by Leta Blake
“We’ll plant winter flowers out front,” Xan said briskly, hoping to reduce the house and all it represented down to something manageable in his mind. “Or hire some betas to do it, rather. Nice, bright colors that will enliven the place.”
Caleb glanced around at the grounds as though trying to imagine it with winter flowers. “Does it ever snow, do you think?”
“I doubt it. The ocean currents come all the way from the tropics, if I recall my science class correctly. Anyway, they’re quite warm, from what I understand, even in winter. That brings with it a certain temperateness despite being farther north.”
“Yes, I remember reading about that in school too.” Caleb gathered himself, tucked his long hair behind his ear, and smiled at Xan. “I’m happy with it. We’ll make it beautiful, invite guests, and turn it into a real home. It’s been empty too long, is all. We’ll fill it with sound and noise and light.”
“And children,” Xan promised.
Caleb nodded. “At least one or two, yes. Strong children who’ll one day run down that lovely hill to the ocean and swim like little fish.”
“Romantic,” Xan teased, slinging his arm around Caleb’s shoulder.
“That’s me. Mister romance.”
Xan studied his omega’s handsome face, curiousity welling in him. He knew their promise to always be family, but he didn’t understand Caleb’s lack of interest in romantic feelings. “Don’t you ever want to fall in love, Caleb?”
Caleb threw his arms around Xan’s neck and rubbed his nose against Xan’s cheek. “Darling, this is what I want. I tell you all the time! I love you more than I can ever say. My dream life is to be with you as the closest of friends and have your children.” He smiled. “You worry too much. Let’s go inside and find out how things stand. It’s going to be a long afternoon and who knows if there’s even any food in the kitchen.”
“The beta servants came on ahead of us just for that reason. It should be stocked. I’m surprised Ren and the crew aren’t out here to greet us.”
“Ren can generally be trusted to think ahead, but the entire move was thrown together so quickly. He’s probably in a panic trying to put everything in order before we arrive.”
He and Caleb stepped toward the threshold of their new home together. Xan held Caleb back just before the door and said, “Take my hand.”
Caleb did. His long fingers felt cool in Xan’s warm clasp.
“The alpha and the omega,” he whispered, unable to resist the pull of tradition.
“The beginning and end,” Caleb answered, smiling warmly at him. “Now who’s romantic?”
“Hey! It’s traditional to recite the vow before entering a new home together for the first time.”
“Traditional!” Caleb exclaimed, laughing and pulling Xan over the threshold by the hand. “We’re anything but that, my dear.”
As Xan followed him into the low lighting of the wide foyer—more of a great hall in the scheme of entry areas—he blinked to see better, clinging to Caleb’s hand like a lifeline.
A large crystal chandelier wired for electric lights hung from the painted, domed ceiling, marble floors clacked beneath their heels, and a wide marble staircase, covered in what looked to be a moth-eaten red carpet, rose up and parted in the middle, taking two separate directions to the landing on the second floor.
“So this is what we’ve been exiled to,” he murmured.
“It needs sprucing up, but it’s got good bones.” Caleb’s eyes shone in the dimness.
“Ray said you’d be pleased with it.”
“It’s a bit rococo,” he murmured, waving his hand toward the sculpted and gilded woodwork lining the ceiling, doors, and culminating in ornamental filigrees around the dome that made Xan’s heart skip gleefully. But he knew such elements were the antithesis of Caleb’s usual design choices.
“It’s shiny,” Xan enthused. “Or could be.”
“Yes.” Caleb nudged him with a smile. “It’s a beautiful space.”
Through the gloom, they saw where the drawing room and library branched off on opposite sides of the grand hall. Both appeared to be equally worn-looking rooms of fabulous, over-the-top design, complete with furnishings that looked usable if not entirely fashionable.
Near the back of the grand hall, walkways led to other rooms and, if the noises coming from the right were any indication, the kitchen and most likely the dining room as well. Visible through wide, arched, glass doors at the back of the hall was an overgrown open-air courtyard in the middle of the house.
