“Don’t look at me.”
“I know better.” Abel grinned and leaned back in the chair, obviously trying for relaxed, but not making it.
Duke guessed that they were worried about him. This wasn’t the first conversation he’d had with either Abel or Mac about Bram, and Duke’s infatuation. He kind of wished they’d just come out and say it, but maybe they were planning a tag team type of thing.
Bax came in, breaking several minutes of uncomfortable silence, handing a mug to each of the men. “Tea. The boys are coming inside to wash up and clean up the Legos.” He gave Abel a look that implied the Legos were Abel’s fault, quickly supported by Abel’s “We set them up in a corner!” and then Bax’s laugh.
“You still need to clean them up after, or at least the ones that make it out to the middle of the floor.” He leaned in and dropped a kiss on Abel’s lips, then bent over the cradle where the baby was sound asleep. “Oh, good, I was hoping he’d still be asleep.” He pulled another chair, a scratched-up old wooden one with one odd leg. “Rules are: the person who makes enough noise to wake the baby has to look after the baby. And, they have to do the dishes.” He cast an imperious glance at the two of them, though Duke couldn’t miss the glint of humor in his eyes. “Ready?” Bax asked and waited for their unenthusiastic nods. “Okay. Abel might as well start, since he’s the most worried.”
“I’m not that worried,” he began, but stumbled to a stop at Bax’s raised eyebrow. “I didn’t say I wasn’t worried at all, just not as much as you seem to think.”
“Given that you stayed home today and talked my ear off, I think you might be more concerned than you realize,” Bax told him. “It’s okay. Maybe I should go first then?”
Abel waved a dismissive hand and Duke could feel his irritation, a red prickling sensation against his skin. Bax’s body immediately went stiff and Abel reached out to him, remorse on his face. “Sorry,” was all Abel said, and Bax gazed back at him wide-eyed, his nostrils flared. Duke could smell his apprehension, then just like that it faded. For a moment he wondered, distracted by this interchange, how bad Bax’s life had been that he still got spooked by his mate, who obviously adored him.
“Yeah, maybe you should go first. I’m still too close to being Alpha.”
Bax kissed the knuckles of the hand he held. “All right.” He turned back to Duke. “We heard you offered for Bram.”
“I did,” Duke agreed gravely.
Bax took a deep breath. “I know you were interested in him before, but you never really had much opportunity to spend time with him. I don’t know how much you know about how omegas work.”
Duke felt the heat rising up his neck and face like a fire through August forest. “Uh, I mean, what’s there to know?” Holy shitballs, he was not having this conversation with the omega mate of his friend and former Alpha.
But Bax wasn’t the least bit discomfited, except for a slight flush in his cheeks. “Some of the stories are true. Omegas are—” He seemed to search for a word, then shrugged and spat out “—randy, I suppose. We like to perform our conjugal duties. It seems to be consistent with being an omega. But there’s another part of the myth around that that’s also true.” He took a deep breath and looked at Duke with both sorrow and regret in his eyes. “An omega, once mated in heat, is tied to the one who mated him or her. Whatever Bram might have felt before, his body is tuned only to Justin now, and he’s incapable of feeling arousal for another man.”
“What?” Duke looked back and forth between Bax and Abel, a full dozen questions hammering to be asked. Invasive, incredibly rude questions about Abel and Bax and how they’d ended up in bed long before Bax ever got pregnant and…
Abel cleared his throat. “Patrick was dead. Maybe that was the difference. We don’t know. Bax asked Holland what he felt, but he says he feels nothing, except for his old mate. We don’t know how long this lasts, Duke. And there’s other concerns.”
Never feel desire… Poor Bram. “What concerns?” he asked, suddenly annoyed with the whole issue. Did they think he was just going to abandon Bram for a reason that selfish? No!
Bax put a hand on Duke’s arm. “Just listen to him, okay? I’m not a hundred percent in agreement with him, but he has a point. Points, really.”
“Yeah.” Okay, he’d listen. What was it about Bax that he could change a person’s mind, just with a touch and a few words? Maybe there was something to that True Omega shit.
