It seemed like a long ways off, but someday... maybe Ian could become a person Brad admired.
20
Brad
Ian was still asleep when Brad woke the next morning.
For a moment, Brad held his omega and breathed him in, filling his lungs with honey and rose. It was peaceful, waking up with Ian. Just holding him, cradling Ian against himself. Times like this, Brad felt needed, when Ian was small and vulnerable, and Brad could protect him from everything else.
Ian slept, his back pressed snug against Brad’s chest. Brad caressed Ian’s skin. Followed Ian’s side down to his hip, then curved his hand against Ian’s belly.
It was rounder now. At four months, the baby was developing well. Brad had been touching Ian’s belly, admiring the way Ian’s body harbored their child.
He’d missed out on all of Gwen’s birth. So being able to witness Ian’s pregnancy now... it was something special. Felt like Brad could help Ian this time.
He pressed kisses down Ian’s back, pausing at the bandage on Ian’s arm.
Last night, Gwen had asked Brad for a new storybook, and Brad had said okay. He’d chatted with her, and by the time he’d closed her bedroom door, Ian was missing, and the hallway bathroom had been locked.
Seeing Ian in the bathroom, blood dripping down his arm... Brad had been horrified. And then he’d thought about the way Sue had looked at them—because that was what had triggered Ian, wasn’t it? Sue finding out about their relationship. Ian hated that.
It made Brad wary. That had been his fault, him initiating the kiss. Not only that, but he hadn’t the power to help Ian retain his job. Even if Harold Saxon was his father, Brad had little power to change his father’s mind. And when that involved such a huge part of Ian’s life...
Brad should’ve been more careful. Should’ve respected Ian’s boundaries better.
I can’t be his alpha if I keep fucking up. He deserves better.
Feeling guilty, he kissed down Ian’s waist. Clambered over Ian to his other side, pressing his nose to the silvery lines across Ian’s skin—the stretch marks. Ian was self-conscious about those, too.
Brad nuzzled Ian’s abdomen. Wondered if their baby could hear him now.
He kissed Ian’s belly, then murmured, “Morning. I’m your dad. Your other dad’s still asleep, but he’ll be awake soon. I think you know his voice better than mine since you hear him talk every day, but I’m only around here and there. When I can. I’m a firefighter at the station, but I’m attending your dad’s classes, too.”
Ian stirred, so Brad paused. Waited for Ian to settle back into slumber. Then Brad pressed his lips to Ian’s belly, holding Ian’s thigh.
“I want you to know that we’re both waiting for you. You’ve got a sister—her name’s Gwen. And you’ve got a beautiful, fantastic omega dad. He’s the best person I know, and I was thinking about marrying him. He’s my bondmate now. I want to make it official, though. I want your dad, and I want you. Gods, I’m rambling. I hope I didn’t bore you to sleep.”
Ian snuffled, throwing his leg over Brad’s shoulder. Brad grinned. He nuzzled down Ian’s belly, nudging at Ian’s cock with his nose. Then, his sac, too.
Ian smelled like musk and old sweat. When they’d finally gotten to bed last night, Brad had stripped down Ian’s clothes and massaged his back. Then he’d clambered onto Ian and slid inside him, and Ian had moaned into the pillow.
They’d gone slow, Brad murmuring in Ian’s ear, Ian’s knuckles white on the sheets. Ian had shivered and come beneath Brad, his breathing ragged. Then they’d gone to sleep, and Brad had held Ian until he woke.
He kissed back up to Ian’s belly. “If you could convince your dad to marry me, that’ll be great,” he said to their baby. “No pressure or anything.”
He thought he felt something move in Ian’s belly, but it was probably his imagination. Brad cupped Ian’s ass, nuzzling his omega.
Ian stirred, mumbling. “Did you just... you want to marry...?”
Brad grinned, his spirits lifting. Ian was awake. “You heard?”
“Mmph.” Ian buried his face in the pillows, his thigh dragging against Brad’s shoulder. This pushed his cock within inches of Brad’s mouth, and Brad kissed him there.
“I’m serious, you know. Marrying you.”
Ian mumbled into the pillow, but he rolled his hips closer to Brad, his cock growing.