“It’s a good thing Ren is wonderful at hiring,” Caleb said, nodding toward the greenery pressing against the glass. “Someone will need to tame it.”
“Indeed. Should we go exploring?”
“Where are the servants?” Caleb asked, frowning. “They should be here getting things ready.”
“I sent most of them to town,” came a voice from the direction of the landing at the top of the right branch of the stairs.
“On whose authority?” Xan asked, peering into the darkness.
“Hello, cousin,” the voice said. A blaze suddenly flamed from overhead, the chandelier bursting with light above them.
Xan squinted at the sudden brightness and then, stomach curdling, he caught sight of the source of the greeting. His cousin now stood in the middle of the staircase, one hand on the banister, the other lifted high in greeting.
“The light switches are in the most damnable places in this house,” Janus said with a smirk. “The one for the chandelier is at the top of the stairs.”
Dark hair curled gently around his smug face and smile, and his hazel eyes glittered in the now sharp light. Fit and tanned, he was dressed, as always, in tailored but sensual-looking clothes, showing off a sense of fashion and casual sexiness that Xan had always envied.
Next to him, Caleb went stiff and stifled a startled gasp.
“As I was saying, welcome to Virona, cousin,” Janus said cheekily, sweeping his raised hand around. “I think you’ll find things mostly in order for your arrival. You’re welcome for that, by the way. Your servants are good, but someone had to make the hard choices these last few days. That person was me.”
Xan gaped at him as Caleb drew closer to his side.
“And thank you for allowing me to be your houseguest for the next few months,” Janus went on. “Though I doubt you had much to do with it. Truth be told, I’m rather looking forward to it.”
“Houseguest?” Caleb asked, darting a glance Xan’s way, his blue eyes wide and worried. “Did you know about this?”
Xan shook his head. No, he had certainly not. His smile was more of a snarl, but he managed to pull out the usual niceties all the same. “Thank you for greeting us after our journey, but I think it’s my place to welcome you, cousin, since this is to be my home.”
Janus only chuckled, and Xan clenched his jaw. He put his arm around Caleb’s lower back. “Caleb, allow me to introduce you to Janus Heelies. My father’s favorite spy. Janus, this is my omega, Caleb Riggs.” Caleb’s breath came in small, strange gasps.
Janus smirked. “Yes, I’d heard you’d contracted with the elusive beauty of the class of Wolf Path.” He continued down the stairs now, his hand outstretched toward Caleb, who seemed to flinch away. “I’ve actually already had the honor. Haven’t I, Caleb?”
Xan tightened his hold on Caleb’s waist as his omega replied with a strange tension in his voice, “Indeed.”
Xan asked, “You were in the same cohort, then?”
“We were,” Janus agreed. “Many a Philia soirée did I spend watching our dear Caleb hiding in a corner, trying to douse his obvious light from attracting admirers. But no matter how he tried, he never lacked for those.”
“So you were a spy even then?” Xan asked snidely.
“I’ve gotten better at it with age. As your father well knows.”
Caleb narrowed his gaze at Janus. “I don’t recall you hurting for admirers at those parties either and yet you’re he
re alone.”
“Alas I never found one to suit.”
Caleb hissed out a breath slowly.
“Caleb?” Xan asked, but his open-ended question was ignored.
Caleb lifted his chin high, stepped away from Xan’s arm, and, with a distinct chill, put his hand out to Janus. He seemed to restrain a wince as Janus took it and placed a kiss on his knuckles. “You’re a spy now, you say? Well, I’ll endeavor to do something exciting for you to report back to the great Doxan Heelies.”
Janus laughed and kissed Caleb’s knuckles again. “You do that, pretty one. Because you? You’ve always been one I’m happy to watch.”
Caleb snatched his hand back and turned on his heel. “When will Ren and the others be back? We have bags we need help with.”
