Page 267 of The Omega Exchange: Omnibus

“You live there too?” I ask.

“I do,” he agrees, nipping at my throat. “I even own an entire ten percent of it.”

“He owns thirty-three percent,” Oliver says. “I told you before. I bought the other twenty-three percent from Nik and gifted it to you when you got stabbed to save me.”

“W-What?” I jolt, gripping Oliver’s forearms for dear life.

“It was a pen. I gotnickedwith a ballpoint pen when one of his techie fans got a little overzealous. It’s not like I took a machete to the kidney.” Miller laughs.

“You have fans?” I ask. “Wow, that wasn’t what I meant. I know you’re good with computers.”

“I’ve made a few software products that made life easier, even among my people,” Oliver says, shaking his head. His shaggy hair bounces, falling over his forehead as his cheeks get pink.

“Your people?” I ask with a bark of laughter I’m not expecting.

“Yeah, the nerds of the world.” He bobs his head awkwardly. “Before the haze got worse, I used to be able to fix the problems no one else could find. The last year or two...” He shakes his head. “You’re beautiful, you smell pretty, and the fog is starting to clear just from being around you. I sniffed every card in the database, but since we took you last minute, your samples weren’t in that set. Once I scented you, I knew you were meant for me. Please don’t go back to your ex. I know it’s complicated because of this.” His hand comes to rest directly over my uterus.

Miller is still more gently massaging my ovaries, but he’s a man. I’ll give him a little grace on locating the area.

“He didn’t treat you right,” Oliver says, getting so close his glasses bump my nose. “You don’t have to ever tell him. That baby can be our baby just like it would have been if?—”

Miller’s hand leaves my side to smack into Oliver’s gut. I can feel his head shake, telling Oliver that’s not going to fly.

“That’s very sweet.” I wrap my arms around his waist. “But I’d really rather not think about that at the moment.”

“How about you and I have a conversation?” Nik asks.

I startle at the sound of his voice and locate him standing in the open door that leads to the vestibule with the elevator and stairs.

“Come on you two,” Carver says, appearing behind him. “We can grab some food from downstairs.”

“No, I’d rather stay with Melody,” Oliver says.

“I promise to be on my best behavior,” Nik assures him.

“Would you like to threatenhislife for a change?” Carver laughs. “It might make you feel better.”

“I think Nik knows what’s at stake if he steps out of line.” Miller nuzzles his cheek to mine from behind one final time. “We won’t be gone long.”

Oliver kisses me, giving my lips a little flick of his tongue before pulling back and following Miller. I watch them leave with a newfound level of anxiety.

Nik is disturbingly hot on a level that’s difficult for my brain to process. I thought some of it was the haze that comes with pre-heat, but apparently that wasn’t the case. He’s wearing a black long-sleeve T-shirt with the logo of some company I don’t recognize across the chest. He has the sleeves shoved up around his tattooed forearms, and as he prowls closer, I take a step back, followed quickly by another.

“No!” Nik barks.

A jolt goes through my entire system as I freeze. He moves faster than I thought possible and grips my hips, yanking me into his chest.

“Shit, gorgeous. You almost backed down the stairs.” He turns me so I can see how close I was to stepping off the top step.

I don’t think it would have been a huge deal, it’s only three carpeted steps down into the sunken living room, but it wouldn’t have felt great.

Nik always smells musky and manly like an expensive cologne, but it’s just his scent. My head tilts as I look up at him.He’s definitely a few years older than I am, I can tell by the small wrinkles at the edge of his eyes as he squints down at me.

“I’m sorry,” I say, swallowing thickly.

“No, I’m sorry,” he quickly replies.

“I have something to tell you,” we both say in unison.