Chapter Twenty-Seven
Kari
He ignored his pinging phone, sitting on the table next to his elbow, when he realized it was just the alphahole chat. Kodi had assured him that neither Laken nor Jupiter had thought anything about his reaction—overreaction?—to Rex’s assault on Bowie.
How is it an overreaction? You should have let me rip his hands off.
Kari couldn’t disagree when it was what he’d wanted to do after seeing at the hospital exactly what injuries Bowie had sustained.
The police had detained Rex after they’d gotten the report from the doctor and seen the camera footage.
They could clearly see Rex’s attempt to choke the life out of their boy.
It had taken considerable control to watch the footage and contain his wolf.
The ranting and threats the man couldn’t seem to stop throwing at everyone added weight to their cause to stop his release, pending further investigation.
As far as Kari was concerned, they should throw the damn key away now that he was locked up.
Kari pinched the bridge of his nose to stem the tension headache that came every time he thought about getting to Bowie too late.
It didn’t help when he had known Rex was a loose cannon and stupidly sent Bowie outside alone, leaving him vulnerable to attack.
The only upside to all this was that he’d finally confessed how he truly felt and since then, Bowie wandered around wearing this bemused smile and a dreamy eyed look that, if he hadn’t already fallen head over heels for the guy, would have made him a lost cause to the love that swamped him.
The freedom of the confession came with something far more pressing—the desire to take things further.
Except Kari had a wake-up call of another kind at the hospital.
The police had asked some pretty invasive questions about Bowie’s relationship with Rex.
What Kari had learned was that they’d never been intimate with each other—yay for that.
Only it brought with it more questions than answers as to the reasons why.
Yes, Bowie came across as shy and innocent, that was who he was.
Kari now suspected it was more than that and that Bowie hadn’t been intimate with anyone.
This drove Kari to hold back on his desire to move things along, when Bowie could be—most definitely—inexperienced.
Kari was a passionate man. An all-or-nothing kind of guy. It could be too much. But would it be too much for Bowie?
Why don’t you just ask him? You’re the one always going on about talking.
What if I scare him off after everything he’s been through?
He saw us attack a man, and he pounced on us afterward. We are way past believing we scare him. We don’t.
His animal had little patience with him right then and went off to sulk when Kari remained uncertain. And okay, he couldn’t argue with his wolf’s logic. He was deflecting because he was scared.
Instead of digging into his own psyche, he pretended to focus on the email he’d opened minutes ago in another attempt to work on the backlog that was growing daily.
Except his attention drifted to Bowie, napping on the couch.
The nightmares Bowie suffered from had lessened in frequency.
Kari still encouraged him to have a daytime nap when he got a sleepy-eyed look mid-afternoon.
His gaze lingered on the flushed cheeks, and the fan of inky eyelashes highlighting the golden skin. The projection of vulnerability gave Kari a solid thump to his chest. He could spend hours just staring at Bowie when he was sleeping—which was exactly why he was so far behind with his work.
The lump at the back of Bowie’s head wasn’t as big, and the bruising on his ass and elbows was paler.
It was now a greenish color rather than the awful purplish black it had been.
Each time he helped Bowie shower, something he’d insisted on doing to check that he was healing, the proximity left Kari with a sizable erection.
And though he wore pants—ones he’d purchased to contain his cock—it didn’t conceal his reaction.
He never acted on it, regardless of how Bowie’s gaze lingered on him.
Most days, he was usually semi hard before they stepped into the shower.
It was torture, but Bowie’s needs always came first.
Automatically, he reached for his phone on the first ring. Pausing to make sure Bowie didn’t stir, he stood and strode out of the room, accepting the call while shutting the bedroom door behind him.
“Where are you?” barked Booker loudly, making his ear ring. “You aren’t answering in the group chat.”
Kari rolled his eyes skyward, taking the phone from his ear and switching to speakerphone while going into the group chat to see what he’d missed.
