“But you weren’t protecting me. You were protecting my father.”
Why couldn’t she just accept his explanation? Why did women always have to overanalyze everything? Sometimes a spade was just a spade. He half wanted to say he’d been protecting her from heartbreak. “No, I was protecting you. Zion seems decent enough, but he’s not my responsibility. You are.”
“Your responsibility?” Nikki was obviously disappointed in his answer. “That’s great.”
Why did she sound angry with him? Hadn’t he been prepared to sacrifice everything for her? “You sound pissed. What did I say?”
“Nothing. I have to go check on my father.” She shot out of the chair as if it were on fire. “You don’t have to wait for me. You should go get some sleep.”
Luke watched her walk away and sighed, slouching in the chair as he settled in to wait for her. He didn’t really understand women, but he knew going to bed would be a mistake. No, when she came back from checking on Zion, he’d be right where she’d left him.
* * * *
To Nikki’s surprise, Zion was stirring when she reentered the room.
“Are you okay, Dad? You shouldn’t move.” She’d thought she’d given him enough painkillers to knock him out for the night. He was a large man, though, and maybe she’d underestimated the dose he needed.
“I can’t say I’m okay, but I will be, thanks to you.” His voice was strong but rough. Clearly, he was still in pain.
“Not really. You’d heal on your own. I’m just helping things along.” She busied herself with measuring out another dose of painkillers for him.
“We both know that’s not true. My wounds were fatal. You kept me alive long enough for the healing to begin.” He coughed hard and deep. “And your mates. They fought alongside me. Maybe I misjudged Luke.”
“I wouldn’t be so quick to jump to that conclusion.” Nikki regretted her words the moment they flew from her mouth. She wasn’t being fair. He could have been killed fighting for her father. She was just hurt because he’d called her his responsibility, when what she wanted, despite his warning that it wouldn’t happen, was to be his love.
Zion raised an eyebrow at her. “There is something else I need you to do for me.”
“Anything,” she said, holding the medicine to his lips, prepared to scold him if he didn’t swallow every drop.
“I need you to get one of our doctors back in here and go back to your hydan.”
“What? That can wait. You are more important than my hydan.”
“No, it can’t.” Zion shifted slightly, wincing in pain. “It’s more important now than ever. After the challenge today, the clans will be uneasy, but knowing that you and your mates are proceeding with the hydan will boost confidence. We don’t need another challenge or fighting among the two clans. Both sides need to see that nothing has changed, and that all is well enough for the hydan to continue.”
Did he ever stop? Even then, when his body was so broken, all he could think about was the clan. “I can’t believe that’s your priority right now.”
“If this falls through, then everything I’ve tried to arrange, and even Caleb’s death, was for nothing.” He managed to glare at her through his pain. “I will see the clans united.”
“I don’t feel right about leaving you.” Nikki glanced at the closed door, her own fatigue starting to catch up with her.
“I’m tired. I’m just going to sleep, and knowing you’re back where you belong will put me at ease. Besides, it can’t be all bad, can it?”
Nikki shook her head. There’d been nothing bad about her hydan.
“Ask Tobias to come. I prefer him to the others. He can send for you if anything goes wrong, but get back to enjoying yourself. I’m sorry this happened in the middle of your hydan.”
She was, too. Zion hadn’t faced a challenge in years, and it was easy to forget how quickly things could take a turn from relative peace to violence. “I can’t just pretend none of this has happened. And beyond that, I have no idea how to build a life with my mates, pretending that a war isn’t looming.”
“Then don’t. Accept that there is always the possibility of battle and enjoy every minute of peace you get until it happens.” The meds were fast acting, and Zion had begun slurring his words.
Nikki leaned over and kissed the top of his head, one part of him that wasn’t battered and bruised. He whispered something and she had to concentrate to hear him.
“The humans do it every day. Each time they take a breath, they face the possibility that it will be their last, yet they get married, have children and build lives. They don’t live as long as we do, and their bodies are much more fragile than ours, yet they choose to focus on living rather than on the inevitability of death.”
“Okay, Dad. Okay.” She made sure he was comfortable and then went in search of Tobias.
* * * *
Almost two hours passed before she finally made it into bed between Luke and Mason. She’d wanted to be pissed at Luke, but when she found him asleep outside her father’s room, she didn’t have the heart to hold a grudge. It was silly to let his choice of words upset her. He’d been honest about his intentions all along. She was the one developing feelings.
Luke had gone with her to find Tobias and then to find Mason. The three had then grabbed some food from the kitchen and took it back to their suite to eat without being watched. They’d showered next, and though both of her mates ended up with erections, neither had made a sexual advance. Though her wolf screamed at her to wrap herself around them, she was grateful they didn’t try to take her. She was exhausted and emotionally drained.
Her mates had been tender with her, plying her with little kisses and making sure she was comfortable, despite the fact that they were the ones in need of healing. Nikki went to sleep with her head on Mason’s chest and her thigh pressed against Luke’s side, smiling sleepily as she felt his hand take its usual position on her hip.
