by Tara Rose
They could have shifted and arrived in less time, but since so many from their village were attending, they’d all decided to make it a weekend event. That meant carrying luggage with them, so they drove. They’d have to walk from the Belle Meade Hotel where they were staying, as the Ruiz village was in the hills above the town and there were no roads leading up there, but Micah didn’t mind. The day was cold and there was snow on the ground, but they all were used to that and it wouldn’t slow their progress.
What it would do was divert attention from them, as most of the humans in the hotel would be boarding the shuttle buses for the ski slopes east of town, not wandering around the unmarked trails to the northwest. It was the perfect cover. They’d been lucky enough to book enough rooms at the hotel only because a large party cancelled at the last minute due to family illness. The Belle Meade Hotel did most of their business during the ski season and was usually booked well in advance from mid-October through April each year.
“Too bad we can’t sneak in some skiing while we’re there,” said Micah, with another glance at Valerie. She was the seriously the only woman he’d ever met who reduced him to a shy, bumbling mess of an alpha jaguar. He’d tried for three months to figure out why.
Sure, she was pretty, but so were lots of women. And most jaguar females had Valerie’s emerald eyes and blonde hair. She wore it long and loose, like most of them did as well, and her high cheekbones were also nothing unusual. But the idea of teaching this virgin about sex and BDSM play made his dick rock hard, and her breathy voice conjured up images of steamy, naked bodies writhing in passion.
Her eyes lit up like someone had flipped a switch. “Have you been skiing? What’s it like?”
Micah wished he could adjust his cock right now. It was pressed into his jeans at a very uncomfortable angle, but then again he should be used to that by now. Whenever Valerie was within five hundred yards of him he became aroused. Not that other women had never made him feel the same way, of course. But Valerie possessed a vulnerability that made him ache to hold her, protect her, and claim her as his own.
She’d been of age since a few days after her arrival in their village three months ago, and for most of those three months he and Stephen had been trying, with agonizingly slow progress, to bring her out of her shell. Each time she came over to their house, thanks in part to his mother arranging reasons why she needed Valerie’s help with something, he and Stephen would talk to her. He’d found out that she loved to read about Native American symbols and culture, and how it related to the shape-shifting world. And, once she found out he was interested in the same things, her eyes had lit up and she began asking dozen of questions that he couldn’t even answer.
He’d ended up giving her several of his books to read, which she’d devoured the first week she was in their village. Then he’d showed her how to look up the same information online, and invited her over to the house to use his and Stephen’s computer anytime she wanted to. He and Stephen had caught her looking up BDSM terms one day, and although she’d blushed furiously when they’d walked into the room, that had opened up the dialogue between them about their lifestyle.
She knew more than Micah had imagined and asked questions which were respectful and yet showed her innocence. It was an intoxicating combination, and Micah wanted to get to know her better. Much better.
Maybe this was what they needed? An entire weekend away from the village, and away from the watchful, protective eyes of Abby Waterford? “Yes, we’ve both been skiing. It’s exhilarating. Maybe Abby will let us take you this winter?”
He glanced over her head toward Stephen, who shook his head and rolled his eyes. Stephen was right. Abby would never let her go, unless she came as well, and then she’d insist on going down the slopes with Valerie every time.
Valerie glanced toward the front of the SUV, where the others were still talking and not paying any attention to them. “I doubt it,” she said quietly. “But thank you for the offer.”
The woman had taken Valerie in and given her a home, but she was also fiercely protective of Valerie’s honor, and made her disapproval of the BDSM lifestyle that he and Stephen lived quite well known. Valerie had confided to Micah and his brother more than once that while she was grateful to Abby, she felt smothered by her, and frustrated that she wouldn’t let her find her own level.
Valerie had been to the dungeon in the basement of the Jargonian home more than once now, but Micah and Stephen had been unable to persuade her to do more than walk around the room, touching equipment. She’d watched a few scenes on nights when Micah and Stephen had acted as Dungeon Monitors, but as she’d later confessed to them, that was the extent of her experience with play.
Once, they’d gotten as far as brushing the falls of a deerskin flogger over her bare arm, and it had been obvious she’d wanted more, but then Micah had watched the now-familiar veil descend over her face and she’d closed down. His damn dick had been so hard that night that it had actually been painful, and later, after their guests had left and he and Stephen were discussing Valerie, Micah had confessed to his brother that he’d nearly come in his pants during their brief encounter with her and the flogger.
When Valerie turned those emerald eyes on him, it was all he could do not to pull her into his arms and kiss her until neither of them could breathe. Stephen would do the same thing. He was sure of it. They’d talked about sharing her—both in and out of bed—since the first time they’d met her. Of course, their father had also taken them aside and threatened to cut off their balls if they didn’t proceed slowly with her. No one knew what had actually happened to her back home, and he didn’t want his sons adding to any trauma Valerie might have recently suffered.
