Dragon's Heart: Melanie's Men

by T. Cobbin

  Through the thin walls, a whistling began from the male shower unit next door. Water began running, and the male started to hum. She knew instantly who that hum belonged to. Brock. She envisioned him soaping down his body, along his hard shaft, cleaning every single inch of his tanned skin. She looked down her own body as it began to respond to the mental image of Brock naked and wet, and she watched drops of water drip off her hardened nipples. Well crap. These men were driving her to sexual frustration.

  Shutting off the water, she grabbed her towel. She wondered just how long she’d been in the showers, and if Brock was next door, then was the tent up already? Again, she marveled at how fast the men did that. Shaking her head, she dried and dressed.

  During their walk today, she couldn’t stop her mind going over her situation. She’d made mental lists—what she liked about each man, what she didn’t like. Could she get into a relationship with Brock and Cole? There were such differences between the two of them, a relationship couldn’t work, could it? Cole was sweet whereas Brock was coarse. Brock was slightly taller, but Cole had broader shoulders. She’d blushed remembering the slight variations to their cocks too. If she ever had to pick just one to have a relationship with, she couldn’t.

  With one last pause, she listened to Brock hum his tuneless song, then headed back across the campsite. When she had returned yesterday something was already cooking, and it was the same today, only the air filled with the scent of sausages.

  “Hey, sweetpea. Want a cuppa?” Cole greeted her, wearing the same as yesterday, just a pair of black shorts. And his skin glistened now, like it had then.

  “You showered already?” she asked, awed.

  “Yep, and food is cooking too.” He grinned and held out a cup. “Coffee?”

  “Let me just dump this inside.” She gestured toward her backpack, wondering just how much time she’d spent in the shower.

  Ducking inside the tent, she placed her bag down, then retreated toward Cole. Sitting on the grass next to him, she admired the darkening sky. The weather had been hot today, but now, as it cooled, it felt refreshing.

  “I love the outdoors. When I young, for years I traveled from campsite to campsite, following the farms where it was easy to get work. Finally, after a lot of hard work, I saved enough to rent a one-bedroom place and start college. That’s when I met Bobbie.” She looked down at the black coffee in her mug. “It ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me.”

  Lifting her head, she looked up at the sky. She didn’t know why she had the compulsion to tell Cole about her life, but something inside her felt the need to.

  “Bobbie was looking for a housemate. When I moved in I found out that she didn’t need a flatmate for money...her family was rich enough to make that kind of life easy for her. She wanted a flatmate for the company. After that, I had to get into college. I had to fudge a few things, but I managed to get in. But I told Bobbie the truth. She was the first one I told about my life, the years of wandering and being in care. My other friends know now of course.” She paused and looked toward Cole, who was avidly listening to her story. “And now you know.” She placed a smile on her face that she didn’t feel.

  Memories flooded her mind of the day she’d told Bobbie everything. She felt if she was going to live with the woman for the next few years, she needed to know Melanie wasn’t going to murder her in her sleep. Melanie had watched the shock appear on Bobbie’s face when she’d told her she’d been living campsite to campsite for two years.

  “No one questioned you?” Bobbie had asked her.

  “With a lot of makeup and money in my hand, not many asked or noticed. A few looked a little suspicious about someone looking too young to be camping on her own, but they never said anything. I suppose I was lucky.” She’d shrugged.

  Bobbie asked her to move in that night and had offered to pay the first month’s rent while Melanie looked for a job. But being self-reliant for so long, Melanie had refused. Luckily, she soon found a part-time job in a coffee house on the college grounds. Over the next few years, she and Bobbie became close.

  After college they both applied to the same university and got in. Whereas Bobbie’s parents paid for her, Melanie had gotten lucky again and was accepted in on a scholarship. Throughout the next few years Bobbie was adamant that because she wasn’t paying rent—her parents had bought the house—Melanie wouldn’t have to either. They did, however, divide the other bills and food shopping, which made Melanie feel a lot better. She was used to working hard for everything. Melanie loved her friend dearly, and although Bobbie had a damn sight more than Melanie, she never once flaunted her money.

