Chapter 4
4
T he upstairs apartment was just as Bracken remembered.
Well, of course it was.
It had only been four months, not four years.
The front door opened directly into a large living room that had the same masculine energy as the bar downstairs, with its dark wood furniture and warm lighting.
Tanner pointed out the open doorway leading to what seemed to be a small kitchen on the other side, then steered Bracken down the hallway to the bedrooms.
And then Tanner walked right past the door Bracken presumed led to the guest bedroom, and straight to the one Bracken knew for a fact led to Tanner’s.
Bracken had memories behind that door.
Incredibly indecent memories.
(“You’re so fucking beautiful. I want you on your back this time. I want to see every inch of you while I fuck you. Want to see how well you take my cock.”)
Don’t think about it.
Do not.
Bracken stopped Tanner before he could open the door.
“This is your bedroom.”
“Yes.”
Bracken set his hands on his hips.
“I was promised my own room. What exactly are you trying to pull here?”
“Nothing.” At whatever look was on Bracken’s face, Tanner’s lips twitched, like he was fighting back a smile.
“I’m not going to take advantage, I promise. I won’t touch you again without your permission. But my bedroom has the adjoining bathroom. I thought you’d prefer it. I’ll take the other.”
Bracken’s ire deflated faster than he could hold on to it.
“You’re letting me kick you out of your room?”
Tanner shrugged.
“I’m letting you do some rearranging. It’s just a room. I’m not attached.” He opened the door, gesturing inside.
“Have a little rest. I’ll be back with some new sheets and a few other things.”
And then he had the audacity to walk away.
With a flannel shirt that wasn’t quite long enough in the back to hide how his dark denim clung to his muscled ass.
He was out the front door before Bracken could think of the proper obscenities to yell after him, so Bracken slipped into the familiar bedroom.
He took a seat on the bed, grabbing one of Tanner’s pillows and hugging it against his belly.
It smelled like the human—warm and manly—and that was nice.
But the rest was…
wrong.
All wrong.
Bracken’s bedroom back home had been beautiful.
He’d painted it a light yellow—bright and lovely—and there’d been greenery everywhere.
Creeping vines and potted flowers on every surface.
Colorful silks had draped the walls, with plentiful cushions on the bed and the floor for lounging.
Tanner’s bedroom was like the rest of his property: simple and rugged and foreign to Bracken’s senses.
Dark wooden bed.
Dark wooden wardrobe.
Dark-blue sheets and a dark-blue quilt.
White walls and not a plant in sight.
For the first time, Bracken missed his home.
He hadn’t minded so much in the immediate aftermath.
If anything, he’d been happy to have his betrothal fall apart.
Bracken had abhorred Court.
He wasn’t built for it, too thin-skinned by half.
He was quick to anger and easily incensed by the smallest things, which was a complete faux pas for the straitlaced fae.
And then Bracken would get embarrassed by his emotional blunders, which was even worse, because it made him defensive and snippy in all the wrong ways.
He’d been glad to be done with it.
And done with Oberley, his betrothed, who was cold and horrid and had delighted in parading his multitude of gorgeous, stone-faced paramours past Bracken at every occasion.
But Bracken’s relief didn’t make it any less frightening to be with child so unexpectedly.
A half-human child, at that.
And it didn’t make it any less frightening to be dependent on another person, a man Bracken barely knew.
The attraction was still there; that was clear enough.
The one that had driven Bracken to madness.
Driven him to come back to a bar he’d only meant to stop into to use the bathroom.
Driven him to return three nights in a row.
Driven him to proposition a strange barkeep, one who treated each guest with the same gracious charm, no matter their species or appearance or attitude.
Bracken’s body clearly didn’t know what was best for it, if it was still feeling this—this urge .
Tanner’s palm on Bracken’s stomach tonight had been hot as a brand, and the urge to lean into it had been so strong that Bracken had jumped away.
It had been so long since he’d been touched by someone.
Someone who’d just up and left him here .
Alone.
With his thoughts.
Bracken inhaled big huffs of the human’s pillow and plotted the man’s murder.
He’d worked himself into quite a tizzy by the time the front door opened again, close to an hour after Tanner had left.
The sound of boots tromping thundered down the hall—did humans not know how to walk with any grace?
—and then Tanner was at the open bedroom door, panting like he’d run up the stairs.
