Fox, Morgan - Tempted by the Moon [Moonlight Shifters 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (7 page)

“One more thing, Sebastian,” she said, a wicked grin tugging at her lips.

He turned to meet her gaze, and the fierce blow of her right hand creased over the side of his face. The loud wallop made her feel better. The sting she was sure he felt on his face might never match the sting he had left in her heart, but it felt good nonetheless.

He growled at her, closing the distance between them, his massive body crowded against her.

She didn’t back down, didn’t as much as flinch. Through clenched teeth she warned, “Don’t ever do that to me again!” Her eyes held fire she was sure he could feel. “Next time you think to leave me...Don’t.”

With lightning speed, he clasped the hand that struck his face and yanked it against his chest. Dark, seething eyes fixed on hers. She swallowed. Panic trampled through her body, blood pumping so loud in her ears it left her deaf.

To her amazement, he pressed the palm of her hand against his lips and kissed it, eyes closed, lingering for a solid minute. Opening his eyes, he stared at her. Pure, raw emotion filled his gaze.

“I will never leave you again, Brie.” Closing the last remaining distance between them, he took her mouth. It was a hot, possessive kiss that left her toes curling and a soft, fluttering moan tearing from her lips. “I didn’t think it would be so hard, but it was. Brie, spending one moment away from you was hell. I never believed I could love someone so deep and true as I love you. For me, being with you is so much more than just mating heat—it’s love, Brie.”

She gazed down at her shoes, her eyes welling with unspent tears and her bottom lip quivering. Lifting her chin with his index finger, he searched deep into her eyes.

He told her, “I love you more than I ever dreamed possible.”

Choking back the sobs that somersaulted inside her belly, she wrapped her arms around Sebastian. “I love you, too,” she confessed. “That’s why it hurt so much. I feel like you chose to be away from me rather than stay with me.” She met his gaze. “I understand about Mason. I do, but the pain in my heart, mind, and body felt like I was dead anyway—Mason would have actually done me a favor if he killed me.” She placed her hand in front of him, blocking his round-eyed protest. “I’m not saying I would have wanted that, I’m saying being without you...well, I just don’t want to do that again.”

For a long moment they just held each other. Sebastian promised, “I will never leave you again, Brie. I promise. Should the need arise for me to be apart from you, I’ll just bring you and Jonah with me.”

Smiling, she said, “Good, because I’m sick of crying at the drop of a hat. I’m tired of feeling like a blubbering little girl who has no control over her emotions.”

He pressed a tender kiss to her lips. “No more tears. No more being apart from each other. All we need to do now is stop Mason Levi from infecting any more lycans, and we also need to get you practicing using your powers.”

She arched a brow, “I don’t know how to use my powers.”

He brushed her hair away from her face, dipped down to kiss her lips, and grinned. “But I do.”

Chapter Five

Two hours later, Brie sat on the mangled and shredded couch, her foot tapping against the corner of the broken coffee table. Sebastian had nearly destroyed the home she once thought of as the perfect place. A pristine cabin surrounded by majestic lands. Repairing the damages he’d caused was going to take a lot of work.

Besides broken furniture, the curtains, including the rustic metal rods, had been torn away from the windows, all interior decorations shattered and broken, and nothing looked the same. A bomb exploding would have been less destructive. The sight of all the chaos stole her breath away. What he must’ve gone through to do this kind of damage...she shivered.

Swallowing hard, her eyes focused on a small pool of blood on the floor near the fireplace. He’d cut himself during his rampage. Earlier when they’d made love, she hadn’t noticed any cuts or scrapes on his body. The supernatural ability to heal was a nice little werewolf trait. One she honestly wouldn’t mind having herself.

While she was in the bedroom with Sebastian, Jonah had taken the time to straighten up what he could in the living room. The cushion she sat on was the only one left in one piece—still torn, but in one piece. Jonah had cleared away most of the debris from the kitchen floor, creating a path for her to walk around without having to worry she might trip over something. She smiled at his sweetness.

Brie folded her arms across her chest and studied the brothers as they both took turns picking up broken furniture and debris, effortlessly tossing it out the back door. Neither one made eye contact with the other, but she knew they had been speaking—just not to her. The little shits had probably been yelling their heads off using telepathy. They seemed to tread lightly around her, afraid that hearing them fight would upset her, but honestly a little something was better than all the damn silence. Every now and again, she would hear a deep growl, then witness the brothers halt their movements, glaring at one another.

Yes, they were definitely using telepathy.

Covering her mouth with her hand, she hid her smile. Grown men could be so ridiculous sometimes. Jonah was angry with Sebastian for what he had done to her, and she knew it, but she didn’t need Jonah to fight her battles, and she certainly didn’t want to come between the brothers. At least not anymore than she already had.

Being this close to Sebastian and Jonah again fueled her body. The feeling was so right and perfect. A warming tingle, more like an electric burst of energy, pulsed through her veins. They both had a way of making her feel more alive than she’d ever felt before. She loved them more each day, and now that Sebastian was with her again, her heart beat just a little faster.

“You two really need to stop with all the insults,” she said, standing with her arms folded over her chest.

Sebastian and Jonah turned to stare at her. Their brows furrowed. Their dark eyes filled with a serious and heightened intensity.

“We haven’t said anything,” Sebastian grumbled.

