“Are you reading my mind?” Ronin's felt his face heat.
“No, I can't hear you in my head anymore.” Ollie’s brow furrowed and he bit his lip. “Does that mean our connection... does that mean we aren't…”
Ronin realized what his mate was wondering. “No, our connection is fine,” he reassured Ollie, “although I was worried when I couldn't hear you anymore, either”—Ronin flushed at the admission—“so I asked Roman. He asked our papa, who said it kicked in because you needed me, and it'll come back after we've mated.”
Ro couldn’t stop the images of what them getting mated meant… him and Ollie naked, knotting his mate, claiming him.
Ro’s eyes couldn’t help travelling over his mate, and right as he was about to look away, Ollie’s voice pulled him back.
“Is that why you won’t kiss me?” Ollie’s eyes on him were questioning. “You’re waiting for us to be mated.”
Ronin let out a groan. “I just don’t want to take advantage of you,” he sighed.
Oliver shook his head. “It won’t be taking advantage when I want it, too, and maybe if I made the first move...”
Ronin’s eyes widened when Ollie’s arms wrapped around his waist and he looked up at him. “I think you have to take it from here.” There was a teasing note to Ollie’s voice that made Ronin chuckle and snapped him out of his surprised stupor.
Ronin lowered his head to Ollie’s, sealing their lips together. He tried to take it slow, but Oliver slipped his tongue between Ro’s lips, and all he could do was groan and deepen the kiss.
As they kissed, Ronin sensed someone watching them. He figured it was Maddox, Nix, or Zander—one of them must have woken up and taken over watch. Ro didn’t even care if anyone saw. This was his mate in his arms. All that mattered was the two of them in that moment, caught up in each other in a heated embrace, one that Ro never wanted to part from. He wrapped his other arm under the curve of his mate’s ass and lifted him, supporting his weight easily.Fuck, his mate felt so good… so right in his arms.
“Do you think you’ll sleep better if you were in my arms?” Ronin said, and began walking with Ollie over to the sleeping bags. He saw Maddox was awake and by the van, which confirmed it had been him watching them.
Chapter Eleven
Ollie
Ollie woke up the next day and found that everyone was already up around the fire. His eyes immediately sought out Ronin.
“Apparently, I’m the only one that overslept.” Ollie giggled, even though he felt a little self-conscious.
“It’s not all that late,” Ronin reassured him, “but yes… you did.” Ronin winked at him, and the memory of falling asleep in his arms with both their hard cocks gliding against each other was fresh in his mind. To get all the stares off him, Ollie blurted out, “So, what’s the plan today?”.
Ronin glanced over to Maddox. “I think maybe we just start driving and see where we get to. Wildwood is quite far away and might take close to two days of travel because of the additional people going, but I think we can make it to Chesterfield tonight. Besides, I have to get my things from your guy’s house.”
“I may also have to attend a quick meeting with an Alpha boss.” Ronin met his gaze. “I was supposed to meet with him the other night, but I got a little derailed. It turns out I’m quite happy about that now.” Ronin turned to him, a wide smile showing on his face.
Zander snickered. “Gosh, y'all are so sweet. You're giving me a toothache.”
Ronin snorted at his friend and flipped him off. “Don't hate cos you haven’t found your mate...”
A couple of the omegas giggled, but they all smiled at him when Ronin called Ollie his mate.
“Besides, you guys have a security business to get back to.” Ronin looked at Maddox, Zander, and Nix.
The other alphas looked at each other and then finally Nix spoke. “Yeah, but we kind of did some talking about that.” The alpha shrugged. “We aren’t really feeling much like home where we’ve been. We can do what we do just about anywhere.” For such a strong and sure alpha, Nix actually appeared a little sheepish, and when Ollie glanced over at Zander and Maddox, they were wearing similar looks as well. “We’ve missed hanging out with you, and I think Wildwood might be our next stop—if that’s okay.”
He watched as his mate grin widely. “I think it sounds like a pretty great idea.”
Ronin looked around the rest of the group, focusing mainly on the other omegas.
“What about you guys?” Ronin said, “Are y’all ready to get out of here?”
Sophie, Cybil, Jax, Shawn, and Marco all eagerly nodded, and so did he. Ollie wanted to be as far away from here as he could be. Even though they were a good distance from that building, it just wasn’t far enough.
As Oliver stood up, Ro was beside him in an instant and immediately joined their hands. Oliver looked up and smiled at Ronin.
“I hope things aren’t awkward between us this morning,” Ronin said, as the rest of the group headed towards the truck. His friends all had their rolled-up sleeping bags in their hands, except for Jax. The alpha, Zander, was helping him.
