Marcel, Zoey - Wrestling with Temptation [Temptation, Wyoming 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More)

by Zoey Marcel

  After a hostile, grief-stricken exchange of words, she walked out. He’d thought she was walking out of the stable, not out of his fucking life for good and the rest of civilization. He always wondered what happened to her. He would never forgive himself for hurting her, nor would he ever forget the way she made him feel when they touched that day. She made him feel like a man.

  Mark heard footsteps on the pier and saw Jack approaching, looking classy as usual. He wore faded jeans with holes in the knees, broken-in tennis shoes, and a white, button-up shirt with the sleeves partially rolled over his elbows, exposing his multiple tattoos. They were far from sleeves, but he had several different tattoos on each arm. Art, he called it.

  His gray fedora made him look like a suave, Depression-era gangster the way it sat atop his dark-brown, shaggy, but stylish hair. The man had good taste in clothes. Not that Mark was in the habit of taking note of men’s wardrobes, but he often noticed what Jack was wearing, though he wasn’t sure why.

  “About time you showed up,” he said, playfully giving Jack a hard time. “Who is this?”

  “Morrigan. She’s the one who gave me a ride. This is my roommate, Mark.”

  “I’m also his best friend, which is how he should have introduced me, but what are you gonna do?” Mark teased, taking her small hand in his. The warmth from her touch spread slowly and gently through his whole body like a fairy ring ensnaring him in some kind of magic. He remembered that feeling. He’d only ever felt it once in his life. Seeing her was a kind of déjà vu, but what startled him the most was the fact that she looked like his lost love and even had the same name. His heart ached, wishing more than anything that she was really standing in front of him. Unfortunately, his lady had been mortal and couldn’t have lived all through the centuries. Seeing this doppelganger proved bittersweet.

  “It’s good to meet you, Mark.”

  “Nice to meet you, too, Morrigan.” His heart clenched. He hadn’t spoken that name in so long. It hurt too much. Rare was the occasion when he had to say his first love’s name aloud just to hear the sound of it. To feel the raw echoes branding into his heart to prove the memory of her long ago was indeed real and she had existed. It hadn’t been just a sweet dream, a crazy hallucination, or a harrowing nightmare. She was real and had been until the day he let her go, but she lived on in his memories and occasionally his dreams.

  “Well, I’d better get going,” Morrigan said with a hint of reluctance.

  “Let me buy you lunch,” Jack offered. “My way of thanking you for the ride.”

  “That sounds good. Thank you.”

  They went to RG Burgers for lunch. The place seemed to have a reputation for being the best burger joint in Monterey and the food certainly confirmed this. Mark had a guacamole-Swiss burger with fries and a vanilla shake. Jack had a bacon-cheddar burger with onion rings and a chocolate shake. If it weren’t for their good lycan genes and the fact that they were so active, Mark supposed they would be fatties.

  Morrigan had decided to order a simple garden salad and he had a feeling it was because she didn’t want to cost them much money. He and Jack persuaded her to eat hearty, the price be damned. She ate her potato salad like a lady, but her pretty emerald eyes became almost wild when she ate her hotdog. She seemed like she was starving.

  “So how do you two know each other?” Mark asked.

  “I was hitchhiking earlier and she picked me up,” Jack explained.

  “Oh, wow. That was really nice of you. You’re lucky it was Jack and not some homicidal psycho.”

  Jack sounded like he about choked on his onion ring.

  “Are you all right?” Morrigan looked concerned.

  “I’m fine. The onion just got away from me.”

  “I don’t normally pick up strangers, but Jack seemed nice enough.” She twirled her straw in her iced tea with a coy smile.

  God, she looked like his Morrigan. Mark wasn’t sure if pretending she was would ease the pain of having lost the real one, or if that would only depress him more. If he had only claimed her when he had the chance she would have become a shape shifter like him and she never would have died.

  “Thank you, guys, for buying me lunch. That’s really sweet of you.”

