Omega's Savior (Omega Destiny, International Book 3)

by Kian Rhodes

  Warmth tingled in my chest at the thought of the man sleeping the sleep of the exhausted in the master bedroom. “He’s napping right now, but as soon as he wakes up,” I promised.

  “Napping, huh?” Drey snorted and I could imagine him looking up at a wall clock with a smirk. “Funny, my mate didn’t want to nap alone when he was carrying.”

  I barked out a laugh. “Get your mind out of the gutter,” I huffed with a roll of my eyes. “He really is napping. He hasn’t been getting enough sleep.”

  Drey just snorted again. “And I suppose you don’t have any idea why, hm?”

  I was sure that Drey could actually hear the self-satisfied grin well before I responded. “What kind of Alpha would I be if I didn’t strive to meet the needs of my gorgeous, pregnant Omega?” I shot back.

  “Good for you, Sy,” Some of the humor leeched out of Drey’s voice and was replaced with sincerity. “I got the impression that it’s been a long-damned time since anyone has made that young man a priority.”

  My heart clenched at the overwhelming truth in that statement. “Maybe in the past,” I said softly, watching as a delivery van pulled to a stop in front of the house. “But not anymore.” Hoping to cut off the driver before he could ring the doorbell and wake Paul, I headed for the front door. “I’ve got to go, but I’ll let you know when I receive the letter from you.”

  Drey agreed and I ended the call, shoving the phone into my pocket as I reached the door.

  “I have a delivery here for Paul Rogers,” the nervous young man squeaked out, thrusting a large basket overflowing with artfully arranged flowers toward me.

  “I’ll take it.” Shifting the basket to my left hip, I scribbled a digital signature on his tablet with my finger and turned back into the house. Mentally ticking the flowers off on my list, I tiptoed into the bedroom to place them on the dresser where Paul would see them as soon as he woke.

  Two birthday deliveries down and three more to go.

  Leaning down to brush a kiss over Paul’s slightly pursed lips, I smiled when he sighed. He’d kicked the covers off at some point, leaving his body bare to my perusal, so, red-blooded Alpha that I admit I am, I ogled him shamelessly for a minute before dropping another kiss on his tummy -this one for Bun- and drawing the sheet and light blanket back up to cover him, leaving the heavier comforter down around his feet.

  “Sleep well, Tiger,” I whispered in his ear as he snuggled into the covers. “I’m watching over you and the little one.”

  Even in his sleep, I knew he heard me because the wrinkle in his brow eased and a small smile curved his plump red lips.

  I was so lost.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Paul

  When the alarm set on my phone beeped, I rolled over and stretched, catching sight of a beautiful basket bursting with colorful flowers before I could even reach for the adjustable bed remote. Luckily, the dresser holding them was on the way to the bathroom, so I buried my face in the fragrant blooms on my way to pee.

  On closer inspection on my way back, they were actually blooming houseplants, each one in an individual pot that was then nestled into the massive willow basket. Pulling on the plush green bathrobe that I’d more or less stolen from my host shortly after I’d arrived, I plucked the card from the basket and went looking for him.

  The card was promptly forgotten when I found Sylas balancing on the top step of a six-foot ladder, looping a garland made of multicolored balloons around the ceiling fan.

  “Sylas?” I called out quietly, not wanting to startle him. “Should you be doing that? It, uh, doesn’t look very safe.”

  “Hey, Birthday Boy.” Sylas finished tying the ribbon and then looked down with a smile. “How’d you sleep?”

  His body shifted making the ladder jerked slightly and I froze, swallowing hard. “Sylas, please get down before you fall.”

  “What?” Sylas looked amused. “Tiger, I’m not up that high.” He shifted again, making the ladder groan and my mind flashed back to the night that my Dad had wrecked, the groaning of metal as the Jaws of Life had attempted to wrench the wreckage apart to pull his lifeless body free.

  A scream tore free of my throat, but I barely heard it as I crumpled to my knees, clasping my hand to my mouth as my stomach threatened to revolt. My chest tightened and I struggled to breathe. Through the tears filling my eyes, I saw Sylas falling through the air, but was too distraught to register that he’d jumped from the ladder and landed safely on his feet.

