“Did I—” my voice croaked. “Fuck. Did I pass out from coming too hard?”
Alve preened behind me. “You did. I might develop an ego about that.”
“Develop away. Never done that before, so the pride is earned.” I pawed at Leo and Jude, making sure they were as close as humanly possible and wrapped my arm around Madison.
She laughed, nuzzling the underside of my chin. “What a way to break in the new nest.”
“You fucking said it.”
“What do you think, Lucy?” I held Nathan’s niece on my lap, showing her the website progress for my new business.
She mumbled a little sound and I looked down to find her asleep against me.
“You look so fucking cute with a sleeping kiddo in your arms,” Nathan said quietly, his head peeking around the cornerand into my office. He slipped inside, kissing my hair, then Lucy’s, gathering her into his arms. “She’s getting an early start on our sleepover.”
My stomach clenched, something feral purring deep in me to see him holding a child. Didn’t matter if it wasourchild or not. I guess I’d probably been gone for him from the first moment I’d seen him with Lucy. Though, him telling me to get a better boyfriend had kinda clinched that crush. Lucky for him, I was eventually a good listener, and he just so happened to be one of those better boyfriends.
“Probably tired out from all the excitement of her mama going into labor.”
Nathan’s gaze swept over me. “You keep looking at me with those eyes and that energy in the bond and I’m gonna have to go put Lucy down for her nap in the nursery.”
Jude laughed, looking in on us, Alve and Leo on his heels. “Okay, makes sense now.”
I blinked, tilting my head. “What does?”
“What we felt in the bond,” Jude explained. “We were trying to figure out what would’ve caused the opposite reactions in there. I get it, though. Nathan’s fine as hell in dad mode.”
A full body shiver rolled over me as the rest of the pack wholeheartedly agreed in the bond.
“You guys missed her in mom mode. Haven’t seen anything that sweet in a long time.”
A meow sounded from the hallway, Poppy and Pepper coming to see what the commotion was, and possibly protest thattheywere the sweetest thing he’d seen. Alve scooped up Poppy, my tabby letting him cradle her like a baby. Jude hoisted Pepper like she was more parrot than cat, slinging her over his shoulder where she closed her eyes in contentment.
“Everyone needs to stop looking so hot while holding cute babies.” I squirmed in my seat, trying to focus back on mywork. The website would be ready soon, though my client list was getting pretty extensive without it. I had a ton of work to do before our baby made its appearance, but I was pretty sure with some careful planning I could manage it. And, failing that, Nathan’s invitation to let me boss him around while helping hadn’t expired.
I switched over to my calendar. Preliminary designs for the new OHI building were due soon. I’d be starting on Farrah’s nest in a couple of weeks, then Scarlett’s, followed by the Les Bijoux omega break room, before moving on to a few of the other nests for omegas working there who’d inquired about my services. The work wasexpensive, but none of them balked at the price.
Pride infused me.
They thought I was worth that much.
No, theyknewI was.
Leo came to lean on the back of my chair, looking over my shoulder. “Which one are you working on today?”
“Mostly Farrah’s nest. Best of Nests has the prettiest royal blue pillows and I want to order them early in case they alter the shades.”
He brushed his cheek against mine, dipping to kiss the curve of my throat and making me shiver. “I like watching you work. You’re so focused in the bond when you get into a groove.”
“It’s nothing compared to watchingyouwork. I can’t be graceful sitting at a computer the way you can riding Eclipse.”
Leo sighed, breathing deep against my skin, his hand slipping down to rest over my little bump. “You’re plenty graceful when you’re ridingus.”
I let out a cackle, taken off guard by his statement. “That was terrible.” I turned my head so I could meet his mouth for a kiss. “And I loved it.”
My pack whispered among themselves.
“What’re you guys being sneaky about over there?” I glanced past Leo to see what information I could glean.
