Chapter 37

Chapter Thirty-Seven

ETHAN

I t’s too damn hot.

How can it already be so hot this early in the morning?

I blow out a breath as I rub my eyes, trying to find the motivation to get up for the day. One last check through the separated herd to make sure they’ve been covered, and then prepping for moving all the cattle around on Monday to their late summer grazing spots. Hopefully the drought that’s ripping up Arizona and Colorado doesn’t extend any farther north, because we haven’t gotten a chance to fix all the fencing that runs along the southern edge of the ranch, exactly where we’ll need to move some cattle if things dry out.

I groan and scrub my face. The blanket on me moves, pressing harder into my side. Lavender floats in the air, reminding me of riding through some of the meadows in the summer.

My heart beats faster. My scent floods the room. My dick throbs, arousal rushing through my veins in a way it hasn’t in years. Fuck, I love the smell of lavender.

Wait .

Memories of the night before overwhelm me. The feeling of Brielle underneath me. The sounds she made filling the room. Her scent drowning me and all the conflicted feelings weighing down my chest. The rush of slick from her cunt soaking the sheets as I forced my knot inside her and locked us together.

My scent intensifies even as I force a swallow to soothe the lump in my throat.

Brielle whines as she presses harder into me. I snap my eyes open, scowling at the obscene amount of light coming in through the windows. Whatever has her worried, I need to fix. Whatever has that whine building into a near sob? I’m going to fucking murder it. It had taken way too many orgasms to get her calm last night, and I hate that she’s already on edge again.

Not that I minded eating her out. The opposite, actually. But knowing that she was that worried when Caleb has only been gone for a day? It has unease weighing heavily on my sternum.

I run my hand down her back even as I ease onto my side, keeping her pressed into my chest with a solid palm against the back of her head. Her hair is a wild mess, brushing against my face as I turn toward her and run my lips across her temple.

I hum, low in my throat, pressing her harder into me, the bone deep need reducing me to instincts alone. The whine cuts off. I relax my hold on her. I can’t quite manage to pull my lips away from her skin, though. Instead, I trail them down her cheek and jaw and neck, setting a soft bite in the sensitive, unmarked spot just behind her right ear. She shivers in my hold. Her hand drops lower on my waist, a finger tracing the edge of my boxer briefs.

My scent redoubles from the small touch, cocooning around us until it blends effortlessly with hers. Christ, they smell good together. I suppose scent matches would, though. She shudders against me as I bite her again. She slips her hand under the waistband, circling my dick, and I groan into her skin. She presses a smile into my chest.

“You like teasing me, princess?” My voice is gravel.

She shivers, goosebumps rising along the skin I can see—which is most of it. Her hand doesn’t falter, though, and I push up into her hold. God damn , she feels amazing. And I’m not going to last more than a few minutes if she keeps going. My stamina is fucking shot.

“I should return the favor,” I murmur against her skin.

I pull on her hair, forcing her head back, and bite at the hollow of her throat. Her breath catches, her scent growing thicker, and I grin. I need her under me. I need to taste her, feel her, breathe her in until she’s all that exists around me. The purr starts before I can hold it back, not that I would in this moment. She goes boneless against me, her hand still at the base of my dick, her thumb brushing the sensitive spot where my knot starts.

“Fuck, princess,” I groan.

She giggles, pressing her face into my chest.

My phone pings with a notification.

Brielle immediately moves away from me, sitting up and pulling her hair back. Her hands fly through her hair, braiding it before I can even sit up. She frowns as she looks at the base of it, like she’s missing something. With a sigh, she lets go, and the bottom couple weaves come loose.

With a sigh, I sit up. My irritation at the loss of her touch fades as I take in her beautiful body.

