Fighting Heaven for Love [Pine Falls 2] (Siren Publishing Menage Amour)

by Ashley Malkin

  “Me, too,” Lexie said. She bounced in her seat and her stomach gave another loud rumble.

  Caleb pulled into the rest area and parked by the restaurant. “I’ll meet you inside after I’ve filled up the tank.”

  Lachlan opened the door for Lexie and held her hand while Prescott helped Meg from the truck. She moved stiffly and Lachlan knew she needed more pain medication before they got back in the truck.

  “Why don’t you take Lexie inside out of the cold, Prescott?” Lachlan said. He picked Lexie up and handed her to Prescott. “I’ll wait with Meg while she uses the restroom.” He silenced Meg’s objection with a quick flash of his amber stare. Prescott had seen their exchange and took Lexie inside without complaint.

  He took Meg’s hand and led her behind the block of restrooms. Now they were stopped he was desperate for his answers. He pulled her into his arms and backed her up until she was pressed snuggly between the bricks and his chest. Her arms wrapped around his waist and she relaxed into his hold.

  “I want to ask you some questions, but now that I have you in my arms, I need to kiss you so badly I think I’ll go crazy if I can’t,” he said.

  She looked up at him with wide startled eyes, her lips parting on a gasp of surprise. He took that as a yes and lowered his mouth to hers. Their kiss started out soft but roared to heated and frenzied in seconds as their combined need drove them. He licked her lips and delved deeply into her mouth, drinking in the taste of her as it spread through him in a chain reaction of pure pleasure.

  She pulled herself tighter against him, rubbing her soft body against the steel of his erection and making him moan with the frustrating friction. He moved her slightly to the side and placed his thigh between her legs, lifting it to the heat and dampness of her core.

  She moaned with him as their combined pleasure increased. She pushed down on his thigh and rubbed herself against his erection. He was going to come if she kept up the sweet torture, and he had no intention of doing that until he was buried balls-deep inside her.

  He pulled reluctantly from her lips and moved his hands from her ass to cup her face. Her breath panted out of her and misted in the cold air. “I want you, honey. But I am not going to take you for the first time behind a toilet block.”

  She looked around and seemed momentarily surprised at their location. Her cheeks heated beneath his hands as her blush crept through her. “I forgot where we were.”

  “Caleb and Prescott will come looking for us in about sixty seconds.” He smiled and hoped she understood how desperate he was for her. “What else did Nicholas do that you couldn’t tell us in front of Lexie?” She started to shake her head, but he held her face firmly and bent down to look into her beautiful blue eyes.

  “I know there’s more, Meg, and it’s driving me insane worrying what it is. Please.”

  She took a breath in and kissed him lightly on the lips. “Sorry. It’s just embarrassing. The photos...there were some that I burned.” He steeled himself for confirmation of what he’d already guessed they contained.

  “He sent pictures of me in the shower, of me sleeping, and of me—” She swallowed loudly before she continued. “I never saw him, not once, but they were so close-up that he must’ve been in the room with me.”

  “Of you having sex?” Lachlan spoke the words she’d omitted and they felt like ash on his tongue. He was glad he hadn’t seen pictures of her being intimate with another man. His cat would have needed to kill the man, and Lachlan didn’t know if he had the strength to stop it.

  “Gosh no. Not that. I’ve never. I mean, shit, that would have been way worse.” Lachlan processed her words and found a growl rumbling through him. He’d guessed there must have been intimate photos of her. But if she’d never. Never?

  “You’ve never? Then what else did he photograph?” Lachlan realized he was being a pig. Nude photos were a complete violation of her privacy. But she’d never had sex, he hadn’t expected that. She was a stunning woman, he’d assumed she’d had lovers before, and didn’t mind, he just hadn’t wanted to see the pictures.

  “Really, Lachlan? You can’t work it out?” She looked at him, her eyes beginning to change color with her rising anger.

  “I’m sorry he did that to you, Meg. You must have been scared and horrified at the way he breached any sense of privacy you had.” She nodded and the anger drained from her eyes.

