"I remember it was Friday night, the place was busy, but the Rosso family had their own section, and the family never paid for anything. Danny Rosso, is head of the family. He was there that night too and Neil met both him and Dad. The three of them got on really well. Dad seemed happy I'd finally got a boyfriend, and I was more than keen to deepen our relationship. The guys just kept talking until it grew late, and I wanted to go home. But no one seemed to want to leave, so I left them to it and went home alone."
"The next day Neil picked a fight with me, over something stupid. I can't even remember what it was. But we broke up. I don't know what happened after that, but not long after, he started working for Danny Rosso. Within a few months, he was managing one of Rosso's stores, not far from the Rosso restaurant where I was still working part time."
"Asshole." She heard Hamish hiss under his breath and hid her smile.
"Well as it turned out, Neil was actually an undercover cop, trying to dig up dirt on Rosso and my dad's illegal activities. Neil pretended to be my boyfriend, using me to get his evidence. Of course it took a few months before Rosso and Dad found out."
"No wonder the cops are out for blood," Forrester said, "Bloody Bill is a cop killer."
Juniper nodded. "My dad thought I was in on it. He'd called me up one evening, on my night off, asking me to come pick him up from one of the Rosso warehouses, as his car had died. Like a dutiful daughter, I went out to get him. I'd parked around the front and walked around the back to meet my dad, then spotted Neil. Still heartbroken over our break up, I ducked behind a dumpster, not wanting to have to confront him. I thought I'd just wait until he left. I could hear them arguing. Neil starts begging, which I thought was strange. I peered around the dumpster and saw the flash of the knife before Dad plunged it straight into Neil's stomach. He did it again and again. Neil crumpled to the floor in a bloody heap. My dad had a smile on his face, like he was enjoying slicing Neil up. I must have made a sound because my dad looked up straight at me.
" 'You're late Juni,' he said and bent down to wipe the blood off the knife, using a clean part of Neil's jacket before he stood straight and advanced on me. I realized that was why he'd called me to come pick him up. I could tell by his face he was going to kill me too."
"Shit." Hamish pulled her into his lap cradling her like a baby; her whole body trembled in his arms.
"I ran, and went straight to the police." Juniper swallowed down the lump in her throat, grateful for the warm comfort of Hamish's body. "They put me into protective custody; took me to a house in Melbourne to wait until they put together the trial. They assigned two officers to protect me. They were nice. But it wasn't enough. I don't know how, but Dad found us anyway. Late one night, he'd broken in. There was a scuffle. Officer Wurst yanked me out of bed and told me to run. But it was too late; Dad shot him as he shoved me towards the door. The second bullet hit me, and I blacked out. When I woke up in the hospital, the cops said the bullet had narrowly missed my heart, but had gone clean through."
"That's where the police files end," Forrester stated. "How did you escape the hospital?"
She sighed. "I knew Dad wouldn't stop until I was really dead. The first officers couldn't protect me, and I didn't want anyone else to get hurt. The officer on duty was asleep when I snuck past him. I found the doctors' changing room. Someone was having a shower. So I changed into the man's clothes I'd found and took all the cash from his wallet. It was enough to get me to Sydney. I changed everything about myself; hair, gender. I gathered my father and the cops would be looking for a girl, not a boy. I found jobs that paid cash, living under the radar of, well, everyone."
"You've been barely surviving for all this time." Forrester tapped his files, his face shadowed in a frown. "I'm so sorry, Juniper."
"You've been living like this for three fucking years!" Andy started.
"Not any more. No more running, we'll protect you now. Understood," Hamish finished.
She glanced between the twins. "I want this to be over, no more hiding. But I also don't want anyone else murdered because of me."
"Like I said before," River added. "We're shifters, not human and you're a mate. We can and will protect you. You can count on the whole town being here to make sure you are protected. But we also need to resolve this once and for all." All eyes turned towards Forrester.
"I say we work with the Federal Police, protect her till it goes to court and have Rosso and Bill locked up once and for all."
