Tigers Are Forever

by Khloe Wren

  Ebony's gaze shot to Jaxson as he spoke. She was now trembling as she reversed away from them both. She didn't stop until her back was pressed up against the wall and she had nowhere else to go.

  "Don't be scared, Ebony. You know we won't hurt you. We both care about you, and we'd never cause you harm."

  "You can't be shifters. They're not real."

  Cooper closed his eyes, and, using his magic, he stripped his clothes and shifted to his tiger form. When he reopened his lids, Ebony stood motionless with a hand pressed to her mouth. Her beautiful blue eyes were wide and unblinking. Her normally pale skin was now paper white.

  "We're speaking the truth, Ebony." Jaxson moved to stand next to Cooper and lowered his hand to stroke his head. "Why don't you come over here and give him a pat? Prove to yourself that your eyes aren't playing tricks on you."

  She shook her head a little and whimpered. Cooper lowered from Jaxson's touch and was about to shift back when Jaxson fisted his fur as he growled a low, "No, stay."

  Cooper was as dominant as Jaxson and did not appreciate the order, but if his buddy had an idea how to ease Ebony's fear then he'd put up with it.

  As Jaxson moved forward to her, Cooper lay down on the floor and rested his head on his front paw to watch what Jaxson had planned. Jaxson moved slowly over to her side and slipped a hand behind her neck to ease her away from the wall. Like a doll she followed Jaxson's lead, allowing him to slide in behind her.

  "C'mon, sweetheart."

  Jaxson scooped her up in his arms and stepped forward. Cooper began purring quietly as Jaxson kneeled near his side with her in his lap. Taking her uninjured hand in his, Jaxson reached out and stroked him with it. He purred louder at the feel of her soft palm on his thick fur. After Jaxson guided her for a few strokes, she took over on her own. Jaxson allowed her to slip from his lap and use two hands to pet him.

  "Your fur is so soft, just like a huge house cat. Only with cooler stripes."

  "While we'll always care for and protect you, don't think we aren't capable of violence, Ebony. We are not house cats. We're predators. Especially when it comes to keeping safe those we care for."

  "So you turn into a tiger, too?"

  Cooper knew Jaxson better than anyone, so he wasn’t surprised when instead of using words to explain, he used his magic to join Cooper in tiger form. Ebony jerked as he licked over her shoulder to get her attention.

  "Oh! Wow. Okay. Guess that's one way of answering me."

  She moved around so she could sink the fingers of her good hand into Jaxson’s fur. Her other hand rested on Cooper, but it was her injured one so she wasn't stroking him. Coop meowed and lightly head-butted Jaxson to get Ebony's attention. She laughed as she returned to petting Cooper.

  Jaxson frowned at Cooper as he rose to stand. Cooper cocked his head to the side to let his buddy know he wanted to play. He took a swipe at Jaxson as he began purring again. Jaxson returned the purr as he dove toward him. Ebony squeaked and scrambled back to sit on the couch as they landed on the floor. This was one of the reasons he and Jaxson had made sure their house was on a concrete slab, not raised on timber stilts. Two fully grown tigers rolling around the place would go straight through the floor boards.

  ****

  Ebony moved to sit on the couch as she watched the two huge tigers play fight in front of her. What an insane evening. First, the only two men to ever turn her head told her they planned on sharing her, and now she was watching the same two men, in tiger form, roll around the floor. With them both purring and batting at each other like house cats would, they weren't that scary. She could see how they could be. If they had their claws out and their teeth bared, they'd look ferocious, but they'd not shown any aggression toward her at all. She honestly believed them when they told her they'd not harm her. Physically.

  But it was her heart she was worried about. As tears pricked her eyes she blinked to hold them back. She sniffled as her nose began to run. She was not a pretty crier. Pulling her knees up she buried her face against them as she tried to curb the urge to cry. Why did everyone leave? She missed her parents so much. Even seven years later the wound on her heart and soul was still open and bleeding.

  A moment later she felt a solid warm body on either side of her. Each man tucked her hair behind her ears before stroking her arms with their warm palms.

