Titan groaned, taking a small bite. His wolf howled with joy. “You should be—”
“Say ‘ah’.”
“But that meat is for you.” Titan frowned.
Mathlin frowned back so fiercely that Titan gave in and obeyed. With a quiet cheer, Mathlin stuffed more steak into Titan’s mouth. Titan bit down on instinct.
The meat was still fresh, juicy and rich. Titan groaned. “Fuck, that’s good.”
Mathlin looked incredibly pleased with himself. “You look good tearing meat with your sharp teeth. I like it when I see your wolf.”
And now Titan’s wolf was preening. Gods, he liked Mathlin so much.
It took a lot of chewing before he could swallow, because Mathlin had stuffed so much meat into his mouth. When he could finally speak, Titan asked, “How do you think an omega should be courted? You said you read a lot of books, but you’ve never had this conversation with anyone.”
“Oh!” Mathlin sat straighter. “You want to know?”
“Yes.” Inwardly, Titan congratulated himself on his sneakiness.
“Alphas should build their omegas a nest,” Mathlin declared. “And they should provide all the things!”
“Things like what?”
“A stroller,” Mathlin said. “Well, if it’s a single dad they’re trying to court. Babies get heavy when you’ve been carrying them for a while. It’s nice when you can push them around instead.”
A stroller,Titan thought. Maybe the pack had one lying around? “What else?”
“Lots of cuddles and hugs. And a listening ear.”
“I can do that,” Titan said.
Mathlin blinked. “Oh. Were you asking about whatyoucan do?”
Heat exploded through Titan’s face.Fuck! So much for being sneaky.“I, uh. Yes?”
Mathlin’s smile was almost too bright to look at. “Oh.”
Titan was still cursing himself for ruining the surprise, but Mathlin’s eagerness took away the sting of it. He gave Mathlin a shy smile; Mathlin leaned in to nuzzle him.
“If you’re doing all that for me, I want to do something for you, too,” Mathlin said.
“What? But you’re already doing so much for me,” Titan spluttered.
“Not related to my contract.” Mathlin chewed his lip. “I’m not sure what.”
“A pickup line,” Hamilton sang from the next room.
Mathlin shuddered. “No!”
“Bummer,” Hamilton said.
Titan snorted. “You’re acting likeyou’rethe one being courted.”
“I’m living vicariously through you,” Hamilton replied.
“Live vicariously through someone else,” Titan grumbled. He turned back to Mathlin and bumped their foreheads together. “I don’t need anything, sweetheart. All that matters is that you’re here with me.”
He caught the stutter in Mathlin’s pulse, and the blush rising to Mathlin’s cheeks. So beautiful.