  He smiled at her, his cat purring inside him and making them both vibrate as he held her firmly to him. “I’ve already called myself a pig, and now I’m going to be a total ass and beg you to let me see that one day. I’ll even have Caleb and Prescott beg if that will help.”

  Her smile lit up his world. She slapped him lightly on the chest with one of her small hands. “Pervert.” She covered one of his hands with hers. “Thank you, Lachlan. I felt unclean, and so alone. I’m glad I told you. You’ve helped me feel a little less grossed out about it all.”

  She had no idea how much her trust meant to him. He loved her. He didn’t know when it had happened, but it had. He wanted to tell her, but was afraid of scaring her. She’d had a reason to run from them before, and he understood that now, but he didn’t want to overwhelm her and make her run again.

  “I love you, Lachlan.” She stretched up on her toes and kissed him lightly on the lips.

  “I didn’t want to frighten you by saying those words to you, Meg. I love you, too, my mate. You’re mine.” He took her lips again for a searing kiss. Caleb’s voice broke them apart a few seconds later.

  “Ours, Meg. You’re ours forever,” Caleb said. Lachlan stepped aside and Caleb wrapped their mate in his arms, when their lips met they both moaned with pleasure.

  “I’ll tell Prescott you’ll be right in.” He let them have some privacy and went to order their breakfast. There was going to be times when they’d want to share Meg and times when they’d need to be alone with her. He smiled as he thought of the great pleasure all those times would bring them.

  “She loves me.”

  Chapter 7

  Caleb sensed the swell of emotion as they grew closer to their home. He’d expected his parents to be at their house awaiting their arrival home, but he was surprised to feel so many of his pride there as well. One member in particular was not entirely happy. Landon’s anger was pushing Caleb to shift.

  Their drive home had taken the entire day. Lexie had been surprisingly easy to travel with, not complaining once at the hours of confinement in the truck. She seemed content to be close to Meg and they talked and laughed for hours. Their love was a beautiful thing. Caleb was glad that Lexie was finally back with Meg and didn’t want to ever meet the brother who had kept them apart so cruelly.

  Caleb tapped Prescott’s arm in warning as they pulled into the road to their ranch. “We have company.”

  “Mom and Dad?” Lachlan asked. He was sitting in the back with Meg sleeping against him. Caleb hated to wake her, but she was home now and could shower before sleeping comfortably in a bed as she continued to heal from her injuries.

  “No, half the pride is here and Landon is mad.”

  “Shit. What’s got him angry?” Prescott said. He maneuvered the car as close as he could to the house. There were quite a few cars and trucks in the way.

  “Landon’s here?” Meg said sleepily. She sat up and stared at all cars and trucks. “Where are we?”

  “We’re home,” Lachlan said. “Why we don’t I put Lexie to bed while you say hello to everyone.”

  “She’s so tired, I doubt she’ll wake up,” Meg said. She caressed her sister’s fine blonde hair and waited while Lachlan got out the rear door and came around to open the door on Lexie’s side.

  Lexie stayed fast asleep as Lachlan walked into the house with her cradled in his arms.

  “Where is she?” Landon’s booming voice sounded behind them.

  Caleb helped Meg down from the truck and turned to see a red-faced Landon striding toward them. The ground shook as he bore down on them. His anger was
palpable, but Caleb had no idea what had the big bear so upset.

  “You played me for a fool. Made me lie to my Alpha,” Landon said. The hairs on his arms thickened and his thick claws slid free of his fingertips.

  “I’m sorry,” Meg said. The color drained from her already pale skin and Prescott steadied her as she swayed by placing his arm around her waist.

  Caleb’s cat nearly slipped his hard-fought control as he realized Landon was angry at Meg. He flashed his gaze to Landon before he got any closer to her. “Stop.”

  “Why are you attacking Meg?” Prescott said, his voice thick with his cat’s rage.

  There would be a fight if Landon didn’t back down. None of them would be capable of controlling their cat’s protective instincts much longer.

  “Because I lied to him, sort of,” Meg said. “I didn’t tell him about Nick, about his threats, I couldn’t.”

  The fire left Landon’s eyes as Caleb stepped in front of him. “Are you going to threaten our mate again? If you do, I will kill you.”

