It’s the one he bought a while ago, back when they were texting pictures on the phone. It’s been sitting on his desk, waiting for a good time to move into Felix’s place. Kade brought it in today as an apology, hoping it would make Felix smile.
“If you want, you could leave it here. I’ll hand it over. Unless you’d rather give it to him yourself.” Susan shrugs.
Kade sucks in a deep breath. Maybe Felix won’t have any use for him, or the giraffe. Felix knows what he needs. So Kade sets the toy on the counter, leaving it with the burden of his hopes. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” Susan picks the giraffe up, looking it in the eye. “It’s cute. I think he’ll like it.”
If Felix remembers the plushie murder from three months ago, then yeah, he definitely will.
Kade turns, breathing in the heavy summer air as he steps out of the store.
37
Kade
18 Years Ago
The first time Kade thinks about kissing Felix, they’re twelve, and Felix is lying flat on the lawn, a sketchpad of animals in front of him.
Kade has been watching movies at night, with his parents, and sometimes, the people in those movies kiss. Last night, an alpha had kissed an omega, and the omega had slapped him for it. It had made Kade cringe, pulling his knees up to his chest. He doesn’t want to be slapped like that.
So he lies next to Felix on the cool grass, watching his omega sideways. Felix’s mouth looks pink and soft. And Kade thinks about touching it, except he doesn’t want Felix to look at him like some kind of sick monster.
Instead, he throws his head back and sighs. “I think boys are better than girls.”
Felix glances over, kicking his feet in the grass. “How come?”
Because you’re a boy. You’re better than girls. Or any other boy. “They’re just better,” Kade says, his heart thudding like a drum. Will Felix want to hear it if he says I like you? But Felix already knows, doesn’t he, if Kade hangs around with him so much? “I don’t like girls.”
“I like your mom.” Felix grins, blond hair falling into his eyes. He sketches the finishing touches on a rabbit, then flips the page. “And I like your dad. And Chris and Sam.”
Kade waits for him to go on, his pulse quickening. But Felix doesn’t say I like you.
He deflates, plucking blades of grass from the ground, shredding them. Maybe he just thinks I’m a good friend. “Yeah?”
“It’s better than being home,” Felix says. “I like Taylor. And James, the butler.”
“What about your dad?”
Felix looks down at his sketchpad, shrugging. “I love him, I guess.”
“You guess? Don’t you know?” Because Kade loves his parents and his brothers, and maybe Felix. He can’t imagine not loving his dad. But the mayor also compares Felix to his brother, tells Felix he’s not worth much if all he can do is draw. Kade doesn’t like him. Alastor Henry doesn’t like Kade, either.
Felix rolls his pencil in his fingers. “I love him,” he says, but his eyes are dark. “Sometimes I think he doesn’t love me.”
Kade doesn’t ask why. He scoots over to Felix, nudging his side. “I love you,” Kade says. “Is that enough?”
His bondmate cracks a smile, looking down at his sketchpad. “I think so,” he says, drawing ovals onto the paper. “I love you, too.”
And Kade’s heart soars into the clouds. He lies on the grass, closing his eyes with a smile.
When he looks back a minute later, Felix has fallen asleep next to him. On the sketchpad are two boys, holding hands, and under them, Felix has written Kade & Felix.
Kade squirms up close to Felix, pulling him into his arms.
38
Felix
Present Day
Felix drags his feet into the store, sighing as he ducks into blessed shade. The AC brushes cool against his skin, and he sniffs—no sign of the manager, but there’s a lingering trace of cedar and pine. His stomach squeezes.
“Kade dropped by earlier,” Susan says, plucking a giraffe off the register. “He left this.”
Felix takes the giraffe into his hands. It’s soft, with bean-filled hoofs, and it smiles adorably up at him. Actually, the giraffe is the murderer. You shouldn’t let them fool you.
Kade had left this for him. After last night, he wasn’t sure if Kade would return, but the giraffe says everything he needs to know—that Kade cares, that Kade’s reminding him about their jokes. “He left me a murderer,” Felix says. He can’t stop smiling. “That’s... very sweet of him.”