Brad growled. Pinned Ian’s hips down on the bed, taking Ian into his mouth. He licked around Ian, then released him. “How much did you hear?”
“Some.” Ian arched his back, sliding his fingers into Brad’s hair.
So Brad sucked on Ian until he grew hard, his cock heavy on Brad’s tongue, his musk filling Brad’s nose.
It never grew old, pleasuring his omega. Brad pushed his tongue past Ian’s foreskin, licking around his velvety tip. Ian purred, his fingers twisting into Brad’s hair. Brad cupped Ian’s balls, squeezed them so Ian writhed, his head thrown back. “Brad!”
“Wanna taste your come,” Brad murmured. “Didn’t get to last night.”
“You’re so lewd,” Ian gasped, but he pushed into Brad’s mouth anyway, his cock hungry and straining. Brad sucked Ian back in, hollowed his cheeks to make Ian gasp.
Footsteps thudded in the hallway outside. Brad glanced up. Realized they’d forgotten to lock the door, a second before it opened.
Ian squawked. Brad fumbled for the sheets, trying to drag it over his head. A clump of tangled fabric came up in his fist, not enough to cover them. Shit, shit, shit.
Gwen stepped into the bedroom. “Daddy?”
They were both naked. Brad shoved his mouth back down on Ian’s cock, so at least Gwen wouldn’t get an eyeful. It hit the back of his throat. Ian gasped, his cock jerking in Brad’s mouth.
“I, uh. What’s the matter, hon?” Ian scrambled to sit up, yanking the sheets over Brad’s head.
Brad attempted to pull away. Maybe he’d done something wrong, though. Ian shoved his head back down, his cock filling Brad’s mouth. Brad grunted, choking on him.
“I got this yesterday,” Gwen said, waving an orange form at Ian. Brad glimpsed her through a gap in the sheets. “We’re s’posed to bring a parent to class for Show and Tell.”
“Right. I’ll look at it,” Ian said breathlessly. “Why don’t you leave it with me, and I’ll return it when we sit down for breakfast? You’ll need me to sign the form, right?”
“Uh-huh.” Gwen looked over at Brad, who was still beneath the sheets. “But I want Daddy to come with me to Show and Tell. With a fire truck! What’s Daddy doing?”
Brad froze. Yeah, it was glorious that Gwen was calling him Daddy, but right now, buried under the sheets with Ian’s cock in his mouth, it was just plain awkward.
Ian’s cock jerked. “He’s seeing to something important.”
“Can I see it, too?”
Ian groaned softly, and Brad could feel Ian’s embarrassment rippling off him. With the covers still over his head, he let Ian slip out of his mouth. Then he wiped the dampness off his lips, and poked his head out.
“Nah, it’s not that important,” Brad said. “Just hunting down something your dad lost.”
“Oh.” Gwen frowned. “Okay.”
She stared at Brad for a moment, and Brad had an inkling he shouldn’t be naked in front of her. “Get your schoolbag packed,” he said. “We’re headed out after breakfast.”
Gwen nodded, turning to the door. “I will.” She paused with one hand on the door handle. “Do you put that into Daddy?”
She looked at his hips, and then held her thumb and forefinger parallel, as though she was trying to show him a measurement, or maybe something long and narrow.
“The... your... pin-is?”
“Oh, gods,” Ian breathed, swaying. “Where did you hear about that?”
“From Toby in class.” Gwen looked owlishly at him.
Ian froze; Brad figured he was in charge, now.
“I use it for d
ifferent things,” Brad said. “It’s nothing special, though.”
“Oh.” Gwen gave him an odd look, then left the room, pulling the door shut behind her.
“Gods, Brad.” Ian groaned, flopping bonelessly into the pillows. “I can’t believe she asked that. I can’t believe any of this happened.”
Brad snorted. “Well, believe it. It happened.”
Ian’s whine came out muffled. “When she asked what you were doing... I almost died.”
Brad crawled up the bed, wrapping himself around Ian. Stroked Ian’s back. “Yeah, I thought you might’ve.”
“And then the penis question. And you were just... sucking me off...”
Brad hadn’t expected it, either. But if that was the most difficult part of raising a child, he’d take it.
“I’m not sure how I feel about your cock being nothing special,” Ian mumbled, burrowing into the pillows.
