Nikolai’s eyes flicked open when Angelo’s breathing deepened, a thoughtful look in his eyes. Angelo was like a glass knife, fragile but lethal, Nikolai didn’t mind getting cut but he didn’t want the assassin to shatter.
He always went after what he wanted, no matter what it was or who it belonged to, but he would have to make an exception this time. There was another more important matter that needed to be resolved after all.
He would give Angelo a few weeks to change his mind. The assassin wasn’t like anyone else, he would let him go if he asked for it, because if he didn’t, Angelo would probably keep trying to kill him until one or both of them were dead.
Nikolai closed his eyes, he already knew the outcome. No one chose him, not even his mom had chosen him.
Lake woke up starfished on the bed, taking up most of the space on the bed. This meant that his sweet mate was curled up at one edge of the bed, the hulking Alpha barely keeping himself from falling.
The sun rose early on the island, so glittering rays of gentle sunlight were already spilling into the room when he opened his eyes, although he was up far earlier than his usual time.
He usually clung to Davian whenever he slept, but it had gotten too uncomfortable to do that recently. He had worn a light shirt to bed because it got cold at night but even that was uncomfortable against his sore nipples, an unmistakable dampness on the shirt as it stuck to his chest.
Lake knew that it was roughly time for him to start producing milk, but he hoped that it would wait till they got back from their vacation so he hadn’t made any preparations. As soon as the first trace of soreness appeared, Doctor Perez had accurately diagnosed what was wrong.
But even though he ordered nipple pads as soon as he could, it would still take a few days to be delivered to the island. There was no shortage of food, beach shirts and trinkets at the village, but nipple pads weren’t in demand, so it was no surprise that they couldn’t find even a single store selling them.
So until the pads came in, he would be stuck changing shirts several times a day and being constantly uncomfortable. Lake was in a sour mood right after waking up because even before his nipples started leaking milk, he hadn’t been down to the village.
He had only been to the village twice, and one of those times was the first day they came to the island and they had driven through. Davian had been generous with the seafood platter, making them just how he liked them, but after three straight days of eating them, Lake lost interest.
It had been a week now, and he hadn’t left the house in a couple of days, even going down to the beach was too much for Davian to allow. Lake wanted to tell him that it was his chest that was sore, not his feet.
It was difficult to be upset with Davian though, not when his mate was so attentive, indulging every one of his whims and mood swings. As he laid on his back and stared at the ceiling, his tired mate sleeping deeply despite his uncomfortable position, Lake realized what was wrong.
Davian would be happy if they spent the rest of their life , barely leaving the house, constantly beside each other without coming in contact with others. This was exactly what Davian had proposed after he had told him he was pregnant.
For them to move to a quiet town far away from Haines where Davian would get to happily monopolize him as much as he wanted.
Lake thought his mate’s possessiveness was cute, but it was stifling, he almost couldn’t wait for the vacation to come to an end, missing his friends back in Haines. At this point, even Doctor Perez would have been nice company but Davian found a way to keep the doctor in the village.
Doctor Perez was supposed to join them in the beach house after a week, but now he wouldn’t be coming anymore.
Lake would have gotten up, marched to the car and driven right to the village but he couldn’t, at least not until the nipple pads came in. Then he would have a counter to Davian’s excuses about why it was better for him to stay indoors.
He rolled over to his side and sat at the edge of the bed, pushing himself up to his feet. He padded barefoot across the carpeted floor, heading to the bathroom.
He used the bathroom and took off his shirt, wiping the milk off his chest with gentle motions. Lake studied himself in the bathroom mirror, wearing nothing but silk shorts.
After a full week of being spoiled rotten by his mate, he had filled out even more, his belly getting rounder in a way that belied how much food he was eating and probably had nothing to do with the baby’s growth.
He had just gotten a checkup with Doctor Perez, however, and the doctor confirmed that the baby was healthy and so was he. Lake did feel great, physically, but mentally he was starting to lose his marbles.
If they couldn’t go to the village, then at least they could drive down to the beach where there were other people, no one would even notice his shirt getting wet. The vacation was really nice but seeing no one but his mate for a full week made Lake understand why Caspian was always trying to gather as many people together as possible for his elaborate plans.
If Caspian and Asher had tagged along, Lake wouldn’t even mind spending an entire week indoors. He wasn’t an extrovert but he wasn’t a shut in either.
Lake’s nipples were puffy and swollen and if he pinched them, drops of milk fell out. He had already gotten to the changes his body was undergoing, he just wish there was a stopper, having it leak constantly was a nuisance.