Page 113 of The Omega Exchange: Omnibus (The Exchange)

Chapter Twenty-Four

Melody

Nik carries me to the nest following our conversation and spends the next hour or two cuddling with me.

He has some office stuff to take care of, and I’m sleepy anyway.

He gives me a tender goodbye kiss that feels very much like it should lead to naughty activities not him leaving the room, but I try not to pout.

Once he’s gone, his scent seems to disappear all too quickly. I can’t fall asleep even though I’m beat. The nest doesn’t smell right without their scents.

I finally give up on trying.

I leave the nest and sneak into Nik’s room.

I feel a little silly knowing this isn’t their house.

I guess I overlooked some of the signs since I was hazy and everything moved so fast. I grab one of Nik’s hoodies.

I’ve never seen him in it, but it smells strongly of his sweat.

I think he wears it to workout. I don’t even have to dig through his crap to find it since it’s laying over a chair near the door to leave his room.

I flip off the light and aim for Miller’s room next. I’m not sure why this feels like a covert mission, but it sure does. I know they came back in a while ago, and Miller’s room is closer to the main living room. I slide inside and squeak when I spot him coming out of his bathroom.

My hands fly to cover my mouth as I take in all of Miller’s skin on display.

He’s wrapped only in a towel that’s low around his hips. His short curly brown hair sticks up wildly like he dried it in a hurry.

“I’m so sorry,” I whisper, but my eyes are greedy for him. He’s such a big guy. His chest is lined in strong muscles, but he doesn’t have a row of abs like Nik or Carver.

“Don’t apologize. Did you need something?” he asks, grinning wickedly.

I scuff my sock against the carpet. This covert mission was highly unsuccessful. “Could I maybe borrow the shirt you were wearing earlier?”

He nods to a laundry basket by the door to the bathroom. “Go on, sweet girl.”

I still have Nik’s hoodie laying on my arm, but I make my way over and very unceremoniously dig out Miller’s T-shirt from the hamper. I mean to toss it with Nik’s sweatshirt, but I get a deep hit of his scent and end up burying my face in it instead.

I drop the hoodie and pull my dress off before yanking on Miller’s shirt.

“Thank you,” I mutter, grabbing the sweatshirt and tossing my dress into the clothes bin.

“No problem.” Miller chuckles.

I move to dart past him. My face feels like it’s on fire. I know it’s bizarre. Normal people do not dig through dirty clothes, but omega impulses are strange at the best of times.

Huge hands cup my hips as I move to escape. “You can borrow my scent any time you’d like.” He kisses my neck, running his hands over my stomach, and my boobs throb almost painfully.

“Well, that’s new,” I grumble, tossing an arm around them to help mitigate the ache.

“It’s very hard to remember that I’d like to court you properly before shoving my cock back inside you,” Miller muses, grinding his half-hard shaft against my bottom.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t run on the way out.

My instincts might snap. I’d hunt you down and who knows what would happen after that. ”

“Oh,” I say in a breathy tone I’m kind of embarrassed by.

“Go on, baby,” he growls. “I’ll find you once I settle the urge to fuck you through the mattress.”

A shiver runs down my spine as I slowly leave the room. I close the door and lean against it for support. My chest heaves while my thighs clench.

Holy freaking dominant alpha. And I loved every second of it.

“It’s weird as hell to see you wrapped up with my pillow,” Carver says, crawling into the nest. “But it does make me feel like a fucking king.”

“Get out if you’re going to make fun of me,” I snap with a frown.

I don’t think I’ve ever been so moody before, but I’m going to guess it’s the unbelievable amount of stress and fear of the unknown.

It doesn’t feel possible that I’m pregnant, but every time I’m hit with another unexpected wave of nausea or a weird ache in my boobs, it does become a bit easier to acknowledge. I am excited. It’s just a little terrifying knowing that I’m going to have to come clean with Ben at some point.

“Aww, I’d never make fun of you for that, sweetheart.

I think it’s one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.

Although I could do without the locker room smell.

” He laughs, shaking his head. “If you’re feeling up for it, I was hoping you’d let me take you out on a date tonight? ” He tosses himself down next to me.