Susan raises her eyebrows. “Are you guys ever going to sort things out?”
Felix shrugs. He’s made too many mistakes for Kade to possibly want him back. But he buries his face in the giraffe’s flank anyway, breathing in its pine-and-cedar scent. It smells like Kade has been holding on to it for a while, like Kade is standing here with him, and he hugs it to himself, comforted. “Maybe.”
“You should. It’s only a few more months before you’re due.”
He winces, reaching down to touch his belly. It’s still getting bigger, and the baby has been moving, a constant reminder of the new life inside him. Kade hasn’t said anything about wanting a child.
But Kade had brought up the past, and Felix had deflected the conversation. Like a coward. There’s a reason he’d repressed that memory from five years ago. He’d been focused on hurting Kade, making Kade stay in Meadowfall so he wouldn’t follow him.
And the horrifying things Kade had repeated back to him last night... If Felix had said them to his alpha, then how could he possibly make up for that?
Felix brushes the tears from his eyes, hurrying to the backroom so he won’t cry in front of anyone else. The giraffe presses soft against his chest, and he hugs it, breathing in Kade’s scent, wishing Kade were here.
He wants everything to be right again. He wants to erase the awful bits of their past, so Kade’s father will still be alive, so Kade’s family will still be doing well, and his brothers and parents will still be living contentedly in the same house.
Felix tucks the giraffe into his locker. If Kade returns again, he can’t reject his alpha. He’ll make it up to Kade somehow.
Ten hours later, Felix opens up his email. You’ve made some sales today, the artist portal email reads. Check out which pieces you’ve just sold!
Smiling, Felix clicks on the email. There’s been a sale or two every week, and one a day for the last two days.
What he doesn’t expect to see is the list of sold paintings. He scrolls down the page, and half his collection is listed: Ship at Sea, Goat in the Forest, The Kraken Attacks.
He stops counting the number of paintings after a while, scrolling down to the order summary. $5,230.41.
His heart thuds, and Felix whimpers, his vision blurring. Someone bought his paintings. Someone bought half his collection, and he’ll have money to pay for things again. He’ll have savings now.
He sets his phone down, hugging his belly.
39
Kade
Kade returns to the gas station the next day, feeling like he shouldn’t be there.
Maybe Felix won’t be around. Maybe he’s swapped shifts with Susan so they won’t have to talk. And it would be just like Felix to do that.
He steps through the doors anyway, expecting to see the giraffe on the counter.
Instead, Felix straightens at the register, his eyes hopeful, teeth biting down a smile. “Hello.”
Kade’s pulse trips. “Hey.”
But the night before still stands between them. Felix doesn’t want anything from him other than sex. Kade tucks his hands into his pockets, trying to look like he doesn’t care, when his bondmate stands just four feet away.
Felix holds his gaze, squirming, looking like he’s holding back a flood of words.
“How are you?” Kade asks. Why do you look like you just throttled your manager?
“I sold some paintings last night,” Felix says, his words cramming together
. “Half of everything. Someone bought forty pieces at once!”
“Really?” Kade stares. This isn’t what he imagined would happen. He’d pulled into the gas station, thinking he’d have to apologize, or edge around Felix. And here they are, Felix looking like he’s bursting with sunshine. “How much did you make?”
“Five thousand,” Felix says, wriggling.
“Holy shit.” Kade grins. It’s not something either of them expected to happen. Felix has groaned about his sales the past few weeks, and to have him sell so much suddenly... Kade thinks about jumping over the counter. He wants to hug Felix. “I told you, they’d sell!”
Felix does a little dance next to the register, his entire face suffused with delight. “It’ll probably be a one-off event, but five thousand dollars, Kade! I can’t believe it. I’ll have it piled up and roll around in it.”
“Gonna cash it in dollar bills?” Kade chuckles at the image, extending his hand.
Felix raises his eyebrows—they’re a little past handshakes by this point—but he slips his hand into Kade’s anyway, his fingers soft and warm. “Maybe some five-dollar bills. I want a bed of cash. Make a coat out of bills. Or maybe a painting. It’ll be my thousand-dollar masterpiece.”
