Page 56 of Bitter Heat
But when he reached the door of the house, opened it to the scent of berries and musk, and the low tones of Kerry singing to Kiwi in the attic, he no longer cared. He just wanted to bottle this feeling of cominghomeand uncork it daily. He needed to find a way to make Kerry his in truth.
If only Kerry would let him.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Kerry stared atthe peach sitting in the middle of his pillow.
It was perfect. Fuzzy and ripe. Golden and pink tones glowed in the light from the window. There was a note there, too. Two words.
For you.
Not in Pater’s handwriting. So, it must be from Janus. Kerry reached out and picked up the fruit, holding it to his nose to breathe in the sweet, tangy scent, imagining how the freshness would burst over his tongue. He put out his tongue, touching it to the fuzzy skin, but not biting into the peach just yet.
It’d been two days since the pregnancy education meeting by Dr. Crescent’s stable, and he’d valiantly avoided Janus’s efforts to talk with him ever since. The peach weighed heavily in his palm, an offer of care and sweetness.
Kiwi chirruped from his cage, and Kerry went to let him out. He smiled as the bird danced around and then burst into flight around the room, lighting on the headboard, the night table, and then Kerry’s shoulder. Kerry tucked his chin down and let Kiwi rub against his stubbled jaw. Sometimes he thought Kiwi would purr like a cat if he could.
“Back from your swim?” Pater asked from the hallway.
Kerry turned to see him outside the door, as though he’d been passing by and noticed Kerry. “Yes,” he said, then held up the fruit. “Do you know what this is about?”
Pater shrugged. “I saw him out by the tree this morning, looking over peach after peach, and in the end he chose this one. Plucked it. Brought it inside. I thought he must have eaten it, but I see he’s determined to take care of you.”
Kiwi flew to land on the windowsill and chirp at the sights visible through the glass panes. Kerry rubbed the peach to his lips again and then said, “I shouldn’t have let you take him as a boarder. I knew your plan.”
“Mayhap you did, but you can’t say that it was a bad one.”
Kerry started to protest, but Pater had already moved on, heading toward the stairs and whatever work he had in the kitchen to prepare for dinner. Kerry lay down on his bed, his hand resting over his swollen stomach, and he picked up the note again. Just the two words, still. Nothing more.
Still, it warmed him to see the firm, strong lines of Janus’s letters, and the simplicity of the statement. The peach was a gift for Kerry. Nothing more or less. No demands. No promises.
Kerry took a bite and moaned softly. The sweet, ripe fruit filled his mouth with juice and flesh, and his tongue burst with the flavor. He felt a cool dribble down his chin, and he wiped it away with his fingers. Before he knew it, he’d devoured the whole of it, leaving only the pit and stickiness behind.
He rose to wash his face and hands, and wondered, not for the first time, if there was a way to have what he needed without ruining Janus’s life. The sticky sweetness on his hands and face reminded him of his own slick and the way it poured from him when he was aroused, which was nearly constantly since the fucks by the lake. Just scenting Janus in the house was enough to cause his knees to buckle and his asshole to grow wet. He didn’t want to complicate anything anymore than they already had, but he was growing less certain that he would refuse again if Janus approached him offering something more than a peach.
He washed his face and hands quickly and then changed into a clean shirt that didn’t smell of lake water, reminding him of the fucks they’d already shared, or peaches, reminding him of the potential sweet fucks they could share if only he’d approach Janus and ask for them.
He wanted to ask for them, yearned for that gentleness and passion. If he could only believe that fucking would make things better instead of worse. But in his experience, omegas who allowed themselves emotional entanglements ended up suffering.
He’d had enough of that to last a lifetime.
That night, Kerrytrembled as he pushed open the door to Janus’s bedroom, slick already running down his legs and making his thighs wet. He promised himself that if Janus was asleep, then he’d leave. He’d keep his need to himself and beat off again in his room, alone, and lonely, and unloved. Unwanted.
But Janus was awake and naked, his body displayed like a beautiful statue spread over the bed, his cock hard and massive, rising into his fist as he pumped and jerked his hips up. His eyes caught Kerry’s, but he didn’t stop his self-abuse. He kept right on fucking into his own loosely clenched fingers and stared silently at Kerry with hot, boiling need in his eyes.
Kerry shut the door behind him, letting his long nightshirt drop to the floor, gratified by the noise that came from Janus’s throat at the sight of Kerry’s naked body. He felt the child move within, and it only made him more needful, because he wanted to forget, to feel something that wasn’t fear.
Janus rose up from the bed, his cock sticking out violently from his body, and his large balls dangling low. He reached out his hand but still said nothing. His chest heaved with breath, sucked in and out like he was struggling to get enough air, but he waited, sweaty and strong, healthier by the day, and very ready.
Kerry stepped into his arms, burying his face in Janus’s warm-scented neck. He gasped in joy as Janus’s fingers found his ass cheeks, spread them open, and three fingers plunged inside, finger-fucking him roughly as Kerry clung and shook. He came quickly and hard, his mouth open against Janus’s neck, his tongue pushed out to taste him, and his body spasming with pleasure.
“That’s my sweet omega,” Janus whispered. “Come for me again, Kerry. Show me how good it feels.”
Kerry didn’t need to be told twice. The pressure on his omega glands and prostate, and the rough friction of Janus’s fingers twisting in and out of him, left him strengthless, held up by Janus’s strong arm, and writhing in bliss. The next orgasm was even harder, and his anus clenched rhythmically around Janus’s fingers. He cried out as the pleasure crested again, and he shot a hot, wet load of omega cum on Janus’s belly and thigh.
“Yes,” Janus hissed. “That’s right.” He removed his fingers from Kerry’s body, leaving him aching and open, scooped up the cum, and smeared it over his own cock. Then he pushed Kerry toward the bed and laid him flat on his back before dragging Kerry’s ass to the edge of the mattress.
Positioned perfectly, Janus held him open and then pushed inside with one hard stroke. “Fuck,” Janus whimpered. “Oh, wolf-god, Kerry. It’s perfect.”
