Either the promise of another phone call was enough, or Pip was as emotional as Lucky, because he waved goodbye and hung up, leaving Ford with the distinct impression they’d have a lot of grovelling to do when they got home.
Ford crouched beside Lucky and brushed at his wet cheeks.“You’ll needta wake Chase once I leave, okay?I’m gonna find a paper, see what’s around this place for later, and get some food.I won’t be long.”Ford stood and tucked his phone into his back pocket while Lucky stretched, happier than he’d seen him in a while, like being here had stripped away the last of his worries.
Ford hoped this trip refreshed him, before they got home and life sucked them back into chaos.
* * * *
When he got back from his walk, entering the suite from the back gate by the pool, Ford found his boys already outside.He pulled his sunglasses off and tucked them into his shirt pocket.
Lucky lay on a lounger, sunbathing in the-smallest-of-small shorts, with a paperback in hand, while Chase swam laps in the pool.At the sound of the gate shutting, he paused at the closest edge and brushed hair off his face, looking like a water god.
Ford took the cigarette from his lips to hand to his alpha.
“Azrah sent you.”Chase took the cigarette and inhaled deep, closing his eyes with pleasure before raising his hand.Ford clasped his wrist and waited until his fingers had a firm hold before he stood and helped him from the pool.“Thank you, darlin’.”
He stepped back, lifting his bag.“I brought goodies.”He crossed to Lucky, who had already set aside his paperback.Ford bent to kiss him and brushed a thumb across his cheek, “Happy birthday, flower.”Ford sat on the lounger beside him and placed his bags on the side table.Opening one of the three, he unveiled a boxed chocolate cake with half-cut strawberries and cream.
Lucky put his hands over his mouth, while Chase approached to take a peek.“Ford, it’s perfect.”He leaned across the distance between their seats to offer a kiss of gratitude.
“I bought snacks for later.I’ll take them up and put them in the mini fridge by the bed.The last bag is lunch, and leaflets of what’s nearby.”Ford stood and stepped away, towards the main building, pausing when Lucky made a noise.
“How can we go anywhere?”
Smiling, he walked backwards towards the door.“You ain’t gonna be in heat twenty-four-hours.We’ll stick close by and if it kicks in we can come back, but you ain’t gonna be locked away just ‘cause you can’t resist us.”
He’d arrested alphas who would?and had?done that.Most of whom had ended up on the ORT register, either for that offence, or because they’d gotten away with one crime and were tempted to commit another.He would never do that to Lucky, and he was proud as fuck that Lucky wouldn’t let him, even if he was tempted.
* * * *
The days passed by in a blur, but Ford made a point of noting them.Six days in, and each day was a revelation.
“Gods, stop it.How can you still be horny?”Lucky asked, with laughter and joy, the way he’d been for the last few days.
“When isn’t he?”Chase perched on the arm of the sofa.
Ford narrowed his gaze at Lucky’s giggle and poked at his side.“Eh, hold up.Who woke me at the asscrack of dawn, begging me to fuck him through the floor?”
Squirming away from his fingers, Lucky blushed at Chase’s snort.The heat had been gradually taking a stronger hold, the longer it lasted.Defiant and brazen, a smile played on Lucky’s lips.“At least I didn’t blatantly seduce an alpha into my bed,” he added, which turned Chase’s snort into full-blown laughter while Ford sat dumbfounded.
“The mouth on you, now you’re bonded, you little shit.”He pressed his hands to the sofa by Lucky’s feet, where he sat cross-legged.“You think you’re safe?”Surprise wiped away his giggles the moment Ford started crawling closer.
Lucky carefully unfolded his legs and slid back.“No, stay back,” he ordered, scrambling to lift his butt onto the arm of the sofa, completely unaware that, as Ford crawled closer, he was putting himself in danger.
When he was just one more crawl from reaching the cheeky omega, Lucky put a hand out to stop him.Ford tried not to give it away, getting slowly closer until Chase’s arms wrapped around Lucky’s waist and lifted him off the sofa.He screamed in surprise, then descended into hysterical laughter, placing a hand over his mouth while Chase lifted him effortlessly and tossed the omega over his shoulder.
“No!Put me down, you arrogant alpha,” he shouted, squirming so hard Chase practically threw him onto the bed, rather than depositing him gracefully.
Ford smirked at his indignation as Lucky tossed his hair over his head and warned Chase to be more careful.
Dr.Kai was right that these two were good for him.They healed his bruised soul, filled his empty heart, and made every day a thousand times better.It was difficult to understand how he’d lived his life without them.
Chase draped over their omega, murmuring soft words into kisses.“Want me to braid your hair?”
Over the last few days, they’d tried pretty much everything that should be done during a first heat.Ford had always been told it was a time for intense bonding, through physical intimacy and emotional growth, sharing responsibility for one another through talking, caring and seeing to one another’s needs.Whether washing each other’s hair, fucking until sundown, Chase braiding Lucky’s hair or having video calls with Pip, he finally understood why it was important.As well as showing him a side of his boys he’d never known existed, it healed something inside that he hadn’t known was broken.
Chase sat up against the headboard, with Lucky cross-legged in front of him.They talked quietly as the brush swept over Lucky’s hair, the perfect image of bonding mates.
Ford flopped onto the bed and rested his head on Lucky’s ankles, then crossed his legs and sank into the comfy bed.Fingers raked through his hair, and he smiled up at Lucky in gratitude.He’d been amazing the last few days, always thoughtful and sweet, making sure they were all taken care of, having fun, with no one left out.
