by Lori King
As she stepped out of the bathroom, she found both men in her room. Devin stood leaning against the wall next to the bedroom door with his arms crossed, still completely naked and looking dangerously sexy. Damon sat naked on the edge of the bed, leaned over with his elbows on his knees watching her for her next move.
“Why did you leave us, beautiful?” he asked hesitantly.
“Ummm…look guys, I uhhh…that was great, well, really it was fantastic, and I really like you both, but uhhh…I ummm…” She stuttered and fumbled, holding her arms tightly around her stomach which had started to tumble as soon as she had opened the bathroom door and seen them. Devin pushed off of the wall and stalked toward her, his green eyes flashing, and his jaw muscles clenching. The way his powerful muscles clenched and relaxed with each movement would have made any woman wet, and she definitely was.
“You will never leave us again without telling one of us where you are going, Caroline. Is that clear?” His tone said that this was not the time to argue with him about ownership, and truly she was just too tired at this point to want to do battle with them.
She sighed and looked deep into his eyes. “Okay. Now what?” Do I turn into a werewolf as soon as the moon rises, or will I start growing fur? Do I become your flavor of the week that waits around for you to find another girl to fuck when you tell her she is your mate?”
Devin’s eyes hardened in anger at her vicious words, but she couldn’t hold it in. She was irritated, and there was an edge of fear in her voice. As if sensing his brother’s temper was at the breaking point, Damon got up and reached out, pulling her away from Devin, closer to the bed.
“Now, nothing. Now we are going to lie down in this bed and get some sleep. We can talk about it in the morning. You have had way too much to process all at once. Devin sounds scary, but he really just wants you to know that we were worried when we realized you were missing from us. We want you close so that we can protect you. That’s all.” He pulled her onto the bed and tucked her in against him, spooning up against her backside. His fingers brushed her hair back out of her face, and he rubbed his face in the soft locks.
“Protect me from what?” she asked.
“Go to sleep, Caroline. We can talk more tomorrow.” Damon’s response was a soft mumble next to her ear, and it sent goose bumps across her skin. Caroline could feel him relaxing against her, and he sighed a contented sigh behind her.
She watched Devin walk over to the light switch to flip it off, and in the dim light of the room, she could see him head for the bed. He slid into the sheets, and lay there tensely as if unsure what he wanted to do next.
Though the logical part of her brain said that she should avoid him because she was angry with him, she couldn’t stop herself from reaching out and laying her hand on his hard stomach. She wanted, no, she needed to touch him, and she relished the feeling of his ripped muscles as they fluttered under her palm. His skin was smooth and soft under her caressing palm, and she forced herself to just relax her hand, leaving it resting possessively over his abdomen. This was clearly the right move for him, because he scooted closer until they were touching. Facing her, he rested his large hand on her thigh, and pulled her leg up over his until her knee brushed lightly against his groin. He left one hand wrapped around her upper thigh, and he rested his chin on top of her head close to where Damon’s was tucked into the back of her neck, nuzzling her hair. His other hand he brought up to hold her hand tight to his chest, refusing to let her pull it away. Caroline could feel the warmth of the brothers weakening her defenses again, and she slipped into the best sleep of her life.
Caroline’s last conscious thought drifted into the twins brains.
Mine.
Their eyes met as they heard her clearly in their heads, and they both grinned and held her just a little bit closer. Devin sighed in relief. The mating bond had taken, and now they would need to be patient and guide their mate into her new life as a werewolf. He knew that the next step was to explain the changes that would go through her body as she became a werewolf, and that scared him a little. He would also have to introduce her to the pack, but he wanted to keep her here for a few more days. Then they would share her with their family as the Alpha’s mate. Finally with a deep sigh he let himself relax into sleep.
Chapter 7
A heavy knocking woke Caroline the next morning. It took her almost a full minute to clear her mind and remember where she was, and who was holding her captive in the bed. Devin’s arm was like a manacle locked around her waist, but she shivered her pleasure at his hot breath on her neck, and his hard cock pressed to her backside. Damon was no longer with them, and Caroline could hear him talking with someone at the front door. His voice sounded impatient and irritated, and she could hear another man’s voice arguing. She felt Devin sigh deeply behind her as if he realized that this intruder meant he would have to leave her warm and soft in the bed. For just a second he held her tighter in his embrace, and then he pulled away.
