18. Gideon

There was no bliss quite like waking up with my mate, snuggled in close, my arms wrapped around him. If I could freeze time and live in one moment for the rest of my life, this would be it. His scent wrapped around me, his warmth against me, his soft breaths filling the air—absolute euphoria.

Last night had been better than I’d ever dreamed it could be. The way we connected had been so much more than just physical. We were made for each other, fate had already told us that. But this? Experiencing the way our bodies did the talking because our words couldn’t? It was everything.

“You’re awake.” Kai’s sleepy voice pulled me from my thoughts.

“Yeah.” I kissed his shoulder. “I like snuggling with you in my arms.”

“I like it too, but you have to let go now.”

I pulled my arm back without hesitation. “Oh, sorry.”

I hadn’t thought about the fact that when the morning came, so would clarity. Did he regret cuddling with me? Or worse, did he regret the night before? I’d have understood if he did. That didn’t mean I wouldn’t hate it.

He climbed out of bed and padded off in the direction of the bathroom. To my surprise, he came back only a few minutes later, and instead of finding clothing, he climbed right back into bed, cuddling up to me, grabbing my hand and pulling my arm back around him.

“There. That’s better.”

It was for me too, much better. “I thought?—”

“You thought what?” He rolled over to face me, his hand cupping my cheek. “What did you think, mate?”

“I thought maybe you were regretting last night.” It was better to let it all out than it was to hold it in. This was complicated enough without me making it more so.

“No, silly. I don’t regret a single second with you. I just had to pee. Babies tend to do that to omegas.”

“Of course. Of course they do.” How quickly I jumped to conclusions. I kissed his forehead. “A good alpha would’ve gotten up and been feeding you already.”

And I’d thought about doing that when he’d still been asleep, but it was too perfect, lying there with him on our first morning together.

“You spent all of yesterday feeding me, Gideon. I think I’m good for now. I want to snuggle you a little bit longer, and then we can get up.”

I wasn’t going to argue with that. There was no place I’d rather be, and he was accurate, I had spent the entire day making sure he ate and ate and ate. Even though the baby was exactly the size they needed to be, hearing that he was too small had me in overdrive, doing things that wouldn’t even help them in the first place. I was ridiculous—ridiculously enamored with my mate, that was.

We both dozed in and out of sleep, ensconced in each other’s scents and arms. When my mate’s stomach growled, we had to get up. My bear wouldn’t allow me to keep him unfed any longer. There was no use explaining to him that grumbling tummies weren’t actually a sign of hunger. And really, it was closer to noon than I realized.

I’d already told work I’d be late, but the thought of going in at all was too much for me. I needed to let them know my half day was now going to be a full one. Shit, I might as well call the entire week off. I couldn’t see my feelings changing any by tomorrow.

“I’m going to call in to work real quick, and then I’ll find something for us to eat.”

“Or… You can go take care of work, and I will make us pancakes.”

“Thank you.” I gave him a far-too-quick kiss. “Sounds like a brilliant plan.”

By the time I used the bathroom and sent the message off, Kai was in the kitchen with a bowl of batter in front of him.

“What can I help you with?” I knew if I simply asked if he needed help, he’d tell me he was fine, just like I would do to him.

“Set the table?”

While he cooked the pancakes, I got the table ready, enjoying the domestic bliss that was making breakfast together. As much as I enjoyed it, I couldn’t help but feel Dante’s absence. It was weird how my feelings for him snuck up on me like that. It shouldn’t have been a surprise. It was hardly an unusual thing for alphas who shared a mate to have feelings for one another. They were part of the same family, after all.

But this was more than that. I longed to kiss him, touch him, and suck him dry as our mate watched. There were probably a ton more things that the three of us needed to talk about.

Now wasn’t the time for that. We needed all three of us here for that conversation.

I didn’t know what happened to cause the shift or how Kai and I went from the slow lane to the race track, but it felt right, and even though guilt kept trying to worm its way in, I refused to let it take root.

And there was still Dante to consider. I knew he wouldn’t be upset that I was with Kai, but he might’ve wanted to be there, at least for the first time. That wasn’t something I would be able to fix. But all of that would have to wait for now.

We were having pancakes.

“These look delicious.” I took the plates from him.

“You didn’t even look at them. Either that or you lied.”

I looked down at the plates again. They were lopsided, but that didn’t make them look any less belly worthy.

“Nope. Still look delicious, but not nearly as delicious as the one who made them.” I walked to the table, our meals in my hands, adding a tiny sway to my hips and loving the giggle that poured from his lips.