“Braxton?” she called out to me with a surprised tone, and my wolf preened at her saying my name aloud.
“I smelled your…”
The nurse giggled and nodded at Jade. “You’ll be good as new by tonight thanks to shifter healing, but from now until then, no walking.” She looked back and forth from me to Braxton. “She’ll need to be tended. Make sure she eats well to help the healing along, and next time, stay on the trails—if you can.”
“We won’t let her walk on it,” Aramis answered from where he stood on the other side of our mate, but I was too busy staring at the gauze bandages wrapped around her feet and hands to pay him any attention.
Our mate hurts.
I tapped my foot and pressed my lips together until the nurse stepped out, muttering something about giving mates a few minutes of private time, while blushing like a schoolgirl.
I closed the distance between where I’d stood and the side of the bed in seconds and took her hand in mine, all my shyness suddenly forgotten. Her eyes were dilated and her breathing shallow, but more relaxed by the second. “Are you okay? What happened? Are you in pain? Who do we need to go kill?”
Jade let out a symphony of a laugh, and I couldn’t help myself from leaning down to kiss her forehead. It wasn’t the lingering kiss we’d shared before, but she melted into it all the same.
“Me,” Aramis answered, head hung low, looking at the floor. “This is all my fault.”
“You didn’t hurt me.” She reached over to take his hand the best she could with all the bandages. “You did the right thing.” Her thumb rubbed a calming circular trail on the outside of his hand.
“Will someone please tell me what’s going on?” I growled out, barely restraining my frustration.
Jade sighed and looked at me. Her dark eyes pierced me all the way to the core of my being, and my anger and worry slipped from my consciousness like water down a drain. “We were running for gym class, and we took a…lesser-used route. We heard some gunshots and were forced to hightail it through some bushes, and thorns and other sharp things cut up my paws. It’s really no big deal.”
Okay, anger was back. I knew Aramis preferred those unmaintained trails running along the back of the school, but those lands adjoined privately owned property. Someone could’ve been hunting out there.
Someone could’ve been hunting them.
“You risked her life taking her to those trails? Do you know how dangerous—”
A growl erupted from my best friend, and he targeted me with his steely gaze. “I know. I messed up. I can’t…” He looked at their joined hands and blew out a weighted breath. “I won’t let it happen again. I’m so sorry, Jade.”
Her eyebrows furrowed. “You didn’t force me. It was actually fun, if you take out the shooting part. A little adventure is nice once in a while. But if those shots hadn’t rung out, and you weren’t so hell-bent on leading me to safety, I wouldn’t be here now. These scrapes and scratches are minor compared to what could’ve happened. You did what mates are supposed to do. You helped me get out of range of whatever that was.”
She called him her mate, and a tiny twinge of jealousy pinched at my heart.
He nodded, and the rage building in me slowed, now seeing the blunder was completely unintentional. He’d been trying to have a good time with his mate.
Couldn’t fault him.
I had thought maybe he was trying to impress our mate.
“Fine,” I muttered and brushed a strand of hair from her face. “Let’s get you out of here. Do you want to go back to your dorm room? I bet a shower would feel amazing right this moment.”
She laughed. “Yes, it would. But, um, I can’t shower with this.” She wiggled her foot to remind me of the bandages. “What I wouldn’t give for a long hot bath right now.”
Aramis and I locked gazes and smiled at the same time. There was a really big advantage to him having super rich and affluent parents. We had gotten the best dorm room on the entire campus on the insistence of his mother. Complete with an oversized clawfoot bathtub.
And the hottest water Lycan Academy had to offer.
“We have one in our room,” I blurted, not giving me or her a chance to back out of this opportunity.
The blush taking over her face told me everything, and yet, I still didn’t have permission. Yes, we had eye-fucked her for weeks and she had caught us, but I felt like there needed to be some kind of explicit consent before we hauled her off to our dorm and got her naked.
