by Cara Adams
She thought of their handsome faces, their delicious bodies, the way they devoted themselves to pleasing her. “But it’s so much more than that.” She thought about saying good-bye to them, never seeing them again, or worse, seeing them make love to another woman. She wasn’t sure which would be more painful. To leave them alone, or to see them find a new love.
“Am I just a jealous, selfish bitch? I don’t want them, but I don’t want them to have anyone else either?”
I do love them. My life would be empty without them. They’ve come to mean so much more to me than just pleasant company and good sex. I really do want to be part of their lives, to make a new life for myself with their pack. Joining in, helping them, being useful, loving my men.
Once again she stood and rinsed her hair, this time leaving the drain open and emptying the tub. She stepped out, wrapped a towel around her head, and another one around her body.
“So where am I? What have I decided?”
Am I frightened of commitment because I’m scared of rejection just because Father disowned me? Am I going to let the past dictate my future? The past has happened. It’s too late to change that. But I’m the only person who decides my future.
Yet still she couldn’t make herself say the words, to commit to Robert and Edward. She rather thought she loved them, but commitment was huge. It was too big a step to take yet.
* * * *
“I’ve never been to a really formal dinner before. You’ll stop me before I do something stupid, won’t you, please?” Bethany asked Jill, as they finished putting on their makeup.
“You’ll be fine. If there’s a stack of cutlery start from the outside knife and fork and work your way inward. Your bread and butter plate is to your left, and your water glass will be just above your main course knife. Other than that there’s nothing much to go wrong. I’ll sit near you, though, to make you feel better, if you like.”
“Oh I like. A formal event is scary for me.”
“You could dance on the table and I don’t think that would stop Edward and Robert from loving you. They’re besotted by you. They’ve never looked at any of the other women.”
Bethany took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. It really didn’t matter if she did something wrong. Jill would guide her and likely her men would, too. But she didn’t want to embarrass them, have them think she was an uneducated peasant.
When there was a knock on the door, it wasn’t just Robert and Edward to escort her, but also Sloan, Keir and Jarrah to walk with Jill. Bethany hid a smile. It looked as if Sloan, Keir and Jarrah were taking lessons from Robert and Edward and all trying to get in first to accompany Jill before anyone else could capture her attention.
Robert and Edward held out a tiny posy of flowers on a bracelet to fit on her wrist. The florist had done wonders with the flowers and the colors were just right to blend with the color of her gown. “Thank you.”
They headed along the path which was busy tonight, as where many people would normally walk on the grass, tonight all the women, and many of the men, insisted on staying on the concrete walkways. Also, because it was a dinner, most people were punctual tonight, whereas arriving at a dance half an hour late was perfectly acceptable.
Jill and Bethany were scanned into the ball room first and Bethany looked around awed to see the room almost filled with large round tables surrounded by chairs with bows on their backs. Several of the tables closest to the front of the room were already full, as were a few right at the back.
“Where is the correct place to sit?” she asked Jill.
“There’s no right or wrong place unless a table has a Reserved sign on it. Since there are already six of us and these tables are set for ten people, let’s sit at an empty table. Also that way we can sit beside each other if we want to. With so many more men than woman I can’t imagine we’re supposed to formally arrange ourselves around the table.”
Bethany liked the idea of sitting next to Jill. That way she could copy her without appearing to stare. They sat at the side of the room, with their backs to the wall, so they could both watch everything that was happening. The men soon joined them as did some other people, and the conversation was bright and lively. That was one thing Bethany had truly enjoyed about the DADISP. Everywhere she went people had been friendly and talkative. People just chatted to whoever was nearby and she really liked that. It reminded her of the way she’d been welcomed into the community at Carnal Connections.
Between each course of the meal, the MC led them through games where each table competed against the others in trivia competitions, games of guess the movie theme, a sports themed quiz, and a history pop quiz. There was also a country-western singer, a band that played background music, a pianist, and a stand-up comic.
Bethany thoroughly enjoyed herself. The food was delicious, the company was good, the games were fun, and every aspect of the event was so well organized and ran so smoothly she was in awe of the people who’d arranged everything.
“It’s brilliant. However did they plan such a wonderful night?”
“Everything’s been really excellent. Nothing’s gone wrong, and nothing has been left out. The entire event is totally amazing,” added Jill.
So why can’t I commit to Robert and Edward? What’s holding me back?
* * * *
Edward was waiting with his brother and his woman at the assembly point for the morning run. He’d been certain that after he and Robert made love to Bethany again, she’d be ready to commit to them, but it hadn’t happened like that at all.
Last night the entire group of them had walked back to the cabins together, and Bethany had simply thanked them and gone inside with Jill, leaving his dick harder than a spike, his balls fast turning blue with the need to fuck her, and his plans for the rest of the evening in disarray.
However she’d said she’d run with them at eight thirty this morning, so that was a small satisfaction.
