Chapter 35
April
“Shit,” I hear someone mutter at the front of the house.
Nose wrinkling in confusion, I peek out the window to see a woman with long black, curly hair that appears familiar. Is that Aiden’s mother?
The guys are doing errands today, while I’ve been enjoying a weekend off. I hired someone for the managerial position at the end of March, and she’s been doing really well. I can actually trust her and the shelter manager to run things while I catch a breath here and there.
Hell, one day I even worked from home, and that was the best day ever.
Unlocking the front door, I step outside into the warmer weather. Well, warmer than it has been, and the snow is gone. I’m wearing a long-sleeved sweater, skirt, and tights, and am comfortable enough to not have to reach for a coat to walk outside. It’s the best day ever.
“Hi,” I say, walking toward her in my boots. “Are you okay? Can I help?”
“I’m just here to plant the flower beds,” his mom murmurs as she looks down at the soil, and a variety of other things I don’t know what they are.
“I think I have a black thumb, so I won’t be much help,” I tease. “Mrs.—”
“Oh God, no,” she says, horrified. “Noreen will do just fine, thank you. I doubt you have a black thumb. Can you help me with the soil?”
“Sure,” I say, picking up a heavy bag to half drag it to where she’s pointing. “Does Aiden know you’re here? They went to do some errands.”
“It’s better for me to plant when he’s not here, dear,” Noreen says. “He knows I come over every spring to make sure the front of his home looks beautiful.”
“What are you planting?” I ask, dropping off a bag and heading back for the mulch.
“Orchids,” she grunts as she brings over a basket of supplies. “They’re Aiden’s favorite, you know.”
Remembering Caelin’s tattoo and the way Evan smells faintly of orchids, I nod.
“I do,” I murmur. “He has a habit of leaving flowers where I can find them occasionally.”
“Good, unless he’s in the dog house,” Noreen says. “You’re not chained up in the basement. Does that mean you’re no longer kidnapped?”
Snorting out a laugh, I raise my brow. “No, I suppose not. It was touch and go for a while, and they were practically my shadows. You know about that, I see.”
“Those boys can’t keep much from their mothers,” Noreen says smugly. “If you know how to read the pauses, it’s easy to tell.”
Smirking, I nod as she drops to her knees and I follow suit. What’s a little dirt when I can learn more about Aiden?
“I told him he needed to figure his shit out by April, because I wanted to see you when I came to plant these,” she says, grabbing scissors to cut open a bag.
Working together, we get the front area ready for planting, and I simply follow her instructions for the bulbs. There’s apparently a ratio of peat and mulch that’s important, feeling complicated enough that my eye is beginning to twitch.
“Have you seen their knife collection yet?” Noreen asks idly, making me hide a smile as I work beside her.
“I haven’t, but Aiden has given me a couple,” I admit. “It’s here, actually.”
Twitching my skirt to the side, I point out the knife with my gardening glove.
“You’re my kind of girl,” Noreen says with a grin. “I liked you when I saw you at the Whalen Society, I just wasn’t so sure about what was going on between you and my son.”
“It’s still… going,” I admit. “He’s a tough nut to crack and really stubborn.”
“Amen to that,” she mutters. There’s a cooler next to her that she opens, handing me a hard lemonade as she opens one for herself. Taking a long sip, she shrugs. “I haven’t seen my son take an interest in a woman, ever. He’s been wrapped up in stories about how I met his fathers for years.”
“How did you meet?” I ask, my heart beginning to pound with anticipation.
“I went to a party with my parents when I was twenty,” she says with a happy smile. “My dads are mafia men, and still with us today. I wasn’t allowed to attend them before, so this was a big deal for me. My mom was walking me around, introducing me to people, when I smelled the most delicious scent of dark chocolate and honey. My head swiveled around, trying to find it.”
Wow. No wonder Aiden was so disappointed when I didn’t know he was mine.
“My mom kept trying to catch my attention, but I pulled away and started walking across the room. One of the alphas turned around all of a sudden, and elbows his two friends. Turns out they’re a pack, with a beta and two alphas. We were inseparable after that,” she explains. “I know that not everyone’s experience is like that. But he heard the story enough times to expect that.”
“It went a little differently for us,” I sigh and she shrugs.
“There’s no right or wrong way,” Noreen says. “I have a feeling you’ll find your way.”
The sound of a truck driving up behind us makes me look over my shoulder, and I see that the guys are back. I’m glad I got to talk with his mom. I feel like it was important.
“Mom?” Aiden asks, opening his door and walking over to us. “Spring feels like it came fast.”
Giggling, I shake my head because apparently this really was something they had loosely discussed.
“And yet, you managed not to keep her tied up to your bed,” Noreen says, turning and winking at him. Aiden turns bright red, and I burst out laughing.
