“Take your jacket off,” he says as he places the snacks in front of me on the table, and then he comes back a minute later with a blanket which he drops around my shoulders. “Eat,” he orders, crossing his arms and leaning against the kitchen island. He watcheslike a hawk as I choke down the dry bar and wash it down with water. “And take that fucking hair tie off your wrist while your safe word’s in play!”
My cock protests as I draw the elastic strap off my wrist and drop it on the table. Whatever happens tonight, we’re operating on Colt’s rules.
When I’m done, he straightens. “First, well done on facing your fears with a crowd out there. That took a lot of courage.”
I mop up a few crumbs with my fingertip, heat running through my chest. I swear this man has a superpower to make me feel like a giggly teenage boy in love. But my stomach is also tied in knots because I know the bad stuff is yet to come.
“Second.” He throws a familiar piece of paper across the table. It flutters as it falls, and I stare at his scrawled ‘bullshit’ written over my goodbye note. “What the fuck was that about?”
I lick my lips. “I knew they wouldn’t let you bring an omega in with me around.”
“Oh, you knew, did you?” He sneers at me. “Nice to see my lover has zero confidence in me.”
“It’s not you—”
He throws a computer bag down onto the table and it thumps like there’s bricks inside. “Ask me what this is, Luka.”
I swallow around a lump in my throat. “What’s in the bag, Sir?”
“Psych data and rehabilitation reports that I’ve been compiling in case we ever got a scent match. Everything I need to prove you’re a valuable member of society.”
Goosebumps crawl over my skin as he drags it back to him and unzips it, throwing the overstuffed folders across the table. A thicksensation crawls up my chest as I glance at the top one. The heading reads ‘Why Luka Nesters isn’t dangerous.’
My voice cracks. “How long?” All these years, he’s been meticulously building evidence to fight for his family while I just bided my time, thinking it was too good to last.
“Since the first time I fucked you, you damn fool! Nine years ago. I don’t want to bring an omega into a house without a heart, Luka, and that heart is you.”
“Shit, Colt, I’m so sorry! I assumed—” Anguish tightens my throat. “Did you present it today?”
“Yes, Luka.” His hands tighten into. “I’ll be honest, the caseworker wasn’t too keen, but she let me progress through the application. Rose is my scent match, and I started telling her about your past and you want to know what she said?”
I’m dying to know, but I stare at him, waiting for it all to spill out.
“She put her finger on my lips to stop me from talking and said,If he’s your family, he’s my family too.”
A crackle of tears works through my throat, and I hark to clear it. “She must be as crazy as we are,” I mutter through tears.
“You got that damn right. There’s a whole boat load of surprises coming, and I have no clue how we’re going to handle a single fucking one of them, but I know this is a team show and I can’t do it without you.”
He braces both hands on the table, looking deep into my soul. “What do you say, Luka?”
I swipe my tears away on my sleeve and a small laugh escapes me as I push back my chair and stand. Colt eyes me as I slip the hair tie onto my wrist where it belongs and move to kneel at his feet.
“Sir?”
“Speak.”
“I made a mistake today.”
His brows jump and he snorts. “Yes, you did.” He reaches out and grabs my chin, forcing my eyes up to meet his sparking brown ones. “Tell me something, my darling sub. What’s my job in this relationship?”
My tongue darts through my mouth to moisten it. “To take care of everything outside the house and take care of me.”
He nods. “And what’s your job?”
“To take care of the house and bills. And obey you.”
His fingers tighten. “And do you think you can do my job better than me?”