“A bath would be great, mates.”
Oh…fuck.
Permission granted.
Chapter Ten
Jade
Aramis and Braxton led me to the boys’ side of the dorms, somewhere I hadn’t been often before. A few times for late-night study sessions and once when one of the boys had the brilliant idea to make s’mores over a candle. It was less than a successful endeavor, although I was grateful we did not burn the building to the ground. Or get caught. Innocent academy fun. With friends.
These two were not my friends. But they hadn’t suggested anything more than kindly allowing me the use of their tub. Not a kinky evening rolling naked in their beds. Right? So why was my imagination taking me there? Each of them had his own sensual charm, but after the crazy afternoon running from the hunters, and making sure the other students made it home safely as well, I was so tired and sore I didn’t think I had it in me to fool around with one of my mates much less both.
They each cradled one of my hands, guiding me up the stairs, up more stairs…and more until we arrived on their floor and then down the hallway to the very end where they let me into a room much grander than mine.
“This is amazing!” I stepped inside and took in the luxuriously appointed sitting area. “I didn’t know a suite was possible here.” Not that my parents would have laid out the extra cash, even if they’d had it. I peeked into the two bedrooms and shook my head. “This is so nice.”
Aramis shrugged. “I suppose. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll get your bath started. I’m afraid we don’t have bubble bath or anything. Mineral salts okay?”
“Oh sure.”
He disappeared into the larger of the bedrooms, and, in a moment, I heard the rush of water.
“It’s going to be a little tricky,” Braxton mused, “keeping your hands and feet dry.”
“Yes.” In fact, I had no idea how that might be possible until Aramis reappeared holding a roll of plastic wrap.
“I think if we wrap this around your bandages, we can keep them dry. After you undress, I’ll take care of it.”
Translation: Get naked and we’ll do kinky things with plastic.
But before I could respond, Braxton closed his hand over my elbow and gave me such a winsome smile, my heart lurched and all I wanted was to be closer to him, kinky plastic or not. And then Aramis was marching ahead of us through the bedroom and up a short flight of stairs into a tiled room with windows nearly all the way around.
“Is it a turret, then?” A turret with a huge clawfoot tub set in the center, water pouring in to fill it, and a faint scent of things earthy and rich in my nostrils. “I know, silly question.” The windows were steaming up but it didn’t matter. I knew what was out there and was far more interested in the two men who were standing by ready to make sure I felt better. They pointed out a big towel and suggested I undress and wrap it around me then they’d come and take care of my injuries.
Injuries that had ceased to hurt.
After the guys stepped out, I did as they’d suggested and shed my gym clothes then lifted the huge bath sheet from its warming rack and tucked it around my body. I flexed my hands. Still no pain and, on impulse, I loosened the bandage on one hand and peeked underneath. Rather than the scratches and gouges and nicks, I found only pink, healthy skin. The other hand the same.
My feet had been worse, but I sat on the low platform the tub stood on and slowly unwrapped the bandages. Shifter healing was awesome, but it had never worked th
is quickly.
A rap at the door Braxton had closed behind them. “Are you ready for us?”
I swallowed hard. Ready for them? Suddenly, I wasn’t tired anymore either. “Uh, give me a second.” I gathered the bandages and stuffed them in a trash can I located under the sink then set the towel aside and stepped into the tub, sinking to my neck in the water. Reaching over, I turned off the tap before it overflowed. “Come in.”
They entered, both looking at the floor, trying to give me some privacy, I believed.
“It’s okay. I’m already under the water.” Without bubbles, it wasn’t hiding much, but then they’d seen me strip to run before. That wasn’t the same thing, though, was it?
“What about your bandages?” Brax was on his knees by the tub, lifting my hand in alarm.
“I took them off. I don’t need them anymore.” I gave him a smile, wanting to reassure him. “Somehow, I healed faster than usual. I can’t figure it out.”