I roll to face him, but I get tangled in Nik’s giant hoodie, and it becomes a whole thing.

“Let me help,” he says, smirking as he lifts me using his forearm strength alone.

I twist and face him.

He’s really hot, like melt my brain matter gorgeous, especially when he’s cocky. I’m sure that bemused grin of his has disintegrated quite a few pairs of women’s panties over the years.

He quirks an eyebrow. “If you’re about to break my heart, just get it over with already.”

“If you’re still interested after what I have to tell you.” I swallow thickly, but it feels like there are rocks in my esophagus. “Then yeah, I’d love to.”

“I already know,” he says, raking his eyes over my face. He bites his thick lower lip, running a finger over my cheek. “I think I knew before the appointment, or I had a feeling.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t ready to hear what you were trying to say, but it was thoughtful. I get that you were trying to save me from that public humiliation.” My head shakes, and I look away from his dark eyes.

“Stop,” he says. “We’re not doing that. So does that mean you’ll go out with me?”

“I don’t have anything seriously fancy,” I warn.

“Do I look like I’m going to swing something super high class?” He chuckles. “They probably wouldn’t let me in the door if they have any kind of dress code.”

“Okay then, yeah, I’d love to,” I agree.

“Good. Do you mind if Oliver comes with us?”

“No, that sounds fun.”

“All right,” he says, rolling over on top of me. “Why don’t you get dressed and maybe shower. I didn’t want to mention it, but you smell kind of like Nik’s armpits after he does too much cardio.”

“Ohmigosh,” I snort.

“You know you’re sexy when you can pull off armpit funk and you still make my dick hard,” he says, grinning against my cheek. He runs his hand over the top of my head and pushes his mouth to mine as he grinds over me.

I smile into the kiss and pray my stomach doesn’t embarrass me on my first real date with Oli and Carver.

I shower and change. I think I look decent enough for a casual dinner. I even run some mascara over my lashes and put on lip gloss. Honestly it’s about as good as it’s going to get.

I’m concerned I’ll be cold since the dress I picked has short sleeves and it falls above my knees, but I do have a small leather jacket that I toss over it.

“Damn,” Miller growls when I make my way down the hallway.

He prowls toward me, and the next thing I know, he’s got me wrapped around his chest and my back against the wall as he kisses me senseless.

I pull back gasping for breath, and Miller grins wickedly.

“I call the next date. Don’t worry, Nik and I will bring anything else you may have left behind. ”

“What?” I ask as he places me on my feet. I know they asked me to pack up all my stuff since I’ll be seeing the OBGYN on the mainland tomorrow, but I guess I didn’t realize we wouldn’t be coming back to the hotel following the appointment.

“Nik’s brother and his pack are on their way back,” Miller says, running his hands down my arms. “God, you really are beautiful.”

It’s vain to admit, but I like not having to wonder if they’re attracted to me. I think I’m finally gaining a little self-confidence back.

“Thank you,” I murmur, stretching up to kiss him again.

“All right,” he growls. “I’m going to miss you tonight, but I know they’ll take good care of you. I won’t miss your appointment, not for anything. You still want us there?”

My mind races. It could end up being awkward again, but I don’t have anything to hide. I can’t imagine what it would feel like trying to face that appointment alone. If they can ignore the slight discomfort, then so will I because I need someone in my corner right now.

“It would mean a lot if you were there,” I say, fighting the wave of emotion that hits me square in the chest.

“Good, I think you’ll find it’s going to be very difficult to keep me away from you from here on out. I’m only managing tonight because I trust Carver with my life, and I genuinely think he’s serious about you,” Miller says, kissing my cheek before linking our hands together.

I lean in close to his side and let him guide me off toward my date.

We hit the lower lobby, the one that leads directly out to the parking lot, and Miller aims us toward the doors.

My heart stalls in my chest when I spot Nik walking hand in hand with an obviously pregnant woman.

I mean like she is very clearly quite knocked up.

I stumble and miss a step. I’m in flats, but if I was in heels, I would be hitting the floor right about now.

