by Beau Brown
“Nothing’s going to happen.”
“I know. But promise me.”
“I promise you,” Ross said. “Our daughter isn’t going anywhere. And neither are you.” He cranked his neck and kissed Alex firmly, lovingly. “Okay? Are you listening?”
Alex seemed to relax beneath his kiss. He smiled a little. “Our daughter. Yes. But sometimes the…the unexpected happens. Don’t let anyone convince you that you wouldn’t be a good father or you don’t have enough experience or that she would be better with her own—”
“Stop it,” Ross said, and he meant it.
Alex stopped. He swallowed. Tried to smile. “I’m scared to death. I didn’t think I would be.”
“I know. But the unexpected is not going to happen. Nothing is going to go wrong. You’re nervous ‘coz Reid’s our first. But this is going to get to be old hat for us. Okay? The first of a lot of nights we’ll be sitting here waiting for a bed. Reid’s only the first of…five. At least.”
Alex’s cheeks pinked. “Five!”
Ross grinned crookedly. “That’s assuming we don’t have twins. Twins run in my family.”
“They…do?”
“Yep. So, I hope you didn’t have any plans of going back to school or getting a job. You had your chance. From here on out, I plan on keeping you barefoot and pregnant.”
Alex’s laugh was shaky. “You better not let my father—or my dad—hear that.”
Ross kissed the bruised and broken skin on Alex’s throat. The mark of his claiming. He whispered gruffly, “There’s only one opinion that matters to me. And that’s yours.”
Alex’s eyes were shining like stars. His face was flushed. He opened his mouth, but they were interrupted by a nurse in a green smock. “Okay! We’ve got a free bed. Let’s move, people. Sherriff McClintock stop mauling that patient!”
At Alex’s request, Ross waited outside the delivery room, using that time to call Alex’s parents.
He was expecting the worst, and was probably a little aggressive in his approach.
“Just so you know, Alex has been claimed,” he informed David Orlov, Alex’s father, while the older alpha was still gasping at the news his son had gone into labor a week and a half early.
“Claimed? He was under observation at the med center. How would he be claimed?”
“I claimed him,” Ross said. “With his consent, naturally.”
Legal genius he might be, Orlov seemed unable to come up with a reply to that. The phone was handed over to Andrew Orlov, Alex’s dad.
“Is Alex all right?” Orlov demanded. “Is the baby all right?”
“So far so good. They’re in delivery right now.”
“We’re on our way,” Orlov said, and this time it was Ross left holding the phone and trying to think what to say.
He had a couple more phone calls to make; crime stopped for no man—or baby—before he could get back to the delivery room, and by then the excitement was all over.
“A text book omega-non-tribe delivery,” Dr. Peters informed him cheerfully. “I wish we could have filmed it. It would have made a beautiful training film.”
“How are they? Can I see Alex now?”
“Father and child are both doing well.”
Ross said, “I need to see Alex.”
Dr. Peters was very used to displays of nerves from new father alphas. “Of course! This way, Sheriff.”
He continued to tell Ross about the delivery, which—to be perfectly honest—Ross was glad he’d missed. He found he was unexpectedly squeamish about such things as umbilical cords and afterbirth.
“A week ago, I thought we’d be going caesarean,” Peters admitted, as they turned onto another shining corridor, “but out she popped. Little Miss Reid McClintock, as requested.”
Funny how it made his heart seem to grow inside his chest at the sound of that. Miss Reid McClintock. His little daughter. His and Alex’s. Ross squared his shoulders and walked faster.
* * * * *
Alex looked drawn and pale, but there was a hint of color in his cheeks and his eyes shone with happiness. He was sitting up in the hospital bed, holding a tiny pink-wrapped bundle to his breast. He smiled, winced, then smiled again at whatever was happening in all that pastel swaddling.
He said, “Is she okay? Am I doing this right?”
“She’s fine. You’re doing great.” Until the nurse spoke, Ross hadn’t even noticed there was anyone else in the room.