* * * *
Over the next few days, Nikki forced herself to choose hope over depressing thoughts about what the future might hold. She left her mates only to check on Zion and by the time her father was fully healed, she was once again feeling confident about the future. Battles among shifters were nothing new, and she couldn’t let worry stop her from enjoying the present and planning for the life she wanted. Luke and Mason seemed to have no lingering anxiety after the challenge, and they easily struck up the rhythm they’d set in the early days of the hydan. In fact, Nikki felt closer to them then she had before the battle, closer to both of them.
At the end of the second week, the threesome decided to go to the lodge’s huge dining room for breakfast, just for a change of pace. There were only a few others lingering in the room when they arrived, and they nodded and winked, but for the most part left the trio to their own devices. Mason and Luke had piled their plates high. Their appetites for food rivaled their hunger for sex, and they’d devoured what looked like a mountain of breakfast before going back for more. As they ate, they kept up a constant assault on Nikki’s personal space. Luke squeezed her knee and stroked her thigh under the table while Mason couldn’t seem to stop kissing her whenever he happened to put his fork down.
“Here, taste this,” Mason said, lifting a piece of sausage he’d speared with his fork to her mouth.
“Mason, I have my own sausage.”
“I know. I just want to see you eat from my fork.”
Nikki rolled her eyes but opened her mouth and took the bite of sausage he offered. He held her gaze as she chewed and then leaned forward to lick the leftover oil from her lips before she had time to reach for her napkin.
“Delicious.” Mason leaned back, still staring at her as if she, instead of all the breakfast food he’d piled on his plate, was the meal in front of him. Nikki pressed her thighs together. The way he stared at her started a familiar throbbing between her legs.
“My turn.” There it was. Just those two words from Luke made her pussy wet aga
in. How many times had he said that since the beginning of the hydan? She wasn’t sure, but it conjured up memories that made her wish they’d stayed in their suite.
Nikki dutifully opened her mouth for the proffered bite of eggs, but Luke leaned forward and quickly took her mouth, giving her his tongue rather than his eggs. As his tongue caressed the inside of her mouth, he ran his hand up her thigh and through the bottom of her shorts. Nikki knew he’d discovered her damp panties when she heard him growl and felt his kiss deepen.
“Damn, get a room.” Nikki looked up to find Robyn staring down at her, amusement written all over her face.
“We wondered when you would finally leave your room and come up for air,” Liz said, gesturing at Mikayla, who was fixing her plate at the dwindling buffet.
“Hey, Robyn, Liz,” Luke said.
“Hi, Luke. Hey, Mason.” Robyn actually managed to smile at Luke for the first time since Nikki had joined with him. If Robyn was willing to smile at him, Nikki realized her happiness must be written all over her face. And she was, without a doubt, happy.
“Hey, guys.” Mikayla stood beside the long wooden table with her plate of food. “Mind if we steal Nikki away from you for a few?”
“Yes,” Luke said to Nikki’s surprise. And he looked like he meant it.
“I agree with Luke. We definitely do mind.” Mason wrapped an arm around her shoulders as if he expected them to run away with her. If that was their plan, Nikki didn’t want to go.
Liz was the voice of reason. “Come on, guys, you have her for three weeks. We only want a few minutes. Didn’t your parents ever teach you to share?”
“I always hated sharing, except with Mason,” Luke answered.
Mason grinned. “It’s true. He’d never share his food or his toys with anyone but me.”
Robyn crossed her arms and looked down at Luke as he shoveled more food into his mouth. “Well, shit, Luke. And here I was just entertaining the idea of maybe, just maybe, someday being able to like you.”
Luke swallowed hard and cracked a grin. “Well, how can I refuse that olive branch? If I share my woman with you for a few minutes, you might someday, in the distant future, find some way to tolerate me?” He winked at Nikki. “Okay, but I can only give you a few minutes. We have important…business to finish.”
“C’mon, girl.” Robyn tugged Nikki to her feet. “We’re on the clock.
Nikki pushed her chair back and started to stand up, but was pulled back in for another panty-melting kiss from Mason. “Hurry back.”
* * * *
“Okay. Spill.” Robyn leaned forward, giving Nikki her full attention.
Nikki smiled sweetly back at her. “Good girls don’t kiss and tell.”
Mikayla gave a throaty laugh. “Well, we all know you’re not a good girl, so, like she said, spill. Are they as good in bed as they look?”
“Screw that. Which one is bigger? Are you sore? How long do they last?” Robyn asked, eyebrows raised.
“And more importantly,” Liz chimed in, her high blonde ponytail bobbing with excitement, “how many times did you come the first night with both of them?”
“Seriously, guys. I don’t feel right going into all of that.” They’d all shared the details of their frisky nights for years, but now that she was mated, it somehow felt wrong. She knew her friends would never tell anyone, but she certainly wouldn’t want either of her mates telling their friends how she was in bed.
“Oh, so it’s like that, is it?” Mikalya pretended to pout. “A little over a week joined and suddenly you forget all about us poor single ladies.”
“Nice try, Mikayla. I went over a year without getting laid. How long has it been for you? Two weeks? Don’t expect me to feel sorry for you.”
