“Still is.”
“Okay. I’ll get back with you.”
Mike smiled as he ended the call. Some days his job did itself.
Chapter Fourteen
Sawyer opened the front door with the key Logan had given him that morning. He lugged Amanda’s bag inside and dropped it on the floor while his mates followed him.
His gaze roamed the front room, taking in the layout that was slowly growing familiar. The place was sparse. Not a lot of decorations, but then again, except for Sharon, it had mostly been a bachelor pad for the last several years as each of the Masters had occupied it until they mated.
The oversize black leather couch looked incredibly comfortable. If they ever came up for air and decided to watch television or something, they could easily all lounge on it. But not today. All he wanted to experience today was the feeling of being lost in Amanda’s deep blue eyes until he knew nothing else.
He turned around and grabbed her by the waist to haul her against him.
She gave a soft squeal, but didn’t protest. And her stiff body immediately went limp against him as he took her mouth with his. She tasted minty as if she’d just brushed her teeth.
When she lifted her arms up to wrap them around his neck, he eased his hands up her sides, grazing the edges of her breasts and settling them so his palms pressed into the soft globes.
Amanda moaned into his mouth, making his cock harder than it had been all day. He swallowed her noises, hoping to devour about a thousand more such sounds before the day ended.
He was aware of Logan stepping up behind her, but he didn’t break the intoxicating kiss to acknowledge him.
When Logan’s hands grabbed Amanda’s hips, they bumped into Sawyer’s, confirming that between the two of them they could caress a great deal of Amanda’s skin all at once.
She pressed her body firmly against Sawyer’s and lifted onto her tiptoes.
He wanted to see her naked so badly again, it hurt. The drive had been excruciating with her sweet body between his and Logan’s. It was less than five minutes, but it seemed like an hour.
Amanda broke the kiss. She drew in deep breaths while she set her forehead against his chest. “What happens now?”
Sawyer met Logan’s gaze over her head.
Logan nodded. “Whatever feels natural.”
“What did you mean when you told my sister a claiming was a private matter between mates?”
Sawyer bit his bottom lip and waited for Logan to field that one too. “It means we don’t have any specific ceremonies that bind us. We just have sex.”
She lifted her face and twisted sideways to face them both. “So we aren’t exactly united or whatever yet?”
“No.”
“And when we have sex, we will be? Just like that?”
“Yes,” Logan’s face was serious. “And we’ll be able to communicate without speaking too.”
“What? Like telepathically?”
“Exactly.”
“No matter where we are?”
“Right.”
“Jesus. That’s freaky weird.”
Logan smiled. “It can be. You’ll get used to it. And you’ll learn to block us from clambering around in your every thought eventually too.”
She shuddered. “Shit. I hadn’t thought of that.”
“It’s only slightly easier for wolf females. Wolves can all communicate with each other when they’re in wolf form. But only mates can speak to each other in human form.”
“That’s so far out there. You realize that, right?”
Logan chuckled. “I guess so. But it comes in handy. We don’t even need cell phones.”
“If claiming me is so private, how do the others even know it happened? What keeps someone else from deciding to hone in on someone’s mate?”
Sawyer jumped in. “Scent. We can smell it. It’s overwhelming, and it fills a room. When a woman, or a man for that matter, is claimed, their pheromones change. Everyone knows it. Even if they’ve never met. It’s immediately obvious.”
Logan added to that. “The tricky part is that you won’t have that ability. But every wolf will. Even strangers on the street will recognize that you’re human and mated to a wolf. You, however, will be at a disadvantage in that area.”
“That doesn’t seem fair. Why does Nature have wolves mating with humans, anyway?”
Sawyer shrugged. “No one really knows. It just happens sometimes.”
She paused, seeming to soak that in, and then continued. “So everyone in your family will know we had sex?”
“Yes.” He scrunched up his face, hoping to convey chagrin, but that was just how it was.
She shuddered again. “That’s so weird.”
“It’s normal for us.”
“And that’s it? That’s all we do. We have sex, and then we’re like united or something for life?”
“It’s that simple. With two mates, anyway. It’s slightly more complicated with three, but we’ll work through it.”
She furrowed her brow. “More complicated how?”
That was the last question Sawyer wanted to field. He knew they had to face it and have a frank discussion about it at some point anyway, but he would give his right arm to put it off.
Judging by the look on Logan’s face, he agreed. He cringed a bit and then blew out a breath. “Let’s just take things one step at a time and cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Amanda blinked at him, seeming to decide if that idea suited her. Finally, she dropped her shoulders and nodded. “Okay, but don’t blindside me. I’m scared out of my mind enough as it is. I don’t need any more surprises.”
Logan stepped back a pace. “You hungry? We could make lunch and get to know each other a bit more.”
Sawyer wanted to groan at that idea. Sure, he hadn’t eaten much that morning. And he was fairly certain neither of them would have either, but he wanted to move to the bedroom and get this sexy outfit off his mate before his cock exploded.
