CHAPTER TEN
Xan paced by the train, his heart in his throat. He hadn’t seen Urho in person since the morning after their night together. They’d spoken on the phone twice briefly, but neither of their schedules had permitted them to meet.
Urho had been called out to Sullen District to deal with an omega seemingly pregnant with twins—a dangerous aberration that would need to be handled carefully. And Xan had been taxed with up-ending his household, and the lives of his beta servants who’d chosen to come along, to make it to Virona by his father’s deadline.
Still, Urho had promised to be at the train station to see him off. Even if they couldn’t do more than hug manfully, it was important to Xan to see his new lover’s face one last time before they were separated for who knew how long. He needed to be sure he hadn’t hallucinated the promises between them, or Urho’s commitment to them.
“He’ll be here,” Caleb said, fixing the emerald circle pin on his collar, a fashion that declared him a bonded omega. They were only bonded in friendship, but in public Caleb always wore a showy pin anyway to deter attention. His beauty tended to attract more of that than he desired, and Xan, being a small alpha, didn’t always run off other men by his presence alone.
“What if he changed his mind?”
“He hasn’t.”
“How do you know? He’s risking a lot! And for what?”
“For you.”
Xan rolled his eyes. “Oh, what a prize!”
Caleb pulled up his silvery cowl scarf over his hair in the nippy autumn wind. “Indeed,” he said earnestly, as though Xan hadn’t spoken with cutting sarcasm.
Then Xan spotted him. Broad shoulders in a well-fitted trench coat, a grey fedora on his head, and a serious set to his face. Xan’s insides turned to mush. His heart quickened, and he sucked in a hard breath full of hope.
“Hi,” he mumbled nervously when Urho was close enough to hear. “I didn’t know if you’d make it.”
Urho’s smile was white against his dark skin. “Seeing you off safely is my first priority today.”
Xan swallowed hard, examining Urho’s eyes for some sense of what the man was feeling. “Do you think you’ll be able to visit? Like we discussed?”
Urho reached for his shoulder and clasped it warmly, gazing down into his face. “Nothing would give me greater pleasure, but I’m afraid I can’t promise to come by any particular date. Between the twins in Sullen and Vale’s delicate state, I might not be able to get free for a full day and night.”
“Three hours on the train to Virona and back is far,” Xan agreed, his heart sinking. “If there was a problem with Vale or the omega pregnant with twins, you wouldn’t be able to get home in time.” He said it aloud so Urho wouldn’t have to, and so Xan wouldn’t feel like Urho was just making excuses.
“Is there a chance we could meet halfway?” Urho asked.
Xan’s clenched stomach loosened. “I need to see what my father has planned for me in setting up the satellite office, but surely the weekends will be free?”
“Caleb wouldn’t miss you if you came to meet me?”
Caleb smiled and answered, “I’ll be far too busy setting up my new print studio and planning the upcoming Autumn Nights feasts to miss Xan for part of a day—or more. In fact, I’d be happy to spare him so the two of you can renew your commitments.”
Urho licked his lips, a flash of embarrassment in his eyes. “There’s a wonderful little apartment I sometimes rent by the canal in Montrew. No one would be the wiser if we spent some happy hours there together.”
Xan grinned, his stomach flipping with excitement and his throat tight with longing. He wanted to be with Urho now, to throw his arms around him and kiss him goodbye like so many bonded and beta couples were doing all around him on the platform.
A whistle blew and a conductor shouted, “All aboard for Virona!” Xan smiled sadly at Urho and took his hand in a firm handshake. Urho jerked him in close and wrapped him up in a strong hug. He patted his back in a fatherly way, likely to remove any suspicions from onlookers’ minds. “Remember your promise to me,” he whispered fiercely in Xan’s ear.
“I haven’t forgotten.”
“Promise again,” Urho said, pulling back enough to not draw attention, but lingering close enough so that he could whisper.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes. I want to hear it. What’s mine?”
“Me?”
“And specifically?”
Xan swallowed hard. “My ass.”
“Promise it.”
“On wolf-god’s own salvation, I promise my ass belongs to you,” Xan murmured, his neck flushing.
“And your mouth too,” Urho said sharply.
Caleb laughed quietly next to them, but Xan ignored him, and so did Urho. They stared intently at each other, the rest of the platform fading away.
“My mouth is yours too,” Xan murmured breathlessly.