Abel leaned forward, his hand still in Bax’s. “Bram’s not ready to be mated yet. He doesn’t have the same ideas about it as someone our age would. He still thinks it’s all romance and flowers.”
I could give him romance and flowers. “He’ll learn. He’s not dumb.”
“I never said he was. What he is, is young. And spoiled.”
But he’s good, and smart, and a hard worker. “I’m okay with that.” He didn’t know how to explain to Abel that he saw all those things, but what he saw underneath them was still worth more. “I know I’m not as smart as him, or as outgoing. That doesn’t mean I’m the wrong mate for him.”
“We never said you were,” Abel said. “But this isn’t the best way to start a mating.”
“It’s not the worst, either,” Duke spat back, with a glance at Bax. Bax’s eyes widened and he pressed his lips together as if to hold back memories, and Duke felt like a heel. “I’m sorry, that was shitty of me. I won’t do it again. But if you keep on about this, you’re going to end up making us both unhappy. It’s done, I’ve offered for him and the whole pack likely knows by now. There’s no going back.” Duke stood up from his chair. “If that’s all you’re going to do, I might as well head home.”
“No, Duke, stay!” Bax leaped to his feet and grabbed Duke’s arm before he could leave. “That’s not what we meant, or what we meant to do.”
Abel stood up as well. “Duke, if it’s what you really want, we’ll be here for you. Tell us what to do, and we’ll do it. We don’t want to see our friends unhappy if we can do something about it.”
Duke thought about it for a moment. “Just, be kind to him. He’s having a hard time, and none of this is going the way he’d dreamed it would.” He gazed down at Bax’s anxious expression for a moment, then looked up at Abel. “But if you can get me in a room for ten minutes with Justin sometime, I’d greatly appreciate it.”
Abel smiled, but it was grim and sad. “I’d be tempted to hold his arms for you.”
“Now where would be the fun in that?” Duke drawled, and the tension in the room broke. “Thank you,” he said again. “I know you’re just looking out for us.”
“We’re friends,” Bax said and smiled. The air exploded with the sound of rampaging pups, barely muffled by the closed door of the office. “I’d better go get them fed. Our food will be ready in about twenty minutes. You’ll still stay?” He laid a diffident hand on Duke’s arm, as if he was afraid Duke might bite it off.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Duke assured him.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
It was weird to be getting ready for my mating. I’d hardly seen Duke since the night after full moon, though Bax had dropped by at one point to let me know that Duke was planning a traditional ceremony, since he’d heard I’d wanted one. I did, though it felt awkward to have something so romantic when I was carrying another man’s pup. Duke had stopped in the day after Bax’s visit to ask who I wanted invited and to let me know I didn’t have to worry about anything other than getting myself to the ceremony, which would be at Abel’s and Bax’s. I’d insisted on making food for after, in part because I didn’t think it should all land on his shoulders, but also because it kept me busy and distracted.
Holland and Jason had come over, and Rosie was on her way. Jason had brought some things with him. Not clothes—I’d still had the stuff for my blue and black shirt and a pair of black jeans that I’d hardly ever worn for fear of fading them—but an assortment of well-thought-out little gifts that could be sacrificed to the fire.
With that off my plate, the only real job that was left was to turn my fancy blue and black shirt into a mating tunic.
It wasn’t the mating I’d always dreamed of, though it was the mate of my dreams. Somewhere up there, a rabbit god was laughing his fluffy tail off at my situation. Because, really, the only thing more devious than a rabbit was a fox, and we didn’t hunt foxes. For that matter, we didn’t hunt rabbits anymore either, but I assumed that rabbit gods would have a long memory.
Regardless, someone had set me up so I got the mate of my dreams, but only because he felt like he had to rescue me. I’d cried about it the night he’d come to visit, soaking my pillow until I had to turn it over to sleep without drowning in salt water. But as the next day wore on, my disappointment didn’t exactly fade, but I realized that sulking wasn’t going to help things. And maybe he’d grow to love me if I was a good mate. I thought he’d been fond of me once. Maybe I could make him feel like that again.