  “Bobbie has been like the sister I never had, and her parents treat me like a daughter. I often despair when they try paying for something. It took me years to accept the fact that they never wanted anything for it but a thank you and my trust that they wouldn’t hurt me.”

  Melanie smiled fondly as she thought about her cottage.

  “A week after both Bobbie and I had confirmation that we had jobs, Bobbie’s parents took us on a ride through the village. They stopped outside a small cottage, handed Bobbie a key to the place, and told her how proud they were of her. Bobbie immediately asked me to stay with her, but before I answered, her father asked us to turn around and look behind us. All we saw was another cottage. When I turned back around to look at her father, I was surprised to see him holding up a set of keys and looking at me with the same pride in his eyes that he had when he looked at his own daughter.”

  Each time Melanie remembered that day, it still surprised her.

  “That day Bobbie’s father admitted that he had known about my past after doing a check on me. He admitted not feeling guilty about doing so either—he had wanted to make sure his daughter would be safe.” Melanie hadn’t minded that, because she knew how close Bobbie was with her parents. “He also told me that he and Bobbie’s mother were as proud of me as they were of Bobbie. He disclosed he’d been skeptical when he’d first heard about me, he had been afraid I only wanted to be friends with his daughter because I wanted her money. But after a while it became clear to him that I worked for everything I needed. On that day, he handed me the keys to my own place. It took Bobbie’s parents a fair amount of time to convince me that it was a gift, and they didn’t want anything for it, they were just extremely proud of me.”

  In fact, it had taken Bobbie’s parents a good week of convincing before Melanie finally accepted the keys. She had been shocked to her very core. She had never cried for the bum life she’d received, she had always gotten up and prepared for the next fight life threw at her, but accepting that small bunch of keys was the hardest thing she’d ever done.

  “Bobbie squealed and hugged me so tight that I found it hard to breathe. She kept going on about what great neighbors we were going to be. Even now I still find it kind of hard to believe that she wasn’t jealous or upset her parents had also bought her best friend a house.”

  “Maybe sometimes all someone wants is to be loved,” Brock said, sitting down beside her.

  Lowering her eyes from the stars, she peered at his face. He handed her a beer bottle and one to Cole. They were nicely chilled. She looked at him, wondering where he’d gotten them from.

  “Pub on the corner.” Brock shrugged.

  “That’s cheating.” She giggled.

  “Who says beer and camping is cheating?”

  “Well, it is when there’s a pub nearby.”

  “Yes, well, I’m new to this camping business, so I can get away with a cheat here and there.” Brock’s teeth almost seemed to sparkle in the moonlight as he smiled at her.

  Melanie couldn’t help but feel amused. “You are so bad.” She raised the bottle up a touch. “We need to open these. I have a bottle opener in…”

  Her words trailed off as she watched Brock open his mouth and place his canine tooth on the top of the lid and his bottom teeth underneath. He rocked the bottle, and the lid came flying off. Gr
itting her own teeth, she grimaced, feeling them on edge.

  “I can’t believe you just did that. Bloody hell, man, you could pull your teeth out or something.”

  Brock swapped his bottle for hers and did the same. She took a gulp from the bottle and then shook her head as Cole spat his lid out from his mouth.

  “Good Lord, you two are cowboys.”

  “Handsome ones, I hope?” Brock’s teeth again shone in the moonlight.

  Melanie chuckled.

  “Tea’s up,” Cole announced and handed her a plate with sausage and eggs and beans on it. She placed her beer between her legs and took the plate.

  “I’m starving.” She tucked in quickly, feeling the food hit her empty stomach. “If I’m honest, I overdid things today,” she said, finally slowing down when her hunger pangs subsided. She hadn’t realized just how hungry she was. “I haven’t been camping in about six months. Normally, I take things easy, but… Well, let’s just say I felt I had something to prove.”

