Keeping Kaitlyn (Mates of the Lycaon)

by Anya Bast

  “I won’t know my animal until I join symbolically somehow with you and Rafian, right?”

  “Right. The vows need to be spoken and accepted. Then you get the magick.”

  She sank down on the couch in front of the fireplace, enjoying the warmth, and tucked her feet beneath her. “Then why do you sound so certain I’ll ever know my animal?”

  Lucas went very still.

  “I have sisters on the flip side, you know. I’m very close to them. I have a career I’ve worked hard to build. What makes you both so sure I’m planning to leave all that?”

  He drew a deep breath and took a swaggering step forward, grinning, “You’ll leave it all because we’re fantastically good looking and incredible in bed. Did I mention we’re modest? We’re that too.”

  She grinned. “Uh, huh.”

  Lucas dropped the exaggeration and sank down on one knee in front of her. “Actually, Kaitlyn, we think you’ll choose us for love. You could travel a hundred different worlds and never find two men who will love you as much as we will.”

  She held his gaze for a moment, believing every word he said, then leaned forward and kissed him. He pressed her back against the cushions, his tongue delving deep into her mouth. His hands roamed a little, but he didn’t push them both over the edge, even though her body hummed at his touch. That told her that even though Lucas spoke of Rafian’s prowess in battle, he was concerned for him too.

  They cuddled together on the couch in front of the fire, the snow gathering like a softly folded blanket around the house.

  “Tell me about Doug,” murmured Lucas.

  “Doug.” She sighed. “He loved me more than I loved him. I guess he knew that. When I couldn’t pretend I wanted to be married to him anymore, I decided to leave. The night I packed my bags, he went crazy and attacked me. I had to run to a neighbor’s house for help.”

  His body tightened. “What did he do to you?”

  She shivered, remembering the look on Doug’s face. He’d turned into a man she hadn’t recognized. “He gave me a black eye, twisted my arm.” The physical injuries hadn’t been the worst part, though. It had been the emotional betrayal.

  When Lucas spoke, his voice was a low growl. “For the first time, I wish I could cross the veil and bite someone.”

  “Some good came out of it. After I divorced Doug, I took self defense classes. I can protect myself now.”

  “Yes, I remember,” he said drily.

  She gave a soft laugh.

  Sometime in the night, after they’d both dropped off to sleep, the front door burst open. Lucas launched himself off the couch and was between her and the intruder in a heartbeat. She pushed up, seeing the dark shape framed in the doorway. The figure took a step forward, into the dying light of the fire, and she shot from the couch and into Rafian’s arms.

  He grunted a little when she made impacted, but Rafian’s arms came around her. “I’m so happy you’re okay,” she breathed, nuzzling the fabric of his shirt and the enjoying the warm, solid flesh beneath it.

  “Just bruised and scratched.” He dropped his head and kissed her long and deep. “But I’m much better now.”

  She and Rafian walked closer to the fireplace and she saw that all his exposed skin was marked with smudges of blood and dirt. After Rafian sat on the couch, she went to get a warm soapy cloth.

  Lucas leaned up against the mantle. “How many hunters were there?”

  “Enough.”

  “Enough to invite to lunch? Enough to overrun our lands? How many is enough?”

  Kaitlyn sank onto the couch next to Rafian and began to clean the blood and dirt away. She didn’t think he was badly hurt, but she wanted to make sure.

  Rafian exhaled, his tired eyelids at half mast. “Enough to cause a whole bunch of trouble. Enough of them too near our territory for comfort.”

  Lucas grunted. “Did you find Liam?”

  “He was easy to find since he left a trail of body parts.”

  “Damn. That was Liam, though, thoughtful until the end.”

  Kaitlyn’s movements faltered. “Do you have to joke about this?”

  “Yes,” the men replied in unison. “Makes it easier,” finished Lucas.

  She shuddered. “I’m just glad you came back all right, Rafian.”

  “The Magi are gone now. We lured them off to the southeast.” Rafian smiled, his teeth flashing in the dim light. “Into the Bardian Mountains with a blizzard on the way.”

  “Any Lycaon casualties?” asked Lucas.

