Page 9 of Unable Omega
I crawled into bed and closed my eyes. At some point, I finally fell asleep because when I opened my eyes again, it was early morning, the sun just tipping over the horizon and time to get up and prepare breakfast for the crew.
And this morning, I would also be cooking for Sage, and I wanted to make it specially good for him. He needed calories and vitamins and all the things that make a person vibrant and alive. If his memory had been suppressed, maybe all the fluids he’d been given, a good night’s rest, and breakfast would help.
Setting up the coffeepot, I kept thinking of the omega and wondering how he was doing. Once I had everything cooking, I could maybe take a moment and bring him a piece of the berry coffee cake that someone had taken out of the oven when everything got crazy the night before. It would have been a big waste if it had burned.
“Morning.”
I jerked around to find the omega in question standing in the doorway of the kitchen. “Good morning. Should you be up and about? I don’t want Markus barging in here and accusing me of helping you get away from your treatment.”
“He’s released me. My wounds are looking better, and he pumped enough fluids into me to make me qualify as a water balloon.”
“So, you don’t want any coffee, then?”
“Coffee?” His eyes lit up. “They never gave me any…I remembered that.”
I paused, reaching for a mug. “Anything else?”
He chewed on his lower lip. “No, that’s it. What an odd thing to remember, right?”
“It’s a good sign, I think.” I poured the coffee and set the mug on the counter. “Help yourself to cream and sugar. It’s out there. And let me get you a piece of berry coffee cake. I made it last night.”
“Wow. I actually came in here to see if I can help with anything. Marks says the alpha…I mean Locke…assigned me to work in the kitchen.”
“You can’t be ready for work so soon.”
“I am. I feel wonderful, and I want to be of help.”
“Well,” I said, “you can start by hopping up on that stool and having coffee and cake. Once you’re done, I have some chores you can help me with.”
My bear was so proud to have him eating our food. It was hard to concentrate on preparing eggs and bacon and toast when I just wanted to sit down next to him and feed him bites of cake. A crumb clung to his lips, but I refrained from brushing it away. It was too tempting.
“Okay, all done. What shall I do next?”
Chapter Eight
Sage
I’m torn.
Rob clearly didn’t want me here. It was written all over his face. The growls. The frustrated huffs of air pushed out through his nose. The minor stomping.
If it wasn’t so frustrating, his brooding attitude might actually be sexy.
Okay, it was. Who was I kidding? The man was a walking magnet to me. When I walked into the main house, my body swayed, drunk on his presence and scent.
I had to find a way to stay here, at least for a time, and out of Rob’s way at the same time. I had the inkling the night before to leave here. To make Rob’s life easier with my absence, but the sleuth here was so kind to me. They reassured me over and over that I was safe here. That no one from the facility could get me here and I would never be returned there.
Some of them knew the pain I’d been through and some, like Rob, had been through so much more. I wanted to trace his scars with my fingers. Ask the story of each one. Have him whisper their stories in the middle of the night with just the two of us lying in bed, breathing each other’s air.
Damn it. This was going to be harder than I thought.
When Markus freed me from IV bondage, I’d gone to find Locke. “I’d like to start doing something around here. Is there a job I can do?”
“I think Rob needs some help in the kitchen. He’s always working so hard. Can you cook?”
I sighed. “I used to be able to. I might be able to again. It’s like riding a bike, right?”
So I headed for the kitchen where Rob insisted on giving me coffee and cake before agreeing to let me do some work to help. He was not chatty, but I was so aware of his presence, I could barely breathe.
