When no explanation came, she leaned back on her elbows. Only then did she realize the sheet had fallen and exposed her. She pulled the linen up.
Casius chuckled. “I think the cat’s already out of the barn.”
That got a smile. “You mean the horse.”
His brief brow pinch confused her, but then he gave her a full-blown smile. “Horse, right.”
Hercules sat back on the bed. “We really have to go, but we’ll be in touch. You were amazing.” He kissed her quickly.
She sat up and dangled her legs over the side, still clasping the sheet to her chest. Casius leaned over, tilted her chin up, and kissed her.
“Don’t forget us, babe.”
That would never happen. “Hope nothing bad has happened.”
“We’ll see ourselves out.”
As they hurried out, she dropped back on the bed, once more sorting through the last twelve hours. The men were almost too perfect. It was as if someone had hired them to make her queen for the day.
Eventually the need to get to work overtook the desire to lie in bed and dream. She didn’t like the idea that the men had some special job to do that would take them away from her, but perhaps it was for the best. Time apart from each other would give her perspective.
She got up and carefully dressed, always wanting to look the part of some sex goddess. After all, her clients expected her to guide them toward sexual fulfillment. She smiled. Maybe with the help of her men, she’d be better able to lead them without lying.
After she quickly ate, she bundled up and headed out. There was about an inch of snow on the ground, which she hoped would melt quickly. Bad weather often meant poor sales. On Sunday, she didn’t open until eleven to allow people to go to church. The extra two hours gave her time to do some ordering and clean up the store.
No sooner had she opened than three women came in. Even in their heavy coats, they were pretty and petite. What she wouldn’t give to be that tiny. While she’d tried a million diets and had lost weight, eventually, she’d slack and the pounds would pour back on. Ugh.
The girls headed over to the lingerie section and tittered as they held up the crotchless panties and the bra that didn’t even cover the nipple. Since the ladies seemed to be having fun on their own, she let them be. As much as she thought a bra that lifted but didn’t cover was nice, it definitely wouldn’t do for her. She’d tried one on, but her tits just flopped over the top. That style was not for large-breasted women.
The ladies spent about a half hour browsing and bought a ton of underwear. Tanya painted on her happy face. “Looks like you ladies will be impressing someone special.”
They tittered again. “We hope.”
After they paid, the store was deadly quiet for all of five minutes. Georgiana barged in with a big grin as she rushed over.
“So?”
They’d only briefly run into each other last night. Tanya couldn’t exactly have told her how wonderful her two men were with them hovering.
“It was amazing.”
Georgiana grabbed her hand and led her over to the chairs. “Spill. I’m dying to know if you’re still a virgin.”
Tanya squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. “No.”
Her friend squealed. “I want every detail.”
No one was in the shop, and Tanya was bursting to tell someone. “Well, after I saw you, we did the apple dunking.”
Georgiana waved a hand. “After that. Start with what happened when they undressed you.”
As carefully as she could, she detailed the events. “They had no problem with turning off the lights, but then I wanted to see them, so Casius lit three candles.”
“Sounds wonderful. You do know that I’m living my wannabe ménage dreams through you?”
“Silly. You just need to have patience. You’ll find two wonderful men. Hell, if I can, you can.”
The image of the three young girls surfaced. If Hercules and Casius saw them in that sexy underwear, would they want her again?
Georgiana grabbed her hand. “What’s wrong? What aren’t you telling me?”
Had her expression been that obvious? “Nothing really.”
“It’s not nothing. You can tell me anything.”
“They were too wonderful.”
Her friend let go of her hand, crossed her legs, and leaned back. “And the problem with that would be?”
“It will be short-lived. Look at me, Georgiana. I’m fat.”
She pursed her lips. “You are not fat by anyone’s definition. Sure, you won’t get a modeling job at Victoria’s Secret, but hell, who in this town could?”
The three girls who’d just come in probably would qualify. “Didn’t you get a look at those men? Trust me when I tell you, they are all muscled and perfectly honed. They wrestle, they lift weights, and they do all sorts of sports. I’m the least sporty girl I know. Once they’ve had their fill, they’ll get tired of me.”
“That’s bullshit. They care about you.”
She leaned forward. “I’ve seen this kind of thing happen all the time. There is chemistry at first until the chores of life get in the way. Hercules and Casius are the head of security for the Black brothers. I don’t know what that all entails, but it seems like they might need to leave for trips every once in a while.”
“So? You go to lingerie shows. Hell, you spent a week in Tampa at FetCon last year. No matter who you’re with, they have to work.”
That really wasn’t the issue. “We have nothing in common.” The men might own a restaurant, which meant they both were entrepreneurs, but they shared nothing else, except perhaps a willingness to experiment in the bedroom.
“Then do something together.”
“Well, the men did seem to like the pictures I took that I have displayed on my entrance wall.”
Georgiana grinned. “There you go. You could all go on a photo shoot.”
She couldn’t see her men taking shots of delicate flowers, which was her favorite thing to do. “That won’t work. I think I should just chalk it up to the most amazing time of my life and call it quits.”
“What is your problem? If you care for them, you have to fight for them.”