So I put my all into making a mating tunic that would knock his socks off, in the limited amount of time I had. We were mating a week after full moon, mostly because Duke was still trying to find someplace for us to live. Because it wasn’t a planned mating, we hadn’t been on the list for mated housing, and all the houses coming open were assigned. But yesterday, he’d dropped by the daycare to tell me that he’d found a place, and not to worry, and that I could set a date.
Holland and Jason were huddled in the living room, piecing together the arms and the cuffs of my tunic. I was in the kitchen, using up a good portion of my banked credits making finger foods that would keep until the next day, when it would be served as part of the mating celebration. Mom was off working, and Dad was hiding in his bedroom. Too many omegas in too small a space for his comfort.
Someone knocked on the door and I yelled, “Just come on in, Rosie! You know how to work a door!”
The door opened, and Bax said, “Does that apply to me too?”
I dropped what I was doing and raced to greet him. “Oh, what are you doing here? You brought Taden!” I peeked inside his blanket, then stepped back, mindful of the fact that he wasn’t my baby. That thought made me put a hand on my belly, and I caught Bax smiling at me, like we shared a secret.
“I brought over a few things you’ll need tomorrow,” he said, and lifted up a bag that dangled from his free hand. “Makeup, the paint for your body, a few other things. If you’re going to get ready here. You’re welcome to come do it at my home.” He hugged me with that arm, then stepped back. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine,” I said. “Nervous.”
“I hear that’s normal,” he teased. Then, in a lower voice, he asked, “This is what you want, right?”
“Of course,” I said brightly. “I mean, I get my own place, and Duke and I have an agreement.” My voice got louder and more strident, until it nearly cracked on the last word and I bit off the next rambling sentence to smile brightly. “Come in.” I took the bag from him and waved him into the living room. He cast me a worried look, but smoothed it away before he joined the others in the living room.
I hid by the front door for a moment, somehow again on the verge of tears. I’d been like this at unpredictable moments ever since Duke had proposed, and I wasn’t any closer to being in control of it now than I had when the first one had hit. I didn’t have time for hysterics, as much as I’d like to just throw myself on the floor and kick and scream until someone fixed it. Because, yeah, it was entirely possible for someone to create a time machine and go back in time to make me stay safely inside on full moon. And it wasn’t like I had a mating to plan for tomorrow and hardly anything done.
My emotions were ridiculous.
Okay, time to grow up. I walked around the corner into the living room to check out what was happening.
“You sure Rosie is bringing more cloth?” Holland asked through a mouthful of pins.
“She said she was.” I still had food to make, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the remains of my shirt. It didn’t look like anything now, except the sleeves were visible. Holland had been surprisingly friendly while we talked about what could be done and we’d come up with a design that kept all the blue at the top, near my face, and the black at the bottom. We were going to cut the hem into points so it would move freely while I walked and—I don’t know where he dug them up—Holland had found some turquoise sequins that we could scatter around the black part so it didn’t just become one giant shadow.
Speaking of Rosie seemed to have conjured her, because she blew in through the door like a summer storm, laughing and kissing everyone and squealing in delight while we explained what we wanted to do with her mating gift of black suede.
We were left undisturbed, except for a couple of minutes where I had to feed Dad. Bax helped with the food, Taden tucked into a neat loop of cloth that kept him close to Bax’s chest. In the living room, the other three rapidly stitched my mating tunic together, interrupting the cooking on occasion to have me try it on, then pushing me around and commenting on the fit like I was nothing more than a doll. We bickered about it, laughing all the while, and I almost forgot I was going to a pity mating with the man of my dreams.
Almost.
Bax watched us from the hallway, one hand on Taden, the other held clear of his body to keep from smearing flour and cookie dough over his clothes. Our eyes met, and he smiled, and I suddenly felt better, like maybe this wasn’t a disaster. Maybe I could make this work, if I tried hard enough. Maybe he knew something I didn’t.
