29. Melanie
Melanie
H e kept hold of my hand as he dragged me through the house.
“Kai!” I cried out as he whipped around another corner into a corridor that was wider than my nest.
Everything was so huge and dripping with money. Even the simple white hallways had a smell I recognised from Knottinghill Spa.
He was running too fast. And I couldn’t tell if it was to or from something.
But the house was rushing by and I didn’t have a chance to stop and look at the place they called home.
“Kai, I can’t keep up!”
Though I was happy to go wherever Kai wanted, because my pussy throbbed so much that it was only my tight shorts that stopped me from knocking Kai down and mounting him on the Persian carpet.
He slammed to a halt, spinning around to face me. “Are you sure? Because we can take a breather.”
“Yes,” I gasped, my heart thumping loud in my ears. “Let’s slow down.”
“Okay, you asked for it.” He shrugged.
Before I could say another word, he pulled me into his arms, descending onto my lips, moulding his body against mine as his perfume bloomed around me.
He moaned instantly, his fingers digging into my shoulders as he held me close and deepened our kiss.
I was already high from their scents, and my body was still needy despite how hard I’d come, so I surrendered.
I grabbed the lapels of his frilly shirt, pulling him back against the wall so he could fuck me against it, but he broke the kiss.
“We’ve got to hurry,” he groaned. “I can’t fucking deal with how much I want to fuck you right now.”
“So, I guess you aren’t giving me a tour of the house?” I said with a smirk.
A growl rumbled from him as he playfully tugged at my lip, traces of pain promising another bite. “Do you want to see my fucking nest or not? Because I can fuck you here, but I wanted the first time I made you come in our pack house to be somewhere special.”
My breath caught in the back of my throat as I blinked up at him.
He glared at me, asking me to challenge him, but there was no way I could stop him.
My heart swelled, all my words lost as a gentleness I’d never felt before swept over me.
As it enveloped us, Kai’s eyes widened. “Don’t look at me like that. I can’t deal with it.”
“Like what?” I asked breathlessly.
He pressed the softest kiss against my lips, his expression so serious that the words he might say next could change everything for us.
I couldn’t tell whose emotion was whose. My tenderness, his softness, my ache, his pain.
I couldn’t hear the words. Not yet. Not so soon.
“Follow me,” Kai murmured, releasing the hug so he could grip my hand and lead us on.
I clung to him as he guided me through even more corridors and up flights of stairs until he finally stopped.
We stood underneath a stepladder that disappeared into a loft space above us, and it hit home that he really was going to show me his nest.
Even though my nest was precious to me, I had become used to letting people in and out because I had never really owned it. It was mine in every way except the one which mattered the most. And I’d lost it so suddenly that I didn’t know if I was ready to see another nest yet.
Kai had laid so much hate on me when we met that, even when he spoke about his nest on his TV show, I never thought it would be somewhere I’d ever enter. I thought the resentment he held for me would last forever. Even though there hadn’t been an echo of it today.
“Are you… Are you really letting me into your nest?” I said, glancing up at the ladder.
“Are you mad?” he said so loudly, I jumped. Disappointment struck me. But the second shame stole over me, he quickly wiped it away. “You’re my omega. Of course you’re coming into my fucking nest. Now, get moving. I’m gonna savour your ass as you’re climbing up there.”
From what I knew about nest etiquette, an omega letting someone enter their nest before them was the biggest sign of trust there was.
I swallowed my nerves as I grabbed hold of the bars, climbing the wooden rungs one by one.
Kai might have spoken about his nest, but I couldn’t imagine what it looked like except for the time Zania mentioned she’d entered it. And something told me that Kai hadn’t given her permission, either.
I was so intensely aware of how short my shorts were, especially when Kai hissed from below.
“Fucking hell,” he swore as I reached the halfway point.
I froze on the ladder, my gaze dropping, self-consciousness bursting in me even though desire bloomed from him.
I forgot my shorts were also drenched in slick from being turned on for hours.
“Brandy, get up the ladder now or I’m going to have to drag you back here to have my wicked way with you.” He smirked, running his tongue over his lips.
Happiness bubbled up inside me as I raced up the last of the ladder. Just knowing he wanted me made me feel lighter.
As soon as I reached the top rung, I was bathed in amaretto.
My heart caught in my throat as I climbed into the room. Bright light drenched me from the huge floor-to-ceiling windows in front of me, creating a tunnel effect.
Dust glittered in the air like millions of stars scattered throughout his room, swirling around me as I breathed a sigh, and colour spun from every single inch of the wall.
It was loud, overflowing with fabrics and art supplies and half-finished paintings and stands with dresses loosely stitched together.
The wall behind the giant bed was a painted blackboard, covered in chalk drawings and huge paragraphs of tiny writing all around the headboard. As if he would wake up in the middle of the night and write down his thoughts and dreams.
