by Ruby Shae
Ava reread the ad three more times, and then just stared at the words on the page for several minutes. When she got up to get a second cup of coffee, she took the ad with her so the newspaper didn’t disappear while her back was turned.
The words had touched her in a way none of the other ads had, and she desperately wanted to meet the man who had penned the short note. What did he look like? Why did he place the ad? Was he a creepy psycho?
A million questions filled her mind, but the last one lingered. She couldn’t meet a stranger in Bear Canyon or anywhere else. If she came up missing, no one would know, or even care, to look for her. The last thought jolted her back to reality and she folded up the newspaper and shoved it into her bag. As much as the letter writer sounded like her perfect match, she couldn’t reach out to him.
She forced him out of her mind, finished her coffee and drove home. She’d taken the long way to another coffee shop several miles from the central hub of the city, and as she drove back home, she realized she was sick of playing it safe.
In the past six months, the ad had been the only thing to make her feel alive. Yes, it was risky to answer an ad and meet with a stranger, but it was also risky to cross the street, drive a car, or go ice-fishing. She was tired of living a half-life. She gunned the engine, sped home and opened her laptop.
After taking nearly an hour to compose a simple four sentence response, she hit send and waited for his reply. Luckily, she didn’t have to wait long. He replied back within thirty minutes, and they exchanged a few simple emails that included their first names and a brief description of what they each should look for.
His name was Thorn, and he was tall with broad shoulders, black hair and green eyes.
His description sounded too good to be true, and combined with the words in his ad, she wondered how the seemingly perfect, eligible man was still single. Her worries tried to resurface, but she tapped them down.
She would find out the truth tomorrow at their lunch date in Bear Canyon.
He’d offered to meet in the city, but if she were going to honestly consider moving to Bear Canyon, she might as well see the town. He didn’t seem to mind her change of plans, and they were now meeting at an Italian restaurant on the main strip.
Ava looked in the mirror and her hands started shaking.
What the hell did I just do?
The reality of the huge step she’d just taken started to sink in, and she forced herself to breathe in and out.
If he’s wrong, I leave. If he’s right, I stay.
She repeated the words over and over until the mantra marched through her head effortlessly. The steady reminder made it easier to calm her fears. If he didn’t see past her fat, freckles and wild hair, then he wasn’t the man for her.
It was that simple.
***
Hawk Thorn sat in front of his laptop and reread the typed words on the screen. Ava, the woman they’d agreed to meet today, hadn’t been their only response, but she’d been the only one he and Gavin had both agreed on.
Her simple words touched him in a way he hadn’t expected, and he wondered if they were putting too much stock into a simple note. Could Ava really be the woman they needed? Would she accept both of them, or run screaming as Gavin had suggested earlier?
He shuddered and logged off.
The odds of meeting their mate on the first try were pretty slim, but he wanted her to be the one. Like his brother, he was tired of searching and ready to settle down and start a family. They both had spent most of their lives studying, training and planning for the future, and now they had a large home and a thriving practice. They’d built a strong reputation in both their residential and professional communities and they were ready for the next step.
They needed a mate.
Cubs would come if they were meant to be, but a mate would complete them in ways that couldn’t be explained with words.
He hoped Ava was the one.
“You were reading her reply again, weren’t you?” Gavin asked.
He looked up to see his brother standing in his doorway with a towel wrapped around his waist. The man was notorious for getting ready at the last minute.
“Of course, I was,” he answered truthfully. “How many times have you reread it?”
“Oh, about a hundred,” Gavin said, laughing, “but you’re more practical than I am. I thought we weren’t supposed to get our hopes up too high?”
“Shut up,” Hawk replied. “Are you going to be ready to leave on time?”
“We have twenty minutes,” Gavin said sarcastically, “I’m sure I can handle it.”
“Right,” Hawk said, deadpan, shooing him away with his hand. “Hurry up. I don’t want to be late.”
Gavin laughed and continued down the hallway toward his room. Hawk heard the click of his brother’s door close, and he looked around the room that doubled as his office. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be sleeping in it too much longer.
When they’d first moved to Bear Canyon, they’d not only contracted Mallory Building, Inc. to build their medical office, but also their home. For their house, they’d purchased a large piece of land near the back of the canyon wall and gave the men a detailed description of their needs.
The master bedroom was double the size of most modern rooms, with three built in closets, and a master bathroom with three vanities. Three smaller rooms also occupied the upstairs, along with a guest bath, and the first floor had a kitchen, a family room, two more bedrooms and another full bath.
They had a lot of space, probably more than they needed, but they’d wanted to be prepared for anything. He and Gavin had decided not to use the master bedroom until they had a mate to share it with, so for now they each occupied one of the smaller rooms. He kept a tiny office in his sleeping space, while Gavin used one of the rooms downstairs for his office. When they found their mate, all three of them would occupy the largest bedroom, and if she wanted him to move his office downstairs, he would.
