by Helena Ray
“Let’s go,” Clay said, grabbing his tattered green army jacket from his bed.
“Clay, it’s a little late for driving out to the Shoshone reservation, isn’t it?”
“You just got to be inside our mate, man. I didn’t get the privilege, and if waking up Bo means there’s one less second I have to wait before sinking into that sweet cunt, then I would see him any hour of the day or night.”
Jack said nothing for a moment, and then his silly just-been-fucked grin grew once more. “Fair enough. Let’s go.”
* * * *
Jack watched his brother bang on the door to Bo’s house and wished he could be in his lion form. His worn woolen peacoat—pilfered from the shop when his parents were still alive—did nothing against the unseasonably harsh late-autumn winds. Finally, light shone from within Bo’s windows, and Jack heard loud footsteps as the Shoshone shaman approached the door.
“Seriously?” He opened the door and looked back and forth between Jack and Clay. “Didn’t we talk about how waking me up in the middle of the night ain’t the way to earn my favor?”
“Yeah, but it’s our mate.” Clay smiled, an expression Jack hadn’t seen on his brother in a very long time. “It can’t wait.”
Bo stared at Clay then turned and walked deeper into the house, leaving the door open.
“Might as well go in,” Clay sent telepathically.
Before they even walked through the foyer, they heard the clattering of pots and pans from the kitchen in the back of the house. “I’m assuming you wanna shift in front of her,” Bo called out.
“Fuck yes we do,” Jack said, and he let himself get excited for the first time since he met Anya. So many precariously balanced factors could have fallen apart and made the mating impossible, but it seemed that most of those had dissolved. He and Clay had fallen for the same woman. Amazingly enough the same woman had fallen for both of them, and that woman sounded pretty damn ready to settle down with both of them.
Only one factor still worried Jack. His telepathic skills had been out of control recently. When he heard the other pride member’s voices, they came through as clearly as if they were speaking directly to him, and Jack could remember each and every word they said. But when he could muster the energy, he could create a nearly impenetrable shield around his mind to silence the others, something he had never before accomplished. But his shielding abilities were still unpredictable, and without the power to block out the thoughts, the increased clarity only frustrated Jack more. But he had already decided before he went to see Anya that she was worth the effort. Some mental discomfort outweighed the possibility that he could have a forever with the most beautiful, most alluring, most endearingly clumsy woman he had ever met.
Feeling her pussy milk the seed from his cock only solidified his decision.
“Okay, boys,” Bo said as he placed a tray holding two glasses of a murky brown substance on the coffee table across from his couch. “Take a seat and have a cocktail.”
From their thoughts, Jack knew that when Oliver and Roarke had found their mate, they had to drink the same substance. Both had thought about how disgusting it was for weeks on end, but both had thought it was totally worth it.
They both sat on the couch, and the acrid odor from the beverage filtered into his nostrils.
“Is this toxic?” Clay asked, poking one finger against the side of the glass. “Anything that smells like that can’t be good for humans.”
“Lucky you boys ain’t all human, huh?”
Although Jack could understand Bo’s pique at being awakened late at night, it appeared that Bo enjoyed his and Clay’s pain a bit too much.
Knowing it was better to get it over with, Jack grabbed the beverage and downed it in three painful gulps. It burned down his esophageal tract, causing him to sputter and cough as he placed his glass back on the tray.
“You’re not making this too appealing, man.” Clay picked up the glass, sniffed the liquid, and crinkled his face in genuine disgust. “It’s worth it, though, isn’t it?” he thought so that only Jack could hear. “Sinking into her and knowing that she’s the one, that we’re gonna make kittens and grow old with her, it’s worth it.”
“Totally worth it,” Jack said aloud.
With a deep breath, Clay emptied his glass with one admirable swallow. He appeared to turn slightly green right before coughing violently. His sickness lasted only a second, though, and he turned from where he sat to look up at Bo.
