by C. W. Gray
Draif gave him a small smile, dark eyes on the stage. “I know. Why do you think I do it?” His smile faded. “It’s her, Leti.”
Leti startled, stumbling and knocking into some of the men around him. He did his best to ignore the grumbles, his heart beating fast in his chest. Monty slipped from his head to his shoulder, and Draif grabbed his arm to steady him. For such a small, slender man, Draif had a strong and sure grip that came in handy when Leti’s clumsiness attacked.
Leti ignored the grumbles around him, eyes locked on the stage. A modestly dressed woman stood tall. She held a whimpering, blanket-wrapped bundle in her arms.
“This little lady is up for sale,” the Auctioneer said. “She comes from a Prime daddy and his mistress, a Lower woman. Unnamed infant, but good potential. Mommy’s dead and Daddy don’t want a Lower brat, so there won’t be no contest of ownership once she’s bought. We’ll start bidding at 250? Can I get 250?”
Leti sighed and closed his eyes. “I can’t believe Father is selling his own child. I hate that he deals in slavery at all, but his own daughter?”
“Yeah, well, he didn’t seem to like your opinion too much last night when you brought it up.” Draif grabbed his hand and squeezed. “Not that he needs much excuse to beat the shit out of you. It was the threat to sell you too that worries me the most.”
It wasn’t appropriate for a bed-slave to hold his master’s hand, but the two of them had never been appropriate. Nothing was normal about a Prime citizen who didn’t have sex with his bed-slave, little less treat him like a slave, and nothing was normal about a bed-slave who was demisexual and had a scarred face and damn good fighting skills.
Draif had been Leti’s best friend since they were both fifteen. Leti’s father gave him to his son and told him to dominate the “broken” slave and prove himself a man. The arrogant Prime often told his son that he was so fat and awkward that no one would ever want him, especially with his attention always on his studies and research.
Leti might be a breeder male, able to have children, but his father assured him no one would ever offer for him like they would a daughter. And love? According to his father, no one could ever love him, not even some mixed breed alien. Being a breeder male showed his blood was too diluted to be human enough. There was too much Wello blood in his ancestry. Father always blamed Leti’s mother for it, but never to her face. He was an arrogant bully, not stupid.
In his father’s mind, a bed-slave would guarantee that Leti would at least be a man in the bedroom. Leti tried not to complain too much, though. Draif had proven to be the best thing that ever happened to him. He was his loyal confidant and best friend from the start and soon became his assistant, body guard, and overall jack-of-all-trades.
Where Leti struggled in anything outside of his books and pets, Draif could seemingly master any skill if he set his mind to it. More importantly, though, Leti loved Draif more than anything in all the galaxies. He was his brother in all but blood. His family.
“620 to the Drall in the corner. Can I get 630, anyone? 630?”
“Is your lawyer bidding?” Draif whispered.
Leti looked at his communicator. “Yes. He’ll keep topping whatever’s offered. She’ll be ours in a few minutes.”
“You father won’t like that, Leti. What are we going to do? We can’t hide her in your rooms until she’s eighteen. I guess we could put her in Wobble’s stable, but who wants to live with an Old-Earth Llama?” Draif paused and eyed his friend. “Well, except for you.”
Leti grinned. “When I get her, you are going to take her to the spaceport. Talk with Dottie. She’s going to sneak all of us on a random ship going out of the system. Father would be alerted if we used our passports, so we have to sneak, at least at first. Once we’re out of the Silverlight system, I can tear up your contract as well as hers. You’ll both be free.”
Draif squeezed his hand tight. His eyes left the stage, widened in disbelief. “We’re leaving the system?”
Leti snorted. “I’ve given you several chances to leave over the last ten years, but you wouldn’t go.”
“I couldn’t possibly leave you behind. I love you,” he said with no hesitancy. “What about your menagerie?” Draif looked at the vexal newt happily perched on Leti’s shoulder. “Monty here wouldn’t be a problem, but you can’t possibly expect to sneak all of them onboard a ship and I know you won’t leave them.” Draif shook his head, dumbfounded. “What about money? How will you survive? I can easily get work, but you’re a trained historian. They aren’t exactly rolling in credits.” He paused, already forming a plan. “I could work and you could stay home and take care of the baby. You’d be good at that. You love. It’s your thing, and in the end, that’s all it really takes. We can figure out how to feed her and change a diaper.”
“1050! Can I get 1100? Anyone? 1100?”
“Dottie assures me it will be fine. She’s picked out a Drellian cargo vessel and my pets are heading there as we speak, even Wobble.” Leti checked his comm, then continued, “As for money, I’ve been saving for a long time. Do you really think I spend all the credits Father gives me monthly?”