Twenty-five minutes later, they both walked into the Italian restaurant and surveyed the area. He remembered Ava’s description of herself and looked for a thirty-year-old, curvy redhead with freckles.
A blue eyed, curvy ginger goddess stared at them from the center of the room, and his brother’s abrupt intake of air told him he’d spotted her too. Hawk glanced around the room, making sure they hadn’t made a mistake, but he already knew the answer. When he looked back, the beauty had lowered her head and focused on her menu again. A strand of hair bounced into her eyes, and she carefully tucked the errant lock behind her ear. Her curly hair rested just past her shoulders, and he couldn’t wait to gather all of the wild red strands in his hand and wrap them around his fist.
His dick hardened as he thought about how the silky strands would feel between his fingers, or sliding over his body, and he silently swore. Since when did his cock harden at the sight of a beautiful woman? He wasn’t a teenage boy, he was a full grown man, and his bear took that opportunity to growl in agreement. They both wanted the woman.
Gavin glanced over at him and he realized his brother was also fighting for control. The woman had affected his twin the same way, and there was no doubt she was their mate.
Now they had to convince her of the fact.
She glanced at the door again, as if attempting to see through them, and then looked back at the menu. One of her fingers lazily wrapped around one of her large curls, but then she seemed to notice the nervous habit and placed her hands in her lap. She took a drink of her soda and fidgeted in her chair. He knew they were staring, and in an attempt to seem normal, he took a deep breath and thought about the ugly black toenail he’d seen on a patient at work the day before.
Gavin seemed to follow his lead, and seconds later, he spoke.
“Tell me you feel it, too,” Gavin whispered.
“She’s the one,” he confirmed.
“Okay,” Gavin said around another deep breath, “let’s do this.”
***
Gavin hurried toward the woman’s table and Hawk followed a step behind. They stopped about two feet away from her and spoke before she acknowledged their presence.
“Ava?” he asked.
She looked up from her menu and he willed his cock to behave. He’d noticed her beauty from the door, but up close she was stunning. The freckles over her nose and cheeks did something to him a freckle never had before, and her deep blue eyes were mesmerizing. In that moment, he knew she owned him. She had the power to fill his world with happiness, or destroy it completely. The realization surprised him, but he wasn’t afraid.
“Yes?” Her voice cracked on the word, and she eyed them warily.
“I’m Gavin, and this is my brother Hawk. We’re Thorn… We wrote the ad you replied to.”
She looked back and forth between them and frowned.
“You’re Thorn?” she asked, closing her menu. “Both of you?”
Hawk took the lead and sat down across from her. Gavin followed.
“Yes, our last name is Thorn,” Hawk explained. “I know this might be strange, especially for a full human, but it’s fairly common for identical twin shifters to share a mate. We work together, live together and we’re closer than most siblings. It makes sense that the same woman would satisfy us both.”
“Do you…satisfy each other?” she asked, her brow furrowed.
“No, we don’t,” Hawk said a little too honestly.
Shit! Time for some damage control.
“We get asked that question a lot,” Gavin laughed.
He relaxed a bit when one side of her mouth perked up, but she still wasn’t convinced.
“Think of us as two halves of a perfect whole,” Gavin continued. “Together, we possess all of the qualities listed in our ad, but you get two men loving you instead of one.”
Fuck!
He’d fucked up. The minute the words left his mouth, he’d known he’d blown it by the look on her face. Apparently, their mate wasn’t the kind to swoon over the thought of having sex with two men.
“Let me get this straight,” she said, glaring back and forth between the two of them. “You, the two of you, pretended to be one man and placed an ad for a curvy plus-sized human to share? Is this some kind of joke? Do you prey on the insecurities of curvy women for a good time? Do you think we are all so desperate for sex that we’ll do anything to get it? Even if it means being used by two arrogant playboys who fill our heads with empty promises? I thought you were sincere. I trusted you. I know that was stupid on my part, but I did. Unfortunately, I don’t play games with untrustworthy men who have too much time on their hands.”
She stood up so fast her chair scuffed the floor, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.
“Do not contact me again.”
She whispered the angry words and hurried out of the building.
He and Hawk stared straight ahead and didn’t turn back to watch her leave. He didn’t understand how her angry insults could hurt, especially since she didn’t know them, but his heart ached as if it had been betrayed. Inside, his bear whimpered and growled for release. Her reaction left him dumbfounded and he found it difficult to breathe.
The owner of the restaurant carefully approached their table.
“Doctors Thorns…sirs…is everything okay? Can I get you anything?”
“Everything is fine,” Hawk forced out. “Two bottled waters please, and the check.”
“There’s no check, sir,” the owner replied. “It’s on the house. I’ll be right back.”
“Did that seriously just happen?” Gavin asked.
“I think so,” Hawk answered.
“What the fucking hell? What went wrong?” he asked just above a whisper.
“How the fuck should I know?” Hawk replied, looking around the room. “I feel like we’re on one of those hidden camera TV shows.”
“At least that would make some sort of sense.”