At that exact moment, Ren appeared from the hallway leading toward the kitchen with a handful of servants at his heels, including the new kitchen boy. Caleb set about ignoring Janus completely as he directed them on what to do with the luggage. As the servants scampered, he swept past Xan and Janus, stalking up the marble stairs with a coldness that Xan rarely experienced even on a snowy winter’s day, and had never before seen in Caleb.
“What did I say?” Janus asked, genuinely puzzled by the looks of him, watching Caleb turn to the left and ascend to the landing. “I only wanted to flatter him.”
“Caleb prefers to be respected. And so do I.” Xan hardened his voice to growl. “Stay away from him. I know Father probably sent you here to keep tabs on me, and that’s fine. Obviously, I can’t kick you out immediately.” He stepped into Janus’s space, going up on his toes to be closer to the same height. “But if you upset him again, or I think for even a minute that you have, you can bet your last cent that I will throw you out on your ass, Father’s spy or not. Assuming I don’t actually take you apart first.”
Janus raised his hands in surrender. “Never fear, cousin dear. I don’t fancy him. For one thing, I like them a bit fleshier and with some hair on their chests.”
“They are human beings and deserve to be talked about as more than a piece of meat.” Xan gritted his teeth. His father couldn’t seriously be considering Janus in his stead, could he? The man was a playboy and a half, and had been caught in affairs with several contracted omegas. He had no respect for anyone at all, much less omegas, and clearly not for Caleb. “Why did Father send you here?”
“Because, like you said, I have spy work to do.” Janus waggled his brows. “And maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll find my Erosgapé here amongst the quaint villagers of Virona.”
Xan shoved past him, following Caleb up the wide stairs. “I’ll say it one more time: upset Caleb again and Father can’t protect you.”
Janus’s eyes followed him, but to Xan’s equal consternation and relief, he didn’t bother with a reply.
Following the sound of Caleb’s voice issuing orders to the servants, he stalked down the upstairs hallway, ignoring the view of the courtyard out the open windows. He passed by rooms both closed off and open to be aired out.
As he reached what must be the suite Caleb had chosen for himself, Xan muttered under his breath, “Welcome to Virona, my ass.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Urho sat by the fire in his library, swirling a glass of bourbon and watching flames lick the grate. On the desk behind him, there was a vase of roses, delivered that evening with a note from Xan.
I promise, was all the note read, but that had been enough to get him hard.
The roses’ scent drifted to him, a constant reminder of the man he missed already, though they’d had barely enough time together before he’d gone. Closing his eyes, he savored the taste of the liquor on his tongue and let his mind go blessedly blank. The day had been yet another long one.
After saying goodbye to Xan and Caleb on the platform, he’d driven away confused by his own heart. His face, when he’d glimpsed it in the rearview mirror, was relatively the same, but his priorities seemed to have realigned entirely in the course of a week. The last normal day he could remember, when he’d last felt like the Urho that Riki had left behind, was the day before he’d been called to Jason and Vale’s house to confirm what they both already knew—that a babe was on the way.
Ever since that moment, he’d been thrown off course, and he barely recognized the thoughts that preoccupied him now, the commitments that he’d made, or the feelings that drove him.
“Sir,” a quiet voice said from the door. “I’m sorry to disturb you, but may I have a word?”
Urho waved Mako forward. His longtime beta servant, chef, and not-quite friend stood anxiously by the fire until Urho gestured for him to take a seat. He was looking good in middle-age, with only a little gray at his dark temples, and a few fine wrinkles by his eyes. He wore his usual chef’s uniform over his pudgy stomach, and a kind smile.
“I don’t want to offend, sir, but I wanted to ask if everything was all right. The other day, when your small alpha friend came by, there was…” Here he broke off, looking embarrassed and ashamed. “I believe the other servants misunderstood what took place. Because while rumors have long swirled about your friend’s proclivities, you have always been far too law-abiding and fastidious in your person to have done anything improper. Right, sir?”
