Claiming Their Cat (21 page)

Cat looked into
the dark eyes of her child.
He was so tiny, so perfect.
Her father’s name came to mind. Harrington. Her dad would be so proud, but she wanted a name that reminded her of Rio and Creed. A strong masculine name. But she wondered if she should even tell them. When and if Alvarez figured out he had a son, he’d be hell bent to
find
him. She couldn’t risk their lives. But could Rio find her just by her son’s name? Probably not.

“How about Brody?”

She smiled when grins split Creed and Rio’s
face
.

“That’s an appropriate name. Very…manly,” said Creed.

Would they sort of be uncles to her baby boy?
It would be a dream come true for Brody to call them Uncle Rio and Uncle Creed. That would mean she’d have to be
here
which was so unsafe for all concerned. Brody lazily opened his eyes and stretched.

“Hey
,
pretty boy.”

He blinked several times, his e
yes as dark as—his uncles.
Her heart ached because her son would
grow
up without a father figure. Her dad could
step
in, but it wasn’t
fair
to be a substitute dad and a
grandfather
. A boy needed a
man
to
take
him—fishing.

At that moment, Ila swept in and herded her
grand
sons out.
It was astonishing to see how she ordered, and they obeyed when they each outweighed her by 150 pounds.

“Okay,” said Ila. “Let’s see if my—
your
baby is hungry.”

Cat unlaced her nursing gown, a gift from Ila.
It was an
elaborate
, silky thing that looked like the same clothes Rio had bought her.
Ila had also brought diapers, wipes, two baby
blankets,
and sleepers in her backpack. The woman was amazing.

Pulling her
breast
free, she placed her nipple against his mouth. For some reason, he didn’t
take
it.
Ila tapped his
lips
, and he opened
them
.
Then Ila pressed him against her nipple. Brody latched on. The
sensation
was
surprising
.

“You’ll need to alternate between each breast and
feed
him when he’s hungry. If he’s not
hungry
, he won’t latch on.”

“Thank you for delivering him.” Home birthing was a perfect solution to her problem. No hospital meant no names in a database.

Ila patted her leg.
“You did great.
He’s healthy. That’s what’s important.”
She rubbed her hand over his black hair. “And he
is
beautiful.”

Cat stifled a yawn and Ila smiled.

“Make sure you sleep when he does,” she said.

Yeah, that probably was excellent advice.

“Why don’t you take a nap, and I’ll get to spoiling him?
I
hear
a rocking chair calling my name.”

Cat started to protest. She looked down at her little angel’s face. She should be the one providing for Brody. But she was tired, probably tired enough to fall asleep and
drop
him. “If you’re sure it’s not too much trouble.”

“Taking care of babies is never trouble.”

“Okay. Wake me when he gets hungry.” Cat handed the sleeping boy to Ila.

After snuggling down in the covers, she finally drifted off to sleep wishing she were sandwiched between Rio and Creed.

Rio and Creed were at the end of their ropes, hanging by a thread with no room to tie a knot.
Two months. His
boy
was two months old today, and
for two months, they had left their mate alone to heal.
Oh, they had all slept together, snuggled, spooned, and took turns getting up to
bring
Brody to Cat, but all three of them were suffering sexually.

Cat’s
coy
glances at them
set
a fire racing through their blood.
If she were a wolf, she would have already healed.

Rio finish
ed
putting the dinner dishes away when Creed came through the door with a basket full of laundry.
Their gazes locked, and they couldn’t contain their laughter.
A merc and a sniper, two
lethal
men, had become househusbands.

“Your turn for laundry tomorrow, bro.”

“Beats dish-pan hands.”

Ila walked in carrying her backpack. Could Rio possibly
hope
?

“Cat and Brody are on the front porch grabbing the last rays of the sun. That boy loves to be outdoors. You two are gonna have a hard time keeping up with him when he gets older.”

Rio knew that about his son. The little
guy
’s eyes sparkled the
second
he was
outside
,
and he
occasionally fussed when
they
brought
him
inside
.
About the time Brody turned three or four, he would shift into a wolf and want to run the hills.
Rio and Creed had roamed the woods like wild wolves they were, and he had no doubt their children would do the same.

“It’s time for me to leave.”

Rio couldn’t
contain
the relief that flooded him.
Oh, they would
have
fuck
ed
Cat with their grandmother in the house. That wasn’t the problem. But if Ila was leaving, that meant Cat was healed.

“I suggest you two
mate
her tonight and
get
it out of the way.
She’s healed, but don’t be too rough with her.”

“God,” said Creed. “You think we’re…”

She cut him off with that don’t-talk-to-me-like-that look. “I
know
you’ll be careful, but sometimes things get out of hand. I’ll be back every week to see my grandson and my grand-daughter-in-law. I
expect
them to be
healthy
and happy.”

“Yes, ma’am,” they both replied in unison.

“Before you go, Ila. Tell us what you see?” demanded Rio. He and his brother had discussed doing whatever they needed to do to protect Cat and Brody, and that included changing the laws of the future.

“You know you can’t
fiddle
with
fate
.
It only makes things worse in the end.”

Creed dropped his laundry basket and grabbed both of her arms. “Ila. We’re begging you. Give us information to
protect
her.”

“Okay. I’ll tell you because you won’t be able to stop it. Cat will
run
away from you—again—right back into the hands of that sadistic bastard.”

