He shuddered to think what would happen if Sawyer got called away in the middle of this wooing period. It was unimaginable. There was no way Sawyer could safely do his job with a permanent hard-on. And he would have exactly that if they didn’t claim Amanda soon and then reinforce the mating again and again. It wouldn’t be pleasant for any of them if Sawyer had to leave for weeks on end, but it would at least be relatively manageable after consummating their relationship.
Logan stared out the window as he drove. It only took minutes to get to the apartment building where Amanda lived with her sister. And seconds later, they stood at her door, both of them staring at it without knocking.
“Is she going to kill us?” Sawyer asked.
“I hope not. Hopefully Laurie smoothed the way for us to arrive without having to fend off her sister while we attempt to win over Amanda’s affection.”
»»•««
Roger stared at Mike across the table in the small conference room of the site trailer. “We have a problem.”
Mike smirked. “I told you that Thursday.”
“Yeah, well, your gut wasn’t good enough for me.” Roger opened a folder, pulled out an eight by ten photo, and slid it across the table toward his consultant.
“Shit.”
“Do you know who they are?”
Mike dropped the picture on the table and leaned back in his chair, slouching. “Yep. That’s Logan Masters and Sawyer Hamilton.”
“Masters? Why do I know that name? Don’t they own the ski resort?”
Mike nodded. “They do. They live in Cambridge.”
“Masters. Dammit. That’s not the first time I’ve seen him snooping around. He was here last Thursday too. I assumed he simply stumbled upon us and stopped to take a look. Maybe there’s more to it if he came back and brought a friend. Who’s this other guy, Sawyer?”
“Just moved to the area. Not surprising he’s with Masters. Their families are close. They’re probably fucking the same woman.”
“He related to the Bartels?”
Mike nodded again. “Bingo. Half brother to Miles and Melinda.”
“Fuck.”
“Yep. I’ll get you their personal information and see what else I can find out. Could be a coincidence. Let’s not freak out yet.” Mike hauled himself to stand next to the conference table. “I have a friend at the sheriff’s office in Sojourn. I’ll contact him and see what he knows. Could be the two men you saw just mated.”
“Each other?”
“No.” Mike rolled his eyes. “A woman. They wouldn’t be the first in their families to share a woman.”
Roger flinched. What the fuck?
“Don’t ask. It happens sometimes with shifters. It happens a lot in those two families.”
“And this deputy you know, how does he figure in?”
“Pete Sandhouse. He’s not too pleased with the number of matings occurring in threes. He’s kind of an asshole, but he always knows shit. If there’s something to know about Masters and Hamilton, he’ll have the scoop.”
“Sounds like my kind of guy.” Roger smiled broadly.
“Don’t bet on it.” Mike released the desk to stand tall. “Anyway, you see those two again, you let me know immediately. I’ll email you addresses and anything else I can find as soon as I get back to my office.” Mike stuffed his hat back on his head and left the room.
Roger cringed as the door to the trailer opened and closed, leaving him alone. His crew was off on Saturdays and Sundays, though it occurred to him perhaps he should have them working straight through until they were done with this job. He rubbed his temples with both thumbs, pressing his fingers into his forehead. “Fucking God dammit.”
Chapter Thirteen
“Amanda,” Mary called from the front room. “Your men are at the door.”
My men… Amanda rolled her eyes as she stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. She’d primped for the last hour, showering, shaving, lotion, makeup, hair. She’d put on a denim skirt and her favorite sheer pink blouse with a matching pink camisole underneath. Her underwear was a matching set of delicate lace in a softer shade of pink.
At least Mary didn’t sound angry or put out. In fact, Amanda could hear their voices in the front room, and her pulse sped up. She glanced at herself once more and took a deep breath. Her long black curls lay in some semblance of order. Her makeup, something she wasn’t in the habit of wearing much of, was subtle and feminine.
