J shot Aaron a look and saw he’d noticed that moment’s hesitation that probably wouldn’t have been noticeable for anyone else save them. She had all their attention. The rise and fall of her chest wasn’t too minute a motion to escape their awareness.
“You didn’t eat any of it, did you?” Aaron teased.
“No. I gave it to one of the homeless guys who wanders close to the parking lot. I know him; he knows I give away my lunches.” Her smile was a little lopsided. “Apparently, it’s a well-known fact in the male population that I don’t eat during my lunch break.”
J tapped her forearm. “Is there something you want to tell us, Tonia?”
She tilted her head to the side, the movement so feline, it sent shards of desire through him. “No. Why would there be?”
“Did something happen at work today?” Graver attempted.
“Aside from the usual death, dismemberment, and disarray, you mean?” She quirked a brow. “Everything was pretty standard.”
J cleared his throat. “I call bullshit.”
When she clenched her jaw, he knew he was right. “Look. I just want to go to bed now. I don’t even want ice cream anymore. That’s how tired I am.”
“No, you don’t want us digging anymore. What’s going on, Toni?” Aaron asked, narrowing his eyes at her before he got to his feet and headed over to the freezer.
She watched, scowling, as he grabbed a pint of cookie dough ice cream and three spoons from the drawer. He brought it back to the counter, settled it in front of them, and placed the spoons within arm’s reach before he opened the pint and took a mouthful for himself.
“You’re not going to let this go, are you?” she asked around a sigh after a few silent moments where the quiet had been broken only by the barely-there noises of him and Aaron eating cookie dough. Tonia let out a growl of frustration, one worthy of any Bear’s mate—one that got his own Bear’s attention, and Graver’s too by the flame in his brother mate’s eyes—snapped out a hand for the spoon and heaped ice cream on it. As she did, he noticed a bruise on her wrist, a bruise that had been covered by her sleeve.
Rage filled him.
Hell, rage was an inadequate description of the fury riddling its way through his veins like fucking poison.
Tension had his muscles locking down, but he fought for control, knowing it was important she share this with them rather than him dragging it out of her. When he saw the question on Aaron’s lips, he nudged him with his foot to stall him. A flash of ire as hot as his own blasted him, but he shook his head. An infinitesimal movement, but one that Graver caught.
“No, we’re not, so come on, Tonia,” he chivvied along, when he wanted nothing more than to go and slice up the bastard who had left bruises on his mate. “Split with it.”
She licked the ice cream off the spoon in such a way that had his cock jerking upright and standing to attention, but not even that could distract him from what he needed to know.
“I had another altercation with the management tonight.”
Because he’d expected her to say a patient had gotten aggressive, her words threw him for a loop. “An altercation?” he asked softly, needing to tread carefully because he wanted all the facts. Now.
“Yes. My manager doesn’t like me. Rodriguez has always had a problem with me, one that’s only been exacerbated of late because he came onto me and I turned him down a month back.” She grimaced, then bent her hand forward, fingers gripping and tugging her sleeve over her wrists. “He can be annoying.”
Justiss clawed the fingers of one hand and dug them into his knee while with the other he was careful to reach forward and gently push back the sleeve covering the wrist she’d taken careful pains to shield from them. “Did he do that?” he asked softly, but she recognized his tone, and her gaze branded his.
“Don’t,” she whispered. “Please. Don’t.”
“You think we’re going to let the son of a bitch get away with touching you?” he asked, his voice a low hiss.
“I don’t want this getting any worse than it already is.”
“He laid hands on you, Toni,” Aaron argued. “Could it get much worse? You could have him arrested for fucking assault.”
“Let me handle this in my own way,” she argued right back.
“Your way has led to bruises,” Justiss inserted with all the delicacy of a knife through flesh. “That way isn’t working, is it?”
“It’s the first time he’s escalated to touching me.”
Justiss roared. There was no way it could be described as anything else, and it had both Tonia and Aaron rearing back in their seats in surprise.
