Reaching her hands behind her, she gripped the edges. He stopped in front of her and lifted one hand to stroke the side of her face.
“Scared?”
Her vocal cords refused to work, so she shook her head rather than embarrass herself.
“You sure?” His smile was so promising, so sexy her knees turned to jelly.
“I'm sure,” she managed to whisper.
His hand slid down her neck, over her collarbone to graze the bite mark Caleb had left there earlier. She couldn't figure out why Caleb had done that. A mate mark. When he'd made it so damned clear he wouldn't take her as a mate. Her confusion must have shown. Zach shook his head slightly then bent it to the opposite side of her neck, brushed kisses down her collarbone before sucking her skin into his mouth.
It wasn't quite hard enough to leave a mark, but God, it turned her on. He rammed his hand through her hair, held the back of her head. When he lifted his face to meet her gaze, she gasped.
She hadn't seen him in wolf form, but she knew his eyes would take on this bright blue glow.
“Caleb is your mate.” His voice was guttural, as if half changed, as if the wolf was struggling to get free. “And so am I.”
She realized with a jolt of mortification that she'd had his cock in her mouth but he'd never even kissed her.
“You can't know that,” she whispered. “You've never even kissed me.” God, she wanted him to. Wanted to know if his mouth would fuse over hers with the same wildness she saw in his eyes. He didn't bother to respond, just lowered his lips to hers, tugged on her bottom lip until she opened her mouth for him. And it was a wild, untamed kiss. His tongue thrust between her teeth, stroking hers until she groaned and clung to him.
A kiss was not enough to satisfy him, however. He broke it long enough to pull the sweater over her head and was kissing her again while he fumbled with her bra. An excellent idea. She shoved his hand away and unsnapped it herself, yelping when his hand closed over her breast before she'd even let the garment fall to the floor.
But then he was squeezing, rolling her nipple between his fingers until it was a hard painful point while kissing his way down her body. When his lips closed over it, when he sucked it hard into his hot mouth, she thought she'd come then and there. She felt the sensation all the way to the soft place between her legs, her pussy already wet and convulsing in welcome when he slid his hand down, unsnapped her jeans, and pushed his finger inside her.
There was no holding the orgasm back. She became nothing but sensation. Nothing but pleasure, and the pleasure was so intense she didn't notice him removing her boots until he urged her to slip out of her jeans and underwear. He laid her across the kitchen table.
“I wish we had more time, sweetheart.” He grunted and she wondered why. Then he was pushing at her entrance, longer and thicker than Caleb, and she decided thinking was overrated.
Even as wet and ready as she was, there was a hint of pain, a need to pause and let her body adjust to him. He gripped her hips and held still, mouth pressed tightly closed, control etched in every line on his face. It wasn't until she tried to move beneath him, tried to take him deeper that she realized they had an audience.
“I think she's ready,” Caleb drawled. Maybe it was a sign she was accepting this thing among the three of them that she didn't feel an ounce of embarrassment when she tilted her head back to look at him.
“I'll decide when she's ready,” Zach growled.
Caleb strolled into the kitchen and sat at the table to watch while Zach slowly, oh so slowly withdrew until only the head of his cock was left inside her. She moaned with each lost inch, trying to arch her hips up to recapture him.
“Oh yeah,” Caleb said, watching the movements of their bodies with a gleam that could only be described as ravenous. “She's ready.”
Zach was sure as hell ready, but he wanted, needed, her desperate. Needed her out of control. Surrendering. Ready to take whatever he felt she needed. Caleb started to reach for her breast but paused, met his gaze, and waited for Zach to invite him to join in. Caleb had made his claim earlier, and Zach hadn't stood in the way. Now that it was his turn, Caleb wouldn't stand in his. It was the first time he felt certain they could share a woman for more than just a few nights.
Both were dominant. Commanding. Both would demand some private one-on-one time with her, and they'd make it work. He nodded, watched as Caleb's hand covered her breast. Squeezing a little, giving it that bite of pain they'd both discovered she liked, and building her arousal.
