Page 57

PICKING UP THE PIECES

Pember

Pember’s heat broke late the following morning. The waves in between had been short but sharp, waking him sporadically through the night. Blake tended to him. Held him. Gave him water. But never touched himself or bit Pember again.

At one point Pember had been sitting on Blake’s face, and when he leant forward to take Blake into his mouth, he was met with a gentle hand on his shoulder guiding him back.

Shivering, he fluttered awake. The space where Blake had been was empty.

Pember sat bolt upright, eyes stinging as he glanced around the room. A sharp pain in his gut made him panic.

Blake was gone. He’d left. Abandoned him.

However, as he took a breath, he realised Blake’s pyjamas were still tucked into the space next to his pillow, so he was fairly certain he hadn’t dreamt the whole thing.

Reaching over, he scooped up the clothing and pressed it to his nose, inhaling the alpha’s scent.

The smell gave way to an intense rush of serotonin, making his body relax.

As he crawled over the edge of his nest, he located a small duffle bag sitting on the landing. Unzipping it, he found more of Blake’s clothes, as well as a toothbrush, deodorant and shower gel.

Perhaps he wants to stay.

Without even acknowledging the dried remnants of slick and come that clung to his skin, Pember rummaged around in the bag, pulled a T-shirt from the bottom and slipped it on. It was for a band he didn’t recognise, but he quite liked the skull with wings printed on one of the arms.

Running a hand through his hair, he cringed, realising that he was crusty literally everywhere. Although Blake had cleaned him up at some point, he needed a shower. Badly. But first he needed to find Blake.

Pushing himself to his feet, he wobbled across the landing.

His head was pounding and he was fairly certain his nipples were chapped to within an inch of their lives, but that didn’t stop him.

Gripping the handrail, he carefully navigated the stairs, making sure to take the steps one at a time.

As he neared the bottom, he heard Blake’s voice.

Pember found him standing in the kitchen in nothing but his black boxers, phone in one hand, teacup in the other. His head jerked around when Pember stepped into the living room, and he uttered a few words into the phone before hanging up.

“What’re you doing up?” he said softly, putting down the cup and guiding Pember over to the kitchen table. His eyes flicked over Pember’s body as he sat down, nostrils flaring when he saw the T-shirt hanging almost to his knees.

Pember swallowed, throat like sandpaper. “You didn’t… I wasn’t… Sorry, I thought you’d gone.”

Blake cocked an eyebrow. “Do you want me to go?”

“N-no, obviously not. Do you want to go?”

Blake frowned. “Obviously not. Coffee?” He jabbed a thumb towards Pember’s coffee machine. A pot sat half-filled beneath the filter. “I’m not sure I understood all the settings, so it might taste terrible.”

Pember huffed out a laugh and nodded, relief washing over him. He watched as the alpha moved around the kitchen—pouring coffee, making toast, putting away all the washing up that Pember hadn’t got to when his heat struck.

Blake didn’t seem like himself—his movements were awkward and he was doing his best not to look at Pember.

Pember was about to make a joke about him needing the joint cream after all, when he noticed a white dressing on the inside of Blake’s bicep. Rising from the chair, Pember shuffled around the table and pressed himself against Blake’s side.

“What’s that?” he said, linking their arms so he couldn’t pull away.

Blake still didn’t look at him, instead choosing to make it even more obvious by turning his head to the side. “I… George nipped me when I went to get my things. He got overexcited, and?—”

“Well, that’s bullshit if I ever heard it.” Pember sniffed. “George is soft as a brush. I’ve never seen him nip anyone.”

Running a hand through his hair, Blake sighed. When he didn’t say anything further, Pember shoved himself between the countertop and the alpha and began peeling off the dressing.

“What’re you—” Blake went to grab his hand, but Pember brushed it away.

“I have about a thousand more dressings in my first aid kit. If you aren’t going to be honest I’ll just have to see for myself.”

Blake huffed and gripped his shoulders. “Fine,” he sighed, taking half a step back and finally meeting Pember’s gaze.

