Southern Shifters: Shiftin' Sassy: Derria Pryde (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Pryde Ranch Shifters Book 4)

by T. J. Michaels

  They reappeared a short distance from Lakota’s Jeep which rested at the top of the cliff. Glad he kept his vehicle stocked with a few changes of clothes, Lakota immediately took on his human body and tossed Kerr a pair of sweats and a tee-shirt before dressing himself.

  On the way to find Derria’s motorcycle, Kerr shared the myth of the warrior woman, just as he’d shared it with Derria. Lakota had never heard anything quite like it, yet something about it resonated within his soul. Just out of sight of the den, Kerr stopped and waited for Lakota to pull up alongside him.

  He shut off Derria’s bike, put it in neutral and hopped off. Just ahead of Lakota’s vehicle, Kerr pulled on the limb of what looked like a jumble of bushes and brush to reveal a space large enough for anything he needed to hide.

  “Pull on in and put it in park. We want this place to remain hidden from my crazy ass pack mates, so we’ll need to speak through our bond…which shouldn’t even be possible if you think about it. We’re not going in the same way we went out. Den’s a mile and a quarter that way,” he said, and motioned towards some rolling hills off to the west.

  Lakota nodded, and did as the other man asked, but all the while, his brain flew along at a mile a minute. Kerr was right—none of this should be possible. They weren’t related, and they didn’t share a pack. Hell, they didn’t even share a species, yet they’d been walking in and out of one another’s heads from the moment they’d come face-to-face.

  As they walked toward the foot of Kerr’s cliff, Kerr asked, “How do you see this working, Lakota?”

  “Just ‘Kota is fine. Well, I can’t say the story is bullshit considering most of the world believes that shifter legends are utter crap, yet here we are.”

  After giving his shifter-PC—politically correct—answer, Lakota paused and considered how to answer what Kerr really wanted to know. “Look, Kerr, I have no idea how we’re going to handle a triad of alphas. Derria alone is a handful.”

  “I can imagine. When I saw her sitting in my living room all I could think was that she was the bitch who shot me in the leg and almost caused me to bleed out. I shifted before I realized I’d done it, and came to a fucking skidding halt at her feet with my nose pressed into the barrel of a gun.”

  Yep, that sounded like his Dare, all right. And given that Kerr had a smile as wide as a bridge spread across his face, it must sound like his Dare, too.

  “I believe Derria is the one,” Lakota said. “I want her, and you want her. I’m pretty sure we both ring her particular bell. But understand this, Kerr, she and I are already mated. She has to accept you into our mate bond. If she does, I will, too. She’s my focus. It’s all about her.”

  “Then we’re of like mind. So, a gentleman’s agreement?” Kerr suggested.

  “Of what kind?”

  “We agree on a united front. To take care of her together. Gang up on her, if necessary. No rivalry. No jealousy.”

  Lakota listened, nodded his head, but managed to keep a few of his thoughts to himself.

  Why? Because Kerr’s solution sounded fucking impossible. Didn’t it?

  Back inside the den, he followed Kerr to the kitchen, happily accepted the tall can of beer tossed from the fridge, and then plopped down at the small dining table. Thoughts tumbled one over another as he realized one thing: He was way out of his league.

  Unlike most S.W.A.T. agents, he’d been born in a place where there’d never been a need to hide his true self—right here in the Dragon. Grew up knowing truly what it meant to be what some called a “two spirit” or “skin walker”. A shapeshifting human with the spirit of the jaguar. But he’d never heard of a triad before outside of fairytales, yet Lakota knew he was being offered a rare gift.

  Thankfully he and Kerr seemed to be on the same page. They wanted nothing more than to know and love Derria, and keep her happy until they took their last breath and kicked the bucket.

  Strangely enough, he felt not a twinge of jealousy at the thought of sharing his woman, but was rather taken aback by his muted attraction to Kerr. Tipping up his beer, ‘Kota suddenly had nothing to say. His first impulse was to clam up tight and pretend that it wasn’t there—no attraction, no quiet hum of awareness, no mate.

