Beckett did at once. “Arden,” he said, almost cajolingly.
They stared at each other. Arden laid a hand on Beckett’s chest. Deliberately, he slid it over until he was cupping Beckett’s heart, as he had cupped Jack’s. He tilted his head. It beat the same way; steady. Strong.
“We’ve moved on, haven’t we?” Beckett asked. “From that first time? The second?”
“Yes,” Arden said.
“Good.” Beckett leaned down and brushed his warm lips over Arden’s. “That’s good. Let’s keep moving forward, yes?”
“Yes,” Arden said. “Of course.”
Beckett’s eyes creased at the corners. “Do you know what I mean by that?”
Arden leaned his body fully against Beckett’s and twined his arms around Beckett’s neck. “No,” he said, smiling up at him sunnily.
“Gods.” Beckett blew out a breath of exasperation. “You can’t just agree with me.”
“Whatever you say.”
“Arden, you—oh, very amusing.” He got him in the ribs for that. Arden twisted in his hold but Beckett held on. “I love you. Not like I love Jack, mind.”
Oh. Thathurt. Arden’s arms around him spasmed. Instead of letting go, for some reason he held tighter.
“Ask me why,” Beckett whispered.
“I…no. I don’t think I shall.” Excellent. Excellent. His voice wasn’t trembling at all. Eye contact was beyond him, but he was sure that he sounded positively calm. Relaxed, even.
Excellent.
“Why, Beckett, don’t you love me like Jack?”
Arden leaned back in Beckett’s encircling arms to stare up at him, appalled. “My voice,” he said indignantly, “is not that high-pitched. Or that shrill.”
Beckett kissed his nose. “Whatever you say.”
“Ugh. It is not.Beckett. It isn’t.”
He shook his head, cleared his throat theatrically, and gave it another shot. “Why don’t you?—”
“Fine. Why don’t you love me like Jack?” He snapped his mouth shut as soon as the words had escaped him.
Beckett kissed his nose again in reward.
Arden tipped his chin up and bit Beckett’s lip quickly.
“Yeah,” Beckett said, holding his jaw for another, more lingering kiss. “I can’t love you like Jack. How can I?” He turned his hand to run the back of his fingers slowly along Arden’s jaw, from his chin to his ear and back again. “I love Jack for all that he is. And I ain’t talkin’ about him being an alpha, neither. He is…” Beckett broke off and smiled at the floor with a small shake of his head.
Arden’s hands on Beckett flexed and he sighed in agreement. “He truly is.”
Beckett laughed, cheeks pink. “He truly is. And I love you for what you are, Arden.” He leaned in and said confidingly, as if it was a secret, “I ain’t talkin’ about you being an omega.”
“What…” Arden shifted from one foot to the other. “Um. What am I, then?” He shot Beckett a look from under his lashes.
“A little flirt.”
Arden gasped. “I am not!”
Beckett hummed. “Sweet.”