Aramis also came near, but he moved to the other end of the tub and reached for my feet. With great concentration, he examined the soles, rubbing his fingertips over the skin. “This is fast. Any pain?”
“No.” I did feel a little odd with him holding on to my feet, but no pain at all. “May I have my foot back?”
He let it drop into the water with a chuckle. “I suppose you may.”
The sexual tension was so thick in the steamy room, I thought you could probably cut it with a knife, but we were all behaving as if it were any ordinary day where one out of the three of us wasn’t naked.
Shifters rarely worried about nudity, but pheromones seemed to change my outlook. I sank deeper, wanting my breasts lower than the surface. But then my lips were saying, “There’s plenty of room if you both want to join me.”
Then the room was silent, my cheeks were flaming, and I was wondering what I’d do if they said no.
Or…if they said yes.
Chapter Eleven
Aramis
When my parents paid to have this suite upgraded for me, they had insisted on paying the additional fees for my friend Braxton to use the second bedroom. His folks were not wealthy, and he had argued he could easily room with someone else, but Dad put his foot down. He had great memories of his own time at this academy…in this very suite. And his suite-mate at the time now stood as his beta. Loyalty, friendship, honor…building relationships. Those qualities he owned and tried to instill in me were the reasons our pack stood firmly behind him as their alpha. He hoped I would follow in his footsteps and bring honor to our family. Although the position did pass down through bloodlines, an unsuitable candidate could be set aside by the elders. I’d sworn as a pup I would make my parents proud.
Brax was from another pack but had been my best friend since I set foot on campus a few years before, and when we graduated, my plan was to bring him home with me to establish him as my beta when Dad turned over the position to me. I hadn’t said anything yet, but I thought he had a pretty good idea what I had in mind. And Dad’s broad hints when he spent Yule with us the previous year had been difficult to miss.
Not that Brax’s family was unkind or horrible in any way, but they seemed a little indifferent. On homecoming weekend, they usually showed up for a couple of hours, but it was my family who took us out to dinner and attended the events over the three days. My mom who hugged him. Who brought him little gifts as she did me.
But when they had this tub installed, I doubted they could have anticipated the moment when Brax and I would be shedding our clothes and climbing in with a mate we were destined to share. Would they accept the relationship? Though not unheard of in the shifter community, it had never happened in our family.
Nude, I stepped into the tub and sank down in the steaming water. “This is nice, isn’t it? I don’t take nearly enough opportunities to enjoy a bath.” Reaching out, I linked my fingers with Jade’s and pulled her to lean back against my chest.
Brax sat opposite us and lifted her feet into his lap. He massaged her toes, her arches, and worked his way up her ankles, digging his fingers in and rubbing small circles. “I take one once in a while, but something about this one is much better. I can’t quite pin it down.”
Jade let out a sigh then wriggled, her curvy bottom, making my cock twice as hard as it had already been. “I’m very jealous of your bathtub. And enjoying the massage, Braxton. You have skills.”
He lifted his gaze from her ankles to meet her eyes. “Only for you, Jade.”
She caught her breath. “Oh.”
Bringing my arms around her, I brushed the bottom of her breasts before locking my fingers over her belly. Her nipples hardened, lengthened, darkening to raspberry-color, and I yearned to taste them. But this was not just any female who was in this with me for a fun evening. I’d never brought one here, to our rooms, to this bath…and I was very glad of the fact now. The intimacy of being here, naked, with my mate and my future beta would be enough for this evening. Well, almost.
I cupped her chin and turned her enough for a deep, loving kiss. “I would take you to my bed and make you mine.” At Brax’s lifted brow, I revised. “We would make you ours, but I don’t want you to feel rushed. We have our whole lives together, if you accept us as your mates. I am confident you are, as I believe Brax is.” He nodded. “But when you are sure, will be the right time.”
