by Brynn Paulin
She wrapped her arms around her middle, the fleeting calm dissipating. The bogeymen had gotten her. They just weren’t what she’d expected. And according to Mel, they weren’t all that bad.
A growl warned her she wasn’t alone, a moment before a giant lion pounced into her path. She glared at it, defying the terror fluttering in her middle. They’d said they wouldn’t harm her, and she chose to believe that.
“Back off, Simba,” she said. “I’m just walking.”
A growl behind her clearly told of their disbelief. The lion in her path gently clamped his mouth on her arm and guided her around to walk in the direction from which she’d come. The grasp hurt, but it wasn’t hurting her. He was obviously being careful not to tear her skin, while being firm in his demand. Apparently, she’d strayed too close to the edge of their land, and they wanted her to go back toward the house.
After she’d taken a few steps, he let go, and the other lion nudged her in the back to urge her on. Soon it became apparent they wanted her to move faster, and she took off at a run. Dual roars sounded behind her. She heard running then a weight plowed into her back, taking her to the ground. Large paws rolled her over, and she stared up into the huge, maned face. Large expressive eyes gazed down at her where she was pinned.
“I’m not scared of you,” she said, more for herself than for the big cats. In truth, her heart was beating hard and fast, and they probably knew it.
Tawny mane tickled her as he bent forward, mouth slightly open. To her surprise, he licked her then nuzzled against her head. The lion, who’d stood to the side, butted his way in and did the same. Were they playing or getting ready for their next meal—her!
“Let me up,” she begged, her voice uneven. She took a shuddery breath as she fought with herself. If they backed off…
And they shocked her, stepping away. It was then she knew they truly had no intention of attacking her. Slowly, she climbed to her feet then started walking toward the house once more. A strange relaxation came over her as they traveled. The beasts moved on either side of her. Their rolling gait mesmerized her with their feline grace. Reaching out, she buried a hand in one mane. The lion purred then the other one nuzzled her, silently asking for the same. Smiling despite herself, she placed her other hand on him.
To her surprise, their hair was soft and not as coarse as it appeared. She played it through her fingers as they proceeded. With each step, she felt her fears slip away. This situation was weird, but she feared less for her life. Killing her wasn’t on the agenda. At least, not today. Probably not ever.
Pulling her hands free of them, she took off running. She wasn’t surprised to hear them bounding after her. This time, they didn’t immediately pounce. They ran circles around her as she zigzagged and evaded them—not that she really thought her evasions were successful. They were letting her dart to and fro to play. Soon, she was a few yards from them. She dashed off the path and into the field to the right of the dirt road.
One of the lions pounced onto her back, taking her down with an oof. This time, she turned on her own and looked up at him.
“Which one are you?” she asked breathlessly.
The big cat shimmered before her eyes and she felt a zing of energy across her skin. It put the small hairs on her arms on end just as if lightning had struck close to her. A small shudder worked through her as the image above her blurred then became clear. Naked, Myan knelt over her, holding down her arms. Without a word or warning, he bent forward and pressed his mouth to hers. His lips forced hers apart as he groaned into her.
Strange, needy pressure started in her middle, that same tension that had assailed her the night she’d been in their hotel room. More than desire, it clawed and twisted until she thought she might die if she didn’t have them, both of them, soon.
Unconsciously, she tilted her lower half up toward his pelvis as he straddled her. She rubbed against his rapidly growing cock. To her surprise, he moved off her though he never stopped kissing her. She screamed into his mouth as she felt the tingle of energy across her skin again. Kaz pressed his face to her apex. His fingers worked at the closure of her jeans. Impatiently, he tugged and yanked them to her thighs. Long strands of grass tickled her hips, creating a perfect curtain of privacy around them. The autumn sun warmed her skin while the men’s musky scent and the smell of damp soil and wildflowers surrounded them.
Kaz lifted her to his mouth, and his tongue swept through her folds.
