He truly loved Canada and was proud to be a Canadian, but he didn’t really identify with his country, having spent most of his life around the world. He had been conceived in South America, Jelani in Africa, and Mai in Vietnam. Their parents had given them names from those areas but had made certain that they were born in Canada and had retained their citizenship.
* * * *
Jelani heard his brother come in. The winterized cottage they were staying in was down the road from his sister’s house. He lay in bed listening to the sound of quiet, watching as fat snowflakes drifted past his window. In Africa it was always noisy. Most animals were nocturnal, so they were always moving out in the darkness. Mosquitoes buzzed outside of the net under which he slept and water rushed in a nearby river. The jungle only quieted when danger was near. Too bad hadn’t been listening closer the night that everything had gone to hell. Maybe he would have heard the mercenary raiders coming. Here, it was always quiet. The cold weather froze the water and the snow insulated the sounds. Occasionally, he’d heard an animal lumbering through the forest but the bears were hibernating and all he had seen was a couple of wolves. He had seen the strangest thing the night before. He’d stood at the living-room window looking out into the early morning light, hoping it would chase all his dark memories away.
The moon was high in the sky and about a quarter full. Still it had been a clear light reflected off of the snow. From the edge of the forest, he’d seen a doe carefully walk into the clearing. Jelani hadn’t wanted to startle her, so he’d kept as still as possible.
She’d nibbled at some bark off the trees and then had seen him through the window. She’d stepped closer and they had stared at each other through the glass. Maybe he was losing his mind, but Jelani had thought that it wanted to say something to him. When he’d stood up, the doe had skittered back and then leapt for the tree line. He’d thought about nailing some salt licks to the trees and hopefully enticing her back. It had felt nice not being alone with his thoughts in the middle of the night. She’d distracted him and he fell asleep shortly after she’d left, but he didn’t dream about the baby he couldn’t save. Instead he’d dreamt of Jessica, and in his dreams her hair had been the same colour as the doe in the moonlight.
“Hey, Jelani! Wake the fuck up.” Marcario’s voice echoed in the small house as he stomped his boots after coming in.
Jelani got up and pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. “I’m up. What do you want?”
He opened his bedroom door and his brother handed him a warm travel mug. “Here, have a coffee.”
He paused before taking the mug from Marcario. “Did Mai make it?”
“Would I do that to you?” Marcario grinned at him, looking the picture of innocence, which was usually the first indication his brother was up to something. Marcario didn’t do innocent well.
“Yes.” Jelani opened the top and inhaled. It smelled fine, and the first sip was delicious. His body relaxed at that initial shot of caffeine. Definitely not the sludge his sister made. “That’s perfect. Thanks. What are you waking me up for?”
“You were already awake. I could almost hear you thinking the moment I pulled in. Regardless of how bad of a night you put in, you can’t sleep past ten.”
“Speaking of bad nights, how’s your shoulder? I heard you groaning in your sleep when you moved.” The threat of infection had passed, and the wound was healing well. But, Jelani worried that his brother was overusing it and risked damaging some of the healing tissues.
“It’s stiff, but I haven’t taken anything for it today. I’d rather suffer a bit of pain than the foggy feeling I get when I take the pills the doctor gave me. But that isn’t why I woke you. Mai and the guys want to talk to us before we go help with the spring festival. I told them we would. I didn’t think you’d mind.”
“Nah, I’m good. All this laying around is driving me insane.”
“That’s what I figured.”
“Okay, let me jump into the shower, and then we can get going.”
Jelani didn’t take long to get ready, and then both he and Marcario were in the Jeep heading up to their sister’s place. They crested the hill and it curved around into the small road that led to the Solfalvi home.
“What is that? Holy shit!” Marcario gunned the gas and the Jeep jerked forward.
Jelani looked in the direction his brother was pointing. Mai was running toward the house with two large wolves following her.
“Oh my god.” Terror struck him. His baby sister was about to be attacked by a couple of wild, possibly rabid animals. “Is there some sort of weapon in here?” Jelani looked around, and the only thing that was of any possible use was the long snowbrush.
The Jeep fishtailed on the slippery road and Marcario quickly twisted the wheel to counteract the Jeep’s motion. Jelani watched his sister, terrified they might not make it. But as they got closer, things didn’t seem right. The wolves raced past her and leapt up onto the back porch. Mai changed her direction and headed toward the front of the house. Was she still trying to escape?
“Something’s not right.” Jelani pointed to Mai, who was now leaning against the porch railing.
Marcario gripped the steering wheel with both hands, his knuckles white with the strain. “Why isn’t she running in the house?”
“Do you think she knows those animals? Maybe they aren’t wild wolves. They could be someone’s dogs.”
“They are big fucking dogs. Where did they go?” Marcario jumped on the brakes and the Jeep slid up to a stop. Jelani jumped out of the vehicle as soon as he could, still gripping the snowbrush.
“Where the hell did you learn to drive?” Mai yelled at them as soon as Marcario opened the door. “I thought you were going to spin out or crash into a snowbank. This isn’t Africa. You have to be more careful with how you drive here.”
