My heart hammered so loudly I was sure the entire ship could hear it.
Captain Vael Korren had me pinned against the cold metal wall of the maintenance corridor, his massive body caging me in even though we were both technically floating a few centimeters off the floor in the low-gravity section. His scent—dark, smoky, like charred cedar and pure alpha dominance—flooded my lungs with every shaky breath I took. It made my head spin and my thighs clench involuntarily.
I hated how good it smelled. I hated how my body was already reacting.
His fingers were still gripping my chin, thumb pressing just hard enough against my lower lip to make me feel claimed. Those intense glowing eyes bored into mine, pupils blown wide with the first hints of rut. Up close he was even more terrifyingly beautiful: sharp jaw shadowed with stubble, short black hair slightly tousled from the chase, and that sleek black-and-silver captain's uniform stretched tight over broad shoulders and a chest that looked like it could crush me without effort.
"...Lirien," I whispered, the name slipping out before I could stop it.
Saying it felt like surrender. My suppressants were failing faster than I'd expected—this close to an unmated Alpha, my heat was waking up whether I wanted it or not. A warm trickle of slick already threatened to soak through my torn pants, and the shame of it burned hotter than the flush on my cheeks.
Vael's nostrils flared. A low, hungry growl rumbled in his chest, vibrating straight through me.
"Lirien," he repeated, tasting my name like it already belonged to him. His free hand slid down to my waist, fingers splaying possessively over the strip of skin where my jacket had ridden up. The touch sent sparks racing across my nerves. "Pretty name for a pretty little stowaway who's about to cause me a lot of trouble."
I tried to jerk my head away, but his grip only tightened. Defiance flared in my chest even as my traitorous body arched toward him.
"I'm not yours," I hissed, voice breathier than I wanted. "I didn't ask for any of this. Let me go and I'll disappear at the next port. No one has to know."
His lips curved into a slow, dangerous smile. The hand on my waist dipped lower, brushing the edge of my hip bone, dangerously close to where I was starting to ache.
"Too late for that." His voice dropped to a velvet growl that made my stomach flip. "Your scent is all over this deck now. Sweet, needy… dripping for me already." He leaned in until his lips ghosted the shell of my ear. "I can smell how wet your pretty hole is getting, Lirien. Bet it's clenching around nothing, wishing it was my knot instead."
A broken whimper escaped me before I could swallow it. Fresh slick pulsed out, warm and unmistakable. My cheeks burned with humiliation and unwanted arousal. I was supposed to be rebellious, tough, the Omega who escaped a forced mating back home. Not some trembling mess pinned by the first Alpha who caught me.
Yet here I was, wrist still trapped above my head, legs shaking, body screaming for the very thing I was trying to deny.
Vael pulled back just enough to lock eyes with me again. His glowing gaze had gone almost feral.
"Tell me the truth, little Omega," he murmured, voice rough with restraint. "How long until your heat fully hits? Because if it's anything less than a few hours, I'm not letting you out of my sight… or my quarters."
I bit my lip hard enough to taste blood, trying to fight the fog of pheromones clouding my mind. But the pressure of his body against mine, the way his thigh had slipped between my legs without me realizing, made it impossible to think straight.
"P-please…" The word slipped out, small and needy, before I could stop it.
Vael's eyes darkened with pure satisfaction. His thumb brushed my lip again, gentler this time, almost tender.
"That's a start," he whispered. "But I want to hear you beg properly before this night is over."
The emergency lights flickered red and blue across his face, casting dramatic shadows as the distant hum of the ship's engines reminded me exactly where we were only meters away from crew quarters and patrolling security drones.
Anyone could walk by.
And the worst part?
A dark, curious part of me was starting to hope they wouldn't.