by Ann Gimpel
The men’s heat closed behind her. They folded her between them, kissing and fondling. Her nether regions ached, but it was a sweet ache, and she couldn’t wait to feel a cock filling her again. Noreen lost track of who was kissing and touching her. Kisses and caresses rained from all sides. She held a cock in both hands, sometimes losing track of which belonged to whom.
Somehow they found themselves back on the bed. Les took up his seated position from the previous night, leaning against the wall. She knew what to do this time and straddled him, feeling her tissues stretch as she sank onto his cock. Karl’s fingers teased her bud of an anus. The same sharp sensations shot through her. It was almost as if the men had read her mind. With a sudden shock, she remembered Alice. If a shifter mate could mind read, surely shifters could as well.
“Yes, sweetling.” Les stopped kissing her long enough to talk. “We’ll always know what you want.”
“Sometimes before you do.” Karl inserted a second finger into her ass. She wriggled against it, knowing she wanted more. The thought of having both cocks inside her was heady.
“Bear with us a minute.” Les was panting. She sensed the men’s arousal. All of them were on the verge of coming. He lifted her off his cock and back a little. Karl’s cock sank deep. He thrust a few times and withdrew. Les settled her back onto his penis and reached for her clit.
This time it wasn’t Karl’s fingers, but the rounded head of his cock that pressed against her anal passage. His member was slick with her vaginal fluids. He slid in an inch or two and stopped. She flexed around him. It was a different sensation than the cock in her pussy, more intense in some ways. She arched her back and pushed against him. He understood and sank farther inside.
Les moved his cock in her pussy; Karl plumbed her from behind. Noreen screamed. She hadn’t believed pleasure this sharp and hot existed in the universe. When Les rubbed her clit, she shot over the edge so far she wondered if she’d ever stop coming. In the midst of her spasms, she felt the men release, first Karl and then Les. The men’s passion was so palpable it rocked her to her core. To be able to give them pleasure as intense as what they gave her moved her to tears.
The men held her between them and murmured endearments in German. Noreen could have stayed that way all day, held between the men who loved her, but she finally suggested that, maybe, they should get dressed.
“Ja, and I must wash.” Karl’s cock slipped from her anus; he got to his feet and headed for the kitchen.
Noreen raised herself off Les’ still-hard cock. “Doesn’t it ever go down?”
“Apparently not when you’re around. Aw, crap!”
“What?” And then she heard it too. The sound of a car that had to mean Jed and Alice would be knocking at the door in moments. Or maybe they wouldn’t bother to knock. The thought galvanized Noreen into a leap from the bed. Semen ran down her legs. She wiped herself clean with a towel she found draped over a chair and loped to the front room to hunt for her discarded clothing.
Chapter 7
She barely had time to slither into her skirt and sweater when footsteps sounded on the porch steps. Someone knocked. Still naked, Karl dried his newly washed cock. Still clutching the dishtowel, he strode toward the door.
“Your clothes,” Noreen squeaked.
“I’ll put them on in a minute. Jed’s our clan leader. It would be worse to keep him waiting than to answer the door this way. Besides,” Karl shot a grin her way, “we’re all naked when we’re wolves. Not much difference, really.”
The front door popped open before Karl got to it. Jed strode in, a broad smile on his face. Alice, Bron, and Terin crowded after him. He sniffed audibly. “Smells like sex in here. Mate bond sex. What have you been up to?”
Noreen felt herself turn bright red. Heat rolled off her in waves, and she spun to face the back of the cabin, uncomfortable with such a blatant discussion.
Alice’s arms closed around her from behind. “Aw, honey. It’s okay.” Lips brushed her cheek. “Welcome to the pack, sister. I’m so glad things worked out.”
Les strode in from the bedroom. From beneath her lowered lids, Alice saw he’d at least put trousers on. “Thanks.” She patted Alice’s hands and tried to get her emotions under some sort of control. The other woman let go, and Noreen half-turned back toward where the men were.
