“Fuck.” Charles nearly shouted the word the second he shut the door. Without more than a passing glance at the sky, he paced on the back porch of Justin, Trevor, and Kara’s home, not caring one tiny bit the snow was picking up pace and mixing with sleet.
The weather and its idiosyncrasies were the least of his problems.
“That’s what I was going to say. How did we not know about this?”
Charles turned to face him. “How? Because why would anyone bother to tell us some woman we’ve presumably only met in passing for the first time yesterday and assuredly have no connection to whatsoever was coming over to visit her girlfriends in this crowded house.” He was practically reprimanding Reese, and he hadn’t meant to. They were both on edge. Lowering his voice, he continued. “What I want to know is why Jessica didn’t tell us herself last night. And … what the hell do we do now?”
It was a rhetorical question, and Reese treated it as such.
Both men heaved deep breaths and looked around in vain as if the answers to their problems were between the snowflakes.
“It’s fucking cold out here.”
Charles didn’t respond. Sure, it was cold, but it beat the alternative. “What should we do?”
“I think we need to talk to her.”
“How are we going to do that? Here? In my brother’s living room?”
“No, we’ll have to wait until tonight. She agreed to meet with us later at her apartment. I hope she still sticks to that promise.”
“Her pheromones are going to make me come in my pants. She’s fucking ovulating of all days.”
“Ya think I didn’t notice?” Reese glared.
“Sorry.”
“I know.”
Charles jerked his gaze to his friend. “And what the fuck should we do about Alyssa? She’s pissed.”
“Ain’t that the truth?”
“Can we leave that one off for another day also?”
“I don’t think so. What if we tell her the truth? I mean, it isn’t like we planned this. It just happened.” Reese held his hands in the air in defeat.
“Have you met Alyssa?” Charles laughed. It wasn’t funny at all, but he was losing it.
The woman was hell on wheels when she wanted to be. And there was little doubt that wouldn’t hold up in this instance.
Chapter 7
“I’m sorry I’m such poor company,” Jessica mumbled under her breath.
Kara smiled. “Honey, I totally understand. Granted, it’s been a few months since I’ve experienced the cruel fate of PMS, but it’s still fresh in my mind.”
Lindsey entwined her fingers with Jessica’s. “Why don’t you go lie down for a while? Take some ibuprofen. I bet you’ll feel 100 percent better in a few hours with a good nap.” She turned to Kara. “Is the guest room okay?”
“Of course.” Kara scrambled back from the kitchen island and tugged on Jess’ arm. “Not sure why I didn’t think of that. The weather sucks out there anyway. You might as well plan on spending the night.”
Jessica sucked in a breath. If I have to stay here one more hour than absolutely necessary, I will surely die.
The escape afforded by the fake PMS was welcomed, however. Niggling in the back of her mind, she wondered if the only two beings fooled by this farce were Kara and Lindsey. Since she wasn’t technically mated to the men who’d weaseled out the back door, she didn’t know if everyone in the room could smell her lie or not. It wasn’t the sort of thing her mother would have explained to her before she was ten.
As soon as her friends had graciously seen she had everything she could possibly need, they left her alone to rest on the guest bed, a bottle of water, two yellow pills, and a heating pad for the fake cramps.
Jessica immediately swallowed the ibuprofen, figuring it couldn’t hurt and might even provide some sort of relief for the actual pain in her belly. What the hell was that about anyway? She was nowhere near that time of the month. Worse, it had something to do with the men angling to claim her and their proximity, but it was nothing like her reaction yesterday. Today, she was experiencing actual pain on occasion, as though her insides were revolting against her clear denial of that which mother nature had deemed necessary—that she mate soon, fast, and often with two men, against her wishes.
She nestled on top of the bed, not bothering to pull back the soft comforter. Curled in a ball, she closed her eyes and tried to calm her nerves.
Think.
For the first time in her life, Jessica was rather pissed at her naïveté where it pertained to wolves. She’d been so young when her parents died she’d missed a lot of details. Details she’d cared nothing about until yesterday. Details that would come in handy as she dealt with this situation.
Breathing in short, shallow breaths, she considered what she did know.
First, she was completely unable to control or deny Reese and Charles were her mates. Even after they’d left last night, she’d been unable to sleep. Every time she drifted restlessly into dreamland, she’d suffered from assaulting images of the three of them engaged in sexual acts, the likes of which she’d never even conjured in her mind to get herself off with her vibrator.
Jessica squirmed against the bed, trying to get more comfortable. Oh, who was she kidding? She was rubbing her aching clit against the mattress. She should get up and lock the door, but she had no desire to move.
Second, a few people might have noticed something was amiss, especially Nancy, but the men must need to actually claim her before all the world would be privy to the information. On second thought, it was possible everyone was choosing to just pretend not to be aware of her plight, just like they were all zipped tight about the fact she was a wolf.
Damn. She could scratch that one off the list of things of which she was certain.
So, back to two. Something about today was significantly different from yesterday. She was needier today. Her pussy ached with the need to be filled. Even standing in the kitchen she’d had to bite her tongue to keep from moaning, and her damn hands had itched to rub herself to completion. There was a dull pain in her womb that demanded fulfilling.
