Page 84 of Bitter Heat
A hammering knock at the front door jolted Kerry out of his near slumber, and the sound of Dr. Crescent’s voice asking for entry rolled up the stairs. “I don’t want him,” Kerry said, rolling his sweaty head back and forth on the pillow. “Don’t make me see him. Just you. I only want to see you.”
Janus pressed a kiss to his temple and made no promises as he left the room to fill Dr. Crescent in on the situation, and hopefully pass on Kerry’s request to be left alone for the night.
As Janus reached the lower floor, and they moved into the living room, shutting the door, their voices became hushed and muffled. Kerry couldn’t make out everything he wanted to hear. But he listened all the same, taking relief in Janus’s steady tone, and the responding assurance in Dr. Crescent’s voice, too. He was in good hands with his alpha.
He sighed, too tired to correct his errant thought. For today, for this moment, he would let himself have it. Right here and now, he’d be Janus’s omega, and he’d let himself feel safe in that protection and love.
He let his eyes drift to the cage across the room and the strange choice he’d made earlier. A trade of sorts. A bargain.
He didn’t know if wolf-god worked that way—tit for tat, a sacrifice for a favor—but he’d felt it down deep all the same. So, he’d said nothing as he’d made the deal. Or almost nothing. He’d only called out Kiwi’s name. Otherwise letting his silence seal the bargain. He hoped Kiwi could learn to be free after so long in his cage.
He didn’t know if he’d ever get the chance himself.
Janus spent overan hour reassuring Dr. Crescent that all was well, explaining the choices he’d made, and letting Dr. Crescent assure him that he’d made the right ones. Dr. Crescent would have liked to have a look, but when Janus told him that Kerry had explicitly asked for Janus alone to treat him, he’d just laughed. Then he’d proceeded to ask all kinds of questions about how long they’d been fucking. Which Janus hadn’t wanted to discuss in detail, but Dr. Crescent was keen to know what plans were in place for the future since they’d obviously bonded beyond the “servicing” aspect of things.
Janus had divulged what seemed prudent, which wasn’t very much.
He’d gone into the kitchen where Zeke had been making a late-night snack for all of them after their trying evening. He owed Zeke an update, and so told him over a sandwich all that he’d told Dr. Crescent. Well, most of it. He left out the information about how long he and Kerry had been fucking.
“Was this because of his deformity?” Zeke asked.
Janus blinked at him. Despite stroking his hands over Kerry’s body almost every night, he’d nearly forgotten about the deformity. It’d simply become part of the omega he loved, and the thought that it was the deformity leading to this early labor struck him as obvious now. The baby had grown quite large. He could feel that much with his hands. And given how big an alpha Wilbet was, from what he understood, the babe’s size couldn’t be much of a surprise. Monhundy was, from all reports, a massive man.
Another omega’s ribs would shift slightly to make space, but Kerry’s couldn’t shift enough, and the baby needed more room—so, of course, Kerry’s uncomprehending body had deemed the babe better out than in, rather than allowing him to take space needed by Kerry’s vital organs.
Dr. Crescent hadn’t brought up the deformity, but he might have forgotten about it. Who knew how long it had been since he’d seen Kerry with his shirt off or examined him? Kerry was a private man. Not to mention the Monhundys’ city doctor provided most of his health care.
After ending his conversation with Zeke with reassurances that he would do all he could to keep Kerry safe while helping him carry the baby for as long as possible, he’d stopped by Caleb’s room to check on him. He accepted a hug and reassurance from his friend, who was still awake and reading in a chair by the window. After answering Caleb’s somber questions, Janus then took a long minute to gaze down at the living, breathing baby resting in the rigged-up crib, soaking in the hope and sweetness around him.
Lastly, he’d ignored the sound of Zeke and Yosef’s voices still coming from downstairs as they discussed politics and mountain ways. Instead, he was keen to return to Kerry’s room alone.
He found Kerry on his side, wrung out and mostly sleeping. He brushed the long silky hair from Kerry’s cheek, bent low and kissed his sharp cheekbone. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Kiwi’s gone,” Kerry murmured, his exhaustion taking him down into sleep. “S’all right. I let him go.”
Janus jerked his head toward the birdcage with a sharp pebble of worry in his gut. It quickly turned into a sinking stone. The birdcage was wide open, and so was the window. How had he not noticed before?
A quick search of the bathroom, the bedroom itself, and the upstairs in general produced no evidence of Kiwi. He stared out the window as the dark, moonless night swallowed the outside world. Janus turned back to stare at Kerry as he slept in the bed, a wedge of fear in his heart. Kerry slept peacefully, though. His eyelashes sweeping down over his cheek, and his lips opened with each puff of slow breath.
Janus went to the cage and swung the door as wide as it would go. He left the window open and put another blanket over Kerry on the bed. He didn’t know what else to do.
Kiwi had flown.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Another week hadpassed, and summer had come into full fruition with heavy green leaves and hot, humid air under a scorching sun by the time Kerry was allowed to leave his room and come down to sit on the back porch in his favorite rocker. He had finally finished Janus’s scarf, but had final touches to put on a few more baby clothes.
In another week, it would be safe for him to stop taking the tablets and teas. If the baby came, he’d be big enough to survive, Janus said, and the medicines, if taken in too high of a dose for too long might do more harm than good.
The day before, Caleb and Yosef had packed up to return home, and they planned to leave shortly. Yosef would return to his artist partner in the city and begin the work of starting a court case to free Kerry from his contract or, at the very least, from his obligation to endure his heats with Wilbet.
For his part, Caleb would return to Virona, where he had two alphas anxiously waiting for him and Bekhem. Kerry wasn’t dense, and the way Caleb talked about Xan and “our Urho” made it all quite clear that there was something akin to the polyamorous relationships happening up-mountain going on in fair Virona as well. But he didn’t ask questions. Who was he to judge?
Caleb came to sit with him on the porch, his all-white ensemble strangely pristine despite the baby’s tendency to spit up. He crossed his feet at the ankle and Kerry realized that he was barefoot, as was his wont when he was in the house. The baby must have been sleeping inside because he was alone. “Are you going to be all right?” Caleb asked after he got settled and began to rock.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Kerry said with a smirk as he threaded the needle. “What do you think?”
“You’re strong and young. Plus, you love him. That’s a bonus.”
