by Lauren Dane
“Damn it, I’m not going to last,” he managed to gasp out, right before orgasm barreled through him and into her.
It dizzied him, her love, the way she touched him, the way she knew him and yes, those pale blue eyes watching him as Jack caressed Renee with one hand and Galen’s thigh with the other. He let his eyes close, fell back to catch his breath and just let himself enjoy the moment.
When he was able to open his eyes, he saw Renee kiss his belly and look to him with love and acceptance.
“I love you.”
She rolled over, dropped a kiss on his lips. “You’d better. Be right back.”
She headed into the adjoining bathroom.
“You all right?” Galen asked Jack.
“I’ve never been this all right. I...well, thank you. I know she wouldn’t have done anything with me if you hadn’t supported it, even if she wanted to. She would have chosen you and your bond.”
Jack flopped next to him.
“She’d always have missed you if I had sent you away. She’d have wondered and I’d always worry that I stepped in the way of fate, endangering her or you, by not accepting what is so very plain. You’re our mate. If I hadn’t supported it, I’d have missed that too.”
Jack’s laughter shook the mattress a bit as Galen watched her silhouette in the doorway to the bathroom. She nearly glittered she had so much magic flowing. He sat to get a better look.
“Jesus. Babe, you’re like gushing magic. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“It’s beautiful,” Jack murmured.
“It’s a bit scary, sort of like I feel after two glasses of champagne. I don’t know what to do with it.”
“Come to bed.” Jack held a hand out and she moved to take it, getting in bed between them, and Galen realized how utterly and totally satisfied he was at that very moment her body slid against his.
“We’ll figure it out.”
“Don’t you have a coach or something?” Jack pulled on one of her curls and let go.
“No.”
Galen wished she’d open up about this whole thing. He knew enough that her stepmother, despite owning that shop, didn’t believe in magic and had made Renee believe she was unnatural and wrong. There was more there, something dark, but for years Renee had refused to go into it so he’d let her. He’d tried to research her mother’s family, but had come up empty. In fact, their lives before they’d come to Boston seemed a mystery. Her father wouldn’t speak about it at all. He barely tolerated Galen as it was and he didn’t know Galen was a shifter. He did know Galen had dark skin and was a lawyer and that had been two strikes already. The stepmother liked him well enough. He kept Renee out of trouble as she saw it. He’d never say it to Renee, but it was also that the woman felt like with Galen around, they didn’t have to do anything for Renee. She saw the expensive suits and figured he’d be a source of financial support, despite the fact that Renee had supported herself since the age of seventeen.
If she hadn’t been so stubborn he’d have purchased her a permanent space for her juice bar as far away from that shop as possible. But she wanted to do things her own way and he respected that enough to stand back and help however she’d let him. For the time being, but after that scene with her dad and stepmother that afternoon, he doubted it would go on much longer.
“No?”
“It’s not a complicated answer. No.”
Galen laughed, he couldn’t help it, she was so full of shit.
Jack snorted. “There’s a story behind that, I can tell. Just so you know up front, I’m nosy and I like to take care of people. It’s what I do and who I am.” Jack sighed and Galen grinned in the dark.
“Good luck with that,” he mumbled and Renee huffed, reaching across his body to turn on the light. He grabbed her and she laughed.
“Punk. Let me go.”
“Not ever.”
Her annoyance melted and she smiled, that sweet, crooked smile reserved only for him. “Just ’cause you’re all hot and hard and you have a big cock doesn’t mean you can boss me around.”
“Oh, my sweet beautiful witch, of course I can boss you around. You like it.”
“I like it when you’re fucking me. Or licking my pussy. Something useful. Not when you’re poking at me on this magic stuff. I’m just a girl with some interesting talents. Nothing special.”
Jack growled. “You’re special, Renee. Don’t ever talk like that about yourself. Sweetheart, I don’t know a lot about witches and magic, but even I can see you’re powerful. If you don’t have a teacher, we’ll get you one. I have no idea how we’d find one, but we will. I’ll get my people on it when I go back to work.”
“You can stay, can’t you?” Renee looked to him, her lashes fluttering, and Galen bit his lip to keep from smiling. She didn’t want to talk about it and she’d make sure Jack forgot. He could never stand against her when she truly wanted something either.
“I’d love to stay.” Jack moved to snuggle in on her other side.
“We’ll have to figure out the logistics of all this.” Her voice was sleepy and Galen knew she was tired. So much had happened that day.
“Tomorrow.” Galen let drowsiness claim him, satiation, satisfaction. Life was very good.
“Are you off tomorrow?” Renee asked Galen.
“I am. But I ran out on a few things earlier. I need to put in a few hours but it can wait until the afternoon.”
She kissed his side before turning over to face Jack. “You?”
“I don’t have days off. Or I didn’t. I guess I will now, or I’d better because you and I have a lot of time to catch up on. I need to go in in the morning though, to explain things to Cade and Grace. They’ll want to meet you. You’ll be officially accepted into the Pack too. But that’s not anything we have to deal with right this very moment.”