  “You don’t have to prove anything to us, sweetpea,” Cole said gently. “We are very much like your friend Bobbie—we only want you, as you are. If you are all sugar and honey, we will take it. When you get snarly, we will take that too. You’d be surprised what Brock is like some mornings without his coffee.”

  “A bear with a sore head?” she asked. “I’m like that too.”

  Brock choked next to her, which led to a coughing fit. “Oh, man.” Brock groaned.

  “Something we said?” Cole asked innocently

  Am I missing something here? she wondered when Brock shot daggers at Cole.

  “Private joke,” Brock answered, his voice gruff.

  They sat eating the rest of their meal in silence. Finishing off her beer, she started to gather the dishes and cooking utensils.

  “Leave them ’til morning. We’re staying here for the day anyway.”

  Maybe Brock was right. Her muscles ached, and her feet hurt. She could do with just sitting for a while.

  “I like this,” Brock announced, laying back on his elbows, his face lifted to the sky.

  “Me too,” she murmured, copying his actions.

  * * * *

  Cole could scent his little mate’s pain. He wished she’d spoken up earlier. Perhaps they could have stopped sooner, but already knowing a little about her, he knew she would soldier on, no matter what. She was a fighter, and he liked that about her. From what she’d told him, she’d led a hard life, and yet there she was going camping as often as she could so she could remember what she didn’t have.

  The cold air of the evening was really drawing in now, and he shuffled over toward her and pulled her against his body. At first she stiffened, but slowly she relaxed. Eventually, she lay her head down on his lap, still staring at the stars.

  “When I was younger I used to wonder if the dead watched us from the stars. I often hoped that someone was looking down on me, that somewhere up there, some grandparent or something loved me enough to help me through life.” Melanie’s voice had a wistful tone to it.

  Cole nearly opened his mouth to tell her that the two people she was with right now loved her. Two men who would love her until the day she died and beyond. He wanted her to know she would never have to wonder who loved her again. She had a clan too, and they would love her also.

  She never want for love again. We show her, Cole’s bear said.

  Cole allowed his beast forward a touch as he ran his fingers through her hair. His bear chuffed in enjoyment.

  Slowly, his little female drifted to sleep. Her face looked so calm and peaceful. Brock went inside the tent and brought out their sleeping bag and draped it over her. Being bear shifters, he and Brock didn’t feel the cold much. Their bodies ran above normal temperature. They also didn’t suffer from human diseases either, which helped when working at a huge nightclub. With the number of coughs and colds that passed through that place, they’d be forever ill.

  “You okay here?” Brock asked, standing next to him. “I want to look around, maybe let my bear out in the woods for a while. It seems like it’s quiet enough here to do that.”

  “You still worried about the hyena?” Cole’s body tensed with worry.

  Brock smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes as he leaned toward him. One of Brock’s hands cupped his nape and pressed Cole’s head forward a touch to meet Brock’s lips. Their kiss quickly became heated, although Cole couldn’t do much with Melanie’s head still resting in his lap. But that didn’t stop his cock from becoming hard.

  “Bastard,” Cole cursed when Brock drew away with a grin.

  “Take her in, wrap her up, and look after her until I get back.”

  “Be careful,” Cole ordered.

  He watched Brock turn and walk across the campsite, his shifter eyesight making it easy until Brock stepped amongst the trees.

  With a deep sigh, he picked Melanie up and placed her in their side of the tent. She didn’t wake, but she did curl up against his body, which pleased him. He wrapped her up in his and Brock’s sleeping bag, then went out to pick their dinner plates up. With one last glance around, he stepped back into the tent and zipped it up.

  Cole could have placed Melanie in her side of the tent, but to have her close while Brock was out patrolling made him feel better. If she got upset in the morning, at least it was him she’d be mad at and not Brock this time.

  Cole slipped inside his sleeping bag and spooned against his female. Melanie had fallen asleep with only a t-shirt and shorts on. Not able to help himself, he slid the hand that laid over the top of her body, up and under her top. His cock jerked when he felt she wasn’t wearing a bra.

