15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

BLAKE

" W e're home!" Freya yelled, taking off her shoes and neatly stacking them on the rack by the door before turning around and watching to make sure I did the same. "Dad! Where are you?"

There was a muffled sound from the vague direction of Leo's bedroom and Freya skipped off, undoubtedly to fill him in on her afternoon at Inika's house. I had no idea what he'd make of it, but I was going to lose my shit if he complained so much as once. He'd known for months that Freya was going to have today off school, and he'd gone and got himself wrecked at that new club he'd found anyway.

He'd wanted to talk about it, but I'd avoided the conversation. I didn't want to indulge it anymore.

"Cup of tea?" Dad called from the kitchen.

"Please." I made my way down the hall, winding my way around baskets of laundry and assorted clutter. Freya was always going around after Dad and Leo, sorting their things into neatish piles, but my house had never looked like this before they'd moved in.

It felt selfish to even think it, considering what they'd been through, but I missed having my own space.

"Did you figure out what was wrong with the car?" I asked, entering the kitchen as Dad added a splash of milk to each cup.

"Blown head gasket. It's round at Jasper's now. He'll fix it." He was retired now, but Jasper had been a mechanic his whole life and had taken care of our vehicles for as far back as I could remember. "Hope it didn't leave you in too much of a lurch?"

Dad passed me the cup, looking sheepish.

I often wondered what Dad's reaction would have been if the roles between Leo and I were reversed. He'd always been harder on me than my twin. If I'd abandoned my parental duties whenever it was convenient or because I'd made stupid choices the night before, I doubted he'd have been as forgiving.

"Inika picked Freya up and looked after her for the afternoon."

Dad's eyes went wide. "That's awfully… generous of her."

"She's a very generous person."

"I know you don't want to talk about it, but I think I might have to ask anyway. What's going on here, Blake? This is no normal client relationship."

There was a large part of me that wanted to brush him off because that was the status quo. Whenever I'd needed to talk about something, Mum was the one I'd gone to. But she wasn't here anymore, and I'd lost touch with the few friends I'd once had because I hadn't put in any effort, and my twin was a fucking alien to me.

Shit, maybe I just wanted to talk about Inika. I wanted someone to know that this incredible, beautiful, interesting woman had for some reason chosen me , if only for a little while.

"We're friends." I cleared my throat. "And we're sleeping together."

"The friends part is probably more surprising than anything," Dad said drily. "It's pretty obvious that you've been sleeping with her. You've been far less miserable these past few weeks."

Had I?

"You're not getting attached though, are you?" Dad asked nervously. "You're from different worlds, son."

"I'm acutely aware of that."

Dad didn't look particularly reassured, and maybe it was because my tone wasn't as assertive as it could have been.

"I am aware of that," I reiterated. "I'm the one who said I couldn't commit when she asked me for more, um, time. Partly because I need to be here, but also because… well, I knew I wouldn't be able to do it without getting attached."

I'd left that part out when I was talking to Inika, mostly to preserve whatever shreds of dignity I had left.

Hey, thanks for asking me to casually fuck you senseless for five days solid but I might blurt out that I love you mid-orgasm and ruin the moment.

I blinked at the thought, quickly taking a gulp of my tea to hide whatever was happening on my face. Did I love Inika?

Probably not. Right?

I'd never been in love before, so I didn't have a frame of reference for it. But Inika didn't make me feel tortured or filled with longing or any of those things that the love songs said I was supposed to feel.

When I was around her, I just felt… content.

I didn't know what illness that was a symptom of.

"Did Leo leave his bed today?" I asked, desperate to change the subject.

Dad was suddenly very interested in the contents of his cup. "Go easy on him, would you? It's never been as easy for Leo as it was for you."

"We had the exact same upbringing," I pointed out scathingly. "We entered this world seven minutes apart."

It was exhausting, always treating Leo with kid gloves, never expecting him to take responsibility for his own actions. He had a kid of his own now. It was past time for him to grow up.

"I know, I know." Dad sighed, shifting his weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "Things just never came as easily to him as they did to you, Blake. You always did well in school, and you never worked particularly hard for it. You did well at sports. You excelled in the army, and picked up plastering like it was nothing, and manage the business side of it without much fuss. Leo has only ever been good with his fists, and you're not too shabby with those either."

"He managed to find himself a mate."

"He did," Dad agreed. "He found a mate and started a family, and it was the one time in his life where he felt like he'd beat you at something."

What a grim concept.

"I'm not in competition with Leo," I said firmly. "I never have been."