Bracken opened his mouth to chew the human’s head right off his body.
Then he saw what Tanner held in one hand.
“Is that an…orchid?”
Tanner glanced down at the delicate purple plant, as if he himself was surprised by what he was carrying.
“Oh. Yes. I thought— Well, fae like to be surrounded by plants, right?”
For the first time, Tanner sounded uncertain.
Bracken had only seen him sure and confident.
Even with the shock of a surprise pregnancy, Tanner hadn’t faltered.
Tanner cleared his throat, lifting the orchid.
“This was what I could find on such short notice. But I always close the bar on Mondays—I figured we could go to the nursery together and you could pick out more.” He raised the overflowing bag he was carrying in his other hand.
“This was also the best I could do, but there are some pretty fabrics that might be more to your taste than what I had on hand. And some soft blankets. I wasn’t sure—do omegas nest during pregnancy?”
Bracken swallowed through a thick throat.
It took him a moment to speak.
“Toward the end, yes. Before the…arrival.”
“Oh, well…” Tanner shrugged.
“They can stay in the closet until then. And I can also paint on Monday, if you like. If you want something other than white walls.”
Bracken stared at the orchid.
It was so pretty with its delicate little petals.
And he could see hints of the fabrics contained within the bag.
Silks, he was pretty sure.
Yellow and purple and light green.
Well, this was…
This was…
Bracken burst into tears.
Huge, ugly, heaving sobs that he couldn’t hold back for an instant longer.
He ducked his head and pressed it into the pillow he held, trying to hide his face.
The mattress dipped.
Tanner, coming to sit beside him.
“Hey,” Tanner soothed.
“Hey, now. Sh, sh, sh.”
And at any other time, Bracken might have chastised the man for treating him like a twitchy horse in the stables, but he couldn’t summon the words at the moment.
He was too busy crying like there was no tomorrow.
Tanner was next to Bracken, but he wasn’t touching him.
He’d said he wouldn’t touch Bracken without Bracken’s express permission.
The thought only made Bracken cry harder.
Eventually he managed to croak out, “You’re awful.”
Tanner let out a short, deep laugh.
“I am, aren’t I?”
Bracken lifted his head.
He must have looked a fright—he could feel how swollen his eyes and nose were, and tears were still streaming down his face.
Another fae would have been disgusted, but Tanner was the picture of concern.
Bracken sniffed loudly.
“ Well ? I need a hug.”
“Oh.” Tanner’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Of course.”
And then a warm, broad arm was around Bracken’s shoulders, tucking him into an equally warm and broad chest.
Oh gods, that was so much better than the stupid pillow.
Tanner might not have had any alpha pheromones, but he still smelled good and right and perfect.
Bracken let himself fall into the comfort and sobbed out the rest of his worries.
His tears eventually subsided into hiccuping sniffles, and he lifted his head to glare at Tanner.
“Pregnant omegas are comforted by the touch of the father,” he said firmly.
“So you can do away with that ‘not unless you ask’ nonsense right this moment.”
“All right.” Tanner immediately tugged Bracken even further into his big body.
At least he was a relatively quick learner.
There was a light touch to Bracken’s head.
Had Tanner just sniffed his hair?
Presumably so because the man’s next comment was, “Your scent has changed. Your pheromones, right?” It seemed like Tanner had done some research while he was away.
“They were…spicier before.”
“I was aroused before,” Bracken snapped, embarrassment making him irritable.
“Ah.”
Tanner very wisely stayed silent after that.
Eventually Bracken grew tired of sitting in the same slumped position.
But he wasn’t ready to lose the contact yet either.
“My feet hurt,” he announced, drawing away from Tanner’s hold.
“Do they?”
“I’m pregnant, aren’t I?”
Although, it wasn’t as if Bracken had all that much extra weight to carry yet.
But he’d circled the bar quite a few times before he’d mustered the courage to enter, so it wasn’t a lie either.
His feet really were sore.
Tanner was giving him an unreadable look, and he seemed to be fighting a smile again.
“Shall I give you a foot massage?”
“Yes. You shall.”
A few minutes later, Bracken found himself leaning against some surprisingly tolerable cushions Tanner had dug out from his closet.
He rifled through the new silks and blankets, setting aside his favorites, while Tanner’s strong, calloused hands worked the last aches and tensions out of Bracken’s lower limbs.
Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing, staying here.