  “We’re happy to do so.” Jack gave her a warm smile, but Mark knew him well enough to detect the sensuality behind it, even if Morrigan appeared too innocent to notice. Jack seemed uncommonly gentlemanly with her, which didn’t coincide with the typical way he treated women as objects and playthings.

  “So where are you from, Morrigan?” Mark asked. He almost put his arm around the back of her chair before catching himself. Geez, what was wrong with him? She might be a dulcet vision, but that wasn’t an excuse to get all touchy-feely with a stranger.

  The question appeared to unsettle her. “Oh, you know, here and there.”

  “She had a small suitcase in the backseat,” Jack volunteered. “I think she’s traveling, aren’t you, doll?”

  Morrigan nodded, gulping her iced tea.

  “Are you on some kind of road trip?” Mark asked. Her cinnamon scent filled his lungs and drove his inner wolf crazy. His Morrigan had smelled like cinnamon. This doppelganger sitting next to him now spooked the crap out of him. Still, the thought of saying goodbye to her after lunch scared him for some reason. Watching this look-alike walk away would remind him too much of losing his lady again. He just needed a few more minutes of looking at her so the fresh image of his lost love would be burned into his mind again thanks to this random woman.

  “I guess you could say that,” Morrigan replied quietly.

  “Road trips are more fun with comrades,” Jack said before taking a big-ass bite of his burger.

  She shrugged, but her eyes harbored sadness that tugged at Mark’s sympathy. “It’s not so bad being alone. I can listen to whatever station I want to on the radio without having to turn it for anybody.”

  “Yes, but when you’re by yourself there’s no one to have sex with,” Jack said calmly in between bites.

  Morrigan gaped and Mark nearly choked on his burger. Tact was something Jack had no clue existed.

  He winked at her before taking a drink. “Unless of course your fingers have risen to the challenge.”

  Mark kicked him from under the table, hoping to shut him up before he scared the poor thing off.

  Morrigan’s cheeks were stained pink with embarrassment. “Well, that’s one way of looking at it.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with traveling alone as long as you stay safe,” Mark defended her. He fought the urge to take her left hand which rested on the table.

  Jack’s dark eyes twinkled. “Now why would she need condoms without a partner?”

  “Jack!”

  Morrigan stood, hands trembling, but her aura radiated with desire. “I should go to the hands to wash my bathroom.”

  Jack grinned.

  She blushed and turned to leave. “You know what I mean.”

  Mark glared at him. “What the hell is wrong with you? Why would you bring up condoms while we’re having lunch?”

  Jack chuckled. “You said there was nothing wrong with traveling alone as long as she stayed safe.”

  “Yeah, I meant protecting herself from bad situations, not safe sex. You know that. You probably just scared her off.”

  “She’ll be back.” His smile widened, “You like her, don’t you?”

  Mark turned his focus back to his place. “She seems nice.”

  “Oh, I think it’s more than that. I can sense the sexual heat permeating from you. You’re really turned on just sitting next to her.”

  Mark grinned. “She’s a hottie. She seems kind of sad and lonely, though. I feel bad for her.”

  “So go take away her loneliness.” Jack nodded toward the bathrooms.

  Mark snickered. “I prefer relationships over one-night stands.”

  Jack eyed him skeptically. “But you aren’t entirely opposed to a fling or glory holes for that matter.�
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  Mark jerked his head up, trying not to blush. “What?”

  Jack snapped his mouth shut. “Nothing.”

  “How did you know that? Did you see me walk into the video booth at the club?”

  Jack nodded quickly and pointed at him. “Yes, I saw you.”

  “I only did that once. I don’t even know who that woman was on the other end.” Mark dunked his fries in the ketchup to keep from meeting Jack’s dirty smile of approval, “Anyway, I felt a little bad afterward. It’s bad enough having premarital sex with past girlfriends, but a heck of a lot worse messing around with a complete stranger.”

  “How was the encounter?”

  His loins heated at the memory. “It was the best oral sex of my life.”

  Jack’s lips turned up into a perverted grin.

  “All right, that’s enough gutter dwelling. Morrigan will be back in a second. Are you going to ask her out?”

