Penn, Jenny - Chasing Lacie [Sea Island Wolves 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Jenny Penn

  “Very funny,” Lacie sneered. “Don’t think I won’t walk it if I have to.”

  “What about the cow?” Davis asked.

  “What cow?” Lacie’s arms splayed wide to encompass the whole field. “I don’t see any cow!”

  Chance glanced around and shrugged. “Maybe she wandered off.”

  “Or maybe she didn’t exist in the first place,” Lacie snapped. “I’m not stupid. There are no flattened patches of grass or tracks anywhere. There. Is. No. Cow.”

  “Might be,” Davis retorted, as certain-sounding as ever. “This is a ranch, after all. We got like eight hundred heads. Gotta be a cow around here somewhere. Why don’t you go look?”

  “Why don’t you kiss my—”

  “Before you shame your mother,” Chance cut her off, not wanting to spoil his anticipation of hearing that word when she moaned it. “I should warn you there is not a part of your body that Davis won’t jump on the chance to taste if you issue the invitation.”

  “Ruin my fun,” Davis grumbled, shooting Chance a dirty look. “What kind of wingman are you? You’re not supposed to warn the sweetness.”

  “And you’re not supposed to be tasting nothing until after the hunt,” Chance reminded Davis. “Those are the rules.”

  “What rules?” High-strung and clearly pissed, Lacie’s gaze darted between the two of them. “What hunt? What the hell is going on here?”

  Sighing, Chance wondered how much longer she planned on taking before she got a clue. He was tired of playing with his food. He wanted to eat at some point today. They couldn’t get to the feasting, though, until after Lacie understood everything. As he’d said to Davis, those were the rules.

  “I thought you’d have figured it out by now.” Chance met Lacie’s seething gaze with his own pointed look. “Do you really need me to explain, Lacie?”

  * * * *

  Yes, she did, but Lacie didn’t think she’d trust Chance Dillon’s answer. She knew damn well she couldn’t trust Davis. She’d made the mistake of trusting Chance’s father when he’d called earlier about a sick heifer that needed looking at. Actually, he’d told that to Bud, her boss. Bud handled the Dillon Ranch account personally or had until today. He had to be two counties over that morning, so for the first time ever he’d sent somebody else in his stead. Maybe that was the problem.

  “Is this because I’m new?” Lacie asked, glancing between the two cowboys. They stared back, watching her like a pair of foxes studying a hen with bright, curious gazes and a slight quivering in their muscles that warned they might lunge for her at any moment.

  “New?” Chance repeated, smiling over the word as he cast his buddy an amused look. “See, I’m not understanding that. You understand her question?”

  “No,” Davis murmured loud enough for Lacie to hear. She kind of thought that might be the point. “It’s like I said. She’s confused. She’s got heatstroke.”

  “I do not.” Lacie clamped down on the insults that wanted to follow. No matter how unpleasant Chance or his friend might be, the Dillon Ranch counted as one of Bud’s biggest accounts. She couldn’t be the reason he lost it.

  “See? She’s cranky, clear sign of heatstroke.”

  “Enough with the heatstroke. I’m not hot.”

  “Beg to differ, little lady.” Chance gave her another one of those slow perusals he’d been indulging in. His eyes didn’t make it past her breasts before they took on that kind of faraway look that told Lacie he’d tuned out the conversation again. Well, she wouldn’t let it stand this time.

  Crossing her arms over her chest, she pointedly blocked his sight and waited for him to look up. It still took him almost a minute, and the man didn’t have the decency to look ashamed at being caught ogling. Instead, he gave her another one of those little smirks that had Lacie taking a deep breath before she could trust herself to speak.

  “Okay.” Lacie tried to swallow down her anger, but her tone still came out sharp and edged with annoyance. “I get it. This is like the substitute teacher thing, right?”

  “Substitute teacher?”

  “I’m new, and you’ve had your fun. Now where is the cow?”

  And God, let it be close by because Lacie didn’t relish climbing back into the tight confines of the cab with the two of them. For as irritating and arrogant as both cowboys were, they were also too handsome for her hormones not to notice. Tanned, golden, tall, and muscular, they could have been brothers with their matching square jaws and straight brows.