"I know. And I wish he wasn't in competition with you—I've told him so plenty of times over the years." Dad sighed heavily, setting his cup down on the counter with a thud. "For a while there, with Ella, he felt like he finally had it together. That he'd found a path that was purely his and he was going to walk it. That's not to say you've done anything wrong," he added hastily. "You taking him and Freya in has been a real lifesaver for them."

"Was it, though?" I asked quietly. "Or have I just enabled him? Because I can't help but wonder if living here has just been a convenient excuse for Leo to never get his shit together. But I'm not willing to gamble with Freya's health and happiness to find out."

Dad nodded, resigned. "You're a good son, Blake. A good uncle. A good brother, even when the chips are stacked against you. I'll talk to Leo again. We're putting too much of a burden on you, I can see that now. Your life has to be more than just us and work."

"I don't care about that," I lied. "I just want Leo to get it together for Freya's sake. That's all I'm worried about."

Blake: Is the car fixed?

Leo: Yup.

Blake: Can you drop off the wet-dry vac I left in the shed to the place I'm working on in Mayfair?

He didn't reply for several minutes, probably cursing me out for daring to make him get out of bed.

Leo: Fine. Send me the address.

I did, before instructing him to turn on his location so I could see with my own eyes that he was actually doing what I asked. Also, I wanted to intercept him out on the street. The last thing I needed was my bruised and beaten-up brother to show up on Inika's doorstep.

Honestly, she probably wouldn't care. If anything, she'd just be curious to meet Freya's dad. Graeme the butler might have a heart attack though, and I didn't need his death on my conscience.

Once I could see Leo moving closer on the map, I headed out through the staff entrance using my access card and crossed the quiet, elegant street to wait in front of the private green space that all these wanky houses have access to.

A sleek black car pulled up in front of the house that definitely didn't belong to my brother. I watched as a woman in a flashy-looking suit climbed out of the driver's seat, followed by three burly men who were too large to be anything but alphas.

They knocked on the door and were immediately ushered in by a blushing Graeme.

What the fuck was that about?

Leo rounded the corner in the rusty old beater that he and Dad shared, pulling up to the curb and winding down the passenger window. His face was still swollen and yellow with bruising. He looked a fucking state.

"Do you want this or not?" he asked loudly, gesturing at the vacuum and not bothering to turn down his music.

"Can you keep your voice down?" I hissed, opening the door to grab it before closing it again. "Try not to embarrass me in front of the client, will you?"

"What poncy asshole lives here?" he asked, squinting up at Inika's house. "Is this the place Freya was banging on about yesterday?"

"Yes. My client kindly helped with your childcare."

Leo scowled. "Well, it's not like I asked her to. Look after your own niece."

I had to walk away from this interaction before I burst a blood vessel.

"Come to that new club with me tonight," Leo called as I took a step away from the vehicle. "You'll like it. It's a way more interesting crowd than Leviathan . Deeper pockets. Fuck Ronnie anyway, right?"

"Sure, fuck Ronnie. But fuck you too, Leo. I'm not enabling your bullshit anymore. Every time you fight, you spend days recovering and sulking in bed. You're absolutely useless to Freya. Get your fucking life together, she doesn't need this shit."

He slammed down the accelerator so hard that I had to jump back before he ran over my foot, the prick. I rolled my shoulders, releasing the tension that came with every interaction with my brother recently. He'd get over it—by the time I got home, he'd probably be nagging me about going to that club again—but I was going to hold my ground this time.

I'd followed Dad's advice. I'd taken it easy on Leo. I'd given him the benefit of the doubt. It didn't seem to be working.

By the time I made my way back inside Inika's house, my source of frustration had shifted back to the three alphas who Graeme had ushered into the house. The soundproofing in this place was top-notch, but I hazarded a guess based on all the open doors I could see that they were in Inika's office. Was she alone in there with them except for the one beta woman they'd arrived with? For once, I hoped that Graeme was being a nosy prick and not giving Inika any space. He wasn't much, but he was something .

The rest of the day was an absolute write-off. As the clock ticked down to three pm, I got progressively less done, wondering what that meeting had been about.

Though not entirely wondering. I had my suspicions. And I didn't have any right to feel any kind of way about them.

By the time Inika made her way upstairs, I hadn't even showered yet. I was filthy, agitated, and in no state to fuck her the way she deserved. Yes, there was an element of degradation to how we played, but there was care behind it too. I couldn't give her the consideration that was needed when my head was like this.

"Oh," Inika said, coming to a halt as she rounded the corner, brow furrowing. "Did I get the time wrong?"

She looked so pretty in her forest-green shirt, loosely tucked into a short black skirt.

"No." I pushed my hands back through my hair, probably turning it grey with plaster dust.

Inika's body language changed right in front of my eyes. An omega responding to her alpha, soothing his distress, wanting to take own his emotional burden as her own.

