His lips on hers were so soft, so gentle, so opposite of the other sensations flooding her body that when someone's hand moved to cup her mound, to push fingers into her pussy, she came in a rush. All at once. Mick's tongue thrust into her mouth as she screamed, his big body rolling over hers to thrust his cock into her.
She shook. Consumed. Then she came again, her channel clamping down until he moaned and withdrew. He flipped her over and pulled her to her knees, gave her no warning before thrusting into her from behind. The full feeling in her ass increased, and the vibrations kicked up a notch.
There was no way to fight the pleasure. No way to survive it, maybe. She gave in and became a creature that was nothing but feeling. Nothing but bliss. He made her feel every microsecond of it until she was sure she wouldn't survive. Until she was sure she really could have an overdose of pleasure.
She felt him grow harder, his strokes grow faster, his roar filled her ears, and in one final release she literally saw stars. Her overloaded brain shut down, and she slumped to the bed. Minutes later when she finally could crack open her eyes, they both leaned over her, wearing the same expression of worry. The plug was gone. Her body felt sated and heavy and replete, and she vowed never to move again.
“What?” she asked sleepily.
“You're okay.” Jonas's voice was full of relief.
She found the strength to stretch her arms over her head, arching her back to loosen those muscles. “Oh yeah. I'm not moving for a week, but I'm perfect.” His eyes narrowed, and it made her sex clench.
“It's a very bad idea to test my control, darlin'.”
“Yeah? I thought it worked out pretty well,” she said smugly.
He growled, his expression stern, but he looked too satisfied to pull it off. She looped her arms around his neck.
“Maybe control is overrated?”
“Not yet.”
He pulled her arms loose and sat up, looking over her moodily. Starting at her face, his gaze moved down her body, stopping at her stomach. His fingertips lightly grazed the faint pale scars there before his lips did the same. She sucked in a breath, tried to move him away, but he wouldn't budge until he'd traced them all.
He sat up, his gaze traveled down to her thighs, and Mick's lips took over where Jonas had stopped.
Jonas didn't speak until Mick lifted his head. His eyes were cold and determined. “This is a story I will have from you, Harper.” She tried to wiggle her way out between them, to avoid having to paint a picture of herself as weak and damaged, but they easily held her in place. She sighed.
“It was a long time ago. I got between him and a horse that had pissed him off.”
“Who, Harper?”
“You know,” she whispered. Why were they insisting she rehash this? “My father.”
The story spilled out against her will. It had been a beautiful summer day, her last week in high school, and she had felt freedom in her grasp. She had been planning to go away to college in the fall, had been ignoring her father's taunts and jeers and hints that he would force her to stay. It had been that freedom, that feeling she was going to break away, that emboldened her to step forward and protest when he'd raised the riding crop against the horse. He had simply transferred his fury from it to her. It had taken weeks for her to recover. Weeks that had seen his emotional torment focused more and more on Dane, and she had known when the time came to leave in the fall, she couldn't abandon her brother.
“I'm going to kill him,” Jonas said, softly, but with so much rage it scared her.
And infuriated her.
Wrenching free, she jumped off the bed to glare down at them with her hands on her hips. She was a little surprised they let her go, but pissed off enough she didn't care. Why were they trying to mess up her new start by reliving the past?
She'd been afraid, but obviously it wasn't a problem. Or had they missed the fact it was her screaming her head off in pleasure anytime either one touched her?
Worse, Jonas couldn't go after her father. Couldn't even entertain the idea. He was the most powerful wizard she knew, maybe in his generation. He wasn't afraid to use black magic, and he loved to make her miserable. And killing Jonas would rip her heart out. She had to stop this madness before it took root. But before she could launch into a lecture, before she could collect her thoughts and give them the yelling she wanted a banging came from downstairs on the front door. It opened with a thud.
Chapter Ten
“Harper!”
Holy shit. Just what she needed. Her overprotective baby brother joining forces with two overprotective mates. Then it occurred to her she was naked. And footsteps pounded up the stairs. She pulled on the first thing she reached—Jonas's shirt—and tossed two pairs of jeans on the bed.
She didn't wait to see if they'd dressed before flinging open the door, hoping to meet Dane out in the hall. No such luck. He stood on the other side of the threshold, fist raised to knock, face a furious red. He reached out and grabbed her in a tight hold.
“Thank gods,” he muttered. “Are you all right?”
“Of course.” She pulled back and scowled up at him. “What happened?” He shook his head, looking over her to take in Mick and Jonas, who both, she noticed when she turned to look, waited in only jeans. She felt power rising, recognized it as her loving brother's, and tapped him on the chest to get his attention. He rubbed the spot, looking down at her with a surprised expression.
Okay, maybe she'd hit him harder than she'd realized, but… She poked him in the chest.
“They are off-limits.”
“You sure, Sis?”
She gave him a tight smile. “Mine.”
She surprised herself with her vehemence. She could get used to this werewolf stuff, where possessiveness wasn't considered a character flaw. Looking over her shoulder, she caught Mick's approving grin. That didn't hurt either. She pushed Dane out of the doorway and toward the steps.
“I thought you were going to dinner.”