“To you, it’s something special. I don’t need everyone looking at my cock, yeah?”
He ground it against Ian’s hips, and Ian laughed awkwardly. “I thought... I’d figured I didn’t have to do the sex talk with her anytime soon. But if she asks about your cock again...”
“I’ll handle it,” Brad said. “That really was fucking awkward, though.”
“I don’t know which part was the worst.” Ian groaned, chuckling. “When she walked in, or when you came down on me and I thought I’d choked you, or that—that last bit. Gods.”
Brad grinned. He gathered Ian up in his arms, dragging his wrists down his omega’s front. “The important thing is that we didn’t scar her for life.”
Ian blew out a sigh, sagging against Brad. “That’s true.”
“So put that out of your mind for a bit,” Brad said, turning Ian over. “I wanna give you something.”
Ian looked up, interested. “Your penis?” He coughed lightly.
Brad smirked. “That too, but later.”
He rolled away from Ian, swinging his legs off the bed. Felt Ian’s keen gaze on him as he crossed the room, pulling open the chest of solid oak drawers his mom had bought for him when he’d moved out.
In the first drawer, there were his clothes—T-shirts, socks, underwear. In the second, he’d stored random things like swimming trunks and scarves.
Tucked in the middle of his clothes was a metal cookie tin—from when Brad had bought Ian the butter cookies. Ian had finished the cookies months ago, and Brad had taken the tin from Ian’s apartment.
He fished the tin out of the drawer.
Ian stared. “Those can’t be cookies. I would throw a fit if you stored cookies with your clothes, Brad.”
“Nah, it’s your tin. I stole it from you.”
“Oh. I was wondering where that went.”
“Were you going to toss it?”
“Well, no.” Ian blushed. “I was thinking of keeping it.”
Brad couldn’t help grinning. “Yeah? Why?”
“Because you gave it to me.” Ian smiled, looking shyly away. “It was special.”
“It’s gonna be more special now. Here, open it.”
Ian took the cookie tin from him. Things tumbled inside, and Ian’s forehead wrinkled. When he pried the lid off, he stared at the mess within—a word search book, a blank sketchpad, some pens, an iPod with a pair of earbuds.
“I put some of my music in there,” Brad said. “Feel free to swap them out if you don’t like them.”
“But... what’s this for?”
“I took your scalpel last night, remember?”
Brad crawled onto the bed, easing up behind Ian. Then he slipped his arms around Ian’s waist, nuzzling his shoulder.
“Instead of cutting yourself... the next time you need to do something like that, try playing with something in this tin. Five minutes. See if you can wait that long.”
Brad pulled out a tiny hourglass he’d included in the tin, shaking it.
Ian blew out a breath. “You think I can?”
“I hope you’ll try.”
Brad kissed Ian’s nape. Ian flipped through the puzzle book, his face uncertain.
“There’s a couple of books on the flash drive,” Brad said. “And some pictures. I stole those off your Facebook.”
Ian chuckled uncomfortably. “How much money did you spend on me?”
“Not so much. That’s an iPod someone gave me as a gift. I don’t use it enough.” Brad shuffled around so he could read Ian’s face better. “Why, you don’t want me spending money on you?”
“It would be terrible if you do.”
“I don’t care where my money goes, you know. If it makes you happy... I’d be willing to spend it.”
Ian cringed. “You’ve been paying my bills. That’s really enough. I don’t need you to do more.”
Brad clicked his tongue. “You’re my omega. I’m thinking of getting rings.”
Ian’s mouth fell open. “You... what?”
So Brad pressed his palm against Ian’s chest, feeling the quick thump of his heart. “I’m serious about the marriage thing.”
“I’m not.” Ian squirmed. “Save the money for something else. Like Gwen. The baby. You know.”
Brad sighed. “Yeah, I’m saving up for them, too. I need a string replacement on my violin, but I haven’t done that yet. Told myself I’m paying for you and the children first.”
Ian’s face fell. “Oh. I mean, go ahead and buy the strings. Don’t worry about me.”
“It’s not so bad,” Brad said. “I want to see all of you happy.”
“That doesn’t mean you deprive yourself of the things you need.”
Brad rolled his eyes. “I have you and Gwen and the baby, Ian. I’m happy.”
