Page 3 of Claimed By His Omega Dragon’s Fire (Nesting Ever After: Season Two)

3

Aiden

I stare up at the ceiling of my room, willing myself to fall back to sleep. I’m on vacation, damnit! I don’t need to be up with the sun! I’m allowed to sleep in!

I turn onto my side and look at my phone, sighing as I realize it’s 5am, the time I usually get up in the morning. My brain is wide awake.

Looking down the length of my body, I realize my brain isn’t the only thing wide awake.

A groan escapes me as I cover my face with my hands. I rub my eyes so hard I start to see dots of white behind my lids. I can’t stop thinking about Brock.

The moment I got back from my run, I could smell something in the air. It was the most delicious scent I’ve ever smelled, like fresh berries ready to be picked straight from the vine. It changed my entire brain chemistry. Part of me assumed it was all in my head so I went into my cabin, got showered and changed, and then headed back outside.

To my delighted surprise, the scent was still in the air so I followed it. I chased it right to the front of the food truck parked outside the main lodge. I assumed it was whatever the truck was selling but instead, an angel of a man popped his head out and I knew without a shadow of a doubt the smell was coming from him.

Brock is the most beautiful man I’ve ever laid eyes on. Bright gray eyes, orange hair, freckles all over his nose and cheeks, and a grin that left my knees weak. All I wanted to do was stay planted in that spot and listen to him talk. He could narrate paint drying and I’d still listen with rapt attention because the sound of his voice was like the most beautiful music to my ears.

I groan again, this time in frustration. I’m not some school boy finding out I have a crush. I’m a pack alpha! I can’t just go falling head over heels for some random guy I’ve only just met!

At the same time, I think of all the other times I’ve had to make snap judgments about people and how, so far, I’ve never judged someone wrong. Can I trust that same feeling now with Brock? Or am I being led astray because he’s beautiful and smells delicious?

I’m so tempted to wrap my hand around myself and take the edge off before starting my day. What’s the harm in jerking off while thinking about the redhead I’ve just met? Instead, I force myself out of bed and head to the bathroom for a cool shower.

I’m not the type of man to let myself indulge much, too worried about everything and everyone around me. I work hard to keep everything afloat. If I drop a ball, it means I’m letting people in my pack down and I refuse to do that in exchange for some cheap, temporary pleasure.

After a cold shower, I get dressed and ready for the day. The lodge offers free breakfast every morning so that’s my plan right until I get outside and that delicious scent hits me once more. It’s like the smell has a direct link to my chest, leashing me to the owner, unable to stop myself from being tugged in his direction. I double check that I have my wallet this time.

The truck is already open and there’s someone standing at the window, talking to Brock. Brock lets out a laugh at whatever the gentleman in front of him said and something nasty raises its head inside of me.

There’s a growl that wants to burst from my chest. The back of my brain hisses at me that Brock is mine . Claim. Mate. Mine.

Jesus fucking Christ, where the hell did that come from? Brock is his own person. Sure, he’s beautiful and smells wonderful and his smile makes me want to fall to my knees and beg for his attention, but that doesn’t mean I have some claim over him. He can laugh with anyone he wants!

Maybe I should just head to the lodge and have breakfast. Yet even as I think that, my feet lead me to The Feisty Latte.

Brock hands over the guy’s drink before his gray eyes slide over to me. His face brightens and a smile stretches across his face.

My stomach erupts with a thousand butterflies all fluttering around inside of me. He’s ridiculously beautiful when he smiles like that. My instincts are going into overdrive whenever I’m around him and it’s hard to parse through the fog.

“Good morning, handsome,” he says, leaning over the ledge to look down at me. My face flushes from him calling me handsome and I do my best not to get too tongue-tied. “What did you think of that drink last night?”

“It was amazing,” I tell him honestly. The caramel and the chocolate and the little chocolate chips inside were delicious. It felt like having dessert but in drink form. “I don’t normally let myself have things that sweet but it was the perfect treat while on vacation.”

“You need to learn to live a little,” Brock says with a cheeky grin. “Life is too short to deny yourself simple pleasures.”