He waited until she was shaking her head back and forth, until her moans grew loud and sweet, before thrusting back in. Her cry was harsh, her cunt wringing his cock, trying to milk him dry, forcing him to grit his teeth and fight his body from coming too soon.
He didn't normally suffer this lack of control, could normally go all night. But this was the first time the woman beneath him was his mate, the first time he felt the excitement, the anticipation of marking her. When she left the cabin later, anyone who saw her would know she belonged to him. And Caleb. That she had not one, but two mates. That paladin or not, Redhawke or not, witch or not, she was protected. Cherished. And gods help anyone who got out of line. The knowledge of who and what she was, the feel of her already wrapping herself around his heart and soul, was the last tie snapping his control.
Her tremors had begun to subside, the orgasm releasing her from its grip, and a sated beautiful smile crossed her lips. He loved that expression, wanted to see it every day in his hopefully very long life. But when he bit that sweet spot on her collarbone, he wanted her coming with him, wanted her crying out the joy of it with him.
And Caleb knew. Just as Zach had done earlier in the evening, while his best friend and lover fucked her senseless and marked her, Caleb slid his hand down her body until his finger brushed her clit. Caleb watched as Zach had watched. Fascinated to see this woman they shared in the grip of passion. As Zach's thrusts increased and quickened, so did Caleb's ministrations.
As his thrusts became hurried and rough and hard, so Caleb's attention to her clit.
And when she was keening, when her cunt tightened and froze around him making it hard to move through the convulsions that began, as if reluctant to release and unable to prevent it, Caleb stopping the movement of his fingers, instead simply squeezing her clit while she gasped and bowed her back up off the table.
Zach slid his hand under her and lifted her torso, unable to stop now, feeling the orgasm tighten in the small of his back and knowing there was no more holding back. He lifted her to him, his other hand supporting her neck when she seemed unable to do so until Caleb sat on the table behind him and took over. His friend kept one hand on her pelvis, finger still rubbing her clit, while the other cupped her breast. It was such a damned turn-on, and he had no idea why.
His canines erupted from his gums, and looking at her, he felt a little guilty. There was no going back now and she wasn't exactly in a position to make a decision. Then her eyes snapped open and she met his gaze. Her body was tight and tense again. While he delayed, Caleb was keeping her on edge, keeping her flying and there was only one way off that particular cliff. She knew it too. She was dazed, riding the razor's edge of orgasm, but the knowledge was clear on her face.
“Do it now, Zach. Please.” The last was finished on a groan, and he didn't hesitate any longer. His mouth closed over her, teeth sinking deep in her skin. They both jerked, crying out their release to the night. When he was spent, every bit of cum ripped from his body by hers, he released her, licking the raw wound he'd left on her neck. He was dismayed seeing it. He hadn't meant to be so rough. She wasn't wolf. She was human. He raised guilt-ridden eyes to look at Caleb, who just shook his head and mouthed, “She's tougher than she looks.” Maybe, but that didn't lessen his guilt, didn't make him less determined to make it up to her.
He withdrew from her slowly, smiling at her murmured complaint and picked her up, taking her with him when he sank into one of the kitchen c
hairs. She curled up on his lap the way a kitten would, all purring contentment, and he could only describe what he was feeling as bemusement.
“I thought she was some badass warrior,” he said to Caleb, who cocked an eyebrow.
“She is. Don't be fooled.”
“Yeah, man, I'm really seeing that.”
She raised her head and scowled, her nails scraping across his abdomen. His cock jerked, and he was pretty damned sure that wasn't the response she wanted. “You're not going to like it when you're proved wrong.”
His growl was one of enjoyment—she was rubbing her ass over his cock after all—and not at all what she going for. She punched his shoulder, shocking him enough to let her wriggle off his lap, which didn't help at all. All he could think of was getting her back where he wanted her, while she traipsed around the kitchen pulling on clothes.
She didn't face him until she was dressed, and he wondered if she thought it was some kind of armor. If she did, she was in for a rude awakening. She was almost as sexy in the tight jeans and sweater as out of them. Like she could read his mind, she set her hands on her hips and glared at him.
