Bondage and Marriage - 30

Ian never showed mercy to anyone who dared challenge him or encroach on his territory. This wasn’t simply due to the inherent nature of an Alpha, but rather a reflection of his innate personality. To put it bluntly, he had a terrible temper.

His relatives, who shamelessly stole his parents’ inheritance—his rightful property—had not only clung to that wealth but also tried to lay claim to the mansion that was the last thing Ian had left. To reclaim his inheritance, Ian outwardly donned a smiling mask and followed their words while inwardly gritting his teeth. Like a predator lowering its stance before the hunt, he endured. Once he regained his strength, he ruthlessly tore apart every last bit of their influence. That experience left a lasting impact on Ian, shaping him even now.

Since then, no one dared interfere with Ian recklessly. It wasn’t just that he no longer occupied a position where interference was possible, but also that anyone who tried met a miserable end. Moreover, his parents, the only people who once had the right to meddle in his life, had long since passed away.

Despite his intense aversion to anyone violating his rights, Tanner Frost had presented Ian with the massive insult of arranging a strategic marriage. Tanner likely believed that this union was a tremendous favor to Ian. While others might readily accept such a proposal, Ian was having none of it.

Regardless of Tanner’s arrogant delusions of goodwill, Ian’s temper flared after a long time. To repay Tanner in kind, Ian tormented Noah, his betrothed. Yet Noah defied Ian’s expectations in many ways.

Ian had thought that Noah would flee back to the Frost estate after their wedding night. After all, what Ian did to Noah would have been unbearable even for an ordinary person, let alone the pampered young master of the Frost family, who was sheltered from the harsh realities of the world. Surprisingly, however, Noah endured. Not only did he stay, but he didn’t resent Ian either.

On top of that, Noah’s tearful expressions whenever he was bullied stirred Ian’s sadistic tendencies. So, Ian gradually escalated the intensity of his harassment.

At first, Ian forced himself on Noah. Even when he used tools to torment him, Noah remained steadfast. Ian then humiliated him at the office, exposing him to others’ contempt, but Noah still stayed in the mansion. Ian assigned him the shabbiest room in the house, withheld allowances and personal funds, and treated him with open disdain. Despite all this, Noah obediently complied, which only piqued Ian’s interest further.

Testing Noah’s endurance, Ian brought Heather into the mix. Ian instructed Noah to crawl like a dog in front of Heather, and Noah, crying and trembling, begged pitifully. Instead of feeling sympathy, Ian only wanted to torment him more.

The following day, Miriam reported that Heather was harassing Noah in the garden. Curious, Ian went to observe. But what he saw didn’t sit well with him.

It was true that Ian had brought Heather in to provoke Noah. However, Ian hadn’t expected Noah to be so naive as to believe Heather’s ridiculous claim of being a teacher hired to instruct him in bedroom skills. While Noah’s naivety could be attributed to his sheltered upbringing, Heather’s actions crossed the line. Heather dared to act without Ian’s permission in his own house—a clear overstep. After all, Ian had specifically chosen Heather, a Beta, precisely because Alphas are instinctively wary of those who covet their belongings.

Displeased, Ian lost interest in his plan to use Heather to torment Noah. He handed Heather some money and sent her away. Then, Ian vented his frustration on Noah, blatantly harassing him in front of the staff and forcing him into painful intimacy. Ian took twisted pleasure in making Noah cry, struggle, and beg during their encounters.

Ian’s decision to bring Noah to a social gathering stemmed partly from the same sadistic amusement. However, the primary reason was to maintain appearances. The project to free Ian from Tanner Frost’s financial influence had yet to yield results, so he needed to present the image of a functioning marriage with Noah. Still, Ian couldn’t deny that he was increasingly enjoying tormenting Noah.

Even before marrying Noah, Ian had exhibited sadistic tendencies. As the operator of Tear—a hotel he used for secret funds and information gathering—Ian had become accustomed to engaging in BDSM activities. The hotel often served as a venue for unofficial meetings or gatherings, naturally exposing Ian to such practices. While he participated to fit in with others and didn’t find it unpleasant, he had never been particularly interested.

Yet tormenting Noah to drive him away was different. Unlike before, Ian found genuine excitement and satisfaction in causing pain. Dominating, crushing, and possessing aligned with the instinctual desires of Alphas. This explained why so many Alphas had dominant tendencies.

When Ian attended a gathering on Cube Island, he began to reconsider how lightly he had taken the natural instincts of Alphas toward Omegas. Alphas and Omegas shared a unique, intense attraction. Typically, an Alpha’s obsession with an Omega surpassed that with a Beta. What Ian hadn’t realized was that this instinct could apply even to someone who was merely a strategic marriage partner.

