Unnatural - Alessandra Hazard Page 0,59

game.”

Chuckling, Royce nuzzled into his neck before suddenly going very still.

“Haydn.”

Noticing the strange inflection in Royce’s voice, Haydn gave him a questioning look. “What?”

Royce took a deep breath, a low, rumbling growl escaping his chest.

Haydn’s eyes slipped shut. “Mmm?”

“You smell like mine,” Royce said breathlessly, his voice tight and full of wonder. “You smell like you’re mine, Haydn.”

Haydn forced his eyes open, blinking in confusion. “What?”

“The mark took,” Royce said, squeezing him so tightly it became difficult to breathe.

The mark?

It took Haydn’s pleasure-drunk mind a moment to understand what that meant. Of course. Dr. Jordan had said that although his biology was still primarily alpha, kerosvarin had amplified some dormant omega genes. If he had some omega characteristics now, it was likely that his body now produced sufficient hormones for an alpha’s mating mark to take.

He was bonded to Royce now.

They were mates.

Mates.

Now that Haydn knew what to look for, he really could sense a slight shift in him. He felt more grounded. Stable. Secure and safe. More importantly, he could feel in his bones that this man was his. Royce was his.

Royce lifted his head and they stared at each other, more than a little stunned, before smiling dazedly and crushing their mouths together.

When they managed to break the kiss, Royce hummed in contentment, pressing their foreheads together. “This feels nice. It feels nice not to feel like I need to piss all over you to keep you smelling of me. I’m going to miss this a little if you fix your genetic code.”

Haydn’s stomach clenched.

Right.

“Do you want me to?”

Royce pulled back a little to look him in the eyes. “What?”

Haydn bit the inside of his cheek. “I mean, don’t you want me to become an omega?”

Royce’s brows drew together. “First of all, it doesn’t matter what I want. It’s your body, and your choice. You should be only what you want to be.” He touched Haydn’s heart. “You should be only what you feel is right for you.”

Haydn looked at him searchingly. “You really don’t want me to become an omega? It would make things easier. And I would be able to give you children the natural way.” He flushed, suddenly embarrassed and unsure. They had never discussed children before. He didn’t even know if Royce wanted any with him. They’d never really talked about the future.

Royce looked at him for a moment before leaning down and kissing him on the nose. He was smiling. “You’re fucking adorable when you blush, did you know that?”

Haydn laughed a little. “Shut up, I’m not!”

Royce kissed him on the mouth briefly before pulling back again. His gaze was serious now. “I do want to have children with you,” he said. “I like the idea of having a few kids—maybe a couple of little girls and a boy with your eyes and your smile…” His expression became softer. He touched Haydn’s bottom lip with his thumb. “But I don’t give a damn whether they’re naturally born or gestated in a genetic center—I wouldn’t love them any less.”

Haydn bit his lip, trying to get a grip on his emotions.

Royce took his hand into his own. “I’m serious, Haydn. I don’t care whether you’re an alpha or an omega or a beta.”

His vision was suddenly blurry. Until now, he hadn’t realized how much he had been afraid that Royce would want him to change his designation to omega. He wasn’t sure he was ready to do it. It didn’t matter that omega was his natural designation. No matter how angry he was with his father for messing with his genetics, he still felt like an alpha. Maybe one day he would consider the option of becoming an omega, but for now, he was glad there was no pressure on him to decide one way or the other. For now, he would do nothing. He was comfortable enough with his mostly-alpha-slightly-omega designation and didn’t feel like messing with it.

And yet, there was a niggling doubt that refused to go away. He gave Royce a searching look. “But you prefer omegas.”

“I did. Until you.” Royce’s dark eyes gazed at him intently. “You’re my husband. You’re my mate whether you carry my mating mark or not. I kind of…” He swallowed, his jaw clenching a little and his cheekbones coloring. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m kind of crazy about you.”

Haydn pursed his lips to stop himself from grinning stupidly, but judging from Royce’s expression, he wasn’t fooling anyone.

Looping his arms around Royce’s neck, he pulled him