Page 21 of The Hitman's Omega Priest
He desperately wanted to go outside and run, but that was dangerous for a whole host of reasons. The last thing he wanted was for Kensley to wake up alone, panic, and try to drive somewhere. They were safe enough here, and the odds of anyonefinding them were almost zero—but almost zero wasn’t zero. Bishop wasn’t taking unnecessary risks with Kensley’s life.
He would not lose him now that he had him. For the first time since Kensley went away, Bishop felt…complete.
So, he did a hell of a lot of squats and pushups in the living room, and then made himself coffee. He’d just settled on the couch with his mug and an old magazine when Kensley shuffled out of the bedroom, the quilt wrapped around his—he assumed—naked body. His face was creased, hair messy, chin covered in another day’s worth of dark scruff—and he’d never looked more gorgeous.
“Morning,” Kensley said. “I was kind of hoping to wake up with this super-hot guy in bed with me.”
“Sorry about that. I couldn’t sleep, and I didn’t want to wake you with all my thrashing around.”
“I doubt you would have. I’ve never slept so soundly in my life. I guess a couple of amazing orgasms are good for my REM cycles.”
Bishop was a little jealous, but mostly happy that Kensley had been able to relax and find restful sleep. Bishop doubted he’d be able to do the same until they’d relocated to a more permanent hiding place. “We’ll have to see what we can do for tonight’s REM cycles.”
Kensley wiggled his eyebrows, and then padded into the kitchenette. Poured a glass of fruit punch and joined Bishop on the couch, curling up close. “This feels like a dream. I don’t want to wake up, but I’m also realistic enough to know we might not be here another night.”
“You’re right. I have no idea what King is planning or when he’s going to call. But I have enough experience bugging out of a location in less than ten minutes to know it won’t matter what his instructions are. I’ll get us there, I promise.”
“I know you will.” Kensley leaned in for a quick kiss. “And in case you need to hear it again today, I have zero regrets about anything we did yesterday, and I hope you don’t either.”
“Absolutely no regrets, but it does help to hear it.” Bishop needed a longer kiss so he claimed it. “I don’t know where we go from here, Kens, but I’m not going to abandon you, or dump you off on some other guy to guard. I can’t imagine a scenario in which King would ask me to do that, but even if he did, I wouldn’t listen.”
“You’d really go against my brother’s orders?”
“To keep you safe? Yes. Yesterday wasn’t just me getting off with an omega, or even getting with a guy for whom I’ve had feelings for years. It’s more important than that.”
“For me, too. It’s so strange to think how completely my life has changed in forty-eight-hours. I’m a wholly different person.”
Bishop couldn’t help winking. “Holy person, huh?”
Kensley poked him in the ribs. “Shut up. I told you I hated that life.”
“You said you hated it, but you didn’t tell me about it. Tell me now.”
“I think I’d rather eat cold canned beans for breakfast.” Kensley started to stand.
Bishop was faster. He put his coffee mug down on the nearby table, and then managed to snag Kensley around the waist before he could get away. Kensley yelped and protected his drink from sloshing on the way back down to Bishop’s lap. Bishop loved having Kensley on his lap, in his arms. He fit perfectly, like they’d been made to hold each other. Two halves finally reunited.
“Excuse you, you brute.” Kensley put his glass down then crossed his arms, his affronted glare too cute to take seriously. “Am I a prisoner now?”
“Not at all. But I told you a lot about me yesterday, and we haven’t talked much about you. I do understand if you have some deep-seated resentment toward me for forcing you into the Order.”
“That was my brother’s call, not yours.”
“I told him I suspected you were omega.”
“He still made the call to the Order.”
“I didn’t try to talk him out of it.”
“I’m guessing that’s because one, King is your boss so his word goes, and two, you agreed I’d be safest there?” When Bishop nodded, Kensley sighed. “Iwassafe there, Bishop, but I also wasn’t living. I was so angry when I first arrived and began my training, and one of the first things they beat out of you in the Order is your personality. Your individuality. They strip you of your identity, not just as a person, but especially as an omega male or alpha female, so they can fill you up with prayers and sermons and practiced rhetoric.”
Bishop’s skin scrawled and his temper rose. “What do you mean by beat it out of you?”
“You know the saying ‘spare the rod, spoil the child’?”
He growled.
Kensley rested his head on Bishop’s shoulder, hiding most of his face. “Entering the Order isn’t like enrolling in school. There’s no set schedule that begins in September, so each new member is inducted as they arrive, and I wasn’t the only newbie dumped there my first week. And I never told anyone this, but when I was ten, my mother had me evaluated by a psychologist because of my behavior, and I was diagnosed as having oppositional defiant disorder. Whether that was true or not, I don’t know, and being shoved into a life and belief system I didn’t want was…traumatic.”