It wasn’t that she was ashamed of what she and her new mates had done. No, it was more she wasn’t used to public discussions about what happened between consenting adults. Cult members had plenty of sex, but they never talked about any of it. There are new rules here. I’m going to have to figure out what they are and get used to them.
Jed covered the distance to Karl. He beckoned to Les and then to her. Confused, Noreen didn’t move. Alice gave her a little push. “Jed just wants to bless your mating. Go on. I know he can be a little overbearing, but he doesn’t mean a thing by it.”
Jed snorted. “Gee, thanks, mated one. You’re supposed to be on my side.”
“Well.” Alice glared at him, but Noreen sensed she wasn’t really angry. “You barreled in here like a damn locomotive and made our very newest pack mate uncomfortable.”
Jed’s blue gaze settled on her. “Did I?”
Noreen squirmed under his stare. “Kind of. Um, it’s really okay. All this will just take a little getting used to.”
“See,” Alice pressed. “She’s trying to cover up, but humans aren’t used to open conversations about sex. It took me a while to get my head around everything after Bron and Terin showed up. When I knew they planned to fuck me, too, I was shocked.”
Jed chuckled. “I remember. You damn near got the both of us killed.”
Alice strode to her mate’s side and brushed her lips over his. “All’s well that ends well. Come on over here, Noreen. He doesn’t bite, I promise.”
She moved between Karl and Les, taking comfort from their solid energy flanking her. Alice retreated to where Bron and Terin stood near the door.
“Blessings on your mate bond.” Jed laid a hand on each of their heads in turn. “May your union be fruitful.” He bent forward and kissed Noreen’s forehead. “Thanks to you, Noreen Galen, for being willing to join your life to ours. You’ve made Les and Karl very happy. I see it in their faces and I read it in their minds.”
“Blessings on your mating as well,” Les said.
“Indeed,” Karl concurred. “It’s a pleasure to meet Alice.”
Bron, Terin, and Alice closed on them, adding their good wishes and accepting their own congratulations on their newly formed mate bond.
“Any possibility of breakfast?” Jed asked at length. “We have things to discuss.”
“Not the least of which is a fire that’s getting closer,” Bron cut in, his dark brows drawn into a worried line. “Maybe after we eat and talk, it would be a good idea to move the party into town.”
Les turned to face him. “I smell smoke too. It’s been there for days, but I agree it’s getting nearer. We may evacuate at some point, but not until the threat’s a lot more immediate than it is this minute.”
“I’m going to find some clothes,” Karl announced. “It’s not all that warm in here.”
“Noreen and I can scare up some food,” Alice said. “How about if you boys take your discussion outside?” She winked at Noreen. “Shifter business. They usually don’t let me listen—not to everything. I think they don’t want to worry the little woman.” Alice laughed, deep and throaty.
Noreen joined her. The idea of either herself or Alice being little women was hilarious. Not at their nearly six feet heights. “It’s all right,” she said when she could talk again. “I probably wouldn’t understand anything they talked about anyway. And I’m a pretty good cook.”
“Great,” Alice beamed at her, “because I could burn water if someone didn’t keep an eye on me.”
“It’s settled then.” Jed stopped by Alice long enough to lay his cheek against hers and kiss her. Bron and Terin were already outside.
Karl emerged from the bedroom with fresh clothes. He gave her a hug and a kiss before following Les out the door.
Noreen’s gaze swept the disorderly room. She picked up discarded clothing and dropped it onto a chair so she could fold it and put it away. “Wonder what they do for laundry out here?”
Alice rolled her eyes. “If it were my guess, I’d say they use a rock, sand, and a nearby creek.” She moved in on Noreen’s project. “How about if I neaten up and you can get something to eat going. I’m hungry. Jed was in a big rush to get back out here, so he vetoed going out for breakfast.”
“Why do you suppose—?” Noreen quirked an inquisitive brow.
“I have no idea, but Jed’s worried about something. Worried enough he’s keeping his mouth shut so as not to alarm me.”
