Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 56786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Aksel shook his head, making a frustrated noise when the breast emptied out. He latched onto the other nipple and resumed sucking hungrily.
Lucien bit his lip, that strange ache growing with every moment. He wanted… he wasn’t even sure what he wanted. He wanted Aksel to keep sucking, and at the same time he wanted to push him away. This somehow felt like too much and not nearly enough.
Shaking it off, he pressed his palm against Aksel’s forehead. It was noticeably cooler. It was working! Lucien grinned. “His fever is nearly gone, Doctor!” he said excitedly. “And he doesn’t feel nauseated.”
“Excellent,” Dr. Soren said from somewhere behind him. “Feed him whenever you can, as often as possible. If you’re uncomfortable with direct breastfeeding, you can use breast pumps, though I don’t advise it—pumps don’t stimulate omegas’ letdown as well as a mouth, and it might be difficult for you to sustain lactation if you use only breast pumps.”
“I don’t mind feeding him like this,” Lucien said, stroking Aksel’s dark brow.
Aksel looked up, his blue eyes intense as he grabbed Lucien’s hand and squeezed it, his scent thick with gratitude, fierce affection, and something Lucien couldn’t identify. His grip was no longer as weak as it had been lately, his strength clearly returning.
Lucien smiled, feeling so very warm on the inside.
Aksel was going to be all right. He was going to be all right, because of him, Lucien.
It seemed his soiled body was still good for something.
Maybe it was time to stop hating it.
Chapter Five
It was well past midnight when Lucien heard the familiar footsteps approach his door. Gone were the days when Aksel could silently slip into his room. Aksel was very light on his feet for his size, but that didn’t mean much, considering how big and tall he now was.
Lucien sighed inwardly, feeling torn. If Vagrippa found Aksel in his bedroom again, she was going to be very displeased. And Vagrippa Cleghorn wasn’t a pleasant person to be around when she was displeased.
The door opened and shut quietly.
Then the mattress dipped under Aksel’s weight before he spooned him.
Lucien squeezed his eyes shut, exhaling.
Despite his dismay and worry, the tension he’d been carrying all day melted away as soon as Aksel’s familiar scent surrounded him. Safe, it said. Aksel-safe-Aksel.
The weight of the arm around him wasn’t as familiar as it used to be before Aksel’s latest growth spurt, but the way Aksel held him was the same. Comforting. Protective. Worryingly possessive.
“Aksel,” Lucien chided gently. He wished he could sound firmer. Sterner. Unfortunately, he was terrible at being stern with Aksel. He adored him more than was probably healthy. “You shouldn’t be here. Your mother—”
“Fuck her,” Aksel said, nuzzling Lucien’s nape.
“Don’t talk like that. She’s your mother. You should show her respect.”
Aksel scoffed. “Like she shows you?”
Lucien pursed his lips, not knowing what to say. There was no love lost between him and Vagrippa, and their relationship hadn’t exactly improved over the past half a year.
“Aksel,” Lucien said with a sigh. “We talked about it. You can’t sleep here anymore. Your mother—”
“Is full of shit,” Aksel muttered into his nape. His voice had become much lower in the past few months, another sign that he was approaching his presentation. Though, in Aksel’s case, it would be little more than a formality. The fur on his face might have fallen out years ago, but anyone with a functioning nose could already tell that he was an alpha. Lucien couldn’t imagine his scent becoming much stronger after his first rut; it already was pretty strong, despite the fact that Lucien was on suppressants and his sense of smell was diminished. Belinda constantly complained that Aksel was “very stinky.” Privately, Lucien didn’t agree. Aksel smelled just right to him: a strong, woodsy scent that for the past decade he’d equated with safe and home.
“She’s right,” Lucien said. “It’s inappropriate. I promised Vagrippa that you’d stop sleeping in my bed.”
“But I’m not sleeping,” Aksel said, a smile in his voice.
Against his better judgment, Lucien laughed. “You’re impossible.”
“Mhm,” Aksel hummed noncommittally, rubbing his nose against Lucien’s neck.
Shivering, Lucien shook his head, trying to clear it from the pheromones. Alpha, his omega instincts all but purred. Safe.
“I’ll leave in a few hours,” Aksel promised, his strong hand slipping under Lucien’s shirt and stroking his belly soothingly, as if he were a cat.
He certainly felt like one.
Lucien squeezed his eyes, nearly mewling from how good Aksel’s touch felt. He enjoyed being touched by Aksel in a way he didn’t enjoy anyone else’s touch. Belinda and Royce touched him sometimes, but they were always so careful with him, so tentative, as if they were afraid he’d shatter. Aksel never touched him like that. He didn’t touch Lucien like he thought he was broken. His touch was always firm, confident that it was welcome. And in a twisted way, when Aksel touched him, Lucien utterly believed that there was nothing wrong with him. That he was normal. Unbroken. Untainted. Not physically deformed.