"I want you to go back," Maryann said. "Back to the time when you decided males owned their female mates. Can you do that?"
After a moment, Bridget softly said, "Mmm-hmm."
"How old are you?"
"Four." Bridget's voice sound faint and dry.
"Where are you?"
Her face crinkling up, Bridget said, "A house."
"Whose house?"
Liam shifted in his chair. It sure was like pulling teeth. But at least they seemed to be getting somewhere.
"Dunno." Bridget's voice sounded young, almost like the four-year-old she'd once been.
"Who's with you?" Maryann said.
Bridget paused. "Ted."
Shit. Maryann sat up straighter. Liam couldn't see her face but from her body language, it looked like she felt the same way he did. Not happy. Not happy at all.
"What's Ted doing?" Maryann's voice sounded just as calm as ever.
Bridget's words came slowly. "Watching football."
"Are you at Ted's house?"
"No."
After more questions and single-word answers, the story spilled out in fits and starts.
"Ted was babysitting me. But he took me to his friends' house and told the female, Jenny, to watch me instead. We were there all afternoon, the three men watching football and yelling for more beer. They pushed their mate around. They bossed Jenny and gave her orders. Then late in the afternoon, Jenny wasn't cooking fast enough. I followed one of her mates into the kitchen and saw him hitting her, over and over. She screamed and cowered away from him, but he wouldn't stop."
God, what a thing for a four-year-old to see. And why the hell was Ted babysitting her?
"How did that make you feel?" Maryann said.
Bridget shifted in her seat. "Sad. I never wanted to be like her."
"So you decided to never have mates?"
She shifted again. "Yeah."
Maryann glanced back at Gavin and gave a little nod. "Your parents were mated, right? Did your fathers treat your mother that way?"
"No." Her answer was swift and definite.
"What about your sisters who are mated? Do they get treated like that?"
"No."
"So not every female mate gets treated that way," Maryann said. "Right?"
Bridget nodded slowly.
"Say it, Bridget."
"Not every female is treated that way."
"Some males treat their female very well," Maryann said. "Say it."
Bridget repeated her words.
"Based on what you've seen so far of Liam and Gavin and not counting what happened when you were a child, do you believe they will treat you well or badly?"
Chapter 9
Bridget's answer came a little slower. "Well."
"You don't sound sure."
"How would I know? They could change."
"Did your brothers-in-law change?"
"No."
"What about your fathers?"
They continued in that vein for a while longer, Maryann convincing Bridget step by step that the incident that had imprinted on her brain when she was just a child was only one of many examples she'd seen. The end of the session neared.
"What I want you to do now is unhook from that memory," Maryann said. "Imagine your emotions are ropes with big hooks on the end and those hooks are lodged tight in that memory. Now pull the hooks out one by one until none are left. Then left the memory drift away."
After waiting a minute, Maryann went on. "I'm going to wake you up now. You will remember everything we've talked about, but the memory we discussed will seem very, very far away and will no longer have any hold over you. It will remain unhooked." She continued to bring Bridget out of the hypnosis and a few minutes later Bridget opened her eyes.
They immediately filled with tears.
***
Bridget couldn't believe a stupid thing like a little memory from when she was four could be at the root of all her feelings about mates and all the crap she'd put her own mates through in the last few days.
But it was.
And now that she'd come out of the hypnosis, she felt so different. She couldn't imagine being without Gavin and Liam. Couldn't for a second imagine rejecting them. Her heart ached at the thought.
As a tear rolled down one cheek, she stood and walked around the therapist's chair to her mates, putting a hand on each of their arms. "I'm so sorry."
Liam put a hand over hers while Gavin's brow lowered.
"What does that mean?" Gavin said.
"I can't believe what I've put you through. And for something so little as a memory. I'm so sorry."
"Does that mean you don't need the pre-nup anymore?" Gavin's mouth twitched as though he held back a smile.
"Pre-nup?" Maryann said.