Stepping over the broken leg of the table, Brie moved to stand between them. “Oh yes you have. Your use of angry mind reading is so uncomfortable, even those who don’t use telepathy can feel it.” She rested her hands on the brothers’ forearms, and in unison their muscles twitched. A jolt of warmth shot straight to her toes.
Oh, boy.
“Now stop fighting. I don’t like us this way—me sitting silent like the good wife, while you two fight over...me.” She shook her head wearily. “Seriously, it’s silly. I’d rather we move forward and not worry about what’s passed. Can we do that?” She glared from one brother to the other. “Can we?”

Before Sebastian or Jonah could respond, the front door pushed open, scraping against broken pieces of glass and wood. All eyes moved in the direction of the arriving guests. Brie’s heart leapt at the intrusion.

Ryken and Luken, Sebastian and Jonah’s gorgeous twin werewolf cousins, stood there like bronzed golden gods. Streaming blond hair dripped over their broad shoulders, muscular arms folded over their wonderfully naked chests, hypnotic green eyes and strong legs encased in tight form-fitting jeans. She gulped.

The cousins seemed to struggle with the concept that it was okay to be clothed. Jonah had shared with her that the twins were often unclothed because they enjoyed being in wolf form more than human form. Running through the woods was invigorating, and they did it every chance they got, which seemed to be every single day.

Ryken glanced around the room, and locking his gaze on Sebastian’s, he asked, “You done destroying everything in sight now that your pretty little mate has returned?” With a grin, he winked at Brie, making heat flood her cheeks.

Sebastian grunted, not bothering to respond to his obnoxious cousin’s words. He returned to gathering the broken pieces of furniture, tossing them out the back door. Jonah’s arms were loaded up with shredded pillows and fabric, following behind Sebastian.

“Brie, you must be hard to live without. In all my years, I’ve never seen Sebastian do so much as break a nail. His alpha doesn’t crack the surface often, but damn,” he said, glancing around the room. “It sure as shit does when you’re not around.”

Returning to stand beside Brie, Sebastian growled, his lip curling in frustration, “What do you want, Ryken. Why are you here?” He gripped Brie’s shoulders, pulling her against his chest. She shuddered at the contact. His body so warm, even through his clothes she could feel him radiating into her. Was it possible he was warmer then she remembered him being?

“To make sure you’re okay,” Luken shared.

Grinning, Ryken added, “And to fuck with you of course.”

“So I figured.” Sebastian released Brie, turned, and picked up more debris off the floor. “If you haven’t come to help clean or do something useful, then perhaps its best you leave.”

Ryken chuckled. “Wow, you really are a grump. Maybe you need a little more one-on-one time with your mate, alpha dog.”

Suddenly, everything around her moved at hyperspeed. Sebastian’s arms opened and all he held crashed to the floor. He launched himself towards Ryken, snarling and growling like a wild beast, arms swinging.

If not for Jonah and Luken, Sebastian would have been pummeling the shit out of Ryken’s beautiful face. Jonah and Luken held the struggling and angry Sebastian, grunting as they tried to steady him.

Sebastian’s body enlarged, eyes flickering silver, claws lengthening into razor-sharp knives. He was going to turn into the wolf. Brie swallowed hard, knowing he could easily kill everyone in the room.

Instinct took over, compelling her to step forward and place herself between Sebastian and Ryken. A powerful force clawed at her mind to intervene—to heal. Eyes wide, she stared at the man she loved and pressed the palm of her hand flat against his rumbling chest. He stilled on contact as if jolted by her touch.

Sebastian’s exotic silver eyes appeared to be outlined with the faintest edge of kohl, his body enlarged, an indication that his beast was breaking through his hold. His control failing. Brie knew she should be afraid of the raging beast, but it was Sebastian. Her Sebastian, and she had to believe that he would not hurt her. Her belly fluttered with nerves at the thought she could be wrong.

Brie spoke low, “Sebastian, don’t. What are you doing? Ryken is your family. He’s only teasing you. Why are you acting this way?” She caressed his whiskered cheeks with her hands.

He snapped his arms back, launching both Jonah and Luken off of him as if the men hadn’t really been restraining him. He grabbed hold of Brie’s hands and pressed each one to his mouth, then turned abruptly and charged through the back door, leaving them all staring after him.

Glancing around the room, she muttered, “What the hell was that all about?” She turned as Jonah approached.

Hiking his shoulders, Jonah whispered, “Sebastian hasn’t quite forgiven Ryken for attacking you in the woods last month. He seems to be holding a slight grudge.”

Brie’s eyes narrowed. “That’s just ridiculous. Ryken never hurt me. Besides, I was new here. He didn’t know who I was. He was protecting his home, for crying out loud. Sebastian told me that himself.”

“I know, but I think being away from you for so long has messed with his head. His beast edged a little closer to the surface than we generally like them to.”

She held up her hand. “Wait, you mean he’s gone out there to turn into his wolf, but there’s no full moon?” Once the words left her lips she realized how stupid that was to say. Tumbling nerves were turning her brain into a bucket of useless matter. Jonah had already shared with her that werewolves didn’t need the moon to shift. The presence of the full moon only made shifting a greater temptation—running wild through the woods, howling at the full moon felt blissful.

“We can do that anyway, the moon gives us a little less control over the wolf. We have more urges,” he raised his brows up and down several times indicating his sexual reference. “Most times we have control, but Sebastian let the beast get control for too long, that’s why everything around you has been destroyed, why he and I are not talking, and why he just wanted to rip Ryken’s head off.” He brushed his fingers over her heated cheek. “He’ll be fine. It might just take a little time for him to calm down.”