Mating Rituals [Impulse 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Zara Chase

  Didn’t they?

  Hell if she knew what to think. She sat in bed, mulling over all she thought she’d seen and learned, a lot of which jibed with some of the odd things she’d noticed already. A case of her mind blending fact with fiction, presumably.

  As to Kane and Tyrone wanting her to stay and be their…er, mate. Aisha shook her head. Tempting though the thought of having them to herself was, she couldn’t stay in this quirky place. Not permanently, at any rate. But the journalistic side of her nature told her not to be too hasty. If there was even a grain of truth in the things she thought she’d seen, then she’d been offered the scoop of a lifetime—a scoop that would elevate her to the very top of her profession.

  Impulse would be inundated with newshounds, scientists, conspiracy theorists, and the plain inquisitive once the story broke. She felt a bit guilty at the thought of their well-organized little corner of paradise being overrun, but the secret was bound to come out sooner or later. She didn’t owe these people anything. They’d known what she did for a living when they’d asked her to stay, so what else could they have expected?

  Now, if they’d professed their undying love when they invited her to become part of the community, it might have put a different slant on things. What woman didn’t want to feel loved, valued, and cherished, especially when the package included two hunks for the price of one? But they’d made it abundantly clear that this was just a business transaction. They needed a mate, and she was “suitable.” Well, Aisha was done with being “adequate,” second best to Angie, and now “suitable.” Did she feel good about what she intended to do? Hell no, but that wouldn’t stop her, and the guys would just have to get over themselves.

  When she emerged from the shower she heard noises in the living room. Were they back already? Had they even gone, or had she imagined that, too? She didn’t hear children’s voices, but, assuming that they had actually gone, St. Augustine wasn’t that far away. If they’d left early enough it was possible, she supposed, especially since they wanted to get the children safely installed in Impulse as quickly as they could. She pulled on shorts and a tank top and wandered toward the kitchen, wary of facing the guys but aware the initial confrontation needed to be dealt with.

  But it wasn’t Kane and Tyrone she’d heard moving about. Instead Chantal was established in the kitchen.

  “Hi,” she said. “I heard you stirring, so I thought you’d like some breakfast.”

  What Aisha actually wanted was to be left alone so she could think through her strategy. She didn’t need these people being nice to her, adding to her fledgling guilty conscience. She reminded herself that people didn’t get to the top of her profession by allowing their consciences to dictate their movements. What about those journalists who shoved microphones in front of children when half their classmates had just been blown away by a crazy gunman? At least Aisha hadn’t sunk to that level yet.

  “Oh, thanks, but you didn’t need to do that. I’m quite capable.” Aisha spoke more acerbically than she’d intended. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bite your head off. It’s been a weird twenty-four hours.”

  “I know exactly what you’re going through, so don’t worry about feeling snappy.”

  Aisha sat at the breakfast bar and attacked the coffee Chantal placed in front of her. “Thanks,” she said. “It was kind of you to think of me.”

  “I came here looking for my lost brother a year ago,” Chantal said, “and went through much the same denial phase that you’re experiencing now.”

  Ah, so it really was true and not her imagination playing tricks on her. “Did you find him? Your brother, I mean.”

  “Yes, and almost got Rafe killed in the process by trying to protect him.”

  “You’ll have to tell me the story some time.”

  “My only advice, for what it’s worth, is not to rush into anything. It’s a big decision to make and you have a career to think about. If you mate with Kane and Tyrone you can’t work outside of Impulse for the same reason that Tyrone’s kids couldn’t stay on the outside, as we call it. It really is like living under permanent siege conditions.”

  “So why do you do it?”

  Chantal’s smile was warm and friendly. “Because the moment I laid eyes on Rafe and Vilas I felt as though I’d found an element that had been missing from my life, even though I hadn’t realized it was lacking.”

  Aisha nodded. She wasn’t ready to admit it, but she’d felt the same way about Kane and Tyrone. “Did they feel it, too, or were you just convenient?”

