Disgraced Cowboys (Lone Wolves of Shay Falls 3) [Siren Publishing Ménage Amour] (21 page)

“Yes,” she said, letting both heart and gut instinct answer. “Mark me as yours. I know now that I always have been.”

Both responding growls sounded quite inhuman, though a glance at Seth proved otherwise. His eyes were the only giveaway to his supernatural secret as he tugged her head to the side and pulled her to him.

“Mine,” he said, and crushed his lips to hers.

Their tongues didn’t just entwine, they battled for dominance as a pulse beat of anticipation thrummed low in her body. She tensed when she felt Marcus’s hot breath on the spot between her shoulder and neck, surprised when he nuzzled the spot and gently planted a kiss there.

Then his fangs pierced her flesh.

The steel-sharp blade of pain was immediate, fierce, and gone just as quickly. That wasn’t to say she felt nothing when the pain was over. While his teeth sank deep, waves of hot, heavy pleasure rippled out, quickly overtaking her entire body. The men’s cocks literally throbbed in time to the erotic waves, all of them in tune with the bond that had just been declared.

Keeping his jaw locked on her, Marcus gave final rapid thrusts, but two more were all she could stand. She groaned aloud, waiting for another powerful climax to wash away reality. What happened instead simply
erased
her for a heart-stopping moment.

The orgasm that claimed her was no mere culmination of precisely manufactured hormones and physical stimulation. She felt herself being sucked into her mates, and they into her. She not only sensed their desire as a force lingering in the air but actually internalized their pleasure centers, their bond to one another, and their love for her. Tears broke free and rolled down her cheeks, salting the kiss with Seth that had frozen in place.

“Marcus!” she cried out, pulling away from Seth’s lips, though certainly not the man as she fought to keep hold on the room. She wanted her climax to keep her centered in their trio, not whisk her off to some private universe.

The explosion in her body carried over into theirs, and the men growled and shouted at the exquisite release she felt roll out from them. And release it was, on many levels for her. She let it all go—the doubts, her fear, the pain and distrust of an abused past she thought could never lead to a loving future.

Marcus pulled out of her cunt some while before releasing the mating grip on her shoulder, which throbbed with an oddly warm, pleasurable sensation. When he released her at last, she felt the mark there, tying her to the men who had claimed her. Warning other comers to steer clear or incur their wrath. It was a comforting sensation. Comforting and safe.

Although she’d fought to keep herself rooted during her supernaturally charged climax, she had no idea how long they sat together on that couch, limbs entwined and stroking one another’s bodies, before she blinked and snapped out of the reverie of feeling her mates’ pleasure from within.

“Holy cow,” she said at last.

The ripple of mirth from Seth was palpable scant seconds before his laughter. “I thought I was the god of thunder, not steer.”

“You’re about to be both,” Marcus said, “now that Kade’s gettin’ us back on a ranch.”

She felt the hope and pride warming her men’s chests.

“I wonder if he’ll expect us to room in the bunkhouse,” Seth said. “I hope not.”

“Somehow, I think he’ll realize why that won’t work,” Marcus said, running an idle hand along Brandi’s thigh.

“Why won’t it?” she asked, feeling a new tingle start at his touch.

“You can’t very well bunk in with the hands, too,” Seth said. “Unless you’re applyin’ for a job here.”

She smiled. “I’ve never even been around ranch animals. Unless you count wolves.”

“Oh, we definitely count wolves,” Seth said with a grin. “But that does leave us with the question of where to hang our hats. The cabin I’m at only has a single twin bed. Nothin’ much larger would even squeeze into the bedroom.”

“I’m between places at the moment,” Marcus said. “A lot of the money I’d stashed for a rainy day has done been rained on, so I’ve been switchin’ between wolf mode and the bed and breakfast on The Falls Drive. The rest of my stuff is in a storage locker at the bus station.”

Sympathy clutched at Brandi’s chest. Being turned by Blaise had cost him a great deal—both of them. And here she’d burned some of what few possessions Marcus had left.

“We’ll think of somethin’,” Seth said. “I just don’t know what at the moment.”

“I do,” she said.

Marcus raised a brow at her. “You ain’t thinkin’ of hirin’ a decorator to redo the cave?”

