Chapter Fifteen
When Chris finally heard the knock on his front door, he was practically flying out of his chair and then he stood for a second trying to pretend like he hadn’t been waiting for Tom for the past hour. Meanwhile, outside the door, Tom had deliberately made sure he was exactly six minutes and twenty-two seconds late because he’d also been so excited to see Chris that he’d woken up early.
Stop acting like this is a date, Tom! You’re just taking him clothes shopping! And showing him around town and maybe stopping for lunch…okay maybe it is a date.
Tom couldn’t even laugh at his inner monologue as he waited for Chris to open the door. When the door finally came open, both of them were extremely red in the face and Tom felt his stomach fill with butterflies.
“Hi,” he whispered bashfully, his hands shaking a bit.
“Hi,” Chris replied equally as shyly, feeling his heart in his throat as he cupped Tom’s cheeks, using the gentle grip to anchor him into the house before leaning down to kiss him wetly on his mouth.
The sound Tom made – like a cute mewling whimper – in the back of his throat nearly drove Chris out of his mind. When Chris pulled away, Tom had a faraway dreamy look on his face that made the alpha’s lower belly clench with love and longing.
“Are you ready?” Tom finally asked when he landed back on earth, his voice deliciously breathy.
Chris smiled. “Ready as I’ll ever be. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you for this.”
“You don’t need to,” Tom said with a playful grin, “I’m doing this from the goodness of my heart.”
“Of course,” Chris replied dryly, making Tom laugh.
“I hope you haven’t had breakfast because I plan on taking you to this lovely place just down the road –”
“Tom, wait,” Chris murmured and Tom turned to look at him questioningly. Chris felt his cheeks heat up furiously as he dragged the omega into his arms and rubbed their noses together, bathing Tom in his scent.
“O-oh,” Tom whispered shakily, nuzzling into the side of Chris’s face, unable to repress the light shiver that trailed up his spine as Chris’s scent of pine and musk mixed headily with his own scent of milk and honey. They stood there for a while in an intimate embrace, scent marking each other until of course, Chris couldn’t resist and he was capturing Tom’s lips in soft kisses, gently sucking and licking on his soft small lips.
“Chris,” Tom moaned in a whine and Chris blushed, pulling away.
They were both red in the face as they made their way towards the lifts. There was a silence, tense with sexual tension as they waited for the elevator to get to the ground floor. It was only when they were entering Tom’s jeep that the omega asked, “Oh, yeah, I was asking if you’d had breakfast? Because I wanted to take you to this cute shop. They make the best waffles,” Tom said excitedly and Chris laughed because Tom honestly looked like a little kid going to get ice-cream for the first time.
“No, I haven’t had breakfast yet,” Chris responded with a smile, “Waffles sound really nice.”
Tom beamed and they were on their way to G & Ms.
*
Tom was positively the most adorable thing Chris has ever seen. He’d taken fresh strawberries and vanilla ice-cream on his waffle and was currently taking cute little bites out of it. With each bite, his eyes fluttered closed like it was the most heavenly thing he had ever tasted and each bite just seemed to be getting better than the last one. Chris completely understood, having gone for whipped cream instead of ice-cream along with the strawberries because Tom had gotten them and oh, the result was heavenly.
But Tom was making it seem like the food for a king.
And Tom – goddess – poor, innocent Tom had no idea what he was doing to Chris when he licked off the melting ice-cream from his fingers, sucking the digits into his mouth erotically, the fingers popping out of his lips with a wet slurp that nearly made Chris jump out of his chair. It was taking all of his concentration and self-control to keep his cock from plumping up underneath his pants and the only thing that really held him back was the fact that they were in a public place.
“Next time, I’ll make sure we try their breakfast special. Ugh, it’s amazing,” Tom said, messily licking his lips and then smacking them together, “The last time I took their breakfast I ended up full until dinner,” he giggled.
Chris grinned, his chest swelling with an unnameable emotion. “Oh yeah?” he urged, just wanting to see Tom talk to animatedly.
“Mhm,” Tom replied, and went off on a tangent about the foods he liked and the restaurants in the neighbourhood he planned on visiting in the future with Chris.