  “Oh, they felt it. They both love me, and each other.” Chantal’s expression softened. “It is possible to live very happily in a ménage situation.”

  “I’m sure it is. There seems to be a lot of them going on in Impulse.”

  “That’s because human mates are hard to find. Well, they’re out there, but when they realize how they’ll have to live if they commit, a lot of them can’t hack it.” Chantal paused. “That’s the stage you’re at right now, isn’t it?”

  “I haven’t really had time to think about it. I’m still in shock.”

  “Of course you are. Still, you ought to know all the facts before you decide. One side effect is being able to breathe the air here,” Chantal said. “The moment you have fully consummated vaginal sex with them, your breathing problems will disappear.”

  “Oh, will they?”

  Footsteps sounded on the stairs and Layla poked her head around the door. A much smaller head also appeared much lower down.

  “Hi, Aisha,” Layla said. “This is Amy, my little girl.”

  “Hey, Amy, how are you?”

  “We’re getting ready for Luke and Freya to arrive,” said Amy, prancing around the room, dressed from head to foot in bright pink. “We’re having a party at the Cat’s Cradle with ice cream and cake. And,” Amy added, taking a deep breath and looking ready to burst with importance. “We have a clown, too.”

  “How exciting.”

  Aisha took an immediate liking to the little girl, amazed by her friendliness and lack of curiosity about Aisha’s sudden appearance.

  Layla cocked her head to one side. “They’ve just crossed the bridge.”

  “How on earth do you know that?” Aisha asked.

  “They pheromoned,” Layla replied. “It’s their mental form of communication. You’ll be able to pick them up if you…well, you know.”

  Oh yeah, Aisha knew!

  “Okay.” Chantal stood up. “You coming?”

  Aisha shrugged. “Why not?”

  Amy slipped her hand into Aisha’s. “Luke and Freya haven’t been to Impulse for a long time, so we have to make them feel welcome.”

  “Just as you’d welcome anyone,” Layla said, her voice bursting with maternal pride.

  “Amy was terminally sick,” Chantal said in a voice so low that the little girl, now running ahead of them, couldn’t hear. “Layla was a journalist, followed a lead here, Mikael made Amy better, and the rest, as they say, is history.”

  “And now your little girl’s well and you have two hunky men.”

  Aisha tried not to feel envious. She could have that, too, with one vital difference. Chantal and Layla obviously loved their partners and were loved in return. The same couldn’t be said in Aisha’s situation. She did love Kane and Tyrone, she realized with a jolt. Hell if she knew how love had sneaked up on her so quickly, but it didn’t really matter anyway. Her feelings weren’t reciprocated and she refused to be used as a convenience. That’s what she’d been to Rick and she was determined never to cling to anyone just because she needed to feel…well, needed. Any relationship she entered into from now on would be on a fifty-fifty basis.

  The ladies walked at a snail’s pace toward the Cat’s Cradle, making allowances for Aisha’s inability to breathe. Just as they arrived, a Jeep pulled up and Tyrone and Kane spilled out of it. Tyrone had a little girl in his arms and a small boy clung to Kane’s hand. Even so, both men looked over the crowd of welcoming well-w

ishers until their gazes collided with hers. She acknowledged them with a small inclination of her head and turned away, not wanting them to interpret her true feelings at a time when she was feeling so vulnerable. The moment would pass and she’d be able to look at her rugged hosts without feeling anything for them at all. She squared her shoulders and followed the crowd into the children’s nursery, ready to consume her share of the ice cream and cake.

  * * * *

  “What are we going to do about her?” Kane asked despondently. “It’s been a week now and she still won’t commit.”

  “She’s still here. That has to count for something.”

  “Yeah, and she’s great with your kids. But every night she’s slept in her own bed and won’t talk to us about anything personal.”

  “She’s had a lot to take in.”

