I liked that they didn’t try to be perfect in front of me, that they still jabbed at each other, teased, and had fun. Sharing a meal like this at the start of the day was so much more than just eating food together It shouldn’t be that deep, but also, it was.
I ended up insisting on dish duty, not because they wanted me to or because I thought I owed it to them but because I wanted to get a feel for the utensils they used. To assess the weight of the pots and the pans, to see what was worth keeping near the front of the cabinets and what had to be pushed to the back.
There weren’t a lot of things I was snobby about, but my kitchen tools were among them. They didn’t need to be the fancy top-of-the-line items, either. My favorite whisk was one Millie and I had found while we were cruising the yard sales in college. I was all about being utilitarian.
“So, do you think we’re going to get the kitchen all done today?” It seemed daunting, but there were four of us.
“Maybe.” Cash took the last frying pan from the rack and dried it. “And I was thinking maybe we could talk about what you’d like for your nest while we’re doing it, ’cause right now—”
He didn’t finish. I knew they all felt a sense of disappointment in themselves over it not being ready. They didn’t believe me when I insisted I didn’t need a nest. They had already done so much for me. If I never had one, I’d still be happier than I’d ever been.
“You broke her, Cashel,” Lyon said, wrapping his arms around me, my eyes filled with tears of joy. “You broke our omega.”
I leaned into him, noting it was the first time he’d ever been affectionate in this way. “He didn’t break me. You all made me happy. No one ever cared what I wanted before.”
Not my family. Not my friends. Not my husband. No one, except Millie, and I’d been so used to not being asked, I didn’t take advantage of it at the time.
I wasn’t going to make that mistake again, not with my mates. We were going to take care of each other. That was what mates did.
Chapter Eighteen
York
I sat outside with Isabella on a beautiful sunny morning while the others were out working on a small job. We’d agreed not to leave her alone, if possible, for obvious reasons. The man she’d been abused by had agreed to free her in all ways but divorce, so in theory, there should have been no worries. But I didn’t believe for a minute that he was an honorable man, and anyone who behaved the way he had toward our omega could not be trusted.
Sketchbook on my lap, I drew the things she described, her wishes for her nest. Although a nest was a right for all omegas, she’d never been given the ability to have one for herself. She’d grown up to expect one, even been promised one, but it never came to be. And without one, no omega was ever going to be happy, safe, and, according to her, pregnant. She’d been taught that growing up.
“He wouldn’t give me one because he didn’t want kids,” she asserted. “I wanted babies so badly. As many as I could give birth to, but maybe it was for the best. He’d never have let me go, or he’d have held the children hostage.”
I paused, my pen tapping on the pad. I wasn’t sure whether it worked like that, whether a nest was necessary for fertility, but I was grateful she had not had a family with him. For many reasons. “I think you’re right.” And if the reason she hadn’t had children was that she just wasn’t able, we could adopt or foster or anything else our omega preferred. But something in my heart, or maybe it was my grumbling bear, hoped children were in our future. Isabella would be the best mother with her kind heart and amazing belief in the goodness of people despite her past. “All right, so what else do you envision? I think you knowwe have to be a little cautious with money, so it might take time to buy everything. We can do all the work though. We are handy bears.”
“I have money,” she said. “But I need an ID to be able to get to it.”
This was news. She’d certainly not had access to anything of her own before now, and I was relieved to think she had something if she needed it. “We don’t want your money, but we will help you to get it back.”
We would do whatever it took to ensure our mate’s security, and I particularly loved the idea of her having money of her own. We’d saved for the time we had an omega, never realizing we’d essentially have to buy her freedom. But it was worth it. Cash was adamant that we not go back to our previous jobs now, that we could make it work, and I believed him.
“I appreciate that.” She stretched out on the lounger, tipping her face up to the sun. “But for right now, I just want to enjoy the afternoon. With you.”
“That’s such a nice thing to say.” I set my pad on the table between us. “Want more iced tea?”
“No, not just now.” She closed her eyes, relaxed. So different from the female we’d seen at that mansion. “York, would you…that is, could you and I…”
I hoped I knew what she wanted to say, but she’d fallen silent. Waiting a few minutes, I finally asked, “Isabella, would you like to come and sit with me?”
“Yes, please.” She stood up and I took her hand and brought her down next to me. I took up most of the chair, but she was still so slim, she didn’t take much more of it.
I wrapped an arm over her shoulders, though, to make sure she didn’t fall off, and we lay there together for a few minutes before she asked in a very quiet voice, “Would you kiss me?”
I didn’t waste time on words, just pressed my lips to hers. Soft kisses deepened, and her body pressed to mine made me desperate for more. We’d all agreed not to rush our omega, to let her set the pace, but that didn’t make it easy.
My bear rumbled, pleased with the closeness, and as our kissing grew more frantic, Isabella started to slip off the edge of the chair. Before she could hit the ground, I lifted her on top of me. She blushed, wincing. “I’ve always been clumsy.”
“Whoever told you that was an ass. You’re graceful, and the only reason you nearly landed on the concrete was because I take up too much space.”
We went back and forth, arguing cheerfully, until playful kisses turned into serious kisses, and touching. Before things went too far, I pulled back enough to say, “I don’t want to read anything into this if you don’t mean it to be more than a few kisses. It’s fine either way, but, omega, you’re going to have to say it.”
“I want you to be next. Would you mind if I did want it to be more?”
