by Zara Chase
He returned to her position and took the chair across from her. Kai took its twin and threw his legs casually over its arm. But Pascal knew Kai would be feeling anything but relaxed. They were both on edge, knowing the day they’d been waiting for had finally arrived. Nicole was the only mate for them.
No question.
Now all they had to do was convince her of that. In their choice of seats it was as though they’d decided not to put themselves within touching range of her, determined to persuade her without getting physical. They knew how responsive Nicole could be when aroused so they couldn’t take that risk. She had a tough decision to make and needed to do so with her brain. It would be so easy to sway her by playing on her sexuality, but both men, desperate as they were to keep her, had too much integrity to stoop that low.
“There’s no easy way to tell you this, sweetheart,” Pascal said softly. “But well…the thing is, we’d like you to stay here in Impulse with us. Permanently.”
Her eyebrows disappeared beneath her hairline. “Is this some sort of shifter joke?”
“We’re not laughing, babe,” Kai said. “We’ve never been more serious about anything.”
“You think because I have a few issues in my life, I’d prefer to spend the rest of it hiding away down here?”
“Not in the least.” Pascal put every ounce of the sincerity he felt into his expression, hoping to break through her barriers. “I realize our timing sucks. You haven’t even gotten used to us being shifters, much less all the stuff you just learned about your grandfather. If you weren’t so determined to run back to England we would have bided our time.”
“The fact is, babe,” Kai said, leaning toward her, “we love you and knew you were destined to become our mate the moment we set eyes on you.”
She laughed aloud. “You’re delusional. I’m flattered, of course, but no one falls in love just like that. You don’t even know me.”
“Yeah, we do,” Pascal said. “We know everything we need to know about you. I know it’s a lot to ask, settling in this little corner of the world and rarely leaving it, but, believe me, there are compensations.”
“Once you become our mate, your life span will triple, too,” Kai said.
Pascal nodded. “And you’ll be able to breathe the air.”
“Oh, that explains why the others can—”
“Yep, and you get the two of us, keeping you safe, happy, protected, and satisfied for the rest of your life.”
“And you’ll be able to hear our pheromones.” Kai grinned. “No more talking behind your back.”
“Why me?” She wrinkled her brow. “What’s in it for you?”
Kai chuckled. “Are you kidding me? Have you looked in the mirror recently?”
“Each alternate generation of shifters must mate with either another shifter or a human. That’s what saves our species from too much interbreeding and keeps our powers at their zenith. It’s also why it would have been disastrous for Davina to hook up with your grandfather.”
“Yeah, right.”
“I know it’s hard for you to take in, but it’s true.” Kai twisted his hands together. “We absolutely wouldn’t lie to you, babe. We’re telling you like it is because if you mate with us, it’ll be for life. We don’t have divorce in this community.”
“The bottom line is that Kai and I need a human mate.”
“Not just any mate,” Kai said earnestly, “but one with whom we connect mentally as well as physically. One who feels a natural affinity with Impulse. You, in other words.”
“You’ve got the wrong girl. I didn’t even know Impulse existed until a few weeks ago.”
“No, but your grandfather did, and he wanted you to come here.” Pascal looked at her intently. “He probably understood you better than you understand yourself.”
“We knew you were the one for us immediately,” Kai assured her. “Our powers are on the wane, but you can restore them for us the moment we have full-on sex, if you would be so kind.”
Nicole shook her head. “I don’t believe I’m hearing this.”
“That’s why we fuck one another,” Kai continued. “If we have sex with anyone who isn’t right for us then we’d blow our chances of ever linking up with the right mate. That in turn would further deplete the community of puma shifters both here in Impulse and worldwide.”
“It’s also why we didn’t fuck you,” Pascal added. “Much as we wanted to. It wouldn’t have been fair to you, not when you didn’t know the full story. If we had taken your virginity you might have felt compelled to mate with us for all the wrong reasons.”
Kai spread his hands. “But now you know the score.”
Pascal leaned forward. “We don’t expect you to answer us yet. You have a lot to think about and it’s one hell of a commitment to make. Just cancel your ticket, stay for a week or two, and get used to us and the way things are here. Then decide. We promise not to lay a paw on you until you know what you want.”
“Which we hope will be us,” Kai added, winking at her and blowing a kiss.
* * * *
Nicole looked into their faces, intensely serious for once, and wondered what their angle was. There had to be one. Whenever anyone pretended to care about her they always had a hidden agenda. Why were they so keen to keep her here? She didn’t for one minute believe all that love bullshit they’d spouted. Perhaps the sex bit and their waning powers might have a grain of truth to it. Who could possibly make up such a farfetched story? Even so, they were both drop-dead gorgeous and in spite of the weird world they inhabited, she didn’t believe they’d have difficulty snapping up any women they set their sights on. Who in their right mind would pass up on tripling their lifespan?
Her, it seemed, because she didn’t feel an overwhelming need to accept their offer.
Instead she sat in contemplative silence, trying to get her head around what they’d just said to her. They were definitely using her in some way. Even so, she couldn’t help feeling flattered, and safe, and protected in a weird sort of way.