“I guess.” Ian looked dubiously at him. “Where do you buy your strings?”
“There’s a music shop downtown. Olivier’s Strings. I’ve been a regular there for years. There’s an omega who works there—we’re friends.” Brad trailed off at the thoughtful look on Ian’s face. “Why do you ask?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s not a ‘nothing’ face, Ian.”
“It so is a ‘nothing’ face.” Ian scrunched his eyes up, so Brad could no longer read him.
Brad snorted, tackling Ian to the bed. He kissed down Ian’s neck, right over his scent gland. “Don’t tell me you’re going there.”
“I’m not.”
“I don’t believe you a single bit, McMillan.”
Brad tickled him, and Ian shrieked. “Brad!”
Brad tickled harder. Ian squealed. So Brad continued the torment until Ian puffed, shoving him off.
“That’s enough,” Ian panted.
Brad pressed kisses all over his chest, sniffing at his omega. “Mine.”
He pinned Ian’s legs open, nuzzling down Ian’s chest. Then he paused at Ian’s belly, kissing the baby bump. “Hey,” Brad murmured. “Your dad doesn’t like being tickled. Remind me sometime.”
“You jerk,” Ian said, smacking him lightly on the shoulder.
“Maybe I am.” Brad smirked. Then he blew a raspberry on Ian’s belly, and Ian shoved him off.
“Brad!”
Ian’s eyes were sparkling, though, his lips pulled up in a smile. Brad paused, admiring him. His omega was beautiful, all clear eyes and flushed skin, and Brad had never seen anyone more exquisite in the world.
“Are you buying me strings?” Brad asked.
Ian made a face. “No, I’m not.”
“Liar.”
“I’m buying clothes for the baby,” Ian said. “But you can name him.”
“Him?” Brad raised his eyebrows.
Ian rubbed his hand over his belly, his eyes pensive. “Yeah, it’s a boy.”
“How’d you know? We haven’t done the ultrasound yet.”
Ian rolled his shoulders. “I just do. It’s a feeling.”
Huh. Brad didn’t know how that worked. “Did you know that with Gwen, too?”
“Mm-hm.”
Ian looked so calm
that it couldn’t have been a mere guess. Brad wasn’t going to question it, though. “Okay. What about... Xavier?”
“That sounds good.” Ian beamed.
“What do you want?”
“Whatever you decide.” Ian gave a wistful smile. “I named Gwen, so I thought you should get the choice to name this baby.”
“I wanna name him with you, though. What name were you thinking of?”
Ian paused, his mouth open. “I guess I haven’t thought about it; I’ve just been waiting for you to come up with a name. But I do like Xavier.”
“You sure?”
“I am.” Ian stroked his belly.
“Xavier it is, then.” Brad leaned in close, kissing Ian on his belly. “Hey, Xavier. We’re looking forward to meeting you.”
Ian laughed softly. Then, his smile fell. “I hope the ultrasound will go okay. They’ll probably want to do tests on the amniotic fluid. I had to do that the last time, too. The needle is awfully big.”
Brad winced, imagining a terrible needle piercing Ian’s belly. It gave him the chills. “That sounds painful.”
“Anything for the baby, right?” Ian looked at his abdomen, his eyes soft. Brad wrapped his arms around his omega.
Through the last two months, Ian’s fatigue had faded, and so had his morning sickness. But there was still so much uncertainty over the pregnancy, when Ian’s body was no longer at its prime for bearing children.
Sometimes, Brad thought back to the day he’d asked Ian if Ian wanted three children. That hadn’t been his best idea. If this pregnancy put Ian at risk... what would a third one do?
I can’t be trusted to make all the decisions. Brad breathed out, pressing his forehead to Ian’s back. He thought about the children who had died in the fire, a mistake he’d been too late to fix.
If Ian trusted Brad, and Brad fucked up... that would be Brad’s fault.
“I can’t believe you trust me,” Brad murmured, nuzzling the scars on Ian’s arm. He thought about the years Ian had spent cutting into his skin, the years Ian was alive, and Brad hadn’t even been born yet.
What if he lost Ian somehow? To childbirth, or old age, or something worse?
Omega Teacher’s Secret Page 23