Page 26 of The Omega's Alpha
Warm hands coasted up his back and then Holland laid his cheek against Quin’s shoulder. “Bad dream?”
Quin ground the heels of his hands into the hollows of his eyes and then slid them around to rub at the back of his neck. “Yeah. Not so bad as usual, though.” No, there’d been no blood this time. “Did I hurt you?”
“No.”
Quin lifted his head and looked over at him. “You sure?”
“Yeah. If there’s any bruising you can kiss it better.” Holland winked. “But I’m tougher than I look.”
“I know.” Quin took another deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. “I’ll go sleep in one of the other rooms.”
“Why?” Holland sounded truly startled and, to Quin selfish relief, disappointed. “I’m fine. I came here tonight to sleep with you, not to sleep in the general vicinity to you.”
Quin opened his eyes. “I don’t want to hurt you and this might not be the last one tonight.” They so rarely came singly, these dreams. He wondered what it was that had woken the horrors this time, but was too tired to care.
“Yeah, I get it.” Holland’s hands tugged, urging him back down onto the bed. “This is all part of the healing, right? This is your brain figuring this stuff out.” He pulled Quin’s head down onto his shoulder and twitched the bedclothes up over them both. “I’m here, I’m not leaving. Dream all you want, I won’t go.” His arms tightened around Quin’s shoulders and he laid a soft kiss on the crown of his head. “Go to sleep. You need to be rested for what I plan to do to you before I run home to help with the pups.”
“Abel said not to bother,” Quin mumbled. “Cale’s staying the night.” His body wasn’t quite ready to sleep, but the first hints of relaxation were nibbling around the edges of his adrenalized alertness.
“Is he?” Holland chuckled and sighed. His fingers stroked monotonously over Quin’s back, soothing the tension and nervous energy away, until Quin grew heavier and heavier and then his mind kind of went still and sleep took him under again, the steady beat of Holland’s heart his shield against memory.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Reluctantly, Quin closed the computer’s browser and got back to work. November was probably early to be looking for Christmas presents, but Holland had made a joke about sexy underwear last night in bed and the idea had taken hold in Quin’s brain like a forest fire. And looking at well-built men in skimpy clothing was immensely more attractive than the reams of paper covering his desk right now.
Quin looked up when Holland came through the door of the office. “Please tell me not another emergency.” It was too damn close to quitting time, and he wanted to put away these quotes for the repair work and go spend the evening trying to tease out of Holland what the other shifter wanted from Midwinter Wolf. Other than the fancy underwear that Quin was determined to give him. If he could, he’d give Holland the world, because Holland had already given it to him. Quin could sleep again. At least, when Holland was with him.
Holland closed the door behind him and leaned against it. He practically glowed with excitement. “No emergency. Except for me. Wanna play bad secretary?”
“What?” Quin couldn’t help the laugh that burst out him.
Holland grinned, his eyes sparkling wickedly. “You know, you call me on the carpet for shitty work and if I want to keep my job, I have to convince you to let me stay on.” His grin grew even more devilish. “Bax’s library is a treasure trove of ideas.”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but your cousin is a shit disturber,” Quin said.
“He is, but you have to admit, he’s brilliantly subtle.” Holland strolled another couple of steps into the room. The air almost vibrated around him.
“What about Louise?”
“Haven’t you looked at the clock? It’s late.” Holland drew out the last word and braced his hands on the desk so he could lean over it. “Not like that stuff is going to go away.”
Quin glanced at the computer monitor—Holland was right. “No, I expect it’ll still be here tomorrow.” He glanced back down at the pages and lists of numbers and considered his next words. “Don’t you have work to do, Holland?” he snapped.
Holland made a small, excited noise and disappeared back out into the other office.
Quin sorted through the quotes, trying to decide what he should ‘scold’ Holland about. Then he really looked at the papers in his hands.Ah.“Holland, come in here,” he barked, then had to stifle a snicker.
The doorknob rattled, as if someone had fumbled opening the door, then Holland peeked inside. “Yes, sir?” he said, as timorous as mouse.
Quin froze instinctively, suddenly convinced he’d done something to frighten the other shifter, until Holland winked and stuck the tip of his tongue out, then smoothed his expression back to submissive worry.
“Where are the rest of the quotes?” Quin demanded.
“Rest? They should be there…” Holland scurried over and began ruffling through the sheets on Quin’s desk.
“Stop that! You’re just mixing things up.” Quin pushed Holland’s hands away from the paper.
Holland shuffled back with the most contrite, non-Holland-like expression Quin had ever seen.
