the stresses and strains of his high profile lifestyle for his need to feel so wanton. With a shake of his head, and a quick mental reminder of just how much Graham Humbert had offered him for his services - $12,000, introductions pending - Killian reached out and pressed his finger to the doorbell button and waited.

After what seemed like forever, the heavy door swung open and a shorter than average man with a scruffy beard and bald head appeared, dressed in a neatly pressed suit that barely held in his rotund stomach. Killian almost arched his brow at the man before him, white gloves and all, looking like a butler out of a Batman comic book scene. The man looked him up and down, lips curling in almost a snarl, before waving him in with a swift motion of his arm.

“Killian Jones,” Killian said quickly, offering his hand to the man when he turned to him after closing the door.

“Hmm,” the man grunted, almost a look of disgust in his eyes. Killian withdrew his hand, swallowing hard. “Mr. Humbert is just seeing to some business,” the man began, not waiting for Killian to follow him before trundling off across the expansive lobby. Killian fell into step and almost collided with the shorter man when he stopped abruptly, turned to face him and let out a brackish tut. “Wait in here and he’ll be down in a few moments.”

Before Killian had time to agree, the man was sliding two huge doors apart before ushering him inside of what seemed to be a study, rolling the doors closed behind him. A silence followed, just the crackle of an open fire to break up the buzzing in Killian’s ears that was somehow still louder than his hammering heartbeat. He stepped further into the room which was quintessentially masculine.

In front of the open fire were two huge wingback chairs, the leather upholstery as soft to the touch as it looked when Killian ran his fingers over the dimples of the wide headed furniture tacks around the edges. Above the dark wood fire surround was a huge deer head, the twelve-point buck stuffed and attached to a mount, the lifeless eyed taxidermy clearly a trophy of some kind. Killian couldn’t stop the sound in the back of his throat as he looked around the room, the grunt that of disbelief at how far a Beta would go to appear Alpha.

Sprawled out across the floor was a huge bear skin, the dark hairs clearly indicating what was once a huge Grizzly. Killian had no doubt Graham had shot the animal himself, the misfired buckshot visible right over the animal’s shoulder as tiny bald patches in the pelt. Behind one of the chairs was a huge desk, some expensive hardwood that had been polished to within an inch of its life, the whole surface almost bare apart from two things, both of them photographs.

One was of his family, more specifically the men, standing abreast in front of the house. They were all wearing the same suit, tops hats and coattails, with Graham front and center. It must have been taken a while ago, the youth still evident in Humbert's face. The other was in the exact same position, only the men had been replaced by women, all smiling and laughing in the direction of the camera. That was, except for one of them. The woman in the center, more accurately, the girl, was not as happy as the gaggle of identically dressed bridesmaids and flower bearers around her. She was smiling, but not in the same way as the others. It was forced, and her downcast stare that many others might see as shyness was clearly sorrow.

Killian reached out, fingertips lightly brushing down the side of the woman’s cheek in a silent apology, when the sound of the doors rolling open roused him from his thoughts. His gaze lingered on her a little longer, almost feeling her warmth through the pane of glass in the frame as he imagined how soft her skin was. She was beautiful, even in her sadness, and Killian had never felt the tug in his heart for a Beta before, even during his rut.

“Mr. Jones,” Graham called out, making sure the doors were closed behind him.

Killian turned, nervously balling his hands and stuffing them into the pockets of his suit pants. Will had told him to make an impression on the wife, so he had opted for a dark blue suit and a white collared shirt unbuttoned to expose just the right amount of chest hair. He had trimmed his beard length to just the right amount, soft curled red hairs mingled with dark brown tempting and grabbable. His shoes were shined, his hair swept aside and seamlessly styled as if by a higher being, and if the way Graham Humbert was looking at him was anything to go by, he’d done alright.

“Mr. Humbert.” Killian greeted the man before him, stepping forward and pulling a hand from his pocket. He offered it to Graham, who took it and gave it a hard squeeze as he shook it.

“Thank you for coming,” Graham said, motioning for him to follow him. The room was an odd shape and just around a hidden corner was a small dining table with a couch on each side. Graham walked over to them, offering Killian to sit with a flat palm directed at the couch, which Killian accepted with a nod and sat. “I’ve something of a proposal.”

Graham’s statement took him back and Killian arched a brow, fidgeting nervously on the slightly too low couch cushion. “Forgive me, sir, but you are aware of the services offered by my employer?”

Graham smirked as he took his place opposite Killian, running his finger over his bottom lip. “I am,” he said simply, finally looking up to the Alpha who was everything he was not. “Look, let me just cut to the chase here. You see, I have a wife.”

Killian’s lips twitched into a smirk. Will had told him that it was not unusual for rich Beta husbands to need an Alpha to satisfy their wives, and Graham was not disappointing, but the next words out of the wretched man’s mouth shocked him.

“And a mistress,” Graham added nonchalantly. Killian looked up and tried his hardest not to be judgemental. If Graham’s wife was indeed the solemn woman from the photograph, then he was a fool. “And whilst my wife is a woman of needs, I prefer my mistress if you get what I am saying.”

“Aye,” Killian agreed through gritted teeth. “I guess that’s where I come in?”

“I hope so,” Graham sniggered. “My wife is-.” Graham paused, looking up with thought. He rolled his bottom lip under his teeth, a sly grin spreading across his features at the thought of how defiant a woman Emma really was. “One of a kind,” Graham said finally, his words laced with sarcasm.

“She’s demanding?” Killian enquired, trying to keep the conversation as business like as possible. Graham gave him a nod. “Mr. Humbert, can I be honest with you?” Killian lowered his head and heaved a huge breath.

“Of course, Killian,” Graham replied, sitting back and puffing out his chest in mock dominance. Killian narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his name on Graham’s lips. “What? You didn’t think I would hire someone to fuck my wife without knowing everything about him, did you?” Graham pushed himself to his feet and began walking around the room, revelling in the many items that littered his den. “Killian Jones, thirty-two, single Alpha with no current employer, besides the agency of course, who lives with his Alpha brother following some trouble with the police. Did I leave anything out?”

“It seems not,” Killian answered, his voice low as he watched the Beta move.

“No, it would not. You see, my wife means a lot to me, despite our differences,” Graham began, moving around the room once again. He ignored Killian’s gaze as he walked past, setting a course straight for his huge oak desk and falling back into the luxurious tanned leather chair. “And I don’t want to see her get hurt.”

Killian nearly bit his tongue in half, choking on a cough as he tried to abstain from laughing. Graham looked up at the sound but Killian quickly covered it as a cough. “Of course,” he offered reassuringly.

Graham kept his eyes fixed on Killian for a moment longer, sizing him up from across his desk. Killian kept his gaze, blinking slowly, trying to read the man in front of him but Graham was not giving up anything with his emotions. Killian was finding him hard to read and was about to excuse himself, when Graham reached into a drawer beside him and pulled out a wad of cream coloured paper that was clipped together in the top corner.

“This is a list,” he told Killian, thumbing the small stack of paper whilst motioning for Killian to join him at the desk. Killian rose to his feet, crossing the distance to Graham’s desk and setting himself down in the chair opposite. “Of do’s and don'ts with my wife.”

“It looks extensive,” Killian observed.

“It is,” Graham agreed without a smile. Graham Humbert was a rich man with a mistress, so Killian doubted that he cared much for his wife as anything more than property, and the next words out of the vile man’s mouth confirmed it for him. “A contract, if you will.”

“Alright,” Killian agreed, taking the ‘contract’ and flicking through a few pages.

It was crass, degrading and that was just the references Graham was making to his wife. ‘Spouse’ was the only thing that Killian could actually read without feeling disgusted by the man. Who was he to refer to his wife like she was something he owned? Even if she was a Beta and Killian had only seen her in a photo, he couldn’t stop his protective nature from rearing its head, the hand on his knee curling into a fist.

“Take a moment.” Graham stood, walking around the desk whilst Killian stared blankly at the words in front of him. He stopped near the mantlepiece surrounding the now low burning fire. The embers burned hot, glowing in the pit just enough to illuminate Graham in a glow of red, and the photographs over the fire were all of Graham, not a single one of his wife. “I’m a busy man,” Graham told him, inspecting his fingernails. “Let’s get this deal arranged so we can be on our way.”

Killian paused for a second, the rage inside of him for the man who had summoned him bubbling just under the surface. Graham was not an Alpha but he was going out of his way to make himself seem like one, and the worst kind at that. Most Alpha’s were kind, gentle and with the exception of their ruts, willing to tolerate most things in life. Graham Humbert was not, an Alpha or tolerable it seemed, and his poor wife was to pay the price, cast aside like a term in a negotiation. Killian was going to tell him that he had never done this before, that he probably wasn’t worth the money Graham as offering, but then he talked himself out of it.

“Aye, let’s,” Killian ground out, pushing himself to his feet and moving to stand near Graham. The Beta inhaled hard, making himself look unnecessarily larger, but Killian just ignored him. Fucking his wife would be glory enough.

“First of all, some ground rules," Graham said way louder than he needed to. "Under no circumstances are you to accept any oral favours from my wife." Graham's voice had dropped lower, as if he was trying to intimidate. "But I'm sure she likes it, so give her all she wants."

Killian's brow pulled together for an instant at Graham's words. Shouldn't a man know what his wife likes?

"I'd ideally like you to service her here, in the house, but she feels it would sully our marital bed." Graham rolled his eyes, sighing heavily as if he had been forced into the next decision. "She has an apartment in the city that will do just fine for your needs."

"Alright-," Killian began but was cut off quickly.

"But there are to be no rendering of services until I have signed off on it, do you understand?"

"I do," Killian ground out, flicking his eyes back down to the document in his hand, sure his blackened eyes would give away his anger.

"My wife likes lingerie, but if she wants you to buy anything new for this little venture, then you will not be reimbursed for expenses, understood?"

"That seems fair." Killian nodded slowly.

"God knows you will have enough payment to buy it yourself," Graham muttered. Clearing his throat after his words. "Oh, and Killian?" Graham paused, waiting for the Alpha to look up at him.

"Yes?" Killian faked the sweet tone to his voice.

"Don't come in my wife," Graham ordered, fixing his stare on Killian.

Killian felt the tips of his ears burn and hoped his cheeks hadn't accompanied them in his blush. Will had told him that some husbands could be oddly specific but Graham was a new level of forthcoming. Killian swallowed hard, the mere thought of knotting the blonde beauty in the photograph making his stomach flutter.

"Good," Graham concluded, taking Killian's silence as his agreement. "I've heard the appeal of sleeping with an Alpha is the knot, but I am paying you a lot of money to just fuck her until she feels good. There would be no need to ruin a good thing now, would there?"

"Don't knot your wife, got it." Killian ground his teeth again, the muscles in his jaw ticking and making his ears wiggle.

"You are not to see her without my prior knowledge, is that clear?" Graham pointed a finger at him, pacing back around his desk and not waiting for an answer. “Do you have a set schedule?” Graham asked. “Do you have other clients?”

“No,” Killian assured him. “Your wife is the only one right now.”

“Good,” Graham said a little louder than necessary. “Then you will be exclusive to my wife, when and where she wants, am I understood?”

Killian didn’t like his tone and everything inside of him screamed to make Graham see who was the real Alpha in this room, but sadly he needed the money more. What Graham was offering was the highest amount ever offered to an Alpha before, especially one who had never even had a client, and Killian couldn’t help but wonder why. All of Graham’s body language was telling him that he was intimidated, so why such a huge financial offer?

“Aye, I do,” Killian agreed, licking his lips.

“With my approval, of course,” Graham nodding, seeking Killian’s agreement. “And this whole venture is strictly confidential, do you understand? There is a non-disclosure agreement on the back page which you will have to sign in order to get paid.”

“Will you tell me why you chose me out of all the other Alphas?” Killian asked suddenly, breaking Graham from his thoughts.

Graham smiled a sickly sweet grin and Killian saw him tighten his jaw. “She picked you.” A boyish smirk played across Killian’s lips, despite Graham’s misogynistic degradation of his wife. Graham fished around in his pocket, pulling out his cell phone. “Come in,” he said idly, pressing the device to his ear. “He’s here.”

Killian has no time to ask who Graham was calling before it became clear, a side door at the far end of the den creaking as it opened, and a woman stepping into view. It was the woman from the photograph, brought to life in front of him, and Killian jumped to his feet as she approached. Graham was at her side in a few steps, almost stopping her from reaching him, and throwing a protective arm around her waist. She smiled, but Killian could see it was forced, her body leaning away from her husband in disgust.

“Mr. Jones, this is my wife, Emma,” Graham announced, looking her up and down beside him. “Emma, this is-”

“Jones,” Killian stepped forward to close the gap Graham had created between them and reached out his hand. “Killian Jones.” Emma reached out her hand to shake his, but with a twist of his wrist, Killian had her fingers curled around his and was kissing the back of her hand in greeting. He felt her skin on his lips, warm and moisturized, and he couldn’t stop himself from imagining the rest of her body just as supple. She didn’t pull her hand away, her fingers tightening over his instead, and when Killian looked up to her once more, there was a new smile on her face.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Emma,” Killian said a little too huskily.

His throat had become dry, the dress she was wearing leaving nothing to his imagination, her cleavage so amply nestled behind the fabric, it was hard to look away. When he did finally look back up to her eyes, they were the most beautiful shade of amber-green he had ever seen, so soulful and happy and yet laced with sadness he could only imagine to comprehend. It bothered him, his natural Alpha instinct to care itching just under his skin, and it didn’t help when the beaming smile on her face faded to a slight smirk.

“Well?” Graham prompted, nudging her with his elbow. “Don’t tell me you are shy now.”

Emma didn’t seem to hear him at first, her eyes flickering over the Alpha in front of her like he was her saviour. Her face filled with more colour, a pink hue rising over her cheeks as she bit down on her lower lip and locked eyes with the blue of Killian’s again.

“The pleasure is all mine,” she said finally, her face erupting into a grin.

“I hope so,” Killian smirked. “Or I wouldn’t be much of an Alpha, would I?” He gave her a soft smile, a reassuring nod and just for good measure, a cheeky wink that made her blush under his gaze.

Chapter Text

Killian hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Graham Humbert’s wife since the moment they had parted ways. He felt for her. It was as simple as that. He could see she was unhappy, even by the way she forced a smile onto her pretty face, and he had spent all night reminding himself that she was not his concern. She was simply a job. He was being paid a very large amount to make her happy, and somewhere in his stupid Alpha brain, he had deduced that she would only be happy with him.

Killian shook his head, banishing the thought from his mind. His feet pounded the canvas of the treadmill, pin like pain shooting through his calf muscles with every step, arms stiff and bent at the elbow to help balance his movements. The shirt he was wearing was skin tight, a patch of sweat showing down the middle of his back and around the neckline, and his usually tidy hair was a sopping wet mess that stuck to his forehead. Running at the gym was how Killian was trying to punish his mind, maybe get so hot his brain would boil itself alive and realise that Emma was unattainable.

And it wasn’t like she was anything special. Emma was a Beta, just like Graham, so why, after touching only her hand, was Killian so invested in her? There was no explanation, no rhyme or reason really, just a feeling. Killian trusted his instincts more than most and was attuned to the emotions of others. It was why he used toys and didn’t simply fuck anyone he could during a rut. He’d had a girlfriend once, a Beta, but it hadn’t worked out. It didn’t take him long to realise that he was simply a trophy to her, something to show off to her friends, and maybe that was why he felt so connected to Emma, both of them being used at the hands of the one person who should have loved them.

His thought process was interrupted by the waving hand of Will Scarlett and with a few presses of a button, the treadmill began to slow, Killian dropping into a brisk walk before finally stopping altogether. He frowned at his friend, giving him a questioning look as he pulled the earbuds from his ears and his lungs burned with every breath he took.

“Finally,” Will sighed dramatically.

“What?” Killian barked, a little irritated that the vision of Emma on his mind was now replaced by his friend.

“Oh, nothing,” Will sassed, leaning on the control panel of the treadmill. “I’ve only been trying to get your attention for like five minutes.” Killian’s blank stare caused him to roll his eyes. “You said you wanted me to spot for you?”

“Aye, I did,” Killian agreed, suddenly remembering. He stepped off the treadmill on shaky legs and Will handed him his gym towel. “Cheers, mate,” he huffed, still trying to catch his breath as he wiped the dry towel over his face and down his neck.

“Where are you today?” Will asked, concern lacing his words. He held out a bottle of water for Killian too and his friend took it gladly.

“I’m sorry?” Killian gasped, twisting the cap of the water bottle open and guzzling down the entire thing.

“Your mind is elsewhere,” Will noted.

“Is it?” Killian arched a brow innocently.

“Clearly.” Will gave his friend a glance, one Killian had seen many times growing up, and it meant Will could see right through him like he was invisible. Sometimes Killian wondered how Will did it, because he was the only other person, besides Liam, who could tell exactly what he was thinking about.

“It’s nothing,” Killian lied, pretending to look in his gym bag for something.

“Don’t bullshit me, Jones. I know when you are lying,” Will said sternly. “Is it work? Oh!” Will exclaimed a little too loudly, causing half the gym to turn and look at them. “Is it the wife?”

Killian’s cheeks flushed hot and he was thankful for the humidity of the gym to hide his crimson cheeks. “No. Why would it be the wife?”

“Well, have you, you know, fucked her yet?” The gleeful smirk on Will’s face made Killian roll his eyes under the fresh towel that was busy drying up more excess sweat.

“It’s confidential,” Killian said gruffly.

“That means yes then,” Will grinned.

“No,” Killian told him firmly, grabbing his bag and heading across the floor to where the weights were. Will trotted along beside him like an obedient dog eager for a morsel of more gossip. “It means I cannot talk about it or I will not get paid.”

Will craned his neck, eyes widening with shock. “Who is your,-”

“Will,” Killian implored, stopping dead and causing Will to bump into him.

“Alright!” Will huffed, shaking his head and holding his hands up defencelessly. “But have you?” He grinned impishly.

“No!” Killian yelled, again causing the whole gym to turn and look at them. “Listen, I went to the house for a meet and greet and we have a session planned later this week.”

Killian tossed his bag on the floor beside the bench, swinging one leg over in to sit on the padded red leather. Will frowned, and Killian could see the workings of his brain ticking over. He opened his mouth to say something but then closed it quickly. Killian settled back, lying on the bench and looking up to his friend over the weight bar.

“Look, I would like to tell you, I really would, but I need the money.” Killian looked down with a sigh and planted his hands firmly on the ridged grip of the bar. His own words shocked even him, and he shook his head. “I need the money, Will.”

“Alright,” his friend said gently. “But you can tell me how much you are getting paid, right? Just say a number.” Will took up place at Killian’s head, gripping the bar and lifting it when Killian gave him the nod.

Technically, Killian could. Graham had never specified, in words or in his stupid contract, that Killian could not disclose his payment amount to anyone. “Twelve,” Killian said through a breath, his voice almost a struggle when the weight of the bar tested the resolve of his elbows.

“Hundred?” Will asked with an almost impressed look in his eye. “My first client was only five-,”

“Thousand,” Killian interrupted quickly, through clenched teeth.

“Twelve thousand dollars?!” Will squeaked, letting go of the bar and sending it crashing into Killian’s chest. He let out a groan, knees hiking up instinctively to try and protect his body from the blow, but all it did was expel air that Killian desperately needed. “Twelve. Thousand. Dollars,” Will repeated slowly, in shock.

“Aye,” Killian nodded, pained by the impact. “Will-,” he began through gritted teeth, his face turning red, but Will carried on his daydream monologue.

“For your first client?” Will asked for clarification.

“Aye,” Killian grumbled again, his wrists beginning to hurt from his exertions. “Will-,” Killian grunted, back arching to try and relieve some of the weight across his chest. “Can you just-”

“Oh shit!” Will scrambled for the bar, Killian turning blue in front of him. He pulled hard, the tearing sensation in his biceps ignored until he heard the metallic sound of the bar hitting the rack. Will raced around the bench, reaching for Killian’s hand and pulling his friend until he was sitting upright again. “Mate, are you alright?” Will fussed, patting Killian on the back as he coughed.

Killian waved him off with a few flicks of his hand, taking a huge breath and blinking to try and focus the red spots in his eyes. He coughed a few times, his whole body burning up from the panic, Will diligently rubbing a cool pack over his neck with worry.

“Say something,” Will begged.

“You’re a terrible spotter,” Killian croaked, clutching his throat.

“I’m sorry, it’s just-,” Will paused, sitting down on the end of the bench with a heaviness in his limbs. “Twelve grand, are you sure?”

Killian nodded, the whites of his eyes stinging from how hard he had been gasping for air. His hand slid from his throat down to his chest, clutching the fabric of his shirt over his heart as he leaned forward and ground his teeth through the pain. Killian was sure, even with a little massage, he would feel the bar pressed into his chest for a few weeks yet.

“And she’s beautiful.” The words left Killian’s mouth before he had time to stop them, holding his breath for Will’s reply. There was a silence and when Killian looked up to meet Will’s gaze, he saw real concern on his friends face. “What?” He asked innocently, flicking his gaze down to the bench between them.

“You can’t think like that,” Will told him. “They are just clients, Killian, not dates. Not to mention, yours is clearly married to some rich guy who would end you, Alpha or not.”

“He could try,” Killian smirked.

“Seriously, mate,” Will began, cocking his head to the side. “These things never end well.”

“Calm down,” Killian told him with a nervous laugh. “I’m not going to fall in love with some Beta because I put my dick in her for money.”

“Good,” Will said with a nod, although he wasn’t entirely convinced himself.

--

It wasn’t like Killian to be nervous, but he really did think the occasion called for it. Tonight was his first night with Graham’s wife, and with the Beta out of town on business, he was a little less stressed. But he couldn’t help the way his body reacted to the mere thought of her. Emma. What a beautiful name, for a stunning beauty of a woman. Ever since she had walked through the door to Humbert’s den a few nights ago he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind.

The hue of her skin and the way it radiated in the dim lighting of the room was all he could think about. When she had taken his hand, her fingers were so soft and warm they had sent a jolt of electricity up his arm and made every hair on the back of his neck stand on end. She had been dressed in a white frock, something he was sure Graham made her wear to appear as pure as possible by his side, but Killian could tell by the glint in her eye that she had more sinful tastes.

He wasn’t sure how long he had stood at the door, the cool night air making him shiver as he stared down at the address scrawled onto the piece of paper in his hand. She had written the address to her apartment down for him during the meeting, her fingers grazing his and making the hairs on his forearm spring into alertness. Maybe the shiver down his spine wasn’t from the cold after all. Maybe it was her.

Killian took a breath, steadying himself. How had he become such a soft Alpha? What had Will said? Just think of the prettiest lass you have ever seen. Killian’s only problem was his client was the prettiest woman he had ever seen and if there was any justice in his life, when he lifted his hand and tapped his knuckles on the door, she wouldn’t answer.

The apartment complex was very executive and Killian expected nothing less from Humbert. He would want to make sure Emma was comfortable too, especially for what he had been commissioned to do, but there would be no way on earth he could afford somewhere like this. The walls were freshly painted, the tarnish lingering on his tongue as he inhaled, and every door was identically made of the huge, hardwood he was standing in front of. He knew he was in the right place, not only because of the address in his hand, but because of her scent.

Even as a Beta, Emma had a fantastic smell about her. It was fresh, and floral, like the newly sprung grasses of Spring mixed with the sweetest scent of a rose in bloom. Like a bee he was drawn to her for one thing, and one thing only, rutting and breeding, inexplicably. In the entire history of the world, no Alpha has ever been so obsessed with a Beta.

Until now.

Clearing his throat he finally found the courage to lift his arm and with three gentle taps, he knocked on the door.

His wait felt like forever, hands balling at his sides as he bobbed up and down on the balls of his feet, but he was soon rewarded with her scent, strong and intoxicating as she opened the door. She was even more lovely than the first time he had seen her, her hair pulled back into a bun that highlighted the curve of her skull and accented the elegance of her neck. Long, slender, with skin that practically called out to him, her scent was intoxicating, radiating from where her scent gland would be if she were anything but a Beta.

Killian was sure his mind was playing tricks on him, especially when she shifted onto one smooth leg, leaned her weight against the door jamb and gave him a smile.

“Hey,” she said smoothly, her face lighting up at the sight of him.

“Mrs. Humbert,” he almost coughed, struggling to keep his cool as he fiddled with the palms of his hands with his fingernails.

“Please,” she scoffed. “Mrs. Humbert is my bitch of a mother-in-law.”

“Emma then.” He gave her a smile that was asking her permission, even though the smile she returned told him that he needn’t have asked.

With a nudge of her head she was inviting him in and inexplicably he followed more obedient than any Alpha should. She was wearing an oversized shirt and not much else, something he had failed to realise at first, his brain finally catching up to him as she sashayed back into the apartment.

That in itself surprised Killian. He was sure it would have been another one of Mr. Humbert’s attempts at appearing Alpha, seeing as the man was paying for it after all, but it wasn’t what he had expected. The single room was vast, a clear reflection of wealth, but in no way anything other than exactly what Emma had made it. A huge bed, covered by a duvet as thick as the mattress it rested upon drew his eye, and he didn’t know why, but the white, virginal sheets called to his inner lust as he imagined Emma spread out naked on them.

For him.

Urges he shouldn’t have had around a Beta, but urges he would let slide for someone so beautiful.

“So how does this work?” She called back to him as she pulled a bobby pin from her bun.

"Surely your husband filled you in on the details," Killian smirked, watching her hair tumble over her shoulders when she pulled out a few more of the metallic pins on her way to the bed.

"My husband?" Emma balked a laugh. "The man who is paying you such a grand sum to get a job done he fails at so horribly?" Emma shook her head, loosening the last few curls so that they joined the cascade currently adorning her shoulders and framing her pretty face. "Don't make me laugh."

"He told me that you wanted an Alpha," Killian said quickly, his nostrils flaring at the mere thought of the disgusting man. He followed her some more feeling the pull of a beautiful woman for the first time in his life.

"Yes," Emma nodded, turning to face him. "I described a very specific Alpha and would you believe he found everything, even down to the accent. Wouldn't you call that fate, Mr. Jones?"

Killian fixed her with a stare but she did not look away. There were not many people in an Alpha's life who didn't divert their gaze and he felt his lips tick up at the corners.

"Call me Killian," he almost growled. His fingers moved to the button on his jacket, popping the single button through its hole and a gleeful smile erupting on his face at the way her eyes moved to focus on his hands.

Emma took a step towards him and reached out, smoothing her long, lithe fingers over his shirt clad chest. He had worn the white one, mindful that his thick chest hair would be seen underneath, something he knew drove most women wild, regardless of classification, and when Emma scrunched her fingers and clawed lightly over the crisp white material, Killian felt the electric shock of arousal harden his nipples instantly.

“Okay then, Killian,” Emma purred, arching her body into his. “What were your instructions?”

A laugh rumbled from deep in his throat at her question, mainly from her brashness but also from the way she was unbuttoning his shirt so adeptly.

“To fuck you and make you feel good, I believe is what your husband said,” Killian said lowly, his words crushed in his throat from where he was craning his neck to watch her undress him. When all of his buttons were undone, he could smell her arousal, a fresh womanly scent hitting him the second she laid eyes on the contours of his body.

“Oh, then who are we to deny him?” Emma quirked an eyebrow at him, finally able to tear her eyes away from where her hands were roaming his torso. Thick, black chest hair tickled her fingertips with every stroke, softer than she had first thought but just as luxurious as she had imagined from the tiny bits poking out from his shirt collar. “Are all Alphas like this?” Emma wondered aloud.

“Like what, love?” Killian said softly, letting her explore his exposed chest some more. “Hairy? Muscular?”

“Powerful,” Emma sighed and lifted her head to meet his gaze. “The things you could do to me,” she breathed, pawing at his biceps.

Killian smirked, letting her hands roam some more. When she traced the edges of his ribs he had to refrain from laughing, her soft, light touches like a fine spider web across his skin, but she must have noticed the faintest twitch of a smile on his face because she snaked her hands up behind his neck and threaded her fingers into his hair.

“Is it true?” Emma asked with a pink tinge to her cheeks. She cast her eyes downwards between their bodies, leaning back and rubbing his groin with her body.

She meant his size, Killian knew that. Every Beta woman was the same, fascinated with the anatomy of an Alpha, the fabled larger attributes something many of them would swoon over. Killian had used it to sleep with women in the past, he wouldn’t deny that. When he was in his teens and had come into puberty, sometimes using the largest asset he had was all he could do to satisfy his needs.

“Aye,” he whispered in a choked voice.

“Will you kiss me?” Emma asked innocently, nudging the underside of his jaw. “Did my husband allow that in his stupid contract?”

Killian gave her a questioning look. “You know about that?”

Emma laughed and rolled her body away from his and took a few steps back towards the bed. “Everything is business to him, Killian. Even me. My whole marriage is a fucking contract.”

Killian wasn’t exactly sure what Emma meant, but he was sure if Humbert was involved it was nothing good. The man, a lowly Beta with the pretense to be Alpha, used and abused everyone in his life and Killian had no doubt that his wife was on the very top of that list. Every picture of her had a fake smile and for some reason he couldn’t explain, Killian wanted nothing more than to see the real smile he knew she possessed.

Emma was busy running her fingers through her hair so she didn’t notice Killian divest himself of his shirt, unbuckle his pants and kick off his shoes. She turned, just as his pants hit the floor under the weight of his belt and in one fluid movement, he had stepped from them and closed the gap between them. She had no time to object when Killian cupped her face in his hands and crushed his lips to hers.

Neither of them moved for what felt like the longest time, and Killian had to hold her up when she went limp in his arms. Her lips were so soft to him, almost too smooth to be true, and he felt them quiver a little under his kiss. Then he felt her smile against his lips, and it was pure and chaste, the first sign he was given that told him that she was exactly what he thought she was - perfect.

“You’re naked,” Emma said in a daze, her eyes fluttering open when their lips parted.

“I am,” Killian beamed back at her. His forehead rested against hers and he smiled boyishly, brushing his thumb over the corner of her mouth. “And now,” Killian said smoothly as he unbuttoned her shirt, pushing it over her shoulders and letting the cotton fall to the floor behind her. She had little time to say anything before he dropped to his knees and tugging her underwear down her legs, brushing his nose over her inner knee, pecking her skin as he rose. He took a moment, his breath hitching in his throat as he looked her over, her smell ten times more intoxicating now that she was fully exposed to him. "So are you,” he whispered huskily.

“I’ve never done this before,” Emma told him shyly, dropping her gaze to the floor.

“Neither have I, love.” Killian tucked a crooked finger under her chin and offered her a reassuring smile as he tilted her head back up.

“You haven’t?” Emma frowned, teasing him with a smirk.

“You’re my first,” Killian assured her.

A small chuckle rumbled from Emma’s throat. She knew he had probably had sex before, so he didn’t mean it like that. Did he? Emma looked down, unable to stop herself gasping at the size of him when that came into her view. He was big and she bit her lip. “Will it hurt?”

Killian raised an eyebrow and sucked in a laugh. His hands found her hips and he pulled her tighter to him, relishing in the way he felt her skin bobble with goosebumps under his touch, his fingertips skimming around until he found the swell of her ass. Her skin was firm and plump at the same time and her body reacted to his touch instantly as her nipples hardened against his chest.

“Only if you want it to,” he smirked salaciously.

The way her cheeks turned red despite all of her previous bravado made Killian hard. Actually fucking hard. He had been hard for a Beta before, but he was normally in rut, so ready to fuck anything that moved, but somehow this was different. She was different.

“You know what? Screw your husband,” Killian announced. He pressed his hand to the small of her back and pulled her to him even harder, his length hot and pulsing against her skin. He felt her gasp, her fingernails digging into his shoulders and her eyes searching his in question. “What would make you happy?”

For a second Emma was silent and still in his arms, her face in shock of the question he had posed her. No one had ever asked her what she had wanted before. In her life, it was a foreign concept to be given a choice, especially in the Humbert household, and a sudden thrill shot through her bones at the mere thought of answering him. What did she want? Why had she asked for this? She knew he had meant from right now, but it didn’t stop her wishing her life was different. Her thoughts were interrupted when Killian brushed his knuckles over her cheek, rousing her from her reverie.

“I just want to be fucked by an Alpha,” Emma smiled up at him and licked her lips.

Killian could tell she had forced her smile but it wasn’t his place to question it. He licked his lips, imagining the taste of her on his tongue, and his cock bobbed against his stomach. He sucked in a breath through his teeth, dragging the back of his fingernails over her shoulders and down over her collarbone as he deliberated what he was going to do to her. “First we have to get you nice and wet,” he growled.

Killian grabbed her by the shoulders, hard enough to mean business but not enough to hurt, and spun her around. Emma let out a squeak of exhilaration and stiffened in his arms when he wrapped them around her, slipping a hand down over her stomach and cupping her mound. Killian pushed a single finger through her silky folds, absently wondering if she had shaved just for him, and Emma jumped up onto her toes at the welcome intrusion.

“Oh, my love,” Killian purred against the back of her ear, his scruff tickling at her neck as he spoke and setting all her hair standing on end when he smiled against her skin. His finger slipped along her folds but as wet as she was, he knew it wouldn’t be enough to accommodate him comfortably. “This just won’t do.”

Emma sighed, his fingers working through her folds and rubbing her clit. It was so hard, almost painfully stimulated, something Emma had never experienced before but already loved. It was torturously wonderful and her hips canted against his hand, her teeth leaving imprints in her lip as she let her head fall back onto his shoulder.

“Mmmm,” she hummed contently, riding his hand. Emma lifted her arm and clutched at his hair, holding his head to her neck when his lips went to work on the patch of skin above her quickening pulse.

“You like that, don’t you?” Killian mumbled against her neck, nipping at the skin there. Emma’s entire body told him what he already knew and her slow, shaky nod confirmed it. “You know the best way to get you wet, love?” Killian whispered into her ear, his tongue licking at her ear lobe and his cock rutting into the crease of her ass to ease his own growing tension.

“What?” Emma moned, her words hushed by her breathlessness.

“An orgasm,” Killian ground out darkly.

“Oh my-,” Emma gasped at his words, his tone demanding yet caring and like music to her soul. “Fuck.”

“You think you can do that for me, Emma?” Killian grinned and stretched his body upright once more, letting his length press even harder into her flesh and nudging her forward towards the bed. Instinctively Emma leaned forward, clawing at the bedclothes as she climbed on top of the comforter with Killian hot on her heels. He positioned himself behind her and his legs trapped hers together, his knees on the outside of hers and sinking into the plush, white duvet.

Killian smirked when she presented, wiggling her ass at him as if she were a good Omega, and drunk on the scent of her, he had to remind himself of her classification, confused for a second, blinking long and hard to right his thoughts of getting the job done. He was being paid, after all, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t enjoy himself while he made her feel good. He shuffled forward until there was no room between them anymore and positioned his length between her folds, thrusting his hips forward slowly and deliberately, her juices coating his cock and teasing her clit.

He hadn’t even got close to penetrating her yet and Emma was whimpering at his touch, mewling like a kitten every time he rubbed her with his length, rubbed her just the right way. It felt incredible, like her insides were trying to claw their way out and get to what she wanted the most, what she needed the most. Emma didn’t care how she got there, she just knew that she had to, and somehow with Killian, the big, strong Alpha currently dry fucking her clit with just his cock, she knew she would.

“Oh, fuck,” Emma gasped, slapping her hand down on the duvet and clutching the comforter in her hand, pushing herself onto all fours and bouncing back to meet his thrusts. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

Killian slowed down his torture, stopping his thrusts and letting his rock hard member rest against her folds. Emma whined at his pause, a line of prickly heat appearing down her spine where her body had been worked up only to have the good feelings fizzle away. He hadn’t done anything yet, barely touched her with anything other than his cock, and yet she had been turned into a quivering mess. And she loved it.

Killian placed his hand over the base of her spine, stroking away her need. “Shhh now, love,” he soothed. “We have barely begun.”

“You feel so good,” Emma breathed, her head dropping down until her face was flush with the duvet.

Killian chuckled but the rumble from his chest wasn’t as loud as the slapping sound that reverberated around her apartment when he struck her bare cheek with a huge open palm. Emma cried out, her scream of pain turning to pleasure when Killian began kneading the fleshy globes in his roughened hands, hiding his own growl of pleasure in a content hum. One of his hands slipped between her cheeks, following the contour of her sex and cupping his hand around his length, an action that made Emma squirm against his hardness.

“That’s it, darling, take your pleasure,” Killian ground out.

Emma obeyed, rubbing herself against him completely unashamedly, loving the way she could feel every ridge and detail of him against her clit as he slipped through her folds. It was amazing, his girth stretching her lips apart just enough that her juices could coat both him and her as she ground against him, something she had never done before. Graham had been her only sexual partner, but sex had become nothing but an obligation for him early in their marriage until he had decided that her feelings just didn’t matter anymore and he had stopped showing her any affection.

Killian, on the other hand, was most definitely making sure that her feelings mattered.

“Come now, love,” he teased, slapping her clit with his cock mid way through one of her hip swivels. She screamed but her voice shuddered when a ripple of pleasure shot through her. “You can do better than that,” he smirked.

Emma let out a silent gasp at the assault on her clit, arching her back and immediately regretting it. Killian had moved back, only an inch but it was enough for her to feel the cold gust of air that filled the void where he had been. Her apartment wasn’t cold, especially since Killian had walked in, but she was so incredibly aching for something, anything, for him that she was burning up.

“Please, Killian,” Emma begged, reaching between her legs and grasping him firmly between her fingers. Her hand seemed tiny compared to him, but there was barely any time to process the information in her brain before she felt him grip her wrist and pull her hand away.

“Oh, love,” Killian purred, replacing her hand back down onto the comforter, interlocking his fingers with hers. “If you want me to fuck you, and I mean really fuck you,” he droned seductively, his words broken up by the sound of his kisses to her spine. “Then you have to use my title.”

Killian slipped his hand from hers and trailed his fingertips up her arm, dancing along the swell of the side of her breast and sliding over the skin of her stomach. Emma ignored the tickle on her ribs, gasping when Killian pinned his length between her folds once more and began thrusting his hips more forcefully. His pelvis slammed into her ass, over and over with the rhythm he had set, and before she had time to realise what was happening, her body was exploding in all directions from the bottom of her stomach to the tips of her toes, white flashes behind her eyelids blinding her for the first time in years as she clenched her core and came.

“Alpha!” Emma screamed and Killian smiled against the ridges of her spine. His title sounded like a symphony from her lips, orchestrated just for him, and with the same level of intensity Killian would have expected from an Omega. “Alpha, I’m coming!” Emma cried, but it sounded like a plea for him to stop his movements, something he was sure Emma was saying in conflict with her own desires. “Oh fuck!” Emma gasped, collapsing to the duvet covered mattress with a thump, her legs quivering, eyes unable to focus and her body instantly missing the feel of Killian’s skin on hers.

“Love,” Killian smirked coyly, climbing over her spent body mindful not to put too much pressure on her spine, nudging her knees apart and seating himself between her legs. He let the tip of himself slip into her and to his delight, Emma gasped again. “We haven’t even begun yet.”

--

“Order anything you’d like,” Graham told him with a sweetness to his tone that made Killian want to gag. “You did a good job.”

“I did?” Killian asked dumbly, looking at the menu in his hands but not seeing a single thing written on it.

“My wife is very pleased,” Graham smiled. “And when she is happy, she is less inclined to nag me, so yes, you did a good job.” He leaned back in his chair, the rattan stretching and creaking under his weight as he reclined with his wine glass resting on the arm of his chair.

“I just did my job,” Killian told him honestly, closing the menu in his hands and resting it to the glass table top. “I’ll pass on lunch, thanks,” he told Graham with a tight lipped smile.

“What did she tell you about me?” Graham pried, amused by the contempt on Killian’s face. “Did she tell you how I am basically her captor?” Graham took a sip of wine, eyeing the Alpha opposite over the rim of the glass. “That’s one of her favourites.”

“We didn’t do much talking,” Killian replied with a smirk that he hoped would enrage the Beta opposite. He sat back in his own chair, fingers interlaced and rested over his abdomen.

“Mr. Jones, my wife is a fantasist, a dreamer and she will lie to get what she wants.” Graham swallowed hard, his smile fading. “I am paying you to fuck her, not care.”

Killian looked away from Graham, licking his lips with a nervousness that he hoped would hide his rage. In all honesty, he had known Emma and Graham for the same amount of time, and even though he had been intimate with Emma, it didn’t stop his natural instincts from forming an opinion of Graham. The man was cruel, using him as a means to keep his wife’s mouth shut about an affair he was having. With her best friend no less. Or maybe Graham was using him as a means to an end, to prove Emma had been unfaithful if the shit really hit the fan. Either way, Killian hated him.

“There is no reason for you to be so hostile,” Graham told him, observing the way Killian’s jaw twitched when he spoke. “Trust me, she is not who you think she is.”

“And who is she?” Killian narrowed his eyes, unable to stop the question from leaving his mouth.

Graham took a breath in, a long deep inhale that caused his entire body to move. “That’s irrelevant.” He placed the wine glass back on the table, the base clinking when the two glass surfaces came into contact, and licked the last remnants of the red wine from his lips. “But I do want to know who you are. How did you manage to satisfy her?”

“You mean apart from my larger assets?” Killian replied spitefully.

Graham balked a laugh. “An Alpha joke. Good one. Mr. Jones, my entire family are Alphas so if I wanted to hear the big dick jokes, I would have organized a family barbecue.”

“So, what do you want to know, exactly?” Killian’s jaw twitched again and his fingers strained against each other as he fought the need to ball a fist and punch Graham right in the face.

“Everything,” Graham said finally. “Every. Little. Detail.”

Killian wasn’t about to divulge his methods, especially in the bedroom. There were some things an Alpha held sacred, and on the top of that list was the way they pleased a lover. It was what kept everyone different and what kept them superior to the Beta population. It was why the agency he worked for existed in the first place, and Killian wasn’t about to jeopardize his income for Graham’s sick pleasure.

“If you want to know, why don’t you pay me a little extra next time and I’ll let you watch.” Killian’s voice had become dark and gravelly, intimidating to most, but Graham simply laughed.

“Did you make her come more than once?” Graham asked seriously, unashamed by his direct questioning.

“What business is that of yours?” Killian snapped defensively. He wasn’t convinced this was Graham’s way of tricking him into admitting that rather than the one time they had agreed on, Killian hadn’t engaged in multiple acts with Emma.

Graham sat back again, crossing one leg over the other as he pulled open his jacket and reached inside. There was the rustle of paper followed by a dull thud when he slammed a brown envelope to the table in front of him. Killian’s eyes flicked to the parcel briefly, before meeting the Beta’s again as Graham jabbed the thick package with a stiff forefinger.

“This makes it my business, Mr. Jones,” he said coldly. “Twelve thousand dollars means I can demand whatever I want from you.”

“You don’t own me,” Killian said, rising to his feet and buttoning his blazer. “I’d thank you for lunch, but it wasn’t pleasant.” He pushed his chair back under the table and reached for the envelope. “I did what you asked, anything else will cost you more.”

“A negotiator,” Graham grinned. “I like that.” Killian turned to leave but was stopped short when Graham called out after him. “Would you like to see my wife again, Mr. Jones? Maybe tonight?”

Killian froze to the spot, eyes fluttering closed. Of course he did, he had never felt such a connection to another before, even if Emma was Beta, and he hated that it was so obvious to everyone. He just knew there was something more about her and he was determined to get to the bottom of it, even if he had to play by Humbert’s rules a little longer. Slowly, he turned and paced back to the table like a scalded dog.

“Good,” Graham spat. “Now sit down, and tell me everything.”

Chapter Text

Killian absentmindedly watched a patch of light on the ceiling of Emma’s bedroom, the silver oval shape fixed to the spot above them. It illuminated a blemish on the plastering of the ceiling that made Killian wonder if Emma’s apartment wasn’t some sort of metaphor for her life, the daytime showing the grandeur and superfluous life she led at Graham’s behest, and the innocently pale moonlight highlighting the rot in the darkness of her marriage. In truth, the fact that Emma made no secret of her distaste at her marriage just spurred Killian on to hold her tighter.

Killian wasn’t even sure if Emma felt the same, but what he was sure of, was, that for the last few hours she had been chatting, her fingers idling in the soft curls of his chest hair, sometimes slipping beneath the sheet at his waist in exploration of what was at the end of the line of hair there, he would listen to her forever. He couldn’t make head nor tail of his emotions, not only for the simple fact that Emma was a Beta, but also because no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t shake the feeling she was something more.

Will had warned him about this, and maybe it was because Killian had never fucked anything outside of his toys when he wasn’t in a relationship. He might be an Alpha, but Killian was also a man of honour. Will might like to fuck everything that moves but Killian was more interested in finding that special someone who would complete both his heart and his soul, ultimately a mate who would know him better than he knew himself. Of course, it was absurd to think Emma could be that person, but she was addictive and he never wanted to be hooked on anyone else.

“Why did you come here tonight?” Emma asked softly as she rolled in Killian’s arms until she was on her stomach. He raised his arm a little to accommodate her in his hold, enjoying the warmth of her skin on his fingertips when he ran dragged them over the ridges of her spine.

“What do you mean, love?” Killian asked her innocently. “You know why I came.”

“Yeah, but,” Emma began, her fingers combing through the hairs on his chest. “I mean,” she stammered shyly.

“You mean, I wasn’t supposed to be here until tomorrow?” Killian offered with a smirk.

“Yeah,” Emma nodded. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“Well that’s good to know,” Killian smiled proudly, his hand tracing the curve of her shoulder. “I’d hate to think I wasn’t doing my utmost to thoroughly please you.”

“Mmm,” Emma hummed with a daydream smile but that faded as quickly as his words had sunk in.

She had waited her entire life for someone like Killian to come along and sweep her off her feet. Alpha or not, she was sure they had some sort of connection. There had never been an opportunity for her to date as she grew up, and because of her illness, a lot of the time she was unable to attend the many social events that the Humbert's so graciously invited her to. Maybe it was why she had so eagerly agreed to marry Graham when he had proposed to her, knowing she had no other choice.

Maybe it was why, for the first time in her life, right now, in Killian’s arms, she felt like she had a choice.

“Hey,” Killian coaxed her from her reverie with the soft lilt of his groggy post-sex voice. He brushed the smooth pad of his thumb over the corner of her mouth until she looked at him, her cheeks prickling with pink as she offered him a small smile. “That’s better,” he smiled back before leaning towards her and pressing his lips to hers.

Immediately, Killian felt Emma’s smile widen and when he felt the softness of her palm against his cheek as she cupped his face, he kissed her harder. Emma giggled against his lips, a giddy, jovial sound that had Killian rearranging himself until he was towering over her, never breaking the kiss as he caged her in his embrace. Emma clutched the side of his face, pulling him down with her when she fell back into the softness of the pillows, spreading her legs wide to accommodate his bulk when he settled into the apex of her thighs.

Emma was the first one to part her lips and tease the seam of Killian’s with her tongue, gently lapping at his smirk until he opened up his mouth and let her in with a manly chuckle. Her hands left his face and danced down his shoulders, traced the outline of his ribs, and smoothed over the curve of his abdomen until her fingers tickled at the hair there. Killian sucked in a breath, pulling his lips from hers and fixing Emma with a raised eyebrow stare.

“Again?” Killian said darkly.

Emma bit her bottom lip and writhed, scooting down the bed until the wetness between her thighs was level with Killian’s hips and she knew he could feel the heat from her. The slowly hardening girth of him bobbed up when he clenched his muscles and barely brushed her sex, making her gasp all the same. Emma cast her eyes down between them, focusing on the one thing between them that might end her ever aching need for something she couldn’t explain but knew only Killian could fix.

“Alright,” he smirked, his voice soft yet firm. “But first you must do something for me.”

“Anything, Alpha” Emma breathed, not even realising the sort of effect her words could have on an Alpha.

For a second Killian was thrown. He was only going to ask her to get him going, but the second she had obeyed, whether she meant to or not, he was rock solid in seconds. Logically, he knew that Emma was not an Omega, but he couldn’t help but dream for a second. She wasn’t some Beta who had a scumbag husband that treated her like shit. She was more than precious, everything, the personification of happiness and love. She was an Omega, begging, pleading, wanting him to please her just as much as she eagerly pleased in return.

She was his.

“Killian?” Emma began sheepishly, touching her open hand to the side of his cheek.

It shook him from his thoughts just long enough for him to realise that her smile had faded and a real look of concern was plastered all over her face. Her eyes had dulled, the lust now gone and the darkness of worry having crept into its place. It took him a second of listening to the thumping of his own blood in his ears to realise that he had frozen, poised above her with his length pressed to her slightly damp sex and a stupified look on his face.

“Are you okay?” Emma blushed, a heat creeping down her neck and across the top of her chest. “Did I-?”

“No, love, you could never,” he assured her quickly. His hands found her face, brushing some stray strands of her golden locks from her brow, his heartbreaking from the look in her eyes.

“Then what is it?” Emma said shyly, a blush pinking her cheeks at his compliment. “Talk to me.”

How could he? How was he supposed to explain to a Beta just how he was feeling? Emma would have no idea. Alpha’s were not supposed to be like this, cradled in the arms of a woman who was paying him to please her. Correction. Her husband was paying him, and the mere thought of the ungrateful swine made Killian’s blood boil in his veins. Emma was sweet, and worth so much more than what Graham could ever offer her, physically and emotionally, but Killian couldn’t think of anywhere he’d rather be.

“It’s nothing,” Killian said sweetly. His hand stilled on her cheek, cradling the shape of her face in his palm, thumbing the edge of her pretty lips until he saw her smile. “I swear it,” he added and had never meant anything so much in his entire life.

“Oh,” Emma sighed, but before she could continue, Killian was reassuring her again.

“It’s just, you don’t have to say those things with me.” He swallowed hard, a warmth spreading up his spine. The last thing he wanted to do was offend her if that was what she wanted, but she had never mentioned it before now without his prompting, something he had thought she wanted during their encounters, so he could only assume she thought that was what he wanted to hear. “Call me Alpha, I mean.”

“Are you not an Alpha?” Emma teased, canting her hips against his length again.

“Aye, love,” he laughed timidly, shifting his hips away from her advances. “But this whole arrangement is about making you feel good, not me.”

“And does me calling you Alpha make you feel good?” Her smile was too much and he was sure that by the way he was blushing, she already knew the answer. “It does, doesn’t it?” Emma pried, letting her hands dance over the soft jut of his hips. “Calling you Alpha has you all hot and bothered for real, doesn’t it?”

“It’s not supposed to,” Killian told her with a quirk of his brow and a scratch behind his ear.

That had Emma intrigued and she pushed herself up onto her elbows, repositioning herself against the pillows and letting Killian roll off to her side.

“What does that mean?” She asked with a tilt of her head. Emma watched as Killian settled on his side, resting his head on his hand and giving her a confident smile. “What?” Emma narrowed her eyes at him but all she got back was his beautiful, cheeky grin. “Tell me!”