  “Baby, you’re shaking.” Sylas dropped to the floor beside me and scooped me into his arms, holding me tight. “What’s wrong?”

  I couldn’t talk through the sobs choking me, so I buried my face in his chest, clinging to him.

  “Paul? Can you talk to me?” Sylas’s voice was thick with worry and even his scent washing over me wasn’t helping me. “Please tell me what happened?”

  He rose to his feet and reached down to pull me to stand, but my legs wouldn’t cooperate and Sylas barely caught me as they buckled. Sylas blew out a deep breath and carefully lifted me, carrying me over to sit on the sofa.

  “Breathe with me.” The touch of command in Sylas’s voice finally seemed to break through the cloud of panic in my head and I tried to slow my breathing to match the rise and fall of his chest. “That’s better,” Sylas said encouragingly, his hand stroking my back through the thick plush of my robe. “Keep breathing.”

  After several moments of silence, my throat finally relaxed enough that I thought I could speak. “I..sorry.”

  Sylas tsked and continued to rub my back. “No apology,” he said in a soft but firm voice. “Can you tell me what happened?”

  I sucked in a breath but could only shake my head helplessly. “I..I don’t know. As soon as the ladder started to creak, I flashed back to my Dad’s car accident.”

  “Okay,” Sylas said soothingly. “No more ladders.”

  “Really?” My jaw dropped. “I mean, you don’t have to do that. I know I overreacted.”

  “No, you didn’t,” Sylas contradicted me gently. “You asked me to get down and I made light of it. That’s on me.” Sylas snuggled me closer. “I’m sorry, Paul.”

  Unable to even remember the last time that someone else had apologized for upsetting me, I was speechless, so the doorbell that rang through the house wasn’t interrupting anything. Sylas shifted me off his lap and brushed his lips over mine.

  “I’ll be right back. Keep focusing on your breathing, okay?”

  I nodded and closed my eyes, listening to the faint murmuring of voices from the foyer. The squeak of Sylas’s athletic shoes announced his return just before he cleared his throat.

  “How are you feeling, Tiger?”

  I eased my eyes open to find that he’d knelt in front of me, a large, oddly shaped package tied up in gold tissue sitting on the floor between us. I managed a wan smile and shook my head at the gold bundle. “I think I’m okay,” I said, my voice softer than I liked. “What’s that?”

  “This?” Sylas followed my fingers with his eyes, frowning in exaggerated mock confusion. “Now, where on earth did that come from?”

  I snorted. “Right..”

  Sylas shrugged, his twinkling eyes more purple than silver. “I guess you should open it and then we can find out?” he suggested.

  Remembering the tiny card crumpled in my fist, I un-balled it and smoothed it out, narrowing my eyes at Sylas who cocked his head in a terrible attempt at looking innocent. “I don’t suppose you know who sent the beautiful flowers in the bedroom?”

  Sylas took the card and read it, his lips twitching into a gentle smile that matched the affection in his gaze. “It says they’re from a secret admirer,” he pointed out with a smirk. “Should I be jealous?”

  I rolled my eyes but couldn’t hold back a grin. “You’re a dork.”

  “Hey, that’s not nice,” Sylas protested with another smirk. “So, are you gonna open this or not?” he asked, nudging the newly delivered package t
oward me.

  Searching in the tissue rosette caused by the ribbon tying the paper closed, I found another card and plucked it free with a triumphant grin. “So, do I have another admirer or…?”

  Sylas’s smirk stretched back into a smile. “Honestly? I’d be shocked if you didn’t have hundreds,” he said softly. “You’re extraordinary.”

  My stupid heart tripped over itself as it started racing at his words and I had to reach up and wipe away a tear. “You are so much sweeter than I deserve, Sylas. Why aren’t you married with a hundred kids?”

  Pain flashed through his eyes so quickly that I would have missed it if I hadn’t been staring into the quicksilver of his gaze. “I’m sorry, that’s none of my business,” I amended quickly, forcing a bright smile and tugging on the ribbon, anxious to change the subject.

  “It’s okay, baby,” Sylas said softly, stilling my fingers with his gentle hands and bringing them up to his lips. “You’re important to me and I don’t want to have any secrets from you, but, honestly, it’s not a happy story and I’d rather not ruin your birthday with it. Can we put a pin in it and I’ll tell you my background tomorrow?”