Hope swirled through Juniper, freedom from fear. She raised her chin meeting River's gaze. "I'll testify."
"Good, then leave the rest up to us." River nodded at Forrester, who was gathering her files. The Alpha smiled. "Welcome to Black Town and welcome to the family, Juniper. We'll see you later."
"Bye." Forrester grinned and followed behind River. "I'd tell you two to behave, but there's no point." He chuckled as the two men left the room. Once again, she was alone with her men. Juniper sighed and pulled from Hamish's arms. "Do you to mind if I have a bath?"
Andy grinned, lust gleaming in his eyes. "Sure sweetheart that sounds—"
"Alone, Andy." She folded her arms, meeting them both head on. "I'm sorry but I just need some time to myself. It's not that I don't appreciate what you've done for me, even if it was underhanded and sneaky. But I need some time to process all this."
"You won't try to run away will you?" Hamish rose from the sofa.
She shook her head. "No, I believe you when you say you can protect me. It's a lot for a girl to take in. Normal, human relationships usually have two people, not three, they also don't have to contend with the fact that their, uh, boyfriends can turn into Panthers."
"Point taken." Hamish moved in and placed a kiss on her forehead. "This is your home as much as it is ours now. Take all the time you need, we'll be here."
"I was kind of hoping to get to see you all soapy and nekked." He waggled his eyebrows playfully, making Juniper grin. "But I'm sure I'll get a chance later."
"Thank you, Andy." She went onto tiptoes and kissed his cheek, before leaving them both and heading back up stairs. She had a lot to go over, a lot to think about.
Chapter Ten
Juniper moaned in utter pleasure, sinking down into the hot bubbly water, soothing past aches from her work and the nice kind of soreness, keeping the memory of Andy's and Hamish's touch at the forefront of her mind. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been able to indulge in such luxury. Once again, her life—unexpectedly had taken a sharp turn.
Surely normal women didn't find themselves in bed with two insanely handsome men, who could turn into Panthers, and promise their eternal devotion, within a day.
Her head still spun with meeting more shifting men also promising protection. It felt so surreal, a fanciful dream, in which she would soon wake up and find herself still hiding in her rundown place, struggling daily just to survive.
Hell, being honest with herself, she didn't want to wake up. She wanted more than anything for the nightmare to be over and have safety, security and freedom from fear. There was an added bonus of having two handsome men, doting on her, proving their words by their actions and the desire burning in their eyes.
They claimed she was their mate. Seeing and believing in shape shifting men was one thing but eternal devotion was another. Could they really be hers for the rest of her life?
Her sigh echoed in the spacious white bathroom. When it all boiled down to the quick, what choice did she have but to trust them? Other than run again. No, she didn't want to run, she had nowhere to go. Here she could be safe, have a home and protection, good food in her belly and hopefully a new relationship, which would grow beyond a physical attraction. She snorted at the silly thoughts in her head. Already she was in deep, feeling more for the Brown brothers than she should.
~ * ~
With his sensitive shifter hearing, Andy heard the water running in the bath. They'd retreated to the kitchen to talk. Anger still simmered in his gut. Seeing the
tightly clenched jaw of his bother, he knew they were both on the same page.
Hamish pulled items out of the fridge. He handed a bag of potatoes to Andy, while Hamish handled the steaks. Andy plopped them on the counter and grabbed a knife. His grip tightened on the shiny handle as he remembered Juniper's story. He glanced at his brother.
"You don't think she'll try to sneak out do you?"
Hamish set the steaks on the bench top next to the grill plate.
"I think after everything we've put her through in the past twenty four hours, a little trust on our side will go a long way."
Andy grunted, tossing one spud down onto the oven tray before picking up another. "I still want to hunt down that fucker of a dad and gut him."
Listening to Juniper tell her story had been a lesson in self-control. But her comfort and care was more important than any revenge they wanted to extract.
