Wedding Hunt Ylara (Blind Date Corporation 8) Read online

  “So, what did you see?”

  “We were... uh, together.”

  “That is our likely outcome, so what surprised you?”

  “My eyes were black. Like yours.”

  He paused and tilted his head. “That is very interesting. I wonder how that happened?”

  “I don’t know, and that is what made me stumble.”

  He leaned in and brushed his lips lightly across hers. The music wove around them, and she felt him move. Each step matched their bodies to the beat. He took her hands, and palm to palm, they twisted and moved. Any time they got in close, he kissed her.

  She didn’t understand the dance. It was fun, but he was getting really excited if the quivering of his stinger was any indication. Their bodies were not in contact with each other except for their hands. She remembered this kind of motion from somewhere, but when his stinger quivered again, she remembered where. Scorpions danced before mating. Claw to claw.

  She tried to draw back, but he gripped her hands, and his tail dripped venom down her cheek. It was warm and smelled like honey and wildflowers as it ran down her cheek to the corner of her mouth. The moment it seeped between her lips, she got the flash that told her why her eyes had gone black. They were black right now. She could see other spectrums, and the world around her became gorgeous and unfamiliar.

  She stared at Riithan. He was painted with heat in colours she couldn’t describe, and his stinger waved eagerly.

  Ylara gasped. “Oh, dear.” She glanced down and saw her body lit up with colours that made her feel like an exotic butterfly. “Okay. So, in case your sense of smell didn’t state that I was in heat, you just had to look at me.”

  He kissed the corner of her mouth where the venom had absorbed. “It is an unfair advantage, but it is helpful. You are the first omega I have seen in the wild.”

  She paused. “The wild?”

  “I have a mother. Other alphas have their omegas. They are all with the Sethir-Nin in the stronghold.”

  “Is that where you are going to put me?” She stared at him.

  “You have ties to this land, these people, and family to love and be loved by. I am not going to put you in the stronghold. Well, not unless there is a threat to your safety.”

  His fingers were still tangled with hers. He slowly pulled his hands and hers behind her back and held them there. He brushed dozens of small kisses on her lips. “Your safety is my primary concern.”

  “Your primary concern?” She was panting, her nipples were scraping the inside of her dress, and her thighs were slipping against each other. Her heat was coming on strong, and there was no way to pretend otherwise.

  “My secondary concern. My primary is getting inside you.” He was growling, and the thrumming sound was picking up the pace.

  “That won’t take much effort. I am slick enough to hide a baseball bat in there.”

  He lifted her off her feet and carried her into the bedroom. He murmured, “It isn’t a bat, but it should ease in nonetheless. I am not going to risk any injury to you.”

  She flexed her hands in his grasp. “I think that makes one of us. You may end up clawed to hell and back.”

  He laughed. “Don’t tease.”

  His stinger arched and slid down the front of her dress. It parted, sliding down her arms to get stuck on her wrists where he held her. The thrumming got louder, and she gave into it. Her body wanted that vibration against her skin, and there was only one way to get it.

  Chapter Two

  The thing that Ylara loved about her heats was that her mind was blurred to everything that occurred during the mating riot. As she duelled tongues with Riithan, she wished that she would remember.

  He lifted his head. “Why are you crying?”

  “I am going to forget, and I don’t want to forget,” she whispered.

  “I will remember all of it, and I will re-enact it if necessary. You won’t lose the moment; it will be waiting for you when you want to claim it.”

  She sniffled as her body started to rub and roll against his. “You sure?”

  “Oh, little darling, I am positive. I will replay every moment with the most dedicated of attention.”

  She smiled. “Okay. I am going to let the fire take over now.”

  “Go ahead. I will be with you all the way.” He kissed her throat and ran his tongue along the line of sweat that was forming.

  She threaded her fingers through his hair and whimpered as she twisted against him. After he had gotten them both naked and horizontal, she had wanted the touch of his skin most of all.

  From behind her own eyes, she watched herself touching him, caressing him, and heard her voice begging him to be inside her.

  The first slow slide was heaven, but then, his heat started to sink into her, and she panicked. She tried to get away from him. He pinned her down and crooned to her as he continued until he couldn’t go any further.

  He was too hot. Her body fought his, and he pinned her down. She was whining and crying, and it wasn’t until she explained the heat that his expression turned to one of understanding. He moved fast and grunted as he came. He backed up and withdrew, and she sighed and then shrieked as his stinger came whistling toward her and jabbed her below the navel. It withdrew as fast as it stung, causing her to shiver uncontrollably before her heat rose again.

  He slid into her again, and she sighed. He was now just right.

  Everything ached. Ylara was curled in a ball, and Riithan was wrapped around her, his forehead pressed against her neck. Her muscles quivered when she tried to move them, and the light streaming across them told her it was late afternoon.

  “Stay still. You must be in pain.”

  “Just a little bit.” Her voice was raw. She was used to that. It happened every time. She ran her tongue along her teeth, and she tasted blood. “Ohmygod. I bit you. I am so sorry.”