  Warmth rushed through me at Sylas’s easy declaration and I stroked his cheek with the fingers he still held to his lips. “Okay.” Dropping my hands, I made quick work of untying the ribbon and folding the paper to the sides, revealing another beautiful basket filled with smaller tissue-wrapped packages. This basket was much larger and sturdier than the one holding the plants. It had a pair of handles that folded up to carry it and a padded lining made of pale green chintz fabric that had cheerful bumble bees buzzing between flowers.

  “Wow,” I breathed out, “That is cool.” I studied it carefully before looking up at Sylas. “I’ve never seen a basket like this before. Is it for a specific purpose?”

  “Maybe you should read the card?” Sylas suggested with a wink, reminding me that I’d dropped it in my lap with the other card when things had taken the sudden heavy turn moments before.

  “Oh.” Tearing open the envelope, I found that what I’d thought was a card was actually an instruction sheet. For a Moses basket. Who needed instructions on how to use a basket? I made it to the next line before it became obvious that apparently I did. “Oh!” I said again, this one in surprise. “It’s like a bed for the baby!”

  I leaned over to press a kiss to Sylas’s lips. “Thank you!”

  Sylas chuckled. “I’ll never complain about kisses,” he teased me, “but aren’t you going to open the other packages? There might be something for the Daddy-to-be in there.”

  Laughing, I reached for the first of the smaller items and the paper fell away to reveal a honey-infused skin conditioner. Next was a shower crème. Then a body scrub and so on. By the time the Moses basket was empty, there was a complete set of skin care products lined up on the coffee table.

  “This smells so good,” I sighed, taking a deep whiff from a bottle of bubble bath before waving it under Sylas’s nose.

  “Sure does,” Sylas agreed, grabbing it from my hand and setting it down with the rest. Before I could protest, he’d risen to his knees between my legs and caught the back of my head with one hand, pulling me forward for a kiss that started out soft and sweet before deepening to aggressive and soul stealing. “Mmm. But you taste better.”

  Releasing me as abruptly as he’d captured me, Sylas sat back on his heels and glanced over at the clock on the wall. “Now, you have just enough time for a long, hot bubble bath before the next part of your birthday celebration begins.” He rose to his feet and extended a hand to pull me up. “If you’re interested, of course.”

  “If,” I snorted in amusement, he was more than aware that I’d developed an addiction to his deep roman soaking tub the first time I’d sunk into it. “Lead the way, Master.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Sylas

  It wasn’t until after I’d stripped my bathrobe off my beautiful husband and helped him into the tub -not that he needed help but I just couldn’t seem to rein in my urge to take care of him -that my own words came back to haunt me.

  I don’t want to have any secrets from you.

  Of course, what I wanted didn’t necessarily matter. I mean, yes, Paul knew I was a shifter. He’d even more or less guessed the right family line when he’d asked if I was a dragon. Though, as ancient and rare as dragon shifters are, the monster inside me is older and rarer still.

  Stepping over to the gilt-edged mirror hanging above the antique sideboard in the living room, I studied myself. In that form -my human form- there wasn’t really anything to say I wasn’t just another man. That is, unless you looked too carefully at my eyes or watched them long enough to catch the occasional blink of my third eyelid.

  Or for those who were unlucky enough to be on the receiving end of a stare that could turn a man to stone. On those rare occasions, there was always a flash of horrified recognition in the victim’s eyes as his limbs froze and he began to petrify from the outside in. Of course, Paul would never need to worry about that, but it didn’t mean that he’d be able to see past it, either. It was one thing to hope that a young, beautiful Omega just entering the prime of his life would choose an Alpha so much older than himself, it was entirely another to think that he would voluntarily tie himself to a monster, a killer.

  Shaking my head, I turned away from the mirror when the doorbell rang again. The clock showed the delivery was right on time and Paul’s voice from the bathroom made me chuckle.

  “Oh my God, Sylas! How much stuff did you order?”

  “Who, me?” I called back, laughing again when Paul groaned loudly.