Except I wasn't her alpha.

I could be her fuck buddy. I could be her friend. I could be the best damn plasterer she ever had. But her alpha? That was the one thing I could never be.

"I've been stressed this afternoon," I forced myself to say, using my words like a big boy. "Knowing those alphas were in your office. It made me… concerned for you."

Jealous, perhaps.

Maybe I wasn't using all of my words.

She exhaled heavily, giving me an apologetic look. "I'm doing my best to fight my instincts, but I think I'm going to have to give you a hug. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," I said gruffly, catching Inika as she launched herself at me and hauling her up in my arms while she wrapped her legs around my waist.

It was terrifying, the way I immediately felt better. I pressed my nose to her throat, inhaling deeply for any trace of her natural scent beneath all the Om-Guard she slathered on each day.

If she wasn't leaning in, inhaling me like she'd die if she didn't, I'd be embarrassed that I was doing the exact same thing.

"Are you going to tell me who those alphas were?"

"You won't like the answer."

"They were from that heat agency thing, weren't they?" I sighed, having already known the answer deep down but not wanting to cop to it. I squeezed her a little tighter, trying not to let the unreasonable side of me win.

Inika had asked me to fulfil the role, and I said no. She'd made no promises about not finding someone else to do it, and frankly, it was wrong of me to even consider that she would.

Objectively, I was aware of that.

"And?" I growled. "Did you like any of them?"

"They seemed nice."

"You don't like nice."

She leaned back in my arms, looking down at me with one eyebrow raised. "Sometimes I like nice."

"Not during the sometimes when you'd need a knot-for-hire."

Inika narrowed her eyes at me, squeezing her thighs a little tighter around my waist. "Are you going to make this even harder, Blake?"

My hands found their way under her skirt, probably leaving dusty streaks on the globes of her ass. "I'm trying not to."

She exhaled heavily, her fingers clamping down on the back of my neck, making my eyes roll back.

Thank fuck none of the alphas she'd been interviewing had touched her. I didn't like to think how I'd react if I'd smelled their scent on her silky skin or expensive clothes.

In a vaguely homicidal way, probably.

"Who is the leading candidate?" I murmured. What the fuck is wrong with you, Blake? You don't want to know the answer to that.

"None of them were a good fit," Inika replied, the faintest hints of an omega purr distorting her words. My throat tightened at the realisation that she was soothing me, acting in the way that any nurturing omega would if an alpha she cared about was agitated.

Why was it so difficult to stay detached where Inika was concerned? It wasn't like she was trying to make me like her. She'd asked me to fill the role of a knot-for-hire for her heat. Inika was sticking to our "it's just sex" agreement better than I was.

No, she wasn't trying to make me like her, but I liked her anyway. Just for who she was—her filthy kinks, her sharp wit, how kind she was with Freya—the whole package.

Fuck me, I was in trouble.

My hands tightened a little on her ass, squeezing her more possessively than I had any right to.

"Something you want, alpha?" Inika asked in a low, seductive voice that seemed to travel down my spine and work its way around to my knot.

Did she know that my cock ached every time she called me that?

But I didn't tell her that. Instead, I tutted disinterestedly, because that was what Inika wanted from me, and I'd already strayed too far from the bounds of what this was. From all that it could be.

"Something I want? You're the one climbing all over me with your ass hanging out, omega."

She let out a little whimper of need, pressing herself against my front, scentmarking me in a way that had the tension I'd been holding since I'd seen those alphas finally releasing.

"Fuck me. Use me. Please, Blake."

"Oh, I will definitely be using you, princess. But fucking you? Giving you pleasure?" I snorted. "You can wait. First, I need to shower."

Inika slid down my front, grabbing my hands and tugging me down the hallway.

Away from the spare room.

"Inika…"

"Let me have this," she murmured. "I want my nest to smell like you. Just for a little while."

"We both know this is a bad idea."

"I enjoy making bad decisions with you."

I couldn't argue with that logic.

Most nest doors looked out of place in the rest of the home. They were retrofitted once the technology had been invented to make a nest more secure during heats. Unsurprisingly, Inika's was so state-of-the-art that the door looked entirely in keeping with the rest of the house.

She rested her hand on the handle for a long moment, and there was a faint buzz before it gently beeped, recognising the handprint and releasing the locks.

Inika's room wasn't at all what I expected it to be. Given that she always dressed in neutral, muted colours, I was surprised to find that her nest was an explosion of colour. The nest was a raised platform, just a few inches above the floor, and it was covered in deep, jewel-toned cushions and blankets in every material I could imagine.