  He chuckled. “You marked me up as you promised. My compliments to your manicurist. Your nails remain intact.”

  He sat up and stroked her hair from her neck before kissing her softly where her spine started. There was a burn and then a throb where she should have been too exhausted to feel anything.

  Her voice was a croak. “You bit me.”

  He laughed. “I did. It was somewhere on our second day when my instincts couldn’t be held back anymore. I would say I am sorry, but I am not. You won’t turn and look at me, dear one?”

  She laughed harshly. “I can’t. My body doesn’t work for me yet. The psycho sex fiend is still purring and won’t unlock me.”

  “There is a warm bath waiting and a soft robe as I am sure you will want to collect yourself before we have a meal.”

  She was stunned at the thoughtfulness. “That sounds very nice, Riithan.”

  He lifted her up and walked with her around a discreet wall where a wonderfully tiled space was a wet room with an in-floor tub covered with rose petals.

  He walked down the steps and moved to a bench, settling below the water and holding her across his lap.

  Ylara winced when her opening stung and throbbed with pain until she could relax. The warm water wrapped around her shoulders, and the flower petals stuck to her skin.

  She leaned her head against his shoulder. “You don’t mind the flowers?”

  “Part of them is from the bouquet you caught. If it means you are the next to wed, I thought you should double down with contact.”

  She looked up at him and groaned. “Sethir-Nin don’t get married.”

  “No, but we have our mates. Here on Daycross, actives are allowed legal marriage. So, I wish to take advantage of that.”

  “As a proposal, that sucks.”

  “I will try and do better.” He paused. “May I offer you some pain relief?”

  She blinked. “Um, yes?”

  He reached up, his stinger descended toward her, and she tensed. He slid his fingers along the point, and they gleamed as he lowered them to her
lips. She licked his fingers and tasted honey again. She slipped each digit into her mouth and cleaned it with her tongue. He was enjoying it more than a little. He was trying to rise under her thigh.

  She pulled her head to the side when his thumb was clean. “How can you still get an erection?”

  He chuckled. “Because you are curled on my lap, and your little tongue was just swirling on my fingers.”

  She shivered. “The painkiller helped.”

  “It also has a muscle relaxer, so you will be feeling a little weak. It isn’t strong, but it will help with the cramping.”

  “So, there is an alpha school?”

  He laughed. “Yes, there is.”

  “I am guessing this is covered in a class or something?”

  “And learned from watching our parents for those of us who have parents who are alpha and omega. I grew up watching my mother’s heat start and my father’s reaction to it. He told me that the most important thing was to help my omega back to normal and be respectful. If you help a woman through her heat, she will be there for you in your rut.”

  She smiled at the logic. “Smart father. Nothing freaks a woman out of losing not only control of her situation but control over their body. We are not generally fans of it.”

  “Well, though they are growing less frequent, my mother gets a sly look when her heat hits, and she summons my father home if he isn’t there already. The Sethir-Nin have a regulation that nothing is to interfere with a breeding couple.”

  “How do they know?”

  “All breeding attempts are filed. Even your heat will be filed, along with all the details regarding our meeting, the estimated number of couplings and general duration.”

  She looked at him in horror. “Ohmygod.”

  He smiled. “The alteration in your eyes will be noted as well. The black looks pretty on you.”

  Ylara sighed. “That is a lot of information.”

  “There will be an investigator who arrives to get information from you as to your family history and how many omegas there are in your family line.”

  “Um, I don’t know that. I am adopted. My bloodlines are long gone.”

  He paused. “I am happy you were adopted and sorry you lost your family lines.”

  She smiled. “Thank you. My adoptive mother is a good woman, and she picked a bunch of daughters who are all exceptional.”

  “Like Brittany?”

  “She’s one of them. Yeah. My other sister has a daughter who is special as well. She was at the guestbook at the wedding.” She chuckled. “Our mom is a seer. She picked us carefully, knowing what we would become.”

  “You are all precogs?”

  “Yeah. Well, except Brittany. She has a different activation.”

  “What is it?”

  “Um, Denier knows it by now.”

  “Ah, right. He will have his own documentation to fill out.”

  She checked her com, and there were two messages. One was from Brittany and one from Sabine, both saying they were all right.

  She exhaled slowly. “How long was my heat?”

  “Five days.” His hands started to move over her. “How is the pain?”

  “Better. I can wiggle my toes again.” She brushed her hand over her belly and remembered. “You stung me.”

  “It was necessary. My body heat can be a little much for most lovers. The sting made things more bearable until your heat helped you get used to it.”

  She swallowed as his fingers carefully patted his way across her sex, soothing and searching. She shuddered. “And the bite?”

  “By the second day, I knew that I was going to keep you. There are three local governments that will agree, including your own.”

  She grimaced. “Yeah. I know about the omega treaty. I still think it is a bastardy thing to do to women and men who are just activated with a super-strong libido.”

  “We need you. Alphas who are single for too long end up shunned because they aren’t suitable for mixing in polite company. They are volatile. Every Sethir-Nin family wishes for an omega for their son. Few get to see that happen.”

