Page 47 of A Hal for my Heart

“I’m fine!” I sighed. “Bored, but fine.” And horny. I was so damn horny, and Briar was adamant that there would be no ‘funny business’ as he put it, until the sutures had been removed. Which wasn’t for another week!

“You’re being a baby, Hal,” Briar groaned. “Even more of a baby than Rue.” His eyes glazed over with that dopey sheen he’d get whenever he thought of his nephew. “He’s so cute, Hal!” he cooed. “Isn’t he cute? Isn’t he the sweetest child ever?”

I nodded. I had to admit that Rue, the toddler, was the most adorable thing ever. He smiled all the time, and his eyes were as green as Sin and Briar’s. “Adorable,” I hummed, then beckoned Briar to come to me.

My omega furrowed his brow. “Will you behave?” Gods, his bossiness only made me hornier.

I gasped. “Of course! I’ll be good. I swear it, sweetness.”

He scowled at me as he came closer. “Because remember what happened last time. Doctor Aron had to give you more medication because you were in pain.”

I fluttered my eyelashes. “I’ll be goood. I promise.”

Briar shook his head, chuckling. “You’re lucky I love you so much, Hal.”

He sat down on the bed next to me and kissed my forehead, then my eyelids, my nose, until he finally reached my lips. I tasted his sweetness, and my cock stirred to life again. Groaning into Briar’s mouth, I tugged him closer as I attempted to pull him on top of me. I needed him closer; I needed friction.

“Hal.” There was a warning edge to Briar’s voice, but I felt how his small omega cock grew hard against me. I smelled it, too, how much he wanted me, longed for me, his slick building as he responded to my body. “We can’t. Not yet.”

“Just a little slip ’n’ slide,” I begged, my balls so heavy with my seed I feared they were going to explode. “Just a little. Please sweetness… I’m dying here.”

He pulled away from me, a panting mess, his eyes swimming with need. “We can’t! What if you hurt yourself?”

“Then Doctor Aron will fix me again.” I smirked, waggling my brows.

“Absolutely not! Now stop it! Or I’ll ask Seb to come sit with you instead.”

I flung myself back against the pillow dramatically. “Ugh, gods, no. He is so boring! I love Gus, but honestly, how is he not bored out of his mind?”

“Seb is not boring,” Briar laughed. “He’s just very… particular about his conversation topics.”

“I’ll say,” I groaned. “The only thing our king talks about is Gus, Gus, Gus… and Lumi, Lumi, Lumi… and Ember, Ember, Ember.”

“We’ll be the same, I’m sure, once we have children.” Briar’s gaze softened, longing evident in his eyes. We both wanted children desperately, but we were going to heed Doctor Aron’s advice to wait.

“Can we at least snuggle?” I pouted like the biggest baby in the kingdom.

“Of course,” Briar beamed at me. “But no—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. No funny business.”

“Good alpha,” he grinned at me, then snuggled up against me. My dick wasn’t happy that it couldn’t camp inside Briar’s snug hole, but at least my omega was close, and my alpha rejoiced.

It was dark outside when I awoke to an empty bed. The room was cold, and the fire had gone out. I shivered, then looked around the room, but there was no sign of Briar. Perhaps he’d gone to fetch some food, or had to use the bathroom. I pulled the comforter up around me, but I couldn’t rest. Something was wrong, missing, and when I realized what it was, my heart turned to stone. The bond. I couldn’t feel it. Throwing the comforter aside, I jumped out of bed, wincing as the incisions pulled at my skin. My legs nearly gave way underneath me as nausea overtook my body. I pushed through it, ignoring the bile rising in my throat. Briar. Why couldn’t I feel him? I had to find him. I stumbled out into the hallway, but it was devoid of any people. From a distance, I heard faint crying, and as I followed the sound, it morphed into a desperate wailing. I walked on unsteady feet, dread filling me. I was afraid, so afraid, more afraid than I’d ever been before. I turned a corner, and there was Sin, clad completely in black, tears trailing down his cheeks. ‘Where’s Briar?’ I asked, but he just shook his head. Why couldn’t I feel the bond? Then I saw my best friend, dressed in black too, Seb shaking in his arms, crying desperately. ‘Where’s Briar?’ I begged Gus, but he wouldn’t meet my eyes. I stood in front of the closed door to Briar’s old room. I reached for the handle, and it was freezing cold. ‘Don’t go in there, Hal,’ Gus croaked. ‘You don’t want to see it.’ But I did. I needed to see it. ‘You can’t unsee it once you do, Hal. Don’t go in there.’ But I did. The room was cast in darkness, aside from a few candles flickering on the fireplace mantle. In the middle of the room, on a table, something was covered by a white cloth. My body froze, ice-cold spreading inside me like an eternal winter. Walking up to the table, I wrapped my fingers around the cloth, then slowly pulled it aside, my heart beating frantically in my throat. And there he was, my sweetness, his skin paper white, almost see-through. His eyes were closed, his dark lashes resting peacefully against his cheeks. He looked like he was sleeping, and if it hadn’t been for the missing bond, he could’ve been. ‘Sweetness,’ I whispered. ‘My sweetness. What have they done to you?’ I pulled the cloth down further. I needed to see him, all of him, one last time. I wish I hadn’t, because there, wrapped in my mate’s arms, was the tiniest, most perfect baby I’d ever seen. He had my hair and Briar’s nose. His eyes were closed, but somehow I knew they were green. Green like a spring that would never come. Green like leaves that would never bloom. Green like fields of grass I’d never chase my son through, Briar laughing at me, calling out my name. I screamed then; the sound of my own voice the most heartbreaking sound I’d ever heard.

“Hal! Hal! Wake up!” Someone was shaking me, but I didn’t dare open my eyes. I didn’t want to live in a world where Briar didn’t exist and where our child was dead. “Hal, wake up. You’re only dreaming. Come back to me.” Come back to me. Something was different. I wasn’t cold, and I felt it then: the bond. It was there, pulsing in my veins, throbbing with life, beautiful life. With love. I blinked my eyes open, staring into two pools of green. Very worried green.

“You’re alive,” I croaked, my hands fisting Briar’s shirt.

He frowned at me. “Of course I am. You were dreaming. You were yelling, ‘no, no, no.’”

“I thought I’d lost you.”

Tenderness pooled in Briar’s eyes as he cupped my face. “Never, my silly alpha. You can’t lose me. I am a part of you, remember, just like you are a part of me. We belong together.”

My heart stopped as the love of my life spoke my own words back to me. I nodded, tears pressing behind my lids. “I was so scared,” I admitted.

“I’m here,” Briar smiled. “I just went to get you some food.”