Bethany [Eminence Shifters 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Ashley Malkin

  The air around her filled with the sounds of growling. The vibrations made her already-hard nipples burn as they rubbed against her bra.

  Her eyes flew to Jason and saw that his eyes were a glowing amber. She was sure that he’d growled as loudly as Samson and Michael.

  Looking at Samson, she saw his eyes were similarly bright with amber fire. She cupped his face in her palms. “Are you all angry at me? Have I done something wrong?”

  Michael pulled her even tighter against him, his cock pulsing under her buttocks. “No, darlin’.” His breath was gusting into her hair in small gasps. “The smell of your arousal is driving us wild. You smell so damn good.”

  “Our eyes glow with all heightened emotions,” Samson said. “Lust for our mate is what’s heightening them at this minute, kitten. All your mates want to fuck you very badly right now.”

  Her eyes flew to Jason. His eyes were no longer shining. His face rigid with his anger, his teeth clenched.

  “She is not my mate,” he said. He turned abruptly and strode back into the house.

  The door slamming behind him seemed appropriate to Bethany. It slammed shut her hope that he was her mate. Apparently I’m a broken shifter, and a tramp.

  She had gone from having no sexual desire to desiring three men. Only two of which, it seemed, were appropriate for her to desire.

  Her initial impression of Jason had been right. He hated her. Who could blame him? She was a mate to his brothers. He should be appalled that she was lusting after him as well. She was cheating on them already. Plus, it appeared as though she repulsed him. He must be glad she was not his mate.

  * * * *

  Jason felt as though he was going to lose control of his cat. It wanted to go to its mate. To touch her, lick her, mark her. But Jason was a man. He’d always sublimated his cat and maintained control.

  That was before he’d encountered his true mate. Even the man wanted Bethany. He could no longer deny his desire for her. The smell of her arousal had him wanting her badly.

  He walked to the back door before stripping and giving in to the shift. He had to work off his arousal with a run before that woman eroded all his resolve. He needed to control himself and remember his vow.

  Judith had been a good woman. She was deserving of a mate’s rights even if she hadn’t been the mate that nature had chosen for him. She deserved him to remain celibate until his death. If she’d been his mate, his death would have followed hers swiftly, as mates cannot survive without each other. He would’ve managed his remaining two hundred years alone easily, if Samson hadn’t brought that implement of torture to their home.

  So he would run all night, again, in an attempt to subdue the cat, and exhaust the man.

  Chapter 11

  Samson excused himself and left Michael to bring Bethany back into the house and make her comfortable for the night. He went in search of his brainless and soon-to-be-broken brother.

  The hurt and shame had been clear on Bethany’s face, even though she’d attempted to hide it. He was not going to let this continue. Jason was going to have to get the fuck over whatever had happened in Afghanistan and accept that Bethany was his mate.

  As a latent shifter, she may not have been sensitive enough to have scented Jason’s need for his mate, but Samson had. He was as desperate to be with her as both Samson and Michael were. His constant denial was fooling no one, and hurting them all, most of all Bethany, the person he should be moving mountains to protect.

  He followed Jason’s scent through the house to the back porch, only to see him disappear into the trees at the edge of the yard. You can run, brother, but you won’t be able to hide from this.

  Bethany was not going anywhere. Samson loved her already. Mating bond aside, he’d already fallen for the sweet woman that she was. He’d never expected that, even having seen it happen to his pride mates so recently. He’d assumed attraction would be there, but the depth of his feelings for her was a surprise. Not an unwelcome one, either. He was happily in love with his beautiful mate.

  He would call his colonel tomorrow and resign his commission. The thought of being away from Bethany for weeks at a time was impossible to bear. She needed him, and as her mate, it was going to be his honor and his pleasure to always be there for her.

  He found Michael sitting on his bed. The shower in the adjoining bathroom was running.

  “She’s showering,” Michael said. “She was very hurt by Jason. Did you talk to him?”