  The only difference Lacie could see between them was Davis’s hair was light, wheat-colored with golden glints that danced with the same sparkle as the bolts of blue in his gray eyes. The touch of humor suited him, giving a depth to his grin.

  Chance’s dark coloring did the same for his smirk. Stray locks of black silk escaped from his hat, clinging to his sweat-glistened neck as he cocked his head at her. The motion lifted the brim of his Stetson high enough to reveal the predatory gleam in his hypnotic gaze.

  “Why you asking where the cow is? You just said there was no cow.”

  “Here,” Lacie clarified, irritated anew by Chance’s condescending tone. “But your father called Bud about a sick heifer. So where—”

  “And you don’t think dear, old dad would lie?” Chance smiled at what she suspected he considered her naiveté.

  “Why would he?” No reason Lacie could think of. “He and Bud are friends. Your dad wouldn’t send him on some wild-goose chase.”

  “And he didn’t.”

  It appeared Chance had finally conceded a point to her. Emboldened, Lacie repeated herself. “Then where is the cow?”

  “I don’t know. Where?”

  “I swear, talking to you two is like being trapped in an Abbott and Costello skit.”

  Her frustration carried her away from Chance, some deeper sense knowing that giving into her temper wouldn’t make her day go any better. Instead, she tried to wear her anger out by pacing with a vigorous stomp in a wide circle over and over again, but it didn’t help.

  “You look fidgety, honey,” Davis called out. “You feel like running yet?”

  “I thought I had heatstroke,” Lacie shot back, her feet pounding the ground harder with every single word. “Cranky, confused, in need of a swim? Any of that ring your dull bell?”

  “It’s bulb,” Davis happily corrected. “Dull bulb, honey.”

  “It’s dim, you dumbass,” Chance snapped, making Lacie roll her eyes. “Dim bulb and she can’t run yet. She hasn’t figured it out.”

  “Figured what out?” Lacie came to an abrupt stop. Swirling to face them, she swore this time she’d stick in it until she got a straight answer.

  “Well.” Chance crossed his arms over his chest and stiffened up as if he were taking her question seriously. “Dad called Bud about a sick cow, right?”

  Not trusting that this wasn’t all another attempt to yank her chain, Lacie answered cautiously. “Yes. That’s right.”

  “And,” Chance continued on as if he were instructing her, “you don’t think dad would lie to Bud?”

  “Why would he?”

  “Well, what about Bud?” Chance asked, his voice lifting with a leading edge. “Maybe he set you up.”

  “Please,” Lacie dismissed that attempt to confuse her without hesitation. “He’d never. If anything Bud’s always been overprotective.”

  “Huh.” Chance gave her a pointed look. “And why’s that?”

  “Because we live in the middle of—”

  Oh God, no!

  Chapter 2

  Lacie froze, suddenly understanding way too much. They lived in the middle of lycan country. Lycans were rough, tough, and overly sexualized. That’s why Bud had acted like her self-appointed guardian and kept men like Chance and Davis the hell away from her.

  He’d been good at his job, which was saying something given unmated males chased after every skirt in sight. Only Lacie didn’t wear skirts, and none of the males had ever appeared to notice her be
fore. Well, she was getting noticed now.

  Lacie shivered, feeling strangely exposed and vulnerable under their intent stares. She’d been wrong earlier. The predatory gleam in their gazes didn’t look anything like the playful curiosity of a fox. No their look held the hard fixation of wolves.

  “You’re lycans.”

  Davis gave her a toothy grin. “And we’re hungry.”

  If only that comment unleashed bloodcurdling fear, Lacie might have been safe. But she knew damn good and well Davis didn’t mean to tear her apart limb by limb. His gaze assured her that it would only be her clothes that got shredded and her cunt that got devoured. The very idea of those full lips pressing up against her swollen folds had Lacie’s pussy creaming with the kind of anticipation that quickly became painful.

  “No,” Lacie whispered, denying him and her more base urges. “That’s not going to happen.”

  “But,” Chance took a very pointed sniff of the air before smiling with all confidence, “you want it to.”

