by Tara Rose
Austin rubbed the spot on his head where someone had struck him with the edge of a sword. An actual fucking sword. Why the man hadn’t rammed it through his gut was a mystery, but he was grateful for that. “We’re not cut out for this shit anymore, are we?”
Galatyn examined the myriad of cuts on his wrists and hands. Austin had a few, too, and he knew that they both needed to clean them out properly, and soon, or they’d get infected. “Oh, we’re cut out for it. I just don’t want to do it. I wasn’t sure if that was true when we set out from home, but I am now.”
Austin scanned the tree line. “Think the others have figured out where we went missing?”
Galatyn shrugged. “I hope so. It would be nice to have some back-up right now.”
Austin poked his sleeping bag with the toe of his boot. “You’re getting old and soft, cousin.”
“No. I just miss her. I want to be with her.”
Austin didn’t say anything. He couldn’t. The love and pain in his cousin’s voice rendered him speechless, because he felt the exact same way. Galatyn was simply brave enough to voice it out loud.
“And what about you? You gonna sit there and play badass League hunter, or you gonna tell me the truth for a change?”
“Fuck you.” Austin threw off the sleeping bag and walked away from the fire, but that proved to be a mistake. It was fucking freezing tonight. The stars were brilliant, as they always were on cold, clear nights like this. Was she gazing up at the stars right now, thinking about them? Or had she written them off by now, convinced they’d never think about her again, and maybe even certain that they had used her after all?
How long had it been since they’d held her and looked into her beautiful green eyes? Two weeks? Three? A month? He had no fucking clue right now. All he knew was that he missed her, and he wanted to be with her. But how was that possible?
“I want to buy The Lair.”
He turned around at the sound of Galatyn’s voice. His instincts must be shit by now. He’d never even heard him approach.
“We have the money to do it. You and me, partners. What do you think?”
“You’re assuming a lot.”
“Such as what? That Joaquin won’t sell it? We already know he would.”
“No. Such as Nadine still wants us. And that the jaguars would welcome two leopards buying one of their most lucrative businesses and moving into their village.”
“It’s not that lucrative, but we could make it into something special. I know we could.”
“I agree, but what if that’s not what they want it to be? What if they like it just the way it is with dirty glasses, Kirsten giving blow jobs in the storeroom, and broken floorboards everywhere?”
“You’re finding excuses not to go back.”
Austin poked at the ground with his boot. “Maybe I am.”
“Why?”
“Because we don’t know if she wants us in her life forever.”
“Bullshit. You know she does. You looked into her eyes the morning we left, the same as I did. You heard her voice. You held her in your arms. If she doesn’t love us I’ll eat the bark off the nearest tree, in my human form.”
Austin glanced into his cousin’s face. “It’s a moot point. We’re here and we have a mission to complete.”
“It’s twenty degrees out here. Maybe. They have no way to keep warm in that cave. No wood to build a fire, no food, and no water. They’re probably dead. I say we go in at first light and confirm it, then go and find someone to help us haul their corpses out of there before the animals find them. Or leave them here. I don’t care. But I want to go home. And by ‘home’ I mean Utah. I want Nadine.”
* * * *
Nadine sat in front of the window of her apartment on New Year’s Eve, and watched the fireworks explode over the lake behind the Jargonian home. Most of the village was inside that home or the one next to it. The brave ones were outside. She’d been invited but had declined. There was no way she could face that many people, and she certainly couldn't go inside either of those houses yet. Maybe not ever.
It had been two days since her grandfather’s visit and as far as she knew, no one had heard a thing from him or any of his troops since. She had told no one what he’d said about Austin and Galatyn. She’d kept it in her heart and in her prayers every night, willing them to be all right and to come back to her.
There weren’t as many fireworks as last year, and she guessed that was because of the bitter cold. It took a long time for her to fall asleep after they ended because the noise in the bar downstairs was louder than usual tonight. She’d told her uncle she was getting sick and couldn’t work, but the truth was that she simply couldn't face the customers tonight. She couldn't face anything or anyone these days. She felt herself slipping deeper and deeper into a depression, but there didn’t seem to be any way to pull herself out. She was no longer sure she wanted to.
