Aaren grinned, wriggling closer to his alpha.
“Hey, are you hungry? Would you like some food?” Hades asked.
“There’s food?” Aaren perked up slightly. “I’m not very hungry.”
“I made chicken soup. It’ll be easy on your stomach.”
“Did you cook that for me?”
“Yes.” Hades smiled, brushing Aaren’s hair away from his forehead. “Want to try some?”
“Yeah I do,” Aaren said. “But I don’t know how much I can eat right now.”
“Why don’t we find out? Wait here.” Hades dropped a kiss on Aaren’s nose, before heading out of the bedroom. Aaren snuggled back under the covers.
It felt kind of lonely, Hades’ side empty and his laptop abandoned on the nightstand. Aaren shuffled into the dip that Hades had left, wriggling into his residual warmth. It smelled more like him here, and Aaren huddled under the covers like a snug little bug.
Hades’ eyebrows went up when he returned with a steaming bowl and a tray table. “You stole my spot?”
“Smells more like you,” Aaren said.
Hades grinned. He helped Aaren sit up, then set up the tray table over Aaren’s lap and placed the bowl in front of him. “Tell me if it’s good.”
It was a simple soup, with tiny pieces of chicken, vegetables and macaroni. Aaren sipped on it and hummed. “It’s good.”
“Yeah?” Hades lit up. He sat on the far end of the bed—too far—except he took Aaren’s foot into his hands and began massaging it.
“Is this how you treat sick omegas?” Aaren blurted.
“Just mine,” Hades murmured, working his fingers over the arch of Aaren’s foot. It felt so good.
“You make me want to be sick more often,” Aaren moaned.
“No.” Hades narrowed his eyes. “Get better, and you’ll get more foot rubs.”
“Okay.” Aaren drank more soup, settling into the pillows.
“More?” Hades asked when the bowl was empty.
Aaren shook his head. “Enough for now. It sucks going to sleep on a full stomach.”
“Okay. I’ll make some lemon tea with honey when you wake up.”
“You’re gonna spoil me so bad.”
“Good.” Hades took away the empty bowl and tray table. When he came back to the bedroom, he popped a blister pack and handed Aaren a round golden candy. “A lozenge for your throat. Suck on it.”
Aaren popped it gratefully into his mouth. “Imagine if I could suck on you and make my throat better.”
Hades laughed. “If only.”
He settled into the spot Aaren had left, retrieving his laptop. As the keys clacked away, Aaren drifted off into sleep.
The cold got worse.Aaren had a headache when he woke up, and he was starting to sniffle even as his throat remained sore.
“Hades,” he whined.
Hades stopped typing and looked over immediately. “What do you need?”