“Why? Why would—will she run away from us?”

Ila was quiet
,
her eyes solemn.
“
Your b
etrayal.” With t
hose two
uttered word
s
, she turned and walked out the door.

“That’s insane,” muttered Creed. “We would never betray our mate.”

Rio’s wolf bristled in agreement. They’d kill themselves before letting that happen. “Well, I reckon we don’t have a problem then.”

Rio shoved
betrayal
out of his mind and concentrated on what his wolf had waited nine months to
do—mate
.
He and Creed had agreed to let Creed be the one in front, so the next child would be his.
Then after that, it would be left to
fate
.

Of course, explaining to Cat that he’d betrayed her
by lying
all this time—
wait a sec. Maybe that was the betrayal that Ila spoke of.
If that were the case, they should kill Alvarez first before explaining everything to her.
Push the
timetable
up.

That could wait until
later
. Rio headed to the porch knowing his brother wouldn’t be far behind. He found his beloved
mate
rocking his
sleepy
boy. God she was
beautiful
, more so now than before.
She was curvier, somehow more feminine.
Rio kneeled before her. “Why don’t you go take a bath and I’ll finish spoiling him.”

Cat smiled. “Your grandmother’s the worst.”

He wanted to say
‘that
’s what grandmothers are
for,’
but that
confession
would have to wait.

She stood and handed him his son. Amazingly, he was growing every day, sleeping a little less. He just hoped Brody would sleep for the next hour or two, because they had plans for his mother.

Cat
remained
in
the
tub
until her skin was so wrinkled that it forced her from her slice of paradise. And she was in
paradise
. The two brothers and Ila were a godsend. They’d bought tons of baby necessities, helped change, and bathe her son, and anything else that needed doing. Cat felt like a queen, which made it difficult to do what she needed to do—run. Alvarez must be
desperate
by now, desperate enough to
kill
people just for the hell of it. Her plan was to go home, tell her parents about her failure,
let her parent meet their
grandson
, and then flee again
.

After drying off, Cat padded out of Rio’s bathroom and stopped. Creed and Rio reclined on the bed—naked. A quick glance told her that Brody lay sleeping in his crib. Ila had said goodbye today and apparently that meant Cat was healed, which was a
good
thing. She was more than
ready
. She’d slept with both of them these past two months.
Bulging cocks restrained by denim
greeted her every way she turned.
Somehow, Ila either didn’t know or didn’t care.

Cat let her towel drop and approached the bed.
Excitement rushed through her veins like wildfire. Yes, she was ready for this. Creed patted the space between them. Crawling as seductively as she
could
, she settled herself on her back between them.

“Are you up for this, out sweet Cat?” Rio asked.

“Both of us,” added Creed.

“Yes.” Her voice was low, chocked with excitement. A
real
threesome
had consumed her mind since the
day
they teased her with it. She’d even dreamed about it one night only to
wake
feeling
hot
and needy sandwiched between two
very
tempting men. But they wouldn’t
touch
her. She needed to
heal
.
They’d said it so many times she
’d
started to
believe
s
he was
indeed
broke
n
.

“If you say stop, we’ll stop,” said Rio.

Stop
ping
was the last thing she wanted them to do. Hurry was the better word.

Her whole body quivered with
anticipation
and fear of the unknown, of the forbidden pleasure she could only imagine. Creed trailed a finger from her neck slowly down and stopped between her breasts.
Chills followed in its wake.
His
finger traveled further
below
, halted just above her clit.

Rio leaned over and captured her nipple. She knew he wouldn’t suck
because of her breast milk
, but the nipping and flicking of the
tongue
was enough to peak both buds and fill them with wanting.

Creed moved and settled between her legs. “Such a pretty pussy.” When his tongue swirled over the tight knot, she pushed her hips up. She needed pressure.

Creed pulled away and laughed. “No
,
my
precious
darling. We need to go slow.”

“Really,” she breathed out and lifted her head. “And if I were sucking your cock, would slow work for you?”

When
passion
flooded Creed’s eyes, her womb contracted. That look was for her.

She couldn’t
reach
Creed, so she snaked her hand out and gripped Rio’s cock.

“You’re playing with fire,” Rio grunted.

The inferno had been smoldering within her for weeks, and if she didn’t have an orgasm, she was going to combust and die a horrible death.
Hell, she even missed the butt plug, missed wearing the
sexy
clothes.

Creed attacked her clit, sucking, nipping.
His finger slipped inside, and she resisted crying out ‘finally.’ She watched his dark head moving between her thighs.
“So fucking sweet,” he said against her flesh.

Rio kissed her collarbone, teased the delicate skin of her neck. He smelled
rough
, rugged, wild, and all male. Rio sucked her earlobe into his mouth and nipped as she thumbed the underside of his cock. A little growl rumbled in
his
chest
.

Creed plunged two fingers in her and sucked hard on her clit. Pleasure like this was only
imagina
ry,
not something that could be
real
.
Rio pulled her leg towards her chest opening her up completely and then moved back to her breast.

She
squirmed as
Creed’s lubed finger slip past the tight ring of her rear; the
sensation
was
wicked
as hell. “I need more,” she cried softly.

More lube and two fingers slipped in, stretching tender flesh
,
as Creed plunged his tongue into her
delicate
pussy. She moved, fucking his tongue, fucking his fingers, reaching for that elusive pleasure.