Page 16 of A Baby for the Beast (Beastverse #3)

"Tempting," Hayley says, grabbing a pair of jeans and moving to our side of the closet to grab one of our t-shirts. Remus purrs at the idea of her wearing our clothing, our scent. We need to scent her. "Where's the shower?"

Remus tugs her close to him, his hand splayed around her hip, fingertips curled against her abdomen as he guides her through the apartment. She looks around with wide eyes.

We make good money fighting, but most of our wealth comes from selling the alpha entertainment businesses that mine and Henry's father left to us when he passed away.

He wanted us to keep the business under our control, but I wasn't interested in anything other than fighting, and at the time, Henry was just finally starting to cut back on his partying.

I didn't think he had it in him to run them.

So, we sold them, made a butt load of cash, and now we do whatever it is we want.

"This is the bathroom we use," Remus says, showing her into the bathroom at the end of the hall where our bedroom is.

There's one other room down this hallway, one with its door closed because while I do think there's a good chance Hayley likes it, there's another scenario where she thinks we overstepped boundaries to a ridiculous degree.

I need a little more certainty that she wants us for the long haul before I show it to her, just to make sure I'm not going to scare her away with how badly I want her.

Hayley examines the bathroom, narrowing her eyes on a drawer filled with haircare supplies, and then looks at us with an accusation on her tongue because we have hair so short it's almost considered buzzed.

" Omega, they're the same brands you have in your bathroom, " Remus says, unimpressed with where her mind went. " Lucas told you we've never been with an omega. It wasn't some trick to fuck you. "

Hayley's cheeks grow rosy as she ducks her head. "Sorry, alpha."

Remus bites his smile into place, enjoying the game our omega seems to want to play.

" How sorry are you? " Remus adds his growl to his question, and our omega perfumes for us like she always does. Her citrusy scent fills our bathroom, and Remus licks his lips, remembering the tart taste of her when he made a feast of her the only other time we woke with her in our arms.

Hayley ducks her head, offering her neck to us, and Remus is on her in an instant, teeth locking onto her bare neck, holding her in place but not biting.

Stop! She didn't ask for it, Remus! We can't just bite her.

She wants it. Wants us. Needs me like I need her. Mark her, make her mine. Mine. All mine.

Hayley reaches up and touches the hinge of Remus's jaw, and he pulls away. He's breathing hard, his heart racing, pounding in our chest as he looks down at Hayley, and the clear conflicted emotions in her face. She doesn't know if she wants his bite or not, and that's enough to have him retreat.

I clear my throat as I get control of our body, turning my head slightly so Hayley doesn't think I'm about to lunge for her neck again.

"All of your shower supplies are in the shower. If there's anything you need, let me know."

With those words, I turn on my heel, not wanting to be in her way if she needs space to deal with the fact that we almost just claimed her without her consent. I'd like to put my contacts in now, but it can wait until she's finished up in here.

"Lucas," Hayley calls my name, and I have to close my eyes and fight the shiver that travels down my body. Her fingers wrap around my bicep, and she tugs on me until I turn around to face her. "It's not a rejection."

She stands on her tiptoes, lifting her lips up toward me, and I don't deny her. I let her lead like she did the last time we kissed. I follow her when she opens her mouth, when her tongue dances against mine, and when she's breathless, I pull away.

"We're ready as soon as you are," I tell her, cupping her cheek and brushing my lips against hers once more.

"As soon as you are," I repeat, so she understands just how serious Remus and I are.

She smiles at me, though it doesn't quite reach her eyes. I don't expect an answer from her anytime soon. This is still new for her, and she's dealing with all the drama that Kyle has brought into her life.

I shut the bathroom door behind me, leaving her on her own as I head back to the bedroom, grabbing my laptop off the bed and searching for what I planned on looking into this morning while Hayley was still asleep.

I take the laptop with me into the dining room area and try my hardest to keep calm as I read through all of the posts Kyle made.

He deleted a lot of them after receiving backlash, and some were likely removed for providing identifiable information about someone else.

His latest post has the caption. 'These sluts just want money. Jumping to another beast while she's still pregnant with my kid. Fucking nasty.'

I want to punch something. Remus is in our head, tearing at the mental fortitudes, trying to hurt something because there's nothing physically tangible for us to destroy right now.

I check some of the bigger sports gossip channels and see what's being said.

It's split heavily in Hayley's favor. Most think what Kyle's doing is shitty, but that doesn't stop them from all speculating on her using both Kyle and me.

There are articles about me doing what Hayley was scared of, that I'm using her just to get at Kyle before the fight.

I can handle the speculation about me, but it's when they say things about Hayley that have me seeing red.

"You shouldn't be looking at that," Hayley's voice surprises me as much as her hands on my shoulders do. She gives them a tight squeeze and then starts massaging them in earnest. "You hold too much tension here."

I huff out a laugh, grabbing her hand and tugging her around while I push away from the table.

There's enough space for her to sit in my lap, and that's exactly where I want her.

She giggles as she settles against me. Her hand strokes against my chest as she looks up at me with a soft, worried expression.

"It's going to be okay," I tell her, pulling her close and pressing a kiss to her temple. "Do you want to go to the gym with me for a little?"

She gives me an unenthusiastic grimace. "Do I have to work out?"

I smile, a big, genuine smile that is followed by a short chuckle. "No, I need to go work out some of this energy, though."

" Unless you're offering to let me work it out with your body? "

Remus comes out for all of a couple of seconds to make the proposition before returning inside our mind and leaving me wide-eyed to deal with the fallout. I open my mouth to apologize for Remus, but Hayley covers my mouth with her fingertips.

"Soon, but not yet, okay?" she asks. "I just want it to be something happy and not while I'm still fluctuating between emotions about everything else."

"You don't need to explain yourself," I tell her, turning her hand and kissing her knuckles. "Like I said, we'll be here when you're ready."

Hayley rests against my chest, inhaling deeply and letting out a disgruntled sound.

I assume it's because she can't smell us yet.

She doesn't need to be able to smell us for us to coat her in our scent, which we've done.

We won't be satisfied until she smells like us inside and outside, but for now, this is good enough.

"Okay, let me get a cup of coffee, and then I can go watch you work out shirtless."

"I didn't say I'd be shirtless," I say, helping her to her feet and showing her where the coffee is.

She shoots me a devilish look as she grabs a mug. "Your omega would be so happy if you worked out shirtless."

I close my eyes, ignoring the terrible rumble of our purr, and take a deep inhale. "You're dangerous, omega."

"Not as much as you," Hayley says, pressing her hand to the middle of our chest.

Remus comes out, snatching her hand and tugging us close to her. He bends down like he's going to kiss her, but keeps going, tilting her head to the side and licking a long line from where her shoulder and neck meet all the way up to the hinge of her jaw.

" Remember that, Hayley, " he says, pinching her chin and gazing into her eyes. " Because I am dangerous, but never to you. "