It was only then that Chris realized that he was actually mating with Tom. Sure, they hadn’t had sex yet but that didn’t matter – Tom was actually unofficially his mate. It made something heady and giddy rush up his spine, his wolf preening with pride that he had such a beautiful and wonderful omega for a mate.
“Chris?” Tom asked, his gentle voice bringing Chris out of his thoughts, “Are you ready to leave?” he asked with a smile, “We should head to town now, no doubt we’ll spend quite some time shopping for you. I also want to visit the craft store for some supplies for my sculpting.”
“You sculpt?” Chris asked in surprise as Tom paid for their food, the action making Chris wrinkle his nose in distaste because Tom’s been taking care of him – they were supposed to be taking care of each other, that was how a relationship worked in his book – but Tom didn’t even seem to notice, a beautiful blush colouring his pale porcelain skin.
“Yeah,” he replied bashfully, running his fingers through his caramel curls as they headed out of G & M’s, “Only clay though and because I don’t go to my workshop often, I do it at home and they end up looking blunt and unfinished because I can’t fire them. I can…I can take you to the workshop sometime, if you like?” His blush deepened. “Maybe tomorrow or something, so you can rest because we’re probably going to do a lot of walking around today.”
Chris grinned. “Yeah. I’d like that. I want to see what you’ve made. Do you have any in your apartment for when we get back? Or pictures on your phone?”
Tom blushed even harder. “Uhm, I don’t have any on my phone because I use one of those fancy professional cameras to take photos but uhm, I did make most of the sculptures lying around in most of the apartments in the building. It seemed cheaper to make them than to pay for the items, you know?”
Chris blinked as it suddenly hit him. “Oh my god. That clock in my room? You made that?”
The tips of Tom’s ears were red and he shuffled his feet bashfully. “Yeah.”
“Wow. That’s incredible, Tom,” Chris said genuinely and Tom really couldn’t get any redder. “So, do you have an album of your works?”
They finally got into the jeep and Tom began to drive towards town, forgoing the car’s air conditioner and deciding to roll down the windows.
“Yeah,” Tom replied to Chris’s question, “It’s my job, you know, so I’ve got a lot of albums showing examples of what I do and stuff. Don’t worry, I’ll show it to you tomorrow. Tomorrow is okay, yeah?”
“Tomorrow sounds good,” Chris replied with a grin.
There was a comfortable silence as the car moved until they finally got to the city centre which was really just a huge mall surrounding several courtyards filled with fountains and outside food courts with external shops. In plan view, the mall looked like several pentagons joined together to look like the section of a bee’s nest. And because they were early, Tom was able to get a good parking spot and they were on their way in.
“Can you believe that despite the multitudes of times I’ve been here, I’ve always ended up getting lost?” Tom laughed with a blush and Chris laughed right along with him.
“Are you serious?” he grinned, “Well, it is the largest shopping mall in Maviz, so I’m not surprised.”
“There are maps though, so it’s not too bad, but I was too strong headed and I absolutely refused to use the maps, always certain I knew my way around but each wing in this place looks identical and you almost never exit from the wing you entered from. You can just imagine how pissed Tania used to be every time – I think I got this streak from my mother. She hated using the maps as well.”
“I have a feeling my father would have been the stubborn one,” Chris replied and then felt a pang in his chest as he talked about his late parents. He couldn’t remember them clearly – he’d been so young and because of his large family and the absence of his parents always going to work, he’d been closer to his siblings and didn’t remember them much. The pain of losing them was a phantom ache in his chest but what hurt even more was the fact that he couldn’t even remember them clearly – just his mother’s voice, soft and gentle, her big blue eyes and her thick brown lustrous hair.
“Where shall we go first?” Tom asked, his voice bringing Chris out of his thoughts.
Chris shook his head minutely and blushed, shrugging a little, “I don’t know. Wherever’s closest?”
Tom looked around. “Let’s get you some clothes, then. They’re on the first floor. Come on.”
