Chapter 18 Kiss Kiss
Kiss Kiss
Ondine
Iawake to a little cat attacking my toes from atop the covers.
It’s been two days now since that awful night.
I haven’t seen Shadow. I spent nearly all of yesterday in bed.
Jake brought me meals. Sebastian brought me clothes from the house.
Freddie listened to me play the piano in the late afternoon. I took a bath. Watched movies.
And the men schemed. I don’t know what else to call it. For hours, the suite was filled with beta security officers and the alphas (I hid in my room). Apparently, Man-ho is gone. My guess is he got spooked when they jumped his assassin and fucked his secretary.
Last night, Jake asked me not to leave him.
“Shadow used his alpha voice on you without my permission, so you have every right to claim the last of the money and leave us,” he said. “But I’m asking you to keep it intact. I can’t imagine this being the end.”
It’s not a bad idea to stay with them one more heat. I’d save money on a heat clinic. And I would get to put off making an appointment at one. I haven’t even called to see if I’m banned for life. Or Arnie is trying to find me to press charges.
So, I accepted his request, and then just burrowed in bed another day.
I’ll face my problems when I’m Future Ondine.
She always knows what to do.
Or just has all new problems, making the old ones matter less.
My stomach grumbles, and I toss the covers off, sending Princess flying. She darts away when she safely lands on the rug.
I’m wearing one of Jake’s t-shirts. It’s white and long enough to cover my toosh.
I pad along the floor to the kitchen. There’s some fresh coffee on the cradle and I’d love to be able to drink some.
I look around, and no one is here. I turn on the faucet to the hottest setting and slide over my catnip tea (Sabbies got me tea bags from the restaurant when he picked up my vitamins).
I pour the water into the mug, dunk my cute little pyramid tea bag in, and put the mug in the microwave.
“Microwaved tea? Being an omega must be a nightmare.” Freddie comes up behind me and leans on the counter. I turn and face him.
“We all must make do when there’s no electric kettle.”
His snarky little smile falters. “I’ll get you one today.”
I laugh. “It’s fine, Freddie. Maybe you’ll find your man today, murder him, and we will all be out of here.”
I know I say it casually, but the whole thing is so perverse.
“You hate that I’m going to kill him.”
His tone is weird. Like he’s being vulnerable.
“I don’t know all the details, so I can’t judge.”
“Tell me.”
I sigh. “You told me there’s a school of boys being abused. If killing Man-ho saves them, then I understand.”
His mouth parts. I don’t think he expected me to say that.
“Oh, princess, you truly amaze me.”
The microwave dings, and I take my mug out. “Don’t call me the same thing you call your cat.”
“If I would have known you’d be here, I wouldn’t have named her Princess,” Freddie says. What does that mean? Is he teasing me? I make a noise like “I don’t know what that means.”
I add some sugar and half and half to my tea.
“Maybe I’ll rename her. So far, Sabbies calls her ‘Killer’, so maybe that’s a more fitting name.”
I smile at him and sip my tea.
I like it when people call him Sabbies. That’s such a cute nickname.
Freddie pushes off the counter and steps closer to me. I can’t back up anymore, so I just have to stand there as he gets closer. He dips his head and takes a deep breath through his nose.
“You smell different.”
“Do I?” I say softly. Not that there’s any other way for me to say things.
Freddie says, “Yeah, you do. You smell more. At first, it was just vanilla. Then more of a vanilla ice cream. Now you’re like that vanilla ice cream, homemade with too much vanilla bean.”
I take a sip of my tea, tasting the catnip pretty strongly. “That’s very specific, Freddie.”
He grabs my hips, but his hands slide up so he’s got a good grip on my torso, and he pops me up off the ground and onto the counter. I squeak in surprise.
“Now you aren’t so damned short.”
I roll my eyes. He puts his hands on either side of me. “You’re fun to have around.”
I shrug. “You’ve never spent time with an omega. Did you know it would affect you so much?”
He winces. “You aren’t just any omega, Ondine.
You’re you. Sure, yes, the alpha side of me is singing.
But I also like listening to you play piano like a fiend.
Drink your silly tea. Talk to Jake like he’s not a homicidal maniac.
I like hearing you tap your fingers on every surface in some sort of melody.
I like knowing what kind of panties you wear every day. Blue today, princess.”
I’m barely breathing.
