He liked amusing Jack, he decided. No one had ever found him entertaining. He could get used to it.
“Now,” Jack said, “things are different. We are married. I stole you away from Dalbryn.”
Arden leaned forward and kissed him quickly for that.
“You peeked at Beckett like…how did you phrase it? Ah yes, a voyeuristic rodent?—”
“Jack!”
“—and awakened for for him, and now that you’ve had your first heat, you’ll have another one, and—what is wrong?”
Arden had gone rigid in his lap. “I will if you want me to, Jack, but I’d rather not. It was very overwhelming.” Now it was his turn to ask, “What?”
“Arden. Didno oneever talk to you about being an omega?”
“Not to me, no. I overheard some things, though. I heard the maids talking about knots. They were wrong, by the way. Nothing ripped.”
Jack flinched. “You thought you’d...? Oh, Arden.”
He traced patterns over Jack’s broad chest and twisted his lips to the side. “That time I overheard you and Lassit was hardly the first or the last time that I heard Lassit talking about omegas. And Aloys was—well. You know Aloys. He dislikes me even more than Lassit does. I don’t know why.”
“Because he doesn’t want you.”
“Lassit made it quite clear he didn’t want an omega brother, either.”
“I meant—” Jack broke off, made a rough noise, and slipped a hand to the middle of Arden’s back, encouraging him to lean in closer until their chests were pressed together and Arden felt Jack’s steady heart beat into his.
Arden tried to meet Jack’s gaze but doing so at such a close distance made his eyes begin to cross. He laughed, and struggled back. Jack let him. “Over the years, I’ve heard plenty about what it means to be an omega.”
A burden. A disappointment. Useful only to marry off and get a large settlement in return. Otherwise, useless.
“It sounds to me as if what you heard was plenty of other peoples’ opinions about omegas. Did no one ever talk to you about the intimate realities of actually being one?”
“No.” Arden squirmed in discomfort. “Except for, um. Marl.”
“You can’t control when you go into heat.”
Arden stared at him. “What?” he screeched.
“Could you control it last time?” Jack asked sensibly.
“Well, no, but that was…? Isn’t that something that happens when you encounter a compatible alpha?”
“It is.”
“I’ve already encountered him!”
“Sweetheart. The first time ever that you encounter a compatible alpha, you’ll go into heat for them. After an omega has had their first heat, it can happen any time. It is a beginning, not a one-off occurrence. Think of it as the opening of a door that you cannot close. Omegas who bear children tend to have a regular and predictable heat cycle. For omegas like you, it’s much more unpredictable.”
Arden glanced away. “Omegas like me?” he said quietly.
“Those who don’t bear children.”
“Ah, yes.” He’d heard plenty about his type from Aloys. “The ones who make good whor?—”
“Arden.”
Arden glared at his knotted hands, then lifted his chin and glared at Jack. “Aloys,” he said, “is an idiot.”
