Chapter 16
BLAKE
With the way my work hours dragged, I thought the weekend would never come. Once I was off the clock, time passed far too quickly. On the way home, I needed groceries, or wood crafting supplies, or a new pen, and I didn't get home until well after most businesses closed.
Frustrated with my lack of progress after work, I decided to take matters into my own hands over lunch.
I locked myself in a tiny room that had once been a phone booth.
Perched on a thin bench seat with my laptop hanging over the ledge where the phone used to be and my notebook open to my list of potential therapists, I dialed the first number on my cell phone.
No one answered, so I left a message and tried again.
Several were at lunch, same as I was. The first who answered wanted to help me find God, which was a huge red flag for me. The other was a kind-sounding woman who wanted to meet over video call. Thankfully, she scheduled it that same evening.
"I'm so proud of you for taking this step," she said once I received the email with the meeting link.
"Some people suffer for years before they get help with their grief.
Most people expect to lose their parents eventually, so they feel guilty when it hits them harder than expected. You're ahead of the game."
"How so?"
She laughed. "You called me! We'll talk more tonight to confirm we're compatible."
My whole body buzzed with excitement after the call. As I packed up my notebook and laptop in my backpack, the reason punched the breath out of me. She sounded like my mom.
The televisit confirmed it. Sharon was the perfect therapist for me.
She emailed me a list of questions to answer in my journal before our first paid session in two weeks.
She wasn't in my healthcare network, so we agreed on a cash payment system.
It was a lot of money out of pocket, but my mental health was worth it.
Ollie was also worth it. While it felt all kinds of wrong to dangle him like a carrot to encourage me to complete my tasks, it worked.
On top of my therapy appointment, I also scheduled a meeting with the head of the carpentry union to discuss alternative training options, since I worked during the day.
Despite being the beginning of the year, a busy time when most of our policies renewed, work dragged like it never had before. Finally, the last boring minute of my Friday shift ended.
I packed for the weekend, including a bag containing Ollie's jacket and a paperback from the series he was reading. Once I had everything in my SUV, I loaded the turn-by-turn directions into my phone and began my journey to Ollie's house.
At one point, I swore I traveled in a complete circle before finding the highway that led out of downtown. As the streets became roads and the roads narrowed to two-lane county roads, my shoulders inched away from my ears, and I relaxed for the first time all week.
Even my coffee date with Vic had been stressful, since it was the first we'd seen of each other since he'd told me he was moving out. The meeting had gone better than I could have predicted, but my stomach had been in knots the entire time.
Seeing Ollie again felt different. Instead of anxiety-inducing, it was exciting. I couldn't wait to hug him and test whether he still remembered how to kiss.
I pulled onto a long gravel driveway at my phone's prompting. On a pole that seemed taller than most streetlights, a bluish LED illuminated the yard and three buildings surrounded by thick trees.
Ollie's cabin was just as peaceful as the one in Oregon, though at least twice as big. Down a small hill, a garage sat beside a little mother-in-law cottage nestled in the woods. On its own, it looked like a gingerbread house. If Vic were here, he'd be planning a Hansel-and-Gretel-themed party.
I couldn't care less about the fairy tale. My Prince Charming stood on the porch of the main house in jeans and a flannel rolled up to his elbows. He looked even more ruggedly handsome than I remembered, backlit by the porch light.
He stepped off the side of his porch, into the crunchy snow that broke beneath him with each step. It didn't even slow him down. He grabbed me around the waist and hoisted me into his arms. His mouth crashed against mine in a hungry kiss.
I kissed him back, pouring all my longing from the last week into desire. I wanted him.
My skin burned hot everywhere he touched me. Hot slick dribbled from my hole, and hot and cold waves washed over me at the same time.
"Oh no."
"What's wrong?" Ollie cupped my cheek and gazed at me with concern.
"I think I'm going into heat." It wasn't my first, but it was the first one to break through the heat suppressors I took each night.
"That's normal for fated mates," he said. "I have plenty of food for us, and I can take care of you."
I hated the thought of relying on him like that so soon after we met, but what choice did I have? Another burst of heat made me swoon, and I rested my head on his shoulder. He kissed my temple and adjusted me in his arms, holding me in a bridal carry. "Let's get you inside."
"That's my line." I wriggled in his arms until my lips reached his.
He moaned into my mouth and then broke the kiss. "Food first."
I tried to argue, but my stomach rumbled instead.
Ollie silenced me with a quick brush of his lips, tickling my nose with his mustache. "You're far too tempting when you pout like that. Please, just let me take care of you."
Following in his footstep craters, he carried me to the house. He stepped onto the low porch the same way he'd hopped off it, like the two-foot drop was nothing.
Inside, the cabin's warm air made me shiver. The start of my heat felt like a fever without the headache, and I hated it.
Ollie deposited me in a large leather recliner. It was almost the size of the vacation cabin's loveseat.