“I got distracted.”
It was almost a growl, but the rage in his tone was all real. She led him to the kitchen, opened the fridge, and pulled out four beers still on the plastic ring. She shouldn't give her underage baby brother a beer, but she recognized that look in his eyes. She knew he'd had a vision that frightened him, and it still held him in its grip. She shook her head at Jonas's disapproving frown when she handed one to Dane. Hell, at eighteen he was older than most of the thirtysomethings she knew.
She dragged him to a chair.
“Tell me.”
He sat, silent, Adam's apple bobbing while he got himself under control. Then he popped the top on the beer and took a long swallow.
“Dane?”
“He's coming.”
“But you already knew that, right?” she said gently. That was why he'd hung around when it was so dangerous for a wizard to impede on werewolf territory.
His eyes were haunted. “This time he's going to kill you,” he whispered.
She repressed her immediate reaction. She'd worry about terror later.
Grabbing her brother's hand, she focused on his face, focused her power into her voice. Convincing. Certain. “No, he isn't. There is no way Mick and Jonas will let that happen.”
“Harper—”
“No,” she said sharply. “You're good, but you're young. You don't have perfect control. You know that.”
For the gazillionth time in her life she wished this were a gift, a burden she could take from her baby brother.
The table was huge and round, probably capable of seating eight men.
Impressive, considering the size of most of the men in Redhawke. She sat next to Dane, Jonas next to him, and Mick took the chair behind her.
“Tell us about your visions,” Mick said softly, but there was no denying it was an order.
Dane's head jerked up to glare at him. A wizard's natural suspicion at war with his need to recruit whatever help was necessary to protect his sister was easy to read
on his face. Harper opened her mouth to intervene, but Mick squeezed her hand and shook his head. This had to come from Dane, and Mick wouldn't allow him to hide behind his sister. That would stunt a boy on the cusp of becoming a man.
“They're flashes of images. Like snapshots.”
“And they aren't always accurate?”
Dane sighed. “No. But I'm more accurate than most. Maybe eighty, eighty-five percent of the time.”
“But you're more likely to be wrong about me,” Harper pointed out.
Dane's nod was reluctant. “Emotion can cloud things.” That had better be true, because no one was going to be permitted to harm Harper ever again. Not even death would take her from them.
“What did you see?” Jonas asked, glancing over at Harper. “Darlin', why don't you go get cleaned up.”
Mick moaned to himself. Jonas's suggestion was an order, and Harper wasn't about to let herself be bullied into following it. Maybe a few a days ago, but not now.
Mick wondered briefly if Jonas realized how much she'd changed, opened up in the last few days? That conversation would have to wait for later.
“I'm not going anywhere. If I want other people running my life for me, I know exactly where to go.”
Jonas growled. Mick gripped the back of her neck and snapped his teeth in warning before she could dig herself a deeper hole. Leaving them was not an option.
Ever. She rolled her eyes.
“Didn't I just say I wasn’t leaving?”
Her words soothed his wolf, but her confrontational attitude excited it. “Keep pushing, sugar,” he growled.
He didn't think she was ready to play the kind of games she was inciting just yet. Dane cleared his throat, and everyone's attention swung back to him.
“The vision. It's soon. Probably tonight. We have to get Harper out of here.”
“No. He'll just come after me wherever I go. I've hurt his pride now.” Dane turned a little green, and Mick jumped up to grab the trash can. Better than vomiting all over himself and the table, but when he handed it over, Dane shook his head, pulled himself together.
“So we know when. Do you know where?”
Dane looked around. “Here.”
Jonas snarled and stood to pace. Mick could guess what he was thinking. This damned wizard was coming after their mate in their territory? Stupid. But lucky for them. Jonas got control of his initial rage and turned to meet Mick's gaze. They were definitely thinking the same thing.
“Why do you think it's tonight?” Jonas asked.
Dane turned and pointed to the window over the sink. “Because in the vision I could see the moon, almost full, in that window. And if the weather report is right, tomorrow will be too overcast to see it.”
Well now. Maybe the kid was smarter than he looked. Mick never bothered to check weather reports. His wolf alerted him to impending changes. A storm was moving in, probably after daybreak, and it wasn't quite dark yet.
“We need to get you up to the alpha's house,” he told Harper.
“What? No. It's me he wants.”
“And he isn't getting you. We need you someplace we know you're not in danger,” Jonas growled.
She lifted her chin in the air, stubbornness radiating from her tense body.
“You need my help. Dane is a seer, but not a great a spell caster, and Liza isn't good enough yet. So you're stuck with me.”
Jonas snarled and resumed pacing. Thinking. Unfortunately, he'd reached the same conclusion Mick already had. She was right. But they sure as fuck didn't have to like it.
“I'm not going either,” Dane said belligerently. Mick sighed. Apparently, pigheadedness was genetic. “I'm good with fire if nothing else,” he added with a glare at Harper. From what little he'd seen, he'd guess Harper protected her younger brother from danger as much as possible.
“Is that why Liza sent me down here?” a voice drawled from behind them.
Jonas turned to see Zach lounging against the door frame behind him. Great.
