Page 20 of Omega Chattel
What Oren had told me in our afternoon together in the game room came back to me.
“You’re in Kee’s room, you know,” Oren had said.
“Tarin mentioned there were clothes in the closet that belonged to another. I wasn’t to touch them.”
Oren’s eyebrows had climbed high on his forehead. “I have to say I’m surprised he would bring you home and put you in there.”
“Why? Hasn’t this other Omega been gone for weeks?”
“Six months, actually. But Kee was special to Tarin. Even if he didn’t live here full time, that room was sorta sacred. Tarin didn’t want anyone else in there.”
“They were lovers?” I had asked.
“Off and on, yes. Tarin’s moodier when Kee is around, of course, but always sadder when he’s gone. We all have a pact not to bring him up or say his name. It’s best that way. So remember that. And don’t ask him too many questions about Kee.”
“All right. But what if—what if Kee comes back?”
Oren had shrugged. “At this point, he’s been gone longer than ever. But if he does, I don’t know.”
“Will I be unwelcome?”
“No, nothing like that. Tarin brought you here. He has his reasons for that. Tarin wouldn’t kick you out of the house, but maybe out of that room.”
Oren had been easy to befriend, graciously answering all my questions.
Now I lay in Kee’s bed looking around at an environment meant for another Omega. Tarin’s Omega lover. I couldn’t help but wonder what he’d been like. How they were with each other.
Oren said Kee had been disruptive. He wouldn’t study. He would leave the house at all hours and not return for days. I could tell he was being polite, that there was more to Kee and his behavior than he was willing to admit.
Tarin had made it clear that he didn’t sleep with his Omega guests, his wards. So why had he made an exception for Kee?
I searched the room but found nothing personal like photos or journals. Nothing but the clothes in the closet which Tarin had told me not to touch. I couldn’t help but wonder what Kee looked like. And why did Tarin want him so?
I understood the reverse. Tarin was a powerful and large Alpha and he smelled exquisite. Any Omega would be attracted to him. I had been from the start even if I thought I’d only offer my body to him for money and be done. But I’d also followed him because he compelled me, whether he was conscious of it or not.
I couldn’t help but lie still and listen for the sounds of him in the other room. One wall separated us. I heard the pipes when the water ran in his bathroom. I felt the slight tremble of the floor as he walked about getting ready for bed.
There was no scent of another Omega in this room. Obviously it had been thoroughly cleaned and cleared out, all except the clothes. Instead, I smelled only the soapy scent of polisher, and the air freshener labeledapple spiceon the wall just inside the bathroom. But underneath all that, I breathed faint hints of autumn and vastness mixed with loneliness, and the atmosphere of newness mixed with old.
Tarin.
I had the impression Tarin had spent a lot of time in this room. With Kee. Maybe he came into the room to be closer to Kee when Kee was gone. Maybe he grieved him in here. But certainly, my senses were attuned enough to notice. He’d been here. Probably recently.
I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep but I was too restless. I turned on the light and grabbed a tablet Tarin had loaned me, looking for something to read. But I couldn’t concentrate.
I lay back against the soft pillows, considering how lucky I was. How easily I could still be out there freezing and starving on the streets, looking for any way to seek a warm bed and a meal just for one evening.
What had I done to deserve all this?
I heard some thumps in the room next door. Automatically, my mind went toward images of what he might be doing. Rearranging his covers. Moving toward his closet to disrobe.
My attraction to him resonated through me, especially now that I was quiet and in bed with the lights off and only my thoughts for company. I couldn’t deny it when confronted with my own honest truths just before sleep. I wasn’t only here because of the opportunity Tarin offered. Of course I wanted to better myself. But I wanted him.
It was stupid, I knew, to fall for the first Alpha I’d ever met. But he’d literally rescued me. Like in the perfect romance novel.
It saddened me because he showed no indication of wanting me in return. He was an altruist. That was what Oren had called him earlier today when we’d talked. I didn’t really like that word because it meant, to me, that I wasn’t all that special. That Tarin took me in out of pity and nothing more.
With those thoughts, as the sounds beyond the wall quieted, I entered a fitful sleep.