It was only a small group running today. Edward wondered if everyone was sleeping late after the dinner last night, or if people preferred the nine or ten o’clock runs which were five miles instead of this shorter run of only two miles. He shrugged. Bethany had chosen this time and that was all that mattered to him.
As always she looked totally delicious in her pale blue shorts and T-shirt, her blonde hair in a ponytail and her body lithe and slender as she stretched and warmed up ready to run. Their security guard, a man, led them off on their run, and Edward matched his pace to Bethany’s, while Robert ran on her other side.
She never seemed to tire on their runs. Two miles, five miles, it didn’t seem to matter. Her body moved with the same liquid grace at the end of the run as at the beginning. Edward was beginning to appreciate that her slender form was pretty much all muscle and that any hint of fragility was her feminine gracefulness, not any actual weakness.
There were two other women on this run and three men, the two women talking to each other as they ran, but the men all running alone. They all ran at a medium pace, which meant the group was bunched up together. Sometimes the groups tended to split with some people running faster and others more slowly, but not this morning. They were still close together as they reached the halfway point, their farthest distance from the main buildings of the conference center.
Edward enjoyed the daily runs. He was used to being quite active in his job, often walking many miles over the hiking trails of the national park, checking for wild animal kills, rogue hunters, or just looking to see if any of the retaining walls needed replacing. His job was very peaceful and he felt a genuine connection to his traditional pack lands. Being outside in an uninhabited area gave him a feeling of being truly at one with nature and his heritage. Here, the run was as close as he could get to that. The green grass and many trees and flowers were very different from the much wilder, harsher land of the hiking trails, but there was the same atmosphere of being surrounded by nature and the land.
Besides, he was with Bethany, by he
r side, and even though she hadn’t committed to them yet, she was prepared to be in their company, so it was a good way to start the day in his mind.
Four men were standing under a tree, talking, watching them running. Edward had just a few seconds to realize he didn’t recognize any of them, when a large blond Viking of a man, launched himself at their security guard, knocking him to the ground.
“Take the women back to safety,” the guard yelled, as his attacker punched him in the gut, then in the head.
Edward grabbed Bethany and shoved her back the way they’d come, but she resisted him. “Help the other women,” she demanded.
Still holding Bethany pressed against his side, he turned and saw three of the unknown men dragging the two other runner women toward the boundary of the property. One of the runner men was racing at top speed back to the main area, presumably to get help, while the other two were standing still, hesitating.
Bethany screamed again, “Help the other women, you idiots!”
Robert tackled the man who’d hit the security guard, knocking a gun out of his hand and kicking his feet out from under him. Edward knew Bethany was right. If they didn’t act, the women would be stolen. He hated leaving her. It was like a physical pain in his arm when he let her go, but the four men had to be stopped. And he couldn’t leave all the fighting to his brother. One man would never be able to defeat four men.
He ran after the attackers, grabbing the slowest one, punching him hard, pulling him backward, and forcing him to let go of the woman he held. The woman helped, wiggling free and smashing her elbow into the attacker’s face.
Finally the two male runners who’d hesitated joined in the fight, and stopped the remaining two attackers from getting away with the woman they held. Edward’s concentration was all on the man he was fighting. He was big and tough and fought dirty, going for his balls, his eyes, and any vulnerable part of his body. He was also very fit and strong, making Edward wonder if he could be defeated. Yet he didn’t want the man to just run away. He wanted him caught and punished.
He finally got the man in a headlock and wrestled him to the ground. A gunshot blasted out, then another one. Fuck! What now? More attackers?
He sat on the man’s back, digging his knees into his spine, and keeping his arm wrapped around the man’s neck, but he raised his head to look around and find out what was happening.
Bethany. Where was Bethany?
Edward twisted and turned looking all around, determined not to let his captive go free, but terrified for his woman. He caught sight of Robert ripping an attacker’s shirt off and using it to tie his hands behind his back.
And there was Bethany, as cool as a cucumber, a gun in her hand, her gaze on an attacker maybe fifty feet away from her. An attacker rolling on the ground and whimpering.
Bethany had shot someone? Holy shit.
Edward did a quick headcount. The four attackers were on the ground, all defeated. One of the runners was caring for the security guard, who still seemed to be unconscious. One of the runner women was bent over throwing up and crying, and her friend was with her, patting her back and supporting her.
He wanted—needed—to grab Bethany and hold her in his arms, to make sure she was safe, to tell her she had to stay with him to be looked after forever. But he couldn’t let go of the man he’d captured, and Robert was still tying up one of the other men.
Finally two more security guards arrived, driving a golf cart with a trailer behind it, and with a paramedic on board. They produced handcuffs and secured the attackers hand and foot, then piled them in the trailer, while the paramedic checked the security guard who’d been hurt and settled him in the golf cart comfortably. At least he was conscious now.
As soon as his captive was attended to, Edward raced over to Bethany and pulled her into his arms. “I was frightened for you. I was afraid you’d be hurt,” he whispered to her neck.
“I wasn’t even scared until afterward. There was too much to do. I had to phone security and tell them what had happened, then I picked up the gun so the attacker couldn’t get it back again.”