“You're coming home with us?”
He nodded and she turned to Caleb. “You're gonna make him your beta?”
“Yes.”
For the first time, he saw a hint of uncertainty cross her face. “Are you going to fire me?”
Caleb took a long time to answer, and Zach knew he wanted to say yes. Hell, that's what he wanted. She was their mate. Theirs to protect. The trick was to not smother her in the course of protection.
“No,” Caleb finally answered, and while Zach understood why, he wanted to howl his outrage. “You're a symbol of my father's strength in the pack. And mine. Ours,” he added, meeting Zach's eyes.
She glanced at both of them and then turned her gaze to the floor while shaking her head.
“Not a very good one. Human. A witch with no powers.” He stared at her wondering if the sex was good enough to make her lose her mind. When he looked at Caleb, he saw the same expression.
“Kitten,” he said taking her hand. “Your power is pulsing in the room.” And it was. He'd felt it earlier when they'd shared her. It was stronger now. She snorted and jerked away.
“Sex magic. That'll be real useful in a fight,” she said sarcastically. “Hold on a minute, dude, while I go fuck one of my mates. Yeah. That's gonna happen.”
“Well,” Caleb started drily, but his tone turned inflexible. “If you're getting fucked several times a day, and I promise you will be, you should be just fine, baby.” He clearly had an issue with calling what they shared simply fucking. Zach could relate.
He did too.
“What do you expect me to call it, Caleb?”
He was watching as Caleb's expression just…shut down and he felt Liza's presence again, pulsing through the room. Zach wondered what the hell her powers were because the look she turned on Caleb was shocked and full of a lot of “wow, I'm sorry.” He didn't know all the details of what had happened with them other than Caleb had left her letting her believe he didn't want her. As much as he might want to intervene, he knew better. That was something they needed to work out on their own.
“I've got things to take care of before I can leave. I'll be a couple hours behind you two.” Caleb just nodded, but Liza looked panicked once his words sank in. “I'll see you tomorrow, kitten,” Zach said softly and turned to leave.
She caught him on the front porch, her arms crossed over her torso as a feeble barrier against the cold. “We can wait for you.”
He studied her a moment before answering, wondering what the hell had happened with Caleb to turn a normally confident woman into someone who needed a shield?
“I can't get in the middle of that, Liza. You need to work this out with Caleb. Whatever the problem is.”
She shut down. He saw it. Every emotion fled from her eyes, her face settled into that serene, tuning-him-out expression. No way in hell. He pulled her close, wrapped her in his embrace even while she resisted responding.
“Kitten.” His heart ached for her, and he seriously considered kicking Caleb's ass. “I don't know what happened, but he loves you. He would not have marked you otherwise.” Her forehead was pressed against his chest, and she shook her head. Her voice was as shaky as her body. “No. He wants me. But he doesn't want to.” He pulled away enough to make her look up at him. “He wouldn't have marked you if he didn't want you with everything in him, Liza, and that's about more than lust.” He sighed when he saw she didn't believe him and kissed her. Keeping it gentle and chaste.
Anything else would just delay everyone's departure. He set her away from him and turned toward his truck. “I'll see you tomorrow.”
She stayed on the porch, and he watched her as he backed down the long drive until she was out of sight. Now the hard part of the evening was coming. He turned left on the highway and wasn't surprised when thirty minutes later the house he'd come to was still lit up.
Normally, he wouldn't knock. But this night was the furthest from normal he'd ever experienced. They wouldn't deny his request, no, but they could in the end deny him his family.
He'd hate to give that up, but for Liza and Caleb, he'd do damned near anything.
He hesitated before knocking, straightened his spine, and plunged in. He had no idea how his fathers would take the news and saw only a second of question on his oldest brother's face when he answered the door.
Zach followed Matthew down the hall to the large study where everyone was hanging out.
