“You were perfect.” Bar smiled and drew the backs of two curled fingers along her cheek. “We couldn’t ask for a better mate, nuliaba abnaba.”
“Don’t…” she started and he pressed his fingertips to her lips.
“What is…is,” he told her. “It’s not for any of us to fight. The gods have ordained it.” As if that said everything, he moved to her legs and began massaging the tight muscles while carefully avoiding her bruises.
Summer pushed up on her elbows. “That’s maybe one of the craziest things I’ve ever heard—and I’ve heard a lot of crazy crap.”
“Believing in something you can’t explain isn’t crazy, baby.”
“Hell, yeah it is.”
“Relax,” he admonished as her vehemence tensed her legs. His thumbs pushed into her thigh muscles and she groaned, dropping back her head.
“How can I relax? I’m at the mercy of two men who apparently belong to some weird sex cult.”
He laughed. “Just because you don’t understand it, doesn’t mean it’s a cult.” He pushed her to her back, then blanketed her with his powerful body. His firm hands banded her wrists while he stared down at her. “There is more here than you’re acknowledging. How is it that you came to us just as we prayed for our woman to arrive? That you were not killed in the crash? That you can communicate with us through your thoughts?”
“Coincidence. Coincidence. And…” She lifted a shoulder and sighed. “I don’t know.”
“The gods,” Bar argued. He kissed the tip of her nose, then brushed his lips over hers.
With a content hum, she parted for him, welcoming his tongue inside her mouth. Her legs bent around his hips to cradle his body and she rocked her pussy into his partially erect penis, savoring the sensation of being close to him.
Deep down, she knew she shouldn’t be making love with him, not that she dared think about that. She didn’t want Bar or Mika hearing her muddled thoughts. But yes, far inside her, she knew something was off here. Her connection with the men was way too perfect.
Mika cleared his throat as he returned to the room and she smiled at him, reaching out an arm while Bar kissed her shoulder. With a sheepish grin, Mika sat on the edge of the bed.
“Sorry about that.” He lifted the mug he’d brought in with him. “I made you some tea.”
She noticed he didn’t explain what had happened. She wanted to ask him about it, but didn’t. She didn’t know him well enough to delve into whatever hang-ups he might have. Which was laughable considering she was fucking these two any way they wanted.
Bar rolled to her side and she sat up, but didn’t reach for the mug Mika offered. “I don’t want the tea.”
Mika made a face. “You’ve had a rough time of it, baby,” he chided. “And we’ve probably pushed you too hard too soon—”
“I’m fine,” she interrupted, thinking they’d pushed her just perfectly. Her body hummed with the sated pleasure—to hell with the small aches. She liked the slight sting still gripping her ass and the well-pounded twinge in her cunt. She could do that all again, she decided around a yawn.
Bar stroked her hair. “It won’t knock you out. It’ll just help you sleep and further heal your body. You were going to sleep anyway.”
“You’re safe with us and we’ll be right here,” Mika enjoined.
“I know I’m safe with you,” she snapped. Her eyes narrowed because she knew they weren’t going to let up. “What’s in it? I don’t do drugs and I’m not about to start now.”
“Just herbs,” Mika answered. “All legal ones. I can have Grandmother explain to you what they are if you want.”
Summer sighed. She didn’t want to disturb their grandma. “It’s only eight o’clock. Last time I went to bed that early was when I was in second grade.”
Bar twined his fingers with hers then kissed her knuckles. “When was the last time you were in a plane crash?”
“Point,” she conceded reluctantly, a tingle running up her arm.
“The better you feel, the more adventurous we can be in bed,” Mika offered.
More adventurous than they’d already been? That was a selling angle. “Point,” she again agreed.
“It’s the last dose,” Bar admitted. “No one needs more than three. You’ve had two. You remember the last time you took it, and the other was when you were somewhat comatose.”
“No more after today?”
“Nope,” they both replied.
