Chapter 46: Knotted by my corporate rival - 1

Kael gripped the edge of the glass table so hard his knuckles turned bone-white. The boardroom reeked of designer cologne and stale coffee, but underneath the stink, he could feel it, his suppressants were finally giving out. A filthy, familiar heat began to thrum deep in his gut, mocking every year he had spent popping pills just to keep his own body under lock and key.

"You’re out of time," Director Han said. The older Alpha’s voice was flat. "The creditors move next week. Without the Voss merger this company is finished."

Kael kept his face cold. "There are other options. Private equity. Asset sales. I can—"

"You already tried those," another director cut in. "They laughed. Voss is the only one willing to write the check, and he has conditions."

Kael’s throat tightened. He already knew the name. Silas Voss. Lifelong rival. The Alpha who had undercut every deal Kael tried to close since they were both twenty-two. The man whose scent Kael had never allowed himself to breathe in properly because the first time they stood too close, years ago, something in Kael’s suppressed body had answered with a traitorous clench.

He forced the memory down. "What conditions."

Director Han slid a thick folder across the table. "Full merger. Voss Industries absorbs us. You remain CEO of the subsidiary for three years. And you marry Silas Voss. Publicly. Binding contract. Immediate cohabitation. The press release goes out the same day the ink is dry."

Silence stretched. Kael’s pulse hammered in his ears. The heat in his gut rolled harder, a slick warmth gathering between his thighs that the suppressants should have killed hours ago. Stress was burning through them faster than usual. He could feel the first faint slip of his own scent starting to rise under the blockers. Soft. Sweet. Omega. Exactly what every Alpha in this room would notice if he stayed much longer.

He sat slowly, legs pressing together under the table. "Marriage is not a business clause."

"It is now," Han said. "Silas insisted. He wants the optics of a united front. Stable succession. The market will eat it up."

Kael’s mind flashed, unbidden, to the last time he had seen Silas across a crowded conference floor. Tall. Dark hair. That cold, assessing stare that always made Kael’s skin prickle. In the fantasy that rose now, unwanted and vivid, Silas was closer. Crowding him against a wall. Nose at his throat. Voice low and rough: "I can smell what you’re hiding, Kael. Open for me."

Kael’s cock twitched inside his tailored trousers. He shifted, trying to ease the sudden ache. A thin line of slick wet the soft fabric of his underwear. Fuck. Not here. Not in front of them.

"I refuse," he said, voice steady only by force of will.

Han leaned forward. "Then we vote you out today and sign without you. Your family’s name dies either way. At least this way you keep a seat at the table."

The other directors nodded. One of them, an older woman who had known Kael since he was a child, looked almost apologetic. "He’s already waiting downstairs. The lawyers are ready. Sign or we move without you."

Kael’s hands trembled once before he locked them still. The heat was climbing now, slow and mean. His nipples had gone tight against his shirt. Every breath brought a phantom memory of Alpha scent, heavy and claiming, and his body answered with another pulse of slick.

He stood. "Fine. Bring him up."

They filed out quickly, leaving him alone for three minutes that felt like an hour. Kael locked the door, leaned against it, and shoved a hand down the front of his trousers. His cock was half-hard already, the head slick with the same wetness that coated his entrance. He stroked once, hard, biting back a sound. In his head Silas was there, watching, that smug mouth curved.

"Desperate already?" fantasy-Silas murmured. "All those years pretending you weren’t made for this. For me."

Kael worked himself faster, thumb circling the head, other hand sliding further back to press two fingers against his hole. He was soft and open, body already preparing itself no matter how hard he fought it. He pushed one finger in to the knuckle and clenched around it, hips jerking.

"Fuck," he whispered. "Fuck you."

He came like that, quiet and furious, spilling over his fist while his body fluttered around the single finger. The orgasm barely took the edge off. The heat still sat under his skin, waiting.

He cleaned up with tissues from the sideboard, straightened his clothes, and sprayed another layer of scent-blocker until his nose burned. When he opened the door again, the board was already returning. And behind them walked Silas Voss.

Tall. Controlled. Dark suit cut to make every line of him look like a threat. His eyes found Kael’s and held. Something flickered there, too knowing.

Silas smiled, slow and private. "Kael. Ready to sign?"

Kael’s spent cock twitched again at the sound of that voice. He kept his expression ice. "Let’s get this over with."

Silas stepped closer than necessary as they moved to the table. His scent reached Kael even through the blockers, rich and heavy, pure Alpha. Kael’s hole clenched around nothing. Another thin trickle of slick threatened to escape.

Silas’s voice dropped so only Kael could hear. "You look flushed. Stress?"

Kael met his eyes. "Just get the pen."

They signed. Page after page. Merger. Marriage. Cohabitation clause. Shared residence effective immediately. Kael’s signature was steady. His body was not. Every time Silas leaned in to point at a line, his scent rolled over Kael like a hand on the back of his neck, and Kael’s imagination supplied the rest: Silas’s mouth on his throat, teeth scraping, a thick cock pressing into the place that was already wet and empty.

When the last page was done, Silas closed the folder himself. "Pack a bag. I’ll send a car in two hours. You’re moving in tonight."

Kael’s pulse jumped. "I need time."

"You don’t have it." Silas’s gaze dropped, just for a second, to Kael’s mouth, then lower. "And Kael? Stop fighting the suppressants so hard. They’re already failing. I can almost taste it."

He walked out without waiting for an answer.

Kael stood frozen at the table, thighs pressed tight, cock hardening again under the fabric, and the first real crack in years spreading wide open inside him.

---

The lawyers left first. The board followed. Within minutes the glass-walled conference room held only Kael and Silas.

Silas closed the door himself and turned the lock with a soft click. He leaned back against it, arms folded, watching Kael like he already owned the outcome.

"You signed faster than I expected," Silas said. His voice was smooth, almost lazy. "I thought you’d put up more of a fight."

Kael stayed on the far side of the table. His body still hummed from the earlier release, but the heat had not faded. If anything, Silas’s scent made it worse. Rich. Heavy. Alpha. It slid under the blockers like it belonged there.

"I didn’t have a choice," Kael said. "You made sure of that."

Silas smiled, slow and pleased. "I did. And now we talk about the part you haven’t accepted yet."

Kael’s jaw tightened. "The marriage is on paper. That is enough for the market."

"No." Silas pushed off the door and walked around the table, unhurried. "The contract requires cohabitation. Starting tonight. Same address. Same bed if the press asks. I will not have rumors that this is a cold arrangement. We sell the relationship or the stock tanks and your family name dies anyway."

Kael’s pulse kicked hard. "I am not living with you."