Just what they needed to add to the clusterfuck. Zach was annoying on his best days, antagonistic the rest of the time.
“Why would she send you here?” Jonas asked.
Zach shrugged and strolled into the kitchen. “Said she had a bad feeling and wanted me to check up on Harper.”
One day very soon Jonas was going to give into the urge to knock his beta on his ass, but the threat to Harper had to be eliminated first. He could guess by Mick's expression he'd decided to give in to her demand to stay. Like her, he hadn't thought the whole thing through. He was a healer; he'd never kill unless in the heat of battle. Jonas was not so reserved. They were only thinking of beating the bad guy, not what it would take to keep the bad guy away forever.
He walked outside, past Zach, who followed and closed the door behind him.
“Kid says he had a vision. Harper's father isn't willing to let her go after all.”
“You believe him?”
“Yeah.” Unfortunately. “If the kid is right, he'll show up tonight.” Zach's expression changed from predatory to amused in half a second. “The kid has a name.”
Jonas snorted. Like they had time for stating the obvious? “Whatever. I need them out of here. All three of them.”
Technically, Jonas outranked Mick, but under the circumstances Mick wouldn't follow the order if he gave it, and because of what they meant to each other Jonas was reluctant to force him. Zach, on the other hand, was beta. Not even Mick would go against his orders. Zach nodded.
“And then we wait for her father.”
Jonas nodded.
“Get Gabby and Ethan here too. And put a couple extra patrols on my place.” He tossed his phone to Jonas and left him outside to make the calls while he went back into the kitchen. Jonas stepped away from the house and scrolled through the address book. He picked up raised voices inside but couldn't make them out. A few minutes later, everyone trooped out, and he turned his back on Mick's angry glare.
He should've known he wouldn't get off that easy. He scented that Zach, Harper, and Dane had moved away, but he knew when he finished his last call, Mick would be standing there waiting for him. Knowing he couldn't put it off any longer, he flipped the phone closed and turned to face him.
Mick strode forward, stopped inches from Jonas, a growl rumbling in his chest.
“She's my mate too. You wouldn't try to stop anyone else from protecting what was theirs.”
“No.” Jonas closed the distance between them, lifting his hands to cradle Mick's face. “But do you want her to watch me kill her father? Is there another way to keep her safe?”
Mick's body jerked, but he didn't pull away. “Mick, baby, let me do what I have to without worrying about y'all,” he pleaded.
Mick's eyes glowed in the evening gloom. “You think I'm not capable? You think I can't help?”
Jonas took a deep breath. “I think it's against your nature. I think it would eat at you. And that would make me feel…less. For not protecting you too.” When was the last time he'd been this honest? Had he ever? It surprised him how easy it was to do, to just lay everything bare. He leaned his forehead against Mick's. “I need you to stay whole,” he whispered.
Finally, finally Mick touched him. His arms lifted, circled Jonas's waist, and yanked him close. “You are not getting off the hook for not discussing this with me.” No but and Jonas heaved a huge sigh of relief. Mick was going to go. “Someone has to watch Harper, and I have to be focused elsewhere. You know that.” He couldn't help push, though. “Could you really do it?” Even Mick's scent went cold. “If it meant protecting you or her, yes.”
“And that I don't want you to have to make that choice? Does that mean anything?”
Mick smiled, slow and sweet and sensual. “Baby, the time is going to come you have to let someone take care of you.”
They did something—those words—to Jonas. The sensual promise. The exacting command. He whispered, “Maybe. For now, though, I need you to go.” He leaned
forward and kissed Mick. All teeth and tongue and bite. “Be safe. Keep her safe. And let me do my thing.”
Mick didn't let him go so easily. He bit him hard on his bottom lip. “We are going to talk about this again.”
He scented Zach returning, and he wanted Mick away. Safe. “Go.”
He wasn't happy about it, but he turned to leave. Jonas watched until he disappeared in the growing dark, and Zach stood at his side. Then Gabby and Ethan strolled into the yard. They both radiated tension.
Zach heaved a sigh. “You two. Can it.”
Gabby flashed a quick rueful grin, and the anxiety seemed to deflate out of her. “What's the plan?”
“You're playing decoy.”
Ethan jerked, his eyes glowing wolf yellow, but he nodded. Even if he claimed her right now, she was a lieutenant in the pack, and she'd remain one. Up close she looked nothing like Harper, but they were the same height and had similar builds.
Harper's father wouldn't realize he'd gone after the wrong target until it was too late.
The patrols had been ordered to let the man slip through or believe he had.
He'd probably use magic at the gate for entrance and to find the location of Jonas's house, so the gate guards hadn't been warned. Jonas felt a little bad about that, but they couldn't accidentally betray a plan they knew nothing of.
Now it was simply a matter of waiting, and he was nothing if not a patient wolf. If he'd been in lupine form, his lips would have been pulled back in a snarl.
This was one kill he was looking forward to.
The plan was put into action.
Hours later, he could see Gabby through the window where she pretended to be Harper, puttering around the kitchen. He could smell the others in the woods—his backup should things go wrong. He wouldn't need it. He had determination and cold, cutting fury on his side. He lifted his snout to check the angle of the moon.
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