Lucky Between the Sheets: An Anthology of Stories that Get to the Point

by L. A. Boruff

  After another inhalation of her lilac scent, I backed away and shifted. Keep her safe, Iasan. I will be back and will also send helpers to dispose of the rogue.

  “Run swiftly. I’ll wait here with her for your return.”

  The need to be by her side sent me flying through the woods on the most direct route to our small community. Scents of small animals out enjoying the sun rushed past my nose, but none of them broke my concentration. My sole focus was to get home as quickly as possible, grab some clothes for both us, and return.

  It seemed like only moments later I skidded to a halt in front of the large pack house. My flanks heaved, and my heavy winter fur dripped sweat. Some of the pack members who were outside stood and stared. Even though we were on our own land, the majority of us did not shift into wolf form between noon and nightfall. It was easier to stay human so we never made a mistake. When we needed to interact with humans on our land, we booked all appointments to occur during those hours to ensure our secret remained safe.

  Adhamh, another close friend who acted as our beta since Iasan preferred his healer role, strode to my side. If he’d been wearing fur, it would have been standing on end. “What’s wrong? Why are you still in wolf form?”

  Changing back, I stood before him naked. “Follow me. I’ll talk as I gather the things I need.” He followed me into the house. Pack members scattered out of my way as I headed toward the stairs.

  The main floor of the pack house served as a communal meeting place. Everyone, whether they lived in the house or in their own, was welcome to spend time here. Meals were supplied if they didn’t want to cook for themselves. It was meant for gathering and socializing. But the upper floors were living quarters. Myself, Iasan, and Adhamh lived on the top floor. While the two middle floors were kept for single wolves and guests.

  Reaching the top floor, I continued to gasp for air from the speed of my movements.

  “Okay, Breandan, speak. What has you so worked up?”

  I pushed open the door to Iasan’s room. “We went for a late run toward the village and came across the fresh scent of the rogue.”

  “What?” Adhamh’s voice rattled the windows. His hands balled into fists. “I’ll skin those guards alive when I get my hands on them.”

  “You and me both,” I muttered while grabbing a pair of jeans and a long sleeved T from his drawers. Socks and sneakers were added to the pile while Adhamh continue to pace around the room. Seeing Iasan’s specially designed carrying bag, I grabbed it and stuffed the items inside before heading to my own room. Adhamh’s heavy tread followed.

  “I’m guessing you took care of him, but where’s Iasan?”

  Matching clothes from my drawers went into the bag. “We did catch him. He’s dead, but not before he attacked a human. Iasan is with her.” I strode out of the room and down the stairs.

  “In the woods? But it is after noon.”

  “It is. I’m not sure why she was in the woods alone before noon, but she was. She’s unconscious and Iasan is in human form.” I shoved the bag into his hands and stepped outside, shifting as I stepped off the porch. I need to get back to him. We’ll be bringing her here to heal. Adhamh strapped the pack around my middle. Can you send some guys to pick up the rogue? We’re at the hot spring. My paws carried me toward the woods. Oh, and Adhamh, ready one of the gusts rooms on our floor. We’ll keep her there.

  I felt his shock at my pronouncement through our bond, but I trusted Adhamh as much as I trusted Iasan. He would save the rest of his questions until we returned.

  Knowing who I was running to, made my speed even greater. In no time at all, I shifted while stepping into the clearing. Iasan remained naked while he bent over the woman, tenderly wiping her face with a damp cloth.

  “We need to get her back quickly. I need to cool the heat arising from her body.”

  At his words, my pace increased. The pack dangled from my hand. The special clasps were designed for wolf paws to be able to open without human help.

  He snatched it from my hand. “Good, you brought this. I meant to ask for it.” I nodded while he rummaged inside it, pulling our clothes out and dropping them on the ground. “Ah ha,” he said, pulling a small bottle out from the bottom of the bag. “A few drops of this will have her resting easier while we carry her home.”

