Chapter Eighteen

"Why are you bouncing?" Salem had insisted on coming with me to the airport. He teased me to no end when I got home but had been more than supportive. It was our way.

"Because I'm nervous. And excited."

He snorted. "And horny. It's been almost three weeks. What a dry spell."

"Stop," I said, play-punching him in the shoulder.

He rose onto his toes, craning his neck this way and that. "Does your omega have brown hair and green eyes?"

"No."

"Oh. Too bad. That male over there is hot."

I rolled my eyes. I knew what Salem was trying to do. He was trying to distract me and make me less nervous/excited, but none of it was working. I had to admit, there was a small part of me that wondered if Lennon would show at all. Over the past weeks, we had spent time on video chat and had long nightly talks on the phone. He expressed an eagerness to leave everything behind and begin this new life with me, but I expected hiccups and even cold feet on his part.

The thing was, he showed no signs of changing his mind. Not at all.

I watched that gate like a damned starving hawk until I saw him come through. My bear roared, standing up on his hind legs at the sight of our mate. Every tingly cell and itchy feeling at his absence became instantly quelled at once.

He was here.

And true to my word, I was never letting him go.

Like something out of a romance movie, he dropped his bags at seeing me and ran into my arms, tackling me and wrapping his legs around my waist. I caught sight of my brother over Lennon's shoulder. He was happy for me.

"Oh, omega, I missed the hell out of you." I squeezed him tightly and peppered kisses all over his face and neck. I was sure we were garnering a crowd, but I gave zero fucks about anyone else.

"The flight took forever!" Lennon exclaimed. "I've been wound up all day. Turns out, my wolf hates flying."

Salem went to retrieve Lennon's bags. I made the introductions, and they laughed over something said while they hugged.

"Did they tell you where to go for your bags?" I asked, wrapping him up in my arms again. I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off him for the foreseeable future.

"This is it," he said, pointing to the bags I was now holding. "I told you I was severely scaling down."

Two large duffels. Gods, this omega. He had willingly given up everything for me. The depth of his love and care never ceased to amaze me.

"You'll fit right in. Come on, you two, before traffic time."

On the way home, Lennon sat in the front seat while Salem rambled off things that we needed to do for the next week. Lennon had flown in at the perfect time, in between excursions and before the week-long camping trip that a group had booked privately.

I had two days with my omega without anyone to bother us. Time to show him around our place. How we did things. I was eager for his approval and suggestions as an outsider looking in.

That afternoon after Lennon was settled, and we gave him the grand tour, Salem let us have our privacy.

"I didn't make any plans for tonight. I thought I'd leave that to you."

"Oh, alpha…" Lennon said, pressing his hands to my chest. "Don't tell me you're all of a sudden shy."

I laughed. "No. But you've been traveling all day and this is a new place. I…"

"You imagined for one second that I haven't spent all day today thinking about how and when I could get you alone, strip those clothes off of you and convince you to get inside me?"

I choked on my next breath. Sure, I had that idea but to hear my omega say it out loud ended me. "I don't doubt that. And there will be no convincing necessary."

He leaned his forehead against my chest and then shot back to standing tall. "I have an idea."

"What is it?" I asked. "Anything, as long as it includes the stripping the clothes off me."

"How about you take me on my own private camping trip? You, me, the desert chill. I bet you could think of a few ways to keep your omega warm. Cook me some dinner over the fire, the works."

I cocked my head. Lennon somehow always exceeded my expectations. "You want me to take you on a private camping trip? You realize we do that all the time here."

"Unless you don't want to?" The omega's smile faltered, making my chest twinge.

"I'd love to. I even bought you your own survival backpack." He didn't comment on the fact that the nights probably weren't that cold early in summer.

His eyes lit up. "Let's go!"

That night, I made him a dinner of steak tacos and my famous peach cobbler. I added blueberries because I knew Lennon loved them. Once he was full, he sat back on a rock. "I love this place, Bjorn. Have you ever felt at home somewhere you've never been?"

I wrapped him up in my arms. "No, but I've found home in you."

"Aww." He leaned up and kissed me as though I'd given him the world.

"Do you mean it? You want to make our home here?"

He nodded. "Yes. Now, are you ready to take me into that tent?"

I looked over at the tent. I'd bought a new one just for us. It felt right. "You know, I usually sleep under the stars."

He lifted one eyebrow. "Are you saying you want to make love to me under the stars, Bjorn?"

"Hell yeah, I am." I pulled him on top of me. "We've already done it in the sunshine."