William

My first thought when I realized Ned was in heat was to wonder how an omega had slipped into my crew without any of us realizing it.

His next words answered that.

“I can’t be. Heat? That’s something that happens to omegas.”

Oh, hell. He doesn’t even know what he is.

It probably wasn’t surprising, given how backward England was about alpha-omega relationships. That thought drew a dark chuckle out of me. I wasn’t exactly feeling progressive about omegas these days, myself.

“This isn’t funny,” Ned said with a snarl.

“You’re right,” I said, schooling my face to seriousness. “It’s not. We need to figure out what to do.”

I could all but see Ned’s desire pouring off him in waves—and worse, I was drawn to it.

I had never had any difficulty resisting the mating requests of omegas in heat, even when they were on my own ship. I had always assumed that that could be chalked up to my incredible self-control.

As it turned out, though, I was every bit as susceptible as any other alpha. I had simply been waiting for the right omega.

“We will need to get you someplace safe until we reach New Hope.” I rubbed my hand over my eyes, then down over my entire face. “Really, my cabin is the only place.”

“So you are going to lock me in here alone until we reach port?” Ned’s expression turned frantic. “What am I supposed to do until then? How am I supposed to deal with...with this?” He gestured at his own body as if it were a foreign object attacking him. Which, in a way, I suppose it was.

I looked at the bed and at Ned and a shudder of pure desire slid through me. I clenched my jaw against accepting his offer and my hands balled up into tight fists at my side. “Try masturbating. I don’t know if will help, but it’s better than the alternative.”

It was a cold thing to say, but it was the only thing I could think of. With that, I spun on my heel and slammed out of the cabin. I stood with my back collapsed against the outer wall of the cabin, swallowing down the emotion coursing through me. After a few seconds, I pushed myself up and called for a crewman to come put a lock on the outside of my cabin door.

No more pregnant omegas aboard my ship, I repeated to myself over and over as I paced the deck, fighting my own desire to go back inside and fuck my beautiful lordling silly. No more.

Surely, I could keep away from him until we reached our home port.

Right?

* * *

IT HADN’T OCCURRED to me how many other alphas we had aboard the Neptune’s Jewel. Not until later that day, when one of my crew members was delivering food to Ned and I walked in, assuming it would be safe for me to be in the room with another person there—that I could control my own urges under those circumstances. I hadn’t realized that someone else, some other alpha, might not be able to control himself.

But when I opened the door, I found the crewman advancing on Ned, whose beseeching glance begged me to stop him, even if he couldn’t stop himself.

I also hadn’t anticipated my own violently possessive response to such a situation.

“This omega is mine,” I roared, shoving the other alpha across the room and flinging him out the door.

“I am the only one who will bring him food or drink,” I announced to the small group that had gathered outside my cabin—including, I noticed, my first mate Jeremiah, and Ned’s two friends from The Felicity, George and Bailey. “You three,” I announced, pointing at them one at a time, “are hereby under orders to keep anyone else from approaching him until we are out of the Triangle.”

They all nodded, though Bailey and George gave each other wary glances. And I didn’t like the sudden gleam that came into Jeremiah’s eyes—he had never stopped being angry with me for putting his own omega mate ashore. 

So be it. I could deal with them all later.

Right now, I had a Triangle-crazed omega in heat to deal with. As long as those three kept everyone else away, I didn’t care what they thought.

Delivering every meal to Ned took a toll on my self-control, but I managed it for several meals in a row. Every time I entered the cabin, he begged me to help him, to relieve his agony. More than once, I walked in, tray in hand, to find him naked on the bed. Once he was spread out, his hard cock waving above his stomach, and the whole time I was in the cabin, he stroked himself suggestively. Another time, he was on his hands and knees, presenting his ass to me, glancing back over his shoulder suggestively. That time, I groaned aloud, set his tray down on the table, and backed out of the room.

That state of affairs lasted two full days.

On the third day, I emerged from the kitchen at breakfast with a tray from Cook to find none of my three deputies guarding my cabin. I opened the door and heaved a sigh of relief to discover Jeremiah just inside the door, leaning against the wall, a pistol held casually in one hand.

Ned was naked, but covered with a blanket up to his waist, his back pressed up against the opposite wall as he sat on my bunk.

“Come in, Captain,” Jeremiah said, never taking his eyes off Ned.

“What is it?” I asked, stepping inside the room.

As soon as I crossed the threshold, it felt like fire flashed through my entire body. I would have dropped the tray I carried, had Jeremiah not been prepared to catch it with his free hand.

“You knew that was coming,” I accused him, still flinching from the pain I couldn’t escape.

“Indeed I did,” Jeremiah said, a cruel smile crossing his face as he set the tray atop the table.

“What have you done?” I asked, suddenly certain he was causing the pain I felt.

“Go sit on the bed next to Ned.”

I didn’t want to—or rather, I wanted to more than anything, but knew it was unwise. Still, I followed Jeremiah’s commands, waiting for my chance to overpower him.

“Now, touch your omega.”

I frowned but reached out with one fingertip to touch the back of Ned’s hand. Instantly, the pain abated. But the longer I held my finger there, the stronger my desire for the omega grew. I pulled my finger away, and the pain returned, easily twice the agony it had been before. I couldn’t help a whimper escaping me.

“Every time you stop touching him, your pain doubles—and will continue to grow. If you touch him again, your need for him will double. And it, too, will only grow.”

“Why are you doing this?” Ned whispered. “He doesn’t want me.”

“Oh, he wants you, all right,” Jeremiah said. “But he doesn’t want to impregnate you. He doesn’t want any pregnant omegas aboard.”

“Is that why you’re doing this? Because I put the omegas ashore?”

My first mate’s expression turned cruel, his voice harsh. “You need to know how it feels to need your mate and not be able to have him.”

“Your spell can’t last forever.” That I knew from living with Jolly. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to contain my reaction to the pain—but I shivered in misery.

“You’re right. It will fade when we reach shore.” He smiled an evil smile. “But I won’t let that happen until either you die of the pain or the two of you have fucked, over and over again. And then I’ll take your omega away from you.” He started to leave, then paused. “Did you know that your foster-omega-father refused to teach me magic? I’ve rectified that now.”

“This is dark magic,” I whispered, horrified. “You’ll pay for it in ways you can’t even imagine.”

“Maybe.” He shrugged. “But at least in the meantime, you’ll suffer, too.”