Page 30 of Duke's Baby Deal
“No it’s not!” Bram crooked an arm over his eyes and, in a voice muffled by emotion, said, “I thought I had a way around it, but no, the fucking asshole took that away from me too.” He lifted his arm away, letting it fall limp to the mattress, and stared up at the ceiling with blank eyes. “I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to repudiate me. I’m screwed anyway. Literally.” He laughed bitterly.
This was so unlike the Bram he knew, Duke began to worry. “I’d like to help,” he said. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“Can you make me not an omega?”
What!“It’s part of who you are, and a part I love.” Duke laid his hand on Bram’s belly, right where a baby would nestle inside him. It felt shockingly intimate, and it was this, more than anything else that had happened, that made him realize that he was mated to this man here. “You don’t want to be an omega?”
“I don’t want to beJustin’somega.” Bram rolled over and curled up against Duke’s chest. “I just wish he’d never come to Mercy Hills. Because omegas are faithful unto death, and this is the reason why.”
Duke rubbed Bram’s back and held him until his mate dozed off against his chest. He’d found it hard to believe that Bram and Justin were linked forever, and he’d held onto that hope in the face of Bax’s gentle determination. But, if it was true, well…
There was more than one way to kill a deer. Or a wolf.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Duke woke up to sunshine streaming in through the window, lighting up the bedroom—his bedroom. His and Bram’s. It was a nice thought.
Without opening his eyes, he stretched an arm out across the bed, figuring to gather Bram in for a morning cuddle, even if it couldn’t lead to anything else.
It was empty. He opened his eyes and sat up. Bram wasn’t even in the room.
But only a moment after he realized that, the sound of a frying pan on the stove and the smell of eggs cooking and bread being toasted floated through the bedroom door.
Breakfast! Hewaskind of hungry—last night had worn the two of them out and they’d both passed out dead asleep when they’d finally made it back into their home.
Duke got out of bed and hunted for his pants from last night, but they were nowhere to be found. What he did find was his clothes, that he’d packed and left at Abel’s yesterday, neatly put away in the drawers of a slightly battered dresser. A second, smaller one, took up the space on the rest of the wall, and when he peeked inside, it too was filled with clothes. Bram’s.
He sat on the bed for a moment, savoring the idea of Bram’s clothing intheirbedroom. Crazy. He was too old to be happy about such silly things, but there it was.
The smell of bacon added itself to the other delicious scents calling him to the kitchen, so he followed them and found Bram humming as he worked away at the stove.
The kettle began to whistle. Bram picked it up without losing a beat and poured hot water into two mugs waiting on the counter beside the stove. He put the kettle back on the stove and turned toward the small kitchen table.”
“Oh, you’re up! I didn’t wake you, did I? Although, it’s almost ready, so you would have had to get up soon anyway.”
“No. My stomach did.” Duke grinned and walked over to cup Bram’s chin in his hand and kiss him good morning. “That smells delicious.”
Bram smiled. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”
“It was a good night,” Duke agreed with a smile of his own.
It had been. They’d eaten everything that Bax, Jason, Holland, and Bram had made. He’d heard more than a few compliments about Bram’s cooking, and been on the receiving end of a lot of jealous glances, despite the small crowd. Then they’d danced until they burned off everything they’d eaten. Bram had been a bit quiet at the beginning, but opened up as he realized that people believed their story. Not that it was all that unbelievable. Duke knew he wasn’t terribly good at hiding his emotions. And apparently, anything Bram did was entirely believable, which had made Duke laugh. Bram had complained that Duke wasn’t supporting him, but, carried away by the excitement of the night and a few of the pack-made bottles of cider, he’d bent Bram back over his arm and kissed him thoroughly, to the whooping encouragement of the mating guests.
Bram’s cheeks went a little pink and he looked down and away. “You go sit at the table. I’ll bring you your breakfast.”
“You don’t have to wait on me.”
“I know.” Bram glanced up at him, his smile warming Duke right down to his toes. “But it’s our first morning together, and I want to.”
“Okay.” Duke dropped a kiss on his cheek and went to sit in one of their two chairs.
Bram put a mug of tea in front of Duke, then went back and puttered around the stove, sliding eggs and bacon onto a plate, buttering toast and putting it on another plate. He came back to the table with Duke’s breakfast, and the plate of toast.
“Where’s yours?” Duke asked, nonplussed by the feast in front of him, and Bram’s empty place setting.
“It’s coming.” Bram kissed Duke’s cheek somewhat self-consciously, then went back to the stove. He quickly scooped more eggs out of the frying pan, added some bacon, then came back to the table with his plate and a mug of his own tea.
Duke waited until Bram was seated before starting to eat. The eggs were over-easy, the way he liked them. The bacon, too, was cooked, but not crispy. He hated crispy bacon. A glance at Bram’s plate showed more over-easy eggs, but the bacon was so cooked it could stand on end.
