He pulled me back against his body, holding me firmly with an arm around my chest. His touch almost a caress as he washed and then rinsed the taut skin of my pregnant belly.
When he finally reached out to turn off the water, I was more relaxed than I’d been in months and nearly asleep on my feet.
“Come with me, Jem,” Kade said softly, wrapping his arm around my waist. He helped me balance as I stepped out of the shower and onto the soft bath mat before wrapping a thick towel around my waist and draping a second one over my shoulders.
I sighed, the exhalation shaking my shoulders as months of fear and tension evaporated, washed down the drain with the dirt and grime.
“I’m sorry, Kade,” I mumbled, barely able to keep my eyes open. “I don’t know how you got dragged into this, but I’m sorry.”
Kade shushed me, toweling me dry and catching me as I swayed under his ministrations. “You need some sleep. We’ll talk later.”
Too tired to argue, my head bobbled in a sort of agreement and I stumbled along as he led me back into the large bedroom and urged me to sit on the edge of the bed.
A large, soft shirt was pulled over my head, his warm hands again caressing my belly as they smoothed the fabric down. Thick, warm socks were placed on my feet. Then, I was tucked under a pile of blankets and quilts and pulled against Kade’s hard body, his arms cradling me.
“Sleep, Jem,” he murmured in my ear, his lips brushing against my skin and making me smile.
“I wanted you,” I mumbled, not entirely sure what I was trying to tell him. “Would have stayed if I could. Just wanted you to know.”
“Okay, baby,” that amused tone was back in Kade’s voice. “Now I know. Now close your eyes for me.”
“Mmkay,” I agreed. “But you’re bossy.”
Kade’s soft chuckles were vibrating through his chest and into my body when I followed his instructions and closed my eyes, sleep promptly pulling me under.
ChapterFive
Kade
I’d spent months nursing the hostility inside me. Allowing my anger at the way that Jay –Jeremy– had lied, had used me to morph into a near hatred of the Omega. But the moment I got a good look at him, when I saw the gaunt cheeks, the sunken eyes, the bones of his wrists and joints threatening to break through his too-pale skin, something inside me snapped.
Before I’d followed Jeremy up the ladder and out into the blustery night, I was already on the verge of forgiving him. But when I saw him crumpled on the ground? My Alpha instincts kicked into full gear and my focus narrowed to the single issue at hand – how to save him.
A can of soup and a hot shower were a start, but, as I lay under the pile of covers, holding his scrawny body against me, my mind was racing. Whatever this Omega had been running from, it wasn’t me. And it was terrifying enough that he’d basically starved himself, allowing his unborn child to suck all of the nutrients from his body as he wasted away instead of seeking help.
Something was very fucking wrong.
I shifted the slightest bit and Jeremy whimpered out a pathetic cry, his fingers grabbing for me in his sleep, trying to pull even closer to me, but to get closer, he would have had to literally crawl inside me. And that thought made me shift again as I rolled my eyes in disgust.
Seriously? The man was barely skin and bones, terrified, and desperate for sleep and I wanted to bone him? Sometimes I really am an idiot.
“It’s okay,” I murmured in his ear, running my palms firmly over his body in an attempt to ground him. “You’re fine, baby. I’ve got you.”
Jeremy sighed, his body relaxing again, so my mind kept going.
Jeremy’s condition made it clear that he hadn’t seen a doctor. At least, not recently. There wasn’t any doubt that he needed nourishment and rest. Once we had those three issues under control, then I could decide what the hell I was going to do with him.
Reaching for my cell phone, I tapped out a quick text to Sonny, the local sheriff who I’d, ahem, unfortunately confused for a traditional rabbit and tried to eat a few months back. Luckily, he wasn’t one to hold a grudge and we’d quickly become friends.
Not that there was any chance in hell that he’d ever let me live it down.
After a few minutes of back and forth, he told me that he knew just the doctor to help, a human woman who specialized in treating high-risk pregnancies. With his assurance that he’d get in touch with her and get back to me, I set my phone back on the nightstand and turned my attention back to offering as much of my energy to the scared Omega next to me as I could.
Several hours later, Jeremy was still out cold but I had to move or I was going to pee the bed. I managed to slip my pillow under Jeremy’s head without waking him as I slid out from under the covers. I was silently congratulating myself on the ninja-like moves as I relieved myself when I heard a strangled cry from the bedroom.
Oh, hell.
Giving my dick a quick shake, I rushed back to the bed and found Jeremy sitting in the center of the mattress with his knees drawn as far up as his belly would allow, his shoulders shaking and his wild eyes flitting around the room.