"Trust me; I want to hold the fucker down while you gut him. We need to let the human law handle this. As it's a big case and we can't risk any other human police poking their nose around if we do off the fucker."
Andy knew his brother was right; River would come down on their heads if they did hunt him down and tear him to shreds.
"We need to focus on Juniper. She's had a shitty life, and we to need make it up to her. Spoil her and show her that being with us is the best thing since sliced bread."
Andy scoffed, "Sliced bread? You're getting old, old man."
"Yeah, by a whole two minutes." Hamish glared over his shoulder before turning on the oven.
"Well we could start by getting her some real clothes, feminine ones. We need to take her shopping." Andy suggested, tossing more peeled spuds onto the tray.
"Not just shopping, we need to do other stuff as well, romance her, Bro, do all that mushy stuff from her books."
Andy felt his anger melting away, replaced with the heated memory of the softness of their mate's body, and how bloody fantastic it felt to be inside her. "Haven't we already skipped to the good parts: kidnapping and ravishing?"
They both chuckled. "Yes, but we need to show her it's more than just sex."
"It is?"
Hamish's shook his head. "Grow a brain, other than the one in your dick."
Andy snorted, "Like it's stopped you."
Hamish grinned. "Okay then, romance and sex, we can manage both, surely?"
Andy handed the tray to Hamish, who slid it into the oven. "Fuck yeah, in fact, I have a plan."
Hamish groaned. "You and your plans."
"Stop bitching, it's gotten her into our home and lives hasn't it?"
Hamish shrugged, unable to refute Andy's statement. "Alright then genius, what's your plan?"
~ * ~
Any hope of resisting the Brown brothers was tossed out the window the moment she wandered back down the stairs, wearing a clean t-shirt and drawstring boxer shorts one of the guys had left on the end of the freshly made bed. They had been busy during her soak.
Their twin smiles as she came into the kitchen sent her body into heated meltdown.
"Hello, beautiful." Andy winked as Hamish drew her into his arms, hugging her tight before tipping her head back, and diving in for a slow, sensual kiss.
Her stomach quivered and her sex pooled with moisture, her nipples tightening.
"You feeling any better?" Hamish's low, husky voice washed over her, before he pulled back. She whimpered in protest.
Andy chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes."
She was tugged from Hamish's arms and the assault on her senses begun all over again. Andy playfully nipped at her lips, his hands possessively on her arse as he pulled her tight against his harder muscular body, before plunging in and conquering her mouth as if he had every right in the universe to do so.
"That's enough, Brother. Her sweet scent is already driving me mad." Hamish hadn't left, but had been running a hand across her shoulders.
Both men pulled back, leaving Juniper dazed and confused. She blinked and drew in several deep breaths to regain some equilibrium.
"Right, dinner and then fun." Andy tugged her towards the kitchen table.
"Fun?" Juniper squeaked. Her body already turned on, burning with lust, could imagine the kind of fun these two had in store after the 'fun' of this morning.
Andy chuckled in amusement; he crowded in behind her, pulling her to a stop before she could sit down. His hot breath against the skin of her neck sent spikes of erotic chills down her spine.
"I think you're having naughty thoughts, sweetheart. I do like you're line of thinking."
The heat flushed through her cheeks, no doubt turning her redder than a ripe tomato. "It's not my fault, you two are perverted. Were you two doing this sort of thing before you met me? Sharing women?" She glared back, finding the bravado to defend her red face, and trying to calm her over hyped libido.
"She's got us there, Bro," Hamish said. He was now moving around the kitchen plating juicy looking steaks and baked potatoes piled high with chopped grilled bacon and cheese.
"We never expected us to have one mate to share." Andy pulled from her back, and she instantly missed his warmth surrounding her. She sighed and sat down. "But you're right; we have, in the past shared women. But you do realize you are our only woman now. It is physically impossible for us to be even remotely attracted to another. It's the nature of true mates."
"Some Goddess or God up there in their divine wisdom made us even more different from humans in that we only get one soul mate during our life span."