“You stop that right now!” she yelled, sitting straighter in her seat, not afraid of his temper, fearless in the face of his rage. It was astonishing that she could dish out her anger at him but failed to shield herself from this bastard at work.
“He assaulted you. Twice. Sexually… now physically. What else are you going to let him do before you recognize you can’t handle this?” Aaron snarled, his own agitation firing up in the face of Justiss’s rage.
The two of them watched, on edge, as J jumped down from the stool he’d been perched on and began pacing back and forth.
Tonia’s unease was evident as she murmured, “I informed the administration. They didn’t believe me. What else can I do?”
“Call the cops. For fuck’s sake, Toni, what kind of piece of shit hospital are you working for?” Aaron shook his head. “I don’t like this. I don’t like it. Not just because you’re my mate, baby, but because this isn’t fucking right. That motherfucker needs to be taught a lesson—a lesson no one else is willing to teach him apparently.”
“No! Please. You can’t go in there and just beat him up. I’ll lose my job.”
“You wouldn’t,” Justiss interrupted, cracking his knuckles, pleasure filling him at the prospect of taking the bastard who had touched his woman and showing him what it felt like to be ‘touched’ against ones will.
“I would. He’d immediately blame me,” she retorted.
“What? You think he’d tell the police the woman he’s been assaulting was behind his attacks?”
“He’s an arrogant bastard. I wouldn’t put anything past him. And mates, I love my job.” The last, she said so softly, it had both men freezing.
Mates.
Mates.
She’d said it. Laid claim to them verbally. After this past week where there’d been more distance between them than proximity, it was like a brand. Her declaration seared his soul.
Justiss ran his hands through his hair, using a force that tugged at the roots and had him jolting with pain.
Had she used the term on purpose? Wanting to distract them from their end goal?
That she might have had his bear roaring with the agony of it.
“Don’t use that phrase unless you’re willing to act on it,” Justiss whispered, eyes downcast before he speared her with a look, a look that would have branded her with his own heat which was roaring through his frame like wildfire.
Her bottom lip trembled. “You’re my mates.”
Aaron sucked in a breath. “You’re not our mate until we claim you. Are you ready for that? Toni?”
She sucked that quivering morsel between her teeth, nibbling it, before she nodded once.
As quick as a flash, Justiss was there, at her side. He reached up tenderly, swiped his finger against her lip to pull it free from her teeth, then he dipped his head. A hairsbreadth from her mouth, he whispered, “You’re mine. I protect what’s mine.” When Graver cleared his throat, he dipped his head again, this time in a conciliatory nod as he really hadn’t meant anything by that. He immediately ceded, “Ours.”
She closed her eyes, a shuddery breath escaping her. It brushed his lips, and made his Bear rear up, desperation flooding him. “Don’t make a bad situation worse,” she whispered.
“Oh, I won’t. We’ll resolve the situation,” he told her, his words a warning and a declaration
that had her sighing. She let herself lean forward, let herself lean on him. The physical gesture was symbolic. He knew it; so did Graver.
She was letting him take control. Letting him lead.
He scooped her up. Pressing his hands to her waist, he lifted her, and murmured, “Grab my hips.”
Tonia flushed a little, but parted her legs and gripped him tightly. He cupped her ass, settling her more solidly against him. He had to ignore the searing brand of her pussy against his cock. Through the thin papery scrubs, he could feel everything. Her heat, her softness, her silkiness.
The thought alone had him shuddering as he bent his head to nip at her throat.
“You’re ours,” he told her.
“I know,” she breathed, her eyelids seeming to be too heavy to keep fully open. She glanced over at Aaron who was still on the other side of the counter, but he was watching them with an intent that Justiss could feel without having to look back at his brother-mate. She whispered again, “I know,” but this time it was aimed at Graver.
“You are aware of what’s going to happen tonight, aren’t you?”