“I hate to let you go, but I have to go check it out. You better hit the shower, sugar, or else you won’t get any hot water. Damon can spend hours in there.” He kissed her forehead and rolled out of bed, leaving the room completely butt-ass naked. Surely he was going to his bedroom to get dressed. She hadn’t seen where the guys’ rooms were yet, but she couldn’t believe he would want to greet anyone at the door naked. Though, she had to admit to herself that she would be a hell of a happy woman to have that hot body open any door to her.
I’m depraved, she thought. I have spent all night with two men that are insane, and want to make me insane, too. I need to find somewhere else to stay soon or I’m not sure I will ever be able to leave.
She headed to the bathroom to take another hot shower. The soreness in her muscles from last night had changed to just stiffness, and the steamy water relaxed and rejuvenated her. Not finding her clothes anywhere in either room, it dawned on her that they were probably still spread all over the living room where the guys stripped them off of her. So she pulled on the expensive-looking, pale-pink robe that hung on a hook in the bathroom. It hung on her, dragging on the floor because she was so short, and she giggled, quietly imagining that she probably looked ridiculous, but she damn well wasn’t wandering the house nude like Devin.
She poked her head out the bedroom door. She could hear the men talking quietly, but the tone of their voices was still very anxious. She decided to take a chance and just head into the great room to see who was here. As she walked into the sun-filled room, she was surprised to see not just one visitor, but three.
Damon and Devin stood in the kitchen—thankfully they had both pulled on jeans—talking across the breakfast bar to three of the five hottest men she had ever seen in her life. Tall like the brothers, they ranged in size and build, but they all shared the same sexy chiseled jaw, high cheekbones, and bronzed skin. Five sets of eyes fixated on her as soon as she stepped into the room, and she almost swallowed her tongue in embarrassment. The newcomers were grinning at her like they knew exactly what she had spent the night doing, and each one took the time to grace her figure with an appraising look. No one seemed to find her lacking even with the ridiculously big robe on, and instead they all had an amused and curious glint to their smirks. She felt herself flush under their gaze, and pulled the flaps of the robe a little tighter to her breasts.
“Well aren’t you a fine piece of a…” the one on the left started to say with a cocky grin, but Devin snarled at him, stepping toward him. She saw the stranger take a quick step back, bowing his head in submission, and her eyes widened at the response. The man in question winked at her as he met her startled eyes, so she relaxed a bit and smiled back. Damon moved over to her, and put his arm around her shoulders. He drew her tightly against his body, and then urged her closer to the imposing group to begin the introductions.
“Caroline, this is Liam, Cash, and Owen. Guys, this is Caroline Trainor. Our mate.” He said it with so much possession and pride in his voice
that Caroline tipped her head back to gape at him even as all three strangers gasped. Apparently this was a surprising situation to them as well. As she tried to figure out just how she felt about his possessive statement, she saw the look of love and pride in the ivy-green eyes that stared into hers. How could she deny him when she felt the same way? Swallowing hard, she felt her head spin just a bit as she looked back at the three men.
“No shittin’?” The one that had just spoken looked stunned, and now he was looking at her with a look of admiration and respect. He was tall, but not quite as tall as the others, only topping out around six foot or so. He was muscular, but in a fit, healthy and not-overly-concerned-with-working-out kind of way. His dark hair was cropped close to his head in a military-style cut, and he had a diamond stud in his left ear, and a gold hoop in his right eyebrow. His ice-blue eyes seemed to glow at her as they appraised each other. His T-shirt said Aerosmith and fit him like a second skin tucked into his dark-black jeans, and he wore black boots that looked like they belonged in combat. She could see he had a tattoo on his shoulder as well, but could only see the bottom which was a banner that held the word Daphne. He was a deliciously dangerous-looking man.
