Juneau Heat

by Tressie Lockwood

  “Stop, damn it! You’re hurting her,” he growled.

  Kotori froze. “Shiya?”

  The concern in his voice surprised her, and also went a long way to helping her calm down. She willed her muscles to relax and waited until the twinge went away. “Do it, Kotori.”

  He took his time guiding the dildo in and pulling it out. He rotated it in a circle, sending tremors throughout Shiya’s body. Her core spasmed in bliss, and she reached under herself to rub her clit. Birk caught her at it and took her hand away. He replaced hers with his own and pinched her swollen bud.

  She keened through an unexpected orgasm with Kotori thrusting the dildo into her ass at a rapid speed.

  When the sensations passed, she pushed Kotori’s hand away and rolled to her side to rest. Her chest rose and fell with each pant, and her heart raced.

  “I need a break,” she pleaded.

  Kotori sat back on his heels, and she glanced down at his rock-solid cock. She’d come two or three times, and they hadn’t once. She didn’t have to look over her shoulder at Birk to know his state was similar to Kotori’s. Pushing up to a sitting position, she reached for Kotori and encircled his neck when he drew her close. He raised her up and brought her down on his tight cock, and only after they pounded together and she was screaming her head off enjoying it did she realize he forgot to put on a condom.

  Kotori pushed her back on the bed and flattened his big body on top of her. He pounded so hard, her hips grew sore, but she didn’t care. She pushed her heels against his ass and arched up to meet his thrust. A growl erupted from his throat and rumbled in her chest. He gave another mighty push, threatening to render her unconscious. His seed spilled deep inside of her, and before she could draw another breath, Birk replaced his friend. He reared back on his haunches and raised her heels in the air. His long, smooth cock slipped between her folds, and she gasped. Birk ground deep and slow, but with as much violence as his partner. He pulled out, turned her facedown, and climbed over her body. As she peered over her shoulder, she watched him spoon her ass and felt his cock penetrate her pussy. Birk laced his fingers with hers and buried his mouth against the side of her neck. He filled her with his cock again and again, murmured her name in her ear, and told her how tight and good her pussy felt.

  Shiya lay still as he claimed her, and a subtle orgasm rocked her to her core.

  Seconds after, Birk grunted, “I’m coming!”

  Neither of them moved until long after he found his release, and Shiya’s eyes drifted closed as she lost track of time and the world.

  Chapter Nine

  Snow crunched beneath Shiya’s booted feet as she stepped outside of the cabin. A few feet ahead of her, Kotori strode with the ease of a man who had done this a million times, and Birk brought up the rear. She stumbled in the spots with deep snow and uneven ground, amazed at the terrain up here as opposed to Juneau. Sure, the weather there would turn soon enough, but it still seemed interesting, probably more so because of the guys than anything else.

  After some time of walking, Shiya’s leg muscles began to ache, but just when they did, a stretch of water appeared just ahead. She gasped and stopped moving. Polar bears dotted the landscape, some nosing along in the ice and snow and some slipping into the water to search, no doubt, for seals. Her heartbeat kicked up a few notches. Birk stopped behind her and cocooned her in his arms. His and Kotori’s coats weren’t as thick as hers. They had dressed her like a Christmas goose with all the layers, but she hadn’t complained.

  “Don’t be afraid,” Birk said somewhere above her head.

  She tilted her head back to look at him. “Are they shifters?”

  “No.”

  She wondered if he lied to protect the others, but she detected no hesitance as he spoke. “They’re regular bears who spend a great deal of time in this area and farther north. This is a safe spot for them—and for us.”

  She didn’t need to ask him what he meant by “safe spot.” From the interference of humans, probably. “Won’t they pick up my scent and be annoyed or whatever?”

  “You’re with us. They know we’re different than what they are, but they respect us as we do them. They will not touch what we’ve claimed as our own.”