Miller’s hand tightens on my hip and he manages to keep me upright as my gaze flies from Nik and the woman back to Miller. He doesn’t seem alarmed, and that does help me from straight up panicking, but emotionally, I’m not doing so hot right now.

I point blank asked Nik if he was with anyone, and he said he was single.

That better be his damn sister I’ve never heard of.

Actually, I changed my mind.

His hand is definitely a little too low on her ass for that to be his sister.

“Miller,” Nik says, lighting up when he spots us. His voice sounds weird, and I frown like crazy.

The woman at his side has short black hair to her shoulders and large almond shaped eyes. She’s beautiful and probably close to six or seven months pregnant.

I stagger back a step because something is not adding up. I pull a hand up, rubbing at my eyes like maybe I’m seeing things. That’s definitely not Nik. I can’t put my finger on it, but I know it’s not him.

“I hear congratulations are in order,” Nik’s look-alike says, coming closer.

“Nathan,” Miller says, squeezing my hip. He looks at the pregnant woman. “Selena, you look lovely.” He looks at me. “This is Melody.”

I’m still frozen, blinking like a complete goofball because Nik has a twin brother. He mentioned a brother, but he absolutely forgot to mention they’re twins. Miller releases me to shake hands with Nathan, and I’m still dumbfounded.

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” Selena says, stepping up to my side. “I knew it was coming, and it still made me . . .” Her face transforms into a goofy cringe. “Didn’t Nik warn you?”

“Of course he didn’t,” Nathan says, holding out a hand. “He never tells anyone unless he has to.”

Now that I’m not in shock, I can see that he doesn’t have tattoos peeking out the top of his neckline or out the bottom of his sleeves like Nik does.

I shake his hand and he pulls me in for a hug. “Welcome to the family. I never thought I’d see the day my brother settled down.”

Miller growls a low, dangerous sound.

“Shit, sorry,” Nathan says, tossing his palms up and backing away.

“Fuck.” Nik’s voice comes from behind me.

I spin around, and he’s approaching with Kiernan Daniels.

Kiernan is a chubby older man with a thick white beard and salt and pepper hair. He has a Scottish accent, which I only know from meeting him during my unfortunate Christmas trip to the North Carolina Exchange location.

“By the way, I have a twin,” Nik says, giving me a chagrined smile.

“No more fucking surprises,” Miller growls. “Do you smell how stressed she is right now?” He wraps a hand around my stomach under the bottom edge of my jacket. “It’s not good for the baby.”

My jaw falls open. Okay, apparently that news is all out there in the open.

“I’m sorry,” Nik says, prowling closer. He steps up to my front and tilts my chin up to look at him. “Carver is wondering why the hell you haven’t made it outside yet.” He brushes his lips over mine, and I kind of melt into his chest.

All while Miller’s hand still rubs my stomach. It’s a little bizarre how obsessed he is with touching my belly. Especially since I’m sure that’s just my normal lower stomach chub and not actually the baby at this point, but it’s also really freaking sweet.

“Have fun on your date. We’ll meet you at the doctor’s office in the morning,” Nik says, squeezing my ass and pulling me closer for an actual kiss.

“That shit blows my mind.” Nathan chuckles. Selena slaps his chest. “What? It does?”

My cheeks feel warm as we pull apart.

“I wish I could be with you, but I’ve got to hand the reins back to Nathan,” Nik says, frowning.

“I’m not even pissed anymore,” Nathan says. “Sure, you left me with a clusterfuck to clean up with the OPA, but I’m happy for you, bro. Ever since Kara called and I realized we’d have to cut our trip short—”

“Kara called you?” Nik asks, cutting him off.

“Yeah, did you really think we could have made it here in less than twelve hours if we weren’t already on our way?”

Nik sighs.

“Anyway, I’ve spent the last few days planning ways to strangle you in your sleep, but I’m over it.” Nathan chuckles. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Melody.”

I give him a small smile.

“I’ll walk you out,” Miller says, pulling me away from Nik.

“I’m glad to see ye’er doing well,” Kiernan says on our way by.

I wave my thanks as Miller guides us toward the door. Despite the uncertainty, life definitely is looking up.