“He’s always complaining that you drain his pocket, but I thought he was just being cheap. All you buy are books on your tablet, presents for me, and things for the pets. I think the most expensive thing you bought was the tablet. It came from the Anchor’s Rest System, right? Our system is seriously behind on tech.”
Leti nodded. “I don’t usually use more than a quarter of the allowance. I’ve been saving my pay from my publications too. It’s certainly not much, but I didn’t become a historian to make money. I never thought I’d have to.” Leti laughed ruefully. “I’m a privileged Prime, right?”
Draif let go of his hand and smacked his arm. “No self-deprecation allowed! We are who we are, there’s no changing that. Especially on this world. It’s not like you can change castes and become a Worker. Anyways, the gods know that no one deserves to be related to your father or psycho mother.” He smiled sadly and nodded toward Leti’s broken ankle. “Their love hurts.”
Draif looked worried. “Are you going to pack and bring my things too?”
“Of course! Melinda has already started packing for us.”
“Will she alert your father?”
Leti checked his comm again. Things were on track. “No. She’s the one who urged me to start saving credits when I was twelve. Once we leave, she’s going to go to Rothwell and work with her daughter.”
“Good.” Draif’s couldn’t seem to stop smiling. “We’re really doing this?”
“1520 to the gentleman at the front! 1600 anyone? 1600? Going once. Going twice. Sold to the gentleman in the blue coat!”
Despite his worry, Leti grinned. “Yes. We’re really doing this.”
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Excerpt from book one, Hobson Hills Omegas
Falling for the Omega - Book One of Hobson Hills Omegas series
Carter loaded the last of his tools into his new work van and shut the door. His first day in his new profession was off to a good start. He had three clients to see today and eight spread out during the rest of the week.
Finally getting his plumbing license had been a good idea, even if his perfect, wealthy family hated the idea of him being a plumber.
Hell, they had also hated the idea of him being a soldier and of him moving out of state when he came back injured. They pretty much hated every decision he made.
The crisp fall wind was cold, but the gold, brown, and red leaves on the trees and ground made the cold worth dealing with. Autumn in Maine sure wasn’t the same as autumn in Georgia, but so far, he was damn happy with the move. There was a peace here amongst the trees that he hadn’t managed to find anywhere else.
“Hi, Mr. Neighbor!”
A child’s voice came from behind him, startling Carter. He spun around, stumbling a bit on his prosthesis, and faced the little girl standing a few feet from his van.
She looked about five or six,
with two black braids, caramel skin, and a freckled nose. When she smiled brightly, he saw a small gap between her two front teeth.
A black and gray miniature schnauzer sat at her feet, gaze stern and trained on him.
He looked around and didn’t see any adults. His little half acre tract was quite a ways back from the road, nestled between a good-sized apple orchard on one side and a thick forest on the other.
Where the hell had this little girl come from?
“My name’s Olive, and I brought you a welcome basket. I made it myself, but Daddy made you one too. He’s gonna bring it tonight. I wanted you to get mine first, ’cause it’s from me and then we’ll be best friends.” The little girl paused to take a breath. Her wide brown eyes sparkled and met his straight on, innocent and fearless. “We’ll be best friends forever.”
She didn’t even seem to see the scars along the side of his face. The burn marks had already made two kids cry at the grocery store yesterday. Both times, the parents had been too embarrassed to apologize. They just grabbed their kids and ran.
“Uh, where’s your daddy, Olive?” His voice was deep and cracked, broken by the scarring on his neck. Her adoring stare was starting to freak him out a little. He’d never really been around kids.
“He’s at home,” she answered and handed him the basket. “See what I brought you? Look, look, look.”
“Do you know your phone number? Maybe we could give your daddy a call,” Carter said, taking the basket from Olive. He pulled the small hand towel from the top and almost dropped the basket. “Is that a hedgehog?”
“Yep! That’s Hodges the hedgehog. He wanted to come visit too. Oh and this is Winston,” she said and knelt to pet the small dog.
“Okay, your number?” He tried to keep his gruff voice kind. No sense in scaring the kid.
“Olive! Olive Persephone Wilson! Where are you?” A man’s voice called from the orchard, full of panic and desperation.
“Uh oh,” Olive said. She hurriedly looked around, then darted behind his van, Winston following her. “That’s Daddy.” She poked her head out and stared hard. “Tell. Him. Nothing.”
She quickly hid again when a young omega rushed out of the orchard. He was her father, had to be. He looked just like her.