Urho nodded and ducked his head as though about to capture Xan’s trembling mouth with his own. But Caleb slipped between them, embracing Urho hard and laughing. “Wolf-god, you’ll get us all arrested if you don’t control yourself.”
Urho hugged Caleb back before stuffing his hands in his pockets. He cleared his throat and nodded as Caleb and Xan gathered up their small bags for the private compartment. Xan held his gaze as long as he could before turning to climb onto the train. By the time he’d settled his belongings, gotten comfortable in his seat, and turned to look out the window, Urho had left the platform.
“He didn’t stay to watch us go,” he said to Caleb, who was sorting through a large bag, apparently looking for the stick of gloss he used on his lips, which he pulled out.
“He probably had to go to the bathroom to deal with the pressing problem of his hard dick,” Caleb said nonchalantly, smoothing a balm over his mouth. He handed it to Xan. “Put some on, darling. The train compartment is always so dehydrating.”
Xan complied, his own dick not entirely soft either after the exchange of promises. “We didn’t make plans to talk while we’re apart.”
“The house will have a phone, surely. You know how to use it.”
“But what if he doesn’t expect to hear from me? What if he doesn’t want me harassing him?”
Caleb tossed the lip balm back into his bag and stared at Xan with a raised brow and impatience creasing his face.
“What?”
“He made you promise absolutely filthy things just now and you think he doesn’t want to hear from you? Xan, my love, you are ridiculous.”
Xan laughed nervously, his stomach fluttering and his skin prickling all over. “I just wish I didn’t have to leave. Things had only just started with us. What if he forgets about me?”
“Don’t let him.” Caleb pulled a small book from his bag.
“Maybe I should send him flowers.”
Caleb snickered softly. “Oh, yes, please do.”
“What’s funny?”
“You. Trying to court him like an alpha courts omegas.” Caleb opened the book and thumbed through the first pages, as though looking for his place.
“Should I not? How do omegas court alphas?” He tried to think of what he’d seen Vale do, or Caleb, when they wanted to show their affection. He drew a blank. “Should I court him like an omega instead?”
“Court him like you, Xan.” Caleb sighed fondly. “You got him where you wanted him by being yourself. Don’t stop now.”
Xan slumped in the seat as the train lurched forward. “Where I want him is next to me.”
Caleb sighed. “Alas, you have me instead.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know. I’m teasing.” Caleb rested his head on Xan’s shoulder and kissed his jaw. “Darling, you’re exhausted and exhausting. Let’s rest on this train ride, all right? Because we’ll have so much work to do setting up house as soon as we get to Virona. Try to calm your mind.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s new. Of course you’re concerned. But, never fear. Your alpha is still committed to you.” Caleb straightened, cracking open his book again. “Now’s the moment to allow time and distance to do the work of making him frantic to see you.”
“So I shouldn’t court him then?”
“Oh definitely court him. That would be too fun to miss.”
Xan rolled his eyes, but in the back of his mind made note to call a florist when he could. He’d have a beautiful bouquet delivered to Urho at his home. He wanted to make sure Urho didn’t forget him, and most of all he needed to make sure Urho understood that Xan’s intentions toward him weren’t purely sexual.
His gut tensed.
What if sex was all Urho wanted from him, though? He squirmed. Everything was so tentative. The offer Urho had made was for one thing only, but his behavior implied another. It would be foolish to trust in it, surely.
“Here,” Caleb said, passing over another book from his bag. “Read. It’ll get your mind off things.”
Xan sighed when he looked at the title. It was a book of Vale’s poetry. “What else do you have in your bag? A puppy?”
Caleb laughed and flipped the page of his book. Over his shoulder, Xan saw that it was also poetry.
With a groan, Xan stared unseeingly at the opening stanza of the first poem for a few minutes. Then he snapped the book shut, flopped back in his seat, and stared out the window. He wished he had the book Urho had given him, but he’d packed it up in a box he’d sent ahead with Ren and the servants.
The fields outside flashed by in grays, browns, greens, and the occasional splash of red or purple from early turning leaves or late blooming wildflowers.
Caleb patted his knee gently, but continued to puruse his book of poetry.
“How do you know about relationships and courting?” Xan asked, sitting up straight again. “It’s not like I’ve ever been very good at that stuff with you.” Or vice versa, for that matter, but he wasn’t about to say that.
“You forget I was highly sought after for several years.” Caleb smiled gently. “Until I turned down so many offers to contract that rumors began. And you forget that I do have omega friends. We talk, you realize. Trade stories. I have little to offer of my own, of course, so I mainly listen. When I was younger, courting was all anyone ever talked about.”