“You’re a cruel man.”
“Hey, don’t blame me. Blame your ancestors for going and messing with the land. We don’t take no shit from anyone, not your ancestors and not the corporate fuckers trying to get it now.”
Clay gave his typical grunted response and rose, saying good-bye to Bo before heading out the door to where his old station wagon awaited them, but Jack stayed behind for a moment.
“Before I go,” he said while Bo worked putting up vials of unidentifiable fluids back into his cabinets, “I wanted to ask you something.”
“Shoot, man. You know that I’m always here for you boys, even when I give you shit.”
“I know. It’s just my…well, you know…”
“Your weird telepathy thing?” The shaman didn’t mince his words.
“Yeah, my weird telepathy thing. It’s gotten…well, it’s gotten better and worse at the same time ever since I saw Anya.”
Bo closed a cabinet then crossed to stand across from where Jack leaned on the breakfast bar. “Let me guess. You’re having an easier time hearing but a harder time blocking.”
“Sort of. You see, when I try to block, it doesn’t work. Except when it does, and then…it’s…”
“It’s better, ain’t it? Stronger?”
“Exactly.”
He sighed and shook his head. “You know, you boys with the special powers—you, Perry, and Bryce—the curse chose you. Some of the shifters couldn’t handle the stress of what you boys have to go through, but the three of you are tough enough. Your gift is necessary for the pride’s survival. It’s vital when there’s an attack on the pride while you’re in human form. Remember, this shit came about before texting.
“But your powers, I’m not gonna lie, they’re just gonna get more intense. When a mountain lion-shifter takes a mate, it strengthens him, and your ability is part of who you are. That may mean that it gets easier to block, but I don’t know. She’s gonna help though, your Anya. Whatever happens to your powers, having a woman who loves you by your side is going to make everything better.”
Anxiety twisted Jack’s stomach. “I don’t know about the whole ‘love’ thing. I can feel it happening for me, for Clay, but we just met her and this is all gonna scare the living shit out of her. I don’t know when—or if—she’s gonna fall in love.”
“Don’t be stupid, man. The woman was built to love you. Something in the universe marked her as the one for you and brought her right to your doorstep. Trust me, you’re not the first shifter to worry about this, and just like the rest, she’s gonna fall for you.” Bo appeared thoughtful for a moment, a far cry from the no-bullshit shaman they had come to know and love. “And being in love…being in love makes everything better. Going to buy groceries, doing your taxes, hell, just washing the dishes, when you’re with the one person meant for you, it’s not tedious anymore. It’s a joy.”
Jack didn’t know how to react to the sudden display of emotion, but it struck a chord within him. Hadn’t his life already gotten better just since he met Anya? He did have stress from his increased abilities, but hadn’t he grinned at himself in the mirror this morning while he brushed his teeth?
“Anyway.” Bo shook a little and started to the door, putting one hand on Jack’s shoulder to guide him. “You boys should be set to mate her now, and I can’t wait to meet her. I heard legends about her, but never seen the real thing.”
“It’s a treat.” Jack smiled and shook the man’s extended hand. As
he turned to where the station wagon idled, the cold wind whipped across his face once more, but the sensation didn’t pain him this time.
No, it reminded him that he was alive.
And fuck it, he was going to say it. He was in love.
Chapter 10
Light filtered in through the small gap in the curtains on the window beside Anya’s bed, rousing her from a deep sleep. She didn’t know how long she’d been out, but she did know that dreams had haunted her sleep. Dreams of Clay and Jack and all the things they could do together played out in her head, and remembering the dreams had her pussy tingling already. Despite the fact that Anya usually didn’t get turned on in the morning, she felt wetness gathering between her thighs, and she reached down and pushed her fingers through her already soaking lips. Before she could stroke her clit and give it some of the relief she so desperately needed, a memory of another dream stopped her in her tracks.