Alex looked up, saw him, and delicate color flooded his face. He needed a shave and there were dark circles under his eyes. Ross had never seen anyone more beautiful. “There you are.”
“Here I am.” Ross bent over the bed and kissed his omega hard and thoroughly. He couldn’t deny a flare of unexpected possessiveness, but Alex’s sweet and instant response eased his tension.
Ross growled, “You look beautiful.”
“Me?” Alex laughed. “What about her?”
Ross glanced at the baby. She was a red and wrinkled peanut of a thing, but something about those firmly closed eyes and tiny pink mouth latched so determinedly onto Alex’s rose-brown nipple caught at his heart. He smiled into Alex’s eyes. “She’s beautiful too.”
“Isn’t she?” Alex smiled contentedly. “I think she’s the most beautiful baby ever.”
The nurse chuckled.
“Hey, where’d the rest of you go?” Ross teased, putting a gentle hand on the much smaller swell of Alex’s stomach. “I’m afraid I’m going to lose you in these blankets.”
Alex grinned. “My life as a water balloon is over.”
“Until the next time,” Ross said, leaning in to kiss him for a second time.
Alex’s laugh was unexpectedly shy. “Until the next time,” he agreed.
Epilogue
One year later.
“A puppy?”
Not the best timing in the world, but Alex was laughing as the fat ball of golden fur jumped out of the large white box and knocked Reid onto her little butt. Reid yelped with delight, chubby arms closing around the golden retriever puppy’s neck.
The puppy licked Reid’s face—and Reid licked the puppy back.
“Uh, sweetheart…no.” Alex moved around the coffee table to break up the love fest—or at least slow it down.
The puppy gamboled away, picked up Reid’s little straw cowboy hat and began to chew it. Reid gurgled her delight. Alex took the hat away and tossed it like a frisbee to the top of the piano. Reid and the puppy wore twin expressions of disappointment.
Ross was saying, “Well, Reid wants a puppy, and this little guy needed a home.”
Alex threw him a quick glance. Ross had that self-conscious look he got when he was feeling guilty. Alex’s mouth quirked. He said gravely, “I see. Reid wants a puppy?”
“Er…yeah. And I figured he’d be company for you too.”
Alex set Reid back on her feet. She promptly plopped down on the puppy. He shook his head, only to be distracted as Ross slipped an arm around his waist, drawing him into his arms. “Not that I plan on leaving you alone very often.”
“No?”
“No. How are you feeling?” Ross asked. “Better than this morning?” There was real concern in his gray eyes.
Alex smiled fondly, hugging him back. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
“You sure? Feels like you’re losing weight to me.”
“I’m sure.” He tilted his face and Ross kissed him tenderly—and then again, hungrily. “Mmm…you taste wonderf—”
“We’re having chocolate cake for dessert.”
Ross frowned, brushing the hair back from Alex’s forehead. “I told you, you didn’t have to cook tonight. In fact, I brought you your favorite chicken soup from the Sweet Water Café.”
“I know. I saw that. Thank you.”
“You still feel warm. You sure you’re not feverish?”
“It’s a warm day.”
Puppies and soup. Alex almost laughed. For a cop, Ross missed a surprising number of clues. �
�How was your day?” he asked.
Ross was still frowning. “You push yourself too hard, Alex. You don’t have to prove anything. You’re allowed a sick day like everyone else.”
“I’m not sick.”
Ross looked unconvinced. He drew Alex onto the sofa with him. “No? You look a mite peaked to me, angel. Now, you just rest here a while...”
Alex snorted. Ross “talked cowboy” when he wanted to amuse him—which it always did. He settled his head comfortably on Ross’s broad shoulder. “This is nice.” He absently studied the living room. What a difference a year made. The house had always been beautiful, but now it was cozy and welcoming as well. Sure, partly it had to do with the new rugs and drapes and furniture. Mostly it had to do with love and happiness. They worked even better than furniture polish.
“It sure is.” Ross sighed contentedly. “Mrs. Hardy phoned the station again to say she thinks someone is tampering with her well.”