Xan took his hand and stroked the palm lovingly, tracing the lines. “You’re not exactly old.”
“Of course not, but now all my omega friends want to talk about is babies.” His voice went wistful. “My dear friend Tad from school is due any day now. Did I tell you?”
Xan shook his head. Caleb rarely talked about his days at Mount Juror and even more rarely of his friends from school.
“Yes, Tad is excited. His third child.” Caleb frowned, removed his hand from Xan’s, and went back to his book.
“We’ll have a child,” Xan said softly. “I promise.”
“Of course.”
Xan studied the side of Caleb’s face, admiring his strong, high cheekbones, fluttery gold lashes, and soft lips. “We should invite some of your friends to stay with us in Virona. Probably not Tad until he’s delivered, but any of your other friends you miss. It’s a big house and the sea is beautiful any time of the year.”
Caleb dropped his head to Xan’s shoulder again. “I do love you, dear. You try so hard to make me happy and I couldn’t ask for more.”
Xan dropped a kiss to Caleb’s hair before closing his eyes and letting the rocking of the train send him off into a dream. In it Urho held a fat baby by the sea, water splashing around his legs, and Caleb stood by him cooing, both of them lit by the light of a pale, wintery sun.
Xan woke several hours later with anxious hope thriving in his heart.
The house rose up high above the town of Virona. It’s size and aging grandeur promised more space than either Caleb or Xan could hope to fill with children in their lifetime.
They stood beside the rather ordinary car they had rented at the railway station and stared up at the pale marble facade of the house, which appeared blue-ish beneath the overcast sky.
Wide, tall columns reached up to a flat, red barrel-tiled roof that had faded out to orange. Expansive arched windows mirrored even more gray sky, broken only by reflected glint of the colorful town below. The front entrance consisted of broad, imposing marble steps leading up two large, dull bronze doors. Both were currently shut and without doormen to open them.
The house was beautiful, but in its neglected state, it felt cold. Nothing about it reached out to welcome them. It was a hard, barren womb.
“It looks haunted,” Caleb said, tilting his head and studying their new residence gravely.
“It’s just the gray day,” Xan murmured reassuringly, tucking his arm around Caleb’s back. “The oppressive clouds and the storm blowing in off the shore are playing with our imaginations.”
“Hmm. Regardless, the view is lovely. It’ll be even more so on a sunny day, I’m sure.”
Xan took it all in. The house was built at the top of a hill that sloped down to the dunes behind the house and then farther to the smooth expanse of private beach that gave way to the white-capped gray-green of the ocean.
It was a home designed for a powerful person, someone like the first Lofton to own it, who had been grandfather to Xan’s pater, George. Flagler Lofton had presided over the town and controlled it with an iron fist, leaving his omega in charge of the estate, which they filled with children. Flagler Lofton had been the kind of alpha Xan’s father had wanted in a son.
Too bad Xan couldn’t imagine being that kind of person.
“It’s so…white.” Caleb whispered, as though still worried about ghosts.
“That’s the first I’ve ever heard you imply something was too white.”
Caleb smiled and fiddled with his silvery cowl again. “It’s intimidating.”
Xan knew what he meant. Even in their home in the city, there were signs of life. It was homey there, with warm fires roaring and rooms Caleb had decorated to his taste. This was a giant architectural echo of the once proud Lofton family and currently neither of them felt up to owning it.
“We’ll plant winter flowers out front,” Xan said briskly, hoping to reduce the house and all it represented down to something manageable in his mind. “Or hire some betas to do it, rather. Nice, bright colors that will enliven the place.”
Caleb glanced around at the grounds as though trying to imagine it with winter flowers. “Does it ever snow, do you think?”
“I doubt it. The ocean currents come all the way from the tropics, if I recall my science class correctly. Anyway, they’re quite warm, from what I understand, even in winter. That brings with it a certain temperateness despite being farther north.”
“Yes, I remember reading about that in school too.” Caleb gathered himself, tucked his long hair behind his ear, and smiled at Xan. “I’m happy with it. We’ll make it beautiful, invite guests, and turn it into a real home. It’s been empty too long, is all. We’ll fill it with sound and noise and light.”
“And children,” Xan promised.
Caleb nodded. “At least one or two, yes. Strong children who’ll one day run down that lovely hill to the ocean and swim like little fish.”
“Romantic,” Xan teased, slinging his arm around Caleb’s shoulder.
