by Leah Brooke
He’d tied his hair back, but he knew his size and hard features scared most people. He’d used it to his advantage his entire adult life. He scared the hell out of most people with a glare, and even intimidated his pack mates occasionally.
Glenna had cuddled against him with no fear at all.
“Hello?”
Smiling at Joshua’s disgruntled greeting, Leland moved away from the couple crossing the parking lot. “Is everything okay? Have you found anything?”
“Yes. No.”
Leland straightened, gritting his teeth to bite back an angry retort.
Joshua Evans, even larger and meaner than Leland, had never been much of a talker, but his speech became even more abrupt when he was irritated.
When Joshua was angry, he hardly spoke at all.
Holding back his own temper, Leland scrubbed a hand over his face. “That farm and the safety of everyone on it is my responsibility.”
Joshua sighed. “I know you and Joe are the Alphas, Leland, but the farm isn’t going to fall apart if you’re not here. We told you we’d call if we found something, which is why I was reaching for the phone when it rang.”
His senses went on alert, his stomach clenching. “What is it? What did you find?”
“Footprints. Both human and panther. Both with the same scent.”
“Fuck!” Blowing out a breath, Leland paced. “Joe and I were both hoping that it wasn’t true. Another shape-shifter. Fuck!”
“Apparently.” Joshua sighed. “He’s probably alone and scared to approach any of us.”
Leland stiffened, his stomach turning to ice. “Or he’s stalking us for some reason, and we have no proof that he’s alone. Maybe he’s just the one watching us. Be careful. I don’t want anyone going out on patrols alone.” After giving a few last orders, Leland disconnected, clenching the phone in his hand as he started back into the restaurant.
Glenna’s scent drew him, her laughter teasing his senses as he crossed to the table where Joe and Glenna sat laughing together.
Jealousy reared its ugly head, making the ice in his stomach sharp and jagged, until Glenna looked up at his approach.
The flash of delight in her eyes made him feel ten feet tall, her smile melting the ice.
She meant so much to him already—more than she should have, but every time he reminded himself to go slowly, she did or said something that made him want to ravish her.
Hell, sometimes—like now—it was just a look that nearly brought him to his knees.
He’d never wanted like this before.
He’d never felt so out of control.
With her, he needed more patience than ever, and at a time when he needed to focus on keeping his pack mates safe.
Right now, nothing mattered except the way her jewel-colored eyes sparkled with happiness when she looked at him.
Nothing existed but her as she reached for him.
Arousal darkened her eyes and flushed her cheeks, giving her an exotic look—one that made him want her even more.
She was like a drug in his system, destroying his control and drawing all of his animal instincts to the surface.
Instinct and possessiveness took over, and without thinking, he reached over and gripped the edge of her seat and yanked it closer.
Glenna gasped and stiffened, her eyes widening in alarm.
Feeling like a fool for startling her, he glanced at his clearly disgruntled friend and took Glenna’s hand in his. “I want you here next to me.”
Bending low, he whispered in her ear, fully aware that Joe would hear him. “I want you, Glenna—more than I’ve ever wanted anything or anyone in my life.”
* * * *
Unable to tear her gaze from Leland’s dark and affectionate one, Glenna smiled, remembering how patient and tender he’d been in the truck. Reaching out, she laid her hand on his, once again taken aback at the tingling awareness travelling up her arm. “I don’t have any experience with men like you and Joe, and I certainly don’t have any experience at caring about two men at the same time.”
Frowning as the waiter came with their food, she waited until he left, staring down at her plate. “You confuse me.”
Leland smiled, something she doubted he did very often, reminding her that she didn’t even know him well enough to be sure. “We’re all in new territory here. We’re all just going to have to navigate our way through.” Frowning, he cut into his steak as he gestured toward her plate. “Eat your pasta.”
Spearing a bite of pasta, she glanced up at Joe, stilling at the narrowed look he gave Leland. An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of her stomach as she lowered her fork and glanced from one to the other. “Is something wrong?”