She giggled, sitting up so she could push feebly against his shoulder before tumbling down on top of him.

“Love, there is something you should know about Alphas like me, for hire, I mean.” Killian sucked in a breath, stroking some hairs from her face.“We aren’t...We aren’t supposed to have feelings for our clients.” Killian licked his lips and nervously avoided her gaze, the spread of warmth over his cheeks probably as obvious as it felt.

“Killian, what are you saying?” Emma teased, enjoying the way he squirmed.

“I don’t know exactly,” Killian shrugged with a chuckle, his whole body rumbling and making the bed bounce. His hand found her skin, attracted like a magnet, and he dragged the tip of his fingers over the curve of her shoulder. “I can’t explain it. All I know is that since I first laid eyes on you I have felt things, things I am bloody well sure no Alpha has ever felt for a beta before.”

Emma frowned, her brows pulling together, and she pushed herself up to mirror Killian’s pose. “What do you mean by that?”

“Well,” he began, trying to not look at her exposed breasts. Emma had no qualms about being naked around him, and he found it ever so endearing that she felt so comfortable when he was around. “Alphas are not exactly complicated, we rut, we fuck, and we are inherently attracted to that one person that we want to protect, above all else, and we will do anything in our power to keep them safe. “ Killian met her gaze once more, the blue of his eyes shining in the darkness. “Emma, I’ve known Alphas to die protecting that person.”

Emma’s throat went dry and she struggled to swallow. All of the hairs on the back of her neck stood up, not in a panic response, but instead, arousal. Want. Need. “Why are you telling me this?” she uttered, unable to stop her free hand from resting comfortably on Killian’s chest where her fingers gently stroked the hair there.

“I don’t know that either.” Killian shook his head. He was so confused and flattened his hand over hers, pinning hers to his chest where his heart thumped a steady rhythm against her fingertips. “Maybe I figured you could help me work out what I’m feeling.”

Killian offered her a small smile, warm and welcoming, a silent plea to her to aid him in deciphering his heart. It was all he wanted, really, for Emma to accept him and the love he knew he already felt for her, obstacles be damned. Here she was, glorious and glowing, like a naked angel in bed next to him who could end him, right where he lay, and he would willingly let her. If only their lives were not so complicated.

“Killian Jones, you don’t know a lot, do you?” Emma’s voice shook him from his daydream and he copied the grin that was plastered on her face.

“I’m sorry, love, it doesn’t seem that I do.” Killian flopped down onto the bed, sinking into the pillows with a huff. The only word he could use to describe his current predicament was conflict, between his head and his heart. He knew he shouldn’t, but he wanted Emma like no other, and he would willingly give up ever finding an Omega mate just to be with her. There was a connection there, he knew it deep down in his soul, and had tried to ignore the pounding of his heart in his chest whenever she was near. Emma slipped further under the thin sheet that covered them and moved to straddle his waist with a groan of content that he was sure was involuntary because he had heard it before, but was like music to his Alpha ears nonetheless. Her hands found his face, lightly pawing over the scruff of his cheeks as she tenderly kissed the underside of his jaw.

“Well, what do you know?” Emma purred, the lobe of his ear catching on the skin between her fingers. Her mouth soon followed and through her smirk, she began nibbling his ear.

“Honestly?” Killian gulped with his eyes pinched closed, hating himself for grabbing her hand and halting her torturous assault. Emma stopped, easing herself up off his chest and sitting back, her heels tucked under her bare ass as her feet rested across his thighs, her nails clawing at the hair on his stomach because she couldn’t get enough of how soft they felt. The half hurt look she gave him made his chest tighten, but he needed her to focus on his words. “I know I want to keep you safe, more than anything,” Killian said earnestly, pushing his weight up after her until they were face to face and he was cupping her head in his hands. His thumbs brushed over her cheeks in unison and he held her tightly to ensure she not only heard his next words but felt them too. “I know that no man deserves you, least of all him.”

Killian’s heart stopped when he heard her hold her breath and a lump caught in his throat. He’d gone too far, exposed too much, been too fucking Alpha, wearing his heart out on his sleeves, and now he’d be back to just being her fuck toy that her husband was paying for. The idea stung more than anything he had ever experienced. Panic settled in his entire being, running so deep that even the beds of his fingernails itched when Emma looked away, casting her eyes downward.

“He’s my husband, Killian,” she murmured, her voice laced with sadness but her hands clutched his and held them to her face in a silent plea to never let go.

Killian felt her sorrow, he really did. It oozed from her every pore, every muscle tense and yet yearning for the release of his touch at the same time. She was caught up between the man she was obligated to be with and the man she was with right now, and the pain and torment were evident, radiating from her very being. Emma didn’t even have to say it; Killian knew exactly how she felt.

“I know, and I’m sorry, love, but he is so unworthy of you.” Killian's voice cracked a little, his words fighting to escape passed the lump that had formed in his throat. He rolled his forehead against hers, letting his eyes flutter closed as he inhaled her scent, the musk of sex and release all over her body, put there by his lips when he had worshipped her body with his kisses after they had fucked earlier that evening. She was more than she had been led to believe, more than she had ever known, but telling her constantly circled back to her husband and Killian hated himself for making her remember her sadness.

“What makes you think I am worth anything?” Emma whimpered, small and meek, her words nothing but a breath against his lips.

Killian felt her shudder when he trailed his hands down the column of her neck, brushing the hair that sat lazily there over the curve of her shoulder, his lips soon following to kiss her over where her pulse was quickening under the skin there. He inhaled her again, taking in every level of fragrant note that her body was offering up, and he couldn’t help but scrape his nails over the bumps of her spine as he held her, his hungry mouth impossibly wishing he was about to mark her as his. “Emma,” Killian chuckled in disbelief, his tongue darting out to moisten his lips and catching the taste of her salt sheened skin in the process. “You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen and I can’t help but wish our paths had crossed before now.”

Emma’s eyes rolled back in her head as he kissed her, her fingers plunging into his already sex messed hair and forcing his lips to sear her skin again. “Maybe in another life?” She panted, the hope evident in her voice that was also laced with regret.

“And why not this one?” Killian offered and Emma’s head snapped up, eyes wide with something Killian couldn’t quite recognise, a mixture of anguish and yearning balancing on the edge of anger. She wanted it too but was just as confused as to the logistics as Killian was. “Love, I don’t mean to sound crass, but your husband is away from you for over eighteen hours a day and I, for one, would despair if you were out of my sight for even a second.”

Emma’s face paled and Killian felt her flesh ripple with goosebumps under his hold. For a second he wasn’t sure if he had gone too far and suggested the ultimate betrayal in Emma’s eyes, or offered her the reason she has longed to hear. The reason to finally be free of the corruption that came with being a Humbert’s wife and live her life with whoever she wanted. The conflict was plastered all over her face and Killian’s heart twinged with remorse.

“I’m sorry, love, I shouldn’t have-,” Killian began in apology but he was taken by surprise when Emma pulled his head upwards and pressed her finger to his lips, sealing them shut.

“Shut up, Killian,” she snapped, but her voice wasn’t filled with anything except sultry darkness that made Killian hard again. She let him rest his face in her hands and offered him a coy smirk, their eyes locked once more, blue turning grey when Killian saw the lust behind Emma’s before she let her hands slip to his chest and pushed him back onto the bed. “Shut up and fuck me,” she demanded, wiggling her hips over his solid length, rolling her bottom lip under her toothy grin. “Fuck me like you want to.”

Killian thought he was going to pop his knot. Her words were so erotic, so unlike the manipulative woman he had been lead to believe Emma was, and he would be lying if he said he hadn’t enjoyed her demand. There was a blur in time, between where they were and where they ended up, where Emma had fallen forward onto the bed and Killian had crawled up over her back like a rabid animal. She squealed in excitement, clenching her buttocks and burying her face in the pillow that had been, somewhere in the exchange, slung to where she lay. Killian had her pinned, his powerful thighs on either side of her hips and his hands kneading slow, deliberate circles into the middle of her back.

“That’s a dangerous proposition,” he growled, fingers flexing around her ribcage. He leaned down and kissed her spine, pecking his lips to her skin between each ridge until he reached her shoulder blades and carefully moved her hair aside with a swipe of his hand.

“Why?” Emma breathed dumbly, trying to writhe beneath him, her hand finding his thigh beside her hip and clutching it, desperate to feel any part of him on her skin.

Killian nuzzled his nose behind her ear, the sound he made as he let out a husky laughing sound making her entire body vibrate with anticipation. His lips skimmed over the shell of her ear and he planted a hand to each side of her head, towering over her, mindful not to suffocate her with his entire weight. Emma he let out a moan and he smirked, open mouthed and wide against the side of her cheek, where she could see him out of the corner of her eye.

“Because, love, I’ve wanted to fuck you the way I want since the moment I first saw you,” Killian began, balancing his weight on one arm so he could stroke his knuckles down the side of her neck, right over the spot where she would have a scent gland if she were an Omega. He ground his engorged cock into the crease of her arse with clenched teeth, eyes cast down between them to watch, imagining her begging for his knot because she was so desperate to come that she couldn’t take it anymore.

“So?” Emma challenged, wiggling her restricted hips until she felt her cheeks slapping his cock and Killian groan.

Killian held her hips still, his fingernails digging into her flesh. “The contract-,”

“Fuck the contract,” Emma scoffed. “In fact,” she declared, rolling over underneath him. “Let’s break it. What’s stopping you fucking me the way you want?”

Killian’s lips ticked up into a wry smile. “It specifically states that I am not allowed to come inside of you.”

“Oh,” Emma sighed with a blush.

“Something I would sell my soul to do,” he said darkly, rearranging himself so he was between her legs. Emma spread them wider to accommodate him, his length scorching a hot line into the inside of her thigh and his tip begging for entrance between her folds when he settled over her once more. “Something that means I’d have to knot you,” he continued, reaching between them and stroking his fingers through her folds, his lips millimetres from hers when he felt her gasp and suck all the air between them into her lungs. “Something I think you would like very much.”

Before she had time to form a reply, Killian’s lips were on hers and he was delivering a crushing kiss that made her see even more stars than she already was. He had a way of leaving her dazed with just his words and she couldn’t get enough, even hearing his voice in her head when they were apart. Emma parted her lips to allow his tongue inside where it duelled with her own, his neck muscles strained under her fingers when she clawed his skin in her eagerness to get more of him. Nothing else mattered. He was all she wanted, so when he broke the kiss and left his mark lingering against her lips, she whimpered in protest.

“Emma, can I knot you?” Killian ground out, canting his hips until the tip of him slipped inside of her.

Emma bit her bottom lip and nodded her reply.

“It might hurt,” Killian warned her, angling his hips again so that more of his erection was inside her.

Emma felt her body sizzle with heat and angeled her own hips so he was even deeper inside of her, relishing in the burn that came with his girth, her hand gripping his bicep through the welcomed pain. “It’d fucking better,” she ground out in frustration.

Killian smirked, watching her face contort with every inch of him that slid inside of her. There were not many people who could take an Alpha’s cock, not all of it anyway, but there were some, like Emma, who would revel in the pain, and he loved watching them take him in. No one though had taken quite so much as Emma. She was made differently it seemed, needed him it seemed, perfectly accommodating his girth and his length, getting wetter as he pushed his way in.

“Oh, you like that, don’t you, love?” Killian grinned wickedly, letting himself relax a little now that he was half way in. As much as he enjoyed being as close to Emma’s face as possible whilst she took him in, he knew that she was nearing her Beta threshold for him at this angle. Her body could only take so much, so after he saw her tell, when her brows knitted together in just such a way, he sat back, skimming his hands down her legs as he did.

The sound Emma made was intoxicating, her small nod his only answer. He wasn’t even entirely sure she had even heard him speak at first, but when he settled himself back on his heels and slipped from her core, she whined with the loss of him.

“What...what’s wrong?” Emma breathed, already halfway gone. Her eyes fluttered open and she struggled to focus on the Alpha between her legs.

Killian let his head roll to one side, lazily stroking his length that sat proudly in his hand. “Nothing,” he assured her with a smirk. “You just need a moment.”

“I didn’t earlier,” she winked, biting her finger coyly.

“You didn’t want my knot earlier,” Killian reminded her with a raised brow.

Emma sat up, shuffling back on the bed. “Hmm,” she hummed. Her foot found his leg, tracing a line up the inside of his thigh until she found the apex, the heel of it resting against his balls and her toes curling against his cock. "So, what your saying is there is more of you?" She bit her lip, kneading his length with her foot. "You have more to give?"

Her eyes were practically wide with glee at the mere thought of getting any more of the man in front of her. Of the Alpha. Killian knew she was trying to flatter him, and her foot tickling his cock didn't help him stay focused on the task at hand, which was making sure Emma fully understood what it meant to take all of him. He had met plenty of Beta women who thought they would be the one to take the whole Alpha cock, and he knew just as many, if not more Alphas who would boast about splitting a Beta wide open with their girth.

Killian moved his hand to her foot, halting her assault on his genitals, a move that offered him a pout from the blonde beauty before him. "What I'm saying, is, I've never given you all of me before."

"Selfish, Mr. Jones," Emma chided playfully.

"I'm not joking when I say it will hurt you, Emma, and that's the last thing I want." Killian watched the energy burn out from behind her eyes, his thumb brushing back and forth over the same patch of skin on her ankle in silent apology.

"You could never hurt me," Emma told him softly, a small smile accompanying her words. They were real, her flirtatiousness simmering just below the surface for now, and she gave him a small nod of agreement. "I know you, Killian, and you're a good man. What was it you told me the first time we did this?"

Killian frowned, confusion covering his face, so Emma out him out of his misery.

"You told me that the best thing to minimise my pain was an orgasm, and fuck, Killian, if you didn't make sure I was, how did you put it? 'Nice and wet', I think, were your words."

"You remember that?"

"Cringey, I know, but they were not a lie." Emma smiled at him, that genuine smile that he already knew she reserved just for him. "I don't think I've ever come so hard in all my life."

Killian gave her a wicked, sly grin, and tugged her leg, hard a fast, until she was sliding down the pillows and back into her original position with him between her legs. He gave his wrist a quick flick, pumping his length back into hardness at the sight of her legs falling open, the scent of her setting off his saliva glands and making him swallow hard.

"Would the lady like a repeat performance?" Killian growled, sliding his fingers through her folds to collect some of her nectar there.

It glistened on his fingers as he smeared it up and over her clit, the nerve hub screaming out when the cool air of the room hit it's scolding temperature. Emma craned her neck to see what he was doing to her, the slow drag of his hand up and down his cock making her shudder with excitement. She was ready to vibrate herself into non existence, her back arching off the bed when Killian slapped her clit with his erection once, twice, three times before she reached down, knocked Killian's hand aside, and slid his cock through the dampness below right to where she needed him the most.

"Fuck me-," Emma exhaled hard, slamming her head into the pillows behind her.

She had never guided anyone into herself before, unless he was made of silicone, and she let out a steady moan at the repeat sensation of Killian filling her up once more. At around half his length, he stopped, watching her intently for any sign of pain, until pulling almost all the way out and then slipping back into her. With every shallow thrust, Killian felt Emma relax a little more, even canting her hips in time with his and allowing him to slip in and over her g-spot a little bit quicker each time.

Killian could have used his tongue or even his hand, but he knew that with a little gentle persuasion, Emma body would and could bend to his will. She was ablaze, burning up from the inside out, and with every steadily increasing thrust came an equally elevated pitch in groans. Killian paused briefly to set her feet on his hips, restricting his entry to only a comfortable length whilst allowing him to quicken his pace and thus ensuring Emma remained unhurt. A quick, calculated move saw his thumb finding her clit, striking over the nerve bundle in time with his thrusts, watching, waiting for the telltale shake in Emma's thighs that signalled her release.

"Good girl," Killian soothed when Emma let out a moan. He increased his speed, short, shallow thrusts that stretched her in such a way that she cried out with near completion. "Such a delicious smelling cunt too, and you’re not even there yet."

“So close,” she breathed, her whole body twitching.

“You’re lovely, Emma, like this,” Killian praised, leaning forward and pressing his lips to her stomach. Her skin burned his but was instantly cooled by the thin layer of sweat that Emma’s body had created to try and cool the inferno hers was engulfed in. “For me,” he growled possessively into her navel.

“Only you,” Emma cried, so close to the edge she tried and failed to balance the level of her voice.

Killian had told himself over and over that her words would never have any effect on him, no matter what she might say, but Emma had a way of getting inside of his skin that he had never known before. Everything about her called the beast inside him, his baser instincts clawing their way closer to the surface with every sound she made or touch she made to his body. It wasn’t her intention to make him feel any of the things he was, he was sure of it, but damn if he wasn’t already addicted to everything about her.

“Kiss me,” Emma sighed, her voice so quiet that Killian wasn’t sure he’d heard her correctly. When she reached out for him, eyes closed and fingers extended to what lie beyond her open legs, grinning when she made contact with the soft fur of his stomach, a grin broke out over her perfect lips through hurried pants. “Kiss me, Killian, now!”

Her words were a demand, and usually not a turn on for him, but Killian found himself complying, dropping forward, bracing his hands on either side of her face and pressing his mouth to hers, open ever so slightly, tongues tasting, exploring, half of his cock still inside of her as Emma came undone beneath him. Her body spasmed, her thighs shaking and clamping to the side of his hips, feet hanging limply over the curve of his calves as Killian stroked her down from her high, whole hand massaging the length of her upper legs with a satisfied groan.

“Mmm,” Emma hummed contently. “I love being kissed when I come.”

“Duly noted,” Killian nodded, pushing himself back up and taking her in. Emma got more and more beautiful with every encounter, he was sure. “Although, if you want my knot,” he droned seductively, shuffling back until he pulled out of her and tried to ignore her whine of detest as he encouraged her to roll onto her stomach. “You’re going to need another one.”

Killian’s hands were on her back, massaging circles with just the right amount of force to make her shiver with every sweep of his talented fingers. In the little time he had known her, Killian had discovered that when Emma came, she came hard, so he figured a little relaxing but sensual massage between orgasms was justified. He kneaded the skin of her thighs, a little rougher than he had ever before because he knew she liked it that way, and rejoiced in the noises she made, half whimpering and half growling as she buried her face into the plush cushion.

“Stop,” she whined, her words muffled by the pillow.

Killian let out a hearty laugh that shook his whole body and had his cock bobbing against her plump, round arse. “You don’t mean that,” he chuckled, his voice gravelly and darkened by his own arousal. “Do you, love?” He teased, kissing between each bump of her spine until he reached its base, and content her nerves were heightened enough to make her shudder, ghosted his lips over the skin there with the promise of more.

Emma lifted her head when he paused. “Fuck, no.” She gave him a sultry glare over her shoulder, blonde hair slightly askew and fallen over her face.

“Good. Now,” Killian began through a grunt as he skimmed his hands over the curve of her hips, pressing firmly into her flesh and hoisting her arse into the air. Emma squealed excitedly and he couldn’t stop the throb of pleasure that overtook him again. “Present.”

Emma gulped hard, burying her face back into the pillow and making sure she was in the position Killian wanted, even if he had said this wasn’t about making him feel good, she still wanted to make him. She’d read things about Alphas, about how knotting was a personal thing and that they could control it, so if she wanted it, then she was willing to play her part in getting it.

Killian couldn’t help the snarl that audibly escaped his mouth when Emma wiggled her arse at him and when she moved her knees apart, and her scent hit him, he was even more gone. Emma was incredible, Beta or not, and he was finding it hard to contain his knot beneath his grip as he grabbed the base of his cock and willed it away. The last thing he wanted was a premature pop, and as if his body wasn’t his own, he found himself kneading one of the globes her arse with his free hand and licking his lips when her glistening nectar began to drip from her and gravitate towards the bed.

“Gods, love, you’re so, so wet,” he gulped, the last word catching in his throat. The only reply he got from Emma was another muffled hum of agreement, and when he slipped a greedy, exploratory finger through her silky folds and then to his lips, he immediately needed more.

Killian rearranged himself, scooting back until he was on all fours behind her and face to face with her dripping sex. A hand on each cheek spread her wider for him, his tongue wasting no time in diving in to taste what he had craved for most of the evening. She tasted like their earlier fuck, the coppery tang of blood where his girth had stretched her finding refuge on his tongue. Emma pushed back into his face, swaying her hips to try and gain some sort of increased friction, but Killian held her still with a firm grip on her hips, swallowing her down like a hungry wolf.

“Don’t move, sweetheart, I’m not done tasting you yet.”

Emma’s eyes rolled back in her head when his tongue found her again, the flat edge lapping over her clit with each swipe, the tip stiffening to delve into her centre immediately afterwards. Killian was certainly all about making her feel good, with both his actions and his words. Fuck, she had never experienced talk like it, such eroticism that had her wondering how much of it was real and how much of it was because he was being paid. Not that she cared because as Killian left her, cold air invading the parts he had lavished upon with his tongue, her whine of anguish was rewarded with the tip of him pressing into her once more.

“Oh, fuck,” she sang through gritted teeth.

When he was halfway into her again, Killian paused and let her relax to his size. “Emma?” He coaxed, rubbing the small of her back through her groan and holding her steady as she tried to push back onto him. “Love?”

“Yes?” She didn’t even recognise the pleasure induced hiss that left her mouth as her own voice.

“You’ll let me know if I hurt you, won’t you?” Killian’s voice had changed, miraculously kind and unlike any other Alpha in this position. Closer to his rut, instinct would have taken over and would have had him buried to the hilt inside of her, pushing to fill her with his seed, like all Alphas craved. The fact that he was able to control his need surprised even him because Emma was a specimen to behold and he wasn’t sure how long he could actually last now that she was wet, primed and wanton in front of him, begging for his knot. “Please, say it.”

“Yes,” Emma sighed in a daze. “Please...just...don't stop.”

Killian hadn’t even realised his plea was out loud until Emma nodded into the pillow tucked under her chin and let out a silent, orgasmic scream as she inched back onto his length guided by his hands. She was ready and she wanted him, knot and all, and in the exact moment the wiry hairs on his stomach brushed against the smooth, pert skin of her behind, Killian knew Graham could take his contract and shove it right up his wannabe Alpha arse.

“Fuck,” Killian hissed, dragging a clawed hand down her spine as gently as he could muster with her heat enveloping the whole of him. “Fuck, you take my cock so well,” he grunted in a quaking voice. He felt dizzy, the room spinning, and he leaned forward and rested his forehead to her back to steady himself. “Fuck, you take my cock so well,” he repeated with a sly grin that he pressed to her skin for a rewarding kiss.

Emma had no words, just her body, so she clenched her muscles to jumpstart him back into action. Their limited window to be together was closing, and she’d be damned if she was letting Killian go without getting what he had promised. Emma leaned forward, arching her back and grinding herself back onto Killian length with a content sigh, the first few thrusts really opening her up all the way to her insides, but the few that followed were more comfortable. Killian let her set the pace, watching as his cock disappeared inside of her with every bob, her breath leaving her lungs every time he bottomed out inside of her, pulling his knot back to the surface where it threatened to pop once more.

“Killian, I…,” Emma panted, her movements back into his length becoming erratic at best.

“It’s alright, love,” Killian soothed, helping her onto all fours and nudging her legs even further apart with his knees. “Just let go,” he bid, taking over her movements and setting a new pace that had her toes curling. “I’ve got you,” he promised.

She was close, he could tell, and if there was any way he was going to be able to last, he needed to make sure that they came together. Killian skimmed his hands over her back again, her porcelain skin shimmering in the darkness as he hooked his hands over her shoulders and pulled her back onto his length, ending each thrust with a powerful snap of his hips. Emma gasped but he’d heard it before and knew it wasn’t in pain, just the sound she made as she scaled the heights of her own pleasure, and he wanted more.

Killian grit his teeth, jaw muscles clenched so tightly he thought he might crack one at any moment, but in the split second it took him to wrap his hand around Emma’s hair, bunching it into a loose ponytail in his fist and changing the angle of his hips, she was coming, shaking uncontrollably as he pounded into her the last few times before, coated in her juices that seemed endless, Killian’s knot exposed itself and he cried out, pushing it into her deliciously welcoming core.

The second he was inside of her he felt panic, not because he had so brazenly flaunted Humbert’s contract, but because the way Emma’s muscles massaged his length and coaxed out his own release, something he has convinced himself he could forego but had been helpless to avoid.

“Don’t come in my wife.”

Graham’s words echoed in his head, which was still spinning from Emma, as intoxicating as she was. She collapsed and let out a cry of pain when he fell on top of her, eager to not hurt her more by pulling out his knot too soon.

“Easy, love,” Killian said softly, though his voice was a little shaky. “Lie still.”

He managed to get them onto their side, tucking Emma’s legs up to her chest as far as she was comfortable with and delicately trailing his hand over her shivering shoulders. On closer inspection her whole body was quivering, her skin slightly damp and her scent had changed too. It was puzzling, feral in nature and something that Killian was sure he was imagining. When Emma pressed herself into him, her shoulder blades sticking to the slight dampness of his chest hair, she smiled and hummed, the sound vibrating right through them.

“How do you feel?” Killian worried. He couldn’t help it. His Alpha self was screaming out to care, to nurture and to protect, even though he was probably the one causing her most harm right now. “Are you alright?”

“Mmmmmm,” Emma hummed again, moving her head so Killian could rest his arm down underneath it. She replaced her head on his arm, interlocked their fingers, and pressed her lips to his bicep.

“Is that good?” Killian smirked, squeezing her fingers.

He knew he felt good, Gods above, she made him feel things he never had before. Better than good, in fact. Emma had a way of making him forget every one of his woes and why he had taken this job in the first place. He couldn’t think of anywhere else he would have rather been in that moment, wrapped up and knot deep inside of the beautiful woman who hadn’t just captured his heart, but had held it out, vulnerable and fragile, and hadn’t taken advantage of the fact, gracious enough to only take the love she thought she deserved, even if Killian knew she was worth far more than she had ever been led to believe before.

“It’s good,” Emma nodded, nuzzling into the crook of his elbow and bending his arm until she could kiss his fingers joins with his. She let her lips linger, enjoying the way he tasted when she let his arm fall back down to the bed and her tongue swept across her bottom lip.

“You’re comfortable?” Killian fretted, but that just earned him a swat from her free hand.

“Will you stop? Killian, I’m fine. More than fine,” she beamed, enjoying the way her muscles still fluttered because of his invading knot.

“What’s more than fine?” Killian teased, nuzzling into her hair that had fallen over her shoulders and kissing her neck.

His question threw her for a second because she struggled to find the correct words to accurately describe what she felt. It might have been love, but Emma wasn’t sure she had ever known that before. It felt good, she knew that much, but was more than lust. A comfortable silence fell over them, wherein Killian busied himself with fluffing the sheet over the top of them whilst making sure he moved the absolutely smallest amount, so as not to cause her any undue pain. Emma felt her lips curve into a beaming smile and reached behind her, threading her fingers in his hair and holding his face back to her neck where he peppered her with more kisses.

“This,” Emma cooed. “This is perfect.”

Killian couldn’t have agreed more. His hand slipped under the sheet and over her ribcage, his forearm settling under her breasts as he pulled her to his chest even harder, reluctant to let her go. He shifted his legs a little, trying to tangle them around hers, but the movement made Emma wince and stiffen in his arms.

“Love?” Killian asked concerned.

“I’m okay,” Emma told him softly, stroking his forearms in reassurance. “Just a little,-”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Killian whispered into her hair. He kissed the back of her head and hooked a hand under her knee, moving it closer to her chest and relieving some of the tearing sensations she was feeling at her entrance. “It won’t be much longer,” he assured her, never wanting his knot to recede so he could hold her like this forever.

“I promise I’m okay,” Emma smiled, pecking his hairy forearm with a kiss. “I wanted this. It’s not that bad, just…”

“Just what, love?” Killian smirked, craning his neck to watch a blush bloom out over her cheeks and his hands explored further up her thigh to where they were joined.

“It feels so good,” Emma began but the last word caught in her throat when Killian’s fingers brushed around her entrance, the still hypersensitive nerves pounding with blood and excitement of his touch. She was inexplicably wet, still so very wet, and she felt his smirk turn into a full blown smile as he nudged his nose into the skin behind her ear at his discovery of her juices coating her inner thigh.

“So I can feel,” Killian teased with a dark tone that had a shiver rattling down her spine. He nudged his hips forward and made sure he was inside of her even deeper than before, his hand gripping her inner thigh so tightly he was worried he might blemish her skin. “Gods, you’re amazing,” he growled, inhaling her scent. “You’re going to keep me hard for hours.”

Emma gasped when he pushed deeper, the nerves inside of her core igniting, synapsing firing and a new wave of lubrication seeping from their join. She pinched her eyes closed, white dots sparkling behind her eyelids, another orgasm seemingly just beyond the horizon of anything she had known before. Killian, knot and all, rock solid inside of her was enough for her body to react again, even without the friction of his thrusts, and when his hand explored between her folds, it was just too much.

“I can’t come again,” Emma whined, her own words foreign in her ears. Not that she could even hear anything but the high pitched buzz of a pending release, the build up alone rendering her deaf. Her head fell back onto his chest and Killian just grinned against her skin, scraping his teeth over the curve of her shoulder joint when he finally found her clit.

“Yes, you can,” Killian commanded, circling an essence covered finger over her clit, softly at first. “The sounds you make, the way your body falls apart, Emma-,” Killian growled her name through clenched teeth and she felt her stomach fall away when his hips ground into her.

“Keep talking,” Emma whimpered, holding his hand between her legs where his fingers were deftly stroking her clit up and down, nudging the bundle from side to side and making her squeal.

“Fuck,” Killian grunted, increasing his pace. “The way you smell when you come all over me, like sweetness and redemption.” Her hand gripped harder at his wrist, but he just moved his hand faster, wishing there was more of him to give her. “The way I make that happen-,”

“Sweet fucking Christ, Killian, I’m gonna come!”

Emma went rigid in his arms, every muscle in her entire body contracting at the same time. Even her lungs stopped working and she couldn’t breathe, Killian’s hand on her stomach over her diaphragm the only thing that was helping her to remember to inhale. He held her tightly, wave after wave of pleasure crashing through her, her body fighting the bulge of his muscles as he wrapped her in his arms and let her writhe against his knot. He could feel her muscles, featherlite flutters against the whole length of him, massaging the bulbs of his knot with every spasm in time with her heart beating at one hundred miles an hour in her chest.

The weight in her eyelids lifted, the blurring in her vision clearing and she could suddenly breathe again, the burning sensation in her lungs ceasing. When her hearing returned all she could make out was Killian laughing, his proud sounding chuckle vibrating through both of them as he bundled her up in his arms once more and crushed his lips to the side of her slightly sweaty face. She laughed with him, pure, unadulterated joy rumbling from deep down in her belly that had him wishing she could love him in the same way he now knew he loved her.

Oh fuck.

“Now, it’s perfect,” Killian smirked, tucking them back up in the sheet.

Chapter Text

The lobby of the hotel was as Killian would have expected when he had received a call from Graham’s PA informing him that they were to meet again. Graham had insisted, as part of their agreement, that Killian would be paid in cash upon a meeting after each visit with Emma. Of course, that meant that there was no paper trail of his or Emma’s indiscretions, which suited Killian just fine. It was the only part of the damned contract he actually agreed with.

Just like everything else Graham Humbert had a hand in, this meeting place was as flamboyant and pompous as Killian had foreseen, with silken drapes with golden embroidery hanging on every window. Massive diamond chandeliers hung along the hall, and the sound of water flowing through an indoor fountain was accompanied by the soothing lilt of music that Killian was sure was emanating from some kind of hidden speaker system. The huge, marble columns stood floor to ceiling, lining the edges of both sides of the room, and were so highly polished that Killian could see his reflection clearly in them as he walked past. The floor, equally as polished to within one inch of its life, did little to absorb the sound of his footsteps as he made his way to the bar area, and Killian kept a careful eye out for anyone who might be more than unwelcomed at the meeting.

He had noticed that Graham never travelled alone, always meeting him with two big, burly henchmen at his side. They never sat with them, but were never far enough away that Graham would be in any sort of trouble if he found himself in a sticky situation. In a world where strength was everything, Graham’s actions made Killian chuckle. Humbert so desperately wanted to be an Alpha that he often forgot that, fundamentally, an Alpha would never need protection, or a bodyguard, let alone two of them, and it just spoke to how insecure Graham really was.

Killian’s lips ticked up into a small, tight smile that he hid under a swipe of his tongue, lest one of them be nearby. It wasn’t long before Killian spotted one of them, a big, fat lump of a man he had seen before, distinguished by three neck ripples of fat sitting on top of the collar of his shirt. He was slouched forward over a table nursing a glass of amber liquid, most likely expensive whiskey due to the reputation of the place, with one foot up on the cross beam of the chair and the other resting on the toe of his shoe. He had sushi, Killian could smell that much, four tiny pieces of fish decorated with carrot and cucumber that probably cost as much as his suit.

Off to the sushi scoffing man’s left was the other pitbull Graham kept at hand who Killian liked to refer to as ‘bowtie’. The man was easily spotted in a crowd because he always insisted on wearing a red bowtie with a crisp white shirt with matching red cufflinks that sat next to his oversized hands. He didn’t say much, not even a little grunt, but he was always sitting closest to their boss, and it wasn’t long before Killian spotted Graham Humbert behind him. He was, as usual, pretending to watch the world go by like it owed him something, and Killian felt the bile rise in his throat.

“Jones,” Humbert greeted cordially, pushing himself to his feet and extending his hand. Killian’s eyes flicked towards the man’s palm but he scoffed, his jaw ticking in annoyance. When he lifted his gaze back to meet Graham’s, a sickly sweet smile grew over Humbert’s lips. “Sit down,” he commanded like he was talking to a dog and motioned to the seat opposite him.

Killian refrained from hitting the man by biting his inner cheek and undid the single button on his suit jacket so that he could sit more comfortably. He sank down into the seat, a plush but executive tub chair with a checkered pattern that only just accommodated his bulk, and leaned back to take in the man before him. He hated Humbert even more with each meeting and he couldn’t help but dig his nails into the brass rivets at the front side of the chair’s arm.

“I’ll spare you the formalities, Mr Jones, because I’m a busy man,” Humbert began, sinking down into his own chair.

Killian thought the knee high table between them wasn’t enough space and he despised the feeling he had when Graham reached into the breast pocket of his fine, tailored jacket and fished out a pristine white envelope that clearly bulged with his payment. Humbert slid it across the table, tapping it with a finger.

“I’d love to know what you did with my wife last night.” He raised a brow, almost impressed. “She’s very happy.”

The thought of knotting Emma flashed across his mind, and Killian had to suppress a smirk, shifting in the chair when his groin tingled.

“Not something I’m willing to share this time.” Killian looked Graham dead in the eyes and didn’t look away, emphasising the first word. “However much you pay me.”

Graham took him in, sniggering at Killian’s aggressive tone. “Yes, well, you can spare yourself the Alpha dramatics, Jones. I wasn’t looking to take anymore of your ‘secrets’.” Graham flicked his wrist, his clearly solid gold watch heavy and rattling just a tad against his skin, and then looked at the time. “I don’t have time for your stories today.”

“Something more important to do?” Killian snapped.

“Someone, actually,” Graham sneered, licking his lips afterwards. “And she won’t wait long.”

Killian bit his tongue, regretfully deciding to not upset the man who could control his access to Emma.

“Please,” Graham scoffed, brushing the wrinkles from the front of his shirt as he pushed himself to his feet. Out of the corner of his eye Killian saw both bodyguards stop whatever they were doing and prepare to leave as well. “Spare me the judgemental looks and angry Alpha brooding. A man has needs, I’m sure you can appreciate that.”

Killian leapt to his feet, chest to chest to Graham. “I’m not just a man though, am I?”

Graham didn’t flinch, instead grinning like a proud cheshire cat. “You’re whatever I pay you to be.”

The blood pounded in Killian’s ears, his heart rate well and truly elevated to beyond what his body was comfortable with. Emma was worth this. Emma was worth anything Humbert could throw at him, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t play unfairly either.

“Your wife wants a knot,” Killian blurted, his hot breath fogging Graham’s face through clenched teeth. When Humbert’s smile faded, Killian knew he had touched a sore subject. As much as Graham could pretend, he would never have that one true Alpha attribute he wanted as desperately as his wife. “It seems a shame to leave her so unfulfilled,” Killian shrugged. “I mean, we might as well not even have this arrangement at all if she isn’t getting what she wants so you can get what you want.”

Killian heard Humbert take a deep breath and consider his words. Killian mulled over his expression, watching the puny man’s entire thought process by simply studying his face, Graham’s eyes widening between frowns as his mind went to work. Killian could tell Graham was conflicted. No Alpha for Emma meant no mistress for him, and a small smile tugged at the corner of Killian’s lips.

“I might have an idea so that everyone is happy,” Killian shrugged casually, knowing from the way Graham was sweating that he hadn’t found an option to his own dilemma yet.

“Go on,” Graham encouraged.

“I know of a certain toy that could facilitate what your wife wants,” Killian offered. He stepped back and buttoned his jacket, pushing the button through its hole slowly and deliberately. The smile that graced Killian’s lips was a combination of memories of the day before, when he had actually knotted Emma for real, and the knowledge that Graham was so arrogant, he would believe this whole thing to be his idea. Killian knew Emma would want nothing less than the real thing, his knot thrust up into her as she whimpered in delight, but that didn’t stop Killian playing Graham’s ego against him. “There would be no actual knotting, of course,” he finished, looking up to Graham’s intent expression. “As per your contract.”

“Like a sex toy?” Graham frowned.

“Exactly,” Killian nodded smugly. “A lot of hired Alpha’s wear them during encounters.”

“How much extra would this cost me?” Graham sneered, disgusted but intrigued at the idea all the same.

“Nothing,” Killian shook his head. “I’m sure I can afford one, what with your generous payments.” Killian leaned down and retrieved the money from the table, the envelope crinkling in his hand as he folded it in half and tucked it into the front pocket of his pants. “I just need to know if it's against the agreement we have to use one.” Killian's voice was darker, and he fixed his gaze on Graham once more.

Graham waggled a finger in Killian’s direction, a small chuckle tumbling from his mouth. “You know, Mr Jones, I think I’m beginning to like you.”

Killian shuddered, swallowing hard and looking down to his feet.

“Go buy what you need,” Graham nodded, balling his hands in his pockets. “In fact, why don’t you take Emma with you and then go back to the apartment.” Killian’s head snapped up at his offer and Graham just gave him a sickeningly modest glare like it was still up to him whether Emma saw Killian or not.

“What’s the catch?” Killian narrowed his eyes.

“No catch,” Graham assured him with a bow of his head, the most honest thing Killian had ever seen him do. Maybe the fool was in love with his mistress after all. “Think of it as a bonus for a job well done.”

“And what’s in it for you?” Killian scrutinized Graham, knowing full well that a man of his stature never did anything without something in return.

“Let’s just say, with Emma away, the mice can play.” Graham winked and Killian felt his stomach turn over. Now he was absolutely sure the man before him held no love for his wife at all, willing to defile their marital bed with his mistress, something he knew Emma was against doing with him. Then again, he also knew it wasn’t about respect for her marriage, but finding something new with someone else, somewhere else that held no memories of Humbert repression.

Killian felt sick at the thought of Emma as some sort of transactional incentive, but he wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, even if it was from Graham Humbert. Killian already knew he would do anything for her, Humbert be damned, and he dreamed of taking her away from everything she knew and showing her the life she deserved. Emma’s life wasn’t pleasant, he knew that, but when she was with him, she was herself, the real Emma, and Killian wanted that for her all of the time. Maybe he could show her that today.

“If you insist,” Killian nodded in agreement, only too willing to take Emma out and show her exactly how precious she actually was.

--

Not seeing Emma for a few days had almost killed Killian, especially when he knew that the next time they would see each other, they would be shopping for something he had tricked her husband into agreeing to. The idiot. Truth be told, Killian had in fact needed to pre-order the knotting toy in advance and they would just be popping to the sex store in order to retrieve it, and that freed up their entire afternoon. Because of his girth, the store had needed to have it custom made, something that had made Killian dance inside with glee because he was sure, at some point, Humbert would want to see it. Even if they didn’t need it, because Killian would be damned if he thought Emma wasn’t getting the real thing, he wouldn’t put it past Humbert to need proof.

All of his worries soon dissipated when his cell phone buzzed in the pocket of his pants. Killian had been lingering outside of the store for far longer than he should have been, one or two of the staff occasionally looking out of the black tinted windows to make sure he wasn’t some creep stalking their customers, and just like the last message, Emma was apologizing for being late. His thumb lingered on the cold surface of his cell phone, her words almost identical to the last message and setting panic in his bones.

His mind raced with scenarios that might make Emma late, from good to the very worst, and he cursed himself for even thinking some of them. He knew she would be arriving by a driven car, so graciously provided by her husband that Killian knew was just a front of generosity so Graham was sure she was out of the way whilst he entertained his mistress. Killian’s heart had long since given up breaking for Emma at the thought though, because he knew she would gladly let the mistress move in if it meant she could see him more often.

Finally, after what seemed like forever holding his breath and tapping his locked phone against his other hand, she came into view. He’d told her to dress for lunch but he had also neglected to remember the social divide between them, her dress far superior to his attire. He’d gone casual, just some chinos and a v-neck t-shirt under a summer blazer, but Emma took his breath away in what she was wearing. It wasn’t the plain, almost sheer magnolia off white top half that had him really rigid, but the bottom half, a short, black, thigh high skirt sitting under a matching rippled cumberbund style belt that hugged her waist and let him see the skin of her thigh. He swallowed hard as she approached, her hips sashaying from side to side with every step away from the car, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as her heels carried her closer.

Her hair was perfect, a fishbone braid across the top of her crown and hanging over one of her shoulders. Killian felt himself grow hot and imagined his hand wrapped around it, pulling her onto his cock over and over, just like a few days ago. Wisps of her perfectly toned blonde hair sprang out into the air but it just reminded him of how gorgeous she was as he watched her sleeping post coitus, his hands itching to flatten them and stroke the shape of her skull lovingly. Last but not least she was wearing a smile, one he had never seen in any photographs before, and one that was assuredly reserved for just him.

“Mr Jones,” she said sweetly, her hand reaching out for him after she tucked her matching cream clutch under her arm.

Killian took her hand with a growl, lifting it to his lips and inhaling her skin before looking up to her with a sultry stare and pressing his lips to her knuckles.

“Emma,” he breathed, her name everything. “You look beautiful, as always.”

“Thank you.” Emma smiled sweetly. “You don’t look so bad yourself.” Her eyes roamed his body, taking him in from head to toe and back up again, her tongue darting out to taste her lip as her eyes lingered on the bulge in his chinos.

“When you have quite finished,” Killian told her, tugging her fingers and bringing her back to reality. “One quick stop and we can be off to the restaurant for lunch.” Even saying it out loud made him tingle with warmth, like they were going on a real date, in public, with people seeing them side by side, and Killian couldn’t suppress his Alpha urge to let everyone know who Emma would be with at that moment.

“I’m not going to lie, Killian, I know exactly where we are, and there are no restaurants nearby.” Emma’s lips twisted into a coy smirk and she felt him squeeze her fingers. “What’s going on? Why are we here?”

Killian couldn’t hide his glee any longer and he let their hands dangle in front of them as he stepped forward to greet her with another kiss to her cheek. The softness of her skin made his knees buckle a little, but he managed to regain a sort of semi-composed state for what he had to tell her.

“This was actually Mr Humbert’s idea,” Killian smirked and when Emma’s eyebrows shot up on her forehead, he raised one too. “Or so he thinks.”

Emma looked perplexed. “Why would Graham let you take me to a sex shop?” She wasn’t even annoyed at the mention of her husband, because the idea of being here, with Killian, was far outweighing any hatred she had for the man who thought he supposedly owned her.

“That’s a story for another time,” Killian told her cryptically. He stepped back, interlocking their fingers and tugged her after him, encouraging her to follow. He bit his bottom lip, looking her up and down between steps, sighing audibly in appreciation of the way she moved after him. “I’m not sure this outfit is appropriate for lunch,” Killian teased, shaking his head. “How am I supposed to keep my eyes on you and one eye on every other man in the place?”

“And why would you need to do that?” Emma feigned modesty and Killian noticed a little more sway in her hips as she walked, drawing, tempting him to a fate he knew would have him killed one day.

Once they were through the doors, and hidden from any prying eyes by the darkness of tinted windows, Killian pulled his hand from hers and let it fall to her hip, his fingers hungrily grabbing at the material of her skirt and bunching it up until it was raised up towards her waist a little more. He stepped into her and Emma gasped when her bare shoulders hit the cold of the window and his knee between her legs stopped her from losing her balance and tumbling to the ground.

“You know why,” Killian growled sultrily, his nose pressed against hers and their lips a hair's breadth apart. She smelled of perfume, floral with undertones of her natural scent that had Killian rolling his eyes in his head and his jaw clenching tighter than he thought possible. It seemed a few days had been too long without her near him, and his hands skimmed the shape of her arse hungrily.

“How can you be so sure other men find me as desirable as you do?” Emma’s words were strangled in her throat that had gone bone dry from the way Killian’s thigh was rubbing against her clit through her panties.

Killian chuckled darkly, his tongue licking over her lips as he moistened his own in response to her fingers gripping his bicep through the material of his blazer. “Emma, Emma, Emma,” Killian taunted playfully with a shake of his head. “When are you going to realise how precious you are?”

Emma’s hand snaked up behind his head and held it in place as she moved hers to the side, the softness of her lips brushing against the shell of his ear as she whispered, “When are you going to show me?” Her fingers clawed over the back of his neck, raking through the hair there ever so gently that it had all of Killian’s nerve endings firing at once. “Again,” she added, her voice lowered and full of fire as she slipped out from underneath him and made her way into the main part of the shop.

Killian grunted in frustration, spinning his entire body off the window pane and following after her like a man on an invisible tether. She was something, he had to admit that, especially when, by watching the shape of her behind in her too short skirt, he had failed to realise that she was heading towards the lingerie section. He looked up just in time to see her holding the barest slip of material up to her body before looking back at him through her lashes and quirking a brow.

“How do you think this would look on me?” She asked innocently, tucking the material under her breasts and accenting them as she pushed them up.

“Not as good as it would look on the floor,” Killian whispered as he reached her and inspected the garment. It was made of lace as red as blood, with two cut outs on either side that would definitely show the contrast of her milky skin down to her hips where the built in lace underwear sat. The bra part was padded, hiding away her best parts behind another layer of matching lace and Killian made a mental note to make sure that never happened. His thoughts were soon interrupted when he noticed, with a glint in her eye, Emma was indicating to the slit like opening on the panties with a wiggling finger and a coy smirk.

“You sure that’s where you want it to be?” Emma teased, biting her tongue and feeling the material of the bra as if she were Killian kneading her breasts.

Killian whimpered and toyed with the little red bows that stuck to each hip of the garment, the material pure silk between his fingers. All he could do was shake his head, an Alpha pathetically reduced to just actions by a woman, and he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

“I’ll be right back,” he said quietly, his voice hoarse. He peeled the lingerie from her grip and Emma almost squealed with glee, her face erupting into an excited smile that made the skin behind his ears burn hot with pleasure. “I need to pay for this and retrieve something, then we shall go to lunch.” He took a step back, the air just two feet from Emma much easier to breathe in, but he immediately missed the heavy weight pressing down on his lungs.

“Perfect,” Emma beamed at him. She had that glint in her eye again and Killian’s jaw nearly hit the floor when she lifted her hand to her face and gave the tip of her thumb a salacious lick, the mystery behind the green of her eyes darkened by her lust once more. “I’m starving.”

--

Killian couldn’t help the way he was smiling, despite Emma telling him more than once to stop. They sat opposite each other in an almost rooftop restaurant and Killian had made sure they were seated next to the window so that they could both enjoy the view, not that he had seen much more than Emma right in front of him. Emma as she was. Emma in the new lingerie he had just bought her. Emma like she had been when she took his knot. God only knew how his brain managed to fathom much else at this point.

They had, somehow, managed to order some food, even if they were both anxious for what was to come afterward. Humbert had pretty much given him the green light to take Emma back to her apartment, so Killian wasn’t going to miss out on an opportunity when it presented itself. When he thought about it, finding loopholes in Humbert’s contract really was about as much fun as he had imagined, especially when so much was at stake.

“Thank you,” Emma said softly, shaking him out of his daydream by placing her hand over his. Killian looked down to where Emma’s fingers were tangling with his, the edge of their palms resting against the pristinely white table cloth, and gave her a sideways cock of his head.

“For what, love?” he asked sweetly, rubbing her thumb with his.

“For this,” Emma said with a nod, motioning around the slowly filling restaurant with a wave of her free hand. “For showing me that I’m not just arm candy for a businessman.”

Killian sucked in a breath and released a laugh at the same time. “Emma, you are so much more than that. What will it take for you to realise that?”

Emma blushed and diverted her eyes back down to focus on the hypnotic way Killian’s thumb was still etching the feel of his skin onto hers. Her smile faded and Killian was sure he saw a little bit of a tear in her eye, frowning and giving her hand a gentle tug until she looked back at him.

“Look,” he began, licking his lips. “I know this isn’t ideal, what we’re doing, but for what it’s worth, I’m having the time of my life.” Killian smiled at her warmly and she mirrored the shape of his lips with her own. “What happens when your husband is sick of his mistress is my only uncertainty.”

“You think he let this happen because he has a mistress?” Emma scoffed a laugh, looking away from him sadly. “Please, Killian, there have been other women and you’ve met the man. He’d do anything to avoid a divorce.” The sadness that laced her words pained him right to his soul and Killian felt his fingers tighten around hers when she turned her head to stare blankly out of the window. “The only reason you and I ever met is because he was trying to keep me quiet and retain his Humbert bravado. He can take this all away from me as quickly as it began.”

“I’d like to see him try,” Killian said defiantly.

“He’s done it before,” Emma almost sobbed, her voice weak and small in the back of her throat at the memory of how many times Graham had promised her so much only to rip it all away to keep her in line. She never wanted to imagine how it would feel to have Graham take Killian away from her now that she had known him.

“Aye, maybe, but you’ve never had me fighting for you before, have you, darling?”

At his words, Emma looked back to him and welcomed the way his confidence in her was written all over his face, from the curve of his lips as he smiled to the sparkle in the blue of his eyes. Emma had never known any Alpha other than the Humbert men, and certainly hadn’t known one to give the likes of her the time of day. But Killian was different, affectionate and passionate, and she knew that no matter what, she would be making the most of him tonight.

“You are a man of many firsts, Mr Jones,” Emma smirked. She pulled her hand from his and moved to lean forward, her head resting on her hand as the point of her elbow sat precariously on the edge of the table. She trailed one of her fingers over her lips, giving them a little tap.

“I’m also wonderfully committed to seconds,” Killian grinned. “And thirds, and fourths.” He winked, letting the corner of his lips pull up into a sideways smirk, one eyebrow jumping up higher on his brow.