Fuck, the aftermath of knotting looks good on her. Small bruises dot her chest, and I smirk, remembering each nip of my teeth and drag of my beard across her skin. My dick jumps, and I don’t try to ignore it or downplay the effect she has on me. Her gaze flicks down before focusing on my face again. One eyebrow slowly rises as her lips bunch into a pout. I groan and reach for her. She doesn’t resist as I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her toward me, sucking her bottom lip until she opens enough that I can kiss her the way I want. Lavender explodes around us between one breath and the next.

My damn phone goes off again.

She’s quick to disengage, retreating to the bathroom before I can stop her, closing the door softly without a glance back. I run a hand down my face, trying to remember how mornings after when you’re dating are supposed to work. We’d had to be discreet a decade ago, so we never actually left my house—or Melissa’s—at the same time, intentionally staggering it just in case farm hands from either ranch noticed and said anything. Not that it was all that hard to avoid people then. We’d been so consumed with each other we hardly bothered to come up for air. It had been the best sex of my life up to that point. And last night? Easily the best I’ve ever had.

My stomach tightens with grief and guilt, but I breathe through it. It was probably something to be expected, just like our scents mingling so well. Biologically perfect for each other means biologically perfect, after all.

I shove out of the bed, grabbing a new pair of jeans and boxers and stepping into them, ignoring the way my dick aches at the restriction. I dig out my phone from the back pocket of the pair I’d thrown off last night. Almost nine in the morning. Shit .

Multiple messages from Emily have me scowling. I send a quick text to prove I’m alive and haven’t left to get the milk, or whatever euphemism assholes use for walking out on their children.

Overslept. Sorry. Be on my way soon.

Sounds good. We’re hanging out with Joan. We’ll be back over in time for brunch.

And then she sends a photo of Camden, whipped cream covering his nose as he grins for the camera. I can’t help but smile.

And then curse under my breath.

My steps eat up the small space as I cross the room, intent on knocking on the bathroom door, politeness be damned. Brielle opens it a heartbeat before I can drop my knuckles against it. My hand hangs suspended in the air for a moment. She walks into me and then gasps, offering a quick apology. Her eyes are wide as they look up at me, and damn if I can’t quite manage to keep my hands off of her, combing my fingers through the brown strands of her hair already falling out of the haphazard braid. Her scent strengthens again, and I smirk.

Focus, Ethan.

“I didn’t use a condom,” I say.

No use beating around the bush. Omegas getting pregnant outside of their heats is rare but not impossible. Trust me to screw up the first hookup I’ve had since Kayla. Some of the light drops away from her gaze. She doesn’t push away from me, though, so I let my other arm wrap around her waist. I trace shapes on her skin and twist her hair around my hand, forcing her head back far enough that I can see the small bruises I’ve left on her throat.

Satisfaction rips through me at seeing the physical marks. Fuck me. No wonder Caleb can’t keep his damn mouth off of her.

Goddamnit, focus, Ethan. You can fuck her later.

“I can grab the Omega-specific Plan B if you want,” I say, forcing my attention to the issue at hand. “And I’ll take responsibility if something happens.”

She presses her hands against my hips, her finger tracing the lines of my stomach.

“I have an IUD,” she offers after a moment, her voice blending into the quiet of the room.

My stomach tightening over that realization is not out of disappointment. It can’t be. Getting her pregnant would be a nightmare in the extreme. We haven’t even discussed what the rest of this weekend looks like, much less the rest of the summer. Her being on birth control simplifies everything.

“I didn’t put you at risk,” I offer.

Difficult to do that when I haven’t fucked anyone in nearly four years.

She tilts her head into my touch, a thoughtful look crossing her face. She runs her hand down the hair under my navel as she nods.

“I got tested shortly after everything happened. It was negative.” She sighs. “I’ve only been with Caleb. I can get tested if it’s something you want to double check.”

I shake my head and run my thumb along her cheek. “I trust Caleb,” I say.

She relaxes. I kiss her.

And then the rest of what she said catches up to me.

“Wait,” I say, my lips brushing hers.

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