"I'll be right back with your bags."
Before I could tell him to leave them, he disappeared. I tried to squeeze my ass cheeks together to prevent more slick from escaping, but it was useless. If I sat here too long, it would soak through my pants and into the leather.
Ollie returned with his arms full. I hopped up to help him, but he shoved the door closed with his back and then disappeared into the shadowy hallway just off the living room. I followed him to the doorway and stood there like a bump on the rounded log frame, indecision halting my progress.
A moment later, I heard pots rattling to my right.
I followed the sound through a home office decorated with bobblehead bear dolls and into a bright and homey kitchen with a little breakfast nook beside a sliding glass door.
A pile of snow covered the outside of the door, as though it hadn't been opened in a while.
"Spaghetti or rotini?" Ollie asked.
"Hmm?"
"We're having pasta and vegan red sauce. Which kind of pasta do you prefer?"
"Either is fine with me." My chest tingled. "Did you buy the sauce just for me?"
He laughed. "No. I looked everything up. My favorite is pretty basic and qualifies."
"Thanks for checking." I'd cooked for myself whenever I stayed with my parents.
My mom loved to bake cookies with eggs, and I refused to eat them.
The treatment of animals in factory farms was horrific, even for egg-laying chickens.
I didn't want to add to any animal's suffering.
Plant-based diets were also better for the environment, as were my hybrid SUV and energy-efficient apartment.
I'd added to my carbon footprint with the flight to Oregon, but I flew so infrequently, I hoped to balance it out before I flew again.
I wanted to ask Ollie how often he flew, but the thought slipped away as another wave of heat washed over me. Fanning my face, I sank onto the wooden bench seat and scooted toward the door, where it was cooler.
"I hope you like al dente," Ollie said, sliding a carb-loaded bowl to me and setting a small glass of white liquid beside it. "Almond milk. I know you prefer water, but I thought you could use the protein."
My eyes were a little blurry when I grinned at him. "Thank you. That's really sweet."
"You hate almond milk, don't you."
"No, I like it. That's what I drink in my lattes." It tasted weird by itself, but I could wash down some tomato sauce with it, no problem.
Ollie handed me both a fork and a spoon. "Eat."
"Fancy." I twirled the pasta around the fork. I knew the spoon was supposed to aid with the twirling, but my family didn't eat spaghetti that way.
Ollie sat on the bench across from me with a bowl of rotini and so much sauce, it looked like soup. "I made both kinds of pasta," he said. "There's more sauce, if you want more."
I laughed. "This is perfect, thanks." I wasn't just saying that because I was in heat and needed the energy. Sure, the pasta came from a box, and the sauce jar looked like something you'd find on restaurant shelves, but it was my first meal in Ollie's house, and it was delicious.
"How are your parents?" I asked. We'd texted during the week, but it was still entertaining to hear him talk about his trip to see them. He asked me about my week at the call center, and before we knew it, our bowls were empty.
"How do you feel?" Ollie asked as he rinsed our bowls in the sink.
"Not bad. Maybe I'm not going into heat, after all."
He shook his head. "You are. I can smell your slick from here."
"Yeah?"
"This time, I want to taste it, if that's all right with you."
Fuck yeah, it was.
Ollie's bedroom was almost as big as the entire vacation cabin where we'd stayed. The king-sized bed sat in one corner, and a gorgeous little seating area with a loveseat and a rug I hoped was faux fur.
"That's not real, is it?"
"Gods, no. Synthetic. My shifter ancestors would never forgive me." He sighed and sat down on his bed, motioning for me to sit next to him. We both had far too many clothes on, but I had enough patience to sit beside him instead of straddling him and taking what I wanted.
"We just met, so I bought alpha condoms. I can't stop my knot, so they might break. I also have knotty toys."
"I'm still on suppressors. This heat shouldn't have happened, but I'm not fertile—"
"You are." He sighed. "Believe me, if I had a dollar for every time someone in my family said they got someone pregnant while they were on suppressants, I'd have two dollars. My youngest brother and his mate aren't fated, and that's a huge issue with my mom."
"But we are."
Ollie looked at me with hope in his gaze, and I patted his knee. "I want you, not a toy. We can try the condoms, but it's not the worst thing in the world if they break."
"It's not?" He frowned at me. "Are you saying …"
"I like you a lot. Sharing a kid with you wouldn't be horrible.
" I'd always wanted kids, eventually. If this was fate's sign that the time was now, she had horrible timing.
I had a long way to go to support a child financially, but I wasn't about to let money or my heat stop me.
"I came here to spend the weekend with you and probably have sex.
I don't see why this has to change anything, unless you're not ready—"
"Oh, I'm ready." He leaned over and kissed me. The press of his lips was so gentle, but I could sense the predator lurking beneath the surface. "Don't you ever worry about that. You're my mate."
"Show me what that means." I hoped it meant I was about to have the best sex of my life.