  "Don't cry, baby. We were just play fighting. It's how we burn off our excess energy and have some fun. We thought you'd find it amusing."

  "It was a little surreal to watch, but you two playing isn't the reason for my tears."

  "Tell us what's wrong. Is it your folks? I know today is the seventh anniversary."

  She jerked her head up in shock to face Cooper. "How do you know that?"

  He gave her a sheepish grin, "We've had our eye on you since your first day at Emerson High School, Ebony. We know a lot about you."

  Ebony was stunned speechless. They'd been watching her the entire time she'd been mooning over them?

  "Why have you waited so long to talk to me then?"

  "Your parents had just passed away, baby. You’d understandably crawled into a shell and didn't come out much. We didn't want to pressure you about a relationship while you were grieving. We both did try to approach you in our senior year, but you weren't interested. Then Jaxson went off to Army training and I was at the Police Academy. I thought about dropping by your place after I moved back to town, but it felt wrong without Jaxson here. Even when I wasn’t living in town, I always kept an ear to the ground when it comes to you, so I knew you were still hiding in your shell. The entire time we were away, you never had a boyfriend, did you? And I heard about your little fling last year. A one night stand or two doesn’t count as a boyfriend."

  Ebony's face heated again. She was mortified these two knew about her stupid mistake of hooking up with Brett. She was twenty-three years old, and her only sexual experience had been a causal hook up.

  “No boyfriends.”

  Jaxson caught her chin in his grip and turned her to face him.

  "Why not, sweetheart? You're beautiful on the inside and out. What has you hiding from the world?"

  She blinked back tears at the serious expression on his face, and before she could stop herself, she blurted out the truth.

  "Because I don't want to be hurt again. Everyone I care about has left me. If I don't care for anyone, I won't suffer when they leave."

  Jaxson's expression softened, and he moved to cup her face in his palms, being careful of her bruised cheek. She gave up fighting her tears and let them slip freely down her cheeks.

  "Sweetheart, we're not ever going to leave you—"

  "You won't mean to. But you both have dangerous jobs. Anything could happen, and I'll be left alone again, nursing my shattered heart."

  He pressed his thumb over her lips, halting her words.

  "We're supernatural creatures, Ebony. We live long, healthy lives. I’m home on leave after taking a knife to the side a couple weeks ago. It completely healed in under a day. The only reason I'm on medical leave is because my superiors will know I'm more than human if they see how fast I can heal. Well, that and I was more than happy for the excuse to come home to see you."

  "So you're telling me you're what? Immortal?"

  "No, not immortal. There's a few things that can kill us, but we have very fast reflexes and heal extremely quickly."

  "If it's possible for you to be killed, you could still leave me."

  He wasn't hearing her. Neither of them knew how it felt to be happy and loved, then left alone. How hard it was to drag yourself up in the morning when there was nothing left in your life but emptiness.

  "Ebony, when shifters mate, they bond for life. If you agree, and allow the both of us to take you as our bonded mate, we'll all die together at exactly the same time. But we won't be bonding tonight. You need to be very certain of your decision as there is no undo button on it."

  Ebony was glad she was sitting down, because her head
felt like it was spinning as she tried to process all the information.

  "So I'll become like you?"

  The grin Jaxson gave her was wide enough that his dimples made a rare appearance.

  "Hell yeah, you will. But don't worry about that now, just know that it doesn't hurt and it won't change your day-to-day life."

  Before she could ask another question he lowered his mouth to hers and gave her a gentle kiss that left her mind reeling.

  "Now, sit back and snuggle with Cooper. I'm going to get those drinks, and we're going to watch the fireworks on Coop's stupidly huge TV."

  With a sigh she snuggled up next to Cooper. She needed some time to think, and watching the light display over the Sydney Harbor would be perfect. She eyed off the massive flat screen that was hung on the wall. Jaxson had a point. It really was excessively big.

