Chase didn’t seem to notice that he was stripping in front of Ford.“Professor Milliner has us writing about which historical event had the greatest influence upon the modern age.”Chase unbuckled his jeans, showing off his ass as he bent to slip them off.
Ford figured it was an accident, not like he cared.Chase was built like a swimmer, with strong thighs, and sported a mole on his right hip.He kept his boxers on and wrapped the towel around his waist, but Ford had a good idea of the ammo he was packing from this angle.Chase yanked off the plain navy T-shirt, revealing wide shoulders, a narrow waist and a scar on his upper right biceps.Shirtless, he slipped his boxers off under the towel, which was a shame.
Ford rubbed a hand over his chin, trying not to smile at the unexpected shyness.“No tattoos?”
Chase stepped into the shower, his tone slightly amused when he replied, “No piercings either.”
That was a shame.Ford could imagine how nice ink would look on Chase’s tanned skin, though Lucky’s paler skin showed the Omha Sigils better.“A drunk night with the boys got me landed with two piercings and a tattoo.I’d let them close up, but they come in handy when I’m undercover.”
Chase ducked his head out of the shower.“Where?”
Ford tapped a finger over his right earlobe, then dropped his hand to his cock, delighting in the way Chase’s cheeks flushed.“I used to have a stud on the inside of each inner thigh, but they’re half closed up and not much use undercover,” he admitted, crossing to the shower to lean his forearm on the enclosure just inches from Chase.“Wanna see?”
Chase stepped into the shower, shutting the door in his face.“Order me the barbecue pulled pork sandwich and a beer, will you?”
He smiled, intrigued that he didn’t answer.Maybe he was winning Chase over.“Don’t be long,meda.”He headed back out to the adjoining bedroom to get dressed, laughing at the startled squeak Chase let slip.
He wouldn’t go too far.It was nearly midnight and he was hoping to convince Chase to get closer.Putting too many clothes between them would defeat the purpose of flaunting himself in front of Chase.
He dressed in an old white T-shirt that Jesi had packed, that was practically see-through, with a tear in the right sleeve and a hole in the bottom hem, and a pair of loose joggers that sat low enough on his hips that Chase might get more than a sneak peek, depending on how close he got.
Once dressed, Ford called room service, utilising the Newly Bonded package Wynna had paid for that let them order food at any time of day.Thank fuck she’d planned ahead, because most mated pairs only stopped for food when they were too exhausted from fucking to keep going.This reprieve while Lucky rested was better—it gave Ford time to learn about his mates and convince Chase to accept him as a second mate.
Ten minutes passed before Chase appeared in the doorway to the living room with a towel around his waist and another across his shoulders.“Why would you call me that?”
Ford lit another smoke, grateful Wynna had booked a smoking room.He might have lost his mind if he couldn’t smoke for four days.
Chase raked a hand through his damp hair.“Meda.I know what it means.”
Meda was an old name for a subordinate he had responsibility over, using the old language that few but the most traditional used.Alphas used the word as a warning and reminder to other alphas that they saw their omega as a valued treasure who should be treated with respect.Ford couldn’t explain how it had come to mind or why it felt right for Chase, but that was the curse of a mate bond—shit didn’t always have to make sense or be on purpose.
“You’re important to Lucky, ain’t ya?That makes you my number-one priority.As of right now, you’re my partner.”Ford gestured to the door across the hall, where Lucky was resting, hopefully peacefully, to remind him what had brought them together.
Chase shook his head, crossed into the room and took the lit cigarette from between Ford’s fingers.“Bullshit.That’s not why and we both know it.”He took a drag, then handed Ford the cigarette.
“Then what’cha asking for?”
“Did you check on Lucky?”Chase used the towel around his shoulders to rub the back of his neck.
“Yup.Sleeping soundly.”Ford let Chase change the subject, because Lucky was the reason they were here.
“Any word on Lincoln?”
He took a drag and blew out the smoke, turning the words over in his head.“He’s in a medically induced coma at headquarters, while they investigate why an alpha is in heat,” he explained, which was a minefield of fuckery.Neither he nor Rafe could explain, except to admit that Lucky had cursed the fucker to be punished by Omha.The medics at headquarters hadn’t liked that.
Ford didn’t blame Chase for being speechless.Lucky was innocent in this whole mess, but he was the one suffering.It wasn’t his fault that Lincoln couldn’t take no for an answer or accept that he’d never be Lucky’s mate, and it wasn’t Lucky’s fault that Lincoln couldn’t control himself.Now he was suffering an induced heat months before he was due to experience his first, and Ford didn’t have a fucking clue what would happen.
Chase had just gone through the high of finding his true mate in someone he actually fancied, then faced the reality that he wouldn’t be the only alpha in Lucky’s life.That must have been crushing.Now Chase needed to step up and do what was necessary, because if he didn’t, Ford couldn’t leave Lucky to suffer, even if that meant stepping into the middle of a true mate bond to do the right thing.
The next few days would be a bitch to get through if Chase kept fighting him.An omega’s first heat should have been two weeks, not four fucking days, but this was Lucky’s choice and Ford believed it was for the best.He’d seen Jesi suffer from not having any choice in what happened to his own body, from losing blocks of time, vital memories and years of his life.He didn’t even remember his own fucking name, thanks to the drugs that had been forced into his system before he became the only omega in the world to become an official ORTa.
He’d never let Lucky suffer that fate or live with the doubts and fears of knowing that someone else had made choices for him.
Ford’s life had been spent coasting along, never expecting to find an omega worth keeping, but here was Lucky—the epitome of everything he could ever want in an omega.If Ford fucked up, he could say goodbye to keeping Lucky by his side, as his mate, his omega, a partner.Not to mention he came with a tasty alpha mate Ford was itching to get his hands on.
Regardless of what had brought them together, the future wasn’t bland and boring, a repeat of a million days he’d already spent doing the exact same thing.Life was bright, full of promise, and finding someone to share his life with was no longer impossible.Lucky could see the threads binding them to one another, and Ford would be damned if he let the opportunity to have a mate slip through his fingers.
Chase could run, hide and pretend he didn’t feel the bond sparkling between them like a living thing.Ford could wait.He’d waited this long for a mate worth claiming, he could wait a little longer.Lucky and Chase were worth it.