Juniper studied her men's faces, realizing it must be even harder than humans to find that special one you wanted to spend the rest of your life with, but having no choice once you meet the one, all because it was predestined by some higher power. It didn't seem right, that they couldn't find their own.
"Do you feel cheated you have to share me?"
Hamish's face became serious as he pinned her with a stare. "No, sweetheart. As annoying as Andy is at times, he's my brother and we've really been blessed, never cursed or cheated to have found you."
"I'm annoying? I'm the one who has to put up with Mr. Responsible's bad habits, for the rest of my life. But I am one hundred and twenty percent in agreement. I'm more than thrilled you're ours, and don't you forget it, okay?" Andy kissed the top of her head, before moving to grab the piled plates, setting one down in front of her. Each took a chair on either side, Hamish uncorking a bottle of red wine and pouring her a half glass.
"We know it's been a whirlwind of a day for you. But we're not sorry for what we did. I hope you can now understand our motives."
"Yes and no." Juniper's mouth twitched up in a grin. "But I think I like you better as Panthers." She took a swig of the delicious fruity red wine.
"Oooh, straight to the heart." Andy's grin was infectious. "We can play cat and mouse later." He winked roguishly. "Till then eat up."
"Cat and mouse?" She almost spluttered her wine all over the table.
"We're predators, sweetheart, and you're our prey." Hamish joined in teasing her. She rolled her eyes.
"What you both need is collars, with bells."
"Now you're pulling the cat by the tail," Andy joked, before tucking into his steak.
She giggled as they laughed, her body and mind relaxing in their company, teasing and eating, generally having fun.
After dinner they banished her from the kitchen for clean-up, instructing her to find a movie she wanted to watch from their extensive collection on the shelves.
She ended up choosing a movie called Cloud Atlas, settling down on the comfy sofa, before the brothers came in brandishing bowls of salted snacks and beer bottles.
"I hope you didn't pick one of Hamish's sappy chick flicks." Andy set his pile of snacks on the smoky glass coffee table before sitting to her right, throwing his arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his side.
"They are not sappy, but educational," Hamish protested, handing Andy a beer. "Want one?" He waved a bottle at her. She shoo
k her head; she never did like the taste of beer.
"Does he cry in the sad parts?" Juniper joined in the teasing.
"Like a fucking baby."
She giggled, and Hamish growled, glaring at his brother, before winking at her and sitting down to her left, snatching the DVD cover from the table where she'd left it. "Cloud Atlas, it's got a bit of everything, romance, action and fantasy. Nice choice, sweetheart." He kissed the top of her head. She felt all gooey inside at his praise.
Andy loosened his hold as Hamish took possession of her arm, his large hand holding hers, playing with her fingers.
"Relax, baby girl, we're not planning to jump you tonight. Mr. Horny over there will keep it in his pants."
Andy snorted. "So high and mighty, I swear if we didn't look-a-like, I'd be asking just exactly how we were related."
Andy sighed. "There is nothing I would like more than to make love to you again, but we're big boys and can do without. No more pressure until you're ready. I think we all need time just to get to know each other better. Sound good?"
Juniper hid her surprise and glanced between the brothers. It sounded perfect actually. She had been rather overwhelmed by the sexiness and long suppressed hormones. It was very sweet they would think of her welfare over their own dicks.
"I appreciate it." She was still feeling a bit sore from this morning, and getting to know her men beyond the bedroom was a very good idea.
"Great." Hamish kissed the top of her head, tugging her into a more comfortable position, reclining her back against his side, while Andy took her legs draping them over his own.
"Tomorrow we'll take you shopping and show you around Black Town. You're our girl now and remember nothing is too good for you. We both want to spoil you rotten so, be prepared, and no protesting, got it?"
Her chest heaved in a deep sigh, before she relaxed into Hamish's warmth. "Really guys, I don't need much stuff, and I don't want you spending—"
The Purrfect Predicament (Australian Shifters) Page 9