  I dressed while he administered the medicine. Then while he dressed, I bathed her face with the warm damp cloth. Our only source of water was the hot spring, but the cool air lowered the temperature of the cloth, yet not enough. The heat from her body hit me square in the face. Shit. This wasn’t good. I looked up at Iasan worried.

  “She’ll be fine, Breandan. Her temp will drop once we get her dried off and her cold wet things removed.” His words helped to ease the clenching in my chest but didn’t remove it. Humans were fragile things and this one was one I didn’t want to lose.

  He wrapped her in the green cloak, but I pushed him out of the way and lifted her into my arms. “Fine,” he chuckled. “You can carry her since I spent all that time with her… alone.”

  A low growl escaped my chest, making him laugh even harder as we began our swift walk back to the pack house.

  3

  Adhamh

  I watched Breandan race out of the yard and into the woods. We’d never brought a human to stay in our compound before, but I wasn’t about to question him. Calling out to a few men, I told them about the dead rogue and where it was. Both raised their eyebrows in surprise before their mouths scowled in anger.

  “Who was on guard duty?” one of them growled out.

  “That is on my list.” They both nodded, but their hackles were still raised. “Go, grab a few guys and dispose of the body. We’ll discuss the rest later.” I turned and took the four steps up to the porch in one leap. While the guards needed to be dealt with, they could wait; I needed to prepare the room first.

  Stopping in the kitchen to grab some cleaning supplies, I snuck a sandwich from the tray set aside for afternoon tea. From the way the day was shaping up, I would be surprised if I even managed to grab supper let alone tea. And as a shifter, one as large as my wolf was, I needed a lot of food to fuel my body. Popping the sandwich into my mouth, my hand reached to snag another.

  “Whatcha up to, laddie?”

  I attempted to swallow the sandwich in one gulp as I turned around. Dahrah stood before me, hands on her ample hips, and one gray eyebrow nearly hidden by her gray streaked hair. As a child, I stood in fear of her whenever I tried to sneak food from the kitchen which was under her domain. And I couldn’t say that I felt any less fear when I stood in front of her as a grown man twice her size.

  “I’m just grabbing a quick snack because Breandan gave me some tasks to do.” Both eyebrows disappeared into her hair and her lips pursed, but she didn’t say anything. She left me stew in my own fear. When I didn’t speak, she pointed to the cleaning supplies in my hand. The common areas and the guest rooms were cleaned by some of the single women who were attending school, but we hired only mated females to clean our personal quarters. Without mates of our own, we didn’t want to find ourselves forced to mate against our wishes. “Um, we will be having a guest,” I mumbled.

  “Ach, Adhamh, you know the guest rooms on the second floor are kept clean. If it needs an airing, I’ll call one of the lasses to do it. No need to trouble yourself.”

  My gaze darted around the room to ensure we were momentarily alone. Lowering my head close to her face, I stared into her eyes. We tried to limit mental speaking to our wolf forms, between mates, or when needing to talk at a distance without the use of our phones—usually an emergency situation. This didn't fit our rules, but as the pack beta, I wanted our guest and her lodgings kept secret as much as I could until I knew more. The guest is staying on our floor.

  Dahrah nodded and then examined the items in my hand. “Well then, you’ll need a broom and bathroom cleaner to go with what you’ve got. I know who had the duty this month, and she’s not up to my standards.�
� She found me the supplies and shooed me of with the promise of a tray of food to be delivered by her hand after our guest arrived.

  Within short order, the large master bedroom we’d set aside for our mate—we told everyone it was for special guests—stood ready to receive the injured woman. The fact that they wanted to house her in this room peaked my interest, but even if neither of them felt anything for her, it made sense from a security standpoint to house her where we could keep an eye on her and limit her exposure to our kind.

  Adhamh, we’re at the edge of the woods. Can you ensure we don’t have an audience?

  On my way, Breandan. But be aware, Dahrah knows we will have a guest staying on our floor. I could hear Breandan’s resigned sigh over the bond, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it. He was as much under her thumb, despite his position as Alpha and title of Prince of Shifters, as I was.