“Oh, welcome! Thank you for coming such a long way,” greeted Howard McMillan, the host of the gathering.

“No distance is too far for an event like this,” Ian replied with a polite smile, though inwardly, his brow furrowed slightly.

He noticed the way Howard lingered on Noah, his gaze betraying a fleeting yet unmistakable interest. While Howard’s outward demeanor was that of an amiable man who cared deeply about his reputation, the fleeting glint in his eyes revealed his appraisal of Noah.

Howard McMillan was a man who alternated between Ian’s hotel and other upscale social clubs, always insisting on young Omegas barely out of their teens. Like many wealthy and powerful men, he sought partners who had just reached adulthood. Tear, being a legal establishment, ensured its clients adhered to the law, but rumors swirled about McMillan’s involvement with much younger partners at underground clubs.

Ian found Howard’s gaze on Noah slightly bothersome, but it wasn’t enough to cause alarm. Ignoring Howard, Ian took Noah around to demonstrate to everyone the solidity of the Frost-Miller alliance. However, as the evening went on, more things started to irritate him.

Ian never held fond feelings toward Noah due to his resentment of Tanner. Even so, he acknowledged Noah’s external value. Omegas were already rare, and Noah wasn’t just an Omega—he was good-looking. Naturally, he attracted attention.

Still, there was a limit to how much attention one could draw. At the gathering, numerous Alphas and Betas gave Noah prolonged glances, longer than usual. The problem wasn’t just their gazes but how they then shifted to Ian, as if comparing them. It grated on Ian’s nerves. Yet Noah seemed completely unfazed, wearing the calm expression of someone used to such attention.

Ian himself wasn’t the type to care about others’ gazes. Just as Omegas attracted Alphas, distinguished Alphas like Ian also drew attention. Maybe he was simply on edge from work-related fatigue, Ian thought as he turned away from Noah. But soon, something truly pushed him past his limits.

“Oh, Ian! We were just talking about you,” Dmitri Solovyov exclaimed cheerfully as he approached. Dmitri, recently appointed to a board position due to Ian’s business expansion abroad, greeted Ian with enthusiasm. They talked for a while about business matters, and Ian didn’t notice when Noah, apparently bored, drifted toward the buffet table. Standing there, Noah stared intently at the food—he was probably hungry. Come to think of it, had he eaten dinner? Ian thought absentmindedly.

Dmitri’s expression turned amused. “So, is that Omega over there the one you married?”

After World War III, which had left the world in chaos, much had changed, including attitudes toward Omegas. In some places, their rights had improved, while in others, they had worsened. Russia, Dmitri’s home, was among the latter, with Omegas viewed as inferior—especially male Omegas, who were heavily discriminated against. The declining Omega population in Russia was no coincidence.

Ian noticed Dmitri’s subtle disdainful gaze toward Noah, finding it somewhat unpleasant but not surprising. Shrugging it off, he replied, “Thanks to him, married life has been entertaining.”

“Well, Omegas are certainly… different,” Dmitri commented with a smirk, his disdain barely concealed. Ian inwardly mocked him. A third of Ian’s executive staff were Omegas, hired not out of benevolence but practicality. Omegas were efficient workers willing to accept lower wages, making them ideal hires. To Ian, everyone—be they Alpha, Beta, or Omega—was simply a tool for profit.

Dmitri took a sip of champagne, then gestured with his chin. “Still, you’d better keep a close eye on your Omega.”

What nonsense, Ian thought as he turned to see what Dmitri meant—and saw something infuriating. Some nobody Alpha was handing Noah a bouquet of roses. Where had he even gotten it? Ian scowled as the Alpha, flustered under Ian’s glare, clumsily shoved the bouquet into a vase. What is this idiot doing? Ian watched, curious about how far the Alpha would go.

The scene became a spectacle. The Alpha, emboldened, began asking Noah on a date. Ian noticed Dmitri and others around them watching with interest, waiting to see his reaction. Wonderful. Ian’s face twisted into a smile as he approached.

“Noah, what’s going on?” Ian asked sweetly, placing a firm hand on Noah’s shoulder. Noah flinched at the touch and looked up at Ian with wide, startled blue eyes.

“I was just greeting someone I know,” Noah answered innocently.

Ian’s mood soured further. What kind of greeting involved roses and flirtation? Seeing the murmurs spread among the other guests, Ian decided it was time to act. No Alpha would tolerate their partner being publicly approached by another.

Ian dealt with the intruding Alpha quickly and efficiently, but his mood didn’t recover. With forced gentleness, he steered Noah away while speaking through gritted teeth. “Who was that idiot?”

“That was the second son of the August Corporation…” Noah began, only to gasp as Ian, pretending to steady him, gripped his hip painfully.

