by Lori King
Nuts. Taking a mate at this stage in your life is nuts, Damon.
Damon threw a backward glare at him over his shoulder at Devin’s input. Devin just smiled, acknowledging that his brother meant no disrespect. Damon knew that, if asked, Devin would do everything in his power to help him, and to make her transition to wolf easier.
As they reached the doorway of a room, the doctor slipped the chart in his hands into the file holder on the door and said, “Be patient. Your fiancée has been through quite an ordeal, and may need some time to readjust. We’re going to keep her here overnight for observation, and then we will let her go home.” He stumbled for a moment like he just couldn’t find the right words. She didn’t have a home after the fire had destroyed the apartment building. “I mean, well, we will discharge her tomorrow.”
Damon nodded at him in silent understanding, and shook his hand again. “Don’t worry. I will take care of her.”
Turning away as the doctor walked away back down the hallway, he reached for the door handle, but Devin stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
“You know that if she IS your mate, there is no turning back?” Devin stared into his identical twin’s eyes, and took a breath. Whatever he saw made him drop his hand, and shrug. Damon hoped that meant he understood his need to go to his mate, and then together the brothers pushed through the door and past a privacy curtain.
His eyes burned as he stared at her lying in the hospital bed surrounded by machines that beeped out her heartbeat and pushed air into her nose. All of the breath left his lungs for the third time that night, and he froze.
She was stunning. Her soft mahogany-colored hair was thick and wavy, but was currently pulled up in a terrible ponytail on top of her head. Her skin was a golden-caramel color, but currently much paler than it should be, making the faint freckles that dotted the bridge of her tiny nose that much more prominent. Her face was a heart shape that ended in a soft point at her chin, and her eyebrows were perfectly sculpted arches above her mile-long eyelashes. Her lips were slightly too large to balance her other features, but damn they sure were a pretty soft-pink color, and just begged to be kissed.
Perfect was the word that came to Damon’s mind as he ate up the vision of his destiny. She was about five foot four and considering he had already held her in his arms he knew she couldn’t weigh in at more than 115 pounds. She had felt curvy in his arms, and her breasts were fairly large on her petite frame. Her hands were small, but her fingers were long and feminine. He frowned when he saw her finger nails, because where they were probably once delicately manicured, now they were chipped, broken, and had soot underneath them.
Reality rushed through his brain like ice water. His woman had almost given her life to save a neighbor and her six-year-old son from a burning building. Damon felt pride fill his chest that this angel could be his true mate. He wanted to scoop her up in his arms and shake her until she told him why she had risked her life, and then kiss her until she promised to never do something so dangerous again.
Damon turned around, realizing his brother hadn’t said anything since they came into the room. He found Devin standing in the doorway looking like he had seen a ghost.
She’s my mate, too.
Damon growled under his breath as he heard the thought from Devin clear as day in his mind. “What?”
“I don’t like it either, Damon, but she’s my mate. I smell her, and feel her here,” he whispered, and then Devin put his hand on his chest over his heart. “She was born for us, and she will accept both of us as her mates.”
“That can’t be! What are you talking about? I don’t want to share my mate.” Damon’s mind raced as he struggled to grasp what was happening. He knew that twins were a special case when it came to werewolves and mating. More often than not they would end up with one mate for the pair of them, but now that Damon had found her, he just didn’t particularly want to have to share her. Not even with his Alpha twin brother!
His wolf came angrily to the surface, and he could feel his claws just under his human skin aching to break free and tear his brother’s tongue out for even daring to look at his woman. And then he saw the connection. It was in Devin’s face and in the tension in his muscles. Damon accepted it in that moment. He accepted that his Alpha brother also had a claim on this woman, but he sure as hell didn’t know how they were going to make Caroline accept it.
The beautiful woman in question suddenly took a deep breath, moaning loudly, and then opened her eyes. The blank stare of her soft chocolate-brown eyes told the brothers that she hadn’t yet completely become aware of her surroundings, so they waited silently as she got her bearings. Damon stood as still as possible, staring at his mate with a powerful need to protect and comfort her. He could sense Devin just behind him to his left, tense and on edge as his wolf fought to come forward and claim its mate.
When she focused in on Damon, a small wrinkle appeared between her brows, and questions filled her eyes. He could sense her disorientation, and wanted her to read the answers in his eyes, but being human and not wolf, this was an unrealistic hope. Her intense gaze ate him up. Slowly her eyes drifted down from his dark hair past his muscular chest, lean hips, and all the way to his booted feet and back up to meet his dark, ivy-green eyes. His wolf growled in his head at the interest he saw in her eyes when they met his.
“Hey, beautiful, I’m glad to see you’re awake.” He smiled his most charming smile, flashing the dimple in his right cheek at her, and moved closer to her side. He just barely kept from reaching out to touch her or hold her hand, but somehow he just knew that this woman wouldn’t appreciate it just yet.
Caroline was so confused. This wasn’t her apartment, and it wasn’t the hospital staff room, so where was she? She tried to focus in on her surroundings only to have her stomach tighten when she saw the stranger next to her.