  Chapter Three

  Two hours later, Jaxson had never felt more at peace as he sat with Ebony's head on a pillow in his lap. The footage of the fireworks over the Sydney Harbor Bridge filled the screen as he allowed the thick black strands of her hair to glide through his fingers. Her bare feet were resting against Cooper's thigh, and he was massaging them in a way that had her occasionally squirming and giggling. It felt so right for the three of them to be together like this. The silence was comfortable and only broken by the pops of the fireworks and Ebony's occasional bursts of laughter. As the last of the sparks vanished into the night, Cooper turned off the tele. A moment later, Ebony rolled onto her back and stared up at him with her big blue eyes clouded with worry.

  "What’s on your mind, sweetheart?"

  "If you're healed up, then you'll be going back to the Army soon. You want to start something with me, but then you'll be gone. How long until you can return home next?"

  He traced his finger tip over her face. Avoiding her bruised cheek, he stroked her eyebrow before following the line of her nose.

  "About that, I'm twenty-five years old, Ebony, and I’ve had my fun in the forces. I'm more than ready to leave the Army to settle down with you and Coop."

  Her eyes cleared a little as she eyed off him then Cooper. When her mouth quirked into a sly grin, Jaxson’s muscles tightened. She was thinking of things that would never happen.

  “Don’t even think it, sweetheart. Coop and I are friends. We’re like brothers—not lovers.”

  Her lips pouted into the cutest expression for a moment before her look turned serious.

  "But, about the Army, are you serious? You'd leave for me? What will you do?"

  "I’ve never been more serious, sweetheart. Not sure what I’ll do, I have enough saved up I don't have to do anything for a while, but I'll work security or something if I feel the need to work. However, Cooper will always be a cop."

  "Although, I won't always be a beat cop. I've completed my training so I can move over to forensics. It shouldn't be more than twelve months before a position comes up. Ebony, does this mean you're saying yes to us? To having a relationship with both of us?"

  Jaxson traced his finger over her lips. They felt so soft against his callused skin, but he knew of a couple places on her that would be softer. She licked her lips, catching his flesh with her wet tongue on the way. His dick hardened as he scented a wave of arousal come from between her thighs.

  "Yeah, Cooper. That's what I'm saying. I've been mooning over both of you since that first day at Emerson High, but I didn't want to risk the connection. I had no idea there was a way that we could all be together with no risk of me being left behind alone again."

  She said yes. Jaxson's heart pounded in his chest as he caged her jaw with his fingers and pressed his thumb firmly on her lower lip.

  "Open for me."

  Her gorgeous plump lips parted a fraction, and his thumb slipped into her warm, wet mouth. He shuddered as she tentatively lapped at the digit invading her. He could imagine how she'd lick his dick in the same way, and his already stiff erection twitched in his pants. He slid his other hand behind her shoulders to haul her up higher against him. The pillow on his lap fell to the floor as she allowed him to move her how he wished. The way she easily submitted to him had his stomach tightening with his excitement and arousal.

  He set her ass on his thigh closest to Cooper. He knew what his buddy would want from her while he had his fun. Her face was close to his now, and Jaxson lowered his lips to nibble at the edge of hers as he began sliding his thumb in and out of her mouth. When she began to tremble, he pulled his thumb free and quickly replaced it with his tongue, thrusting inside of her as his blood heated with his ever heightening arousal.

  She groaned and arched her back as he ate at her mouth. He could feel her nails biting into his shoulders as she gripped him, and he loved the sensation. He reveled in the fact he could get her so hot for him that she couldn't help but cling to him.

  Jaxson felt her legs shift and knew Cooper was moving in. She moaned into his kiss, and his arousal shot through the roof. Unable to resist he pulled free from her delicious mouth to glance down her writhing body. Cooper was kissing his way up the inside of her leg from her ankle to her knee. His other hand was slowly pushing her dress up her to reveal her flawless thighs.

  "Let's move to the bedroom."

  Cooper pulled back with a nod before Jaxson stood, easily lifting Ebony's weight and headed off to the master bedroom. A room that had been fitted out with her in mind.

  He lowered her legs to the ground and moved his hand up into her hair. He wound the strands around his fist and gently pulled her head back so her gaze locked with his own. He loved how her face looked flush with her arousal.