Logan shot him a glare. He was right. They did need to eat. And they also needed to ease Amanda into their life. No matter how far she’d come and how well she was taking things, she was still human. And it seemed obvious to Sawyer that no human man had ever rocked her world the way he and Logan had that morning.
The look on her face told him everything he needed to know. Amanda wasn’t a virgin in the traditional sense of the word, but she also hadn’t had decent sex with anyone either. What was the matter with some human men that they couldn’t take proper care to ensure their women were satisfied?
That thought had made him light-headed several times since they’d met her. The idea that she would surrender her body completely to him and Logan made his chest swell. It was unlikely she’d ever come undone with another man before. She was his. She was Logan’s. She was a blank slate whose world was going to be rocked and turned upside down in a matter of hours.
The honor didn’t escape his notice.
He wanted her more for it.
He also had to slow the fuck down more because of it.
Logan led them to the kitchen area and pulled several things from the refrigerator. “Sandwiches okay? We can order out later, or whatever you guys want. I’m just trying to make things easy for now.”
“I don’t think I can eat,” Amanda said as she lifted herself onto one of the barstools and adjusted her skirt until she was situated.
Sawyer watched her fidget and wanted to grab her around the waist, plant her on the island, and spread her legs apart until he could remind himself what her pussy looked like, smelled like, tasted like…
He balled his hands into fists at his sides and tried to think of anything except the sexy short denim skirt that rode high on her thighs when she sat. The smooth, creamy white skin that extended from the hem of her skirt to her feet made his mouth water.
He could see her nipples easily through the thin layers of whatever shirts she wore, and he’d fought to keep from staring at them since he first
entered her sister’s apartment.
“You need to eat, Amanda,” Logan said as he opened packages of meat and cheese. “What have you had today?”
“Coffee.”
Sawyer couldn’t resist touching her. He stepped up behind her and set his hands on her shoulders. He could feel her heat through the thin layer of material.
She shuddered under his touch, making him decide to smooth his hands down her arms until his chest was pressed against her back and he had her fingers threaded with his on her thighs. He kissed the delicate skin at the base of her neck where her blouse ended.
“My head is spinning with all the information you keep piling on me and the way you both make me feel. Eating is not one of my priorities. Maybe later.”
Logan smirked at her and continued making sandwiches. When he was finished, he slid one her way and another one alongside hers for Sawyer. He followed those with glasses of water.
Sawyer released one of her hands, reluctantly, and reached for the thick sandwich stuffed with almost more than he would be able to get his mouth around.
Amanda lifted her freed hand to grab the water and took a drink, her fingers shaking as she did so.
“Hon, try to eat. I don’t want to be responsible for you passing out from lack of nourishment.” Sawyer nodded at her plate.
“It’s hard enough to concentrate on anything when you aren’t in the room, but with you in my space, touching me in a hundred ways, I can’t possibly eat. You want me to try, then move to the other side of the island.” She turned her face to grin at him.
He sighed and released her to round the island. At least on this side, he could stare at her face and watch her. But he hated losing the contact and her warmth.
Logan scooted to the side enough to make room for Sawyer. “Stop thinking about mating with us and tell us about your family while you eat.”
She nodded, picking up the sandwich. “Not much to say about my family. You met my sister. Apparently she had a closet full of secrets she was keeping. I still haven’t worked that out in my mind.
“Our parents are in Oklahoma. They belong to the same church as the one my sister left last year, Church on the Hill. We were raised in a very strict house. And they will never understand the choices either of us have made. In fact, we’ll avoid telling them anything at all for as long as possible.” She took a bite of her sandwich, her small mouth making Sawyer almost moan as she opened it.
Sawyer swallowed around his own mouthful. “Neither of you made any choices, hon.”
She shrugged. “True. Semantics. They won’t see it that way.”
“Sounds like you had a stifled childhood,” Logan added.
“To say the least. Yes. That’s why I moved here, to get as far away from my parents as possible and start living.” She took another bite of her sandwich and set it down. As she swallowed, she continued, “This isn’t quite what I had in mind.”
Logan chuckled. “Yeah. We don’t plan these things.”
Sawyer watched her closely as they finished lunch. He memorized every move of her jaw, the way she dabbed her lips with her napkin, the swell of her throat when she washed every few bites down with water. Everything about her was sexy. Even eating.
»»•««
Caleb couldn’t keep his hands from shaking. He also couldn’t figure a way out of his current predicament. What were the chances Amanda Williams would leave her apartment with Logan Masters and some other guy? He easily recognized Logan from the ski resort where he’d worked last winter.
He’d unintentionally been the cause of a tremendous amount of pain to the Masters family back then, and he sure didn’t want to be the catalyst to their destruction again.
He shuddered as he sat in his car and stared at Logan’s condo where he’d watched all three people enter over an hour ago.
He couldn’t bring himself to start the engine and move.
When his cell phone rang next to him, he jumped in his seat and then exhaled when he saw it was his mother. He picked it up and answered. “Mom.”
“Where are you?”
“I had a few errands to run.”
“Well, you need to come home. Pastor Edmund is here waiting to speak to you.”