She bit her lip again, and when he tutted, glaring pointedly at her mouth, she frowned, but her teeth relinquished their hold on it. “I can guess,” she chided, a teasing tone to her words.
“We’re going to bite you, and you’re going to like it, and then you’re going to be ours. But, what won’t happen is, we won’t forget what this bastard has done. We will deal with him. Another night. But not tonight. He has a reprieve.”
“Do you need a reprieve, Toni?” Aaron asked softly, prompting a soft growl of dissent to rumble from J. Aaron ignored him and persevered with, “You were exhausted earlier. We can wait.”
She let out a sigh. “No. I’m ready. Readier than I’ve ever been.” A small frown puckered her brow. “I’ve never needed like this before. It’s getting unbearable.”
So, she had felt it. She’d been so distant, so exhausted from work, he and Graver had been certain she’d been unaffected. Which had been hard to believe, because they’d been burning up. Not a day she’d been with him hadn’t been spent with him having to jack off at least twice, and he knew his brother-mate was suffering equally.
Toni whispered, “I’ve tried to ignore it, but it’s impossible.” She blew out a frustrated breath. “Christie warned me, but I didn’t believe her.”
It was well known in the MC that Mundo’s mate had been denied him thanks to his serving out the last of a jail sentence. The two of them had been climbing the walls before they’d been able to climb each other.
Justiss bent his head, pressed a kiss to her cheek. “You don’t have to fight it. We’ve been here. Waiting.”
“Things have been so up in the air,” she whispered, then reached up to cup his cheek. “I realized tonight though, when Rodriguez did what he did…” She glared at him when he growled. “That you’d never hurt me. Not the way he did. And he’s supposedly this great guy, a doctor. Well respected. And yet, you’ve never treated me with anything other than gentleness.” She sent a look at Aaron then held out her hand. “I know some of what you’ve done, don’t know a lot of things from the past, and I don’t know if I’ll be told everything in the future, but the men standing here today are better men than a lot I’ve met. I don’t care whether you live within or without law, as long as you live with me.”
Aaron stepped around the counter, took her hand, then pressed a kiss to her fingers. “Always.”
“Let’s take this upstairs,” Justiss whispered when the glance they shared seemed to make the kitchen swelter with a heat that bordered on the tropical.
He stepped forward, waiting for Aaron to open the door for him. They stepped through and headed down the hall. A few catcalls and whistles from brothers who spotted them through open doorways had Tonia burying her face in his throat, but she didn’t argue, didn’t ask to be put down, to walk on her own two feet. And he was thankful for that, because he wasn’t letting go of her.
Ever.
Chapter 10
It was like a reverse walk of shame.
The thought had her lips twitching as she burrowed into J. She had nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to be embarrassed about, but that didn’t mean her cheeks weren’t burning at the way J was carrying her, an intent to his actions that were unmistakable.
His brothers hollered out, laughter in their tones but no malice. The whoops they made were congratulatory, celebratory. Her mates’ brothers were almost singing them a wedding march.
A scandalous wedding march, true, but still, it was as grand as an MC got at four AM on a Thursday morning.
Each step J took was torment. It rubbed his shaft deep against her core, and in her position, there was no escaping from his branding touch. But it only got worse when they moved up the stairs, because the movement of her hips jolted against his cock in a way that made her clench her jaw with the sensations ricocheting through her body.
Jesus, she’d had sex before. Disappointing episodes that hadn’t really given her incentive to try again. The way J made her feel just walking to the bedroom was more powerful than she’d felt halfway through sex with another man.
Not that she’d tell him that. He was already having issues with Rodriguez—issues she was hoping he’d forget about tonight. She didn’t intend on adding to her woes by making him jealous over men he had no need to be jealous about!
She brushed her lips against his throat, and she didn’t know what demon inspired her, but she let her tongue pop out, and gently trailed it along the sinews she discovered there. He froze, then his pace crept up until they were striding up the stairs and down the hall to the rooms they’d taken as their own.
