Page 38 of His Reward (Omegas After Dark: Omega Auction #2)

A beat of silence passed, then I laughed. I couldn’t help myself. The weight that had just lifted off my shoulders was so huge and it had been there for so long that seeing my father walk out of my life made me dizzy with relief. “That was pretty awesome,” I said.

The tension in the air immediately vanished. The buzz of conversation around the ballroom resumed, and the party atmosphere returned. But best of all, I was filled with the confidence that everything would be alright now.

“So you’re thinking of making a return to skating?” Etienne asked just as I was about to turn to Boston to ask if we should take our seats for the dinner and auction part of the evening.

I blinked, filled with sudden expectation, and said, “Yes, that’s my intention. I’m still not fully recovered from my burns. They’ve limited my range of motion. And I haven’t been back on the ice at all in the last seven months. But yes, I want to reach for gold again.”

“Glad to hear it,” Etienne said. His smile quirked to one side, and he went on with, “Are you looking for a coach? Because I’m sure I can find space for you on my roster.”

“Really?” Oliver said, all bright smiles. “Lucien and I could train together?”

“You’d be okay with that?” I asked Oliver.

“Okay with it? Dude, it would be amazing,” Oliver said, then rushed in to give me a hug, even though I hadn’t committed to anything yet.

I tensed and gulped as my friend wrapped his body around my injured one.

The only people I’d let touch me since the fire, other than doctors and therapists, were Boston and Mom.

It was only a hug, but it felt like a huge thing to me.

Better still, Oliver didn’t flinch or pull away from me in disgust as he felt the rough, uneven scars under my suit.

He acted like he didn’t notice anything at all.

It was such a small thing, but it almost brought me to tears. “Yeah, I’d definitely be okay with it,” I said, hugging Oliver in return.

I was me again. I had my sex life back, I had my career back, and I had my friends back. More than that, as I stepped away from Oliver and back to Boston’s side, taking his hand, I saw that I’d never really lost any of it to begin with.

“Excellent,” Etienne said. “We’ll talk on Monday to make formal arrangements. I’ll have you competing on the world circuit again this fall, as long as you work hard.”

“Um,” I glanced up at Boston, and when I felt agreement from him, I turned back to Etienne and said, “I’m not going to be able to compete this coming season.”

Etienne nodded like he understood, then brushed a hand through the air like it wasn’t a problem. “Put your trust in me, Lucien,” he said. “I’ll work with whatever challenges you’re facing in your recovery to get you back in form as soon as possible.”

“It’s not that,” I said with a broad smile. I moved a hand to my belly and felt my face flush. “I’m going to be as big as a beach ball this fall.”

It took a second, but both Etienne and Oliver figured out what I meant and burst into smiles.

“A baby?” Oliver asked. “You’re going to have a baby?”

I looked up at Boston again, and when he smiled and nodded, I said, “Yep! I’m due right around Christmas.”

“That’s wonderful, Lucien,” Etienne said, stepping forward to shake my hand and Boston’s.

“We’ll work around the pregnancy and the baby.

We’ll bring you back to form slowly. Next season might be too soon, but the year after that we’ll show the world just how strong omegas are.

And I guarantee you’ll be competitive in time for the next Winter Games. ”

It was everything I wanted to hear and then some. Boston’s faith in me gave me the courage to take the first steps back onto the path I’d started down when I was a kid, but Etienne’s encouragement, and Oliver’s, too, would carry me that much farther, I knew.

We chatted a bit more, but the staff of Kincade Slopes had already started serving dinner.

Boston, Mom, and I went to take our seats at the head table.

The food was amazing, and whether it was the energy of possibility and promise for the future that coursed through me or just the fact that our baby was hungry, I devoured everything on my plate with gusto.

“It’s a good thing you haven’t had morning sickness,” Boston teased me when he noticed me shoveling it in.

I laughed. It felt too good not to.