Caleb nearly groaned. Great. Just what he needed. The reason he was sitting in his car for so long was to avoid Pastor Edmund altogether. He still had no idea what to say. Lying wasn’t something he had ever done. But ruining other people’s lives was something he didn’t intend to repeat. Even if they were in weird polygamist relationships.
“I’ll be there soon, Mom.”
“Okay. I’ll serve tea and make sandwiches for the reverend.”
Of course she would. Caleb smiled at the image. His mother was the consummate hostess. Too bad she was also a bigot and a racist.
Chapter Fifteen
When Logan pulled out chocolate chip cookies and set them on the island, Amanda salivated. “You bake?”
“No.” Logan shook his head. “But my sister Sharon does. She lived here with me until about two minutes ago.”
“You kicked her out?” Amanda snagged a cookie and moaned around the perfect bite. She had to give these two men credit for making small talk and helping calm her nerves with food.
“It was necessary.” Logan chuckled. “Besides, my family is used to being kicked out of this condo. When the three of us move out, it will be all hers. No one left to kick out.”
As soon as they were all finished and Logan had everything put away, she straightened her spine. It wasn’t as if she’d been able to ignore her body’s reaction to either of them during lunch, but the finality of shutting the fridge when the last of the condiments and lunch meat was put away made her refocus on what was going to happen next.
“Let’s tour the rest of the condo,” Logan said, clapping his hands together.
Sure. It took a lot of energy to avoid rolling her eyes at how absurd that sounded. Other than noticing the huge black leather couch and glass-topped coffee table behind her in the living room, she hadn’t paid any attention to the condo.
It was tidy, probably because Sharon knew she was coming. It was roomy. The natural light that came in from both the front and the back made it feel more spacious. But none of that mattered. Her focus was on the two tall men with rock-hard muscles and narrowed eyes.
As they rounded the island, she swiveled in their direction on the bar stool and jumped down. Both men wore jeans that fit them to perfection. And the bulge they each sported front and center made her swallow through serious nerves.
“Relax. No rush here. We move at your pace.” Sawyer reached out a hand, not approaching her, but letting her come to him.
She stepped forward and set her palm in his. Instantly, she was both soothed and more aroused. Just touching either of them made her heart race.
As she followed them down the hall, Sawyer still holding her hand at his lower back, Logan pointed out the rooms. “Office. Hall bath. Sharon’s room…” Finally he pushed through a door and led them into the last room. “Master bedroom.”
Amanda glanced around as Sawyer moved to her side, not releasing her fingers. The furniture included several matching pieces of expensive hardwood that had been painted black and then sanded to appear rustic or older. She loved it. The bed was king-size and covered with a maroon duvet, matching maroon sheets peeking out at the corners.
Logan surprised her by pulling his shirt over his head with one hand and tossing it into a corner. He kicked off his shoes next and sauntered toward her while she watched every muscle in his chest and arms move. His body was amazing, and she reached out a hand as he approached and set her palm in the middle of his chest.
When Sawyer released her other hand to ease behind her, she set her second palm on Logan’s chest. His heat soaked into her, seeming to run up her arms and into her torso. Either he ran warm, or this weird fated arrangement included calming her with just a touch.
Every time they touched her, she relaxed into them.
In fact, she leaned forward and set her forehead against his chest to increase the connection. She breathed in his clean outdoorsy scent.
Logan wrapped one large hand behind her head at the base of her skull and set the other on her hip.
Sawyer grasped her other hip and wormed his free hand around her belly.
She should have felt claustrophobic, but instead she wanted them to close the gap and literally sandwich her between them.
When Logan tucked the tips of his fingers into the top of her jean skirt, tingles raced up her spine and made her nipples come to attention. “Look at me, baby.” His voice was lower, soft, and rough with desire.
She lifted her face to meet his gaze, tipping her head back so far that it landed on Sawyer’s chest. His bare chest. When had he taken off his shirt?
Logan’s gaze was serious. “Your pace. Just relax.”
She nodded subtly. She knew they wouldn’t do anything to intentionally rush her, but there was no way to overlook the fact that she wanted this as badly as they did, if not more. She was out of control, and she curled her fingers into his pecs, digging into the firm flesh to ground herself.
He didn’t flinch or comment, as if he either didn’t realize she was hurting him or didn’t care. When he started backing up, Sawyer moved forward, and between the two of them, they inched her toward the bed. It was high off the ground and huge. They would all fit, but the logistics of this scene were still rather lost on her.
Who would go first?
Logan sat on the edge of the bed and tucked both hands under her blouse and camisole. “You like pink.” He didn’t meet her eyes. It was just a comment. His gaze roamed up and down her torso.
“Yes.” The word was breathy. She didn’t care about pink right them. All she could think about was Sawyer’s hands as he kneeled behind her, letting them run down her legs.
He tugged off her flats and set them aside, and then he let his fingers trail back up her bare legs from her ankles to her thighs. The skirt inched upward with him until he held her upper legs with both hands and gripped.
Visions of him splaying her wide early that morning made her dizzy. His mouth on her sex… She moaned at the thought. Had that been just this morning? It seemed like days ago.
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