Noreen opened the few cupboards and quickly discovered she’d have to wash dishes to have something to serve breakfast on. She chucked more wood in the stove and ferried hot water to the kitchen sink in a pitcher. A quick search produced powdered detergent.
“Do you suppose the Hunters have something in mind?” Noreen asked as she washed and rinsed dishes and silverware, pots and pans.
Alice glanced up from her clothes-folding project. “Probably.” Her voice was bitter. “They always do. I don’t understand why they can’t just leave us alone.” She shook her head. Dark hair spilled around her shoulders. “Want me to cut up some of that fruit we brought?”
“Sure.” Noreen bit her lower lip. She’d just found Les and Karl. If something happened to either one of them, it would tear her heart out.
*
Les stood in a semi-circle with Jed, Karl, Bron, and Terin off to one side of the yard and far enough away the women couldn’t eavesdrop. “So it’s really that bad?” he asked softly.
Jed nodded. “I tell you, they’re adding to their ranks. This last attack in northern California could have been a disaster if we hadn’t gotten wind of it.”
“Are you considering an all-out war?” Karl asked.
“Not if we can avoid it,” Jed said. A muscle twitched in his jaw, and his hands were balled into fists. “I hate those bastards. If we could wipe every single one of them off the face of the earth, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
“Then why don’t we just attack?” Terin broke in. “At the last shifter gathering, you four clan leaders decided we could kill Hunters instead of running from them.”
Jed shook his head. “No. You’ll recall we voted. The other three clan leaders thought killing was a grand idea. I cast the dissenting vote, yet we are bound by majority rule as we’ve always been.”
“What are you afraid will happen?” Karl asked.
“Simple.” Jed unfisted his hands and spread them before him. “There are more of them than there are of us. Plus, they can recruit volunteers. We’re stuck with the numbers we have since the only way to make new shifters is by birthing them. In an out-and-out war, we’d lose.”
Les clenched his teeth together. Jed’s words were like a gut shot, but he recognized truth in them. “What do you propose?”
“For once, I don’t know. That’s the God’s truth. My primary strategy, which was to just lay low, isn’t working. Hunters are flushing us out of hiding. Pretty soon, absent places like this,” Jed waved an arm expansively, “there’ll be nowhere for us to go.”
“Is it this bad in Europe?” Karl asked.
“Worse,” Bron muttered. “It was the damned war. Lots of us retreated to our animal forms when the going got tough. It reminded people in the old country that we still existed.”
“This is terrible.” A sense of foreboding ripped through Les. “We have to keep the women safe. They depend on us.”
Jed nodded. “That they do. Alice is one liberated gal, but even she got suckered by a Hunter before she met us.”
“What happened to him?” Karl asked.
Bron shrugged. “Let’s just say he met with an, um, unfortunate accident and lost his mind. He’ll be in a mental ward for years.”
Jed eyed his lieutenant askance. “You never actually told me what you did.”
“And I’m not going to now,” Bron retorted. “It’s not important.”
Les agreed. One less Hunter made for a better world, no matter how you cut it. “So what do we do next?” he asked Jed.
“I’m thinking you and Karl need to find a more permanent place for yourselves now that you have Noreen to consider.”
“But we’ve lived here for years,” Les protested. “What’s wrong with it?”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Karl said quietly. “Actually, quite a lot. It’s one thing for us to rinse our clothes in the creek and turn into wolves when we don’t feel like bathing. Or take cold showers when we do. But we can hardly expect Noreen to take to such a primitive existence.”
“Pioneer women had it worse,” Les mumbled.
“Yes.” Karl eyed his pack mate. “Many died in childbirth, living in crude conditions not unlike what we left in Europe.”
Les shut his eyes. Pain sluiced through him. He couldn’t stand to lose another mate to anything. Not Hunters, not childbirth, not accidents. “Point taken. I love this place, but I want our mate close to modern medicine when our children are born.”