“Did she say who she thinks the culprit is?”
“Nope. She said she can tell there’s something funny with the water because of the way her parakeet looks at her.”
Alex laughed.
“What did you do today?” Ross asked.
“Not a lot to report. I talked to my dad this morning. They want us to come to brunch on Sunday.”
Ross sighed. “Okay.”
“And I finished painting Reid’s room.”
“Now you’re rilin’ me,” Ross said, and Alex sat up. Despite the playful “rilin’ me,” Ross’s expression was stern. “I told you I’d see to painting that room myself.”
“I know.”
“I specifically told you—asked you—to take it easy today. You were sick as a dog this morning.”
Alex made a face. “I started feeling better.”
“There isn’t any hurry on that room. Reid’s perfectly happy sleeping in the nursery. Aren’t you, honey?”
Reid pointed at the puppy, which was now chewing on the fringe of the large red and gold Persian rug. “Ba-ba,” she said.
“Yep. He’s just a baby,” Ross replied. He turned back to Alex—then froze, his mouth still open. His gray eyes widened.
Alex grinned. “That’s right, Sheriff.” He went willingly as Ross hauled him back into his muscular arms. “Turns out might could be there’s a little bit of a hurry…”
Coming in September 2017
THE MANNY TAMES THE COWBOY
The Omegas of Sweet Water, Texas (Book 2)
Beau Brown
Omega Hunter Thomas makes his living taking care of other people’s children. He adores kids, and would love to have a whole litter of his own, but he’s been mocked and ridiculed enough to know that won’t ever happen for him. No respectable alpha would ever want the son of a murderer to have his babies.
Alpha Jake Windmire is a widower with a five-year-old kid he doesn’t know what to do with. He loves his son, but he has no idea how to raise a child alone. He’s got a ranch to run and doesn’t have time for a kid too. When Hunter comes into his home to take care of Avery, Jake is resistant to the changes at first. This is a working ranch, not some damn daycare adventure park.
But as time passes, Jake begins to see his son blossom just by being around Hunter. And Jake also notices that he likes being around Hunter too. Maybe even a little too much.
This is a sweet and sexy, contemporary, non-shifter love story with mpreg and a HEA ending. Though part of the Omegas of Sweet Water, Texas, this standalone story does not need to be read as part of the series.
Chapter One
Hunter
My new employer’s advertisement had been for a nanny, but the dilapidated ranch in front of me looked as if he should have run an ad for a construction crew while he was at it.
The sprawling buildings were a withered gray, hardly resembling wood anymore. Aluminum siding banged against the side of a barn as the dusty wind picked up around me.
“You sure this is the place?” The old man who’d given me a lift didn’t seem any more impressed with the ranch than I was. His sharp blue eyes stood out against his brown skin as he studied me. “Find it hard to believe anyone would raise a kid all the way out here.”
“This is the address he gave me.” I flinched as the creaky windmill above my head squeaked into action.
I walked around to the back of his pickup and grabbed my one bag. I didn’t have much in the way of personal belongings. I liked it that way because I moved around a lot from family to family.
“It’s your funeral.” The man tipped his beat-up Stetson and climbed back into his truck. With a roar of the engine he backed down the long gravel drive toward the main road. I had to stamp down the impulse to run after him for a ride back into town.
I straightened my spine and the sun’s heat warmed my shoulders as I made my way toward the main house. One half of the long home was freshly painted white, but the other half was still peeling and shabby. As I glanced around the wide area, I was mildly reassured to see men stacking hay near a pen that held about a dozen horses. I’d begun to feel as if I was the only living creature for miles.
I wasn’t exactly sure where to go. Was my employer working on the ranch somewhere or inside the ramshackle house? We’d settled on a day for me to arrive, but hadn’t really fixed a time. I’d made my trip in the afternoon to give me time to settle in and meet the little boy I’d be watching over for the foreseeable future.
I wiped sweat off my brow with the back of my arm and decided to try the house first. Stomping my way up the steps, I knocked on the time-worn screen door and waited.
