I Would Rather Be a Rogue [BL]-Chapter 272: Buttoning Up
Pointless as Kade’s update of Felix’s personal library could turn out to be, depending on how Remi felt about it, it at least achieved one thing: it took Felix’s mind off the impending ’talks’ with Wilder and eased some of his tension. Not all of it, of course, since such an insignificant event, ridiculous to the point of being amusing as it was, couldn’t possibly overshadow the dread of the upcoming confrontation.
Still, to think that even amidst it all, Kade had a mind to worry about Felix’s foxified library... Felix didn’t know whether it was stupid or reassuring. Was Kade so confident in being able to resolve the situation somehow, that he still had time to take care of other unimportant stuff? If so, then that was great...
But Felix lacked such confidence. Thus, even though he (kind of) believed in Kade, he couldn’t breathe in relief just yet.
After all, his and Vivi’s future was at stake. Or at least the next few months, maybe years.
The maid left a few minutes later, after finishing arranging the new books, and Remi crawled out from his hiding spot underneath the bed. He glanced at the bookshelf, once again filled with werewolf romances...
Then, he scoffed, as if the books themselves offended him, jumped onto the bed, and rolled into a ball, ignoring everything. He wasn’t doing anything about the library update. At least for now. Whether that meant that he didn’t care about this literary scuffle with Kade, or simply didn’t want to change it RIGHT NOW, since that would require him to shift back to his human form to cast the spell, Felix didn’t know.
And he didn’t care. Whether it was werewolf or fox romance novels, he didn’t have any interest in them. So, he just shrugged his shoulders and plopped down on the play mat to play with Vivi, putting his phone right next to him, so that he could see it. As they had agreed the day before, he was on the standby, waiting for a message from Kade, ready to jump into action at any time. He purposely didn’t even go to his pottery workshop, as it would make him waste too much time - he would have to get back to the main mansion to drop Vivi off at the nursery before going into the forest with Remi, since he couldn’t possibly take her with them. She was still just a tiny pup, way too young to shift herself...
But the message didn’t come. Time passed, and Felix’s phone remained silent.
Lunchtime came, and there was still no new notification.
Felix went to have lunch alone with Vivi, came back, and still nothing.
At that point, Felix had pretty much lost his hope. It was already afternoon. If Kade hadn’t messaged him until now, that must have meant he failed. The time for the scheduled afternoon tea was coming, so how could he possibly lure Wilder to the forest now? There simply wasn’t enough time left for proper interrogation!
Of course, that was not a reason to get discouraged. They still had four more days to go. It was just unfortunate that they weren’t able to confirm the truthfulness of Wilder’s words, and gain an advantage over him in the upcoming ’talks’, or at least level the playing field...
It was what it was, though. Felix just sighed quietly, glancing at the still silent phone, and turned his attention back to Vivi. He had to take her to the nanny soon, and then get ready for their tea ’party’... And he was more than used to disappointments, so it didn’t drag him down too much. He just calmly changed her diaper, took her to the nanny’s room - since it was a scheduled event, he had arranged with their personal nanny, who was also Kade’s nanny once upon a time, to take care of Vivi, rather than dropping her at the nursery - and came back to get ready. Although it was not a formal event, and therefore it didn’t require any specific preparations, Felix wanted to put in some effort.
Clothes don’t make the man, but they can give you confidence. It was much easier to play the role of Kade’s potential mate when he at least looked the part.
And he was calm.
...Or so he thought.
It wasn’t until he tried to button up his shirt that he noticed that his hands were shaking. So much so, that he couldn’t even close the buttons, not without struggling a lot with each one of them first.
Or perhaps it was that his whole body was shaking? Felix couldn’t quite tell...
Then the knocking on the door came, and it made Felix flinch so hard, that he almost jumped up to the ceiling.
"Come, come in," he answered in a shaky voice, taking a peek out of the walk-in closet.
It was Kade, of course.