There was sleek, built-in storage around the walls, but I had no doubt that there was a separate walk-in wardrobe within this suite of rooms for her clothes.

"Come wash up in here," Inika said, pulling me into her en suite. The rich colour palette continued into this room too, with Victorian-green gloss tiles on the walls, a traditional black-and-white pattern on the floors, and trailing plants on every surface.

Was this Inika's style? Nothing else in the house looked like this.

I shucked my dirty clothes while Inika fiddled with the knobs on the wall, turning on the rainfall showerhead. The moment the water was warm, I moved under the spray, scrubbing myself clean.

Inika stood outside the walk-in shower, peeling off her own clothes, a hungry look in her eyes as she watched me.

"Turn around," I ordered. She twirled slowly, and I admired the dusty handprints I'd left on her golden-brown skin.

"Am I dirty?"

"Filthy," I purred, grabbing her hand and tugging her into the stall but not all the way under the water, careful not to get her hair or make-up wet.

"Hands on the wall, ass out, omega."

Inika's hands hit the wall with an echoing slap that had me pausing for a moment, worried she'd injured herself.

No, she was fine. Just eager.

I gently tugged her head back so she was looking at me upside down.

"Look at you," I sighed in mock disappointment. "Cock drunk already. You make this embarrassingly easy."

"Sorry, alpha."

"No, you're not."

Inika's smile turned wicked. "No, I'm not."

With another put-upon sigh, I released her, pumping soap into my hands so I could massage the handprints off her ass. Unfortunately, her entire bathroom was basically an Om-Guard product catalogue, but any scent I washed away with the soap I'd soon have back again once I got her perfuming.

The moment she was clean, I dropped to my knees behind her, roughly grabbing her cheeks and licking her dripping cunt from behind.

"Blake!" Inika shrieked, her hand slapping the wet tile again while she pressed her pussy back against my face. "Oh my… Yes. Keep doing that."

Her slick soaked my chin as she came, and it would have been easy to wash it off but I didn't want to. I wanted to wear her scent on my skin like a badge of honour.

"Nest," Inika rasped, fumbling for the shower lever and slamming it down.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Very."

She threw me a towel, hastily drying herself off before grabbing my hand and tugging me back towards her room.

I hadn't noticed it when we'd come in, but from this angle, there was very clearly something buried in the nest that wasn't a jewel-coloured cushion or linen sheet.

Inika let out a muffled squeak as I pushed a cushion aside to pick it up.

"What's this?" I asked, casually turning the electric-blue dildo over in my hands and making a show of examining the suction base.

"Dildo," Inika mumbled, the perfume of her desire loudly making its presence known.

"Speak up, princess. I can't hear you."

She cleared her throat. "It's a dildo."

"Is it now?" I hummed, wrapping my hand around the thick base, my middle and thumb barely touching. I raised an eyebrow at Inika, enjoying the way her thighs clenched. "This is very thick, Inika. Is your cunt really so greedy?"

She bit down on a faint moan, dark eyes taking on that hazy, needy look they had when she needed a good fucking.

"Yes."

"Interesting. What about your greedy throat, hm? Can you take it?"

She nodded, standing up on wobbly legs and taking the thick toy from my hands. Like the good girl she was, Inika immediately lifted it to her lips.

I sighed heavily, shaking my head. "It has a suction base, Inika."

She blinked at me before lowering herself to her knees, cheeks flushed and a trail of slick running down her inner thigh as she glanced at the hardwood floor. She looked up at me for approval and I shook my head again.

"Where…?" Inika asked hesitantly, glancing around the room.

"The mirror."

She closed her eyes for a moment, breathing heavily. It did spectacular things to her breasts.

"Need your safe word?" I asked casually, quickly adjusting myself while she wasn't looking.

"No," Inika rasped.

"Then get up, stick that dildo on the mirror, and watch yourself deep throat it, wishing it was my cock."

She whimpered as she climbed to her feet and headed for the ostentatious gilt mirror that hung on the wall.

I came to stand behind her as Inika pressed the suction base to the glass, wanting to make sure she could see me watching her work in the reflection. It made for quite the contrast—the antifreeze-coloured dildo, complete with veins, on the antique Baroque mirror, decorated with golden cherubs and grapes on the vine.

Inika glanced at me in the mirror, her face flushed and eyes hectic as if I'd already fucked her into several orgasms, but it was just her brain making her feel this way. God, she was incredible. A sexually confident, bold, and beautifully submissive miracle.

"Suck, Inika."

Without hesitation, she opened her mouth and wrapped those pouty lips I spent far too much time thinking about around the bulbous silicone cockhead.

"Don't look at me," I growled, my body stiff with tension from the effort of staying in place. "Watch yourself. See how deep you can take it."