  “He’d already gone and I’m not leaving Bethany to go chase his furry ass all over the mountain.”

  “He’ll be back,” Michael said. “He won’t be able to stay away from her.”

  “I don’t know if I want him here. He’s hurting her.”

  “We can’t mate her without him,” Michael said. His gaze lingered on the bathroom door.

  Samson felt it, too. The pull to be with her was strong. “Doesn’t he realize that he’s fucking this up for all of us?” Samson said. He sat next to Michael and put his head in his hands. He had never thought his brother capable of such cruelty.

  “I don’t know what the hell he’s thinking anymore. He’s not the man I thought he was,” Michael said. “I’m going to check if I have any further news on the threat to our Bethany.”

  Samson waited as the shower turned off and Bethany busied herself in the bathroom.

  He tapped lightly on the closed door. “Do you have something to wear for the night?”

  “Michael gave me something.”

  He gasped as the door swung open and her rich, warm scent wafted out with the steam from her shower. Her eyes were huge, deep lavender orbs in her pale, elfin face. She was so beautiful. She was also upset, her eye color betraying her emotions clearly.

  “You are so gorgeous you take my breath away, mate,” he said.

  Her cheeks colored rapidly to a deep rose-red. Her eyes faded to a pale blue.

  “No one has ever said that to me.”

  She lowered her gaze and stepped around him. She was swamped by the plain black T-shirt she wore. But she looked as sexy to him as she would have wearing French lace lingerie.

  “You’ve had an eventful day. Are you ready for bed?” He admired the shape of her legs and the sway of her hips as she crossed to the bed.

  “My brain is still buzzing with the implications of all I’ve learned. I’m exhausted, but I don’t know if I’m going to be able to sleep.”

  “Why don’t we lie down and see if you can drift off?”

  Her eyes flew to him, her face flushing a brighter pink.

  “You’re safe with me, Bethany. I only want to hold you in my arms.”

  “Is it wrong that I’d like that, too?” She didn’t lower her gaze/ and he loved the spark of desire he saw in her eyes. What he didn’t like was the sadness.

  “Nothing you feel is wrong, Bethany. I’m your mate. Everything we feel for each other will only ever be right.”

  He pulled down the covers and lay in the center of the bed, opening his arms to her. She climbed into the oversized bed and lay next to him, her head pillowed on his shoulder. It reminded him of how he’d positioned her when she was unconscious. This felt much better.

  “This bed is huge, even for a man your size,” she said, snuggling deeper into his embrace as he wrapped his arms around her.

  “Michael and I always knew we’d share a mate, because we’re twins, so it made sense to have a big bed.”

  “Must have been nice growing up with siblings. The same ones there all the time.” She didn’t sound sad, just a little wistful. He may be fuming mad with Jason right now, but he and his brothers had always been close and he’d loved growing up with them.

  “Maybe you have siblings you don’t know about. Have you ever petitioned to find out about your birth parents?”

  She stiffened a little at his question. “I haven’t been in a position to do that since I became old enough to apply.” She yawned widely and closed her eyes.

  He did
n’t want to upset her further after Jason’s treatment of her, so he let the subject drop for now. He caressed her back through her T-shirt and luxuriated in the feel of her.

  She was so small for a shifter, and too skinny, but her muscles were firm and defined. He listened to her breathing deepen and felt it when she relaxed into sleep. He lay with her until he heard Jason return.

  Slipping out from under the covers, he tucked her in tightly. He was going to have this out with his brother. Personally, he could delay the mating for as long as Bethany needed, but he wouldn’t have Jason hurting her with his continued denial.

  Chapter 12

  Michael heard when Jason returned and listened as he began to rummage around in the kitchen. He’d heard back from some of his contacts in local law enforcement and had information on Bethany that he needed his brothers to hear. He also needed to talk some sense into Jason.

  As he shut down his computer and rose from his chair, he was startled to find Samson standing in the room. He moved so silently that even a shifter never heard him coming. He was lethal.