Kade laughs, and it feels like a bit of relief, and a bit of joy. “Go ahead. You deserve it.”
“I’m still walking around in a daze,” Felix says, his eyes the brightest Kade has seen in five years. “I think I’ll have to spend Saturday shipping everything out. I can’t go out with you. Sorry.”
Kade shrugs. He’s happy for Felix, and if Felix has to take some time off to get his paintings shipped, he’s willing to accommodate that. “It’s fine. Want me to come over and help?”
Felix bites his lip. “Probably. I mean, I don’t want to trouble you. But I don’t know how else I’ll get forty whole paintings packed. Some of them aren’t even framed yet. I’ll need frames for them. Oh, gods, there’s so much to do.”
“Relax,” Kade says, rubbing the back of Felix’s hand with his thumb. “I can come over tonight and help if you want.”
Felix’s eyes widen. “You don’t mind?”
Kade clicks his tongue. “I’ve been coming over the past few days, haven’t I?”
“Not yesterday,” Felix murmurs, looking down. And Kade remembers two nights ago, when they’d crouched by the slushie machines and kissed. Felix’s eyes had brimmed with regret.
“Don’t worry about it,” Kade says. He pulls his hand from Felix’s, and Felix’s expression falls further.
Kade rounds the counter. Felix watches him, eyes widening when Kade’s almost in the “Employees Only” zone. He hurries forward, faltering two steps away. Kade closes the gap between them, pulling his bondmate into a tight hug.
“I’m proud of you,” Kade whispers in his ear, running his palm down Felix’s spine. He’s always loved Felix’s drawings: the peaceful mountainsides, the lush forests, the colorful, exotic streets. And Kade’s glad and relieved that someone else recognizes the beauty of those paintings, that something good has emerged from all their efforts.
Felix’s belly pushes against him, and Felix presses his nose into Kade’s shoulder, hands curling into his shirt. “Really?” he mumbles. “I’m just... I...”
“Yeah. You deserve it,” Kade says, holding his omega to himself. Felix’s body fits perfectly against his, slender and warm. Kade buries his nose in Felix’s hair. Felix smells like lavender and a trace of honey, and hugging him makes Kade think of home, of a cozy hearth and easy conversations.
“Thank you.” Felix sniffles, hiding his face. “I can show you the sales on my phone. It’s amazing. That is, if you want to see it.”
“Sure,” Kade says, pressing his lips to Felix’s forehead. Felix’s cheeks darken.
He slips out of Kade’s arms, hurrying to the backroom. There’s no one in the store right now, so Kade follows, his heart thumping in his chest. Maybe Felix can afford not to work for a few months, paint more, and take better care of himself.
Kade steps into the shadowy backroom after him. Felix turns the lights on, fishing in his pocket for his locker key. Kade can’t help looking him over—rosy cheeks, baggy shirt, swollen belly. Felix is his omega, and protectiveness surges through his chest. He wants to pull Felix close, defend him, pleasure him. Make him cry out and shudder.
Kade slips his hand around Felix’s elbow, flicking the lights back off. Felix glances up at him in surprise.
“Before you do that,” Kade murmurs, turning his omega to face him. Then he shoves Felix up against the lockers, pinning him down with a hand on his chest. Felix gasps, his pupils dilating. Kade steps between his feet, lowering his mouth to Felix’s, brushing lightly against his lips.
“Before that, what?” Felix whispers, his breath hot on Kade’s skin. He winds his fingers into Kade’s shirt, and Kade cups him between his legs, finding the hard line of his cock through his pants. Mine.
Kade huffs his laughter. “All it takes is that,” he growls, increasing the pressure on Felix’s chest, “and you’re hard.”
“Are you surprised?”
Kade snorts. After all these years? “No.”
Felix rolls his hips. Kade covers his cock with his hand, and Felix groans. “But I can’t—can’t believe you’re doing this here.”
“You aren’t saying no,” Kade murmurs. Light from the store shines into the backroom, lighting a skewed rectangular patch on the floor, and the storefront is quiet. So Kade hooks his fingers into Felix’s waistband, and Felix whimpers. “Consider it my way of saying congrats.”