“And is that what you want?” Emma teased, rolling her shoulders back so that Killian had no choice but to divert his eyes down to the sway of her breasts underneath the sheer, cream fabric of her dress. “To knot me again?” Emma blinked, looking up at him through her lashes. “And again?”

Killian didn’t mean to laugh but he hoped it helped that the tips of his ears turned a rather attractive rosy colour as he pawed at the patch of skin behind them, his tongue darting out at the memory of her taste on his lips.

“Like I need to breathe, love,” Killian said finally, rolling his bottom lip under his teeth and letting an appreciative hum escape his mouth at the memory of the feeling of her body around his knot. “I’ll beg if I have to,” he admitted with a nod.

“Would you want it now?” Emma’s eyes lit up with glee and she couldn’t hide the excited grin on her face. “With all these people around?”

“Aye,” Killian said, his words even and his voice a little huskier than it was before. He leaned forward and Emma could have sworn he was staring directly into her soul. “I’d fuck you over this table until you begged me to knot you because you couldn’t take not having it any longer.”

His words, despite what she had asked for, made Emma’s entire body prickle with heat. Every muscle was remembering the feel of his hands on her skin, the feel of his cock inside of her and recalling the way it felt to have such a rock hard, welcome intrusion like his knot. She pressed her thighs together at the thought, her core clenching with need and a little bit of hot, wet, discharge leaking out of her. She wasn’t sure if Killian could smell her, but his eyes definitely darkened around the edge of his hues and he drew his fingers into a clenched fist as he stared her down.

“I’m sorry,” Emma blushed, swallowing hard. “Would you excuse me? I just need to use the ladies room before our food arrives.”

Killian shook his head slightly, and pushed himself to his feet. It was probably the most gentlemanly thing Emma had ever seen and had been sure, when Graham failed to do it, it was the stuff of myths and legends that women only read about in books. The heat across her cheeks was more vibrant now, and there was no way Killian didn’t know what his words had done to her, or why she was heading to the bathroom at all.

“Of course,” he said cordially but grabbed her arm as she moved past him, leaning in and almost licking the shell of her ear with his words. “Hurry back,” he whispered, his words dripping into her ear like a hot wax that sent a shiver down her spine, before he stepped away and left her wanting even more than before.

Emma barely made it to the bathroom, her legs shaking and her skin on fire with a burning itch that only Killian could sate. She ran through the door, politely apologising to a woman she bumped into on the way, and flattened herself against the cool tiled wall. She let out a breath, long and uneven, her lips quivering slightly as she gulped down air, trying to quell her arousal. Emma had never felt so alive, her whole body aching as she pinned her weight against the wall, fingers clawing at the grout and her knees threatening to buckle at any second.

“Fuck,” she panted, pinching her eyes closed. How did Killian have the ability to make her feel this way with just his words and a sideways sultry glance? Emma was sure it was black magic. Or witchcraft. Or more simply, it was her pure, unadulterated need, two compatible people fitting together like puzzle pieces, her body crying out for him every time they met. Whatever it was, she was pretty sure that she would never make it back to her apartment without some sort of cooling relief for the sizzling heat that was eating her up from the inside out.

Emma bolted for the nearest stall, slamming the door closed behind her and sliding the lock into place. Not even the toilet seat lid offered her relief as she sat down on the cold plastic, and she slumped back against the cistern with a grumble. She pinched her eyes closed but all she could see was Killian, his eyes darkened to a lustful grey and his lips curved into that toying smirk he always did before he fully ravaged her. She loved it, and needed it - him - but all she had right now was her hand and her imagination, so with a hurried pant, Emma bunched up the material of her skirt, opened her legs and slipped her hand between her thighs.

The material of her underwear was already wet, the damp patch just below her clit cool on her skin. Her fingers toyed over it, sliding back and forth, teasing her body with the idea that she might slip lower. The friction was minimal but just enough, her nipples hardening in her bra and the material rubbing against them, causing her even more frustration. She let out a groan that was a little too loud, the sound of her voice reverberating off the bathroom walls.

She only stopped for a second to make sure no one had heard her, instantly missing the way her hand felt on the outside of her panties. She skimmed her fingers over the fabric again, sighing when she pushed through her folds and found her clit, circling the nub and feeling her entire body relax as she sucked in a breath through her teeth. Even just thinking about Killian had her body reacting like this, essence practically dripping from her core as she strummed out a beat over her clit.

She had to make it quick or Killian would grow suspicious, and Emma wouldn't put it past him to come looking for her. What if he did? Suddenly it didn't seem like such a bad idea to take her time, but Emma wasn't that patient, parting her legs even wider and settling the material of her underwear over herself where it contoured the shape of her clit and, with every flick, had white light erupting behind her eyelids.

Emma canted her hips to meet the rub of her hand, her body shaking as her clit grew harder and more sensitive with every sweep. Her thighs quivered and she needed to place her free hand on the stall wall for balance, her inevitable orgasm creeping up on her and leaving her whimpering Killian's name. The room was spinning, even behind her eyelids, and the warmth of the heated bathroom was beginning to affect her, a sheen of sweat condensing across her skin.

She’d never done this before, masturbated in a public place, and it was the most exciting thing she had ever done. Her entire body tingled, her hand shaking, her brain telling her to stop the assault on her clit that was pulsing and throbbing, but her body crying out for more. Her breathing was uneven and the skin under her braid tightened against her head, pulling all of her hair and reminding her of how Killian had grabbed it a few days ago. It was enough, the memory of Killian and what he could do to her making her legs and back stiffen as she came, her hand furiously rubbing at her clit through the material of her underwear and extending her pleasure through painfully gritted teeth.

It wasn’t enough, Emma could tell that the second her orgasm rippled away as quickly as it had arrived, but it was enough to keep her sated for now. Or so she hoped. Now her only problem was her soaking wet panties. Emma looked down between her legs, holding the ruffles of her black skirt aside as she inspected the dark grey patch that had appeared there, her clit still pulsing with aftershocks as she tugged the material from her skin. There was no way Killian wouldn’t know about this, because even she could smell herself in the confines of the cubicle.

He had done this to her. It was still beyond her exactly how, but Killian had this effect on her like nothing she had ever experienced before. It was like her body was his obedient puppy, eager to please him, willing to do anything for a little attention and it had never felt so right to let it. Emma’s lips turned up into a wry grin as she stood back on wobbly legs, shimmied her wet panties to the floor and then picked them up, straightening the creases in her skirt whilst balling the damp material in her fist. Horny didn’t even begin to describe how she felt, the thrill of masterbating in the bathroom of a restaurant combined with the knowledge Killian was hers all afternoon still coursing through every fibre of her being.

They had to skip lunch and Emma knew exactly how to do that.

When she reappeared, Killian was absentmindedly staring out of the window across the expanse of the city, but the slight rise of his elfen ear gave away his smile. He didn’t turn around when she approached, but he knew she was there, heels gently tapping the polished floor, their echoes eaten up by the sounds of the other diners. His hand rested on the tablecloth, fingers stretched outwards as if covering hers that had left the spot a few minutes ago.

“Sorry about that,” Emma chirped as she neared him. She reached the table, her hip brushing his shoulder as she passed, and in one swift motion that even left her surprised by her own audacity, Emma dropped her sodden lace panties to the table right next to his hand. “I needed to take care of something.”

Killian’s head snapped towards the garment beside his hand, his fingers lifting off the tablecloth that had suddenly become like hot embers under the tips. Similarly, his ears were burning with the tell tale tint of a blush that was soon replaced with the ferocity of his inner animal as he plucked the lace from the table and was immediately hit with her scent. It was the perfect combination of the sweetness of peaches and the exoticness of star anise, and he would gladly risk the toxicity of the latter if it meant he could feast on her for hours.

“You couldn’t wait until after lunch?” Killian smirked, tucking the panties under the table and out of sight of the other diners. He scrunched the material in his hand and rather than tuck it into his pocket, he unzipped his fly and tucked it into the crotch of his chinos and through the peephole of his boxers. Even the mere feeling of her clearly self-fuck soaked underwear against his cock had him hard in seconds and he had no doubt she knew exactly what she was doing when she had dropped them at his proverbial feet.

“I’m not hungry,” Emma lied coyly, leaning forward in her seat until her bare clit met the cold, harsh surface of her chair and her eyes fluttered closed.

“Oh, you’re hungry, love,” Killian teased, opening his legs a little wider so that his length wasn’t so painfully restricted in his pants. “Just not for what’s on the menu in this place.” He quirked his brow at her and Emma smirked back at him, rolling her bottom lip under her teeth and letting out a groan as she rocked forward again.

“And you are?” Emma teased back, twirling the tail of her braid around her hand and giving it a little tug, mimicking the way his primal urges had turned her on so much a few days before.

She couldn’t help the way he was playing her like a finely tuned piano, despite being in a public place, as if something was calling to her, telling her to jump and trust that Killian would catch her. Without a second thought she knew she would. She would leap from whatever height if it meant falling into his arms, especially now, and if the way he was looking at her like a ravenous animal was anything to go by, she would gladly let him devour her too.

“Pay,” Emma demanded quickly, hurrying to grab her clutch beside her.

“W-What?” Killian stammered, shocked by her sudden urgency to leave.

Emma pushed herself to her feet and Killian stumbled to follow her, the hard-on in his pants restricting his ability to stand upright. He stepped out from behind the table and she flattened herself to his body, not a sliver of light able to pass between them. She groaned in her throat, the feel of his hardness against her setting off another flow of slickness to escape her core, only this time there was no fabric to stop it and it began its descent down her inner thigh. Emma’s hand snaked up behind Killian’s head and she clutched the hair there in frustration, her only outlet in a room full of people.

“Pay now,” she ordered again, her breath hot against his neck where she couldn’t help but taste his skin there with a lap of her tongue. “And I’ll suck you off in the car.”

--

They had only just made it out of the car park when Emma had dove across the gap between them and was fumbling with the zipper of Killian’s chinos. He hissed as she snaked her hand into the opening, deft fingers stroking over the outside of his boxer shorts and hardening him even more than the anticipation was. Killian's knuckles were white from how hard he gripped the wheel and Emma tore into his underwear like a thing possessed once she realised how hard her prize was.

Emma had never blown an Alpha before and once his cock sprang out into the artificially heated air in the car, her eyes went wide with glee. Alphas certainly put most men to shame, and she licked her lips at the sight of him standing proudly for her attention before grasping him as firmly as she could close to the base of his cock and shivering from the filthy sound he made in response.

“Eyes on the road, Jones,” Emma said huskily, running her tongue over the point of her canine. She felt like a wolf, hungry for the meat Killian was dangling in front of her, the blood pounding in her ears as she used her other hand to grip the girth of him just under his tip.

Killian felt his hips shift forward in his seat, an involuntary spasm, the only reaction his body knew to her touch. He wanted her to stroke him, needed her to massage his length. What she had promised back at the restaurant was so close his balls ached. Her breath ghosted over his cock, the tip of her tongue flicking out to taste him as she held him, hot and hard and perpetually suspended in the promise of what was to come. He had to blink thrice as hard to focus his eyes on the road knowing that once her mouth encased his cock, it would be almost impossible to drive in a straight line.

“Emma, maybe we should wait until-,” Killian began, his heart hammering in his chest and the sound of his blood pounding in his ears.

“Shut up,” Emma snapped and Killian tore his eyes off the road to look at her beside him.

She was on her knees, crouched below the height of the window and hunched between the seats, her elbows resting on the only part of the seat visible beside his thigh. It twitched as his muscles contracted, his entire body as stiff as his cock was in Emma’s hands, her hands burning into his skin far hotter than his own body temperature. Emma was wet, he could smell her in the confined space of the car and it made him heady, his palms a little sweaty against the smooth surface of the wheel.

Killian had no idea what had gotten into Emma but he was not about to complain. Very few people had the bravery to tell an Alpha to shut up, and under normal circumstances the hormones raging through Killian’s body would have had him seeing red in no time, but the tone in Emma’s voice, insistent and desperate, had him hardening in her grip. She was ravenous and did something to him that he couldn’t explain. His body cried out for her, especially now he knew what it felt like to knot her, and one of his hands slipped off the wheel and smoothed over her back in gentle encouragement. Very little time passed between Killian touching her and Emma finally wrapping her lips around his length and all he could do was gasp in final, hot, wet relief and force his eyes to stay open whilst he drove through a foggy, sex hazed vision.

“Oh,” Killian gasped on an inward breath, his knuckles turning white with how hard he was gripping the wheel. “Bloody, Jesus, fuck,” he grunted when he felt Emma smirk against his length, her tongue lavishing over a particularly prominent vein that had swollen in her mouth as her hands went to work on the base of his shaft. With a hum, Emma let her hand drift into the opening of his fly, aching to have more of him in her grasp, her fingertips barely touching the bulb of his knot that was wrapped up in her come soaked panties.

Emma lifted her head, releasing him with a pop and hungrily licking her lips as she salivated over the taste of him in her mouth. Her hands went to work where her mouth had been, shifting up and down his cock and making Killian growl in frustration.

“So that’s where you put them,” Emma grinned triumphantly.

She hadn’t expected to find her underwear in his pants but it gave her a huge sense of gratification to find them there. She had never felt so powerful, so insanely and irrevocably turned on before. Her life had given her few chances to be the aggressor during sex, but Emma was a woman who knew what she wanted, if nothing else. Killian Jones was what she wanted, and she didn’t even wait for his reply before sealing her lips around his cock and stealing his breath once more.

Emma’s head bobbed up and down, spit dribbling out of her mouth and over her knuckles as she went down and her tongue slurping over his skin as she eased back up. Killian tried as hard as he could to focus on the road ahead of him, but thankfully the traffic was minimal, encouraging him to speed and run at least two red lights on their way to Emma’s apartment where he skidded to a stop in her parking spot. He had an overwhelming need to come, to fuck Emma’s mouth until his knot popped out of his body and he’d encourage her to extend his pleasure by sucking him some more. The mere thought had his fingertips digging into the curve of her behind, the only intimate part of her he could reach from his position.

But reality held him back. There was no way he wouldn’t draw attention by getting out of a car in broad daylight with an erection so massive, and as if Emma could read his mind, she doubled her efforts. Her movements sped up and Killian could feel his tip bumping the back of her throat, the muscles there contracting around him and pulling him in even deeper. At one point, Emma gagged a little and Killian wasn’t sure how much longer he would last under her assault. She hummed in appreciation, a soft whimper of pleasure slipping from her mouth between breaths as her fingers toyed with the smooth skin of Killian’s balls and caused another involuntary buck of his hips.

“You’re so close,” she purred, letting him slip from her mouth and not giving him a second before licking him from a straining knot bulb to tip. “Let go, Killian. Let me take care of you.”

“Oh, fuck, Emma,” he whimpered, legs shaking as he felt the unmistakeable thrum of his climax. “Suck it,” he growled and encouraged her to take him in her mouth once more with a gentle touch to the back of her head. His fingers toyed with her braid and his inner animal couldn’t be contained anymore. “I’m going to come so hard for you. Fill up the back of your throat like you need.”

An audible whine vibrated from Emma’s throat, a plea for what only Killian could give her. She arched her back, desperate for his touch where she needed him the most, her body language so incredibly wanton that Killian had no hope in holding off his orgasm. What he hadn’t expected was her skill, the way she swallowed him down like she had been made specifically for him, her throat relaxing around him as she crammed his entire cock into her mouth. Her tongue laved around his knot bulb, a soft wetness that, before he had time to stop it, had his knot popping from his body and his euphoria washing over him.

The world began to spin and Killian’s leg spasmed, his foot pushing so hard against the floor that he thought he might punch a hole right through the bottom of his car. He was coming, and he was coming harder than he had ever come from oral before. An Alpha’s place was to make his partner happy and so he had rarely been on the receiving end of a blow job, and they had never felt as good as the one Emma was giving him. It left him shaking and he held her face to his crotch, one hand around her jaw and her braid twisted around the other. When Emma gagged on his come, he tried to free her airway by pulling out, but Emma wouldn’t let him go, greedily swallowing every last drop of his load with a satisfying gulp.

“Wow,” Killian gasped, scrubbing his hands over his face in disbelief of his bodily reaction to Emma’s talents. “I...you...wow,” he giggled, ignoring the discomfort of his exposed knot and the hotness in his groin.

“You popped your knot,” Emma smirked gleefully, stroking her fingers over his still hard length and enjoying the way he twitched from her touch.

“I swear I didn’t mean to,” Killian laughed. “You were just...” he began but Emma’s proud grin stole his thought. “Just wow.”

“You need to work on your compliments,” Emma nodded with a raised eyebrow.

“Aye, love,” he agreed with a chuckle. “I have plenty of time to think that over whilst I wait for my knot to recede.” He blushed a little and Emma watched as he adorably scratched the patch of skin behind his ear.

“I’m sorry,” Emma offered sympathetically. She took his hand in hers, giving his fingers a little squeeze to emphasize her apology.

“Don’t be, love,” Killian assured her, interlocking their fingers. “It’s only uncomfortable for an hour or so,” he teased, lifting their hands and pressing a kiss to the back of her knuckles.

“Plenty of time then,” Emma smirked playfully.

“For what, love?” Killian asked her with a narrowed stare.

She leaned in close, gripping his hand tighter and holding it to her bosom. “For us to talk about later,” she whispered in his ear, her words making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. “When we see just how good that outfit looks on the bedroom floor.”

Chapter Text

The ferocity of his kiss made Emma swoon, her heart fluttering just under her skin. She had never felt such a yearning, such a need, and as soon as his knot had receded and they had left the car, Killian had cemented her animalistic want even more when he had hoisted her up onto his shoulder and carried her to her apartment. It thrilled her to no end, being carried, overpowered and yet cared for at the same time. Killian, growling deep in his throat as he crossed the threshold, slammed the door behind him and set her feet firmly back on the ground.

“How long is your refractory period?” Emma smirked salaciously, her fingers caressing the lapels of Killian’s blazer. He gave her a raised eyebrow as she arched into him, her fingers gripping the soft, cotton material and giving it a tug as she spun them around.

“Such a needy girl,” Killian growled, walking towards her and pinning her to the cold surface of the door. The sizzle of her skin was almost audible and her sharp intake of breath made his cock hard.

“I can’t get enough of you,” Emma whispered, pulling even harder on his jacket until Killian’s forehead touched hers. Their lips were so close, the breath between them all that separated her from the feel of his mouth on hers. “I want you all the time, Killian.”

“You shouldn’t,” Killian ground out, his entire body screaming at him to kiss her. His tongue darted out and he tasted her lips, the sweet taste of her ever present in his memory intensified in that moment.

“Why?” Emma breathed, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

The way she was acting was unlike any of their previous encounters and it was awakening something very primal inside of him, his hands skimming down the sides of her face and down the column of her neck. Killian paused, his thumb resting over the pulse there, the elevated rhythm of Emma’s heartbeat quickening even more when he stroked the skin where her Omega scent gland would be were she anything but Beta. A heady mixture of arousal and confusion coursed through him, his throat closing up around a lump there and the strain of his erection a painful reminder of what he could never truly have.

Emma was married. The fact that her husband was an arsehole was irrelevant, and the fact that Killian wanted to wring the Beta bastard’s neck was even more of a moot point. It didn’t matter to him what gender class she belonged to because at the end of the day she would never be attainable. He had let things go too far, let his feelings for her develop into something far greater than even he could control and if a day with Emma had shown him anything, it was that he wasn’t ready to let her go.

But his feelings could wait. Right now, the only thing more important to him than his own arousal, was Emma’s. She was especially wanton today and it hadn’t escaped his notice. First the lingerie, of which he had just reminded himself, then the panties, oh god, the panties, and then the very idea of a blow job which had the blood rushing to his cock from the memory alone, and, to be fair, what sort of Alpha would he be if he didn’t indulge Emma’s deepest, most baser urges?

He surged forward and pinned her to the door with his weight, making sure she could feel the length of his hardness pressed against her. Emma let out a gasp of surprise and her scent immediately changed, her sweet, subtle hint of what Killian had once known making way for a strong, spicier taste that had his blood boiling in his veins. It was familiar but overpowering, the low rumble of a growl crawling up from his belly as he raised her arms and she let him, rubbing herself against his length and biting her bottom lip.

“You want me too,” Emma surmised with a hint of glee, writhing her body against his even more. “Tell me you don’t.”

“That’s not fair,” Killian said gruffly. He pressed into her harder, resting his head on her collarbone and tasting her intoxicating skin with a quick peck of his lips. “You smell different, love,” he rasped. “I can’t think straight.”

“So don’t think at all,” Emma whispered, slipping her hands from his grasp and pushing the blazer off his shoulders. The muscles along Killian’s jaw tightened and the green of Emma’s eyes darkened with her lust at the sight. The cotton jacket fell to the floor and Killian kicked it away, closely followed by his shoes, his toes scrunching inside his socks in an attempt to ground himself.

“Emma, I-,” Killian began again, his vision blurry from whatever Emma had bewitched him with, her fingers tracing the v-neck of his t-shirt that had suddenly become clammy and clung to his body. He swallowed thickly, blinking to refocus the blood flow from his cock to his brain, a futile attempt if ever he’d known one.

“Don’t. Think.” Emma pressed her finger to his lips, halting any further interruptions from the Alpha before her. “Just, fuck me,” Emma purred, holding his eye contact when his stare bore into her. His eyes were the darkest Emma had ever seen and her skin flushed hot with the idea of what he could do to her. She knew, after all, exactly what Killian Jones was capable of. “Fuck me, and knot me like you promised in the restaurant.”

“Oh, my sweet,” Killian smirked, dragging his fingers down the length of her arms, lightly gripping her wrists. He held her gaze, unashamedly moving her hands to his chinos, encouraging her to unbutton them with a reassuring nod. “I’m going to fuck you, and will knot you, but be warned,” he paused, allowing her to lift the weight of him out of his underwear after she had pushed his chinos to the ground. As soon as she was done, he slapped his hands to her arse and hoisted her into the air, ignoring her squeak of joy as she wrapped her legs around his waist, and let her sag into his hold. “This is going to ruin you.”

“Too late,” Emma rasped, clutching his face and finally planting her lips firmly on his.

If he hadn’t had the strength of an Alpha, Emma might have knocked them both to the ground with the force of her kiss. Killian wrapped his arms around her, tightening his hold on her body as he stepped from his chinos and flicked his foot, tossing them aside on his way further into the apartment. Her lips were sweet, like a drug he couldn’t get enough of and he’d be damned if he wanted to let up kissing her back for even a second.

“What about the lingerie?” Emma pulled her lips from his in a daze, her fingers interlocked behind his head and his neck muscles there straining against the edges of her palm.

“Nope.” Killian shook his head and Emma frowned at him. He set her down, much to her protest, but soon his intentions became clear when he reached behind her and unzipped her dress.

“No?” Emma asked salaciously, letting the material of her dress flutter to the floor once Killian had slipped it off her shoulders. It left her naked, gloriously bare and exposed to his hungry gaze, and Killian licked his lips with delight.

He shook his head again, crossed his arms over his body and Emma felt a surge of wetness between her legs when he lifted the last remaining remnant of clothing up and over his head and his arm muscles rippled deliciously under his skin. “Anything that blocks my view of your absolutely perfect body is not welcome here.”

Emma blushed and without even realising it, her hand had found his bicep where her fingers gripped the muscle in anticipation. “You said you liked it in the store.”

Killiam grinned darkly, stepping into her space and forcing her to retreat backwards until her thighs touched the huge bed behind them. “You weren’t naked in the store.”

Emma let out the longest breath as she fell backward and bounced on the mattress, turning herself onto her stomach whilst airbourne. She tried to crawl away with a giggle, Killian hot on her heels as he clambered onto the bed behind her and grabbed her by the hips. Emma wasn’t sure what had come over her, playing this little game of cat and mouse all day, teasing him to within an inch of his life, but she was enjoying it like nothing else they had ever done. His hands on her skin felt like red hot pokers, searing his fingerprints into the flesh there, the warmth between her legs igniting once more and causing her to clench her muscles.

“Ah ah, love,” Killian teased, giving one of her arse cheeks a playful slap and sending her crashing flat onto the bed. “Don’t you dare hold that wonderful nectar in.”

His hands were on her arse once more, long, lithe fingers kneading the globes with a growl. Emma smirked, her face buried into the thin sheet that covered the bed and she rolled her shoulders, and hummed contently. Killian was not about to let her out of his grasp, dragging his fingertips down the back of her thighs and pushing her legs together once he reached her knees, pinning her to the bed with his own weight as he straddled her legs. Before Emma had time to react, his fingers were tracing the crease of her behind, pushing between her legs and fishing around in the wet heat that was currently soaking the sheet underneath them.

“My word, aren’t we wet,” Killian rasped, teasing his finger around her entrance.

“Killian-,” Emma began in a breathy whisper, but Killian covered her back with his own body and canted his hips until his erection eased itself into the crease of her arse and had the rest of her words stolen in a gasp.

He let his weight envelope her, mindful not to crush her, but instead apply just enough pressure so that she was safely in his hold. Huge hands found the mattress beside her head and Emma felt dizzy with need, inhaling hard and smelling herself on his fingers. She couldn’t speak, she couldn’t move and she had never felt so loved in all her life.

“Please,” she begged, turning her face until her head lay sideways on the mattress and she could see the dark wisps of his hair falling over his forehead. Her hand reached behind her and clutched at his hip, a desperate please further enforced by her unadulterated need to feel his cock inside her. One of his hands brushed her hair aside, tucking it behind her ear before his tongue licked the outer shell with a husky moan.

“Gods, I love it when you beg,” Killian growled, his lips right next to her ear and his words sending shivers down her spine.

The sound that left her mouth was unlike anything Emma had ever heard from her own lips. She felt hot, her body melting into the mattress, the garbled mess of sounds tumbling from her throat just making Killian chuckle. His hands were on her, skimming over the curve of her hips that were pinned under his, his own enthusiastic panting turning her on even more. Emma tried to wiggle, to do anything to encourage Killian’s length where she wanted it, but he was steadfast, pressing his hands into the small of her back and pushing himself back into a sitting position.

His lips were on her instantly, tongue darting out to taste her as he kissed his way down her spine. It was agony, slow, torturous pain that fell just on the right side of pleasure and made Emma’s skin tighten over every single muscle in her body. The hair on the back of her head prickled to attention, her neck arching outward in an attempt to tempt his lips closer, but Killian just continued his journey down her back, making sure each and every bump of her spine was paid the utmost attention.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered between kisses, his hands placing featherlight touches after his lips to smooth away her trembling. “You’re so, so…” He stopped, fingers digging into her flesh in an attempt to stave off something Emma couldn’t make out, the feel of his jaw muscles clenching against the divet above her behind. Killian’s words were taken from him by the scent of her, her body making far more lubricant that he had seen before, cementing in his mind the idea that despite being Beta, Emma was made just for him.

“Taste me,” Emma whimpered, drawing his attention to her aching core with a lift of her buttocks. “I know you want to.”

“Oh, love,” Killian hissed, the softness of her cheeks rubbing over his sensitive tip. “How is it you know exactly what I want?” His lips were on her again, the skin of her arse cheeks rippling with goosebumps under his kiss. “What I need,” he added with a feral growl.

He sat back up, unable to take it anymore, taking himself in hand and stroking his length quickly. Emma grinned salaciously, her eyelids fluttering closed in anticipated pleasure she knew was coming. She eased her behind into the air which allowed for Killian to slide a pillow under her stomach. This had become a dance she was familiar with, the silence between them the only communication they needed, this position perfect for his cock to find the exact right spot over and over until they crashed in euphoria together.

Killian eased backwards, drawing his hands over her skin in a circular motion, encouraging her to relax that little bit more. Emma wasn’t sure how much more relaxed she could be. She felt like her body was floating already, the room spinning and her finger scrunching the material of the sheet in her grasp to ground her, but when Killian nosed into her folds from behind, there was nothing that could hold her steady. His tongue was scalding her, burning her from the inside out, the cool air in the room her only relief between his hungry gulps of her and the too long time he spent savouring the taste on his lips.

“How do I taste, Alpha?” Emma cooed, watching him lift his head at his title on her lips. They locked eyes and she bit her bottom lip coyly, flashing him a cheeky smile that was equal parts blissful and testing, his inner animal fighting to be free.

Any other time, Emma’s teasing would have been welcome, exciting even, but for some reason, Killian was overcome with the need to claim her. It was illogical, he knew that, but there was something about the scent of her, the remnants of her juices on his beard and those covering his tongue that made him roar inside. His skin felt like it was about to melt right off his bones, an itch that he couldn’t scratch just under the surface, but Emma was the remedy for his ills, his aches and his yearning and so, Killian was done being patient.

“Yes,” Emma hissed when she felt him position himself at her entrance.

Without preamble he was pushing home, entering her with one swift thrust of his hips and a sigh of relief. His body began to quake, the muscles in his upper thighs twitching when he tried to find his equilibrium. It was difficult, considering Emma had the ability to knock him for six simply by smiling at him, so the feel of her around him was almost suffocating. He froze, fighting off the maddening urge to pound into her relentlessly, aware that while she was very wet, and was already becoming accustomed to his size, the true Alpha nature that was clawing its way to the surface, or trying to, might scare her off.

Killian shifted his position, making sure he was seated inside of Emma as far as he could get, loving the way she pushed back onto him in an attempt to pull him in deeper. He clawed down her back, angling his hips upward, waiting for Emma to adjust her own body to where she felt most comfortable with his ever welcome intrusion. After a gasp and a shudder, Emma was lifting one knee, sliding her leg across the sheet and forcing Killian to roll over to the side so he was resting on his side behind her. Reluctant to slip from her tight heat, he followed the arch of her spine with more searing hot, open mouthed kisses, eager hands grabbing any part of her he could.

Silently, Emma moved his hand from her waist to her breast, flattening her palm over his and forcing him to knead the aching flesh. Her nipples hardened even more, the skin pulling tight around them, the bullet like buds telling Killian exactly what he already knew. Emma wanted more, breathless pleas leaving her mouth in nothing understandable, but her body crying out for what only he could give her.

Killian shushed her, soothing her need with more tender kisses, his length rooted inside of her as far as he could possibly get except for the swell of his knot. He repositioned himself so that he could kiss her face, one hand stroking the slightly damp side of her brow whilst the other held her still beneath him. Killian slid his lips to her cheek, placing soft kisses to the raised apple of it when she smiled. He loved her smile, and could lose himself in it forever, and with a smirk of his own, he planted his lips firmly on the corner of her mouth.

“Love,” Killian whispered against her lips, the corners of her mouth ticking up with pleasure at his endearment. He was drunk on her scent, the strength of it overpowering his brain as he dragged his forehead over the bare skin of her shoulder, and couldn’t stop the words before they slipped from his mouth. “I wish you were mine.”

Emma’s skin sent a ripple of anticipation through her entire body and all of the hair on her arms stood to attention at his words that she just knew weren’t said flippantly. Killian had never been one to confuse his words, but this was the first time she had ever heard him speak what was in his mind. She didn’t respond, afraid of him realising that she had heard what he had said, instead, rolling her bottom lip under her teeth, and flattening herself to the mattress where his engorged cock rubbed her in all the right places.

“Oh, fuck,” she whimpered before she could stop herself.

Killian was reluctant to leave the warmth of her skin but he did, forcing himself up on his forearms and pulling his hips back. His cock dragged against Emma’s insides, deliciously working her up, causing her body to coat his length in even more glorious wetness. It made him growl, a low gutteral sound from deep within him, and he slammed himself back into her with a stiff, clenched jaw. His nails raked down her ribcage, over each bump with increasing intensity to match his thrusts, one after the other that forced her legs open wider and expelled all the breath from her lungs.

“Knot me,” Emma whined, her words desperate and almost painful.

She was so close to coming, balancing right on the edge of her orgasm, but she just needed that little push to achieve what was fast becoming her favourite feeling in the world. The burning stretch of Killian’s knot as it entered her was addictive, all of the blood rushing to her stretched muscles and providing her with pinprick sensitivity through her entire core. The hair on his stomach rubbed at her buttocks, his cock so deep that he barely left her skin to cant his hips, and it was just the way she liked it, pressing on her pleasure center repeatedly.

“Are you sure?” Killian grunted, the bulb of his knot exposing itself at her words alone. She hadn’t come yet and he was afraid of hurting her, but the way she was writhing against his cock, hungry for his knot told him that he should trust her. She knew her own body far better than anyone, and if she wanted his knot, who was he to argue.

“Yes,” Emma hissed. “I need all of you.”

“Alright, love,” Killian purred with a grin. “As you wish.”

Soft, manly hands were heavy on her back but felt as light as air, almost invisible with how they were escorting her through the clouds of her mind. Emma was boneless, her soul on the outside of her body and the room around her faded away to reveal nothing but white hot bliss. She went limp, flattening herself against Killian’s hand that had found its way to her clit, rubbing herself in one direction against his fingers in a steady rhythm whilst he countered in the opposite. She was coming, the inside of her bones fizzing with pleasure, and the press of Killian’s bulb against her entrance made her whimper.

Killian leaned harder into her, his jaw clenched tightly and sweat beading his brow under the loose hair that flopped there. His thighs burned from the tempo of his love making, and the muscles in his back rippled with each thrust, his knot exposing itself to the cool air of the room just before slamming into Emma’s core, sending her into oblivion and the contractions of her muscles around him pulling him with her. Killian’s legs trembled and he grabbed at the flesh of Emma’s behind hungrily, letting out a groan of pleasure as he emptied himself inside of her and felt his inner beast howl with delight. It was a few moments before he realised he might be hurting her and relaxed his grip on her skin, smoothing his palm over the area before giving her a playful slap.

“Mmmm,” she hummed with a smile, enjoying the way Killian was seated inside of her.

Killian pulled the pillow out from underneath her and arranged them into a more comfortable position. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his embrace and kissing her quickly. Small tiny pecks along the width of her shoulders made her arch into him even more, the throb of her muscles around him massaging his knot bulb and making sure he didn’t slip from her body. A shiver prompted Killian to pull the sheet up over them, something that had been pushed down to the foot of the bed by their vigorous activities, and he smoothed it down over the curve of Emma’s body to make sure she was fully covered and would feel no chill as her body temperature returned to normal.

“Is that what you needed, my love?” Killian’s words were but a whisper, mumbled into the back of Emma’s ear and were followed by him nuzzling into her neck. He buried his face in her hair, unaware of what he had let slip in his own selfish error, until he felt her stiffen in his arms. Killian frowned, unsure what was wrong for a second, still lost to his own euphoria, but when Emma began to quake and sob, his panic soon chased away his pleasure. “Emma, love, what’s wrong?”

Emma couldn’t hold in her emotion any longer. A combination of the flutters of orgasm and the pain in her heart was just too great to contain any longer. Emma enjoyed seeing Killian, more than she liked to admit to herself, and of late she had felt an almighty draw to more than just the idea of sleeping with an Alpha. Emma was pulled toward Killian by a connection she couldn’t explain, by one she didn’t want to understand anymore than at its most basic level. She craved him and needed him more than she thought possible, and Killian’s words had opened up something inside of her that she had been trying to hold back.

It wasn’t for the sake of her marriage, because that was as good as over in her eyes. No, it was more than that. Emma had been trying to convince herself that a loveless marriage would be what she could settle for if she got what she wanted out of it, the Alpha experience she had been so intrigued by her whole life, but all finding Killian had shown her was what she was actually missing from her life.

Love.

“Emma?” Killian pried again, a little gentler than before but with no less panic stricken words. “Please,” he begged her, his own emotion creeping up his throat. He ground his teeth, wishing that he had waited to bury himself inside of her but also wishing he hadn’t, cursing himself for rushing after her high as eagerly as he had. “Did I hurt you?”

“No, nothing like that,” she assured him quickly, shaking her head.

“Then what, my sweet?” Killian soothed. His hands found her face, as awkward as their position allowed in their current join, and he wiped away her tears with his thumb.

“That,” Emma sobbed, turning her face further into the pillow. “My love, my sweet, Killian, you can’t say these things-.”

“And if I mean them?” Killian interjected her quickly, swallowing the lump in his throat. He tucked a crooked finger under her chin and tilted her face back towards his.

Emma’s breath hitched in her throat and she pinched her eyes closed even tighter, scared to look him in the eye. “Do you?” Her eyes fluttered open and met his, the darkened greys fading away to the beautiful shade of blue that she now saw.

“Aye,” Killian said with a nod and the small tick of a smile. He had never been much of a gambler, or been so apprehensive to say the next words out of his mouth, but with a small lick of his lips, he laid all of his cards on the table. “Emma, I love you.

--

Liam threw down the cards in his hand again, a disgruntled huff leaving his mouth through tightly pursed lips. He had never had much luck when it came to playing poker, or gambling of any kind really, but his brother had insisted on a game or two after hours. The bar had been closed for an hour, way into the early hours of the morning now, and all Liam had found was that Will Scarlet was either very lucky or with each hand he had something up his sleeve to guarantee his victory. Literally.

“You’re cheating,” he accused, narrowing his eyes as yet again, Will pawed his winnings towards him with an excited chuckle.

“Oh, come now, brother,” Killian teased, collecting the cards from each of them and setting them back into a pile. “That’s not very sportsmanlike.”

“Yeah, Liam,” Will added, stacking up his ever increasing pile of chips. “Where is your dignity in defeat?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t been defeated,” Liam groused. “I’ve been cheated out of my hard earned money by a thief!”

Will hurled himself back in his chair and the whole thing skidded across the floor. “Your words wound me, sir!”

Liam blinked. “But you are a thief, Scarlet!”

“Former thief,” Will corrected.

“Now, now, gents,” Killian bellowed above them, his voice echoing ever so slightly in the now empty bar. At his words, Liam crossed his arms over his body and twisted his mouth as if trying to stop the words he wanted to say from coming out. “Would you like to shuffle the deck, Liam?” Killian offered as a means of placating his brother.

“I don’t know what good that would do,” Liam huffed, ignoring the outstretched hand of his younger brother.

“Yeah, it won’t help how shite you are,” Will grumbled under his breath.

“Right!” Liam bellowed, slapping his hands to the table. “You are barred!” He pointed a menacing finger at Will, a vein bulging on his forehead.

“Again?” Will smirked cockily.

“Alright, Will, leave the man be,” Killian told his friend with a playful grin. “And, Liam? You and I both know Will spends more money than anyone else in this place, so in reality, isn’t he just taking back his own hard earned money?”

Liam was silent. His brother, although younger, was often much wiser in how he saw the world. Where Liam saw good and bad, Killian saw circumstances, especially when a person was one or the other based on what kind of hand life had dealt them. Will had been a thief, it was true, but where Liam had only ever seen their mutual friend as that which he was, Killian had seen the why and the how, and it was all down to circumstance. And now, due to a change in his circumstances, Will was no longer a thief.

Technically.

Killian knew that Will had hidden cards up his sleeve, literally, but he saw no point in ever calling him out on it. Their games were less about playing poker and more about being with like minded Alphas who just wanted to get their heads down and get through life as unnoticed as possible. Killian ignored Will’s sleight of hand, Will never mentioned Killian’s confidential life problems and Liam was none the wiser to either.

Except tonight, because Will Scarlet was also a chatty drunk.

“So, still dreaming about the wife?” Will teased, his words only a little bit slurred as he lifted the remainder of his pint to his lips.

“What wife?” Liam frowned, reaching for the cards he had been dealt.

“Little Miss Confidentiality Agreement,” Will said with a gulp of his drink.

“Seriously?” Liam shot Killian a look and his eyes went wide.

“Yeah, Killian can’t say anything or he doesn’t get paid,” Will giggled.

“Will,” Killian warned, trying to ignore the way his brother was boring a hole into the side of his head with his stare.

“Relax,” Will said cheekily “I’m not going to tell Liam how much you got for last night or anything.” He took another long gulp of his beer, barely swallowing the fizzy drink before he coughed out a number. “Fifteen.”

“Hundred?” Liam looked up from his cards.

“No, Thousand,” Will said gleefully. “Hey, we both thought hundreds, isn’t that funny?” He noted, giving Liam a drunk smile.

“Killian!” Liam shrieked, his knees bumping the underside of the table. Will’s stack of chips toppled over and he tutted under his breath, scrambling to right the towers in front of him.

“What?” Killian gave Liam a sheepish look.

“Do you think it’s because we are both so modest?” Will continued, prattling away to himself.

“Tell me our drunk magician here is lying,” Liam implored his brother, pointing his thumb in Will’s direction.

“Is it so hard to believe a woman would pay that much for sex?” Killian asked, trying to dodge Liam’s question.

“Uh, yes!” Liam yelled.

“Exactly why her husband is paying,” Will snorted through his laugh.

“Her husband?!” Liam coughed, eyes wide and hands forgetting the cards he had been dealt. He tossed them to the table and leaned closer to his brother.

“Will, can you just shut up, for one second in your life?” Killian growled.

“Oh, right, bite my head off! I’m only the one who got you the gig,” Will snapped defensively.

“I’m sorry, Killian, did he say her husband?” Liam blinked again, trying to comprehend Will’s little slip of the tongue.

“Yes,” Killian nodded, closing his eyes in anticipation of Liam’s inevitable rant.

“Is paying you fifteen thousand dollars to sleep with his wife?” Liam could hardly believe the words that were coming out of his own mouth, but here they were, discussing his little brother making more money than either of them could ever hope to comprehend in their lifetime. And for what? Fucking a rich wife?

“Yes,” Killian sighed.

“That’s each time too,” Will chimed in, peeking at Liam’s discarded cards.

“Who is he?” Liam squeaked.

“He can’t say. He signed a thing.” Will waved his hands, slumping back in his chair. “Are we going to play cards, or what lads?”

“WILL!” Killian and Liam bellowed in unison.

“Alright! Bloody hell,” Will scoffed. He crossed his arms over his chest and took a deep breath. “Didn’t want to make any money tonight anyway,” he muttered under his breath.

“You should see her, Liam,” Killian told his brother eagerly. He shuffled forward in his chair, finally discarding his own cards now he had no reason to need to distract himself. “She’s so unhappy in her marriage, I just wish I could take her away from it all.”

At Killian’s rambling confession, most likely because of the way his own alcohol intake has loosened his lips, Will choked on the last gulp of his beer.

“Woah, easy there, studly Jones,” Will warned with a cough.

“Should you be thinking like that? About a married woman, I mean,” Liam clarified but he already had his answer, it was plastered on Killian’s face.

He’d seen love once, had it even, but he never thought he would see the day that he saw it on his own brother’s face. Killian had never been the biggest, most imposing Alpha in the room, and he had never really so much as sniffed at a relationship before, but there was something about the way his eyes glowed, as if sparked to life by a divine light, that told Liam his brother might have just found his soul mate.

“All I've done is think about her,” Killian breathed, his heart constricting at the thought of Emma in his arms.

“Killian,” Liam said low, his voice even. He moistened his lips and rubbed the patch of stubble under his lip.

“I know, I know, but-” Killian protested.

“No buts, mate, love ‘em and leave ‘em, that’s the job,” Will reminded him with an arched brow.

“Maybe you just always want to ‘leave ‘em’ because ugly women pick you?” Killian snapped.

“Hey!” Will objected with a frown. “I’ll have you know I’m very popular.”

“Only because you’re an Alpha, mate,” Killian teased.

“And because you’ll stick your dick in anything,” Liam added with a grin.

“Yeah, remind me, how much to sleep with you again?” Killian smirked, ribbing him further.

“Alright, alright!” Will huffed, side eyeing both the brothers with a scowl. “I get it, I’m not as pretty as a Jones.”

“It’s alright, mate.” Killian leaned towards him, clapping his friend on the shoulder. “There is nothing wrong with that, right Liam?”

“Of course not,” Liam said as sincerely as he could, fighting his urge to crack a smirk as he rested his elbows on the table and leaned closer to Will. “One day you’ll find a woman who will leave the lights on,” he sniggered.

“Fuck off,” Will scoffed, laughter erupting from his mouth on his next breath.

Both Jones’ laughed with him, and he knew there was no malice behind their words. There never had been, throughout all the years they had known each other and through the entire duration of the same joke; Will was not, and never would be, as handsome as a Jones. But he had never minded, because the fact he was an Alpha was all he needed to excel in life. Even if most of his clients did, in fact, leave the lights off. Not that he was about to tell either Jones that.

“I’m happy when I’m with her and at a tremendously sad loss I can’t explain when I am not.” Killian scrubbed his hand over his stubbled jaw, recognizing his dilemma. “I know it sounds crazy, but I feel a connection with her, like nothing I’ve ever felt before.”

“Like what? A mate connection?” Will frowned.

“I don’t know.” Killian shook his head, running his hands through his hair. “Gods, this is a mess.”

“Too right, mate,” Will scoffed, trying to dry off his chips.

“And this isn’t some sort of saviour complex. She doesn’t need saving, I just-.” Killian paused, a sad smile briefly gracing his face as he looked at his brother’s compassion. “I feel like I’d die without her, Liam, I truly do.”

“I’d prefer you alive, if that’s at all an option,” Liam told him softly but with a slight warning to his tone.

Killian balked a laugh. “I don’t think the husband has the time to do anything between work and his mistress.”

“How do you know that?” Liam challenged.

“What, that he has a mistress? He told me,” Killian shrugged. He reached for his beer, the chilled glass wet on the outside, and took a sip of the now warming liquid. “He’s a pig, Liam, an utter wanker. He doesn’t deserve her.”

“What a bastard.” Liam ground his teeth in anger. “Is she an Omega?”

“She isn’t.” Killian shook his head and Liam frowned, confused. “But there is something about her, Liam, I just know-”

“Shall I tell you what I know, little brother? She is a married woman, affluent by the sounds of it, and you are probably nothing more than her plaything.” Liam pushed himself to his feet and Killian watched him with utter sadness on his face. “But let me tell you what I don’t know.”

Killian’s head snapped up, as did Will’s, albeit with a little bit more of a sway. Liam paused, pinching the bridge of his nose and exhaling hard, causing Killian and Will to share a confused look as they waited for the rest of his words.

“I don’t know how she feels,” Liam smiled at his brother, who looked visibly relieved to know his brother was accepting his words.

Killian was more than confused by what his body was telling him and to know his brother was on board was a weight off his mind. Alpha’s were more attuned to their bodies and drawn to a mate based on scent, but Emma wasn’t anyone he should have been attracted to in the way an Alpha was to an Omega. There was her beauty, which was nothing to be scoffed at by any means, but it wasn’t the usual Alpha draw, and Killian couldn’t find what made him so attracted to Emma as hard as he tried.

“I told her I love her,” Killian confessed drunkenly.

“You did?” Liam’s eyes went bright.

“Oh boy,” Will gasped, then blew out a whistle.

“What did she say?” Liam asked earnestly.

Killian sighed, scrubbing his hands down his face. “She didn’t.”

“I guess that means you’ll have to ask her,” Will noted.

As if Killian needed any more of a sign, his cell phone started vibrating in his pocket and once he had retrieved it from the confines of his jeans, and seen Emma’s name on the screen, he paled and swallowed hard.

“It’s her,” he breathed.

“Well, don’t just stand there like a Beta, answer it!” Will yelled.

With a nod from Liam, Killian swiped his thumb across the screen and pressed the cold glass to his ear. For what felt like forever there was a pause and what sounded like a dead line, until he heard her smile and turned to walk away from his brother and rowdy friend.

“Hey,” he said softly, pushing his way through the empty tables towards the back of the bar. He had one finger in his ear to drown out the sound of Will cackling with glee.

“Hey,” Emma replied quickly, but her voice was filled with trepidation.

Killian frowned and he felt his stomach fall away from him. Worry overtook him instantly. Was it what he had said? Something her husband had said? Something changed in their arrangement that would stop him from seeing her again? “Are you alright, love?”

“Yeah, it’s just,” Emma paused, the silence on the line deafening. “Can you meet me? Like, now.”

“Of course,” Killian agreed without a second thought, his feet already taking him towards the exit.

“At the apartment,” Emma said softly.

“I’ll be right there.”

Chapter Text

A week was going to be far too long. It was only seven days but in the grand scheme of things, Emma worried that it might feel like forever without the Alpha she was now sure she was in love with. Of course, she hadn’t told him that. Like an idiot, once he had declared his feelings, she had pretended she was asleep and let him pull her harder into his embrace where she had spent the rest of the night. Morning had come and he was gone but she didn’t blame him. After all, she was well aware that Graham was having the apartment watched, making sure that neither of them broke the terms of his precious contract.

Maybe this was a blessing. Maybe they had been spending too much time together. As much as Emma wanted her bastard husband to be wrong, maybe he was right. For the next seven days she was to accompany Ruby to a very exclusive spa where they would get some much needed rest and relaxation, or so Graham had told her. In truth, he had been angry at how much time she was spending with Killian, his loyal henchmen having told on them and their extra meetings. She should have known. Graham was far too connected to not find out, and Emma had only agreed to go with Ruby because she was afraid of confirming the reality of his paranoia.

Emma did have feelings for Killian. They were more than she had ever felt before, powerful and robust and she was sure that not even seven days apart would change them. The time would be perfect for her to process her own feelings, and how to let Killian know that she felt the same. Emotions had ever been her strongest point, and to play along with his little game, Emma had told Graham that she would be glad to get away from all the men in her life, which also meant, however, that she had to be careful of what she told Ruby. Best friend or not, she was still a spy for Graham and she had no doubt that Ruby would sing like a songbird given half the opportunity.

All Emma had to do now was tell Killian.

It would crush him to see her gone. Emma knew what it meant for an Alpha to declare their love for another. Most of the time they never did until they were sure they had found that perfect someone, but she had never known a single Alpha to pair with a Beta as their mate. Ever. That was half of the confusion currently swirling around inside Emma’s head. She was a Beta, and a broken one at that, illness rife within her body, and she was damn sure she wasn’t worth the love of any Alpha, let alone one so perfect.

She paced up and down the apartment, stopping briefly to draw the curtains. The metal rings scraped across the metal rail, but the sound was quickly drowned out when a car sped passed outside. Emma pulled one curtain back a little in case it had been Killian, but the bright red tail lights at the end of the street dashed her hopes in a second. With a sigh, she shut the curtain again and resumed her steady pacing around the apartment.

She had never been a worrier before, but suddenly she felt herself apprehensive for Killian’s arrival. Years of mental control at the hands of a so-called husband would do that to anyone, but rationally Emma knew that whatever she had to say, Killian would be okay with. In a way, she kind of agreed with Graham, not because she thought they needed to be apart, but because they had been spending so much time together even she was starting to realise that she only smiled when she heard Killian’s voice. Graham was a lot of things, but he was not blind.

Emma only wanted to tell Killian one thing; that she felt the same way and she would be back with the same feelings in her heart.

Her attachment to Killian had become so much lately that she didn’t even recognize herself anymore. She had become someone else, someone liberated and where she had previously been quick to argue, she was now willing to accept whatever pleasure or punishment was dealt out to her. Killian had awakened that inside of her, and she was not ready to let it go. She knew Graham would never give her a divorce, but over the last few hours she had found herself trying to fabricate ways of getting rid of him for good.