But she was a grown woman now, and she should be allowed to have some fun. In three months no one had bothered to check out her story. If she’d lied about her life being in danger back in her own village, or if someone was looking for her, surely their father would have heard about it by now. Wasn’t it about time she joined in with activities she clearly had an interest in, other than looking up legends and BDSM information online?
“So, what will this be like?” she asked, turning her attention toward Stephen. “You both have been to them before. Tell me about the ceremony.”
There had been plenty of them at home, but not since Valerie had arrived in their village. The only reason Micah’s parents had been able to persuade Abby to bring Valerie along to this one was because Saffron, Landon, and Nevada had been living in the village for over a month. The Ruiz family, even though they were cougar shifters, had been friends with the people of their village for generations, and to not attend this particular ceremony would have been an insult to them. Abby had a strong sense of duty, even if she was overprotective.
“It’s very informal, despite its importance,” said Stephen, his gaze traveling her over tight jeans and russet sweater. The color suited her, and Micah could hardly blame his brother for the look of lust in his eyes right now. He was certain his held the same emotion. “You look perfect for it, Valerie. I like the earrings, too.”
Even though her head was turned away from him, Micah knew she’d just smiled. He felt her aura shift slightly, and he caught the quick dip of her head. “Thank you. Do you think the earrings are too much, though?”
Stephen moved her hair aside on his side at the same time Micah performed the identical gesture on his, and all three laughed. His father glanced in the rearview mirror, but no one else seemed to notice. His father’s expression didn’t convey displeasure, however. He and their mother had told both brothers recently that had it been up to them, Valerie would be their mate by now. But it wasn’t up to them, and if Abby had her way, it wouldn’t be up to Valerie, either.
“They’re perfect,” said Stephen, brushing a finger lightly over the feathers that hung from each earlobe. They were the same color as her sweater, and decorated with tiny beads. She’d most likely bought them from Shelli Branson in the village square, who
made and sold Native American-themed jewelry. Shelli was a half-shifter, half-human with Apache ancestry, and she’d chosen to live in their village with her shifter mother when she was a teen after her human father wanted nothing more to do with her mother and her shape-shifting family.
Micah fingered the delicate earrings as well, but his mind was on the skin just under Valerie’s earlobe, and how much he longed to taste it. Would she shiver if he kissed her there? Would he be able to feel her tremble, or was the desire he saw her in eyes and sensed in her aura merely the work of his fevered imagination? They couldn’t both be wrong about her. She wanted them as much as they wanted her. But would it ever happen?
Valerie gazed up at him from underneath her long lashes, and Micah had to swallow hard. Raw lust poured from her, as strong as any he’d ever seen. She knew nothing at all of sex. She was acting on pure instinct, and it took every ounce of willpower he had at that moment not to lean in and kiss her. This girl would be his and Stephen’s. She was fated to be theirs. He had to find a way to make it happen, and this trip to Colorado held the key to that. Micah knew that as surely as he knew his own name.
Chapter Two
Stephen had always deferred to his older brothers, and because he had four of them, that meant he’d taken a back seat to them his entire life. When Valerie had come to live with Abby three months ago, only two streets over, it was the first time that Micah had begun to treat him as an equal rather than a younger brother. They now had a common purpose in pursuing Valerie. He and Micah had both been attracted to her from the start, and had never talked of anything other than sharing her since they’d first voiced it out loud to each other.
But they’d made little progress toward that goal, and there were days when Stephen questioned whether it would ever happen at all. They were past the age at which most of their contemporaries had chosen mates. Almost all their friends had cubs by now. A few people in the village had even suggested that their parents really ought to push them to seek mates, but of course their parents ignored such talk.
They’d never believed in forcing preconceived notions of what one ought to do on any of their sons, and for that both Stephen and Micah were grateful. Just because their older brothers, Nicholas, Emmett, and Leonard were mated, didn’t mean their parents thought that Micah and Stephen should be as well. They had always encouraged each of their sons to seek their own paths in life.
But from day one, Valerie exerted a pull on both of them that neither man understood, but had often questioned. They were in the square the day the jaguar troops brought her back. She looked like the very demons of hell were chasing her, and later when he and Micah had discussed it, they found out that both of them had felt like someone punched them in the gut when Valerie turned her gaze toward them. Their father had once described something he’d called the thunderbolt. He’d experienced it the first time he’d looked at their mother, and he’d known right then and there that Emme was his mate. The old ones called it “imprinting.”
Neither Stephen nor Micah had ever felt it before, and they had often wondered whether their father had exaggerated his feelings upon first meeting their mother. But now they both knew he hadn’t. Seeing Valerie for the first time had struck them both with what could only be called a thunderbolt. It was loud, it shook them to their very core, and it still echoed off in the distance.
They finally had a chance to speak with her the next morning, and while she’d been shy, within a few minutes she’d opened up to them about her interest in Native American legends and culture, and her love of puzzles and similar games.
Stephen had taken her upstairs to Emmett’s old room and shown her the five-thousand-piece puzzle of Delicate Arch, and he thought she was going to drool as she lightly brushed a finger over the part he had finished. When she’d asked if she could work on it some time, he’d told her she could come over anytime she wanted to work on it. The smile she’d given him had melted his heart, right then and there.
