Beast Denied

by Faye Avalon

When neither of them answered, Nathan got off the bed. He stood staring down at them, his expression and tone brooking no argument, and then left the room.

  Grabbing for the duvet, Naomi pulled it around her and sat back against the headboard. She refused to look at Tynan who, after a few moments came up beside her. He didn’t bother with the duvet but stretched out his long legs and crossed his feet at the ankles. He sported an impressive erection, and her pussy throbbed in memory of how it had felt inside her.

  Naomi drew in a breath. “What was that about?”

  He was silent for a moment, then turned to face her. “I could ask you the same.”

  “I don’t like playing roughhouse.”

  He folded his arms across his chest. “And I don’t like being told the woman I’m going down on prefers another man.”

  She knew that telling Nathan to take his turn would piss Tynan off, which was the whole point of the exercise. “I didn’t say I preferred Nathan. It’s just that you take too many liberties. Shoving me down like that, and then doing what you damn well please.”

  He shrugged. “Nathan was right when he said I don’t like to share.”

  “Then how did it work before? You and Nathan have done threesomes in the past, right?”

  Another shrug. “Yeah.”

  “And it was always like this? You getting pissed?”

  He laughed softly, as if he was in on a joke she wasn’t party to. “No. It wasn’t always like this.”

  “Usually, it was Caleb getting pissy,” Nathan said from the doorway. He carried two tumblers of whisky in one hand, and a glass of wine in the other. “Cal liked to be the first to get some action. If that didn’t happen, he’d turn up the ante.”

  Tynan huffed out a laugh. “Once we had to lock him in the bathroom. He terrified the woman we were with, and we thought she’d take off.”

  Naomi straightened, glancing from one man to the other. “You…all three of you with one woman?”

  “We were a lot younger then,” Nathan confirmed, handing her the wineglass. “But yeah, we liked to mix it up.”

  Which begged the question, if Tynan was that experienced at group sex, why had he acted up now? “How…how did it work?” Naomi batted her hand when both men laughed. “I don’t mean the technical details. What I mean is, how did you find a woman willing to…with all three of you?”

  “You’d be surprised,” Nathan said. “Women can be adventurous creatures. Look at you.”

  She’d never thought herself adventurous, yet here she was in bed with two intensely masculine and virile men. She swigged down her wine. “It’s opened up a whole new world for me.”

  “It’s not for everyone,” Tynan said, sipping his whisky. “Some women can’t take it.”

  Her chin shot up. “Meaning me?”

  Tynan hiked one shoulder.

  “As it happens,” Naomi said, turning fully to face him, “before you threw your wobbly, I was enjoying it. And who are you to decide when and if I need a break?”

  Nathan laughed, put his glass down on the side table and moved onto the bed behind Naomi. “Why the fuck don’t you two call a truce? Then maybe we can get on with the evening’s entertainment.”

  She locked gazes with Tynan. His shoulders rolled back, and his jaw tightened. Too bad. If he had a problem with any of this, he could go take a hike. Without looking away, she handed her glass over her shoulder to Nathan. “Why don’t we just do that.”

  Nathan put down her glass and then flung off the duvet. Shimmying down the bed, Naomi reached for him, deliberately blanking Tynan. She initiated the kiss, making sure to put on a show for Tynan’s benefit. Not especially difficult, considering Nathan was one hell of a kisser.

  It worked too well, because seconds later, the mattress moved. She broke the kiss and turned to watch Tynan striding out of the bedroom.

  Nathan flopped over and stared up at the ceiling. “Pushed back twice in one night. Shit. That’s a first for me.”

  Distracted, she hiked up onto her elbows and stared at the closed bedroom door. “What?”

  “He’s upset. Which means you’re no longer in the mood.”

  She sat up and tucked her hair behind her ear. “What’s his problem anyway?”

  Nathan moved behind and wrapped his arms around her. “I’d say it’s you.” He placed his hand on her chin and drew her attention from the door back to him. “It’s hard not to notice this thing you two have going. Seems to me, Ty’s not the only one carrying a torch.”

  She shook her head. “I’m not—”

  “I’m not sure what’s going on between you, but I realize that Ty’s not going to stick around to watch me fuck you. Hell, I knew I was putting a match to dry kindling even suggesting this thing. But Ty was so wrung out by you looking to hook up with complete strangers, I thought maybe he’d handle the three of us better.”

  “He has to understand that what I do is none of his concern. You don’t hear me complaining about his sexual exploits. Why should he think he has the right to complain about mine?”

  Nathan dragged up the duvet and wrapped it around her shoulders. “That’s Tynan for you.”

  “You’re not like that.”

  He drew them both down until they were lying side by side. “It’s not in my DNA to get sexually possessive of women.”

  Naomi knew some of Nathan’s history. That his young mother had sold him to another shifter family. It wasn’t known who his real father was, but rumor had it that he was a boy holidaying in the area. Nathan’s adoptive parents were good, kind people, but for a shifter, blood meant everything. To be abandoned by his natural mother, must have been devastating for Nathan. Was it any wonder he had a problem letting himself get close to women?