A soft knock on the door woke her from her murderous daydream and she was up and racing towards the door before she had even looked in that direction. She knew it was Killian. She could smell him, even through the door, cedarwood and sea salt with a dash of darkness that only she had been privy to. She grabbed the door handle and pulled hard, the wooden panel jumping from the frame without a single sound. She gasped, because somewhere between drawing the curtains and plotting her husband’s death, it had rained, obvious by the fact that Killian now stood in her doorway dripping wet.

He was out of breath having raced from his car, but had been unable to avoid the downpour. His clothes were soaked, clinging to every definition of muscle that Emma could see, his dark blue t-shirt moving with every heave of his chest. Her eyes moved down, over the outline of his bulge now defined by the dampness of his pants and she felt herself suddenly become short of her own breath. When she looked back up to his face, hair dishevelled and clinging to his forehead, she noticed a drip as it fell from the tip of his nose and his eyes were wide with worry, the blue much brighter than she remembered as he searched her face for an answer.

“Emma,” he whispered, like it was the only word he could say. It held so much meaning, a question he needed to know the answer too, but as he searched her face for what he sought, Emma burst into tears.

Killian was over the threshold in a heartbeat, slamming the door behind him just before clutching her face in his hands and dipping his head down to attract her gaze again. Watery eyes tried to focus on his features but Emma couldn’t speak. All she could do was shake her head to tell him something was wrong, and Emma grabbed his hands, holding them to her face in an attempt to keep his warmth on her skin. Even after standing in the rain he was hot, a true Alpha trait, and Emma felt herself immediately calmed by his touch.

“Shh, my love,” Killian said calmly, stroking his thumbs over her cheeks to wipe away her tears, but his words caused a new wave to burst from her eyelids. “Oh, Emma,” Killian soothed, placing one hand on the back of her head and pulling her to his chest.

Her arms wrapped around him immediately, fingers interlocking behind his back and holding him tightly. Killian let her cry, let her expel all of her wails into the fabric of his t-shirt as he stroked her hair, his own tears burning the rims of his eyes. He pinched them closed in an attempt to halt the sob in his chest at how much she was hurting, and a single tear rolled down his still wet face and fell onto the fabric of Emma’s oversized shirt.

After rubbing her back for a good few minutes, and letting her cry until her energy was almost gone, Killian smoothed his hands over her shoulders and pulled her from his body. Her eyes were red, as was the rims of her nostrils, and she quickly wiped at her nose with the extra long sleeve of the white shirt. “Is this one of mine?” Killian asked her with a small smile and Emma coughed out a watery laugh at his attempt to distract her.

“Maybe,” she shrugged weakly.

“It looks good on you,” he said with a smirk, arching an eyebrow playfully.

“It smells like you,” Emma sobbed, a fresh set of tears causing her vision to blur again.

“Hey, now, don’t start that again,” Killian pleaded, rubbing her arms lovingly. “What’s got you all upset, love?”

Emma’s bottom lip quivered and she was unable to stop it. She opened her mouth to speak but the lump in her throat stopped any of the words from coming out.

“Is it something I’ve done?” Killian asked her urgently, the tips of his ears blushing with pink. Emma shook her head and real panic rose up from within him about their last encounter. “Something I've said?”

“It’s...It’s…,” Emma stammered, unable to find the words she needed.

“Is it me?” Killian forced himself to ask, his jaw clenching straight after the words left his mouth in nothing but a whisper. He hated himself for being so selfish but Emma instantly reassured him.

“Never,” she breathed, placing her hands on his face. “You’re everything to me.”

Killian heaved a sigh of relief. Emma’s words were exactly what he needed to hear, even if they were not the ones he wanted to hear. He hastily gave his face a wipe, another stray tear having fallen in joyous comfort.

“Then please, love, tell me.” His hands slipped down to hers, clutching her fingers in his and giving them a little shake.

Emma gave him a small nervous smile and a nod of assurance before giving his arm a gentle tug and leading him to the couch. Killian followed, letting his hand slip from hers just long enough for him to slip off his jacket and hang it over a stool as they passed by the kitchenette. Emma was already settling against the arm of the couch when he got to her and reached out to take her proffered hand.

“I have to go away,” Emma said softly.

“Away?” Killian repeated, his stomach falling away from him as he sat down and made sure there was no gap between them.

“To a spa,” Emma said, hanging her head. “With my best friend who is also Graham’s mistress.”

Killian let out the breath he had been holding and a nervous laugh. “Is that all?”

“For a week.” Emma looked over to him and he was still smiling.

“Love, that’s nothing. I’ll be here when you get back,” he promised, rubbing a hand over her knee.

“Graham says we are getting too close. He’s been watching us.” Emma’s confession had Killian narrowing his eyes and an envious rage boiled inside of him.

“How?” Killian licked his lips and shook his head. He didn’t need to know the answer really, because he had seen the same car parked outside with the same distinctive henchman behind the poorly blacked out windows as she had. “Are you safe?”

“I think so, but I don’t want to go and have Ruby fish around for information I know Graham has told her to obtain. It’s going to be so fake,” Emma pouted. “I don’t have a lot of people in my life I can trust anymore.”

“You have me,” Killian told her. “You’ll always have me.”

Emma was suddenly overcome with a warmth pooling inside her that she never thought could be felt at a time like this. Killian’s concern meant more than she could say, more than she could describe, and all she could do was launch herself across the sofa and into his awaiting arms. Killian fell backwards onto the cushions and Emma fell onto him, her mouth seeking his for a passionate kiss. He let her fall onto him, nestling her against his chest as she scrambled for his touch, clinging to his wet t-shirt and holding on for dear life, forgetting all of her troubles in an instant.

Emma kissed him hard, like he was going to be gone the second she opened her eyes, and Killian let her, his lips parting ever so slightly and tracing the seam of her lips. Emma obliged, her tongue slipping passed her teeth and into his mouth where it duelled with his in impetuous passion. Her hands clawed at the hem of his shirt, desperate to rid him of the fabric as quickly as possible, but her weight pinned it to his body because she was reluctant to let even a slither of light pass between their bodies.

Killian grew hard despite his intention to not become aroused and he could smell that Emma was too. She was coating his senses in a cloak of visceral need, the animal within him roaring to life at the mere scent of her, and before he could rationalise any thought, his fingers were fumbling with the buttons of the shirt she was wearing, desperate to get to the skin beneath. Emma shifted her position until her knees were on either side of his legs and tore her lips from his, pushing herself into a sit and helping him divest herself of the shirt.

“Are you alright, love,?” Killian breathed, his words a whisper.

“I am now,” Emma sighed. She was in such a haste to rid herself of the shirt that she tore the bottom two buttons off before wrenching it off her shoulders. She was naked underneath, expectantly or not Killian wasn’t sure, but he couldn’t help but watch the sway of her breasts as she wobbled atop his groin while her hands went to work on his pants.

“No, Emma, stop,” Killian ground out, hating his rational brain and grabbing her hands, halting her advances. It pained him to his very soul to stop her, and the look in her eyes, one of pure hurt, sliced right through him.

“Don’t you want me?” Emma whimpered.

“Aye, of course I bloody want you,” Killian assured her with a sure nod. He still found it absolutely baffling how someone as beautiful as Emma had such a low self esteem, but as usual, the answers to his many questions led right back to her sorry excuse of a husband. He sat up, a huge flat palm spreading out over the middle of her back to make sure she didn’t topple backward, and gave her a loving smile. “I know you’re scared he is going to stop this,” he began, skimming his other hand down the length of her arm and massaging her fingers. “Only the gods can express how unbelievably frightened I am of the same thing.” Confident she was well balanced now, Killian slid his hand up her back and buried it in her hair, cradling her head and holding her face to his. Their noses were pressed together side by side and he felt his breath hitch before he pressed his lips to hers for a quick, chaste kiss. “I meant it when I said I loved you, Emma, and I don’t think I know how to stop.”

Emma pulled her head back and Killian’s hand moved to comb her golden tresses through his fingers, eager as ever to reassure her that whatever worry she was feeling would be over with soon. She blinked, swallowing hard. Emma had never told anyone she had loved them, not even Graham. Sure she had told him, but it had always been after he had said it first, as fleeting as those times were, and she wasn’t exactly sure what it meant to love somebody as openly as Killian clearly loved her.

“I can’t-,” she began shyly, but Killian cut her off.

“You don’t have to say it,” Killian added softly, recognizing the turmoil in her features and giving her a boyish smile that melted her heart. He reached behind her for his shirt she had discarded and pulled it up over her back to cover her once more. “I just want you to know that you are loved, Emma, and despite what you might think, you are not worthless.”

Emma’s lips curved into an unsure smile, little ticks of the corners that were accompanied by a rosy blush across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose that told Killian she was not used to such compliments, something he thought of a as grievous crime against the beauty of both her body and soul. She deserved more than she had ever received and if Killian could offer her just a small piece of his heart, he would wait forever for her to fill the void it had left with the gift of a piece of her own.

“Not to me,” Killian added, reiterating his feelings with a smile. “And I do love you.” He stroked the back of his knuckles over the apple of her cheek and his heart warmed with how deep red her cheeks grew. “But we shouldn’t do this, not here, not if the place is being watched.”

Emma nodded in agreement. “You’re right,” she pouted.

“I’m always right, love,” Killian winked. “And when you return I promise to show you just much I want you.” There was a darkness to the tone of his voice that had a shiver running down Emma’s spine but as quickly as it had appeared, it disappeared in his next words. “And luckily for you, I’m soft.”

“Soft?” Emma asked, confused.

“Soft,” he repeated with a nod and a grin. When Emma’s brow furrowed he chuckled and took pity on her, sliding her from his lap and wrapping one big strong arm around her. “It means I like cuddling too, even without sex.”

Emma snuggled into his side, stretching an arm across his still soggy midriff and hugging him tighter with a content purr. “Me too,” she said softly, a smile breaking out across her face as wide as a mile when Killian turned his head and kissed her on her forehead. “I mean, the sex is great, but,” she teased and Killian’s chest rumbled with laughter.

“But?” Killian prompted her to continue with a little nudge.

“But this is nice too.” Emma had never really had much physical affection like Killian had given her, little touches here and there and now a full blown snuggle on the couch as if they were a real couple. It made her feel special, more than she ever had done, and somehow she was okay with tonight being a different kind of intimate.

--

Angry didn’t even begin to cover what Emma was feeling right now. Thank the Lord for small favours and her chauffeur being on call, because when she had insisted on her driver staying at the resort too, and Graham had obliged, more than likely because the tall, skinny man with small round glasses and a hat Emma was pretty sure was glued to his fake hair piece underneath was actually one of Graham’s many little birds whose favourite song was the Killian and Emma show, she’d had no idea that after just two lunches with Ruby, she would need him to drive her home.

Even thinking about that invasion of marital privacy had her blood bubbling with fury, let alone what she had been stewing on during the drive home after less than half the week at the spa. Was nothing sacred to the man? Emma had been trying so, so hard to fight her growing feelings for Killian, despite everything thrown at her, if not for Graham than for the sake of her reputation as a lady of elite society, a reputation that had helped her fashion out a little niche existence of her own. It wasn’t about being rich, or being able to rub shoulders with these people, but instead about her identity as an individual without Graham, and she still had friends in high places, and many endeavours that would not look favourably at an affair, but did Graham care?

Fuck no.

Clearly not, because if the truth bomb Ruby had just dropped in the lap was anything to go by, Graham didn’t give a flying fuck about her or the meager life she had tried to build for herself in his shadow. Ruby was pregnant and her ever doting husband was the father, apparently something he was thrilled about. However, perhaps the most telling indication of who he was as a person, was when, after telling Ruby how delighted he was for an heir, he told her that Emma would raise the baby with him, as if they had sired the next CEO of the Humbert empire together, totally disregarding the feelings of a mother who would have her tot ripped from her bosom quicker than he could wish he was an Alpha.

The only reason Ruby had told Emma was because she was leaving town to get an abortion and regardless of what had happened between Graham and herself, she still thought of Emma as her best friend, and the whole thing with Graham had been fun and games until she had missed a period. She would tell Graham the baby was dead and knew he wouldn’t waste resources following her to check. Emma understood completely. Ruby was one of her most valued real friends, someone who had been there for her through so much already, and she couldn’t imagine taking the woman’s child and trying to raise it as her own. She just couldn’t. And if Graham knew either of them, he would have realised how insane the idea even was in the first place.

The ride home hadn’t abated Emma’s vehemence towards her husband one bit. It wasn’t about her, and it wasn’t about Ruby, or the life inside of her, but it was about how he had, for so long, managed to breeze through life treating people like property. Emma was sick of it. She was sick of how he had treated every single person and events around him with such frivolity, like his life was a game and his actions had no real consequence. Maybe she was taking it a bit far, storming out of a spa and wellness resort in the middle of the afternoon with nothing but the clothes on her back, but Emma just had to give him a piece of her mind whilst her temper charged storm of emotions swirling inside of her still fuelled her every being. If not for any other reason than he deserved it.

The time it had taken Jeeves - Emma knew that wasn’t his name, but Graham had never let her know his real one for fear they had, ironically, begun an affair - to get her home, Emma’s rage hadn’t fizzled out one iota. She launched herself from the car quicker than it took Jeeves to put it into park, and raced across the expansive gravel driveway in the fading light of afternoon. The sun was heading down for the evening but Emma was wide awake knowing that Graham would be home at this time too, and with any luck, she would be interrupting something he deemed of the utmost importance.

As usual, when the door was opened for her, the lobby of their mansion was empty, cold and uninviting despite the rays of sunshines currently warming their mark into the stone floor. Absentmindedly Emma wondered if they had owned a dog, would it be sunning itself in the beams the way dogs often did, desperate to catch the last warmth of the day. Equally as unnecessary in her thought process, Emma wistfully wished for the carefree life of a pet, free to do whatever she wanted all day without being constantly reminded of how she was nothing but a dissatisfaction wearing an expensive wedding ring.

Boy, was Graham in for some kind of shit storm.

Eventually she found him in his study, after a few pointed directions from staff who thought better than to get in her way, and didn’t even try to hide her ire as she strode across the expansive Persian rug between them and, just as he turned to look at her in shock of her actually being there, slapped him across the face with an audible smack. Hard. Graham’s previously relaxed stance stiffened up in an instant, his eyes fluttering closed as he rearranged his jaw from one side to the other before clenching it closed. Emma was seething, positively vibrating with wrath, the tips of her fingers tingling from the impact that had left a rather telling mark across Graham’s cheek.

“Hello wife,” Graham spat, peeling his eyes open to give her a cold, dead stare. “Back so soon?”

“Don’t ‘wife’ me, you bastard,” Emma yelled, jabbing Graham in the shoulder with the heel of her hand.

“I take it Ruby opened her fat mouth,” Graham mumbled to himself, sighing dramatically. “I guess you know the rest, judging by the pain in my shoulder,” Graham sneered.

“Why the fuck would you think I would raise someone else’s child with you?” Emma shouted, eyes wide with her words.

“It’s not someone else child, Emma, it’s mine,” Graham growled, his voice low and his words ground out through his clenched teeth.

“Oh, that makes it all better!” Emma laughed.

“What are you so angry about?” Graham shrugged. “It’s not like you aren’t getting what you want out of this arrangement.”

He meant Killian and Emma knew it, swallowing the spiteful words that threatened to fall out of mouth back down where they could fester in her stomach some more. “And what about Ruby, huh? You think she is just going to give up her child?”

Graham turned and Emma was taken back by his calm demeanour. “The child is a Humbert. It will live with me and you are my wife, and as such you will be expected to raise it accordingly.”

“Accordingly?” Emma shook her head. “What the fuck, Graham? You really have no idea how your actions affect everyone around you, do you?”

They stared at each other, Emma shaking with exasperation and Graham as cool as ice, still and motionless. Emma watched the bob of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed, slowly and deliberately like he even had control over his body’s most basic instincts.

“The child will be raised a Humbert,” Graham repeated slowly, pushing his hands into his pockets and taking a few menacing steps towards her. Emma didn’t back down, squaring her shoulders and met his gaze with the same intensity he was giving her. “You will raise it as a Humbert.”

“I’m not some fucking wet nurse for your bastard, Graham!” Emma sniggered. “I will not raise someone else’s kid, and I will not let you manipulate this situation in your favour like you always do. This is a life, a human being, Graham, surely you realise that!” Emma waved her hands, trying to find any empathy behind the blue eyes staring back at her, but all she saw was a wall of stone.

“You are my wife,” Graham ground out. “You will obey me.”

Emma laughed, loud and heartily, her entire body moving with the deep, belly rumbling hilarity of Graham’s statement. "I won’t, and there is nothing you can do about it. What are you going to do? Divorce me?” Graham’s furrowed brow meant she had struck a nerve.

“Pity,” he huffed, looking down at his feet. He knew there was no way Emma wouldn’t do as he wanted. She might want to be with the Alpha more than him, but he was pretty confident that if it came down to it, she wouldn’t leave a defenceless babe to fend for itself. Graham would simply take the baby form Ruby and leave it with Emma, sure nature would take its course and she would be unable to not help, and over time they would become one big semi agreeable family. He smirked to himself, and Emma scoffed a laugh as if she could read his mind.

“I'm so sorry I'm such a fucking disappointment!" Emma spat at him and with her words, Graham snapped, his biceps bulging under his sleeve caps as he clenched his fists in his pockets.

"Disappointment?” He snapped. “What do you know about disappointment, huh? Maybe if you'd been the wife I was promised-,"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Emma cried, moving towards him and grabbing his arm as he attempted to turn away.

"Nothing, forget I said anything." Graham shook her off and made for his desk, the decanter of whiskey already halfway to the bottom.

"No, no, go on,” Emma insisted sarcastically. She followed after him, giving him a little shove that spilled the whiskey right out of the glass in his hand. “I'd love to hear about how yet another one of your problems in life is caused by me."

"Not this one you wouldn't," Graham cautioned. He lifted the cut glass tumbler to his lips and took a sip of the burning liquid, exciting all of his taste buds at once.

"Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Emma screeched, running her hands through her hair. “Ten years of marriage and you won't even be honest with me?"

"You wouldn't want honesty, Emma, trust me." Graham finished the whiskey, pouring the last of the honey coloured drink into his mouth and swallowing the lot in one gulp. He pinched his eyes closed until the burn at the back of his sinuses passed but when he opened them, Emma was still as disgruntled as before.

"Trust you?” she said spitefully. “Graham Humbert, the almighty, the all powerful, the good for nothing burnt out Beta who wishes he was an Alpha so badly? Where has that ever got me before?"

Graham spun around and advanced on her, making Emma jump back for a second. His hands were on her face, clamping her jaw in his grip and silencing her long enough to stare into her eyes and cause real fear to spark behind the green hues. "I can tell you where it will get you if you don't stop with this Ruby bullshit."

"Well it won't be a divorce, you've made that abundantly clear.” Her words were compressed through her lips but they made her point. Humbert men didn’t get divorced, or so Graham had pounded into her brain from the second she had married him.

He pushed her head aside and released her jaw and Emma immediately rubbed at the soreness there. He walked by her as if she wasn’t even there, like she was nothing, like he hadn’t put his hands on her and hurt her. "Oh there are worse things to do to you, Emma. Don't push me."

"Don't push you? Oh, honey, I haven't even begun!” Emma ground her teeth, stalking after him with heavy footsteps that echoed off the vast ceiling above them. “You're a bully, Graham, plain and simple,” she shouted. “You use other people to get what you want and you always will, and I don't know if this is some kind of bullshit Alpha complex run amok, but I'm sick of it!” Emma caught up with him and dipped sideways, reappearing in front of him and halting his escape attempt. “I'm sick of the lies, the cheating, the galas and fake smiles, pandering to all your important friends, and most of all, I'm sick of you!” Emma took a breath, balling her fists at her side. “You'll never be an Alpha as long as you live so-"

Her words were cut short by an overwhelming thud and the instant Emma’s eyes filled with the stinging sensation of tears, she knew he had hit her. The moment was in slow motion, like an out of body experience, and Emma felt the point of Graham’s knuckles hit her under the eye in a back hand punch. It shook her, physically and emotionally, and her body flushed with white hot prickles of adrenaline that blinded her so much she didn’t see the next blow coming.

"Shut up!” Graham shouted, his words hidden behind the slap sound. “Shut your dirty whore mouth!" Graham roared, spittle dripping from his lower lip in his rage. He raised his hand again but paused when Emma cowered away. "You want some truth? Here, how about this for a truth. The only reason we took you in was because you were an Omega and I was supposed to be Alpha, that's the only reason I married you.”

“What do you mean I’m Omega?” Emma snapped, the pain in her cheek radiating through her entire jaw as she gently pawed at the underside of her eye socket where the skin felt like it had split open.

“Come on, Emma, don’t be dense,” Graham sneered. “Have you ever wondered why you couldn’t remember seeing a doctor for your ‘illness’? Ever wondered why my family were so insistent on your medication? It’s a supressant, you dumb bitch!”

Emma’s entire life flashed before her eyes. It all made sense. Everything was much clearer. She was Omega, a completely different gender class that she had always believed, and the entire Humbert family knew about it, but had suppressed her nature with drugs. For a second Emma imagined what her life might have been if she had never had the misfortune of crossing paths with the Humbert family. Would she have married an Alpha? Would she have pups of her own? Her mind swirled with scenario after scenario, all of which had been ripped from her grasp by Graham and his family.

“All this time,” Emma whimpered angrily, shaking her head. “You knew and let me think I was sick.” Her rage boiled up inside of her and she felt her fists ball at her sides again, her feet carrying her closer to the man in front of her.

“And you would have never have found out if it wasn’t for that fucking Alpha,” Graham rasped, his nose wrinkling at the thought of Killian being more than he had ever developed into.

His misplaced rage was evident and Emma was quick to interrupt his fury with a balled fist pounding on his shoulder. “Leave him out of this. He doesn’t know anything.”

“Aww, did I hit a sore spot there, darling?” Graham leered, cocking his head to one side in mock sympathy. “I’m not a fool Emma. I know you two have been fucking without my prior consent!”

“Your prior consent?” Emma yelled. “Listen to you, trying to control my life, what I do and who I see.” She laughed, scrubbing her hands over her face with a sigh. “Well, newsflash Humbert, I’m not your property.”

“Newsflash, Emma, I’ll be suing the fuck out of Killian Jones to recover all of the money he took whilst still fucking my wife, and then, when he has nothing else left, I’ll take his brother’s bar. I know people who could get that place shut down like that!” To emphasize the power he had to do as he had threatened, Graham clicked his fingers right in her face, and Emma blinked in an attempt to fight her flight response.

“Why are you like this?” Emma asked, her voice turning softer, more sympathetic. She had been fond of Graham once, and they were friends for so long before they got married, so the man in front of her right now, the man who had dared to lay hands on her, was not the man she had once known. “What happened to that sweet, charming guy I married, huh? Look what you’ve become, Graham. Spoiled, hateful and with so much anger-,”

Another blow took Emma by surprise and she had no time to brace herself. Graham’s clenched fist hit her again in the same place and Emma was sure that that blow had split the skin under her eye now. She tumbled backwards, falling flat onto her butt and only narrowly avoiding hitting her head on the marble fireplace surrounding behind her.

“Because of you!” Graham bellowed, looming over her, the vein in his forehead bulging.

“It’s not my fault you didn’t become an Alpha!” Emma slapped the floor beside her to highlight her point. “That’s not on me!” Emma snapped.

“They said an Omega presence would draw it out of me, make me into the most powerful Alpha my family had ever seen, but no!” Graham yelled, shaking with anger. “We paid good money for you!” He accused, pointing at her. “You ruined me, you poor, good for nothing ungrateful Omega whore!” Graham raised his hand again, intent on making sure Emma felt this one, but she scrambled backwards across the floor, pushing herself to her feet when her back hit the solid door frame. “Now do me a favour and get the fuck out!"

When Emma pulled open the door, the cold air from the hall hit the welt under her eye and halted the throbbing pain when she blinked. Graham was hot on her heels, shoes pounding the stone floor and sending echoes into the hall. One of the staff was barged out of the way by Emma and stumbled into Graham’s path, slowing him temporarily and Emma took the opportunity to race for the front door. She yanked it open and couldn’t stop the tears from falling any longer. One of her shoes came loose and she kicked the other one off, ignoring the searing pain shooting up her legs as she tore across the gravel driveway.

“And don’t come back!” Graham yelled after her, the door knocker clattering as he slammed the door and cast her out into the night.

Chapter Text

Killian never liked to cancel on clients, especially when he was giving up the opportunity to sleep with someone as beautiful as Emma, but it seemed his rut had other ideas. It had arrived early, his already frenzied mind sent into overdrive at the thought of not having her, even if her husband was insistent she go away for a week. She would be back before it’s end, but he didn’t want to risk her seeing him that far into his rut, so before she had even arrived home, Killian had told her husband he would be unable to see her until otherwise notified.

He should have known his rut was approaching when, during their last sexual encounter, he had found little things more precise, her scent more enticing, if at all possible, than before, and her body reacting to him more like an Omega than a Beta. One minute they were fucking, and then, before either of them knew it, he was knot deep in his favourite place in the world. It came without warning, his body so tuned into hers that he didn’t know what was happening until it was too late and her body was clenching around his bulb and drawing every last drop of his soul out through his orgasm. It shouldn’t have been so easy to knot a Beta without prior lubrication, but somehow they fit together like puzzle pieces, Emma cut exactly right so that he would fit inside her.

Alpha’s could control their early rut, it wasn’t hard, unless they were a few days in or there was a reason. Emma was a Beta, so there shouldn’t have been a reason he had felt so incredibly starved of her that he had acted so possessive. No Omega scent coaxing out his ultimate arousal, although Emma’s scent did things to him he couldn’t explain, or rut frustration unsated by the woman beneath him. Killian was confused, his mind foggy and in a daze so much that he almost didn’t hear the soft tapping against his apartment door.

He was ripped from his thoughts by the scent first, the absolute sweetness of it wafting under the thin gap under his front door and straight into his nostrils. His body reacted instantly and he stared at the heavy door wide eyed and unable to believe what he was sensing. The smell caused a tickle to stir in his groin, the pit of his stomach falling away from him as he was overcome with the need to fuck, but something else held his attention for a second, something that confused his already rut addled brain.

Emma.

Killian took a tentative step towards the door, the gentle knocking echoing through his apartment once more. The closer he got, the stronger the scent became, and his brow pulled together with his last coherent ounce of thought.

“Killian?” Emma called softly through the door, her voice riddled with agony.

Killian gulped hard, another scent coating his taste buds as he swallowed it down and it sent a ripple of excitement over his skin. He reached for the door, pulling it open quicker than he thought he would, half scared by what he would find on the other side.

Emma looked up at him slowly, her face puffy from her tears and her hair dishevelled like she had been grabbed. She was dressed in just some leggings and a camisole top and was barefoot, despite the temperature outside being almost freezing, and she was covered in a fine sheen of sweat that took Killian’s breath away. He only just stopped himself from growling out loud when he noticed a dark red swell under her right eye, the skin there split open in a small line that had stopped bleeding but was probably going to need a stitch.

Her hands trembled, her fingers interlocking in front of her as she fidgeted, her entire body shaking under his gaze. It felt like forever before one of them moved, Killian finally, against everything reasonable screaming inside his head, reaching out, grabbing her arm and pulling her into his apartment. His hand on her skin was the most calm Emma had felt all day and she let out a sigh, almost thankful for the lightest touch that had somehow eased her pain.

Before the door even closed behind her, Killian was stalking away from her, putting as much distance between them as he could. It was only the first day of his rut so there was minimal control left over his urges, but he had to try to resist them. Emma was clearly here for a reason but as much as his head was telling him to take her, fuck her, breed her, claim her, his heart won out as soon as he saw she had been hit.

“What happened?” He said finally, putting the couch between them and neglecting to look at her, brushing his finger across his own cheek to indicate the reason for his question.

“Graham,” Emma whimpered, her body flushing hot once more. Killian caught the new wave of her heat from the other side of the expansive lounge area of his new apartment, his back pressed to the huge floor to ceiling glass window that looked out over the city. Not even the frozen pane could cool his body, and he rubbed a sweaty palm over his already damp forehead angrily at the man’s name.

How could a man hit his wife? How could Graham have even dreamed of hurting something as precious as Emma? Rage boiled inside of Killian and he tried to focus on that rather than what his rut was telling him to do. He was in such a conflict, his brain telling him she was his when really she wasn’t, urging him to make it so, when he couldn’t. He looked up to her again, the pathetic looking woman in front of him sniffing away her last tears as she met his darkened gaze, his eyes flitting to the pulse point in her neck where he now knew her scent gland was.

“Emma-” he began through ground teeth, her name nothing more than a warning to stay back that she ignored.

“Killian, what’s happening to me?” she pleaded, stepping away from the door and her body instantly feeling the AC in his apartment blasting down onto her skin. It was cool but not enough, the slick between her legs making her even hotter as she felt pulled towards him. “I can’t-”

“You can’t be here,” he warned her darkly, his face contorting as if he was fighting a voice in his head.

“I have nowhere else to go,” Emma said sadly, her voice breaking at the realisation that she was homeless. Her fight with Graham had escalated to abuse, him yelling at her to get out and never come back. Everything she had ever known was a lie, her entire life a shit show with her as the star attraction.

Killian took a deep breath again, raking his hands over his face as he tried to think. He couldn’t kick her out, there were other Alphas living in this building and even he could smell she was unclaimed. It would be like throwing her to the wolves. And he couldn’t leave either. The fury he felt would undoubtedly take him straight to Graham and then to a prison cell, exactly the opposite of where he wanted to be right now.

Where he needed to be.

“The bedroom,” he grunted, nodding behind her to a door. Emma followed his gaze and looked back at him confused. “It’s the coldest room in the apartment, and you can lock it from the inside.” He lifted his gaze, locking her stare with his. “You’ll be safe there.”

“Safe?” Emma asked dumbly. “But I-”

“NOW, OMEGA!” Killian barked, hating himself the second the words left his mouth. Emma flinched, rushing to the door before she had time to question why she was acting so obediently at his tone. It was harsh, demanding and something inside of her was aroused to the point of pain, the throb between her legs intensifying and a new wave of slick coating her underwear.

Killian was on her heels, the newly excreted slick drawing him like a shark to blood in the water, and Emma slammed the door in his face, turning and fumbling with the key in the lock. She gasped a squeaking sound, covering her mouth to hide the fear laced adrenaline coursing through her body when Killian pounded a fist against the wood in rut induced annoyance. Another bang made her jump back away from the door, her eyes flicking to the key that was only half turned in the lock, and she surged forward and twisted it completely until she felt the mechanism slide into place.

“I’m sorry,” Emma cried, unable to stop the tears again.

Killian sighed, his entire body sagging against the other side of his bedroom door, his fingernails scraping down the surface as he regained some semblance of his control. He rolled his sweltering forehead against the surface, cursing his lack of power when it came to his rut, his feral insides feeling like they were in a tug of war with the rationality of his brain. Emma was scared, she clearly didn’t know what was happening and here he was, like an animal, trying to get to her simply because it was the first day of his rut and something had been wafted under his nose. He wasn’t that kind of Alpha and he never wanted to be.

“Emma, I’m sorry,” Killian whispered softly into the surface of the door. “I can’t-”

“What’s going on?” Emma whimpered back, her voice muffled in his ears. “I came here for your help and instead you yell at me.”

“Emma, I’m so sorry,” Killian told her quickly. “As soon as I smelled you, my body-” He began, unable to form the words. How do you explain to someone, who always thought they were a Beta, that they were actually not? For a second Killian was so preoccupied with his own wonderings that he nearly neglected to ask Emma the most important question. “How is this possible?” He muttered. “You’re Omega,” he said, confused by his own words that were more of a statement than a question.

“Tell me about it,” Emma laughed hysterically, shaking her head at her own predicament. “I can’t even fucking think straight right now. One minute I’m at the spa, then Ruby tells me there is a baby, so I rush home, leaving everything behind, including my medication, and then Humbert drops this in my lap!”

“Medication?” Killian asked, his eyebrow bouncing up on his forehead with intrigue. Had Humbert been suppressing his own wife? Had the entire Humbert clan been using heat suppressants and scent blockers on her since she was a child? The thought made him recoil in fury.

“Yeah,” Emma nodded, turning her body until her back hit the door and she slid down the cold wood to the floor. Even the floor felt cool against her skin but she was still roasting, wiggling out of her leggings and tossing them aside. The AC in Killian’s room hummed gently in the background, almost invisible but Emma felt like everything was more alive right now. All of her senses were sharper, her world less muted than before, including her insatiable need to be fucked. “Long story short, I’ve been sick my entire life, this week I didn’t take my pills and I’ve never felt so alive. Apart from these damn cramps and sweating and-”

“And need,” Killian finished for her, his voice laced with a dark passion that made her even more wet than she was.

“Yeah,” she breathed, sighing in relief like his words had been his hands on her, soothing her aches and fixing her insatiable appetite for him.

“Emma,” Killian began gently and she looked at the door as if it was him. “You’re Omega and you’re in heat.”

Emma looked down at herself, skin tacky with sweat, her entire body feeling like it was on fire and there was something inside of her trying to claw its way out. She looked the same, but she felt infinitely different, like she finally had the answer to a longing question she had never been brave enough to ask. It explained everything. The cramps, the want, the never ending need to be filled and it also explained why, before anyone else, Emma had sought out Killian.

“But-”

“You came here because I am Alpha,” Killian explained, his words strained as if he was fighting against his urge to knock down the door. “I’m what you need.”

Emma’s breath caught in her throat, his words taking on a dark, sultry tone that had her skin itching and her clit throbbing. Graham had been right, she was what he had told her, and for years that snake of a man had been trying to suppress her nature because he hadn’t become the Alpha his family thought he would. He was a coward, and a liar, and if Emma wasn’t in an agonising heat right now, she would march back to their house and punch him right in the face.

But she was in heat, a doors width between her and the Alpha she had begged her bastard husband to find her.

Emma ground out a moan, baring her teeth as she clutched her abdomen and doubled over when another wave of pain shot through her. Her body was screaming out for something to make it stop, drawn to the door where she curled against the hard surface and pulled her knees to her chest. Her red cheeks pressed to the cool door, and when the first wave passed, she relaxed her body with a sorrowful sigh.

“How do I stop it?” She whined.

“You can’t,” Killian said firmly. “You can only make it feel better for a time.”

“How?” Emma ground out. “God, please tell me how.”

For a second Killian was thankful for the door, and for the last amount of restraint he had left because when Emma begged him, the primal creature inside of him reared its insatiable head once more and wanted her like nothing else. He needed to fulfill his own desires, ease his own need, and Emma’s begging further cemented his Alpha need to claim her as his Omega. He wanted to take away her pain, soothe her aching bones and look after her like she deserved, but he also knew this was all new to her and a full rut could scare her away.

“Emma,” he whimpered desperately, his hand finding the door handle and his fingers closing around the cold steel. He pushed down on it and the mechanism slid open, but the locked door did not budge, a sigh of relief leaving his lips. “The chest, at the end of my bed, open it.”

Emma’s gaze wandered to the chest he described, the darkened room barely light enough for her to see it before she dragged herself towards it. Her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting quickly once she had stopped pinching them closed, and her body followed his direction obediently without her even realising. Emma traced her fingertips over the lid, his initials etched into the wood right above the latch, which she grabbed and pulled it open.

The chest was deep, filled halfway with what she could only imagine were rutting toys for Alphas without a mate. Her eyes scanned the selection, her throat dry where her mouth hung open, thoughts and images of Killian fucking each and every one of the tiny holed silicon toys making her excrete yet more slick. A tiny moan deep in her throat escaped involuntarily before she blinked her vision clear.

“Okay,” she called out to him in a shaking voice. “Killian, these are-”

“Clean, I promise,” he chuckled. “In there you should see something that looks like a penis but a the base there will be two huge-”

“Got it,” Emma announced in a whisper. She lifted the toy in her hand, the mottled silicone feeling so lifelike in her hands that she felt another rush of arousal pound her core. It was big, much bigger than Graham and a little bit wider than Killian, and as Emma inspected it further, she frowned. “It’s hollow,” she said softly, almost to herself, but Killian answered immediately.

“It’s wearable, love,” he cooed. “I bought it to knot you with. Under the contract, I couldn’t naturally, and until we...I had never-” he paused again, her floral scent clinging to his taste buds. If he didn’t get her to orgasm soon, he was going to lose his mind.

“Was I your first?” Emma asked timidly, her own voice foreign to her ears.

“Aye,” Killian growled, the thought of knotting her again making him even harder than he already was. “Too many too quickly. I think you induced my rut.”

“I’m sorry,” Emma said softly, turning her attention back to the hollow dildo in her hand. It was cold against her skin, slightly too soft for her liking but just looking at it was making her even more horny than she had ever felt.

“If you...fuck yourself with it,” Killian sighed heavily, his words faltering. “It will feel better, I promise.” He turned away from the door, needing to distance himself from the pull of her scent. It wasn’t just her slick, but Emma’s scent gland was spiking each time she felt aroused, which right now was every time he talked to her. He was rock hard in his lounge pants, his erection pressed painfully to the inside of the cotton, and he was almost certain his knot was straining to escape the confines of his body.

Killian made his way to the couch, dropping his lounge pants until they pooled at his feet. He kicked them away with a sigh, running his hands through his hair and thanking any higher power who was listening that he could contain himself in these early stages of his rut, his usual feral nature not exposing itself until at least day three. Naked he felt cooler, if only for a second, before he wrapped his hand around himself and began the familiar regime of coaxing out his orgasm to satisfy his rut related urges.

If he was quick he would beat Emma to hers and she would be safer. He already knew what it felt like to have her heat envelop him, so his hand was a poor substitute, especially when he heard Emma moan from the next room. His ears pricked up, straining to hear the sound he yearned for again, and when she crowed a second time, he couldn’t stop himself rushing to the door, flattening his hands over the wood and pressing his ear to it eagerly.

“Killian,” Emma sobbed desperately, the sound of her lubrication against the toy between her legs watery and turning her on even more. She drove it into herself again, the friction delicious but so obviously fake that she groaned in anguish.

Killian ground his teeth, the muscles in his jaw ticking under the length of his stubble, and he balled his fist, pounding the door in frustration.

“Killian, please,” Emma whined, her voice barely there above the breathy sigh that followed. “It’s not enough,” she pleaded despairingly, now realising hy she had become almost addicted to the welcome stretch and burn of Killian’s knot.

“Emma, you don't know what you’re doing,” Killian grunted, headbutting the door. “What you’re asking-”

“Alpha-” Emma begged in a whisper, the hurried plea tumbling from her lips before she even registered what she was saying.

Early rut or not, Killian couldn’t contain himself any longer. He grabbed the door frame, fingertips clawing the paintwork as he leaned back and pounded his bare foot into the hard, immovable surface. The door gave a little, the wood bowing away from the hinges, but it didn’t give.

“Hurry, Alpha, make it stop,” Emma begged again, her words filling Killian with more rut induced strength than he had ever had, his foot colliding with the door one more time before it swung open and sent the key flying across the room. He righted himself in the doorway, eyes scanning the darkness before he finally laid eyes on his prize. She was beautiful, gloriously naked and prone on his bed, lying on her back with the toy in one hand and her breast in the other, kneading her aching flesh with a soft cry.

Emma wasn’t even shocked when he burst through the door, instead thankful for his scent. It filled the room, powerful and intoxicating, sending her into a lust fuelled spiral that had her tossing the toy aside and clambering to the end of the bed on her knees to meet him. Killian’s hands on her felt like water when she was thirsty, clawing over her skin like he needed to get inside, and despite his dark, aggressive stare, he was as gentle as anything.

Emma clawed her way up his body, fingers dancing through his coarse chest hair, and clutched his face in her hands. She pulled his lips to hers, crushing their faces together as she kissed him. He was her salvation, the only one who could make it all better and when he kissed her back just as fervently, she arched her body into his even harder. Still standing at the foot of the bed, Killian leaned over and without even breaking the kiss, he gathered her up into his arms, holding her thighs around his waist. Emma gasped, breaking the kiss for a second, when his length touched the wetness that coated her almost entirely.

“Oh, Emma,” Killian purred, conflict in his voice, his tip brushing her slickness as he held her. He rested his forehead on hers, eyes tightly closed as he paused, contemplating the ramifications of having Emma in his place. She was married and there was no going back from this, but nothing would satiate his rut like he now knew she could. Like only she could. “What have you done?”

“I don’t care.” Emma shook her head, her slightly damp hair tangling in his fingers as he combed his hand through her locks.

“You say that because you’re in heat, love,” Killian rationalised, the fact he was holding her body to his calming the beast and letting him see sense for a second. “You’ll say anything for an Alpha’s knot.”

Killian couldn’t believe what he was saying. He felt like two different people, torn between what he wanted and what he knew was right. The Alpha in him wanted nothing more than to claim, mark, make her his own, but the man in him knew that even though Graham wasn’t Alpha, he felt like she belonged to him. Graham was a force, and he had no doubt the man would never give Emma the divorce she so eagerly craved, especially now. She was a prisoner to her own life and he had no doubt he would have to fight for her.

“I don’t want any Alpha’s knot,” Emma cooed. “I want yours.”

The touch of Emma’s soft fingertips on his cheek roused him from his inner dispute and he opened his eyes to meet hers. They had softened, the hazel edges to her hues less intense as she stared, boring straight into his, but they were filled with something he had not seen before. Emma had something else behind her desire darkened eyes that he had put there, something that made him realise that she hadn’t just sought him out because of her heat.

Killian saw compassion, the willingness only an Omega could show to an Alpha. Emma had love in her eyes and it was all for him.

“You don’t understand what it means to be Omega,” Killian told her gently, his hand sliding to find her face, his thumb tracing the outline of her lips. The memory of them on his body made his cock twitch and he felt his resolve fading.

“So show me,” Emma purred and the look that she gave him made Killian snap.

When Emma hit the mattress, she had hardly any time to react before Killian was towering over her and sealing her lips with his. He kissed her, hard, like he had wanted to before she had gone away. Like she was the most important thing in his life. In a way she was, deserving to be cherished much more than she ever had before, the way she needed to be.

Killian slid his lips from hers and kissed along her jawline, nipping the flesh as he went. He was already to a full knot, Emma’s newly expressed scent sending him into a frenzy as he neared the gland in her neck. He thrust his hips against her, collecting the nectar she had given in response to him on the tip of his erection, testing her for a sign of hesitation.

Emma whimpered, her arms clutching his body, hands splayed across his broad shoulders and pulling his body down against hers. She needed him close, wanted him so far inside of her she couldn’t take it, and her skin ignited from the contact with his, nipples hardening even further against his chest.

“Omega,” Killian sighed against her shoulder, inhaling her scent with a nuzzle of his nose. “I’m going to fuck you like you need, don’t worry.” He reached down between them, the bulb of his knot rock solid in his hand as he gripped himself at his base and glided into Emma’s scorching core. Her body reacted instantly, fingernails digging into his flesh, head thrown back into the comforter and thighs clamping around his hips like a vice. He hadn’t even moved yet, and Emma was gone.

“Killian, please,” Emma cried, her words catching in her throat. “I need you to move.”

“God, I want to fill you up so badly,” Killian said through gritted teeth, his hands skimming over the smooth curves of her lithe body until they found her behind. He shifted his weight, Emma gasping when he filled her more, and he tucked his hands underneath her buttocks, holding her steady as he shuffled forward even closer to her. Emma cried out again, her pleasure filled moan sending him into a primal state and he turned his mouth towards her ear. “I love you like this, open for me, begging, Gods, I want to breed you, my sweet Omega.”

“Do it, Alpha,” Emma pleaded, turning to skim her lips over his. She pawed at his face, smoothing her thumb over his cheek and searched his eyes that were asking, not for permission, but for reassurance. Emma smiled warmly and gave him a knowing nod. “Trust me. It’ll all be okay.”

Killian seized her lips for another fiery kiss and his hips began to move against hers. She was held in place by his powerful grip, his thrusts long and deep, each one making her cry out as all of the air left her lungs. She was caught between gasping for breath and using what little she had left to call out his name, her nails tearing into the flesh of his back in a desperate attempt to hold onto him as he relentlessly pounded into her.

“Fuck, Alpha,” Emma whimpered, her thighs shaking against his hips as he tore his lips from hers and buried his face into the crook of her neck, his pace increasing tenfold and the bed banging against the wall. “Oh, Killian, yes, you feel so good.”

“Tell me what you need, Emma,” he demanded darkly. “Make me knot you.”

“Fuck-” Emma gasped again, her eyes rolling back in her head.

Her hand found the back of his head and clutched his hair between her fingers, instinctively guiding his lips to the spot on her neck where her scent gland was hidden beneath her milky, smooth skin. Killian’s brow pulled together as he fought to bite down. He wouldn’t until she asked him to, even if she felt like that was what she wanted right now, Killian knew it was just her automatic reactions to her heat. Her body was telling her to do these things, and he wouldn’t make the decision for her.

“Tell me you want my knot,” Killian growled, needing to distract himself from the overwhelming urge to mark her as his own. “Say it, Omega,” he barked, needing to press into her a little deeper, his knot now fully revealed.

“Give me your knot, Alpha,” Emma sighed, tugging his head until his lips were back on hers and she was staring directly into the stormy blue of his eyes between feverish kisses. “Make me come.”

Killian kissed her hard, grinding himself into her with enough force to push his knot inside, her walls clamping down around the painful intrusion that sent her skyward. Emma came hard, her orgasm taking her to heights she had never felt before, the pin prick dots behind her eyelids like stars in the night, a calm serenity following. Killian stilled, their bodies locked together again, and he lifted himself to watch her intently, her body almost paralyzed in euphoria.

Emma started quivering, his orgasm triggering another, and her hand flew up to flatten against his chest. It was a silent plea, his hips only shifting a little but enough to make her roll hers against his knot, eager to draw out every last drop of pleasure from their tie. Her fingernails raked down his chest, clawing through his chest hair and assuredly leaving bloody lines in her wake. As she calmed, her back resting back to the mattress, she let out a soft whimper.

Killian kissed her again, his tongue slowly massaging hers with a gentle caress that had him humming contently into her mouth. Emma’s lips turned up into a smile and she finally opened her eyes, relaxing the grip her thighs had on his body with a blush. The boyish grin Killian gave her back told her she had no reason to be embarrassed, even if she had said things she would have never dreamed of, because there was only one reason for how Killian was looking at her right now.

For the first time in his life, Killian felt complete. Emma’s inner muscles clenched around his knot once more and he gasped, shooting her a smirk when his overstimulated length twitched inside of her and released another load of his seed.

“You’re a naughty Omega,” he teased, kissing her eyelids tenderly. He framed her with his bulk, resting on his elbows and combing her messed hair away from her face.

“Am I?” Emma smirked up at him, nuzzling the tip of his nose with her own. Her hands found his face once more and she toyed with the shape of his ears as he nodded, the elfen tip slightly hard under her fingertips.

“Do you feel better now, love?” Killian asked her, arching his neck into her odd, but very satisfactory grooming technique.

“Much,” she nodded. “The cramps are gone and so has the sweating.”

“For now,” Killian offered tentatively. “Your heat should last about a week-.”

“A week?” Emma squeaked under him.

“Aye, I’m sorry,” he offered whole heartedly. “More often than not it’s only a few days once the hormones settle down.”

Emma scrunched her nose. “How long does that take?”

Killian pinched one eye closed as if trying to recall something he had been told a long time ago. “I don’t know,” he said finally. “Usually this happens to kids in their teens, but in your case it was suppressed for so long, I’m not sure I can give you an answer.”

Emma sighed and Killian felt his heart break. This was all new to her and he wished he could help her through some of the more specific questions she had, but truth was, it was all new to him too. He had never been with an Omega before, let alone one who had been ingesting heat suppressants and scent blockers for so many years. Who knew what kind of damage that had done to her and Killian’s jaw clenched at the mere thought of making the Humbert’s pay.

“What I can tell you is that I’ll be here, for however long it takes.” To emphasize his point, Killian nudged his knot into her further and Emma shuddered in pleasure.

“Oh God,” Emma whimpered, her eyes rolling back in her head.

Her back arched off the bed and she felt Killian’s calloused hands slide over her upper thigh and lift her leg over his hip, allowing him to sink into her even more now she was wide open for him. A fresh wave of slick made their tie slip and Killian growled, diving into the juncture of Emma’s neck where her newly discovered scent gland was emitting all sorts of fresh, sickly sweet aromas that had his heart racing. He could mark her. His body was telling him to. It was right there, throbbing just below the surface but Emma’s hands were on his head once more, nimble fingers tracing the edge of his ear once more and shaking him from his scent induced daze.

“You can’t just turn up to an Alpha’s apartment like this,” he scolded her lightly, rolling his head into her touch. “You should have called.”

“Would you have invited me over if you’d have known?” Emma asked innocently. Killian declined to answer, an eyebrow quirking up on his forehead. “I didn’t think so,” Emma purred, pulling his lips to hers again.

Killian rolled his hips again as they kissed, causing Emma to groan into his mouth. “Stop,” she giggled, unable to hide the grin from her face.

“Or what?” Killian challenged weakly.

“Or we’ll never part,” she smiled. Killian gave her another look, one telling her that maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. Emma blushed under his gaze, rolling her bottom lip under her teeth coyly.

“You’re so beautiful when you smile, Emma, you know that?” He complimented her softly. His fingers brushed over her brow and passed the swell under her eye as he followed the trail of his hand down over the pulse in her neck. “He should pay for this.”

“Don’t,” Emma warned, her smile fading instantly. She grabbed his hand away from her scent gland, rolling her head away shyly.

“I hate that he hurt you,” Killian continued, his blood beginning to boil again.

“Please stop,” Emma begged.

“I hate that I wasn’t there to protect you from this, Emma.” Killian fingers gingerly traced over the purple-pink bruise developing under her eye again before Emma shook him off and turned away again. “I should have been there.”

“Please don’t mention him,” Emma sighed into the pillow, forcing the tears that pricked at her eyelids back inside. She wouldn’t give Graham the satisfaction of making her cry ever again.

“Hey,” Killian coaxed, hooking his finger under her chin and pulling her gaze back to his. “I just want you to be happy, my love,” he told her lovingly, giving her a quick flash of a smile.

She returned it weakly. “I am happy. Right now, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.”

“Good.” Killian leaned forward and pressed his lips to the tip of her nose. “Me too.”

Chapter Text

Killian didn’t sleep much when Emma was around. Instead, he liked to simply lie there and listen to her sleeping, soft snoring soothing the ache around his heart that often crept in during the early hours when he remembered she wasn’t his. Previously he would inhale the scent of her hair as she rested her head on his chest, enjoying the way that she smelled of him and he had thought it the closest thing to marking her that he could get. And he was happy with that until she had turned up to his apartment in the middle of the night with the biggest revelation about herself he could have ever imagined.

Emma wasn’t some lowly Beta woman crazed by an Alpha’s knot because she had experienced it a few too many times to simply slink back off to her husband. No, Emma was nothing of the sort. In fact, she was the answer to his prayers, the solution to all his worries that had miraculously appeared at the exact moment he had wanted her to. Emma was Omega, and Killian’s life had just become more complicated.