She didn’t laugh at his speed because she felt the intensity of his need, of their need, and it burned her. Inside out.
Aaron appeared in front of them again, opening their bedroom door, enabling them entry.
“Take me to the shower,” she ordered. “I need to wash the hospital off me.”
J didn’t say a word, just headed to the bathroom and helped her down from her position on his hips. She moaned, head tipping back as her body rubbed against his in all the important places, and hissed when he nuzzled her throat. Her eyes were dazed when she peered at her other mate, who had stepped into the shower stall to switch on the water.
As the spray hit the base, he stepped back and started to strip. What she saw had her tongue cleaving to the roof of her mouth. Jesus.
She’d seen him before, kind of. He’d hopped about trying to get his foot into the leg of his jeans one morning, and she’d seen his chest before he put on a shirt, but… dear God, that was nothing to the sight of all of him—with the realization that he was all of hers.
Her eyes lost that dazedness as she stared at him, fully intent on seeing this man who belonged to her. He was ripped. There was no denying it. His belly rippled with muscles and ink. He had some kind of phrase tattooed over half his side, in a weird language that seemed like Latin but wasn’t. Maybe some kind of Shifter language? Not that she’d ever heard of that. But then, they did live very secretive lives. His nipples were like copper pennies, tiny but hard points. They topped a set of pecs that made her mouth water.
She’d never been one to go gaga over the male form. She’d seen them in all shapes and sizes in her work, but Aaron? He was like everything she’d never known she was attracted to.
His legs were long, lean, but thickly muscled around the joints. He embodied strength in a way she knew only Justiss could rival. But then, this wasn’t a competition. These men were hers. There was no challenge or need for competition. She wanted them equally.
Needed them equally.
The slow burn at her core became a tempestuous raging fire. She stepped away from Justiss, letting her lips trail down his cheek before she moved and then headed for her other mate. As she moved, she lifted her top up and shoved the papery material onto the ground. Then, came her long-sleeved tee, and then the vest and cami s
he wore underneath. She didn’t stop until her torso was as bare as his, then she moved, pressing her chest against his, loving the feel of hot, silken skin against her more tender self. She felt the crisp hairs that gathered between his pecs and rubbed her breasts against them, moaning as they brushed her nipples, feeling her sensitivity there explode. Every part of her tensed in reaction, and she gripped down hard on his shoulders, needing him to ground her… to keep her from flying too high too fast.
A shudder escaped her when she processed those sensations, and she shuddered harder when Justiss stepped up behind her, grabbed the waistband of her scrubs, and tugged the pants down. Panties as well. He helped her step out of the mass of fabric then slid his hands up her calves and further along her thighs. He stopped before he reached her inner thighs, which sent her into a cascade of confusion, something only stymied when Aaron reached for her lips, finally connecting them as he reached down and rubbed the sides of her breasts.
The way they were touching her was driving her mad. They were teasing her, dammit. No outright touches. Just caresses. Nothing direct, just touching her in a way that told her they were absorbing her. Breathing her in. She couldn’t get too mad, but still, she felt like there was a vortex of need inside her that was tearing her to pieces. She needed them to glue her back together again. Now.
With a grunt, she tore away from them both and headed for the shower. A pout was on her lips and a glower in her eyes as she let the water drench her. Then, for teasing her, she grabbed the liquid soap and started smoothing it over her breasts. A smile lit her face when Aaron unashamedly grabbed hold of his cock—and Jesus, what a cock—and began to touch himself. Justiss decided now was the time to get naked too, and what he revealed had her slipping her hand down her body and sliding her fingers between her legs. She gasped at the sight of his hard chest, thick stomach, and strong hips. His butt was like a work of art. He was bigger than Aaron, bulkier around the hips and thighs, whereas Aaron was strong all over. Both had cocks she wasn’t certain she’d ever be able to take, but damn, a girl had to try, didn’t she?
Justiss And Graver (MC Bear Mates Book 4) Page 16