It wasn’t funny. The sheer audacity of that Alpha’s challenge enraged Ian more than usual. Still, Ian couldn’t leave yet—he had business matters to discuss with Dmitri. Nor could he leave Noah alone to attract more unwanted attention. For now, Ian resolved to keep Noah by his side, his possessive instincts fully ignited.

“Stay here until I return. If I see you take even one step or play around with someone else, you’ll regret it. Got it?”

Noah nodded with a thoroughly intimidated expression as Ian growled, shoving him into a quiet corner where hardly anyone passed by. Surely, even someone as clueless as him would understand this much. However, when Ian returned after finishing his conversation with Dmitry, he found an even more ridiculous situation. It had barely been ten minutes since he’d left, and yet a young Alpha was already hitting on Noah.

Ian’s mood was boiling over. Unless Noah Frost was deliberately trying to embarrass him at this social gathering, how else could these insignificant pests keep attaching themselves to him without end?

Of course, to be fair, it wasn’t entirely Noah’s fault. Alphas, Omegas, and Betas alike all tend to unconsciously give off their partner’s scent when they are in a relationship. When pheromones aren’t masked, and partners spend a lot of time together, the scent blends, serving as a kind of subtle claim of ownership. Alpha knotting is a more overt and forceful way to assert that claim, but…

Ian had never let his pheromones freely linger around Noah since their marriage, let alone knotted him. After all, Noah was someone who could leave his mansion at any moment. Though Noah had been staying longer than Ian had initially expected, claiming ownership over someone he planned to divorce soon felt unnecessary and unpleasant. As a result, Noah’s Omega pheromones were all anyone noticed, leading people to mistakenly assume he had no partner.

Blaming none of this on himself, Ian grew increasingly irritated, kicking out the Alpha who looked at least ten years younger than him and then turning to face Noah. Surprisingly, Noah greeted him with a smile.

“Um… thank you for helping me,” Noah said, blushing slightly, likely from the champagne he had sipped.

Ian stared at him for a moment. What is this? Can’t he read the mood and realize that I didn’t help him out of goodwill? Watching that ridiculously clueless face only made Ian angrier. His earlier plan to further humiliate Noah by inviting Dmitry and his lovers over for a voyeuristic night began to fade away—much like the whim that had led him to introduce Heather as Noah’s “teacher” rather than “lover” before.

Still, while Ian’s cruel intentions subsided, the sadistic desire that had been bubbling within him all evening did not. In fact, the sight of Noah’s innocent smile only made it worse.

Ian dragged Noah down to their room and took him. His foul mood resulted in actions rougher than usual.

During the act, while he had Noah bent over in the bathroom, Ian absentmindedly bit down on his shoulder, leaving marks. This reflexive behavior reflected thoughts that had likely been brewing in his subconscious throughout the night, even if Ian himself hadn’t been aware of them. When he saw the marks he’d left on Noah’s pale skin—bruises that would last several days—Ian momentarily felt startled.

But the surprise was fleeting. Watching Noah lying there, sobbing quietly and obediently, Ian found a twisted satisfaction in the marks. Well, considering the things they’ve already done, what’s a little biting? Justifying his actions to himself, Ian yanked Noah’s hair, pulling back roughly as he continued his relentless assault.

When it was over, Ian left Noah, who could barely walk, and stayed in the room for a long, leisurely soak in the hot tub. By the time Ian finally stepped out, feeling relaxed, he found a strange object by the door—a vibrator, its surface crusted with dried fluids. Scowling, he looked over toward the bed, the only one in the room.

The bed’s covers bulged. Curious, Ian approached and pulled back the blanket. There lay Noah, curled up and wheezing softly in his sleep, exhausted from the intense torment he’d endured earlier.

So that’s how it is, huh? Knowing full well this room only has one bed, you decided to sleep here anyway? The bed was spacious enough for three people to sleep comfortably, but Ian smirked crookedly.

He reached to wake Noah and kick him out to another room but paused. When he lifted the blanket, the soft glow of the bedside lamp illuminated Noah’s exposed nape, scattered with the bite marks Ian had left earlier. Seeing the vulnerable, unguarded state of Noah’s pale skin sparked an unusual feeling—something akin to a predator, sated after a satisfying hunt, taking pity on its prey.

The vindictiveness in Ian’s chest eased a little as he stared at Noah.

Well, it’s better than rumors spreading about us sleeping separately at the hotel. Deciding this would avoid unnecessary hassle, Ian climbed into bed beside Noah, pulled the covers over both of them, and turned off the warm orange light of the bedside lamp. He closed his eyes, slipping into sleep.

It was the first time Ian had ever shared a bed with Noah since their marriage, but he didn’t give it much thought.

Naturally, Ian couldn’t have known this would mark the faint beginning of something he couldn’t yet name.