After supper, the bachelor auction cracked everyone up.

Mom had done an incredible job putting together the guest list, so there were some big-name donors there to bid on both firefighters and figure skaters.

Everyone approached the auction with a spirit of fun, although I snuck a few looks at Boston now and then as memories of the night we met popped back into my head.

It was a good thing I was already pregnant or I probably would have embarrassed myself by ending up with damp trousers.

One of the highlights of the auction was when Oliver got into a bidding war with a rich omega over Giovanni.

The two of them drove the price up and up until Oliver finally won, setting the record for the highest bid that evening.

A beta woman who was a huge skating fan ended up winning Oliver when it was his turn to go under the hammer, but everyone had a good sense of humor about it.

“I’m not sure whether we’ve raised enough to save the station or not, though,” Boston told me at the very end of the night, as we slowly made our way through the halls of the lodge to the room we’d reserved for the night.

“I’m sure it’ll be enough,” I said, feeling light with confidence and hope over everything. “And if it’s not, we’ll find a way to secure more funding.”

“You sure are in a good mood tonight,” Boston said, grinning at me as we mounted the stairs.

I shrugged. “I’m happy, that’s all. Father is out of my life, I have a new coach, and best of all, I have an amazing future with you and our family.”

Boston paused in front of one of the suite doors and pulled me into his arms. “We have an amazing life to look forward to,” he said.

He kissed me soundly, then broke away long enough to fish the key card out of his pocket so he could open the door.

I’d been downstairs working when he’d checked us in, and I’d been mentally preoccupied the night of the omega auction, so I didn’t recognize the suite we’d stayed in on our first night together until Boston whisked me into the room and shut the door behind me.

This time, instead of a St. Andrew’s cross near the window and a table full of sex toys, the entire suite was decorated with candles and red roses, like the kind he’d brought to me every day of my recovery.

“Oh, Boston, this looks beautiful,” I gasped, raising a hand to my heart.

“It’s beautiful now that you’re here,” he said, taking my hand and leading me over to the window.

I turned to him with a lopsided smile as we reached the window and its gorgeous view. Unlike the night of the omega auction, the grounds of Kincade Slopes had been lit and decorated with strings of lights for the Fire and Ice ball, making the view out the large window magical.

“That’s a little cheesy, even for you,” I told him with a grin.

“I know,” Boston laughed, pulling me into an embrace. “But it’s how I feel. My entire life is beautiful now that you’re in it.”

I wanted to tease him for being over the top again, but before I could say anything, he caressed the side of my face and tilted it up so he could bend down and kiss me.

The kiss was so full of love and promise that I closed my eyes and just floated in it and in the love and desire that wrapped around me through our bond.

When I opened my eyes, Boston surprised me by dropping to one knee.

“No!” I gasped, clapping a hand to my mouth and going completely giddy.

“Oh, yes,” Boston said. He reached into the pocket of his formal jacket and pulled out a dark red velvet box.

He opened it, revealing the most dazzling gold ring set with rubies that I’d ever seen.

“Lucien Monteverdi,” he said, presenting the ring to me.

“My life has been so much better since I bought you.” I laughed at his words and the sly grin he wore.

“I don’t ever want the two of us to be apart again. Will you marry me?”

Joy bigger than anything I’d ever felt before rang through me. “Yes,” I said, breathless and shaky. “I will absolutely marry you.”

“Good,” Boston said, standing and reaching for my hand. My left hand had some scarring, but the ring fit perfectly all the same. It was a small thing, but the fact that he’d gotten the ring size right made me love him even more. “Because I’m never letting you get away now.”

He tugged me close with just the right amount of force then slanted his mouth over mine in a powerful kiss.

I didn’t know how I’d gotten so lucky. Boston was everything I could have dreamed of and more.

Our new life together was the phoenix that had risen from the flames of all the changes I’d gone through in the last year, and it would give me the strength to go forward and achieve everything I knew I was destined for.