“Who…who are you?” She winced at the pain in her throat and the rough sound of her voice as she tried to scoot higher in the bed. Her muscles fought against her as she moved slowly. She felt like she had been bulldozed by a truck, and her vision blurred for just a moment.
Before the man next to her could respond, a movement at the door caught her attention. She jumped a little bit when a mirror image of the man on her left, moved up to her right and leaned in closer as if to hold her hand. She saw him take a deep breath in. Was he smelling her? He must like my perfume, she thought in confusion. She felt very small with the two large men standing over her bed. She assessed the two of them, her eyes jumping between them for a quick moment. They were tall, and they were built well. Damn were they ever built well. The one on her left had a deep dimple on his right cheek, and the one on her right had a deep dimple on his left cheek. Other than that they were carbon copies of each other. Surely she was dreaming them up?
“Shhhhh. Don’t try to talk too much. You’ve had quite a day, and that throat has to be sore from all the smoke you swallowed,” the second guy crooned softly to her. “We damn near lost you today, and we just can’t figure out what were you thinking sticking around in that apartment.”
Caroline closed her eyes as she remembered everything that had happened. The fire, the sounds, and smells raced through her brain, and her heart jumped into her throat. Her eyes popped wide open, and she gasped out loud, “Tyler? Molly? Are they okay? I have to see them.”
Surprised by her outburst, the two men looked at each other, and seemed to be silently communicating before interrupting her panic.
“I’m guessing they would be the two lucky ones that you helped rescue today? They are absolutely fine, sugar, and are quietly resting in a hospital room a floor down from us in the pediatric unit. Apparently mama bear wasn’t willing to be in a separate hospital room from her cub. The little guy—Tyler—he had a struggle coming out of an asthma attack, but they have him stable now. He should be okay.” Guy number two spoke softly to her. His voice was a soft caress and calmed her jumpiness immediately. He spoke to her as if he knew her
She damn well would have remembered them if she had. Working in a hospital as a nurse meant seeing all kinds of people, and occasionally patients formed an attachment to their nurse. She had been caught off guard by many people stopping her at Walmart, or the gas station hoping she would remember them from when they were patients. It was an inevitable part of her career.
To the best of her knowledge, she had never ever nursed any men that were built like Adonis, and as dark as Lucifer. Not to mention there was no way she would have forgotten those killer dimples that kept flashing as though they were waiting for her to do something special.
She closed her eyes, and took a couple of minutes to gather herself as the men continued to stare at her. The one on her left, guy number one, began to caress her hand softly as if she were a frightened animal.
“Who are you guys, and as much as I’m enjoying the company, why are you in my hospital room?” she finally asked, although she didn’t really want to know because it might mean the end of the gentle touching. It had been years since she had last felt a man’s soft caress, and she remembered now why she liked it.
“Well, beautiful, I’m the man that carried you from a burning building today. I’m Damon, and this is my twin brother.” Guy number one seemed to be trying very hard to keep their interaction casual, but she sensed something more in the tightness of his muscles. It was almost like he was struggling very hard to resist something. He gripped her hand just a little tighter, but his fingers never stopped their lazy circles over her palm. The friction of his callused fingertips almost made her moan, and she blushed lightly when her mind wandered to what those fingers tips would feel like in other more intimate places.
She remained quiet, thinking about his huge arms holding her tightly at the apartment building when he scooped her up, and a sudden delicious heat filled her belly. Her insides quivered, wondering, and something inside of her ached to reach out, and grasp him by the hair so that she could just devour him whole. What would he taste like? She closed her eyes again, trying to get her mind to slow down, and process his words without the effects of his closeness. She opened her eyes and looked back at Damon closely. His name seemed to suit him, and she had to bite her tongue to stop herself from whispering it back to him. He was such a large man, and though Caroline had always been small, she had never felt so dainty as she did now staring up at him from her hospital bed. His emerald eyes flashed and filled with heat as his lips curved up in an arrogant grin. She could see his nostrils flare, and she felt her pussy weep with joy into her panties at that sinful smile. Oh, God, I’m horny after a near-death experience, she thought to herself.
“Hey, I’m Devin, and I’m hoping that you won’t ask us to leave, sugar.” The second godlike specimen reached up, and brushed a lock of her hair from her forehead, petting her hair like a small child. “You still look a little pale. Do you need us to get the nurse for you?”
“No, I’m fine. I’m just really foggy. I think I need a drink of water though. My throat feels like someone rubbed it with sandpaper.” She scooted up and used the buttons on the hospital bed to raise the back so that she was sitting up more than reclining. It made her feel just a little bit more confident as she stared down these sexy brothers.
Both men reached for the pitcher of ice water left on the hospital cart. Damon held the cup as Devin poured the water, and they both waited with bated breath when she leaned forward to sip from the straw. Her eyes widened when she heard what she thought was growling coming from both of them as her lips went around the straw and sucked hard, but the cold water felt glorious to her parched throat, and drove all other thoughts from her brain for a moment. She closed her eyes and gently leaned back on the pillow with a large sigh. Opening just one eye a crack, she peered at the two of them leaning over her.