Mikayla winked, leaning back in her chair. “Well, what can I say? I don’t deny myself the good things in life.”
Come on,” Robyn wheedled. “Throw your girls a bone. If you won’t share all the naughty details, just tell us whether it’s as good as you imagined.”
Nikki looked across the room to where her mates sat finishing their breakfast without her. They’d gone back for thirds and their plates were piled high. They really could put away some food, which wasn’t all that surprising, considering their sheer size. Turning back to her friends, she gave them what she could, a smile playing on her lips. “Ladies, all I can say is there are no words to describe it. There are simply no words.”
* * * *
“You have to tell her.” Mason’s smile faded as he looked from Nikki, laughing with her friends across the room, back to Luke.
“Tell her what?”
“That you’re planning to leave. That you won’t live with us. Unless you’ve changed your mind.”
“I haven’t really thought about it. I’ve been kind of busy with other things these past few days.” Luke couldn’t help but smile at the thought of all the delicious acts that had kept him so distracted.
“You owe it to her to tell her before she gets too attached.”
Annoyance sparked to life, threatening to ruin Luke’s lighthearted mood. “I owe her? I’ve done my duty to her and done nothing but treat her well since we became a threesome. I’ve pledged to always protect and respect her, and she seems content with that.”
“She expects us all to live together as mates are supposed to. If you wait until she grows even more attached to you, it will be more of a blow.”
“More attached?” That gave Luke pause. Hearing that she felt attached at all made him feel altogether too good. He shook his head to banish that thought. “I doubt she’ll mind all that much. She’ll have you, and me, too, whenever I come back here for clan events. She’s known all along that I wouldn’t be the prefect mate. I don’t think she’ll be shocked if I choose to live someplace else.”
“If? So, you’re not sure then?”
“I thought I wanted to leave, but now…I don’t know. Everything is so different from what I expected.” Luke had never been more confused in his life, not just about whether he wanted to have feelings for Nikki, but also about whether or not he already did. He felt protective of her and he liked knowing she was within arm’s reach. And the time she spent under him. There was nothing else like it. Luke sighed, pushing his plate away. The conversation had made him lose his appetite. “But her father is right. If I can’t give her a love match, it’s not fair for me to hang around.”
“You’re a bonehead if you can’t recognize this is a love match. But if you’re still too scared to be one-hundred-percent there for our mate, then yes, you should leave. Hell, I’ll help you pack, but you can’t hide this from her.”
“I’ll tell her when the time is right. Finish your food, little brother. It’s time to take our woman back to bed.” Luke stood up, ready to tell the ladies time was up. “And Mason,” he added, turning back, “don’t tell me how to handle my relationship with Nikki. We share her, but she’s not any more yours than she is mine.”
* * * *
Mason shook his head as he watched his brother walk over to their woman. Luke might not realize it, but he was already attached. It was difficult to know how much of his behavior was simply the inherent mating bond and which part was something more. But if Mason had to bet, he’d be willing to wager Luke was feeling more than just the call of fate. He could see it in the way his brother looked at Nikki, as well as in the way he constantly found some reason to touch her, even after they’d just made love and Luke had been well satisfied. Then there was the challenge. Mason had been willing to jump to Zion’s defense because he was already in love with Nikki, but Luke? He was sure his brother wouldn’t have joined the fight unless he cared for her, too.
As for Mason, he’d been falling in love with Nikki since he’d first caught her scent and laid eyes on her. Hell, touching her was practically a spiritual experience for him. She brought a heated response from him anytime she so much as grazed his arm, but when he buried himself inside her, he felt something he’d never experience
d before. It was a sense of rightness, a sense of home. Some might argue that it was just their mating bond at work, but Mason would never believe that. He knew wolves who were well bonded to their mates, yet still never felt them in their bones the way he already felt Nikki.
He leaned back in his chair and sighed. She was perfect for him in every way. He’d had her before breakfast, but he couldn’t wait to have her under him again, or maybe, this time, straddling him. It was too bad there were still stragglers in the dining room. Maybe he could have convinced Luke to stand guard while he bent her over one of the tables.
“You’re looking well, son. Mated life agrees with you.” It was Carolyn, their stepmother.
“Morning, Mom.” Mason leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table. He’d gotten an erection thinking about making love to Nikki and he didn’t want Carolyn to notice it. Fortunately, having Carolyn anywhere near him had a rather negative effect on the body part in question. Her presence was better than a cold shower.
“I just thought I’d pop in for a quick chat while Luke is busy.” She glanced over to where Luke was sitting. Apparently, the women had welcomed him into the fold and he’d sat down at their table, pulling Nikki onto his lap.
Mason shook his head. For a man who didn’t want to be mated, he sure did look comfortable over there. “Mom, you know I always have time for you.” It was true. He didn’t remember his birth mother, not like Luke did. Carolyn had helped raise him and Luke, and they both loved her. Still, he hoped she wouldn’t talk too long. He could use a little lap time with Nikki.
Nikki's Fated [Wolves of River's Bend 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 10
