by Fel Fern
He expected Rain to start hissing obscenities at them, but she didn’t even seem to notice they were there. Seeing Rain curled up tightly in bed with her back facing the wall, Ed’s heart ached in remembrance. When Rain and Sam first arrived and the pard hadn’t decided where they would stay, they’d often bunk in with other wereleopards.
Nightmares used to plague Rain on a nightly basis, Ed remembered. While most of them knew Rain and Sam’s story, all they had were the bare bones of a more complicated story both wolves didn’t care to relive, even to their foster parents Lars, Cas, or Des. All Ed knew was that Rain and Sam’s father abandoned them when they were young to the local wolf pack, and a pack that ran most of the drug business in the city wasn’t the most ideal place to raise two wolf cubs.
Ed sat on the top edge of the bed, near her pillow, wincing when Rain withdrew farther to the wall away from him. Her response hadn’t been intentional. Rain was still lost in the realm of nightmares. Every single one of her muscles remained tense and slight trembles ran up her body.
“Princess, wake up. You’re having a bad dream,” Ed said, brushing the hair away from her face. She stilled and Ed berated himself for acting so irrationally. What if he only made it worse and Rain would draw herself further away from him?
To his shock, Rain turned to his side and sniffed him once. Rain must have considered him safe, because she buried her face into his thigh and nuzzled him. Ed badly wanted to touch her, to pull her to his lap, stroke her hair, and tell her he’d make everything all right.
“Whatever it is you’re doing, keep doing it. Her heart rate is going down,” Jake pointed out.
Ed speared his fingers through her sweat-soaked hair, swallowing when Rain rested her head on his lap and finally opened her eyes. She blinked a few times up at him, as if she couldn’t believe he was real.
“Is this a dream?” she mumbled, patting his knee and it occurred to Ed she didn’t have any clothes on.
Since when did Rain ever sleep in the nude? Then again, Ed had to concede with the fact they still had a lot to learn about the woman their princess had become. So far, she didn’t disappoint one bit. Ed just hoped they wouldn’t disappoint her, either.
Ed couldn’t help but bare his teeth and smile. “Oh, I assure you this is real all right, princess.”
“We heard you. You sounded like you were having nightmares. Otherwise we wouldn’t have barged in,” Jake explained.
Remembering they all agreed on taking the slow courtship route, Ed sighed, knowing he should leave, but he was loathe to leave Rain alone. Not like this, scared and still smelling of old fears, and a little…horny.
He smelled it on her wolf, eyeing his cat with interest. Nothing wrong with that, either. Physical intimacy and sex empowered Rain, might gave her some measure of control back, Ed understood that and perhaps that explained why she always pushed old lovers away, but they weren’t there to give that to her.
Ed began to move away, but Rain took his hand, squeezed it, and said softly, “Please don’t leave me alone in the dark. Not tonight at least.”
“You want me to stay?” Ed asked, needing to hear her confirmation.
“Yes. All three of you.” Rain let out a breath, and it tickled warmly against the thin fabric of his boxers. Ed began stroking her hair by reflex, wondered at how natural it felt, combing his thick scarred fingers through her silky hair. “It’s not about getting a desperate fix. I won’t do that to the three of you I just…”
Ed kissed her on the forehead, interrupting her. “Just cuddling, we understand.”
They squeezed into Jake’s bed like a puppy pile. Well, a squashed pile since none of them were exactly small, but Ed couldn’t complain, not when Rain nestled her head against her chest and decided to use him as a pillow. It was hard not to be hyperaware of every little detail. How soft Rain’s slender body was, pressed against his, or how amazing she smelled.
She even put on one of Jake’s large comfy shirts so the situation wouldn’t be too awkward, although Ed wished she hadn’t. Fabric got in the way of flesh touching and he wanted nothing in the way between them, but he’d wait. Certain Rain would no longer relive her nightmare, Ed firmly banded his arms around her waist, lightly grazing Tom’s arm over her thigh. Jake grumbled on the carpet near the bed, and asked them if they wanted to trade places.
“You’re the youngest. Shut up and try to sleep,” Tom mumbled, burying his nose against the nape of Rain. “If Rain lets us cuddle with her again, you can take my spot.”