  Trading the beautiful platter of chocolate-dipped strawberries for a couple of folded bills, I placed it in the center of the dining room table, careful not to disturb the arrangement as I removed the plastic cling wrap.

  Plucking one of the large berries from the edge of the plate, I snuck into the bathroom where Paul was submerged to his neck in the frothy bubbles, his head tilted back and eyes closed. I was just about to tickle his lips with the candied fruit when they moved.

  “I know you’re there, Alpha.”

  His eyes were still closed and the scent of bubble bath in the room should have been covering my scent, so his words gave me pause.

  “How? Did I create a breeze when I was walking?”

  Those soft lips smiled. “No. I can just feel you.” His hand crept up out of the suds to pat his chest, directly over his heart. “Right here. I can always feel you inside when you’re near me.”

  Oh, hell. If the way my own heart suddenly began racing was any indication, this man was going to be the death of me.

  “You do, huh?” I knelt by the tub. “Open your mouth,” I ordered, smiling when he did so without hesitation. Bringing the berry to his lips, I tapped his chin with my pinky. “Take a bite.”

  “Oh, God,” Paul moaned as his teeth broke through the chocolate shell to sink into the flesh of the fruit. “That is so good!”

  To my surprise, Paul didn’t move to take the treat from me. Instead, he remained relaxed and allowed me to feed him, bite by bite. When he’d swallowed the last bite, I allowed myself to lean in and sample his lips, savoring the flavors lingering there. “That is delicious.”

  Paul finally opened his eyes and the unexpected emotion in them nearly knocked me off my feet. “Kiss me again,” he demanded. “Like you mean it.”

  That I could do.

  Heedless of the bubbles clinging to the front of my shirt, I claimed his lips, moving my own against them in a dance older than time as I allowed my tongue to creep in and tease his, wrapping around his as I licked and sucked on his mouth, sending shivers through his body. When I finally released him, Paul’s face was flushed from more than the warm bath and the pink tip of his dick was bobbing with the bubbles.

  “Your tongue is amazing,” he said with a sigh. “I swear, it’s like it has a life of its own.”

  Oops.

  Because m
y forked reptilian tongue told me more about the world around me than my eyes and ears combined, I rarely bothered to shift all the way to human, choosing instead to stop on the last edge which left my tongue in its non-human state and my claws, fangs, and other weapons always on the ready. It was a line that I’d spent decades learning to straddle, but I’d clearly been single long enough to forget that if my tongue was in someone else’s mouth, they might notice.

  Before I could respond, Paul spoke again, still smiling warmly at me.

  “It makes kissing you awesome,” he said with a cheeky grin, unaware of the concern he’d sparked in my gut. “But when you put it other places, it’s freaking magical.”

  I nearly choked on a sudden laugh at Paul’s not-so-subtle hint that he wanted me to eat his ass. Not that I was opposed -oh, Hell, no! -but we just weren’t done with the day yet.

  “You think so?” I murmured, leaning forward to press our mouths together, tickling his lips with the tip of my forked tongue before pulling back. “Well, maybe after dinner we should see if I can make you cum without touching you anywhere else.” Paul sucked in a gasping breath and I grinned. “How does that sound?”

  “Yes! Yes, please,” Paul pleaded, biting down on his lip. His eyes widened and his nostrils flared, making me feel almost guilty that he was going to have to wait. “Now?”

  “After dinner,” I repeated, stroking his cheek before shoving myself to my feet. “In fact, that delivery should be coming soon, so why don’t you finish up in here and get dressed while I pop a quick shower in the guest room?”

  “Dressed?” Paul scowled. “Can’t we just eat naked? It would get us to the good stuff faster.”

  Biting back a laugh, I shook my head. “Dry off and get dressed,” I said firmly. “You only get one birthday a year and I’ve got plans for you.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Paul

  Okay, so it’s possible that I was still sulking when I stomped out to the living room in a pair of skin-tight royal blue boxer briefs and a pair of socks. After all, that damn Alpha had just gotten me all hot and bothered and then walked away like it was nothing. If it hadn’t been for the bulge he’d had to shift in his jeans when he stood up, I might of thought Sylas wasn’t really interested. Since I knew he was, I was pissed at being left hard and wanting – no matter how many times he’d gotten me off so far that day.