Page 89 of Omega Hunted

“Cassian, I’m⁠—”

“Let go,” he commanded, his voice rough and low. “Come for me, Soren.”

His words were the final push I needed. I cried out, my body seizing up as the pleasure crashed over me. My hips jerked erratically as I rode out the waves of my orgasm. I could feel the wet heat of me spreading through my sweats, and through the haze of my release, I felt him tense beneath me, his grip turning crushing as he let out a hoarse shout, his own hips bucking as he followed me over the edge, soaking his pants with his cum.

We slumped together, chests heaving, hearts racing in sync. The room was silent except for our ragged breathing and the faint ticking of the clock on the wall. I rested my head on his shoulder, spent, feeling the dampness between us cooling but not caring. I felt safe. I felt claimed. And for the first time in years, I didn’t feel small.

We stayed there for a long time without speaking.

The urgency that had swept through us only moments before had faded into something quieter, leaving us entangled. His arms remained around my waist, not because he needed to hold me there anymore, but because neither of us seemed ready to let go. I could feel the steady rise and fall of his breathing beneath my cheek, my own heartbeat gradually finding the same rhythm as his, and I realized we were simply…learning each other.

Nobody had ever held me like this. Cassian’s embrace wasn’t possessive. It was careful, and every time I relaxed a little more, he answered by holding me just a fraction closer.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” I admitted.

His hand stroked up and down my back. “Neither do I.”

I smiled. “You seem like you do.”

“I really don’t.” He let out a self-conscious laugh. “Raff and I… everything happened so naturally that I never thought about it.” His fingers paused for a moment before resuming their gentle rhythm. “This is different.”

“Different good?”

He turned his head. “Different because it’s you.”

I shifted slightly, finding a more comfortable position on his lap, and he adjusted with me, one hand supporting my back. We were learning each other’s balance, discovering where arms fitted naturally, how close was comfortable, when to move and when to stay still. It felt awkward in places, and wonderfully so, because awkward meant real. There wasn’t a script for this. There was only us.

“I think,” I murmured, tracing lazy circles across the back of his sweater, “I’ve spent my whole life believing that if someone touched me, they wanted to take something.”

A quiet calm settled over his features. “And now?”

“Now…” I looked into his eyes, seeing nothing there except warmth. “Now it feels like every time you touch me, you’re giving something back.”

He closed his eyes briefly, as though the words had reached somewhere fragile inside him.

“I’ve missed holding someone,” he whispered. “Not because I was lonely.” He swallowed. “Because I forgot how much comfort there is in simply…being close.”

I nodded.

“I think we’re both remembering.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

CASSIAN

The next few days passed in a dream of happiness and safety. We kissed when we could. It got heated more often than we thought, and for a brief time I thought if only we could stay right here, cut off from the world, then I could be happy. I spent the longest time holding Asha.

Like right now she’d gone heavy and warm against my chest, out cold two burps in, one fist curled loosely in the collar of my shirt. I kept my hand flat over her back and felt her breathing settle into that slow, even drag that meant she wasn’t coming back for a while.

“You did that on purpose,” I told her, voice low. “Wore yourself out so you wouldn’t have to sit through the rest of story time.” She didn’t answer. A thin line of drool was already soaking into my collar, and I didn’t care.

Soren leaned in the doorway, watching us, arms loose, none of his usual guard up and whatever he’d been chewing on all evening had gone quiet for a minute.

“She’s asleep,” I said.

“We should get her down before she changes her mind.”

He led the way down the hall to the nursery. I laid her in the crib and tugged the blanket up over her shoulders, tucking Wolfie into her side. Soren stood beside me watching her chest rise and fall, one hand resting on the rail, knuckles pale under the night light.