  Claimed as their own? Temporarily, I guess. Thinking that this would end in a few days lowered her mood, but she shook off the feeling. On impulse, Shiya broke from Birk’s hold and bent down to form a snowball. She chucked it at the back of Kotori’s head and hit it spot on. That’s what came of being Kasen’s sister.

  Kotori rubbed the back of his head and spun slowly on his heel. The look of confusion made her crack up, and then he was on her. She screamed and ran, but his long legs ate up the ground between them. He caught her around the waist and did some kind of twist in the air. Shiya landed on top of him in the snow. She wiggled to get free, but his embrace was a vise.

  Kotori picked up a handful of snow and held as if he would smash it in her face. “You deserve this. Take it like a woman.”

  “No, no,” she shrieked, laughing.

  She sat up on his lap, pulling at the arm he held her to him with. Birk charged up and smacked the snow from Kotori’s hand. “You’re not hitting her with that, you idiot.”

  Shiya took advantage of Kotori’s distraction and got free. She rolled to her feet and started running again. The wind bit at her skin and was so cold, it seemed to freeze her lungs, but it liberated her too. To let go and just enjoy herself felt incredible. Her mukluk boots crunched the snow beneath her feet, and her toes stayed warm. The coat Birk provided her with did the trick to keep her cozy, but didn’t weigh her down too much as she ran. Behind her, the guys argued, Kotori insisting he wouldn’t do anything to hurt Shiya and Birk accusing him of not liking to lose.

  Shiya stopped running and bent over holding her side as she laughed at them. Stupid men, they wasted time slinging around testosterone when they could have been pursuing her. Now that she thought of it, though, Birk and Kotori never seriously argued with each other. They seemed to exist in harmony, and she considered whether it was because they understood each other’s place in the friendship and respected it. They never seemed to compete to pleasure her or got jealous of the other. If they were human, would it be different between the three of us?

  “Shiya!”

  The anguish in Birk’s tone sent a chill of fear crawling up her back. She looked at him, but he stared past her, and so did Kotori. Shiya went still, almost scared to turn around. From the corner of her eye, she noticed the polar bears walking farther down the shoreline, as if they’d all agreed to vacate the area as one. Some backed away as if they were giving the right of way to something. She licked her lips and swallowed, bringing to mind all she knew about the beautiful animals.

  Polar bears were the largest land carnivores. They were the biggest bears, the male growing up to fifteen hundred pounds. While they easily outweighed the brown and black bears, they tended to move out of the vicinity of another type of bear rather than confront it. Shiya’s knees grew weak, and before she could move a step, the chuffing sound told her she’d guessed right. A bear was behind her.

  A tremor started throughout her body, and she looked toward Birk and Kotori. Their clothes lay in a pile on the snow, and two polar bears charged toward her. This was the first time she’d seen them in their animal forms, and she wished she’d focused on them earlier so she could watch the change.

  They were both bigger than all the other bears, and their coats were thick and silvery white. Long black claws cut into the snow and ice as they ran, and their growls of anger sent chills down her back.

  Shiya spun around and screamed when the black bear rose up on hind legs. The beast stood closer to her than she thought. While bears were heavy and bulkily built, she knew they were more agile than they appeared, and not even the fastest human could outrun them.

  Although she knew she should keep still, fear had her stumbling backward. The black bear growled and swiped a powerful paw toward
her. All she could see was those claws ripping her face apart. Seconds before it hit, a locomotive smashed into the bear, and it and the polar bear rolled in a tangled heap over the snow. A white paw swung and then a black one. They growled and chomped at each other, and Shiya’s heart hammered so hard in her chest it hurt.

  She struggled to her feet, still shaking. The second polar bear walked in front of her, blocking her from the fight, but he kept his eyes on the two warring bears. She wondered which was which—who guarded her, and who fought. Either way, she worried about him getting hurt, or worse, killed.

