In the meantime, I think I’ll go home, read a few chapters of a nice spy novel, and toddle off to bed.”

Heath tore his gaze from Adrien and smiled softly at Simon. It was, perhaps, the first time Adrien had seen this sort of expression on Heath’s face. He seemed fond, almost like how a child looked at a doting parent.

“Sleep well, old man.”

“I’ll sleep however I damn well please,” Simon said haughtily. “There are some things in life you can’t control, young man.” Then he left without a backward glance, while Heath gazed after him, chuckling under his breath.

“So that’s Simon,” Heath said when he finally turned his attention back to Adrien. “He was my nurse, then my tutor, and then my only real family after my parents died.” His lips twisted. “Well, if I don’t count my brother, and I don’t.”

“You have a brother?”

“Younger. We don’t get along. Regardless, Simon runs my household now. Though, until you leave, his main duty will be you.”

“I don’t need anyone to take care of me,” Adrien said. “I’ve lived on my own for a long time now.”

“Right. Since your father’s death.”

Adrien nodded, his throat going dry. Something about the way Heath said

‘your father’ felt strange, and he couldn’t put his finger on why. “I’ve lived in the dorms at the university. I can manage.”

“The dorms. I see. I believe the dorms provide you with meals and janitorial services. Think of Simon as a friendlier, more personal version of that.”

Adrien didn’t think he could treat the old man the way he’d treated the cafeteria workers and janitors at the university. To be truthful, he’d barely given them a second glance or ever offered them a thanks. He frowned. It was possible he was a complete dick.

“He’s nice,” Adrien said softly. His stomach growled again as the scent of the casserole Simon had made drifted through the room to him. “This place is…nice.”

Heath laughed, short and curt. “It’s the only nice part of this ridiculous castle. And it should be. I made it myself. Or hired it to be made, rather. I’m afraid that aside from splitting logs for the fireplace at the heat cabin, I don’t do much with my hands.”

Adrien chewed on his lower lip, his eyes drifting to the casserole dish. He wondered if he could suggest that they eat now, or if he should let Heath do that. He wasn’t a guest, yet this wasn’t his home. He didn’t quite know the protocol. He licked his lips, and his stomach grumbled again.

Heath heard it this time. “Get over to the table. You need to eat.”

Adrien obeyed, like he always did when Heath spoke in commands. It was odd, though, for a man in a beautiful suit to serve him heaping servings of a cheesy chicken casserole, and fetch water for him, and offer him a glass of fizzing juice that was said to calm pregnancy stomach.

“There,” Heath said, sitting beside him with a much smaller helping of food. “Eat as much as you can. You’re skin and bones.”

Adrien didn’t say anything to that, hurrying to get the delicious food into his mouth instead. As he ate, he felt Heath’s eyes on him, and he was grateful when Heath stood up and turned on some soft music that drifted from hidden speakers all over the room.

“Tell me about your father,” Heath said suddenly. “And your omega parent, whatever you know about him.”

Adrien frowned. “My father was a kind man. Stern, perhaps, but loving.

He was religious and sent me to a religion-based school in our small town. I decided to go to college though, and, had he lived long enough, no doubt that news would have broken his heart. I don’t know if I could have done that to him, actually. But he died.” Adrien poked at his cheesy casserole with his fork and then admitted, “I miss him.”

“I see.”

Adrien cocked his head. “Why do you want to know?”

“Curiosity. We’re making a child together. I wondered about your experience and expectations of parenthood.”

“Oh.” Adrien ate some more food and then said, “I never knew the omega who birthed me. My father said he was smart and funny. I apparently look quite a lot like him.”

Heath made a small noise, but said nothing, tucking into his food like he suddenly remembered it was there.

“They only spent the heat and pregnancy together. So, in the scheme of life, my father didn’t know him long. But he said he was irreverent and a terrible heathen. But he must have been charming, too, because my father always said that like it was a compliment, and he would never have said it like that for anyone else. Not even me.”

Heath met his eyes, opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, and then closed it again.

“What about you?” Adrien asked. “What were your parents like? Did you know them both?”

“I did. They were a married couple. Which is more and more unusual these days, I know. Due to omega freedom rights.”

Adrien’s brow went up. “Do you not agree with the new legislature?”

“I absolutely agree with it,” Heath said sternly. “But the point in fact is that my father and omega parent would not have stayed together in today’s world. Of that I feel quite sure. My da—that’s what my omega parent liked to be called—was always complaining about the things he’d missed out on being married so young. And they fought.”

Adrien listened carefully as he ate, surprised by the way Heath spoke so casually now. In the heat cabin, he’d been gruff, rough, and often silent.

They’d fucked and grunted, and he’d ordered Adrien around, but he’d rarely offered up any conversation at all. This seemed like a whole new man. Until he focused his gray eyes on Adrien and commanded, “Eat.”

“I am!” Adrien exclaimed, annoyed. “I have to let it digest. My stomach is stuffed, but I’m still hungry.”

Heath frowned. “They should have sent you earlier.”

“They sent me as soon as the pregnancy was confirmed.”

Heath glared at that. “They should have just let you stay with me after the heat. Then you’d have never been sick at all.”

Adrien sighed and pushed the food around on his plate. “I’m full. I’m sorry.”

Heath relented then. “You can’t be expected to return to full health in a few hours. I’ll take it away. You can eat more later. The pantry and refrigerator are stocked with healthy foods for you.”

“And if I want cake?” Adrien challenged, a vague sense of panic settling over him as the night grew dark out the wide, round window and a hint of claustrophobia began to set in.

“Then you’ll have cake,” Heath said with equal challenge. “Did you expect something different? You aren’t a prisoner.”

“Are you sure about that?” Adrien asked. “I feel trapped.”

Heath stared at him, a wounded look flashing over his face. “If these quarters aren’t suitable then—”

“No!” The idea of being housed in the cold, baroque areas of the castle that he’d walked through to reach this warm nest was horrifying. Beyond that, it simply wasn’t what he meant. “I’m happy with these rooms, but…am I allowed to leave? To talk to friends? Do I just sit here and read books alone until I pop this baby out of my ass?” He hadn’t meant to be crude, but Heath’s expression of surprised amusement made it worth it. “What’s my life going to be like? Like, okay, I have this baby inside me, and it’s strange, but I can’t escape him. That’s odd, isn’t it? Can you imagine what that’s like?”

Heath took Adrien’s plate to the kitchen, washed it in the sink, and then left it aside. “I can’t,” he said slowly. “And I don’t know what your life will look like here. I do know that omegas are kept away from the public for the length of the pregnancy for their safety, comfort, and pleasure. I’ll do everything I can to make your stay here pleasurable, Adrien.” His voice went husky, and Adrien’s cock liked that.

“I can call my friends?”

“You have a cell phone, don’t you? If not, I’ll get you one.”

Adrien did, but he hadn’t even looked at it since he arrived. It’d been