Chapter 9
NINE
OLLIE
"Do you like living up here, on the mountain?” I ask Ethan while I chew on the amazing French toast he made and the freshly-cut fruit he prepared.
That he’s feeding to me while I sit on his thigh.
It’s a good thing my mouth is full or I would probably be grinning like a lunatic.
“Very much,” he answers between his own bites.
“I love it up here. There’s nothing like the peace and quiet I’ve felt ever since I bought this cabin.
” He flashes me a smile when he sees me listening to his every word.
“I used to come up for short periods of time, depending on my job demands, but I made the decision to live here full time a couple of years ago.”
“It’s beautiful here,” I tell him sincerely, and I know he believes me because his eyes soften.
“Thank you, Ollie.”
“I like it when you call me Ollie,” I blurt out.
Ethan’s eyes briefly widen before they sparkle with a happy glint.
“You do?”
I nod, and his arm tightens around my waist.
“What else do you like me calling you?” he asks, and my breath hitches when his fingers slip under the flannel shirt I’m wearing and start running on my bare hip.
“Sweetheart and little fawn,” I choke out, and his smile becomes deadly.
“And what else?” he mutters as he leans in and nuzzles against my throat.
My eyes close with a sigh as I breathe out, “Baby.”
Ethan hums against my skin, the sound speaking of deep contentment.
His brown eyes are crinkled at the corners when they meet mine.
“Then I better not stop.”
“No,” I tell him, letting my grin free. “Don’t stop.”
“Okay, I won’t,” he chuckles before he downs a full glass of juice.
“What do you do when you’re not working?” I ask him while I sip some of my hot tea, wanting to know so much more about him.
“Nothing exciting.” He chuckles, his eyes bright, his expression relaxed. “I mostly make sure the property is in good shape, or work out a bit so that I’m also in good shape.”
My gaze drops to his body.
“I think you’re in very good shape.”
“You do, don’t you?” His smile is wicked as he squeezes my hip.
I swat his chest playfully. “Are you fishing for compliments? Because I’m sure you know you look good.”
“I wanted to know what you thought.” Goodness, the look he gives me could have melted me on the spot if I wasn’t seated.
“Oh,” I exhale very helpfully. “Well, now you know.”
“I sure do.”
I clear my throat, hoping my face isn’t on fire. “So, what would you be doing now if I wasn’t here?”
“Probably shoveling snow or cutting more wood for the fire since I’m off work for the next few days.”
I only hum in answer, my mind making up some very interesting images of Ethan, axe in hand, splitting logs with a strong swing.
“Where did you go?” a gruff voice shakes me out of my fantasies.
“Nowhere!” I blurt out fast. Too fast.
Ethan’s dark brown eyes bore into mine, his hand sliding further up until he’s caressing my belly, the skin quivering under his touch. “Is that so?”
I nod quickly, too embarrassed to tell him where my mind went off to.
His expression tells me that he knows there’s something I’m not telling him but he lets it go, choosing to feed me more breakfast instead.
Glancing at the small window that shows the white landscape outside, I mutter, “It’s weird. It must be freezing outside but I don’t feel any cold. The heat must be completely messing with my body temperature.”
Ethan nods. “It’s true. We alphas run hot all the time, but omegas only get these spikes in temperature depending on their cycle.”
Something twinges in my chest.
“You know a lot about omegas and heats,” I mumble, averting my gaze.
A beat of silence.
“I’ve had partners in the past that needed help to get through their heats.”
The earlier twinge grows into a vicious sting.
I nod as if it’s no big deal, stuffing my mouth with more French toast so I don’t have to answer.
God, I’m being ridiculous.
Of course he’s been with other omegas in heat before, he looks to be in his 30s, for crying out loud. And we’ve known each other for all of two days. There is absolutely no good reason why the thought would make me sad.
I just… I just don’t want to hear about it, that’s all.
Because in just two days, he’s made me feel special for the first time in my life, and I want to pretend that this is special, too.
At least, until I have to leave.
I swallow my mouthful of food which is a damn challenge when you have a lump the size of a golf ball lodged in your throat.
A warm hand cups my cheek and Ethan slowly turns my face to look at him, worry etched in his expression.
“What’s wrong, Ollie?”
That gentle, feather-light touch…
I shake my head quickly, pasting a smile on my face that hopefully doesn’t look as fake as it feels.
“I was just thinking that you are very kind for an alpha,” I tell him instead, thinking that it will make his frown disappear. But his gaze only sharpens and for a moment, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so serious.
He almost looks… dangerous.
“Have you met any alphas who weren’t kind to you?” he asks in a calm tone that borders on cold.
The question sends a pang of sharp fear through me, twisting my stomach.
Memories threaten to break through but I stomp them down viciously.
I will not let them taint my time here with Ethan.
I won’t.
“It doesn’t matter now.” And it really doesn’t, because all that matters to me now is allowing myself to feel like someone cares about me. Even for a little while.