Freddie shouldn’t be saying these things. He’s not part of the Meier pack. He’s their client. Shadow’s brother. An unattached, unbonded alpha.
Is this Boone all over again? Will Sabbies come in and see us and then hide me further away?
I think the only reason this has happened with both Boone and Freddie is that they are so close to the Meier Pack. Any other alpha would smell Jake on me and not take the chance. But Jake makes friends. He holds people in confidence.
And my unwavering loyalty (ha!) aside, this is working on me. I like talking with Freddie. I don’t want it to stop. I didn’t feel this connection with Boone. Actually, if I’m being honest with myself, I didn’t like any of my interactions with Boone.
The heat coming off Freddie’s body makes my body relax. I want to curl up into him. I want to kiss the column of his neck. I want his hips pressed into mine. I want him to whisper in my ear all the dirtiest things. I want to interlace our fingers. I want to sit on his face.
I take a sip of my tea.
“You’re ridiculous. Jake will kill you. You were there when his own pack mate misbehaved. What do you think he’d do to you?”
Freddie shrugs and gives me one of his stunning smiles. God, this man. I push my legs together to prevent any undue reactions from my sex.
“I have no plans of challenging Jake. He may be a decade younger than me, but I know the order of things. Jake is a good alpha.”
He’s being genuine.
He’s not teasing me to get back at Jake. He’s just here, teasing me for fun.
“Make me some cereal, please?” I ask before my stomach growls. His smile grows wider. “Anything, princess.”
He leaves me on the counter to get a bowl.
Did I mention he’s shirtless? Not sure I did. Perhaps I wanted to keep that detail out of it. But he is. And it’s my absolute pleasure to get to stare at his body while he performs a little task for me.
“Can I ask you a question?” Freddie asks me.
“Sure.”
“I’m curious about the Heat Clinic. And the alphas they…provide for you.”
“Ah.”
“Was it difficult not to form a connection with them? Considering they helped you with your heat.”
I know he’s talking about the alphas, but I can’t help but think about Arnie. It was really difficult not to form a godawful crush on the beta who helped me.
“No, not really. We all took blood tests to determine biological compatibility. They were on birth control shots. Which dulls their scent. They were working, so that helped. I would choose three or four during my heat spikes to be with me during my heat. I get really groggy and blank out after knotting, so it didn’t really feel like anything at all.
It was just…satisfying a need. They were all trained to say and do the same things, so the experience was nearly identical between them. ”
“So it was different with the Meier Pack.”
“That’s a personal question,” I say, but he’s got me thinking. They’d never knotted an omega. They were clumsy and unsure. Excited and inexperienced. And entirely more. More satisfying, even if it could have been better.
It was different with the Meier pack.
Freddie watches me eat my breakfast and cleans up after me. He helps me off the counter, and I leave him with his semi-hard on to go spend the rest of the day in my room.
But what he asked kept with me. I’d never once felt a connection with my previous partners. But just seeing Jake on that train was more powerful than knotting with a Heat Clinic alpha. And being near Freddie? It’s more than a crush.
***
Sebastian
I walk into our house on the peninsula, and it’s empty like a shell. It’s colder than it should be. It’s lost a lot of its smells. Jake asked me to check on Shadow’s progress with the nest. But this place looks abandoned. Or maybe I am just being dramatic.
Probably. The only time I feel at home lately is with my omega. With Ondine.
I walk through the house, and my footsteps echo.
This house has three levels. The main level is where the kitchen, laundry, mud room, piano room, and tv room are.
The stairs take me up to the second level with all the bedrooms. Four bedrooms. I stop in front of Ondine’s room.
It’s pretty bare except for some storage stuff from the three of us and the leftovers from her sad little nest.
The next set of stairs is at the other end of the house.
Next to Jake’s room. They take you up to the lookout.
That’s my best guess for Ondine’s new nest. I honestly think this house was designed for it.
The windows are high up, and there are built-in benches.
There are skylights. I close the door behind me, and the rest of the house is completely cut off.
Shadow tried. I can say that. There is a nice platform bed.
It’s round. It has a single blue sheet on it.
There are shopping bags piled on the side with, hopefully, the rest of Ondine’s nesting materials.
She’s going to need window coverings. An air filter and ceiling fan.
A mini fridge would be good too. But after one day, it’s not, not bad.
At least all our storage has been moved out.
He’s trying.