“The alarm clock is on your side.” She leaned over Jack to get to it. “Hmm. I realize I’ll be giving up having a side of the bed now. Unless you two want to sleep next to each other.”
“Not that I mind sleeping against Galen, but I’d rather sleep against you. This place is nice. We might need a new...okay well we can talk about all this over the weekend. Set the alarm for seven please.”
She groaned and Galen decided he’d let Jack figure out just how much she hated mornings on his own.
“Done.” She sat. “I’ll go set the coffee maker.” She bounced off, happy, and Galen grinned.
“You don’t have to do that. I usually eat at Cade and Grace’s.” Jack got out of bed to follow her.
“Well, now you’re mine. I feed you.” Renee began to pour water and measure coffee, pushing buttons on the coffee maker and setting it to start brewing right before they woke up.
Galen pinched Jack before he spoke again, shaking his head hard, telling him to shut up. Renee may not be a shifter but she was not a woman to be messed with, especially when it came to taking care of her people.
“All right.” Jack yawned.
“Good answer.” Renee turned to them with a smile. “Now how about some snacks and a movie? I don’t have to be up early.”
Chapter Eight
Jack woke up to the scent of his mate on the pillow. Utter satisfaction left him totally relaxed, happy. When he turned, he grinned at the sight of Renee facedown, blankets up over her head. One of her arms lay over Galen’s belly while the fingers of her other hand curled around Jack’s shoulder.
God, she was beautiful.
He kissed her shoulder and she snuggled deeper. Her skin, God, her skin was so pale and soft. Needing to see more, he pulled the blanket back, exposing a perfect back leading down to the dip at her waist and a very gorgeous ass.
“Mmmfph.”
The alarm sounded and he rolled to turn it off.
�
��This thing is like the fucking space shuttle. How the hell do I turn it off?” He poked at a few buttons that seemed to do nothing.
His annoyance melted when a sleep-soft and naked Renee leaned over him to turn the alarm off. He hugged her, jutting his hips to emphasize just how happy he was to see her.
“Anngaahahah.”
What that meant he didn’t know. But she tried to burrow back into the covers, which would not accommodate morning sex.
“How can I wake you up with my cock if you bury yourself in there?”
What he got was a snarl, a snort of disgust and his hand slapped away.
Galen seemed to find this all very funny.
“What?”
“While you’ll find our lady to be sweet and accommodating in many ways, she’s not a morning person.” Galen laughed as he got up. “Babe, I’m turning the heater up and I’ll close the bathroom door for you.” He looked back to Jack. “She’s not a shifter, remember? She gets colder than we do. I’ve found,” he said, continuing into the bathroom to flip on the switch to heat the room, “that she’s much more amenable to lots of things if she’s had a hot shower.”
Renee grumbled something into her pillow, deep inside her blanket nest. Jack pulled the blanket away from her face just a bit, enough to see her. “What?”
She turned over and he saw her breasts in the light for the first time. He swallowed and wet his lips.
“I said, don’t talk about me like I’m not in the room or worse, that I’m mental.”
He kissed her and she might have been annoyed, but she put her arms around him anyway before swatting him away and rolling out of bed. “I’m taking a shower. Coffee is already brewing. I’ll make breakfast while you get your shower.”
And just like that, she disappeared into the bathroom after a lingering kiss for Galen.
“You okay this morning?” Jack asked Galen. “I mean, with everything?”
He tossed Jack a pair of sweats. “If you want. I think we’re the same size, my closet is here and the highboy dresser is mine. There are underwear and stuff.” He pulled a pair of pajama bottoms on but stayed shirtless. “And yeah, I’m okay this morning. You?”
“I feel—” he paused as he pulled on pants, “—satisfied.” He shrugged and followed Galen out toward the kitchen.
“I’ll need to tell my family today, and the rest of the jamboree.” Galen poured them both a cup of coffee.
“I’m mated to you too.”
Galen looked up. “Yes. Is that a problem for you? With your pack?”
Jack laughed. “No. One of my best friends has a tri-mate bond. It’s a sort of mated threesome. Under normal circumstances, any female mated to a wolf would need what we call an anchor bond. Another male to take on part of the bond should the male die. Gabe, my friend, thought he’d anchor another couple and ended up mated to both.” He shrugged. “So threesomes are not unheard of.”
“So, when were you planning on telling me I had to have an anchor? Because I’m not going to do it.” Renee came into the room smelling better than anyone had a right to. Her cheeks were rosy and her skin gleamed like a pearl.
He shook himself out of his fantasy when she poked him while walking past to the fridge.
“You won’t need an anchor bond. I asked. I’d have told you. It’s a big deal and I’d never have not mentioned it before the Claiming.” There was something truly wrong with him that he found her so sexy, even when she was pissed at him. He needed to tell her about Grace, but he wasn’t sure how. He knew the longer he went without telling her, the worse it would be.
Effortlessly, she moved around the kitchen preparing breakfast. He sipped his coffee while Galen made some calls and checked his email. Things were easy between them, the silences comfortable, the conversation natural.