  “Well, this isn’t working at all,” he mumbled to himself.

  Kerr brushed against his mind, seeking entry rather than demanding. Asking rather than attempting to order.

  Seeing that this man, who was just as much of a leader as he was, was willing to humble himself even in this small way, was all the assurance Lakota needed. He let himself fall open to Kerr’s polite ‘knock’ and, completely at odds with his typical self, held nothing back. Not the uncertainty, the worry…or the literal animal magnetism.

  Kerr sucked in a deep breath. “I understand, and man, I admit that this is tough. But I’m willing to do it,” he said.

  Lakota cocked his brow. “For who? For Derria, or for yourself?”

  “For all three of us. We need each other, I can feel it.”

  Jealous, yet grateful, that Kerr was so deeply in tune with his inner self, Lakota silently acknowledged the truth of the other man’s words. Then he said, “Well, I have no doubt I can do the job, but it would sure as hell be easier if there was some kind of instructional manual for this mating shit.”

  Kerr looked at him with an expression of pure puzzlement. With laughter reflected in his crystal gray eyes, he said, “A manual? What for? We’re men. We don’t read instructions anyway.”

  Lakota laughed, raised his brew toward Kerr. “To Derria, and us.”

  “Cheers!”

  “Here she comes,” Lakota said.

  “Yeah,” Kerr said as he turned toward the main hallways. “I feel her. Seems a bit less chaotic than when she left, but not by much.”

  “Hmmm. I think we need to get her focused on something other than her current state of mind.”

  “Agreed,” Kerr said as he rose to his feet.

  Derria stalked into the foyer and was relieved to see her bike there, just as she’d asked. Through the hallway and into the den she moved. Hmmm, though she sensed they were here, neither of her men were in sight. On her way to the stairs, she caught something in her periphery. A quick glance left and her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open.

  Lakota had Kerr pushed up against the kitchen wall, kissing him with all the pent up passion she’d felt wrapping around their bond.

  It was the hottest damn thing she’d ever seen! They broke apart, each panting wildly, keeping their gazes on one another. Whoa, she couldn’t move. Couldn’t get her legs to obey her commands as the fantasy of where this could lead played out in her head.

  Without giving her time to react, Kerr and Lakota walked right up to her.

  “Do you accept me, Derria?” Kerr asked.

  She looked to Lakota, who said, “It’s your decision, Derria. Kerr and I are in agreement that we can make this work. But the call is yours.”

  Turning her gaze back to Kerr, she still hesitated.

  “We won’t move forward without your consent. It doesn’t matter what Lakota and I think. I asked if you accept me because you are my primary concern. I’ve already told you the story of the warrior woman and her mates, and you understand that you’re the lynch pin to all of this.”

  She did indeed.

  “Then come to us of your own free will.” With a snarky and evil-ass grin, Kerr walked three steps past her and then turned to say, “No pressure.”

  And then the two men headed for the stairs, shoulder to shoulder. They seemed to instinctively reach for each other, and took those first steps hand in hand…as they left her standing there? Seriously?

  She couldn’t decide whether to be pissed and stand stubbornly where she was, or run after them. The sound of water running had her bolting for the stairs.

  * * * * *

  Though it was her first time upstairs, she followed the awareness of her mates directly to the bathroom without error.

  She couldn’t help
but admire the den that Kerr Blackwood had built given the engineering marvel was inside of a huge cliff-side cavern. The room was painted in various hues of blue, with an ombre light-to-dark affect that was quite eye-catching. Wide and spacious with rugs strewn about, it sported a big white claw-foot tub, an oversized granite vanity and a water closet. There at the other side of the space was a shower that was worthy of one of those television shows that featured the rich and famous.

  Large enough to comfortably seat—yes, seat—six people, it was a circular glass enclosure with benches set into the walls. From where she stood, it appeared they had the water running, but there were several other nozzles that weren’t turned on. Steam, and massaging jets, perhaps?

  She headed toward her men. They stood soaping each other, but the emotion flowing down the bond was one of friendship and camaraderie with an easy buzz of attraction. Yet when they turned their gazes her way, that damn bond flared with a strike of blatant need, blanketed by a deep abiding care for her.