“Fine. Give me the damn cup.” Much as she didn’t want to admit it, she was achy. If this was the miracle non-narcotic cure, then she’d take it.
Mika handed it to her, then kissed the top of her head. “I’ll see you in the morning, nuliaba abnaba.”
She grabbed his fingers, keeping him from leaving. “You’re not sleeping in here?”
He glanced at Bar, then back to her. “Of course I will, if you want me to.”
“I do. I want you both here.” She couldn’t say why, but she needed the feel of them on either side of her.”
“Then we’ll be here,” Bar promised.
Satisfied, Summer drank the tea, then snuggled into the pillows, warm striations of long, tingling fingers spreading through her body.
* * * * *
Bar looked at Mika when they were alone in the living room, Summer’s soft snores coming from his bedroom. “What the hell happened in there?”
“I don’t know. All of a sudden, my lynx wanted out. Right then. I held him back—mostly. I just had to get out of there before something bad happened and I actually did shift. That’s never happened to me. Scared the hell outta me too.”
Even now, Mika felt the lynx pacing inside him. It wanted Summer to know him. To touch him too, and feel his feline presence. He’d been horrified when he’d felt that magic start to shimmer through him.
“We have to tell her soon,” Bar said, heading into the kitchen to clean up from dinner.
Mika followed him. “Why?”
His cluster mate slid him a disbelieving glance. “Because she’s our mate and she needs to know. Obviously, it’s dangerous to hide it from her. Our animals will force the revelation.”
He sighed, knowing Bar was right, but not wanting to face the consequences. He’d sooner face a bear than do something that would cause him to lose the woman the gods had sent them. Lying to her, even by omission, would probably do that trick.
“In the morning,” he sighed. Whatever Bar would have said was cut off by the ringing of their satellite phone. Mika went to answer it, hanging up minutes later. “We have to fly into Fairbanks in the morning for an emergency staff meeting.”
Both he and Bar worked as securities and commodities traders, each servicing a wide base of clients for their home company, CazSource, based out of Fairbanks. While they could normally telecommute via satellite internet, occasionally they were called into the main office.
“They’re yanking everyone in.”
Bar shook his head, glancing toward his bedroom. “The timing sucks.”
“Yeah.” But Mika was glad he’d have a few extra hours before the big lynx reveal.
“I’ll run over to my brother’s and get him to file an early flight plan to Fairbanks,” Bar said. “He’ll have to rearrange the rest of his schedule or go out really early for us. Did they say how long the meeting would be? We’ll probably have to stay over a night.”
Mika shook his head. “I don’t like leaving her here alone that long.”
“What choice do we have? We can’t support her if we don’t have jobs either.”
Right. So why did Mika have a nasty, sinking feeling in his gut? He didn’t want to take off for Fairbanks before everything was settled with their mate. Too much was still “off”.
We’ll work it out. Don’t worry, Bar said, clasping Mika’s shoulder. Mika leaned into him and nudged his neck while Bar rubbed his face along Mika’s hair. But no amount of pheromones and comfort would alleviate the trouble roiling in Mika’s middle.
As
Bar left, Mika headed to his room to make sure his suit was ready for tomorrow and to pack a small bag. He wanted to get that out of the way ASAP, because he intended to spend the rest of the night with Summer in his arms.
Chapter Five
Summer woke slowly and stretched, enjoying the lack of pain in her well-rested body. Whatever was in Bar and Mika’s grandmother’s tea, they should market to the rest of the world. They’d make a killing on the stuff.
At the thought of the two men, she opened her eyes and looked around for the pair who’d taken such good care of her yesterday—and given her unspeakable pleasure too. The room was empty, and she frowned, sitting up and finding herself naked once more.
“This is getting to be a habit,” she muttered. “Naked and alone. Nice.”
A rudimentary survey of the house revealed the men were gone again. This time, however, she found a note on the counter.