“Are you going to move in with us?” she finally asked as she put a plate heaping with bacon, eggs and hash browns in front of him.
“Do you want me to?” He forked some food up and sighed happily. Galen sat beside him and blew her a kiss when she gave him his plate.
She took a deep breath. “Okay, you don’t know me, I get that. But I’m a pretty straightforward person. We’re mated, right? Did you think I’d kick you out today? Or move in with you and leave Galen? Share custody of my pussy? What? I wouldn’t have opened my heart and my bed, hell, my life to you if I didn’t plan to let you in all the way.” She sipped her coffee as she nibbled on toast. “You’re mine, Jack. Ours. Of course I want you with me and Galen.”
He knew it, felt it through their link, but it sure felt good to hear it. “Will I fit here?”
Galen slid a hand up and down his back. “We’ll make it work. Unless your place is bigger?”
“No. I like it here.” And he did. He liked the feel of the space.
“Settled.” She bent to rummage in a drawer and pulled out two keys. “Here, this one is to the outer door and this one is to the front door.”
They chatted for another twenty minutes or so, but he had to go back to his place first to change before he went to Cade and Grace’s.
Renee walked him to the door. “I’ll see you later then?”
He put his arms around her and she moved to him with a happy sigh. The kiss she gave him rocketed him straight back into that place where need clawed his gut.
“Wow, that’s, wow.” Her voice was shaky. “I can feel it, the way you need.” She slid the robe she wore off her shoulders and it fell to the floor with a whisper of fabric. “I’m here and awake.”
With a strangled moan, he moved her against the wall at her back. “What you do to me.”
She opened herself, tossing a thigh around his upper leg, and grabbed for his button. Then of course, his phone rang, Cade’s ringtone.
“Please don’t tell me you have to take that,” she said, reaching into his jeans and finding his cock.
“I won’t.” He ignored the ring and picked her up to get her cunt where he needed it. Cade would just have to understand, it wasn’t the urgent ringtone so Jack was going to fuck his mate right then and there or die trying.
She shuddered and moaned into his ear as he lowered her onto his cock. “Love that shifter strength,” she murmured. “Hard and fast, I know you have to rush off.” She bit his earlobe and he growled, thrusting deep, just like she’d requested.
Her nails dug into his sides as he shifted her to rest more against the wall so he could reach her clit with a free hand.
“Glory hallelujah and all that stuff. Your cock feels so good inside me.” The nails scored his skin and he wanted to fall to his knees it felt so good. Her words drove him higher, the clasp of her inner walls pushed him closer to the edge. Her clit was hard and slippery against his fingers and when she came, her body tightening around his cock, the sensation, the pleasure rushing through his body, white noise in his ears and her name on his lips, he did drop to his knees as his orgasm hit with such intensity he could barely draw breath.
She sat astride him, smiling down, the morning sun coming through the window just above their door, lighting the wine and gold in her hair. Magic coursed around her, ebbing and flowing. Within, his wolf stretched and quieted.
“I love you. I know we just met, but I do.”
She moved to the side and grabbed her robe as he got up too. “I know. It’s big and scary, but it’s true. The love is there for me too.”
He kissed her again, hating that he had to go. His phone rang again and he groaned.
“I’ll call you later, okay?”
She nodded and stood in the doorway, watching him leave as he answered.
Renee had walked with Galen to his office, pretended to be nice to Beth, who always seemed to be lurking like the stupid bitch she was. Ha, bitch! Well, bitches were just dogs? So would any of Jack’s females in his pack be bitches i
n the figurative as well as the literal sense?
Good gracious, well that was a lot of mental rambling! Not that she wasn’t amused by it, Beth was a cow. But as she was pregnant, all Renee had was mental slapping since the physical kind would be frowned upon even if it hadn’t gotten her slapped right back by a female jaguar shifter.
She grabbed some kisses and left after some I love yous. She knew him, he’d be there for hours. He was a busy attorney, one of the few specialists in employee-side labor law in Boston. It was all acronyms to her, but ERISA was a big deal to those people who needed a specialist and he was their man.
She was proud of that. Proud of how smart he was, of how hard he worked. Proud a man like him loved her. And now she had Jack. Who she didn’t know nearly as well. She did hope his pack would accept her. She wanted, very much, to have the people important to him like her.
The last several days had been overwhelming on so many levels it was impossible to really get it all straight. It wasn’t just Jack and her bond to him. The magic within her had grown. Grown so much it was impossible to ignore.
She knew she had a sort of special gift. Knowing the phone would ring or sometimes, she’d been able to knock things over. She’d noticed lately when she had been really angry or upset, she had made things shake.
But after the night before, all that sort of chaotic noise had smoothed out. She felt like what she had wasn’t just about phone calls or having a way with people and animals. It was as if she perched in a sunny spot and her magic shone all around her. It felt big, like the ocean. Though she wasn’t scared by it she was still wary and impressed. And lost because she had no freaking idea what it was.
