Page 113 of Omega's Flight
"Let me think about that?" Raleigh asked, his voice gone timid like he hadn't been since he'd arrived back at Midwinter.
"Damn me to the Barrens," Cas cursed himself. "Some day, will you tell me about Nevada Ashes? I don't know anyone who's ever been there."
"Well, no, you wouldn't," Raleigh said and turned back to the stove, his shoulders slightly hunched.
"What does that mean?" Cas judged it safer not to try to touch Raleigh, so he leaned against the counter beside the stove and shoved his hands in his pockets so he wouldn't try to reach for him. Not until he thought Raleigh was ready for that again.
Raleigh laughed, but it was a bitter sound. "Mercy Hills has been rich for at least two generations, maybe three. You're even richer than Salma Wood and Jordan Bay now."
"So? I'm glad we are. I want you to have things. You don't want to show off to your family, send presents home for Midwinter?"
"Oh, I do, I do." Raleigh turned off the burner with a snap of his wrist and dropped the fork onto the stove next to the frying pan to turn to face Cas. "I'm sorry. I'm jealous. Not of the credits. Just..." He sighed and reached out for Cas.
Cas opened his arms and cradled Raleigh against his chest, resting his cheek against the top of the omega's head as if he could envelope him completely. His heart swelled with happiness, because Raleigh had come to him for comfort, like he trusted Cas to protect him. "You want to just talk tonight?"
"Yes. No." Raleigh shook his head and seemed to burrow even further into Cas's embrace. "I should try to explain."
"It doesn't have to be tonight. Take some time to think about it." Not that Cas wasn't burning with curiosity to know what it was that was eating at Raleigh, but it sounded like something with a 'heavy emotional weight', as they used to describe things in law school. It might be better for a day or two of simmering before it was brought out into the open.
Except Raleigh wasn't having any of that. "No, I... It's stupid. I hadn't thought about it in years." He paused for a moment, his fingers scraping back and forth against Cas's chest, sending comfortable tingles over Cas's skin with each brush of fingertip against the cloth of his shirt. "I never worked in the public houses, you know. I didn't want to, though some of us did. And some of us just ended up there because there wasn't much else to do. And it was easy work and paid well and the pack needed that money to come in. But the humans didn't always make the distinction between the packmembers who worked in the public houses and other packmembers just dropping off packages or going to other jobs in the buildings." He shook his head and tipped his head back to peek up at Cas. "I never did grow the thick skin that some of us did. The comments always bothered me." He patted Cas's chest and pushed a little against him until Cas let him go. "I really hadn't thought about it for years, honestly. I know it's different with you. I like that you find me attractive." He moved over to the stove and checked the steaks, turning them in the pan. "Besides, if you weren't saying lecherous things, how would I know that you wanted me to ride you like an unbroken pony?" He cast a mischievous glance over his shoulder in Cas's direction. "We should eat."
"Yes, sir," Cas breathed and rushed to set the plates out, ready for Raleigh to fill them. While Raleigh worked away on the stove, Cas brushed the hair away from the back of Raleigh's neck and trailed kisses over the smooth skin. "And I'll try not to hit you with lecherous comments right out of the blue like that anymore. Until you tell me I can."
Raleigh let out a slow shaky breath and reached up to pat Cas's hand on his shoulder. "Finish your dinner and then you can lech all you want." He turned the burners of the stove off with a series of snaps, then twisted in Cas's grasp to drape his arms around Cas's neck. "Let's eat."
C H A P T E R 8 2
I liked seeing Cas when all the silliness went away. Alphas were never silly in bed, so I thought I'd get to see the more serious side of him again today. He was fascinating and arousing when he put aside the comedian's mask and was the alpha. And at the moment, I dearly wanted an alpha. This one, specifically.
A shiver chased itself over my skin at the thought, and his eyes widened slightly. I watched him scent me with that sensitive organ in the roof of his mouth and smelled the increase in his arousal. Me, I was ready for him to strip off right now and if I hadn't planned a long, agonizing seduction, I would have torn my clothes off on the spot and thrown myself at him. "Come eat," I said, keeping my voice low and private. It only took a moment to dish everything out onto the plates I'd set out, and draw him over to the table. And there, the alpha in him appeared.
