Page 85 of The Omega's Alpha
Quin brought some work in to spread out over the kitchen table, comparing the changes the builders wanted to make to the last two dozen homes that were slated to be built while the weather was still good enough for construction, but his heart wasn’t in it and he found himself on the couch watching something on the TV he later realized he couldn’t remember at all.
Near ten, the door opened and Holland padded in, still in furskin. He paused in the doorway and stared at Quin, then headed down the hallway to check on the pups.
A few minutes later he nosed around the end of the couch, watching Quin warily.
“I’m sorry,” Quin said. “I was scared. There was no way I could get to you in time if things went bad, and I took that out on you. And—” He cut the next sentence off before he could dump his suspicions about Holland’s omega status on him. Time enough for that later, if it did turn into a problem. “I can’t promise I won’t ever do it again, but I can promise I’ll do my best not to let it happen.”
Holland flicked an ear at him and appeared to consider his words. He didn’t seem at all interested in changing back to human and Quin guessed that he didn’t want to talk about it either at that moment. But, his hurt must have eased a little, because he thrust his muzzle under Quin’s hand and then climbed into Quin’s lap and settled comfortably across his legs.
Quin dug his fingers into the soft, thick ruff and began to slowly scratch around Holland’s favorite places until Holland started to croon in delight. His tail twitched in time to the movement of Quin’s fingers and he seemed utterly relaxed.
“We haven’t done this in a long time,” Quin mused. “Just spent quiet time with each other.”
Holland snorted and bent an ear back in Quin’s direction.
“Yeah, I know. I can’t keep my hands off you. It’s notallmy fault, though.”
Holland made a sort ofhmphnoise in the back of his throat and turned to lick Quin’s forearm before nudging him to start scratching again.
Quin obliged and let his mind drift while he stroked the soft silvery-white fur. “Maybe Abel’s right about the movie theater. Would you like to go to the movies with me sometime?”
Holland sat up and stared at him like he was nuts, then jumped off the couch and headed for the bedrooms. He stopped in the door into the hallway and stared back at Quin until Quin got up too and followed his mate to bed.
Chapter Sixty-Nine
Barely two weeksafter the fight in the new section of the enclave, and the resulting fight in Bax’s back yard, I was on a plane to Los Angeles. Quin and I made up, though I suspected there was something he wasn’t telling me. Didn’t matter—with the mating ceremony approaching and two more photo shoots scheduled for magazine covers, not to mention the pups and trying to keep up with the housework, my brain was full.
I’d never flown before. Quin made me get my driver’s license before I went—that was an ordeal of its own—and I took every piece of identification I owned. Not only that, but Garrick’s lawyer friend had agreed to come with me to make sure nothing bad happened.
The trip through the airport and airport security was uneventful, other than the usual ring of empty space that surrounded me once people noticed the tabs on my collar. I wasn’t sure if it was Laine’s presence and the fact that we were obviously traveling together, or that one of the people working security recognized me after they checked my paperwork and we had a nice chat about modeling, but I didn’t have the problems I’d been expecting. Of course, maybe they figured they could just tip me out the door at twenty thousand feet or whatever if I caused problems. I appreciated the lack of hassle anyway, though I wondered what Laine was getting out of the trip since it was costing him money.
I found out about ten minutes after we took off.
“Why the first class?” he asked, and I could tell from his tone of voice he was setting up for something, but I didn’t know what. Or at least, I hoped it wasn’t what I suspected was following my scent trail.
“They don’t like us in coach, apparently. Too many people to make nervous, so the agency worked this out with the company that if they want me running around for them, they have to cover some of the cost.” I kind of liked it—lots of leg room and the hostesses were doing some promising-looking things up at the front of the compartment. It did cost me some extra, but I was making ridiculous amounts of money off this anyway—I could afford a few expensive plane trips, especially when I wasn’t given a choice about it anyway. The only thing I wasn’t enjoying was that I couldn’t bring Quin with me—he’d stayed home to deal with the whole presidential mating guest thing. I still couldn’t believe they’d accepted.
“Ah. Something else to add to the list of grievances.” Laine pulled out a notebook and I watched in bemusement as he wrote exactly that, at the bottom of a list that started with ‘damn walls’ and continued on through ‘tabs’, ‘paperwork’, and ‘fair pay’. His writing was neat and precise, easy to read.
He closed the notebook and slipped it back into the front pocket of his briefcase, then sat back and looked at me. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”
I didnotwant to deal with this right now, though part of accepting his company had been so I could broach the subject at some point. I just didn’t want to deal with it in public. And Ireallywanted to enjoy my trip in first class.
I kept my tone unwelcoming. “Oh?”Here it comes.
We were interrupted by the hostess, coming by to offer us a drink. Laine asked for a glass of wine, so I did the same. Why not? It might be my last one for a while. After the talk show appearances, I was checking into one of the best hospitals in the country for a surgery that Quin and I and the doctors hoped would cure my little problem. Plus, the wine would help calm the butterflies in my stomach.
Laine pulled a folder thick with papers out of his briefcase and spread it open on the little table in front of his seat, but he didn’t seem to be looking at them, just using them as a distraction or a prop. It seemed out of character for him.
I watched and waited for him to say whatever it was that was making him so twitchy. Just the thought made me tired, because I was pretty sure I knew what this was about.
The hostess came back with our drinks and then we were left in the relative privacy of our seats. Which wasn’t all that private at all, really.
Laine fidgeted and made notes in the margins of his papers, driving me crazy with the wait.
“Well,” I said, after another sip of wine. “You might as well say whatever it is that’s chewing on your tail.” The wine was nice.
His whole body went still and his scent changed slightly. I wondered what he smelled like in the courtroom, if it carried this whiff of adrenaline with its undertone of fear, or if he smelled like an alpha when he was on his own territory.