Urho swirled the bourbon again and waited for the rush of disgust and fear that should have filled him at having been discovered in his perversion and gossiped about by his own servants. It didn’t come. Instead, a strange twitter of excitement filled his chest, and he had to hold back a sudden smile, for fear of frightening Mako.
“I apologize,” Mako said, swallowing hard and rubbing his hands over his pants. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I don’t want you to believe that I had anything to do with this nasty gossip, sir. Or that I would spread it.”
“Part of working in my home,” Urho began carefully, “has always been the guarantee that you’re working for an honorable man. I pay you on time. I give bonuses for the Autumn Nights holidays. I provide extra days off when needed.”
“All of those are very honorable things,” Mako agreed, leaning forward obsequiously. “I didn’t mean to offend you, sir. I wanted only to—”
“But I am not a perfect man. There are times when the scriptures don’t make sense to me. There are actions I have taken, both personally and as a doctor, that don’t always fit into the…let us call them expectations of the world at large and the Holy Church of Wolf in particular.”
Mako ducked his head.
“If you or any of the other servants have a problem working for me now that my imperfection is known, then I suppose I have no other choice than to offer a fair sum as a parting gift, seeing as the fault is mine, and look for servants who may not care so deeply about the personal failings of their employer.”
“And who may not be so loyal,” Mako was quick to put forth. “If, sir, this is your way of saying that there are to be more visits from the small alpha and, if this is your way of saying that we should be prepared to ignore or offer vague but believable replies to any questions about him, then let me assure you, I for one, and all of the others working here will be willing to protect you.”
“I see.” A whisper of gratitude slipped through him.
“We’re betas, sir. The rules don’t make as much sense to us. I approached you as I did mainly because of a concern that you yourself would be offended and angered if you found out what the others here were thinking. If you’re entertaining the, ah, well, the young alpha, then we’ll go about our business as usual and see nothing, hear nothing, know nothing.”
Urho sighed, taking another sip of his brandy. “I feel as though I should chastise you for your lack of concern regarding your employer’s adherence to the law and the Holy Book of Wolf, but given my own position, that seems absurd.”
“When we will see the young man again, sir? I can prepare something special for him. You could have a quiet night in together.”
“You’re trying a bit too hard now, Mako.” Urho grima
ced. “I’m not angry with you for asking. It’s a good reminder that I won’t always find easy acceptance should this continue, and I should be more careful.” Though he had barely seen Xan at all. Being more careful than they had been already seemed impossible.
Mako spoke eagerly, “Or you should design a good reason to interact regularly and in private with him, sir. Something beyond a simple friendship, perhaps. A partnership that has to do with your clinic work, maybe.”
“We don’t have to worry about that for some time,” Urho said with a hint of gloom. “He’s gone away to Virona indefinitely.”
Mako frowned. “I’m sorry to hear that, sir.”
“I am too.”
“But given the complications of such an arrangement, maybe it’s for the best.”
“Perhaps.”
“Though I’d hoped…”
“What?”
“That maybe you could be happy again, sir. If you came to care for him.”
Urho grunted, an absurd gratitude for his beta servant’s care welling in him.
Mako rose and nodded once in deference. “I’ll be leaving you now, sir, if that’s all right with you. Let me know if there’s anything at all I can do to make things easier.”
Urho nodded for Mako to go and considered picking up the phone to call Yosef for legal advice on how to best protect Xan and Caleb. Especially since he had no plans to stop indulging in his desire to know more of Xan’s body and mind whatever chance he got.
He didn’t call, though.
With Xan hours away and their plans to meet half-formed, there was no need to rock that boat quite yet. He shifted his gaze from the fire up to the dark portrait above him, barely able to make out Riki’s golden hair in the gloom. Xan didn’t compare, not really.
And yet to Urho, he was breathtaking—beautiful in an entirely different way than Riki. For the first time in what felt like centuries, Urho was ready to risk a lot for what might turn out to be a little. Or perhaps Xan could turn out to be his whole world.