“Are you moving, or what?” he said, a kiss on my calf making me jump.
“S-Sorry,” I gasped as I stepped away from the trapdoor.
I shouldn’t have turned away from him, but there was so much of the room I wanted to explore.
It was his nest, and I didn’t want to do anything to make him uncomfortable, but I wasn’t used to feeling so giddy.
The light was so bright I couldn’t see the scene beyond the window, but I didn’t care as Kai rose up from the floor. The sun graced his dark hair, sparkling in his amber eyes, highlighting every delicate line of his face, and stealing any breath I still had left.
“Pretty cool, eh?” he said, propping his hands on his hips as he openly beamed.
But I couldn’t look at anything else when he shined so beautifully in front of me.
He sighed, cupping my cheek as his thumb swept across my bottom lip.
“It’s fucking weird how long I’ve wanted to show you this. Like you were always meant to be here, you know?”
I nuzzled into his palm, his softness flowing into me as I returned his smile. “I’m so grateful you came,” I sighed.
“Even with all of Cas’s bullshit?”
I chuckled as I nodded, and he relaxed a fraction more.
“Good, I’m glad he hasn’t scared you off.” He stroked my jaw fondly with his thumb before dropping his hand. “Feel free to take a look around,” he said before stepping away from me, twisting to look at it himself.
His back was to me, and I was entranced by his silhouette in front of the huge window.
It’d been so hard to find the energy to paint since I presented. All I’d done was worried about what was coming next, and what other way my life could get worse.
But seeing Kai standing so proudly in his nest made me want to capture the moment in full detail.
I blinked quickly, bringing myself back into the room so I could fully appreciate his nest like he wanted me to. I slowly turned away from the light he bathed in.
My heart tremored at the sight of his easels and canvases, of the table stacked with paint and brushes on one side of the room. At the models, the rolls of fabric, the masses of sketchbooks covering every surface of the other.
But my eyes travelled back to his bed. The midnight blue sheets and gold frame drenched in their three scents.
It was so strong I wished I could curl up in it straight away.
My omega instincts were telling me to snuggle up and arrange the sheets to create a perfect space for us, but I couldn’t touch it.
I couldn’t even move without his permission.
Even being here was such a gift. And it made packing up my nest ache even more, because he had everything, and I kept losing what little I could hold onto.
Kai cleared his throat, and I turned back to him. I was too mesmerised by him to speak.
The silence which stretched out between us grew thick with awkwardness. I didn’t know what else I could say apart from thank you.
I wanted to leap on him and drag him to the bed, and fuck him however he wanted, but that was just my body talking. He could just be in a good mood and I might never get to see his nest again after this.
He cleared his throat again. “So, yeah, like, it’s a pretty big space.
” He peeked at me from the corner of one eye.
“I mean, I know there’s a lot of stuff….
” As soon as I met his look, his gaze instantly darted away, pink dusting his cheeks.
“So, er, you know. If you just happened to bring a box or two or something, there’s some space in that dingy corner over there. ”
He pointed towards a wide area next to the window bigger than my bedroom that looked so clean it could be brand new. I was sure it had fresh paint from the sheen on the white walls.
“Or whatever. It’s up to you,” he said, half turning away from me, hiding from me.
I froze, my eyes wide as I stared at the spot in a daze. The feelings were rushing through me as they burst out of me with a laugh.
“Kai!” I gasped as I let go of my inhibitions and flung my arms around him, hugging him as tightly as I could.
I buried my face in his chest as I squeezed him, rubbing my nose against his bare breastbone through his blouse.
“Thank you,” I rasped. I didn’t even know if he could hear me.
I didn’t want to cry. I’d cried so much since I presented that I didn’t know if I had any tears left, but I trembled as the corners of my eyes stung.
He stilled under me, all his muscles stiff, and I thought I’d ruined it. We might have fucked a few times, and cried in each other’s arms, but that wasn’t in his nest.
The tension lasted barely a second as he softened, gathering me up. I sighed happily as his arms swept over my shoulders, his hands landing on my lower back.
“Yeah, too fucking right. I’m not letting my omega stay in some shitty room at the end of the house,” he rumbled, pressing a kiss against my neck.
Which only made me hug him even harder.
I’d struggled so much just to be heard by anyone, for someone to notice what I needed, what I wanted. And I’d been accepted by Kai so quickly that I hoped to make the most of it in case it was stolen all away.
“Anyway, whatever. It’s up to you,” he said as he shrugged, even though I could feel his desire through the bond.
“If you want another room in the house, that’s fine too,” he said with less enthusiasm.
“But I’ve got something else to introduce you to before you explore the rest of the house,” he said, stealing a kiss from my lips.
. “And, trust me, you’re gonna love it.” He smirked as he dragged me straight towards the bed.