Authors: Lynnette Bernard
The two men retrieved the folded jeans Martha had left for them on the table, pulling them on quickly. They faced each other briefly before turning to step toward Laurie. She held up her hand, and they stopped immediately.
“Do you promise to be honest with me in everything from now on?” she questioned them sternly.
“Yes, sweetheart,” Jace answered seriously, the corner of his lip threatening to give way to the smile he barely held back as he looked at their mate, a true alpha female.
“Will you apologize for secretly watching me in the laundry room?” she asked, blushing profusely as she remembered being naked before them.
“Yes, baby,” Jackson answered, not even trying to keep the smile from his face. “But I have to tell you, darlin’, I intend to watch you every moment I can and will be thrilled out of my mind whenever you’re naked.” He reached forward and cradled her cheek in his hand. “And I, for one, am going to keep you naked as much as possible.”
Jace couldn’t help but chuckle as he leaned in and kissed Laurie’s forehead gently. “I’m with you on that, Jackson.”
Laurie looked up at both men and couldn’t keep the smile from her face. “You both are bad influences on me,” she told them, laughing.
Jace’s smile fell from his face as he looked down at her with such seriousness that Laurie’s heart stuttered in her chest. “What have you decided, Laurie?” he asked her quietly.
Laurie closed her eyes and breathed deeply, reveling in the wonder of Jace’s touch. Jackson’s hand as he encircled her waist felt warm and sure. Tears filled her eyes as she realized that she was actually being touched with caring and gentleness. She had never been touched that way in her life. To finally feel it nearly brought her to her knees. She had been truly starved for affection her whole life. These men offered her that affection with open hearts, and they offered it with nothing but kindness and caring. Maybe they actually could grow to love her. She had always been afraid to hope that such a thing could be a part of her life. Maybe it was time to take a chance.
Laurie smiled at both men,
her men
, and willingly leaned into the warmth of their bodies as they engulfed her in their embrace. She kissed their chests gently and wrapped her arms around their waists, leaning up to look at them as they stared down at her. She could see the longing in their eyes and knew that she could never deny them the happiness that they deserved.
“You have no idea how much I want to be with you both,” she told them quietly.
Before she could say another word, Jace reached out and picked her up in his arms. She squealed in surprise and struggled to get down.
“Please put me down, Jace,” she begged, “I don’t have a model figure that’s easy for you to carry.” The contempt she had for herself was obvious in her voice.
Jace looked down at her in shock. “Laurie, I plan on carrying you up to our bedroom and making love to you all night,” he told her calmly. “But I’m only going to warn you once. The person you are, body and soul, is exactly what Jackson and I want and need. You are never to talk about yourself in a negative way again. Am I clear on this?”
Laurie looked up at him in stunned silence. She turned slightly to look at Jackson, feeling her face burn with embarrassment. The anger on his face made her turn away and lower her eyes. She pushed at Jace’s chest until he allowed her to slide down the length of his body to stand before him. She took a step away from them both, hugging her arms around herself as she fought to control her nervousness. Every insecurity she possessed overwhelmed her at that moment.
“Do you have any idea how much it angers us to know that you truly believe that you’re not the beautiful, desirable, and feminine woman that we know you are?” Jackson asked her quietly, making every effort to calm himself and not lose his temper.
Jace stepped toward her, backing her against the counter. Reaching down, he gently lifted her to settle her on it, reaching up to gently spread her legs and step between them. He pulled her toward him, and she could feel his erection straining against his jeans as he leaned into her body.
“I know you haven’t been treated with much respect in your life, honey,” he told her quietly. “But you will be from now on. The three of us will form the ruling triad of our pack. My word is law here. Jackson is next in command. His word is never questioned. Every one of our pack members knows that what he says and does is on my behalf. I am your alpha. Jackson is your beta.”
Laurie looked at Jace, confusion making her forehead furrow. She looked to her left and saw Jackson move toward them and wrap his arms around the both of them.
“What does that make me?” she asked carefully.
“You, Laurie, are our heart,” Jace told her softly. “You are the one who tempers our emotions and centers our lives.” He reached up then and gently caressed her check. “It’s you who will bring the love and caring that we need to rule to the best of our abilities. Without you, we would lose our humanity and be ruled by the animal side of our nature.”
“You’re the woman who will help us keep a healthy balance between wolf and man,” Jackson explained quietly, leaning forward to kiss her forehead lightly. “Without you, we would live our lives searching for the love that would save us.”
“Laurie, don’t you understand?” Jace continued. “You are the mate we have waited our whole lives for. There is no more perfect match for us. Everything about you calls to us. Your scent, your humor, your kindness, your caring, your gentleness, your intelligence, your guidance,
and
your body.”
He leaned forward to kiss her lips gently at first, soon becoming more demanding as his tongue searched along her lips until she opened up and accepted him. He groaned into her mouth and reached around her to pull her body closer against his chest, rubbing his groin against hers, loving the sound of her whimpers against his mouth.
He pulled back from her and smiled at the dazed expression on her face as she looked up at him. Her lips were swollen, her eyes half closed, and he couldn’t stop the growl that escaped him as he felt her body submit to his.
