Page 19 of Such a Tempting Omega

When we sat down with steaming bowls of oatmeal with walnuts and honey and berry sauce, he looked at me like I was the miracle in this equation. He would be wrong.

“I didn’t realize my mate was magic. You took forgotten ingredients and made this incredible meal. I can’t wait to see what you do when we actually go to the market regularly.”

Since mating, he spoke inwes. We were going to do this. He was excited when we would go here or there. Always we. It had only been a few hours, but everything had changed.

It would take some getting used to, but I reveled in it.

“It’s oatmeal, Liam. But thank you. I am kind of magic.”

“Agreed.”

We ate together and Liam went back for seconds. He said he hadn’t had a home-cooked breakfast in a long time and wanted to savor it. What he didn’t know was that if he kept treating me like he did, I would gladly get up and make breakfast for him every morning.

My cooking skills had been denigrated before. But I liked simple foods. Easy, home-cooked meals that nourished.

Liam was looking at his phone after he loaded the dishwasher.

“Am I keeping you from work?”

“Not keeping me, but I probably should get some things accomplished today. It’s not what I want to be doing though.”

“What do you want to be doing?” I teased, offering him a bashful smile.

“I would rather be here with you. Do you want to spend the day with me? I’ll be working, but…”

I could see he was torn. He had work, but we were brand new, and our wolves would want to spend as much time together as possible to strengthen the bond. “I really need to do some job hunting today, Liam. But how about tonight? Do you want to come over for dinner? I can cook again.”

He gifted me the biggest smile yet. “I would love that. Text me your apartment number and a grocery list. I’ll bring everything.”

That was a big relief since I was running low on funds. “I will do that.”

Chapter Seventeen

Liam

We went from zero to a hundred miles an hour, relationship wise, so fast my head was spinning. The omega had been reluctant, with good reason. As we spent time together over the next few weeks, he told me more and more about his relationship with his ex, and although he insisted he didn’t want anything said to club management, I couldn’t help myself.

After all, I was club management. Right after I signed the contract to do the landscaping, I signed a second one for an ownership interest in Cuffed. It was a solid investment and one that excited me. The other owners were so exciting to work with, enthusiastic about all the expansion plans and quick to step in and work if we were shorthanded. I’d been behind the bar more than once and worn the dungeon monitor shirt a few times. All very enjoyable.

My company was doing well, the gardens were beginning to come together at Cuffed, and the little side as well as the small native gardens on the outside of the property were looking good. But of course, nothing compared to the time I spent with my omega, the man of my dreams and the submissive of my fantasies.

We were so suited to one another. While I was nothing like a shibari expert, I had mastered some styles of bondage, and my omega loved watching what I did to him in a mirror or two. On my way home from an afternoon of supervising erotic garden installation, I was so excited to share my day with Hirsch. He spent more time at my house than his own these days, and I hoped that when his lease ended—which was coming soon—he’d make the decision to move in permanently.

He was already on my membership for Cuffed, a necessity since Kyle’s had been canceled with no refund. He’d violated so many rules, we’d had no choice, and I hadn’t minded one bit. In fact, I’d begged to be the one to inform him, but Andreas pointed out that it might be seen as problematic if he sued to get his money back. I wasn’t sure he didn’t just want the pleasure of doing it himself.

The lights were all on at my house when I pulled into the garage. So many, I was surprised that my thrifty omega was running up the energy bill because he was the thriftiest person I’d ever met. When I started out on my own, I didn’t have much money or good sense at first and survival had been as much luck as skill. But Hirsch was the one who turned off lights when we left a room, who put a couple of tablespoons of chili left from dinner in the fridge because it was “perfectly good,” and my house’s glow visible from a satellite chilled me to the bones. Who was there?

Had his ex tracked him down? He’d mentioned that Kyle laughed at his care with money and would turn lights on for no reason other than to bother him. Hell… I slammed the car door and made for the kitchen, prepared to deal with the repercussions of my actions at the club. To all reports, he hadn’t been going lately anyway, but the notification of his revocation might have gotten him wound up.

Bronson and the others were angry that they hadn’t realized what he was up to and were holding a training with the DMs to work on their observation skills. From my omega’s descriptions of what had gone on in full view on the main floor at Cuffed, they should have noticed. But there was no going back to the past—we could only try to do better in future.

The kitchen was aglow with more lights than I realized existed there, including the one over the stove and one at the back of the pantry, but nobody was in the room. Fingers itchingto shut them off, I continued my search for my omega. In the kitchen doorway, I paused, listening, but no sounds met my ears. No TV or streaming music, no footsteps or voices. Was that good or bad?

The house felt off, as I checked each downstairs room before heading for the steps to the second floor. So quiet. Hirsch usually had at least background music on when he was waiting for me to get home. Most days, I’d find him curled up on a chair in the library with a book or cooking dinner in the kitchen.

Facing the upstairs hallway, I considered calling out. But if someone was there who should not be, alerting them might be a bad idea. I glanced over the railing, looking for signs of a problem, but nothing appeared to be out of place. Pacing down the hallway, every door was open and, again, every light I could see blazing. I couldn’t understand. Had something scared him?

The master bedroom was no different than the other rooms, with the exception that the bathroom door was closed. And no light emerged from underneath. Real fear curled up my spine. I approached and grasped the knob. Locked. My mouth dried.

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