  He had to stop. He couldn’t have her waking up screaming blue murder at the thought that she was being assaulted. Cole tucked his nose close to her neck and pulled her tightly against his body. If she was awake, she’d feel his hard-on pressing against her butt cheeks. She groaned a little and shuffled more against him. Seemingly comfortable, she settled down. Time drifted and Cole fell into a relaxed sleep.

  Chapter 13

  Brock strolled through the woods. He had encircled the campsite and was happy that all seemed well. Not one hint of hyena scent or any other shifter anywhere. Perhaps he’d been wrong earlier, maybe he was just looking for things, overprotecting his mates.

  The goddess had to be with him when he spotted a large cave—an ideal place for him to let his bear out. Scoping it out, he made sure no one else was around and it was safe. Stripping down, he created a pile of his clothes, and after taking one final glance around, he shifted. Muscles realigned, bones cracked, and fur slid from each and every pore until finally his bear stretched out its limbs, glad to be free.

  Brock’s bear stood up on his hind legs and placed his front paws on the cave wall. Allowing his claws to protrude, he stretched each muscle. Once he was happy, he enjoyed the feeling as he scraped his claws down the wall, leaving eight long, deep ridges behind. Finally standing on four paws again, he lumbered around, enjoying his freedom. Brock sat back in his mind, loving his bear as he enjoyed himself. A couple of hours later, Brock shifted back and headed for the campsite, feeling pretty good.

  “Hey,” Cole whispered sleepily as Brock slipped inside the sleeping bag on the opposite side of Melanie. “Everything okay?” Cole asked.

  “Yeah, no sign of anything hyena, or any other shifter for that matter. There was a cave about two miles down the road, fucking awesome place to release my bear. Anyway, what did you do to get our female to sleep in the same compartment with you?”

  Brock knew that all his mates had done was sleep, because there was no scent of sex in the air. Not that it would cause Brock to feel jealous. In fact, the thought turned him on. It would also make things a whole lot easier right now, as he wanted to bury himself deep inside Melanie. She was currently curled up against Cole’s chest, an arm curled above her head, the other somewhere inside the sleeping bag. She looked so peaceful.

  “I placed her in here when you w
ent out. I combined all three sleeping bags together to make one huge one. I don’t know, something in the air makes me want her close to us.”

  Brock felt the same, even if it was just a compartment over. He didn’t care that she had camped out a lot and was used to doing things on her own. She had two mates now, albeit she had no idea, but still... Brock and Cole would protect her from everything.

  He leaned over Melanie to brush a kiss against Cole’s cheek, then kissed Melanie’s. She stirred and turned onto her back. It felt so good to have her between him and Cole.

  Brock’s cock was rigid and hard. Lifting the bedding a little, he glanced down his female’s body. Her chest rose with every breath she took, and her t-shirt had ridden up and over one of her breasts. He was glad of his enhanced shifter eyesight right then, because even as dark as it was, he could see the creamy white skin of her plump breast. Her pink nipple hardened in the cool air, causing Brock’s mouth to water. Further down her body he saw the small shorts she wore were tight across her pussy.

  “Before you do what I think you’re about to do,” Cole warned in a harsh whisper, “she was asleep when I moved her in here.”

  Brock smirked, not able to take his eyes off his little female’s body. “Then let’s wake her up, slowly.”

  “Why are you dragging me into this?” Cole whined. “She might be a tad pissed being in here with both of us if she wakes, and then there goes a night of sleeping next to her.”

  “I intend to remind her what it’s like to be with both of us.” Brock ducked down inside of the sleeping bag, his mouth about an inch over her naked breast.

  “Brock.” Cole growled his name low enough so not to wake Melanie. “What if she doesn’t want this?”

  “If she wakes up and says no, we’ll stop.”

  “No.” Cole tugged on Brock’s hair, lifting his head out of the bedding so he could see him. “Wait until morning, wait until she’s awake and knows what’s going on.”