He instinctually looked around, too. Everyone had gone back to their meals the moment Ava ran out the door, and he appreciated the semi-privacy the others had granted them.
The owner returned quickly with their waters and they both drank in silence.
“Well, on the plus side—” Hawk smiled.
“There’s a plus side?” Gavin interrupted, deadpan. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am serious,” his brother said laughing. “At least she didn’t run away screaming.”
“Oh lord,” he shook his head, standing. “There’s a reason you’re not the funny one. Let’s go home.”
Five minutes later, they both stood on their patio and shifted into their bear forms. They raced through the canyon until the sun set and their stomachs growled in protest from skipping lunch.
Chapter Three
Ava pushed through the restaurant door and ran out onto the sidewalk. The sunlight, combined with the water in her eyes, made everything blurry and sparkly. She could barely see, let alone make it back to her hotel.
How could she have been so stupid? In an effort to really give Thorn a chance, she’d booked a five-star hotel and had planned a week-long mini vacation. The commute back to her apartment in the city was a manageable thirty minutes, but she’d wanted to get away and explore Bear Canyon. Luckily, she hadn’t shared her plans with him—them—so they had no way to find her.
Men and bears on the street moved out of her way as she hurried past them, unfazed by the animals. She glanced over her shoulder every few seconds to find the men hadn’t followed her, and for some reason the realization hurt more than it should have.
The hotel was still three or four blocks away, but she could no longer contain the tears. Water streamed down her face uncontrollably, and when she saw a friendly woman looking at her through the window of a nearly empty hair salon, she figured it might be a safe-haven.
She entered the building and walked straight into the friendly woman’s arms.
“Are you injured or hurt? Is someone bothering you? Do you need me to call the police?” the woman asked.
Her cheeks heated and she pulled out of the hug, taking a step back from the woman. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had hugged her and a new wave of tears threatened to fall. She was so tired of being alone.
“I’m sorry,” she said, wiping her eyes. “I’m…fine. Just a little shaken. I don’t need the police.”
Another stylist shoved a box of tissues into her hand, and she pulled a couple free and used them to dab her wet eyes and dry her cheeks.
“How about a trim then?” the woman asked. “Come on. Sit down and catch your breath. If you feel like talking, I’m a great listener.”
She dutifully followed the woman to her chair.
“I’m Bree,” the woman said as she wrapped a protective cape around her neck. “Welcome to Bear Canyon. Are you moving here, or just visiting?”
“Just visiting,” she said. “I was supposed to meet a man for lunch…a blind date.”
“Oh, he didn’t show?” Bree frowned.
“No, he did, but…,” she glanced around the room and noticed the other stylist had disappeared into the back and left them alone.
“But…you didn’t like him?” Bree prodded.
The woman worked with her curls effortlessly, proving her skill without saying a word. The stylists she’d visited before had all complained about her unruly hair, and often times refused to talk to her.
Bree was friendly, beautiful and curvy with chestnut colored hair, and light brown eyes. As she moved around the chair, Ava noticed the distinct round baby bump she’d missed when she’d first walked in. A wave of sadness swept over her, but she pushed it away. She’d have a family one day, but today wasn’t her day.
“There were two of them,” Ava said carefully.
“Two dates?” Bree asked.
“Yes. No. I mean two men. Twins,” Ava explained. “They deceived me into thinking they were one man ready to settle down, but that wasn’t the case. I just feel so stupid for t
hinking I could find someone through an ad.”
“I met my husband through an ad,” Bree said, “and so did one of my close friends. I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you, but it can definitely happen.”
“Oh, wow, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”
God, I am such an idiot.
“How could you?” Bree laughed. “Don’t worry about it. There are a few sets of twins in town, but I only know the Thorns. Too bad they weren’t your dates. Apparently, sharing a mate between identical twin shifters is completely normal. Can you imagine? Two men completely devoted to you? It’s not for everyone, but the woman who lands those two will be one lucky girl. Personally, I can’t tell the Thorns apart, but they’re both nice, honest, professional men, and very patient doctors. Especially to a new mom. I ask a lot of questions.”
Bree giggled, but stopped when their eyes met in the mirror.
“It was them, wasn’t it?”
“Yes,” said Ava. “I thought…I thought they were just looking for a good time.”
“Did you feel something for them? Something you’ve never felt for any other man? Like some kind of pull, or desperate need to touch them? Something, you know…unexplainable?”
She had felt something, and truthfully it had scared her half to death.
She’d never been one to excessively drool over a hot man, but one look at the two sexy strangers near the door had changed all that. They were gorgeous, and even though they’d matched the description she had of her date, she didn’t believe they were there to see her. They were identical in height and stature with broad shoulders just like they’d described, and she doubted there was an ounce of fat on their perfect muscular forms. Their black hair was short in the back, but longer on top, giving them a dangerous edge.
When they’d approached her table, their dark green eyes held her captive, and her pussy wept, soaking her panties. Even though she’d been insulted by their perceived betrayal, she’d still wanted to know what it felt like to be touched by both of them at the same time.