"Are you ready?" he asked, as he stepped into the room. He was dressed in one of his fancy suits... Which was rather unusual. He used to wear them every day back in Silverfall, but around the pack, he usually dressed in the smart casual style. If he were wearing a suit now, that must have meant that he was treating the tea ’party’ seriously.
Felix gulped loudly. No matter how calm and confident Kade looked on the surface, he couldn’t help but remember the defeated expression the Alpha wore the night before, and he felt anything but reassured.
Still, he tried not to let it show, and he said, "Just a moment, I’m almost done," as he tried to take control over his hands and finally button up his shirt. In his nerves, he hadn’t even realized that his chest was still half exposed...
Kade stared at him in silence for a while. Of course, Felix might have forgotten about it, but he didn’t fail to notice the pale expanse of smooth skin. His eyes glazed over it greedily...
But he forced himself to turn his gaze away. No matter how rare this sight was for him, or how beautiful it was, it was not the time for him to lust over his future cute little mate. He cleared his throat, trying to push all the emotions away, and asked, "Do you need any help with that?"
"No, not at all!" Felix snapped back.
However, against his words, the button he was trying to fasten slipped from his shaky fingers, missing its buttonhole.
He stared helplessly at his still half-undone shirt, then at the clock on the wall. How long had he been struggling with the buttons already? How much longer was it going to take? Even though he had thought that he started getting ready way earlier than in was necessary, somehow, all that time seemed to have slipped through his fingers...
"...Alright," he finally sighed. "You can help me... If you don’t mind."
Naturally, Kade didn’t mind. Quite the opposite. He was so eager that he was already in front of Felix even before the Omega had finished speaking. Although it was just helping Felix get dressed for the tea time with his parents and Felix’s father, and there was nothing remotely sexual about it... Not to mention, he had to fasten the buttons, rather than undo them, as he was tempted to do...
It was still kind of intimate. Felix usually tried to draw a line between them (which, honestly, seemed to be meant for both of them, as Felix himself appeared to be drawn to Kade, even without the fated mate bond), so it was a rare opportunity. Kade knelt down on one knee in front of Felix, to make it easier for himself with their height difference, and started closing the buttons. Fast enough not to arouse Felix’s irritation, but slowly enough so that he could savor the moment...
The process was much harder than he thought it would be. Not because Felix’s shirt was particularly difficult to button up - it just had standard buttons with appropriate buttonholes, all well made - but simply because of the proximity... With Felix’s soft skin right in front of his face, his natural fragrance, resembling milk chocolate, invading his nostrils, it was nearly impossible to resist. Intoxicated, Kade unconsciously leaned closer...
"Are you helping me, or trying to sniff me?" Felix spoke all of a sudden, snapping Kade out of his daze. He wasn’t looking at the Alpha. Instead, his face was turned away as much as possible, in an attempt to hide his flustered expression and his deep flush...
A failed attempt. As Kade glanced up, he could still notice his reaction easily.
The corners of his lips lifted, flashing his teeth in a wide grin. "Both?" he suggested shamelessly.
And Felix’s cheeks instantly turned even redder, even though it seemed almost impossible. You could almost see the steam rising from his burning face.
"Well, then just focus on one! We don’t have time for this!" he scolded the Alpha.
"Just on one?" Kade lifted his brows. A mischievous glint flashed through his face, and before Felix could react, his waist had been trapped in Kade’s embrace. The Alpha hugged him tightly, burying his nose in his chest... "Ah, now that’s exactly what I needed!"
For a moment, Felix was too stunned to react. Kade rubbed his face against his torso, wrinkling his shirt in the process...
"Kade!" he finally called out, covering his face with both of his hands. "You’re messing up my clothes! We’re going to be late!"
"Ah..." Kade stopped, realizing what he was doing. He pulled back, taking a look at the mess that he had created.
Then, he let out a chuckle. "Sorry about that," he said, not sounding sorry at all. "Should I help you get changed?"
...Felix truly wanted to smack him on the head.