Jackson leaned in and covered her lips with his own, growling at her eager acceptance of his claiming. When she reached around to pull him toward her, he felt a surge of happiness burst through him. They had finally found their jewel. And they were damn sure going to protect and love her for the rest of their lives.
“Do you have any idea how much we love touching you?” Jackson finally asked her, not waiting to hear a response from her. “Do you understand how your body drives us crazy with desire?”
Laurie looked at him silently, searching his face for any sign of deceit. She found none. She saw only a look of pure longing and what she hoped was unmitigated lust. She turned to face Jace and saw that his expression was guarded, but he held the same desire and want in his eyes.
Pushing at them both gently, she climbed down off the counter as they stepped back to give her space. She saw the concern in their faces as she walked away from them, but didn’t give them any indication of what she was thinking.
She reached the doorway that led to the main living room and turned to face them. “I’ll be in my room,” she told them quietly. Without another word, she turned and left them alone in the kitchen.
Jace turned to Jackson and knew his face held the same anguished look as his beta’s. Neither man knew what to say. With Laurie’s departure from the kitchen, all life had left the room. Silently, they walked out of the kitchen and made their way to their rooms. It took every bit of strength to make it up the stairs. They couldn’t even speak to each other in their minds. There was nothing to say. They were totally and utterly devastated.
They saw the door to Laurie’s bedroom was wide open, and they looked at each other in confusion. Stepping toward her room, they realized that it was dark. And empty. A sense of panic overtook them, and they feared the worst.
Jace reached in and turned on the light, quickly searching the room for Laurie and finding it totally empty and all of her belongings gone. The pain in his heart was immediate. Jackson was right beside him, and he could feel the same sense of despair overpowering him.
“We’ve lost her, Jackson,” Jace said tiredly.
“No we haven’t, Jace,” Jackson insisted. “We can’t give up. She has to know in her heart that we’re meant to be together.”
Jace shook his head and turned to leave her bedroom. This time, Jackson was wrong. She had left them. Her empty bedroom proved that. She had made her decision.
Stepping out into the hallway with Jackson right behind him, he walked toward his bedroom. The sound of a door opening at the end of the hallway pulled both of their attentions toward it immediately. They froze as one at the sight before them. Laurie stood in the open doorway of the room that they were meant to share with their mate.
“It took you long enough,” she told them quietly. “Please don’t make me go to bed in this room without you.”
Chapter 12
In four long strides, Jace reached Laurie and lifted her into his arms, entering the room quickly then turning to push her roughly against the closed door. Jackson locked the door with a resounding click, then stepped beside Laurie and joined Jace in pinning her with their bodies. Jace’s growls joined his as they looked down at the woman in their arms.
“You will never,
never
, do that to us again, Mate,” Jace growled against her throat, biting lightly to emphasize his words.
Jackson reached forward and gripped Laurie’s hair in his hand to pull her head back so that she looked up at him. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the total devastation and pain in his eyes.
“You hold our hearts in your hands, Laurie,” he told her softly, his gentle brown eyes flashing golden just briefly as he looked at her.
Jace leaned away from her neck and stared down at her, the same golden glow flashing in his eyes as he looked at her. The same deep sadness that she saw in Jackson’s eyes was mirrored in his as well.
Laurie’s brown eyes filled with tears as she looked at both men, realizing that she had hurt them. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t meant to. She had. And she would never forgive herself for it.
Reaching up, she touched each man’s face tenderly, and gently rubbed her thumb across their cheeks. “I’m sorry,” she whispered sincerely. “I’m not very good at seduction. I’ve never wanted to seduce any man before now.”
Jace looked down at her and smiled, rubbing his cheek against the softness of her hand. “You were trying to seduce us?” His voice held both amusement and arousal. “All it would take for you to seduce us, sweetheart, would be a smile and a kiss.”
Laurie smiled at his words. “Really?” she asked, happy that the sadness was gone from his eyes. She turned to look at Jackson and saw that his eyes had regained the mischievous twinkle that she had come to enjoy. His tender smile made her tears flow harder. They slowly left her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. “Do you think just a kiss from me would seduce you, Jackson?” she whispered, smiling at him shyly.
“Baby, there’s no doubt in my mind that one kiss from you would make me so hard I wouldn’t want to stop until I was buried so deep inside you we wouldn’t be aware of anything except that we were one.” His gaze went to the custom-made bed that dominated the room, and his cock jerked at the vision of the three of them sleeping and loving in that bed for the rest of their lives.
“Did you know that there are many kinds of kisses, sweetheart?” Jace asked as he leaned into her neck and took a deep breath, taking in her scent and hugging her to him as he brought her slowly away from the wall and walked them backward toward the center of the room.
“Really?” Laurie answered, smiling at him. “And are you going to tell me all about these different kinds of kisses?”
Jace stepped back, reluctantly releasing his hold on her. “No, baby,” he told her, smiling, reaching up to unsnap his jeans. “We’re going to show you.”
“Take off your clothes, honey,” Jackson told her quietly.
Laurie shivered at the command. And it was a command. The softness of his voice could not mask his power.