Chapter Sixteen
Cashel
Isabella. Was there ever a more beautiful name? As she dried the dishes and asked me where they went, a sense of peace settled on us. “In the top cabinet, okay?” She rose on tiptoe but couldn’t quite reach where we kept the mugs. “Ummm. Is there a stepladder in the house somewhere?”
“No, just the big ones we use for work.” I came up behind her and took the mug from her hand, set it on the shelf with the others.
“I guess you don’t need one.” She picked up a plate. “I think this came from a lower shelf, right?”
“It did.” I opened the door and showed her where to place it. “We’ll get a stepladder and put it in the broom closet,” I promised then stopped. “No, I have a better idea. How about if we rearrange things so you can reach them without having to climb for them?”
“Oh no, that’s too much trouble. How would any of you ever find anything again? And it won’t be convenient.”
Standing so close to her, it wasn’t the easiest thing to keep my thoughts clear.
The scent that had been faint in the mansion perfumed our whole house in the most pleasant way.
I couldn’t think what it had smelled like in here before, probably sweat and leather and other masculine things.
But now? I inhaled the most magical air.
Just having her present lifted the atmosphere, made me happier.
My friends and I generally got along well, but laughter had never rung out as it did now.
None of us were happy that she was still married, in human terms, to the cruel bastard I’d kill for ten cents.
Hell, for free. But we recognized that the satisfaction of blood retribution for how he’d treated our mate would be strong; it would also be brief.
If we were imprisoned, how could we take care of her?
So, we had to accept what we couldn’t change and embrace the benefits of what we had.
“Cashel?” She had her head cocked, watching me. “Is anything wrong?”
“No. Not a thing in the world, now.” I reached up to the mug shelf. “Let’s do it now.”
“But won’t the other guys want input? You must have had reasons for how it was arranged.”
“None. We all arrived here with stuff we’d had in our old houses or apartments and shoved it in the cabinets.
Nothing matches, and it probably makes no sense.
In fact, if you like, we’ll throw everything away and start fresh.
Maybe a nice set of matching dishes and glassware. Females like that, right?”
“I guess. Maybe. But not me. Everything at my old house was perfectly matched, and it didn’t bring me any joy.
” She looked so serious, I wanted to kiss away the tension around her lips.
But for now, I’d focus on giving her the gift of being able to get a mug for the tea she loved so much.
“So, no on replacing all your lovely things, unless you want to? Or York or Lyon?”
“I feel comfortable stating that none of us picked out our kitchen gear with any great thought. Mine are hand-me-downs and random gifts and discount store plates I bought when I realized I needed to have plates. So, whatever makes you happy will make us happy, too.”
“I washed all the dishes in that mansion but I not only didn’t pick them, I had zero say over how anything was organized.
My—the one I’d prefer to forget set it all up and told me how to keep it.
The saddest part was, at the time, I thought we were doing it together.
It was right after we got married and we had so many gifts.
He’d picked it all out, our registry? Kept showing me things and saying, ‘isn’t this nice’?
If I saw something I liked he’d say, ‘oh great, but what about this one’?
And dumb little me would agree even if I disagreed.
After all, as an omega, what kind of taste could I have? ”
Rage bubbled up again at the thought of everything our omega had been through. We were well aware of the way omegas were thought of in society. Less than. Not as smart as. Deserving of only what was bestowed upon them.
“When Lyon and York and I dreamed of the day we’d meet our omega, we never thought of you that way. We knew you’d be smart. And have excellent taste. After all, you’d be picking us too.”
Her expression still held clouds, as it always did when her ex came up.
I hoped one day he wouldn’t at all, but for now, she had so much bottled up, years of pain, and if she didn’t release them, how could she heal?
How would we even know how to help? But she giggled, just a little, and my heart soared.
“I always dreamed of my three bears even when I really didn’t understand what it might mean.”
“We are so lucky to have you, Isabella.” I reached up and started taking down mugs. “I want to hear all your ideas so we can help them become reality.”
When I turned back to face her, her eyes were swimming with tears. “Oh no. What? I didn’t mean to make you sad. I’ll fix it.”
She flung herself into my arms, tears soaking my shirt.