“That’s me. Mister romance.”
Xan studied his omega’s handsome face, curiousity welling in him. He knew their promise to always be family, but he didn’t understand Caleb’s lack of interest in romantic feelings. “Don’t you ever want to fall in love, Caleb?”
Caleb threw his arms around Xan’s neck and rubbed his nose against Xan’s cheek. “Darling, this is what I want. I tell you all the time! I love you more than I can ever say. My dream life is to be with you as the closest of friends and have your children.” He smiled. “You worry too much. Let’s go inside and find out how things stand. It’s going to be a long afternoon and who knows if there’s even any food in the kitchen.”
“The beta servants came on ahead of us just for that reason. It should be stocked. I’m surprised Ren and the crew aren’t out here to greet us.”
“Ren can generally be trusted to think ahead, but the entire move was thrown together so quickly. He’s probably in a panic trying to put everything in order before we arrive.”
He and Caleb stepped toward the threshold of their new home together. Xan held Caleb back just before the door and said, “Take my hand.”
Caleb did. His long fingers felt cool in Xan’s warm clasp.
“The alpha and the omega,” he whispered, unable to resist the pull of tradition.
“The beginning and end,” Caleb answered, smiling warmly at him. “Now who’s romantic?”
“Hey! It’s traditional to recite the vow before entering a new home together for the first time.”
“Traditional!” Caleb exclaimed, laughing and pulling Xan over the threshold by the hand. “We’re anything but that, my dear.”
As Xan followed him into the low lighting of the wide foyer—more of a great hall in the scheme of entry areas—he blinked to see better, clinging to Caleb’s hand like a lifeline.
A large crystal chandelier wired for electric lights hung from the painted, domed ceiling, marble floors clacked beneath their heels, and a wide marble staircase, covered in what looked to be a moth-eaten red carpet, rose up and parted in the middle, taking two separate directions to the landing on the second floor.
“So this is what we’ve been exiled to,” he murmured.
“It needs sprucing up, but it’s got good bones.” Caleb’s eyes shone in the dimness.
“Ray said you’d be pleased with it.”
“It’s a bit rococo,” he murmured, waving his hand toward the sculpted and gilded woodwork lining the ceiling, doors, and culminating in ornamental filigrees around the dome that made Xan’s heart skip gleefully. But he knew such elements were the antithesis of Caleb’s usual design choices.
“It’s shiny,” Xan enthused. “Or could be.”
“Yes.” Caleb nudged him with a smile. “It’s a beautiful space.”
Through the gloom, they saw where the drawing room and library branched off on opposite sides of the grand hall. Both appeared to be equally worn-looking rooms of fabulous, over-the-top design, complete with furnishings that looked usable if not entirely fashionable.
Near the back of the grand hall, walkways led to other rooms and, if the noises coming from the right were any indication, the kitchen and most likely the dining room as well. Visible through wide, arched, glass doors at the back of the hall was an overgrown open-air courtyard in the middle of the house.
“It’s a good thing Ren is wonderful at hiring,” Caleb said, nodding toward the greenery pressing against the glass. “Someone will need to tame it.”
“Indeed. Should we go exploring?”
“Where are the servants?” Caleb asked, frowning. “They should be here getting things ready.”
“I sent most of them to town,” came a voice from the direction of the landing at the top of the right branch of the stairs.
“On whose authority?” Xan asked, peering into the darkness.
“Hello, cousin,” the voice said. A blaze suddenly flamed from overhead, the chandelier bursting with light above them.
Xan squinted at the sudden brightness and then, stomach curdling, he caught sight of the source of the greeting. His cousin now stood in the middle of the staircase, one hand on the banister, the other lifted high in greeting.
“The light switches are in the most damnable places in this house,” Janus said with a smirk. “The one for the chandelier is at the top of the stairs.”
Dark hair curled gently around his smug face and smile, and his hazel eyes glittered in the now sharp light. Fit and tanned, he was dressed, as always, in tailored but sensual-looking clothes, showing off a sense of fashion and casual sexiness that Xan had always envied.
Next to him, Caleb went stiff and stifled a startled gasp.
“As I was saying, welcome to Virona, cousin,” Janus said cheekily, sweeping his raised hand around. “I think you’ll find things mostly in order for your arrival. You’re welcome for that, by the way. Your servants are good, but someone had to make the hard choices these last few days. That person was me.”
Xan gaped at him as Caleb drew closer to his side.