A glance at her chest revealed her nipples stood at attention even through the lace bra, camisole, and blouse. There was no way to hide the evidence of her arousal. Besides, from what she’d learned so far, they could smell her a mile away anyway. There would be no hiding anything.
It occurred to her, not for the first time, that this was entirely unfair. She didn’t have the abilities these wolf men had, leaving her at a distinct disadvantage.
“Amanda?” Mary’s voice drifted down the hall.
“Coming,” she called. She stuffed her feet into the pale pink flats that matched her shirt and forced herself to leave the bathroom and face her men.
As soon as she stepped into the living room, everyone turned around.
Mary’s face was serious, but with concern, not anger. She had calmed down considerably since early in the morning. After Laurie left, Jazmine followed, saying Mary needed to spend time with Amanda.
Half of Amanda would have preferred she be left alone to think and clean up and get dressed, but Mary followed her down the hall and sat on her bed while she chose an outfit. As Mary softened to the concept, Amanda found her biting her lower lip and fighting a grin. Deep inside, she knew her sister was happy for her. Even though she had a pile of concerns a mile long.
“You look amazing,” Logan eventually muttered. He stepped forward as if finally able to get his legs to move, trailed his fingertips down her arm until she shivered, and leaned in to kiss the spot right beneath her ear. He inhaled slowly before he righted himself. “And you smell fantastic.”
Sawyer approached her other side and boldly kissed her lips, his eyes dancing as he did so.
“So, uh, do you all have time to sit down for a bit?” Mary asked.
“Yes. Of course.” Sawyer took Amanda’s hand and led her around to the couch. He eased onto the cushion on one end, pulling her down next to him while Logan took a seat to her other side.
She was crowded, to say the least, and completely unsure she could sit still. Their thighs rubbed against her on both sides, making her question her decision to wear a skirt. It rode up as she sat, leaving her thighs exposed to the denim pressing in on her from two sets of jeans.
She squeezed her legs together and gritted her teeth to keep from making any telltale noises. She crossed her arms under her breasts in an effort to hold herself together.
However, without looking directly at her, Logan silently trailed his fingers across her forearm until he threaded them with hers and pulled her hand into his lap. His knuckles grazed her nipples on the way by, making her flush. “I understand you spoke to Laurie this morning,” he said to Mary.
Mary nodded, her gaze taking in everything in front of her.
Sawyer set his hand on Amanda’s thigh, letting his fingers rest between her legs on her bare skin where he proceeded to draw small circles that drove her instantly insane with need. “I know this is shocking to you.”
“Understatement,” Mary muttered, her eyes lowering to the spot where Sawyer fondled Amanda to total distraction.
Amanda set her hand on his and squeezed, trying to get him to stop the maddening stroke of his fingers, but he reached across with his other hand, clasped her smaller one in his, and brought it to his lips before lowering it to his lap.
She was trapped. Each man had a hand, and one man had a grip on her thigh that promised amazing things with the simple contact.
Logan spoke again. “I swear to you, as unconventional as all this may seem, it is part of our normal existence, and we would never do anything to ma
ke Amanda feel less than loved, adored, and cherished for the rest of her life. It’s how we’re made. It’s fast, but it is binding and unbreakable.”
Mary nodded again, licking her lips.
Amanda’s heart pounded at his words. She knew they were true. She was scared out of her mind about how things were going to play out, especially for the rest of the day, but it calmed her to hear his promises.
This was not a passing thing. They would never use her and discard her. They couldn’t, apparently.
“It’s so fast,” Mary muttered.
Sawyer spoke next. “We know. And we’ll take every precaution to ensure we don’t rush her and she feels as if she has made her own decisions with regard to this claiming.”
“Claiming?” Mary asked.
Amanda was still hung up on the way he’d carefully worded his sentence. He hadn’t said she would have any choices. Only that they would try to make her feel as if she had.
