Wyatt presses me against the tiles, drops to his knees and cleans every inch of my body. Front and back. I like wearing his bites. Means I’m carrying a physical reminder, at least for the next few days, of how good it felt when he claimed me in a way I’d only ever dreamed about. Wyatt likes the bites too. When he sweeps his eyes over me, they burn with possessiveness.
After we dry ourselves off, we get into his bed.
The window is open, letting in a cool gust of wind to blow across our overheated skin. It’s perfect. Not too hot and not so cool that I want to pull the sheets over myself. As I lie in Wyatt’s arms, drawing small circles on his chest with my finger, I struggle to process the sharp turn my life has taken.
“What are you thinking?” he asks long minutes later.
“I’m happy,” I tell him simply. “When I left Oregon, I thought I would spend the rest of my life running and hiding from Derek. But I’m here with you, and I’m happy.”
He gives my temple a soft kiss. “Good. Your forehead is still a little red. Does it hurt?”
I scrunch my nose, lifting my fingers to probe a tiny dent. “Why would it hurt?”
He grins. “From running into my door and nearly giving me a heart attack.”
“Oh, no, it doesn’t hurt. You distracted me with things that involved other parts of my body. My priorities shifted pretty quickly after that.”
He laughs. “How about we head into town in a bit?” he suggests, running the tips of his fingers up and down my back.
No longer content, I stop drawing circles on his chest and eye him warily. “Is it safe?”
“It’ll be a flying visit to one store. Mostly tourists shop there, but there’s some nice stuff in there I think you’ll like.”
“Clothes?” Feeling guilty, I add, “A lot of the locals already donated a bunch of stuff, and you’ve given me so much—too much already. I don’t need you to buy me anything.”
The lacy underwear the boutique owner donated had made Elias’s eyes glaze over when he saw me in them. Days later, I still have the occasional flash of memory of him kissing me through them and the hungry groan he’d let out that I’d felt vibrating against my pussy. I have never worn such nice underwear before, but if it’s going to keep having that effect on him, I’ll wear nothing else.
“Iwantto buy you things, darlin’.” Tilting my chin up, he claims my lips in a bruising kiss. “Not clothes this time. Soft blankets and cushions and whatever else you like the feel of, since we don’t have a lot of soft and cozy here. We’ll make thedrive into town, put whatever you want on my credit card, and then you’re not pulling the comforter from your bed whenever you want to nest.”
This man is intent on spoiling me, and I want to let him.
My eyes widen. “Wait a sec, how’d you know I was pulling the comforter from my bed?”
I only started doing it today, and I returned all my sheets and comforter to the bed once I realized I was building a nest. It has never made sense to me, but the bed is for sleeping or napping. I can’t nest in a bed. Most omegas can’t. It just doesn’t feel the same.
His lips tilt in a teasing smile. “Your heat is coming, sweetheart. Means you’re gonna gravitate toward soft and cozy like crazy. I can’t think what you have in your room that you could build a nest with that isn’t the sheets on your bed.”
“You’re smarter than you look,” I tease, and immediately pay for it with five minutes of unrelenting rib tickles that has me howling with laughter.
Once my laughter has died down, I wipe the tears from my cheeks as Wyatt smiles down at me, head on his chin.
I’ve come so far since I moved into the farmhouse. Back in the diner, all it would take was Nico giving me a friendly pat on the arm to make me want to bolt. Ineverwould have teased a man like this before. But I hadn’t even hesitated. Whatever I say to any of the men in this house won’t lead to pain.
“What?” he asks, his smile growing wider the longer I smile up at him.
“Feeling pretty lucky.”
“For?”
“You. That I get you.”
Grinning, he bends his head to touch his lips to mine. “Compliments will get you everywhere. Now, what do you say to upgrading your nest?”
I let out a sigh, wanting to say yes, but conscious he’s not made of money. “You don’t have to do that. My comforter is fine.”
I made do with less in my motel room in Nevada.
He runs his fingers through my hair and kisses the tip of my nose. “You deserve better than a pile of sheets on the floor, sweetheart. I wouldn’t want to spend my money any other way than on you. After we’ve finished the condo, we can make a trip to Cedar Rapids. You’ll have more choice, and we can pick up stuff for the house as well.”