  Damn lycan sense of smell. Chance might be able to scent the arousal dripping from her all-too-eager pussy, but what he needed to understand was that didn’t count in Lacie’s book. Despite the heat she could feel in her cheeks, she lifted her chin in defiance and met their knowing gazes.

  “No. I don’t.”

  “Baby.” He shook his head at her. “You can’t lie about this. I can smell your—”

  “I don’t care what you can smell.” Lacie cut him off before Chance could humiliate her. “I said no, and no means no, no matter what you can smell.”

  “Unless of course, you change your mind,” Davis helpfully pointed out. “After all, we can be real convincing.”

  Lacie didn’t doubt that. God hadn’t just blessed them with fallen-angel good looks, he’d also gifted lycans with a secret weapon that brought any woman they desired to whimpering submission. Lacie had heard enough tales about lycan musk to know not to get too close to either man. The consequences could be devastating.

  Lacie had been raised listening to other women whisper and blush over the torrid tales of male lycans’ sexual prowess. She’d also seen the consequences of giving into the lure of so much pleasure. The women who dared inevitability ended up ruined, so desperate for more they soon became willing to spread for any lycan who would have them. Worse, normal men didn’t satisfy them anymore.

  “I’m saying no.” And thankfully standing upwind when she did. “I can say it as many times as you need.”

  “Oh come on, honey,” Davis coaxed. “Let me put a smile on that face.”

  Lacie’s gaze narrowed on him, not the least bit amused or receptive, no matter how much her cunt thrilled at his confident attitude. “I’m sure you’re worth several laughs, but I have work to do. So if we’re done—”

  “I’ve always found you worth more than a few laughs, Davis,” Chance assured him, instantly causing his buddy’s smile to falter.

  “Oh, shut up.”

  Placing one hand on the edge of the bed, Davis hefted himself over the edge. His feet hit the ground with a thud. As he straightened up, Lacie again found herself feeling strangely small. At five six, she was about as normal as normal could get. Hell, that could be said of her in general. Size twelve, normal. Light brown hair, normal. B-cup, a little below normal, but at least she had the green eyes working in her favor.

  Not that a lot of men fantasized about a woman’s eyes, least of all men of Chance and Davis’s caliber. If they hadn’t been so difficult and lycan, Lacie would have seriously considered taking one of them—

  “Oh, wait a second,” Lacie whispered, her feet stumbling back as a thought occurred to her.

  “You figure it out yet?” Chance asked hopefully.

  “There are two of you.”

  “Now tell me that’s not a sign of heatstroke.” Davis grunted before shooting her a hard look. “Hell, it might be drugs if she’s hallucinating.”

  “Explains why it’s taking her so long to put together the obvious,” Chance retorted with clear disapproval. “You been thinking there is only one of us this past half hour?”

  “Don’t even try that game,” Lacie shot back. “I know about you lycans, the way you like to tag team a woman, and I’m not into that kind of kink.”

  “Well, you never know,” Chance dared to argue with her, offering Lacie a smug smile. “Not until you try it.”

  “Now, Chance, don’t go scaring the little virgin. She might—”

  “I’m not a virgin,” Lacie corrected Davis, infuriated that he would think she was so ugly she couldn’t get laid once in the last twenty-nine years. Admittedly, it had been a while, but that’s because she had standards and a busy professional life.

  “What?” Chance’s soft question drew Lacie out of her internal rant to take notice of how still both men had gone. They might have looked dangerous before, but now they looked lethal and no longer amused. “Who?”

  “Who what?” Lacie scowled, not about to be intimidated by him.

  “Who, where, when, and how many times, Lacie?” Chance snarled, taking a step forward that she instantly matched going backward. He looked ready to hurt something. While her gut told her Chance wouldn’t harm her, Lacie didn’t know him well enough to trust that instinct.

  “I’m still not following,” she answered honestly, giving in to the heated blast of his glare before realizing she didn’t owe him any answers. “But I am getting—”

  “Nobody was supposed to touch you,” Davis cut her off, looking every bit as grim as Chance as he paced forward. Davis moved slightly to the left with each step while Chance tilted to the right. They were flanking her and making Lacie all kinds of nervous.