He caught her staring as he looked his fill at her, and he wiggled his eyebrows while his mouth turned up in an even bigger grin. That flirtatious smile of his could stop traffic, she thought. He was stopped again by the twins as they growled and even bared their teeth at him. He lifted his hands in front of him in apology, like he knew he had crossed an invisible line. Caroline paled and stepped backward away from Damon’s arm, but was stopped short by one of the other men speaking to her.
“Ignore Liam, sweetheart. He forgets his manners sometimes around normal people. Devin, you know he meant no harm. Caroline, I’m Owen, and this is my brother, Cash.” He indicated the third man who had taken a seat on the right, and continued to stare at her with narrowed eyes and a cocky grin on his face.
Cash had that sexy-cowboy look to him. He looked like he had just rolled out of bed and stuck his cowboy hat on his head instead of running a comb through his curly black hair. He wore boots and faded blue jeans held up by a large silver wolf’s head belt buckle. Caroline thought to herself that she had never seen a more perfect man for the cover of a country western album. All long, lean muscles, and his skin a shade darker than the other four guys. His face was covered in a five o’clock shadow that made his eyes a rich coffee brown, and she could see the laughter in them as he met her gaze. She could see that this one could give a woman a hell of a ride if he wanted to. Noting the warmth in his smile, she imagined he could also be a great friend if a woman needed him to be, too.
She turned back to survey the man who had introduced himself. Owen was the polar opposite of the other two rough-and-tumble men that he stood with. The tallest of them, he stood equal to her two men, and his body was just as muscular. He wore a button-down, sage-green shirt that was tucked into an expensive pair of gray dress slacks, and she could see his gray suit jacket hanging over the back of the bar chair he leaned on. His auburn hair was meticulously cut, and he was clean-shaven. All of these details screamed money and power at her. His sex appeal was in classy sophistication, but his body under the clothes definitely kicked her pulse into hyper speed. His hazel eyes looked almost gold, and reminded her of her conversation with the twins about their werewolf side. She knew instinctively that Owen was a wolf as well which in turn meant at least Cash was a wolf. She looked back to Liam and decided that this was probably not the best time to bring all of that up again, and instead she decided to relax and have some fun with these men.
“You certainly don’t look like a fireman.” She blushed as she realized she had spoken the words out loud, but Owen just smiled back and shook his head.
“Oh, I’m a fireman, but only on a volunteer basis. I’m an attorney by day, and a superhero fireman by night.” He tipped his chin at her, just daring her to comment on his career choice, but there was amusement in his eyes. Chuckling at his description of himself, she decided she liked these guys already, and relaxed her stance a bit more. They sure were a good-looking group. She couldn’t help the dirty thoughts that seemed to flare in her mind. Basking in the feeling of being surrounded by so much muscle, she greeted them. “Wonderful to meet you fellows. Are you friends of the boys?” Her voice was slightly husky with her arousal at being in the middle of a group of sexy men. She saw the flared nostrils as they all five reacted to her horny scent, and she felt her panties become wet just thinking about the possibilities that this group had. She would put money on it that none of them had any problems finding a woman to warm their bed if they wanted one. Just wait until I tell Tina about them, she thought as she mentally shook herself to get her hormones back under control.
“Family, actually. We’re all cousins. How did these two old dogs manage to find you, princess?” She could tell that Liam was now just trying to aggravate Devin, so she played along.
“They rescued me, actually. My very own knights in shining armor.” She rolled her eyes to show her sarcasm and returned Liam’s friendly grin to let him know she was in on the joke. Liam laughed loudly, and the other two men chuckled.
Devin moved possessively to her side, and, grabbing her hand, he led her around the breakfast bar into the living room. He sat down in one of the two matching recliners, pulling her onto his lap. She let out a feminine “eeep!” and he chuckled and started rubbing small circles on her upper thigh, which was now visible as the robe opened all the way up to her hip. She struggled to pull it back closed as she spotted her long-forgotten purple bra hanging from the lamp next to her. The heat in her face could have melted butter as she snatched it and tucked it quickly into the pocket of her robe. She couldn’t bring herself to look at the other men in the room because she could sense that they had all seen her action and were silently laughing at her embarrassment. They had all followed into the living room and were now settling around the room. Cash straddled the arm of the sofa, while Owen stood with his hands braced on the back of it, and Liam lounged across it. Damon stood possessively behind her and Devin, and she felt his hand playing with her curly hair as she leaned back against Devin’s chest.