There’s something about his words that strike a chord inside me. It’s not good to overindulge but it’s probably not the best to swing the other way and never allow myself to have a break or treat. There needs to be balance in life, right?

I really shouldn’t be having these types of eureka moments in front of a stranger though.

“Can I have another one, please?”

“Of course. You wanna try it with espresso this time?”

“Sure, why not. I’m on vacation after all.”

“Yes,” Brock says with a little cheer, stretching the word out as he claps his hands. “We love to see it. Let’s get you all hyper so you can properly enjoy your vacation,” he says with a warm chuckle.

Brock turns around, getting to work on my drink. I watch him as best as I can from this angle, needing to get on my tiptoes to actually see him from over the counter. He hums to himself as he works and for some reason, that makes me smile.

What is it about this guy that has my brain turning into a pile of goo? What is it about his scent that’s driving me wild? It’s like I can’t think properly past the overwhelming mantra of Brock, mine, mate, mark, Brock . My animal side and human side are clashing and I’m doing my best to hold on to my decorum and not completely embarrass myself in front of him.

“There we are,” Brock says, turning around and sliding the drink over to me. “I hope you enjoy, Aiden.”

“Thank you.” I pull out my wallet and pass him a twenty. “You can just keep the change. Now we’re even after I fumbled yesterday.”

Brock’s smile widens. “You didn’t fumble anything. I was telling you the truth, I was willing to do just about anything to make sure I saw you again today.”

I sputter and my cheeks heat. The fact that he’s so brazen and bold delights me. I’m not good at stuff like this. The flirting and double meanings and the ‘will they, won’t they’. The fact that he’s so straightforward with his advances takes some of the pressure off of me. There’s no questioning that he’s into me, or at the very least thinks I’m attractive. I’m more than happy to follow Brock’s lead.

Turning around, I make sure there’s no one else in line. “Would you like to come have breakfast with me?”

Brock frowns. “I’m not actually staying here. Or rather, I’m not paying for a cabin so I’m not sure the free breakfast extends to me.”

“I’ll go bring us something simple out. We can eat out here.”

A moment passes. And then another. I think maybe I’ve overstepped before finally, Brock nods his head. “Yeah, okay. Bring me a muffin and an apple if they have ‘em. Something chocolatey, please.”

“You got it,” I tell him, setting my drink on the counter by him. “Hold on to that for me?”

“I promise I won’t drink it while you’re gone.”

My face cracks into a grin before I turn away and head into the lodge. I scan the table of breakfast items, my eyes landing on the tower of muffins. I’m a man on a mission as I search through them all until I find a chocolate chip one. I feel like a lioness hunting for their mate which is absolutely ridiculous because one, I’m a wolf, and two, Brock is not my mate.

A tiny voice in the back of my head whispers a snarky little not yet that I pointedly ignore.

As pack alpha, I’ve always been in touch with my instincts. In some ways, I know my instincts are even stronger than the others in my pack, but they’ve never quite been this loud before. I don’t know what’s so different about Brock but my inner alpha is begging me to find out. I want to get to know him. I want to know everything there is to learn. I also want to run my nose over every inch of his body and catalogue the magnitude of his scent.

I grab two apples, two muffins, and two protein bars for good measure before heading back outside. The air helps clear my head the tiniest bit right up until I get the scent of Brock in my nose once more. Then everything gets tossed right out the window and my instincts are rattling around inside my brain like a caged animal all over again. My mouth waters at the fresh berry scent.

When I step back over to The Feisty Latte, there’s a sign in the open window, letting people know that Brock is taking a little break.

“Over here,” Brock calls out and I follow the sound of his voice to the backside of his truck. Brock has the truck doors wide open and is sitting on the back steps. He pats the step next to him.

“Here,” I say, handing over one of the apples and a chocolate chip muffin. “They didn’t have double chocolate but they did have chocolate chip. I hope that’s okay.”

“You are a god among men,” he says as I sit down beside him. I’m aware of his presence next to me and every place where our bodies are touching; our thighs, our hips, our knees. My stomach is a mess of butterflies and my head grows overwhelmingly light, like it’s ready to unattach and drift up into the clouds. Jesus, what has gotten into me?

“I wouldn’t go that far. It’s just a muffin.”