  Rafian’s smile faded. “Beside Liam, we lost three to magick. Theren, Alexander and Marshall.”

  Lucas hung his head, swearing softly in a language she didn’t recognize.

  Rafian took a much needed shower, after assuring Kaitlyn that he didn’t need any stitches for the cuts he’d sustained. A good sleep, he told her, would heal him. Apparently that was one of the perks of being Lycaon. One she would also gain, if she decided to stay with them and tie her existence to theirs permanently.

  Therefore, it was a perk she would never enjoy.

  It was still the middle of the night, so the three of them curled up in one of the massive beds in the house, Kaitlyn tucked securely between the two men. She laid her head on Rafian’s chest and Lucas curled around her back, tucking her into his strong arms.

  She drifted off to sleep, safe, warm and protected. Despite the threat of murderous magick wielding hunters in this world, she had faith that these men would never allow harm to come to her.

  * * * * *

  She woke before either of the men the next morning. After enjoying the warmth of their bodies, she slid from the bed, clipped her hair up and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast. The house was chilly and she was happy for the heavy sweater she’d found in the bedroom. It was one of the men’s and was far too big for her, but it smelled delicious. From the mingling of leather and wood smoke, she deduced it must be Lucas’s.

  Locating eggs—they looked like regular chicken eggs and she was really hoped they were—and bacon, she fried up a bunch of it. Both Lucas and Rafian ate a tremendous amount of food. Outside the window, the world was covered in a blanket of snow, white, silent, and peaceful. She watched as a clump of snow fell with a thump from a heavy evergreen branch. This place was so different from Chicago.

  She missed her sisters and it killed a part of her deep inside that she couldn’t get word to them to tell them she was all right. Her boss would be worried too, but, she had to admit, she really hadn’t been thinking much about work lately. She’d thrown herself into her career as a way to cope after her divorce, but it wasn’t what she really wanted to do with her life. Perhaps that issue would bear a closer examination when she returned.

  Strong arms came around her from behind, rocking her back into a broad chest. She inhaled the woodsy, wild scent of Rafian and sighed happily. It was going to be so hard to leave these men.

  “It smells good in here,” said Lucas from behind them.

  She stepped away from Rafian reluctantly to find Lucas shirtless and stretching. She raised an eyebrow. “You get the breakfast, I get the view. Fair trade off, although probably a little more fair to me.”

  She served up breakfast and nibbled on a piece of bacon as the men ate. Then they got dressed and spent the morning in the forge, producing the metal wares they sold in the village for their livelihood. She spent the day in a peaceful bliss, exploring the grounds, visiting with the men and tiding up around the house. It was a good day, cold, cozy day with fires burning hot in every hearth in the house and a stew simmering slow on the stove, filling the home with yummy deliciousness.

  The end of the afternoon brought a sense of wistfulness. If not for her family ties, she could get used to a life like this, but not the puttering and the cooking, at least, not all the time. Once in a while she enjoyed the domestic thing, but if she were to stay here, hypothetically, she’d need to find something else to occupy her time. Maybe she’d finally have the time and space to work
on a book. Of course, who would read such a book in this world? Of that, she wasn’t sure. Didn’t matter. She wasn’t staying.

  That evening when the men came in from their work she was sitting at the table in her nightgown, writing in a journal she’d decided to keep about her stay here. The blank book had been a gift from Rafian when she’d expressed her secret desire to write a novel.

  The men came in, complimenting her on the smell of the stew, and took showers. When they emerged dressed only in jersey sleeping pants, she nearly swallowed her tongue. Their skin was still damp and their hair was slicked back away from their faces. Lucas’s pants were slung low, exposing the jut of his lean hips.

  One was a sight to behold, two took her breath away.

  She stood, trying to organize her thoughts. “Uh. There’s dinner.” She motioned at the pot on the stove with her pen.

  “Great.” Lucas walked toward her with purpose, his eyes dark and focused only on her. “I’m starving.”

  He pulled her against his body, snaking his hand to the nape of her neck and angling her face toward his. His mouth slanted across hers, his tongue aggressively sliding into her mouth.

