Page 96 of Omega's Heart

“Mhmm.” Bax considered Kaden’s missing leg. “When do you start with the prosthetic again?”

“Couple of days. Once I get the all clear on the incision.”

“And it needs to be a secret?”

“I’d like it to be.”

Bax slanted a look up at him, bright-eyed and mischievous and, in that moment Kaden could see why Abel had lost his heart so thoroughly to his mate. He was beautiful, if too fragile for Kaden’s tastes, but he made Abel happy and that was all that mattered. “So you’ll do it?” he asked, just to be certain.

“I don’t see why that would be a problem. Felix deserves to have a little fuss made over him.” Bax went back to picking at his meal, eating bits of this and morsels of that. It was almost painful to watch.

Felix’s scent enveloped Kaden just before he felt his betrothed’s hand on his shoulder. “Hi, Bax,” Felix said and settled himself on the ground at Kaden’s feet.

“You didn’t get yourself dessert?” Kaden asked, curious.

Felix shook his head. “I’ve eaten enough.”

“You hardly ate anything.”

“No one likes a fat omega, Kaden. It’s wasteful.”

Beside him, Bax twitched and his nostrils flared. Kaden made a motion with his one remaining finger on that hand, Cool your jets, I got this. “You’ll be a rack of bones by our mating.” He let his eyes roam up and down Felix’s body. “No offense, but I don’t find Bax the least bit attractive.”

Bax snorted, then coughed as if he’d inhaled something. “No offense taken,” he choked out. “I think I need to go find some water.” He gave them a half-hearted wave and then disappeared into the crowd, still coughing.

“That wasn’t very polite,” Felix scolded.

Kaden laughed at him and put a hand on the back of his betrothed’s neck—his whole hand, so he could take in the heat of his future mate’s body and maybe... He slid his finger up, until he could stroke the tender skin behind Felix’s ear then leaned forward so he could slide his fingers ahead and trace the line of his jaw. “You are my type. Every inch and line of you.”

Felix closed his eyes and sighed, leaning into Kaden’s touch. “You really mean that?”

“Three weeks,” Kaden promised him. “I’ll show you how much I mean it. Make sure you get plenty of sleep the last couple of nights beforehand. I know I will.”

It didn’t seem to matter how many times he said that, Felix still went bright red, but it looked to Kaden’s eyes like a delighted red. Kaden trailed his fingers across more warm skin as he pulled his hand back, let his fingertips trickle beneath the neckline of Felix’s t-shirt where it crossed the top of his spine, then slid it over to grip his shoulder. “Go get your sweets. I’ll run with you later if you’re truly that worried about being a fat omega.” The words brought a sudden picture to his mind, of Felix —not fat, but belly-swollen with Kaden’s pup. Large and languid and... Damn, he was going to have to stop having these thoughts, the erections were getting annoying to deal with.

Felix spun to stare at him, getting up on his knees with none of his usual concern for stains on his clothing. “You will?”

Kaden could almost see the words, hovering behind Felix’s lips. But what about your leg?

“Let’s give the tripod a test run.”

“Kaden!” Felix frowned at him.

Kaden shrugged. “Better that I should make the jokes, right?” He leaned back in his chair and let his eyelids drop suggestively. “And maybe I want a sneak peek of what you look like without clothes.”

Felix covered his eyes with his hands and muttered something to himself, sagging back onto the grass again. But he couldn’t have been that mad, because he sighed and let his hands fall into his lap and leaned his weight against Kaden’s good leg. If he’d only just look at Kaden again, he could be certain he hadn’t crossed the line—courting omegas wasn’t the most straightforward thing, he was finding. “Felix?”

“Uh-hm?” Felix said, but he didn’t look up.

“I put my paw in the muddy patch, didn’t I?”

This did make his betrothed look up, wearing a startled expression. “Oh, no, you didn’t. I just... I wasn’t prepared for that.”

“If I’m being rude by your standards—”

“No, it’s not that.” Felix closed his eyes and laid his cheek on Kaden’s knee.

Really, he should be getting used to Felix in this shade of scarlet—he might get him a sweater in that color for Christmas. Or maybe not—that might be a smartass joke that would be better passed by his packbrothers before he actually put it into motion. Tonight, though, it wasn’t funny. “Then what is it? Tell me, so I don’t make the same mistake again.” He needed to start thinking before he opened his big mouth, at least around Felix.