“Ugh, and you’re drinking. Mom, what have you been telling her?” Aiden groans.
“Why don’t you hang around and find out?” she asks.
The guys all decide to help, and as the talk shifts to what everyone was doing, I feel included. It doesn’t matter that I don’t know who half the people they’re talking about are. This is family.
Aiden
“Ready to go?” I ask her as Aisling walks downstairs with an overnight bag. I’m taking her to my family’s cabin to see where things go.
While I’d like that to lead to having her naked in the living room on the bearskin rug, it really depends on her.
“All good,” she says with a nod as she lets me take her bag.
“Be safe,” Caelin says as he gazes at her as if we’re going to be gone forever.
“It’s one night,” I remind him with a laugh.
While Aisling will fall asleep with the guys for a nap, she refuses to spend the night with any of them. She insists that it isn’t fair. However, she didn’t say a word when I told her there was only one bed in the cabin. The minx just shrugged and told me it’s one of her favorite book tropes.
Whatever that means.
“Still,” Domh says with a pout.
Aisling gives them all a hug, spending an extra moment with Evan. I love the way she gives them all their time. Walking out through the garage to the SUV, I think about how glad I am that the weather is warmer.
I’ll still make a fire tonight, since it’ll be under thirty degrees, but the hike I have planned will be a lot more comfortable now.
I also thankfully no longer have to listen to Caelin bitch that his “baby” is in time out because of the snow. He loves that damn muscle car.
“Now, I’m ready,” she says with a smirk, getting into the vehicle with me.
Pushing the garage door button so it’ll lift, so that we can leave, I turn toward her.
“We’re driving about two hours south and stopping at a trail near my family cabin. The highest point is absolutely gorgeous, but it’s a lot of walking,” I warn her.
Aisling is wearing comfortable clothes, boots, and a vest. She looks like she’s ready to go hiking. I have food and water in the back seat, and I’m planning on having a picnic when we get to the top.
If she’s hungry in the meantime, I have protein bars. She also just had breakfast.
God, why am I so nervous?
“I’m ready,” she reassures me with a grin.
Nodding, I back out of the garage, waving at our stalker boyfriends who are standing outside watching.
“They’re going to miss us,” she says with a chuckle.
“We haven’t really spent a lot of time apart,” I admit as I drive.
Aisling turns on the radio after a half hour of chatting, singing as she holds my hand. I love watching her do anything, and I listen as I drive. Soon, I’m pulling into a parking lot at the national park.
Getting out of the SUV, I pack up the backpack I have, and reach for her hand as I lock up. Holding it easily, we walk through the trails, crossing a creek or two as we climb up the steeper areas.
There’s so much wildlife, Aisling is constantly gazing around for different birds in the sky. There’s not many people here, even though it’s a Saturday. There are other places people tend to prefer, but I love how tranquil it is here.
Finally, we come out of the woods to a clearing where there’s a steep drop and a gorgeous view.
“Oh my God,” she whispers, looking out.
“I love to sit and look at the world from here,” I tell her. “The guys will camp with me, or we’ll use the cabin, but it’s nice to get away from everything for a while.”
“It really is,” she murmurs.
Pulling off my pack, I pull out the blanket I packed and lay it on the ground. Sitting down, I tug her into my lap, so we can snuggle as we take it all in.
“I haven’t heard a peep from Aurelia since Friday morning when I decided to work from home. She’s been handling it all,” she says with a happy sigh.
“I had a feeling she’d be great at it,” I mumble without thinking.
My internal filter is broken. Aisling is curled up in my lap, smelling like warm sugar cookies, and it’s fucking with my brain. The weight of her ass against my cock, the feeling of her breasts brushing against my chest, the way she looks with strands of her blonde hair escaping from her hair tie. All of it is kryptonite to my poor brain.
“Oh you did, did you?” she croons.
Danger, you fool. Focus.
“Uhh, what?” I ask, my lips curving into a sheepish smile.Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.
“You’re busted, Aiden,” she says with a giggle. “Spill the tea, baby.”
Loving the way she says my name, I snuggle her closer to kiss my way up her neck.
“So, my cousin, Aurelia, moved back into town recently,” I rumble. “Mom mentioned she wanted to work in a field adjacent to project management, where she’d feel as if she was making a difference. As soon as you said the ad was up for it, I sent her a text. Otherwise, Aurelia sold herself.”
“You did all the behind the scenes work, though,” she says, whimpering as I open my mouth to suck on her neck.
“I put her on the path,” I murmur. “Mom is the real MVP, keeping me informed about the family’s life changes. Aurelia is amazing.”
“I feel less stressed out now,” Aisling says. “I’m still busy, but I have a chance to take a step back and know everyone is still taken care of.”
