Chapter Eleven
Brock
"Why the fuck did you make me leave?" Brock asked Kai for the hundredth time. His adrenaline still rushed through his body with a desire to do violence. It was the second time Felix had come between him and his mate.
Kai took a long swig of his beer. "Because you weren't thinking, not with your brain anyway. When she touched you, you were both seconds from ripping each other's clothes off. If you had hurt her brother, it would be like hurting her. On top of that, she would have resented you. But you heard her, right? What's happening between us is not going unnoticed. Though I don't understand why she is so confused by it. She lives with shifters, knows about mates. Maybe showing up at her house today was a mistake."
"No, letting that fuck face Victor in with her was a mistake."
"We have nothing to worry about from him. Didn't you see the way she walked in? She stayed so far away from him I doubt they get close enough to touch shoulders. No, she knows she is ours. We're in a great place, if we're lucky, she'll come to us."
The pub door opened and Brock could smell her before he saw her. "You're a fucking wizard," he muttered to Kai.
Francesca stomped in the pub, plopping down on one of the high-backed chairs at the bar instead of at one of the tables where he and Kai were. "She's alone," Kai said, but not like he was altogether pleased by that.
The old bartender set down what looked like whiskey on the rocks and she took a sip before sitting back in her chair. Her gaze meandered around to her left and then back behind her. When she spotted them, she slammed her glass down on the counter. "You are fucking kidding me."
"She looks really mad," Brock said, noting how hard his cock had become the moment she'd stepped in the pub.
"Yeah she does," Kai replied.
Francesca sashayed over to their table, drink in hand. Her anger made her eyes shine. Her brown curls bounced with every step and her dress swayed, showing him glimpses of her shapely thighs. He growled, remembering she had worn that dress for Victor. She put her drink on the table before dragging a chair from the nearby table over. She sat down and looked up at them with suspicious eyes. "Are you two stalking me?"
Brock grunted. "We were here first."
"Really? That's what you're going with? Playground rules?" She gestured with her hands like an angry gameshow host. "You know this is my place. I told you this is my place yesterday when you showed up in the middle of my date."
"You don't need to date that guy," Brock said before thinking.
Francesca's nostrils flared and she pursed her lips together. "Do not tell me what I need to do." She tossed her drink back, taking another sizeable swallow. "Not that anyone has to worry about him anymore. Fucking asshole. Do you know he had the nerve to say Pippen's chicken was dry? And that Serena Ann is underdeveloped?"
"He sounds horrible," Brock said.
"Fuck you," Francesca spat.
Brock's lion roared. He enjoyed the fight and appreciated the fire inside of her. But his lion also wanted to dominate, demanded that he show her exactly which one of them would get fucked. "Why are you going out with that guy anyway?" He stopped talking before he could make her angry by saying, "When you have us."
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because the last date I had the guy was forced into it and only agreed out of fear. Oh, and he's gay."
"Bi," Kai corrected her. He'd been enjoying watching them argue. "Both of us."
"What about before our date? I can't believe you've been single for long." He needed to know so much more about her, everything about her.
Francesca exhaled, blubbering her lips in sarcasm. "You've met my brother. Growing up, there weren't a lot of guys brave enough to go up against that. Even when he left the country, guys remembered him and stayed away from me. I dated a little in college, but...that didn't last long."
Brock wondered if she was aware of the way she winced and brushed her hands against her lower stomach. "Tell me more about college. I thought you only went for a year."
"How did you..." Her confusion cleared and her eyes narrowed. "Oh yeah, shifter hearing." She finished her drink and grinned like she had a secret. "Luke told me to stay away from you two. He said you were unpredictable." She pointed her adorable finger at Brock before waggling it in Kai's direction. "And he said you were a lone wolf. Why not join a pack, Mr. Mahelona?"
"First, it's Kai and I don't need a pack. I have Brock."
