Page 112 of Generation Omega: Revealed
“But you chose to stay with us and see this through. Youchoseto stay. I think that’s important.” I’m scowling even though that’s not my intention. “Please, don’t hold back with me. I’m here and I love you, and that will never change.”
“After I wash up, can we be naked? I’m cold and I just need to be warm. I need to be close to you and Gideon and eventually the whole posse, but for now, I just want you.”
“You never have to ask me to get naked with you, but just understand, I’m still mummy, gauzy guy.”
She winks. “Mummies are hot. You know that.”
Tillie stands and heads toward the adjoining bathroom. When she returns, the robe is gone.
Gobsmacked by her, as always, I can’t stop myself from declaring, “You are sobeautiful.”
She softly accepts my compliment before saying, “So are you.”
I chuckle, glancing at my own naked body, only covered by my stylish gauze accessories. “I’m a work in progress, but I’ll heal.”
I reach for her hand and together we climb into her nest, rooting under the covers and hiding from the world.
When she’s flush against me, her back toward my chest, and my arm surrounds her, Tillie whispers her first question. “Where did he bite you?”
“My hand.”
“Your hand? Why?”
“It washandy.” I know she’s rolling her eyes even though I can’t see them. “Remember, I was in an alley, unconscious. But Kaz seems to always have a reason for everything, so there’s probably a reason for this.”
“I bit Gideon.” That’s a smug confession right there.
“You did? Is that normal?”
She shrugs in my arms. “I don’t know. I just know I wanted to bite him and so I did. I waswithhim—you know that.”
I kiss her hair and nuzzle against her. “I know, and I’m glad.”
“How can you begladabout that?” Her tone is mostly neutral, perhaps even curious, but there’s a deeper worry she’s attempting to conceal.
I’m relieved that my answer comes so easily. “Because all of this is so much bigger than us and our love. You belong to your alphas and the world now, and your heart is big enough to love me and Gideon Blake, eventually Professor McSnooty and Kaz, even the acrobat and the…um, food truck owner/operator who are on their way.”
Tillie sighs dramatically. “Afood truck owner/operator—talk about the best alpha ever.” She’s quiet for a minute, her breathing steady, and I wonder whether she’s fallen asleep, but then she speaks. “I need to ask you something.”
“Ask.”
“Bonds and nests, heats and ruts, all the designation dynamics—fiction has it all, including packs where everyoneisintimate and where everyoneisn’tintimate.”
I know where this is leading, but I need her to ask. “Tell me what you want to know.”
“I want—I mean,need—to know if you and Kazimir are… orwill…” Her words taper and then return. “I just need to know what this is and what it means.”
Here it is, the moment I’ve been avoiding for years. I love her even more for pushing me to share, because we can’t have secrets now. I don’t want Kaz to know me better than Tillie does, though in some ways, that’s unavoidable.
“I always kept a secret from you, Till. I kept many, but it’s the one, the reason why it took me so long to find a way forward with you. I love you. I want you. I’m attracted to you—obviously.” My arousal is difficult to miss when I’m naked beside her. “It’s just… I had this sense that I was also attracted to the idea of being with a man—not anyone I’ve ever met or known. It’s not like that. It was just a desire, something unfinished in me, and I didn’t know how to face it or express it, not even to myself most of the time.”
I wish I could see her face, but it’s better this way. “When Kaz bonded me, especially when he tended the bite, it all came to the surface. Everything made sense. I know you’ve doubted your place in this crazy omegaverse adventure, but being in this with you has answered questions I’ve always had about myself. It’snotan accident that you were chosen or that I was part of your life. Kaz thinks he made the choice to save me—he calls it his last act of free will. But I think he was destined to be in that alley and to save me, because he saw something in me that connected with something he always needed but never had.”
I swallow over my unsteady emotions, aware of the way Kaz is supporting me from within our bond. I hope Gideon is doing the same for Tillie. “So, to answer your question, we haven’t done anything, but if you can accept this, I’d like to be open to where it might lead with him. Butonlyif you’re okay with it. He’syouralpha.”
Tillie strokes my arm that’s around her. “He’s your alpha too and hewantsto be your alpha. He doesn’t want me.”
“He’s a stubborn ass, and you two haven’t officially met yet. We’re at the very beginning.” I want to beg for more from her, but I force myself to remain steady and let her dictate the pace.