“How long do I have to stay here?” she asked them impatiently.
“The doctor said you could go home tomorrow,” Damon said quietly.
Tears were falling from her eyes before she even processed his actual words. The realization that she had no home hit her. Everything she owned was gone! She thought of her photo albums that contained the only pictures of her parents she had kept after they died, and the embroidered bed pillow that her grandmother had made. She thought of all of the things that weren’t just things to her, but were gone forever. How was she going to start over? She had barely been surviving, and now she had nothing.
She felt strong arms reach for her, and pull her up from the bed. One of the brothers settled in behind her with her leaning back against his chest, just holding her as she sobbed, while the other shushed her by stroking her hip and back trying to help soothe her. There was nothing sexual in the motions, and yet her skin burned under their soft touches. She wasn’t used to such affectionate concern for her, and it made the pain in her chest that much more raw. She cried until she had no more tears in her, and her head hurt from the emotional exertion. Then she got irritated with herself.
Caroline Trainor was not a crier. Even when her parents died on September 11th, she spent the next several months stoically focused on what steps she needed to take to clean up what she could of the lives they left behind. She spent weeks arguing with bill collectors about whether or not her parents were actually dead, because she didn’t have their bodies to prove it. They had worked on the ninety-fifth floor of the North Tower in the World Trade Center for an insurance company. Every day they shared a cab to work, and had spent their lunch hour together for more than twenty years. The first hijacked plane crashed into their floor, and Caroline knew almost immediately that they were dead, even before the towers actually fell. She just felt their loss deep down to her core, like they took the light out of her soul with them. Almost eleven years later, Caroline still didn’t have any bodies to prove their deaths, and she would never have them, but she did have bills as proof that they once existed.
She mentally shook herself when she realized that her silence was causing more tension then her tears had, and when she lifted her head to see the man that was holding her close, her eyes met Devin’s intense light-green orbs, and lust filled her belly again. A surge of electricity seemed to shoot from his hand on her scalp all the way through to her clit. It hummed with interest, and she took a quick breath in, biting her lip to keep from moaning. She felt his arms tighten just slightly as his muscular body clenched. His fingers moved to the back of her neck, softly massaging the tension there. It was like he knew what her thoughts were!
What was she doing? She had just been through hell and back, and all she could think about was the way this man’s muscular chest and rock-hard abs felt against her breasts in this flimsy hospital gown. He smelled divine, like cedar and coffee, and she wanted to lick his dimple just see if he tasted as good as he smelled. She blushed at her own lewd fantasies, and pulled herself away from his grip. Instantly she felt a sense of loss when they broke contact. Surely that wasn’t possible, that she could crave a stranger’s touch? She had obviously just gone too long without a man, she thought, and forced herself to keep the distance between them.
Devin could feel her pull back, and he wondered what caused her resistance. He could smell the desire on her, and he had thought that she wanted to kiss him just a moment ago. He had held himself back, hoping she would make the first move. He didn’t want to rush her, but damn, he wanted her so much. He could afford to be generous with her for the moment because of the trauma she had just been through, but his wolf struggled inside of him at the nearness of its mate. Soon, he assured himself, she would allow fate to take over, and they would join.
His eyes met Damon’s as he let her retreat a few more inches from him.
How do we tell her?
We don’t. Not now. We need to give her some time to trust us, otherwise we will scare her. I’m not backing off, Damon, just giving her some space to accept it.
I’m not going to let her go, damn it. I know she’s my mate, and my wolf needs her. This will work out. It just has to.
“Umm, thank you, for rescuing me. I…uh…I think I need to rest, but I appreciate you guys comforting me. I’m not usually so emotional. Do you do this for all of the ladies you pull from burning buildings?” Caroline scooted farther away from the wall of Devin’s chest, and he moved off of the bed to let her lay back against the pillows again. She quickly pulled the covers up over her breasts, but not before Devin noticed her hardened nipples and rapid breathing. His cock pressed hard against his zipper, and he wanted desperately to whip the blanket off of her and show her how good they could make her feel.
Damon chuckled as he watched her settling herself again, and grabbed her hand to bring it to his lips. “Nope. Only you, beautiful. Do you have any family members we should call so that they don’t worry about you? The fire is all over the ten o’clock news.”
She shook her head and looked away from him. In doing so, it brought her face-to-face with Devin, and for a moment he could see the loneliness in her eyes as she admitted she had no one to call. Devin’s heart broke for her, and he wondered what had happened to make her so lonely. He wanted to bring a light to her eyes just to see if they sparkled when she laughed.
“Okay, then we will have to figure out what you will need when you leave here tomorrow, so that we can go shopping for you. I’m not exactly sure what the hospital did with the clothes you were wearing when you came in.” Devin could hear that his tone was bossy, but he couldn’t pull off nonchalance like Damon. He just felt too much right now.
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