Joe shrugged, cutting into his steak. “Not really. We’ve just had someone snooping around that shouldn’t be, and we’d like to know what the hell he’s after.”
Glenna set her fork aside and reached for her glass of water to ease the sudden dry throat. She glanced from one to the other, uneasy at the hidden message in the look they gave each other. “Do you need to leave?”
Leland frowned. “No.” The tension in his features eased. “The others can handle things and will call if there’s a problem. Now, eat your dinner. You can’t live on just salads.” Bending close, he gave her an intimate smile that warmed her all the way through. “We’re going to have to make sure you keep your energy up.”
Glenna smiled at that and speared more pasta. “You’re trying to embarrass me.”
Joe slid a finger over her pink cheek and chuckled. “It’s so easy, and you’re so adorable when you blush.” Leaning close, he reached over to rub a hand over her thigh, sending a rush of heat to her slit. “You’re very sweet, but you’ve got a naughty streak in you a mile wide.”
Glenna nearly choked on her food. Reaching for her glass of water, she washed it down. “Why would you say that?”
Leland ran a hand over her back and bent to touch his lips to her ear, each touch drawing her deeper into the sensual web they spun around her. “Because of the way you respond to both of us. Because you’re a passionate woman, and the desire to explore those passions is in your eyes. You’re daring and curious—a combination that’s driving both of us crazy.”
She shifted restlessly in her seat, the throbbing of her clit forcing her to press her thighs together. With each touch, they made her a little more theirs. “You really are blunt, aren’t you?”
Joe’s lips twitched. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”
Glenna giggled again, reveling in her femininity and enjoying their teasing and the increasing closeness forming between them. “You’re certainly unlike any other man I’ve ever met.”
Leland made that sound in his throat that sounded almost like a growl. “You stay away from other men. You’ve got your hands full with us.”
“Isn’t that the truth?” Glenna took another bite of her food as she watched them dig into their steaks. Chewing thoughtfully, she eyed both of them. “You know, it’s kind of hard to believe that I only met you yesterday.”
Nodding once, Leland sliced off another piece of his steak. “The amount of time we’ve known each other doesn’t seem to matter. I want you and I don’t see any point in dancing around the issue.”
Reaching for her water glass again, Glenna glanced around to make sure no one would hear her. “You already know I’ve never had sex before, and the way the two of you are acting, you expect me to have sex with both of you.”
As one, they smiled faintly and turned to her.
Leland nodded once. “That about sums it up.”
Wrapping both hands around her glass, she held it in front of her, her hands shaking. “Wouldn’t that be cheating?” Shaking her head, she set the glass in front of her plate again. “The thought of being unfaithful makes me sick to my stomach.”
Joe reached over, taking her hand in his. “It wouldn’t be like that. Leland and I both know about each other.” Smiling, he winked. “Relax. Nothing will happen t
hat you don’t want to happen.”
Leland cut a small piece of steak and held it to her lips. “Open. You don’t eat enough.”
Shaking her head, Glenna scooped up another forkful of pasta. “I don’t eat a lot of meat.” Grinning, she pushed his fork away. “Besides, how the hell do you expect me to relax enough to eat when you keep talking that way?”
“Point taken.” He ate the steak he’d offered her, eyeing her thoughtfully. “We’ll just relax and enjoy our dinner.”
Joe chuckled softly as he sat back. “And then we can go back to your house and I can have my dessert.”
For the rest of the meal, both men seemed determined to lighten the atmosphere, asking about her work and her life.
Before she knew it, she’d eaten everything on her plate. Setting her fork aside, she smiled up at them. “Fiona and I were very close. I felt sorry for our parents. They had us late in life and were both academics, college professors. When they had free time, they’d like to sit and read or go to lectures. They didn’t quite know what to do with two rambunctious girls.”