When sleep finally came it was fitful, and her dreams were vivid and confusing. She saw a cave and a fire, but couldn’t tell where it was or what it meant. In the morning, she went down to the bar and tried to clean up from the night before, because she knew her uncle and Kirsten wouldn’t bother before opening it back up that afternoon. It gave her something to focus on, and because she was alone she didn’t have try and make small talk, or hear comments about how she wasn’t the same anymore.
She knew she wasn’t the same anymore. How could she be? If she’d hear something—anything—at least she’d know. She could stop speculating and becoming fearful at each stray thought. She was trying so hard to stay positive, hour by hour, and sometimes only minute by minute. It was all she could do to hang on.
A commotion outside caught her ear, and she opened the door to watch Timmy Henderson, the oldest son of one of Gary’s jaguars, walk up and down the street with a bullhorn. What the hell was going on? She stepped outside and nearly fainted when she heard what he was announcing to the village.
“The League is defeated! The League is defeated! Our jaguars are on their way back from the mission! It was a complete success!”
Villagers were pouring out into the square, some crying, some staring at Timmy and then at each other with stunned looks on their faces. Gradually, the whispered murmurs turned to shouts of joy, and more than one woman simply knelt on the frozen ground and cried.
Nadine’s first instinct was to run after Timmy and beg him for information on Austin and Galatyn. But would he have any? Then again, he must have received this information from his father. Maybe he could give her a clue? Anything would do. Any scrap of news that might tell her if they were still alive.
She closed the door to the bar behind her and caught up to him on the next block over. “There were two leopards from Arizona with my grandfather and his troops. Austin and Galatyn Meliadus. Any word on them?”
He looked confused for a second, and then his face brightened. “Oh yeah. My father did mention them. They had the last two League members holed up in a cave or something. They’re on their way here, too. Everyone should be back in a day or two, tops.”
Timmy walked away and began to make his announcement again. Nadine stood rooted to the spot with tears streaming down her face. Her entire body was shaking. She was afraid to believe it was true, but instinct told her it was.
She’d dreamed about a cave. It must have been a prophetic dream. They were all right. They were alive. And they were on their way here…
* * * *
Nadine spent the next two days jumping at every sound. What if Timmy had been wrong? What if they didn’t come back? And even if they did, that didn’t mean they were coming for her. They’d left her with no promises or hints that they wanted her with them forever. She was jumping to some mighty big conclusions here.
But she refused to give up hope. She couldn’t. She held on to the belief that they wouldn’t be coming back to Utah for any other reason than to be with her. They didn’t work here. They had no business dealings here. Why else would they come b
ack?
The villagers left in town spent those two days celebrating, loudly, at all hours of the day and night. Nadine went back to work because both Kirsten and her uncle begged her to. They needed help. The mood in The Lair was elated, but a few patrons expressed concern that all members of the League couldn’t possibly have been found, and they would eventually rise up and start the whole mess once again.
Nadine didn’t know who was right, and she didn’t care. She only wanted to see Austin and Galatyn.
Saturday morning, three days after New Year’s, Nadine was in the bar early in the morning because she couldn’t sleep. She was cleaning up, and heard her uncle’s voice outside. Since it was rare for him to be up so early on any day of the week, even Saturday, she followed it, still carrying two pitchers that had once been filled with beer, but were now covered inside and outside with a film of dried hops and barley. She’d be lucky to get them clean again.
As she opened the door and took in the scene before her, the pitchers slipped out of her hands and clattered on the pavement, shattering into pieces. Austin spotted her first. He gazed at her with a mixture of relief and what could only be called love. She swallowed hard but was unable to stop the tears.
