3. Ben
Ben
O ur first session at Cosmic Bonds had gone like nothing we thought.
I loved it.
The omega who came into the room smelled like lemon pound cake with a dollop of whipped cream. If I’d had the layout of the room memorized, I would have jumped up and licked her right away. By the time she’d made me coffee, I was able to keep a cooler head.
Barely.
The sound of paper rustled, and then Ember cleared her throat. “You two are open to whatever designation you’re matched with?”
“That’s right,” I said, focused on her scent. “Even another omega.”
Rian brushed his hand over my forearm, the touch comforting. He didn’t feel any more or less anxious through our bond, but I felt his hesitation toward Ember all the same.
It would take the two omegas time to get used to each other, but judging from how strong the amber in Rian’s scent was coming through, he wanted her as much as I did.
I could be patient.
“We’ve put your profiles into the computer and came up with your best matches.” More paper sounds. “We have several excellent men and women who are high matches for both of you. During this meeting, we like to tailor the first couple of dates to anything that might make you two more comfortable.”
Ember’s voice, already a pretty husky-sweet alto, took on the confidence of a professional in her element. It was absolutely sexy. She could read me files any day.
“I see both of you work in music.” Another pause, and I filled in the blanks of what my vision was not giving me.
I was born with degenerated optic nerves, and by the time I was five I mostly saw shadows. The room was one big gradient of gray and black, and since my depth perception was also garbage, I couldn’t see well enough to know when something was in the way.
Since I’d been blind my entire life, I didn’t miss the sense I never had, but I was occasionally annoyed by the rest of the world reminding me they thought I lacked something.
Life would have been easier if I could see, but of all the times in history to live with a disability, it could have been worse. Computers read out loud for me, letting me surf the Internet and listen to books on audio.
It could have been a lot worse, but still. Coming out of the bubble Rian and I had made for ourselves was a little intimidating. Not just because of my vision impairment, but because it had been only the two of us for almost a decade.
“Ben, you’re a sound producer.” I could almost hear the question in Ember’s voice. Most people had no idea what a sound producer actually did. “Rian, you’re a guitarist. Did you want us to skew the results in favor of people who are musically inclined?”
Rian froze next to me. “No,” he said immediately. “No musicians. We want to date someone who wants to date us for who we are, not their next big break.”
“Noted,” Ember said.
I almost felt guilty. I thought we were in a rut, and we needed to branch out. Rian agreed, but he didn’t like change at the best of times. My omega had been struggling with his music and with each passing year it grew worse.
I only hoped that something like finding another bondmate, or even just dating, would help him focus on other parts of his life, instead of what he thought of as his failure.
“Okay, making notes,” Ember said. “What about any hard nos?”
“I can’t think of any we haven’t already listed.
” Rian sounded grumpy. “We’re introverts, so anyone who wants to go out all the time wouldn’t be happy.
We’re not open to becoming vegan, converting to their religion, or someone who is excessively messy or tidy.
I don’t see how meeting random people is going to let us know if it’s a good fit or not. ”
“Those are all normal boundaries,” Ember said. I loved the lively tone of her voice. “Did you two have a long dating period?”
“No.” I snorted. “We basically jumped each other and were bonded in a week.”
Rian elbowed me, gently, since he knew I wasn’t relaxed in a strange environment. It felt weird not knowing where everything was, part of why I arrived so early.
“Dating will feel weird in that case,” Ember said. “But you two have lots of matches. Just try to relax and enjoy getting to know the other person without forcing anything.”
“Is your profile up?” I asked, barely resisting the urge to pull up the Cosmic Bonds website on my phone. “I’d love to see how we rated with you.”
“It is not,” she said primly. “We don’t date clients.”
“That settles that,” Rian said, in the same tone of voice he used when someone told him he couldn’t do something he knew he could do.
He might have been reluctant to show interest, but that was only because of how interested he was. Desire for her curled through our bond, and it wasn’t just mine. I would just sit back, relax, and let the two of them circle each other like the feral little kittens they were.
“Who’s our first date?” Rian asked, rubbing his hand over my forearm, comfort seeping in through our bond.
Ember went over a list of high matches. It was hard to concentrate when all I wanted was to bring her on a date, but I reminded myself to be patient.
Rian and Ember haggled over who would be first, until they agreed on a nice beta woman named Cindy.
Rian told me she had blonde hair and a lovely smile, the same way he would comment on the weather. But his body shifted to Ember every time she spoke, and his scent was getting stronger.
The hunt was on, and I was ready to see it play out.