Page 23 of Labor of Love

Emre blushed so hot, he felt a bit dizzy. “I-I’m not special.”

“Oh, you are.”

The alpha leaned in, sheer heat radiating off his body. He pressed his nose to the sensitive spot under Emre’s ear and breathed in deeply. Then he rumbled and pulled away. “The reason why I haven’t found a mate yet, is because my hoard isn’t big enough to court anyone. Hell, my butler’s part-time; I can’t afford him full time yet.”

“You have a butler!?” Emre’s jaw dropped. Then he said indignantly, “Anyone who wants you for who you are, won’t care how big your hoard is.”

“I seem to remember you sizing up my... dimensions,” Zenith said with a pointed look between his own legs.

Emre wanted the mattress to swallow him up. “It wasright there!It waslooking me in the eye.I just looked back!”

There was also the way his pregnancy wreaked havoc on his hormones.

Most days, Emre needed to be stuffed full, except he didn’t trust many alphas after Ronald.

Zenith gave him a long look. “You do have a point, though. I just... I want to be sure I have enough wealth so I can provide for my mate.”

“My parents didn’t have much, but they were happy,” Emre said quietly. “They were deeply in love. We lived in a shamble of a cottage, on the outskirts of town, and our roof always leaked. There was always a draft coming in through the windows. But my Ma and Pa were always smiling around each other; they kept touching like they couldn’t stand to be apart. I want what they had.”

Zenith’s gaze softened. “I would’ve loved to meet them.”

Emre nodded, sagging. “I miss them so much sometimes, it really hurts.”

Zenith reached over then, wrapping his arm around Emre’s shoulders. “What happened?”

“There was a fire,” Emre said quietly. “Someone set fire to the forest, and our pack was trapped inside. I was the only one who didn’t burn because I left the village that day, on an errand for my parents.”

Zenith swore and set his plate down, pulling Emre into his lap. “Fuck. Who set that fire?”

“Some psycho hunter.” Emre buried his face in Zenith’s shoulder. “I don’t want to talk about it. But she’s in jail now, locked away for life.”

Zenith growled, holding Emre tight against himself. “I wish I could’ve done something.”

“There’s not much you can do now.”

Zenith ran his large hands up and down Emre’s back, until the ache faded and Emre sagged against him. They sat together for a long while, Zenith’s scent all over Emre’s body.

Their entwined scents smelled... really good. As the seconds drifted by, Emre slowly realized that he was pressed against Zenith’s strong, bare chest. It was just as solid as it looked.

Zenith felt really safe, too. Safer than Emre had been in years. Probably even before he’d met Ronald, ever since the fire had happened.

“More food?” Zenith murmured, his breath hot on Emre’s cheek.

Emre shivered. “I think I’ve had enough for now.”

“Okay. I’ll put the leftovers in the fridge.”

Emre thought Zenith would set him down, except the man carried him with one arm, and used his other to take their plates to the kitchen. When he’d popped all the leftovers in the fridge, Zenith brought Emre back to his mattress.

Buttwheel bumped noisily against the bathroom door.

“You’re going to put dents into that,” Emre complained.

Except inspiration struck.

He straightened, leaning away slightly from Zenith to look him in the eye. “I know. If—If you ever have any other questions about carts or babies, you can come over and ask me. Or if you need to, I don’t know, test out cart scenes from your book. I’m sure Buttwheel will be happy to help.”

Zenith chuckled, smiling that toe-curling smile. “Buttwheel?”

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