Nicole hadn’t realized she felt the need for male protection, but the idea had now taken root and was compelling. Besides, sex with these guys whenever the need came upon her was a damned persuasive reason to give their offer serious thought. Okay, so she didn’t actually know what full-on sex was like, but they’d given her a pretty good inkling yesterday and her newly shaven pussy still leaked every time she thought about the things they’d done to each other, and to her.
Then the truth hit her, and her ego, momentarily inflated by their attentions, withered like a burst balloon.
“Oh, I get it,” she said scathingly. “You need what you refer to as a human mate. I happen to be available, with no relations to stick their noses in and wonder what sort of people really live in Impulse. I also just happen to have inherited all the money Gramps has invested in your fund and you’d rather like it to remain where it is.”
“Is that what you really think of us?” Pascal stood and towered over her, his voice as cold as the look in his eye. “You disappoint me, Nicole. I thought better of you than that.”
He fell silent and Nicole had no idea how to bridge the divide that now separated them. Did she even want to? Perhaps it would be better if they parted on bad terms, then there could be no regrets. Even so, she looked toward Kai, expecting him to mediate. He merely elevated one brow and obviously didn’t plan to help her out of the hole she’d dug for herself. The silence continued to deafen her as tension fuelled the atmosphere and Pascal scowled, probably waiting for her to apologize.
Hell, now he was making her feel guilty, just like everyone else in her life had tended to do over the years. Well, she was done with being made to feel like she was always to blame when things went wrong. She wasn’t the one to come up with this idiotic mating scheme and had nothing to apologize for. Anger burned like acid as she stood in front of him, arms akimbo, and stared up into his stormy eyes. He was a good actor, a damned good actor. She might almost th
ink his ire was genuine, but she had his measure and wasn’t about to be taken in by his Oscar-winning performance.
“Don’t put all this on me. You’re the one that came up with the crazy suggestion that I mate with you both.”
“You didn’t seem too averse to the idea yesterday,” Kai said, his mild tone in direct variance to the liquid venom dripping from Pascal’s.
“That was then.”
“You even let us shave your pussy, darlin’. That takes trust, and passion.”
“Just a momentary lapse. No need to think you achieved anything remarkable.”
“Let me tell you what I think,” Pascal said.
She sniffed. “Do I have a choice?”
“No you fucking well don’t.” Pascal’s eyes radiated anger. “Just hear me out and then, if you still feel too scared to take a risk, we’ll let you run back to London and hide from the world.”
“It’s not me that’s hiding,” she replied, glancing through the window that showed the view of the thin spit of land Impulse occupied. “But go right ahead.”
“Okay, I think Kai hit the nail on the head when he mentioned trust just then. You’ve been hurt so badly so often that you’ve lost the ability to trust.”
Nicole folded her arms beneath her breasts and scowled. “You know nothing about me!”
“I know you blame yourself because your mother was so self-centered that she couldn’t bear to share her husband’s love, not even with her own daughter. I know you blame yourself because your father was too weak to hack it without her. Too full of his own pain to remember he had a daughter to care for and topped himself, not stopping to think that she might be the one to find him.”
Nicole bit her lower lip and said nothing. She wouldn’t admit it for the world, but he was right on both counts. She did blame herself because It Was Her Fault.
“You blame yourself because that pervert of a swimming coach couldn’t keep his hands off you, even though you did nothing to encourage him. You blame yourself for what happened when you worked in that restaurant. So much guilt.” Pascal’s tone went from glacial to raspingly gentle. “So you hid yourself behind that god-awful disguise and started your own business so you could be the one in charge and no one could use their authority over you to get what they wanted. You wouldn’t have to place your trust in anyone, which meant there was no one to let you down.” He paused and shot her a knowing look. “How am I doing so far?”
She shrugged, staggered by how close to the truth he actually was. “You’re making more out of all this than is actually there,” she said off-handedly. “You Yanks always analyze everything to death. No wonder you have shrinks on every street corner.”
“But you were so wrapped up in your own self-pity that you didn’t stop to think there was one person in the world who loved you unconditionally.”
Pascal paused again and fixed her with a steady gaze, obviously expecting her to speak. She had no intention of playing this game, but still, her grandfather’s name slipped past her lips almost without her being aware.
“Gramps,” she said in a breathless whisper.
“Yes, Gramps. He had to watch you turn yourself into someone you weren’t because you blamed your looks for all the things that had gone wrong in your life. How do you think that made him feel?”
“I…well, I—”
“I’m betting he tried to talk you out of those terrible clothes but you wouldn’t listen.”
“He didn’t understand.”
“Didn’t he? Then why the hell do you think he sent you down here?”
“He didn’t send me, precisely. He loved Davina, even if his feelings weren’t reciprocated. That’s why he invested in the fund, to try and pay back to the community what she’d leant him to get started.”
“If he simply wanted you to know about his love life, he could have told you long before he died. He had bone cancer and knew eighteen months ago that his days were numbered. Or, if he didn’t want to tell you, he could have written it all down.”
