Page 39 of The Omega Lesson

We’re now joined through those marks on Mattie’s thick brown neck. But it goes even deeper than that, because this isn’t just the thrill of a heat. Wechoseeach other, the moment Lexi said she wanted to join Team Trouble. And for the first time in forever, I don’t need a roomful of strangers to distract me from myself.

I’m carrying Lexi into the bathroom for another wash down when she gives a sleepy little sigh and runs her finger along my jaw. “What time is it?”

It’s the first rational thing any of us have said for a while, so it takes a moment to put the words together to answer her. “Noon, I think. And it’s Wednesday, unless I lost a day somewhere.”

Lexi stiffens in my arms, her face going slack with shock. “Wednesday!I’ve missed three days of school?”

“Travis will have taken care of it,” I assure her, but she’s wriggling now, and I set her down on the edge of the vanity. She makes a move to spring off, but since her legs have been over my shoulders for the better part of a week, her knees instantly give way. I grab her, but she’s clutching the sink, her eyes wide as she stares at me. We’re both covered in sweat, slick, and cum, and my hair is more hawk than faux from all the fluids. I kind of expect her to freak out now we’re standing in the brutal light of day, but her gaze softens as she brushes the tattoo over my left pec. “Thanks for being here. I’m lucky I had you to help me through it all.”

I try to hide my flinch, but she sees it and snatches her hand away. Fuck me. I grab it back, breathing her in as I brush her knuckles with my lips. She smells like Mattie and me and her own sinful perfume. “It’s not you. Luck is just… a kind of cosmic joke for me.” I press her hand back to my chest. “But feel free to touch me anytime you want.”

Her smile is hesitant, like she knows I’m not saying half the shit that’s in my head. But she’s too tired to talk it out now, and I bring her into my rainforest shower, setting her down on the wooden ledge while I wash her hair. She leans into me like a wet kitten, but I’m the one purring as I wash her off. Her hair is like a dark river of velvet spilling down her back and I play with it until my fingers prune. My dick gives a few weak spurts every time she brushes against me, but as I wrap us both in big, fluffy towels, I have to admit defeat. My horny-ass mind is willing, but my flesh is mush. So instead of bending her over the vanity like I want to, we dig some tees and boxers out of my bureau, and with a few sloppy kisses, crawl back into bed.

I don’t wake until I smell dinner. The nest is empty, and I use the lull to strip the ruined bedding, making a mental note to give my dry cleaner a hefty bonus. I don’t hang around once it’s done, because without my pack in it, the nest is just an overripe bed.

I run my fingers through my hawk as I hurry downstairs, humming under my breath. Music is coming from the rumpus room, a haunting piano sonata instead of the usual party beats. I skid to a stop in the doorway, my heart thumping in my chest as I take it all in.

Everyone’s here, except for the Travelator, of course. I knew Mattie was in the room because of the way my bond was humming, but my smile grows to find him on the couch with Lexi. But it’s the sight of Jackson at the piano, his fingers skimming over the keys, that settles something in my chest. He’s never played this particular piano before, but my earliest memories are of him banging away on the one mum had trucked up to our house in the far north.

“Your dinner’s in the oven,” Ben tells me with a slap on my back, but my gaze is drawn back to my brother.

“Play with me?” he asks, giving me one of his kind smiles. Jackson was always the sweetest of us, even before he presented as an omega.

I rub the back of my neck, but I’m a poser at heart. Even though sitting next to him feels a bit surreal, my fingers don’t miss a beat. With only a little elbow nudging and eye rolling, we’re playing Rachmaninoff's duet of Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty waltz… And I can’t get enough of the soft wonder in the eyes of my own sleep-deprived beauties. Fuck, if they didn’t have the hots for me before, I think I’ve cinched it now.

“It’s been too long,” Jack says quietly, leaning his shoulder against mine.

I wince, missing a couple of keys as my high nosedives. “Yeah, I’m sorry for that. I should’ve come to see you more…”

“I wish you did, but I didn’t try hard enough, either. You’re not the only one who could’ve jumped on a plane every now and then.”

I let the music wash over us for a few more beats, then force myself to ask the dreaded question. “So, what’s next?”

And Jack’s response is predictably depressing. “Lexi needs to go home.”

Shit, where’s an evil fairy curse when you need it?

I swivel on the stool, a protest rising on my lips. But my own Little Briar Rose is already shaking her head, her gaze firm. “I have to, Noah. I’ve got work, and my things are all there.”

I look around at my sparkling clean room. Travis brought his cleaning service in, although knowing his obsessive arse, he probably rolled up his sleeves and did most of the work. But the end result is perfect, with not a cigarette butt or cum stain in sight. And yet, it looks strangely soulless when I picture waking up here alone tomorrow.

Becausemythings – the things I care about most - are all here, and I’m not talking about the fancy furniture or the sparkling floors.

“Fine. So, when do we leave?”

Lexi gets a worrisome little crease between her eyes. “I live on campus, Noah. Well, just off The Wet, but it’s not a place like this.”

It takes me a second to pinpoint the location in my memory banks.

The Wet are the snake-infested swamplands where unruly boys go to jerk off to porn.

“Excuse me?”

“It’s faculty accommodation,” Mattie explains with a smirk. “But Lexi’s made the cottage really homey.”

Homey? I cock a brow at Jack, who is biting his lip and staring at the keys. We’re sitting in a cottage, aren’t we? Well, in that it’s a heritage-listed property whose foundations were built by early settlers. But I don’t think that’s what they’re talking about.

“Okay, but how’s that going to work? How many bedrooms is it? And what’s the security like?” I squirm on the stool, the music in my brain taking on a strident note. “Maybe I should get a realtor looking for something in the area.” I twitch at the thought of living within walking distance of Prendiville, but somehow manage to keep the sour pucker off my face. “I mean, Mattie can’t stay in the boarding house now. Not with a bunch of alpha shits sniffing around.”

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