He wasn’t sure what it meant for her now. She wasn’t the same person she was yesterday, that was for sure, and she would need some time to adjust to her new body. Things would happen, things she should have experienced more than half her lifetime ago, thanks to some cruel suppressants and more than misguided Alpha thinking. The Humbert’s had, for whatever twisted reason, kept her constantly drugged and in a complete state of suppression, and all Killian could do was hope that Emma would have no residual effects.

He didn’t know what she wanted to do now, with the new information that she was someone she had never known. He knew what it meant for him. There had always been something about Emma that pulled him towards her, stroked the inner animal like it was some kind of pet. She owned him now, body and soul, whether she knew it or not. There wasn’t a single thing he wouldn’t do for her and he would fight tooth and nail to make sure she was always safe, including from him right now. A full rut could scare her away, so he would go as slow as he could, wrap her up in his arms and protect her for the duration of her heat. Protect her from other Alphas, protect her from the new world she was about to experience, and above all else, keep her safe from Graham Humbert.

The silvery light of the moon shone through the skylight in Killian’s bedroom ceiling as it reached its peak, resting high in the night sky against a glittery backdrop of bright white stars that twinkled around it like they were dancing. Their naked bodies were entwined, sheets cast aside in favour of each other being the only covering they needed that night, the moonlight bathing them both in a blue hue that helped Killian peruse the woman in his arms She had somehow become stronger than the woman he had left a few days ago, even in sleep she exuded a new presence, and it made Killian smile.

She was stretched out like a content cat along the length of his body, his fingers stroking through her sex messed hair so gently he was almost hovering his fingers over the shape of her skull. Her face was nuzzled into the juncture of his neck and where she had previously been stroking the softness of his chest hair, her hand had gone limp over the steady beat of his heart, and he had covered it with his own. He needed sleep, but he didn’t want to miss a single breath she took, his lips pressed permanently to her crown where he could inhale her brand new scent.

It had been becoming stronger as the hours had passed by, their first tie having soothed the crippling pain of her heat but a new wave of contractions and perspiration hot on its heels. Killian could smell it; in her hair, on her skin, on the wisp of breath that escaped her lips when she shifted position and her jaw dropped open, and he was addicted to the sweetness of it. It made him hard and he didn’t hide his arousal, the thought of making sure Emma was cared for and kept as safe as possible giving him an impossibly hard cock.

She shifted her position as if she knew, her hand slipping out from under his and hovering over the layer of hair that travelled down his torso. When she got to his waist, Killian growled, his entire body vibrating and his hips nudging his erection into her waiting hand. He felt Emma smile against his chest and she lifted her chin, inhaling the woody sea salt flavour of Killian’s skin, something too good not to taste with a quick dart of her tongue.

“You’re up,” Killian rasped, his fingers setting a steady pace as he tapped over the nerves at the base of her spine.

“Mmm, so are you,” Emma purred groggily, seizing his cock in her grasp. Killian gasped from the sudden contact, his surprise quickly turning to lust as, with a low rumbling growl, he scooped her up in his arms and flipped them over until she was trapped beneath him.

“I’m trying not to be,” Killian snarled, nuzzling her scent gland with the tip of his nose. “But, love, if you don’t smell like the most enticing thing I’ve ever encountered.” Killian made sure she knew exactly what she was doing to him. With a nudge of his knee she was open for him and a thrust of his hips had her slick coating his length, her breathy sigh like music to his ears.

“You want a taste?” Emma crooned, her voice unfamiliar to her own ears. When Killian looked up at her, the darkness in his eyes had turned them a stormy grey and Emma grinned like a cheshire cat. “You want to taste me, Alpha?”

Emma used his title without even realising it, the word slipping from her lips like it was the most natural thing in the world. She felt more alive than she ever had, like she had the most energy she had ever possessed, and her skin itched from how electric it felt against his. She needed Killian, on her, in her, and as his dizzying scent washed over her, another wave of slick between her legs had Killian clawing at her skin as he moved down her body.

“I’m going to fucking devour you,” Killian groaned through clench teeth, sliding further down her petite frame, leaving hungry kisses in his wake. “My sweet, beautiful Omega,” he breathed against her skin between kisses, his tongue darting out to taste the sugary sweat on her skin.

Emma was in heaven, a really lucid dream, or somewhere in between, and either way she really didn’t care. What Killian was doing to her body, his tongue like a cool balm on the heat of her skin, snaking its way towards the ache between her legs between feverish kisses that sent shivers wracking her spine, it didn’t bear thinking about. If she moved he held her down, intent on lapping up every inch of her flesh with a feral growl that made her yearn for him even more.

It was all new, not the emotional feelings because if Emma was honest she had been having those for a while, but the physical, real tactile presence that was Killian Jones. Before a few days ago, Emma thought he was something special, someone who could make her forget the bullshit of her own life, if only for a night here and there, but what Killian Jones was was something else. Every cell in her body reacted to his touch, his voice, even the way he looked at her, and she loved every single minute of it.

Killian reached his destination, the apex of Emma’s thighs and the gateway to his redemption. Her scent overpowered him, his eyes rolling in the back of his head and his lips quivering in gratitude to whatever Gods had seen fit to bless him with such a delightfully decadent Omega. He hadn’t even feasted upon her newly secreted Omega slick, and yet, Killian knew she would taste different. His cheek pressed to the inside of her thigh, scruff burning the skin there as he rubbed it back and forth, his lips curling into a lustful snarl on each inhale. Killian settled into position between Emma’s legs and helped her spread them even wider with two gentle hands.

“Hurry,” Emma panted.

“Easy, love,” Killian coaxed gently, nipping her inner thigh. “All in good time.”

His tongue was on her before she could muster anything but a whine and Emma’s entire body stiffened in pleasure. It was too much, like lightning striking her dead, flashes of white behind her eyes the only thing letting her know that she was still alive. Everything was more defined, her senses sharper, and when Killian’s skilled tongue swiped through her parted folds again, her hand flew down to clutch the hair of his head between her legs and he lifted his gaze to meet hers as she watched.

“Oh, my Omega likes to watch her Alpha consume her,” Killian noted with a smirk, keeping his eyes locked to hers, pupils blown wide with arousal as he deliberately lapped at her slick slowly with a wide, flat stroke of his tongue and with a hum of content.

“Fuck,” Emma hissed, grabbing his hair tighter and moving his lips to her clit. “There,” she whispered, her eyes falling closed and her fingers slipping from his hair, her head falling back onto the pillow when Killian obeyed.

“Oh, here?” He panted, hot, wet breath ghosting her sex, his fingers taking over teasing her, slipping through her slick and drawing hard circles on her clit with his newfound lubricant. He was grinning, jovially manic at the sight of her at his mercy and when she arched her back off the bed, angling her hips towards him with another heavy lidded stare, he gave her a dark smirk and a raised eyebrow. “Aye, right there, eh, love?”

She nodded and mewled in delight, her cheeks blossoming with a heat that was unseen in the darkness but felt like lava on her skin. Emma’s bottom lip rolled under her teeth as she watched him eat her like a man possessed, the moonlight shimmering across his shoulders as his muscles rippled each time he craned his neck in an attempt to dive deeper into her. She had no words, just the buzz in her ears and the vibrating of her skin, deafening her with arousal, but it wasn’t enough. She felt an immense need to fall, so painfully close to the edge of her orgasm like she had never known before, her body screaming on the inside for more.

“More,” Emma breathed, sweat beading across her chest, her hands slipping through it when she hungrily kneaded her breasts to try and ease some of the fiery ache burning her from the inside out.

“Yes ma’am,” Killian growled with a smirk.

He was willing to do whatever she wanted to make sure she was cared for in the way she saw fit. His cock was rock hard and his knot had already begun to push its way out of its sheath, the bedclothes a poor substitute as he ground himself down onto it with each swipe of his tongue as he doubled down his efforts. She was dripping wet, the light beard covering his face absolutely soaking wet from her nectar, her body producing much more that he could demolish before she was begging him for what she really wanted.

“Please, Killian,” she whined. “Please, Alpha.”

Emma’s heat had reared its head again, the needy creature dwelling inside of her finally breaking the surface of her subconscious with a distressed whimper that told Killian she needed something more. She needed the one thing an Alpha could give an Omega in such desperate times, her own body screaming at her to end her suffering with the delicious burn and stretch of a knot, and Killian was more than happy to oblige. He would happily leave the comfort of a fine meal to bury himself inside of her and give Emma the heat soothing orgasm her body really sought.

Killian sat back on his heels, kneeling between her wide open thighs, one hand lazily stroking himself to relieve some of the frustration he had pent up from his own rut. The fact that Emma’s heat and his rut had arrived together had not gone unnoticed. Even if she had stopped the suppressants of her own accord, it could have taken weeks before her heat arrived. The fact they were in sync meant something like they were destined, fated, soul mates even. Killian had never been so sure of anything in his life.

“You’re my Omega,” he purred darkly, moving closer to the apex of her thighs and easing the tip of his cock through her folds. “Only I can give you what you need.”

Emma immediately whimpered, her body crying out for more of him. “Yes,” she breathed.

Killian groaned, swiping his thumb through her slick, towering over her in a flash and slipping the digit into her mouth. Emma instantly sucked at his thumb, humming in appreciation for the new flavour of herself, like the freshest oranges, initially sweet but with a sour note that lingered on her tongue. Killian watched her, a wry, filthy smirk on his face.

“Say it,” Killian growled, barely able to control the tremor in his hand as he guided himself into her that little bit more.

“Alpha.” Emma let his thumb go with a pop and clamped her hands around his face, pulling his lips even closer than they were before, and letting her breath ghost his mouth. “Only you have what I crave.” The room was suddenly hot, the elevated temperature a combination of his rut and her heat, and Emma arched her back so Killian’s cock was sliding into her even more. “I’m yours.”

“Again, Omega,” Killian demanded, his voice like gravel and his lips hovering over hers with the tease of a kiss. With a forceful thrust of his hips, he was inside of her, back where he belonged, where he felt the most secure, and when she quivered with the finality of her pleasure, he nudged her nose with his to bring her back down to him. “Again, love,” he said more gently, coaxing her eyes open by brushing his thumb under her eyelids, and when they fluttered open and focused on him, he gave her a smile so endearing Emma thought her heart might explode.

“I’m all yours, Killian, I’ll always be yours.” Emma lifted her head and smashed her mouth into his, devouring him, drowning in the kiss that he returned with ardent passion. Tongues duelled, teeth clashed, and blood pounded in her ears, the taste of herself on his lips like a drug, instantly rendering her addicted. His body shifted again, pressing his slick coated cock into her and drawing a whimper from her lips that was so unmistakably Omega, his baser animal howled inside of him to claim what was his.

Killian fought his rut telling him to stay exactly where he was and slipped out of her with a groan, a sound that was mirrored by Emma’s own disdain, but she had no time to object before he was roughly grabbing her by the hips and flipped her onto her stomach. Emma squealed with glee but the sound was muffled by the pillow she had buried her face into, Killian’s pillow that overwhelmed her with Alpha scent and had her lifting her hips in an instinct she had only recently unlocked.

Killian smirked, beads of sweat clinging to his brow as he gave her arse a playful slap to each cheek and then buried his nose between them to taste her again. Emma shuddered when he inhaled, long and deep, like her scent was the one thing he required to survive. His tongue darted out to lick through her sodden folds once more, and Emma pushed back onto his face with a begging whine that roused him back from his hunger.

“Bloody hell, you’re such a good girl,” Killian growled, fearing he wouldn’t be able to hold back much longer, shuffling forward on his knees and lining himself back up with her heat. Emma’s muscles twitched at the welcome intrusion and she melted into the bed when his hands found her hips and pulled her back onto his cock at the same time he gave her a forceful thrust. “You do present so well for your Alpha.”

Emma had no words, just sounds of pure lustful pleasure as Killian finally began to move inside of her. It was everything she wanted, what her body craved the most, and it instantly soothed the fire in her blood. Each thrust was deep, long strokes of his marble hard cock that worked him up more and more with each one, his lips curling back in a feral snarl and his hands gripping the flesh over her hip as he fought to contain his instincts. His thighs shook, wiry hair pressing into the creamy skin of her behind, making sure that every inch of him was as far inside of her as he could get without knotting her, needing to feel the deepest innermost parts of her core hugging him like a cushioned vice that told him he was exactly where she wanted him to be.

He trembled to contain himself but there was no point because the second Emma stretched out like a dog in a play bow, the beast was free and he was gone. Heavy hands were on her back, clawing at her skin before Killian blanketed her with his bulk, one arm finding its way under her chin and settling around her neck. It was a tender embrace but also dominant, a true Alpha laying claim to what was his, and Emma’s elbows buckled under his weight, both of them collapsing to the sheet.

“Oh, fuck,” Emma whispered, her hand flying out to clutch at one of the wooden spindles of Killian’s headboard as his cock reached new places inside of her and his knot stretched her opening that little bit more. Her knuckles turned white from how hard she was pulling against it and with a splitting sound it broke under her assault, the shard of softwood cast aside in favour of Killian’s fingers when he skimmed his hand up her arm and dislodged it from her hold.

“Shh,” he soothed, lips next to her ear. He canted his hips, hard, and Emma stiffened a little with the welcomed pain that came from the stretch of his knot bulb threatening to enter her core. “I’ve got you, darling.”

With his words Emma relaxed, but the need was nowhere near sated. She needed all of him and arched her back, hips lifting in a silent plea underneath his weight that he interpreted immediately. He increased his pace, slipping in and out of her with ease, the wet sounds coming from between them adding to both their arousals. His whole body shook, each thrust finding a place further inside of her that threatened to hold him in place, the cacophony of moans and lustful whimpers that filled the room setting his rhythm.

Emma locked her fingers in his, the sound of her cries jumping higher in pitch, a sure sign that she was close, the pink tinge to her cheeks signalling her impending orgasm. She needed a knot, more than anything else in the world, and right now Killian was the only person who could give it to her. He quickened his pace even more, the sound of skin slapping skin now gone, instead, ragged breaths and Emma’s pleas echoing in Killian’s ears.

“Breed me, please,” she breathed out.

She turned her head sideways and shot him a pleading look, just before his hips jerked erratically against her arse, his now exposed knot pushed its way into her body and sent her rocketing for the sun where she would surely be burned alive. Emma’s orgasm triggered Killian’s and he emptied himself inside of her, his arm wrapped tightly around her and her scent gland pulsing so close to his mouth Killian could feel the thrum of it on his lips. As soon as they tied, his urges eased, but her scent was almost too overpowering to ignore and Killian closed his eyes and scraped his teeth over the gland in her neck ever so gently.

“Oh my god,” Emma whimpered, craning her head out of the way and allowing him more access. She didn’t know why she was just following her body’s reaction, her words slipping from her mouth before she realised what she was saying or doing, but when Killian had grazed her scent gland her inner core had fluttered around his knot and triggered another, weaker orgasm.

“Fuck, yes, mark me, Alpha.”

Killian’s throat closed up and he was struggling to fight his instincts. How was he supposed to? Emma, with a mile wide smile and a rosy post-coitus glow over her entire body, was both a blessing and a curse. She had no idea of what her words meant, less how her words would affect a rutting Alpha. Trust him to fall in love with an Omega currently married to a Humbert, one of the most powerful Alpha families in the world. It didn’t matter what Emma said during her heat because when a few days had passed and they were both back to their normal selves, he was certain she would be back in Graham’s arms, whether she wanted to be or not. She couldn’t have married into a more difficult family to try and escape.

Her content hum pulled him back to the now and back to her prone form beneath him, slowly wriggling. Killian eased the weight of his torso off her, supporting himself with an arm locked at the elbow on either side of her torso, the distance between him and her intoxicating scent gland easing his rut urges somewhat for now. He kissed her skin, a sheen of heat induced sweat slowly evaporating into the room, moisture collecting on his lips as he skimmed them over her shoulder blade with his own hum of appreciation.

She was beautiful, truly marvellous, and he couldn’t keep his hands to himself. Hard skin on his palms scuffed over the smoothness of her back, outlining the contours of her body. His lips followed, pressing quick but lingering kisses to her spine, each ridge tasting like the finest undiscovered delicacy when his tongue darted out between each one. Her whole skin was alive, buzzing with the faintest electrical undertones of euphoria, a pink blossom of a blush evident over her entire body.

“You smell good,” Emma hummed, peeking over her shoulder and enjoying the way Killian’s fringe fell over his face, the almost pitch black accenting his eyes which had returned to their previously Mediterranian sea blue.

“You taste good,” he teased, parroting her tone before licking the stiff tip of his tongue from the base of her spine to her neck, abruptly ending there and jumping to press a kiss to the corner of her mouth. “You always taste good,” he said with a grin, kissing her again.

“Do I taste different now?” Emma asked shyly but Killian’s senses were still overpowered by the freshness of the taste of her slick, so he gave her a quizzical look.

“Whatever do you mean, love?”

“Because of my heat,” she clarified with a little hesitancy.

“A little,” Killian told her, aware of the insecurities her heat would have inevitably brought with it. “And all the better for it.”

“You said you liked it before though, when I was...” Emma’s voice was suddenly small and Killian knew exactly why.

Being suddenly thrust into the world of being an Omega would be confusing for anyone. Just like most things in life, Killian knew that Emma would be experiencing some very strange behavioural instincts and some even stranger emotions. Her heat would have opened her self doubt, creating a needy mess of a creature who, without a family to help her understand what was happening to her, would be so bewildered. As an Alpha, Killian felt it his duty to show her being Omega was more than what she had previously known.

“Emma,” he began, licking his lips and taking a breath. “I know the last day has been confusing. I can only imagine how finding out something about yourself you have never known before makes you feel.” He paused briefly and when Emma gave him a little nod, he knew it was okay to continue. “But rest assured, as I live and breathe, you could never disappoint me.” He gave her a soft but adamant smile, brushing the hair aside that was blocking his view of her eyes and enjoying the way she rolled her shoulders in an attempt to have him touch her somewhere else.

“How do you know-?” She blushed, ashamed he could so easily have read her fears.

“You’re something of an open book, love.” He winked, flashing her a boyish grin. “And I’m here, for as long as you need, to help with any worries you might have, alright?”

“Alright,” Emma agreed.

It wasn’t long before her first questions came blurting out before she could stop them.

“Why did I-,” she stuttered. “Why did I ask you to mark me?”

“Ah, well-,” Killian began, pawing at the patch of skin behind his ear before she cut him off with a newfound confidence.

“What does it mean?”

“Well-.”

“Why would I say that?” Emma frowned to herself, drumming her fingers on the pillow beside her face.

“Love-.”

“And why didn’t you do it?”

Killian swallowed hard. Emma had no idea of the weight her words carried, so that was something he would need to address. He’d been asking himself the same question even though, really, he knew the answer. The connection of their bodies loosened and with a whimper of discontent from Emma, Killian’s knot receded and he slipped from her body. The loss caused her to roll over underneath him until she was settled on her back and Killian made sure she still felt secure by pinning her to the mattress with his weight. Emma wiggled from side to side with a salacious smile, making sure she could feel every inch of him pressing her down.

“I’ve got you,” Killian assured her again, kissing the tip of her nose. Emma’s hands found his face, pulling his lips to hers until he chuckled like a teenager in love and was forced to break the kiss to breathe.

“Why didn’t our tie last as long as when I was just a Beta?” Emma’s face was serious again, flashes of worry sparking in her eyes.

“So many questions!” Killian teased, bopping the tip of her nose with his pointer finger.

“I’m sorry,” Emma offered. “My mind is just racing.”

She blew out a breath on a sigh and without prompt, Killian knew exactly what would help her; a cuddle where she would feel safe and warm and loved. He pushed himself to his knees and the cold air of the room invaded the space between them, causing a visible shiver to ripple over Emma’s body. As quickly as he could, Killian urged her to the side, pulling back the thin sheet and slipping into the space in the center of the bed. Killian didn’t even need to offer Emma an invitation before she was curling up between his spread legs, resting her back to his chest and letting his arms encircle her once more.

“I know,” Killian offered sweetly. He kissed the curve of her shoulder before tucking his lightly scruffed chin into the crevice of her clavicle. “Might I suggest you write them down and once your heat and my rut are well out of the way, we can tackle them together?”

Emma nodded, interlocking her fingers with Killian’s and feeling a little more secure in her thoughts. She trusted him, and he was right; in a few days they would both be less distracted by each other and things would be much clearer.

“I’ll make us something to eat before we both starve, how does that sound?” Emma’s hum of agreement and the rumble of her stomach told them both Killian’s offer had arrived just in time.

“We have worked up quite the appetite,” Emma purred. She reached one arm behind her and looped it around the back of Killian’s head, urging his lips back to her skin for more of his addictive kisses.

“I don’t mean to brag, but I’m quite the cook,” Killian muttered into her neck.

“I’d like to be the judge of that,” Emma mocked sarcastically but as Killian continued his kisses a rather distracting tingle crept up her spine. “Maybe after a little more snuggling.”

Killian tightened his grip around her and his kisses drifted up the side of her face, his lips pausing on the corner of her bruised eye with a jaw clenching rage. He hadn’t forgotten how she had arrived at his place, and he wasn’t sure he would for a while, but in the past, every mention of her husband had caused Emma to close up or retreat, and that was the last thing he wanted for here right now.

Eager hands caressed her skin, massaging out kinks here and there that might have arisen from his eagerness to give her what she wanted. Killian wanted to make sure that Emma understood that being an Omega that an Alpha loved, looked at as more than a piece of meat to sate his own needs, was something to be treasured. It was something he knew she would never get from being a Humbert, a family renowned for its ruthless business exploits that nearly always spilled over into their private lives.

The window opposite the bed suddenly lit up with a dark orange glow as the sun began to rise over the horizon and began to bath the room in its light. Emma felt it on her toes first, the silent sun creeping up over the mattress and turning her skin a beautiful bronze as both she and Killian watched in comfortable silence, the sunlight inching its way up and over their bodies. When she shifted in his arms Killian let her, making sure she was comfortable again, shielding her most delicate parts with his hand and arms, shielding her skin from the sun.

“I’ve never seen a sunrise before,” Emma noted out loud, resting her head back on Killian’s shoulder.

“You haven’t?” Killian asked her, surprised. His words were slightly muffled between kisses he was still assaulting her body with, his lips soft and sparking all of her nerve endings to life each time.

“No,” Emma said with an idle smile. “It’s beautiful.” Almost lost in its marvel, she didn’t notice when Killian mumbled another question against her skin, only acknowledging him when he nudged her body playfully.

“I said,” he sing songed in response to her begrudged look. “Would you like to join me in the shower before breakfast? I think we both could use one.”

Emma pretended to sniff him and wrinkled her nose in mock disgust. “You definitely do,” she teased.

“Oi, cheeky!” Killian tightened his arms, muscles bulging against Emma’s and pinning her to him until she squealed a high pitched sound in his grip. He couldn’t really argue though, because neither of them had showered since she had arrived at his door, but both had been perspiring somewhat profusely since she had.

Emma let out a whine of protest when he moved out from behind her, never letting go of her hand as he stood beside the bed. He tugged her arm, pulling her closer to the edge and with a giggle, she rolled the distance between them across the soaking wet sheet. Killian’s eyes flicked over her naked form and he bit his bottom lip in appreciation as Emma scrambled to her knees and threw her arms around his neck, flattening her body against his. He felt her nipples hardened against his chest, his own body hair prickling to attention as she swayed her hips from side to side enticingly, deft fingers toying with the hair at the nape of his neck.

“No,” Killian scolded lightly, unable to hide his mirth because of his smirk. “Showers first,” he said softly, his mind thinking logically whilst his hands roamed the expanse of her lower back, fingertips teasing the swell of her behind with gentle kneading.

“Okay,” Emma agreed with a playful pout. Her whole body sagged and her hands slipped around his neck to his shoulders, her eyes fixed on them the entire time as they slid down the front of his thatched chest. A small whimper of longing slipped from her mouth and Killian laughed, not menacingly but in awe of her persistence. Unfortunately for her, he would need a little longer to recharge, so he hoped a quick kiss would distract her long enough for him to get her to the shower.

He leaned forward and closed the gap between them, his tongue finding the seam of her lips before pushing inside to massage her own. Goosebumps rippled over her skin and she smiled against his kiss, her fingers scratching down the contours of his chest with a content groan. His distraction worked and before Emma knew it, she was being hoisted into her arms and pulled tight against his chest, his heartbeat thumping in her ear. She let out a squeal, laughing in his arms as Killian carried her towards the doorway, the splintered edges of the frame inches from her skin as he tucked her in close and slipped through into the lounge.

His bathroom was to the left and he made short work of that door, using the heel of his foot to kick it open. Delighted, Emma squirmed in his arms, desperate for him to hold her down, or against the wall, she wasn't really that fussy as long as his hands were on her and he was showing her exactly what it meant to be loved by an Alpha, but it would have to wait. Killian reached the shower cubicle and Emma gave him a teasing smirk mid laugh.

“Better not kick that one down,” she giggled.

Killian growled a little, wrenching the door open and stepping inside, setting Emma down on the cold base and instantly missing the heat from her body against his. Emma barely had time to protest before he reached for the knob and the sound of water rushing through pipes filled her ears. She squeezed her eyes shut, dreading the chill from the spray that was inevitable, but it never came, and as the sound of water pooled at their feet, Emma peeled her eyes open to see Killian had positioned himself between her and the icy cold initial blast. His hands found her skin once more, skimming up the length of her arms protectively and when she met his gaze again, he was smiling at her.

“I’m here to take care of you, Emma,” he told her firmly but without an ounce of anything but love. “Will you let me do that?”

Steam began to swirl around them, the water clearly heating up, droplets running over the curve of his shoulders and beginning to dampen his front. Emma watched him, the corner of his lips ticking up into a small smile of assurance as he stepped aside and the flow of water hit her chest, stealing her breath and making her suck in a huge breath. Killian was suddenly behind her now, planting wet kisses along her collarbone and pressing his chest to her back, grounding her where she stood.

“Relax,” he whispered into her ear, nuzzling the flesh there with his nose.

Like he was controlling her just with the tone of his voice, Emma obeyed, letting the weight of her rest against the broadness of his chest. Suddenly his hands were on her, wide sweeps on his palms leaving bubbles in their wake as he lathered her body with soap. It was manly, like wood spice and bergamot, and Emma’s senses became overloaded with the smell that was so inherently Killian, her body ached for more of it. She spun around in his arms, hands clutching his face, pulling his lips to hers for another kiss, only this time the languid massaging of tongues made way for hungry gasps and the feverish biting of lips.

Killian hissed, pulling back slightly but Emma had a firm hold on his bottom lip, sucking the flesh until it stung with the pulsating of a bruise. She wasn’t letting go and when he opened his eyes in shock, the mischievous look she gave him made all the blood rush to his cock. Emma let go of his lip then, peeking down between their bodies at his length bobbing proudly against his stomach before giving him a sultry look through her eyelashes. Killian’s tongue darted out to taste his lip, no coppery tang to be found, before crowding her space and forcing her back against the cold, tiled wall. Emma gasped loudly from the chill, her heart taking off in her chest and her blood thundering in her ears in time with the pressured spray of the shower.

“You’re very insistent, Omega,” Killian growled, his forehead pushing against hers and his hands steadying her hips. He tasted his lip again, a feral growl rumbling from his chest. “And naughty.”

“I’m sorry, did I hurt you?” Emma looked up, meeting the darkness in his eyes with a carnal look of her own. He didn’t respond but she watched the tick of his jawline. “Let me kiss it better,” she purred, stroking the side of his face before crushing her lips to his once more.

Killian pushed back against her with a groan, hands grabbing the slippery globes of her arse and hoisting her into the air with an effortless strength that made the apex of Emma’s thighs hot and wet far more than from the water. She wrapped her legs around his waist, the shower spray beating down on the pair of them, his rock hard cock straining to find her entrance between them as she ground herself against his pubic bone and kissed him like he was her last meal.

Killian could smell her slick all over him, the water not dulling her one bit. The smell of her sweetness was back, coating his body as she hurriedly chased her insatiable appetite for him and her orgasm, teeth clashing with an urgency he thought they had left in the bedroom. He should have known better. Emma was a new Omega, experiencing all the world had to offer for the very first time, and at the very top of her buffet list was him.

“I need you again,” Emma begged between kisses, her body much hotter than the steam in the room. “Right here, right now.”

“So needy,” Killian mumbled with a smirk. He fumbled between them with a shaky hand, slipping his fingers between her folds just long enough to excite more slick from her, his eyes fluttering closed with sheer delight.

Emma loosened her vice like grip with her thighs and slipped down his wet body a little more. He gasped when she impaled herself on him with a satisfying arch of her back and a skin breaking scratch down his chest. Killian hissed again when the still hot water poured over his wound and the beast inside of him awoke, snatching her hands from his skin and slamming them into the tile above her head. The darkness in his eyes flashed with a feral spark, his cock throbbing inside of her, stretching the very essence of her wide open, and his knot aching in its sheath to press deeper into her.

“Yes,” Emma hissed, a pink hue spreading out over her breasts that heaved between their bodies. She began to move all by herself, riding him, rocking back and forth between what little space he had left between their bodies, taking her own pleasure in the steam filled cubicle. Killian let her, grinding his teeth with each forced thrust she made. “Oh, you feel so good, Alpha.”

Eager for her to feel every inch as sated as she could, Killian dipped his head with an open mouth and latched onto one of her nipples. He sucked slowly at first, savouring the taste of her, the heady scent generated between them as she balanced herself with a firm grip on his shoulders.

“Take it, love,” he growled, pulling the bud between his teeth and biting down. “Take my cock because you’d better believe that my knot is next.”

Emma whimpered, a cross between pleasure and pain, her head leaving the tile pillow to watch his assault of her tingling nipple. She arched her chest out more, desperate for his mouth on her but Killian released her breast with a pop, tongue laving her bullet like nipple one last time before his mouth jumped to hers, and he was gobbling up her ravenous moans again. She was like a fuel that had been poured onto the flash fire that burned inside of him so hot he thought his bones would melt right off his skin, and he needed every drop he could get.

Emma’s hands were on his face, nails raking through his stubble as she locked her ankles at the base of his spine, rolling her hips down onto him in an attempt to coax out his inner animal. With Killian early into his rut it wasn’t hard, and the sides of her smile pulled up into a smirk when he released his hold on her wrists, and, supporting her back with a wide, splayed hand, spun her around and under the spray. She cried out, her screech turning to a delightful laugh as Killian relented on his teasing and moved her out from under the cooling spray.

“Are you going to be a good Omega now?” Killian teased, rising up onto the ball of his feet and making sure she could feel him hot and hard inside of her.

“Yes,” Emma gasped. She ran her hands over Killian’s forehead, pushing his water flattened hair away from his face and grabbing a fistful of it with shaky hands.

“Are you sure?” Killian ground out, watching the minute muscle movements across her face as he rolled his hips into her again.

Emma bit her bottom lip and nodded feebly. “Yes, Alpha.”

“You won’t get my knot if you don’t,” Killian lied casually, smirking devilishly.

“No, please!” Emma whined, tightening her grip on him even more. The heels of her feet dug into his spine but he ignored the pain that ripped through him back because it pulled him impossibly deeper inside of her. “I promise, just please fuck me.” Her words were so quiet but Killian heard them as clear as day over the sound of the shower.

“Not here,” Killian said gruffly and when he reached to turn the water flow off, the realisation of his words sunk in.

Her heart dropped. She was so close to taking his knot she could practically feel it stretching her entrance, giving her what would naturally come next, but Killian had ripped it away with two little words. The look she gave him was one of pure betrayal and just when she was about to protest his actions and remind him of his promise, he was pushing open the cubicle door and the cold air was slamming into her like a freight train.

Sure footed steps carried them out of the bathroom, still intimately connected, his cock pulsing inside of her with as much protest for the pause as the Omega in his arms. Killian barged furniture right out of the way as he navigated the lounge, eyes closed and lips of her skin, promising her with more than words that she would get what she desired. He licked at her neck, her scent gland spiking and tempting him once more, a haze making his head spin with how hard he was fighting her body’s invitation, and almost causing both of them to topple over.

He dug his fingernails into the flesh of her behind, holding her to him, making sure she couldn’t get away from him even if she wanted to. Her slick made him falter a few times as he fought to keep himself seated inside her where her muscles massaged his length in just the right way, but eventually, he made it across the expanse of the apartment and with an echoing thump, slammed Emma into the freezing pane of glass that overlooked the city lights below. Skin still wet, she slipped across the pane, her skin instantly pulling tight with the shock of the sudden contact, her core clenching around his cock.

“Oh, love,” Killian gasped into her shoulder, her unexpected muscle spasm forcing him to hold her aloft with one hand whilst he pounded a flat palm into the tinted glass beside her head.

“You like that, Alpha?” Emma smiled salaciously and clenched around him again. She watched the muscle in his jaw tick with pride and when he lifted his head, roused by her fingers threading through his wet, jet black locks, not even the sunlight could chase away the feral twilight in his eyes. Emma grinned, knowing the answer immediately.

Killian tore her from the surface of the window and Emma yelped. He was more forceful than he had ever been with her before and she enjoyed it, revelled in it, wanted him to hold her down and fuck her into next week, so when he spun them around and dropped to his knees, holding her to him so she felt secure, Emma let out a purr of delight. Killian’s cock slipped out of her and she whined at the loss but his smirk told her that it wouldn’t be for long. He positioned her on a soft fireside rug that she hadn’t noticed when she arrived yesterday evening, the fibres soft like silky fur caressing the skin of her back. Emma welcomed Killian back between her thighs, practically pouting at him when he towered over her again, a slight apology in his eyes for the roughness of their shower departure.

“Are you ready for my knot now, Omega? Killian growled, thrusting himself back into her and enjoying the fresh wave of slick her body graced him with as she stiffened beneath him. He brushed his hand over her brow as she nodded, wiping the wet hair out of her face and watching her face contort with pleasure that he knew only he could give her. “Because, love, if you aren’t going to get it.”

“Fuck, yes,” Emma hissed.

She hitched up her knees, aided by a push from Killian. She needed more of him, every inch in every direction, stretching her to the limits of her pleasure. His head in the crook of her neck made her shiver and when he bit down on the round edge of her shoulder, teeth scraping her flesh with just a tad of hesitation, her nails dug into the flesh of his back, marking a new line parallel to his spine. It made him grunt, his hips rutting her into the floor, the rug offering very little cushioning for his amorous thrusts, but she loved it.

The rug was soaked, her body reacting to him with every cant or roll of his hips. One of his hands found the curve of her hip, holding her still, taking his own pleasure must faster now that the soft whimpers coming from her mouth had turned in the breathless screams. Her name and his title fell from her lips over and over, spurring him on, and with one final push, his knot slipped inside of her and tied them together, his rut and her heat colliding in the most beautiful eruption of colour behind both their eyes.

Killian clenched his jaw so tightly as he came, sending wave after wave of come deep inside of her, not a second thought as to any of the consequences. As far as he was concerned, in that moment, with or without the mark of him on her neck, she was his. His.

“Mine,” he panted, nudging his nose into the side of her face.

In the hazy aftermath of her orgasm, Killian felt all of Emma’s aches and heat related pains fade away. She was happy, really happy, and the smile on her face was the unlike one he had ever seen before; and he’d done that. She was radiant and he couldn’t think of a thing he wouldn’t do for her. She meant everything and as her heavy eyelids fluttered open and she looked up at him with the green eyes he had fallen in love with so hard, he couldn’t help but smile back.

“Emma, I-,” he began but she cut him off, her hands on each side of his face and her words making his stomach fall away into oblivion whilst simultaneously swelling his heart like a balloon.

“I love you too.”

Chapter Text

She loved him. Emma really loved him.

The comfortable silence that fell between them was like being put in a bubble, the safe place only they had access to, and the outside world banned from ever entering. Killian hadn’t been able to stop himself smiling at Emma’s revelation, one that had taken him pleasantly by surprise. He knew how he felt, and he had already told her as much, but he knew it wouldn’t be easy for Emma to admit how she felt, and he was okay with that. Her circumstances were a lot more complicated. At the very least, she was married.

Maybe telling her was too bold and had put her in a difficult position, but Killian had known deep down in his heart that his feelings for her, however frightening, were mutual. He could tell by the way she laughed, by the way she had a glow about her that had steadily grown brighter as they had spent more time together, and by the way that when he was due to leave her, she had become increasingly despondent. It broke his heart to leave her each time, and he was sure that now he knew she was Omega, his soul wouldn’t handle it if he had to leave her forever.

Graham Humbert was vile and Killian hated the man even more now than when he had first met him. A lot had changed since then, of course, but the one thing he still had in his favour was that he was legally Emma’s husband. Killian couldn’t deny how much that filled him with fury, knowing that Graham, the most ungrateful swine to ever walk the Earth, had a piece of paper that said, for all intents and purposes, he owned Emma. Emma wasn’t owned, she wasn’t property, and Killian knew just how to prove it.

Once his knot had receded enough, and Killian was content with the amount of time he had kissed Emma as she lay underneath him, he had gathered her up in his arms and taken her back to the shower. This time he had made sure she was looked after, steady hands and nimble fingers rubbing and massaging every inch of her skin and hair, washing away dried on slick and totally refreshing her. He had worn her out and it showed. Every one of her arm and leg muscles was tight, contracted to within an inch of its life, but as he kneaded the knots out of her, the permanent smile on her face told him she didn’t mind one bit.

At some point, Killian knew they would have to have a conversation addressing all of her earlier questions. The biggest worry on his mind was how he explained marking. For him it was easy. An Alpha could mark an Omega with her permission, and until one did, her body would beg for it, her subconscious making her say and do all sorts of things to entice the Alpha in. Killian wanted nothing more than to mark her and show the world that she was his, but there was still the rather gargantuan issue of Graham Humbert.

Her husband didn’t care for her; he couldn’t. What kind of man left his wife so unsatisfied that she yearned for the touch of another? What kind of man dared to lay hands on the woman he had sworn to love until death do they part? Killian hated thinking about the Humbert’s, and he wished he had never set eyes on the man Emma had married, but if Graham had never been such a bastard, Killian would have never met Emma. In a twisted conclusion, if Humbert had accepted his fate as a Beta and embraced it, Emma would have never needed Killian. Or maybe she would have. Killian didn’t know, but what he did know was that fate had brought them together when they both needed it to, and for that, he was forever grateful.

He’d carried her out of the shower bridal style and set her down on a fluffy, white towel he had stretched out across the black marble countertop beside the sink. Another appeared in his hand and he wrapped it around her, draping the soft cotton over her shoulders and rubbing down the length of her arms to dry her and chase away the shiver that had crept under her skin. He loved it, the little intimacy he was sure, judging by her reaction and the ever present smile plastered on her face, Emma hadn’t really experienced. Being Alpha was more than rutting and fucking and he for one loved the closeness that caring for Emma the way she deserved offered him.

“Thank you,” Emma said softly after a hum of appreciation. She could dry herself but it was nice to be doted on so fondly.

“You’re most welcome, love,” Killian smiled back, tightening the towel around her. He loved to watch her like this, loved to see her so unworried, but his eyes drifted to the cut under her right eye that had never really stopped bleeding since their first shower. He had tried to avoid it as much as possible as he had washed her, but now the heat of the spray had opened it back up and pink, watery trickle was running down her cheek. He frowned, his jaw muscles tightening under his stubble.

“What’s wrong?” Emma asked, concerned by the way his smile had suddenly faded.

“This,” Killian ground out. He lifted his hand and cupped her face, taking the weight of her head in his hands as he gingerly ran his thumb under the angry red swell that surrounded the split under her eye. “This needs a stitch.”

Emma pouted a little but she knew he was right. She nodded in agreement and pulled the towel around herself as Killian dropped into a crouch and pulled open a small cupboard underneath the sink. He fished around inside for a few seconds before reappearing again with a small plastic box in his hands, the lid popping open as he placed it on the countertop next to her.

“I’ll do my best not to hurt you,” Killian told her softly, using a finger to part the fabric band aids and medical tape as he tried to find the small self-adhesive strips that he would use to close the split.

“I know,” Emma said and to emphasize her words, she poked her hand out of her towel shawl and took his in hers, lifting it to her mouth and pressing a kiss to his palm.

Killian watched her and a loving smile pulling at the corner of his lips. Her lips were so soft and yet electrified his skin, causing all of his forearm hair to stand to attention. Emma’s hands snaked around his limb, holding onto it with a firm but gentle hold as Killian plucked one of the little white strips out of their packet and peeled off the backing strip. Emma gulped and he nodded at her reassuringly before moving the strip towards her cut, one arm free and the other guided by her. The first strip went on somewhat awkwardly and Killian laughed.

“Love, I think I need my hand back for this one.” He held up his hand, the back of another stitch already peeled off and the sterile stripe stuck to the tip of his finger. Emma knew this one would hurt because of the apology in Killian’s eyes, but nevertheless, she let go of his arm and sucked in a long, deep breath. “Breathe, alright?” Killian encouraged with a nod.

“Okay,” Emma agreed, nodding back. When Killian stuck one end of the strip to one side of her cut she winced and grabbed his arm to halt any more pulling of her skin. Killian stopped his movements instantly when he noticed her hesitation and met her worried gaze. “You said you wouldn’t hurt me,” she whimpered in anticipation of his question, her fingernails digging into his forearm.

“I need to pull the edges together and it might hurt for a second,” he told her honestly. He could tell by the way her expression changed that she knew he was right, and when she let go of his arm, Killian took a few long, deep breaths in an attempt to coax her into copying him. “On three,” he said firmly. “One, two…”

There was no three. Killian simultaneously pulled the strip and pushed up her cheek until the sides of her wound met, securing the strip in place as quickly as he could. Emma’s entire body jumped on the spot and her leg shot out and kicked his knee in response, pain throbbing through her cheek and her watery eyes wide with disbelief.

“Son of a bitch!” Emma cried, one hand covering her now stitched cut and the other shooting out in a mirrored action of her leg and slapping Killian across the face. The smack echoed in the tiled room and his head turned with the force of it. Emma immediately drew her hand back to cover her mouth with a gasp, her cheeks flushing red. “Oh my god, Killian, I’m sorry,” she said hurriedly, her heart hammering in her chest at the sight of him gritting his teeth.

“It’s quite alright,” he ground out, giving his head a shake and rubbing his jaw.

“I didn’t mean to,” Emma fussed, reaching out for him in more of an apology.

“I know,” he assured her, forcing a smile even though he had struggled to hear her over the ringing in his ears. He plucked her hand out of the air and dragged his lips across her palm, soothing the sting that had edged its way to her fingertips. “It’s just your body reacting to pain, your fight or flight response.”

“Wouldn’t I have had that before?” Emma frowned, cupping his jaw.

“Yes, but you wouldn’t have listened to it. Now you’re more in tune with who you really are, everything is more acute.” After a few seconds of her hand on his face the buzz in his ears faded out and it just left the throbbing in his neck from how hard Emma had slapped him. She was strong, he’d give her that, mentally and, as he had just learned, physically too.

“I’m so sorry,” Emma repeated, her cheeks turning pink.

“It’s alright, love, really,” Killian assured her again with a nod, his voice softer now the shock had left him. He pulled her into his arms and tightened his hold around her smaller frame in a crushing hug. Her drying hair stuck to the hook-like hairs on his chin when he turned his head to kiss her crown, but he quickly righted it by smoothing the hair back over the shape of her skull. “You’ve quite the right hook.” He smiled, impressed.

That made her laugh and Killian could see her relax, her shoulders slumping and the corners of her perfect lips ticking up into a smirk of agreement. She was still as fierce as she was a few days ago and he could see her sass brimming just under the surface, still ever ready and still very Emma. He got lost in her eyes when she looked up at him with nothing but love shining behind the green hues, real love that he wasn’t sure he had ever seen before, or would ever see again. And it was the best kind of pure love that was only for him. Emma might have been smiling in the photos he saw in the house she shared with Graham, but she wasn’t smiling until she was with him.

A shiver shook her entire body, her teeth chattering where she sat on the countertop to the side of the sink. Killian noticed immediately, rubbing the sides of her arms and then the tops of her legs, but underneath the towel, she was bone dry. Her hair, still wet and keeping her cold, needed to be dried. Killian grabbed another towel, a dark navy blue one, and laid it over the top of her head before gently massaging his fingers against the luxurious fibres in an attempt to soak up the excess water keeping the chill in her bones.

“Don’t you have a hairdryer?” Emma laughed, her head flopping from side to side with his rubbing.

“Whatever for?” Killian teased, one eyebrow jumping up on his brow.

Emma narrowed her eyes at him and simultaneously raked them over his features, trying to assess his mockery with a scoff. “Please! Like you don’t have a hairdryer.” She cast one more glance up at his own still wet but perfectly styled hair with curious fancy. “No, you definitely have a hairdryer,” she said confidently but Killian’s boyish smirk made her second guess herself.

“Do I?” He asked her playfully.

“Yes?” Emma said but the tone of her voice, jumping at the end, betrayed her reservation. “Do you?” She squeaked with laughter.

“I do,” Killian conceded, joining her in laughter. “But you must never tell my brother.”

“Well, I’ve only just learned you have a brother, so…” Emma’s words trailed off and for a second she simply took him in, wondering if his brother was just as handsome. “Is he an Alpha?” Emma asked inquisitively, pure wonder in her voice.

“Aye,” Killian said playfully, drawing out the word with a sideways glare. “He is.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Emma added quickly, noticing the flare of his nostrils and the way his hand on her thigh gripped a little tighter. She spread her legs, inviting him into the space by lightly tugging at the curve of his hips and he followed obediently. “I only have eyes for one Alpha.”

Killian’s hands skimmed up and over the curve of her knees, under the towel and along the length of her outer thigh, enjoying the way goosebumps rose under the pads of his fingers at his touch. She practically purred through her smile, her hands meeting behind his head and her fingers interlocking, forming a cradle for his skull. She pulled his face towards hers, his lips curving into a knowing smirk, his tongue darting out to taste her bottom lip just before she surged forward and inhaled him in her kiss. It wasn’t just her eyes that only had one Alpha in mind. Emma’s body was singing for him too already.

Killian kissed her back, aggressive and commanding, greedy hands tearing off her towel and grabbing at her flesh where he was assuredly leaving the indents of his fingernails as crescent-shaped blemishes against her skin that would be the closest thing to marking her he could get right now. Her tongue invited his inside her mouth and they danced around each other as her fingers grabbed at his hair, guiding the angle of his lips against hers. Her scent gland spiked, a new wave of her arousal mixing with her Omega scent, calling to the beast inside of him, and before Killian had time to react logically, his fingers were brushing over the gland in her neck to coax out more of the delicate aroma.

She put his head in a spin and the soft, breathy moans tumbling from Emma’s mouth as he skirted his kisses to the corner of her lips and along her cheek made his cock swell underneath the towel slung low on his hips. Her hands flattened out over the ridges of his shoulder blades, her head falling back into his awaiting hand, and his lips changed direction, peppering more kisses over her chin and along the side of her jaw.

“Only I can make you feel this way, Omega,” he growled against the underside of her jaw. One of his hands nudged between her thighs where he found her already sodden, and he grinned wickedly when her legs fell open and she whimpered his name. “Make you so, so, wet for me,” he cooed, his breath ghosting over her scent gland when he had reached the juncture of her neck.

Emma whined, quaking in his hold. Her body cried out for his bite, the only way she knew to quell the ache in her bones and the twist in her gut, even if she didn’t know how she knew it. Every second spent with Killian made something else in her body wake up and she was learning to listen to each whisper with vigour rather than fear. What was once the most terror-inducing thing to happen in her life had blossomed into such an insatiable need, one that had become like a drug, rendering her helpless and in need of Killian more than she ever thought possible. His kisses peppered her scent gland and she arched into him, the throbbing in her neck almost as painful as the ache between her thighs.

“Such a good girl,” Killian praised, grazing his teeth over her gland. “My good girl,” he growled.

“Yes,” Emma hissed. Her fingernails clawed into the back of his head and she felt the rumble of his groan down deep in her soul.

Killian’s hand between her thighs, coaxing the slick from her body, was like fire in her veins. The more he stroked, the hotter she became, a yearning for his knot burning her up from the inside. Emma had once thought she needed Killian because she needed an escape from the way she was a prisoner in her own life, but in reality, she had needed him like the oxygen she breathed. They had a connection that transcended time and space and without him, Emma felt like she would suffocate and die.

“You found me,” she whispered in a breathy pant, her voice almost inaudible. His lips on her skin made it almost impossible to comprehend what she was feeling, or how to properly convey what she needed him to know, but with a few targeted tugs against the edge of his towel, it was soon slipping off Killian’s hips and leaving him naked before her, letting him know exactly what she wanted from him.

“I’ll always find you,” Killian vowed and with his words, Emma was hoisted up into his arms, the towel she had been wrapped in also sliding to the floor. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around his waist, settling into his arms, clutching his face in her hands and making sure not an inch of his skin was spared from her feverish kisses. He spun them around to leave the bathroom, the motion making him dizzy, and he had to stop himself from falling forward with a powerful grip. “You’re my Omega now,” Killian promised protectively. “No harm will ever come to you as long as there is breath in my lungs and my heart beats strong in my chest.”

In the time it took Killian to declare his undying devotion, he had reached the bed once more and was settling Emma down in the most comfortable position he could find. Emma lay back without prompting, her knees falling open to create the inviting space between them that swirled with the scent of her arousal and made Killian giddy. His hands roamed her body, paying special attention to the tenderness of her breasts, warm, roughened palms cradling each before his tongue went to work tasting the skin of each nipple, peaked hard and more sensitive with every suck. A new contraction plagued Emma’s insides, seemingly pulling in both directions at once and the tearing sensation made her cry out in agony at the same time her back arched off the bed and into Killian’s touch.

“It hurts,” Emma whined, somewhat distracted by how intense her latest muscle spasm was. “Please, Alpha, make me better.”

There was no waiting around this time or wondering if or how he might hurt her. Killian surged up her body, pinning her to the bed with a firm hand on her hip and slipped his cock through her folds and into the cavernous warmth of her with a shudder. He would never get tired of the way Emma’s body reacted to his, the slight hesitation of her muscles at his girth less now that she knew what she was. Alphas and Omegas were made for each other, literally two bodies that fit together so perfectly there would be no other, Killian like the key that had unlocked an entirely new, and now free, Emma.

The second he was inside of her, Emma’s body began to quiver, her muscles shuddering along his length and pulling some of his seed out prematurely. Killian didn’t fight it, pushing harder into her until he felt the heat from her opening burning the base of his cock, the blood pulsing around his knot like a massage. Emma hardly noticed he had grunted in release, probably because he was still rock solid inside of her, her hips attempting the cant against him for more. Killian paused, stopping to regain his composure and to take in the sight of her, glorious and precious underneath him, his knot poking out of its sheath at the blissful smile across her lips.

