Page 57 of His Surrogate Omega

He heard the creaking over the wooden slats in the floor as Jamie took a few steps closer. Tensing, Rohan waited to see how close his omega would come to him.

“You did well… I’m pleased.”

He slowly turned and captured Jamie’s stare. “You’re… pleased. I’msoglad for that,” he spat snidely. The anger circling within made it hard not to snap.

“Do you hate me now? After I forced this on you?”

Some of Rohan’s anger evaporated with those questions… even more so from the look of self-loathing on Jamie’s face. “How could I ever hate you?”

Jamie just barely smiled, but it faded quickly.

“But you turning your back to me afterward?” Rohan paused, trying to hide the breaking of his voice. “That will take me a moment to forgive. I needed you… I needed to know we were okay.”

What was he talking about? They hadn’t been okay in months. Okay wasn’t even anywhere in their general vicinity.

Jamie took a few more steps closer. “Seeing you two… in that bed… together. It hurt more than I imagined it would.”

Rohan didn’t say anything. A little part of him was glad Jamie hurt. It meant the omega still cared enough to feel jealous. After a few seconds, he took a few steps himself, closing the gap between them. “I did as you asked me to do… now I have a request of my own.”

Jamie lifted his chin and fully faced Rohan. “And what’s that?”

Rohan took a few more steps and stopped when he was barely inches from Jamie. He reached out and cupped his omega’s chin. “Not now… not tonight… but sometime soon… help me forget what I just did. Let me love you again… in our bed. Let me have my husband back completely.”

Jamie frowned before stepping back, away from Rohan’s touch.

Something broke within him as he saw the disgust in Jamie’s face.

“Ican’t. I can’t be with you, Rohan.”

“Could you at least sleep in my arms? Let me hold you close… kiss you. Hold you. That’s all I really want. I promise I won’t ask for more…”

Jamie shook his head.

A sob rushed up Rohan’s throat. He bit it back before speaking again. “What did I do to make you hate the thought of my touch?”

Tears welled in Jamie’s eyes. “You didnothing. Absolutely nothing. You are an incredible man. A kind and gentle lover. I’m just…changed.”

Rohan couldn’t breathe. He stood there, staring. Silent.

Shattered.

“I love you. I know it’s hard to imagine that I do when I don’t want to be with you in that way…” Jamie dropped his head in his hands and released a sob. “I just need more time.”

Rohan wanted nothing more than to go to his omega… pull the man close. Hug him. Give comfort.

But he knew he’d be pushed away and it would only be another cut of the knife to his heart.

They’d been a loving couple. Having Jamie in his arms soothed his soul. Now, his omega could barely stand him being inches away. It wasn’t just about the sex—though he missed that immensely—it was the loss of intimacy that had grown over the months.

It had started before Jamie’s diagnosis, well before it.

A widening gulf…

Then the diagnosis had come, and Rohan had chalked everything up to that. Yet something as simple as a hug had sometimes gotten him a cold shoulder.

He was a tactile person. Touch was important—it was to all alphas. To lose it was devastating.

When Jamie spun and raced from the room, he knew in that moment that he couldn’t go through this again. Not until he and Jamie could figure out a way through whatever this was between them. He’d thought it simple fatigue. The illness. He’d let it go, wanting to support his mate.

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