The Dom Unites Wolf and Panther [Unchained Love 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Cara Adams

  So Leticia weeded and tended the vegetables and herbs in the back garden behind the main building at Carnal Connections, and Autumn concentrated on making her stitches perfectly even while her needles flashed in and out.

  “What are you making that they’re in such a hurry for?” asked Leticia.

  Autumn looked up for a brief moment and smiled. “It’s crazy, but hey, they pay me, so I shut up and knit. I’m making exactly the same beanie in four different ways with different thicknesses of yarn and different sizes of needle. It’s a pattern that repeats every six rows, so it’s easy enough to remember, except a beanie has a fair bit of increasing and decreasing just to keep the work interesting.”

  “That sounds way too complicated to me.” Leticia laughed as she bent over some tiny green plants.

  “Yes, but I’d have no idea whether I was pulling up a plant or a weed, whereas you know that sort of thing,” replied Autumn.

  “I guess so. Will you go back to the movie studio? Do you think it’s safe for Ramona and Gaynor to be there?” asked Leticia.

  “For a start, they were the same people who ram-raided the front gates here, so not the brightest or most professional of criminals. I knocked Jim out with my purse. I mean, that’s like something out of a movie in itself. But the key thing is they came at night, when they didn’t expect anyone to be there to stop them. If they’d been intending to hurt anyone they’d have come during the day. They just wanted to steal things they could use for money. I don’t think there’s any danger,” said Autumn. And she meant it, too. She could imagine Omar getting all bossy and Alpha, but he didn’t need to. Autumn felt sure they wouldn’t be back.

  Leticia sat back on her heels and looked at Autumn. Autumn glanced up and stopped knitting. Leticia was about to ask her something that was important to her.

  “Do you think my father will come back here when he gets out of jail? Or will he join up with the rogue panthers again?”

  Autumn took a deep breath. That was a really difficult question, and no answer was going to make Leticia really happy. “Aw, honey, the short answer is, I haven’t got a fucking clue. But I guess since your father chose to leave us and go to the rogue panthers, I think he might go back to them.”

  Leticia nodded and bowed her head. “That’s what I thought, too.”

  “It might be for the best. Not everyone is happy having your brother living among us, although he seems to be working hard and learning the building trade under JB. Having Sam back as well might push people beyond their limits.”

  Leticia smiled. “David is doing well, isn’t he? I’m enjoying getting to know him.”

  Autumn started knitting again. “Yes, JB’s said several times he learns fast and works hard, and there’s still a lot of work to do here. When will your house be finished? How soon can you move in?”

  Leticia moved and began weeding the garden bed again. “David’s helping us build the deck and I’m doing the garden myself, now that William has finished digging the flower beds for me. Inside, the first coat of paint is on the walls and Oliver hopes we can do the second coat next Sunday. Then it’s just a matter of moving all the furniture out of the living area so we can paint that room. Right now everything is piled in the living room. When the other rooms are done we’ll set them up how we want them then clear the rest of the furniture out to give us space to clean and paint that room, and then we’ll be done.”

  Autumn’s fingers flew through her yarn as she knitted and chatted happily with Leticia. At last Leticia was enjoying herself and her life. She’d tried so hard to be the daughter Sam wanted her to be, but the man was unbalanced. At least now she’d taken the step to claim the two men who loved her and was living the life she’d chosen for herself.

  And what about me? Am I going to see if panthers and werewolves can cooperate, or am I going to run away from the situation, saying it’s all too hard?

  Autumn giggled quietly. Well, their cocks were always hard, that was for sure.

  * * * *

  Nicholas knew he was the right person to talk to Larry about transferring the movie studio out to Carnal Connections. Apart from the fact that he tended to do the more visible, up-front kind of tasks with the studio and Curtis tended to do the backroom-type work, both he and Larry were wolves and had a natural understanding of each other. Nicholas even understood why Larry had been very much in the closet about the fact he was a werewolf until recently. Growing up without a pack did that to a man.