  Her pen dropped to the floor with plastic sounding plink.

  Lucas dragged her lower lip gently through his teeth and she shivered, her knees going weak. “I want you, Kaitlyn,” he murmured against her mouth. “Right now.”

  Her hands found his upper arms and hung on under the force of him. His kiss, his presence, his aggression, the scent and feel of him—it undid her. Her breath shuddered out of her, arousal flaring through her body. “I’m yours,” she whispered back.

  His hips pressed against her, letting her feel how hard he was for her. “Mine.”

  The magnitude of how much she truly did want to be his, his and Rafian’s, washed over her like cold water. She pushed away from him and stumbled backward.

  Lucas watched her retreat. “Kaitlyn, what’s wrong?”

  “I-I’m in over my head with you two.” She touched her temple. “I’m losing myself to you both.”

  He stepped toward her. “You will never lose yourself to us. Your joining with us will make you whole, never reduce you. We will never eclipse you, never extinguish your fire.” He held out a hand to her.

  She took another step backward and he followed her. Her gaze skated to Rafian, who hung back by the doorway.

  “Let us love you, Kaitlyn.” Lucas reached out and drew her into his arms.

  She melted against him, closing her eyes. Just for right now she wanted to forget about falling too deep for them and then having to leave. Her desire to allow their love was too strong. She just wanted, wanted to allow this.

  He cupped her face, forcing her gaze up to his and searched her eyes.

  “All right,” she whispered.

  A hungry look overtook his expression. He pushed her up against the wall, his mouth finding hers. He kissed her breathless, then slipped his lips over her chin, to her throat. Finding the sensitive place where her neck met her shoulder, he bit down just hard enough to make her shiver.

  His teeth took hold and didn’t let go as he reached down and pulled the hem of her night gown up, hand questing between her thighs. He found her bud and stroked it, making it grow swollen and needy, then thrust two fingers deep inside her, finding her already primed and ready for him.

  Sexual haze covering her over, she watched Rafian sit on the edge of the couch, seeming happy to watch them.

  “Lucas,” she breathed, “Oh, god, please.”

  Yanking his pants down impatiently, just enough to free his cock, he hooked her leg over his hip and pushed the head of his shaft into her entrance.

  “Yes,” she gasped as he pushed in another inch. She ground her hips down, forcing his wide length to penetrate deeper, wanting every last little bit of him inside her.

  Lucas grunted, lifting her and pinning her against the wall—a testament to the strength the man possessed. Her legs wound around his waist and he thrust his hips, his cock tunneling in and out of her.

  Her gaze lifted and found Rafian. His gaze was dark, hot, filled with lust as he watched Lucas take her up against the wall. Lucas’s body managed to rub against her clit with every move he made. She closed her eyes, moaning, as pleasure filled her, her fingers finding purchase at his shoulders.

  Lucas grunted out his pleasure with every inward thrust. His cock was so wide, it touched every part of her. Her climax hit her like a train. She cried out, her body tensing, as it dominated her. She threw her head back and Lucas bit her throat as she came, laying claim to her body.

  Finally Lucas groaned her name and his cock jerked deep inside her. She clung to him for support when it was all done, lassitude filling her body.

  When Lucas lowered her to the floor, Rafian was there. She’d known from the look in his eyes he would be.

  Extricating her from Lucas’s grip, he twined his hand gently through the long hair at her nape and brought her face to his. “Are you ready to handle two men who want you, sweet Kaitlyn? Two demanding dire wolves?”

  She smiled, feeling drunk on the ecstasy of her orgasm. “Let’s find out.”

  Rafian crushed her lips to his, his tongue slipping between them and possessing her mouth. He hand fisted the night gown she wore and tore the light fabric. It ripped from neckline to hem and was so much material wadded on the floor.

  When his hand eased between her thighs, he found her hot and wanting, craving him every bit as much as she had Lucas. “Now,” she whispered to Rafian. “I need to feel you inside me.”

  He made a low sound in the back of his throat and guided her to the couch. Turning her back to him, he bent her over the arm rest, and then spread her thighs. Running his hands over her, he slipped his fingers deep inside and thrust. She squirmed, moaning, but he held her in place with a strong hand, working his thick digits in and out of her.