It hadn’t felt as much like a dream as like a supernatural interruption to her sleep. She had heard scratches against her window and at first had thought it the scraping of the trees in the wind. But it continued, and as she listened closer, she heard no howling wind. The noise increased in volume until she could no longer ignore it. With sleep robbing her of her normal cautiousness, she had risen from bed and gone straight to her windows. When she ripped open her curtains, what she had seen stopped the beating of her heart.
There, balancing on the tree limb outside her window, had been two massive mountain lions, their faces only inches from the glass. She had waited for fear to hold her in its icy grip, but it didn’t come. Due to sleepiness or to impetuousness, she didn’t know, but the creatures roused only curiosity within her. In the dark, she had studied their outlines and the eyes that glowed in their dark faces.
Then Anya remembered their eyes. They hadn’t been the usual golden eyes of the feline predator. Instead, these eyes were a bright blue, shimmering almost as if it were daytime. And then, signaling to Anya that she had most certainly dreamt the encounter, she saw Jack and Clay in their stares. The lions had tilted their heads as they studied her, and she swore that one had Clay’s intense glare and the other Jack’s playful, sparkling gaze.
Her arousal climbed as Anya remembered the visions, but she attributed that to the adrenaline rush associated with the memories. As much as she longed to stroke herself to completion, she wanted to be ready for Clay and Jack, because good sense be damned, she would go down to the Ninth Time that day, and she would confront them about this mysterious secret they harbored. If Aunt Cora’s predictions were correct, the two of them meant to make her their lover, and Anya wanted answers first. And after she got answers, she’d like that itch eating away at her pussy scratched.
Grabbing her leggings, a pair of gym shorts, and her faded Team USA hoodie, she dressed quickly and threw her hair in a messy ponytail. She forced her feet into her slippers, intending to grab a cup of coffee and maybe a muffin from the staff kitchen before marching down the mountain to confront the men. Her resolve gave her movements emphatic power as she strode toward the door and tore it open. But two large, male lumps blocked the path between her and the hallway leading to the office and staff kitchen.
“You’re awake,” Clay said, a yawn at the end of the words. “Good morning, darlin’.”
“What are you doing here?” Anya said on a gasp.
Jack roused from his sleep beside Clay then, his long limbs slamming against the walls of the corridor as he stretched. “Do we need a reason to come see you?”
“You need a reason to be asleep in front of my door at eight in the morning.” She narrowed her eyes at the two of them and put her hands on her hips. “Don’t you have a shop to open?”
“It’s Sunday, darlin’. We don’t even open today.”
Shit. Was it Sunday already? The mixture of her work, the storm, and the hours of her life devoted to fantasizing about the Abbotts had thrown off her sense of time.
“Oh, um…” She shook her head, trying to get back some of the resolve the sight of Clay and Jack asleep on the floor had scared out of her. “Do you two want to come in?” Coffee could wait. The two men who set her aflame couldn’t.
“Don’t mind if we do,” Jack said as he clambered to his feet. He took two steps and pulled Anya into his embrace, shocking her with the forcefulness of his kiss. The arousal she had felt earlier returned tenfold as she felt his erection press against her stomach. She moved her hips against him, eager to convey that she was quite ready for another round with him.
A warm body nestled against her from behind, and she felt Clay’s hair brush against her shoulder as he landed kisses there. One of his hands cupped her ass, and her inner muscles clenched at its nearness to her throbbing pussy. He slowly dragged his hand forward, over her hip then to her stomach. He pulled back against her, and Jack released her easily. Anya almost cried out in protest, but Clay’s hand ventured lower, beneath the waistband of her gym shorts, over her mound, and finally came to rest on top of her cunt. He squeezed, and she couldn’t help the moan that echoed from her chest as she rested her head back on his shoulder.
