Chapter 48: Knotted by my corporate rival -3

The command landed low in Kael’s gut. His body wanted to obey even while his mind fought it. He stayed where he was.

Silas crossed the room in three long strides. He did not touch Kael. He simply stood close enough that their chests almost brushed and his scent wrapped around them both like a claim.

"You’re leaking," Silas said quietly. "I can smell it. Sweet. Needy. Your blockers are failing faster than you expected, aren’t they?"

Kael’s face burned. "Stay out of my business."

"Your body is my business now." Silas’s eyes dropped to Kael’s mouth, then lower, to the obvious line of his cock pressing against his trousers. "Hard again. How many times did you touch yourself after I left the boardroom? Once? Twice? Did you come with my name in your mouth?"

Kael’s breath hitched. The memory of his own fist and the fantasy of Silas’s voice made another trickle of slick slide down his inner thigh.

Silas’s voice dropped lower. "Answer me."

"Once," Kael forced out. "In the conference room. After you walked out."

Silas made a low sound of approval. "Good. Take your clothes off."

"No."

"I want to see how wet you are for me already. Clothes off, Kael. Or I do it for you."

Kael’s hands shook as he unbuttoned his shirt. He told himself it was anger. It was not only anger. The heat was climbing, slow and mean, and Silas’s scent was feeding it. He stripped to his underwear and stopped.

Silas’s gaze dragged over him, lingering on the damp patch at the front of the dark fabric and the way Kael’s cock strained against it.

"Those too."

Kael shoved the underwear down and stepped out of them. His cock sprang free, hard and flushed. Slick shone on his inner thighs. He stood there naked in Silas’s bedroom while the Alpha looked at him like he had been waiting years for this exact sight.

Silas stepped closer. Still no touch. "On the bed. On your back. Legs open."

Kael’s voice came out rough. "You do not get to order me around."

"I do tonight." Silas’s tone stayed even. "On the bed. Show me what you’ve been hiding."

Kael climbed onto the wide mattress. The sheets smelled like Silas. He lay back and forced his legs apart, face burning. Cool air touched the wetness between them. His hole clenched visibly.

Silas stood at the foot of the bed and looked his fill. "Fuck. Look at you. Soft and open already. All those years of suppressants and you’re still this ready for an Alpha. For me."

Kael’s cock twitched against his stomach. He hated how much the words affected him.

Silas finally reached out. He did not stroke Kael’s cock. He ran two fingers through the slick on Kael’s thigh, then higher, brushing the sensitive rim of his hole. Kael’s hips jerked.

"Sensitive," Silas murmured. "How long has it been since anyone touched you here?"

"Never," Kael bit out. "I never let anyone."

Silas’s eyes darkened. He pressed one finger against the entrance and rubbed slow circles, coating himself in Kael’s wetness. "Then this is mine. First and only. You understand?"

Kael’s answer came out broken. "Yes."

Silas pushed the finger in to the first knuckle. Kael’s body opened for him instantly, greedy. A soft sound escaped Kael’s throat before he could stop it.

"There it is," Silas said. "The real you. So fucking eager." He worked the finger deeper, then added a second, stretching Kael open with slow, deliberate thrusts. "You’re going to sleep in this bed every night. You’re going to wake up with my scent all over you. And when your heat finally hits, you’re going to beg me to fill this pretty hole properly."

Kael’s hips moved without permission, fucking himself on Silas’s fingers. His cock leaked onto his stomach. The heat was rolling through him now in waves.

Silas curled his fingers and found the spot that made Kael’s back arch. "Come for me. Right now. On my hand. Show me how much you needed this."

Kael came hard, cock pulsing untouched, hole clenching around Silas’s fingers while slick poured out of him. The orgasm ripped through him longer than the one in the boardroom. When it finally eased he was shaking, legs still open, Silas’s fingers still buried inside him.

Silas pulled free slowly, then brought the wet fingers to his own mouth and tasted them. His eyes stayed locked on Kael’s the entire time.

"Sweet," he said. "I knew you would be."

He stepped back. "Shower is through that door. Clean up. Then get in this bed. You sleep here. Naked. I want to smell you when I wake up."

Kael’s voice was wrecked. "You are an asshole."

Silas smiled, slow and satisfied. "I am your husband now. Get used to it."

He left the room.

Kael lay there for a long minute, hole still twitching, cock half-hard again already, surrounded by Silas’s scent. The suppressants were gone. The heat was only getting stronger.

He had moved into the lion’s den.

And the lion already knew exactly how to make him open.

---

The gala was a sea of black ties and flashing cameras. Kael stood near the edge of the ballroom in a tailored suit that felt too tight across his shoulders and too thin against his skin. Every breath still carried traces of Silas’s scent from the penthouse. His body had not settled since the night before. The heat sat low and constant, a slow pulse that kept his cock half-hard and his hole soft and wet no matter how many times he tried to ignore it.

Silas was never more than a few steps away. Possessive. Watching.

"Smile," Silas murmured as they moved through the crowd. "The cameras love a united front."

Kael kept his expression cold. "I am smiling."

"You look like you want to kill someone. Soften it." Silas’s hand settled at the small of Kael’s back, fingers spreading just enough to feel possessive. The touch sent a fresh trickle of slick into Kael’s underwear. He clenched his jaw and kept walking.

They had been there less than an hour when the reporters found him.

Three of them closed in near the terrace doors, microphones out, eyes sharp.

"Mr. Kael, is the marriage a real partnership or just a clause to save your company?"

"How long have you and Mr. Voss been involved?"

"Sources say you fought the merger. Did he force your hand?"

Kael’s pulse kicked. The stress hit his already fragile blockers hard. He felt the first real slip of his own scent rising under the chemical mask, soft and sweet, pure Omega. Panic flared. He took a step back and the wall met his shoulders.

Silas was there in two strides.

He stepped between Kael and the reporters, one arm sliding around Kael’s waist, pulling him flush against his side. The contact was solid and claiming. Silas’s scent wrapped around them both like a shield.

"That’s enough," Silas said, voice calm and cold. "My husband and I are here to celebrate the merger, not feed speculation. Any further questions go through our press team."

The reporters hesitated. Silas’s stare did the rest. They backed off with tight smiles and turned toward easier targets.

Silas did not let go.

He kept Kael pressed against him, hand firm on his hip, and guided him out of the main ballroom into a quieter side corridor. The moment they were alone the tension snapped tighter.

Kael tried to step away. Silas’s arm tightened.

"Stay," Silas said. "You’re shaking."

"I’m fine."

"You’re not." Silas turned them so Kael’s back hit the wall. He caged him in with both arms, body close, mouth near Kael’s ear. "I felt it. The second they crowded you, your blockers cracked. I caught it, Kael."

Kael’s breath stuttered. His cock was fully hard now, trapped against Silas’s thigh. Slick had soaked through the thin fabric of his underwear. The heat rolled higher, greedy for more contact.

Silas’s voice dropped. "I said nothing out there. I will keep saying nothing in public. But do not lie to me here. You leaked. For me."

Kael’s hands fisted in Silas’s jacket. "It was stress. Nothing more."

"Liar." Silas rolled his hips once, slow, letting Kael feel the hard line of his own cock. "You’re soaked. I can smell how much you want it. Did my fingers last night not take enough of the edge off? Do you need more already?"

Kael’s answer came out broken. "Yes."

Silas’s mouth curved against his temple. "Good boy. Hands on the wall. Don’t move."