Authors: Lynnette Bernard
Jace nodded and leaned back in his chair, making it tip back until he was resting at an angle. “I
think it’s about time we step forward and claim our mate.”
They were quiet for a while, each man consumed with his own thoughts.
“Do you feel it, too?” Jace asked Jackson as he looked up from his desk to stare at his best friend.
Jackson nodded. He didn’t need Jace to clarify. He knew he was talking about the influence Laurie had on them both. “My wolf is fighting me to let him out and claim her.”
Jace nodded. “Mine, too,” he admitted. “Even though my wolf is fighting me, I feel a calming like I’ve never felt before.”
“She’s good for us,” Jackson said quietly. “She’ll make a good queen. And a sexy mate.”
Jackson’s grin was infectious, and Jace couldn’t help but smile. Jace rubbed at his perpetual hard-on and laughed. “I can’t get rid of this,” he told Jackson, trying to push his cock to a more comfortable position within his jeans.
“You’re preaching to the choir, Jace,” Jackson told him sighing, unsuccessfully trying to adjust his constantly hard cock behind his zipper.
Chapter 9
“
You’re nothing but a whore, and an ugly one at that!”
The voice echoed in Laurie’s head. She turned into her pillow, pushing her hand against her ear to stop the ranting that tore at her heart. A sob escaped her as she tried to calm herself. It was just a dream, she kept telling herself, but the rough, deep voice that haunted her was very real, and the words that were spoken were ones that she had heard often.
“
No one will ever want you. Look at you. Your body disgusts me. I must have been crazy to marry you. You’re good for nothing. You’re stupid. You’re a terrible mother. There’s not one redeeming quality in you.”
“Please stop,” Laurie’s tortured voice echoed through the darkened room. She didn’t want to remember or experience the cruelty again, but the dream continued.
A baby’s cry cut through the silence of the house. She tried to lift herself from the bed, tried to pull away from him to go to her child, but his strength was too much for her to fight.
“
You’re not going anywhere!” He pushed her down and pinned her hands above her head. “You spoil those brats. They don’t need you right now.”
The tears slid silently down Laurie’s face until they nearly choked her. “It’s not real. It’s just a dream. I’m at the Circle Three Ranch. I’m safe. He can’t hurt me anymore.” Her voice was hoarse from the tears she couldn’t help but shed. She tried to push the memory away but couldn’t.
She looked up at the ceiling, praying he would stop his ranting. She couldn’t crumble. She had to stay strong. She wanted to make her way to her daughter and hold that precious bundle against her chest and pray that her baby girl would be smart enough and lucky enough to find a man who truly loved and respected her. She ached to hold her son and prayed that he would become a man of honor who would love and cherish his wife some day.
“
I’m going to have to decide if I want to stay with a woman who doesn’t give me fireworks during sex,” he told her angrily, pushing her toward her side of the bed as he turned his back to her.
Thankfully, he settled beside her without another word, and within moments she heard his even breathing, not daring to move until his loud snores filled the room.
Her babies’ cries pulled her out of her misery, and she quickly made her way to her children’s room. Opening the tie of her nightgown to expose her engorged breasts, she lifted both her daughter and her son into her arms before settling in the big rocking chair. Holding them against her breasts, with pillows under her arms to support her precious bundles, she sighed contentedly as they latched onto her nipples and began to suckle.
She sang to her babies quietly, loving how they settled against her breasts and cuddled tightly against her. She would do anything to protect these dear little ones. Even if it meant ruining her own life and committing herself to a future of loneliness in the process.
* * * *
The sudden projection of Laurie’s dream had Jace and Jackson both gasping for breath, anger consuming them as they were witness to the abuse Laurie had experienced. Both men were on their feet immediately. Furniture was shoved aside, and growls filled the air as they rushed from their office to run up the stairs to Laurie’s bedroom.
Jace hesitated as they stood outside her bedroom door. He turned to Jackson, unsure what they should do. At the sound of Laurie’s crying, all bets were off. Jace broke the lock on the door with one push, and they both rushed into the darkened room. Laurie’s huddled form was trembling under the blankets in the middle of the bed.
Jace couldn’t stop his growl from escaping when he heard the whimper of pain that was torn from Laurie. The vision of her dream was clear in his head, and he could feel her fear and pain as it wracked her body. Jackson closed the door quietly behind them, doing his best to secure it to protect Laurie’s privacy. They made their way to the bed as one, determined to comfort and love their mate. The time for waiting had come to an end.
They walked carefully toward the bed and slowly climbed up to lie beside the woman who had made them finally see a future with a possibility of happiness and love. Jace lay to her right, and Jackson lay to her left. Very gently, they pressed their bodies against hers and carefully caressed her arms and hair, pulling the blanket down slightly to reveal her face so they could wake her gently.
Jace smiled as he saw that she was again wearing their shirts. He looked to Jackson, who couldn’t help but feel his heart bursting with emotion that his mate was comforted by their scents.
“Laurie, baby,” Jackson whispered against her face as he placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. “Wake up, honey.”
Jace kissed her forehead and groaned as Laurie leaned against him and reached out to wrap her arms around him. Jackson smiled at the way Laurie cuddled against Jace and let out a growl of possession as Laurie reached back and grabbed his hand, interlacing her fingers with his and wrapping his arm around her to press it gently against her breasts.