“Your knot,” Emma begged and she reached down as far as she could to clutch at the fuzzy globes of his behind, her legs spreading impossibly wider in an attempt to fit more of him in.

“I know, Omega,” Killian soothed. He reached for the sheet, cast down the bed somewhere from his movements, and wiped it across Emma’s brow to mop up her heat-induced sweating, her serene smile gracing her face once more. “I just need a moment,” Killian ground out, his body betraying his words as his hips pulled back as far as her grip would allow and some of the mixture of her slick and his come dribbled out of her.

“Am I too much?” she teased, her nose brushing over the tip of his and a coy smirk playing across her lips now that her womb no longer felt the need to evacuate her body.

Killian chuckled and buried his face into the crook of her neck, nuzzling her scent gland so it released a little more of its intoxicating aroma. Emma’s arms were around him and she craned her neck towards him, enticing him, teasing him so much that Killian couldn’t help but run his tongue over the gland with a feral growl. His grip on her hip tightened and his fingernails broke the skin there as his resolution was tested, his nostrils flaring as he inhaled her scent and felt the effects instantly. He pulled back with the last thread of resolve he had left, sitting back on his knees between her spread legs and busying himself with tracing the faint, silvery stretch marks on her inner thighs to ground the inner beast.

“Am I?” Emma asked again, the tone of her voice betraying her anxiety. She tore her eyes from his, turning her head away with a blush as she attempted to hide.

“No, no, no, Omega,” Killian whispered with a patient shake of his head.

He knew her emotions were still wildly erratic, and one minute she would be up and the next down and the last thing he would ever want was for her to question how much she meant to him. Or how much he needed her just as much as she needed him. Killian’s hands skimmed up her torso, the fine sheen of heat-induced sweat covering her body clinging to his fingertips until he was able to hook a crooked finger under her jaw and coax her head back to his. Emma moved her head with very little resistance and looked up at him through her lashes.

“No,” Killian repeated firmly, cradling her chin in his hand so she couldn’t look away. “Never. You hear me. Never.”

“I’m sorry,” Emma whispered in a hushed voice. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

Killian cocked his head sideways. “Hey, why are you sorry?” Emma shrugged and Killian could see the water pooling in her eyes. “You’ve no need to apologize, love. Never apologize for who you are, not now you know,” he said a little louder, partly making sure she was hearing his words, and partly because of the rage he held for her so-called husband who he was sure was responsible for her apology in the first instance. “You’re the most delicate treasure any man would be lucky to find, and I for one am thanking the gods for every second I get to spend with you to show you just that.”

“You are?” The damn broke and a single tear rolled down Emma’s cheek when she blinked and it was pushed from her eyelids.

“Aye, you daft thing!” Killian quickly cupped her face in his hand, brushing away the wet streak marring her skin with the pad of his thumb before pressing his lips to hers. Emma’s lip quivered against his and Killian pushed harder, giving everything he had in a silent declaration of his love, his mouth sealing his promise where words might have fallen short. Emma kissed him back after a few seconds, whimpering, her hormones turning her body blazing hot beneath him.

Killian listened to her body as it sang its sweet song to him, his cock began to harden again, the strain of his knot starting to become painful. There would be no telling Emma, not in the state she was in, so he would have to show her. He sat back up, careful not to hurt her as he shimmied himself down off her body and pushed her legs together. Emma gave him a slightly confused stare before Killian bit his bottom lip and waggled his eyebrows playfully, encouraging her to roll over.

“Let me show you, darling,” Killian growled, feeling the shape of Emma’s calves under his hands as they floated up towards the globes of her behind, fingertips dancing over her skin and causing goosebumps in their wake.

If there was one thing Killian knew about Emma it was what made her feel good. During their many encounters, he had experimented, using her flexibility to his advantage to find the most intimate areas within her that would have Emma screaming his name. Of course, that was until he found out who Emma really was, what she was, and the anticipation of feeling her around him as he took her from behind now had him almost salivating with need.

His actions became a little rougher, his fingers slipping between the crease of her arse and pushing down to her centre, the greed for what lay there ingrained in his very soul. Hot, slippery slick mixed with his premature release coated his fingers and Killian could barely wait the second it took to lift his hand to his lips, tongue darting out to meet it halfway and lapping their essences up in an instant. He groaned out loud, the deep rumble of content accompanied by a grab of Emma’s behind to try and ground himself from the heaven he was busy enjoying so engagingly.

Without prompting, Emma lifted her hips higher, mewling, begging for more of him, any part of him, to quell the fire currently raging inside of her. Killian took his opportunity, surging forward and burying his face between her thighs, pushing them apart with the width of his face so he could lick her from clit to pulsating centre and savour the bounty her body had offered him so readily. She tasted exactly how she smelled, like the finest wine only he could taste, her heat causing every little touch, nibble and lick he was giving her to be amplified tenfold.

“So sweet,” he uttered, smacking his lips together. “You’re so fucking delicious, Omega.”

“Alpha,” Emma breathed, unable to focus on anything except his fingers prepping her for the girth of him. She wanted him - no, needed him - inside her now. “Please let me have it.”

Killian pulled back, quickly wiping the back of his hand across his mouth, biting his bottom lip as, with a firm slap, he sent Emma’s body crashing down on the bed once more. She let out a shriek of excitement, burying her face into the pillows, tossed askew by their activities, her whole body trembling and her heart pounding in her chest. Killian got her blood racing and since finding out she was Omega it had been like a light had been turned on, the way to her pleasure lit for him by the bloodborne torchbearers on every thump of her heart. She knew he could smell her blood, could smell her scent as it tore through her veins, luring him in and making him lose what little control he had left.

And she loved every second of it.

Killian climbed up over her, pinning her legs together with his own, his knees resting on either side of her thighs. He was panting, sweat dripping from the hair flopping over his brow onto Emma’s back where it practically sizzled away on the heat of her skin. Emma wiggled, enticing the beast inside of him with the promise of a chase she knew he would never have to carry out, but still loved the way it thrilled him into a frenzy. When Emma felt the tip of his length, hot and hard as it poked between her cheeks and nudged into her entrance, she felt a sudden relief, and when he was fully sheathed inside of her, she felt like she was floating.

“Alpha,” she whispered breathlessly, her world spinning. “Take me,” Emma begged, clenching her muscles in an attempt to get him moving. “Please make me come.”

The ferocious growl that Killian let out made her flush hot beneath him in anticipation of what he would do next. His hands on the small of her back braced his weight as he slipped out of her and then slipped back into her torturously slow with shaking hips. He was trying to keep his composure, caught between leaving her satisfied and easing her pain, but Emma’s body was crying out for quick and hard. Every Alpha had stamina, but the mark of a true Alpha was keeping cool under the thrall of an Omega in peak heat, enough to keep her sated as often as she needed him.

But by the Gods if Emma wasn’t making it the most difficult thing he had ever faced.

“Omega,” Killian warned gruffly, his voice deepened with desire. “You’re really hell-bent on ending me, aren’t you?”

Emma shot him a quick glance over her shoulder. “Only until I get what I want,” Emma smirked playfully.

Killian canted his hips harder, finding the deepest spot within her with a little more force than needed, making her gasp with exhilaration. “You are such a bad girl,” Killian purred darkly, the feel of her around him pulling him into oblivion. Emma whined at his words and Killian cloaked her in his weight, tucking one arm around and under her throat and holding her body still with the other. “And you like it a little rough, don’t you, sweet thing?”

His lips pressed to the side of her face felt like a brand on her skin, searing the shape of his smirk into the side of her face. His breath was hot, damp residue from his pants coating her already clammy skin, his cock rock hard inside her only just soothing the ache that threatened to burn her up from the inside. He pushed himself inside of her again and all of the air left her, the white behind her eyelids flashing brighter with every thrust, her body pressed harder into the bed as Killian doubled his efforts and she felt the pressure of his knot against her opening.

“Oh!” she breathed at the sudden sensation and her hand found the headboard, her nails clawing into the fabric.

“Oh, aye, love,” Killian growled darkly. He rearranged himself, broad hands holding her down, the thrill of doing so making his knot pop out of its sheath and his hips to stutter with his pace. “Here it comes, Omega,” he ground out. “Take my knot.”

With one last thrust, Emma was calling out his name and his title, fingers bunching the sheet in her hand as her body simultaneously stiffened and began to violently quake against Killian’s weight. He pressed inside harder as he came, loving the way Emma cried out in pleasurable pain as he made sure his knot was fully seated inside of her, blood engorging the bulb and making sure he wasn’t leaving the spot he loved the most any time soon. Killian tried to ignore the spike of scent from Emma’s gland, a task made easier by their position, but his hazy vision remained from the force of their union.

“Fuck, Emma,” Killian sighed breathlessly, his legs shaking.

“Oh my God,” Emma whimpered, the full force of her orgasm washing through her and leaving her a quivering mess.

Killian grinned boyishly, his forehead pressed to the uppermost ridge of her spine. With a chuckle he ground himself into her harder, snaking a hand between them and pulling her cheek aside so that he could make sure he was fully enveloped in her warmth, her muscles twitching and massaging the curvature of his knot bulb. He hissed when she tried to shift, pulling at his knot as she slid one leg across the sheets and grabbed his hand, pushing it down between her legs and using his fingers to prolong her pleasure.

“Mmmm,” Emma hummed with a note of serenity in her voice.

“You like that, love?” Killian purred. Her clit was slippery with slick and his digit glided over the hardened bundle of nerves effortlessly when he followed her prompt. “You want a little more from your Alpha?”

“I just want to feel like this a little longer,” Emma pouted.

“Like what?” Killian asked softly, slowing his stroking to a steady rhythm that had Emma’s heart picking up in her chest. “Like this?”

Emma sighed, her head spinning as her already spent body became more and more primed under his assault. Killian rolled them over, careful not to hurt her as he settled them on their sides and his hand continued the friction between her legs that threatened to set her on fire. Emma bit down on her bottom lip so hard her skin turned white, her eyes fluttering closed as she nodded. It was all she could do, her muscles already twitching around his knot as another orgasm crept up on her and her body began the now familiar dance of yearning for the pleasure she had only ever felt since meeting Killian.

Killian tucked his chin into the juncture of her neck, letting the scent of her invade his senses as he inhaled her. His teeth grazed over the gland there, sending his head into a spin and causing him to quicken the pace he had set with his fingers when he realised she was close. He alternated between pushing on her clit and rubbing it from side to side, the filthy sounds Emma was making as she begged for more sending his stomach dropping away from him, and the beast inside to come back out to play.

“I want more,” Emma whined. Her fingers wrapped around his wrist, guiding him harder and faster on the slippery nub.

“There is no more,” Killian growled into her hair. “You already have my knot, Omega.”

Emma let out a whimper, almost a sob at the fact she couldn’t have his knot again so quickly, but she should have known that Killian wouldn’t leave her disappointed. He lifted her leg over his hip, opening the apex of her thighs for him and exposing her red hot clit to the cooler air of the room, something that made Emma gasp. He canted his hips, forcing his knot bulb harder into her until he felt the spongy front walls of her cavern twitch from the contact, and resumed the torture on the bundle of nerves between her legs, pushing himself impossibly deeper each time he heard Emma cry out his name until she had no words and was shaking in his arms from another climax.

He relaxed a little, easing his hold on her as much as he could without pulling against his knot, his hands skimming over her hips lovingly and his kisses following suit, quick pecks to her skin to soothe the adrenaline of extra stimulation.

“Emma, love,” he panted but he had no other words, despite needing to say and promise so much to the Omega beside him, but he hoped, as he pressed his lips to the sweaty ridge of each bump of her spine in a soothing kiss, she understood exactly what he intended to say.

“I know, Alpha,” Emma muttered, emotion clogging up her throat. She reached an arm behind her head and threaded her fingers through the length of his messy hair, soaked with sweat and jet black, gently guiding his lips back to her skin, craning her neck with a smirk when he peppered kisses over the skin behind her ear. “I love you too, Killian Jones.”

--

Graham Humbert did not need to be interrupted. He had been hounded all day at work with frivolous tasks he most definitely was sure he paid other people a lot of money to make sure never crossed his desk, and then he had had to listen to his father reprimand him about how he had let his wife, a ‘prized omega’, go. Like Graham had tried to explain to his hot-headed Alpha father, no one let Emma do anything; she was, and always would be, her own person, regardless of if the Humbert Alphas thought they owned her.

God, he hated family sometimes, but not as much as the incessant chime of the doorbell and the fact he had sent all the help home earlier than planned and had to interrupt his brooding to answer the door himself. The tips of his ears burned with rage, but as soon as he pulled open the door a little harder than necessary, they cooled instantly and a new ire overwhelmed him.

“Mother?” Graham said, his voice full of annoyed surprise that he couldn’t hide.

“Well, don’t just stand there,” the older woman scoffed, breezing right through the doorway and passed a dumbstruck Graham. "Invite your mother in."

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Graham enquired, closing the door behind his mother and following her into the lobby. The sound of her heels clicking against the floor made his ears hurt and he pinched his brow in frustration. "And so late in the day too," he uttered under his breath.

"Can't a mother visit her son without all the suspicion?" Diana Humbert smiled the same sickly sweet, fake smile she had always done when he was growing up and Graham thought he might throw up. "You're right," she conceded, fixing the strap of her purse that had flipped itself over and began creasing the sleeve of her very expensive jacket. "I’m not here to see you. I've come to see Emma."

Graham clenched his jaw at his wife's name, the bruises on his knuckles beginning to itch at the mere thought of her. "Can I ask why?" Graham wasn’t sure if his father had made time to tell his wife what had happened and his mother was being intentionally deceptive, or she really had no idea. Considering his father’s rarity for spending any sort of casual time with his wife, Graham figured the latter was probably the case.

"Never you mind that!" Diana laughed, her perfectly quaffed hairstyle not moving a single iota when she tossed her head back and the sound tumbled from her highly glossed pink lipstick covered lips. "Just ladies things." Her laughter died off and she cast a quick glance around the deserted lobby of the Humbert mansion but found no sign of Emma anywhere. "Now, be a dear and fetch that pretty young thing of a daughter in law for me, would you?"

Chapter Text

Emma couldn’t sleep. Even in sleep, her body was torturing her. A wave of slick between her legs and the full body sweat that had been happening every hour or so had left her with such a chill that even curling herself up into a small ball and nuzzling into the sleeping Alpha next to her wasn’t enough to warm her up. She could tell by the way his hold on her had relaxed that Killian was asleep, but as if he could subconsciously know from her shivering that she needed him, he had pulled her to him with a firm grip that had a sigh of relief leaving her slightly parted lips. Even unable to sleep, Emma felt surprisingly rested, but there was a niggling sensation inside of her that had grown steadily more aggravating as the night had gone on, and something that she couldn’t ignore anymore.

Nesting. She’d heard about it before but had no idea what it actually meant, not until now at least. Emma’s entire being was overcome with the need to create a safe place for offspring she neither had nor intended to have, and the feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach at not having such a safe place was slowly eating away at her. She couldn’t explain it, just knew she needed to find somewhere to nest, somewhere full of blankets and warmth, somewhere safe and within proximity to her mate. Compounding her confusion was the fact that the Alpha’s whose arms she was currently wrapped up in, was neither her mate or her current husband. Logically, Emma knew what that meant, but it seemed being in heat had no room for logic, just raw, feral lust and lovemaking.

Maybe a hot drink might make her sleepy because God only knows all the sex hadn’t. Lifting Killian's arm with a little resistance, she slipped out of his grasp and to the edge of the bed, despite her body screaming at her to remain. He snorted a little and Emma was noticing for the first time that he snored, her hearing being more acute now her heat had hit. It was cute and for a second she felt like a normal person, with a normal boyfriend, and a part of her just wished that she could forget about the other side. She looked down, the expensive ring on her finger almost blinding, even in the darkness, the weight of it was ever present, strangling her, and Graham’s last stand to keep her a prisoner in a loveless marriage.

Her thumb toyed with the band and it slipped around her finger until the huge diamond was sitting near her palm. It was significant, the last binding tie to a husband who didn’t want her but wouldn’t let her go, but whereas old Emma would have simply smiled and let the world put her down because she had become accustomed to the life being a Humbert afforded, new Emma, Omega Emma, saw it as nothing but a cheap trinket with no other value than its worth in weight. Silently, she gave it a little tug, removing it with such ease she would be remiss to not see it as a sign of some sort. Emma let the ring sit on the bedside table, where she didn’t care if it got lost, discarded and worthless, mirroring exactly how being a Humbert made her feel.

Another soft snore from Killian roused her from her reverie and she looked over her shoulder at the Alpha slumbering beside her. He was perfect, really, in every sense of the word. She didn’t have to tell him how she was feeling, or what she needed at any given moment. Killian just knew. He knew how to make her smile and how to make her laugh, truly laugh, as she had never before, and he did it all with minimal effort, by just being himself. If they had just crossed paths any other way things might be different, but with a sigh, Emma resigned herself to the fact she would probably never truly know what it was like to be loved by him forever, and the pain in her heart was the most palpable thing she had ever felt.

Something, somewhere in the back of her mind, thought it would be a good idea to do something nice for him for a change. Killian had done so much already. He’d taken her in when she had nowhere else to go, and for that, at least, she would be forever grateful, but despite having been waited on for most of her miserable life, Emma wasn’t totally inept at everything. She made a mean breakfast, something Graham had always been too busy to appreciate the effort of, so, at least while she had a respite from her agonizing cramps and constant sweating, again thanks to Killian, Emma thought it a good idea to surprise him. Only, once she had made it to his kitchen, Emma realised that Killian was a man of little utensils and even fewer ingredients.

Pushed right to the back of his cupboard she found some eggs, and after floating them a glass of water to assess their buoyancy and therefore freshness, she decided to whip him up a quick breakfast omelette, seasoned mainly with salt, pepper and some green onions she had also found lurking in the refrigerator. The sun had just begun to force its way through the clouds outside and was spilling through the curtains, tickling the back of her legs with heat as she scooted around the kitchen, singing a song she had long forgotten the words to silently in her head. Almost finished with the food, she made sure it was presented as nicely as she could on a plate, before setting a little note beside it that simply said, ‘x’ in case he was to rise before she returned. Emma just needed to take care of one thing she had neglected in favour of not waking Killian, and that was the call of mother nature.

God, she really needed to pee.

With a skip in her step, Emma made it all the way to Killian’s bathroom without making a single sound that might wake him. She was just about done when she heard him stirring, loving the way her hearing was heightened now and she could finally make sense of the world which had been so muted before. She smiled to herself, hanging behind the door in an attempt to surprise him, hoping he would find the breakfast she had prepared before she would need to appear. When she heard him walking around the apartment, she slowly opened the door as quietly as she could, stalking barefoot into the lounge area where she knew Killian would be about to find her gift in the kitchenette.

However, as she approached as silently as she could, the stiffness in his shoulders and clenched fists at his side sent dread dropping into her gut, and caused all of the colour to drain from her face. Killian was almost frantic, pacing the lounge with a frown and his sleep messed hair sticking out in all directions, the little love note she has left now a crumpled piece of paper in his hand. Instinctively she knew something was wrong, but didn’t know what, or how to fix it, her inner Omega instantly clawing to the surface and telling her that the Alpha in front of her needed her more than she needed him right now.

“Killian?” She tried tentatively and he stopped his pacing, head snapping up to where she stood, eyes blackened with a fury she had never seen before. He blinked a few times and the storm behind his blue eyes faded a little, but the flare of his nostrils and the way the muscles of his jaw moved as he ground his teeth, gave away his ire.

“Where were you?” He demanded darkly.

“I…,” Emma began, unable to find the words, instead motioning to the bathroom with a raised arm and pointed finger. “I had to pee.”

When she looked back to where he stood, Killian was in front of her much closer than before, bare chest heaving at eye level as he attempted to steady his breath. Had he even noticed he was naked? Emma’s eyes roamed down his body, to the steady rise and fall of his abdomen where his wiry hair was still entangled from her slick, to his cock, the thoughts of which made her mouth water. With a breath she never knew she needed, Emma’s lips parted and she lifted her gaze back to Killian’s, the muscles of his jaw still ticking under his lightly scuffed jaw, and her ability to swallow at the sight rendering her speechless once more.

Her body, however, decided that that moment, in particular, was perfect to release a wave of slick and begin its yearning for the Alpha in front of her. Tiny beads of sweat dotted her brow and her cheeks began to tint with pink, her submissive nature causing every part of her naked body to sweat and twist with agonizing cramps in an attempt to coax out Killian’s soothing Alpha nature, only, where his eyes had once been filled with nothing but love, Emma saw something else there now. Something darker. Something far more primal than she had ever seen before, and whilst a part of her was petrified of the way Killian was staring into her very soul with a visible mixture of rage and relief, a part of her was eager to find out what it meant.

“Omega,” he rasped, fingers flexing into a fist once more.

“I’m sorry,” Emma blurted, averting her eyes away from his like a scalded dog. “I just wanted to make you something to eat.” Emma pointed to the kitchen and Killian followed her gaze, noticing the plate of egg for the first time, his features softening a little. She tentatively took a step towards the counter where she had left the food and he had found the note now screwed up in his hand, gently pushing it into his view. “I thought-.”

“I thought you’d gone,” Killian explained, seemingly shaking his head in an attempt to quell his misplaced fear-induced anger. He held up the note so she could see he’d read it. “I thought this was goodbye.”

“Never,” Emma breathed and he was at her side immediately.

He was clearly still duelling with himself inside, one hand pushing through his ruffled raven locks and the other pawing at his beard. Emma stepped back and without even realising it, she had made her way into the kitchen, her back colliding with the refrigerator. The sound drew his attention and he looked her up and down, eyes blown wide with adrenaline and lust, his tongue starting out to wet his lips in memory of her taste as he stalked towards her.

"Are you okay, Killian?" Emma asked in a tiny voice. The way he was looking at her made her core clench, the ripple of need travelling all the way up her spine.

"Alpha," he corrected her with an edge to his tone that had her body releasing another wave of slick. He swayed in closer to her, suffocating her with the fog of desire that had enveloped him, one of his hands toying with some strands of her hair that rested on her bare shoulders, whilst he inhaled the scent of her like a beast. "I'm your Alpha."

"Alpha," Emma breathed, her words ghosting over his lips that were so close she could almost taste them.

When she looked up from his lips, her eyes meeting his once more, Killian surged forward and captured her mouth in a kiss that left her longing no more. He was frenzied, one hand stroking her hair from her face and the other caging her under him, his hips and impressive erection pinning her to the gently vibrating appliance. Emma ate up his grunts, her tongue meeting his, neck tilted so far back she couldn't breathe, fingernails clawing the front of his thickly haired chest like she was trying to get to the bones of him. She needed him, the sudden urge to taste him overcoming her, and she nipped his bottom lip, giving the flesh a tug between her teeth until he grunted.

Killian winced and pulled his lips from hers in surprise, his fingers dabbing at the throbbing flesh to check for blood, Emma simply giving him a salacious smirk that seemed to fuel the fire within him. He growled a raw animalistic sound that had slick running down her legs, before he bent at the knees, grabbed her arse, and hoisted her into the air. Emma wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, her fingers slipping on Killian’s sweat there, her nails digging into his skin when he slammed her into the refrigerator.

“You’re a naughty, Omega,” he purred. “Testing an Alpha in full rut.” In the position they were in, the tip of his cock brushed through her folds, slick covering him, the smell of her opened up to him making him salivate. “And you’re already so ready for my knot.”

Emma whimpered, her forehead pressed to his as she inhaled his words. “Yes, Alpha,” Emma cooed, lightly clawing his face. “I need you.”

“Oh, you’re going to get me, darling,” Killian breathed huskily against her lips. “I’m going to fuck you so deep and make you feel every single inch of me…”

Emma whined when he let her slip down the fridge, impaling her a little more on his waiting cock, his mouth covering her for a hungry kiss that gave her a promise of what was to come. Killian let her moan into his mouth, the feel of her around his cock a welcome warmth that had the feral beast calmed for a second, his eyes rolling back in his head as his knot bulb vibrated with its yearning to be inside of her.

“And then?” Emma challenged cheekily, her eyes fixed on her finger tracing the corner of his smirk.

“You know,” he purred darkly.

Killian reached down under her, taking himself in hand and giving his cock a few lazy strokes, his already enveloped tip brushing against the insides of her most intimate area, the muscles of her core dragging him deeper. He was already rock hard, precum oozing from his tip, his rut now in full force, the need to claim and mate so overwhelming he could barely think of anything else. His eyes left hers for a second and he brushed his fingers over the scent gland at the juncture of her neck and collarbone, the small raised bump giving off her scent, receptive and wanton in his arms.

Emma swallowed hard, the cramps in her stomach turning to a familiar tingle when Killian ground his teeth as he held back, the muscles along his jawline flexing under the light, ruddy speckled scruff there. She arched her back against the refrigerator and he was fully inside her, her warmth clutching to his girth despite her slick keeping her soaking wet, a silent gasp gracing her lips.

Killian had no time to let her adjust, his inner beast crying out for the feel of her as he moved. He pulled his hips back and slammed into her, the bulb if his knot beginning to appear from its sheath at the sensation, his grunt of exertion like music to her ears. Emma writhed, her need overriding everything, dirtily rolling her hip against him, taking her pleasure as best she could in time with his thrusts, the pink tint to her cheeks and sweet beaded brow only making her more beautiful.

"Fuck, Omega," Killian grunted. He grabbed the top of the refrigerator for leverage, reaching up on his tiptoes in order to get deeper inside of her. "My filthy little girl likes my big Alpha cock doesn't she?"

Emma whimpered her reply, her thighs burning from her attempts to ride him.

"I'm going to give you what you need, my sweet," Killian promised. "But you must be a good girl."

"I'll do anything," Emma pleaded.

Without warning Killian grabbed onto her body, spinning them around and setting Emma on the countertop, his cock slipping out of her and making her groan in anguish. Her eyes fluttered open and Killian was staring at her, the darkness behind his eyes sending another ripple through her and a wave of fresh slick exiting her body in response. His hand was around his cock, long, slow strokes meant to drive her insane, teasing her, his stare growing feral when she reached between her legs to ease the ache there.

"Ah ah," Killian growled, grabbing her wrist. "You forget your place, Omega," he purred, loosening his grip on her delicate joint. "My title, love, I need you to say it."

Emma looked up at him through her lashes, a pout on her lips making way for a wry smile as she blinked slowly, her tongue licking her lips. "Alpha," she purred, rotating her wrist so she could grab his, pulling him to her, shoving two of his fingers inside of her without preamble or restraint. "You're my Alpha. Only you can give me what I need."

"Aye," Killian hissed, curling his fingers inside of her. "That's it, my hungry Omega."

Emma was overwhelmed. His hand inside of her whilst the other fondled her breast set every nerve ending alight, her entire being screaming out for more of him. She grabbed his head and kissed him, hard and rough like she might never gain, the twitch of his cock against her leg making her even more desperate for him. Killian kissed her back, teeth clashing and tongues dancing, the scent of the effect he was having on her as addictive as he knew she tasted.

"I need to taste you," he sighed breathlessly, reluctantly pulling his lips from hers.

Emma's reply was nothing but a nod and she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck and Killian lifted her into the air. Strong, purposeful steps took them from the kitchen to the lounge, where Killings navigated the furniture like a professional, twisting her in his grasp and setting her down, giving her a gentle push until she was bending face down over the back of the couch. Emma's feet barely touched the floor but Killian held her steady, one hand splayed out over the base of her spine, fingernails lightly scratching her skin to arouse her even more.

"There we go," he rasped huskily, spreading her legs apart even more with a gentle tap from his feet. The smell of her almost knocked him out, thick, clear slick dripping from her and pooling at his feet, and he wasted no time dropping to his knees behind her and diving tongue first into her cunt.

Emma stiffened at the sensation, his tongue impossibly hotter than her core, the muscles clenching and desperately trying to see him in more. She sucked in a huge breath, breasts flattened against the back of the couch but seemingly stimulated beyond comprehension, Killian hands gently parting her cheeks as he fed on her like a man possessed. She felt him growl into her, teeth scraping over her inner thigh and fingers scooping out more of her essence, the taste of his own from the night before still lingering inside of her and coating his tongue with each eager lick.

"Alpha, please," Emma begged, her hands fisting the couch cushions to relieve some of her frustrations at being worked so hard.

"Say it," Killian demanded darkly, licking the length of her swollen sex with a broad, flat stroke of his tongue.

"Please, Alpha, give me your knot," Emma whimpered. She wiggled her arse, but Killian was quick to stop her, giving the bouncy globes a firm slap.

He shot to his feet, a low rumbling growl emanating from his chest, making Emma squeak in excitement. Killian stepped between her parted legs, fingers roughly testing the wetness of her before grabbing his cock at the bulbous base, lining himself up with her entrance, and pushing into her with a force that had her crying out his title.

"Alpha!" Emma screamed, all of the breath leaving her lungs. Swallowing became difficult, her entire body paralyzed to his forceful thrusts, the girth of him stretching her apart in such a delicious way, she couldn't stop the shudder that tore through her.

"Aye, Omega, that's it," he grunted, fingernails digging into the flesh of her hips as he pulled her back onto his cock. "Take your Alpha's cock," he purred darkly, his voice like a shadow in her ears.

The rate at which his hips were pistoning into her was nothing like she had felt from him before. Killian was different, like a possessed thing with just one goal in mind, to drive her to absolute madness using just his body. His erection was impossibly harder than anything she had felt inside of her, a scorching hot presence that was simultaneously easing all her ills and tearing her apart with fire. Emma's feet barely touched the ground, the tips of her toes brushing the floor, scrambling for leverage. Killian's pounding certainly caused more than one bruise to appear on her body. She didn't care. Emma would wear them like trophies because where Graham's attack had left her with purple marks across her face that would fade with time, Killian's would only be seen by them and would remind her of his love every single day.

Lost in her pleasure, Emma hardly had time to react when Killian skimmed his hands up her back, sweat dripping from his brow into her skin, and hooked his arms under her armpits, yanking her upright and pulling her back flush against his chest. She gasped, the softness of his chest hair in contrast to the hardness of his nipples as they pressed into her skin like knives, one arm laid across her chest to hold her to him whilst the other slipped between her legs to fondle her clit.

"I'm going to breed you so fucking deep," he growled dirtily into her ear. Emma whimpered involuntarily, sagging against his body. "You'd like that, wouldn't you, my sweet girl?" Killian canted his hips again and Emma felt all of him push inside of her right up to his knot bulb, every ridge of him touching every ridge inside of her and making her nod her reply.

Killian pulled out of, spun her around and lifted her off the floor, setting her down in the back of his couch. Emma had little time to whine over the loss of him before he was stepping between her legs and filling her up once more, stopping her from falling backwards by holding her legs around his waist and making sure his cock was firmly where it needed to be. Emma looked up at him, a satisfied smile upon her lips.

"Alpha," Emma cooed, trailing a single finger through the hairs on his chest, keeping his eye contact the whole time. "I'm yours, now and forever."

Killian cupped her head in his hands and pulled her lips to his. His kiss was like fire in her mouth, burning her up from the inside, his tongue running along the ridges of her teeth as she grinned. Emma clenched her core muscles, enjoying the full feeling having him inside of her gave her, his slight unmanly gasp of surprise sending a shiver rippling over her flesh. He looked down at her, his darkened state boring right into her soul, the possessive animal inside of him overwhelming dominant.

"Mine," he rasped, ghosting his hands over her thighs. "You're mine, love, all mine."

He hoisted her up into the air, holding her to him as he spun them around, his feet falling sure and steady as he made his way across the room. Emma's lips were on his again, nails clawing through the scruff on his cheeks, making sure she didn't miss a single one of his moans, so distracted she didn't realise his intentions until her back was pressed against the floor to ceiling windows and the cold shocking her into reality.

"Oh my God," Emma panted. Her head lolled back against the glass and Killian's mouth was on her scent gland, sucking against the raised area to extract more of the heavenly aroma of her body crying out for his.

"I'm going to fuck you against this window so everyone can see you're mine, Omega," he growled, scraping his teeth over her scent gland. Emma arched into his touch, the cold of the window not even enough the cool the blaze named Killian currently working her up. "I could mark you right now," he grunted, his fingers brushing over her gland.

“Do it,” Emma breathed, her head spinning.

Killian clamped his teeth together so hard they began to hurt, the pain travelling up to his head, throbbing behind his eyes.

“Oh, you have no idea how much I want to,” he ground out.

“Do it,” Emma repeated, a husk in her voice that had him stalling his thrusts, lifting his head and looking her dead in the eye.

Killian searched her face for any hint of hesitation, but there was none, her words sobering him and quelling his rut induced lust. Even in full rut he knew marking was a huge deal, especially for someone who had only recently discovered who they were. He swallowed hard, his Alpha side forcing his gaze back to her scent gland, the turmoil inside of him only growing. He wished he could mark her, wished it with everything he had in the world, but the ring on his bedside table that he had spied when he awoke had him restraining himself.

“Here,” Emma insisted, drawing his attention to her bosom by grabbing her breasts. She kneaded them playfully, giddy on his masculine scent, a salacious smirk spreading over her lips when she heard him whimper. “Mark me here,” she panted.

Killian needed no more invitation. He ducked his head, cock hardening even more inside of her as he bit down on her nipple, his tongue quickly soothing the area when she cried out. He looked up and grinned wickedly, diving back down and nuzzling under the swell, his lips planting delicate kisses on her flesh until he reached the side of her breasts. At his ministrations, Emma’s body released a new wave of slick, the sweat on her back sticking her to the glass, Killian’s rapid thrusts resuming as he nibbled the super sensitive skin on the side of her breast.

“I quite like an Omega who knows what she wants,” he teased, licking the salty skin and enjoying the way his muscles ached deep down in his soul for more of her taste.

Before she had time to respond he was biting her, sinking his fangs into the delicate flesh, their points sharpened by being in full rut. In surprise, Emma stiffened in his arms but her body’s reaction to him was instant, wave after wave of slick coating both of them, her fingers diving into his hair and holding his mouth to her skin. The mark stung initially, but the sharp scratching sensation faded away and a new, blissful release overtook her as she came, her body going limp in his arms. Her mind went blank, a deafening buzz ringing in her ears, her thighs shaking against his hips and the feel of him inside her only loosening with how much slick her body was producing.

She needed more of him, the entirety of his length and his knot, every hot, aching inch of him buried deep inside of her, making her come again. She wanted to come on his knot like she needed it to survive, her existence without it, without him, so cruel and twisted with irony. She had a husband who would never be her Alpha and an Alpha who could never be her husband. She would be an Omega all her life but claimed by no one.

“I want your knot now,” Emma coughed out, her own arousal choking her.

“Oh, my Omega does, does she?” Killian teased, pushing up into her so that she could feel his now exposed knot pressing into her entrance.

“Yes,” Emma hissed, the syllable slithering off her tongue. “Please,” she pleaded. “I want to come again.”

“Aye, love,” Killian soothed, imagining the feel of her around his knot as she came on him, because of him. He let her slide down the glass to ease the ache in his cock, her hungry core slipping around his now full exposed knot. “I’d like that too.”

His legs began to shake, the warmth of her muscles around his knot causing a far harsher involuntary thrust, the way she screamed out his name as he pushed his knot inside of her causing all of his resolve to fade. The angle was perfect, the glass holding her steady for him as he rammed into her, teasing her with the stretch of his knot, waiting for the perfect time that her muscles contracted around him to signify her orgasm. The feverishness of her, and her muscles pulling him deeper each time was almost too much to bear, and Killian lashed out, slamming a clenched fist into the window right next to her head, but rather than be afraid of the glass moving under his assault, Emma seemed even more turned on, her hands gripping his scruffy cheeks and her tongue diving in for another dirty kiss that had him burying his knot into her to the hilt as he came, and her orgasm ripping through her with the force of a thousand wild horses.

Before his legs totally gave out on him, Killian bundled her up in his arms, careful not to pull his knot too hard against her still pulsating entrance as he walked them to the couch, sinking down onto the cushions and letting her settle her knees on either side of his hips. It wasn’t the most ideal position to be in post knot, but they made it work, the huge grin of satisfaction on Emma’s face only surpassed by the dull throb of her muscles against his still solid length. Killian grabbed a blanket from the seat next to them, unfolding it with a single flick, covering both of them as it floated down onto Emma’s shoulders first, before he tucked it around her body so as not to allow her body to cool down too much as her hormones levelled out.

“Better, darling?” Killian rubbed a hand up and down her back.

“I think I should be asking you that,” Emma beamed at him. When his cheeks became tinted with pink, she was quick to kiss them, planting one to each before brushing her thumbs over the heat of them. “I’m sorry, about the note.” She blushed, looking over at the now very cold omelette she had made.

“Don’t be sorry,” Killian soothed, nuzzling his nose against hers in a moment that showed his softness. “I’m the one who should be apologizing.” He shook his head, pushing through the haze of lust and the insatiable need to fuck her until they both felt better. “Full rut is hard for me,” he admitted shyly. “I’ve never-.” He paused, seemingly unable to find the words he sought.

“Never what?” Emma prompted gently.

“No one has ever seen me like this before,” he said quickly, swallowing a nervous lump down his throat when Emma’s brows pulled together in a frown.

“In full rut?” Emma offered softly, her fingers lightly scraping through the hair at the nape of his neck.

“Aye,” Killian nodded. “It feels good to have you here.” He smiled at her and it was serene, his rut quelled for a moment that offered him clarity enough to share his thoughts and feelings he had no control over anymore. “I love you, Emma, I really do.”

Emma smiled and it wasn’t like the faked one in the photographs. It was perfect, only for him, no hesitation in the curve of her lips and an honest glint that made the murky green of her eyes shine with a brilliance that he knew only he would see. Her hands found his face, pawing at his scruffy cheeks as she tenderly kissed his bottom lip and made him forget all about her earlier bite, his eyes fluttering open to meet hers once more.

“I love you too, Killian,” she said earnestly. “I’ll always be here for you, you know that, right?” She grabbed his hand and flattened it over her breast, right where her heartbeat with a rhythm just for him. “This beats for you, only you.”

Killian’s hand slid sideways, intent on another amorous adventure, but when he skimmed his hand over the bite mark he had inflicted, Emma hissed in pain. His eyes widened with concern, immediately retracting his hand because he wasn’t sure what had caused her to flinch, but she was quick to assure him.

“The bite,” she clarified shyly. “It’s a bit sore, sorry.”

The memory of her begging him to mark her resurfaced in his mind but Killian simply smiled weakly in a way of apology whilst his thumb brushed over the bruised flesh. Emma had been so insistent but he couldn’t. Alphas lived by a code, and despite Graham Humbert being neither an Alpha nor a decent human being, Emma was still his wife. In the eyes of the law, unless Graham was willing to fight for her, which Killian doubted, Emma wouldn’t be free to brand as his own without a divorce. A sorrow that he had buried deep down in the pit of his stomach resurfaced, followed by a frown that had her reading his mind, her soft fingertips brushing over the crease in his brow and rousing his attention back to her.

“Don’t,” Emma told him sternly.

“Don’t what?” Killian asked dumbly.

“Don’t torture yourself.”

He wasn’t even surprised she could tell what he was thinking, but where he had been lent some reprieve from his furious anger when it came to Emma’s husband, full rut would not be allowing him the same amount of fortitude needed to calm the beast.

“Do you have any idea what it’s like for me to watch you with him?” He blurted his words a mixture of misery at what he couldn’t have and rage at why he couldn’t have it.

“Stop-” Emma laid her hand down over his heart, trying to soothe the beast within, but it would not be silenced.

“To see you unhappy? Unfulfilled?” Killian’s nostrils flared and he cupped her head in his hands, his eyes darting over the welt under her eye.

“Please, stop, Killian-” Emma tried to look away but he held her head firm, forcing her to look back in his eyes.

“No, Emma, I won’t!” He insisted, his tone angrier than he would have liked, but the desperation to have her overwhelming him.

“Please, not now,” Emma begged, closing her eyes. She couldn’t look into his and see the fiery beast behind them so muzzled. It was cruel and twisted, and something that hurt her soul.

“He doesn’t deserve you!” Killian told her firmly, and when she opened her eyes he felt relief, only for Emma to chase it away with her own misplaced anger.

“Don’t you think I know that?” She screeched. “Don’t you think I realise that being with you shows me how unhappy I really am?” She took a breath, clutching the hands that framed her face, holding onto him like she might fall if she let go. “Don’t you think I wish, day after day, that you was the one who married me?”

Killian blinked. “You do?”

“Of course I do! I wished, every day, that someone would save me from my own life, and then you came along, and-”

“Let’s do it.” His words were far surer than he had anticipated them being, and his heart fluttered in his chest.

“What?” Emma balked, her face paling.

“Get married." Killian said excitedly. "Let’s just run away and get married.”

Emma sighed, deflated. “Killian, we can’t just get married-”

“He has no claim to you.”. There was jealousy in his words that distracted Emma for a second, but then she realised she didn't really understand what his words had truly meant.

“Claim?” She frowned.

“Forgive me, love, I forget you are so new at this. When an Alpha finds an Omega he wants, with her permission, he can claim her, mark her as his own.”

Emma's skin buzzed with anticipation, the implications of his words like a lure to a paradise she could only dream of before meeting him. “He can?”

“Aye.” Killian's fingertips traced the outline of his bite mark on the side of her breast. “Like this,” he told her gently, moving his hand to where her scent gland sat. “But here.”

“Oh,” Emma gasped, a shiver travelling down her spine when he touched the gland that she assumed was the reason she was so eager to have him mark her.

Killian’s hands found her face again and he took a long, steadying breath, his thumbs brushing over the apple of her cheeks and encouraging her to meet his gaze. Her emerald met the ocean azure of his eyes, a dark storm calming behind them, hius heart thrust out onto his sleeve. “And when he wants to spend the rest of his life with her, to love her with everything in his existence, to hold her, cherish her-”

Emma pressed a finger to his lips, silencing him. “Killian, what are you saying?” Heat prickled up her neck at his words, teasing her with the promise of hope, a better future, and a better life she knew only he could give her.

Killian smiled at her, forever enamoured with the way she could be so knowledgeable and yet so innocent at the same time. “Don’t you know, Emma?” He began, licking his lips nervously. “It’s you,” he nodded as sure as anything in his entire life. “It’s always going to be you.”

Chapter Text

Emma stepped inside the shower for what felt like the millionth time in a fraction of as many days. She’d heard stories of Omegas and Alphas during a combined heat and rut going at it until they had both died of dehydration, but as it turned out, they were all glamorisation, a tale told to Betas in sexy erotic novels and telenovellas. The reality of having non stop sex for almost a week was a rank, thick, almost crusted covering of dried slick and come, which was the furthest from sexy in her opinion. Now that her heat had disappeared, taking with it the insatiable need to fuck and be fucked, the slick and sweat ignored for more favourable activities, the reality of it all was hitting her, as was the disgusting odour she now had a very keen sense of. She reeked, no bones about it, and even the scalding hot water beating down onto her skin couldn’t wash away the way it made her feel dirty and unkempt.

She persisted to stay under the spray for as long as she could, hands supporting her weight as she leaned against the tiled wall in front of her, droplets running along the contours of her jaw and dripping off of her lips into the drain at her feet. Before she even decided to make an attempt to freshen up with soap, Emma was content to let the water simply wash over her head, untangling the slick from her hair where Killian had grabbed a fistful after pumping her core with his fingers, the memory making her smile to herself. There was a sense of pride, it seemed, at being an Omega who could drive an Alpha wild, and over the last week, Killian had been all manner of fierce, unable to contain the roar inside of him that was only drawn out by her.

She had stood still for so long her legs began to protest under her weight and so she shifted from one foot to the other, the water heat hitting new, untouched parts of her and refreshing her a little more. Tilting her head back, Emma let the shower spray hit her face, closed eyelids reflexively blinking at the feel of it against her skin, her hands ghosting over the shape of her head to push the wet hair currently stuck to her face back into place. She let out a breath, water against her chest shocking her for a second, the new sensation of heat travelling to her nipples which immediately pebbled. They were somehow more sensitive than ever, attune to the change in temperature like her body had been asleep before, all of her sensations bursting alive now that she was no longer taking what she now knew were suppressants. And she loved it.

Everything was now in the most vivid of colours, where before the hues had been dulled by the suppressants forced upon her by the people who called themselves family. Now, her skin constantly hummed with the zest for life she had and for the first time, Emma felt in control of her own fate. Even if Graham would make it difficult, and she knew he would, she felt more equipped to fight him for what she really wanted. He could spew his rhetoric all day long about Humbert men and divorce, but he couldn’t bully her anymore, not now that Killian was unequivocally ready to literally and metaphorically fight for her. And he would. She knew he would. And if Graham was too foolish to engage, then on his head be it.

For a second, worry invaded her consciousness and she blew out a sighing breath into the steam. She didn't know what would happen next, but she also had a sense of calm when she remembered that whatever happened, she wouldn't be facing it alone. Killian was everything to her, their souls so intrinsically connected that it would take more than just Graham Humbert to break their bond.

Emma let the spray wash over her face again, a smile on her lips at the memory of the past week. She thought she knew pleasure, thought she knew just how to get her body attuned to climax, but she hadn’t known her body as well as Killian. He could work her up, chasing away all of her heat induced pains with a literal flick of his wrist and a stroke of his fingers, like a magician of the heart. Now that her heat had finished and Killian’s rut had stopped too, she didn’t know what she was going to do. Eventually, the Humbert’s would come for her, especially as she had managed to dodge every single phone call from Graham over the last twenty-four hours, but she hardly had time to give it any more thought before a rush of cool air was invading the roomy shower cubicle, and Killian was pressing his body to hers.

Strong arms enveloped her and she reacted instantly, heat spreading over her back where his skin was pressed to hers, her body arching into his. Her hands found his forearms, holding them across her bosom, welcoming the gentle pressure with a grin when his huge hands cupped her breast and his thumb rubbed soothing circles over the bite mark there. Killian pressed his lips to her neck, peppering soft, gentle kisses from her collarbone upwards, enjoying the way Emma shivered in his grasp. Nuzzling his nose behind her ear, inhaling the scent of their lovemaking that still lingered in every pore, he hummed in contentment and smirked against her skin.

"Good morning, love," he rasped, his voice still affected by sleep. He stepped forward, causing Emma to move with him, only stopping when the hot spray of the shower beat down on his head.

"Good morning," Emma said softly. "How did you sleep?" She teased, knowing he’d had very little because of their late night trysts.

"It wasn't bad," Killian shrugged playfully. "Though I did have this amazing dream."

"You did?" Emma asked with feigned surprise. "Tell me more."

"Well," Killian began, stretched out the word as he skimmed his hands over her body, finding her nipples had hardened under his forearms and were now begging for his attention. "You were there," he said evenly, resting his chin on her shoulder as he casually rolled the pebbles under his thumbs.

Emma all but melted into his touch, her head falling back against his chest and the spray hitting her directly in the face. "I was?" She gulped, placing a hand over each of his, lest he stop his slow torture.

"Mmm hmm," Killian confirmed, kissing her collarbone again.

Emma reached behind herself and snaked her hand between their bodies, feeling for her prize, his hot, hardening length already pressed between her cheeks. She took him in hand, twisting her wrist with every long stroke, the velvet soft skin of him shifting under her fingertips and making him jerk his hips.

"Was I doing this?" She purred playfully.

Killian thrust himself into her hand, nodding against her skin, the heat on the shower making him a little giddy.

"That and so much more," he ground out darkly, recalling the images of his dream in his mind.

Emma suddenly let him go and spun around in his arms, her hands resting against his chest to keep him from closing the gap, the shower spray finally wetting the glossy hair on his chest. Killian looked down and met her gaze, the way she was looking at him more primal than he had ever seen, Emma seemingly a willing Omega in heat but something quite darker the rest of the time. A smirk tugged at his lips, mirroring hers as she cupped his balls in one hand and gently massaged them with her fingers.

"Was I doing this?" Emma purred, watching him bite his bottom lip and nod. "What else, Alpha? Tell me everything."

At the mention of his title, Killian felt a prickle of heat travel down his spine, the sensation of Emma fondling him, rendering him incapable of consistent thought, driving him wild. Even without her heat, Emma was insatiable for him, every part of him, and the blue of his eyes turned a stormy gray as he realised she was asking him not because she wanted to know about his dream, but because she wanted to re-enact it.

"You're a naughty girl," Killian said darkly, and Emma raised a cocky eyebrow at him.

"And you're a saint?" She smirked and his lack of response gave her the answer. "Thought as much."

"Alright, Omega," Killian said with a hollow timbre in his voice that made Emma's core clench. "On your knees."

Emma's face lit up at his command, her eyes glinting with excitement. If there was one thing she enjoyed as much as having Killian's cock inside of her, it was having it in her mouth, but the blurred fury of fucking they had engaged in over the last week hadn't left much time for foreplay. She squatted in front of him, steam misting around them as her fingernails lightly scratched at his abdomen with her decent, his thick, throbbing cock twitching with anticipation. She looked up at him, eyes wide and innocent, just as she knew he liked, her tongue darting out to lick her lips as she balanced herself with a firm grip on his thighs.

"Oh, Alpha," Emma purred and gently nudged her nose against the side of his erection. "Look how hard you are," she cooed seductively, the tip of her tongue brushing over the underside of his cock when she poked it out again. "Did I do this?" She purred, licking his cock from root to head with just the very tip of her tongue, relishing in the way his leg shook.

Killian reached his hand out to brush some wet strands of hair from her face, the action leading him into cupping her jaw and his thumb tracing over the corner of her salacious smirk. Emma bit on the tip of his thumb and blood pumped straight to his cock. She hadn't even touched his actual length yet, the light, barely there ghosting of her breath against the velvet skin when she returned to eyeing him up like a meal sending him into an even heightened state of arousal.

"Dream Emma did a lot of things,” Killian said absently, blinking hard. “Sucking my cock was one of them.”

Emma made a noise in her throat, swallowing the saliva that had pooled in her mouth at the thought. “Real Emma can do that too,” she nodded, grasping him firmly in one hand and leaning in, her lips pressing a delicate kiss to the tiny bead of precum that had oozed from his tip. Killian stiffened in suspense, his breath catching in his throat. “Would my Alpha like that?” Emma purred. “Do you want me to suck your big, Alpha cock?”

Killian growled all the way from his chest, one hand weaving its fingers into her hair and twisting it into a makeshift ponytail. Emma grinned, knowing exactly how she was driving him to more than just distraction, his grip on her hair tightening the closer she got to putting him in her mouth, her teasing nearing the edge of torture. Denying him his pleasure would only end well for her in the end, but it didn’t get her what she wanted right now, so as her free hand scored the skin on his thigh with a violent scratch, her lips finally wrapped around his throbbing head and her reward, Killian’s groans, echoed around the shower cubicle.

“Fuck, Emma,” he breathed, all of the tension leaving his body the second her mouth was on him, their playful banter long forgotten in place of chasing their pleasure.