  “No. Why?”

  “Because she’s your mate.”

  Jack looked startled. “Is the mating heat that obvious?”

  “Yeah, you’re practically drowning in it.”

  “Speak for yourself. You’re marinating in it like a horny turkey.”

  Mark smirked and shook his head. “I had a mate once. It doesn’t make sense that fate would send me a different one. You can have her, Jack. I don’t want to stand in the way of you and happiness.”

  “We could share her for a night before she leaves.”

  “I don’t want to use her for a night. She seems like a sweet woman. Why not just get to know her and see what happens?”

  “No,” Jack said quickly. “Nothing can happen.”

  “Why not?”

  Morrigan returned with a friendly smile and sat next to him again. “What did I miss?”

  “Nothing much, just guy stuff.” Mark shrugged.

  “Football and steak?”

  He grinned. “Yeah, we were talking about football and steak.”

  The server came over with their bill and Jack paid for it.

  Mark wanted desperately to wrap Morrigan in a big bear hug and chase away whatever hidden causes seemed to make her sad and cautious. He longed to hold her close and erase the loneliness he sensed she felt.

  “If you like we can walk on the beach or go to the aquarium,” he offered, hoping to keep her around longer.

  Her face lit up, but insecurity seemed to overshadow her enthusiasm. “That sounds fun, but I should really get going. I’m sure you guys have better things to do than try to entertain me.”

  “We have to catch a flight home in the morning,” Jack reminded him.

  “Screw the flight. Let’s explore Morr—Monterey. There’s a lot to do here and the day’s still young.” Mark hoped he didn’t sound as desperate as he felt.

  “If she wants to go, just let her go,” Jack told him.

  What the hell was he saying? Mark didn’t want to let her go. He had this feeling once before and knew down to his soul what it meant. She was his mate. How could he just let her walk away? How could Jack when she was apparently his mate, too?

  “I don’t want to keep you guys.” Morrigan stood reluctantly, disappointment lingering in her eyes despite her weak smile, “It’s been really fun, though. Thank you again for lunch.”

  “You’re welcome,” Jack replied as he stood. “Thanks for the ride.”

  Mark practically flew to his feet to help her put her hoodie back on. She was so petite and feminine it gave him the most masculine impulses to protect and touch her.

  “Thank you,” Morrigan said shyly. They walked her outside to her car. She appeared to toy with her thoughts before turning to face them. “Mark, what’s your last name?”

  “Montego. Why?”

  She seemed disappointed, but gave him a polite smile. “You just remind me of someone.”

  “Who?”

  “It’s not important. Have a safe flight, guys.”

  * * * *

  Morrigan drove east for a while before pulling over by the side of the road to rest for the night. She couldn’t afford a hotel room, but at least the seat tilted back.

  Her dream startled her. She saw herself petting a giant, black wolf. He was beautiful, magnificent. He licked her hand and made her believe he was harmless. And then he turned on her, knocked her to the ground, and ripped her throat out.

  She woke up yelling in fright, only to be alone in the safety of her car in the nocturnal stillness. She exhaled in relief and glanced out the window at the lightening sky of darkness before closing her eyes again. She found the darkness of her lidded eyes a cold reminder of her emptiness and opened them again.

  She felt at ease when she recalled the pleasant lunch she had with Jack and Mark. They had been so generous buying her lunch and god, were they handsome. She couldn’t get over how much Mark looked like the man she’d loved and lost back in the twelfth century. It couldn’t be him, though. His last name was different and her Mark had been a werewolf. She knew they lived a long time, but wasn’t sure if they were capable of living for centuries. He’d loved her with all his heart and she might have had him had she not also been in love with his brother, Quinn. Even now she felt foolish for having cared for two men at once. She wasn’t fickle, but what sort of person claimed to love two people at the same time?

  Her parents hadn’t approved of their affection because of the Askew brothers’ lycan heritage. They claimed to join to such a creature was a sin and what if one of them lost their temper and ripped her face off or killed her? Morrigan knew they would never hurt her, but Quinn had joined the Crusades to prove his worth to her parents. He never returned and she received word that he’d died in battle.

