Page 134 of His Stolen Omega

“You would need clothes, and you haven’t earned those yet.” He’d only just gotten back inside of his omega. The last thing he was willing to do was provide clothing to make it even more difficult to keep doing so.

“Just to the hot spring then?” Elm pleaded. “Come on. The moment you claimed me, my system regulated. There’s no fear of the weather triggering me or anything like that.”

“No, only make you sick.” Levi searched his eyes. “You knew you’d regulated?”

“Kind of hard not to notice my skin no longer felt like it was buzzing.” He smiled, clearly sensing he was going to get his way. “You can carry me in and carry me out. I won’t put a single foot on the ground. Hmm?”

His omega was fitted with a tracker now. There was no real reason not to allow him outside, if only for a little while. Especially not since Levi wouldn’t be letting him out of his sight.

The idea of holding him, of having Elm cling to him to shield himself from the cold was also appealing.

“You’ll sculpt something for me,” Levi said. “Something impressive enough to rival the Rabbit God.”

“No use in owning the artist if you can’t use him to create art?” Elm laughed before Levi could worry if those words were spoken bitterly. “It’s a deal.”

His knot subsided soon after, and Levi stood, helping the omega up before sweeping him off his feet.

“Do you want to clean up first?” Elm asked, but he shook his head.

It was already late in the afternoon. If his omega wanted to go outside, they needed to do it now, before the sun completely set and temperatures dropped even more. Levi calculated that they could spend around an hour in the hot spring, then come back in with plenty of time for him to prepare dinner.

“What are you thinking about?” The omega held on tightly as they descended the stairs.

“Do you feel like steak or pizza?” He set him down briefly in front of the side entrance, grabbing his fur coat off the rack and slipping it on before picking Elm back up.

“I’m fine with either.” Elm pressed on the handle, opening the doors for them.

Levi hummed. “Steak pizza then?”

“Sure.” A gust of wind battered against them and the omega curled into him and the warmth of the coat. “Shit.”

“I warned you.” Picking up the pace, he lowered Elm’s feet into the water and then chucked the jacket off to the side before hurrying into the pool. Levi led him to the other side, to the same bench they usually sat on, and then settled the omega first before sitting down next to him. “Better?”

“Yeah.” Elm was submerged up to his neck, eyes closed as he focused on the warmth seeping into his bones to chase the cold away.

“Worth it?”

He made a big show of inhaling and then grinned. “Absolutely.”

“What’s so great about icy air?”

“You can’t keep me locked up here forever, Levi.” Elm nudged his shoulder against his when he tensed. “Relax. I wasn’t implying I would try to leave.”

“You’ve tried already.”

“Yeah, and look how well that worked out for me?” He sobered some. “I’m not willing to spend the rest of my life like a prisoner. I want to build with you, not be trapped in your fortress and hidden away.”

“Careful, omega,” Levi warned, sensing where this was going and not wanting to ruin the moment. “Just like you, there are some things I’m not ready to hear.” He found Elm’s hand underwater and laced their fingers. “Give me time.”

“Remember the first time we were in here?”

“Is this your cute way of asking to drink?” Levi drawled.

Elm grinned.

“You can have a single glass of wine with dinner. One.”

“You’re so strict.”