CHAPTER NINE – Ezekiel
Everything in me roared to go after Nicolette. I wanted to hold her, kiss her, make all her troubles go away. Just to see that radiant smile. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.
What made her even more so was her fierce strength and independence. So while I desperately wanted to soothe her, she asked for time alone, and I would give it to her. Instead, I set about cleaning the kitchen and storing the leftovers.
Kodiak stalked up and down the hall, growling and cursing, struggling with his own need to go to her and to bash the living hell out of Silas. The fact that he was compatible with Nicolette, too, triggered my possessive side but somehow I was also happy for him. He’d wanted an Omega in his life, and after seeing her online, he wanted it to be her. But where did that leave her and I?
And Silas. Fucking hell. What bug crawled up his ass? I never expected him to be pleased we had an Omega in the house after what happened two years ago with Sarah, but he could at least keep his mouth shut.
Nicolette begged us not to fight. So I wouldn’t, no matter how much I wanted to toss Silas off the side of the mountain.
I wanted her to be happy and feel welcome, and it was so hard to do when Silas was being an ass. The anger in me roiled in my guts. It wasn’t something I was used to, this seething mixed with the extreme need to claim Nicolette. I barely kept myself in check on both levels. I’d always seen Kodiak and Silas acting much more like Alphas than I ever did, but with a compatible Omega in the house, I felt the possessive predator in me wanting to break loose.
Storming past the kitchen, Kodiak went to the unfinished side of the cabin. Things banged and saws whirred. At least he was using his anger to do something productive.
Once I had the kitchen clean, I grabbed my coat and put on my boots and took the dogs for a walk. All that tension made them antsy, and they had energy they needed to burn off. I had energy I needed to burn off.
I took them for a run, but I didn’t go far. I didn’t have my bear spray and we had to get up early to head out to the Tongass. Even if it was snowy, we still had a job to do, and the snow we got wasn’t a big one. Those would come in January and February. Sometimes we didn’t get to work at all those months.
Which would mean more time with Nicolette. Snuggled in at home in front of the fire, playing in the snow, kissing under the blankets. I could not get her out of my mind.
When I returned to the house, Kodiak had retreated to my room and claimed the bed. I wasn’t going to fight him on it. I dried off the dogs and made sure they had water for the night. Kavik padded down the hall and sat in front of Nicolette’s door. I shook my head and gave a little whistle for her to come and lay with me in the living room. She refused to move and scratched on the wood attracting Atka’s attention. He trotted down the hall and dipped his head down, sniffing under the door, and whining.
I wanted to see Nicolette too, but I would respect her privacy. Her first day with us was a big one, and the tension was nowhere near being cleared up. I whistled for the dogs again, but they didn’t move.
Sighing, I went down the hall ready to haul them back to the living room, but once I got to Nicolette’s door, I heard her. Soft whimpers and pained moans.
My heart pounded and my vision narrowed. Screw her privacy. I opened the door and went to Nicolette’s bed faster than the dogs. The beast in me ready to tear out like a werewolf. I was ready to fend off any assailant, but there was only the Omega. She was curled up under the comforter, writhing and lightly shaking. Her cheeks were flushed and perspiration shone lightly on her silky skin.
“Nicolette.” She hadn’t reacted to us entering the room, and her eyes remained closed even when she partially turned toward me as I whispered her name. I wet my lips, heart still thumping. Was she asleep? Did nightmares plague her? There wasn’t a monster to battle, so why was I still feeling I needed to protect her?
As she whimpered again, my heart tightened and everything in me demanded I make her pain go away. I placed my palm to the side of her face, and she leaned into it. Her shivering eased as she nuzzled my hand.
Atka and Kavik jumped onto the end of the bed and curled up with their gazes on Nicolette.
This was no enemy for me to tear apart with my hands and teeth. I looked around again, tense with the need to fight and protect her. Yet what had her whimpering was not something I could physically fight.
The dogs had it right. My presence, me just being here, that’s what she needed. She needed the comfort of her pack, of her Alpha.
Rounding the bed, I tossed my shirt off but kept my pants on. I climbed in behind Nicolette and slipped under the blankets to press my body to hers from behind. As soon as my arm went around her and my chest laid flat against her back, she uttered a mewling sigh and her quivering ceased.
Heat radiated off her, and as she snuggled back against me, her perfect ass wiggled. I bit my lip as my cock quickly hardened. That tight rear would slap so beautifully as I fucked her from behind. My free hand fisted one of the pillows as I fought with my self-control. Thank God I kept my pants on. I never had such a struggle to keep control around a female before.
Nicolette’s breathing evened out and her tense muscles loosened. Whether it be nightmares or her heat, I’d helped ease her pain. And while I still wanted to bury my hard dick in her, knowing I comforted her even as she slept soothed my Alpha urges. The racing of my heart slowed and the urgent instinct to do something eased so I could relax.
My eyes drifted closed, even as I was still memorizing every inch of her against me. The warmth of her lulled me towards sleep. Atka stretched out at my feet. He was always a bed hog.
I nuzzled the back of Nicolette’s neck, breathing in her luscious scent. This was where I was meant to be. I’d just met her today, but I’d never felt so certain about anything in my life.