The zipper pulls open with a harsh rasp. Kade slips his thumb into Felix’s briefs, easing it down to expose the silky skin of his cock. Then he lifts it out with his finger so it juts between them, flushed and hard. Felix pushes his hips up, needing more.
“Tell me what you want,” Kade whispers, sucking on his earlobe.
“Touch me,” Felix groans, rocking up against Kade’s palm, his cock leaving a damp trail on his skin. “Don’t just pull it out and leave it.”
Kade smirks, grasping his foreskin lightly with his fingers, sliding it down to expose his tip. “What if I do?”
Felix trembles, his breaths stuttering. “Here?”
Kade traces his fingers down the underside of his cock, then back up. Felix is so big it has to hurt—and it’s something else Kade remembers from their past—he likes being exposed like this, where someone can catch them. “You’re so damn hard.”
“Touch me,” Felix hisses, bucking up, so his cock grinds helplessly against Kade’s hand. “Kade, please.”
And so Kade leans in, breathing in the musk rolling off his omega. He licks down Felix’s throat, curling his fingers lightly around his cock, stroking him, and Felix fucks into the circle of his fingers. Kade squeezes him once, listening to the hitch of his breath, before he lowers his mouth to Felix’s chest, biting lightly on his nipple through his shirt. Felix grunts, his hips stuttering.
Kade drops to his knees, at face-level with Felix’s cock. He leans in, breathing in its heady scent, dragging his tongue slowly along it, leaving a wet trail on his skin. Then he slides two fingers against its base, angling it down at his face.
“Push inside,” Kade growls, opening his mouth slightly.
Felix groans, rolling his hips. His blunt head rubs against Kade’s lips, warm and damp, forcing them to open, and he’s grinding thick against Kade’s tongue, filling his mouth. Kade closes his lips around him, sucking him in. Felix whimpers, bucking, sliding all the way inside.
He needs Kade so much. Kade pulls away from his cock, letting it jut back up, gleaming in the light reflecting off the floor. Then he takes Felix back into his mouth, just listening to his ragged gasp, watching the way Felix’s fingers scrabble against the plastic lockers. “Kade—”
Kade sucks hard on him, once. Felix gasps, thrusting hard into his mouth. It makes his own pants uncomfortably tight, just feeling the way his omega needs him, the way Felix d
oesn’t quite have control over himself when Kade makes Felix fuck him.
“Hello?” someone calls from the front of the store. Felix whines. Kade glances at the splash of light coming through the doorway, his pulse thrumming. They can’t continue this without the customer walking in and finding them. So he leans back, Felix’s cock sliding out of his mouth, jutting hungrily at him.
“Guess you should go back out,” Kade says, licking his lips. Felix swears. Kade tugs Felix’s pants up around his cock, then presses its straining length down, sliding the zipper over it.
“You don’t have to look so gorgeous doing that,” Felix murmurs, his voice hoarse.
Kade smirks, meeting his eyes. “Get out there. I’m waiting.”
Felix squirms as he pushes his feet under himself, his cock thick in his pants. As he leaves, Kade reaches down to stroke himself.
He’ll be waiting for when Felix gets back. And when his omega returns, Kade will test just how well he can keep his voice down.
The second time they fuck in the store, Susan is at the counter, and Kade has to clamp his hand over Felix’s mouth, holding him down while he plows into Felix’s ass.
The third time they fuck, it’s on a night shift, and Kade sits under the counter, Felix grinding against him until the next customer shows up.
The fourth time, Felix is bent over restocking a back aisle, and Kade tugs his pants down without even greeting him, before pushing all the way inside. Felix grows hard in seconds.
The fifth time, Susan walks in on them in the bathroom, Felix on his knees, and she rolls her eyes, closing the door behind her.
The sixth time, Kade bends Felix over the counter, keeping an eye on the cars outside, and Felix comes all over the floor.
The seventh time, Rick walks in, and they freeze.
The Omega's Secret Pregnancy (Men of Meadowfall Book 1) Page 25