“And thank you for allowing me to be your houseguest for the next few months,” Janus went on. “Though I doubt you had much to do with it. Truth be told, I’m rather looking forward to it.”
“Houseguest?” Caleb asked, darting a glance Xan’s way, his blue eyes wide and worried. “Did you know about this?”
Xan shook his head. No, he had certainly not. His smile was more of a snarl, but he managed to pull out the usual niceties all the same. “Thank you for greeting us after our journey, but I think it’s my place to welcome you, cousin, since this is to be my home.”
Janus only chuckled, and Xan clenched his jaw. He put his arm around Caleb’s lower back. “Caleb, allow me to introduce you to Janus Heelies. My father’s favorite spy. Janus, this is my omega, Caleb Riggs.” Caleb’s breath came in small, strange gasps.
Janus smirked. “Yes, I’d heard you’d contracted with the elusive beauty of the class of Wolf Path.” He continued down the stairs now, his hand outstretched toward Caleb, who seemed to flinch away. “I’ve actually already had the honor. Haven’t I, Caleb?”
Xan tightened his hold on Caleb’s waist as his omega replied with a strange tension in his voice, “Indeed.”
Xan asked, “You were in the same cohort, then?”
“We were,” Janus agreed. “Many a Philia soirée did I spend watching our dear Caleb hiding in a corner, trying to douse his obvious light from attracting admirers. But no matter how he tried, he never lacked for those.”
“So you were a spy even then?” Xan asked snidely.
“I’ve gotten better at it with age. As your father well knows.”
Caleb narrowed his gaze at Janus. “I don’t recall you hurting for admirers at those parties either and yet you’re here alone.”
“Alas I never found one to suit.”
Caleb hissed out a breath slowly.
“Caleb?” Xan asked, but his open-ended question was ignored.
Caleb lifted his chin high, stepped away from Xan’s arm, and, with a distinct chill, put his hand out to Janus. He seemed to restrain a wince as Janus took it and placed a kiss on his knuckles. “You’re a spy now, you say? Well, I’ll endeavor to do something exciting for you to report back to the great Doxan Heelies.”
Janus laughed and kissed Caleb’s knuckles again. “You do that, pretty one. Because you? You’ve always been one I’m happy to watch.”
Caleb snatched his hand back and turned on his heel. “When will Ren and the others be back? We have bags we need help with.”
At that exact moment, Ren appeared from the hallway leading toward the kitchen with a handful of servants at his heels, including the new kitchen boy. Caleb set about ignoring Janus completely as he directed them on what to do with the luggage. As the servants scampered, he swept past Xan and Janus, stalking up the marble stairs with a coldness that Xan rarely experienced even on a snowy winter’s day, and had never before seen in Caleb.
“What did I say?” Janus asked, genuinely puzzled by the looks of him, watching Caleb turn to the left and ascend to the landing. “I only wanted to flatter him.”
“Caleb prefers to be respected. And so do I.” Xan hardened his voice to growl. “Stay away from him. I know Father probably sent you here to keep tabs on me, and that’s fine. Obviously, I can’t kick you out immediately.” He stepped into Janus’s space, going up on his toes to be closer to the same height. “But if you upset him again, or I think for even a minute that you have, you can bet your last cent that I will throw you out on your ass, Father’s spy or not. Assuming I don’t actually take you apart first.”
Janus raised his hands in surrender. “Never fear, cousin dear. I don’t fancy him. For one thing, I like them a bit fleshier and with some hair on their chests.”
“They are human beings and deserve to be talked about as more than a piece of meat.” Xan gritted his teeth. His father couldn’t seriously be considering Janus in his stead, could he? The man was a playboy and a half, and had been caught in affairs with several contracted omegas. He had no respect for anyone at all, much less omegas, and clearly not for Caleb. “Why did Father send you here?”
“Because, like you said, I have spy work to do.” Janus waggled his brows. “And maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll find my Erosgapé here amongst the quaint villagers of Virona.”
Xan shoved past him, following Caleb up the wide stairs. “I’ll say it one more time: upset Caleb again and Father can’t protect you.”
Janus’s eyes followed him, but to Xan’s equal consternation and relief, he didn’t bother with a reply.
Following the sound of Caleb’s voice issuing orders to the servants, he stalked down the upstairs hallway, ignoring the view of the courtyard out the open windows. He passed by rooms both closed off and open to be aired out.
As he reached what must be the suite Caleb had chosen for himself, Xan muttered under his breath, “Welcome to Virona, my ass.”