Seeing that Heath was with Adrien, Simon left them alone. The garden was beautiful, and the roses ruffled in the breeze all around. Adrien removed his robe and left it on a bench, enjoying the gust of air on his skin. He could almost feel the sweet perfume of the roses, it floated so thickly around him, and reached out his hand to fondle a big bloom.
“What did you do today?” he asked Heath as he bent to take a deeper sniff of the red rose.
“Attended appointments in the city, visited my nephew’s school to clear up a problem there, and argued with Simon.” Heath said the last reluctantly, and he plucked the rose, using his nails to dislodge the thorns, before putting it behind Adrien’s ear.
“Arguing with Simon about what?”
“About the future. I haven’t told my brother yet about the baby.”
“Won’t he be happy for you?”
“He’ll be furious,” Heath said, his mouth widening in a tight smile.
“Utterly enraged.”
“Why?” Adrien was mystified. He’d always believed that babies were a gift. That’s what his father had taught him and what the religion of his youth had touted. He’d never thought of a child as anything but something to celebrate, even if he, himself, had often been terrified by the prospect of growing one inside his body and birthing it.
“Because his son Ned is my current heir. Once this little one is born”—
Heath touched Adrien’s stomach, his warm fingers stroking over the hair between Adrien’s navel and his pubic mound—“Lidell’s son will be displaced. You can see how that might get under his skin.”
Adrien frowned. “He must have expected you to try for a child yourself one day?” It seemed obvious to him that Heath would want an heir of his own. It was what every alpha was supposed to strive for, and it was taken for granted that every alpha would do just that.
“I may have made dramatic, emotional statements in the past when I was grieving that led him to believe otherwise.”
“Ah.” Adrien didn’t like to think of the baby Heath and his other omega had lost. It felt like it might jinx things for him, bring bad energy to his own pregnancy, and so he refused to ponder it much. But of course Heath had grieved the loss. He was selfish not to have considered how much it must have hurt him.
Heath touched Adrien’s cheek. “Do you think I should tell my brother?”
“I think that we have a lot of time yet before we’ll know if the baby will be born healthy, or if it will be an alpha so it can inherit—”
“I don’t believe in those laws.”
Adrien’s heart fluttered. “You believe omegas should be allowed to inherit?”
“I believe that my own child should take precedence of another no matter the sex.”
Adrien nodded, thinking about Heath’s words about Lidell. “Your brother’s anger would make you unhappy, and if you were unhappy that would bring tension into the nest. Maybe I’m selfish to say this, but I don’t know that causing your brother upset would really be beneficial to anyone right now. Once the child is born, healthy and strong, then you will have a better position to endure his rage. Don’t you think?”
“So you advocate keeping our nest free of upset?”
“Until the baby comes,” Adrien said, touching his stomach, which had started to feel taut from the pressure inside but which wasn’t bulging quite yet. “I have put aside my worries about school and my fears for the future.
I’ve taken your command to enjoy myself to heart. I want you, as much as possible, to do the same.”
Heath studied Adrien’s face intently and then nodded. “I’ll do all I can to keep your nest a place of peace.”
Adrien smiled and leaned against Heath. He nuzzled his neck, enjoying the soft scrape of his suit against skin. “Our nest,” he corrected. “I’m still pretending this is the place you built for me, for us.”
Heath wrapped his arms around Adrien and pulled him close. “You don’t need to pretend. This nest has never seen a happier moment than the ones we share together.” They stood in the soft evening sun, the rosebushes casting shadows that danced on Adrien’s skin.
“Did I tell you I used to want to be an architect?” Heath asked. “That I designed this nest myself?”
“No,” Adrien said, looking up with wonder. “Tell me about it now.”
They found a bench in the gazebo. Heath stroked Adrien’s naked body as he talked, bringing him up to a full erection. Adrien asked halting questions as Heath chatted like he wasn’t also erect inside his suit. “And then my parents died, and my duties as heir took over my life.”
“You were passionate about it,” Adrien said, squirming as Heath began giving him a slow hand job.
“I still enjoy dabbling in design. I’d like to build a house away from here one day. I’ve never loved living in this rococo monstrosity.”
“What kind of house?”
“I’m not sure yet. When I decide, I’ll start drafting plans for it.” He rubbed his thumb over Adrien’s cock, smearing the pre-cum around the head.
“When I was younger, I used to dream at night about a house,” Adrien said, his hips shifting up and down in rhythm. “Not fantasize, dream. When I was asleep.”
“What was it like?”
“By the sea. Open. Broad. A lot of light.” Adrien moaned and turned his face to hide it in Heath’s neck. “I’m going to come.”
“Yes, I think you should.”
“I want to come with your cock in me.”
“That can happen later. Tell me more about this house.”
“The light was changeable…like…like the tunnel. Oh!” Adrien gripped Heath’s suit jacket, crying out against Heath’s neck, and orgasmed hard. Cum shot up in the space between them, and then fell, marking Heath’s beautiful suit pants.
“That’s good,” Heath whispered as Adrien came down from the sweet high. He indicated the cum on his pants. “Lick that up.”
Adrien hunched over and complied. His cum tasted different now that he was pregnant. It was less harsh like a salt-and-sour kick, more alluring like the sea. He hummed softly, wishing it was Heath’s cum, though. That always settled him down. Kept him flying high.
“You’re a good boy,” Heath whispered. “I could grow to…”
Adrien looked up, his heart feeling like it had been hooked by a fishing rod and jerked onto dry land. Please, he wanted to say. Please say you could care for me.
“You must be hungry to eat that up so fast.” Heath tugged Adrien to his feet. “Let’s go inside. Over dinner, I want to hear about your studies at school. You mentioned Hontu fabric the other day. What drew you to that?”
Adrien let himself be led inside, his balls buzzing with recent release and his body singing joyfully. He didn’t know what the future would bring, but this time-out from life was beautiful, and being with Heath only made it better.
He didn’t want anything to disturb it.
Chapter Sixteen
IT WAS HARD to believe that just under four months ago, Adrien hadn’t even been in Ron Finch’s office yet. His life had been so normal then. He’d woken up every morning, showered, eaten breakfast in the dorm, and gone to his classes. He’d been consumed by the questions of Hontu design, fascinated by the details of his studies. He’d hung on the lectures of his professors like his father had hung on the words of the preacher. Like they spoke the word of God.