Page 76 of Alpha Heat

“Ours are the only open bedrooms on this wing for now. There are several others that we hope to have occupants for one day. The room next to Caleb would make a good nursery. It’s plenty big and a carer could stay in with the baby if necessary. Though I think Caleb will want to be the one to do all of that.” Xan swallowed convulsively, ending his babbling stream of words. “Do you want to come in?”

Another beta servant passed with a stack of towels.

“I assume there’s a bathroom on my wing?” Urho asked. They were attracting attention and no wonder! They both looked a mess. Good thing the betas couldn’t smell them, though there’d been enough spunk, maybe they could!

“In your room, actually. There’s one in your room and one in the guest room we’ve given to Vale and Jason. The other rooms on that side would share a bath on the hall.” He took a long breath and darted a glance right and left. “I have a very large bathtub.”

Urho quivered, temptation rooting in him like a strong vine, rising up and ready to choke out his logic. “As wonderful as that sounds, we should probably part ways here.”

“Of course,” Xan agreed softly, though his eyes took on a dark glint of hurt and disappointment.

“I expect you to show me that bathtub later. Tonight, perhaps, when the house is quiet.”

Xan’s eyes brightened again. “Janus’s room is on the first floor. He chose it before we arrived. It’s technically supposed to be the housekeeper’s area, but Ren is content on the detached servant’s wing behind the kitchens.”

Urho smiled. “Why did he choose that, I wonder? If his job is to spy on you.”

“He doesn’t sleep well. He likes to walk the gardens at night and sometimes he heads down to the beach. Or so he says.”

“Ah.” That struck Urho as dangerous. “Will he notice if I…”

Xan shook his head. “I don’t think so. If we’re quiet and you leave before dawn.”

Urho hoped Xan was right, but even if he wasn’t, they’d deal with that when the time came. “I’ll meet you downstairs,” he said.

“Yes,” Xan agreed.

Urho wanted to let Xan open the door to his room and show him what they could do in that large bathtub. But they’d already made a spectacle of themselves. If they didn’t want to attract notice, then they needed to be more conscientious and less impulsive. Getting a handle on their libidos would be imperative.

Xan blinked up at him, his blue eyes so hopeful. Urho wanted to kiss the lids and then his mouth again. Instead, Urho said, “I’ll see you soon.”

“Yes. If you get turned around, one of the servants can show you the way.”

Urho reached out and then let his hand fall as another servant came rushing down the hallway with a litter pan. He wished Caleb and Xan didn’t employ so many. “Thank you for keeping your promise to me.”

Xan’s cheeks went dark red, and his smile went shy. “Always.”

Then he ducked into his room and shut the door behind him. Urho fought the urge to open it and follow his lover inside.

Stalking down the hallway, he barely held back a groan of frustration. Keeping his hands off Xan Heelies was going to be harder than he’d ever imagined.

Xan was stillrunning the bath water when the door opened and Caleb stepped in.

“Vale is in their rooms resting, and Jason is with him, of course. Urho is apparently showering,” Caleb said sniffing delicately before rolling his eyes. “And I scent that it was sorely needed. You couldn’t keep yourselves apart long enough for at least a semblance of propriety?”

Xan slid into the water and moaned as the scent of Urho’s spunk washed away from his skin. He splashed his face, rubbing it with lavender and smoke-scented soap, washing away the remains of Urho there too.

Caleb pulled up the chair from the vanity and sat beside the tub. “Here, let me.” He took the soap and grabbed a cloth and a small wooden cup, and then proceeded to douse Xan’s hair thoroughly, until the curls straightened and stuck to the side of his face.

Xan leaned back as Caleb took the soap to his hair. Caleb’s hands were gentle and confident. Xan sighed. “Mmm, that’s nice.”

“So I take it he was worth the wait?”

“He’s so commanding,” Xan murmured. “He just tells me what to do and I do it.”

Caleb hummed softly and used a washcloth on Xan’s back.

Xan regretted that Urho’s scent was being washed away, but it wasn’t as if he could go down to dinner with Jason, Vale, and likely Janus, by that time, reeking of Urho and their combined sex fluids. It wasn’t even right to subject Caleb to it, though he’d barged in on Xan’s bath and taken on the task himself, so it wasn’t Xan’s fault exactly.