  “True.” Kane stood up, extended his claws, and raked them through the air in sheer frustration. “I can’t take any more waiting. She gives nothing away about her thoughts and I care about her too much to invade her head and find out for myself. She deserves privacy, but I can’t help thinking her mind is on her career, not us.”

  “Perhaps we ought to give her a little nudge,” Tyrone said. “Now, if I were to arrange for the kids to have a sleepover tonight.”

  “I like the way you think, lover.” Kane dropped a kiss on top of Tyrone’s head. “Make it happen. We need to clear the air between us. If she’s determined to leave and there’s nothing we can do to change her mind, I’d rather know it now.”

  “Yeah, I hear you.” Tyrone covered Kane’s hand with one of his own. “I especially like the idea of changing her mind.”

  “We have to try really hard to keep our paws off her. It wouldn’t be fair to—”

  “Of course it wouldn’t.” Tyrone shot Kane a withering look. “Think I’ve been through all this shit with Maria only to screw up a second time?”

  “Sorry, buddy.” Kane sighed. “So, how are we gonna play this?”

  * * * *

  Aisha emerged from the file room just before their normal dinnertime. Kane was convinced she stayed in there until the last minute so she wouldn’t have to face them alone. She blinked when she found the sitting room devoid of boisterous children.

  “Where are the kids?” she asked.

  “Staying the night with Layla.”

  “Oh.” She shrugged and accepted a glass of wine from Tyrone. “Any particular reason for that?”

  “Should there be?”

  “When did you start answering questions with more questions?”

  Kane laughed. “Tyrone’s still getting used to being a dad again. You have to make allowances.”

  “Sorry.” She flashed a repentant smile. “I guess it can’t be easy.”

  “Nothing about this fucking place is easy,” Tyrone grumbled.

  Kane shot Tyrone a warning glance that told him to keep his anxieties in check. Tyrone always got defensive when he was nervous, and they both had a hell of a lot to feel nervous about. Tonight was the night when they would discover whether or not the only mate intended for them would agree to stay in Impulse and actually be their mate.

  Kane indicated that they should sit and served up their meal. They ate mostly in silence, the atmosphere charged with anticipation. It was clear from Aisha’s expression that she sensed their determination and knew this was the defining moment she’d been trying to avoid. The desire to get inside her head and read her thoughts was almost more temptation than Kane could resist.

  Almost.

  It was the worst invasion any shifter could commit when dealing with a human and Kane loved Aisha too much to do it to her.

  “Talk to us, babe,” Kane said after they’d cleared away the dinner plates.

  “About what?” she replied.

  Like you don’t know. “You’ve had time to get used to the way things really are here. What do you say to our proposal?”

  “Ah, about that.” She paused, and Kane guessed what she was about to say. “I can’t stay. I have a career, commitments. The lifestyle would be too restricting for me.”

  “Shit!” Kane pheromoned. “She’s gonna leave us.”

  “I know, but we can’t force her to stay if she doesn’t want to.”

  “The hell we can’t!”

  “Did anyone ever tell you guys that it’s rude to whisper?”

  “Sorry,” Kane said. “Force of habit. Of course, if you mated with us you’d be able to hear us.”

  “I don’t think Aisha cares about that.”

  “No, obviously not.”

  “I can’t commit myself without love,” she said blandly.

  “You don’t love us.” Kane nodded, trying not to show his bitterness. “Yeah, I got that part.”

  “No, it’s not that. I…”

  When her words trailed off, the truth hit Kane smack in the face. A slow smile spread across his features as he slid to the floor, knelt before Aisha, and took both of her hands in his.

  “I’m such a schmuck, I shouldn’t be allowed out alone. Sweetheart, I thought you knew. I just assumed you could feel it.”

  She blinked. “Feel what?”

  “Our all-abiding love for you. It’s been there since day one. How could you not know?”

  Her eyes almost popped out of her head. “You love me?”