  “I think we should tell the whole pride about the threat this creature poses to Lexie and Meg,” Lachlan said. “If he follows us here, we’ll all need to be prepared.”

  “There really is a Lexie?” Landon said softly. He tried to look around Caleb to Meg, but Caleb had not yet released him.

  “Yes. Our mate was protecting her sister, and us, from a man who’s been stalking her, a man we fear is yet another creature we’ve never before encountered.”

  “But it’s all sorted out between the four of you now?” Landon said. He took a deep breath in and growled. “You haven’t mated yet.”

  Lachlan stepped down off the porch and put his arm around the bear’s waist. “She was badly hurt by this creature, Landon. Come, I’ll tell you everything.”

  “Prescott, please take Meg inside and introduce her to our parents. Lachlan, tell the pride what we know so far. I need to call Aiden.”

  Caleb went to his home office and closed the door. He hoped Landon could forgive Meg. She’d acted to protect them, not hurt them, and Caleb and his brothers loved her deeply. He didn’t want a rift in his pride.

  He sat at his desk and found Aiden’s number. He didn’t know what the time was in Scotland, and he didn’t much care. If they couldn’t find out what Nicholas Thomson was then there was a chance they couldn’t kill him. Which meant they all would die in their attempt to keep Meg safe.

  * * * *

  Aiden was tempted to let the call go to voicemail. He was on his honeymoon, and he wasn’t ready to be pulled away from his mate just yet. He snatched up the phone on the second vibration as he ran from the room at top speed. He didn’t want Sean and Kaitlyn to be woken.

  “This better be important,” he said. Though considering only Caleb and Finn, the two Alpha’s, had his cell number, he knew it was going to be.

  “Aiden, our mate has got an unusual stalker. He abducted her sister and nearly killed Meg before we found her.”

  Caleb had gotten straight to the point and Aiden appreciated that. “Is Meg going to heal from her attack?”

  “Yes. Jason directed us to a shifter doctor that was close and she’s recovering.” Caleb sounded exhausted. They’d had a busy twenty-four hours since Aiden had left them.

  “Unusual how?”

  “I haven’t seen him. He was gone when we rescued Meg. He carries no scent, not even to me, but he seems to be able to track scents easily. Meg’s sister said he took her from a room in one house to a deserted warehouse with a single step. We know the distance between those places was over ten miles.”

  Aiden had a nasty suspicion he knew exactly what Caleb’s mate had attracted. The shifters were amazingly oblivious to the other supernatural lifeforms they shared the Earth with. “Was this journey cold?”

  “Yes, she said it was like being in a freezer.”

  “Is Meg a virgin?” Caleb’s growl filled the room Aiden was pacing. He drew the phone away from his ear until the Alpha had completed his objection to the question. “I’m happily mated, Caleb, and the question is important.”

  “I don’t know the answer. We aren’t mated yet,” Caleb said. “He’d been telling her that he would kill any male who touched her, that he didn’t want her tainted.”

  Aiden walked outside and looked up at the stars. “Heaven has a lot to answer for.”

  “If you know what this creature is, then tell me. If we can’t kill it, then we can’t keep Meg safe.”

  “It’s a Nephilim, and they aren’t easy to kill.” Aiden had faced them before, but he’d had the tools to come out of the fight alive. Caleb and his pride didn’t.

  “Seriously? Angels are real?”

  “As real as vampires and shape shifters. The Nephilim are the result of the mating between angels and humans, but their nature is not determined by their parentage.”

  “Meaning what? The man is a sadistic bastard who beat Meg nearly to death. What does he want with her?”

  “Meaning he’s chosen his own path and is using his innate skills to that end. Nephilim live long lives but are not immortal. To become so, they must harvest human souls.”

  * * * *

  Prescott held his mate on his lap and watched his parents fall under her spell. She was completely unaware of how adorable and sweet she was, which just made her even more bewitching.

  “Lexie will fit right in at the school. We even have a special class that Sean teaches twice a week just for shifter children,” Cynthia said.