“I… uh… last night… there was a moment where I… I thought I was going to bite you. As in, a mating bite. So I… bit… myself. Instead. But now I feel like a total piece of shit after everything I said. You shouldn’t?—”

Pember pressed up on the balls of his feet and kissed him. Blake didn’t pull away, but he didn’t exactly kiss him back either.

“Did you want to bite me?” Pember asked, lowering himself back down.

Blake let out a shaky breath. “Last night? Yes.”

Pember flushed. “And now? Now the heat is over?” Blake’s jaw tensed and his gaze flicked out the window. When he didn’t answer, Pember’s chin began to quiver. “I see.”

He didn’t know why he was upset. What right did he have to expect that of Blake? He wasn’t even sure if he wanted it himself, so why did he feel like he’d just been punched in the gut?

Dropping his head, Pember went to step away but Blake grabbed his wrist and tucked him back in between his arms.

“You know how shit it was when I broke the bond with Rebecca.” Blake opened his mouth and touched one of his canines.

Pember nodded. “It wasn’t just the physical symptoms. For a good six months afterwards I…

I fell into quite a deep depression. Some of my old self-destructive ways started to creep back in, and I?—”

Pember wrapped his arms around Blake’s waist and pulled him closer.

Blake shook his head. “Don’t get me wrong, the medication I was on did not help one bit.

I was just starting to rebuild my relationship with my parents, but all that went to shit and we ended up falling out again.

After that, I told myself that I’d never get into that situation again, I…

I swore that I’d never give anyone else the bite. Ever. But then I…”

The words trailed off and Pember’s eyes were beginning to sting. Blake’s eyebrows pulled tighter and tighter together.

“But then I met you,” he finally said, voice cracking as he looked at Pember. “And I thought, if it was something you wanted, then I’d do it. So you’d never feel alone again.”

Pember’s nostrils flared. “Don’t do that,” he said, clenching his jaw. “Stop fucking doing that.”

Blake pressed his nose into Pember’s hair. “Doing what?”

Pember wiped away a tear before looking Blake directly in the eyes.

“Stop saying you’re doing things for my benefit.

It’s clearly hurting you, and because of that it’s hurting me.

I would never ask you to give me the bite for my benefit.

But I also…” His words trailed off as more tears began to gather.

A tight sensation pulled at his tummy; it writhed like a snake threatening to slither into his throat. He felt nauseated.

“I shared my nest with you, Blake. My first ever nest, and I let you in because I wanted that. And I thought you wanted it too, but not because of some self-righteous duty that you felt you had to fulfil. I’m an omega.

I’m weak. I know that. But I’m not that weak.

I don’t need you to fix all my problems, I can do it myself.

And if you think I’m going to spend years of my life proving that to you, you’re wrong.

I’ve spent enough time proving myself to my mum. ”

Blake gripped his waist, holding him tight. “You aren’t weak, Pem. You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met.”

Pember ran his tongue over his teeth and cupped Blake’s face. “So why are you wrapping me up in cotton wool? Why are you pulling away when we just spent my heat together?”

Blake sniffed, turning his head to kiss Pember’s palm. “Because I… because I’m falling in love with you, Pem. And it scares the hell out of me.”

Pember swallowed. The lump in his throat felt like it was burning.

His rational brain knew it was just his glottis muscle opening to let in more air.

But his emotional brain had him throwing his arms around Blake’s neck and kissing him.

Hard. Rough. Pulling him forward until he was almost doubled over from the force.

“You are?” he said, voice shaking as he leaned back.

Blake was smiling against his mouth. “Yeah.”

Pember’s heart felt as though it was going to explode into confetti. His chin was quivering uncontrollably. “You’re an idiot, Blake Smith,” he whispered, drawing Blake in for another open-mouthed kiss.

Blake laughed, tilting his head. “An unorthodox response to a budding love confession. But I can’t really argue with?—”

“I’m falling in love with you too,” Pember said, cutting him off with another kiss. “So let’s just start from there, okay?”

Blake cocked a brow. “What do you mean?”

Wiping his tear-stained face across Blake’s T-shirt, Pember let out a breath. “My dad used to have this saying—when you break a vase, don’t try to pick up all the pieces at once, because all you’ll do is cut yourself. Take one piece at a time and start from there.”