  Thankfully, most of our people were either indoors or away from our settlement, so I suggested to a few to move their business elsewhere for the next thirty minutes. They quickly moved to obey while I continued to where I sensed Breandan and Iasan stood hidden in the tree line.

  “It’s all clear.”

  They stepped out of the woods. A woman wrapped in a green cloak lay unconscious in Breandan’s arms while Iasan hovered beside them. My chest tightened. “Was she badly hurt?”

  Iasan shook his head although his hand stroked over her cheek and his eyes never left her. “Amazingly, her only damage is a bump to the head. I think the weight of the rogue knocked her into a rock.”

  I stepped closer, needing to see her for myself. Her golden hair peeked under the bandage wrapped around her head. But it was her plump, kissable lips that drew my gaze. My pants grew impossibly tight. Lifting my eyes, I stared at my two best friends and wondered if they felt the same. From the amount of concern they displayed, they must have felt it, too.

  “We need to get her inside.” Iasan adjusted the cloak which had started to slip, revealing a shoulder clad in what appeared to be a damp chemise. She shivered in Breandan’s arms, and he pulled her closer to his chest.

  Picking up the pace, we nearly ran to the house and raced up the stairs. The door to the room stood open. Iasan rushed in to the side of the bed, pulling down the covers while Breandan laid her down.

  Noticing the dirt on her feet, I went into the bathroom and filled a basin with warm water while grabbing a few clean clothes. By the time I returned to the room Dahrah stood beside the bed with her hands on her hips. “The lass is shivering and dirty. She needs out of her damp clothes now.”

  “What do you think I’m doing?”

  Dahrah tsked and pursed her lips at Iasan’s terse reply. My eyes followed his movements as he loosened the cloak from around her curvy body. And it was a body I was seeing. She was bare from the waist down as her skirt, which had initially covered her, turned out to have only lain on her. Her golden curls at the juncture between her legs on glorious display. Her dusky nipples and the outline of her large breasts revealed themselves through her damp chemise. My cock attempted to burst free from my jeans.

  “Ach. Out with the three of you. You’ve no right seeing the lass like this. She’s human and won’t take kindly to this.”

  “I’m not leaving her Dahrah. This is my job. I need to ensure she’s fine and that I didn’t miss an injury. For some reason, she’s burning up.”

  At Iasan’s answer, Dahrah turned her glare onto Breandan and I. Putting my hands up in the air, palms facing her, I stood my ground. “I’m not leaving. We know nothing about her. She’s a security risk.”

  Dahrah’s glare grew pointed. But there wasn’t anything she could say. Security and protection technically had its own head, the one who created the guard rotations, but I was the one who directed all operations. The woman did pose a security concern even if it wasn’t the true reason why I remained.

  Turning her gaze solely on Breandan, she raised her eyebrows. “And I suppose you have some cockamamie story as to why you should be here as well?”

  Shrugging his shoulders, the corners of Breandan’s lips curled into his mischievous grin. “Nope. But I’m not leaving either.” He took one of the clothes from my hand. “We could use some warm broth and food for the four of us though.”

  Throwing her hands in the air, Dahrah left in a huff.

  “You’ll be paying for that one later,” I told him with a soft chuckle.

  “I will, but it will be worth it.” He dipped the cloth into the warm water, rung it out, and then moved to the opposite side of the bed.

  Iasan ripped what was left of her chemise from the neck down, revealing her luscious breasts.

  I couldn’t tear my eyes away as I stumbled to her side. “Fuuuuck.”

  Both Iasan and Breandan met my gaze. As one, we nodded. She was the one. The one we’d waited for. It didn’t matter that she was human, that she had no knowledge of us or our ways. She was ours.

  We worked together to wipe the dirt off her while Iasan dealt with the scratches on her arms. I found it difficult to keep my mind off her sensual curves, the way her breasts hung and moved as my cloth wiped over them. But the knowledge that I was looking for an unknown cause of her fever kept the sexual tension within me from exploding.