  “Since first setting eyes on you,” Tyrone said, also sliding to the floor. “We’re so used to mixing with people with psychic powers that we sometimes forget humans are programmed differently.”

  “I felt it as soon as I got here,” she said slowly. “Just the exact same way Chantal described her feelings when she first met Rafe and Vilas. But I thought it was just me. You never once mentioned the love word.” She offered them a halfhearted scowl. “You might have said something and saved me all this angst.”

  “Well, we are now,” Tyrone said, stealing one of her hands from Kane and caressing her palm with his thumb. “We love you, Aisha Carlton. Will you be our mate?”

  “I want to hear him say it, too,” Aisha replied, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

  “I love you, darlin’, and I’ll dedicate the rest of my life to protecting you and making you happy, if you’ll allow it.”

  Her smile could have disgraced a Floridian sun. “Then I guess I’ll allow it,” she said, bending to kiss each of them in turn.

  Kane kissed her hard and deep. So, too, did Tyrone.

  “I don’t want to talk you out of it, darlin’,” Kane said, “but I need to be absolutely sure you know what you’re getting yourself into. If you agree to be our mate, you can never work outside of Impulse.”

  “You must be prepared for attacks from our enemies every hour of every day,” Tyrone added.

  “You can’t leave Impulse alone for any period of time.”

  “You can never tell anyone about the real state of affairs here.”

  “Yes, I get all that.” She offered them a mischievous smile. “But there are benefits, too?”

  “Well, you get to have our exclusive attention,” Kane agreed.

  “Your life expectancy will triple.”

  “And you’ll be able to breathe the air.”

  “But your career will have to go.” Tyrone eyed her closely. “I know how dedicated to it you are. How does that make you feel?”

  “Are you kidding me? Some of my mentors wouldn’t speak to me when I accepted an offer to work in television. They said I was wasting my talents and should go into serious research. Well, that’s precisely what I intend to do now. I can organize those records of yours properly, and if I can breathe the air, I can also carry out experiments, see if I can figure out why the atmosphere is the way that it is.” She almost salivated at the prospect. “It’s every scientist’s fantasy to be handed such a tantalizing conundrum.”

  The guys shared a smile. “You wouldn’t be able to publish the results, darlin’,” Kane reminded her.

  “Depends what they are. If they can be applied to a hypothetical situation it might be possible.” She grinned at them. “Now, if you’ve finished trying to talk me out of this mating business, can we please go to bed? My pussy’s leaking like a faulty faucet.”

  Both men laughed.

  “There’s just a small ceremony first,” Kane said. “Come with us.”

  Hand in hand they entered the guys’ bedroom.

  “Take all your clothes off and kneel before us.”

  While she got into position, Kane produced a square box from a drawer where it had sat for a long time. He opened it and showed her a collar studded with emeralds nestling in the black velvet lining. She gasped.

  “It’s beautiful. All the other human mates, they wear collars.”

  “Right, it’s the shifter version of a wedding ring.”

  Both men placed a hand on the top of her head.

  “Do you swear by all that you hold most sacred to be our mate, true only to us for the rest of your days?”

  “Yes, I absolutely do.”

  “We love you, Aisha Carlton, and pledge our lives to keeping you safe and happy.”

  As they said the words a bolt like a mild electric current passed through them to consume her entire body and theirs. She trembled, which implied that the charge had taken hold and coiled itself deep in her gut. Others had described it as feeling like a missing part of them had just woken from a long sleep.

  “What just happened?” she asked, looking dazed.

  Tyrone extended a hand, pulling her easily to her feet and into his arms. “We just made you ours, entered into a binding commitment, and shared our love with you.”

  “So much for words, now for deeds.” Kane affixed the collar around her neck and stood back to admire his handiwork. “God, you look pretty wearing that collar, darlin’, but the emeralds don’t do justice to your eyes.”

  “We always knew our mate would have green eyes,” Tyrone said.

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