She nodded, plucking an ice cube from her glass she put it in her mouth and chewed on it. "That's right you have Brock, Brock has you, and I'm going to take my own advice and fuck off." She leaned forward like she was going to stand and Kai grabbed her wrist. Brock waited for her to flip out; if he remembered correctly, she didn't enjoy it when guys did that.
"Sit down," he ordered softly, rubbing the inside of her wrist as he did. "You aren't going anywhere. Not yet. I'll get us another round while you and Brock kiss and make up."
He got up before she could say anything.
"Your boyfriend is pretty hot," Francesca said, looking after Kai.
Brock agreed about how hot he was. Hell, Kai agreed about how hot he was. "He isn't my boyfriend. He's my mate." Like you.
"Must be nice," Francesca said and there was no doubting the wistful edge.
It didn't make any damn sense. She wanted a relationship, she wanted them. So then why was she pushing them away? "Francesca," he murmured her name and searched her face when she looked back at him.
The anger was mostly gone, replaced by a flush most likely caused by the whiskey. He noticed a spattering of freckles over her nose and wondered what they would look like in the summer when they had become darkened by the sun.
"I want to kiss you," he said watching her breath catch. He slipped his hand behind her neck and pulled her closer to him. When their lips brushed, he felt her soft exhale, like a sigh of relief. Her lips were warm. Her mouth opened so he explored further, tasting the whiskey she had drank on her tongue. He felt Kai's hand on the back of his head, massaging him encouragingly. When Brock pulled back, Kai had taken the seat next to her and leaned in, capturing her mouth with his lips.
Had it been this fucking hot for Kai to watch him and her kiss? A light breeze and he'd be exploding in his pants. Kai kept it gentle and pulled back. Francesca's eyes fluttered open.
Chapter Twelve
Brock
"I know I told you to kiss and make up, but wait for me next time," Kai murmured.
Frannie looked around the pub at the other customers. "This is a bad idea. Especially here. I come here a lot, you know. I'm never going to live this down."
"We can go," Brock offered.
Kai gave him a look over his beer. He was afraid that Brock was rushing her. Maybe he was, but just because he couldn't stand waiting another second to claim her. Not after that tease of a kiss. He could still taste the whiskey he'd sampled from her lips. She wanted it, too—that kiss had been proof.
Francesca visibly trembled, like some sort of aftershock of desire. "What do you guys want from me?" she asked, plaintively.
Brock wanted to gather her in his arms and hold her tightly so that she never sounded so sad again. He knew Kai was thinking the same thing.
Kai grabbed her hand where it had been on the top of the table. "Nothing that you don't want to give."
She bit her bottom lip. "I doubt that."
"What if we just want to give you pleasure? You could take that, couldn't you?"
Brock stiffened. He cocked his head to the side, wondering what Kai could be thinking. He was very nearly lying to Francesca. They didn't just want pleasure. Sure, that was part of it, but they wanted more than pleasure from her. She was their mate, they required everything. His thoughts began to echo Kai's earlier question. How did she not see what was going on here?
"One night?" she said timidly.
"To start," Kai hedged.
Francesca emptied her drink. "Okay. But we go to your house. God knows what would happen if we
go to mine."
"Hey, Frannie!" Christina approached their table. Her deep scoop neck T-shirt was just tight enough and low enough to make her a lot of money in one night. "Your brother just called. He wanted me to spy on you. I didn't tell him you were here with my two favorite pieces of eye candy. Should I?"
Francesca pursed her lips and gave them both a look that said, see, I told you so. "Please don't."
Christina looked at the three of them, and one eyebrow rose in suspicion. "You sure are popular these days. Some dude came by earlier asking for you but considering what happened last time—I told him to buzz off."
Brock didn't like the sound of that, on so many levels.
"Sorry if it is becoming a bother. Tell the next person who calls or stops by to mind their own," Francesca said, standing. "I'm going to go to the restroom."
