Page 27 of Duke's Baby Deal
They stared at each other for a moment while the crowd giggled in the soft darkness, then Bram smiled at him, the first real smile he’d seen on the man’s face since everything had gone crazy. “Deal.”
They shoved the torch into the pile of wood, and the flames leapt for the moon above them, sparks flying as if they thought, if they could just soar high enough, that they could be stars. Duke held Bram’s hand until Rosie came with the gifts to burn, the sacrifices for health, and love, and prosperity, and all the things one wished for in a mating.
Duke handed the first one to Bram and was pleased when the young man didn’t argue, simply lobbed the small bundle into the fire. The crowd clapped, then oooohed as the flames changed color, streaks of cerulean blue shooting up between the gold.
“Oh, what—” Bram said. “How did that happen?”
Duke glanced around and caught Jason’s eye. Jason winked at him and settled confidently into Mac’s embrace.
“Did Jason give you some of them?”
“He gave me all of them.” Bram looked over to Jason and it seemed to Duke that some message passed between them, though he couldn’t tell what. But Bram relaxed and turned to Duke. “Your turn.” He put one of the gifts, twisted up in brightly colored paper, in Duke’s palm. “I wonder what color this one is?”
Duke grinned. “Let’s find out.” He tossed it and they all exclaimed as the flames turned red for a moment. “This is fun.”
Bram laughed, momentarily carefree, and then Duke challenged him to throw blind.
“Oh, game on!” Bram crowed, and immediately covered his eyes with one hand.
After Bram made his shot, he challenged Duke to toss an offering over his shoulder and into the fire. The crowd quickly caught on, and they began shouting their own suggestions, until all the gifts were gone, and Duke was dizzy because Bram had made him spin around ten times before he was allowed to throw the last one. Bram laughed at him and kissed him impulsively, turning both of them bright red, and putting an abrupt end to the shenanigans and the burgeoning easiness in their relationship.
Bram’s expression turned pensive again and while he stayed closed to Duke, his scent was sharp with worry, with an undertone of fear.
Movement in the crowd caught his attention. It was Holland, coming with his gift for the couple. This was breaking tradition a little, but Duke knew there was good reason for it.
“Duke Mercy Hills. Abel, former Alpha of Mercy Hills, his mate Bax of Mercy Hills and myself, Holland of Mercy Hills, bring you a gift in celebration of this mating. All mated couples must leave their families to form their own, a pack of two, within the larger pack. And so we offer to you a den for your pack. The apartment at the end of the house has been made ready for you, and there you may live until the pack can provide something of more suitable size.”
Duke had been waiting for the announcement, but Bram gasped. “Holland! That’s your home!”
Holland stepped forward and hugged him. “I’m just loaning it to you, kid. Don’t break it.” But he was smiling, even if there was some pain in it. “Seriously, who wants to start mated life living in bachelor quarters? Or with your parents.” He put his hands on Bram’s shoulders and gazed at him directly. “It’s okay. Really. We wanted to give you something, and this was the most logical, most useful thing we could come up with. And you can’t talk me out of it, because I’ve already moved, and I hate moving, so even if you don’t take it, I’m not going back until I’ve recovered.” He laid the back of his hand against his forehead and pretended to swoon. “Really, how could you ask me to move again so soon? Heartless, I say. Entirely heartless.”
Bram was laughing by the end of the performance, then topped it with a “Bless your heart” so laced with sarcasm it could have stripped paint.
“Well, I never!” Holland pretended shock, but then he hugged Bram again and whispered something in his ear. Bram nodded slowly, his amusement fading, and let Holland go when he stepped back.
Holland turned to Duke. “Duke Mercy Hills, you have a treasure here. Have a care to it, or you’ll have the omega pack to answer to.” He winked, then sauntered back into the crowd and disappeared.
Bram was silent and sober beside him and, looking at his expression, the time to stop stalling had come. Gently, Duke took Bram’s hand, and began leading him through the crowd, toward the back of the house, where a closed door marked the end of their old lives, and the start of their new one.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Holland had said to me, “If it comes down to it, think of Justin, and that will do it.” I didn’t want to know how he knew.
Duke led me toward the house and it was like one of those dreams where you just know something horrible is going to happen, but you can’t stop, you can’t run, it’s like your body has been taken over by something else. I’d been all brave before, planning out how I would convince him, but now that we were really heading inside, and everyoneoutsideknewexactlywhat we were going in for, I wanted to scream, or run, or throw myself in Duke’s arms and cry my eyes out. Instead, I walked as steadily as I could beside him, because I wasn’t going to dump my problems on him. Well, no more of them anyway.
He escorted me gently through the door, his hand in the small of my back. I sucked back a sniffle, because a week ago that touch would have sent me over the moon. Now, it was just someone touching me.
The door clicked closed behind us and, for the first time, I saw the inside of Holland’s little apartment.
It was cute. Small. A tiny kitchen stretched away to the right of the door we’d come through, a small bathroom beyond that, with a closet tucked into the corner between it and the outside wall. The bedroom was in the exact opposite corner and I had to suppress a shiver when I glanced over that way.
“Want some tea?” Duke asked. He started opening cupboards, taking down a pair of mismatched mugs and a couple of cannisters. “There’s black tea, and it looks like he left some of his herbal stuff.” He glanced up at me and stopped. “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head. “Shouldn’t we be…” My voice trailed off in discomfort.
He left the cannisters on the counter and came over to take my hands. “You know, this ceremony wasn’t the only thing Bax and I talked about.” He squeezed my fingers. “I know that your—” He went a red so bright it would have been entertaining before all this. “Your sex drive is tied to Justin now. It’s okay. I knew when I asked that I was too old for you, but I wasn’t going to let that bastard force you to take the fall for him.”
So he knew. He knew that I had no interest in him physically at all. He knew… wait a minute. “What do you mean you’re too old for me?” I stared intently at him, so he’d know I was serious.