Rain sighed in her sleep, wiggled even a little, and the movement did wonders for Ed’s cock. Shit. He suspected he wouldn’t get much sleep tonight, and neither would his brothers, not when a promise of a future lay within touching reach of them.
Chapter Six
Rain woke up the next morning in a good mood. Damn, but she hadn’t had such a good, dreamless sleep in ages. After seeing the man in the club she expected to be reliving painful memories in her sleep, to be running through dark corridors, calling after her brother, blood running down one leg and tasting acid fear in her mouth. Rain yawned, stretched, or attempted to, but she fell short when she realized she was tangled in the arms of two men.
She could scarcely breathe. Wearing only boxers, Ed’s upper chest felt hard and warm. He had one scarred muscled arm flung over her waist, his nose pressed to her left breast. Rain heard the rise and fall of his breath, swallowed when the warm air caressed the tip of her nipple through the fabric and made it harden. To her right, Tom snuggled close, one strong arm over her upper thigh. So easy for Ed to bite down on one of her tits while Tom slipped a hand between her legs.
Jesus. Rain’s panties were already beginning to feel soaked.
“Morning, princess.”
At Jake’s husky voice, Rain looked up to see him standing above the bed, his hair tousled, looking barely awake.
“Did you sleep on the floor?” Rain asked warily.
“Ed and Tom wouldn’t trade me,” Jake complained, and began doing stretching exercises, probably to ease the ache of sleeping on a hard surface all night. Rain immediately felt guilty, but not guilty enough to admire the play of muscles stretching over his taut body.
“I’m sorry.”
Jake frowned. “Why are you apologizing?”
“This is your room,” Rain pointed out, and then stilled when she felt something warm and wet against her chest. Ed’s tongue, tasting her through her shirt.
“Quiet, sweetheart,” Ed warned, tightening his grip on her, as effective as any restraint. Looking at his intense and demanding expression, excitement shot down Rain’s spine. As the oldest and the more powerful werecat, Rain knew Ed was the dominant one who always led the dance in any relationship the three brothers engaged in.
“Morning,” Rain murmured. A gasp tore through her when he flicked his tongue against her nipple again, and then the slight edge of his teeth through the fabric. She didn’t stop him from closing his lips on the hardened bud and sealing it with heat. Rain sunk her fingers into his thick hair, encouraging him.
Ed halted for a second to say, “Have I told you how much I love your tits, princess? Round, beautiful, and perfect, they’d look fine with my teeth marks on them so the world would know who you belong to.”
He resumed his task before Rain could even wrap her head around what he just said. Never mind the sharp tingle that went directly to her tits and pussy at the thought of him marking her, did Rain hear right? He wanted her to belong to him and his brothers?
Someone, Tom, squeezed her thigh.
“I can smell your arousal, you dirty girl,” Tom whispered against her ear. Rain shuddered at the nickname. She wanted Tom to stop teasing and move his hand to the crevice between her legs.
“Haven’t we talked about this?” Jake interrupted, forcing Rain to blink and focus on his furious expression. She let go of Ed, although her wolf didn’t want to stop. The beast wanted Rain to keep touching the two men, to lure their leopards into the open.
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Tom halted, politely drew away, and got off the bed to put some distance between them, but Ed had trouble letting go. His mouth let go of her tit, and then he snarled at Jake.
“Talk about what?” Rain asked.
She tried to sit up, but Ed didn’t budge. Rain settled and forced herself to think. To stop being distracted from the strength of Ed’s arms. Normally, she didn’t like being tied down, but no alarm bells rang when the men held her. Instead, she felt safe. Protected. Cherished.
“To wait. You know, go slow. Take you out on a decent date, or a couple of dates before taking you to bed,” Jake explained, looking frustrated.
“A couple of dates?” Tom asked, turning to face his brother, his brows furrowed.
“And you guys didn’t think to ask my opinion or include me in this important conversation?” Rain demanded, losing some of her resolve when Ed ran his nose up the side of her neck and began licking a particular spot over and over again.