  "You like when I take control, don't you, sweetheart?"

  She tried to nod but couldn't move her head.

  "Use your voice, Ebony. Call me and Cooper by name so we know you're aware of who you belong to."

  "Yes, Jaxson."

  He growled at how easily she gave him what he needed once again. He moved her head away from him so she faced Cooper, who took the invitation and swooped in for a possessive kiss. As Cooper caged her face with both hands, Jaxson released his hold on her hair. Ebony moaned as Cooper tilted her face so he could force her mouth to open wider for him.

  Jaxson took a step back to strip off. It only took a matter of seconds for him to be naked and moving to stand behind her while Cooper continued to make love to her mouth. Jaxson slid the zipper of her dress down, which revealed the perfect line of her spine and the rear strap of her bra along with a g-string, both made from white lace. He groaned as he pressed into her so she was firmly held between his and Cooper's bodies. Ebony was tall for a woman, and his dick nestled against the top rise of her bottom. As his sensitive flesh came into contact with the softness of her skin they both shuddered.

  "I wonder what could have Jaxson so worked up, baby."

  "Let me show you, Coop."

  Cooper kept her face between his palms as he pulled his body away from hers slightly. Jaxson slid the straps of her dress over her shoulders and down her arms until the fabric fell to the floor. It was then Cooper's turn to groan as he took in the sight of their pretty little mate in her white lingerie.

  Jaxson gripped her hips in his palms as he ground his hard dick against her softness. He was embarrassingly close to coming already, but that didn't stop him from lowering his mouth to kiss the tender skin of her throat as Cooper moved forward again to sandwich her between them.

  "You're overdressed, Cooper."

  ****

  Holy fuck, she was gorgeous in her lacy white underwear. Cooper’s heart pounded so hard, he barely heard Jaxson over the noise in his ears. He forced himself to release the hold he had on Ebony's beautiful face and take a step away from her. He traced a fingertip over the rise of her breast and grinned as she shivered. Jaxson moved to place a palm over her slightly rounded tummy as he wound her hair around his other one. Oh yeah, this was going to be an awesome night. Jaxson had gone deep into his caveman mode and was going to push their little Ebony to her
limits.

  "Watch him, sweetheart. You watch Cooper bare himself for you."

  Her cheeks flushed, and she raised her gaze to his. Holding eye contact, Cooper unbuttoned his shirt as fast as he could and peeled it from his body. With his chest revealed, her gaze dropped. As a shifter he was built muscularly, and he'd always worked hard to maintain a high level of fitness.

  She reached out her palm toward him on a gasp, and he looked down at what she was staring at. His heart fluttered as he realized she was enthralled by his tattoo. His entire left pectoral was covered with a highly detailed angel. It was a depiction of a female on her knees, facing sideways while wearing a fitted lacy gown. Her long black hair was over her face and hung down to just past her breasts. There was a single tear on the small part of her cheek that was visible. Her hands rested on her knees as they held a single rose. Large feathered wings arching out from her back completed the tattoo. There was no color, the whole thing done in blacks, grays, and white.

  Cooper covered her hand with his as her palm touched the tattoo. His emotions were running wild causing him to be rendered speechless. He silently stepped forward and brushed a light kiss over her lips, trying to convey to her how special she was to him. As his mouth parted from hers she whispered. "Is that what I think it is?"

  "Yeah, baby. You're our guardian angel. Jaxson has the same ink. We got them done before his first tour. We always intended on claiming you, Ebony."

  Cooper took her from Jaxson's hold and turned her around so she could see his matching artwork. Jaxson remained motionless as she pressed her palms against the muscles of his chest. She leaned in and laid a kiss over the angel, and Jaxson lifted his gaze to Cooper's. The look said quite clearly that his buddy had reached his limit of what he could stand. Cooper understood how Jaxson felt. He couldn't wait to get inside their chosen mate either.

  Reaching forward, he quickly unclipped her bra and pushed it free of her shoulders. He then stroked his hands down her sides until he reached her panties.