“If they don’t act excited the next time, I’ll be disappointed. I’d rather cut if off now before I get hurt.”
Georgiana laughed. “You are such a coward. Enjoy them while you can. There are no guarantees about anything. Hell, one of them could get shot in the face by an intruder and be marred for life. Would you walk away from him then?”
What a horrible thought. “No. He’d be the same person. I wouldn’t care what he looked like.”
“Bingo!”
Tanya wasn’t ready to examine her thinking, flawed though it might be.
A couple came in and headed straight back to her kink wall. She was saved.
Georgiana stood. “I gotta go, but think about what I said. Go for the gusto.”
They hugged good-bye, and then Tanya went over to the couple to see if she could give some advice. That was almost a joke. She felt more like a fraud than before she lost her virginity.
* * * *
The next few days were agony. Neither man had called. She had hoped they’d want to know if she was feeling any after effects of their lovemaking. Other the wonderful nipple soreness and the slight throbbing in her pussy, she was doing wonderfully, but they didn’t know that. She kept telling herself that they wanted to give her time to come to grips with the threesome before they asked her out again. Even if they were away on business, she was sure there was cell service. She doubted they’d gone to some third world country.
As soon as the depression set in, she’d relive their fantastic date and the amazing aftermath and feel better. Then the image of those cute, young girls who’d come into her shop looking at that tiny underwear would enter her head and doubt would fill her up again. Damn, but she was a mess.
Before she could ponder her future, the bell rang above the door and more customers poure
d in. They all wore wristbands implying there were here for some kind of convention. Sometimes tourists bought items, but mostly they wanted to get out of the cold, or else the idea of going into a sex shop was their idea of crossing the line of propriety.
She was helping one lady who said she was from Tallahassee when Tanya’s cell rang. She glanced at the caller ID, which said Panther Cove, and her heart flipped. “Excuse me. I need to take this.”
The woman smiled and picked up a pink vibrator. That should keep her busy for a while.
“Hello?” She wasn’t sure which man it would be. She walked toward the back just in case she might want privacy.
“Hey, babe. How are you doing?”
It was Casius. “Good. You? You take care of business?” She rubbed her hands down her pants.
He didn’t answer for a second. What did that mean? “Hercules and I are currently out of town, but we’ll be back on Friday. We wondered if you’d like to go to the hot springs with us for the weekend?”
The weekend? She forced away the image of two cocks. “I have a shop to run, remember?”
“Can’t you get someone to cover for you?”
“I’ve tried, but I don’t seem to be able to find someone willing to work for free.” Having even a part-time employee wasn’t feasible, and closing her store would be a big loss in revenue. Saying no to them, however, might signal she wasn’t interested. “Where is it?” Perhaps she could meet them there.
“It’s about forty-five minutes northwest of Asheville.”
Damn. That meant, she couldn’t go after work on Friday, as it would be dark by the time she got there. She already was quite obsessed with them, so was it really a good idea to get more attached? “When would we leave?” She wasn’t sure why she asked.
“We won’t get home until late on Friday, so it would have to be Saturday. If you need to work that day, how about we pick you up after work? That way you’ll only miss one day’s revenue.”
She was tending toward saying no, but their consideration really impressed her. On the other hand, there was the whole idea of being in a hot spring itself. Water meant wearing a bathing suit, and her bulges would show everywhere.
“Tanya? You there?”
Georgiana’s words came back. Maybe she should just say to hell with it this one time. Which was more important? Money or sex? Being able to add another wonderful adventure would be worth the pain even if they tired of her soon. “Okay.”
“Great. When we get back in town, we’ll be in touch.”
“I’m looking forward to it.” Or call me every hour on the hour. God, but she was a mixed-up basket of assorted lingerie.
* * * *
“What did she say?” Hercules didn’t like the look of confusion on his brother’s face.
“She said yes, but she was hesitant.”
“Fuck. I knew we took it too fast.”
He shook his head. “You don’t know that. When we left her, she seemed happy. But that wasn’t her excuse at first.”
“What was? Didn’t she think we treated her well?” That couldn’t be it. She’d moaned with every touch.
“She doesn’t want to close her store for two days. Apparently she needs the income.”
Hercules shook his head as he stepped back from the surveillance window and paced. So far, their trip had been a bust since they hadn’t spotted one tiger shifter going in or near the bank. “That was one thing I admired about her. From what Julia told me, she works very long hours and even does her own taxes to save money.” He loved a woman who was independent and could make sound business decisions on her own.
Casius waved the binoculars. “I’m impressed with anyone who has the patience to read through all those damned tax laws.”
He sure as hell wasn’t looking forward to April and doing their restaurant books. Hiring someone was looking better all the time. He faced Casius. “Maybe she’s miffed that we never called her the next day.” He dragged a hand over his head. “I told you we should have called and asked her how she was doing. She gave up her virginity for us, and then we acted like it was no big deal.”
Casius looked through the binoculars and surveyed the sidewalk in front of the bank. “It was a risk that I called her now. We have no idea if The Sword is monitoring our calls. You remember what happened to Jennifer.”