“But you got it for me. That’s what matters.”

I feel my face flush despite the way I’m doing my best to keep my head level. Being this close to him, I can smell him even more. The scent straight from the source has me breathless.

Now that I’m sharing such a tight space with him, I can smell that he’s some sort of shifter, something big, some sort of predator. I can also smell the way his scent is soft around the edges; an omega.

Brock smells like fresh, juicy raspberries picked right from the vine. Pink and lush and tasty. Smelling him this close has my mouth watering, wanting to bite into a ripe berry, wanting to dig my teeth into his skin and see if the rest of him smells as good.

My own orangey scent is mixing with his this close and it’s downright divine. We smell like we belong together. Like a bright summer day in the garden, picking fruit straight from the tree. I can’t stop thinking about other ways we can mix our scents, having his slick against my chest or my cum spread across his skin.

Okay, time to tone down that thought before my scent gets all lusty and aggressive. I don’t want to scare him away or make him uncomfortable.

“Are you from around here?”

Brock startles at my question. His hands pause from where they’re tearing open the plastic of the muffin, his gray eyes turning towards me.

“No. I’m just passing through, technically. I hit up different fairs and events in my truck, never stopping in one place for very long.”

“Oh,” I say, not really knowing how to respond. How do you explain to someone you’ve only just met that the idea of them living on the road all alone makes your heart break? How could I possibly explain the way my chest aches for him to settle down in the same town that I live in? “That sounds lonely.”

“Eh, it can be at times. I like meeting new people. I like traveling all over. I like meeting handsome men and talking them into trying new coffee creations,” he adds with a grin, popping a piece of muffin into his mouth.

“It sounds like your truck certainly has some perks.”

“How about you?”

“I live a couple towns over,” I tell him, taking a sip of my drink. It’s just as sweet as yesterday. I love it so much and the idea of not having this in the future because Brock has moved on leaves bile collecting at the back of my throat, souring the taste on my tongue.

I really need to stop thinking like this.

“Oh yeah?”

I lower my voice, making sure there’s no one else around. “Can I speak frankly? I can tell you're a shifter, right?”

Brock gives me a soft smile, nodding his head. “Yeah. Dragon. You?”

“Wolf,” I tell him. “I’m the pack alpha where I live. They all pitched together to get me this little vacation. Apparently they were worried I was overworking and not properly taking care of myself.”

Brock hums. “Doesn’t sound like you. It’s not like I had to practically beg you to indulge in a sweet drink,” he says with a warm chuckle that has my entire chest swooping with fondness.

I roll my eyes. “I know how to indulge. I just don’t think I should .”

“And why not? You’re allowed to do things for yourself. You’re allowed to let yourself rest. All work and no play sounds like the perfect recipe to burn yourself out.”

“Not you too,” I say with a playful groan.

“I’m just speaking as a totally innocent third party bystander who has no horses in this race,” he says, holding up his hands in surrender. “Let yourself have fun while you’re here. It sounds like you deserve it.”

“You can’t possibly know that. You don’t even know me.”

“Maybe not, but maybe I’d like to,” he says softly. My stomach swoops almost violently. “If that’s not too forward. I’m intrigued by you. I’d love to hear your story, get to know you, see if there’s a spark between us? Because I gotta admit, I spent the entire night with you on my mind, Aiden.”

“Really?” I sputter out, my cheeks flaming. “I did the same. I mean, I thought about you last night.”

“Oh yeah? Anything fun in that head of yours?” My cheeks heat impossibly further. “Oh my gods, by that blush I’d say it was incredibly fun and maybe even naked,” he says with a laugh.

“Oh my gods, don’t tease me. I might actually die from the blood running to my cheeks so quickly.”

We both laugh, enjoying our muffins and apples. There are sparks and butterflies inside my belly, but beyond that there’s a contentedness that runs through me. Being in Brock’s presence is making me feel things I’ve never felt before. I barely know him but being here makes me happy.

“Would you like to join me on a walk this afternoon?”

Brock taps his chin a few times before nodding. “I’d like that. It’s a date.”

I stand up, brushing my pants off. I give him a shy smile. “It’s a date.”