“That’s what we call the act of uniting two wolves, or in this case two wolves and a human,” Logan explained. “A claiming.”
“And what does that entail?” Mary asked.
Amanda was curious as well. She’d have to thank Mary later for asking the hard questions Amanda was unable to pull into sentences in her crazy state of confusion.
“It’s not complicated. We don’t marry like humans do. Well, sometimes we marry for the sake of appearances, but that’s a lot more complicated when we’re in groups of three,” Logan said. He did not, however, answer the question.
Clearly, Mary was aware of that too. Her mouth opened, and she hesitated a moment. “So you have like a ceremony or something? Will I attend?”
Sawyer shook his head, his fingers tightening around Amanda’s. “No. We don’t do that either. If we did, we would of course have you attend. But a claiming a private uniting between mates. It doesn’t involve other people.”
Amanda grew nervous. She hadn’t really considered this side of things. She understood the concept that they seemed fated to be together because she felt the same pull as them, but she wasn’t clear on what would happen privately to make that binding.
Well, she wasn’t an idiot. Sex would be involved. She got that, but what else? That seemed pretty simple to her, although totally frightening on a level she would never be able to explain.
“I see,” Mary said. Her gaze darted back and forth between Logan and Sawyer before settling on Amanda. “And you’re okay with this? You don’t feel pressured or coerced?”
“No.” She felt drawn in a way that was out of her control, but not forced. Nature seemed to control things, not specifically the men at her sides. They were in the same predicament as her as far as she could tell. “I’m fine, Mary. I want this.”
“You had no idea this even existed yesterday.”
“I know, but it does. And it’s powerful. It’s not to be denied. I’m certain of that.” She wasn’t lying.
Sawyer lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles again. When his lips met her skin, she closed her eyes. She wanted those lips on the rest of her body. Like now. Or ten minutes ago. She hadn’t stopped thinking about the way he’d already claimed her with his mouth since she first woke up and realized she wasn’t dreaming.
Logan eased her hand closer to his crotch until her knuckles landed on his thick length.
She wanted to see him. That morning she’d been the only one naked. She was both excited and frightened at the same time.
Logan turned slightly toward her, lifted his opposite arm, and threaded his fingers into her hair to pull her head closer.
He set his mouth on her ear and whispered, “Sit still, baby. We’re going to take care of you. Just get through this so your sister will be less freaked out.”
She held her breath, wondering how he thought Mary hadn’t heard him in the silence of the room until she realized Sawyer had spoken to Mary at the same time Logan had made her head spin with his promises.
Mary responded to something Sawyer said. “Oh, so you’re a firefighter?”
“Yes, a hotshot. I specialize in forest fires.”
“It’s been too dry this year.”
“Yep. That’s why I moved here. A new wildland firefighter team was just put in place in this area. I’m building a house at the edge of the reservation halfway between Cambridge and Sojourn. It’s close to Laurie’s if you’ve been there.”
“I have a few times. Where are you living now?”
Logan released Amanda’s head, his fingers grazing across her cheek. “My place. We made a few adjustments this morning. My sister was living with me in my condo. She moved in with my parents, and Sawyer brought over some of his things. I’ll leave the address with you and both our phone numbers. It’s not far from here. Only a few minutes.”
Cambridge wasn’t a huge town. Getting around wasn’t complicated. Amanda already had the majority of the city figured out in her head from driving around for the past month.
“You should bring some things to Logan’s also, hon,” Sawyer suggested.
She nodded. She hadn’t thought of that. She hadn’t thought of much of anything really. So far, she was living one second at a time. Staring into the immediate future gave her the chills.
“If it’s too overwhelming, we can come back by here whenever you need anything.”
“No. It’s okay. I’m sure I can put a few things together.” They might not match, but at least I won’t run out of clothes…
“You ready to go then?” Logan asked.
“I guess.”
He stood, hauling her up next to him.