I hoped so.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
It was time.
We were having the ceremony in the small back yard. Someplace more private than Mom and Dad’s—I was terrified of a crowd, even though the pack seemed to believe the romantic story we’d been telling. I wondered why it was so convincing to them, but I was exhausted and overwhelmed, so I pushed it aside to think about some other time.
The afternoon of the mating found me in Bax’s bedroom, wearing nothing but a robe after scrubbing myself in his big bath, my hair being styled by Holland while Rosie worked on my make-up because my hands were shaking too hard for me to hold a brush.
She thought it was cute. I’d only just realized that tonight was my mating night. With everything that it implied.
I’d asked Rosie to be my rozvennya. My mating wasn’t going to be a big affair—it only made sense to keep the mating party small. Though I’d broken down yesterday evening as we were putting up the decorations that had been scrounged from Mac’s and Abel’s extended families, when Bax offered in his gentle way to help me get ready. Rosie didn’t know what had happened, and having someone there who knew the whole story—I hadn’t realized how alone I felt until he pulled me aside and offered me the use of his house and his bath and just him, to lean on.
Bax was mixing the body paint, adding scent to it as he worked and occasionally holding a sample up to my nose for my judgment. He watched me the whole time, and I knew, even if I was managing to hide things or explain them away to Rosie, he saw everything.
He’s been through this.
Why it hadn’t occurred to me already I didn’t know. I knew he’d been mated before and that it hadn’t been someone he’d chosen. Not that I wouldn’t have chosen Duke, but I might as well have been in the same situation. I wasn’t being mated because he was in love with me, but because he felt responsible for me.
“There,” Rosie said, sitting back with her hands held up in the air. “You’re perfect. Isn’t he perfect?” she asked the room in general.
Holland turned my head with a gentle hand. “Fantastic job, Rosie. You have an eye for it.”
“Only because I’ve been practicing on my own face for years.” She sighed in romantic contentment. “Wait until Duke sees you.”
My stomach lurched.
“Rosie,” Bax said gently. “Don’t make him more nervous than he already is.” He set the small bowl and the brushes on his dresser and held out his hands to me. “Stand up and w
e’ll paint you.”
I got up, and let Holland slip the robe off my shoulders. My hand went to my belly out of habit, but it was still flat. For now. No one would know.
For now.
They all three took a brush, and began the tickly process of covering my body with deep blue swirls and drawn images. I listened abstractly as Bax coached Rosie through the traditional symbols—happiness and love over my heart, wealth on my left arm, safety on my right. Health was drawn at the base of my spine, and fertility just below my bellybutton. Ha! I already had that covered. The rest of the symbols, for luck and joy and good hunting and all the other random mating wishes, could be placed anywhere, wherever they fit in with the decorative elements.
Holland worked in silence, filling in the spaces between until I looked like fine lace.
“That’s good,” Bax said with a nod. “I have some pants for you. Your jeans will smear if you pull them over it.” He laid his brush on top of the bowl, and pulled open the drawer beneath it to pull out a bundle of black fabric. “I have some other things for you too. You can get them tomorrow.”
I took the bundle and shook it out. They were loose, silky pants with a wide leg and a drawstring waist. Exactly what you’d make if you weren’t sure the size of the person you were fitting. Or if you expected their size to change. Very smart.
“Thank you.” I held them out to Rosie, who knelt in front of me to let me step into them. Then Bax and Holland helped me into my tunic, my old shirt now long and soft black with touches of blue, in suede and satin and silk embroidery, all of it flowing with every move I made. It was beautiful. I stepped into the low boots Bax had loaned me, and then I was ready.
The sun was just setting as we walked out of the house. Rosie carried an armful of offerings, and Bax and Holland slipped away to stand with Abel in the sidelines. I wasn’t mating the Alpha, so the contract would be signed between my dad and Duke, but I was excited to see that Quin had come.
Duke's Baby Deal (MM Mpreg Shifter Romance) (Mercy Hills Pack Book 3) Page 9
