Chapter Eighteen
Once they’d made their intentions crystal clear to Kai, Joe found himself wondering about the questions Axel had posed. How did they slot Kai into every facet of their relationship? He’d fit well so far into the social and work side of things. All that was left, was the romantic.
He tried a candlelit dinner one evening, hoping to set the mood and bring them together. It seemed to do the trick, they talked in low tones, joked, and encouraged each other to open up. The bottle of wine Joe found helped too. Not so much for Kai but definitely for him and Axel. The overthinking would be their undoing and not in the way he wanted.
After dinner, they took a walk together under the moonlit sky. They kept Kai between them, a place it seemed the omega was meant to be. As they reached the lake, they slowed to a stop.
“We should go for a swim,” Axel suggested. Joe was about to say no when Kai voiced his agreement by tugging off his shirt.
“Swimming it is,” he said instead and followed suit.
Within seconds they were waist deep in the water, splashing each other and fooling around. Axel caught Joe around the waist, lifting him up and kissing him soundly. Joe wrapped his arms around Axel and returned the kiss, not wanting to let go. When they did finally break apart, breathless, he turned to see Kai watching them with undisguised need.
Axel set Joe back down into the water and Joe reached for Kai, tugging the omega closer. He paused, giving the omega a chance to make a move, set the pace. Kai did, mimicking Axel by pulling Joe closer though he didn’t try to pick him up. The kiss was a little uncertain, Kai nervous and shaking a little but determined. Joe cupped his cheek to steady him and took over, slowing the pace.
He started with soft, chaste kisses to Kai’s lips, letting the omega get used to the feeling. Then deepened the kisses, drawing them out, until Kai was breathless and panting. When he took things a step further, gently nudging Kai’s lips apart with his tongue, Kai caught on quickly, moaning when Joe’s tongue found his.
Joe felt a hand on his shoulder as he and Kai broke apart. Axel, his eyes dark with lust. Joe moved around to stand behind Kai, his arms around the omega’s shoulders while Axel stepped in front of him, cupping Kai’s chin and turning his head up. Axel leaned in to kiss Kai and the omega shifted up onto his tiptoes to meet him halfway, wrapping his arms loosely around Axel’s neck.
Joe hugged Kai tightly, feeling the shivers running through him, and bent his head to press kisses to the back of Kai’s neck. The omega’s soft moan was music to both their ears.
And then Axel was picking Kai up, swinging him into his arms and turning to Joe.
“Time for bed,” he said, arching an eyebrow.
“One step at a time,” Joe cautioned. He didn’t want to scare Kai off.
“I know,” his mate replied. “We have all the time in the world.”
When they were back in the house, they grabbed towels, drying off. Kai seemed sated and sleepy and Axel knew Joe was right. They weren’t going much further tonight. But whereas Kai had been sleeping in the next room since they’d arrived, Axel knew tonight would be different.
“Hey,” he said, catching Kai’s hand. “You’ll come sleep in with us, yeah?”
Kai glanced at Joe who nodded readily.
“I guess,” the omega said.
“Good,” Axel replied, catching him around the waist and pressing another kiss to his lips. The omega sagged against him, sighing into the kiss. He certainly seemed to enjoy them.
Once they were dry and dressed for bed, Joe encouraged Kai under the blankets and got in beside him. Axel climbed in the other side. Right then, it seemed right to have Kai between them. It meant he was safe and that he knew he was wanted. Axel had the sense that it wouldn’t always need to be his position, that once he felt secure in their mating, things would be different. But, for right then, in the middle was the place.
Kai was lying on his side, face to face with Joe. The beta trailed two fingers along Kai’s forehead, lazily circling his temple. Axel scooted closer, pressing against Kai’s back. The omega was relaxed between them. He reached one hand back to grasp Axel’s arm and his other hand was holding onto Joe.
Joe started telling an old pack folktale, about a wolf that met a seal shifter who became a beautiful woman who he fell in love with. It was a familiar tale to Axel but not to Kai who listened with rapt attention.
Axel slid a hand around Kai’s waist, his fingers teasing at the hem of Kai’s shirt, slipping under to run across the smooth skin of Kai’s stomach. The omega’s breathing deepened at the touch, his eyes slipping closed.
Joe grinned when he noticed what Axel was doing, but he kept talking, his voice low and quiet, sending Kai off to sleep.
Once the omega was fast asleep, Axel reached his hand over to Joe, finding his mate’s hip and squeezing gently. Joe’s hand covered his, the beta giving him a sleepy smile.
“We’ll have to do this again tomorrow,” he whispered.
“And the day after that,” Axel agreed. “And the day after that…”
They fell asleep, Axel’s heart singing with the promise of what was to come.
Kai woke sometime in the night, disorientated. The confusion lasted only moments before Axel and Joe’s scents reached him and he relaxed. He was lying on his side, facing Joe who was on his back, sound asleep. Axel was behind Kai, his arm thrown over him, his body pressed against Kai’s back. With each rise and fall of Axel’s chest, he could feel a warm puff of breath on his neck.
This was… nice. More than nice. Kai was used to waking in the night, outside in the cold, alone. He’d never felt more lonely than in those moments. And now everything was turned on its head, and he was very far from alone.
“What’s wrong?”
Axel’s sleep laden voice murmured in his ear, the alpha’s hand rubbing gently across his hip.
“Nothing,” Kai whispered back. “I’m just not used to waking up like this.”
Axel’s nose nuzzled against the back of his ear.
“Don’t worry, soon you’ll wonder how you ever slept without two wolves piled on top of you.”
As if he’d heard, Joe shifted in his sleep, rolling over onto his side and pressing against Kai. Kai put an arm around him and tried to settle him. Joe’s face was scrunched up and he looked almost scared. Kai didn’t ever want to see Joe scared again. He stroked the beta’s face and the lines of tension eased. Kai guessed it was his and Axel’s scents, worming there way through Joe’s unconscious mind.
Axel let go of his hip and reached over, his hand finding Joe’s back and rubbing circles across it. Joe sighed deeply and settled, his face pressed against Kai’s chest.
“Go back to sleep,” Axel murmured into Kai’s ear. “I’ve got you. Both of you.”
Kai believed him, and so he did.