  It was impossible not to notice how beautiful they looked next to each other; their differences as sexy as their similarities. Lakota was beautifully tanned, like raw almonds and cream, while Kerr was closer to her own salted caramel tones, but deeper, darker with a hint of red. Kerr’s jet black, bone-straight locks complimented Lakota’s blonde waves. Where one was leaner and taller, the other was broad and stocky. Both equally muscular.

  And packing some seriously hard equipment in the sex department.

  Oh my!

  Having experienced Lakota’s brand of rough-and-ready loving with that tool he called a cock—thickly veined and long—she wondered what it would be like to have Kerr’s hardness riding her. The man was made like a soup can—super thick and as stocky as the rest of him.

  These two might be a study in opposites when it came to their bodies, but in their hearts and minds they had a singular goal—claim her by any means necessary. And they weren’t attempting to hide it at all.

  “And we never will,” they echoed in her head.

  Kerr held his wet hand out to her. Their gazes held and she moved into their space, this time without any hesitation or freaking out. That wild need to run, to seek her own space, dissipated with each second that passed.

  Instinctively, she eased between them, inhaling their natural scents as they mixed with the warm mist of the shower and whatever soap they were using. Lakota’s strong fingers began a lathered journey from the base of her back and up along her spine. Kerr turned so she could suds up his shoulders and back.

  As one, they did an about face and Derria found herself now washing Lakota’s back while Kerr finished up hers.

  A thought flickered into her head. “What about our fronts?”

  With that, Lakota faced her, placed his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her backward. Derria found herself sitting on Kerr’s waiting lap, his cock pressed firmly against her ass.

  One thing was sure—she was going to have to learn to shield her thoughts sometimes.

  If she’d looked down, surely there would be arcs of electrical current moving over her skin in all the places on her body where she was connected to these two men.

  There were hands everywhere—a cloth sliding up and down her arms, a sponge working her breasts and stomach, then arms, legs and feet were all tackled. Even as she leaned back, eyes closed and body completely relaxed, her gut danced with an unexplained sense of urgency. No danger, or fear. Just…necessity.

  Suddenly the water switched off and she found herself wrapped in a thick towel—correction, two thick towels. One patted her front, the other her back.

  “I just can’t resist,” Lakota said as he dipped his head and suckled a dark nipple and then pulled it deep inside his warm mouth.

  “I’ll keep my hands to myself. For now,” Kerr said as he did just that.

  “Hey!” Derria yelped.

  “Nobody said anything about mouths, love.” The man nibbled and licked the sensitive spot along her shoulder muscle on the left, then he sucked and laved the little stings away.

  The combined sensations sent trembled from her baby toes clear up to her scalp.

  They stood in the steam of the shower for long moments as Derria held Lakota’s head to her swelling breasts with one hand, and fingers of the other hand stroked Kerr’s cheek as he tasted her skin from behind.

  Derria didn’t have a poetic bone in her body. If it didn’t have to do with technology or fighting, she didn’t typically have much to say. But the things her mates made her feel? God, she could write odes about it—chapters and chapters of them.

  Hips began to seek. Breath went shallow. Body overheated.

  “Oh my god, that’s so good,” she whispered. “Bed. Now. Please.”

  Kerr lifted his head and went still. Lakota backed up a step and Derria wanted to scream for them not to stop. But that wouldn’t happen until one last bit of business was handled.

  Kerr’s deep rumble of a voice caused the hair at her nape to rise, a replay of the first time she’d laid eyes on him. “Look at me, Derria.”

  “No wanna,” she grumbled.

  Lakota’s hands landed lightly on her waist and the man proceeded to physically turn her around to face Kerr. The only way she could avoid his gaze was to stare mutinously at the tiled floor of the shower stall. But given she had no desire to be a complete five year old brat at the moment, she conceded and gave Kerr what he’d asked for.

  Once their gazes met, he crossed his arms across his Conan the Barbarian-esque chest, his expression soft but no-nonsense at the same time. “I will not coerce you, Derria. I absolutely will not have you without your consent.”