“Kaz,” she breathed, feeling the tension of her building orgasm tightening in her middle. Her pelvis seemed heavy and tingly with the need pulsing through it. They were entrancing her again…doing…something. Still, it would be a lie to say she didn’t want them. But she couldn’t sleep with them. She had every intention of running. Sleeping with them would only complicate matters and make her feel guilty over misleading them more than she already had.
“Stop,” she begged, twisting her head to the side when Myan would have taken her mouth once more. She pressed a hand to the top of Kaz’s head and pushed until he lifted away.
“What?” he asked, obviously confused. Glancing at Myan, she saw they both were.
“I…I can’t.”
“You’re our mate,” Myan argued. “We’re your mates. It’s destined for us to be joined.”
Oh God…
“So you say,” she countered, pulling her pants back up and fastening them. “And I’m just supposed to fall in with it?”
Rolling to the side, she squirmed from their grasp and climbed to her feet. Nervously, she ran her fingers through her hair to free it from grass.
Myan rose to his elbows. “Why not?”
She blinked at him. “Are you serious? I just met you yesterday!” Wait…she’d been unconscious… “Three days ago,” she amended. “And most of the time I was comatose. I know nothing about you.”
Kaz’s lips pursed as he obviously fought back a smile. Well, she was glad someone was amused. Not. He shook his head. “I bet you know a lot more than you give yourself credit for knowing. You researched us for a long time before you came to do the interview, didn’t you?”
“A little,” she conceded, quietly.
“How much is a little?” he asked. They both rose, naked and aroused before her. She looked over their shoulders to the horizon. Stay strong. Stay strong, she thought.
Or don’t, Myan spoke into her head.
She glared at him “Stop that!”
He raised an eyebrow as he smirked.
“How much research?” Kaz asked again. “A month. A year…? I bet you started looking into us the day your sister disappeared.”
She turned on her heel, refusing to admit the piles of data she’d read on them or the hours of video she’d watched. Kaz played guitar like a demon, his fingers flying over the strings while he sang counter to his brother. Myan played too, but his voice…
“I’m going back to the house,” she said.
“Better than running away,” Myan teased.
“I wasn’t running away.”
A growl built in her chest as she glanced at them, but she squelched it, not wanting to share any shred of possessive instinct. What the hell was that anyway? It had stunned her the last time it had happened.
“Are you going to the house like that?” she demanded, facing away again.
“Like how, sweetness?” Kaz asked. Myan chuckled.
Jerks, she thought, knowing they’d hear it.
Name calling, precious? Really?
“Get out of my head!”
“Then say what you mean,” Kaz demanded.
She spun and gestured, narrowly missing Myan’s cock with her hand. “You’re naked for anyone to see. Including my sister. Are you going in the house like that?”
“It’s our house,” Myan said.
Hanna suppressed a scream. They were just…just…infuriating!
“So you don’t want anyone else to see us naked?” Kaz asked close to her ear.
“I don’t care.�
��
He kissed her neck. “Of course, you care.”
“What about paparazzi?” she deflected. “Aren’t you afraid they’ll snap pictures of you cavorting about like a jaybird? Or that they’ll get photos of you as lions…or shifting.” A sick feeling erupted in her belly at the thought. She’d rip the intruder apart if he were to hurt these men.
Hanna blinked at the odd emotion. Generally, she wasn’t violent. She couldn’t explain the overwhelming protectiveness welling inside her at the thought of their privacy being invaded.
“Security,” Myan said. “They’d trip alarms at the edge of the property as soon as they crossed over to our side. They’re a bit like air-raid sirens.”
Would she trigger them if she ran?
She pushed it from her head, unwilling to risk a nosy lion reading her thoughts.
“So you’re going up to the house naked?” she asked, circling back to that.
“It’s a big place. Chances are no one will see us,” Myan offered.
“And if they do…we’re their leaders. We can do what we want,” Kaz added.
“You have rock star entitlement down to a T, don’t you?”