  It was strange how Carnal Connections had almost become their pack. Tor, Gaynor’s Dom, was a wolf, too, and he’d never told anyone at all, not even his partners Gaynor and Cameron, until Ramona had been attacked by rogue panthers. Ramona, a puma shape-shifter, had gone to live at Carnal Connections with her pack, and the very loose and tenuous association he and Curtis had begun with the BDSM community had suddenly ramped up into a major connection between them all. And now, he was part of a small pack with Tor, Larry, and Kurt, an older wolf who had lived with a pack until his wife had died and he’d become interested in the BDSM lifestyle and moved to Carnal Connections.

  Nicholas was almost certain Raegan, an older man and his scene painter, was also a wolf, but Raegan had never so much as hinted at anything to him, and Nicholas didn’t consider it his place to ask. The man was paid to paint scenery and he did that amazingly well. End of story.

  Nicholas was driving an old truck, not wanting to risk any rain on the paint job of the SUV before all the scenes involving it had been shot. He hadn’t called Larry to book an appointment because his day was ruined anyway, so if he had to sit around and wait until Larry was out of another meeting it didn’t really matter.

  “Hi, Lucy. Is Larry free for the next half hour?”

  “Hi, Nicholas. He’s busy clearing out his in-tray by emptying most of it onto my desk. If you keep him entertained for the next half hour, maybe I can get some of my own work done,” she replied.

  “I heard that!” said Larry.

  Nicholas grinned and took that as an invitation to enter Larry’s office. He closed the door behind him and sat in front of Larry’s desk.

  Larry leaned back in his chair and crossed his booted feet on the open top drawer of his desk. “Hey, Nicholas. What can I do for you today?”

  “It’s a long, complicated, and private story.” Nicholas stared at Larry. The other man was in a relaxed pose, but Nicholas could sense that he was ready and willing to listen. His brown eyes were alert and focused on Nicholas.

  Nicholas composed himself and said, “Last night some of those idiot ram-raiders came to the movie studio to steal anything they could resell. We were there and they didn’t get anything. Not that we keep anything worth stealing there anyway. All our props are fakes, for fuck’s sake.”

  Larry nodded. “I heard about that from Omar.”

  Nicholas grimaced. “Yeah, well, Omar is part of the story. He worries about Autumn’s safety. But Curtis and I would never let any harm come to her. We love her.”

  “If you mated her, you could protect her better.”

  “I’m with you there, brother, and we’re working on it, believe me. We’d originally thought we could all live out at the studio. Build ourselves a nice bedroom set, use the lunchroom and bathrooms there, and so on. But after last night, we’re not so sure. It’s not the kind of place you can make really secure. Everyone who works there, including any extras just hired for the day, may need to be all over the set. It’s not possible to keep people out effectively.”

  “So you want to move in here, too. I can’t see that’ll be a problem. You’re almost part of us already. You should pass the tests easily,” said Larry.

  “Good, thanks. But that’s just part of it. Our vision is much bigger than that.”

  Nicholas tried to read Larry but couldn’t. Larry simply raised an eyebrow, but Nicholas didn’t think he was opposed, just waiting for more information.

  “We haven’t gotten it all planned out yet. The attack only happened last nig
ht. But we were thinking about that dead-end road and the land around it at the southern edge of Carnal Connections. We could move our studio out there. Maybe even use your people as extras in our movies when we want them.”

  “I think plenty of our people would get a kick out of being in a picture. But back up a little first. How are you going to move the studio out here?”

  “Almost everything is painted wooden panels. We pack them up and move them around all the time. The only difference is we’d be hiring a flatbed truck and moving them to the new studio is all. The timing would be a challenge to get organized, but I reckon we can do it.”

  “I hope you don’t mind me asking such a rude question, but how will you pay for all this? The land, the moving, the new studio.”

  “Curtis reckons we could sell to a developer. Our existing studio isn’t far out of town. It’s an easy commute. A developer could put a hell of a lot of tract houses on that land, even though it’s not a very big plot. That’s another thing. It really is too small for us. We’re always having difficulties when we need a longer scene shot. We fake the endings with painted boards, but it’s beyond tricky at times.”

