Page 102 of Omega's Flight

"He won't. I'd just run away again," I said solemnly, and shrieked with laughter when he scooped me up to plant my butt on the edge of the sink. "Cas, we're going to wake the pups!"

"Then you need to be quiet," he whispered, his lips against mine. I felt it once more, that tingle of arousal. Not enough, not yet, but like the smell of water at the end of a long day, it was a promise of things to come.

"Would you spend the night here, with me?" I asked softly. "I want to know what it's like to wake up next to you when we’ve both slept.” And not like the other day, with my heart aching as hard as my body, and Cas just holding the pieces together. I wanted to wake in the middle of the night and watch him sleep, be there as the morning sun slowly brought him to consciousness. To comb his hair flat for him before he climbed out of bed, and feast my eyes on his body as he hunted for his clothes.

Cas stroked a hand up my back. ”Abel would tell you it's like waking up next to a herd of small goats kicking you," he said. His tone was grave, but his eyes were twinkling. Cas on a joking spree. "Should we, though? There'll be talk."

"I can handle that," I told him and reached up to stroke his hair. "If you want to do more than sleep, I can do that too." I wouldn't feel much, but an omega didn't need to be aroused to participate in sex. Though the arousal part was inevitable with our mates, I'd discovered. And maybe there'd be a little tonight...

"No, you don't have to do that. I'm looking forward to it, but it should be the two of us wanting it."

"I do," I rushed to assure him. "It's just hormones."

He laughed and kissed my forehead. "Yeah, well, I'd like to have your hormones involved too when it happens. But if you're happy with the herd of goats, I'll gladly spend the night pummelling you with my elbows."

"I'll bring an extra pillow," I promised him, and laughed at his grin. "You still up for tea?"

"Why don't I put it together and you put the food away?" He kissed me again and I wondered if this is what being mated to him would be like. Now, in a year, in five years? Suddenly, I wanted to have his pup, to feel that life grow in me and see his joy in it. I knew it would make him happy—he loved his nieces and nephews so much, though he was a terrible influence.

"What are you thinking?" he asked and pinched me gently on my bottom.

Should I tell him? I eyed him critically, wondering if his sense of humor stretched that far. If it doesn't, I should know now. "I was thinking I'd have to be careful having pups with you. If you want pups. You're not the best influence, you know." I watched him carefully.

He laughed incredulously. "Are you blaming me for Pip? First of all, she started it. Second of all, she was like that when she got here. I'm betting on genetics. Specifically, her bearer's genetics." He tried to kiss me, but he was laughing and his lips kept bouncing off mine. "Damn. Stop making me laugh when I'm trying to make you promise to mate me when I can afford to support you in a style I'd like to see you get used to."

It took me a moment to follow what he'd said, then I laughed. "You don't know how expensive I can be. I have a lot of years to make up for."

"Then you're planning to stick around for a while?" His eyes lit up with more than humor, so I kissed him, because it seemed the best answer. "Let's have the tea, and we can talk about this style you want me to get used to," I murmured against his lips. "Besides, I don't want to poison the new neighbors. It's not very friendly."

He snorted a laugh and helped me down off the countertop. "I love a bossy omega."

I laughed, and pushed away the sting in the words. He meant them as a compliment and—if I read him right—a hint of some of the fun times I could expect when my biological ties to Degan had all been worn away. Eventually I would have to explain to him that bossy omega was an insult in other packs.

That, or I would have to get used to the idea that bossy omega was a desired character trait here, and try to cultivate it in myself. For his sake. And the sake of the things we could do in the quiet of our bed in that hopefully not so distant future.

He patted my ass and went to the stove to pour the tea. I smiled fondly at him and put away the food, all but those cookies I'd stolen for him. And when he turned around with our drinks, he found me waiting with a plate of those cookies, and a promise in my eyes.

My alpha-to-be.

C H A P T E R 7 3

C as folded down the covers of Raleigh's bed, unaccustomed butterflies ricocheting around in his stomach. What he was doing was crazy, and straddled the line of what his packbrothers might or might not approve. Let alone Quin and Abel. But talking to Raleigh tonight, laying his hopes and dreams and plans out in the open for the omega to judge had made him brave, at least for now. And Raleigh had seemed to agree to it.

But still, Raleigh was an omega. He felt awkward about spending the night in an omega's bed, even if they were now unofficially promised.

Raleigh came back from the bathroom. "I checked on the pups too," he said in a low voice. "They must have been exhausted."

"Full moon and then a mating party has that effect, Abel says." Cas stood awkwardly by the bed, his nostrils flaring to catch...something. Without thinking, he let his lips part and huffed in a breath, rolling the smell in the air across the scent organ in the roof of his mouth. Oh. Desire. Faint, but...

Raleigh blushed and it made a shiver of eagerness roll over Cas's skin. Not yet, not yet. Don't rush this. He wasn't going to sleep at all tonight, he could foresee that already.

"We should get some sleep," Raleigh told him shyly. "The pups will be up early. Pups are always up early."

Was it his imagination, or had Cas heard a bit of wistfulness in Raleigh's voice, like he wished the pups would sleep in? "Then I guess we should get to bed." He winced internally, because it hit him a microsecond after he said the words how that could be taken.

But Raleigh just smiled. "I'll take the side by the wall." He paused and his face colored again. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but I don't want the pups to know yet. Soon, I think, if you're comfortable. But I'd like this to be just us for a while."

Cas reached for him and pulled their bodies together. "In other words, sneak out of the house before the pups are awake?"