“You deserve that, Princess,” I murmur. Knowing I need to do something before I flip her onto her back on the blanket, I ask, “Are you hungry?”
“Starving,” she purrs, making me groan as she perfumes. Fuck me.
“You’re as bad as I am,” I tease her as I sit her next to me. “Food first, then my cock is yours if you want it.”
Wrinkling her nose as she pouts, I smirk as I pull out food and more water for her to drink. I made sure she took breaks as we walked. I don’t want her dehydrated when I have plans for us later.
Aisling sighs happily as she eats, helping me know I made the right decision to bring food.
I’m going to grill steak and vegetables tonight for dinner. Anything to keep her full and happy. Aisling ignores her body far too often for the benefit of others.
Soon, we’re packing up and making the hike back slowly. We make a game out of seeing how many animals we can find, chuckling as we keep score. We’re both ridiculously competitive.
“This was amazing,” she says as we drive up to the cabin. One of my cousins who lives in the area stocked the place, so I’m driving straight there.
“I remembered how much you enjoyed the lake, so I figured a day outside might be fun,” I explain, turning down the road for the cabin.
“It was,” she says. Aisling looks relaxed as she lays her head back on the headrest, smiling lazily.
I hope she doesn’t fall asleep from all this fresh air. Parking in the little driveway, I look at the little cabin with Aisling. It’s where my dads took my mom on their honeymoon. Eventually, they built a larger cabin for family trips, but this is the one I love since it’s surrounded by the woods, and the back porch backs up to a cliff.
“Let’s go inside,” I suggest, my voice cracking from stress. I hope she likes the cabin.
Bringing everything up the porch steps, I unlock the front door and push it open. Walking in together, I watch her jaw drop. It’s an open floor plan, with the living room and dining area flowing together, along with the kitchen. We can see the back porch with the small hot tub, and the bedroom in the back corner.
“It’s gorgeous,” she whispers. “Is that a cliff?”
“Mmhmm,” I say, watching as she almost runs over to stare out the sliding glass door.
“This is incredible,” she breathes.
As I put everything down and close the door, she runs back over to me and jumps into my arms. Cupping my face, she kisses me reverently, and I hold her tightly to me. I took her out to dinner recently, and we discussed kinks, likes, dislikes, as well as things that may be on the table to explore.
Tonight, I just want to worship her. The sun is going down, painting the sky with beautiful shades of reds and oranges. Unfortunately, all of my attention is on the little blonde omega in my arms.
“You taste so good,” I groan, kissing her again. “I can wait longer if you need me to.”
“Nope,” she says, popping the p with a giggle. “Bed, couch, wall, I don’t care. I need you and your pretty cock right now, please.”
“Oh, and asking so nicely, too,” I croon with a smile.
My legs are already dissolving the distance from the front door to the bedroom, and I pull her boots off before untying mine and kicking them off. My movements are jerky, but she doesn’t care as she wiggles her hips down, so she can help me pull off my sweater, sighing happily as she rubs my smooth muscles with her hands.
“Turnabout is fair play,” I whisper, pulling off her vest and sweater. She’s wearing tight leggings, a delight I’ve been able to stare at whenever she walked in front of me. Fuck, her ass and it’s jiggle can keep me aroused for hours alone.
Unsnapping her bra, she pulls it off and drops it on the ground.
“Your move, Aiden,” she murmurs, and my feet are already moving to the bed, crawling up onto it with her in my arms.
“These pants need to come off,” I growl. “Want to know why, Princess?”
“Why?” she gasps as she drops her legs that were wrapped around me.
“So I can eat your pretty, pink pussy while you scream my name,” I tell her. “I want the mountains to echo with my name, baby girl.”
“I’m sure you’ll be quite persuasive,” she teases, gasping as I pull off her pants, throwing them over my shoulder.
The room is littered with clothes, and I don’t care. I need Aisling.
Dropping between her thighs, I lick up her arousal, enjoying the way she whimpers and slicks. I wanted time with her outside of her heat, so we could completely enjoy each other, and I’m getting it.
Sucking on her clit, I love the way she whines as I push my thick fingers inside of her warm, wet channel.
Growling against her clit to increase the vibration, I hold her tightly to my face so she can’t get away from me. Aisling has a safe word if she needs it, and it’s ‘peanuts’. Instead, her fingers claw the sheets as she whimpers, prays, and screams for more.
That’s my fucking girl.
“Come for me, Princess,” I insist. “Cover my face and tongue with your cream.”
“Aiden,” she keens, her fingers tangling in my hair. “Fuck, I’m so close. More.”
“You got it,” I rasp, a promise in a way. She’ll always get what she needs from now on from us. Twisting my fingers inside her pussy, I rock them upward as I graze my teeth along her clit, driving her over the edge.
