Page 112 of Omega's Flight
Ori nodded, waving away any concern I might have had. "So, your usual company?"
"Yes." I paused in my assault on the rug and came over to sit beside him. "I'm...moving the relationship along?"
His eyebrows rose. "And your mate?"
I sighed. "We're still working on that."
"You think this'll help encourage him to tear up your contract?"
I hadn't considered that. "I don't know. Don't really care, to be honest. I'm done with Jackson-Jellystone, done with him except as the sire of my pups. I want a different future than the one he wants for me."
Ori's eyes crinkled. "Yeah, I hear that." He rubbed his hands down his shins and squinted up into the sunshine. "Holland says I have to finish high school and then, if I want, I can go to college or something. After Pat's done, of course—I mean, he's the beta in the house." The phrase seemed to amuse him and when I gave it a bit of thought, it amused me too. "He'll make good credits though, once he's through his training. If Perseguir will let us go." His amusement vanished, and then the sound of a baby wondering where her meal ticket was reached my ears. "Damn," Ori said. "That was a short nap." He got to his feet with a sigh. "Well, I'm happy for you, if this is something that will make you happy. And I'll keep Patton off your doorstep for the night, so you two don't need to worry about being interrupted." Rose's tentative cries made the turn into full wails and he laughed. "I better get her before she wakes up the Bureau guard."
Since the gate was a good half-hour walk from our houses, that wasn't likely, but I remembered those days with mine. The cluster-feeding, I think Bax had said once. It certainly was a good name for it. "Good luck," I called after him.
He waved as he went through the door, and the crying cut off again just as I got back to my rugs.
C H A P T E R 8 1
A s was his usual habit, when Cas arrived on Raleigh's front doorstep, he simply opened the front door and stuck his head inside. "Hello?"
"In the kitchen," came Raleigh's voice from the back of the house. The sound of a frying pan hitting metal clanged right after, and the smell of roasting vegetables filled the air.
"Smells good," he said, letting himself the rest of the way in. He kicked off his shoes and lined them up against the wall by the door and padded in sock feet back to the kitchen.
Raleigh was just in the middle of laying the second of two small steaks in the frying pan. "Sit down, this won't be long."
Cas ignored Raleigh's command and sidled up behind him, sliding his arms around Raleigh's waist and indulging his other appetites with a quick nibble along the omega's neck. "Mmm, sexy and a good cook."
Raleigh laughed, but his breath hitched when Cas trailed the tip of his tongue over his earlobe. "Keep that up and dinner will get burned," he warned. Contrarily, he leaned back against Cas, pressing their bodies together.
"I'm not picky," Cas told him and tightened his grip around Raleigh's body. "Anything I can help with?"
Raleigh turned to face him, reaching up to run casual fingers through Cas's hair. "Nope, all done. Just needs to cook."
"Then we can visit for a few minutes." Cas reached down, lacing his fingers together under the curve of Raleigh's ass and straightened, lifting Raleigh off the floor. "Sit with me," he whispered and bit gently at Raleigh's lower lip. Without waiting for an answer, he made his way backwards across the kitchen until he felt the edge of one of the chairs against the back of his legs and carefully sat down with Raleigh straddling his thighs. "This is nice." Again, he didn't bother waiting for an answer, just took Raleigh's mouth with all the hunger he'd been holding back on. The skin of Raleigh's back was like silk beneath his hands, the play of muscle breathtaking as Raleigh squirmed in laughing arousal. At the edge of awareness, the smell of cooking beef teased him, mixed as it was with the smell of aroused omega.
Raleigh grabbed Cas's head between his hands and kissed him back enthusiastically, his thumbs tracing the bones around Cas's eyes, his cheeks, like he wanted to memorize the feel of him. Cas totally understood the urge—he let his hands drift lower on Raleigh's body, down over the curve of waist and back out from under his shirt, to trail over the heavy cotton of the omega's jeans. He was tempted to just grab and squeeze, but he wasn't trying to be funny here, so he let his fingers follow the shape of the enticing muscles beneath them and absorbed the warmth that leeched into his body from Raleigh's.
"Mmph," Raleigh mumbled against his lips, and pushed his hips backwards into Cas's grip. "I have to go check the steak."
"Damn the steaks." Cas tightened his grip, keep Raleigh trapped on his lap. "I like what I've got on my lap better."
"Food, Cas. For energy." And then, startling the hell out of Cas, Raleigh reached down between them and cupped the almost-painful bulge of Cas's cock. "Energy," he said again, as if to emphasize the advantages of a meal. "And I worked hard for this meal, I want you to enjoy it." He slid off Cas's lap, one hand trailing across the rapid rise and fall of Cas's chest until he was too far away to maintain the contact.
Raleigh strolled over to the stove, picking up a fork from the counter and testing the meat for doneness. His movements were slow, almost languorous, and something about the way he held his body locked Cas's eyes on him. "It's almost ready," Raleigh said in a conversational tone, and bent to peer into the oven.
"You have the nicest ass I've ever seen," Cas said in sheer admiration.
That threw Raleigh off balance. He stood up abruptly and spun to stare at Cas, his cheeks red with more than just the heat of the oven.
"Too much too soon?" Cas asked and got up from his chair to wrap an arm around Raleigh's waist. He didn't usually read the room wrong—this was entirely out of character with the omega he knew.
"I, uh. I don't know. Just reminded me weirdly of home. Home home. Before Degan." Raleigh looked away for a moment and pulled himself visibly together. "No big deal."
Damn. I never thought what Nevada Ashes would have been like for an omega. Cas loosened his hold on the Raleigh. "Shit, I've hit a nerve. I'm sorry. I can make it up to you." He smiled and caught Raleigh's chin between the knuckles of his first to fingers. "Would you like me to promise never to say lecherous things about you again?"
Raleigh jerked himself upright and stared at Cas for a moment. Probably trying to figure out if he was joking or not—Cas kind of hoped he wouldn't take him up on the offer. He wanted to be able to say dirty, lecherous things to Raleigh. But more importantly, he wanted Raleigh to feel secure with him. Over time, Cas has come to the conclusion that there hadn't been a lot of security in Raleigh's life.