And because I don’t want to think about anything else anymore, I wrap my arms around Ethan’s neck.
“I think I’m a little tired.”
Ethan’s expression softens immediately and in one swift move, he’s standing up with me in his arms.
“Nap, it is,” he whispers against my temple, brushing there the gentlest of kisses.
And I feel that kiss in my very soul.
***
ETHAN
Ollie sleeps deeply next to me, his rhythmic breathing the only sound in the bedroom.
He has been dozing on and off all day, only waking up to eat and drink lots of water, before giving me a sleepy smile and falling right back to sleep.
He needs rest, especially for the next few days as we move to the peak of the heat cycle, the most intense part.
My fingers run through his curls, slowly, and softly, so I don’t disturb his sleep, and I smile when he sighs contentedly.
Memories from this morning rush to the forefront of my mind in the quiet of the night.
He looked breathtaking in my shirt, so innocent and sinful at the same time.
When he told me he wanted to smell like me, it brought me to my knees.
And I loved it. On my knees for him, devouring him, drowning in his taste and scent like an obsessed beast that needed its fill.
My body has been racked with conflicting sensations all day long. I’m in a state of constant arousal around him, my body ready for anything he needs.
But it’s not just that.
There’s a ball of aching tenderness threatening to burst every time he talks in his soft voice, every time he grins at me and his barely there freckles on his nose scrunch up.
Every time he looks at me with eyes full of vulnerability, like he doesn’t believe anyone would want to care for him.
And that comment about alphas…
Something has happened to him.
Something has hurt him, and the thought fills me with fierce protectiveness for this young omega who landed on my doorstep.
A faint whimper breaks from Oliver’s lips and my hand stills in his hair.
His face contorts as if he’s in pain, and his body that was resting peacefully up until that moment, now twists and turns, his hands clawing at the thin sheet that’s covering him.
His beautiful, green eyes crack open with difficulty, sparkling with unshed tears.
“Ethan…” he chokes out, voice low and breathy, and I’m ripping the sheet off him in the next second.
“I’m here, sweetheart,” I rumble, his scent thick enough to have me drunk on him in moments.
I’m spreading his legs and settling between them before he can even gasp out a breath, and I sink inside him with one powerful thrust.
He lets out a guttural sound of pure need, and my eyes almost roll to the back of my head at the unspeakable heat and slickness of his channel.
Using my forearms to keep some of my weight off him, my hips start fucking into him with a desperation that sets me on fire.
I cannot fuck hard enough. I cannot get deep enough.
I’m only instinct as I bury myself in his body again and again, feeding on the sloppy, slapping sounds our bodies make, on the hungry moans ripping out of my needy omega.
He screams when he comes the first time, his slippery hole rippling around me, his entire body trembling, and I fucking growl in satisfaction, watching my baby writhe in pleasure that I gave him.
He looks fucking stunning—cock pulsing, cum staining his belly, head thrown back, neck arched, eyes open and unseeing.
Mindless, abandoned to what I’m doing to him.
I keep fucking him through his orgasm, switching to grinding rolls of my hips that will have his gland throbbing.
“Ethan,” he whispers hoarsely, his voice all fucked-out, his eyes half-lidded and hazy meeting mine. “This is so good. You are so good. What – what are you doing to me?”
I’m sure the smile that stretches my lips is nothing short of feral.
“I’m taking care of my sweet omega’s needs, making sure he’s satisfied. Are. You. Satisfied. Little. Omega?” I growl, thrusting on every word.
“Yes. Yes,” he pants. “Please, come inside me. I want to be full of you.”
It’s as if my body has been waiting for that sweet request, because I come harder than I’ve ever come in my life, Ollie pulsing around me for the second time with a whimpering moan, my knot expanding and sealing us together.
The tension slowly drains from both of us as the frenzy quiets down and we’re just beating hearts and shallow breaths.
I turn us on our sides, hiking Ollie’s leg on my hip to make him more comfortable, and all I do is watch him and wait for that happy, sated grin he gave me yesterday.
That relieved smile that lights him up in his sweaty curls and rosy cheeks.
His eyes slide open, meeting mine in the small space that separates us, and—
There it is, pulling at his lips.
My eyes are irresistibly drawn to them, to those full lips, and a different need rises in me.
But before I can voice my thoughts, his fingers dig into my shoulders and he pulls himself so close I can feel his breath on my lips.
“Kiss me, Ethan,” he says in a raspy whisper, and I groan helplessly as I fall into him.
I bite and suck on his lips like they’re the only sustenance I need, and when he parts them for me with the sweetest sigh, I dive in with slow, deep strokes, taking his mouth like I’ve taken his body, small, broken sounds slipping out of him.
We forget about the need for air, the need for rest. We just kiss, softly and gently, wildly and desperately, until Ollie starts squirming on my knot, his dick filling up once more.
So with one hand on his ass, I help him rub himself all over me, his leaking dick drooling all over my stomach, his needy hole clenching around my cock.
No stopping in sight, not even when first light spills from the window.