“I don’t live with my phone in my hand when I’m busy, Booker.” He skimmed through the messages, cursing internally at Booker’s comments, grateful that neither Laken nor Jupiter had mentioned what had happened.
“You can’t be that busy or you’d be in the office,” he fired back, grumpily.
“Some of us can work from anywhere. What is it you need from me?” Kari sat on the edge of the bed he used, re-reading the group chat when something caught his attention.
He’d gotten distracted and hadn’t gone back to why Bowie hadn’t had a heat.
Knowing that Rex and Bowie weren’t sexually active raised more questions.
Did Bowie use heat blockers? And if he did, why if he wasn’t having sex?
Or was he in a heat club? Kari shut that thought down, hating the idea of some unknown alpha touching Bowie.
“—the file is missing the information.”
“What?” he asked, confused from not paying attention.
“You so busy you can’t even bother to listen to me, too?”
The snap in Booker’s voice had Kari shaking off his thoughts and focusing. “Sorry, say that again.”
There was a pause. “Is there something wrong, Kari? This ain’t you.”
He glanced out the window, not seeing the view beyond at hearing his brother’s concern.
“I’ve had a lot on my plate. Bowie got assaulted by an ex, so I’ve been hanging with him because he was scared.
I haven’t made a big deal of it because he doesn’t want that.
” He went with a partial truth, not wanting to hurt his brother with lies.
“Who is the scumbag?”
Kari couldn’t help but feel a wealth of affection at the menace in Booker’s tone. His brother was all about supporting family. His own had disowned him when he had defended and saved Silas. The man’s integrity was ingrained deeply in his soul.
“It doesn’t matter now, it’s being dealt with. Dad has gotten his lawyers on the case to ensure the scumbag never gets out of jail.”
“Good. That’s good.”
“Go on, what do you need from me?”
After the call with Booker and sending him what he needed, Kari had gone into the heat calendar. What he’d found left him unsettled when the man currently pushing veggies around the plate like they’d magically disappear, had made no mention his heat was due to start in three days’ time.
Bowie glanced at his plate, sighing heavily. “Do I have to eat these?” He poked at the sprout that Kari had a love of like it could spring up and bite him.
No matter what was going on in Kari’s gut at the lack of answers, he chuckled at Bowie’s obvious dislike. “Do you want dessert?”
Bowie’s nose wrinkled, and he stabbed at the offending veggie to pop it into his mouth.
Two chews and his throat worked to swallow the sprout, before he reached for his glass of juice and drank deep.
The next sigh held a heap of gloom when he looked at the two remaining sprouts on his plate, placing his glass down with no enthusiasm.
Kari just couldn’t deal, so stabbed at one and ate it, getting rewarded with the cutest smile. “Thank you, Daddy.”
“You’re welcome, now eat the last one, please.”
Bowie blew out a breath, stabbed his fork in it and this time didn’t bother to chew, just swallowed it whole, coughing and wincing, eyes watering as he brought up his glass to drain the remaining juice.
“All gone,” he said, once the glass was back on the table, looking mightily pleased with himself.
Kari rose, took their empty plates to the sink and grabbed the pastry box he’d had delivered from the bakery on the corner with Bowie’s favorite cupcakes. Placing them on the table, he opened the box to get a delightful squeal and a bouncing boy at seeing what was inside.
Offering the box so Bowie could pick, Kari considered how to start the conversation he’d wanted to have since discovering Bowie’s heat was due. “I had a conversation earlier with Booker, who brought up the heat calendar.”
Bowie visibly paled, and the red velvet cupcake he held plopped onto the table unnoticed, wide, surprised eyes darting to him. “Heat calendar?”
“Yes. I was interested enough to check it when something struck me.” His head tilted as his brows arched. “Do you have something to talk to me about?”
Kari held Bowie’s gaze and shook his head when Bowie went to look away. “Is it that difficult to talk to me?” he asked, unable to keep the hurt out of his voice when he thought they were past that stage.
