Page 92 of Knot Your Pawn

Even though it’s plenty warm enough, it’s still nice to fall asleep on the couch with Vera on top of me. The setting sun bathes the living room in a warm yellow glow and the people talking and walking around the house make for soothing background noises.

Everything combined makes it really hard to stay awake.

Vera lets out a small sound, turning her head slightly, before stilling again. She’s fast asleep, all sprawled out on top of me.

There’s movement in the doorway, and I catch Mathew looking at us, he’s leaning against the doorframe, a soft look in his eyes. He lifts his phone and I’m about to move to try and hide my face, when he raises one eyebrow.

One of my arms is caught at my side, against the couch, and the other arm I’ve got around Vera, to make sure she doesn’t slide off me. If I move either of my arms, I’ll wake her up.

I shoot Mathew a glare as he takes multiple pictures of us, his face lights up with joy.

Well, okay. If it makes him that happy, I guess it’s fine.

He’s been so stressed lately that I’ve not seen him smile that happily in much too long.

He puts his phone away and comes over to us, picking up a blanket that’s over a chair he passes and then he carefully drapes it over us, making sure not to disturb Vera.

“You two look so cute.” He leans over me, his lips a fraction from mine, as he keeps his voice as quiet as possible. “I can’t wait for you to sleep with two babies on top of you. A happy family. I’ll be taking so many pictures.”

“As long as you keep it to pictures, it should be fine.” I also keep my voice low, but with how Vera is draped over me, I don’t expect her to wake up any time soon.

Mathew slides to the floor, leaning against the couch in a way that he can see both our faces at the same time. The way he looks at us, that soft gaze, the sweet smile, how the yellow light catches on his piercings, he looks so gentle, nothing like the ruthless guy that I know he can also be.

In some ways, Vera and Mathew are exactly the same and in other ways, they’re total opposites.

They’ll both protect anyone they care for to the best of their abilities, they’ll do anything for those they love. And people listen to them when they give orders.

But while Vera looks small, soft and adorable, Mathew’s tall, sharp and looks vicious. And even in that regard, they’re actually the same.

Vera’s a kitten with very sharp claws. While Mathew is an apex predator with an unexpectedly tender side, like an alligator.

They look one way but also have an unexpected opposite side to their personality.

“What’s making you smile so much?” Mathew touches my cheek, his whole focus on me, a heady feeling.

“You two are so similar, even if you look totally different.” I move my head, trying to catch his finger, but he quickly pulls away, grinning.

“Well, I guess that means this pack has a ‘type’ when it comes to Omegas they like.” He leans back slightly, taking a deep breath as he shrugs out of his suit jacket. “I think it’s almost time for dinner, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to get up again. Tired.”

He turns so he’s with his back to the couch and leans his head back against us, sprawling his long legs out in front of him.

“It’s been a long day.” I look at both Omegas. “It’s probably a good idea to take a nap.”

“Hmm, hmm.” Mathew closes his eyes, his face relaxing more. “It’s nice and warm in here.”

“Yeah. And pretty quiet too.”

“Yes, that too.” His voice slows down and I watch as he falls asleep right then and there.

Before Vera and Caleb arrived, he’d never have fallen asleep in a vulnerable place like this. Never.

Hell, he’d make sure nobody was on the upper floors when he slept in his bedroom.

He trusted his team, but he still didn’t want them around when he slept.

Even when I stayed over, he wouldn’t sleep for more than an hour or two at a time. He did seem to be able to sleep better with me there, but he’d still not feel safe enough to sleep through the night.

I’d often stay awake, watching over him, just to try to get him to sleep longer.