Jade reached up and caressed my cheek, rough with stubble. “I think…I believe you are, but it’s all so new to me. How can we have been here all this time and never noticed one another, and now…” She bit her lip again, something I began to learn she did when deep thinking. “Is there a relationship with you two? Not that I think it’s wrong or anything, but if you’re both asking me to mate with you, I’d need to know what I am agreeing to. Would we be together at the same time or separately? Would I sleep in a different bed each night or bring one of you to mine one night and the other the next? How would it work?”
Braxton, the thinker, replied. “Ah, lots of questions. But I believe the most important one is what you want to know about Aramis and me. We are friends, very close friends. But I feel no physical attraction to him.” He offered me a grin. “Sorry, bro. I know you’re probably hot, but I don’t see it.”
“And I’m sorry, too, Brax. I love you like a brother, but that’s it.”
“You guys!” Jade’s giggle made me chuckle in return. “A no would have been fine.”
“But,” he went on, “I think we’ll have to make our own rules as we go along. While I have no desire to have sex with my buddy, I don’t have any real objections to sleeping in a puppy pile together. At least, I don’t think so. We’ve never done it, but with you in the middle, it might be nice.”
“I could do that.” I liked the idea of having the two people I cared for most close to me, where I could keep them safe. After today’s hunter shenanigans, I never wanted them out of my sight. “What about tonight?”
“T-tonight?” Jade’s voice shook a little. “I thought we were taking our time…”
I nuzzled her ear, loving her shudder. “Of course. We aren’t easy, are we, Brax?”
“No!” He crossed his arms over his chest in a show of shyness. “We have high standards.”
I sobered a little. Brax had high standards, mine had risen. When I thought of all the girls I’d spent a few hours with, I was ashamed. “We have found our mate,” I said in a soft voice. “Our standards are the highest.” Drawing a deep breath, I asked, “Will you stay over tonight, mate? Sleep with us in a puppy pile. No more. Just let us hold you.
Chapter Twelve
Jade
My wolf was settled. She lay down inside me and sighed every once in a while, content and awfully pleased with the situation we’d found ourselves in, even though it had come at the price of torn-up hands and feet.
Worth it.
I shivered, and Braxton took it as a sign I was cold. He pulled a random blanket from his bed and covered me with it all the way up to my chin.
“Tucking me in?” I half-joked, half-swooned. The guy was a romantic—I could tell. Maybe not romantic, but definitely the kind of mate who spoiled his female. That, I could get used to.
He chuckled low and deep then leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Consider it the first time of many.”
Double shiver.
“I’m back,” Aramis announced as he came in the door, peeking around the edge of it as though he expected Braxton and me to be in the middle of something.
I wanted to be in the middle of something with both of them, just not quite yet.
“Smells good,” I said, trying to sit up to get more comfortable, but putting pressure on the palms of my hands had me wincing again. The cuts and scrapes were healing, almost faster than I was used to, even as a shifter, but still, there was bruising and aches.
“Here, let me.” Aramis put the sack of food on their dining table, tiny but still a dining table. In my dorm room, if I ate in there instead of the cafeteria, I ate mostly at my desk or sitting on the floor. These boys had a table.
And a bathtub.
I might have to move in sooner than later.
Or we would get a place of our own?
I shook my head against the thoughts of the future, determined to allow this thing to take its course naturally.
“How did you two manage to get a dining table and a bathtub? Does Headmaster know about this, because sometimes I can’t even get hot water in my damned shower?”
While Aramis helped me up to a better sitting position, Braxton had gone to inspect the food, but at my words, they both looked up at each other.
They seemed to do it a lot, sharing some kind of mind link I desperately wanted in on.
“It’s because of him.” Braxton jutted his chin toward my other mate who squinted his emerald eyes but then softened them as he looked down at me.
“My parents use their money to influence things at the school. It’s not really a secret. I’m surprised you didn’t know already.”
Jaded Love (The Lycan Academy Book 4) Page 4