Bridget squeezed Gavin's arm. "No pre-nup. But could we go to the hotel?"
Within minutes, Gavin had paid Maryann and Liam had hurried Bridget to Gavin's car. Bridget and Liam had taken the Metro out to Vienna and then a cab the rest of the way. They had at least a thirty minute drive ahead of them. Could she wait that long?
They hadn't driven more than five minutes when Gavin's cell rang. He yanked it out of his pocket, glanced at the screen then picked up. "Hey, Deirdre."
Bridget could hear her sister's voice on the other side with her werewolf hearing. "Hi, Gavin. Just returning your call. Is Bridget okay?"
"Bridget's fine," Bridget said.
Gavin shot her a glance. "You could at least pretend this is a private phone call."
"You're calling my sister privately?" Bridget said.
He rolled his eyes. "Of course not." Gavin put the phone on speaker and handed it to Bridget to hold. "Deirdre, we're looking into your parents' deaths and we were wondering if you remember anything out of the ordinary happening in the days leading up to it."
Gavin knew that just as with Bridget—as with a lot of witnesses—he might have to ask the same question in different ways several times before their memories jogged lose an answer. Deirdre said no twice and Gavin gave it one last try.
"Well…" Deirdre said. "I seem to remember Ted being around a lot. Yeah. We got that postcard from Maeve, remember, Bridget? And then Ted started hanging around the house a lot. Mom was really annoyed about it, especially since he'd pop in at the last minute and expect her to feed him dinner and she'd have to scramble to make sure we had enough."
"He always ate so much," Bridget said.
"Mom used to complain after he left, and Dad just said he'd buy extra groceries."
"Which only made Mom madder," Bridget said. "She wanted him to agree with her, not fix it."
This wasn't really getting them anywhere. He doubted Ted had murdered them over the cooking. "Do you remember anything in particular about his visits? Did he ever say anything strange or bring anyone over with him?"
The phone was quiet for a second. "I remember him asking about that night a few days before. He was really interested in where Bridget and I were going, and he checked again that night to make sure we were still going out. And he brought someone over that night. The night they died. Mom was fit to be tied, because she and Dad and Papa had been planning a nice evening together, and then Ted showed up with a buddy just as Bridget and I were leaving."
"Oh, yeah," Bridget said. "I'd forgotten all about that."
"You were preoccupied. Cerise said Billy and the other boys might be planning a panty raid on the slumber party."
Bridget smiled, and Gavin tamped down the jealousy. It was years ago. No need to be jealous. "Do you remember who Ted's buddy was?" Gavin said.
"I think it was Lars," Deirdre said. "I was a little occupied, too. But I'm pretty sure it was Lars that night."
"Do you know where Lars is now?" Gavin said.
"He was one of the wolves who left with Ted," Deirdre said. "You think Lars and Ted killed our parents?"
"It looks that way to me," Gavin said. "If Ted came over alone, it'd be harder to get away and sabotage th
e furnace but with two of them there, Ted could distract your parents while Lars went and did the dirty work."
"That would fit Ted's personality," Bridget said.
"It would also fit what we discussed earlier about Ted's possible motives. If he was trying to lure Maeve back for the funeral, he'd want her two sisters alive. That's why he went to such trouble to make sure you were out of the house."
"Did he go to more trouble than we know about?" Liam said from the back seat. "If you remember whose house the party was at, we could talk to them. Maybe Ted asked them to hold a party. Maybe everything was engineered."
Liam was going to make a great PI. "Good thinking," Gavin said.
Deirdre and Bridget remembered exactly where they were the night their parents died. In the next several minutes, Deirdre dug through her papers and found a phone number for the family and gave it to Gavin.
"Got it," he said. "We'll let you know what we find out. Thanks."
As soon as they'd hung up, Bridget dialed the Taylors. Gavin took the phone from her and did the introductions when Mrs. Taylor came on the line. "So I was wondering if you remember the party that night. Specifically, did Ted talk to you about the party at all?"