Jennifer Anderson was their bosses’ fiancée. As soon as the evil Sword found out she was their mate, they’d kidnapped her. Thank goodness old man MacLeash had warned Hunter, who’d been able to put a tracking device in her purse. If he hadn’t, the ending might not have been a happy one.
“I remember.”
“We need to make sure Tanya stays safe. That’s one of the reasons I suggested the hot springs.”
They’d been to the small town before and knew it would be fairly easy to spot any tiger shifters should they follow them. If they just went there and stayed in a nice cabin, she should be able to relax. “I wish we could head on back now, but we have to make sure Gastron and his men don’t make their move.”
They’d gotten a tip that The Sword was trying to recruit some humans who were working at the bank. Their mission on this trip was to find out what these guys were up to.
Casius lowered the binoculars and sat back. “What if she isn’t interested in us? Ever think of that? Maybe the old I-can’t-spend-time-away-from-the-store might just be her polite way of telling us to bug off.”
He glanced out the window and watched two people go into the bank. “Oh, she’s interested all right, but I, too, wonder if she’ll want us once she finds out we’re shifters.”
“She seems open-minded enough.”
They did need to discuss when would be a good time to let her in on their secret. “Maybe this weekend we can discuss it.”
Casius laughed. “Discuss or show?”
“I’m taking it one hour at a time.” He held up a hand. “Take a look at this.
Casius grabbed the binoculars. A known shifter was walking out of the bank with a young woman. They stood talking for a few minutes before he motioned for a cab. “Let’s get down there.”
They were on the second floor and raced down the stairs. Too bad they couldn’t shift into panthers and follow the cab. Wouldn’t that cause a stir?
They’d parked right outside their hotel, paying a lot per hour to keep the car on the street. Hercules jumped in the driver’s seat and had the engine revved just as Casius slid in. The cab took off. In the back seat, it appeared as if the girl was struggling. In fact, there were three men and the girl.
Hercules didn’t want to appear too obvious he was tailing them, but in the city traffic, he didn’t want to get stopped at a light. This would take a lot of luck to catch them.
“See if you can get behind them. I’ll get the cab number,” Casius said. “If we lose them, we can find out where he dropped the fare.”
Hercules released his grip on the wheel. “Good thinking.”
It only took three more blocks before he was behind the cab. Casius jotted down the information. The light ahead turned red, but the cab drove through. Traffic coming in the opposite direction shot through the lane. “Dammit.”
“Don’t worry.”
“Call Segal and ask him to find out where that damn cab is headed.”
Segal was a panther shifter at the Baltimore PD. Having an insider always helped. While Casius contacted the guy, Hercules kept his gaze on the cab. The light turned green, and he shot forward. The cab turned right two lights up. By the time Hercules executed the turn, the cab had disappeared. They were in a residential area, so perhaps the cab had dropped them off.
Hercules pulled over and waited until Segal got back to them. Ten long minutes later, Casius’s cell rang. His pencil went to work as he jotted down the information. “Thanks.”
He looked up. “Only two blocks from here. Let’s go.”
He was uncertain what was going to happen, but he wanted to speak with the woman. He probably should have had Sega
l find out who lived at the address, but it was too late now.
They climbed the three steps to the brownstone and rang the bell. Shouts sounded inside, but no one answered.
“Baltimore PD. Open up.”
Casius looked over. “Are you crazy?”
He shrugged. The door opened, and the woman they’d seen come out of the bank greeted them.
“May we come in and ask you some questions about a man who met you outside the bank.”
Her eyes grew wide. The hair on the back of his neck prickled and his stomach tightened. There were tiger shifters in there all right. If they could beat some information out of them, the trip would be well worthwhile.
“Ma’am. We’re coming in.”
She held up her hands. “You can’t.” She mouthed, They’ll kill my husband.
Knowing The Sword, they’ll kill not only her husband, but her. “I’m sorry, ma’am.”
Both he and Casius surged in. Being able to sense the shifters, they rushed into the kitchen where they were met by three men. Hercules wasn’t sure it they’d win as panthers or humans, but to keep their existence quiet for a while longer, he charged the two on the left and Casius took the one on the right.
The woman screamed. If she was out of the house, he could fight better.
“Run, lady.”
Her footsteps sounded. Hercules grabbed the first blond man by the neck, did a leg sweep, and they tumbled to the ground. The second man, who was shorter and thicker, pounded Hercules on the back. The pain ripped through him but did no damage. With a quick twist to the man’s neck, Hercules disabled him. The nerves in the man’s body would take an hour to regenerate. He rolled over and twisted with the stocky man.
Casius was boxing with his man. That was probably not a good choice, but right now he had his hands full. The two grappled, and the tiger shifter somehow managed to get him in a headlock. He remembered working with Danny and Trace Sanders, two rogue tiger shifters. Their center of gravity was lower. Keeping that in mind, Hercules adjusted and flipped the man over. He got him in a hold, and lifted his arm until he heard it crack.
“Fuck!”
The shifter would repair quickly, but it gave Hercules time to extract his knife from the sheath on the side. Only a stab to the heart or a major artery would stop this guy permanently.
Their Virgin Mate [Panther Cove 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 6