As if that was a problem. “You didn’t make me sad, except maybe for old me who had no idea there was happiness in the world for omegas.
I’d done everything, followed all the rules I could figure out, never made waves, and everything hurt all the time. It didn’t work.”
“I know, omega.” Stroking her hair, I held her close to me, my heart pounding at the nearness. “But that’s all over. There are no rules here except being honest and kind with one another and you can make waves all day if it suits you. Tsunamis.”
She leaned back, sniffling. “I could kiss you. I want to kiss you so badly.”
“Well, it’s a lot to ask, but all right.” Trying not to be demanding—Goddess knew she’d had enough of that in her life—I turned my face so she could kiss my cheek, but the press of her lips didn’t come. “Omega?”
“Cash, would you mind, that is, would you be the first one?”
“When you’re ready, if you want, there’s no rush.”
“There is for me. Tonight. Please?”
“You wouldn’t rather organize the kitchen?”
“Cash, what do you think?”
“I think it’s going to cost you that kiss.” This time, I didn’t turn away.
Her kiss was soft, shy, tentative, but she didn’t hesitate when I took her hand and led her toward the bedrooms. “Which bedroom, omega?” She’d been given no choices in the past, and I wanted her to have them all in our new life together.
“Is mine all right?”
“Of course.” We entered the room and I watched her carefully for any sign she might have changed her mind, but no. “I’m honored to be here with you, Isabella.”
“I-I feel the same.” She reached for the hem of her sweater, but I stopped her.
“Allow me?”
“All right,” she whispered, dropping her hands to her sides.
I cursed myself for stopping her, but I had asked, and I had a feeling she was used to having to do certain things on demand. “Still okay?”
She nodded, but something about her expression didn’t seem sure. “Do you want me to turn off the lights?” she asked.
“If it would make you more comfortable.” The only light was the lamp by her bed, a soft glow. I wanted to see every inch of her. But that time would come.
“Yes, please.”
I reached over and clicked it off, but we weren’t in utter darkness.
Her window faced front, and a little streetlight filtered in.
Still, Isabella relaxed, and I undressed her, each piece of clothing falling away to reveal the body I’d dreamed of.
Slender, a little too thin. But decent meals would fix that, make her healthy as she should be.
Her breasts, tipped by dark nipples, called me to taste and before continuing to undress her, I indulged.
Her soft gasp encouraged me on. While lapping circles around one nipple then the other, I used my free hand to ease her leggings over her hips and down her legs.
Tiny lace panties tore when I grasped the elastic, and I murmured apologies around the mouthful of sweetness I refused to relinquish.
I would replace her underthings and anything else she needed. We would.
The warm scent from her core finally drew me from my current treasures to kneel between her legs and take a lick of what lay there.
Slick, perfume, the incredible fragrance that was only our omega intensified.
Toying with her folds, I nibbled and lapped away, her whimpers growing, fingers fluttering at her sides.
I lifted my head and met her gaze. “Come whenever you’re ready, omega. I’ll find my pleasure inside you.”
When I closed my lips around her clit, sucked hard, she let out a shriek and grabbed at my hair. “Oh, Cash!”
Copious slick filled my mouth, the taste tantalizing and addicting. I kept licking and sucking, holding her lips apart with two fingers for better access until she sagged, shuddering.
Then I rose and fitted my cock to her center, driving in, her slick making it easy even with my bear-sized dick.
At first, she was quiet, but when I began to move, she thrashed under me, crying out my name.
I’d wanted her since the moment we met, before that even in my dreams, but nothing before this moment prepared me for what I experienced buried balls deep in our omega’s body.
She was made for us.
When she tightened around me and yanked at my hair, orgasming for a second time, I’d have had to be a better bear than I was, to keep from joining her.
My knot swelled, binding us together, and she tipped her head to the side.
Piercing her throat, I marked her then lapped the wound closed and enfolded her in my arms. I’d never have said I had a less-than happy life, but at that moment, I recognized that I’d never before known true joy.
Tomorrow, the three of us would put ourselves at Isabella’s service and reorganize the kitchen to her liking. I never wanted her to have to climb anything to get a mug or a tea bag.