Their eyes meet and time seems to stand still. Kaiden's foot itches to step back and escape, but there is something tethering him to the ground, something in those violet eyes that forces him to remain in place.
Mere seconds feel like hours as the two silently observe each other.
Damon beckons Kaiden closer with a curl of his forefinger, but when Kaiden is motionless, Damon makes his move.
Without breaking eye contact, he stands from the metal chair and exits the greenhouse. He walks like a predator stalking his prey, every step is taken with a purpose. Damon walks closer and closer until he is standing in front of the Omega.
Caught helplessly, Kaiden is frozen even when Damon grabs his arm and gently drags him to sit inside.
The greenhouse is even more beautiful from the inside, the sunlight not as harsh through the glass filter and there are different-colored butterflies flittering about. Of course, Kaiden takes several minutes before he can focus on these details, feeling like the seat he's on is made out of hot metal.
Like usual, whenever dealing with Damon, Kaiden doesn't know what to do. He has so many questions.
Why is Damon pouring tea for him? Why is Damon sitting across from him? Why is Damon not saying a word as he does all this?
The teacup is pushed towards Kaiden in an unspoken command to drink. With trembling fingers, he takes a sip.
He smells the tea before he tastes it; the light jasmine fragrance goes from his nose to his brain that for a moment, he forgot about the Alpha who served it to him.
The choice of tea surprises Kaiden. Before this, he was certain that Damon is the type to exclusively drink black tea outside of the typical black coffee he has every morning. His wrong assumption does nothing but cements the fact that they really don't know much about each other, so why is his heart beating so loud?
"I've heard a lot about you from Uriel," Damon begins saying. His nonchalance makes it appear like he hasn't been ignoring Kaiden whenever the Omega tries to strike up a conversation for the past few months.
"Ah, yes," Kaiden replies. What else is he supposed to say when the most they've spoken to each other is in bed? They don't even exchange small talk.
"You've been helping him a lot." Damon's tone holds no questions, so sure of himself, that it reminds Kaiden that this is a man who is used to leading and ordering people.
Keep calm, Kaiden tells himself, he can do this. "Just cooking and cleaning around," he says.
Although it may sound simple, working around the manor is harder than it looks. To begin with, Damon is especially careful to protect his privacy. The forest deliberately hiding the manor can attest to that. Unlike most prominent families, there are not a lot of employees hired to maintain the place. Kaiden rarely sees them inside. There are even some days that he can go around without spotting anyone but Uriel. By helping the old butler, only then does Kaiden realize how much of a miracle worker the Beta is.
Damon hums as if Kaiden said the most obvious thing in the world, his action speaking of his disinterest. However, his eyes rake over Kaiden's stiff sitting posture, scrutinizing the tiny Omega for the first time.
"Show me," he orders, bringing his hand forward, palm upturned.
Big, red eyes blink in confusion. Does Damon want Kaiden to cook and clean right here, right now?
Try as he may, Kaiden can't figure it out so he does the next plausible action he can think of. He stands. The metal chair screech at his abrupt movement, but as he starts tidying up the table, a large hand grabs his wrist.
"What are you doing?" Damon asks with his brows furrowed.
Kaiden's gaze flitters between the cup he's holding and the hand holding him. "Cleaning," he replies, because what else is he doing if not that? Is that not what he was asked to do?
Damon stares at him for a second, and then two … and then three. It goes on and when the silence almost becomes unbearable, he suddenly laughs, loud but low.
Stunned, Kaiden is glued to the ground, watching Damon's Adam's apple bob up and down with every sound. This is the first time he has seen the Alpha laugh. It's too different from his usual demeanor that Kaiden wonders if he's dreaming.
"You little idiot," Damon says with amusement in his voice, "sit down."
Kaiden does as he's told, resuming his seat. Really, he should be offended at being called a little idiot, as he is neither little nor an idiot, but there's something about the sight in front of him that mesmerizes him. Something soft, something unlike the usual cold look he got, has him dumbfounded but … happy.
Yes, happy. A warmth spreads through his chest with every laugh that slips from the corner of Damon's mouth.
It makes him happy to know that it's him who made Damon laugh, even if he doesn't understand what's so funny.