There was a long pause. Finally, Mrs. Taylor said, "I haven't thought about that night in a long time. I've tried hard not to. Because yes, there was something strange. Ted came to us and specifically asked us to have a party that night and make sure to invite Deirdre. We would have anyway, since we had an older daughter her age and they were friends, but it was very odd for him to ask us to have a party for our daughter. Why would he even care?"
She sucked in a breath. "Then Deirdre and Bridget's parents died that night. I had this awful feeling Ted had done something and we'd been unwittingly caught in the middle of it. I could barely live with myself. So I tried very hard to forget."
"It's okay, Mrs. Taylor," Bridget said. "None of it was your fault. And if Deirdre hadn't come to your house, she might have died, too."
Gavin hadn't told Mrs. Taylor there were other wolves nearby, which was a breach of protocol on his part. But before he could apologize, Mrs. Taylor started crying.
"Thank you," she whispered. "I've felt so guilty for so long."
A few minutes later, they hung up.
"He did it," Bridget said.
"Sure looks that way," Liam said. "That should be enough to damn him. If he ever shows up again. That, and what he did to Maeve and Fiona's mom."
"Yeah, if he ever shows up again, he's dead," Gavin said. "One way or another."
They still had almost ten minutes to go before they would get to the hotel.
"We're finally all together," Liam said. "But we still have something to decide. Where we live."
"I talked to my Alpha." Gavin's heart twinged. "He's kicking me out. So we also need to find a pack."
Bridget twisted in her seat so she faced him. "I have a pack. A pack, and family I want to live near. Why don't you both come to Marysburg and join Stonewall?"
He had nothing against Marysburg, per se. It was small compared to northern Virginia, but he could handle that. Except for one thing. "My practice is up here."
"So what you're worried about is losing all the contacts and clients you've built up over the years?" Liam said.
"Yeah, and reputation, word of mouth…"
"Listen," Liam said. "You can keep the Alexandria office open but go ahead and open one in Marysburg, too. You and I can run both of them together, commuting as needed. Over time, when we've built up contacts and clients in Marysburg, we can close the Alexandria office."
That actually sounded like a decent idea. Except the commuting part, where they'd have to spend time away from each other. But that gave him a better idea. "Or, we can leave the Alexandria office open and I could train one or two of my old pack mates to run it for us. Then maybe we can get out of commuting sooner rather than later."
"I like it," Liam said.
It wasn't what Gavin had originally planned. Heck, even when he'd first found Liam and Bridget, he'd been sure he didn't want to leave his Alexandria business. He had wanted his mates but hadn't wanted anything else to change. Now he accepted that things would have to change. He just had to make them change for the better.
They reached the hotel and a minute or two later they were in their room, pulling off their clothes. No finesse, no striptease. They stripped off every stitch before landing in a pile on the bed, their limbs and mouths and fingers all tangled into one.
Gavin cupped Bridget's face with one hand, touching his forehead to hers. "Marry me."
Chapter 10
Bridget's face softened. "Yes."
Liam's hand came over Bridget's body from the back to stroke Gavin's hair. "And me."
She smiled. "Of course. I love you both."
Gavin rubbed his thumb across her cheekbone. "I love you, too." His eyes met Liam's. "And you."
Liam kissed Bridget's shoulder. "I love you both. Forever."
Bridget leaned forward and pressed her lips against Gavin's. The flame of passion sparked into an inferno. He held her cheek still so he could plunder her mouth.
Liam stroked up Gavin's side—thigh, hip, waist, shoulder—then took the same path down Bridget's side. At the same time, he nibbled on Bridget's shoulder. She moaned in Gavin's mouth.
"Want to come, sweetie?" Liam said.
Gavin felt Liam's hand slide between him and Bridget, then settle over her mons.
Bridget didn't answer, just moaned louder. Gavin kept kissing her, while his hand found its way around Liam's back to squeeze his ass. Her breathing got shorter until she was practically panting in his mouth. Her eyes, when she opened them, looked unfocused and glazed.