Thinking about her parents, she smiled. “You should have seen the looks on their faces when Fiona told them she didn’t want to go to college. It was like an alien had landed.” Shrugging, she toyed with her glass. “Once we grew up, we just wanted to start having fun. We didn’t want to spend our nights reading, or going with them to lectures. We didn’t want to discuss poetry over dinner. We wanted to date. We wanted to go to parties. Shop. See friends.”
Laughing humorlessly, she shook her head. “They really didn’t know what to do with us. We loved them so much, and didn’t want to get into trouble, but we wanted some freedom. We wanted to live.”
Leland nodded. “I can understand that. You’re still a virgin, though.” His eyes sharpened. “I would have thought you’d have lost your virginity in your bid for freedom.”
Glenna smiled. “That’s Fiona’s doing.” Pushing her plate aside, she propped her hand on her fist. “She had a boyfriend right out of high school. It got hot and heavy, and then she found out he’d been cheating on her all along. She thought she was his girlfriend, but it turned out that he had a girlfriend, and Fiona was the other woman. It made her pretty bitter. When my parents retired and moved to Florida right after I finished high school, Fiona made it her mission in life to keep me out of trouble.”
Joe shared a glance with Leland. “And as soon as she left town, you met us. What would she say about that?”
Glenna straightened and shrugged. “She wouldn’t be happy about it.”
Joe sat back, exchanging a look with Leland. “So, you haven’t told her about us?”
“Not yet.” Glenna looked up as the waiter approached. “I wanted to, but she seemed upset about something when I talked to her, but she wouldn’t tell me what.”
“Would anyone care to see the dessert menu?”
Glenna’s face burned at the waiter’s question, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t help but look up at Joe.
His dark, hooded eyes held a glow, seeming lit from within. “Would you like something, Glenna?”
She glanced at Leland, sucking in a breath at the fire in his heated gaze. Knowing she’d probably choke if she tried to eat something else, she shook her head, fighting the urge to cross her arms over her chest to relieve the ache in her nipples. “No, thank you.”
“Just the check.” Joe waited until the waiter walked away before leaning close again. “As soon as we get back to your house, I’m going to strip you, spread those thighs, and have my dessert.”
Glenna sucked in a breath at the rush of heat, jolting when Leland reached out to touch her shoulder from the other side.
Leaning close, he ran a hand down her back. “I want to explore every inch of you with no clothing in the way. Before tonight’s over, I’m going to know your body as intimately as I know my own.”
* * * *
Glenna couldn’t stop shaking as they left the restaurant, arousal and anticipation pumping through her veins with every beat of her heart.
As they walked across the parking lot, Leland pulled her close and wrapped his arm around her. “You okay, honey?”
Smiling up at him, she snuggled closer, feeling delightfully feminine between them, her smile falling at the serious look on his face. “What’s wrong?”
Leland’s smile seemed a little distracted as he exchanged a look with Joe. “Nothing.”
Glenna frowned, uneasy at the tense lines of their bodies and the way they scanned the parking lot as they crossed it. Their shoes didn’t make a sound on the pavement, and despite the fact that they both held on to her, they moved in graceful unison as they made their way to the truck. “Are you sure? Why are you walking so fast?” Her feet hardly hit the ground.
Smiling down at her, Joe ran a hand over her hair, hurrying her toward the truck. “I’m looking forward to my dessert.”
“Then why are you so tense, and why are you looking around that way?”
Leland tightened his arm around her waist. “We just want to get back to your house.”
Glenna didn’t believe him. “You’re lying.”
Taking her hand, Joe flashed a smile, still scanning the area with hard eyes. “How about if we bring some steaks over tomorrow night? Do you have a grill?”
Glenna blinked at the change of subject. “I think so. My dad never bought a gas grill, but he had a charcoal one in the shed. I don’t know if it’s still any good, though. We’ve never used it.”