Mary stood also from her perch at the edge of the chair across from them. “I’ll help you get a few things together.” She crossed the room and headed for the hall without waiting for a response.
Logan cupped Amanda’s cheek and tilted her head back. He set a gentle kiss on her lips and smiled. “It’s going to be okay. I promise. I know your nerves are frayed, and that’s understandable, but trust us to know what you can handle.”
Sawyer’s hands landed on her hips from behind. He nudged her hair away from her cheek with his chin and kissed her neck. “Doesn’t matter what you take to Logan’s, hon. Don’t stress over it. Not going to let you get dressed anytime in the near future anyway.”
She stiffened. Geez. Suddenly she was light-headed. Just thinking about being naked with them again made her knees weak. They had played her like a finely tuned instrument. And they intended to do it again. Soon. Like today. Like as soon as they scrambled from this apartment and got to Logan’s condo.
And she wanted that. “I’ll grab a few things.” She ducked free of both men and clambered around them to escape the intensity of being so close to their pheromones, or whatever it was they put off that sucked her into a vortex.
She fled to her bedroom, where she found Mary sitting on her bed. “You sure about this?”
“Very.” Amanda grabbed a duffle bag and headed for the bathroom. She needed toiletries at the very least. When she stepped back into the room, she added jeans, underwear, bras, shirts, and her short practical boots that tied up the middle. They were new and cute in her opinion.
“They seem to adore you.”
“They do.” Amanda turned to face her sister. “It’s going to be okay.”
“You gonna tell Mom and Dad?”
“Hell no.”
Mary giggled. “Yeah. I don’t blame you.”
“Have you told them about Jaz?”
“No way.”
“Then we’re even. We can go years with our secrets.”
“Let’s do that.” Mary stood and wrapped her arms around Amanda’s shoulders. “I love you.”
“I love you too. I’ll be fine.”
“Text. Call. I’ll be worried.”
“I will.” Amanda turned away and grabbed her bag on the way out before she got so emotional that she started to cry.
»»•««
Mike stood in his small grungy office with his cell phone t
o his ear, waiting for Sandhouse to pick up. He glanced around, running his free hand through his hair. The place was a shithole. And he was tired of living on the edge and maintaining an office where he could only bring the most degenerate of clients. Any client he had with cash he met at a bar, a coffee shop, or a restaurant.
He’d made a lot of money over the years, but still maintained the same office he’d had for a decade. Rent was low, and he never knew when his next paycheck might not pay the bills.
One of these days he intended to clean up and get out of this business. A few more jobs for Roger and he’d be able to make that break. The guy made a shit-ton of money skimming extra trees in the logging business. He in turn transferred a hefty sum to Mike to ensure he remained clean and viable.
And Mike did his job well. Each time he worked for Roger, he took a bigger cut. This particular job had him on edge, however.
“Sandhouse.”
Mike flinched. He’d almost forgotten he was waiting for a caller to answer. “Hey. Mike Darsky.”
“Mike, how’s it going?”
“Good. Good. Listen, I have a question. Under the radar of course.”
“Of course. Aren’t all your questions under the radar?”
Their relationship went back several years. It was a mutual give and take. When Pete needed something, he called Mike and vice versa. “Got a couple of guys I’m watching. Hoping you might know something.”
“I might. But I can’t tell you if you don’t give me their names.” Pete chuckled in a deep voice.
“Logan Masters and Sawyer Hamilton.”
“Masters?” His voice lowered. He was undoubtedly in the office and trying to keep from being heard. “What the hell has he done?”
“Was hoping you could tell me.”
“No, but I’ll find out. Did you say he’s hanging with one of the Hamiltons?”
“Yep.”
“That can’t be a coincidence.”
“I didn’t think so.” This was exactly what Mike was counting on. He knew Pete had a hard-on for those two families. All Mike had to do was light a fire under the guy, and he’d have him eating out of his palm.
“I’ll do some digging. This number you called me on my best return?”
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