Page 60 of Bitter Heat
“Who? Charlie?” Janus’s hands were continuing their check of him, taking his pulse and finding it sound, sliding around to press against his stomach until he felt the baby inside give a protesting kick. “Yes, maybe. Perhaps. We don’t know. But he’s breathing.”
“Like wolf-god’s own kin, he rose from the dead!” a strong omega Kerry recognized as Bryant Mox said, eyes wide and fervent, and staring at Janus like he was the living end. “And you did that. You pounded on his chest until his heart started up. Wolf-god bless you.”
Janus had moved on from checking Kerry over to looking over the slumbering babe in Kerry’s arms. He felt the baby’s pulse, lifted its arms and tugged gently on its little legs. “He needs to eat more. Too small.”
Kerry held up the half-finished bottle. “He fell asleep before he finished.”
Janus frowned. “I’d say wake him again, but he must be exhausted.” Turning to the other men, he said, “Who here has a real emergency? I’ll meet you at the stables. The rest of you”—he shooed them off—“can wait. We’ve got a crisis here and now isn’t the time to ask me for tinctures to make your perfectly good sight better so that you’re able to shoot more squirrels for stew.”
The men laughed, and only one requested Janus examine him in the stables. The others agreed to go, eagerly telling the story of how Dr. Heelies and Dr. Crescent had worked a miracle with the tube, the bellows, and the banging on Charlie’s chest. Kerry sat by the fire with the baby alone, listening to the voices behind the closed door to the room where Fan had attended him. He couldn’t make out words, but it all sounded very grave and serious. From time to time, Dax still sobbed.
Finally, Fan came out with a sober expression and knelt by Kerry. “I have a very big favor to ask of you.”
“Anything.”
Fan smiled and touched Kerry’s cheek. “Oh, you say that now, but you’ll balk once you know what it is.”
“What are you asking of him?” Janus’s voice cut in. He’d entered nearly silently after handling his patient in the stable. “He’s in no condition to do anything strenuous.”
Fan rolled his eyes. “Of course not. Charlie will need to stay here for some days, even if he lives. Dax, asÉrosgápe, won’t leave his side, and frankly, is in no frame of mind to care for Ellis here. I will be busy helping Crow, and so…”
Kerry’s eyes went wide, knowing what Fan wanted of him. “But I don’t know what to do.”
Fan raised a brow and glanced pointedly at Kerry’s stomach. “It’ll be good practice then.”
“It’s fine,” Janus said quietly. “I can help. And your pater. We’ll take little Ellis home with us. We’ll just need a few bottles with those fake nipples. Do you have another?”
“Of course. I’m a doctor’s omega. I have to keep all sorts of things for the unexpected arrival of unexpected patients.” Fan rose and gathered together a bundle. “Diapers, bottles, and nipples. A set of clothes that will likely fit him, but it’s all right for him to be naked.”
“You know a lot about taking care of babies,” Kerry murmured, his nose dropping to scent the little one in his arms again. “How?”
“Again. Doctor’s omega. I’ve never been blessed with one myself, but I’ve had to care for many temporarily.” Fan looked exhausted, and the sun hadn’t even started to set. “Now, if you don’t mind, I need to get back in that room to hold Crow together so that he can hold Dax together.”
“Yes, of course,” Janus said. “I’ve already cleared up things at the stable.” He took the sleeping Ellis from Kerry’s arms, miraculously not waking him, and then helped Kerry up from the chair. “Let’s go home, sweetheart. We’ll have a strange night ahead.”
Kerry’s head buzzed strangely. Sweetheart?Sweetheart. What did he mean by that? Was it just a slip of the tongue?
“Ready?” Janus asked, taking Kerry by the elbow and directing him toward the door.
“I’ll hold the baby,” Kerry said, taking hold of Ellis and cuddling him close. The scent of the infant calming his now pounding heart. “You keep me steady on the walk down.”
“I’d never let you fall,” Janus said, closing the door to the cabin behind them and leading Kerry toward the path down the mountain. “You can depend on me.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“Eat,” Janus whispered,rubbing the bottle’s fake nipple over the baby’s mouth with a heavy sigh. He had managed to get the little one to take over half of the last bottle, but the little guy’s system couldn’t handle much more. He’d need to eat smaller amounts more regularly.
“Here,” Kerry said, reaching for the baby. “Let me try.”
Janus gave him over to Kerry. “He’s a stubborn little thing.”
“Misses his pater’s scent,” Kerry murmured like he was repeating something he’d heard someone else say. His own pater, maybe? Though Zeke, upon returning from his trip to Blumzound and seeing the baby, had set about cooking up a storm, saying that Fan shouldn’t have to handle feeding two alphas and a sick man all on his own. Once he’d finished baking and wrapping up several days’ worth of meals, he’d gone up to bed, leaving Kerry and Janus to deal with little Ellis.
Settling into the corner of the comfortable sofa in the living room, Kerry rested the baby on the hump of his stomach, and holding him close to his chest, pressed the fake nipple into Ellis’s mouth. Ellis closed his eyes and sucked, a little discontentedly, but better than he had before.
“I’m not his pater, but he probably scents the milk coming in,” Kerry murmured.
Janus hummed his agreement and blinked hard as a sudden memory of Kerry riding his cock the night before came to mind. Milk had slipped from his nipples to sweeten the air with more than just the usual musk of slick and cum. It’d been a beautiful sight to see and an utter thrill to taste. Kerry hadn’t protested, holding Janus’s head to his chest and letting him suck for all he was worth. The orgasm Kerry had experienced from stimulation had seemed intensely pleasurable, given the noises Kerry had made. Truly, they should try harder to be quiet because they must surely be disturbing Zeke’s sleep at night.