Robert joined them, holding Bethany as well, all three of them in a tight group hug. “Where did you learn to shoot? That would have been a difficult shot to get him in the foot,” said Robert.
“Oh, I learned in Texas, of course, and I’m not as good a shot as I thought. My first bullet went in his calf which wasn’t enough to stop him. I got him in the foot with the second shot. These .22s are pretty useless. You really need a .38 to stop a person,” she replied.
Edward held her tighter and laughed. His woman had almost been kidnapped. She’d just experienced a violent fight scene and a melee. And she was calmly discussing the best kind of gun to stop an attacker.
“Okay people, we need you all to come back to the ballroom. There’s some trouble happening here and there right now and we want all the guests safely inside where we can protect them. Are you all right to walk back, ma’am?” the guard asked Bethany.
“Of course.”
The woman who’d been ill sat in the golf cart and one of the security guards walked beside it as did the paramedic. The men were all talking loudly, but all Edward wanted to do was hold Bethany. He could have lost her. Had her stolen out from under his very hands right then and there. She had to commit to them, had to. He needed to take her home, to love and cherish her forever. She was the greatest treasure he could ever have and all he wanted to do was worship and adore her. But would she let him? She’d demonstrated so very clearly that she was a woman of passion in their bed, a woman of intelligence in her conversation with them, and a woman of courage in the attack just now. Was he really worthy of such a perfect and amazing woman?
* * * *
Bethany was concerned about the way the security guard had mentioned “some trouble happening here.” To her that didn’t sound like the fracas she’d just experienced was the only attack the conference had sustained. In fact, it sounded more like there were multiple attacks happening right now. Which implied that a group of wolves had made a concerted effort to steal some of the women. But why on earth would they assume a stolen woman would agree to mate with them?
Sure, some women had capture fantasies, that was part of the allure of BDSM, but the participants always knew it was a game that could be stopped at any time. The woman was never in any real danger. And to her, going off with some unknown men into an equally unknown future was pushing the envelope a bit too far. The line between Alpha and asshole could be quite narrow at times, but no woman wanted a man who treated her like a doormat to wipe his feet all over. A woman might not mind working very hard for a joint future, but she needed to be respected as well. How could she respect a man who was willing to carry off the nearest woman he could snatch? How did that show he would care for her? What if she got sick? Would he still want her then?
Bethany wondered if Jill was safe. Jill was quite capable of taking care of herself, but she was also intrigued by Sloan and his proposal to go to his pack and mate with various people she hadn’t met yet. That was quite thrilling in a way, but it wasn’t all that safe. However, this early in the morning, likely Jill was still asleep in their cabin. Bethany hoped she was anyway. For a moment Bethany wondered what Jill did and where she went at night, but it wasn’t any of her business. It wasn’t like she hadn’t jumped into bed with a couple of men herself.
All the women were being scanned into the ballroom immediately. The men had a long line and were only being checked when no women were waiting. It seemed to Bethany that there were more than the usual checks as well. Surely they didn’t think some men would attack them inside the buildings?
About half the round tables from the formal dinner the previous night were still set up and wait staff—all women, she noted—were bringing them coffee and croissants, and some tiny Danish pastries. A quick glance showed her most of the women were in the ballroom already, but only about fifty men, and most of them were ones with women and were staying v
ery close to them.
Jill was sitting at a table talking to some of the women and Bethany joined them. “What’s happening?” she asked.
“I have no fucking idea. I was woken up by a security guard hammering on the cabin door, given five minutes to get dressed, and brought here with Angie and Ruth. At first I thought it was a fucking fire drill or something. It wasn’t until after we got here I found out there was a genuine concern about we women being attacked.”
Bethany hid a grin. Jill still sounded tired and grumpy. Hopefully the caffeine and sugar hit from the coffee and pastries would get her metabolism moving soon. She looked at Angie and Ruth but they both shrugged their shoulders back at her. Okay they didn’t know anything either. Bethany decided not to mention her own experience. Those men had been caught and were being dealt with. It wouldn’t be sensible to worry the women by mentioning what had happened on her run.
“Oh well, we knew all along we’d be a target for attackers. Sixty unmarried women all together at the same place was obviously too tempting for someone not to attempt a takeover.”
“Except that no one other than the people here were supposed to know where we were,” grumbled Jill, signaling for more coffee.
“That’s true.”
Eventually the red-haired woman who had coordinated the arrangements for the DADISP, Bianca, and Josie came into the ballroom and clapped their hands to attract everyone’s attention.
Looking around, it seemed to Bethany that most of the men were in here now, as well as all the women.
“I’m sorry for the inconvenience, people. There has been a security breach and Harry Harrison’s team is searching all the buildings and grounds to ensure there are no uninvited persons on the property. The male staff are all in their break room and the female staff are here, so it shouldn’t take our security team too long and you’ll be free to move onto whatever you wish to do for the rest of the day,” said Bianca.