Got called into the home office. Will be staying the night in Fairbanks and will see you tomorrow morning. Stay out of trouble! Bar and Mika.
Her brows drew together as a spout of anger shot through her. They were in Fairbanks, in civilization, and they hadn’t woken her to take her with them. She was pretty sure Emmie and Kelsey would have wanted to go as well. They all needed to get back to the real world so they could resume their journeys to the next chapters of their lives.
It was becoming infinitely clear Mika and Bar had no intention of helping her do that. Fine. She’d been on her own and fending for herself since she was a teenager and her dad had decided she was old enough to take care of herself when he went on his expeditions. She’d do it again now.
Scrabbling around, she found her underwear and jeans. Though she wasn’t thrilled to be slipping on clothes she’d already worn, she reasoned she’d only worn them for a few hours yesterday before Bar and Mika had removed them again. Fishing around in Bar’s drawers, she found a thermal shirt and a T-shirt. After pulling them both on, she looked in his closet and found a hoodie. All Bar’s clothes were too big on her, but she figured she didn’t have much choice. This was Alaska in the fall and she wanted to be warm.
Finding her shoes was a bigger challenge, but she finally found them under the edge of the bed where she’d first slept.
So what to do? Once her spate of activity wound down, she stood in the middle of the living room and realized she didn’t have a plan. Well, if what she’d been told was true, her only exit was via air taxi. That meant she needed to go to the airport.
That proved easier said than done, she soon discovered. Stepping from Mika and Bar’s house, she felt as if she’d dropped into a different world. There was no flashy architecture in Caribou Run, no tall buildings and few vehicles—and all of those she saw were old model years. Off-hand, she wondered why anyone would need a car in a place this size. The no-frill houses with squat roofs and painted, wood-panel walls seemed scattered haphazardly along the wide street. Her brows drew together. Calling it a street was probably an overstatement. It seemed more of a well-trodden, unpaved path.
However, it did make it easier for her to get to the tiny Caribou Run airport. The tower, maybe two or three stories, rose above the other structures, guiding her way. She headed for it, hoping to arrange a flight. She didn’t have her purse, which she assumed was on the plane somewhere in the wilderness, but if they gave her access to a computer, she could charge the flight manually since she had her number memorized.
A man who looked vaguely like Bar and Mika was stepping through the tall, chain-linked gate from the runway area when she approached and she waved her hand to get his attention before he disappeared anywhere.
“Hey there,” he said with a smile that caused a pang in her middle because it reminded her of the men she was leaving. “You must be Summer. How are you?”
“Good… How did you…” She shook her head. “Never mind. When’s the next air taxi and who do I have to see to arrange a flight? Maybe three?”
She’d have to find Kelsey and Emmie and see if they were in good enough shape to fly. She was sure they’d want to be on their way as well.
“A flight?” His brows drew together. “You can’t get a flight.”
“But why not? They run several times a day, don’t they? I have money,” she argued.
“No, doll, Bar would kill me if I flew you out of here, then Mika would kill me again. No can do, sweetness. Don’t worry. They’ll be back in the morning.”
She let out a low growl of frustration. “Let’s forget for a minute that you called me doll—or sweetness, for that matter. Why exactly can’t you take me? Bar and Mika don’t have a say over whether I go somewhere or not. You people can’t detain me against my will.”
The sex had been good, but she couldn’t sidetrack everything for two men, even if they were deep into fantasy fulfillment. Her plan had been one night, always only one night. Diligently, she pushed aside thoughts of them.
He tilted his head and obviously bit back a smile. “Well, you happen to be on tribal land here. And our rules are the rules. You’re Bar and Mika’s mate, and that means you stay until they let you go.”
“Of all the—”
“And Bar’s my brother, doll, so I’m definitely not pissing him off.”
“You can’t do this!”
“Well, actually—”
“Is there someone else I can talk to here? A manager for the airport or something?”