What the fuck was that all about?
Jessica squinted her eyes shut and concentrated. It was hard with the scent of Charles and Reese seeping under the door. She’d even known the moment they’d come back inside.
She squeezed her hands between her tucked legs and held still. The last thing she needed was to be caught masturbating in Kara’s guest room. She felt like she had a fever. Her brow was sweating even now that she’d left the main rooms.
She was shivering like a sick person. And there was another thing she knew for sure. She wasn’t sick. She was … in heat? No, that would imply she was having her period, right?
Whatever.
Jessica froze, held rigid with another fact she’d been avoiding. There was another woman out there in the living room she’d never seen before. And that woman had been glaring at Reese and Charles as though she wanted to strangle them. Interesting. Were they involved with her? Or had been in the past? If they truly believed Jessica was their intended mate, why the hell did they have another woman with them today? Anger made her ears ring.
And why the hell did that raise the heat level of Jessica’s face until she shook with jealousy? She was so fucked.
* * * *
The scrawny teenager shuffled into the home office and faced Fredrick on wobbly legs. “You wanted to see me, sir?”
“I did, Leslie.” Fredrick took a deep breath and sat at his desk. “Please, have a seat.” He motioned toward the chair opposite. It would do no good to start shouting. In the last twenty-four hours, Fredrick had calmed … marginally. He’d get much more out of Leslie if he remained calm.
“Tell me what you know about Alyssa, son.” He held his voice calm.
The kid squirmed in his seat and sat on his hands. He didn’t make eye contact.
Fredrick hadn’t ever had the pleasure of making this boy’s acquaintan
ce before, and frankly he’d been surprised to find the kid was the same age as Alyssa.
Fredrick waited, impatiently bouncing his leg under the table.
Finally, Leslie cleared his throat. “She took off in the night, sir.” He barely mumbled the words.
“She told you this? Have you spoken to her?”
Leslie shook his head. “No. No. She doesn’t even know I followed her.”
“Then how did you know to follow her, may I ask?” Fredrick clenched his teeth, seething, but not wanting Leslie to see his displeasure. It was like pulling teeth getting information out of the kid.
“I didn’t.” The boy swallowed and glanced at Fredrick. “I was … um … watching her house. It was a coincidence. I just happened to see her sneak out the window.” His head dipped again.
“You were spying on her?”
Silence for several moments, and then the kid started crying. Crying. “I didn’t mean nothin’ by it, sir. I just like her and, and, and she’s … pretty.” He choked on a sob.
Fredrick had to cover his mouth to stifle the grin spreading. It wouldn’t do for the kid to realize he found this humorous. What red-blooded boy didn’t at one point or another peep at a girl?
“Then what happened?” If they moved on, perhaps Leslie would calm and get the rest of the story out.
“I followed her,” he muttered, as though that offense were worse than the Peeping Tom offense he’d just confessed to.
“And?” God almighty. Was the kid ever going to actually give him anything to work with?
“She walked all night, practically ran, until she came to the truck stop off the highway outside of town. I stayed outside and hid behind a tree. She went in. She met with some people—”
“Met someone?” Fredrick ground his teeth. Damn it, why couldn’t he just keep his mouth shut for a minute so the kid could finish?
“Yeah, some … men.” Leslie wiggled in his seat and drew a random pattern on the floor with his shoe.
“Then what happened?” Jesus. Spit it out. Fucking men? That didn’t seem promising.
“She left with them.”
“Left? As in got in their car and drove away?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Did she know them? Did you?”
“Never seen them before, sir. But Alyssa seemed to know them.”
Great. “Is there anything else you can remember? Anything at all. Any detail you can provide would be helpful.”
Leslie looked up, fear for his friend’s safety warring with his fidelity toward her.
“You wouldn’t want anything to happen to her, would you? She’s a good girl. We need to find her before she gets hurt.” Hopefully that would be the trump card. Appeal to the kid’s sense of fear.
Leslie leaned backward in his seat and stretched one leg to reach into his pocket. He pulled out a small slip of paper and handed it to Fredrick with trembling fingers. “Will this help?”
Fredrick smiled broadly for the first time in two days.
* * * *
Someone was calling her name. No, whispering it. Right next to her ear. Dragging her from sleep.
Jessica bolted up. How long had she been asleep? Please tell me it’s been hours because I sure didn’t get more than twenty minutes at a time last night.
Glancing back and forth, she became aware of Reese and Charles flanking her on either side.
“Sorry, baby. I hated to wake you. You were finally so peaceful. You’ve been wiggling around forever as though caught in a nightmare.” Charles ran a hand up and down her arm.
Jessica sank back onto the bed. So, what’s the emergency?
“You were watching me sleep? What time is it?”
“Almost midnight. And yes. Well, not for very long. We were acutely aware of you even when we weren’t in the room though.”
“Midnight? Seriously?” Jessica realized they were whispering. It was very dark. Of course, she could see fine in the dark, but she still knew it was late.
There wasn’t another sound in the house.
“Everyone’s asleep.” Reese eased alongside her on the left.