“It’s good to be king,” Kaz laughed. He grasped her hips and brought her against his body. “It’s good to be queen, too. You should give it a shot.”
“I’m not a queen. I’m a reporter who’s going to turn in one hell of a story.”
“Like hell you will,” Myan growled, his playfulness disappearing.
“She’s just goading you,” Kaz said.
“She just wants you to show a little modesty,” she hissed between clenched teeth. She broke away from Kaz and ran the rest of the way to the house. They could traipse in naked if they wanted. She didn’t need to witness it.
A gasp escaped her as she rushed through the kitchen door, the screen banging behind her. Heat flooded her cheeks. Her sister sat on the lap of Petre Ruslan. Her shirt was parted, and his hand was inside. Costin stood slightly to the side. Mel’s head had been bent to his crotch. She sat up while he tugged his shirt over his erection. Petre left his hand right where it had been.
“You must be our new little sister-in-law,” he said with a grin.
Hanna stuck her fingers in her pockets, terrified someone would try to shake her hand—and God knew what they’d been up to. Worse, who knew how Myan and Kaz would react. She didn’t need to accidentally start some civil pride war. They’d already made it clear that no males were allowed to touch her. Poor Alexi… She wondered if he was hiding.
“I guess I am,” she answered. “It’s nice to meet you. I…um…I’ve seen you two on stage with Kaz and Myan.” She bit her lip. She’d blown this first impression. Well, she probably wouldn’t see them after today anyway, so she could live with that.
She tried to hide her sadness as she gazed at her sister. Would it be the last time?
“I should go to my room,” Hanna murmured.
“I think we shocked her,” Costin said.
“Our mate is a little reserved,” Myan told him, coming beside her. Dreading his appearance, she slid her glance to him. He was bare-chested, but to her relief, he’d donned a pair of jeans.
“We thought you’d be longer,” Costin murmured, the quiet words laced with accusation. Her brows furrowed. What had Kaz and Myan told them? We’re gonna go find our mate and bang her good?
No, we did not say that, little cat, Kaz chided her.
Not quite, Myan interjected.
Shut. Up! she ordered, her thoughts just shy of a screech.
By the way, they can’t hear us, he continued. But I bet they can read your expressive face.
Jerk!
You keep saying that, Kaz taunted.
She exploded with a growl of fury and headed from the room.
“Hanna…” Kaz called, his exasperation ill suppressed.
“Good luck,” she heard Mel say. “Her hard-headedness is legendary. Changing her mind takes an act of God, and even then…”
“Warning would have been nice,” Kaz growled.
“You’re welcome,” Mel replied.
Hanna slammed the bedroom door on the rest.
Chapter Six
Myan pulled a pillow over his head. Hanna was practically yowling on the other side of the wall. He hoped the rest of the household couldn’t hear her. The men would all be on edge tomorrow. Though they’d steered clear of the new mate, twelve shifters lived at the compound. Only Costin and Petre were mated.
The morning might be dicey if he and Kaz didn’t do something soon. Holding the pillow to his ears, he glared at his brother. Kaz sat at his mahogany music stand, strumming on his guitar. He stopped intermittently to write notes on the paper beside him.
“Doesn’t that bother you?” Myan snapped.
“No.”
“How…on earth…can you stand it?”
Kaz grinned and strummed a few notes. “Because I know…” he sang. “I’m about to get what I want.” He marked a few more notes on his paper.
Myan sat up, listening to the plaintive moans coming from his bedroom. From the point of view presented by his brother, they were music to his ears. Hanna was getting really agitated. She was liable to hiss and snap at them when they entered that room, but once they were there, it was unlikely she’d let them leave.
But how long to wait?
As if to answer his question, he heard Hanna whimper. The pathetic sound drove him off the bed and to the door. His cock tented his lounge pants, but he didn’t care who saw him as he strode toward his mate, Kaz on his heels.
