Page 141 of Omega's Heart
“Cousins,” Violetta volunteered and offered her scent to Felix in return. “I’ve been so looking forward to meeting you.” She giggled and cast a flirtatious glance at her mate. “I hear it was love at first sight?”
Felix chuckled and dropped a quick kiss on Kaden’s cheek. “Not exactly, but close.”
She laughed and came forward to take Felix’s free arm. “Let’s get you settled in, then we can have lunch. I want to hear all about it.”
Kaden found himself trailing along in the wake of his mate, sharing a slightly wary smile with the Alpha while Violetta filled the space with bright chatter.
C H A P T E R 7 7
T hank the Lady she’s finally gone. I closed the door behind Violetta and started to lock it with the hook at the top, then changed my mind. It would be poor manners.
“Are you afraid she’s going to come bursting back in?” Kaden asked, amused.
“I think so.” I borrowed from my wolf to listen to her footsteps as she went down the stairs and met up with the Alpha at the far end of the house. A door closed between us and then I couldn’t really hear enough to make it worth while to tire myself out.
Besides, I’d caught a whiff of something from Kaden earlier that made me think my brave alpha needed a little reassurance.
Admittedly, it had been kind of rude, the way the Alpha had looked me over in the doorway. Now that I was mated and off the market, that kind of…checking the value of the stock…should have come to an end. So no wonder Kaden smelled like he was bristling inside.
I snuck up behind my mate while he hung one of his suits in the closet and wrapped my arms around him. “Can I have an orange tree?” I asked plaintively. “They smell so good.”
“I don’t know how well they’d do in Tennessee, but maybe if you kept it in the house,” he said, and I heard the smile creep back into this voice.
“See? I keep telling people I mated the best alpha.” I gave him a loud, smacking kiss on the ear and let go while he laughed. “Are there enough hangers in there?”
“We’re well-stocked,” he said and handed a few out.
I took the jacket of my traveling suit off while I put everything that needed to be hung on the hangers, and waited for the last of the irritation to fade from Kaden’s scent. When I heard him start to hum—something he only rarely did—I brought my clothing over for him to hang on the closet rod for me, and made my opening sally.
“Holland did a good job with the clothes, didn’t he?” I said, brushing my hand down the sleeve of a dark gray wool with a price tag that had made my eyes pop out of my head when Holland had shown it to me.
“They look good on you. You should dress up more.”
I made a face. “I like my jeans and t-shirts. Besides, imagine Hunter’s effect on these poor suits.”
Kaden made a face and nodded. “Just means I have to take you out more.”
And there was that tension, back again.
I closed the closet door and leaned against it. “You know the best thing that’s happened to me so far?” I said as if I was thinking out loud. “I mean, other than the orange trees.”
He snorted a laugh and closed the space between us. “You’re obsessed with orange trees,” he said and leaned in for a kiss.
“I’ve never smelled anything like that before.”
“I will find you an orange tree, my word as alpha,” he promised me solemnly, with that wicked glint in his eye that I so loved.
“Thank you, favorite mate,” I replied. If he could tease, so could I.
His eyes lit up. “Better be.” His hands stole around my waist. “What’s this thing that’s better than orange trees?”
I bit back a laugh. “It’s pretty shallow of me, I know, but I liked that the Alpha was jealous of you.”
Kaden froze and his fingers tightened on my hips. “Jealous?”
I nodded and draped my arms around his neck. “Definitely. You didn’t smell it? I wonder what kinds of rumors have been flying back here since we got mated?” I smiled dreamily and then hugged him. “Yeah, he looked at me and I think he must have seen what you see when you look at me. I really like this suit—it’s magic.”
“It’s not the suit,” Kaden said, but he sounded distracted, his eyebrows pulled down into a ferocious frown.