  Without thinking, Shiya curled her fingers into the hair of the polar bear in front of her and leaned against his big body. All at once, she realized which of the two men fought on her behalf. An image of Kotori zipping past her to throw Joe against the wall came to mind. Kotori, the one scarcely containing his emotions, the more dangerous of the two. Now that she compared the polar bears, she saw that the one fighting was built bigger.

  She inched along Birk’s expanse and wrapped her arms around his neck. His small ears twitched, and he chuffed in annoyance, watching Kotori fight.

  Something told her he wanted to jump into it, but he didn’t want to leave Shiya alone in case this bear wasn’t by himself.

  “Please, Birk, don’t let him get hurt,” she begged. She had no idea if he understood English in this state. “This is my fault. I shouldn’t be out here. I’m sorry.”

  Tears sprang to her eyes when, over Birk’s head, she saw blood staining the pristine white of Kotori’s fur. “No, no! Birk, help him.”

  The bear growled, but he ignored her. Kotori reared up on his hind legs and came down hard on his enemy. The black bear dropped to the snow and didn’t move. She thought he’d killed it, but when Kotori took a few steps back and then growled, it struggled to its feet, turned, and walked off. Shiya waited until the black bear was far off before she ran around Birk and scrambled over to Kotori.

  “You’re hurt.” She touched the spot where the blood stained his coat, but she couldn’t get past all the hair to see the cut. He nosed her hands away.

  “Don’t be grumpy. You have to be treated. Let’s go back to the cabin.”

  She stood up and went to gather their clothing. Both Birk and Kotori stayed in bear form, and she knew it was to be sure there were no other threats.

  When they arrived at the cabin, both men shifted. Shiya stood in awe of the way the white hair seemed to melt off their bodies while their bulk decreased as if by magic. One minute they were gigantic beasts with elongated bodies, and the next they were men—very naked men. She hurried them into the cabin and slammed the door. After tossing aside their clothing, she rushed to try getting the fire stoked in the fireplace, but Birk nudged her aside.

  “I’ll take care of it.” He nodded toward Kotori.

  Shiya dug through their supplies and wasn’t surprised to find a first aid kit. She knelt on the couch beside Kotori. The slash lay on his side, but it wasn’t as bad as she’d thought. “This is my fault. If I weren’t—”

  “Stop,” Kotori interrupted. “This isn’t your fault. It’s a way of life for us. Sometimes there will be fights. It’s not a big deal.”

  She frowned. Knowing all the facts about the animals didn’t help her to understand their nature. “He shouldn’t have been there.”

  Kotori shrugged. He didn’t even wince when she touched the iodine-soaked cotton ball to his skin. “I am more impressed that you weren’t afraid of us.”

  “Well, you were protecting me, weren’t you?” She kept her eyes on his wound, embarrassed for some reason.

  He stroked her cheek. “I’m glad you weren’t afraid.”

  “She also knew us apart,” Birk announced, and Shiya heard the pleasure in his tone. He sat down behind her, his thigh brushing her ass. Neither man had bothered to put on clothes. This was another natural state with them, she realized.

  When she finished treating Kotori’s wound, she placed gauze over it, and secured it in place with medical tape. She touched the scars on his neck, a stir of emotion making her throat hurt. “Was this a bear too?”

  He stiffened. “No.” Kotori’s gaze flicked to Birk and then back to her. “Another fight, a wolf. I tried making a claim for someone already taken.”

  Shiya frowned. Kotori left out a lot of details, but she thought she could piece it together. He didn’t want to say, but the wolf, she guessed, was another shifter. “You went after his girlfriend, and he had a problem with it?”

  Kotori’s brows went up, and Birk laughed. “That’s our baby, very astute.”

  “Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have been a problem for me, but he laid in wait and sprung out on me with his pack. Very nearly took my voice.”

  Shiya shivered at the violence he’d suffered and marveled at the calm with which he shared it, again as if it were no big deal. From his hesitance, she knew it was much more than that. Kotori blamed himself for what had happened. “It wasn’t your fault, you know.”

  He pierced her with an angry stare, but she blinked at him, not intimidated.