  “Where’s Bethany?”

  “She’s sleeping. I need to find Jason and discuss his being an asshole,” Samson said. His eyes began to burn with amber. “His denial is just ludicrous.”

  “I know. I can see his cat fighting him. It has more damn sense than him, apparently. This has to be because of the nurse he was seeing.”

  “He would have known she wasn’t his mate.” Samson ran his hands through his hair in frustration again. “We need him to talk to us. If we don’t mate soon, my cock is going to explode.”

  Michael slapped Samson on the back and pushed him into the hallway. “No time like the present.”

  * * * *

  Jason had just finished eating a sandwich when he felt his brothers staring at him. He hadn’t heard either of them approach. He was used to never hearing Samson, but Michael was about as covert as a rampaging bull. His frustration over Bethany was making him sloppy.

  Whilst on his run, he’d come to the conclusion that he had only two choices. Stay until Bethany was safe from the threat in South America and then leave, or leave immediately.

  His cat raked at his insides. Even without the use of its claws, it was a painful sensation. It was not happy. But frankly, neither was he, and he hadn’t been for a long time now.

  “You’re a total asshole, Jason, and you’re hurting Bethany with your bullshit,” Samson said. His eyes were a glowing glare that would signal impending death to most people.

  “Ever the diplomat, Samson,” Michael said. Sitting down at the table opposite him, his look of disappointment was more frightening that Samson’s death stare.

  “You need to tell us why, Jase,” Michael said. “Even if you refuse to let us help, we deserve to know why you’re doing this to us all.”

  He was right. They would all be mated by now if he’d been accepting. He loved his brothers enough to tell them why he wouldn’t take a mate. It would also help them understand his decision to leave.

  “Her name was Judith,” Jason said. He lowered his head and closed his eyes. Telling the whole story, at last, was going to open the old wounds and hurt like hell. “She was a nurse in my unit in Afghanistan. Even though I knew she wasn’t my mate, I grew to love her very much. I asked her to marry me.”

  “What the fuck? You would have watched her grow old and die, Jase,” Michael said. “How would you have explained the fact that you never got any older?”

  “Plus you would never have been able to have children with her. Did you tell her that?” Samson added.

  “I honestly hadn’t thought of those things. It didn’t matter in the end. The day after I proposed, she went to a village in the mountains with a team of doctors and was killed en-route by an IED.”

  “I’m sorry you lost someone you loved, Jase,” Samson said. He looked at him sadly. “I wish you could have told us sooner. We would’ve been there for you.”

  “What were you thinking, Jase?” Michael said. “I don’t understand.”

  “I just knew I loved her. I never held any stock in all that pre-ordained mate bullshit. I wanted a normal human life, so I made one for myself. I refused to be dictated to by a legend.”

  Michael and Samson just stared at him, their expressions stunned.

  “What?” Jason said. “You believed all that superstitious rhetoric we were told as children?” Resting his head in his hands, he sighed.

  “Yes,” they said together.

  “But it makes no sense. It’s just legend and myth. Mates and instant love, it was as whimsical to me as fairies and unicorns.”

  “I’ll admit I was in no hurry to be tied to one woman,” Michael said. “I enjoyed sowing as many wild oats as I could. But I always believed I would find my mate. I could feel it.”

  “Well, I didn’t feel it. I never thought it was even a possibility. I fell in love, and then I lost her. I made a vow on Judith’s grave to remain celibate and true to her. Plus…I never want to feel that kind loss again.”

  “You’re a selfish prick,” Samson said. “You’re denying all of us the mating bond by your actions.”

  “I’ll go away. Then you can mate with Bethany. I’d already decided to, but I wanted to wait until she was safe.”

  “It doesn’t work like that,” Michael said. “Don’t you understand? She needs us all.” He slammed his hand down on the table and rose to start pacing the room.

  Are they telling the truth? Do they need me, too? Shaking his head, he stood and blocked Michael’s path across the kitchen.