There were two large desks in the room. They were placed in an L shape against the back wall where alpha and beta could both easily see anyone who entered. Both were there now, leaning back, relaxed, and drinking a beer. His mother was in the room too, her back against a pillow on the deep window seat. When he crossed the room, leaned down, and kissed her cheek, she looked up and smiled, her sharp knowing eyes searching his face. He shook his head, not responding to her unasked questions, but she wouldn't be put off.
She turned her stare back to the knitting on her lap, and Zach let a moment of sadness wash over him. He'd miss his mother most. No one who looked in on the scene would imagine she was anything other than gentle and lovely. They'd be wrong. She'd run herd over five boys, had a spine of steel, and eyes in the back of her head. She looked up and met his gaze again.
“What's her name?” No way. Had to be mother ESP. How could she know about the woman who'd become his world in only a few hours' time?
“Liza.”
“Human?” Uh-oh. Dangerous ground. The question should have been innocent since there was no one named Liza in their pack, but he got the impression his mother knew a lot more than she was letting on.
“Yes,” he answered. It wasn't a lie. She was human, just had a lot more thrown in.
“I suppose this has something to do with the woman you and Caleb almost came to blows over at the bar,” Michael, the beta and one of his fathers, said with amusement.
Busted. He gave up. If they knew that much, they probably knew it all. “That's the one.” He took a deep breath. “Caleb is returning to Redhawke. I'm going with him. Tonight.”
“As his beta?” Donald, the alpha, asked.
“Yes.”
“So your woman is their witch.”
His back stiffened as his senses went on guard. He didn't feel any danger in the room. Hell, they were family, but hatred against witches ran deep throughout the lupine world.
“Our woman. She is. Is that a problem?”
Michael chuckled. “Might keep you on your toes.”
“About time someone did,” his mother teased.
“Grant and Henry trust her,” Donald said. “From what I hear, she's earned that trust. You won't hear any objections from me.”
Leaving only his brothers, the oldest of which, the next alpha and second oldest, the next beta, were in the room.
Matthew shrugged when Zach turned to look at him. “Your w
oman, man.” But his second-oldest brother was grinning like an idiot. “It'll be good for you. She's not one of those helpless wolves you seem to like so much.” He sobered in an instant. “And, brother, it would be bad if you forgot that. Better to learn that right from the start. She doesn't need protection.”
And he would know. David's mate was one of the highest-ranking soldiers in the pack.
Zach's ears still hurt from some of the fights David and his mate had had in the beginning of their relationship over whether she needed him to fight for her.
Chapter Eight
Liza let Caleb herd her to the car. She could have stopped him, could have gone her own way, but what was the point? He'd decided that he was going home, and this way, she got to keep an eye on him. It didn't hurt that the eyeful was so…nice. Man. Time to get her mind on something else.
She turned sideways in her seat. “So.” She didn't continue until he glanced over and met her gaze. “You and Zach. What exactly is going on there?” His hands convulsed on the wheel. “You have a problem with Zach?” Not if I get to watch. Instead of voicing the opinion—some werewolves weren't as open-minded as she was, and she could understand where his attitude was coming from—she shrugged.
“I have a right to know. You both marked me.” She muttered, “I have no idea why.”
“Zach is my best friend. He's also my lover. For three years now.”
“I didn't have any idea,” she said softly. “All my reports just mentioned brief flings with women.”
“You were getting reports on me?” He sounded more interested than pissed.
She shrugged. “You're the alpha's heir. Plus, I get reports on everyone who leaves the pack.” She paused. “So you and Zach? That's not a friends-with-benefits thing, is it? You love him.”
He grunted and she figured it was all the answer she would get.
“That's why there was never any steady woman. Why bring me into the mix then? You were obviously happy before without bringing someone in you don't particularly even like.” He didn't respond, and sighing, she leaned back in her seat and pretended to sleep. Her stomach was a tight knot of emotions. Anger. Desire. Confusion. The last few hours had brought about such big changes. Caleb coming home. Caleb and Zach claiming her. She should be freaking out about all of it, but it felt right. All except the animosity she still felt from Caleb.
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