“Yes, yes, ah!” Aisling groans, shuddering as she squirts all over my face. I’m dripping from her slick, incredibly proud of myself as I lick my lips.
“So perfect,” I murmur, pulling my fingers out of her cunt, enjoying the way she tries to keep them inside of her involuntarily. The pop as they slip out is especially satisfying.
“What was that noise?” she asks, eyes wide with horror and embarrassment.
“The ultimate compliment,” I tell her, moving up her body to coat her lips with her cream. “Clean your mess up like a good girl?”
Immediately, her lips open, head lifting to suck my fingers down. I groan as I feel her tongue working hard to get every drop.
“Attagirl,” I gasp. “I need you, come ride my cock, baby.”
Turning onto my back, I pull her on top of me, removing my fingers from her mouth as I do. Pulling off my cargo pants is fast work, kicking them off to live at the end of the bed. I’m commando today, so Aisling enjoys immediate access to me.
She’s so wet as she grinds on my dick, breath hitching as the crown of my cock rubs against her clit.
“Grab my cock,” I murmur, watching as she rises onto her knees and does it. “Line it up with your sweet pussy, baby. So good, now sit on it.”
Her eyes roll back as she slides down my cock, my hands on her hips to hold her as she rides me.
“You feel incredible,” I grunt, gritting my teeth. Her scent is everywhere, drowning me in it since she’s on my face as well. Her pussy is clamping down on me as she whimpers as she works me deeper inside of herself.
“Yes, Aiden,” she gasps. “Ugh. Baby. You feel so big like this.”
We’ve never had sex outside of a heat or hate sex, and it’s different when you’re mindless for knots and cum than when you’re just really horny.
“I know, but you’re taking me so well,” I praise her, gazing down at where we’re connected.
“Look, Princess. You’re swollen and stretching around me. Tell me, does it feel as good for you?”
“Yes,” she moans. “It’s so intense. I feel so full already. Oh!”
Her slick slides out of her cunt, helping along her movements, and I thrust up to meet her.
“More,” she whines. “God, that feels good.”
Planting my feet on the mattress, I thrust up as she rides me, holding her as her breasts bounce each time. Sitting up, I suck on her sweet nipples, groaning as she writhes. The only sounds in the room are the sounds of sex, slick, and moans as we make love.
Soon, my knot is pushing against her entrance, making a decision for me as to twist so I’m on top of her.
“I love you,” I tell her. “I knew from the moment I saw you, which sounds crazy, but I fell more in love as I watched you. The problem with that is that you weren’t where I was at, so I wanted to wait to be sure.”
“Aiden, you’ve been so patient,” she rasps. Tears are gleaming in her eyes, and I rub my face against hers to soothe her. “I love you. I’ve been too scared to tell you, but I know you’re mine. It makes me want to kill anyone who even looks at you.”
“I’ve noticed,” I whisper, kissing her because I can.
“I want you to bite me,” she says. As I open my mouth, she shakes her head. “No. I want it and need it, Aiden. You are enough. Dark, broody, and sweet. You’re all of those things. You’ve learned from your mistakes. Stop punishing yourself and me.”
Dipping my head, I devour her lips as I fuck her, my hips twisting as they piston and the base of my cock grinds against her clit. Her sweet noises are everything as she comes, and I begin pushing my knot inside of her.
“You’re so beautiful,” I whisper in her ear as she cries out my name. “Princess, you can take all of me. Look how well you’re already taking me.”
Tears slide down her cheeks, and I lick up her skin to gather them. I’m not perfect, I’m not a good man, but I’ll be the best I can be for her.
“Argh,” she screams.
Kissing her as I get my fingers between us so I can rub her clit, I praise her between kisses.
“Almost, baby,” I rasp, my eyes rolling. “Fuck, you’re strangling me with your cunt. Here we are.”
My knot slips inside of her with an audible pop, and I kiss down her neck, groaning as I begin to rut. Fuck, I want to do this before the haze comes over me. I have control up to a point, and I’m beginning to lose it.
“Where do you want my bite?” I ask her, shuddering.
“Neck!” she cries out. Aisling can feel me unraveling, the sense of urgency driving her as well as she clamps down on me.
Filled with pride that she wants such a visible spot, I bite down on her neck, slightly below her ear. Aisling whines as she wraps her legs around my waist, coming hard as I taste the tang of her blood.
I feel something building inside of me, and I kiss her lips before raising my head for her. Leaning up, she bites to the right of my Adam’s apple, making me groan at the mix of pain and pleasure.
Holding her tightly, I pump her full of cum, my eyes rolling as I lose myself to the haze.
I hope she wasn’t planning on getting any sleep tonight, because I plan on making up for lost time.