  Nicholas could see he’d gained Larry’s interest now. They bent over the desk, Larry got out a notepad and pen, and they began talking in detail about the land and where buildings would be placed. “If our buildings were set up near the road, we’d have the entire length of the allotment for long shots. That’s at least twice the length we have right now, and the width’s about the same. It’s certainly not narrower, anyway.”

  “I can see what you want and I think it may work. But I’ll need to consult a few people before I agree to let you move beside us. Our security is a touchy topic. As you know, David is staying with us already. Another panther, Galen, has just reappeared and has said nothing about where he’s been for the past three years. Then there’s the possibility of Sam wanting to come back when he gets out of jail. Some people are finding this all way too stressful and dangerous. To have unlimited strangers right on our fence may not appeal to them, you understand.”

  Nicholas nodded. He already knew that was the weakest link in his proposal.

  “Let me know how Curtis gets on talking to the county about the road and to the developer about the land. If he’s gotten everything sorted at his end, I’ll speak to the people here. I’m sorry, but that’s the best deal I can give you right now.”

  “I understand. Thank you anyway, Larry.”

  Nicholas still felt hopeful. David was turning out to be a model citizen and Sam was tucked up tight in jail. He knew nothing about this Galen person but would talk to Autumn about him later. Meanwhile, he could work on ensuring the fence to Carnal Connections was secure. I wonder how much it would cost to make that length of it between our properties electric? And we could definitely cover it all with CCTV cameras. No worries about that.

  * * * *

  “Someone helped Jim break out of jail last night, and no one has seen Galen since lunchtime yesterday,” said Autumn to Nicholas and Curtis.

  The three of them were sitting in the small communal room where she did a lot of her yarn work. Omar didn’t want any of the panther women to be left alone at the moment, and Nicholas and Curtis had jumped at the excuse to spend more time with Autumn.

  “Jim’s the one you caught, right?” asked Curtis.

  “Yes, that’s right. He’s no Einstein, but he seemed a bit smarter than the others,” she added.

  “Well, that wouldn’t be hard,” said Curtis.

  “I don’t know Galen at all. Tell me about him,” said Nicholas.

  “In panther packs, the young women tend to hang around together and don’t mingle much with the young men.”

  “It’s the same with wolves.”

  “Humans, too, often. Haven’t you ever been to a cookout? All the men stand around the grill outside while all the women are inside in the kitchen.”

  “All right. The point I’m trying to make is that I was barely twenty-one when he left. Just officially grown up and starting to look around at the men and think about potential mates. Now, okay, I’d had a few dates, but there was no one who I’d truly lusted after or anything like that. Not like Serena and Verity, who’ve both firmly gotten their gaze on certain men.”

  “I hear you, but tell us what you know of him anyway. Did you go to school together? Kids learn a lot about each other on the school bus,” said Nicholas.

  Autumn nodded and thought carefully. “He’s a couple years older than me. I guess quiet and almost secretive are the words that come to my mind. I don’t recall him causing trouble or anything like that ever. Even when Sam told him he couldn’t date Leticia because she was too young—which was ridiculous by the way, she was nineteen—he didn’t yell or complain behind Sam’s back. He just packed his things, loaded his car, told Leticia he was going, and left.”

  “Hasn’t he said anything about where he’s been or what he’s been doing for the past three years?”

  Autumn frowned, trying to remember exactly what Leticia had said. “He traveled down south for the warmer weather and said he found he missed the snow so came up north again. He went back to the farm, but of course we’d left there by then.”

  “It’s impossible to know whether he’s just a quiet, private sort of person or whether he’s planning trouble,” said Curtis.

  “But what if someone has hurt him? Everyone’s saying he’s helped Jim escape and joined the rogue panthers, but he returned to us, his own pack, not to them. What if he’s been in a car accident or something and no one has bothered to look for him?” asked Autumn.