She knows we belong beside her, Jackson.
Jackson nodded.
She knows we belong inside her, Jace.
Jace closed his eyes, willing his wolf to stay under control. He would not scare or hurt Laurie in any way. Judging from her dream, she had been abused repeatedly over the course of her marriage. He was amazed that she was able to maintain her kindness and caring despite how she had been treated.
Laurie’s whimpers of fear and pain slowly faded away. Her trembling body slowly relaxed between the two men, and she cuddled against them, pulling at them both to get their bodies closer to hers. Jace smiled down at her, unable to quell the desire he felt for her.
Jace, I want to try something.
Jace looked across their sleeping mate to look at his friend, raising his eyebrows in question.
Very carefully, Jackson unlaced his fingers from Laurie’s and pulled back from her to leave a few inches between his body and hers. He watched silently as Laurie’s brow furrowed, and she whimpered quietly. Her hand reached out behind her, searching for Jackson, but he edged farther back on his side of the bed so she couldn’t reach him.
What are you doing, Jackson?
Testing our mate.
Laurie turned away from Jace’s body and moved restlessly across the bed as she searched out Jackson. He couldn’t keep the smile from his face as she finally lay next to him and reached out to throw her arm across his waist and pull herself toward his body, lifting her right leg and hooking it across his hip to settle herself intimately against him. She tucked her head into his neck and breathed in deeply, sighing contentedly as she settled against his chest. Jackson’s arms surrounded her immediately.
Jackson’s possessive growl soothed her further, and Laurie kissed his chest lightly before cuddling deeper into his embrace. Moving restlessly, she reached behind her, searching for Jace.
She’s reaching for me, Jackson.
Jace hesitated just a moment, his heart nearly pounding out of his chest as he realized that Laurie was trying to get to him. When he heard her whimper and saw that she was getting upset, he moved toward her and took her searching hand, pushing his body against hers so that she was sandwiched between the two of them, her back to his chest as he spooned against her. He couldn’t stop the growl of contentment that escaped him.
Laurie turned onto her back and reached out to take both men’s hands in her own, bringing them up to her lips to tenderly kiss them before settling them against her breasts. She sighed, and both men watched as a peaceful smile transformed her face.
Jace, she’s more than I’ve ever hoped for.
Jackson leaned closer to Laurie and kissed her temple lightly, nuzzling against her hair and breathing in the sweet scent of their mate.
Jace had no words for the strength of feeling that overwhelmed him. He leaned in toward Laurie and kissed her cheek lightly, closing his eyes and thanking the Fates that he had been proven wrong and that they had actually found their true mate. He knew in his heart that that was exactly what Laurie was.
A sudden vision of Laurie lying between them, her belly heavy with their child, flashed through his mind, and he couldn’t prevent the image from flashing to Jackson. Jackson’s responding growl echoed his own.
Jace couldn’t stop himself from gently pulling his hand from Laurie’s and tenderly covering her belly. He smiled at the contented sigh Laurie released at his touch, and he looked up to face Jackson.
“We’re going to love her and fill her with our seed throughout the night, and if the Fates are kind to us, she’ll be pregnant by morning,” he whispered, his voice strong and determined despite its softness.
“We need to give her the choice, Jace,” Jackson whispered back.
Laurie reached down and covered Jace’s hand with her own, smiling in her sleep. Pulling her left hand down her body, bringing Jackson’s hand with hers, she placed his hand on her abdomen, beside Jace’s, then covered both their hands with hers and pushed them into her belly.
Jace smiled and rubbed his hand across her stomach, aching to know the reality of their baby growing within her womb.
I think she’s already chosen, Jackson.
Not allowing himself to hesitate anymore, he leaned forward and lightly kissed his mate’s soft lips. Pulling back, he smiled down at her as a sigh of contentment passed her lips.
“Laurie,” he whispered, unable to wait a moment longer to claim her.
“Mmmm?” she answered, not able to pull herself out of the warm feeling of being held so tenderly by the two of them.
“Baby, we need you to wake up so we can talk to you,” Jace whispered, reaching up to carefully push back the hair that had fallen across her cheek to tuck it gently behind her ear.
Laurie pulled herself from the dream she was having, sighing contentedly at the feel of Jace and Jackson holding her between them. “I don’t want to wake up,” she mumbled, content as she lay on her back as each man rested his hand upon her stomach while they nuzzled against her neck, kissing her gently.
Turning slightly, she looked at Jackson, then at Jace, trying to pull herself back to reality, but it was difficult to do when her dreams were lying, so real, beside her. “Kiss me before I wake up,” she whispered.
Jace grinned at Jackson then leaned forward and took their mate’s lips in what could only be described as a claiming. Laurie turned her body into his and carded her fingers through his hair, pulling him closer to her as she opened her mouth to accept his seeking tongue. The taste of him exploded in her mouth, and she moaned against the softness of his lips.
The taste of her called Jace’s wolf to the forefront, and he allowed it to revel in the feel of their mate giving them exactly what they needed. He was overwhelmed with desire, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to hold back from mating with her for much longer. A growl of possession escaped him, and he tightened his arms around her body, feeling Jackson holding onto her tightly as he moved closer to her.