Manuscript Monday: Omega's Destiny - Sasha Gets Real
It's Monday again! And I actually remembered to post a new snippet from Omega's Destiny. This is cause for celebration on my part. The holidays make everything extra busy - like spending all day making cookies, which I did yesterday. At least the results were delicious. Delicious and fattening. Mmmm.
Here's another unedited peek at Sasha and Maxim meeting again for the first time in so many years, this time from Sasha's POV.
Enjoy!
Here's another unedited peek at Sasha and Maxim meeting again for the first time in so many years, this time from Sasha's POV.
Enjoy!
In the moonlight, Sasha
hardly made out the scars on the alpha’s face. The long jagged line that split
his left eye, which was now an empty socket, in two. He’d been too slow that
time. Much too slow, and Maxim
carried the scars because of it.
Maxim carried far too many
scars, and they were almost all Elijah’s fault. The rest Sasha blamed squarely
on himself.
The severing spell held. Even
so near, he couldn’t feel Maxim’s heart beat with his. His body, mind and soul
didn’t cry for their mate, though the omega howled faintly in the corner of his
mind. He burned that bridge so thoroughly it might never be repaired.
One instance of his magic
working the way he’d planned – no dead bodies or apologies – and it had to be this one.
Sasha forced himself to smile
and raised an eyebrow. “Did you get taller? I think you got taller. It’s been
too long, Max.”
“I found you. Now, why are
you here?” Maxim growled again and his hands balled into fists. They looked
rougher than the hands Sasha remembered, the ones with the callouses on his
forefinger and thumb from writing. Those were the hands of a bookish prince
with far too much trust. These were the hands of a swordsman – a warrior – a
world wary alpha king.
“You know the answer to that.
You found the anchors. Thankfully, you didn’t disturb them or things could’ve
ended up much worse. Magic of that sort isn’t as predictable as we’d like it to
be. But I expected a better welcome than this. You didn’t even bring a pack of
guards with you?”
The power tingled from the
earth at his feet and surged to his fingers. It used his body like a conduit, a
way to pass from one thing to another. It chewed at him. Sanded away the parts
of him he thought he knew best and left him raw. He’d spent too much time here
already, and it ate at him every day. He needed to hold out until the barrier
grid was complete. Get Maxim to come with him and free himself of this curse.
From the sharpness in Maxim’s
expression, Sasha wasn’t sure he could pull it off now.
What was he supposed to say?
Hey, let’s be mates again! And wait for Maxim to run into his arms? Yeah, that
probably wouldn’t work.
Sasha had learned so much
since they last saw each other! The part of him, that foolish, childish part he
thought no longer existed, wanted to share his travels with Maxim. Tell him of
Alexandria’s Grand Library. Share the secrets of Athens or Ur or Great
Zimbabwe. But the eyes he remembered softening in his presence were as hard as
obsidian.
Just as sharp and
unforgiving.
“Why did you return this
time?” Maxim grumbled. His voice held the barest hint of a plea.
Sasha swallowed. “Kamil
thought you’d need me. Turns out he was right. Tough luck with those Old Ones.
Everyone thinks they’re immortal, but they’re really just brimming with stolen
magic. There is a difference.”
Suddenly, Maxim lunged
forward. Hands snagged on his shoulders and shoved him backwards. He thudded
into a tree, the trunk rough through the fabric of his T-shirt.
The breath clogged in Sasha’s
throat at the proximity. That scent, musky and rich and right. Tangled into a knot of lust and fate and the only way to
free them both was to sever it at the source.
It reminded Sasha of
something else – Maxim complicated things.
Complicated him.
Why did he think this time
would be any different?
Not to mention, Maxim was
stark ass naked. His body, tall and lean, had gained muscle over the years.
With the bare flesh pushed against him, it reminded Sasha of all their time
together.
To say the least, it’d been
awhile.
Maxim breathed against
Sasha’s mouth. His lips hovered there for a moment, that delectable tongue
darted out and almost fucking tasted
him. But Maxim pulled it back, ran it over his own lips. His hands dug into
Sasha’s shoulders, squeezed the bones. The heat of his body radiated into
Sasha’s, dispelling the cool night air.
They were so close they could
kiss. Sasha’s brain sparked at the thought. He leaned forward, pressed his knee
between Maxim’s corded thighs. Smirked. “Admit it. You missed me.”
Maxim’s eyes flashed, and he
growled. “You shouldn’t have come back. You're a traitor to this kingdom.”
“Do you expect me to believe
you told anyone what happened? We’re the only ones who know the truth, Max,”
Sasha said, and his lips brushed Maxim’s cheek. “What’s a little regicide
between lovers?”
Maxim let out a huff of air.
“Ex-lovers. You killed my brother
while he was King!”
Right. Sasha had done that. He shrugged. “And you
killed your own uncle while he was King. Roland killed your mom. It’s a thing
in your family. I was helping out.”
Then Maxim smiled an empty,
ugly smile, and Sasha’s blood chilled to ice in his veins. His Maxim never smiled like that, but his Maxim might not exist any
longer.
Funny how that worked out.
“Is that what this is? More
help I didn’t ask for?” Maxim snarled.
Sasha squeezed his eyes shut,
buried any remaining pride he had, and nodded. “Help you need. My magic is
holding the barrier in place. Without it, you know what the humans will do.
Defeat one army of hunters and another will take its place. You need another pair
of Old Ones, and I can get them for you.”
Maxim’s good eye narrowed,
and he bared his fangs. “Oh? And how will you do that?”
The alpha’s heart slammed,
Sasha felt it pounding against his sternum. He took one last leap of faith, and
hoped he didn’t land flat on his ass. “You know me, Max. I can do almost
anything.”
Anything but keep a mate.
Maxim took a sharp, ragged
breath. It warmed Sasha’s skin, and he closed his eyes. Drank it in. “You can.
I remember.”
Sasha smiled, even if his
beard covered most of it. “What else do you remember?”
Maxim moved closer, dark eyes
burning. His musk made Sasha lightheaded. “Everything. I remember everything,” he growled and lifted his
hands, mere centimeters from Sasha’s cheeks.
The omega shoved him forward.
Sasha’s lips caught Maxim’s mouth, forced them together into a kiss that was
neither polite nor delicate. It raged and burned. Maxim’s tongue swept against
Sasha’s with the force of a tidal wave, and a hand tangled in the back of
Sasha’s hair, tugged it.
Maxim’s body, hot, needy and
naked, pressed flush into Sasha until that’s all Sasha felt. Maxim surrounded
him. Enveloped him. After everything he’d done, he ended up back here in
Maxim’s arms.
Destiny, indeed.
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