She laughed. “Somehow, I think I’d rather have a place that’s a bit easier to get in and out of. Like one of the cabins near the falls.”

Seth grunted. “What, the ones off Aspen Road? Bit pricey.”

“I’m staying there now,” she said. “The one I took isn’t much bigger than Seth’s, from the sound of it. But that’s just a rental. There’s a larger model up the road that’s got a For Sale sign in the window.”

“One problem,” Marcus said, extricating himself from the couch. “You just quit your job, and Seth and I won’t be able to think about a down payment on somethin’ like that for a while yet.”

“No need.” She stood up, stretching her pleasantly sore limbs. “There was one advantage to pole dancing, gentlemen. I made damn good money from it. And I saved the wolves’ share of it.”

“We couldn’t use your money for that,” Seth said.

“Sure, you could. I’d been saving for years to buy a little place off the beaten path someday. Well, this place is most definitely off the beaten path. And I’d say someday has just arrived.”

Marcus was staring at her, but thanks to their bond, his unreadable expression had palpable feelings underneath. She smiled at the warm waves of contentment and acceptance flowing through him.

“Guess there was an advantage to your dancin’,” Marcus said.

“Let’s not forget the other advantage,” Seth said, catching her around the waist and hoisting her up.

She gripped his shoulders and smiled down at him. “There was another advantage?”

He gave her a sexy grin. “Yeah. We got to watch you do it. I say we chip in our ranchin’ paychecks to get a stripper pole installed in the
someday
cabin,” Seth said.

“Amen to that,” Marcus added.

She clung to Seth while turning to Marcus. “Oh, really? I was damn certain that you hated watching me dance, the way you scowled at me.”

“Then you were ignorin’ the giant, throbbin’ sign below my belt,” Marcus said.

“Oh, it’s a giant, all right,” Seth said putting Brandi down when Marcus held Brandi’s clothes out to her. “Lucky me.”

“Lucky
us
,” Brandi corrected, pulling on her sweater. “We can stay at my place for now. It’s got a bigger bed, at least.”

“And it’s closer to the ranch,” Seth added.

“Then it’s settled,” she said. “Tomorrow we can check out the bigger cabin, see if we want to make an offer.”

“I don’t have much to add to the pot,” Marcus added, “but everythin’ I have is yours. Ours. You get the point.”

“Same here,” Seth echoed.

She tugged on her pants, and it dawned on her that the men had no clothes to put on.

“I just hope I don’t get pulled over for having two naked men in my car,” she said, laughing. “A ticket will cut into our joint incomes.”

“Two furry canines, you mean.” Seth waggled his brow. “That shouldn’t cause a commotion. But we might want to make a couple stops first, because checkin’ out real estate tomorrow with two naked men will be a whole other matter.”

As she walked out to the car with black and white wolves strutting majestically beside her, Brandi glanced back at the house. Far from the dire, unfriendly picture the ranch had painted earlier, the lights blazing in most of the rooms shimmered now with a warm, welcoming glow against the darkness. Her heart felt exactly the same.

Silhouettes stood framed in one of the windows, and Brandi saw Lily and her mates watching them depart. Now she understood the bond between them, and as she caught Lily’s eye, she was able to return the knowing smile. They both belonged to wolves, and wolves were devoted to them. They were men who had faced great hardship under a curse that threatened to consume them and who had paid the price for battling their demons in order to go on and claim the love of their mates.

“I think I’d like to get to know Lily better,” she said as she started the car and turned on the dusty, circular drive fronting the ranch. “We seem to have a lot in common.”

Seth licked her cheek and sat with Marcus in the backseat as they drove away. As she eyed the ranch in the rearview mirror, a thought settled around her like a warm cloak. The days of never putting down roots, watching one town after another shrink away behind her, were gone. She’d found where she belonged. Shay Falls would forever be her home.

THE END

HTTP://JROSEALLISTER.COM

When she’s not conjuring tales of hot cowboys under a full moon, J. Rose Allister enjoys her garden, cooking, movies, and hanging out with her author husband and family in their Southern California home.

Ménage Amour: Lone Wolves of Shay Falls 1:
Disowned Cowboys

Ménage Amour: Lone Wolves of Shay Falls 2:
Discarded Cowboys

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