"I think she'll be coming soon," Gavin said against her lips.
"She's so wet," Liam said. He ran his teeth over her shoulder, over his mark.
Bridget shuddered at the contact then her body tensed before shaking violently. Liam bit down harder. Her nails dug into Gavin's back.
"Beautiful," Gavin said. "Amazing." And just the beginning. "I need to taste her. What do you think—want to share?" He couldn't think of anything sexier than Liam and him licking Bridget's pussy at the same time.
Liam pulled his teeth from her shoulder. "I like that idea."
Bridget sighed. "Me too."
Several seconds later, they'd rearranged themselves so the two men lay between Bridget's legs, which were spread as wide as she could get them. Gavin leaned in so he could clamp his mouth around her clit. He tried to leave room for Liam, but it was still a tight fit as Liam slid his tongue over her lips and into her pussy, brushing the underside of Gavin's chin in the process.
Bridget shivered and her thighs tensed.
"Close?" Gavin said. "So soon?"
"Just the thought of both of you down there, together…it's really got me," she said.
Good. Gavin licked her clit once then twice before taking it into his mouth again to suck on it.
***
Bridget's hands came down to rest on each of their heads. She couldn't imagine anything sexier than both of her men going down on her at the same time. As Gavin sucked her clit and Liam plunged his tongue into her pussy over and over, she struggled not to come. Not so soon. She wanted this to last.
Gavin started doing something with his tongue, a squiggly sort of move that shivered all over her clit while he continued to suck. She couldn't hold on. She couldn't even think.
Her body exploded again, hands tightening on her mates' heads, thighs tensing around their cheeks as she shuddered uncontrollably. Gavin and Liam continued to lick and suck her until her body collapsed, limp.
Two heads popped up between her legs, gazing at her.
"I want us all three to be joined," Gavin said. "How do you feel about anal sex?"
Before she could say anything, Liam said, "I'm interested."
"I was thinking I'd be the one to take her from behind," Gavin said.
"That's not what I
meant. I meant—you could take me from behind," Liam said.
Well, that was a switch. She hadn't been sure what her answer would be, but if Liam wanted to…as long as Gavin agreed, that worked for her.
Gavin and Liam gazed at each other. "What would that be like?" Gavin said.
"Can't be that much different from anal sex with her, can it?"
"You're probably tighter," Gavin said.
"Not likely," she said. "We're both virgins. I mean, that way."
Liam chuckled. "So, not much different."
"You okay with that, Gavin?" Bridget said. "Because I'm not sure I'm ready for it, so if Liam wants to, I say we do that."
Gavin shrugged. "All right. If that's what you both want."
Liam cupped Gavin's cheek. "I want you to want it too."
Gavin kissed his palm. "I do. I'm just…I've never done this before, either. With a man, I mean."
"It'll be fine. Promise." Liam kissed him. Then Liam crawled over Bridget and got into position above her, his legs bent and a little wide, his cock poised at her pussy. "Ready, honey?"
"Of course." She grinned.
Liam slid into her like he was coming home. She had a feeling this was how it would be for the rest of their lives, never feeling as at home as they did when they were joined together as one.
Gavin got off the bed and rummaged in his suitcase before coming back again. "Lube," he said.
Bridget couldn't see what Gavin was doing; she could only see the look on Liam's face. He looked ecstatic. Not like excited or joyful, but ecstatic like he was in ecstasy, some sort of otherworldly trance-like state.
"How's it feel?" Gavin said.
Liam rested his face against her throat and groaned.
"He looks like he's enjoying it," Bridget said.
Liam groaned again.
Gavin continued working Liam while Liam's groaning and breathing both increased. Finally, Gavin said, "I think we're ready. Tell me if it hurts too much."
***
The Alpha's Secret, An MMF Erotic Romance (The Stonewall Pack Alpha Series) Page 7
