“No, not yet.” Ehlian released it and moved closer, his thin nightwear skimming against the rough material of the robe. “Do you have to leave so early today?”
“I have a few important meetings,” Hayce said, reaching again for the suit. “I can’t reschedule them.”
Ehlian placed a hand on Hayce’s arm. With a questioning look, Hayce let go of the grey jacket, allowing Ehlian to weave their fingers together.
Hayce stared at their joined hands for a moment before glancing up at him. “I can barely recognise you in the last few weeks.”
Ehlian could have said the same. Hayce was different from how he’d been in prison. Still arrogant, still somewhat reserved, but softer, more open. Back then, he’d constantly had to watch his back. Any crack in his dominance would’ve been a weakness. He still carried that same demeanour as a free man, but now he allowed himself small pockets of relief, moments where his softer side shone through.
“You don’t like this me?” Ehlian asked.
“I don’t know what to do with it,” Hayce said honestly. “Couldn’t quite resist it in prison either, could I?”
Ehlian frowned. It wasn’t the answer he’d expected, and he started to pull his hand away, but Hayce’s fingers tightened around his, not letting go.
Leaning forward, Hayce pressed a soft kiss to Ehlian’s neck. “Where’s the omega who kept me on a leash with his rules?”
Ehlian threaded his fingers through Hayce’s hair. “You want him back?”
“That might be better for both of us,” Hayce said. “Mostly for me. You’re not particularly subtle in trying to have me sign my entire fortune over to you—but it’s working.”
“That so?” Ehlian grinned, kissing along the faint scar on Hayce’s neck. He often did that when the mood between themturned light, trying to erase the bad memory Hayce carried with it. “Will you contact my lawyer again?”
“If you leave,” Hayce said, the unsaidmehanging between them, “I can sue you.”
Ehlian stifled a smile. “What if I find a more compatible alpha than you?”
“You’re at it again?” Hayce let out a whisper of a laugh, warm and light, his thumb caressing Ehlian’s cheek. Then his voice dropped lower. “I could’ve kept you in prison and let another alpha claim you, but there would’ve been a fight every day.”
“Aric could’ve claimed me.” Ehlian’s voice dipped as well, a mere caress. “He wouldn’t have touched me if you forbade him.”
“Ididforbid him,” Hayce said, a soft tightness in his tone. “But it would never have been enough. I can’t imagine a single alpha who wouldn’t want to have you.”
Heart hammering wildly in Ehlian’s chest, his voice was a throaty whisper. “No?”
Hayce swept a few locks of silvery-blond hair from Ehlian’s face, letting his beauty shine. “I couldn’t quite resist you when I chose you as my next omega, and you hadn’t even arrived in prison yet.”
Ehlian was lost… lost in the shade and magnetic brilliance of Hayce’s eyes—so intense, so deep, so alluring. Full of care and want, glinting with sparks of love. One move and Ehlian would tip and fall, completely submerged in the flames of those burning amber flecks.
Fuck, he wanted it.
He wanted it with all his being—to be Hayce’s. Only his.
To belong to him.
To have Hayce only for himself.
But there was resistance, a small fear, a persistent worry that wouldn’t go away.
Sensing the barrier, Hayce broke eye contact and pulled Ehlian into the crook of his neck. “We can wait.”
“I don’t quite want to,” Ehlian whispered against his skin. He wasn’t sure how long he could hold on and resist. He had already nearly tipped over a few times during sex, when lust clouded his mind and he was high on Hayce’s knot.
But he didn’t want to do it in a moment like this one—Hayce in a hurry, already halfway out the door. No, that moment needed to be quiet and special. Only for them. No eyes seeing. No one knowing.
“I want it, but…” he said again, immediately trailing off.
He had read awful stories of freshly bonded alphas and omegas, how that telepathic link that should’ve mirrored their love poisoned their relationship. A bond could sour and twist into something malicious, especially when it was young, often influenced by outside forces. But once the bond settled and strengthened, it could withstand anything.
