Page 89 of His Surrogate Omega

“I want him to die in my arms,” Rohan said. Gray’s eyes widened before he could finish. “When he’sa hundred and three—after a long life filled with love and family—and I want to go with him. That’s how I always saw it. Dying of old age in our bed together.” He smiled wanly. How cruel the world was. “We have so much left to do. I can barely breathe just imagining him gone.” Rohan fought back more tears.

“Don’timagine it,” Gray whispered. “Don’t see it in your mind. See him alive and well. See him ten years from now, twenty years on, having won this fight. We need to stay positive… so he can feed off it and be positive himself.”

Rohan nodded. To see how fervent Gray was in his desire to save Jamie, it was a bit of a shock. A memory slipped through his mind, and he chuckled.

“What’s so funny?” Gray asked.

“Before I met you, I told Jamie to be careful. That you were likely out for our money.”

Gray frowned.

“The paintings? I assumed you’d convinced him to buy them.”

“Oh no. I tried repeatedly to get him to take them. He wouldn’t listen.”

“I was unkind, and I’m sorry. I didn’t know you, and I made assumptions I shouldn’t have.”

“It’s okay. You were right to warn him. I’m sure there are some who are unscrupulous and would take advantage in that situation.” Gray smiled, but it faded after a moment. “I almost hated to part with those paintings, but he seemed so pleased. I couldn’t say no to him.”

Rohan smiled. “Jamie doesn’t listen very well. He likes to forge his own path.”

“I’ve noticed. When he gets something in his mind, he has a singular focus.”

“Indeed he does,” Rohan replied, capturing Gray’s stare.

They held it a moment before the omega looked away.

“That’s why we need to convince him that there’s hope,” Gray said, his voice bordering on a whisper. “If he ever starts to believe it, I think he just might live forever.”

Rohan smiled slightly, imagining Jamie arguing with Death itself.

And winning.

They fell into a silence, a comfortable one. That peacefulness about Gray called to him, especially now in the storm that was his life. No wonder Jamie was so drawn to the man.

The omega lifted his plate. “I can’t eat another bite. Let me clean this up.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“You made lunch. I clean it up. Those are the rules,” Gray said, grabbing Rohan’s empty plate.

Rohan sat back and watched Gray move gracefully through their kitchen for a moment before he felt another pang of the instinct hitting him in the gut.

Take him.

Make him yours.

Rohan clenched his jaw, fighting the need overwhelming him. Now was not the time nor the place… not that any would be better. Yet when Gray tentatively looked over his shoulder, lust in his eyes, Rohan nearly rose from his seat and crossed the room. He could scent the omega’s lust and was shocked by it. The man was already pregnant with his son…

He was almost more shocked by the need he felt in return.

The omega shut off the water, and then turned to face him, hands fisted on top of the island. “I want to be here for Jamie. He needs as much love surrounding him as he can get right now… which means we’ll need to be in closer quarters than I ever anticipated when I got involved with this surrogacy.”

Rohan held the omega’s stare, waiting for the inevitable ‘but’.

“But… we have to fight this instinct within us. The more we’re around each other, the harder it might become.” Gray looked away, his face darkening.

What causes his blush?

---