He strode toward her, and she brushed the hair out of her face but knew it was pointless because there was already dirt smeared on it. She caught Galatyn’s grin as well, and he pumped his fist in the air and then sprinted toward her.
Both men reached her at the same time, and she was crying so hard, and asking questions that made no sense, that she wasn’t even sure which one of them picked her up first and twirled her around. She heard his boots crunching on the broken glass, and then they were walking away from it and into the middle of the street.
Galatyn kissed her, and she wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and pulled him close, hardly daring to believe this was possible. Every tear she’d shed, every dream she’d had, and every memory of holding them and making love to them that she’d allowed herself for the past month came rushing back at her, and she was unable to process the emotions. They were simply too overwhelming.
They were here. They were both here. And they were thrilled to see her.
When he finally released her, he gazed into her eyes with so much tenderness that she thought her heart was going to burst. “I’m sorry we had to leave, but it’s over. Did you hear? The League is broken.”
“I heard. We all heard. The entire village has been celebrating for days. I also heard you were both missing but then I heard you weren’t.” She sounded like an idiot. Why couldn’t she say what she really wanted to say? That she loved them both with every fiber of her being and she wanted them to stay? That she wanted to be with them forever?
“We were detained, but we were never in any danger.”
Austin kissed her then, and when he released the kiss he cupped her face. “We couldn’t stop thinking about you. Not for one single minute. Nadine…I never thought I’d feel this way again. I love you. I should have told you that. I love you and I want you as my mate and my sub. We both do.”
“Oh, Austin.” She put a hand over her heart and cried in huge gasping sobs as the reality of what he’d just said hit her. Every wish she’d ever had had just come true. They were here, and they wanted her with them. “I love you, too. I love you both. I should have said something but I didn’t think it would be fair. You never made me any promises that included this.”
“I know we didn’t. But I’m making them now. We both are.”
“Nadine,” said Galatyn, “I love you, too. I think I’ve loved you since the moment I first looked into your eyes. The memory of being with you is what kept me going these past weeks. All I could think about was coming back here for you. I want you as my mate and my sub, for the rest of our lives.”
“Galatyn, I love you, too. I couldn’t do anything while you two were gone. I was lost and so confused. But now you’re here.” She wiped at more tears, still unable to believe this was real. But it was. They were standing here, right in front of her. They loved her and they wanted to be with her.
“And guess what else?” Galatyn looked like a kid trying to contain his excitement. “We’re going to buy The Lair from your uncle. Both of us. We’re going to run it. And we’ll fix it up and everything.”
“You are? But can you do that? Can you leave your jobs and your homes?”
Austin smiled. “Our home is here, with you. And the bar will be wonderful. I promise you that. But will you have us? Will you take us as your mates and your Doms?”
“Oh yes.” She threw herself into his arms and clung to him. “Yes, of course. Of course I will. Yes, yes, yes!”
Austin stroked her hair and back, and behind her, Galatyn put his arms around her and kissed her hair and her neck. It didn’t matter that a crowd had formed around them, or that her uncle was telling anyone who would listen that he’d just sold the bar for a huge amount of money, as he put it. It didn’t matter that people were coming out of their homes or businesses to see what was going on. Nadine was aware of it, but she didn’t care.
She was with her two leopards. They had come back for her. They wanted her as their mate and their sub forever. It was her fondest, deepest wish and it had just come true. And she would spend the rest of her life making sure that Austin and Galatyn knew how much she loved them.
THE END
WWW.TARAROSEROMANCEAUTHOR.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tara Rose loves to write about small towns and the quirky people that inhabit them. You’ll find engaging characters, budding romance, intrigue, and plenty of hot steamy ménage sex within the pages of her books. You never really know what goes on behind closed doors, but her books will take you there and leave you panting for more.
When she isn’t writing, Tara spends time with her husband—her real-life hero. She loves to cook, collect antique pottery, and she will read just about anything. Tara also plays the cello and loves decorating her house for Christmas.
For all titles by Tara Rose please visit
www.bookstrand.com/tara-rose
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