“So you’re the one that kept them up at the hospital? We wondered what that was all about. You should be damn proud of yourself for saving that kid and his mom from the fire.” Cash looked at her with a newfound respect as all of the pieces to this puzzle clicked.
“I couldn’t leave them behind. They are like family to me, and they are all I have left.” Her formerly strong voice cracked with the wave of sadness that washed over her as she remembered that she probably wouldn’t see her friends again.
“Not anymore. Tying your horse to these two mules, you have more family than you could ever imagine now!” Cash was laughing, but Caroline tensed and moved off of Damon’s lap.
“That’s where you’re mistaken. I’m not tied to anyone, thank you very much. I need to go get dressed. Could someone drive me over to get my car from my apartment building?” She started to head back toward the bedroom, and Devin moved from the chair faster than she could blink to stand in front of her, with Damon slightly behind her.
She stood her ground, meeting his gaze defiantly. I will not be bullied, she thought to herself.
“Sugar, why don’t you go ahead and get dressed and then we will talk more. Damon and I need to finish up with the guys, and then we will get them out of here.” He brought his hands up to her shoulders, and she shivered as his thumb caressed the line of her jaw while he spoke quietly. Damon moved up next to Devin, and they both watched her closely.
“Aww, Dev, we don’t have anything else to do for the day, why don’t you let us spend a little time getting to know Caroline. I mean, it’s not every day our Alpha claims a mate.” Clearly Cash assumed that she was accepting of the whole werewolf thing, because he spoke of it like it was no big deal. Caroline closed her eyes and took a bit breath before she turned to look over at him. Her
eyes met his, and then traveled to meet each man’s gaze until she circled back to Devin and Damon.
She glared at Devin in confusion and anger until he stepped back a step.
“What does he mean, Devin?” she whispered. She knew the answer. She could sense it in the tightness of Devin’s muscles. He didn’t answer right away, and she backed up to glare at him. “Damn it, Devin, what is he talking about?”
“Not now, Caroline. We will talk in a few minutes when they leave.” He was angry, but she knew it wasn’t at her. He was angry at himself, and he didn’t like losing control of a situation. Her nerves were threatening to break out in a flood of tears, as she pondered the meaning of Liam’s careless comment.
“So now that you have claimed me, you think that you will control me as well? Fuck you, Devin. I’ll find my way out the way I came in.” She pushed past him and ran for the bedroom. She managed to slam the door and flip the lock before she collapsed on the bed in tears. She was sad, and furious, and heartbroken, and ashamed, and lost…
All she knew was that these men obviously felt that they had some control over her and what she did with her life now that she had spent a night fucking them. I’ll be damned if I’m going to play Suzy Homemaker for some crazy-ass men who think they are werewolves. Hell, they probably drugged me last night, and I hallucinated the whole thing. Her emotional roller coaster finally slowed, and she let herself fall to pieces. She cried until her eyes drifted shut and her body shut down into a dreamless sleep.
That’s how Damon found her an hour later after they forced Cash, Liam, and Owen to leave the house with the promise to meet them tonight for beers, and to talk more about the problem facing their pack. They had to focus on Caroline, and how they were going to get her to listen to them.
Damon spent an hour pacing the hallway before he decided he had had enough of this silent war between Devin and Caroline, and he took the doorknob off of the bedroom door. He had told himself he was going to wait her out and make her come to him. After all that’s what Devin was doing, sitting in the living room in silence, just waiting. Then he had started to think about all of the reasons that she wasn’t coming out and wasn’t making any noise. He pictured her lying on the bathroom floor unconscious from a fall, or shivering sick on the bed having another attack of shock. And he made a decision based on the terror that filled his heart from his own imagination. He was going to kick the door in but decided that he didn’t want to scare her any more than they already had, so he went and got his screwdriver and took off the doorknob to get to his woman.