“It’s not you. I… never… haven’t… not had a heat with anyone.” He looked relieved to have gotten the words out.
Kari wasn’t sure exactly what he was talking about. “You don’t use an omega club for your heat?” he questioned cautiously.
Bowie shook his head, his lower lip poking out.
“You usually do it alone with toys?” Kari surmised.
The color was back, only Bowie looked like he had been under a heat lamp, his eyes jumping all over the place. “No.”
Kari wore a frown, scratching the side of his jaw. “If you aren’t using a heat club or toys alone, what do you do instead?"
Bowie slumped, giving Kari a view of the top of his head.
“Hide,” came the mumbled response.
“Hide?” he questioned, getting a horrible sinking feeling in his stomach and an ache in his chest.
Bowie nodded, not looking up.
Christ, had he ever had anyone touch him during his heat? “Ever?” Kari gently clarified.
Another nod. This one barely moved his hair that had flopped over his face.
Kari was as tense as Bowie, and though his mind was racing with questions, he did what they both needed. “Can Daddy have a cuddle?”
Up and scurrying around the table, Kari had but a second to push back his seat to make room for Bowie to slide onto his lap.
The relief that he hadn’t fucked things up was immediate for Kari.
He cuddled Bowie, resting his chin on top of his head.
Kari needed to keep going to understand Bowie’s reasons if he didn’t want to create an issue when Bowie went into his heat, despite hating that he had to ask why.
For Kari, it was paramount that he didn’t go into a rut, and with how often Kari had held himself back, it was highly likely if he was anywhere near Bowie during this time.
“Can you explain to Daddy what normally happens when you have a heat?”
Rubbing circles over the tense muscles of Bowie’s back, Kari got comfortable. Silence descended between them and Kari chose not to push, waiting until Bowie was ready to discuss it on his terms. Time ticked by, and Bowie melted into his touch.
Not much later, he made a sniffling noise and pressed his face into Kari’s neck, something he did when he was embarrassed about what he was going to talk about.
“I was living alone when I got my first heat. No one ever explained what would happen or what I should do, and I had no one to ask.”
Fuck, it hurt. Kari felt the ache at the back of his eyes at what that meant.
He knew some of Bowie’s backstory, about being fostered, but he knew nothing about Bowie’s biological family.
The conversation he’d had with Frey had more to do with adoptive parents.
All this left Kari blind to the pitfalls.
“I hide in the bathroom and wait until the hurting stops.”
He what!
Kari exhaled in a hiss of distress, clinging a little tighter to Bowie, working to hold back his tears. “How long does it last, Babycakes?”
“Twelve to eighteen hours,” was the whimpered response.
Kari had to wait until he had himself back in control before responding. “What do you want Daddy to do this time?”
Because Kari now knew Bowie had never been touched sexually, that made a world of difference to what would happen between them. Bowie had to be the one to direct Kari.
When he finally peeked up at him, Kari shivered under the onslaught of emotions.
“Will you help make the hurt go away?”
Gods, did he really know what he was asking?
“You want me to touch you?” Kari asked, to be clear.
“Yes.” Bowie pressed his hot cheek into Kari’s throat. “But you should know, I have never done this before. You know, like, ever… with anyone.”
“I know, Babycakes.” Kari ran a hand down to Bowie’s delectable ass and stoked over the firm buttocks. “Do you want me to touch you naked, so you know what to expect?”
The conversation was hard when it left him dry mouthed for more than one reason. He wanted to touch more than his next breath, but the knowledge Bowie was a virgin made this tricky because Kari had never been in a position of wanting someone this much.
Hot puffs of air hit his skin as Bowie squirmed on his lap. “Yes.”
It was barely audible, but Kari felt the impact right through his body. His heart racing, he took a steadying breath to keep his own needs on lockdown.
Not about us.
Not about us.
Not about us.
When he had control, Kari went with the familiar. “Then let’s start with a shower, with Daddy naked.”