  “But I’m standing right here, aren’t I?” she challenged.

  “Not good enough. Give me the words.”

  And she found that she wanted nothing more than to give him what he’d asked for. But first, she asked, “So why doesn’t Lakota have to give you any fucking words?”

  A soft puff of breath fanned over her skin as Lakota stepped up behind her and said, “I already did, Dare. And Kerr gave them to me, as well.”

  Her mouth fell open and for a moment, she couldn’t speak, couldn’t form a thought as the enormity of what these men had pledged sank into her soul.

  And all for her.

  Kerr stroked the edge of her jaw just beneath her ear. Derria leaned into his touch, and put her heart and soul into the pledge.

  “I accept you, Kerr Blackwood, with all my soul.”

  That last piece of the bond sprang into position with such force Derria swore she’d almost heard it snap into place.

  In seconds they were breath to breath, his mouth on hers with a gentle coax of lips and teeth that set her insides to dancing.

  The kiss started gentle enough, then his arms tightened around her until she felt the bulge of his biceps beneath her shoulder blades. She could tell he wanted to crush her to him and that the effort of not doing so pushed him toward the edge of some unseen peak.

  And that kiss, that trading of breath and longing, went on and on…until Derria inhaled sharply at the buzzing charge that flashed through her belly. The cause? Lakota’s erect cock pressed against the towel and lined the crease of her buttocks. Hot, thick, hard. A mix of velvety smooth skin stretched taut over solid steel.

  Lakota’ arms came around her body, one hand landed on her hip, and the other on Kerr’s as he pulled them all into a firm embrace. Skin to skin, mind to mind, there was one thing that they all needed right now.

  Each other.

  * * * * *

  In the bedroom, Kerr turned on and then dimmed the lights with a remote mounted on the wall. Easing the covers back on the big bed, he stepped aside so Derria could climb in, while ‘Kota moved around to the other side.

  Fitting their bodies against hers—curve to curve, dip to dip—Derria was surrounded by two six-foot-something packages of irresistible. Kerr pressed against her front, ‘Kota against her back.

  As her wolf pressed hi
s lips to hers, one arm pillowed her head as his fingers gently burrowed into the thick curls to massage her scalp. The other hand eased beneath a swelling breast to weigh and squeeze, to roll her nipple between insistent fingers, tugging them until her breath had trouble choosing whether to sough in and out, or remain stuck in her lungs.

  God it was almost overwhelming, yet so very good.

  “Lakota, roll to your back and take Derria with you.”

  And just like that she was stretched out as if the man was a big firm pillow. Without another word, Kerr arranged her so that her legs were outside of ‘Kota’s thighs. As if on cue, her other mate bent his knees and raised and parted her thighs to the perfect angle. Her mind reeled with the possibilities now that Kerr had complete and easy access to all her cocoa-pink parts. And one part in particular was weeping until she felt her own cream run from her pussy, down the crack of her ass, no doubt leaving a trail of dew clear down to Lakota’s ball sac.

  The jaguar crooned softly into her ear. “Damn, woman, you feel so good against me. Wiggle that ass against my cock, lovely.” Then soft juicy licks fell on her lobes as Lakota tasted his way down the side of her neck, sucking and nibbling.

  Derria let her head lull in whatever direction it wanted while obeying Lakota’s command. Hell, she couldn’t help it. The way these men played with her body made it impossible to stay still. A sharp nip at the cords of her neck had her making a few demands of her own.

  “Lakota, oh god, please. Mark me again.”

  “Where, lovely? Here?” He licked just below her ear.

  “No.” She was panting now. “Lower.”

  “Here?” Lakota bit down on the tendon where neck met shoulder. Derria shivered violently. But that wasn’t the spot. Wasn’t the spot that made her stomach clench so tightly she thought she’d come just from him kissing her there. He was playing with her, but she wanted to feel his bite so badly she didn’t want to take the time to get mad. God, please let him find it again.

  “Here?” Lakota sank his teeth into that spot. Derria’s fingers found the sheets and tugged. Hard.