“We thought you were being chased by wolves.” Jelani carried the snowbrush like a weapon, as if the ice scraper on the end was a sword tip.
“They were just playing. Geez, you two are a bit paranoid.”
Marcario narrowed his eyes at his sister. Mai was talking to them like they were overreacting. “Being chased by wild wolves is a big deal, Mai.” He started to suspect their little sister was playing a prank on them. “Let me guess, they are someone’s pets, right?”
“No, dummy. They’re my husbands.”
Chapter Five
The sun was warm against Jessica’s cheeks as she looked out the window of The Shack.
“Men are jerks, and they can’t make their minds up about anything. Better to stay alone than have some overbearing male play games with you.”
That wasn’t the first bitter comment Jessica had heard from Brenna lately. In fact, ever since Brenna had come home from helping her sister during her pregnancy, she had been acting more and more negative about men. Even Brenna’s father, Gordon, was concerned. Gordon didn’t want to look like he was getting involved, but he wanted everyone else to find out what happened and then report back.
She and Carol had come up with the plan to drag Brenna out of the animal clinic today. Something happened while Brenna was out west, and they both hoped she would confide in them and let them help her. Brenna was like a sister to her, too, and Jess didn’t like seeing her in this kind of pain. More than once she’d caught Brenna looking off into space, a heartfelt sadness dulling the light in her gaze.
Jessica’d had enough with her friend’s anger and surly attitude, and both she and Carol had decided that a girlfriend intervention was overdue. “Brenna did something happen to you at your sister’s?”
Brenna’s face drained of all colour and she glanced around before leaning forward. “Why? What did you hear?”
“Not a damned thing, and I think you should have confided in one of us by now.” Carol pinned a narrow glare on Brenna. “We’re your friends, and you know we love you.”
“There isn’t much to tell.” Brenna scooped a spoonful of sugar into her coffee and stirre
d idly. “I met someone, but he turned out to be an asshole.”
“That’s all? You’ve dealt with jerks before. What made this one so different?”
“I thought he was the one.” Brenna ladled another scoop of sugar into her cup and continued to stir.
Jessica could completely sympathize with Brenna’s broken heart. She had thought Geoff was the one, and he’d turned out to be a number-one abusive asshole. Only she had convinced herself that he had to be Mr. Right, because she needed to find someone who would keep her safe. Only she hadn’t stopped to consider that security wasn’t something that could be forced. She had to feel it in her heart, and all she’d managed to do was lie to herself and everyone else
“Brenna, what happened?” Carol moved the sugar bowl away from Brenna’s spoon.
“He turned out to be an ass.” Brenna sipped her coffee, grimaced, and pushed the cup away. “I hardly knew him. Who am I kidding? I didn’t know him at all. I thought I did, in here.” She thumped herself in the chest. “But, I was nothing but a fuck against a wall, and then off he went to go drinking with his scumbag friends.”
Jessica wanted to cry for her friend. How would she react if she’d felt something that intense and then had him walk away? Kind of like what would probably have happened with Marcario and Jelani. If things were different, and she hadn’t allowed Geoff to trample all over her self-esteem, she would have happily jumped into bed with the Bennett brothers, and then they would have walked out of her life, too. She’d have been screwed either way.
Brenna leaned forward and covered Jessica’s hand with her own. The stark pain on her friend’s face tore at her heart. “Don’t buy into this mating shit, Jessica.”
“That’s not fair, Brenna,” Carol argued. But she was in a unique position being mated to three incredible men who worshiped the ground she walked on. “You can’t paint all men out there with the same shit-covered brush.”
“No, she’s right, Carol.” Jessica understood where Brenna was coming from. “You are blessed by Fates, everyone knows that. The series of events that allowed the four of you to come together is nothing short of Serendipity. We all can’t expect to be that lucky, and I would never wish anything else for you.”
“All right, so if I believe you two, then what about Mai Solfalvi?” Carol arched her eyebrow at them both. “What about your dad and moms, Brenna?”
“Okay, so you have a couple valid points.” Brenna shook her head. “But I don’t think that I was meant to find that kind of love. I need a man who isn’t going to be intimidated by my wolf, who will try to crush me in order to prove that he is stronger.”
And that was exactly what made Jessica so nervous. She knew she avoided Alpha males in her personal life for a reason. She needed to feel safe in order to survive but, she wouldn’t survive another relationship like the one she escaped with Geoff. There were many local males to choose from, but they were friends. She could never pick one as a lover. They were too strong, and she would never feel safe with a man who could hurt her.
Next time she would choose a man with her head, not her instincts. She would choose someone who was honest and kind, and one she could trust not to hurt her. She might never feel completely safe with him, but she wouldn’t feel like she was in danger from him. That was her entire theory behind only dating humans. Getting involved with human males made logical sense, but then when did logic ever meld well with the heart? Geoff was weaker than any Alpha male, but he was still able to hurt her. Why bother getting involved with anyone?
“Trust me on this, Jess. If you ever meet a man you think is your mate, then run fast and far in the opposite direction.”