Her heart began to race. She knew what would happen if Ed’s canines lengthened and sunk themselves into her skin. He’d give her his mating mark, something more binding than any marriage document because shifters didn’t do divorces. They mated for life.
She wouldn’t mind. Hell, the thought even excited her, but Rain had wanted Ed, Tom, and Jake all her life. Longed for them so badly that letting Ed act recklessly on primal instincts wasn’t the best path to take if they wanted something lasting and permanent.
“I like you better like this, Rain. All subdued and submissive,” Ed said, nipping her ear. He slipped one hand down her thigh. Unlike Tom, he didn’t hesitate. He pushed past the thin band of her thin G-strings and traced the lips of her wet pussy lips, making her moan.
“Ed,” Jake said tightly. “We need to have this talk.”
Ed withdrew his fingers and sucked on them thoughtfully, all the while keeping his gaze on Rain. “So sweet.”
Rain’s cheeks flushed pink, which only made Ed smirk.
“Jake’s right, we need to talk,” she managed, squeezing his arm.
Ed’s expression grew sober. Breathing hard, he nodded, and kept his hands politely from moving elsewhere. “Yeah, okay.”
“First rule, no lying between us. If you guys want to discuss relationship issues, discuss it with the woman you’re having a relationship with,” Rain paused when her cell phone began to vibrate on Jake’s dresser.
Tom peered at it, then handed it to her. “It’s Sam.”
“You going to tell your big brother what a naughty girl you’ve been, Rain?” Ed whispered against her.
“Stop that, please. You’re making it hard for me to think,” Rain mumbled, accepting her pink cell phone from Tom. A tingle shot up her arm when his hand lingered on hers. He lifted up her fingers and blew across her knuckles before putting it down.
“I like how much I have an effect on you,” Ed said, settling for cuddling against her and pulling her to him tight. The sensation of his bare, hard, and golden skin against her thin shirt did wonders for her already scattered brain.
Rain picked up the call. “Sam, what’s up?”
“Where the hell are you, Rain? Are you safe?” Sam sounded uncommonly worried on the phone.
Ed leaned over, rested his palm possessively over her ribs. “She’s fine, Sam. Your sister’s with us.”
Rain glared at Ed. Why Ed sounded so smug, happily volunteering that information was beyond her.
“Thank God. It’s good you’re with Ed and the others. Someone broke into your apartment.”
Worried, Rain cradled the phone to her ear, suddenly fearful for Lindsay. If her best friend got hurt on her account, she could never forgive herself. “Lindsay?”
“She’s safe. Lindsay managed to get away once she heard the window break. She’s with us.” Rain knew by us, Sam meant himself and his leopard shifter mate James. At least Sam hadn’t been hurt.
“We live on the seventh floor,” Rain said, breathing hard as her suspicions came true.
“Yeah. James and I are heading there now to see if we can pick up scent. Want to meet us there? Maybe persuade one of the Cantrell brothers to come with you?”
“You think I need a man to protect me?” Rain demanded, ignoring Tom, who sat himself back on the bed, frowning at her.
“Rain, don’t be a bitch about this, okay? We might need all the help we can get on this. I, of all people, can remember that particular scent. He came to you didn’t he? Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?”
With three pairs of over protective dominant males looking at her intently, Rain didn’t feel like sharing information. “He showed his face last night. I had a few personal issues to deal with so I couldn’t call you right away. I’ll tell you more in detail when we meet.”
“It’s settled then?” Jake asked after Rain put down the phone.
“Yeah,” Tom agreed, patting Rain’s knee. “Maybe we can get a quick bite on the way. I’m starved.”
“Fuck. What did I say about having a conversation around me?” Rain squeaked when Ed suddenly rolled on top of her, straddling her and imprisoning her arms above her head.
It didn’t help she knew he could smell her sudden excitement at their sudden change in positions. Knowing her dark desires, Rain usually didn’t allow men she didn’t quite trust to render her in a position of helplessness, but Ed was different. Her heart thumped painfully against her chest.
Ed’s body pressing down against her, unyielding and powerful, didn’t feel heavy. Simply deliciously right. Rain squirmed under his intense gaze, wanting her hands free so she could take good care of the erection pressing through Ed’s boxers.
