Page 164 of Omega's Flight

Cas laughed and joined me in the increasingly frantic motion. I didn't realize I'd started to become noisy until he covered my mouth with his and locked me against his body with the strength of his arms.

"Shh," he murmured and kissed me again, swallowing my involuntary cries. His thigh crept farther into the space between mine and he arched his back, pushing me over on an angle that brought me the most exquisite sensations, the pleasure spreading out over my entire body before it surged back to pool in my groin. I groaned and thrust against him, my fingers scrabbling at his back trying to pull him closer. He tightened his grip and rocked harder against me, and I felt the brush of his lips against my neck as his body stiffened and the heat between us grew as he came. I whimpered in frustration, but I didn't have long to wait—on Cas's last frantic thrust, I lost myself, the pleasure he'd given me uncoiling in a great, multi-colored swirl through my body and I cried out my happiness into another of his lingering kisses.

As my muscles slowly relaxed, he gathered me up into his arms and set me comfortably on my side of the bed. "I'll be back in a minute. No one wants to be sticky after." He kissed me again, then disappeared quietly out the door. I was too stunned to move, and the bed too comfortable as the sweat cooled on my skin.

Cas was back almost immediately, a cloth in his hand. He wiped off my stomach with the same care as for a child, then tossed the cloth across the room and climbed into bed. "Brrrr. I need to talk to Quin about getting more heaters in these houses."

"That'll be expensive," I reminded him, but gratefully cuddled under the blankets and let his body heat fill the space beneath them.

"Heat pumps," Cas said with satisfaction, and pulled me close for another kiss. "I talked him into them for some of the new places as an experiment. He thinks they're a big upfront cost."

I used his chest for a pillow and smiled as his arm automatically curled around me. "But I thought that's what the infrastructure trust was for?"

"That's what I told him! Anyway, he's agreed to experiment on it. Apparently we can have them shared between two houses or apartments if we get the bigger ones, so that's soothed his nerves to a certain extent."

"You're a genius," I told him and closed my eyes. "I hope your son is just like you."

He kissed the top of my head and I could hear the sleep dragging at him as he said, "I hope he takes after you. Bravery will be useful, with the things Quin and Holland have planned."

And then I was asleep.

C H A P T E R 1 1 3

I n the middle of April, Ori and I met with the publisher again to show them what we'd done for the book about Midwinter Wolf. The sales of the first one had been poor, but not as poor as they could have been, and with the Mutch family backing us, the publisher was willing to take on the second book as well. I got the impression that some of the costs of producing it were being covered for us so the publisher would keep printing them, which was depressing.

So I was in a bad mood when my phone rang that afternoon and I ignored it, even when it kept ringing. I just let it go to voicemail and kept pulling things out of cupboards so I could wash inside them.

I'd just finished cleaning the drawer I kept my knives and forks in when someone started banging on my door. I wanted to yell at them to go away, but I'd had manners drilled into me from the moment I could walk and my feet took me to the front door to open it automatically.

"Ori? What are you doing here? Thought you had your first shift at the library today."

"That's later. Did you lose your phone? Bax has been trying to get hold of you."

"I—no. I was ignoring it, after this morning's meeting, you know?"

Ori shook his head. "It'll take time. I don't think they're promoting it as much as they could. We should talk to Bax about it and see what he has to say. And maybe talk to the Mutches too." He shook his head again. "You've got me off track here. Holland's gone into labor and asked me to see if you were free to sit and keep him company."

"Of course! Is Bax not free?"

"I think Bax is there too. Jason's coming later with food."

"He's not going to want to eat by then."

Ori laughed. "For us. I have to finish my shift, I just ran down here because you weren't answering your phone and Bax didn't realize I was working, but I'll drop up once Patton's home to look after Willie Rose."

"Let me call Degan and see if he and Connie will take the pups tonight. Should we invite Julius?" Ori had been semi-appointed to help Cale with looking after the anxious young omega.

Ori wrinkled his nose. "I don't think he's ready for that yet. He's still pretty...jumpy."

Yeah, it could be called that. I'd almost forgotten what he looked like because he hardly ever left the apartment. "Okay. Holland might want to invite him, but I'll make sure there's no pressure put on him."

"I'd appreciate that."

I ran back into the house to grab my phone and called Degan on the way out the door. He was working and I guessed was probably elbow deep in a car's engine, so I left a message and hoped he'd call me back before the pups were out of school.

We chatted easily on the way back to the middle of town, telling laughing stories about his beta and my alpha and how shockingly alike they were in some ways. Patton, too, was surprisingly unaware of the amount of work it took to keep a house clean and a pup alive.

At the main building, we parted, me to head inside and him to go around the corner to the library's entrance.