  “Wouldn’t Omar have thought of that? Omar seems to be mighty smart to me. For a cat, that is,” said Nicholas.

  Autumn scowled at Nicholas. That was an unnecessarily rude comment, but she noticed Curtis trying not to laugh. Didn’t these men understand? One of their pack may be lying unconscious, needing help somewhere, and no one seemed to give a fuck.

  “Fine. I’ll go look for him myself. Don’t you stress yourselves about a mere cat.” She stomped out of the sitting room and headed over to the barn. She heard Curtis say something to her, but Nicholas stopped him. Fine. Fine! Fine! They could all go fuck themselves. She’d talk to some panthers. People who cared about their pack.

  Leticia had pulled two small tables together and spread out packets of seeds and a huge sheet of paper. Gaynor, Lucy, and Ramona were sitting with her. For a brief moment, Autumn wondered what Leticia was planning for the garden but decided finding out what had happened to Galen was more important. She slid onto the arm of the chair that Ramona was sitting in. “Ramona. Has anyone phoned the hospital to check Galen hasn’t been taken there because he’s hurt?”

  Leticia looked up and smiled at her. “William said he and Tor would do a thorough check before they come off shift this evening. Galen’s a big man, bigger than average, so it’ll be simple to see if he’s there.”

  Okay, at least someone had thought about that. “Did anyone check the parking lot to see if his car is still there?” she asked.

  This time it was Ramona who answered. “Omar did, and it isn’t.”

  “Who spoke to him at lunchtime yesterday? Did he say what his plans were for today?”

  Again it was Ramona who answered. “He was working with JB and David on remodeling a couple of the rooms on the top floor of the main building. They’re making another bigger apartment there like Larry’s, but on the other side of the hallway. Nobody said anything specific, but JB’d just assumed Galen and David would continue working with him on that project today. David turned up, but Galen didn’t.”

  Autumn was confused. “But how can we find him then? What if the rogue panthers have gotten him?”

  “He’s a grown man who’s traveled the length of the United States. If he wants to leave, that’s his choice. If he was hurt, there would be signs. Nothing the rogues have done has been invisible. I’m not saying he’s helped Jim escape from jail, but it’s…interes
ting…timing,” said Lucy firmly.

  Autumn felt her entire body slumping. Oh fuck. What if he is another bad guy?

  Chapter Four

  Autumn was confused and upset. On the one hand she kept denying Curtis was her Dom, yet on the other she had to admit they’d played a few very mild BDSM scenes and she was ready and willing to try something a little more hardline.

  But no biting. She wasn’t ever going there.

  The whole human-wolf-panther thing was making her mind itch. Just last night Nicholas had clearly demonstrated his low opinion of panthers compared to wolves. Yet it seemed everyone had been concerned about Galen, it was just that they’d run into a dead end, not that no one cared. And she knew both men cared about her. Hell, four orgasms in one night. She still found it hard to believe her body had achieved that.

  And wanted it again. Wanted them again.

  So…she was willing to try more BDSM, even go into the dungeon with the men. And she was more than willing to continue to stay with them for now.

  For now. Not forever.

  Almost as if her thoughts had summoned the men, her cell phone rang. “Autumn here.”

  “Hi, it’s Curtis. Are you willing to try a dungeon scene with Nicholas and me? I can promise you we won’t do anything you disagree with and that you will definitely enjoy the scenes we play.”

  Curtis’s voice was rich and enticing. She wanted to say yes, but she couldn’t really. Could she?

  “Come on, Autumn, say yes.”

  “I…Okay.”

  “Awesome. You won’t regret your decision.”

  * * * *

  Curtis knew it was time for a full-on BDSM scene. Autumn was confused, tense, and upset. Some bone-shaking orgasms and some discipline was what she needed to get her heart settled again. Although Nicholas was his best friend and his business partner, in the dungeon he was also Curtis’s submissive. They really needed to get back to the dungeon and have a good workout. Curtis needed to remind them that he was their Dom and they should trust him more with their lives and to make—or at the very least help them make—decisions about their problems.