Charles did the same on the right. They cocooned her in their warmth, each with a hand on her, rubbing her arm, her belly. That tight knot in her stomach flared anew.
“I need to go home. Why didn’t anyone wake me?”
“No one wanted to bother you. You were clearly tired and upset. Kara and Lindsey were very protective, insisting you be left alone.” Reese was the one with his palm on her middle section. With his fingers spread, his hand spanned distinctly from under her breasts to the top of her jeans.
“And now?”
“Now, we were finally able to talk to you without the whole world knowing.” Charles grinned.
Memory slammed back. “Who was the woman with you?” She wasn’t asleep now.
Charles turned his grin into a chuckle. “Caught that, did you?”
“She went home hours ago with Nancy.” Reese moved that damn hand as he spoke, driving her mad. “It’s complicated. Can we talk about it later? We really want to focus on you right now.”
“No, we can’t fucking talk about it later. Are you guys with her? Why the hell would you be pursuing me if you already have a woman in your bed?” Ooh. She stiffened.
And even with that information, her damn body continued to warm and respond to the finger climbing up her arm and the palm pressing into her belly. She squeezed her legs together. She needed to be mad right now. “Why would you chase me like rabid dogs yesterday and then bring another woman to Kara’s party today? Even if you were together with her before you met me, why the hell would you not have broken it off with her yesterday as soon as we met? How crude. How can you claim to be my mates but still keep another woman in your beds?”
“She isn’t a threat to you. We are most definitely not with her. It’s a long story. I promise. Trust us.” Charles leaned in and planted kisses along the line of her neck. Between them he continued to murmur. “Can we talk about Alyssa later?”
Jessica held still, rigid. She willed her body to stop coming alive under their touch. It was infuriating the way she reacted. They turned her brain to mush. She prayed for some sort of God to put an end to the maddening scent of their presence threatening to drive her to do something she would later regret. “Why are you still here?”
“Conveniently, we got trapped.” Reese pressed into her side, making her acutely aware of his hard-on against her leg.
“Trapped?” That was not exactly the most romantic way to lure a woman you clearly wanted to fuck.
Charles laughed again. “By the weather, babe. We had several cars here. Reese and I stayed to help Justin and Trevor chop some extra firewood. They thought an entire cord of wood wasn’t quite enough to keep their pregnant mate warm for the entire night,” he joked. “It was advantageous because, by the time we finished, the snow and sleet were falling so hard it was too dangerous to risk the trip home. You, my love, are also trapped.”
Jessica sucked in a breath and held it. Trapped? “So, the only other people in the house now are Kara and her mates?”
“That’s right.” Reese leaned in to nibble on the other side of her neck. He even boldly flipped a leg over the one of hers closest to him, wedging his knee between her thighs. “I’m pretty certain those three are too busy to pay any attention to what happens in this wing of the house. Even hugely pregnant, Kara still sparks their interest.”
“And what the hell is wrong with being interested in a pregnant woman?” Jessica bit her bottom lip, a habit she was well aware of, especially when she spoke unnecessarily.
“Not a damn thing, love,” Reese stated. “In fact, I’m quite certain I would be even more attracted to you round with my child than I am now.”
“What if it were my child?” Charles jested. His mouth wandered to Jessica’s shoulder.
Reese grinned against her skin, and his tongue flicked out to lick the space right behind her ear. “Same difference.”
/>
Just like last night, Jess lay there like a bump on a log while these two men mauled her into submission. How are you going to get out of this one?
“So, you woke me from an admittedly deep sleep so you could tell me I was stuck here for the night?” Her voice sounded hoarse even to her own ears.
“Yep, and so we could do this to you.” Reese flicked a finger over her nipple, making her body jolt, her eyes widen, and her tits stand at attention.
Jessica’s brain screamed, Stop. Her body … ignored the command.
Fighting two large men off with her hands proved equally futile. They squished themselves closer to her and pinned her arms against her sides.
The fever she’d sensed earlier returned with a vengeance, as did the dull pain in her stomach.
Reese smoothed his palm over her belly repeatedly. “Does it hurt?”
Huh?
At her pause, he added, “Your … womb. Ovaries. Whatever.” His lips tickled her ear while he spoke, his tongue darting out now to lick the lobe and even delving inside to send goose bumps down her body.
“How do you know anything about that?” This was beyond weird.
Charles leaned back a few inches, and both men froze.
“You really are rather unknowledgeable about our kind, aren’t you?” Charles cocked his head and gazed into her eyes. “How? What…”
“When? Where? Why?” she provided in rapid succession. “My parents died when I was ten, you wiseasses.”
“And no one took you in? Educated you?”
“Sure. The fucking state of Oregon took me in. A variety of human foster parents raised me. That’s why I’m so levelheaded. So incredibly not screwed up.”
Both men gasped and held steady, only the subtle pressure on Jessica’s center and her shoulder indicating their reaction and support for her plight.
She’d not meant to blurt out so much information, but they’d driven her to react with their teasing.
“Oh, babe,” Charles began, “I’m so sorry. We had no idea.”
“Of course not. I’ve never told anyone.”
Jessica's Wolves (Wolf Masters, Book 3) Page 6