He wouldn't let me sit on my own chair. No, I was guided to his lap, sitting astride his thighs like he was the pony I'd jokingly called him. He picked out a piece of carrot, heavy with the glaze I'd covered them with, and held it to my lips. "You need energy too," he murmured and I heard his sharp intake of breath as I opened my mouth to accept the gift, my lips brushing over his fingertips as I took it from him.
Not at all what I had planned, but I liked Cas's take on it. "Let me find you something." He was an alpha, so I sliced a small chunk off his steak and held it up to him. Thank Lysoonka I'd marinated it— the originally rather tough pieces of meat cut easily. Would have been awkward if they hadn't, but maybe someone up there was looking out for wayward omegas at the moment.
Cas did to me what I'd done to him, grazing my fingertips with teeth and lips as he stole the meat from me. The feel of them on my skin seemed to go straight to my groin, bypassing every other part of my body, and I understood then why he'd gasped before. Considering this, I doubted we'd get through the entire meal before I was begging him to throw me onto the table and take me right there. It didn't help that he laughed and reached behind me to pull my hips closer to his.
"If you're going to squirm like that, you might as well be somewhere it's going to do me some good."
My stomach did a queer little jump and twirl when he said that and I stared at him a moment like an idiot. He laughed again and pulled me in for a kiss. "You still hungry?"
I was, but for him. "Come with me," I whispered and stood up to lead him to my bedroom.
Sunshine still streamed in through the glass, painting bright gold squares on the floor and on the wall opposite the head of my bed. I considered the clear glass for a moment, then left it as it was. There was only Ori and Patton who lived near us and they weren't likely to come investigate any noises from my bedroom.
I turned around to find Cas half naked already, his shirt hanging sloppily off the end of the bed. "Your turn," he told me and held out his hands in an obvious offer to help. It was so very Cas of him, so smart and funny.
I went to him and let him take his time in peeling my t-shirt off my body. He was gentle and polite but the sheer hunger of his desire poured off him, raising the hairs all over my body in excitement. I twitched and gasped as his fingers brushed against my skin, and then we were heart to beating heart in the golden evening sunlight.
It was nearly enough to make me break down, this feeling. Too huge to contemplate, but I knew I wanted him in ways that I'd never wanted Degan. New ways that I'd never really thought existed, but it pleased me to feel like this about Cas, for his skin to make me hum with impatience and for the flex of his muscle to make my knees tremble with the desire to lay myself out for his pleasure.
He made a noise deep in his throat and attacked my neck, my ears, my face, rapid-fire kisses that reminded me of the way he talked when he spoke about the law. I tipped my head back to let him play along my jaw and thought about how warm his chest was against mine and how much I wanted to prove all the rumors about loose Nevada Ashes shifters right and simply rub myself all over him until we both lost control. His hands stroked my back, my ribs, the back of my arms and the sensitive skin beneath them and a high whine of frustration spilled from my mouth, like I was still fifteen and experiencing my first heat.
Appalling and embarrassing, but only for a moment, because Cas snarled and bit me on the fleshy part of my chest, hard enough to drag my attention back to him, and his fingers working feverishly at the buttons of my jeans. I'd worn these, with the six buttons down the front instead of a zipper, thinking it would make a sexy prelude to what came after. I cursed myself now.
But I should have remembered that me and the pants were dealing with Cas and Cas brooked no denial from anything he truly wanted. Before I had time to get in the way more than once, he had the fly open and his hands inside, kneading at my hips and the top of my ass.
I wiggled in place until the cloth fell down my legs and shoved at my underwear—new, bought a month ago and saved for this occasion. Cas kissed a line down my chest and knelt to help me pull the rest of my clothes off and toss them aside. "You too," I demanded, but in my eagerness I overbalanced us both onto the bed. Cas bounced off the side and landed on the floor, I hung onto the sheets for a moment before giving in to gravity and following him down.