  She tried to close her thighs but just trapped his hand. He swirled a finger against her opening and slid it inside.

  She squeaked. “What are you doing now?”

  “Checking on you. I want to make sure that I didn’t do any damage.”

  She pressed her face to his shoulder and shuddered.

  “You are very snug and a little swollen but feel fine. What do you think?”

  “It doesn’t hurt.”

  He kissed her forehead. “Good. How about this?”

  His thumb slipped and slid over her clit, and she shuddered.

  Her voice was a high-pitched squeak. “Doesn’t hurt.”

  He slid his hand into her hair and tilted her head back. “Good.” His lips pressed ferociously on hers, and his tongue stroked into her mouth. She bucked her hips against his hand, and his tongue slid into her mouth and stroked hers in the way she liked.

  She spiralled rapidly toward her orgasm, her thighs clutching his hand. The sound she made as she came was a soft wail. Her sex clamped on his finger, and his thumb kept circling. The sharp drag of his stinger down her shoulder caused another twinge.

  He lifted his head. “You have quite the grip on me, Ylara.”

  She whispered, “Uh, sorry?”

  He laughed softly and squeezed her with one arm, the other still between her thighs. “No need to apologize. I am very happy with the way you feel when I am inside you.”

  She groaned and muttered, “Can you not be inside me?”

  “No. During our bonding period, I will either be over you, under you, or in you.”

  She frowned. “I thought my heat was over.”

  “It is, and now the courtship begins.”

  “The what?”

  He chuckled. “You are mine, and now, I need you to want to be at my side, but I want you to be there happily and willingly, so I am courting you.”

  “Courting?”

  “Yes. Showing you my world and making a place for you in it.”

  “I just need my friends and family around me. The rest varies. From season to season.”

  “Hm. So, did your vision come true?”

  She looked up at him. “Not yet.”

  He smiled slowly, his face glowing with tenderness and a lot of smugness.

  “You fall really fast, don’t you.” It was a statement to slow him down.

  He pulled one of her hands out of the water. “I finally found a woman that I can see the future in. Whether you quicken or not, you are the one I see at my side.”

  “So, it could have been any omega.”

  He tilted his head. “No, unsuitable ones smell like something scorched. You smell like sweet flowers.” He kissed her palm.

  She shuddered. “It could just be the bathwater.”

  He laughed. “It could be, but it isn’t.”

  She sighed and looked across the flower-petal carpet on the water. “This is a lot of rose petals.”

  He shrugged. “I just asked for them to cover the tub after your heat broke.”

  “Them?”

  “The staff and attendants here. I realize it is old-fashioned, but you will have an attendant who helps you with hair, makeup, and dressing for events. We will frequently be visiting with Lord Daycross, and there are the polo matches. I expect you to cheer for me.”

  She laughed. “What if I cheer for Etgar?”

  “I will be very disappointed and have to work hard to earn your favour.”

  She floated away from him and stood up straight. The tub was deep, but her breasts were above the water and wearing flower petals.

  He sighed softly and remained silent.

  She leaned back and sank into the tub beneath the surface. Her body relaxed as she wrapped her arms around her knees and sat under the blanket of petals.

  After her lungs
began to ache, she stood up and flipped her hair back and drew in deep lungfuls of scented air. She didn’t know how black eyes could blaze, but his did.

  She walked toward him and asked, “Can I have a seat again?”

  He opened his arms and pulled her toward him. “Bend your knees.”

  She knelt on the bench, and he put her hands on his shoulders.

  His erection was against her belly, his tail arched over them, and the sting folded up as the end pushed her against him.

  She slid her hands behind his neck and wrapped herself around him, her face pressed against him.

  He sighed. “Sweet little goddess.”

  She snorted. “It isn’t my fault that the alphas keep growing until they look unnatural.”

  The tail prodded her. “This looks natural? I had to have custom pants when I was a teen. Just like Etgar did. If I could get a hold of whatever did this to humanity, I would probably use the stinger.”

  She sighed. “I could do without the visions.”

  He stroked a path down her spine. “Are they painful?”

  “When I know which kid in school is going to be hit by a bus that turns into a car when they skip using the bus because I warned them, and then, they crossed the street and got hit by a careless driver. It is very painful.”

  He hugged her. “I am sorry.”

  “That was the worst and the first I shared outside the family. Knowing what will happen isn’t useful until the paths are set, and then that’s it.”

  “So, did you see paths at the wedding?”

  She tensed. “I did.”

  “When?”

  “They were everywhere when the three of you blocked me, and then, they didn’t settle until later.”

  “When later?”

  She muttered, “When I chose you. They all solidified when I chose you.”

  The thrumming sound started again.

  She murmured, “What is that sound?”

  “The scorpion wants you to dance with him, so he’s trying to entice you.” He chuckled. “It hasn’t happened before, but I know what it is.”

  “Dance?”

  He opened his hand against her lower back and pressed her against his erection. She chuckled. “Ah, dance.”