  “I’ll say it for the last fucking time. She. Is. Not. My. Goddamn. Mate.”

  “Clear enough, Jason. Thank you.” Bethany turned and walked away.

  Jason’s cat screeched in his mind. The look of pain on Bethany’s face, coupled with the scent of that pain, was almost more than he could bear.

  “You’re a total asshole Jason,” Samson said. The scent of Samson’s fury hung thick in the air as he ran from the room after Bethany.

  Michael glared at him before leaving, his eyes burning with his recrimination of him. They were serious. They really believed he was hurting Bethany.

  Now, he wished he’d paid attention to his parents and Shana, the pride shaman, when they’d talked about mates and mating. It had all seemed so far-fetched to his analytical mind that he’d completely ignored them.

  Chapter 13

  Samson followed the scent of Bethany’s pain back to his bedroom. He found her lying on his bed in a tight ball. She wasn’t crying, but she was rigid with tension.

  Lying down behind her, he wrapped her in his arms. “I’m sorry, kitten, he’s a fool.”

  “No, Samson. Please don’t be angry with him. It’s not his fault if he doesn’t have any feelings for me.”

  Michael lay down on Bethany’s other side. She relaxed a little as he pulled her head onto his chest.

  “We can feel that he wants you, darlin’,” Michael said. He kissed the top of her head and she sighed, relaxing further. “You heard what he said about losing his fiancé?”

  “I heard. I’m sad that he lost someone he loved so much. He’s clearly still in a lot of pain. But if he says he’s not my mate, I must believe him. Especially as he knows more about being a shifter than I do.”

  “He’s being a blind idiot,” Samson said, “It sounds to me as though he knows nothing about being a fucking shifter.” He pulled her tighter against him. She sounded outwardly calm, but he could feel her pain, and sense her cat withdrawing somehow.

  “He has the right to his own feelings. However, I can’t stay here any longer. I feel drawn to him. I’m sorry for what that makes me.”

  “That’s the mating bond,” Michael said. “It’s natural to desire your mates.”

  “But he’s not my mate. So I feel like I’m cheating on you both. I’m so confused.”

  The scent of her pain increased sharply, and it felt like acid on his skin. She started to cry and the tears fl
owed down her pale cheeks. Her sobs were quiet, but they wracked her small body.

  Samson couldn’t take her pain a second longer. He lifted her from Michael’s chest and lay her on the bed. He pressed his lips to hers in a soft kiss.

  Blinking up at him in surprise, she stopped crying. He kissed her again, harder. Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck as he parted her lips with his tongue and thrust it into her warm mouth. He slowly stroked her tongue with his and she moaned into his mouth.

  Releasing her lips reluctantly, he looked into her eyes. They were bright and clear, no tears.

  “You taste so fucking good, kitten. I will never get enough of you.”

  “You taste good, too. Really good,” she said, a blush coloring her cheeks.

  “He only tastes good because you haven’t kissed me yet,” Michael said, his voice more a growl now. He proceeded to kiss Bethany long and hard.

  Samson’s cock was hard and leaking after kissing Bethany. He knew they couldn’t complete the mating, but he wanted to give her pleasure. She needed to know that she belonged with him. He would not have her running from him.

  The sounds of her moans as she enjoyed Michael’s kiss were driving him crazy. He would have to beat some sense into Jason the minute Bethany was asleep.

  “I know you’re confused, but you have to trust us,” Michael said, breaking their kiss. “We can’t make love to you until Jason is ready, no matter how much we want to right now.” His breath came out in gasps. “We want you to feel good. Can we give you pleasure and make you come, darlin’?”

  Samson held his breath as he watched the play of emotions on her face. Her blush deepened and she lowered her arms from his shoulders.

  “I don’t know if I can,” she said softly. “I never have before.”

  “Your lovers have never bothered about your pleasure?” Samson said, his anger making him growl. As horrible as it was to imagine her making love to another man, the thought of her being used was worse.