Wait. Wasn’t there something I needed to know? Through the haze of her arousal, rational thought struggled to be heard. Finally, though, Anya remembered the purpose in flinging the door to her room open. She was going to ask them something. Now what was—
“Ooh.” One of Clay’s fingers pushed past her outer lips and brushed against her clit. If she wasn’t careful, she would come right then and there, before…What was it? What was she going to ask them about again?
“Wait,” she croaked, and Clay stilled his ministrations. It took all her strength not to tell him to ignore her protests and continue his stroking, but in the end, sense won out. “I need to ask you something.”
“And we need to tell you something.” Jack had settled himself at the head of her unmade bed, his back leaning against the carved headboard. “Come here and let us explain.” He held his arms open to her, and after a tentative glance backward and a nod from Clay, she walked slowly into his arms. His embrace closed around her, and he pulled her onto the bed beside him, landing several kisses on her neck as he did so.
“We haven’t been entirely honest with you,” Clay said as he climbed onto the bed next to her.
Oh no. Anya had heard those words too many times before—from Christopher on the phone to one of his flock of temporary fuck buddies. And she’d heard them from her previous boyfriends, her dad’s students who had vowed they were single before using Anya as a sperm receptacle while they were away from their “real” girlfriends at training camp. Then, as her heart began its descent into her stomach, she remembered her conversation with Aunt Cora. Her aunt had been concerned with Anya hurting them, not the other way around. But what did Anya owe them?
“Just tell me if there’s someone else,” she said, suppressing the sting of tears that pricked at the corners of her eyes. “Rip off the Band-Aid.”
She looked between Clay, who hand now put his arm around her shoulders, and Jack, whose arms encircled her waist, and they looked nothing but stoic. They made eye contact, and Anya watched as a smile bloomed across Jack’s face, and his infectious laugh rang through the room.
“Gorgeous, there’s no way at all that there could be anyone else. We’re both completely crazy about you.”
His words hit her like a ton of bricks, and she felt dizzy as her heart jumped to her throat.
“Is it true?” she asked, turning to Clay. “Do you really like me?”
Clay used his hand behind her neck to tangle in the hair at the base of her ponytail. “Yes, I like you, as you put it. I want to get to know you more, and not just physically.” His arresting gaze held her still. “We connect, and I didn’t know it was possible, but you fit with Jack and me. There’s a life waiting for the three of us out there. All you have to do is say the word.”
“But before you do, hear us out.” Jack didn’t give her a c
hance to respond. “What we’re going to tell you may change your mind. There’s nothing that will change how we feel about you, Anya, but this is up to you. We don’t want to force a future on you if you don’t want it.”
“Tell me already!” Anya hadn’t meant to shout, but the combination of frustration and arousal pushed the words out with unintended force. “I mean, you’ve been hinting about this thing, and then Aunt Cora said you were going to tell me something I wouldn’t—”
“Wait, Cora warned you about what was coming?” Jack asked then looked up at his brother. “Shit, she really does care about us.”
“She does. She told me I couldn’t break your hearts or I’d be out of a job.”
Clay chuckled, the dry, deep sound made sexier by its rarity. “I’m sure she wouldn’t fire you, but we would hate for you to break our hearts.”
“So tell me.” Anya shrugged their arms off of her, sat up straight, and looked between the two of them. “I’m going crazy thinking about you twenty-four-seven. You’re haunting my dreams, making it so work is damn near impossible. I highly doubt there’s anything you could tell me that would change the way I feel for you.” Her voice cracked at the end of the words, and her voice became softer as she confessed her true emotions. “Look, Clay, you were the only man I’d ever really been interested in. The reason I’ve never had any real relationships is because I never wanted anyone but you.”
She turned to look at Jack. “Until I met you, Jack. I’ve never felt anything for anyone so quickly, but being with you…from the second I met you, it’s just been right. And to have the two of you together is more than I’d ever hoped for.”
After a moment of silence, Jack said, “Speaking of when we met, want to know why I was naked?”
“Are we finally getting to the big secret?”
