Page 27

“What do you think you’re going to do if I do want to ‘take this outside?’”

When Gideon’s hips are pressed up tightly against the front of his shorts, Rowan starts to sweat.

“Well—” he says, voice cracking. Clearing his throat, he starts again. “Well, I would let you win. Like I always do.”

It’s not what Gideon expects, and when his eyes go wide, Rowan slips out of his hold and scampers away (as much as a 225-pound six-foot-five dude can scamper), giggling.

It’s weird how being chased isn’t as fun as doing the chasing, so when he’s tackled to his front on the sectional couch, he flips over so he can hold Gideon close on top of him. Tilting his hips up so he can rub his semi against Gideon’s and hear him moan.

There are loud crinkling noises because of all his pocket snacks, and Gideon freezes above him. “It’s hard to find you sexy when you sound like this.”

There’s a whisper of air, and Nix’s face is suddenly even with his own.

Naked, he brings with him the scents of his family; of their nest, even in this strange den. And of freshly mown green grass.

“I heard you crinkling, Ro, and I’m abruptly reminded that I’m hungry.” He kisses Gideon’s cheek and breathes in. “French toast, bacon, and….” He looks at Rowan and licks him right where the strawberry had landed ten minutes ago. “Strawberries.”

Gideon slides off Rowan, then lifts Nix under his thighs. “Come on then, Kitten. Let me feed you this time.”

Rowan’s wolf growls at the rude insinuation that they can’t provide for their omega and child.

“And Ro?” He says without turning around. “I’ll think about what you said.”

The apology, he means, which is all Rowan can ask.

Maybe he really can do this Dad thing.

Patting himself on the back, he whispers, “ Good job, Rowan. ”

Turns out, making Nix food gets a much better result than just pulling prepackaged snacks out of his pockets. “Alpha made this ?” his omega purrs, followed by, “And bacon too? Oh, I love bacon, Ro.”

There’s a laugh behind him when Rowan gives in to a full-body wiggle. How embarrassing.

“Oh, our Ro is so cute!” Jay says, helping himself to both bacon and a kiss from Rowan’s mates. He’s smart enough to avoid Rowan’s snapping teeth and flashing red eyes.

Jay isn’t cowed by the display, however, and laughs.

“Don’t be mean, Jamie. Do you need some food for Finn and Leo?” Jay nods but doesn’t take anymore from the bounty sitting beside Nix’s naked butt on the counter.

Oh, how times have changed: naked butts on the counter, naked mates in the kitchen.

Chef Carnell has let a lot of things slide for his omega. No doubt the counter will be infused with vanilla-sugar-sex until the dawn of time.

Wait , the wolf doesn’t like the sound of that.

What if other wolves smell his omega and children? Maybe he should burn the place down when they’re done…no, that’s too radical.

Jay would be upset—he’ll have to think of something else.

Finally, Jay fills a big bowl with protein drinks, accepting the strawberries from Gideon, who has gone back to washing the dishes.

“Where’s Grayson?” Rowan asks, placing another tiny piece of bacon on a morsel of French toast before feeding it to Nix.

“Out there.” Nix tilts his head. Grayson isn’t visible on the deck, but maybe he’s gone exploring. “Not too far, though.”

“Is he okay?” Rowan asks.

Grayson hadn’t been in the nest for long periods over the last two days, and while Finn seemed fine with it as long as he was there at night, Jay had taken to stalking his younger enigma in the evenings, just to be sure.

Rowan only knows because their leader smells the same as Grayson when they settle in long after sunset.

Nix’s eyes glaze over a bit, a sure sign he’s following a bond to some location.

“Yeah, he’s meditating, maybe? Whatever it is, our bond is humming.” His gaze pops back to Rowan’s. “Don’t worry, okay?”

If Nix says it’s okay, then it must be, right?

His omega rubs that spot under his breastbone and then offers Rowan a piece of bacon.

It’s a ploy to distract him, and it works because his treasured omega wants to share his food with the wolf. They have never talked about this ritual. Never once, but they both seem to understand the steps of the dance.

Rowan feeds Nix as much food as he and the babies can hold, hopefully from now on, the food he’s made with his own two hands. Once they’re full, Nix offers Rowan some of what’s left.

Never anything new or from someone else. Always food that Nix could have eaten, but didn’t.

It has worked every day since they started, and Rowan isn’t sure whether he’ll stop once the babies are on this side.

It satisfies the wolf and the man. It’s something just for them.

When he’s at the studio, he hates the idea of Nix fending for himself. Hates that their babies won’t eat things Rowan has provided. Even though Nix is capable, he lets Rowan do it. It’s a gift, and one he doesn’t take lightly.

“I think we shouldn’t tour for a bit. Maybe just studio stuff,” he blurts out, knowing it’s true the minute he says it.

Rowan wants to be at home with their children.

All of them.

Nix squeals and claps his hands. “Stay-at-home-dads? I love this for us, Ro.”

“You do?” he asks, and accepts maple syrup-flavored kisses from his omega as a reward.

Jay smiles and shrugs. “Works for me.”

“I don’t want to miss a thing. But what do you think, Gideon?” he asks the one person he realizes he’d been worried would be disappointed.

Tilting his head, he offers Rowan a proud smile. “I think it’s a brilliant idea.”

It feels like the truth when Gideon says it, and it vibrates through him, like relief and revelation.

He swings Nix around, a handful of his really sweet butt filling the palms of his hands, and he’s reminded that Finn has been monopolizing their omega the past five days, admittedly through no fault of his own.

In the blink of an eye, Rowan has the tips of his front teeth gently pulling up the skin on Nix’s throat over his mating bite, and two fingers pulling at Nix’s dark pink nipple.

“No, thank you, Ro. I want ice cream, please.”

Nix derails his visions of adding his load to the others leaking out of Nix’s hole, along with the slick he’s producing like it’s on tap.

As he’d predicted, there is a slippery mess glistening on the counter’s previously pristine surface .

With a growl, he frowns at the recurring idea that the mess has got to be leaving a permanent mark on the counter as they speak.

Jay drops the bowl he’s holding onto the counter, and both he and Gideon take up defensive stances.

“What? We don’t have ice cream?” he pouts around a strawberry, not at all worried. Nix’s ears are better than the enigmas’ even, and if he’s not worried, they shouldn’t be either.

“What? Ro? You hear something?” Jay asks again and leaves to check the front courtyard, while Gideon scans the back deck.

It all happens so quickly that Rowan has to blush.

“Yeah, there’s ice cream, Nixie.”

“Then what’s got you worked up?” Nix asks, confused.

“My wolf wants to pull this counter up and burn the place down.”

Jay stops his surveillance and lets his claws recede so he can pick the bowl up again. “What? Why? And also, no. Fuck, no.” He points a finger at Rowan just in case his wolf hasn’t been told that enough today.

In response, Rowan points to the counter where a very wet, shiny, tiny butt-shaped imprint reveals where Nix had been sitting.

“Oops, that’s going to be hard to get out,” the omega giggles.

Jay’s eyes bug out as he starts testing the sturdiness of the counter for himself with both hands while Gideon cackles.