  “She’ll love that,” Meg said, her eyes bright with tears. “She’s always been so alone. Scott, my brother, never let her associate with any other shifters, and I didn’t know any in San Diego except for Kaitlyn.”

  “Your mate looks pale and tired, Prescott,” Albert said. “You should let her get some rest.”

  “Thank you for the sandwiches and tea,” Meg said. “But before I go to bed I’d like to see Landon. He helped me and I repaid him by running off and betraying his trust.”

  “Landon is fiercely loyal to Caleb. But he has a huge heart, he’ll forgive you,” Albert said.

  “I need him to know I’m sorry. I won’t get any sleep until I’ve told him.”

  “You’re so sweet, mate. Have I told you I loved you, Meg?” Prescott whispered the words in Meg’s ear, but his parents were shifters. They would have heard him, and he didn’t care. He loved her.

  The floor shook as an earthquake seemed to shake the whole house. Meg gasped and held on to Prescott’s arms as he held her tighter to him. He smiled into her hair. She’d get to see Landon after all.

  “Where has she got to?” Landon’s voice boomed. He entered the room and smiled at Meg. “Can I hold her? I won’t break her.”

  “No. Get your own mate,” Prescott said, a growl slipping out with his anger at the suggestion.

  “Landon. I was about to come look for you. I’m so sorry.”

  “Not another word, little Meg. Lachlan explained it all. I would have gone with you, you know? You needn’t have faced him alone.”

  Landon stepped closer and Prescott couldn’t stand it. “Back up, Landon. You’re too damned close.” His claws extended as his control over his cat slipped. The instinctive need to stake a claim on his mate was making his cat wild with protective rage.

  “They’ll be like this until they’re mated,” his mother said calmly. She drew Landon back a few steps with a tug on his arm, and handed him a coffee.

  “So we’re still friends? I told Lexie all about you and she’s dying to meet you. You’re the first bear we’ve ever met.”

  “We’re still friends, Meg. I’m sorry for your trouble, and I’ll protect you and Lexie with my life.”

  Meg sniffed wetly and turned to bury her head in Prescott’s chest.

  “Did I say something wrong?” Landon had turned to Cynthia, who was wiping a tear from her eye, too.

  “No, Landon. She’s just happy.” Cynthia ushered the confused bear from the kitchen, dragging her husband w
ith them. She smiled at Prescott and he nodded his thanks, accepting her gift of some privacy.

  “It’s been a tiring couple of days, Meg. Will you agree to get some sleep now that you’ve seen Landon?”

  “Everyone is being so nice. I’m really sorry for the way I handled things. I just couldn’t see any other way to keep everyone safe.”

  Prescott stood and swung Meg into his arms. He carried her upstairs to the bedroom they would all now share. “You were trying to keep everyone safe, but forgot about keeping yourself safe. Once we’re mated, all our lives depend on you being alive, Meg. We won’t want to live without you now.”

  She nodded and sniffed a little as more tears flowed. “My father died a few hours after my mother. I’ll do everything I can to keep myself safe, Prescott. I promise.”

  “Do you mind if we all sleep with you tonight?” He saw her eyes widen, her scent changing to one of fear. “We won’t do anything.” His words rushed out as he sought to reassure her. “We just want to be with you. I need to hold you, little one.”

  “That sounds nice, actually.” He felt her relax and wondered at her fear. Three men, you idiot. She’s probably never been involved in a menage relationship before.

  Putting her down on the bed, he looked through Caleb’s drawers for a clean shirt for Meg to wear to bed. “Here’s one of Caleb’s shirts so you don’t have to go to bed naked.” He smiled at her as she looked up at him, worrying her hands in her lap. “Yet.”

  “Thank you.” She snatched the shirt from him and he got the impression she actually wanted to throw it at him.

  “I’ll go and say good-bye to everyone and set up the patrols. Make yourself at home. Lexie is next door in my room if you want to check on her before getting into bed.”

  She stood up suddenly and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Thank you for everything, Prescott. I love you.”

  His heart felt tight in his chest. Only twenty-four hours ago he was ready to abandon this precious woman. He’d been a proud idiot. She pulled away from him and walked into the bathroom. “We’ll be up later, Meg. Sleep well.”