Page 84 of Bonded By Tea and Tarot

Instead of coffee, Hayden has masala chai brewing. It smells deliciously like our omega, and I let out a ‘mmm’ of appreciation as I walk in.

“Oh good,” Jayce says, also striding into the kitchen. “You’re both here.”

“What’s up?” Hayden asks him, then slings an arm around my neck and pulls me into their chest. They drop a kiss on my temple and murmur,” Good morning,” into my hair.

Jayce’s eyes ping between us and he pauses. His hand clenches into a fist, and I take a leap of faith. “You can give me a good morning kiss, too,” I say to him, my voice still slightly raspy from sleep, “if you want.”

He blinks at me, and Hayden’s lips quirk against my temple. I stare at him, having given the invitation. It’s his turn to do something with it or not. His eyes flick to Hayden for the briefest moment, then he stomps across the kitchen towards us. I straighten, and Hayden shifts so his chest is to my back. Next thing I know, I’m trapped between two hot alpha bodies, and my heart pounds out of rhythm in my chest.

Jayce fists the front of my borrowed shirt and slams his lips to mine. I’m so surprised by the force of his kiss that I don’t get a chance to close my eyes before he’s already pulling back. He must notice my shocked look, because he crooks a half-smile at me, apparently pleased with his performance.

“Right,” Hayden says, clearly holding in a laugh. “You were looking for us?”

“I want to plan a bonding date to ask Siobhan to be ours. Even though— Well— To make it official, I mean, not just…” He gestures at his crotch and his entire neck and face turn red.

I pinch my lips together to avoid laughing at the flustered alpha. He’s such a conundrum. Unsure and then commanding, determined and then bashful.

“Great idea,” Hayden says, and I nod in agreement.

“Do you want help?” I offer.

Jayce shrugs and wags his head in a weird circular motion. I lean back and twist my head slightly towards Hayden while keeping my eyes on Jayce.

“What does that mean?” I stage whisper to them.

Hayden chuckles, then whispers back. “It means he wants to say no but doesn’t want to offend us.”

“Ah,” I reply, then turn back to Jayce. “Let me know if you want any help, otherwise I’ll leave you to it. I trust you to plan something special for her.”

Jayce’s expression slackens and he looks at me with wide eyes. “You trust me to plan it myself?”

“Sure,” I shrug. “Why wouldn’t I? It’s clearly important to you.”

“I…” He scrubs one big hand up and down against the back of his head. “Yeah, okay. Thanks.”

“Plus,” Hayden says, stepping around me to clap Jayce on the shoulder. “It’ll be a good distraction for you from all this ritual stress. You doing okay with that?”

Jayce grimaces and looks away, his hand clenching into a fist as he drops it to his side.

“Yeah,” I murmur. “Same.”

Hayden nods, and we all stare at each other, glum. Finally, Hayden sighs and squeezes both our shoulders.

“I gotta get to work,” they say.

It’s only then that I notice they’re dressed in their navy blue paramedic uniform. My eyes trail down their strong build. Why are uniforms so hot? I wrench my gaze away and heave a sigh of my own. I have planning to work on today, too.

Chapter Forty-Five

Siobhan

“So have any of you gone into heat early?” I ask between pulling weeds and secretly feeding them to Daisy, Sage’s pet sheep. Daisy nudges my hand for another, and I scratch behind her fluffy ear.

Sage shakes her head, wide brown eyes staring at me in concern.

“I haven’t,” Wren says. She has her usual gardening gloves on while pulling out the end of season plants, Bea helping her with the bigger ones. It frosted last week and the ground froze, so we won’t be getting any more harvesting in until next year.

“Uh-uh.” Bea shakes their head with a half-shrug.