  Mark had proven a solace to her in her time of grief, but she hadn’t let him claim her out of guilt, since Quinn had only recently been killed. Mark had been jealous and it led to a fight after which she left England. She’d met Quinn first and fallen for him, but she always loved Mark more. She couldn’t come between them even after Quinn’s death. She joined a convent in the Holy Land, but an evil wizard who had taken a fancy to her followed her there and harassed her.

  She found a wounded Arab soldier from Saladin’s army and nursed him back to health. Once well, he kissed her as he prepared to leave. It had been a simple kiss, but her loneliness got a hold of her and she proposed to him. The poor man had looked shocked, but before he could answer, the wizard, Galen, had burst into the chapel and captured them.

  Morrigan shuddered at the memory. Galen had raped her in front of the soldier and then had her burned at the stake. He said if he couldn’t have her then no man would. The next thing she knew she was in heaven, but only briefly. Raphael, a benevolent sorcerer from Ireland, had been in the area at the time and heard what his brother, Galen, did. Raphael resurrected Morrigan as a banshee, since he hadn’t yet learned how to bring people back to life as mortals. He told her that he freed the soldier and sent him forward in time so Galen couldn’t kill him. Raphael then sent her through time to find her soldier. He thought they were in love. How mistaken he had been. They never even touched, let alone had any feelings for each other.

  Still, she searched for him, needing to fill a void. When she found him a few days ago in the twenty-first century, he had met his soul mate. Both were happy and madly in love. Morrigan felt glad for them, but the chasm in her soul only deepened, especially when he explained to her that the peck on the lips had been a way of thanking her for healing him and not a sign of affection.

  She’d been on the road since then, living in her car and trying to find a place to go, but she’d almost run out of cash and wasn’t sure she belonged anywhere.

  Jack and Mark were a breath of fresh air. They made her feel safe and warm inside even though she’d only spent a brief time with them. It would have been fun to hang out with them some more, but she knew it would be better to leave before she got attached. They were kind, hunky studs. They could have whoever they wanted. She didn’t need to bother
them with her needs.

  The sun would rise in a few minutes—a new day, a fresh start. But did she really want another chance? Chances invited failure and the potential for heartache. She wanted peace.

  The sound of the occasional car passing was a welcome disturbance to the otherwise near-perfect silence. She liked to think she wasn’t alone.

  She jolted when she heard a startling thud on the hood of her car. A hellish shriek pierced the lifeless silence and she screamed when she saw a winged creature perched on her car screeching loudly at her. It gnashed its teeth in fury and bashed the windshield in with its clawed fist, trying to reach her.

  Morrigan shouted in horror, trying to escape the flying glass by hiding under the blanket. She shook it off and fumbled for the lock, but the fiend grabbed her by the throat and yanked her through the void where the glass once resided. She tried to fight him off, but his strong grip cut off her oxygen supply.

  She heard vicious growls and snarling. The ugly beast tossed her aside when two enormous wolves pounced on it. They were much larger than any wolves she’d ever seen, especially the black one. The gray one threw her a deep, meaningful glance. The connection was intriguing and eerie. He barked at her once as if to say, “run, stupid.”

  The monster fought back and scratched the wolves, but they managed to break its wings so it couldn’t fly away while they tore it to pieces.

  Morrigan was paralyzed with fear for the first several seconds of the fight, but once she got her bearings, she climbed into the backseat and pulled her cell phone out. Who the hell should one call to report an unidentified creature and two big-ass wolves?

  “Put the phone away, Morrigan.”

  She screamed when she saw Jack peering in at her through the missing windshield. He was naked and the black wolf was gone.

  The gray one grabbed a pile of clothes in his mouth and ducked behind her car. A moment later, Mark stood wearing the clothes. “Are you all right?”

  Morrigan trembled in shock. She befriended a couple of werewolves in her lifetime but hadn’t expected these men to be lycan. “Yeah, I’m fine. You guys are werewolves?”