“Mika’s mother books the flights and files the flight plans. You wanna talk to her?” The man’s smirk told her she wouldn’t get much further with the other woman.
Summer rubbed her hand over her face and took a deep breath. “Okay,” she said as calmly as she could. “Let’s be reasonable. I am an American citizen on American soil who’d like to fly to another part of America. I am not anyone’s wife, girlfriend or mate. I’m just a photographer who needs to get back to her life. My family and friends will be worried about me. They will come looking for me.”
She hoped the subtle threat of others would sway him. Instead, he shook his head. “No one ever just finds Caribou Run, doll. Besides, you’re plane went down a ways from here. We’re not exactly on the radar.”
“I can’t believe this,” she exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air. “This is…is…kidnapping! You’re actually going to nonchalantly stand there and tell me I can’t leave Caribou Run? I can’t believe you people. No,” she revised, lifting a finger. “I can’t believe you.”
It wasn’t fair to group all the people of this town into the same crowd.
“Are you always so…volatile?”
She narrowed her eyes at him, unwilling to tell him she was generally good tempered, that is, when she wasn’t being unfairly detained. “Where’s the police station? This place has one, right?”
“Of course, sweetness. We’re not heathens.”
She snorted, but didn’t interrupt as he pointed.
“It’s about a mile and a half that way, in the middle of town. Our crime rate is really low so Buck is only in on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and a half day every other Friday. But today’s Monday.” His grin looked far from contrite.
“Of course,” she ground out. “And if there’s a problem on Monday?”
“There are never problems on Monday. Buck would kick someone’s ass for calling him in on his day off.”
“Well, that’s nice, but I am having an emergency.”
“Now, doll,” he said, clearly having fun at her expense, “wanting to leave isn’t actually an emergency.”
“You’re impossible,” she muttered and turned to walk away.
“It was nice to meet you,” he called after her. “I’m Fillion, by the way.”
If she were staying, if he were truly her family, she might have acknowledged him, but she wasn’t and he wasn’t, so she kept walking.
Her mind whirled as she trekked back to the house. She would have gone to the police, but that seemed a fruitless idea. In lieu of that, she’d like to track down Kels
ey and Emmie, but short of knocking on every door, she had little hope of finding them. Too bad, because she was sure, with their heads together, they could come up with a solution.
A few doors from Mika and Bar’s, she spied a green-painted building with the name “Mollie’s Store and Post Office” painted on a handmade sign. Maybe the post office would know where she could find the other women.
A bell tinkled as she entered the windowless store and she looked around, wondering what it would be like to actually live in this town with Mika and Bar, without a Walmart or even a decent-sized grocery store nearby. Here, meager shelves lined the walls with a double-sided rack down the center.
“Hey, hon, how can I help you?” a cheerful voice called from the front of the store. Her back half-turned to Summer, the woman sorted envelopes into mail slots behind the counter—that slab of wood and register apparently enough to constitute security.
Summer pasted on a smile. She didn’t want to alienate another person from Caribou Run—though in retrospect, Fillion hadn’t been offended. “I’m looking for my two friends who were brought to town with me.”
“Hi there!” the woman effused, turning fully and setting down the pile of mail she’d held. She stretched out her hand. “I’m Mollie Ra. Welcome! You’re going to love it here.”
“Hi, Mollie. I’m Summer. Summer Nash. Do you know my friends? Kelsey and Emmie?”
“’Fraid not. I heard there were three of you who came in, thank the gods. You’re the first to visit my store, though.”
“But do you know who they’re staying with and where I might find them?”
The shopkeeper’s smile dimmed by a few kilowatts. She pressed her lips together and shook her head. “I was in Barrow all weekend and just came home this morning with the daily mail run. I heard one of them is staying with my brother-in-law Bar and his clus—his friend Mika.”
“That’s me.” Summer sighed, before changing tactics. “Um, do you have a phone?” Perhaps she could call for help.
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