  He grumbled, “If I had not let my emotions get the better of me, I wouldn’t have tried to take another man’s woman. We respect the claiming of mates above all else no matter what species of shifter we are.”

  “We’re all weak at some point,” she assured him.

  He made no response.

  “No rules apply when we’re fighting for our mate,” Birk added, and then he grinned. “But we got them back later, ran the entire pack out of town. Haven’t seen them since.”

  Shiya shook her head. “I feel like I’ve learned a lot about you today.”

  Birk touched the top of her head, and she twisted around to face him. He pulled her onto his lap, and she nuzzled beneath his chin. “There’s always a reason for an attack, Shiya. Remember that.”

  Did he say it in reference to her mother’s attack? She didn’t know, but resentment rose inside her. Birk had no right to comment. He couldn’t know the facts or the devastation she felt about how her mother suffered before she died, as well as the rest of them having lost her.

  She climbed off his lap and went to the kitchen area. After all the excitement, she was starving. Birk walked in behind her and took the eggs from her hands that she’d just removed from the refrigerator. She said nothing to him, but he went about making the three of them something to eat.

  Kotori went to his room, and when she accepted there was nothing for her to do to help Birk, she followed Kotori. In the room, he lay on his bed, an arm thrown across his eyes. She watched him from the doorway.

  “Did you love her?” she asked.

  He didn’t start at her voice, and she remembered she couldn’t sneak up on them because of their sensitive hearing and their strong sense of smell.

  “No. She played me for a fool. She wanted to push him to make her his mate. She was not alpha material, so I doubt it worked out in the end.”

  “I thought you said you had to respect her as his mate, but now you’re saying she wasn’t?”

  “He claimed her as his by marking her. He did not complete it with a bite and a declaration before his pack. When he does that, it would mean she’s an alpha like him. He let his dick lead him regarding her. No different than I did, I guess. She wasn’t an alpha.”

  The jealousy that stirred in Shiya’s belly made her grit her teeth. What did this woman look like that she caused Kotori to forget his principles to have her? She supposed she should just drop it. The woman was old news, a long while ago, from the appearance of his scar. Kotori’s concern seemed to be more about his decisions than about caring for the woman.

  Shiya decided not to bother with examining her own feelings. She liked being with Birk and Kotori. She definitely enjoyed the sex, and she would leave it at that. After crossing the room, she sat on the bed and removed her boots.

  Kotori raised his arm to allow her to settle in next to him and lay her head on his chest. They waited in sile
nce for Birk to bring the food.

  When her second lover came in holding two laden trays, she shook her head at his strength and sat up. Kotori slid to the top of the bed and hoisted her between his legs. She leaned on his chest while Birk placed the tray beside them.

  “Wow, I don’t think I can eat even a quarter of what you have here,” she said. Bacon, eggs, sausage, ham, rolls, and bread enough to feed an army crowded the plates. “Are you sure you’re not wasting food, Birk?”

  He winked. “When we shift, it must eat up a lot of energy because Kotori and I are starving beyond reason. A typical polar bear can eat forty pounds of food a day. This isn’t that much.”

  “Damn near it.”

  They ate in silence, Shiya having drawn her knees up to rest her plate in front of her. Birk eyed her half-empty plate and frowned. “Aren’t you going to finish that bacon?” She shook her head, and he leaned over to nab the last few pieces with his fork.

  Shiya rolled her eyes. “How could your mom afford to feed you? Come to think of it, I know you have a sister that you don’t have much to do with, but you never told me why.”

  Birk finished up the last of his food, piled her plate on his, and set them both on one of the trays. He moved the trays to the floor and then pulled her knees down so he could rest his head on her thighs.

  “My sister didn’t inherit the shifter gene, but it was the one thing she wanted more than anything else. A long time ago, she left Alaska, and I haven’t heard from her since. When my parents passed within a month of each other, she didn’t attend either funeral, and I had no number to contact her. She made her choice, and I accept that.”