Chapter 37
A Chinook wind rolled in all through the next day, the snow disappearing almost as quickly as it had arrived. I loved the rush of warmth that came with these weather events, and it flipped a switch in our omega, her energy skyrocketing. She was outside with Pumpkin, chucking a stick for our dog to get her zoomies out, while I kept an eye on the two of them. The others were taking advantage of the warmer weather to start bringing down a few of the trees looking a little precarious after the snowstorm.
We’d gotten too comfortable with isolation out here, and getting cut off during the storm when Morgan needed us pushed us to ensure that wouldn’t happen again. Obviously we couldn’t control the weather, but we could take additional steps to minimize the risks of living out here.
“Ready to give your arms a rest, firecracker?” I slid up behind Morgan as Pumpkin raced after her stick for the hundredth time. “She’ll go as long as you keep throwing, so don’t count on her to tire out.”
She smiled up at me, slipping straight into my embrace. “Gotta get stronger arms to satisfy her fetch needs.”
“It’s a team effort.” When Pumpkin returned, tail wagging, I tossed the stick for her. “Are you ready to work on your nest, or would you rather rest?”
“Still trying to wrap my head around having a proper nest. I avoided having much of one because it helped the suppressants work better long-term, and it’s kind of wigging me out to have one on purpose.” She chewed her lip, dropping her gaze back to Pumpkin as our dog returned to beg for another throw. “I worry about what my body will do since the doctor I saw told me I had to stay off suppressants for at least a year.”
I didn’t love that she had been deliberately denying herself comfort all these years to control her instincts and suppress her heat. I understood not wanting to be that vulnerable when she didn’t have anyone she felt safe with, but I hoped that wasn’t still the case.
“You deserve comfort like every omega.”
“I don’t feel like I do. In an ideal world I wouldn’t even be one.”
Way to break my heart. “You really hate being an omega?”
She fidgeted, throwing the stick again for Pumpkin. “I don’t hate it. I’m coming to terms with it not being the worst, but it’s an adjustment. Creating a nest for myself feels like a step of acceptance I’m not quite at.”
“Okay, then, no nest. Treat it as a regular bedroom. You should have a space that’s yours while you’re staying here.”
Pumpkin almost bowled her over this time, sprinting between Morgan’s legs with the stick in her mouth. I caught Morgan before she face-planted and hurled Pumpkin’s stick away. “I think it’s time for a break from fetch.”
Morgan groaned. “My shins would agree with you.”
I coaxed her back inside, and Pumpkin too so she didn’t accidentally visit the others while chunks of tree were sailing down to the ground. She followed us with excited paw taps as Morgan went up to the loft to survey the space.
Most of what was in there we already had on hand: thrifted dressers we had refinished, shelves we had built before deciding something else suited better, and an ornate rug that had originally lived downstairs before we realized it was a tripping hazard. The mattresses were stacked to keep them out of the way while she unpacked, and the blankets Maverick had purchased were piled neatly on top.
“Thoughts?”
“It’s so big. I slept in a closet when I grew up so this is basically a mansion.”
“ Excuse me ?” A fucking closet ? I’d had one of those just for my shoes back in DC and couldn’t imagine having to live in one. I gave myself a moment to breathe, stuffing down the urge to throttle her entire family, minus her and Cooper.
“Our house didn’t have enough bedrooms, so it was either the storage closet or sharing with at least three of my brothers. I’d rather have slept in the barn with the goats than share a room with them.”
“I’m sorry you grew up that way. Everyone deserves a comfortable space to call their own where they feel safe.”
She crossed the room and sat down on the edge of the mattress. “I feel safe here even if that fact is still a little weird to me.”
“Sounds like a foreign concept in your life.”
“That’s an understatement.” Morgan flopped backward, gently kicking her dangling feet. “I will move in, but it might take me a bit.”
“One box at a time,” I assured her. “There’s not a huge rush as long as you have enough up here to be comfortable before we have guests. We ordered everything to put in your bathroom so it should be good to go by the end of the week at the latest with all four of us working on it.”
“I don’t want to make more work for you guys.”
“Nothing is ever going to be wrong with more bathrooms in a place that hosts guests.”
She propped herself on her elbows to look at me. “I guess that’s fair.”
“Why don’t I bring some of your clothes up? We can get them put away.”
“Sure. Can I borrow some cloths to wipe out the drawers?”
“Already done. We made sure everything was spotless before it came in here.”
Her bottom lip wobbled, eyes filling with tears.
“Hey, it’s okay.” I moved instantly to sit next to her, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m not used to people being that thoughtful.”
“Practice.” I kissed the top of her head and held her against me until she relaxed. “You deserve an easy life, firecracker. We’ll give it to you if you let us.”
Morgan let out a tiny distress sound and locked her arms around me, burying her face against my chest. “Stop being so nice. I’m fucking tired of crying.”
The stairs creaked and Bear peeked through the door. “Everything okay?” he signed, glancing between me and Morgan.
She slipped away from me and planted her forehead against the hollow of Bear’s throat, her arms wrapping around him, and his around her in turn. “The post-heat hormone dip is fucking me up, Bear. I don’t like it.”
I could hear his purr from here, his first instinct to soothe her, always.
“I’ll go get your clothes. Stay here with Bear.”