  “You see, this is why our arrangement works so well for us,” Naomi said. “You don’t want complications any more than I do.”

  “Amen to that. But like I said, Ty’s got the whole possessive thing going. He’s the type who wants a good woman to come home to.”

  And a whole bunch of little Galloways running across the moor…

  Naomi sighed, suddenly melancholy. “You’re right. I’m not in the mood anymore.”

  “Then why don’t I get us another drink, rustle up a sandwich, and we’ll watch some mutually agreeable shit on TV?”

  She forced a smile. “That sounds just about perfect.”

  Chapter Nine

  “Can I get you more coffee?” The receptionist at the medical center smiled down at Tynan, who was stabbing at the keyboard.

  “I’m fine. Thanks.” He didn’t need more caffeine spiking his already overheated system, any more than he needed Naomi giving him what amounted to the cold shoulder every time she came out of her surgery. After what they’d shared last night, she could at least damn well acknowledge him with more than a curt nod. She owed him that much.

  He’d tried, but he couldn’t shake the memory of Naomi beneath him. Neither could he shake the memory of the question she’d asked him. Did he always get pissed at having to share the woman in a threesome?

  No, he fucking didn’t get pissed at sharing any other woman. Just her.

  He’d wanted Nathan out of the picture. He’d had to steel himself against the urge to deck his friend and tell him to take his cock and his libido someplace else, because for sure the man was no longer going to slake his sexual appetites with Naomi.

  But Naomi seemed to have other ideas. And damned if he was sticking around to watch Nathan drive his cock inside her and listen to her moaning and whimpering in the same way she’d done while he’d had his own fingers, tongue and cock inside her.

  Damn Naomi. And damn Nathan.

  And damn everything that made life so fucking complicated.

  As if his irritation had summoned her, she stepped out of the surgery with her coat on and her bag underneath her arm.


  “Where are you going?”

  She gave him one of those haughty looks at which she’d become so adept, the one that signaled he was the last person to whom she’d give the time of day. “I’ve got rounds,” she said curtly. And hurried toward the door.

  He closed down the laptop and grabbed his jacket. “Wait up,” he ordered, catching up with her at the door. “You don’t go anywhere without telling me. That was the deal.”

  “There’s not much that can happen to me in the middle of the day, while I’m doing my rounds, is there?”

  Her sarcastic tone did little to salve his irritated nerves. “Damn straight. At least not with me around.”

  “And what are you planning to do?” She was at her car and sliding into the driver’s seat. “Prowl around outside every one of my house calls?”

  Barely resisting the urge to pull her out of the car, he yanked open the passenger door and got inside. “If that’s what it takes. You agreed to let me do what needs doing.”

  She started the ignition. “I remember agreeing to let you and Nathan do what needs doing.”

  He gritted his teeth. Fuck. Was she hell-bent on screwing with his head? Dropping fucking Nathan into the mix every opportunity she got? “He doesn’t do commitment. You know that, right?”

  “Neither do I, so we suit each other fine.”

  Deciding not to overreact, he kept his voice even. “Nathan likes to play. He doesn’t do serious or monogamous.”

  “I repeat, neither do I.” She spared him a glance. “And it looks like I don’t do monogamous either, doesn’t it? That is, if it’s any of your business.”

  “You made it my business when you let me push my dick inside you.”

  “Oh really? Just like you considered me your business after the first time?”

  “Is that what this is all about? You paying me back for being a prick a decade ago?”

  Her cheeks flushed gently. “I’m not that petty. And there was nothing to pay back. We were just young and stupid.”

  “Pull over.”

  “What?”

  “I said pull over.”

  “I’m on rounds. I can’t just stop and—”

  “If you don’t pull over, I’ll take the damn wheel myself.”

  She huffed out an irritated breath and did what he said, pulling into the side of the quiet road on the edge of the moor. “What is it?”

  His nerves were on edge, and she’d damn near wound him up to breaking point. He clipped off his seat belt, then hers. She started to vent her displeasure, but he pulled her as far into his lap as the seat allowed and did what he’d been aching to do since she’d stuck that snippy chin in the air and ignored him all morning. He kissed her. Kept kissing her, despite her struggles to get away from him. He waited, subjecting her to a punishing kiss into which he poured every damn piece of his frustration.

  Only when he felt her relax into the kiss did he draw back. “We’re not young and stupid now. In fact, what happened between us last night was nothing short of damn sensational.”

  She held still for a moment, her eyes pools of confusion, then tried to pull away. “It seems we’ve both learned a thing or two since we tried it before.”

  “Damn right.” He raised his chin. “I don’t like you being with Nathan.”

  “That’s too bad, because like I said, it suits us fine.”

  “He’s not right for you.”

  “He doesn’t need to be right for me. What we have works for us. We’re friends with…benefits.”

  Let me take his place, Tynan wanted to shout. Let me be the one you call when you need something…anything. “Why him?”

  “Because it works. Because I don’t have to prove anything, and neither does he.”

  “You deserve better than settling. You deserve someone who can give you a future. A home. Family.”