That was true, she supposed. “Perhaps, but—”
“He wanted you to come and see the place for yourself because he knew you two were made from the same mold. He always regretted letting Davina go, then he saw you turning yourself into a frumpish spinster, which probably broke his heart. I’m betting he thought you’d find what you were looking for down here, just as he would have done if he’d had the courage to follow his heart.”
“Don’t blame it on, Gramps. He wasn’t the one to end the affair.”
“And what we’re offering you isn’t an affair but a lifetime commitment.”
“You think you are, but you’d soon find out you’d made a terrible mistake.” She stood up. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do it. You’re asking too much.”
“I didn’t have you pegged as a coward,” Pascal said softly.
“That was a cheap shot.” She tossed her head. “I do have a life, you know.”
“Your business and life back in England,” Kai said, speaking for the first time in a while.
“Yes, that.” And because I know I’ll disappoint you, you’ll be sorry, and I couldn’t stand to see the disappointment in your eyes.
“What flight are you on?” Pascal growled.
“British Airways tomorrow night. Why?”
Pascal logged onto his computer and hit some keys. “BA2166?”
“Yes, I think that’s the one. Why?”
“I’m booking seats for Kai and me.”
“You’re what!”
He turned to look at her, his eyes radiating an elusive kind of warmth. “You think we’re not serious about you. I’ll show you how fucking serious we are. Impulse is our home. We’re alpha pumas and have responsibilities you can only dream about, but that doesn’t matter. Others are coming through who can take our places. All that matters is that our hearts are yours. If you don’t want to live here, we’ll live wherever in the world you want to be. It’s you that matters to us, and we’ll do whatever it takes to prove it to you.”
Nicole gasped. He was deadly serious—she could see it in the determined set to his features as he scrolled through the screens, trying to buy airline tickets to a place he didn’t want to go to.
“You’d do that for me?” she asked in a shocked tone. “Give all this up. Walk away from where you belong and what you are?”
“Baby, we’d slay bears for you,” Pascal said, not looking away from the screen.
She felt a slow, curling smile break across her face as she shared a glance between them. At the same time something unlocked deep inside her—something that had kept her heart and emotions trussed up so tightly that nothing had slipped past it, except the pain of her grandfather’s demise, in over a decade.
Suddenly she could feel again and what she felt rocked her world. Her eyes swamped with tears as she admitted to herself that she’d fallen for these two the moment she first saw them. Why would she take them away from the place where they belonged? People didn’t do that to those they loved. Her grandfather’s story ought to have taught her at least that much. Besides, London held nothing for her now, not without Gramps. She could sell her business to her partners. They’d snap it up. And if she lived here she could help Rochelle get her new venture off the ground.
That would take care of her days. As for the nights, well, they could be spent wrapped in the arms of these two. She could learn how to feel again, and how to trust, if they were prepared to teach her. Something told her they wouldn’t be too difficult to persuade.
“Don’t book those tickets,” she said softly, tears streaming down her face. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Chapter Sixteen
“They’re being totally unreasonable.” Nicole blew air through her lips in utter frustration. “I’ve agreed to be their mate, but that was over a week ago and they haven’t so much as laid a finger on me since.”
Nicole was venting at the ladies’ Tuesday lunch. The same one she’d attended the week before an
d had barely spoken a word. This week no one could shut her up, but they didn’t seem to mind. Her new friends were grinning broadly as her catalogue of complaints grew.
“The other guys think it’s hilarious,” Layla said. “They’re giving Pascal and Kai a real hard time because you didn’t fall for their charms right off.”
“Good for you,” Aisha said, punching the air with her clenched fist. “These alphas sometimes get far too full of themselves. It’ll do them good to learn a little humility.”
“I’m not playing games, if that’s what you think. I’d only known them a couple of days when they sprang this mating lark on me. What was I supposed to do? Fall to my knees with gratitude?”
The ladies seemed to find this amusing. “I shouldn’t be surprised if they ask you to do something along those lines before too long.”
Nicole blushed. “You didn’t all fall for your guys from the get-go, did you? Presumably you needed time to get used to who and what they are.”
“Speaking for myself, it was pretty instantaneous,” Chantal said. “Something changed in me the moment I saw Rafe and Vilas.” The other ladies nodded. “Rafe took on a rogue alpha lion for my sake and killed him. It almost cost him his life.”
“Vadim did something similar with a wolf,” Talia said. “And that was after I tried to kill him myself.”
“It’s a long story,” Layla said when Nicole raised her brows. “Besides, we’re talking about your problems right now.”
“They’ve been absolutely charming,” Nicole complained. “I can’t fault their manners. I’ve practically turned their kitchen into a restaurant, trying out dishes for Rochelle’s new venture. They’ve tasted them and haven’t sugarcoated their opinions if they don’t like something. They’ve bought me more clothes than I’ll ever be able to wear. I go swimming every day in the ocean, just because I can. I don’t have to push for a personal best or try and beat anyone, so I can just swim and enjoy the freedom. They come with me and their egos don’t seem to suffer because I’m a stronger swimmer than they are.” Nicole counted off the points on her fingers. “They bring me here to the Whiskers and wine and dine me, and introduce me to more residents, but—”