  “What the hell do you mean by that?” Her voice trembled too much for her words to be a challenge. Instead, they came out sounding panicked and desperate.

  “Nobody touches what is ours and lives.” Davis couldn’t have been more blunt than that, but his words only caused confusion. “Now who?”

  Like she would have told them even if Lacie could focus on his question. She couldn’t, her mind still stuck on a dawning realization that something was terribly wrong here. Lycans shared women, used them, and passed them around. They were only possessive of one woman. Their mate.

  “No.” Lacie shook her head, stumbling further away from them as they closed in on her. “This isn’t right. I would know. Somebody would have told me.”

  “Who?” Chance asked, apparently understanding her scattered train of thought. “Bud? The one who sent you out here today?”

  Lacie’s eyes widened at that implication and almost immediately she rejected his words. “No. Bud wouldn’t do that. He’d tell me, warn me. He’s like a father to me.”

  “Yes.” Davis nodded. “Your mother worked for him her whole life. You were raised in his home, as one of his own, taught all about lycans and our ways. Protected and prepared.”

  “Obviously not protected enough,” Chance grunted, his gaze never wavering from her. “Now I want a name, Lacie.”

  “And I want to be anywhere but here. I guess we’re both screwed.”

  Fear, panic, and outright anger overwhelmed the lust that had blossomed in her, making her lash out at them. Her burst of temper backfired, her words causing Chance’s hands to drop to his belt buckle.

  “Fine then.” Chance snapped his buckle open. “If you insist, I’ll screw the answer out of you.”

  Her body swamped with wanton anticipation at that suggestion, sparking a riot of emotional responses that boiled over into one single action. Not waiting to see those tanned, blunt fingers pop the buttons of his jeans and free the massive erection straining against them, Lacie turned and fled.

  * * * *

  Davis watched Lacie’s sweetly bouncing ass disappearing around the curve of a rolling hill and fought every primal instinct demanding he give chase. Even with her legs pumping fast and hard, it wouldn’t have taken him more than a couple of minutes to catch her. That would be too quick when h
e wanted to savor every bit of this day.

  Tossing his best friend a look, he caught Chance staring after Lacie. Chance’s gaze shifted as if sensing Davis’s expectant grin.

  “Well?”

  “Okay, that was fun.” Chance broke into chuckles.

  “Told you.” Davis nodded, leaning down to snatch up Lacie’s forgotten medical bag.

  “She really fell for the whole virgin thing.” Chance smirked, following Davis back toward the truck.

  “Thanks, I thought that was a bit of spontaneous genius.” Pulling up to the side of the truck, Davis stowed Lacie’s case in the bed as he shot Chance a knowing smirk. “Now comes the really fun part.”

  Chance snorted when Davis waggled his eyebrows. “And here I thought that would come once we got her corralled down by the pond.”

  Davis had a comeback for that line, but the words died on his lips when Chance’s cell phone went off. Pulling it from his hip, Chance grimaced, his expression darkening as he hit the speaker button.

  “Hey, Bud,” Chance called out, holding the phone toward Davis so he could shout a similar greeting at the small devise.

  “Don’t you two boneheads ‘hey’ me,” Bud snapped back. “I just had a very interesting talk with your daddy, Chance Dillon, and he explained a few things to me. Now I want to know what the hell you’re doing to my girl.”

  Davis rolled his eyes and came up with a good answer. Not that Chance gave him a second to speak. Probably out of fear of what would come out Davis’s mouth, his friend rushed to appease Bud before Davis could antagonize.

  “Now, Bud—”

  “Don’t ‘now, Bud’ me either. I want a straight answer because I did not send Lacie out there for you boys to terrify.”

  “She’s not scared,” Chance quickly assured him. “If anything, she’s pissed, but that’s not even your concern. She’s our mate.”

  “Not my concern?” Bud barked with hard, brittle laughter. “Boy, I raised that girl, and I don’t give a shit what she is to you. You hurt her, you answer to me. Got that?”

  “We’re not going to hurt her.” Chance started to do some growling of his own, his temper obviously flaring at the reprimand in their elder’s tone. “We’re her mates.”