Tom wanted to reach for Chris’s hand but he didn’t know if it was appropriate and the thoughts were making him feel like a child. Holding hands. Who even did that anymore? Despite his thoughts, his fingers tingled and he positively ached for the contact. When Chris hesitated the closer they got to the escalator, it suddenly dawned on Tom that Chris might’ve never used an escalator in his life before.
“Just step between the lines,” Tom whispered, “go on. I’ll be right behind you.”
Chris didn’t know when to step on the stupid thing, it was going too fast! Why the hell did the world need moving stairs anyway? Weren’t elevators enough? Goddess!
Tom giggled because Chris looked like he was about to turn the stairs to dust with his gaze alone. He moved up beside Chris to whisper, “Watch the way the others are doing it.”
Chris eyed the other people, seeing how effortlessly they walked onto a step, holding the railing casually and looking around the mall like they were freaking models or something. Some teenage boy even had the audacity to be texting on his phone, both his feet on different stairs so that it looked like he’d frozen while he was walking.
At the top, people stepped off the thing with the same effortlessness, going about their business.
Okay, he could do this. It was just stepping on the thing, right?
He quickly stepped on one of the stairs before it could disappear and nearly toppled over, falling backwards. A hand was suddenly grabbing his hip and holding him steady, Tom laughing politely behind him and Chris felt himself flush from his head to his toes in embarrassment, his hand clutching at the railing like a lifeline as the escalator carried him to the next floor. This was ridiculous! Not to mention dangerous, goddess, he’d very nearly cracked his skull open!
That thought suddenly reminded him of the fact that Tom’s hand was still on his hip, his long fingers gently curled and so close to his crotch it made Chris’s cheeks burn.
When it was time to get off the escalator, Chris stumbled again and this time, both of Tom’s hands were wrapping around his hips to steady him and Chris desperately thought of anything but the intimate press of Tom’s hands holding his hips – he could practically feel the handprints burning hand-shaped tattoos into his skin.
“See, that wasn’t so bad,” Tom said breathlessly, quickly letting go of Chris’s hips and coming to walk beside him.
Chris immediately felt the loss of his grip, his hips cold from where Tom had held him.
Tom’s hands were tingling at the feel of holding Chris like that, so intimately. The urge to just walk up and press his body up against Chris’s had been staggering which was why he’d hastily removed his hands the minute Chris was steady on his feet.
The silence was awkward as Tom approached one of the shops he was sure would have some nice fitting clothes for Chris. The shop had mostly suits though and Chris eyed them with a bit of apprehension.
“What on earth am I going to do wearing any of these?” Chris asked, fingering the material of a sharp grey suit he was sure would fit Tom more than him.
Tom blushed. “I don’t know. For an interview, maybe?” He didn’t know if the alpha had thought about it yet but Tom was thinking they could find out what Chris was interested in and maybe get him a job, just something to make him feel more secure in the world. Now that they knew a bit about his past, Tom felt more assured in his relationship with Chris.
Tania was still going to do some research, just for Chris’s benefit but for now, Chris was a free man.
“Oh.”
“If you see anything you like, just let me know,” Tom said with an encouraging smile, leaving Chris to stare at the racks of clothes like they were about to come alive and eat him.
Once again, Chris felt guilty that Tom was using his own money to buy the clothes for him and he vowed silently to himself that he was going to get a job and pay Tom back every single penny and then they would start on even ground and take care of each other like he was dreaming of.
He spend nearly thirty minutes just walking around the store and staring at the suits like they intimidated him when Tom came back to his side, his cheeks flushed. “Would you like me to help you out?” he asked with a gentle smile.
Chris blushed furiously. “Yes, please.”
“Okay,” Tom replied a little excitedly, “while you were walking around I did see some that I thought would look just perfect on you.”
By the time Tom was done breezing him around the shop, Chris’s hands were piled up with about ten suits.
“Oh dear,” Tom said, cupping his blushing cheeks in both his palms, “I get a bit carried away when it comes to shopping, I’m afraid.”
Chris raised an incredulous eyebrow, eyeing the pile of suits in both his arms, “I can definitely see that.”
Tom blushed harder. “Do you not want them? Are there any particular ones out of the pile that you like best?”