She left the table and Kai turned to Christina, most likely giving her his sexy, Hawaiian surf God look. "What was that you were mentioning? About the last guy?"
Christina's chest rose and fell as she took a deep breath. "I shouldn't, I mean that's Frannie's business."
"She's our business," Brock grunted. Kai shot him a death look. If Kai was the grease that got a wheel to talk, Brock was often the rust that jammed it back up again.
"I don't know a lot, just that she had some trouble. She was missing for a little while a few months back." Christina blinked and cleared her head like she'd been under a truth spell. "You two, too damned attractive for your own good." She brandished her index finger at them like it was a sword. "You be nice to Frannie or you'll have more than me to worry about." With that vague threat, she left the table, hips swinging, all of her attention on the next table of patrons who stared up at her like puppy dogs.
Brock stood, more than ready to get out of there. He turned to Kai. "You lied to her."
"I didn't lie, but there is something that is holding her back. She's skittish, afraid. And until we find that thing and pummel it, she would just run away if we laid out what was happening here. She's just stubborn enough."
"But if we, when we make love with her, the mating heat will start. That isn't fair."
"You think it hasn't already started? How's your cock right now? If it is anything like how mine has been since I set my eyes on her yesterday than it is hard as a rock and begging to be buried deep inside whatever hole she offers. She mentioned it as well, the pull you have. That will just get stronger. If not sated, who knows the effect it will have. What if it puts her in danger?"
"Don't pull your lawyer bullshit with me," Brock growled.
"You mean don't have sane, logical arguments that prove my point?"
"Blow me," Brock snapped just as Francesca was returning.
Her eyes widened innocently. "Everything okay?"
The way she asked, her lips glistening and parted, full and ready to be nibbled, her wild curls draped over her shoulders. He wondered what they would look like draped across his chest. What it would be like to look down and see that gorgeous curly head bobbing up and down.
Fuck.
"Fine. Let's go." He stepped toward the exit but she did not follow. He needed to get a handle on his lust before he ended up hauling her over his shoulder and carrying her out. He may have been large like a caveman but he didn't want to act like one. He went back to her and brushed the line of her jaw. "Everything is fine. Are you ready to go?"
She nodded and followed them out to his jeep. Instead of sliding in the passenger seat, Kai slipped in next to her in the back. She gave the movement a double take but buckled her seatbelt and sat back, looking out the window as Brock pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road. He hopped on the highway, taking the first exit into the part of town they lived in.
"You two live downtown?" Francesca asked.
Brock nodded.
"How long have you lived together?"
"Years," Kai said.
Francesca shifted uncertainly.
Brock was beginning to recognize the motion as her trying to talk herself out of whatever she was doing.
"How old are you two?" she asked.
"I'm thirty," Kai replied for him. "And Brock is thirty-one."
"Oh." A beat. "Do you want to know how old I am?"
Brock knew she was a least twenty-one but hadn't honestly thought a lot about her age. She was their mate because of who she was, not how long she'd been. "Only if it makes you feel better to tell us," he said. Kai caught his gaze in the rear-view mirror. The bastard thought he couldn't ever say anything right and looked fucking shocked right now. He parked on the street, glad to have found a spot in front of their building.
"I hate telling people how old I am. In their minds, I should be one of two people right now: married with at least one toddler or a party girl who stays out every night."
"I can't say I'm not glad you aren't married or that you don't spend your nights out partying."
Francesca met his gaze. "Oh, I party, but it is alone, in my room, with my characters."
"That's right, you write," Kai said, smoothly unbuckling his seat belt and then moving onto Francesca's.
Francesca looked out at their apartment building. "This is where you live?"
Brock couldn't tell if she was impressed or let down. He tried to imagine what the building would look like from her perspective. The neighborhood was a far cry from the suburban college area she was used to. "It looks bigger on the inside," he said.
Her eyes brightened as she smiled. "A Doctor Who fan?" she asked.
