Page 32 of A Nest of Maple & Mist

More than once, I wondered if he had planned it. If he built up this great love story between us just to laugh when he destroyed it.

Sticks snapped under his weight as Ty hopped off the four-wheeler, holding his hand out. I took it, my fingers sliding along the calluses on his palm. The knot in my stomach untangled slightly with his touch. He brought my hand to his mouth, his lips brushing over my knuckles.

“Come on, sweetheart. We have a lot of syrup to count. I’d rather not let my brooding alpha get in the way of me spending time with the loveliest omega to grace this earth.”

The chill in my limbs melted away as I leaned into his side, following him into the sugarhouse. A thick aroma of sap and smoke greeted us, and I allowed it to carry away my troubled thoughts.

All I needed right now was my beta and his steady presence.

TWELVE

TY

Ambient light glittered over Mia’s curls, surrounding them in a golden glow that made her look like a goddess. Those pretty doe eyes widened as she took in the maze of copper pipes.

Errant strands of hair framed her pink cheeks. Her fingers trailed over an oak shelf overflowing with glass bottles. Being around Mia made my breath come a little slower and my heart beat a little stronger.

It was like the first time I saw Jason and Shane.

I just knew.

I might not have had a sensitivity to scent, or a deep-seated instinct to mate like alphas and omegas did, but I knew that I belonged to this wonderful, stunning omega. The tip of her tongue swept over her chapped lips, and the corner of my mouth quirked.

“It’s huge,” she whispered, her voice echoing in the rafters. “I grew up here, but I’ve never seen the inside of a sugarhouse before.”

Wood creaked as I leaned into one of the support beams, watching her move about the space. She tilted her head like a curious puppy. My heart hummed with a possessive energy I didn’t recognize.

She turned to face me, golden flecks sparkling in her dark eyes, and I rocked forward, desperate to close the distance between us. My boots echoed on the wooden floors until we were close enough for me to taste her intoxicating maple nectar.

It was potent, addictive, and ours.

My fingers twitched, wanting to cradle her face and brush my lips along hers. But I resisted it, exhaling a slow breath.

“Most people only see the finished product. They don’t know about the weeks of running lines, the late nights watching the boil, or how the steam gets so thick in here you can’t see your own hand. I spent days on end in here with Jason and Shane in March.”

My dick strained against my jeans. I swallowed a groan as Mia’s curious gaze peeled me apart.

Last winter, they had fucked me within an inch of my sanity, the steam coating our bodies. Jason and Shane took pleasure in pushing me to the brink just to pull me back again.

I almost passed out that night. Blissed out with Jason’s cock in my ass while I swallowed around Shane.

A shy smile played on Mia’s lips, her own pink cheeks turning a dark shade of crimson. She shifted slightly, squeezing her thighs together as her mouth parted with quickened breaths.

I needed to change the subject, and fast. I could not survive if she looked at me that way—like a lioness about to claim her mate.

Fuck. I wanted it. I wanted to be claimed by this ferocious, gorgeous predator. She was the last piece of our pride.

But not here. Not now.

We wanted to court her properly.

That included gifts and dates and spoiling.

Not chaotic kisses in the sugarhouse.

A single bead of sweat slid down the column of her delicate throat. I gave in to temptation, gently wiping it away with the pad of my thumb. A restrained omega whine rattled in her chest, her lips parting.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.