Page 34 of Roman
“Yes.” Beau looked around the shower. “This is a seriously nice shower,” he said. “Not that the ones in Even’s place are bad. They’re not. But this one seems…fancy.”
I chuckled. It was certainly quite nice. I’d noticed that earlier when I was unpacking some of the essentials. “It’s certainly nice. I didn’t think to stop at your place to grab your stuff, but you’re welcome to use my soaps and shampoos.”
Beau grinned up at me. “Thanks.” He leaned his head back, wetting his hair before he reached for the bottle of shampoo. When Beau moved out of the spray, I took his place. We spent the rest of the shower exchanging smiles, and when I winked down at Beau, his cheeks turned pink, and I wondered if he would always react like that with me.
When Beau tried to wash himself, I took the cloth from him and got to my knees in front of him. “You don’t have to wash me.”
“I don’t, but I want to. Unless it makes you uncomfortable, I would very much like to take care of you.”
Beau offered another smile, this one shy, with a gentle nod. It was incredibly tempting to explore his body more thoroughly than I had earlier and break in the bench against the far end of the shower, but Beau’s growling stomach had me making the shower essential, and I quickly washed Beau and then myself while he rinsed off. Once the suds were washed from my own body, I turned off the water and then led Beau out of the shower. Thankfully, I’d thought to put several towels in the cabinet earlier when I was unpacking a few bathroom things.
“Gray?” Beau asked, looking at the towel.
“You are welcome to change any and everything in the house. I have gray towels simply because there were enough of them when I was at the store to purchase things when I moved off of Treasure Ridge. I left a lot of the household items there because the omegas that were living with me were still there in the house.” Beau gave me a look, and immediately, I knew what it meant, even without having to probe into his thoughts. “The council has been rescuing omegas that have been trafficked.”
“That’s where they were kidnapped and sold into sex slavery?”
I nodded. “Yes. It’s not pretty, and sadly, some of them were sold by their own family. But the council knew I was a protector, even though I’m not an enforcer. For whatever reason, they asked if I would be willing to watch over a few of the omegas. I had no issue with it since first Phineas had left and then Philip. They were working in the council’s store with me already, so it wasn’t difficult to walk them home with me after we closed the store.” I gave Beau a serious look. “There was never anything between me and any of them.”
“All right. Not that I can say anything. It’s understandable that you would have had sexual partners in the past.”
I nodded slowly. “I have. Not nearly as many as some, but I spent twenty years doing everything I could to protect my brothers from a deranged shifter who was first obsessed with our mother and then them when he realized he had killed her.”
“That’s so terrible.” Beau’s entire mood shifted.
“I didn’t tell you that to upset you. I only wished to reassure you that nothing happened between me and any of the omegas I was trusted to watch after.” That was why I had been entrusted to their care. Because the council knew I wouldn’t try anything with any of them. Not that the enforcers would. That’s why they had passed through the extensive screening process the council had for their elite.
“I understand that, but I still feel terrible about your parents. Mine were from two different villages and not the one we lived in. Neither Evan nor I even know who their families are or if we have any other family still. Well, other than each other.”
I couldn’t understand how two people could do that. Then again, I knew nothing of their family dynamics. Perhaps their families weren’t nice. It happened more often than one would think.
“You and Evan have family here now. And it’s a bit bigger than you would think because although I’m technically not related to Alexander and Raiden, they joined the family through Phineas. And Alexander has a cousin who basically raised him from a teenager and up. So add in Everett and Jennings and their kids, and then throw in Jennings’s brother, who is one of Alpha Maynard’s many, many children, and it’s a whole lot, and you just never know who all will be at family functions.” Beau’s widening eyes had me smiling. I nodded at him. “Yeah, it can be a lot. But they’re great, and for the most part, it’s just my brothers and their mates. Sometimes Raiden and Alexander are at family dinners with their little one, but not always.”
“That’s…I guess I can’t say it’s too much because all of the fae enforcers kind of banded together, and it’s not unusual for them to have pizza nights where they spend time yelling at the television while they’re playing some silly game on the console.” Beau rolled his eyes. “I get it; they have their thing, and I have mine. There’s this television series that is probably too sappy for them, so I watch it when they’re all at work. Otherwise, I’ve not had much to do while they all got to go to work every day. There’s only so much walking around the council building, the store, and bakery before you become bored.”
That I understood and could relate to completely. I reached for Beau’s towel and started rubbing it on his shoulders and then down his arms.
“Your stomach has growled twice more now. I should get you dry and fed. Are you still up for spaghetti? If not, we can run into town and have a meal, but it will take longer.”
Beau smirked. “If you want spaghetti, we’ll have spaghetti. But you have to remember that your mate is fae. I have magic, Roman. If you want a steak dinner, which I’ve seen so many shifters eat more often than not, then I’ll magick you a steak dinner.”
That was…something I hadn’t thought about before. “Although that sounds wonderful, I would very much like to cook for you. Unless, of course, you don’t actually wish to have spaghetti. I will try to make more elaborate meals in the future. I didn’t allow myself enough time this evening.”
Beau shook his head. “Spaghetti is fine. Steak is good as well. Or fried chicken?” Beau’s eyes widened. “There’s this place in Timber Valley that the guys go to, and sometimes I get to tag along, and it has the best fried chicken. We have chickens in our realm, and we’ve been known to bread and fry the parts. But it’s different.”
I chuckled. I knew the place he was talking about. I finished drying Beau and wrapped the towel around him. “You know you can have fried chicken anytime you wish, right? You just offered to use magic to cook me a steak. Why can’t you get your chicken?”
Beau seemed confused. “I guess I’d not thought about that. I usually just cook for me and Evan since he’s working. Or he’ll bring me supper home if he’s eating at the council with the others.”
I got it. Evan was an enforcer, and Beau wasn’t. But it seemed like Beau hadn’t had the best time of things here so far.
“We’ll have whatever it is that you desire,” I told him. After all, my most pressing need at the moment was to feed my mate. “I don’t have any clothing here that will fit you, but if you would like a clean set of clothes, I have some sweatpants that have a drawstring in the waist.” The thought of Beau in my clothes made my tiger happy. I think it was simply a mate thing because more than once, I’d seen Phineas wearing a shirt that was certainly not his but Ramsey’s.
“I can clean my clothes,” Beau said. “Or even better, I can use magic and get some of my things from Lukan’s.” Beau glanced away before meeting my gaze. When he did, his cheeks weredeep red. “That is, if you wanted me to stay? I had assumed, but maybe I shouldn’t have.”
I reached for my mate, and when he took the few steps that separated us, I quickly wrapped him into my embrace. “I will always want you with me. We’re mated, and even if we weren’t, I would still welcome you to stay here with me. This is our home. It was gifted to us for as long as we wish to stay here. When and if the time comes and we wish to move elsewhere, we can. But yes, I absolutely do want you here with me. Always.”
Beau smiled up at me, and I couldn’t help myself. I needed to kiss him. I kept it quick and gentle, though, because I needed to feed my mate more. It had been a long day for him already, and then we’d expended a bit of energy. If the night went how I anticipated, we’d be getting plenty of exercise, and that required food. I smiled down at Beau as I stepped away.