The Alpha, still with a hand on his wrist, brings the other to pry his clenched hand open. "I mean this," he says.
As if toying with Kaiden's hand, Damon uses his long fingers to make gentle strokes along Kaiden's wrist to the tips of his fingers.
"How can something so small," he taps the center of Kaiden's palm three times while asking, "do so much work?"
Damon's every touch feels like the butterflies in the greenhouse flew to his stomach. Although they've touched each other more than this, the big thumb caressing his smaller fingers feel more intimate than when they are rolling around the sheets.
Kaiden is definitely dreaming, he's sure of it, especially so when Damon interlocks their hands together while saying, "I'm surprised it hasn't broken yet." He shakes their joined hands together as if to emphasize the size difference between them.
Who is this man? Why is he being like this in broad daylight? Is this Kaiden's last day on Earth?
But of course, he doesn't ask any of that. Instead, he defends himself. "I'm not that weak."
Damon laughs again, the sound all the more pleasant to Kaiden's ears now that the heat shared between their palms proves that this isn't a dream.
"I know," Damon says as he looks up from their intertwined hands to meet Kaiden's eyes, "since you can take whatever I give you."
The insinuation isn't lost on the Omega, the suggestive words making him squirm on his seat. Recent memories of their nightly activities replay in his mind as his face flushes the same color as his hair.
Unfortunately for him, Damon is not done yet with the teasing. The Alpha leans forward, bringing their faces closer. When his lips are almost pressed to Kaiden's red ear, he whispers, "What are you thinking about that's making you blush like that, Omega?"
Surprised by the breath tickling him, Kaiden jumps back. He doesn't make it far, not with the chair on his back and the big hands encasing his. Trapped, he stammers, "N-nothing. I need to g-go now. I think s-someone's c-c-calling for me."
"Strange," Damon says while rubbing their wrists together, "I don't hear anyone. What great hearing you have."
With them being so close to each other, Kaiden desperately prays that Damon can't hear the pounding of his heart. For once, he's grateful for the inhibitor around his neck, or else the greenhouse would have been filled with his pheromones by now.
If Kaiden isn't so distracted by Damon's violet gem-like eyes or by how sultry his whispering voice sounds, he would have noticed that he can't smell anything from the Alpha. Not a single whiff of pheromone can be found, which is strange since Damon doesn't wear scent patches—not at home, at least. Lost between Damon's undivided attention, it's already somewhat of a saving grace that Kaiden hasn't melted into a puddle yet.
Kaiden pulls his hand back, this time meeting barely any resistance. With his hand freed, he tugs on the collar of his shirt to cool his too-hot skin. "I need to go," he says while averting his gaze, the view outside suddenly so much more interesting.
"Thinking about escaping?" Damon leans back, relaxed.
"No," Kaiden lies with a soft voice. Why is Damon being like this? It isn't like him at all.
"Where are you going?"
"I—" he starts, but he's unable to come up with an excuse, "just … inside."
His inner omega has been begging him, whining to stay with their Alpha, to enjoy his company and take full advantage of this situation. It tells him to make himself appealing, to tell Damon to choose him over Heath, but how can he do that? He knows that Damon's love is not for him to enjoy.
"Thank you for the tea," riddled with guilt, Kaiden says his goodbye, "I enjoyed it."
Damon eyes the cup that was barely touched, still full, but says nothing. A frown forms on his face, back to his usual expression, and Kaiden is conflicted whether to be relieved or disappointed. With a wave of his hand, he dismisses Kaiden.
Without a second to spare, Kaiden turns for the door. A grip on his wrist stops him once more. Silently, Damon brushes a loose strand of hair behind his ear. The action is so affectionate that Kaiden's brain goes offline, letting his inner omega slip through his rationality and take control. He nuzzles closer to that hand with his eyes closed, a content sigh escaping his lips.
Damon lightly rubs his wrist to the scent gland near Kaiden's jaw, and no matter how much he wants to deny it, Kaiden /purrs/.
"Be good," the Alpha whispers before pulling back, done with marking the Omega with his scent.
The words shock Kaiden back to reality and in the next moment, he's scrambling outside.
With only half a mind to pay attention to the path that he is taking, Kaiden only has one question in his head: what the heck just happened?