The bedroom Hanna was using was dim as he entered, the air filled with her scent. Naked, Hanna twisted on the bed. While she lay in her stomach, her hips undulated against the mattress. Her back arched and rubbed her breasts against the bed. Her torso shook with sobs.
“What’s wrong with me,” she gasped. “What did you do to me?”
Kaz shut the door, and both men headed for her.
“Stay back!” she screeched. “What did you do? Make it stop!”
“We can’t,” Myan said, daring to sit on the edge of the mattress, but as far from her as he could.
“Did you drug me?” She turned on her back and ran her hands over her body.
Myan’s cock throbbed. He wanted to touch her but knew he’d come away with a nub if he tried.
She whimpered. “It feels like lava running over my skin. It hurts. It…”
“Feels good, too,” Kaz supplied.
“I need… Please…” she cried.
“You need to be touched,” he said, leaning toward her. “You need to be fucked.”
Myan ran his hand over his arousal, knowing he’d have to wait for Kaz to take her. First born had the choice to be the first to mate. It wouldn’t always be that way, but it was clear that Hanna would accept Kaz.
“I need to come,” she breathed. Her hand drifted to her pussy. She rubbed herself then cried out in frustration. Her head thrashed on her pillow. “It only makes it worse!”
Kaz caught her face in his hand and kissed her hard. As if a spell had fallen over her, she calmed. Her arms went around him, and her body turned to wrap around him. She clung to him as he climbed over her. Myan chanced a brush of his fingers across her leg. She kicked out at him, hissing through her teeth. Her foot struck him in the chest.
“Not yet,” Kaz said, looking over his shoulder at him.
Hurt but understanding the chain of dominance, he stood and watched as his brother shoved down his pajama pants. His eyes closed at the sight then he turned away. He knew when Kaz entered her. Hanna moaned low in her throat.
Kaz’s thoughts reached out to him, and Myan tried to push them out. Kaz persisted, sending sensations. Myan felt the wet, tight pressure of her cunt as clearly as if it were closed around his own cock. Reaching out, he grasped the tall poster of the bed. He opened his mind to it, connecting to both Kaz and Hanna. His body sank deep into the waves surging through his body. The feel of her building orgasm�
�the tightness or arousal in his chest…the heavy need to come in his balls.
His knuckles turned white. He wouldn’t come. The sensations of nails clawing his back, jerked him from the edge. Turning, he slammed down his mental gate on the connections and watched their bodies contort as they came.
Hanna was gasping for air as the pair rolled apart. Myan didn’t wait, knowing they’d have to fuck her repeatedly before this version of shifter heat passed.
“Get on your knees,” he ordered, his voice a dry rasp around his arousal.
Eyes wide, Hanna blinked at Myan. The animalistic determination in his face scared her a little. “I’m sorry I kicked you.”
She really was. She didn’t even know what had happened to her. It wasn’t as if she didn’t want him. But his touch had seared through her leg. Panic took over.
“Turn over,” he grated. Her middle clenched, tension beginning to coil again at the purposeful angle of his body. He wouldn’t be refused this time.
It was the furthest thing from her mind. She rolled to her belly, groaning at the pressure to her pussy.
“Ass in the air,” Myan growled.
Swallowing, she complied as excited for him as she had been for Kaz. Myan immediately mounted her—there was no other way to put it. His body covered her, his cock pressing to her cunt. An arm came down beside her head and a knee rose beside her hip. Her eyes went wider at the feel of thick hair on his leg and the increased hair on his arm. Wait! What? A glance over her shoulder showed him still very much human and her heartbeats slowed slightly in relief. His hair had just…lengthened. Even the hair on his head had grown to brush his shoulders in the style she preferred. A look at Kaz, revealed the same with him. She’d just been too far gone…
All thoughts evaporated as Myan’s thick cock plowed into her sensitive channel. She cried out, throwing back her head. Myan shoved it forward. His mouth fastened on the back of her neck. Her cream flowed around him, her pussy convulsing at the primal move. His teeth grazed her skin as he thrust.