Releasing her hand, Joe headed toward the passenger side. “When we get to your house, I’ll check—”
Leland stilled beside her, yanking her closer.
Looking from one to the other, she got a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach when they lifted their faces to the sky, their nostrils flaring. “Do you smell something?” Wondering what they could have smelled that would have alarmed them so much, she lifted her face and experimentally sniffed. “I don’t smell anything. What’s wrong?”
Leland shook his head, and with a hand at her back, hustled her into the truck. Sharing a look with Joe, he shook his head. “It’s nothing. I thought I smelled something burning. Come on. Let’s get you home.”
* * * *
Wrapping an arm around Glenna, Joe pulled her against him to keep her from seeing his face as he lowered the window several inches and sniffed the air again.
It had lasted only briefly, but he, and obviously Leland, had caught the same scent they’d only noticed at the farm.
No longer detecting it, he glanced at Leland, shaking his head.
At first, they’d caught the scent almost daily, but had never been able to find anything. As the years went by, he and the others caught the scent less and less, until they’d all begun to believe it was gone forever.
Now, it was back. He was back.
Who the hell is he and what the hell does he want?
They’d asked themselves and each other the same question several times over the last few weeks, but none of them had been able to come up with any answers.
Frustrated, Joe touched his lips to Glenna’s hair, letting her sweet intoxicating scent take over his senses. “You’re so sweet and soft. I have trouble keeping my hands off of you.”
Smiling up at him, her dimples visible to him in the low light, she pressed her breast against his side. “I like the way you touch me.” Her eyes fluttered closed when he slid his left hand higher to cup her breast, her soft moan like a stroke to his cock. “It feels incredible.”
“Yes, it does.” Frustrated the material of her dress stood between his hand and her soft skin, Joe focused his attention on her nipple, which poked out enticingly against his palm. “Incredible.”
Bending low, he pulled her closer and brushed her lips with his, unable to hold back a groan when hers immediately softened and parted. “It’s not enough, though, is it?”
She was a woman made for loving—a woman a man could lose himself in and not even care tha
t he’d become lost.
He wanted to drown in the sensations—lose himself in her softness, become deaf to everything except her cries of pleasure, taste nothing but her.
Unable to resist, he deepened his kiss, lightly kneading her breast. He had to remind himself over and over to be gentle with her, struggling against the need clawing at him.
Swallowing her moans, he wrapped himself around her, his cock so hard and hot, he expected it to burst through his trousers at any moment.
He’d never known this kind of hunger before, a hunger that verged on obsession.
Her own passions seemed to burn hotter by the minute. She became rough as she kissed him back, fueling his own primitive hunger.
The slide of her hand on his thigh snapped his control, and with a growl, he ripped the front of her dress, baring her breasts, the sound of the material tearing and small cry from her like pouring gasoline on a raging inferno.
Lifting his head, he stared down at her. Taking in her half-closed eyes and parted lips, he rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger, stunned at how easily she drew his darker needs to the surface. “I want you so fucking much that I’m ready to explode.”
* * * *
Drowning in pleasure and need, Glenna clung to him. “Yes!” Her answer came out on a breath, the feel of his firm, hot hand moving with such purpose and yet such tenderness over her breast making her heart pound faster.
She couldn’t seem to get close enough, and the raw, guttural curses coming from Leland as he slid his hand up her thigh added to the erotic tension.
The soft breeze from the open window caressing her breast left her feeling exposed and deliciously naughty. She’d never felt so sexual. So alive. So feminine.
Trembling helplessly as Joe tore her panties from her, Glenna cried out against his mouth, her pussy clenching. “Please!” Gripping his hair tighter, she spread her thighs, bucking her hips as far as the seat belt would allow.
With a hand fisted in her hair, Joe tilted her head to the side, nuzzling her neck as he toyed with her nipple. “Yes, my love. I’ll please both of us. The thought of being the first man to take you is driving me insane, but I swear to God, I’ll be gentle.”