Chris suddenly felt like if he dropped any one of the suits, Tom was going to feel bad and for some reason, he wanted the suits Tom had picked out for him. He shrugged, trying to ignore the flare in his cheeks. “I’ll take them,” he said lowly, so lowly Tom almost didn’t hear him.
“Oh! Okay, that’s – that’s good,” Tom beamed and went to pay for the suits with his card and then they were leaving with three paper bags from the shop, heading next to a more casual clothing store.
Their shopping went similar to the first, Chris walking around aimlessly and staring at the clothes like they were demons, Tom having to pick out some for him that were clearly too much and Chris unable to break his heart and nodding so that Tom would just buy everything he picked out.
It was only when they were reaching their fourth store – underwear after shoes – that Chris felt like he was being watched. His wolf was whining in distress and he felt all the hairs on his arms and neck stand on end. He slowly turned around while Tom was talking to the attendant, a young girl that was obviously still in college who was talking enthusiastically about a new clothing line the store was launching.
His gaze met with an unfamiliar man who was standing on the other side of the store, rows upon rows of clothing racks separating them, the man staring right at him. He had spiky dark hair and dark skin, a fading pink scar on the lower left corner of the man’s pale lips. His eyes had a golden hue that could have been pretty if not for the deadly aura he seemed to be emitting.
The minute Chris’s gaze locked with his, a slow smirk spread over the man’s lips and Chris felt his heart stutter underneath his ribcage, familiar blood curdling fear crawling up his legs.
He didn’t recognize this man but for some reason, the sight of him made Chris stop breathing and start feeling like the world was about to end.
“Chris? Chris?”
Tom’s voice brought Chris out of his reverie and he jumped a little, startled, turning to face the omega. “Huh?”
Tom’s eyes darted over to where Chris had been staring at like he’d seen a ghost. There was no one there so he turned back to Chris, “Are you okay, darling?”
Chris felt hot all over at the pet name and the strange man was immediately forgotten. “I’m just perfect now.”
Tom blushed. “Well, I’m finished here. I think that’s okay for now? We do have quite the number of shopping bags,” he said with a laugh, motioning at the dozens of shopping bags from the different shops littering their feet, “We can come back another day anyway – don’t need to finish it all now, right?”
“Right.”
“Okay. I’ll just pay for these and we can go grab lunch from the food court. After that, we’ll visit the craft store and head home.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Tom smiled and then turned to the attendant, following the beta to the counter so that they could make the transaction and Chris still felt the prickle in the back of his neck. He kept glancing around the store but the man was gone like he’d been imagined and everyone else in the store looked harmless, going about their shopping in their own little bubble.
Chris was more than happy to get out of the store as they made their way to the food court.
“I think I want to visit a pharmacy first,” Tom was saying bashfully.
Chris immediately frowned and stopped walking, dropping all his shopping bags on the floor to cup Tom’s cheeks and stare into his eyes, “What is it? What’s wrong? Are you falling sick? Should we head home?”
Tom felt his heart flutter at Chris’s concern. “I’m fine, I just have a tummy ache,” Tom shrugged, “it’s nothing big,” he tried to assure.
“Was it something you ate this morning?” Chris asked, still in mother hen mode, his eyes trailing worriedly over Tom’s frame for any other signs of illness but Tom looked perfectly fine.
“Maybe it was a bad strawberry but G & M’s is impeccable, so that’s quite frankly impossible.”
Chris wrinkled his nose and Tom could feel his cheeks burning as he leaned forward to kiss the alpha quickly on his mouth, heat shooting up his spine at the small contact and in such a public place – right in the middle of the walkway in the mall. “I’ll be fine. Maybe I’m just hungry.”
“Alright,” Chris conceded, picking up the shopping bags and they made their way to the nearest pharmacy.
Tom got something for his stomach and then they were once again heading towards the food court. They both ordered separately from a nice family restaurant, settling down on a table, shopping bags piled underneath the table at their feet.
“What’s that?” Tom asked, leaning over to look into Chris’s plate. “Is that fish?”
Chris nodded. It was some grilled fish with tomatoes and rice.
“I hate fish,” Tom pouted but he was staring at Chris’s plate like it held all the answers to life’s mysteries.