Garbage bags of clothing sat in the garage and I prodded them to make sure there wasn’t anything secretly breakable, hurling all four of them ahead of me into a pile so I could get them all moving at once, transferring them like that and getting them to sail up the stairs where Bear could pull them off the landing.
We laid out a blanket and tore open the first bag, dumping the contents out. Morgan slid down to the floor, sorting and folding.
“How can we help?” I asked.
“Pull out some drawers and bring them here so I don’t have to get up?”
“You’ve got it.”
Having the meticulous task seemed to settle her quickly. She didn’t want help with anything except putting the drawers back, but I didn’t mind being there primarily for company.
* * *
The next morning Mav and I went into town at an ungodly early hour to pick up everything we would need to finish Morgan’s en suite. She was still asleep when we arrived back, but quickly perked up when she realized what we’d brought home.
While we carted everything upstairs, she took on the task of covering everything already in there with some old sheets to protect it from construction dust. Eager to make progress, we immediately got to work after getting ourselves and the supplies organized.
Bear and Kit had pretty decent construction skills, and I had learned fucking fast when Mav and I moved out here; we both did. It was half a point of pride, and half that I refused to sit by and let Kit and Bear do all the work. Morgan passed tools, made sure none of us shriveled into a raisin from dehydration, and took care of Pumpkin while we worked.
Progress was fast with four sets of hands working on the same project. By the end of the day we had the walls framed, the tiles put in, and the sink, shower, and toilet installed. Every inch of me ached, but it was worth it. Tomorrow we would grout the tile, put in the vapor barrier and drywall, and get to work on the ventilation.
“What now?” Morgan asked as we set our tools aside for the day.
“Are you up for a trip to the hot springs?” I asked.
Nerves were visible in her eyes for all of two seconds before she nodded. “I would love a soak.”
“The trail should be pretty clear with the Chinook melting everything. Hopefully it’s not too slippery.”
Morgan and Kit put together a bunch of sandwiches for us and filled some thermoses with hot chocolate. The rest of us loaded up a couple of sleds with supplies: towels, a water refill for the sauna, firewood for the woodstove, and a lantern for each of us.
“We should put in a boardwalk,” said Maverick as we tackled the trail that was muddy from the surprise warm weather, turning slippery as the temperature slid back below freezing.
“A project for spring,” I replied.
It didn’t take us long to arrive. Maverick and I tackled everything for the sauna as the others set up the lanterns around the hot spring. Once the woodstove was crackling away, we topped up the water tank and stripped down, leaving our clothes inside so they would stay warm.
My mouth went dry as Morgan dropped her clothing, the varied lantern light showing off every curve and making her hair look like dancing fire. I followed my instinct, bending down to capture her mouth and filling my hands with her plump ass cheeks.
She laughed when I pulled away. “Hello there.”
“Sorry. You look so good I can’t help myself.”
Morgan glanced down at her body like she didn’t quite understand what I found desirable about it. She opened her mouth, but snapped it shut when she made eye contact with me, sweet maple rising around her. “You have to stop looking at me like that or I’m never going to make it into the hot spring.”
“All yours.” I glanced past her to where Maverick had laid out one of the jackets on the spring.
Morgan swiveled her head, her thighs squeezing together when she realized what Maverick was offering. Her gaze slid back to me, lips parted as she pulled in shallow breaths.
“You want to give me a little dessert before dinner, firecracker?”
A needy squeak escaped her before she squeezed her lips shut, a nod of her head immediately following. I scooped her up, carefully maneuvering the stairs and set her ass on the jacket. She sprawled back, the lanterns catching her peaked nipples as she arched.
With a groan, I bent down and swept my tongue between her thighs. Her fingers pressed against my head and I almost regretted keeping my hair shaved down so she had nothing to grab onto.
We didn’t have much room for all four of us to work, but Maverick and Kit took up their spots at my side, bending to tease those raspberry tips while Morgan writhed between us.
I was never going to get tired of those frantic, desperate sounds. She might not be used to being an omega, but her body knew what it needed, and luckily for all of us she didn’t seem interested in denying herself.
Her thighs shook around me, legs trembling all the way down to where her heels pressed against my back. Panting and squirming was my favorite version of her, when she was at the border of surrender but still trying to swim against the tide of sensation.
I sucked hard on her clit and dug my fingers into the softness of her thighs, focusing as she climbed up and up before the tether on her control snapped. My omega came with a delicious cry, spilling over my chin, thighs clamped over my ears. I feasted slowly with soft licks while she came down from the high, and I drew her into the water, the others holding the jacket steady so she could slide straight onto my lap.
“You guys make it so hard to think.” She melted into my arms, limp as a cooked noodle and purring up a storm.
“Pretty sure that means you feel safe enough to turn your brain off,” Maverick said as he settled next to us.
Morgan hummed quietly. “Accurate.”
I purred for her so she could stay in this state, relaxed and cozy as fuck. The others fed both of us so I could keep holding her. Between her purring and the maple fog around us, I was hard as a rock and half-asleep at the same time. My muscles wouldn’t let me fuck her the way I wanted to, and we still had plenty of work to be done tomorrow. I could wait.
I’d much rather break in her new nest and show her what life out here could really be like.