Killian let his head fall back, eyes pinched closed and one hand on the tiled wall to steady himself from toppling over, the steam adding to his sudden dizziness. Emma had just taken in the tip of him, sealing her lips around his head and humming in content, loving the way he sucked in a sharp breath and his grip on her hair tightened. Emma smirked, rubbing the globes of his arse in small, comforting circles that told him she had nothing but drawing every last drop of pleasure out of him on her mind, her tongue proving her point by lapping at his weeping hole.

"Aye, there's a good girl," Killian praised with a darkness on his voice that made Emma's skin vibrate. He loosened his grip on her hair just enough so he could brush it into a sideways ponytail, watching his length disappear into her mouth with rapt amazement. "You know how to make me feel good, don't you?"

Emma released him with a pop, sloppily smacking her lips together and nodding her head. "Yes, Alpha," Emma cooed, looking up at him with a deceivingly innocent doe-eyed gaze. "Do you want to come in my mouth?" She purred, biting her bottom lip and giving him a salacious smile.

Killian coughed out a husky laugh, partly through excitement at the prospect of what Emma was offering, and partly because dream Emma had said exactly the same thing. “Absolutely, love.”

She gripped him at his base and Killian let out a groan, his thumb brushing over her bottom lip where her teeth had left a mark, and his crooked finger under her chin tilting her head back. Emma licked her lips purposefully and kept his gaze, intent on driving him wild with the dark swirls in her green eyes, her hand giving his base a squeeze like she knew he liked. Killian pulled his hips back involuntarily and Emma loosened her grip, twisting her hand and loving the way he hardened even more.

“And do you want me to use just my mouth, or my hand as well?” Emma gave him a few hard strokes, applying a little more pressure near his knot bulb to emphasize her question.

Killian ground his teeth, his cock twitching. “Just your mouth, darling,” he said huskily. “But hold my knot,” he instructed, grabbing her wrist and wrapping her fingers around it. “Like this,” he hissed, his eyes fluttering closed when she did as she was told.

Until last week, Killian had put his own personal desires aside, as his only job was to make Emma feel good. But now, with the blonde goddess squatting in front of him, a dirty smirk spreading across her lips before she wrapped her mouth around him once more, he felt deserving of a little selfishness. His relief was instant, his head falling back and the spray hitting him in the chest when he swayed forward and braced himself against the wall with a shaky hand. Emma took him in slowly, deliberately letting saliva pool in her mouth around him so it felt wetter, her tongue flattened to the underside of his cock and rippling against the hardness as she bobbed her head up and down.

Killian reached for the shower handle, turning it and shutting off the water. Emma let him slip from her mouth and kissed the underside of his cock so gently it made him shudder, her gaze meeting his once more.

“I want to hear you sucking my cock with that sweet, sweet mouth,” he growled when she looked at him in question.

Emma’s lips erupted into a smile. “In that case,” she sang sweetly, licking across his tip before gobbling him up once more.

Killian stiffened, her mouth like fire, her tongue the flames licking across his skin with every bob of her head. She wanted to give him oral pleasure and who was he to deny her? He loved it. They had engaged in fellatio a few times, but Killian had never pushed the issue. Despite his love for the way it made him feel helpless under her welcomed assault, something so unlikely of an Alpha, it intrigued him to no end. Emma loved it just as much as he did and very often would touch herself as she did it, slow deliberate strokes over her entrance and clit suffocating him with her scent. Eyes pinched tightly closed, Emma’s mouth hot and warm around his straining erection and the tip of him bumping the back of her throat and causing it to close around him like a gentle vice, Killian was lost. But then again, where was the fun in being found?

He sucked in a hissing breath when Emma came up for air, letting his cock slip from her mouth with a salacious hum. Killian looked down at her, eyes blown wide with arousal, her hand already between her legs and rubbing at the apex seemingly in time with the pounding of his heart. Without prompting, she licked up his shaft, her hand giving his knot a squeeze and the other leaving her sex just long enough to softly stroke the underside of his balls. Her expression was that of pure bliss, the speed at which she sucked him increasing as if she could tell he was close, his scrotal skin tightening in her grasp and causing her to smirk proudly.

When Killian stiffened so much his muscles hurt, itching with the need to come so badly his moans of pleasure were drowned out by the sound of his blood boiling under his skin, Emma let up for a second and released him with another pop that had his cock slapping against his stomach, and his eyes snapping open to look down at her. Her hand was back between her thighs and Killian could see her essence glistening on her fingers when she sighed heavily at her own ministrations.

“Are you sure you want me to come in your mouth, Omega?” Killian teased, a cocky eyebrow jumping up on his forehead.

He reached out and offered her his hand, which she took, but in a gesture he was sure was meant to drive him wild, Emma had taken his hand with the one previously fingering herself and rose to her feet. Predatory eyes raked over her body, the scent of her heat slick still lingering in the very essence of her and making him dizzy with need. Killian lifted her hand, a sticky string of her come between her parted fingers, and promptly stuck them in his mouth and gave them a long, hard, suggestive suck.

“I can think of a far better place I'd rather come,” he purred, one hand skimming over the flat tone of her abdomen.

Emma’s eyes lit up. “Oh, my Alpha wants to breed me?”

Killian swayed even closer to her, trapping his erection between their bodies. “Aye, Omega,” he whispered in a gravelly tone. “I can’t think of anything I’d like more.”

“Even out of heat?” Emma asked slyly, rubbing her slippery body against his.

Killian’s eyes shone with nothing but love. “Always, Emma,” he breathed, his eyes searching hers. “I love you.”

Emma swallowed hard, her eyes flitting to his lips, watching his tongue as he nervously licked at them as he awaited her answer. She surged forward, kissing him hard, her hands grabbing his face lest he try to escape. Killian kissed her back, his heart growing at the silent confirmation in her feverish kiss, the way his stomach fell out from under him like a new sensation he enjoyed every time. Killian kissed her back, muscles in his arms bulging when he grabbed behind her thighs and hoisted her into his arms, her legs instinctively wrapping around his waist.

Killian walked them out of the shower, fingernails digging into her skin in his attempts to stop her slipping from his grasp. Emma kissed him as they moved, confident he could navigate the way by memory alone, her lips only leaving his when he laid her down on the bed, the sheets crisp and new since she had been in the shower. Killian growled possessively and crawled over her, settling between her thighs.

Emma's eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him, the weight of him pressing into her as he tenderly kissed the tip of her nose just to watch her smile. Emma traced her finger along the line of his beard, short stubble pricking her fingertips and making them tickle, before her thumb brushed over the shape of his smile and her eyes met his.

"Killian," Emma whispered softly, holding his gaze. "Will you do something for me?"

His brows pulled together and he cocked his head to the side. "Anything," he breathed.

"Will you make love to me?" Emma asked shyly.

Killian smiled warmly. "Love, we've been having sex all week," he offered gently, stroking some hair from her brow with a tentative touch.

"No, we've been fucking," Emma told him with a grin, her sex still tingling from just thinking about it. "I want you to make love to me. Not how you've been paid to, as an Alpha, but how you want to, as a man."

Killian shifted his position, supporting his weight on his arms as he hovered over her. "Emma, why would I want to make love to you as a man, when all you've ever had from men is lies and deceit?" Emma remained silent, worried she had done something wrong, but Killian was quick to reassure her that wasn't the case. "I don't want to make love to you as an Alpha," he continued and her eyes grew watery, her throat bobbing as she swallowed. "I want to make love to you as your Alpha, is that alright?"

Emma felt her breath return, heaving a sigh, her lungs burning from lack of oxygen and her smile stretching her perfect pink lips into a serene smile.

"That’s perfect," Emma nodded, sniffing away her tears that had threatened to fall.

Killian lowered himself down and ever so slightly pressed his lips to hers. The kiss wasn't like any other Emma had ever experienced and there was a tenderness to it that she had no idea an Alpha could even possess. Killian was attuned to her every bodily need, lips still teasing hers with the promise of something more as one hand skimmed down her body with silent promise, and pushed a finger through her folds when her legs fell open for him. She was still wet, warm, clear slick seemingly ever present when he was around, not as much as when her heat had come to her, but still enough to lubricate the intrusion of him.

Killian retracted his hand from her sex, taking himself in hand and lining his erection up with her entrance, the scorching heat of her enveloping his sensitive tip. Emma whimpered, a sound pushed from deep in her throat by her arousal, her knees crushing his body between them in a silent plea for him to be inside her already, the ache between her thighs not even a little bit sated. Killian inched inside of her with a cant of his hips, a long, agonizingly slow stroke that had her walls gripping him like a vice, not sure whether to accept his girth or fight it. Sensing her body's hesitation at his engorged length, Killian increased the pressure of his kiss, swallowing her moans of pleasurable pain until he was fully sheathed inside of her.

Killian broke their kiss, stroking the apple of Emma's cheek with his knuckles until she opened her eyes and gave him a soft smile, all the sexual bravado of the shower now gone, and her eyes a lighter shade of green than before, shining with nothing but love.

"Are you alright, love?" Killian asked gently, frozen in place.

Hoarse from how quick her breath had been stolen, Emma nodded. "I love you," she whispered, her eyes fixed on his, the dark circle around his iris turning their blue hue a darker shade of grey.

Killian cupped her jaw and kissed her again, his lips sliding against hers as he withdrew his length from her depths, and then thrust back in. His movements were so slow, a torture Emma feared she might never recover from, the steady drag of his cock against the ridges of her core causing every last synapse in her brain to fire at once. She broke the kiss, had to in order to breathe, the way he moved inside of her snatching what little she had left in her lungs, not even that enough to stop her feeling drunk on him. Killian kept his pace slow, making sure he was thrusting shallowly to begin with so as not to leave her without pleasure, committing every one of her breathy sighs and moans to memory.

"Gods, I love you, Emma," he purred, unable to stop the pace of his thrusts from quickening. "If I were to die right this second, I would do so knowing what true love feels like."

"Don't stop," Emma begged on a breathy sigh. Her hands were on his shoulders, pulling his weight down on top of her and her nails raking the skin of his back into lines of red welts.

"I love you," Killian repeated, rolling his hips in a new way when he found the right pace that had Emma whimpering her pleas and her thighs beginning to shake.

Killian soothed her with a gentle kiss and his hand found hers, fingers interlocking and knuckles turning white from how hard she held on. He buried his face in the juncture of her neck, peppering her collarbone and scent gland with kisses before turning his head and pressing his lips to the shell of her ear.

"I love you," he breathed, pushing into her again to emphasize his words, making sure that Emma felt every inch of him as deep as he could go.

He slipped his hand from hers, leaving it limp and boneless above her head, and reached down for her thigh, hitching her leg over his hip and opening her up even more for him. Emma cried out, the sound broken by the lump in her throat, her cheeks flushed red and tiny beads of sweat dotting her brow as her orgasm approached. Killian held her tight, aware she was no longer in control of her own body, the way it was quaking assuring him he was finding just the right place inside her to call out her pleasure, his hips rolling a little harder so that his pubic bone bumped her clit and her toes curled.

"There," Emma breathed with the ability to only form one word in her shortened breath. "God, right there," she whimpered.

Her hands were on his face again, pulling his lips to hers, his kiss the catalyst that sent her skyward, white pin prick dots behind her eyelids like stars as she came. It wasn't like any orgasm she had encountered before, even during her heat. It was calmer but no less intense, the intimacy of it something she had only read about in romance novels or seen in movies, the way Killian held her as her entire body shook, keeping her pinned under his weight with short, shallow thrusts keeping her balancing on the edge of ecstasy, had her blood singing in her ears.

There was no doubt his words, changed by the dark, husky tone of his own arousal, had seen her flying into rapture, sweet nothings still whispered into her ear as he too came, giving her body one final burst of electrifying bliss when he pushed his knot inside of her in time with the throbbing if her muscles, and emptied himself with a cry. Killian eased his grip on her thigh, which had become harsher as his orgasm had built up, the tenderness of his grip lost and forgotten in the wake of the noises Emma made at his doing, and let her leg fall flat against the bed.

In a daze, Emma hummed, enjoying the way his knot had filled a void she hadn't noticed before, fullness and belonging suddenly overwhelming her. Her breath caught in her throat and tears sprang from her eyelids, everything that had happened to her recently, and what would happen to her in the future, all coming crashing down on her at once. She turned her face away from Killian's worried expression as tears sprang from her eyelids, swallowing a sob in an attempt to hide her emotion, knowing it a futile endeavour.

"Hey," Killian soothed, his brows knitting together on his forehead and a flush of heated concern washing over him. When Emma continued to sob into the comforter, he hooked his finger under her chin and turned her head back to face him. "Love?" He pressed again and his heart started beating again when her eyes fluttered open. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No," Emma said in a watery voice, shaking her head and placing her hand on his cheek. Some of her hair fell over her face and Killian quickly tucked it behind her ear.

"Then what is it?" He implored, wiping away her tears with his thumb. "Please tell me, Emma," he begged gently. "I hate seeing you upset."

Emma sniffed, nudging her head into his palm. "I don't know what happens now."

"What do you mean?" Killian asked softly.

"This," Emma began, looking around them spread out on his bed. "I want this, all of this, and I want you. God, Killian, I want you so badly, but I know, I just know, Graham is going to make it difficult."

"Oh, darling." Killian gave her a half-hearted smile. "Do you think I won't fight for you?"

"I know you will," Emma whispered in a raspy voice.

"Of course I will," Killian insisted in agreement.

His words were interrupted by his knot receding, his member slipping from her still half firm. Killian kissed her as it happened, aware it might sting a little, forever willing to take away her pain by any means necessary. When he pushed himself off of her and crawled off the bed, Emma felt an immense loss, only rectified when he returned with a warm washcloth in hand and proceeded to wipe her clean between the thighs. He was tender, making sure not to apply pressure to her swollen sex, but making sure she was well and truly clean before tossing it into his bedroom clothing hamper and climbing back into bed. He scooted up until he was leaning against the headboard, beckoning her with a crooked finger and a nudge of his head.

"Come here, love," he encouraged delicately.

Emma wasted no time in answering his summons, crawling under the duvet and settling between his legs, curling up as small as she could before leaning her head against his chest. The beat of his heart pulsed in her ear and she steadied her breath in time with its rhythm, slowly calming herself now that she was in his arms. Killian wrapped his arms around her, his thumbs brushing a steady back and forth pattern on her skin, the feel of her in his arms too precious to ever let go.

"I know Graham is going to make things difficult," he told her smoothly. "But I'm not letting you go back to that life, to him," Killian reassured her, biting out the last word with a venomous tone. "He's going to want you back, I know that, but he doesn't own you, Emma. You're not his property."

"I'm his wife," she reminded him sadly.

"No," Killian insisted, careful to keep his tone free from the anger he felt inside. "You're an unclaimed Omega, and I am the Alpha that wishes to claim you. He has no rights as a Beta to deny my claim."

Emma looked up at him, the puffy red skin around her eyes and nose breaking his heart.

"And I know that makes me sound as bad as him but claiming is not owning," Killian explained. "I will never own you, Emma. You are now, and always will be the person who makes your own fate.”

Emma turned quiet, but Killian could tell that she had stopped crying, her body surrendering to his touch. He gave her a squeeze, pressing a kiss to the soft warmth of her hair and loving the way she would always smell like both his damnation and his salvation. He smiled, his eyes fluttering closed at the thought of spending the rest of his life with her, like this, wrapped up so tightly into each other that they would never know anything else in the world. Graham Humbert be damned. He would like to see the man try and take her away from him, especially now the truth was out in the open about what Emma really was, and about how it had taken her almost half her life to find out.

“I should call him,” Emma suggested with more strength in her voice, like being in his arms gave her a power she just couldn’t unlock without Killian nearby. “I have stuff at the house I’m going to want to collect.”

“Alright,” Killian agreed, his hand still rubbing up and down her back, silently letting her know he would be with her at every step.

“But first I think we should probably shower,” she added, smirking. “Again.”

“We can try,” Killian agreed with a smirk of his own. “I can’t promise we’ll not need another right after though.” Emma pulled out of his grasp just enough to give him a knowing look. A wicked grin spread over his lips and an eyebrow jumping up on his forehead. “What?” He asked innocently.

“You know what,” Emma accused weakly.

“You shouldn’t be so irresistible,” Killian shrugged, his gentle touches turning into something more adventurous, one hand reaching around her frame to trace the bite mark he had left on her breast, the idea of putting his mark where it really needed to be sending as jolt of arousal to his cock.

“Down boy,” Emma scolded lightly, making sure to brush his length as she slipped from his grasp and made her way to the edge of the bed. She sat there for a second and could feel his eyes on her, burning into her skin, branding her with silent lust. Killian growled behind her and Emma smirked coyly, pushing herself to her feet and sashaying across the room to the bathroom, stopping in the doorway and leaning against the door frame suggestively. “Are you coming?” She beckoned him with a crooked finger, inching into the bathroom, biting her lip just before she disappeared out of sight, something she knew drove him wild.

“Not yet, but I will be soon.” Killian heard her giggle echo in the bathroom as he approached, stalking her like prey. “As will you, love. I guarantee it.”

--

Several more attempts to fully shower later, Emma had finally managed to peel herself from Killian’s grasp long enough so that she could dress. Much to his distaste, he had been left to shower alone, careful not to wash off the feel of her on his skin, or her scent that still lingered in his every pore. He hurried, or so he thought, stepping from the cubicle in what seemed like no time, grabbing a soft, warmed towel from the rail on the wall and wrapping it around his waist. Water trickled down his jaw from where it had pooled in his ears, catching in the hair of his scruff, quickly dabbed away by a second towel Killian had snatched from the rail as well.

When he was done rubbing it through his hair, leaving the blackened locks a delectable mess on his head, Killian’s ears pricked up at the sound of Emma’s voice on the other side of the door. She sounded angry, but her voice was hushed, like she was trying to contain herself. Once or twice he heard a laugh but even that sounded forced, maybe in sarcasm more than anything else, thorough confusion on his face as he inched towards the door. A loud grunt of frustration roused him to reach for the knob, pulling the door from its frame and a stunned Emma spinning to face him with an open mouth.

“Killian,” she breathed, eyes raking over his barely covered form that had stolen the rest of her words.

Killian stepped over the threshold in what seemed like slow motion, Emma’s eyes fixed on his ruffled hair swept messily away from his eyes. Tiny droplets of water dripped from the length of it, rolling either down his back or, if she were lucky, forward over the curve of his shoulder to disappear into his thick thatch of chest hair. Where Emma’s eyes landed next was further down, the tone of his abdomen only becoming clear as he sucked in a breath, rivets of now cooled water that had escaped the soft hairs on his chest quickly absorbed by the towel around his waist, the bulge of him gently outlined just below.

“Emma?”

Killian’s words were met with dumbfounded silence but had prompted her body to at least swallow the saliva that had collected because of the lump in her throat. Her hand hurt from how hard she was clutching the phone, a haze of arousal rendering her reflexes disappointingly useless, when all she wanted was to reach out and follow the trail of water droplets with her fingertips.

Her heat may have ended, but she was left with something she had never experienced before, something so ingrained in her very being that she knew her life could never again be like it was. The one certainty, however, was that with Killian at her side, as her Alpha, she would never feel anything less than whole ever again.

“Love, are you alright?” Killian stepped forward again and Emma finally snapped out of her trance.

She licked her lips, imagining the thick, hot ridges of him in her mouth, leaving his Alpha taste everywhere. She surged forward and their lips met in a tangle of fury and hurried anger that had Killian momentarily confused, all of his energy spent supporting her as she lunged into his arms, a whimper on her lips, and the phone in her hand clattering to the floor. Killian kissed her back, let her ravage his mouth with her own for as long as his sensible mind would allow, but eventually he knew they had to stop, gently taking her by the wrists and releasing his head from her hold.

“Emma, stop,” he mumbled against her mouth and she pulled back confused. “Something’s wrong. Tell me what’s wrong,” he demanded tenderly.

Emma searched his face, finding nothing but concern. She let out the breath she was holding and ran her hands through her hair, coughing out an awkward laugh.

"Graham called," she admitted in disbelief of her own words, casting a glance to the floor where her cell phone lay on the floor.

"And?" Killian ground out.

"His mother wants to go to lunch," Emma snorted, still confused by the emotions such words could evoke. "It's absurd," she laughed. “I mean, we get on, my mother in law and I, we always have done, but the timing?” She stalked away from him, spinning in confusing circles, a frown pulled tightly on her face.

“It does seem a little nefarious,” Killian suggested.

“I’m sure it's not,” Emma said quickly. She liked Diana Humbert much more than any other person in the world, with the exception of the man standing in front of her, and would defend her against any slanderous intent. “She’s always been good to me.” Emma snorted a laugh. “She’s the only decent Humbert in the whole clan.”

Killian closed the gap between them and took her hands in his, giving her fingers a little squeeze. "He won't be there, will he?" Killian tried not to sound angry, but rage still tinted his voice.

"No," Emma said firmly. "I told him I would only go if he wasn't there."

"What does she want?"

Emma shrugged. "No idea. I normally go to lunch with her a few times a year. It's possible she has no idea what's going on."

Killian scoffed. "She knows."

"Graham threatened you," Emma blurted, her anxiety clearly written on her features. "And your brother."

"Liam?" Killian asked, aghast. "How does he know about my brother? What does he think he is playing at?"

"Liam's bar. He said if I don't agree to the lunch, then he would make sure Liam would be sorry."

The sound Killian made was feral and he spun on his heels, slamming his fist into the wall behind him, pulling his arm back and repeating the blow with a cry of anguished fury. It made Emma jump but his sudden display of aggression didn't make her want to run, or hide, it simply called to a more primal instinct within her. She rushed to his side and grabbed his hand at once. Calmed instantly, Killian let her take his hand and guide him back into the bathroom, turning on the faucet and shoving his bloodied knuckles under the running water.

"Oi! Ow!!" Killian hissed but Emma held his hand firmly when he tried to pull it away.

"Well, you hit a wall," Emma said matter of factly, blaming his outburst on the fact his rut had only just finished.

"Indeed," Killian agreed solemnly, flexing his fingers under the water. "My apologies."

"Look, it's lunch with my mother in law, and nothing more. He won't be there, but if it makes you feel more at ease about this whole thing, you can come too, sit a few tables over if you'd like," Emma offered gently, brushing the flecks of white plaster from his wound and watching the water carry them down the drain. "I think I'd like that too," she admitted.

"Then it's settled," Killian nodded, letting her remove his hand from under the faucet and wrapping a soft towel around it. She dabbed it dry, careful not to put too much pressure on the swelling joints, and in that moment he felt like the luckiest Alpha alive. "I'll be there."

Emma lifted her head and gave him a small, tentative smile. Her hand stilled it's ministrations, fingertips gently stroking over his purpling knuckles, the other cupping the light, prickling of scruff along his jawline. Killian turned his head and kissed her palm, letting his lips linger on her skin, silently promising everything, instantly settling the sickness that had developed in the pit of her stomach since Graham's call.

"I love you," Emma said softly, almost a whisper between them, her thumb rubbing a line across the curve of his cheek.

Killian's lips curved into a small smile and he didn't need to repeat her words, because the way he was looking at her told her everything she needed to know. The honesty behind the blue hues was tangible, a real, solid foundation in which he built his integrity as a man and as an Alpha. Emma knew, without any doubt, that Killian was what her life had been missing, what had left such a gaping wound in her heart until now.

And she knew, without question, that the fight Graham Humbert thought he might win, was one he never could.

Chapter Text

The morning had been filled with anxiety, and Emma wasn’t quite sure how they had arrived at the restaurant where she was to meet Diana Humbert. It was a quaint little bistro style eatery with heavy, wrought iron tables and chairs, a single freshly cut flower in a tiny glass vase set right in the center of each table arrangement. They had arrived together way before the agreed time so that Killian could request a table far enough away so as not to arouse suspicion, but close enough that he could hear what was being said. Emma had assured him that Diana Humbert was nothing like any of her other family members, but he was having a hard time trying to work out how, if she cared for Emma as much as Emma said she did, she could have let Emma’s true nature be suppressed for so long.

The sun was shining, gently warming the air, and Killian decided to sit on a table that would mean once Diana did arrive, she would have the sun blinding her should she notice him listening. It all seemed more clandestine than it actually was, but he wasn’t taking any chances when it came to Emma. His Omega. Although he hadn’t claimed her yet, she was his in every sense of the word, and he would protect her at all costs, from anything the Humbert’s could throw their way. Killian had lived in the world of Alphas and Omegas long enough to know that there would be something, some kind of hoops to jump through in order to secure Emma as his indefinitely, but he was willing to endure whatever it took.

Emma gave his hand a little squeeze as the waiter led them to the seating area out back. He was a portly fellow, Beta, but courteous and had a sincerity about him that seemed to transcend his job description. Emma absentmindedly watched the way the straps on his apron dangled half way down the backs of his legs because of his short stature, the words he was prattling off totally ignored by her until they reached a small two person dining table.

“This is the table reserved for Humbert,” he said, his voice as kind as the smile on his face. “And would the gentleman like this one?” He asked, motioning to the table next to it and looking at Killian.

“No,” Killian said quickly and the man was taken back, shrinking a little. Definitely Beta. “Would that one be available?” Killian pointed off into the corner of the courtyard at a table that was about four from the reserved one, a single occupancy table with the ability for him to sit and watch out of the corner of his eye.

The waiter followed his gaze and nodded. “Of course, right this way, sir,” he said before wandering off.

Killian felt Emma tug his fingers, unwilling to let him go just yet, anxiety clearly overtaking her. When he turned to look at her she was visibly shaking, eyes wider than they should have been, scanning the courtyard for any sign of Graham. He shouldn’t make her feel such trepidation but somehow, he still managed to affect her from afar, and it made Killian’s blood sizzle.

“I’m right here,” he promised, giving her hands a little shake until she looked up at him. “Right here,” he clarified with a meaningful nod. Killian lifted her hands to his mouth, pressing his lips against the back of her hand, maintaining eye contact the whole time, letting his lips linger until he was sure she understood his words.

“I know,” Emma said softly.

“And he isn’t coming here, you made that abundantly clear, did you not?” Killian knew his words were of assurance when her brow relaxed and Emma’s lips curved into a semi-forced smile.

“Right here,” Emma repeated, sighing a breath of relief.

“Aye, love,” Killian agreed with a warm smile.

He leaned in to give her one more kiss, delicately cradling her face in his hands as he did. Emma’s eyes fluttered closed and she pretended she was anywhere else, wrapped up in the feeling she only felt when Killian had his hands on her, like a balm for all of her ills. Even the smell of him was a comfort, masculine post-rut musk warmed by the rays of the sun, invading her senses like a drug, relaxing her, removing any and all anxiety she had left. Reluctantly, she moved first, pulling her mouth from his and running her tongue over her bottom lip, breathing him in one last time before opening her eyes and peering up at him.

“Thank you,” she whispered, oblivious to the fact they were in the middle of a restaurant courtyard on a busying midday lunchtime.

Killian gave her a smile and a wink, neither salacious nor sly, but instead, comforting. One last squeeze of her hand and he was moving away from her, casting one last glance over his shoulder as he pulled out the chair to the offered table and thanked the waiter for his service. The man scuttled off after a small bow, tucking his notepad into the front pocket of his apron. Killian caught Emma’s eyes one last time as she sat down, making herself as comfortable as possible. She could still feel him looking at her, protecting her from afar, but as soon as she didn’t anymore, she looked up and saw the familiar shape of her mother in law walking towards her, realising why Killian had looked away.

Diana Humbert was a short lady, with wide hips and chunky limbs that had always made Emma wonder how she had given birth to as many six-foot tall sons as she had. She had short, bobbed hair cut to just under her ears, tapering up at the back in a modern cut that, together with the expensive dye job, had her seeming much younger than her years. Another symbol of the wealth of the Humbert’s was slung over her shoulder, a designer handbag that perfectly accessorized with everything from her outfit, to her jewellery, and yet she had agreed to meet Emma in a very ordinary restaurant with not a single sneer or misguided superior look at any of the other patrons.

That’s why Emma liked her so much. She wasn’t like the other Humberts; Diana had been born into near poverty and worked hard for what she had achieved, catching the eyes of her husband in school where he was studying business and she was studying Alpha law. She was a people person and enjoyed the company of all, defending the less fortunate and inspiring faith in everyone she met, including Emma. Maybe that’s how she got her compassion, but in light of recent events, how Diana Humbert had let Emma be suppressed for so long was something she really needed to know.

“Diana,” Emma greeted sweetly, standing to greet the older woman with a hug.

"Emma, dear, how lovely to see you." Diana kissed Emma on the cheek between words, peeling off her sunglasses and sitting them on top of her head.

"You look well," Diana said honestly, looking Emma over one last time before giving her a gentle pat on the shoulder. “Please, sit.”

Emma took a seat opposite her mother in law, quicking shooting a glance over Diana’s shoulder and receiving a reassuring nod from Killian, who promptly went back to pretending to read the newspaper in front of him.

“I feel well,” Emma breathed, pushing her hair from her face and settling back in her seat. The chairs left little in the way of comfort, but they wouldn’t be long at lunch anyway. “And you? How are you Mama?”

"Well, you know me, dear, tough as old boots and twice their longevity." Diana fiddled with the stem of her glass, eagerly awaiting the wine that she had pre-ordered in advance. “How are you, the only daughter in law of mine to still not have any children?” Diana said absentmindedly, watching her fingers on the glass. “Seems unfair given how pretty you are.”

Emma stifled a small laugh. "Oh, Mama, I don't think kids are in the cards for Graham and I." The look in Emma’s eyes was full of sorrow that she hoped Diana would see if nothing else.

"Such a shame," she pouted. "All the other little rascals have turned into monsters, otherwise known as teenagers, and I miss the pitter-patter of tiny feet at family gatherings."

"Oh, Diana-," Emma admonished with a chuckle, knowing full well the extent to which her nieces and nephews were truly devilish.

"Please, Emma dear, call me mama." Diana gave Emma a warm smile that said she understood. She was, after all, an Omega herself.

"Mama," Emma began nervously, her fingers fiddling with the edge of the pristine white napkin sitting under her cutlery. "I don't think Graham and I are on the same page anymore."

"How could you be? That boy can’t keep his pecker out of other women," Diana scoffed bitterly.

Emma, having lifted her glass to her lips, nearly choked on her water.

"Honey, good for you,” Diane declared with a pat to Emma’s hand. “I've been married to a Humbert for forty years, for goodness sake, I know how they work."

"Look, Mama, I don't want to waste any of your time, I know it's scarce nowadays," Emma began, fully intent on telling her mother in law everything, though it seemed she knew enough already.

"Nonsense!" Diana laughed. " I will always make time for you, Emma. You know, despite such a large family, I've always seen you as the daughter I never had. I was never blessed with a girl, you see, but you came into our family at such a young age," Diana recalled fondly, reaching across the table and taking Emma’s hand. The day Emma had come to live with them she had vowed to do everything in her power to keep her safe, and somewhere along the way, Diana felt like she had failed. "Forgive me, I'm rambling."

"It's okay," Emma smiled warmly, sensing Diana’s sudden shift in mood.

Diana looked down and noticed the green hue that still decorated Emma's skin where she had fallen in her attempts to flee her own house, but Emma quickly snatched her hand back when her mother in law fell silent. Pink bloomed across Emma’s cheeks and she tucked her hand away in her lap, out of her mother in law’s view.

"Emma, honey, I’m sorry you’re going through this,” Diana sighed. “I couldn’t do anything. Buying an Omega is underhand, but not illegal.”

"I…,"

“And the bruises are all over you, sweetie,” Diana ground out, clenching her fist with anger.

"I can't lie to you. Graham did this,” Emma admitted sorrowfully.

"I already know," Diana spat, angry at her son.

"How? Did Graham say something?" Emma felt a blush creep over her cheeks again, Killian giving her a calming nod of encouragement.

"Honey, you think any Humbert man is going to admit to hitting his wife?" Diana gave Emma a knowing look. “No. Emma, dear, I know everything, except maybe how I managed to raise such a heathen.” Diana huffed, clutching her wine glass a little too tightly, only realising Emma was giving her a questioning look after a beat. "Some of the staff have worked for me for a very long time, and like me, they care about you. Why didn't you call me? Tell me about the affair?"

Emma all but shrunk in embarrassment. "You know about that too?"

"My son is not that discreet, of course I know."

"So, you probably know about the contract then?"

Diana nodded. "I can't say I agree with it but I understand what a loveless marriage can do to a person, especially an Omega who just wants to be loved."

Emma's head snapped up at her words, eyes wide with the realisation that Diana knew what she was. Maybe as an Omega herself, she could smell her, after all, Emma had noticed her own musk from time to time, it would only seem logical Diana could too. And if she did know, why hadn’t Diana helped her when Graham aged out, staying a Beta? Why had she let it all go on for as long as it had? Emma felt a pang of perfidy that unsettled her, giving Diana a sideways glance.

"Did you always know I was an Omega?" Emma asked, bracing for the answer she knew would be a confirmation of Diana's betrayal.

"I did, I hate to say.” Diana sighed a long breath, like she had been holding it Emma’s entire time with the Humbert family. "I had no say in the matter. Graham's father is very traditional, you know that it would have been impossible for me to say anything against him. But for what it's worth, Emma, I am sorry."

Emma gave her mother in law a soft smile, reaching across the table and giving Diana's hand a reassuring squeeze. "I know."

"So what of this Alpha? Are you still seeing him?" Diana’s tone was just one of curiosity, Emma could tell, like they were just two women out to gossip over a glass of wine.

"Yes," Emma said, unable to hide the smile that spread over her lips as she recalled the happiness she felt when with Killian. "He helped me when Graham kicked me out.”

“He what?” Diana asked, aghast. Clearly, this was new information.

“Yeah, Graham hit me and kicked me out in the middle of the night and I got my heat."

"Ug, that boy is despicable," Diana snipped angrily. "He doesn't understand what danger he was putting you in, in heat like that. Anything could have happened! Honestly, I’m ashamed to call him my son sometimes."

"He's so full of rage, Diana, I had no idea how much he resented me," Emma said softly, looking down at her hands in her lap.

Emma sighed, wondering if things would have been different if Graham had become the Alpha he was fated to be, how her life might have taken a different turn, never knowing anything of Killian or his love.

"Well, not to worry now. As far as you're concerned Graham is no longer an issue," Diana said with a stern tone.

Emma frowned. "How so?"

"Well, you're an Omega, and I assume unclaimed." Diana peered over at Emma, trying to catch a glimpse of where her scent gland was, unable to see clearly through her hair. "Did this Alpha mark you?"

"Killian," Emma corrected her softly. "His name is Killian."

Diana smiled, looking at the daughter she never had with a fondness. "You love him," she stated flatly, grinning from ear to ear like she was watching Emma fall in love there and then. It wasn't a question and Emma smiled at her, more genuine than Diana had ever seen before. "And he makes you happy,” She said sweetly, pointing at her knowingly.

"He does," Emma said giddily.

"And what do you know of marking, my dear?" Diana asked. "Do you know what it means?"

"I think so," Emma frowned. "I just don't know how Graham factors into Killian making a claim on me."

Diana shrugged. "He doesn't factor in at all."

"But he's my husband," Emma said, confused.

"So?" Diana laughed. "He's a liar and a cheat and an abuser, Emma, which are the very least of the reasons you shouldn't be with him."

"But-,"

"But nothing, my dear. If an Alpha wants to lay claim to an Omega, he has the right, and it's a right that transcends everything, including marriage, especially if the Omega is married to a Beta. Marriage is just a Beta thing, a piece of paper that says you promised to be faithful to your spouse, but a mark is forever and means much more.”

"So, I can get a divorce?" Emma’s heart fluttered hopefully in her chest and she tried to swallow a lump in her throat.

Diana slapped the table, making Emma jump. "Darling, you could divorce Graham on the infidelity alone! Graham has no claim to you because he isn’t an Alpha, but Killian does. Has he mentioned it?"

"Yes," Emma nodded shyly. "But Graham said-,"

"Oh, stop! I won't hear of yet another excuse that has been fed to you by my reprehensible, sorry excuse for a son. If Killian wants to claim you, Graham has no choice but to let him,” Diana said defiantly. “That’s Alpha law.”

"He said he wouldn't let me go without a fight," Emma added sadly.

"Pfft, the day that boy gets his own hands dirty will be the day the earth opens up and swallows us all whole." Diana snatched her glass from the table and downed what was left in her glass, pressing a napkin delicately to her rouged lips afterwards.

Emma laughed, at ease.

"Leave it with me, honey,” Diana told her, rising to her feet. Emma mirrored her actions, standing as well. “I'll call a family meeting about this, but you have nothing to worry about. I'd like to extend you an invitation to include Killian, is that okay?"

"I'll ask him," Emma assured her, catching Killian’s eye across the courtyard. He had been listening and was busy straightening out the creases in his shirt as Diana checked her purse, unaware that he and Emma were sharing a loving glance.

"Good," Diana smiled, replacing the sunglasses on her face and giving her hair a slight swish to set it back in place. "It was lovely to see you. You are a beautiful Omega, Emma, inside and out, never let anyone change that again."

After her goodbye, Diana was waltzing out of the courtyard like she hadn’t even been there, giving a small, flirty wink to the waiter as she passed, clearly still able to draw the attention of any type of man, regardless of class. Once she was out of sight, Emma breathed a sigh of relief, Killian stepping in front of her and acting as both a sun shield and a distraction from her mother in law’s words. Had Diana really just offered to help her fight for Killian? Could it all really be that simple?

“Are you alright, love?” Killian offered gently. His hands were on her arms, running up and down in soothing lines that had her warmed by more than just the sunshine. She was staring off into space, lost in her own thoughts which must have been very intense, because she simply nodded.

“I think so,” Emma blinked. “Did you hear what she said?” Emma looked up at him for the first time since he had made his way to her and he nodded, a huge grin upon his face.

“I do,” Killian clarified, his eyes searching hers for any sign of hesitation at his words. “Want to claim you, I mean.”

“I know,” Emma said softly. “I want to be yours, officially.”

“I was rather hoping you’d say that,” he said with a grin.

Excitement glinted in his eyes and Killian sucked in a breath through his teeth, closing the gap between them even more and pulling her into his frame. Emma leaned into him, her hands settling on his shoulders, content that he would hold her steady. They seemed to disappear from the world around them, lost in their own little bubble of love and admiration, and for the first time, in public, Killian pressed his lips to hers. Time stood still, trapping them in a vacuum, the onlookers composed of other patrons trying to finish their lunches, totally ignored in favour of the taste of each other.

Killian made a sound in his throat that Emma hadn’t heard since his rut and her mouth opened wider to accommodate his tongue that pushed further into her mouth in search of hers, his hands clutching at the sides of her face so that she would never leave him. Emma raked her nails down his shirt, smirking against his mouth when she felt his nipples harden, his breaths shortening as his blood roared through his veins and his cock stirred in his pants. It wasn’t until one of them heard the scraping of one of the metal patio chairs in the paved ground that they jumped apart, fast realisation of their surroundings leaving at least one of them with a pink colour to their cheeks.

“Oops,” Emma said sweetly, looking up at him through her lashes.

“You have no idea how long I have wanted to kiss you like that,” Killian growled. His thumb brushed over her bottom lip, plump and reddened from his kiss, a possessive purr humming against his lips. “In public, as mine.”

Emma blushed, dropping her gaze to her feet. “We still have one more thing to do,” Emma reminded him. “Graham wants a fight, remember, and I can’t think of anything I’d like to see more than you, my big, strong Alpha, knocking that worthless piece of shit on his ass.”

Killian growled again, one inquisitive eyebrow jumping up on his forehead at her words. “As you wish, Omega,” he rasped. “As you wish.”

--

The house owned by Humbert senior was massive. Killian didn’t think he had seen such a large building, the stonework such a pristine shade of white, even in the dusk of the day, Killian could tell its colour. The wide gravel driveway was immaculate, not a single stone out of place, carefully packed almost flat by the constant fleet of cars the Humbert’s seemed to own. Along the edge of the neatly kept edge where the lawn met the stones, was a line of small, sculpted trees in the shape of what looked like dogs or wolves, Killian wasn’t sure, but they seemed just as menacing as the house. It was of no matter to him really, because Emma was at his side, and it would take much more than a few trees to intimidate him, even if they did belong to a Humbert.

As they approached the door, the whole thing became larger, but Killian ignored the churning in his gut and squeezed Emma’s hand to ground himself. He knew what was coming, but she hadn’t been as versed in the ways of Alpha law like he had. A claim meant Killian would have to not only justify his means, but would also have to prove his worth, and that was usually in combat. He may have left that part of the process out when he had been explaining it to Emma. Killian didn’t want her to worry unnecessarily, because he would beat Graham, in every sense of the word, if it meant having Emma forever.

The door seemed to open by itself, a tall, thin man dressed in a tuxedo appearing around the side. He was wearing white gloves that were immaculate, probably new, and he looked at Killian with an awkward respect that Emma suspected was from years of having to address Alpha masters. They were shown into one of the property’s many drawing rooms, where a whole plethora of Alphas were waiting for them. Killian could smell them the second he walked into the house, five distinctively different scents but all unmistakably Alpha, the entire room reeking of dominance and strength, however, somewhere in the throng Killian could also smell the equally recognizable foulness that was Graham Humbert.

The man didn’t even attempt to greet them as they walked in, the butler closing the two huge heavy doors behind them. An Alpha who looked just like an older version of Graham, but with silver gray hair thinning slightly on top and the last remnants of black near his ears, stepped forward to greet him. He extended his hand with a stiff arm and instinctively Killian took it, squeezing a little harder than needed.

“Roger Humbert,” the man said. His voice was aged, probably by whiskey and cigars by the smell of him, and Killian met his stony features with an equally sombre expression. “Friends call me Buck.”

“Like Buck Rogers,” Graham interrupted, and his father blinked in annoyance.

“Yes, thank you, Graham,” he snipped.

“An old moniker, I’m sure,” Killian ascertained with a curt smile. His father smiled and nodded and Killian could feel Graham’s seething anger from the other side of the room at how his father had more respect for an Alpha he had just met than his own Beta son. “Killian Jones, sir.”

Buck quickly shook his hand back and then moved to introduce the other Alphas in the room. “I’m sure you have already realised that three of my four sons are Alpha too.” Buck paused, acknowledging Killian’s nod. “Alpha law dictates they be here.”

“Of course,” Killian agreed. It seemed they all knew about the claim, and yet, Graham was the only one annoyed with his presence.

“We’ll make this quick, as I’m sure you’re a busy man, Mr Jones,” Buck said, clearly much busier than Killian ever could be and yet using someone else to advance his own agenda. Where Graham got it from was no longer a mystery. “It has come to my attention that you wish to make a claim on an Omega married to my son.”

“Aye, that’s right,” Killian nodded, looking over to Emma standing next to him. His hand found hers at his side and he interlocked their fingers, his thumb rubbing over hers to comfort her.

“It’s bullshit,” Graham grunted.

“Enough,” Diana snapped, slapping her youngest son around the back of his head causing him to nearly choke on the small tumblr of alcohol in his mouth.

“I just want a divorce,” Emma said quietly.

“Dream on,” Graham sneered.

“I’ll fight for her,” Killian said sternly, casting a sideways glance to Graham as he ground his jaw in irritation.

“Good,” Graham quipped sarcastically. “I won’t let her go without a fight.”

“Then claim by combat is the only way this shall be settled.” Graham’s head whipped around to his father at his words, watching Buck as he moved around the room. Killian had to stop himself from smirking too hard as Graham’s face paled.

“You must be joking, father,” he laughed nervously.

Buck looked at his son without an ounce of remorse in his features. “Absolutely not.”

“But I’m not an Alpha,” Graham stated obviously and one of his brothers stifled a laugh.

“Then this should be settled quickly,” Buck said and promptly left the room.

Everyone followed him out to where the chill of the evening had already set a fine mist of dew over the driveway gravel. Some of the staff had taken it upon themselves to draw a huge circle akin to a wrestling ring just beyond where the cars were parked, the wet ground showing through the divots where they had scraped stones away. Emma looked nervous but all Killian could do was squeeze her hand, leaving her at the side of Diana while one of the Humbert boys escorted him into position.

He had seen this before. Known as a claiming circle it was a simple construct where, normally, two Alpha’s would battle over an Omega they both wished to claim. The only real problem with this scenario being that Graham wasn’t an Alpha. Killian had to admit, he wasn’t well versed in Alpha law as he should be, but even he understood that when two Alpha’s entered a claiming circle, only one walked away. Was he expected to kill Graham Humbert in front of his entire family? He’d thought about it, Gods had he thought about every single way he could make the weasel pay for how he had treated Emma, but none of his murder fantasies included any onlookers.

Killian took his place opposite Emma on the far side of the circle. The further away from her he moved, the heavier his heart felt, but this way she wouldn’t have to witness any combat up close. He was loath to inflict any more suffering on the poor thing, but what she had suffered so far was just fuel for the rage burning inside of him for Graham Humbert.

“This Alpha has made a challenge.” Buck Humbert wasn’t addressing anyone in particular, simply stating a fact, but he looked over to Graham with a seriousness in his eyes that the younger Humbert had never seen before. He had an arm outstretched, motioning to where Killian stood.

“This is fucking ridiculous!” Graham spat. “I shouldn’t have to fight for my own wife!”

Buck was across the gravel driveway in two heavy steps, pulling back his hand and punching his son with the back of a closed fist. Graham’s head snapped sideways so violently Emma was forced to look away, jumping on the spot next to Diana. The Omega in contention was allowed to bear witness to any brawl, and Diana was her moral support since Killian was unable to be both her claimant and her support. Diana gave her arm a little squeeze, but Emma wasn’t entirely convinced it wasn’t for the purpose of comforting herself in the wake of her husband striking her son.

“You will remain silent!” Buck boomed, his hot breath fogging in the coolness of the night. “Alpha law must be obeyed.”

Buck looked over to Killian, standing on the opposite side of a quickly fabricated circle where he and Graham were to duel. Killian felt his pulse race, adrenaline surging through every cell in his body when the elder Alpha nodded in his direction.

“Jones wishes to make a claim on the Omega known as Emma Humbert,” Buck announced to the watching throng of relatives who were all, but one, Alpha’s themselves. “However, she is married to a Beta, who neither wishes to renounce his marriage or his wife.”

“Of course I don’t!” Graham snapped, side stepping away from his father in case another blow was coming his way.

“Be that as it may, Alpha law dictates you must fight for her, if you wish to keep her.” Buck looked his son dead in the eyes, stony seriousness etched onto his aged face, making sure his son understood the gravity of his next words. “Killian Jones, do you still wish to make the claim?”

“Aye,” Killian nodded, swallowing hard. “I do.”

“Then it’s settled,” Buck announced the silent onlookers once more. “Alpha law dictates a fight to the death, or surrender, whichever comes first. Are all parties in understanding?”

Killian nodded again, flexing his fingers at his side. “Aye,” he repeated, but there was a darkness in his words Emma hadn’t heard before, a harsh, gravelly bitterness that she could only assume had built up from months of knowing how unhappy Graham made her.

Emma’s breath hitched in her throat when Graham opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead, he straightened up, the man of a similar height to Killian, and wrenched his jacket off his back, tossing it away out of the circle. Killian followed his lead, but instead of divesting himself of his jacket, simply rolled up his sleeves, sizing up the worthless Beta in front of him.

“Let’s do this, Jones,” Graham spat. “You want her so badly? Show me.”

Killian narrowed his gaze at the man in front of him, dancing left and then right, waving his arms in some kind of display to distract. In reality, he looked a fool and Killian wondered how, in the name of everything that was sacred, Emma had not already murdered him in his sleep and put the wretch out of his misery. Graham moved forward towards the centre of the circle and Killian took a step back, lifting his arms into a defensive posture, but barely covering his face. Graham Humbert didn’t scare him, and he would let him get a shot in to boost the man’s ego, but ultimately, he would be claiming Emma as his mate by the end of the night.

“Well, here it is, Jones, just me and you,” Graham barked, circling around to the left.

“You and I,” Killian corrected with a rasp. A cocksure grin spread over his lips and Killian beckoned Graham towards him with a flick of his fingers.

Graham, ever the fool, lunged forward, arm pulled back and fist clenched, aiming directly for Killian’s face. At the last second, Killian dropped his arms and Graham’s fist connected with his mouth, twisting his neck out of sorts and sending a jolt of pain up his jaw. Graham almost squealed in delight, sweat already dripping from his brow from how hard he had been prancing about. The snigger that escaped his lips made Killian growl and he dabbed at his lip, checking for blood, a sheen of crimson smeared on his fingers that made Graham chuckle with glee.

It was worth it, Emma was worth it.

“She’s not worth getting your ass kicked,” Graham told him with a shrug.

Killian’s tongue darted out and he tasted the coppery tang of blood from his split lip. “You’re wrong, mate,” Killian ground out, spitting blood into the space between them in more than just a display of distaste for the cretin before him, and his words. “Emma is worth so much more.”

Graham laughed, his eyes glowing with glee. “Well come on then, Alpha,” he goaded. “If you want her so badly, fight for her!”

Graham lunged forward again, foolishly driven by his adrenaline, but he was no match for Killian, the stronger of the two men, who simply dodged Graham’s attack, sending him stumbling towards the edge of the circle. A few of Graham’s brothers stepped back, Alphas themselves, knowing full well not to get involved. Alpha Law decreed Graham defend himself and fight for the Omega he so desperately wanted to keep, even if it was just to make her life even more miserable than it already was, but Killian wasn’t going to let him take anything else from Emma ever again.

He could make sure of it tonight.

Spinning on the gravel, Killian readied himself for another charge that never came. Graham righted himself and gave him a sickening grin, running a hand through his muddy blonde mop of hair and taking a deep breath. The man looked crazed, his eyes wild and even a little bit of spittle dripping from his mouth, but Killian had seen it before; a man so desperate to keep an image that he would go to any lengths to maintain a reputation that he didn’t even realise was already in tatters. And none of that had been Emma’s doing.

“Just sign the divorce papers and let her go,” Killian said hoarsely. “This doesn’t have to end in violence.”

He stood up straight, hands raised in a truce, looking at Graham dead in the eye, hoping that his Alpha superiority would be enough to dissuade the man from any further bloodshed, but Graham simply copied Killian’s stance, puffing out his chest in a faux display of dominance that intimidated no one and just made him look like a fool. Killian sighed. He didn’t want to hurt Graham, despite all of the time he had fantasized about it, because Emma’s entire life had been about her friendship and eventual marriage to him, and Killian could never change that, no matter how many punches he threw. Graham Humbert would always be a footnote in her life, and mean something to her, as much as Killian wanted to erase him from the page entirely.

“No chance,” Graham baulked on a laugh. “Humbert men don’t get divorced.”

Killian could feel every set of eyes on them rolling in unison but Graham was oblivious to how ridiculous his words sounded, inching towards the Alpha once more. Killian readied himself in a southpaw stance, right foot and clenched fist forward and ready to attack. Graham was sloppy, clearly never having been in an actual fight in his life, proving to Killian once and for all that the man was a fraud in every sense of the word. His hands were like balls on the end of ropes, flailing around in a move Killian could only assume he had seen in movies, burning through his energy reserves and riding on the high knowledge that he had landed the first blow.