  A couple of minutes later and the smooth head of his cock pushed within. She clawed at the cushions as he eased inside, sliding in to the base of him, and began to set up a fast and hard pace. Her buttocks slapped into his pelvis with every thrust as he took her roughly. The long, wide length of him worked like a piston and it made her crazy, pushing her fast toward another explosive orgasm.

  Rafian held her by her waist, his thighs smacking the back of her thighs with every stroke. Hard and fast, over and over. The head of his cock brushed over some sensitive spot deep within her with every inward thrust.

  She came again, long and powerfully, her body shuddering from the force of it. When Rafian finally orgasmed, he did it groaning her name, his cock deep within her.

  When it was over, one of the men lifted her and set her into a warm bath. Both men climbed in with her.

  The soapy water sloshed around the tub as their hands washed her gently. Then she settled against Rafian’s chest with Lucas at her side, closed her eyes and smiled. Could she handle two men who wanted her?

  Yes. Yes. A thousand times, yes.

  Chapter Eight

  “I want you to meet my parents,” said Rafian, pulling her beneath his body.

  Golden sunlight shone in from the bedroom window, framing Lucas in its light. He was getting dressed, but he paused at Rafian’s words, a brief look of pain crossing his face. “That’s a good idea,” he said after a moment, pulling on his shirt. “If mine were alive, I’d be taking you to see them too.”

  Kaitlyn shifted uncomfortably on the bed beneath him. Meet Rafian’s parents. It sounded so formal, so serious. She didn’t want to hurt Rafian or lead him on. “I’d be happy to meet them, of course, but you both know that I might not—”

  “Good. We’ll leave right after breakfast.” He kissed her thoroughly, removing the sentence she was going to say from her tongue and, for a moment, almost all the sense from her brain.

  No, she couldn’t let this moment slip.

  She pushed Rafian off her and stood. “You both know that it’s possible I might not—”

  Lucas swe
pt her into his arms, his mouth firmly covering hers, kissing away the rest of her sentence. Ah. Okay. She understood. They knew she might choose to leave them—they just didn’t want to hear it. Fair enough.

  She rode into town on Lucas’s back, carrying both sets of their clothing. Once in the heart of the village, the men changed back and dressed in a small building that seemed placed there purely for the purpose.

  Rafian’s parents lived in the heart of the small town, which was larger than she’d first assumed. Since the place was built into the forest around it, it was easy to miss the sprawl of the place.

  Scarlet, Rafian’s mother turned out to be from beyond the veil as well. She welcomed Kaitlyn at the door with a big hug and kiss on the cheek. “Rafian, Lucas,” his mother said, holding Kaitlyn’s hands, “she’s beautiful.” Kaitlyn blushed.

  Their home was built into a side of hill, but spacious and richly decorated on the inside, filled with that same light which mimicked daylight. The four of them settled into the snug underground living room, decorated with wood furniture, handmade clay figurines, and comfortable cushions. The fireplace blazed merrily. Kaitlyn was happy for the warmth and the cup of tea Scarlet placed in her hands.

  After a few minutes of small talk, Adrian and Max entered the room, Rafian’s fathers. Both had dark brown hair, though Adrian had blue eyes and Max had brown. Both men were powerfully built, as were all Lycaon men. She rose and they shook her hand, then welcomed both Rafian and Lucas with big bear hugs. Lucas seemed just as much their son as Rafian.

  They settled into an afternoon of tea, cookies and good conversation. She told them of her of her life on the flip side. They seemed to know what a computer programmer was, surprising to her as there were no computers in their world. She talked of her sisters and her life growing up, even confiding in them about their stepmother, Susan, who’d been so jealous of the girls when their father had been alive.

  Speaking of Susan, Kaitlyn understood something for the first time. Susan had been afraid. Afraid her husband wouldn’t have enough love for her if he used so much of it for his daughters. In that one flash of understanding, she felt sorry for her stepmother. How awful she must feel about herself to have such a fear. Unworthy of love.