A blush crept up Blake’s neck and he kissed Pember’s forehead. “He sounds like a wise man.”

After breakfast they’d dismantled the nest, washed everything and hung it on the line.

In between kissing and almost falling into bed again, Pember had checked his temperature to confirm that his heat had indeed broken and he was blessedly free to have all the unprotected sex he wanted. Were his hole not so puffy and sore.

They’d somehow managed to run a bath, and Pember sighed as he leant back against Blake’s chest, the aching in his muscles slowly draining away into the hot water.

“This is the first time I’ve used the bath,” Pember said, glancing up at Blake.

The alpha had his eyes closed, but a smirk tugged at the edge of his lips. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but you were beginning to smell a bit ripe under that lab coat.”

Pember scoffed and smacked his knee. “I use the shower. Anyway, you said I smell nice, so what does that say about you?”

Blake shrugged. “Don’t they say cheese gets better with age? I’d say you’re somewhere between Roquefort and Gorgonzola.”

Pouting, Pember closed his eyes and leant his head back against Blake’s shoulder. “We should take the dogs for a long walk this evening. Maybe try the tracks on the other side of the woods. After checking on Val, obviously.”

Blake nodded and pressed his mouth to Pember’s wet hair. “Sounds good.” There was a long pause, before Blake said, “Pem?”

“Hm?”

“Do you think you’ll go out with Maya again any time soon?”

Pember opened his eyes.

That caught him off guard.

He swallowed, nibbling his lip as a small swell of guilt cooled his skin. He had wanted to make friends so badly, but he wasn’t sure he could forgive Maya after what he’d heard.

“Why?”

Blake let out a breath and shook his head. “No reason. Just seeing how you were feeling about it now.”

Pember sighed. “I want to see Ru again, but not with them around. I’ll text him in a couple of days.”

He should have just dragged him back to the car. But how would that make him any better than Maya and the others?

Blake shifted, wrapping both arms around Pember’s chest and nuzzling his face into his shoulder. “What do you know about Ru?”

“Nothing, really. Nothing at all. They didn’t give me a chance to get to know him.”

“Perhaps it’s for the best.”

“How so?”

Blake sighed. “It sounds like he has a lot of his own issues. I don’t want you getting hurt by being drawn into something that isn’t your problem.”

That stung a little. More than Pember would have liked to admit. “I know. But where would I be now if Ollie didn’t help me out last year? I may not know Ru, but he deserves to know someone has his back.”

Blake hummed. “You’re too kind, Pember McArthur. Save some of it for yourself.”

Pember chuckled and leant into him. “Oh, I forgot to ask. What were the results of Robert Green’s 999 call? Did it connect?”

Blake swallowed and nodded. “Yeah. The call only lasted five seconds before the phone was dropped into the water. There was some background noise, but ultimately Robert Green’s last words were him screaming for his mum.”

Sadness lanced through Pember’s heart and he covered his mouth. “That’s… devastating. His poor mum.”

Blake nodded in agreement.

Just then, Blake’s phone rang on the little table next to the bath. Pember tipped his chin up and glanced over at it. “It’s the inspector,” he said flatly. “Does he know why you’re off?”

“Yeah, I called in this morning.”

“You better get it. It must be important.”

Blake sighed and reached across. “Your phone’s ringing too,” he said, tilting Pember’s phone up from where it lay next to his. It was Wallace.

Pember sighed, grabbed the phone and slid to the other end of the bath. Shaking the water from his hand, he pressed the phone to his ear.

“Pember?” Wallace said, sounding flustered.

“Yes. Hi, Wallace.”

“Ah, good. I’m really sorry to call, can you speak?”

Pember glanced up at Blake. “Yeah, of course. What’s up?”

“Pem, there’s another body. The woollen mill up in the hills. Maya’s indisposed and Duncan’s already worked a twenty-hour shift. I’m so sorry to ask, but are you well enough to come in?”

Pember’s stomach dropped, and when he looked up again he found Blake staring at him. They shared a look before simultaneously saying, “I’ll be right in.”