“Sweetheart, we’d include you if you weren’t so stubborn,” Tom pointed out. Jake nodded in agreement beside him. It occurred to her Jake didn’t try to stop Ed, which meant Ed, the bastard, only did this to prove his point.
“Didn’t I tell you, guys? She likes it rough.” Ed pressed his knee between her legs, sending another buzz of desire right to her pussy and tits. “Don’t you worry, princess, I won’t fuck you now, although your body’s begging me to, but we soon will.”
“Is this how all our conversations are going to go?” Rain demanded, finally getting her brain and wits back to defiantly look him in the eye. “With you on top on me?”
“If you want someone to leash you up and take good care of you, we aren’t a bad choice, love,” Jake pointed out.
“And if some foolish asshole tries to take you from us, we’ll tear him apart,” Tom said plainly. Rain wanted to ask if he was joking, but she didn’t bother, not when he wore such a frighteningly serious expression on his face that told her he wasn’t in the mood for jokes.
“We’re going to come with you. Meet Sam and James, then help you pack your things,” Ed said, his tone more of a command than a suggestion.
“Am I going somewhere?” Rain asked warily, although she already knew the answer. It was useless arguing with Ed, especially when he put his mind to something.
“You’re moving in with us. Now where you want to sleep is up to you, Jake can take the couch and you can have his room, or you can bunk in with one of us.” Ed smirked. “We understand each other?”
“Crystal clear, sir,” Rain replied tartly, rolling her eyes.
“You have a mouth on you, princess. Some day, I’m going to teach that mouth of yours a lesson.” Ed growled.
“Happy to oblige. Always wondered how you’d taste like between my lips.”
Jake cleared his throat. “We’re going to be here all day if you keep baiting her like that, Ed.”
Ed’s serious expression didn’t waver. “That wolf that got you all riled up last night, do you think he’s the asshole who wrecked your apartment?”
Ed didn’t need to say the words. He was asking her to be finally honest with them, and Rain realized he hadn’t been asking a lot, especially if he and his brothers were risking their lives for her. Rain never asked them to, but they were stubborn as hell.
Maybe
she didn’t want them to tell them the truth, terrified they’d look at her differently after. Ashamed of events she had no control of. God. Wouldn’t the human therapists Des tried to get her to talk to when she was a kid would be finally glad to know she finally opened her mouth.
“He’s…” Rain dropped her gaze with the irrational fear Ed could somehow finally see through her. See the wrecked and tainted windows to her soul and realize he and his brothers made a mistake in wanting her. “My father, although I’d never call the asshole that. He was decent at first, Sam said, before our mother died, but I never saw that side of him.”
Her tone sounded cynical to her ears. Turned ugly when old memories she tried so hard to bury began to surface. Rain couldn’t do it. She blinked when Ed tightened his grip on her wrists. The pain helped her think, gave her the courage to look up at him.
“Look at me, Rain. Don’t fucking turn away when I’m talking to you.” Rain did, shocked by the rage smoldering in his eyes, the harshness in his voice, although she didn’t even tell him anything yet. “What the hell did that fucker to do to you?”
Rain wanted to drop her eyes, but that meant admitting defeat like a kicked dog. Like the weak little wolf cub who needed her brother to protect her when things got too rough. Sam said he had moved on, and barely remembered those nightmarish days, but they both knew he was lying.
No matter what Rain did, she could never forget Clay Daniels, who came home night after night pumped up with heroin, stinking of alcohol and blood, looking for a warm body to use as a punching bag and a hole shove his cock into.
“It doesn’t matter. I can’t change the past, but old ghosts and memories can no longer hurt me.” Ed loosened his grip, giving her space, but the scowl on his face didn’t disappear, nor did the murderous expressions Tom and Jake tried to hide.
“This particular ghost can, but he’s going to regret showing his face again in this city.” Rain could read Ed’s tone well enough that he tolerated no arguments.
“I need a shower.” Heart beating painfully against her chest, Rain quickly walked away and headed straight for the bathroom in the hall the brothers shared.
