7. Daxton
Chapter 7
Daxton
For a minute there, I thought Oscar was okay. He seemed to be taking my confessions in stride, as if everything made perfect sense to him. But now, after sitting with everything for a few minutes, I was pretty sure he was going into shock.
His eyes were glossy, and he was staring off into space as if near comatose. “Oscar?” I held one of his hands between both of mine and frowned at how cold it felt. “How are you doing over there?”
“Fine.” The word came out dull, as if it was instinctual.
“You don’t look so fine, cutie. Maybe we should go lie down for a little while?”
He just stared past me and eventually one shoulder twitched as he shrugged.
Fuck. Did I break this sweet omega with my info dump all in the span of five minutes? I really hoped not. I stood up and tugged him to my side, slipping my arm behind his lower back to support him as we walked back to the bedroom.
I made quick work of getting my street clothes off, but I kept my boxers on and then slipped into bed beside him. “I know this is a lot to take in.” I spoke softly so he wouldn’t be startled, hoping to lull him back to the present. My fingertips, brushed some strands of hair off his forehead and then rested on the side of his neck. “Would you like me to show you some of my animals?”
“Really?” His eyes went wide, and he finally caught my gaze. “That would be cool.”
I grinned, amused by how quickly he perked up. “Okay, what are your favorites?”
“I want to see all of them.”
I thought about it for a moment and remembered the first time Willy showed me his big animals. It was pretty terrifying. “How about we stick with the small stuff? Nothing bigger than a bobcat, yeah?”
He swallowed hard as he nodded. “Okay.”
I tucked some blankets around him to create the feeling of a protective barrier and then sat at the edge of the bed. Then I slipped out of my boxers and turned to Oscar. “You can touch me if you want, but I’ll only spend a few seconds in each form unless you ask me to stay longer.”
When I was sure he understood, I practiced what I’d been working on for months. I started with the bunny since he had already seen that and quickly moved through penguin, bobcat, sloth, ferret, and then I held at my koala.
Oscar’s eyes lit up, and he reached out to me as I’d anticipated he would. Koalas weren’t exactly cuddly in real life, but I was happy to cuddle with my omega in any form, and if this is the one he gravitated to, that worked just as well for me.
I moved into his lap, carefully curling my claws away from his delicate skin so he could wrap his arms around me. “I can’t believe this is really you, Daxton. You’re amazing.”
I was grinning, but I wasn’t sure what it looked like to him. After almost thirty minutes of him just running his fingers through my fur, my stomach was rumbling, and he stopped.
“You can come back to me, alpha.”
That was good because I could feel the edges of my humanity coming back. Unlike with Willy, it was harder for me to hold my animals than it was to get back into my skin. In time, he said I’d be able to stay in animal form for hours or even days, but as a newbie, every second was an effort.
I pressed a kiss to his arm and carefully crawled out of his lap to put some space between us before shifting back into my skin.
His eyes were no longer glassy or lost as he stared into mine. “What can I do to help?” He bit back a yawn.
“This…understanding and accepting me is going a long way.” I kissed his cheek.
It wasn’t until he called me amazing that I understood how deeply I needed this—needed someone who saw me for who I was and liked what they saw. Sure, there was Willy, but the two of us were the same. We didn’t have to accept each other, we understood. Willy and I gave each other a feeling of not being a full-on freak, and that was great, but this…this was so much more.
He held me close. “But you need more than that…the equipment… I can help.”
“Will it get you into trouble?” Because that was the last thing I wanted for him.
“No. Worst-case scenario, I need to mark some inventory as defective for parts. Can I ask you a few questions?”
I nodded, and we spent the next hour and a half talking about all the tests I’d done, the ones I wanted to do, and what I’d learned so far. I was literally trusting him with my life and not for a single second did I question whether I should or not. This was Oscar. He was mine. I didn’t understand how I knew this, but I did and without a smidgeon of doubt.
Oscar yawned, again. This was a lot to deal with all at once. It made sense that he was exhausted. “You need sleep.”
He gave me a questioning glance.
“You keep yawning, and it’s adorable.”
“It is? I didn’t notice.” He barely got the words out when he was mid yawn again. He chuckled. “Okay, I guess I have.”
“Nap time.”
“Is that a hint at something more than sleeping?” Another yawn escaped as he tried to look suggestive.
I gave him some side-eye. “Sleep first.”