Carter suddenly couldn’t catch his breath. The man in front of him was simply adorable. He was short and well formed, a little chubby. His black hair fell in curls around his face, and his wide hazel eyes contrasted beautifully with his caramel skin. The same freckles that decorated his daughter’s nose, fell across his own. Where it looked cute on the kid, on her father… Bad thoughts, Carter! Bad thoughts!
“Have you seen a little girl? Black hair? Brown eyes? Miniature schnauzer with her? Maybe a hedgehog?”
Carter stared at the handsome man, mouth gaping, for too long.
The man frowned at him, tilting his head. “Are you alright?” His shy smile revealed the small gap between his front teeth.
Oh fuck, he was so damn perfect. He met Carter’s eyes too, didn’t even glance at the scars.
“Mister?”
Carter shook his head and did his best to pull himself together. He smiled, as best he could with the scar tissue, and nodded toward the van, holding a finger to his lips, encouraging the man to keep quiet.
Olive’s father rolled his eyes and stomped around the van. A squealing Olive ran from her hiding spot and hid behind Carter, hugging him around the waist.
“Mr. Neighbor, save me!” Her giggling told him she wasn’t too worried about her father catching her.
“Olive, you scared me to death running off like that.” Her father really did look worried. “What have I told you about leaving the house without me?”
“But daddy,” she whined. “I wanted to meet Mr. Neighbor. We’re best friends now, and I gave him a welcome basket. I was being hospital.”
Carter frowned. Hospital?
“Hospitable, baby girl, and it doesn’t matter. You are too little to be wandering around by yourself and talking to strangers. No television time this week, and you have to clean out Pooka and Banjo’s stalls on Saturday.”
Olive gave a big sigh and leaned her forehead into Carter’s leg. “Okay, Daddy, but it was worth it. I have a new best friend now.”
The man met Carter’s stare, a question in his eyes. Carter nodded and gave his best half smile.
“Well, maybe our new neighbor would like to come over for dinner one night? So that we can meet him properly,” the man said.
“Yay! Mr. Neighbor, can you come tonight? Daddy’s gonna make apple dumplins for dessert.”
Carter smiled at the little girl and nodded. “Yeah, if it’s okay with your dad.”
The man smiled and nodded eagerly. “That would be great. I hardly ever get to cook for anyone but Olive.” He gave a flustered look and held out his hand. “Oh, I forgot. My name is Elijah Wilson. I live in the farmhouse with the orchard. Of course, you’ve met Olive.”
Carter shook his hand, touch lingering longer than it should. He was reluctant to release him but finally did. “Yeah, I’m Carter Benson. Just moved here from Georgia.”
“Wow, so Maine’s probably a bit different, huh?”
“Yeah, but all the colors on the trees? And ya’ll actually have snow. I’ve never seen much of it.”
“You say that like snow is a good thing.” Elijah shuddered. “Well, welcome to Hobson Hill. I see Olive already gave you a welcome basket.”
Carter looked back in it. “There’s a hedgehog in there.” His coarse voice was getting rougher as he spoke. He wasn’t used to talking so much. Doctors said it was good for him to do though.
“I put cider in there for you. It’s in my favorite big girl cup, the one with Moana. There’s also butter from Pooka and some of Daddy’s bread. It’s so yummy!”
“Thanks, Olive. I appreciate it,” Carter said. The little girl still hung on his leg, smiling up at him. She was a cute one, he acknowledged, even though she was clearly a little crazy. It was a good crazy though.
“Your alpha won’t mind me coming,” Carter asked Elijah.
The man winced and lowered his eyes. “I don’t have an Alpha, so no, that won’t be a problem.”
Carter was surprised. Happy, but surprised. This adorable man had to be beating them off with a stick. Of course, some folks thought poorly about single omegas, and some alphas refused to even speak to them. Idiots.
“I guess I’ll see you tonight. What time?”
“Oh, is six okay?” Elijah’s confidence seemed to bounce back at Carter’s question.
“That’s fine. I better get to work.”
“Yes, of course,” Elijah said and pulled Olive off Carter’s leg. “Come on, Olive. We better get back to the house. We need to get you to school.”
“Okay. Bye, Carter, love you!” The little girl and her dog ran off through the orchard.
“I swear it’s exhausting keeping up with her,” Elijah sighed. Carter smiled and held the hedgehog out to him. “Thanks,” he said, taking Hodges and smiling shyly. “See you tonight. Have a good day at work.”
Carter stood frozen as he watched Elijah walk away. He was in trouble. Big, wonderful trouble.
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