  The moment we finished, Iasan lifted her, allowing me to remove the cloak and her token chemise from her. Her body burned; even the cloak felt unnaturally warm in my fingers. “How do we cool her down?” I couldn’t keep the fear from my voice. While we interacted with humans for things we couldn’t provide, sickness was not something I had experience with. Shifters were blessed with the ability to heal themselves by shifting repeatedly from one form to another.

  “We’ll need to bathe her with cold water. Keep cold clothes on her forehead, the back of her neck, even her underarms.” Iasan stood, his fingers trailing along her arm until they dropped to his side. His hand landed on my shoulder with a slight squeeze. “She’ll be fine. We’ll make sure of it.” He moved to the end of the bed and ripped all the covers except for the top sheet from it. “We’ll use this to cover her until her fever breaks.”

  Breandan removed the basin from my hand and walked into the bathroom. While I wanted nothing more to remain staring at her body, I knew Dahrah had been right. Humans were not as comfortable showing off their naked bodies as shifters were. Grabbing the edge of the sheet, I pulled it over her. Why had she been only clad in her chemise? The skirt, when I pulled it away, didn’t look like it had been torn or bloodied in the attack. “Iasan, why did you remove her clothing?” Jealousy and envy surged through me. How much had they seen of her before me? What touch had transpired? I flexed the tense muscles in my hands instead of forming them into fists like I longed to.

  “We found her that way.” Iasan’s palm warmed the middle of my back through my shirt. “Sit by her. Hold her hand.” His hand dropped, and I heard his footsteps move away only to return on the far side of the bed.

  I moved to comply now that I’d been given permission. With her skin nearly as white as the sheet, except for her cheeks which were red from the fever, she appeared delicate, frail even. Taking her hand in mine confirmed the delicate state of her bones. But I knew her frailty was deceiving. Being ours, she would be built to handle out needs. To survive when I sunk my cock deep inside her, my thrusts strong enough to move the solid wood four poster king size bed. And she wouldn’t just be taking me, she’d be taking my best friends, my brothers as well. Together we’d fill her up, and then do it all over again, until she was too tired to move. Then we’d go slow and make gentle love to her, letting her know how much we cherished her.

  “It’s hard to keep your hands off her, isn’t it?” Breandan’s voice sounded in my ear. The brush of his breath raised goosebumps on my skin.

  Many years ago, we’d made a pact to keep ourselves from other women until we’d found the one. Initially, the one referred to the woman set aside for me, another for Iasan, and yet another for Breandan. But as the years pas
sed, and we turned to each other to help maintain our vows of chastity, we realized the one referred to the woman who would accept all of us. While we knew the pleasures of our hand, and the hand of each other, we did not know what the hand of a woman on our stiff cocks felt like.

  “It is. And her hands, they’re so soft and delicate. I can’t wait to feel them slide along my cock.”

  “And her mouth. To finally taste it, to feel it wrap itself around my dick, enveloping it with gentle suction.”

  “The two of you need to stop, or I’ll spill my seed right here. And that isn’t a sight I want Dahrah to walk in on.” Breandan set the basin of cold water on the end of the bed by her feet. ‘I brought a few extra cloths.”

  A cloth appeared over my left shoulder, already cold and damp. Leaning forward, I lowered the sheet until it rested lightly over her breasts and began to wipe down the side of her face, her neck, and across her collarbone. Her skin, so hot the cloth needed to be cooled after touching just that amount of skin.

  “Breandan, give me two for her head and neck otherwise we’ll never get her cooled down.” Iasan’s voice held a tone of panic I’d never heard before. My guts clenched. Lifting her fingers to my forehead, I prayed. I couldn’t lose her now, not when we just found her.

  She moaned and tried to pull away from the cool clothes as her body wracked with shivers. “What’s happening to me?”

  4

  Shaylee

  Deep, dark brown eyes stared into mine while a large rough hand engulfed my own. My brows drew up in confusion. The last thing I remembered was a pair of yellow eyes and a drooling muzzle filled with pointed teeth and wretched breath. “What happened to me?” I asked again.