Page 43 of Labor of Love

“She’s making a right little piglet of herself.” Shiloh chuckled – the first time Corbyn had heard it. “I wonder if I should switch her to the other side.”

“Just do what feels right to you, hon,” Corbyn said softly. “You have your instincts for a reason, so trust them.”

Shiloh’s lips tightened briefly, but barely ten seconds later, he was disengaging Nora’s mouth from one nipple, before swinging her around in his arms and helping her latch onto the other side. Corbyn worried if he’d said something wrong, but as Nora settled again, he felt Shiloh’s weight increase against his chest.My omega, trusting his instincts.

Wrapping his arm around the pair of them, Corbyn held them close until Nora slowly fell asleep.

5

“My goodness, what is this place?” Shiloh was sure his eyes were going to fall out of his head as Corbyn drove his extremely comfortable salon car up to a set of giant wrought iron gates. It was early evening, and Shiloh knew he needed to rest if he was going to be able to get up to Nora through the night, but just seeing the lavish estate behind the gates, he got a deep sense of “I don’t belong here.”

“Welcome to the Stone estate,” Corbyn said with a smile, reaching out of the window and punching a code into a box by the gate. “It’s all right. I don’t own all of this. This is a family estate.”

“You live with other people?” Shiloh wasn’t sure what was worse. Thinking his new mate was rich enough to own all the land and houses he could see, or having to get to know his new mate among a group of strangers.

The gates slowly swung open, but Corbyn didn’t put the car into gear. Instead, he swiveled in his seat, resting his arm across the back of Shiloh’s shoulders. “I’m sorry. I should’ve explained more about my living situation – our living situation - before we left the facility. To be honest, I just really wanted to get you out of there. Until I can organize some staff changes…”

“You don’t have to explain that to me.” Shiloh ducked his head, his cheeks heating. “Janice did apologize to you.”

“But not to you, and it’s people like that, who treat omegas as if they are beneath their notice, that really annoy me. I imagine even if an omega was mated and due to give birth, they’d still appreciate being assisted by someone who cared about their well-being instead of how pleased the omega’s alpha might be with their performance.” Corbyn shook his head. “I just don’t understand people sometimes.”

Shiloh kept his opinion to himself. He was well aware how the majority of people – not everyone – but how a lot of people felt about omegas. Based on his life experiences, he often wondered what it would be like to be a family canine pet. They were often treated better than men like him.

“But anyway, this is one of four Stone family estates. This is the main one,” Corbyn waved his hand in the direction of a big house. “There’s also one by the coast for when any of us want to vacation there, and another one in the mountains if you’re partial to skiing.”

Shiloh snorted and shook his head. “I’ve never tried it,” he said.

“You might like it. I can just see Nora when she’s a bit older in a puffy jumpsuit and cute little earmuffs to keep her ears warm. The last estate we have is a working ranch. I haven’t been out there much in the past few years, but it’s a great place if you just want somewhere to relax and be away from the hustle and bustle of town.”

Sounds lovely.Shiloh tried a smile. “Who did you say lives with you?”

“Ah, right, that was what I was trying to explain before I got sidetracked. My parents live in the main house and that’s also where the staff have their quarters. That house over there” –Corbyn indicated to the right – “That’s where my brother Jordan lives. Our place is over this side.”

He indicated to the left where Shiloh could just see what looked like a smaller version of the main house among some trees. “I don’t have live in staff, but I do have a housekeeper who comes in every day to prepare meals, oversee the cleaning crew, and who takes care of anything I might need in regard to the house. Anything you need, you can just ask her.”

“I’ll be sure to keep out of everyone’s way,” Shiloh said quietly. The whole situation sounded so foreign to him. “Nora and I would only need a little room, and if it’s close to a laundry, I can take care of any of the extra work involved in having a baby in the house.”

Corbyn was frowning, and this time, Shiloh knew it was directed at him. He felt himself shrinking inside, as if that would make him a smaller target. “Shiloh, I’m not hiding you away like a servant or concubine. You do realize we’re mates, don’t you?”

Shiloh reached up, touching the chain Corbyn had given him. “I know that’s what you said, but I don’t know what that means. I know you said your wolf said I was yours, and my wolf feels that bond with yours. But what does a mate do all day when they have all this?”

Overwhelmed, he flung his arms wide, almost hitting Corbyn in the face. “This is so far removed from what I’ve been used to, I might just as well be in a dream state. Not even my dreams were this fancy. I don’t know how I’m expected to act. I don’t know what you want me to do. If you just tell me what you expect from me, then I can do it. But right now, I’m terrified because I don’t have a clue.”

Shocked, Shiloh realized he’d raised his voice. “I’m sorry,” he said hurriedly, hunching in on himself. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“Oh, Shiloh. Please don’t be like that. It’s me who should apologize to you. I’m so sorry.” More surprises heaped on Shiloh’s shoulders when he found himself pulled against a strong chest. For a moment, he tensed, but he realized Corbyn wasn’t gripping him tightly to stop him from getting away. He was giving Shiloh a hug.

“I’m sorry. You are right to tell me off. I have no idea how you lived before you were taken. I have no idea how your life was before you were rescued, only that it would’ve been horrific. But in my arrogance, I suppose you could call it, I just believed I could bring you here and expect you to adjust to living like the lord of a manor, simply because that’s how I’ve been raised.”

“The lord of the manor? Is that like a prince?” Shiloh had never heard anything like that before.

“Not royalty, thank goodness, but yes, in a way.” Shiloh felt a slight pressure under his chin – Corbyn’s finger – and he tilted his head up, meeting Corbyn’s eyes. “Instead, you probably feel like a skittish puppy taken into a new house for the first time.”

“Are you worried I’ll pee on the carpets? Because I promise I won’t.”

“I know you won’t, hon, but don’t you see, it wouldn’t matter even if you did.” Corban’s finger was a light stroke down Shiloh’s cheek. He didn’t think anyone had touched him so tenderly before. “That house through the trees, this car, and anything else I own is all half yours now, as well. You can pee on the carpets, throw out the carpets, you can burn them if you want, and it wouldn’t matter. The carpets and everything else is all as much yours as they are mine.”

Shiloh heard the words – they just didn’t compute. Nora stirred in her car seat, and he reached over, touching her foot. “That’s a lot to take in,” he admitted. “But Nora will be awake soon and she will need feeding and changing again. Can we startwith finding somewhere I can do that without a dozen people gawking at us, please?”

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