“You hate fish?” Chris asked, inwardly filing that fact away for future use.
“Fish is disgusting – except maybe tuna and I can only tolerate that in a sandwich with lots of mayo – but gosh, that smells so good,” Tom moaned, staring at his plate with pink cheeks.
Chris laughed a little. “You’re adorable. Would you like a bite?”
“Yes please,” Tom blushed.
Chris cut a piece out of his fish and held the fork up to Tom’s lips, feeling his cock jerk as the omega’s lips wrapped around his fork to pull the piece of flesh off before Tom was chewing delicately. The alpha noticed the way Tom’s pink tongue had darted out first to lick against the fork before his small lips were parting and wrapping around the offered metal. Chris shifted minutely in his chair. Not the time, Chris! You’re in the middle of a goddamn shopping mall for god’s sake!
“Oh, that’s good,” Tom said delightfully when he was done chewing, “I think I’d like some,” he gushed, getting up from his seat and abandoning the chicken sandwich he’d gotten earlier, “I’ll be right back.”
Chris nodded to show that he’d heard before Tom re-joined the line at the counter. Chris decided to wait for Tom, leaving his food untouched. He felt that prickle at the back of his neck again and nearly lost his soul at the sight of the dark-skinned man on the other side of the food court staring at him with that menacing smirk. He sat at one of the round tables alone, playing with a spoon and for god’s sake, it was a fucking spoon, but it might as well have been a knife in that man’s hands.
As Chris watched him, barely breathing, unable to tear his gaze away, the man dropped the spoon casually and then picked up a napkin from the table, using it to cover his nose and mouth, tying the white cloth at the back of his head like it was a hospital mask or something, his gaze not wavering from Chris.
The alpha’s eyes instantly widened in terror and recognition.
It was one of them.
The people from the facility.
He shot up from his chair so fast that it toppled over, his knees banging into the table and sending Tom’s drink and his toppling over, contents spilling onto the floor, thankfully not touching the shopping bags safely underneath the table.
Tom whipped around at the noise and was instantly rushing to the alpha at the sight of him looking like he was about to have a panic attack.
“Chris!” Tom gasped, rushing up to him and grabbing his cheeks, forcing him to look the omega in the eye. It wasn’t hard because they were practically the same height, “Chris! Darling, come on, breathe with me, I’m right here.”
Chris was hyperventilating. They were here. They found him. How the hell did they find him?
Oh my god, they’ve seen him with Tom. They were going to –
“Is he alright?”
Chris felt like he was about to die. There were people gathering around and staring in concern but the owner of the voice was the dark-skinned man with the tiny scar. Chris refused to look at anyone but Tom, his breaths coming out fast and choppy, but even then, he was hyper aware of the man standing just a little behind Tom, his golden gaze burning holes into Chris’s skin.
He wanted to tell Tom but what the hell was he going to say? Oh god, were they going to take Tom away from him? Were they back for him? Oh god. Oh god. Oh god.
Tom didn’t tear his gaze away from Chris as he replied to whoever had asked, “He’ll be fine.”
The man reached up to touch Tom on the shoulder and Chris’s eyes darted to the offending hand and he couldn’t help the animalistic growl of pure rage that rumbled in his chest, the impolite sound sending the curious weres that gathered around turning up their noses in disgust while others stumbled away in shock at Chris’s indecent behaviour.
The devil actually had the audacity to grin, his eyes twinkling playfully like Chris was falling into a trap. “You guys are mates, right?”
Tom blushed, oblivious of the danger, glancing at Chris bashfully and then frowning in concern at how pale the alpha looked but that was enough for scar face because he was patting Tom on the shoulder but his departing words weren’t for Tom, that gaze making his skin crawl as he whispered, eyes on Chris, “Better keep an eye on him then, wouldn’t want him to get hurt, now would we?”
Tom frowned a little, turning around to look for the source of the voice but the man had disappeared fast in the crowd.
Chris felt his legs give and would have collapsed if not for Tom’s sudden grip wrapping around his body, holding him up tightly. “Chris, what’s wrong?” he asked, his voice slightly high with the beginnings of panic.
