Chapter Twenty
Sylvia
I woke deliciously sore and sated in a way I never expected. Not with all the need coursing through me yesterday. I’d hoped it would help, and I knew it did at the time, but to bring me back to normal and feeling so complete, that was an unexpectedly beautiful way to wake up.
I rolled onto my side, his arm wrapped around me, holding me close. I snuggled in closer, wanting to keep this connection just a little bit longer.
My bladder put an end to that, and I found myself sneaking out of his embrace, not wanting to wake him, and heading to the bathroom to take care of business.
On my way back in, I heard my phone ring. No surprise—it was already morning. I’d have been shocked if my brother hadn’t figured out I was gone by now. I grabbed it off the floor and turned it over, expecting to have a message from him.
Not forty-two messages.
And not just from him, from Lily, from her other mates, and then Tyrone. How did he get brought into this? Ugh.
I plopped on the bed.
“Everything all right, mate?” Dax looked up at me, all sleepy. On the outside, he was so tough all the time, but looking at him like this, he was the sweetest, most adorable I’d ever seen.
I typed into my notes app, Yeah, just looks like maybe I worried some people yesterday, not letting them know I was leaving.
He froze. “That was my responsibility.”
Absolutely not. I leaned down and kissed his cheek, loving the way he got all bashful at it. That was on me. I was the one who left without telling anyone.
I opened the most recent comment from my brother. It was connected to over half of my notifications. My brother wasn’t messing around.
I’m fine. And before you say anything, I called them. They didn’t come to get me arbitrarily.
Then I went and checked the rest of the messages, responding to each, ending with Lily’s.
Just so you know, your brother is having a freak-out.
Yeah, I’m aware, I typed back. I had a heat spike yesterday, and I texted the guys.
She sent back a gazillion emojis, all indicating heat. By the time I got back to my brother, he had sent three more messages. The last one, Video call me. Now.
I hated video chats. I understood why he wanted to see that I was okay, but communicating via them when we weren’t fluent signers was a freaking nightmare.
No, I sent back. I can communicate better this way.
The phone rang. He was video calling me.
I turned it around and showed Dax. We both sat up in bed, and I was grateful I’d pulled his shirt from yesterday on out of coldness, not modesty. I did not want to have this conversation holding my blanket up over my nakedness.
I tapped accept.
“Well, at least you’re not dead.”
Yeah, my brother was pissed.
“I assure you, alpha, your sister was taken care of,” Dax said.
My brother held up his hand. “That is not what I want to hear.”
“Oh no, that’s not what I meant,” Dax tried to backtrack. “I meant she’s safe, and she called us.”
“Us? Who else is there?”
My brother wasn’t making any friends.
“It’s just me,” Dax said quickly. “But she used the group text, and I was the one who was able to get to her first. Also, why did you video chat her when you know that it’s harder for her to communicate this way?”
Go, Dax, go.
“I wanted to see her.”
Goodbye, I signed. And he hung up.
I signed sorry, and Dax pulled me in and kissed my cheek.
“Never apologize for having a family that loves you. Honestly, we could’ve been a little more respectful and given him a heads-up last night.”
I half shrugged. He might have been right, but what was done was done.
I pulled on a pair of his shorts, the shirt I’d borrowed nearly covering them, and he took me on a tour of the house.
They had made me a mating suite, just for me, and it was even lavender. Had they talked to Lily? Found out what colors I liked? Were they taking them from my paintings? I didn’t know. But it was perfect.
It wasn’t so fancy that it felt formal, but they hadn’t cut corners, either. It was both beautiful and comfortable. I loved it.
We ended the tour in the kitchen, where Talon had already made breakfast for us.
“I hope you like honey cakes.”
I wasn’t sure I did at first, but one bite told me—yes, very much so.
We ate, and Talon and Archer talked about what they had been doing the day before. We didn’t talk about our news, Dax and I being mated. They could see it, and that was enough for now.
It was nice—having a family breakfast with the three of them.
I insisted on helping Talon with the dishes. Archer had to make a conference call, and Dax needed to shower before we thought about me going back. If I was going back. That still needed to be decided.
Talon washed, and I dried. There was a dishwasher, but there weren’t enough dishes to warrant that—or maybe he liked the two of us working together like this. I did.
As we finished, I leaned up on my tiptoes, kissing his cheek, unable to stop myself. Hearing him talk about the food he prepared did something to me.
His hand came up and cupped my cheek. “Oh, sweet omega ours, thank you.”
He thanked me—for a simple cheek kiss. Or maybe it was for cleaning the dishes. It didn’t change anything either way.
All I wanted to do in that moment was to taste his lips too. And so I did.
His arms came around me, holding me close as we settled into a slow, tender, sweet kiss.
An omega could get used to this.