Page 85 of His Surrogate Omega

“Once I have the baby, I’ll have to hand it over and return to the O Quad. I won’t be able to help him from there.”

“Not unless he claims you.”

Gray gasped. He dropped Jamie’s hands and felt a wave of nausea hit him again. “No.”

“It has to be this way,” Jamie murmured. “That baby needs a papa. And Rohan won’t be able to do this on his own.”

“I can’t step into your life and be… you. He lovesyou. This baby’s papa isyou.”

“I’ve seen you and Rohan together. Thereisa bond there, made flesh within you… I’ve seen the attraction from you both. Don’t lie and tell me it’s not there.”

Gray felt shame for that attraction. Even more now. “Instinct. That’sallit is.”

“What do you think drew Rohan and I together? It didn’t start out as some grand love story. It was instinct. From there, we let it grow. You can have the same with him.”

“He’s not my mate.”

“He can be,” Jamie said. “In time… once memories of me fade… you two will have a chance.”

“It’s not that simple. You can’t dictate how two people feel about one another.”

“If I hadn’t seen the bond with my own eyes, I’d say you were right,” Jamie paused before giving a slight smile. “But I have. I knew from the moment we met that you were perfect for him. He’s already marked you, Gray. You’re already his… why can’t you see it?”

Gray felt heat blasting his face. All the dreams of an alpha… a family… how long had he pined for that? Now Jamie was trying to hand that dream to him, but the price was too damned high. He couldn’t lose Jamie.

He loved Jamie.

Jamie took Gray’s hand and squeezed it tightly. “Once I’m gone, heneedssomeone. You know what happens to alphas when they lose their omega? Don’t you? They fade away into nothing. Iwon’thave that happen to Rohan.”

Gray met Jamie’s stare. Once Jamie was gone, there was a chance Rohan might follow. How a big, strong male such as that could simply wither away… it seemed inconceivable. But they’d all seen it happen, over and over again.

“Rohan needs something to live for. You need someone to free you from the Omega Quadrant. And the baby… the baby deserves a fatheranda papa.”

“I won’t discuss this a moment more. It’s… it’smorbid.”

Jamie’s head fell back against the pillows. “I just want to know you two will be okay once I’m gone. That’s all I ask.”

Gray couldn’t help but feel manipulated. Jamie had maneuvered them into this situation from the start. But how could he be angry? Jamie’s motives appeared to be coming from the right place—no matter how wrong they might be. But still—he struggled with a sensation of being forced to fit. A round peg in a square hole.

He’d been forced his whole life. When was it his choice?

He ran a hand down the swell to his stomach. The baby. That had been his choice, but still it had been narrowed by his own fate and place in the world, but still, it had been his. But now? He wondered if that choice hadn’t been a mistake.

“Promise me you’ll look out for my Rohan and care for this babe.”

Gray lifted his stare to Jamie’s desperate one. “I promise to do all I can… but Iwon’tpromise to fill your shoes.”

Jamie’s face twisted in pain.

Gray grew quiet, the question circling his mind almost too terrible to ask. But he had to know. “How long?”

Jamie sighed. “Months. Maybe less.”

“And there’s no way you’ll consider fighting?”

“I don’t want to go through that pain again. I was sickallthe time,” Jamie said. “I don’t want to spend my last days like that.”

“How much time might it add?”

---