He didn't have any idea what she was talking about.
"We don't watch much television," Kai answered for him.
"Oh yeah, a cop and a lawyer, you probably don't have a lot of downtime and when you do you are probably..."
Francesca blushed and Brock stepped quickly inside the building. He could smell her desire, it rolled off her in waves, filling his senses. He guided them into the elevator and waited for the doors to shut before grabbing her hand and pulling her so that her back was flush against his chest. "Finish your sentence," he murmured into her ear.
Her breath caught in her throat. "Wh-what?"
Kai prowled toward them, his eyes glittering. He crashed right through what was considered polite space boundaries stopping only once she was sandwiched between them. "What do you think we do in our downtime?"
"I'm a romance author, you know, it isn't like I can't talk dirty." She was trying to sound flippant but it didn't help that her voice trembled. "You don't need me to say it, I mean, look at you two. You probably fuck like crazy."
Brock's growl vibrated from his chest and into Francesca's back. He liked the sound of dirty words coming from her lips, especially when him and Kai were the only ones around to hear them. Just then, the elevator doors opened. Brock lifted Francesca gently under the arms and carried her to their front door.
"Let me down." She giggled. "I can walk!"
"You weren't moving fast enough," Brock grunted waiting for Kai to open the door to their apartment. He set her down inside only to push her flush against the wall as he claimed her mouth with the type of kiss he wished he could have given her back at the pub.
Chapter Thirteen
Frannie
Frannie had made plenty of spontaneous choices that had ended badly. Kissing her writing professor in college had been one, cutting her hair short in the front so that she had bangs had been another. Then there were times when she saw the bad decision coming, like a shark swimming toward her from across the ocean, and she'd remained there, letting the bad decision come. Or she'd jumped in and swam toward it, full-on, like tonight.
That could be the only reason why she was currently tongue-fucking one of the two sexiest men she'd ever seen while the other had glided in between her back side and the wall, massaging her arms and shoulders. This was a bad idea. The worst of ideas. This decision had the potential of becoming Greek-tragedy bad and yet she knew there was no way she could stop her body from letting these two guys take whatev
er they wanted from her. Never had she been so overcome by need as she was now. Spotting Kai and Brock at the pub had been like the answer to a prayer she didn't know she'd made.
One night. You can do one night; take what you need and go.
She'd been living with shifters for a while now so she thought she was pretty used to the whole growly, zero-personal-space thing, but with Brock and Kai it was so, so different. She found she didn't even want personal space. Good, since there wasn't a space that she existed in that didn't include one or both of them.
Brock continued his assault on her mouth, his large hands seemed to swallow her body wherever they traveled. He slid them down her stomach and then to her sides where he cupped her hips. She had never felt petite in her life, but in Brock's hands she felt positively fragile. All the while, Kai murmured encouraging and dirty things in her ear about what they were going to do to her, how they planned on playing her body like a harp. He squeezed her bottom through her dress and slid his hands down her arms, his palms white hot directly against her skin.
She pulled free from the kiss and gasped for air. Her body was hot, too hot. If she kept it up like this she was sure she would explode. "I need a second." She gulped for air, sliding to the side, free from their four wandering hands and two very hot mouths. "No wonder Finn fell so hard. Is it like this with all shifters? Do you guys get sex classes or something?"
Brock gave her a devilish smile. "No, it isn't like this with all shifters. Just with us." He winked at Kai.
An idea formed in Frannie's head and the more she thought on it, the better it sounded. "I want you two to kiss," she said, sure to keep her distance. Not only was the idea hot but it would let her keep some space to clear her head and give her more time to distance her heart from these two because she could already tell that if she wasn't careful, she would fall hard.
"Not that I mind kissing my mate, but it would be better if you joined," Kai said. At some point, he'd taken off his shirt and every inch of his defined, tanned torso was there for her to drool over.
Wolf's Mate Mpreg Romance Box Set Page 72