A southpaw stance had Killian at an advantage, but Graham wouldn’t have realised that. Both men were right-handed but in a southpaw, Killian could essentially focus all of his energy into a right-handed punch that would come in a straighter and, if he was lucky, knock Graham clean out. The Beta clearly had no idea how to defend himself so it would be easy to land the punch. Killian just had to pick the right opportunity. Graham jumped forward towards him, his face lighting up with excitement when Killian flinched backwards and he thought he had the upper hand, one of his arms reached out to punch at the Alpha again, only this time he wasn’t as lucky as before. Graham had misjudged the gap between them, landing his punch short, and it gave Killian the opportunity to grab the wretched man’s arm and wrench it sideways until Graham howled in pain, at which point Killian pulled him towards him with the same, mangled arm and landed a punch square to his nose.

The force at which he hit him had Graham flung from Killian’s grasp, losing his balance and falling back onto the slightly damp stones with a gruff shout of pain. Unmoving Alphas watched on as Graham, dazed and confused, clambered back to his feet. He swayed from side to side, blood pouring from his clearly broken nose and colouring the front of his shirt crimson as his attempts to stem the flow with his sleeve failed. Graham looked up, heaving deep breaths through his open mouth, stopping briefly to spit a mouthful of blood to the ground when the blood that couldn’t escape his nostrils had poured back into his throat.

“Lucky hit,” Graham sneered, shaking his head in an attempt to rid himself of the ringing in his ears.

“Stop this,” Killian pleaded darkly, holding Graham at bay with an arm that was more to test the distance between them than anything else. “You can’t win.”

“I always win!” Graham roared in a childlike tone. He made another attempt to tackle Killian, diving in and aiming for his waist, but Killian simply grabbed the shoulders of Graham’s shirt, holding him steady, before delivering a bone-crunching knee to his face and tossing him aside like the worthless piece of trash he was.

“Concede,” Killian growled, casting a sideways glance to Emma who was frozen in what seemed like shock.

“No!” Graham yelled in a watery voice, staggering back to his feet. “This is a fight to the death!” He declared stupidly, charging Killian once more.

Killian made a simple move to avoid him, boots scuffing through the stones as Graham managed to grab a hold of the collar of his jacket and pull him with his forward momentum. Killian grabbed Graham’s wrists, a feral snarl sounding from low in his chest as he felt the bones crumble under his fingers, Graham crying out in agony. To stop the sound the snivelling man was making, Killian pulled him to him, bones crunching against bone in Graham’s limp wrists, and headbutted him so hard that even he saw a flash of white behind his own eyes. Graham stiffened and fell to the ground once more, the back of his head hitting the stone driveway and the sound of blood gurgling in his throat as he coughed and clutched his broken wrists to his chest.

“Concede,” Killian snarled, his voice booming around them, disappearing into the air in a haze of evaporating breath. He took a step towards Graham, a dark menace behind his eyes, stopping briefly when he caught sight of a tear running down Emma’s cheek. “Concede, sign the divorce papers, and I’ll spare your life.”

“No,” Graham ground out foolishly, spitting another mouthful of bubbly blood to the ground beside him. Killian watched in amazement as, even with two broken wrists, Graham managed to push himself to his feet again, hobbling towards him with a misplaced determination.

Killian took a breath, done with the idiot’s defiance in the face of the real consequences of his actions. Graham still, even after everything, believed himself worthy, when in reality, he was the lowest class member in his entire family and, after tonight, they would never let him forget it. Resigning to end both Graham’s suffering and Emma’s upset, which was apparent on her face, Killian took a bracing step towards Graham, leg lifted and outstretched, and planted a firm, flat foot right into the middle of the man’s solar plexus, sending him back down onto the ground and scrambling for much-needed breath.

Killian exhaled hard, fists clenching at his side with ire that Graham might again find the will to rejoin the fight. “Now, stay down!” He yelled gruffly, a flash of his Alpha dominance lacing the undertones of his voice.

“You think this is over?” Graham rasped hoarsely. “We’ve invested too much money in Emma to just let some common Alpha swoop in and take her!”

Killian chuckled, really chuckled, because Graham hadn’t the energy, strength or even capacity right now to follow through on his words, and not a single member of his family made haste to agree with him. The muscles of Killian’s jaw ticked under his scruff as he ground his teeth, sticky with blood that probably wasn’t his. He took a step towards Graham once more, the Beta curling up into a tight ball as best he could to avoid another blow, but Killian simply reached into his jacket and pulled out a huge, white envelope. Confusion was etched onto everyone’s face, including Emma, when Killian yanked the crumpled and well used envelope open and pulled out a huge wad of cash.

“Here,” Killian spat, tossing it at Graham with as much force as he could throw paper money. “Take your fucking money,” he ground out. “Every single cent you paid me to sleep with your wife is there, now concede, and leave me and my Omega to the rest of our lives.”

Graham scrambled to collect as many of the bills he could with what limited mobility he had left, only for Killian to sigh at the sight. He pitied the man, for if money was all he could truly find pleasure in, he would be alone forever. Killian stepped over him, totally ignored by the wide-eyed Beta collecting his cash, and straight into Emma’s waiting arms. She clung to him like a thing possessed, tense beyond comprehension, and he wrapped her up in his embrace, stroking her hair and whispering soothing words into her ear. She was shaking from the adrenaline coursing through her body, and the scent she was giving off was heavenly, but it made Killian even more aware that they were surrounded by several other Alphas all looking in their direction.

“We should go,” she whispered, her lips millimetres from his own, a lustful darkness in her words that had his skin buzzing, her fingers trailing patterns on his neck and leaving goosebumps in their wake.

“Not so fast,” Buck Humbert drawled out slowly, watching his pitiful son writhing on the gravel. “Graham,” he called out and his son took a moment away from his cash counting to acknowledge his father’s summons. “You concede by default, unable to continue the battle.”

“But-”

“You will divorce Emma, an Omega, who is now rightfully claimed by this Alpha.” Buck gave Killian a small nod, and even though he detested the entire lot of them, Killian nodded back in understanding.

“No!” Graham opposed one more time, but his father’s voice boomed out once more, only this time Buck was on his aged knees right next to him, a fistful of hair in his grasp making Graham cry out like a whining child.

“Do you have any idea how lucky you are to still be drawing breath, boy?” Buck growled. “You’re lucky this Alpha didn’t finish you off, as was his right.”

Graham forced a nod against his father’s grip on his hair, finally nodding. “I concede,” he whimpered and Buck pushed his son’s head away in disgust.

Two of the other Humbert boys offered their father their hands, but the elder waved them away, taking his time to rise to his feet. “Get him in the house,” he spat, looking away from Graham with detest. They moved away from their father and each grabbed Graham under the armpit, yanking him to his feet, the movement of it causing more blood to rush from his broken nose and down his face.

Without another word, the Humbert men disappeared up the driveway, back into the house where, no doubt, they would be patching Graham up. Emma heaved a relieved sigh, overcome with emotion she had been trying to hold back, tears springing from her eyes and a pained whimpering sound coming from her throat.

“Hey,” Killian soothed instantly, dipping his head to try and catch her gaze. “It’s over.”

“You’re hurt,” Emma declared with a panicked voice, her thumb ghosting over the split to his lip and the small lump that had begun to form on his forehead from the headbutt.

“I’m fine,” he promised softly.

“Promise?” Emma sobbed.

Killian grabbed her hand and flattened it over his heart, waiting for her to find the rhythm of his heartbeat against her fingertips, her panicked breathing slowing down as soon as she did. Emma inhaled in time with the steady beat of his heart, exhaling as he stroked the length of her fingers, looking up at his expectant gaze with watery vision.

“Cross my heart,” Killian breathed. He wrapped his fingers around hers and gave them a comforting squeeze.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Diana said softly from beside them, both their heads turning to her in unison. “I’ll have our lawyers draw up the paperwork and take care of the rest.” She meant Graham’s arms healing enough for him to scrawl his name on the bottom, but no one said it out loud. “We have your address,” she said sadly.

“Thank you,” Emma whispered, catching her mother in law’s arm as she began to move away from them.

Diana looked from Emma’s hand up to her face, the pretty girl she once knew and loved so fondly now a fully-fledged Omega, beautiful inside and out, and it was all thanks to the Alpha at her side. “You have a beautiful smile, Emma,” she said absently, cupping Emma’s face in her hands. “I never realised all this time you were forcing it.” Diana looked up at Killian, giving him a fond smile. “You’ll look after her, won’t you?”

Killian frowned. “Aye, of course,” he declared ardently. “Like my life depended on it.”

“Good,” Diana said sternly, but there was a softness to her voice that had him at ease. She groaned halfheartedly before pulling Emma from his arms and into her own, squeezing her with a familiarity that Emma wasn’t sure she had shown her before. It was a brief hug, but told Emma everything she needed to convey, words never enough to let her know how sorry she was, or how much she would miss her. “Because I know where you live if she is ever unhappy,” Diana sniffed, finally letting Emma go and pointing a stern finger at Killian, who laughed.

“I know,” he agreed, watching both women dab away their tears once more.

“I mean it,” Diana added, pointing again, but tears overcame her and she turned away to cry.

“He will,” Emma assured her with a comforting hand to her shoulder. “And I’d like to still have lunch with you, if that’s okay?”

Diana’s face lit up and she nodded enthusiastically. “I’d like that very much. Now get going, before I ruin any more of my make up.”

Diana gave Emma a weak shove and covered her mouth, trying to stifle the watery sob that signified her loss. Killian took Emma by the hand and led her away, her own tears escaping from her eyelids, a mixture of emotions washing over her all at once. When she was far enough away from the house, her knees went out from under her and Killian scooped her up, carrying her the last couple of feet to his car, her fingers clutching his shirt so tightly he thought she might bruise the skin beneath. Killian set about putting her in the car, rushing around to the driver’s side as quickly as he could, only for Emma to launch herself at him as soon as the door was closed.

Her mouth sought out his, and she clambered into his lap without invitation. Somewhere, between the first blow and the blood-curdling screams her future ex-husband had emitted, Emma felt something deep inside her that she had never experienced before. She had tried to hold it in, but she was sure from the way the Alpha brothers were looking at her she hadn’t been very successful, and they could smell her arousal. It took Killian a few seconds to realise what was happening, Emma’s sudden and insatiable need to be near him, on him, with him, far greater in that moment than she had ever experienced. She was all over him, her scent creating a haze around his senses and overpowering him, rendering him nothing but an object, on which Emma was busy grinding, chasing a sudden pleasure she didn’t realise she needed.

“Emma,” Killian mumbled against her lips and it was just enough to stop her bruising kiss long enough for him to look into her eyes. There was almost no colour left from how blown wide her pupils were, the surge of adrenal desire coveting her entire being and rendering Killian almost as fearful as he was aroused.

“Take me home, Alpha,” she purred. “Take me home, now.”

Chapter Text

The car journey home was a blur. The entire way Emma whispered sweet nothings into his ear as her scent surrounded them, suffocating him and making it almost impossible to keep his eyes on the road. Killian had been so engrossed in beating Graham, making sure he knew that he was nothing to them and would never hurt Emma again, that he had failed to notice the change in Emma as she watched them battle. It wasn’t until he was with her in the car, sealed in with her heady musk, that he realised that the primal Omega spirit inside of her had come alive, baited by the sight of blood and the smell of him, that he realised her intentions.

Emma was leaning over to him having ducked under the body strap of her seat belt, and was rubbing her eager hands over his thigh, gently scraping her nails over the material of his pants and making him shiver. Killian sucked in a quick breath but it felt like there wasn’t enough oxygen left in the car to oxymoronically put out the fire in his lungs, but he was quickly distracted from the pain in his chest when Emma softly, but forcefully, pushed on the growing bulge between his legs, a wry smile on her lips that he only managed to see for a second before his eyes fluttered closed.

He felt Emma’s hand on the steering wheel next to his, helping to keep the car on course whilst her other one massaged his cock, making him hard in seconds. Blood surged around his body, making him lightheaded and he eased his foot off the accelerator pedal, unable to even comprehend his own name, let alone tell how fast he was driving. He heard Emma laugh, her breath hot and wet against its shell as she purred into his ear, her fingers clutching the girth of his erection through his pants, her touch like a both a gift and a curse for his cock which strained painfully to be free.

“I want this,” she whispered darkly. Her fingers grabbed at the zipper of his fly, slowly and deliberately sliding it down, the sound of each tooth coming apart from its twin deafening him.

“Fuck, Emma,” Killian panted, lifting his hips off the seat in an attempt to relieve his aching cock.

“Omega,” she purred sweetly, sliding her hand into his pants through the now open zipper and past his underwear. She traced a single finger over his balls, loving the way they shrunk under her touch and the skin pulling tight around them. She continued her assault, dragging her finger over the skin covering the bulb of his knot and grinned wickedly when she felt his cock twitch and his chest expand with another huge breath. “Use my title,” she cooed, mirroring his earlier command.

Killian was so aroused by her words that he almost didn’t see the light they were approaching turn red, slamming his foot on the brake and the car skidding to a stop just over the line. He heaved a breath, his knuckles aching from how hard he was gripping the wheel, the strain of his erection only momentarily soothed from her assault by the fact her hand shot out to brace herself against the dashboard.

“You need to stop,” Killian ground out, trying to blink his vision clear.

“Why?” Emma whimpered innocently, cuddling back into him and resuming her caresses.

Killian looked over at her and gave her a dark stare, a warning glance that just made her grin even more slyly. “Because you and I both know I can’t fuck you in this car, and the apartment is another five minutes away.”

“Who says you can’t fuck me in this car?” Emma pouted, batting her eyelashes at him as her fingers twirled around in what chest hair she could see poking from the top of his shirt.

Killian took a moment to lick his lips and could swear he could already taste her arousal on his tongue between the tang of blood and his own excess saliva. He looked at her, long and hard, the sheen of sweat on her skin catching his attention in the street light, displaying her own arousal as if she was in heat, something Killian knew to be impossible. Or maybe it wasn’t? She was a new Omega after all, recently come of age and still not entirely in control of her hormones. She was a slave to her own desire and what she wanted the most was currently trying to force its way out of its sheath into the cool air of the night from her sultry look alone.

“Omega,” Killian soothed reasonably but with a black lustre to his tone that had her audibly shuddering in the seat next to him. “We both know there isn’t enough room for me to fully enjoy you here.”

“Oh?” Emma questioned softly, her mind racing with all of the possibilities of what ‘fully enjoying her’ meant.

Pulling one of his hands from the steering wheel, Killian stroked over the shape of her skull, bunching her hair into a loose ponytail and giving it a gentle tug. Emma wrenched her head sideways, gasping with need, every cell in her body crying out for more than just a promise of his touch. Killian’s lips curled into a knowing smirk, watching her still wide pupils dilate even more as he leaned over to inhale the scent of her skin, exaggerating his action as he skimmed the tip of his nose up the side of her cheek, deliberately ghosting a sigh against her scent gland that pulsed and coaxed him closer with a wave of scent.

“I said not here,” he growled with finality.

Before Emma could explain how his words had affected her, a wave of slick had expelled itself from her body and she clenched her knees together in an attempt to relieve some of the ache that had settled there. Killian watched the light turn green and let her go like nothing had transpired between them, fixing his eyes on the road once more and setting off towards the apartment. Emma fell back into her seat, her head spinning from his dominance.

“Hurry,” she pleaded, the pleasurable pain on her scalp from his rough handling sending a jolt of arousal to her clit. “Please, Alpha, hurry.”

If he was honest, Killian had sped all the way back to the apartment, not caring one iota for the safety of other drivers. Emma was his, officially now, and the thought of having her, marking her, was making him almost rut-like aroused. He wanted to give her everything, more than just sex, and even that had his already hard cock twitching in the confines of his pants all the way through the apartment complex. When they reached the elevator that would take them up to the right floor, Emma giggling like a giddy teenager as her hand clutched his, the only part she could in public, she busied herself with gently stroking his index finger as if it were his cock, the hard glance he gave her only encouraging her further.

"Are you okay?" She purred innocently, watching his Adam's apple bob in his throat as he swallowed. "You seem distracted, Alpha."

Killian chose to ignore her taunt, head tilted back and eyes fixed on the numbers above the elevator door as they illuminated with its impending arrival. When the translucent 'G' lit up, the chime of a bell and the grinding of the opening doors accompanying it, Killian gave her hand a squeeze, a gentle and yet forceful pressure that had her mouth turning dry and the ache between her thighs throbbing once more. He stepped inside, giving her arm a tug, the doors sliding shut with only inches to spare between the metal and Emma's hair, before throwing her against the back wall of the elevator with a possessive growl.

Emma hit the hard surface with such force the elevator wobbled from side to side, scraping the walls around it with a grinding sound as it began to move. Her eyes lit up with anticipation as Killian stalked his way to her, closing the gap in less than a second and pinning her to the wall with his weight. His hands were on her face, a gentle but forceful grip of her jaw that had slick soaking her underwear yet again, the widening of Killian's pupils in response sending a shiver up her spine.

"I could take you right here," he growled, his nose brushing her cheek as he grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her head back, inhaling the scent of her. "But I won't." One of his hands snaked between their bodies, pushing its way into her pants and a single finger slipping through her folds. Killian's eyes fluttered closed when Emma whimpered, a needy plea that sent a rush of blood to his cock, something he knew she could feel as she attempted to move her hips against his.

"Please," Emma begged, her limbs weighty and numb from his most minute of touches, her mind racing when he dipped his head and ran his tongue along her collarbone.

Her skin was different somehow, the taste of her sizzling on his tongue, and he grew even harder than he already was at the smell of her scent gland. She wasn’t in heat, he knew that, but there were so many different senses firing the synapses in his brain all at once that the beast within was roaring, clawing at his insides in an attempt to take her where she stood, but by some miracle, despite the huge, watery doe eyes she was giving him that were anything but innocent, Killian managed to remain externally composed, and simply ran his tongue over her gland in an attempt to quell the fires within with a grin.

"Please, what?" Killian commanded wickedly, pausing his ministrations over her scent gland. He could practically feel the throb of it, hear the blood rushing around her body from how he was touching her, the primal beast within him begging for what was to come.

"Please, Alpha," Emma breathed.

Killian growled, a low rumble emanating from his chest, the surge of adrenaline from the fight still coursing through his veins. Beating Graham was more than just satisfactory. Killian felt like he had liberated Emma into a life of more love and admiration than she could ever conceive, and there would not be a single day he wouldn't show her that.

The chime of the elevator had him tearing his body from hers just in time for the doors to pull open and reveal one of the neighbours. Emma innocently gave him a courteous nod, but the man, also an Alpha, couldn't stop his gaze when the flushed, heavenly smelling Omega in front of him whimpered with desire. A warning snarl rumbled from Killian as he stepped through the doorway, the much smaller Alpha shrinking away and retreating along the hall, disappearing through a stairwell door instead, something that had Emma giggling in excitement and clutching Killian’s hand even tighter as he pulled her behind him down the hall.

“Quickly, Omega,” Killian snarled, feeling the buzz of anticipation on his skin as he passed each and every door of his neighbours, all Alpha is nature. “Your scent only serves to entice more Alpha in your direction.”

Emma fell into step behind him and felt the hairs on his forearm prickling to attention under her fingers when her hand slipped around his wrist and pulled him to a stop.

“So?” She challenged, just shy of their front door. “I am yours.”

Killian stepped into her space and she took a step back, the cold panel of the front door shocking her and making a gasp escape her lips. He was so close he could feel her suck the breath from between them and his eyes fell to the softness of her lips, slightly parted in silent invitation of his kiss. Emma heaved a breath and Killian could feel her breasts touching his chest, hot and nipples hard, poking his skin like there was no material between them. He licked his lips, imagining them under his tongue, imagining them and so much more as his eyes shifted to the throb of her scent gland, innocently tempting him to mark her where they stood.

“Not yet,” Killian whispered huskily, his senses on high alert. He heard a door open behind them and smelled the unmistakable musk of an Alpha in rut, coaxed out of his hiding hole by the waft of an unclaimed Omega and the possibility of sating his urges. Killian’s keys were in the front door before she had time to object or even look behind him at the grunting Alpha, Emma was being pushed inside with little resistance, the door quickly locked behind them.

“Alpha?” Emma’s voice was soft and enticed Killian to look at her, feasting on her beauty like a man starved. She had taken a step back from the door, shedding her clothes without preamble, tossing them aside garment after garment until she was gloriously naked in front of him. “What you did to Graham,” she began, swaying her hips as she walked towards him.

“Don’t say his name,” Killian growled.

“How you hurt him,” she continued, ignoring his possessiveness before reaching out and taking his hand. "It got me all worked up."

Killian grinned wickedly, drinking in the sight of her with a predatory state that was further darkened when she slipped his hand between her parted thighs and slowly dragged his fingertip through the slick there. She was so wet it also coated the outside of her lips and a mournful sigh slipped from her mouth when she pressed Killian's finger against her slippery clit.

"If I'd known it would have this sort of effect on you, I'd have beat his arse long before now," Killian growled, letting her ride his fingers.

"Is this...is this…" Emma couldn't find the words she needed, rendered speechless when Killian took over the torture between her legs. His thumb stroked her clit whilst his fingertips teased her opening, the muscles contracting in an attempt to pull his finger inside, desperate to relieve the ache there.

"This is being Omega, aye," Killian finished for her. "This is how your body reacts to your Alpha," he purred, quickening his pace between her legs, the sensitive nub throbbing with every rough swipe of his thumb. Emma's hand clutched his wrist but he did not let up, stroking her in just the right way to coax a very quick, easy orgasm from her that had her gasping for breath and her knees buckling. Killian held her up, driving two stiff fingers inside of her core until slick coated his palm, his other hand stopping her from toppling with a firm grip on her lower back. "This is how your body reacts to me," he growled.

Emma felt like her insides were going to erupt from every orifice, her entire body tingling from head to toe. The orgasm had been small, ebbing away inside of her, muscles gently throbbing against Killian's fingers, but it wasn't enough. She needed more. She needed the burn and stretch of his knot, the full feeling only he could give her and the welcomed pain of their frenzied love making. When her eyes finally fluttered open, her irises a mess of arousal tinted emerald and gold flecks illuminated by her recent release, there was a ferality about her that had Killian pausing momentarily with a sly, knowing smirk.

"There you are, Omega," he praised huskily but before he had any time for any more quips, Emma was pushing against his chest, hard, and he fell backwards against the front door.

Killian barely registered the shooting pain up his spine before Emma was on him, tongue running along the seam of his lips and into his mouth for a ravenous kiss. He strained his neck to push back against her, fingernails clawing at where her clothes once were and leaving welts in their wake. Her kiss was hot and needy and everything he would expect from an Omega in heat but with the clarity and determination of a woman who knew exactly what she wanted. The thin barrier of clothing between them was too much. Emma needed his skin on hers and a ripple of lust travelled over her entire body when Killian’s hands framed her face in his hold.

“So wanton,” he teased, licking her lips. Not impressed with him breaking their kiss, Emma nipped at his bottom lip a little too hard, causing him to hiss in pain and tug it from her teeth when he wrenched his head backwards. Killian touched his lip and inspected his fingertips for blood, finding none but raising an eyebrow at her with a sinful smirk. “And so naughty,” he droned darkly.

Emma looked up at him through her lashes, leaning her entire weight against him. “Your naughty Omega,” she purred. She dragged her fingertips through the underside of his jaw, her nails catching on the scruff there and her eyes focused on the bob of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed.

Killian surged forward and almost knocked her off her feet with his kiss, fusing his lips to hers and wrapping her up in his embrace. Emma leapt into his arms in response, wrapping her legs tightly around his waist and slipping down until the hardness of him was deliciously rubbing her clit. Killian’s hands were on her arse, kneading the fleshy globes as a way to rid himself of the frustration of desire she was causing by grinding against him, but it was futile, and the only relief he felt was when he sat her on the back of his couch and popped open his pants.

Emma giggled excitedly, raking her nails down the front of his shirt, quickly yanking the material up and helping him rid himself of it. Killian growled, the rumble vibrating through her fingertips when Emma clawed through the newly exposed chest hair before her, a hum of appreciation escaping her lips as the soft, raven coloured hair caressed her skin. Killian's muscles twitched, as did his cock, full of blood and yearning to be free and inside of the Omega so intent on suffocating him in her scent.

"What is it?" Emma noticed his hesitation, even in the split second it took Killian to furrow his brow.

"Nothing," Killian lied, letting her balance on the couch whilst he rid himself of the last remains of his clothing. He kicked them away, lest he trip over them later, and took one of her hands to move it to his cock, letting the cool tips of her fingers brush over the velvety soft shaft ever so gently. It felt like a torture but from Heaven itself, and even though he was controlling the pace, the mere thought of marking Emma has his forever would see him spilling himself in no time if he didn’t make a drastic rectification of the topic.

“Don’t lie to me,” Emma cooed, slipping her fingers between his legs where her gentle touch sent all the hairs on his thighs prickling to attention. She stroked at the skin there, inexplicably smooth compared to the rest of his body, and loved the way his cock bobbed in response and his eyes fluttered closed.

Killian gave her a half drunk stare and smirked. “I would never,” he pledged with a hand over his heart.

“Good,” Emma purred, parting her legs a little wider.

Killian watched her slip a finger through her folds before lifting the digit to her lips, slick hanging from it in an elongated droplet of viscous arousal, before she licked it with a content groan, her tongue caressing the slippery tip like it was his cock. A tiny bit fell to her chin and he was on her in a shot, cockhead bumping the inside of her slick covered thigh as his tongue darted out to lap it up, the taste of her on his tongue minute but setting his already heightened senses into overdrive.

“There is more where that came from,” Emma whispered huskily into his ear whilst he busied himself with dry humping her thigh, the slick there more than adequate to avoid the burn of friction for both of them, the tease of entering her a blinding torture Emma always welcomed with him. She cast her eyes down and he followed her gaze, dropping to his knees with her gentle pressure on his broad shoulders until he was eye level with her sex and the scent of her womanly arousal was even more a cross to bear. “Taste me, Alpha. Take what is yours.”

Killian licked his lips and hooked his arms around her upper legs, holding her steady before diving into the apex of her thighs with a feral growl. His taste buds came alive when her essence coated his tongue, sweet, juicy slick pouring from her sex in reposnse to his tongue diving into her core. He held her steady when she rocked backwards, angling her hips so she could soothe the throbbing pain in her clit by brushing it against his nose tip, an action that caused him to retreat from his salvation with a wry smirk.

“Easy, love,” he soothed darkly, skimming his hands over her behind and dragging his fingernails over her skin down to her knees. “We have all the time in the world,” he muttered against her inner thigh as he planted a kiss there.

“I want you now,” Emma sulked and attempted to drag him closer by hooking her heel into his shoulder. Killian looked up at her pouting lips with a fond smile, knowing that he would never tire of anything she did, now or ever.

“And you’ll have me,” Killian assured her, kissing one knee and then the other before spreading her leg even wider for his greedy tongue. “But not before I have you,” he droned seductively, diving back into her sex like a man starved, his hot, stiff tongue diving into her slick laden warmth once more, his eyes only leaving hers when her taste overwhelmed his senses and he had to close his eyes.

“Oh, fuck,” Emma panted in repsonse. One of her hands fisted his hair, grabbing at the darkened locks to hold him in place, having utter faith that he would hold her steady, even when her legs began to shake.

Killian only took her gasps as something to chase, like a dog after a hare, eager to hear her empty her lungs of every last breath she had, suffocating herself in desire, ready to die a thousand deaths if his tongue was how she was to go. Her bones dissolved inside of her limbs, a sudden weightlessness overtaking her and her core clenching at nothing in desperation to feel something. In honesty, she would never feel complete until his knot was filling her up, but for now the mastery of his tongue would have to do, and by the way he was giving every part of her sex his absolute fullest attentions, she was in no doubt of just how much of a master he really was.

Killian hummed in content, stopping for a moment to just take a breath before returning to the ecstasy between her thighs with a new goal in mind. The sharp intake of Emma’s breath told him he had hit the mark, his lips applying just the right amount of pressure as they closed around her clit to steal her words and render her a complete, babbling mess. He loved it. He loved the way her body reacted to him, and when it did, the way she was constantly surprised, like she was learning everything again, like she was experiencing colours or sounds for the first time, only for him to cruelly rip them away with the talents of his tongue, or his cock, and leave her quivering and unable to form anything but a smile. He loved her smile and he loved the way she smiled for him. He just loved her.

She was the finest thing he had ever tasted and he could tell just how close she was simply by the way her slick awoke every single one of his taste buds from their slumber. He didn’t even need to double his efforts, relishing in how easy it was to bring her to another orgasm that would only serve to intensify the sweetness of her slick, on which he could languishly feast on for as long as Emma’s body produced it. Everytime she came it was different and Killian savoured every last drop of her ever hungry for more, he pulled her clit between his teeth, grazing the nub with a featherlight touch that had her careening off the edge she had been balancing on.

“Ki...Killian! Oh my God, Alpha, I’m coming!” Emma screamed incoherently, her entire body quaking as euphoria ripped through her for a second time.

Killian grinned against the wetness of her, broad strokes of his tongue slurping her slick into his mouth where he swallowed it with a greedy groan. His fingernails dug into the flesh of her thighs, holding her sex against his mouth as she tried to writhe away from him, the sensitivity on her clit almost too much to bear. Emma sucked in awkward breaths, her gasps turning to laughter as she smiled much wider than she ever had before, her skin alive, every inch crying out for more of the touch Killian was so carefully denying her as she came down from the high of her orgasm.

“There’s a good girl,” Killian soothed, steadying his licks and pressing kisses to her lips until Emma’s fingers released the clump of hair she was gripping onto for dear life, stroking his soft, dark locks instead.

The praise sent a ripple of warmth spreading through her body and when Killian rose to his feet, cock hard and proud against his deliciously thatched abdomen, Emma grabbed his hips and pulled him to her until he was nestled between her still parted thighs. Killian put up little resistance, only stopping when his erection slipped between her sodden folds and her lips met his in a fiery kiss.

Emma's body reacted instantly, her stomach falling away into the nowhere of desire, her hands clutching his face to hers. Her fingernails clawed at his scruffy cheeks and the sound it made was amplified in her ears, barely audible above the sound of her own blood in her veins, but still so loud she didn't hear the growl that rumbled deep in Killian's chest. His tongue sought entrance to her mouth, skimming along the seam of her smile until access was granted, the taste of herself in his mouth sending another, new wave of slick to expel itself between her still trembling thighs.

With a cant of his hips, Killian was sliding his erection through the wetness of her folds, the head of his cock grazing her clit and making her gasp. He gobbled up her sigh, grabbing her hips and repeating his thrust just to hear the sounds she made, breath stole from her lungs with such an intimate gesture, silent and yet saying everything that Killian wanted to convey. He would go to the ends of time if it meant he could hear her mumble profanities and, most of all, his name and title, and so when it came to marking her as his forever, Killian was going to make sure she was thoroughly exhausted with pleasure.

Just how Killian could know her so well, despite hardly knowing her at all, had all become clear. An Alpha would go to Hell and back for an Omega, would even die in some cases, and Emma couldn't even imagine the turmoil Killian had felt inside thinking she was a married Beta and so confusingly addictive. Now her true nature had been revealed, and Alpha law had seen to her sorry excuse of a now ex husband, there was nothing standing in their way of eternity together. Their love was hard, and it had come fast.

"I love you," Emma breathed against his lips, a sheen of sweat sticking their foreheads together. Her breath, still ragged from two orgasms, fogged across his mouth and Emma felt his tongue touch her lips when it darted out in search of her sweet slick that now lingered on both of them.

"And I you," Killian rasped, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I'll always love you."

Emma had no words in reply, simply smiling as wide as the muscles of her face would allow.

“There’s that smile,” Killian said in awe. He traced the outline of her jaw with his fingertip, brushing his thumb over the plumpness of her lips before hooking a bent finger under her chin and tilting her head up until their eyes met once more. “You’re so beautiful, Emma,” he purred sweetly. “I am the luckiest Alpha in the world.”

“No,” Emma shook her head. “I’m the lucky one. You found me and saved me.” She watched the quirk of his mouth as his lips curved into a knowing smile, a slight blush colouring his cheeks just visible as he bowed his head. Her palm on his cheek brought him back to her and he lifted his head, grey blue hues meeting hers once more, a sly grin on her face.

“What?” He asked shyly.

“You’re so soft, Alpha,” Emma teased.

“Oh, soft am I?” Killian growled, the coarseness returning back to his voice and the dark veil of craving flooding back into his eyes.

Two firm hands slapped her thighs, pinning himself between them, before snaking his hands beneath her buttocks and hoisting her into his arms. Emma weighed next to nothing and without prompting, her legs wrapped around his waist, his still hard cock rubbing her deliciously and earning him another soft whimper. Emma clung onto his neck, loving the strength rippling under her fingers, her vision a haze as they moved through the room. Killian was sure footed in the way he moved, his destination marked out in his mind and a smirk on his face. Emma’s skin came to life under his hold, the fine, dandy hairs reaching out as her skin tightened under his digits, her anticipation silent but evident and finally quelled when Killian reached the floor to ceiling windows of his apartment and slammed her body into the cold, hard, pane.

Emma shrieked, scrambling to settle her aching skin against the glass, confident Killian would hold her aloft, and he did, until he used her slightly sweat soaked skin to his advantage and let her slide down the pane to where she was quickly impaled on his waiting erection. He buried himself to the knot bulb, toes curling against the floor in his effort, making sure Emma could feel every inch of him inside of her. The silent gasp she emitted told him that she was nowhere near sated, her inner muscles clenching and pulling at his length in an attempt to coax out his knot, something Killian staved off with a clenched jaw.

The chill on her back did nothing to quench the fire inside of her, Emma’s body instinctively reacting to his aggression, slick coating his knot bulb that threatened to slip inside of her. Emma was so wet and couldn’t feel any of her limbs. The only part of her body she could feel was her clit and it was painfully throbbing against his pubic bone as Killian held her against the glass, her only reprieve from the precipice of her impending orgasm was when he added another forceful thrust to his assault. She thought she was dying, held in the void before another orgasm by the way Killian knew her and her body so well, each cant of his hips and drag of his cock an agony she would gladly endure for the rest of her life if he promised never to stop.

The pleasurable pain of his fingernails digging into the flesh of her behind jolted her senses and Emma knew Killian could somehow sense her impending release before she could. He had tripled his efforts, changing the angle of his thrusts so that his cock rubbed her spongey core just right, the steady rhythm of before now gone and a more powerful force overtaking him. Emma cried out with each inflicting ram of his hips, her hand fisting a clump of his hair telling him she was almost there, her orgasm just out of reach, but Killian knew just how to settle her whines and pleas. He reached under her to where they were joined and stretched the apex of her already parted thighs even wider, one last pound from his entire length and just the promise of his knot bulb sending her careening into the abyss.

Emma wasn’t sure how, but her orgasm tore through her with such force she was temporarily frozen, her limbs stiffening when Killian continued to coax more slick from her by massaging her core with his determined thrusts, only slowing his assault when Emma reached the heights of her numbing pleasure and released the hold she had on his hair. Killian lifted his head, intoxicated by the now overly sweet scent of her gland, primed with temptation and dizzy from the way she sighed his title with what little air she had left in her lungs, and kissed the underside of her jaw with a tenderness he didn’t even know he could possess whilst being so close to his own release.

“Please,” Emma whined and he almost lost himself then and there.

“Please, what?” He ground out, pushing his cock inside of her impossibly deeper, his face pressed against her cheek as he inhaled the scent of her.

“Please, Alpha,” Emma begged. “I don’t think I can take it anymore.”

Killian pulled his hips back and then thrust forward with such force that all of the air left Emma’s lungs and the pane of glass she was pinned against audibly shook. He did it again and all of her insides began to tingle again, not the slightest bit recovered from her latest climax, her toes curling and her fingernails scoring lines into his back with such force, Killian could feel the rush of warmth to the lines as his skin broke and blood welled from the scratches. It spurred him on, his ferality within breaking the surface of his resolve, his head bowing and teeth scraping over the now engorged scent gland at the juncture of her neck. It called to him, Emma’s blood singing in her veins, drawing him closer still with its rhythmic thumping and making the points of his canines sharpen in anticipation of marking her.

“You smell so good, Omega,” Killian rasped, letting the point of his tooth nick her skin. “But I want more.”

“More?” Emma asked breathlessly, her core throbbing with need.

Killian pulled his cock out of her to the head and snapped his hips forward again, making her cry out and dig her heels even harder into his spine.

“The more you come, Omega,” Killian purred, licking the sweetness of her blood from her collarbone. “The better you taste.”

Emma whimpered, the darkness in his voice sending a shiver up her spine. “I can’t,” she pleaded, every single cell in her body crying out for his torture to end whilst simultaneously needing it to last forever.

“Come now, love,” Killian cooed, pausing his thrusts and brushing the sweat soaked hair from her flushed face, stroking the apple of her cheek until her eyes fluttered open to meet his. “You’ve got one more in you,” he praised with a dirty smirk. “I know you have.”

A glimmer of a smile graced Emma’s lips and melted his heart.

“See? You know it too,” he teased. Another press of his knot bulb against her sex had her gasping and her gland releasing another whiff of her heavenly scent. “And you want it, love, you can’t deny it.”

“Not here,” Emma whispered, framing his face with her shaking hands.

Their eyes locked and he saw all the last traces of the longing and hopelessness her life had been about until now disappear, and the bright spark of hope and happiness filled the space that had formed. He had done that, or at least he felt like he deserved the credit for it, helping the woman he had met become the Omega Emma was now, held aloft by the sheer will of lust alone, enticing his Alpha urges to the crest of his being. Killian might have signed Graham Humbert's contract to earn enough to live, but in finding Emma and her true nature, he had found a way to survive.

"Alright, love," Killian nodded and with a grunt of exertion he was wrapping her tightly in his arms, face buried into the swell of her gland, and making his way through the empty doorway of his bedroom.

The freshly washed bed clothes were harsh and starchy against Emma's back as Killian laid her down, letting his cock slip from her core much to both their dissatisfaction. It wasn't long before Killian was silently rearranging her until she was underneath the duvet and finding his spot right behind her, his rock hard cock still ready for its task, nudging between the crease of her buttocks as he nestled in even closer and rested his chin on her shoulder. Emma's hum of satisfaction told him he had done right, but what sort of Alpha would he be if he didn't know what truly made his Omega happy? Or how, after multiple orgasms, what could finally send her into bliss once more and finally get his knot she so eagerly desired.

"Are you comfortable?" He asked softly, the arm slung over her midriff snaking its way to her chest where he wasted no time cupping a perky breast and pulling her back flush against his chest.

"I am," Emma replied, silky smooth chest and body hair caressing her skin. “But I’m still in need of my Alpha.” She wiggled her body, arse grinding against his length, and he growled in response.

“Naughty, naughty,” he purred into the back of her ear. A hand on the jut of her hip stilled her movements whilst his knee nudged between her clenched thighs. “And what do naughty Omegas get?” He skimmed his hand from her hip down over the shape of her stomach, over her mound and between her legs, fingers slipping through the wetness of her slick that had prepared her body for what was to come. His question was met with nothing but a breathy moan and Killian wasted no time in seeking his answer, pulling back his hips and aiming his cock through her legs until he was settled between her sodden folds. “I said,” he repeated darkly. “What do naughty Omegas get, love?”

Emma sighed something incoherent that made him grin wickedly. She reached behind her and fisted his hair, the pleasurable pain prickling over his scalp just making him cant his hips more aggressively. Emma let out a squeak when the head of his cock bumped her clit and a jolt of euphoria shot through her, pooling in her lower stomach and signalling yet another impending climax, something that had Killian’s knot poking out of its sheath before he had even entered her.

“Omega,” he warned with the same blackened tone that had her coming earlier.

“The knot,” Emma sighed, grinding her soaking wet opening over the ridges of his cock, hoping beyond hope that even just the tip of him would slip inside and stretch her wide with deliciousness. “Naughty Omegas get the knot.”

Killian pressed his lips to her scent gland and his teeth ached in anticipation. “Aye, love, they do,” he hummed through his kiss.

A quick move of his hips had the angle changing so that the tip of his cock was finally slipping inside of her, slowly at first to allow her to adjust to his size, but then with a force that had stars pricking behind her eyelids and all of the air leaving her lungs once more. Killian was relentless in pursuit of her orgasm, and he knew, as he was pushing his way into her encapsulating warmth slowly, and agonizingly, that this would be her last. Marking an Omega was always easier as they came undone, the quakes and trembling of climax enough to mask the bite mark on their gland that would undoubtedly leave a scar. But it wouldn't just be a scar. Emma’s mark would tie her to him forever, a reminder that she was more precious than anything she could ever comprehend, and there wouldn’t be a single day of his life Killian wouldn’t be reminded of that by his bite mark on her skin.

With a gentle push, Killian rolled them over until Emma was laying flat on her belly and his weight was pressing her into the mattress. He pushed himself up, his muscles rippling across his back, elbows threatening to buckle when the new angle buried his cock even deeper inside of her. Emma sucked in a breath and he smirked, pushing his hips against her buttocks even harder, his knot bulb parting her cheeks when Emma pushed back against him until he could feel her slick coating his balls.

“Oh, she’s wet,” Killian purred with menacing desire. He lowered his head, brow sweat from his exertion dripping onto Emma’s back, and pressed his lips to her spine, loving the way the tiny hairs covering her skin stretched upwards for his attention. “You’re so wet, Omega. So ready for your Alpha’s knot.”

“And your mark,” Emma sighed, the word changed by a particularly forceful jab of his cock.

Killain stopped his thrusts, sucking in a breath. He’d dreamed of the words Emma had just uttered since the day he had first laid eyes on her. It seemed even his subconscious had known her true nature. Reluctantly he pulled out and sat back on his heels, encouraging Emma to roll over onto her back by gently caressing the delicate bone of her ankle.

“What’s wrong?” Emma asked breathlessly as she rolled over. “Did I do something?”

“What? No,” Killian assured her quickly with a smile. He looked down at his cock, heavy and throbbing in his hand as he stroked himself, the corner of his lips tugging into a smirk. “Does it look like you did anything wrong, love?”

A pink glow bloomed over her cheeks and she shifted her eyes. “Something I said then?”

Killian licked his lips and shook his head in assurance, falling forward and crawling up over her body. Emma welcomed his bulk, her legs falling open to accommodate him and her entire body shivering from the kisses he left over her stomach, breasts and, finally, over the scent gland on her neck.

“I assure you, my love,” he said, nuzzling the divine smelling gland. “There isn’t a single thing you could ever say to offend me in any way?” He peppered more kisses to her skin, his tongue finally licking over the sensitive, heady scented bump just above her collarbone. “Alright?”

Emma’s eyes fluttered closed and she could feel the length of him pressed to her entrance, her body begging for him to cant his hips and fill her up once more. “So, what is it? Why do you shy away from marking whenever I bring it up?”

“I don’t,” Killian whispered into the underside of her jaw as he continued his ministrations.

“You do,” Emma told him firmly but without a hint of malice. She planted her hands on his face, dragging his head up until his darkened grey eyes met hers. “Are you being soft again?”

One eyebrow jumped up on his forehead and his lips pulled into a wry grin. “You love that, don’t you?” Killian teased, nuzzling her nose before pressing his lips to hers. “Look, love, I just…”

“You won’t hurt me, Killian,” Emma interrupted him, stroking the faint line of a scar on his cheek. “You could never.”

He lifted his head again, eyes searching hers for the answer to a question he wasn’t even sure how to ask, a question he already, in fact, knew the answer to. Emma wanted him to mark her, claim her as his for as long as they both lived, but he had never actually done it before. In fact, Killian had spent most of his life actively avoiding the subject, but here, pinned beneath him, was one of the most beautiful, precious and sometimes intimidating Omegas he had ever had the pleasure of meeting. Plenty of Omegas had sought him out of the years, but none like Emma. None compared to her enchanting good looks, her sharp wit, or her winsome smile that had beguiled him the very second he had laid eyes on her in person. He wasn’t willing to jeopardize any of those things with the process of marking unless Emma was absolutely sure it was what she wanted too.

“Killian,” she prompted, shaking him from his reverie. “I want this.”

“I’m afraid,” he confessed, the words catching in his throat. “Marking is romanticized by people who’ve no knowledge of how it happens, or what happens, when, in reality, it’s quite different. I’ve never done this before. What if...what if I can’t control my nature and I hurt you? Gods, Emma, I could never forgive myself.”

“Hey,” Emma soothed, calming his rant with a palm pressed to his stubbly cheek. He swallowed hard and let her lift his bowed head until their eyes met again. “I know marking will hurt. I’m not a fool, Killian, it leaves a scar,” Emma said firmly, but her smile faded. “If you don’t want this, I’ll understand. It’s a lot to ask-”

His lips on hers cut off her words and her last connection to reality. Soft, plump, kiss bruised lips on hers made every worry fade away instantly, quickly morphing it into desire that pooled between her legs once more. Killian nudged his cock into her entrance as he kissed her, his tongue mirroring the actions of his hips, a dirty smirk spreading over his parted lips when Emma dug her fingernails into his bicep in anticipation. She was still so wet, ready and aching for the stretch of his knot, her legs unable to spread apart any wider in a silent invitation of his length. One of Killian’s hands found her breast, softly kneading the delicate peak of her nipple with the pad of his thumb until her back arched off the bed into his touch and she whimpered into his mouth. His tongue licked at the roof of her mouth because he could swear he could taste her slick there from their kiss, and his hand continued its journey down to her hip before clutching the flesh and pinning her firmly to the bed.

“I’ll be as soft as I can,” he promised against her lips, angling his hips so that his cock was inching back inside of her.

Emma gasped aloud. “You still want to mark me as your Omega?” She ground out through her pleasure.

“Love, I beat up a Humbert for the right to claim you,” Killian reminded her with a sly grin. When he was fully sheathed inside of her once again, he held fast, letting her body relax around him, the throb of blood in the walls of her core massaging his length.

“Mmmm, don’t remind me,” Emma purred coyly, grabbing his face for another fierce kiss that tested his resolve.

Killian had meant to go slow at this point; to really make sure Emma could feel every single inch of his length and his girth in the hopes she would realise just how important she was to him, and how much he loved, and would always, love her, but the instant her lips were on his the tables were turning and Emma was clenching her core muscles in a measly attempt to pull him deeper, when in reality, all it did was serve to antagonize the feral baser beast within him. The gentle hand on her hip, meant to steady her, changed, fingernails digging into her delicate flesh and scraping ruby lines across the pale surface.

“I absolutely want to claim you, Omega,” Killian growled, breaking their kiss to watch her features as he tortured her with his cock again. He pulled out, hand slipping between them to guide himself inside of her, fingers wrapped around the bulb of his knot to stop it from slipping inside her. “But first, something to relax you, my love.”

“Alright,” Emma agreed in his accent, biting her bottom lip. “You’re knot, maybe? To ease the pain?”

“As the lady wishes,” Killian purred in agreement.

Emma relaxed under his weight, the glide of his cock, coated in slick, a torturous heat that pooled in her stomach and between her thighs. Excessive slick covered her inner thighs and the bed, the languid pumps of his cock causing it to gush out of her in time with her breathy moans, hindered in their expulsion by the grip he had on her waist and his weight pushing her into the mattress. Emma could feel him everywhere, greedy kisses gobbling up her moans and roaming hands skimming over every inch of her skin leaving fire in their wake. The scent gland on her collarbone was itching, swollen and throbbing, trying to temp the Alpha into biting down, her body desperate for Killian to do so and end her agony.

“Please, Alpha,” Emma whined. “Your knot. I need it.” She raked her nails over any part of him she could reach, her vision blurry from his Alpha musk that surrounded her senses and rendered her unable to form any thought other than those of her primal Omega nature. The desire was threatening to devour her whole, and only Killian could take it away.

“Oh, you’re going to get it, Omega,” Killian growled sultrily.

His hand found his cock, his knot almost out of its sheath, and a quick tug had it completely exposed, Emma’s slick coating the straining bulb and sending a shiver up his spine. He just wanted to be inside of her entirely, the feeling of loss far too great having seen her come three times already, but not once on his knot. He wanted the tight contractions of her core around him, his body called for it, and as he slanted his lips over hers and peppered hot, open mouthed kisses down the column of her throat, he could sense her body wanted it too. Emma’s thighs began to quake and the tell tale hitch of breath told him she was close, his efforts doubling in an instant and pressing his searing hot knot to her opening in a temptation she could only beg for.

“Please,” she whimpered. “Mark me, Alpha. Make you yours.”

The sound Killian made was animalistic, the deep, reverberating rumble filling the entire room, but it wasn't enough to drown out Emma’s cries of ecstasy when, with sharpened canines and a feral snarl, Killian sank his teeth into the soft swelling of her scent gland and her whole world turned a blinding white. Her shriek was different to what Killian had ever heard, the sound of her shuddering moan something he would never forget as long as he lived. Killian pinched his eyes closed, willing the feeling to never end, and with a final, forceful thrust of his hips, his knot was pushing past the slippery opening of Emma’s sex and he was home.

Emma went stiff in his arms and the taste of blood filled his mouth, the coppery tang enhanced by the surge of scent from her gland. The beast awoke, finally freed as he’d knotted her, and in a last ditch effort to stay as soft as his Omega liked, Killian skimmed his hand up her forearm and pinned it above her head, sucking on her gland and pushing his hips even harder into her, toes scrambling against the soft sheets beneath his feet, all to make sure that there wasn’t a chance of his knot slipping out as he trembled in pleasure and followed her into euphoria. Emma’s cry was followed by a content giggle, the flesh of her cheeks warming Killian’s forehead as he released his white knuckle grip on her hip and hand, relaxing in the afterglow of their orgasms as the intense tightness that had tipped them over the edge, ebbed away.

It took everything Killian had not to collapse on top of her, instead sinking down onto his elbows and framing her with his bulk, his chest hair sticking to the sweat that shimmered across her body. His head was spinning, the intensity of her scent almost too much. It was different now. It had become indubitably sweeter somehow, the essence of her very being and everything about it reeked of a claimed Omega, but was still indescribably still Emma. With his head on her bosom, Killian inhaled her scent like it was the air he needed to breathe, the sound of her thundering heartbeat the only thing he could hear as Emma cradled his head and stroked his hair.

“My soft Alpha,” Emma soothed, his welcome weight making her smile.

“Don’t tell anyone,” Killian said softly between kisses. With every one he felt the flutter of her muscles around his knot which just prompted him to pepper her skin with more. “You’re glowing, my love.”

“You did that,” Emma said matter of factly.

Killian pushed himself up until he was towering over her again, careful not to tug at where they were joined. “I did?” He teased playfully.

“Don’t play dumb, Alpha,” Emma chided gently.

“Mmm, I like hearing that,” Killian purred, pressing his lips to her scent gland.

“That you’re dumb?” Emma chuckled.

“No, Omega.” Killian growled seductively, staring into the green abyss of her blissful post coital stare. “That you’re mine.”