  She pushed out of his hold and got back in her seat. “I’ve got patients to attend to. So if you’re determined to continue this conversation, you can get out now. Otherwise, I’d suggest you shut the hell up and keep your nose out of my private business.”

  No way was he getting out of the car. Neither was he keeping his nose out of her business. But maybe he should shut the hell up, because for sure he wasn’t making the situation between them any easier.

  He pulled his seat belt on, remaining silent when the old car chugged its way out onto the open road again. “You should think about changing this car for something more reliable.”

  “It suits me fine.”

  “Seems a lot of things suit you fine,” he grumbled, turning his head away to look out the passenger window.

  When she didn’t answer, he renewed his vow to say nothing more. It seemed all he was doing was shoveling himself into deeper shit, when what he really needed to do was focus on getting the female out of his head, out of his blood. If she wanted to waste her life, then she could fucking well get on with it.

  * * * * *

  Naomi had given up trying to shake Tynan. He’d stuck close, waiting in the car and making calls on his cell while she’d attended to her patients. Never before had it been quite so difficult to focus, to keep her mind totally absorbed on her job. The only thing that seemed capable of sticking in her mind for longer than a millisecond was what Tynan had said. That sex between them had been sensational.

  Did he believe that? And if he did, what did it really mean? Likely Nathan was right about Tynan being sexually possessive. Although when she’d asked Tynan if he always got pissed in threesomes, he’d said he hadn’t. That it wasn’t always like it had been last night.

  Hell. Her thoughts were going around in circles, and they were making her head ache.

  She glanced up at the clock in her surgery. It was a little after seven, and she was done for the day. She wasn’t on call that night, so she could go home, put her feet up and—shit, she’d momentarily forgotten that she was staying at Nathan’s.

  So was Tynan.

  Which meant that as soon as she grabbed her coat and started to leave, he’d be on her tail again. So much for putting her feet up. How was she supposed to do that with two über-protective males watching her every move?

  And what if they wanted to pick up from where they all left off last night?

  Naomi pressed her fingers to her aching temples. She wasn’t sure she could go another round with both of them. Wasn’t sure her nerves were up to the emotional drain last night had taken from her.

  Now she had to consider what Tynan had said about sex between them being sensational. As much as she’d tried to deny it to herself, it had been phenomenal. But she couldn’t let him see how she felt. She couldn’t afford to let him get that close. It could never be like it was with Nathan, because she felt too much when she was with Tynan, things that went far beyond sex and friendship. Perhaps there was simply too much history between them. Whatever it was, she couldn’t take the chance.

  She grabbed her coat and bag, turned off the light and left her surgery. The main office was still buzzing with patients waiting to be seen by one of her colleagues. She had the crazy idea to ask if she could swap with one of them, take on their duties. She would even be prepared to stay on call through the night. That way she could remain at the surgery. Maybe take one of the beds in the back office.

  Except that was the coward’s way out. Besides, Tynan already knew what her shifts were for the week.

  Even so, with the flu outbreak causing concern, especially among the young and elderly, Naomi detoured and told one of the receptionists that she had no plans for the evening and was happy to help out if her colleagues needed any assistance, and that she would keep her cell phone on.

  Walking back through the main reception area, she found Tynan waiting at the door. She returned his nod, and he followed her out to where her car was parked. Neither said anything, but Naomi w
as aware of his eyes on her. He waited until she was safely in her car before getting into his.

  He kept a safe distance behind as they traveled out of town and onto the moor. The last of the commuters were making their way home, but as they got farther away from town, the traffic dwindled.

  When they arrived at Nathan’s, they found the house empty, although the security lights surrounding the house and driveway were on. There was also a light on in the porch and hallway.

  When she entered the house, Naomi’s already taut nerves stretched further. “I thought Nathan was working from home today.”

  Tynan put down the bag he’d been carrying, threw his keys on the hall table and shrugged out of his jacket. “He’s had to fly to Dublin. Emergency security cover for a local politician.”

  Naomi’s fingers tightened around the strap of her bag. “When did this happen?” Damn it, she hoped to God he was coming home tonight. No way was she about to spend time alone with Tynan.

  “Midmorning. Something about a threat made to the politician on social media.” He shrugged. “You know Nathan. Keeps things tight to his chest.”

  Naomi swallowed. “He’ll be home late?”

  Tynan shook his head and went into the kitchen. “Not until tomorrow. What do you want to eat?”

  She swallowed again and made herself put down her bag. Her heart was thumping; her knees felt like jelly. Which was ridiculous. She and Tynan were adults, for God’s sake. They could surely be trusted to behave in a civilized manner while alone for a few hours.

  The trouble was she wasn’t at all sure she could resist Tynan if it came to it. She remembered that heated kiss in the car earlier. Which was at least preferable to dwelling on what they’d done last night.

  With a deep breath, she walked into the kitchen and found him unpacking potatoes and fresh vegetables from the bag he’d brought in.

  She hoped to heaven he wasn’t expecting her to cook. That particular skill was way down on her list of accomplishments.

  “Grilled steak okay?” he asked without looking up. When she didn’t answer immediately, he nodded toward the state-of-the-art oven. “Why don’t you turn that on while I get started on the vegetables?”