Rough, Sara Fields [the top 100 crime novels of all time txt] 📗

Chapter 7

Ariana

I slept fitfully that night, far too anxious to keep myself from tossing and turning. When I woke, I dressed and brushed my long blonde hair, deciding to leave it down rather than in my usual braids. When I finally heard the doorknob turn, I was seated on the bed. By the scent of him, I knew it was Magnar and I didn’t turn back to face him. I didn’t want to see the look on his face.

“I am pleased to see that you’re safe and unhurt, Ariana,” he murmured softly. The sound of the door shutting behind him was jarring and I sucked in an anxious breath in the resounding silence that followed. My heart felt like it would beat right out my chest.

“Look at me, omega,” he demanded gently, and I finally turned my head to gaze back at him. I don’t know why I obeyed him. Maybe it was instinct, or pure curiosity, but I couldn’t be sure. As my eyes met his, I found that I didn’t care either way. His eyes were soft and if I looked closely enough, there was something of a reluctant sadness hidden in their depths. In that single moment, I found it hard believe he was the enemy, that he was one of the malicious members of such a powerful segment of the Cult.

I expected him to strike out at me, to hit me for running or chain me up as Neegan had threatened to do, but he did none of that. Instead, he just stood there and gazed back at me.

“Why did you run?” he asked. His voice was still quiet. Nothing about him suggested that he wanted to hurt me. I wasn’t sure if that scared me or comforted me.

“I had my reasons,” I answered cagily, and his jawline tensed the slightest bit.

“I had planned to be gentle with you, Ariana, but your disappearance calls for answers. The castle has been searching for you for days. I’ve wasted time, resources, but most important, the Cult demands that I handle your insolence,” he continued.

“An answer?” I asked.

“If I don’t handle you properly, the kingdom will think me weak. In Kingsworth, an alpha is expected to deal with an omega’s disobedience firmly and without hesitation,” he explained. I watched his hands flex and I pushed myself off the bed. I took several steps away from him and he shook his head.

“Don’t touch me,” I blurted out with a snarl.

He growled, the sound loud, punishing and consuming all at once. The power of his alpha descended over me, forcing me to bow to him at once. My omega responded and I found it impossible to fight back against it no matter what I did.

“You forget the natural order of things, omega. I am your alpha. You will submit to me without question,” Magnar said firmly and I whimpered softly with nervousness. “Kneel before me, Ariana.”

A powerful wave of submission rolled over me as my omega answered to his alpha. Slowly, I fell to my knees before him and he gently took my chin in his fingers. I flinched and he hushed me softly. I wanted to push myself back up. I wanted to run, but the natural instinct to bow before him overwhelmed me. Nothing I did could push it away.

“I’m not sure where you come from, Ariana, and you might have heard terrifying things about what may happen between an alpha and his omega. I’m not going to do any of that. I may punish you from time to time, but I won’t ever truly hurt you. I will never blacken your eye or leave you to rot in chains. You were given to me and I will protect you whatever the cost,” he explained. His eyes were hard. He was telling the truth even though I didn’t want to believe him.

His words tugged at my heart. I didn’t want to trust him. I didn’t want to feel for him.

I was afraid I was already too far gone.

“You understand that the Cult expects me to deal with you quite firmly for this,” he said.

“And if you don’t?” I asked.

“They could decide to kill me. Even worse, they may decide to kill you,” he answered. “The Cult does not tolerate insubordination.”

It would do no good for either of us to die. I could never figure out who he was and what was really going on in the dark corners of the city.

I lifted my gaze to face him. He leveled me with a hard stare as his thumb traced my cheek.

“I think you’re trying to hide something from me, little one. I don’t think it was what happened in the gardens that really made you run from me. I think you’re afraid, not of me, but of yourself,” he observed quietly. I glared back at him. It felt like he could see right through me and I hated that. I rolled my upper lip. I’d never show him that he was right.

He sat forward and a dangerous gleam came over his eyes. His grip on my chin tightened just firmly enough to hold me captive, but not hard enough to be painful.

“You don’t need my gentleness, do you, Ariana? You need me to show you how a real alpha handles his omega when she needs to be reminded of her place. You need me to punish you and you need it to hurt,” he said, his words dark and far more menacing than before.

I openly snarled, not even bothering to hide my challenge.

His other hand snaked around to firmly grip the side of my neck. He stood up and pushed me back several steps until my back pressed up against the wall. There was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

“The entire castle knows that you’re going to be punished. They expect to hear your screams. I have to give them that,” he declared sternly.

“You wouldn’t dare,” I growled.

He cocked his head rather arrogantly and