“Why not move near enough to town you could at least get electricity?” Jed suggested smoothly. “Surely you could find something that has this remote feel but a few more modern conveniences as well.”
Les cocked his head to one side. “We could have gotten electricity here, but it’s about as unreliable as the phone service. Never felt worth it. And moving closer to civilization isn’t going to solve the Hunter problem. We’ll be more visible.”
“You’re right.” Jed nodded curtly. “I’m deluding myself by pretending this problem is controllable. Every time I try to talk my way around the Hunter incursion, I end up tearing my hair out. We need to kill them, every last fucking one. But we’ve got to find some subtle way so their deaths won’t be pinned on us.”
“Like the ones we, uh, took care of.” Karl spoke low.
“Exactly,” Jed concurred. “Except most of us don’t have a handy multi-level cave system nearby to stash and burn bodies.”
“How’d you know about that?” Les demanded.
Jed flashed a bitter smile at Karl. “You’ve got to shield your thoughts better, brother. If I can read them, so can some of the telepathic Hunters.”
“Damn!” Karl reddened. “Sorry. That’s always been one of my weak areas.”
“Awareness is the first step to change.” Jed reached across the circle and patted Karl’s arm. He blew out a tense breath. “What I’m thinking at this point is we call for another meeting of the clans.”
“But we just had one a few months ago,” Bron said.
“True enough,” Jed agreed. “It would be most unusual to meet again this soon, but we need a strategy we can all put into a local action plan. If the bear clan is slaughtering Hunters outright and we’re killing them surreptitiously, no one benefits. We all need to agree to do the same thing. And,” Jed let his gaze linger on each man for a long moment, “we have to be stealthy. If we’re not, I fear we’re doomed.”
“What do we tell the women?” Terin asked.
“Nothing.” Les bit off the word and then looked apologetically at Jed. “Sorry, boss. That’s your call, not mine.”
“In this case, I agree with you,” Jed said. “No point in alarming them over something they have no control over. Either myself or Terin or Bron will get in touch with you when there’s a meeting date and time set. It needs to be soon, and unlike most of our gatherings, everyone needs to come. We’ve always operated on democratic principles. One shifter, one vote.”
“Are you going to talk with the rest of our kinfolk up here?” Les asked.
Bron and Terin nodded. “T
hat’s our job,” Terin said. “Jed’s going to take Alice back to California soon. She has to get back to work, and it’s safer for her there.”
Bron smiled crookedly. “The best place to hide is usually in plain view.”
Les turned the words over in his mind. They made a great deal of sense. Alice wasn’t running from something like Noreen. His lip drew back in a snarl.
“What?” Jed glanced at him.
“Nothing. I was just thinking about Noreen. She’s on the run from a cult in Calgary because they discovered blood sacrifices are a huge thrill. But we can keep her safe from them.”
“Of course we can,” Karl cut in.
“Just because you can protect your mate from humans who no doubt want her back,” Jed said slowly, “the last thing you need is a confrontation where what you are becomes visible.”
“We understand that—” Les began.
“No.” Jed raised his voice. “You don’t. You’re newly mated and not thinking clearly. What you need to do is take your mate and move far away from Calgary and that bunch of cult-weirdos who might do something stupid to make sure she doesn’t spill the beans about their activities.”
“Maybe he’s right,” Karl said.
Maybe he is, Les thought, but I don’t want to think about it. The notion of leaving a homestead he’d carved out of the forest devastated him. He loved these woods as both man and wolf. And he’d started over so many times, he didn’t want to again. But he didn’t want to put their mate at risk, either.
Silence fell over the small group. When he looked up, Les realized everyone was looking at him. “I’ll consider your advice,” he told Jed.
“Yes,” Karl said meaningfully. “We’ll talk about it, and we’ll find out where Noreen would like to settle before we make a final decision.”
Guilt smote Les. Naturally, they’d have to talk with their mate. He shook himself from head to toe, much as he did when he was a wolf, and met Karl’s even, dark gaze. “Of course we will,” he said. “Thanks for keeping our family on track.”
