“Point me toward the kettle, and I will become one with the making of the tea. You like it sweet?”
Ryder’s warm gaze petted him, top to bottom, making him shiver. “I so do. I like it, sweet.”
“Okay, then,” he said the word faintly, not sure at all what to do besides maybe run around in circles slapping his head.
So instead of doing that, he was going to make food and tea. But the head-slapping was what he really wanted to do because he was just freaking out.
“Come on, let me show you where everything is.” Ryder took him to the kitchen. Opening cupboards, he found the toaster inside one of the pantry-like cabinets on a pull-out thingy, which was fantastic. The kettle, though, was on the counter. It was an electric, and he got it going, and then Ryder showed him where mugs, eggs, and bread lived as well.
Ryder pulled the jam out of the fridge and winked at him. “I’m gonna go put some clothes on, and then I’ll be back, okay?”
“Oh, you don’t have to.” He slapped his hand over his mouth after he blurted that out because he couldn’t believe he had just said that.
“You sure? I kinda got the impression I was making you a little uncomfortable.”
“I’m not uncomfortable, just stupid and tripping over my own tongue. You’re very pretty. I probably shouldn’t say that because you might think things I don’t mean the way they come out. I’m not in a place right now to get busy or anything. But you are unbelievably pretty. You kind of make this tongue stick to the roof of my mouth.”
“Okay.” Ryder moved close, putting those big paws on his shoulders and staring into his eyes. “You’re not stupid, all right? I would never ask you to do anything you’re not ready to do, even though I want to do it with you. I admit it. I find you incredibly attractive, and you smell perfect, which is a big deal for bears, as you know.” Ryder waggled his eyebrows.
Nolan had to grin at that, because he did know. He had the same sense of smell, which was like a billion times better than a bloodhound’s. “Yeah, and you smell like all the good things —wood smoke and honey, with spice and mating musk.”
Ryder’s grin stretched even wider, his eyes lighting up. “Thank you, sweetheart,” he said. “That’s a lovely thing to say.”
Nolan’s skin flushed, prickling with heat. “I don’t want to be a tease, though. I’m not trying to be.”
“Honey, you’re not a tease. And I would never try to take advantage. When you’re ready, though? We can revisit this, up to and including the sniffing.” Ryder kissed the top of his head, then went back to helping assemble breakfast.
Nolan took a deep breath, then let it out. The kettle beeped, so he made tea, smiling when his hip bumped Ryder’s.
Honestly, he felt safer in this place right now than he had in a long, long, time.
Chapter
Five
God love him, Nolan was gonna drive him nuts.
The sweet omega was just so… worried. Sad. In need of bear cuddles. But Rye had promised hands off. So once breakfast was over and Nolan had gone to the couch to sit, he smiled and waved.
“Gonna go work out. The gym is at the back of the house to the left of the mudroom if you need me.”
He needed brother phone time and some cross training. He’d only just picked up his phone when he saw through the windows that Connal and Warrick were jogging toward the cabin, one from one direction and one from the other, heading straight for him.
It was great that they wanted to be there for him, and nobody expected them not to know that he needed them.
Warrick was the tallest of the brothers—solid as a rock, not as broad as Rye was—but massive. On the other hand, Connal was absolutely the smallest, and that didn’t mean anything. He could be the tiniest bear alive, and he would still be fiercer than the day was long.
Ryder would put his money on Connal over anyone else, including himself.
He opened the door, and they both slipped inside the cabin.
“So, I heard you have company,” Warrick said with a smirk.
“Who tattled on me?”
“Actually, it was Quin. He said Race contacted him and said his brother was here, and was he worried about leaving the omega at his house, so you agreed to bring him here.” Connal grinned at him. “So spill.”
Warrick nodded. “We’re curious.”