“Why would I want to do that?” Jessica grew up dreaming of one day meeting someone who would be her mate. For a short while on that sofa she’d thought she’d finally found them in Marcario and Jelani Bennett, but that had to be an emotional throwback from the upheaval she’d experienced that night. Her inner doe gave her heart a sharp kick for that bit of rationalization.
“I still think all this mate stuff is bullshit, a throwback to a time when we had to mate to survive. Much like the human need to marry and be monogamous because of some ancient moldy scrolls they discovered near the Dead Sea. Over the centuries the true meaning has been bastardized to suit a male-dominated society.”
Jess frowned at the bitterness in her friend’s tone. Carol looked upset over it as well. “They all have their moments, sure, but it’s not all that bad,” Carol commented back. “They can be jerks but all that mating bullshit I love makes up for it.”
“That’s because you have your three husbands wrapped around your little finger,” Brenna muttered as she dunked her sausage roll in a puddle of savoury HP Sauce.
“As much as I’m wrapped around theirs.” Carol smiled brightly and took a bite of her sandwich.
Carol was married to Jaxon, Kaden, and Sloan Henderson, and the brothers were completely besotted with their wife. Jess was certain that the feeling was mutual. She went to school with Sloan and knew what a complete flirt he could be, but he adored Carol.
“I was talking to Mai the other day and she said that Marcario is doing much better.”
Jesse poked at her salad. Her appetite suddenly vanished with Carol’s abrupt change in subject. Her heart hurt every time she heard one of their names mentioned. Mai’s brothers had been staying up here since they’d gotten back from the Congo a few weeks ago. Neither one of them had been seen around town much, and the rumour was they were both recovering from something terrible.
They were staying in the cottage a few miles away from the Solfalvis. She’d told herself to stay away from them. There was no future there, no matter how much her soul and doe wanted it to be true. She had never felt as safe before or after that evening when she slept between them. She could feel the heat rise in her cheeks at the memory of that dream, and waking up only to discover that they knew about it, too. She distinctly remembered the scent of their arousal surrounding her as she woke up.
More than once she thought about what she might have found if she’d been brave enough to slip her hand under that pillow. Would she have found Jelani’s cock as hard as in the dream? A slight rub with her leg, and she would have known if her instincts were right about Marcario.
Their sister might be mated to two men, but that didn’t mean that they shared women, and Jess most certainly wanted them both. But she wasn’t about to allow herself to be a doormat again. They had lives far away from here, and she didn’t have a place in that. What good would she be in a foreign country or in a dangerous situation?
She glanced out the large window and realized the objects of her thoughts had sprung to life. Across the street, Jelani was holding a door open while Mai stepped out of the Blavet Museum. Marcario was on her heels and the three of them appeared to be having a heated discussion about something. Probably, the chance of there really being a lake monster under the ice.
She didn’t realize how much she had shut down emotionally over the past few months. Seeing them both had her heart racing faster than ever. She clenched her fingers together in her lap and fought the urge to leap out of her seat and run across the street to them.
There was no guarantee that either of them were the least bit interested in her. Everything she felt that night might have been a rebound of confused emotions. All they knew about her was that she had left an abusive relationship that night and then fallen asleep between them.
“What’s got you blushing like a rose, Jessica?” Carol asked.
Jessica glanced over, and both Carol and Brenna were staring at her. Brenna sat up and looked out the window behind her, but the trio had moved behind a vehicle and was now hidden from view.
“Oh, nothing.” Brenna wasn’t the only person who had secrets she didn’t want to confess.
“Really? Considering we are talking about Mai’s brothers, I have to wonder if you are holding out on us.”
“No.” Heat slowly crept up her neck with her lie. �
��Did you two hear about Miss Aniela? Holly, Brand, and Colwyn bought her a condo down in Florida, and they are going to take care of the antique store during the winter months while she’s down south.”
“Dad told me about it the other day. He wants to take the family to Disney World for a vacation and plans to stop in for a visit.” Brenna grinned, her mood much lighter now. “Aniela and my moms have been friends for years. I think the visit is all a smoke screen, because he wants to check up on her to make certain that the neighborhood meets approval.”
Jessica knew how underhanded Gordon could be when it came to protecting those he cared about. He never meddled directly, but was always there when you needed him most. The conversation slid into the family vacation plans and Brenna’s excitement at the prospect of going to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Islands of Adventure. Thankfully, Jessica had dodged having to admit to her attraction to the Bennett brothers.
* * * *
Jess loved having lunch with her friends, but seeing both the Bennett brothers had sent her emotions tumbling. By the time she left The Shack, their vehicle was gone. She’d stopped and picked up some groceries on the way home. She had a small winterized cottage a few miles outside of town. The sun was shining overhead and the air smelled of spring. It was a perfect day to get some spring-cleaning done. The entire drive home she tried to think about what Brenna said. She didn’t need a mate to be complete. She could choose who she wanted to be with, tradition be dammed.
Out of habit, she glanced around as she walked up to the front of her place. A nagging suspicion irritated the back of her neck. Something wasn’t right, and she felt like she was being watched. The cottage looked fine and undisturbed. She scanned the fluffy snow around the door looking for footprints other than her own.
Obsessed with Fur [3xtasy Lake 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 5