The scuff of boots inside the house met my ears, and then a tall, lean man appeared behind the mesh. The first thing that struck me about him was his eyes. They were an odd light green and they seemed to see straight through me. From the proud tilt of his head there could be little doubt he was an alpha.
“Hunter?” His voice was deep. He pushed open the screen even before I answered. Probably not many people accidentally stumbled upon his ranch all the way out here in the sticks.
“That’s me.” I slipped past him, catching the scent of leather and soapy perspiration.
“I’m Jake Windmire,” he muttered.
A little boy sat at a long oak table. His dark hair was spiked, and he had a smudge of dirt on his chubby cheek. “Is that him, Papa?” The child’s eyes were wide with curiosity.
“Yep.” Jake closed the screen behind me with a bang.
I dropped my bag near the door and made my way over to the little boy. I knelt down, so that we were eye level. “Hi, Avery, I’m Hunter. I’ve looked forward to meeting you.” I smiled at the child. He just stared at me. I held out my hand and took his little one in mine. “How do you do?”
There was a snort behind me and I glanced toward Jake. He had a smirk on his face.
“Is something funny?”
“Not if you’re meeting the queen.” Jake shook his head.
Shoving down my irritation, I turned my back on him again and spoke to Avery. “We’re going to have a lot of fun together. I’ve got lots of great games we can play, and I even have some colored pencils in my bag.”
The child’s dark eyes lit up but then he slid his gaze to his father and he seemed to wilt. “Papa doesn’t like games.”
I frowned. “Oh, I’m sure he’ll let us play a few so long as you’re a good boy.” I stood and faced Jake. “Right?”
Jake’s jaw tensed. “Life on a ranch isn't about fun and games.”
I squinted at him. “He’s five. That’s all his life should be right now.”
“I was roping and riding by the time I was four.” His cool gaze scanned me. “No doubt a city boy wouldn’t understand.”
Heat crept up my cheeks. “I grew up on ranch, Mr. Windmire.”
Surprise rippled over his angular features. “Really? Where?”
I immediately regretted opening my big mouth. The last thing I wanted to do was talk about my family. “It was a long time ago.”
“Where?”
“The ranch isn’t around anymore.” I avoided his gaze.
He leaned toward me. “Ranches don’t just disappear into thin air.”
He was like a coyote with a bone and didn’t seem like he wanted to let go. I lifted my chin and decided to tell him enough to shut him up. “My family lost the ranch when I was ten. If you don’t mind, I’d rather not talk about it. I only mentioned it so you’d know I’m not just a city boy.”
He rubbed his chin as he studied me, then he finally said, “Fair enough.” He glanced toward my bag. “I’ll show you to your room. I need to get back to work.”
I moved to grab my stuff. “I’ll be back down in a minute, Avery.”
Avery nodded, and I followed Jake from the kitchen.
The house was even bigger inside than it appeared from the exterior. There was a huge formal dining room that looked like it had never been used, and an enormous family room with a floor to ceiling stone fireplace.
Jake led me up a narrow staircase that creaked ominously as we ascended. We passed a few bedrooms, and he stopped near the end of the long landing at one of the doors. He pushed it open, and we stepped inside. There was a four poster bed, a dresser and not much else. The walls were white with no pictures, and if not for the large window at one end with a view of the ranch, it might have felt a little like a prison cell.
“It ain’t much. I haven’t had time to spruce up the inside of the ranch since most my time is taken up with the outside of the place.” His voice was gruff, and I got the feeling he felt bad that my room was so barren.
“It’s fine. I’ll mostly just be sleeping in here anyway.”
He nodded, and some tension seemed to leave his broad shoulders. “Okay, good.”
Maybe it was the enclosed space, but for the first time since my arrival, it struck me how truly attractive he was. His body was lean, muscular and his lanky legs seemed to go on forever. Boots, faded jeans and the scent of fresh cut hay accentuated his masculine vibe. He was all alpha and his proximity made my stomach flutter oddly.