“Can we head home?” Chris whispered, his body shaking violently, “Please.”
“Alright. Will you tell me what’s wrong then?”
“Please let’s just go.”
He packed up the shopping bags haphazardly, practically running out of the mall and searching for Tom’s car. He’d gotten out using a wrong route so they had to walk a bit and consult the maps before they finally spotted Tom’s jeep and drove out of the mall.
Chris finally felt like he could breathe again, just a little bit. His hands were still clutching the seat below him like a lifeline as he tried to stop his violent shaking.
“Goddess, Chris, please tell me what’s going on. You’re scaring me.”
All Chris could think about where the weres in white, their faces covered in the white masks, leaving only their eyes exposed. That guy was definitely one of them and that last statement he’d made was definitely a threat.
Chris was so fucking stupid. He’d been so blinded by his feelings that he’d forgotten that staying with Tom was going to put him in danger. How the fuck did he think the weres in white wouldn’t look for him – wouldn’t find him? How could he have been so fucking thoughtless!
The car ride was a blur and Chris wasn’t sure how they got to Tom’s suite in the apartment but he blinked himself back to earth at the smell of lemon tea and warm biscuits.
“Are you back with me?” Tom asked gently. He was squatting at Chris’s feet, holding a silver tray that held the pot of tea with two empty mugs and a cute petite glass bowl holding the biscuits.
Chris swallowed, “Yeah. I’m – yeah.”
Tom stood up, dropping the tray on one of the side tables before sitting on the couch beside Chris, reaching out to hold his hands. “Do you want to talk about it? Did you remember something? Was that why you acted like that?”
Chris realized that he couldn’t tell him. If they found Chris and they noticed Tom, what assurance did he have that they didn’t know he was here, in Tom’s apartment? Tom was slightly wealthy and his freaking twin was the best officer on the Peace Force – there was no way they didn’t at least recognise him.
Chris clenched his eyes shut with pain at his stupidity. How could he have done this to Tom?
He felt soft hands turning his cheek and then soft lips were covering his own. Tom kissed him gently, licking into his mouth sensually, making Chris shiver a little. The omega clambered clumsily onto his lap, still kissing him hotly and Chris was soon overwhelmed with desire, cupping Tom’s cheeks and kissing him just as hard.
Tom rolled his hips and they both groaned as their hard lengths rubbed together through four layers of fabric and Chris couldn’t help spreading his thighs a little so that Tom sank more firmly into his lap, their cocks rubbing more intimately.
“Oh,” Tom moaned, rocking his hips harder, his hands moving down to cup Chris’s ass so that the alpha would move with him. Chris obliged him and they both gasped into each other’s mouths as they rocked their hips together, rubbing against each other intimately.
It was slow and sensual and really fucking hot.
“I really like this method of distraction,” Chris gasped passionately against Tom’s lips.
Tom blushed furiously. “Oh yeah?” he replied huskily, “I quite like it too.”
They rocked their hips faster and harder, not kissing anymore, their lips just pressed together intimately as they panted into each other’s mouths.
“Oh god,” Tom whimpered, feeling his cock leaking, his balls aching, “oh gods, Chris, want you,” he moaned sensually, “Want you to knot me.”
“Holy fucking shit,” Chris hissed, his hips nearly flying off the chair in response, his cock lurching in his pants, bleeding out pre-cum like a faulty tap. It took every ounce of his self-control to keep the base of his cock from swelling, his eyes clenched shut with desperate arousal. Fucking god, he was about to knot in his fucking pants.
“Oh, Chris. Chris. I’m gonna – I’m about to –” Tom stiffened, throwing his head back to expose his neck, his lips parting on a silent cry as he spilled in his pants, grinding furiously into Chris’s lap.
“Fucking hell!” Chris gasped on a sob, the sight and scent of Tom’s release pushing him to the edge. He shook with bliss, holding Tom tightly to his chest as the omega collapsed on top of him, breathing heavily into his neck and scent marking him.
Chris rubbed his own nose along the column of Tom’s pale throat, scent marking him right back and for a few minutes, the episode at the mall was completely forgotten.