Their parents knew how they both felt about Valerie, and the only advice their father had ever offered was to let the decision be hers to make. Their mother went out of her way to play matchmaker, but they knew she meant well, and they often pretended not to notice her obvious attempts to push Valerie together with both of them. If Valerie noticed, she didn’t say anything, but Stephen wasn’t sure she would, regardless.
She was painfully shy and naïve, but there was fire in those green eyes. He was certain of it. He firmly believed that if he and Micah could get her alone long enough, under the right circumstances, they’d be able to find out how serious she was or wasn’t about pursuing a relationship with them that went beyond being neighbors and family friends. If they could get her away from Abby’s ever-watchful eye, that is. Stephen understood she was merely being protective, but Valerie was a grown woman now. She had a right to make her own decisions.
When they arrived at the hotel, Stephen got a kick out of how Valerie stood in the parking lot and gawked at it. He’d been there before, but this was her first time. “It’s like a palace.”
“Wait until you see the inside.” He had to agree with her that it did look like a palace from the outside, with its pale-pink stucco façade and tall, arched windows edged in copper. The striped awnings and wrought iron gave it an air of something you might expect to find in a warmer climate, and their father had once told them that Rick Gunther, the manager, said their corporate office didn’t care if they had to replace the awnings every year, as long as they looked perfect at the start of each season.
“I can’t believe we’ll be here all weekend. Why didn’t Saffron, Landon, and Nevada have the ceremony here?”
“Because it’s too pretentious.” Abby sidled up between Stephen and Valerie, placing a hand on her shoulder in a gesture that conveyed both protectiveness and possession. “The Ruiz family only comes into town to sell their Legend of Sleepy Cat Peak merchandise in a tent they set up on Juniper Street, downtown. They would never come to a place like this.”
“Oh, I think they would,” said their father, “but they decided to have the ceremony in their village instead so as not to draw attention to our kind.”
Stephen caught the look that passed between his parents, and he had to stifle a laugh. It wasn’t that they didn’t care for Abby, but Stephen knew they thought of her as far too rigid and stuffy. Everything in her modest home was understated and plain, and while that was fine that she chose to live that way, it was when she projected her dislike of anything ostentatious or adventurous on others that Stephen’s father usually spoke up.
“We all could have stayed in the Ruiz village, then,” she said.
Their father chuckled. “I don’t think so. There are nearly thirty of us. Where would the Ruiz family have put that many for an entire weekend?” He steered Abby away from Stephen, Micah, and Valerie. “Come on, Abby. When I called, I asked for one of the largest suites so that you and Valerie could stay in the same one with us. Let’s go and see if they got it right.”
“We’re staying in the same suite as you?” asked Valerie, glancing up at Stephen from under her lashes. He hoped no one was currently paying attention to the front of his jeans. His damn dick sprung to attention at the look on her face. It was a combination of lust and hopefulness, and his heart gave a strange lurch as he met her gaze.
“It sure sounds that way.”
She bit her bottom lip and Stephen suppressed a groan. He exchanged a glance over her head with Micah, who was thinking the exact same thing he was. Stephen could see it in his eyes. They’d be staying that close to Valerie all weekend, but how were they going to get her away from Abby long enough to do anything about it?
* * * *
Valerie wasn’t sure which made her more excited. The stunning décor of the hotel, or the realization that she’d be sleeping no more than a room or two away Stephen and Micah. If only Abby had decided not to come along, but that would have meant she’d be back in their home, miserable all weekend that she w
as missing the fun. Abby never would have let her travel to Colorado with the Jargonians. She barely let her go over to their house.
Sitting between both brothers for two hours had made her pussy so wet that she was glad she’d worn jeans, or someone might have noticed. Her skin felt alive, as if it had a will separate from the rest of her body. When they’d touched her earrings, one on each side, it had been all she could do not to kiss their hands.
Abby, Drake, and Emme were at the front of the line now, checking them in, so she hung back with Stephen and Micah. Conversation was difficult because the other residents of the village who had also made the trip were standing around talking, waiting their turn with a desk clerk. It was loud and crowded, so Valerie contented herself with glancing around the lobby.
Exposed wooden beams and stone were the hallmarks in this enormous room. There were two fireplaces, one at each end, and the smaller one boasted not only a gorgeous stone and brick mantel, but a mural featuring a mountain, covered by wildflowers of every imaginable color. “Oh…”
“Isn’t that gorgeous?”
“Is that one of the peaks you can see from the town?”
“I believe it’s Passion Peak, Sleepy Cat Peak’s twin.”
“It’s stunning. We have to come back here in the summer and see the flowers in full bloom like that.”
Stephen smiled. “We will then.”
Valerie finally had to tear her gaze away, because she was ready to kiss him, and to hell with whoever was watching. Summer was six months away. Did they really want to make plans that far in advance with her? Stephen looked like he’d meant it when he’d said it. It hadn’t been one of those things that people merely said, just to sound polite.
