Hard and Easy [High-Country Shifters 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (6 page)

He pushed open the door and found his friend on his bed, thumbing through some papers. “What’s going on? Dinner’s almost ready.”

“I like her.”

That was a good thing. “So why are you here instead of with us?” He knew Brin, though. Larek bet he was concocting some kind of plan and needed time to think. “What do you need me to do?”

His grin told him everything. “Nothing much. Tell her I’m still too weak to eat. After you finish chowing, bring Madra in here and I’ll be on the floor. Knowing her, she’ll want to spend the night and keep watch over me. You and she can take turns. Maybe you can say I have a fever or some internal injury that needs time to heal.”

“Not going to work.”

“Why?”

“I won’t be involved in deception.”

Brin placed the papers off to the side. “So what do you propose?”

“How about coming out to dinner and being nonthreatening for a change? After we eat, we let her know how much we want her. If we can’t charm her into bed, then it’s not meant to be.”

Brin got off the bed and tossed the heap of papers back on his desk. “You sound so fucking serious when you’re noble.”

His friend had been watching too much Earth television. “I am serious, because there’s something about her that makes me vibrate inside. I think she may be the one.”
Please say you agree. It won’t work without you.

When Brin lasered him with a stare, he could tell his friend was weighing all the options. The grin was slow to develop, but when it did, his eyes shone. “I say let’s go capture us a mate.”

When both of the men came out of the room, Madra’s relief was palpable. She rushed up to Brin. “Are you okay?”

He picked her up, spun her around, and then set her back down. Her laughter escaped.

“Yes, thanks to your healing touch.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

When he leaned over and kissed her, both her body and mind exploded. Surprise at the overture came first. Here she thought he’d either be angry that he’d had to defend her or still be disappointed that she hadn’t stood up for what he thought was right. Regardless, the kiss melted her body, and when she molded her chest against his, her pussy went into overdrive. He moved his hands down her back, causing his muscles to flex. The pressure on her nipples sent spears of delight straight between her legs.
Oh, my
.

Wanting more, she opened her mouth to invite him in. From the hungry way his tongue darted in and explored her, it was as if he hadn’t kissed a woman in months. From the fresh taste, he’d brushed his teeth, and she licked the flavor off his tongue. They teased each other until Larek’s throat clearing finally reached her brain.

She pulled back and faced him. “I’m sorry, Larek. It’s just that—”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m thrilled you find my friend attractive. I just wanted to say dinner’s on the table.”

Heat raced up her face. She debated telling Larek that she found him equally attractive, but what would be the point? Men as powerful and successful as Brin and Larek wouldn’t want anything to do with her. She was sure Brin’s kiss was meant simply as a thank-you.

Larek tapped the seat next to him, and she sat while Brin went over to the wine rack and pulled out a bottle of red. Half of her glass was full, but Larek topped it off with the white. After Larek passed around the food, the silence unnerved her a little. Possibly because her mother always initiated the conversations at the table, she wasn’t great at keeping a man’s interest, despite spending her days talking to her students.

Since Brin was a lawyer, she figured he must have a lot of cases on his plate and probably loved to talk about what he did. “Tell me about your job.”

He finished chewing before he spoke. “I’m a public defender.”

“I know that much.” When Larek had introduced them, he’d told her. “Are you working on any interesting cases?”

“I think all of my cases are interesting, mostly because all my clients swear they are innocent even when the evidence against them is often quite weighty.”

She was glad she didn’t have to deal with issues like that in her job. “What do you do when you’re sure the person has committed the crime?”

“Investigate. I check every one of their sources and then find some of my own.”

She was impressed he cared so much. “I bet it’s rewarding when your client is acquitted.”

“It is indeed.”

By not embellishing his answers, he wasn’t making this easy for her. From the way his warm eyes twinkled, he was almost enjoying seeing her struggle. She wasn’t going to let him get the best of her though. “Can you tell me about your current case?”

He glanced over at Larek. “Maybe you should hire her. She’d make a good reporter.”

She laughed. “I’d have nothing to report, since you didn’t tell me anything.” Then she realized that talking about his current case might not be legal. “Okay, how’s this? Of all the cases you’ve already tried, what was your most challenging one?”

“Hmm. That’s hard to narrow down.” He tapped his wineglass.

Larek picked up his drink. “How about the case against Druven?”

“That sounds interesting. Do tell.” She had no idea who Druven was, but if Larek thought it had merit, she wanted to hear about it.

“Maybe we ought to move into the living room. This could take a while.”

She picked up her plate to place in the sink when Larek stayed her hand. “You listen, and I’ll clean up. Trust me when I say I’ve heard it all before.”

How wonderful that these men were so comfortable with each other. For a second her mind traveled back to the tub where both of them were naked. Her fertile mind pictured herself in that tub with them and having their bodies rub against hers.

“Madra?”

Skelak
. Maybe she needed to see a doctor. These temporary lapses were embarrassing. “Coming.”

Brin pointed to a comfortable-looking chair across from the one where he sat. Their knees almost touched, and the intimate scene wasn’t lost on her. She could almost picture herself being with these men every night, discussing Brin’s cases, the antics of her students, and the late-breaking news Larek had uncovered. He’d have dinner on the table when she came home, and then Brin would drag in an hour later, tired but satisfied. He’d reheat the food while he told her about his day. All three would then sit around the table trying to brainstorm how to get his client off.

“The Druven case happened maybe six years ago. He was accused of murdering his wife.”

There wasn’t much violence in Anterra, but it did happen. “Go on.”

“When Druven found his wife clawed to death, he notified the proper authorities, but he couldn’t prove he hadn’t harmed her. He said when he arrived home, his wife was still breathing but then died in his arms.”

She could almost picture the gruesome scene. “He probably had blood all over him if he held his wife.”

“Yes. The problem was that Druven didn’t seem all that upset about her death. He told the authorities that he’d filed for a divorce just days before.”

If he didn’t love his wife, he might have harmed her. “How did you know he was innocent?” She waved a hand. “Besides him telling you he was?”

“You catch on quick. I did a lot of background research and learned that his wife had a lot of overnight outings. Long story short, the woman was having an affair with a wolf shifter.”

She sucked in a breath. While she believed the lions had taken advantage of the wolves a few thousand years ago, during her lifetime, they’d been nothing but a problem. “Wouldn’t the jury have called her death justified then?” Though if a man found his wife in bed with a wolf, she would have thought he’d have killed the wolf and not his wife.

He shook his head. “That’s not how it works. Turns out, the woman was also sleeping with Druven’s brother.”

The dots connected. “I’m guessing that when the brother found out about her being unfaithful to him, he killed her?”

“Right. Most of the jurors were led to believe that the husband was insanely jealous and that he’d killed her out of rage, but as soon as I brought to light some of the woman’s receipts, the jury realized it was the brother, and Druven was set free.”

“Did you have to defend Druven’s brother?”

“Fortunately, no, though it would have been an easy case for me. I would have insisted he plead guilty and accept his punishment.”

No wonder he was passionate about his job. He made a difference in so many lives.

As soon as she finished off her glass of wine, Larek joined them and refilled it. They got talking about some of his biggest stories that he’d broken. Only after they both regaled her with their tales did she realize it was past the time for the tram to run.

She stood. “I didn’t realize how late it is. I never meant to keep you up. You need your rest.”

Both jumped up. “Stay the night,” Brin said.

The implication almost made her reel. She didn’t want to assume that meant they were interested in having sex with her. It could mean they wanted her to stay in case their injuries flared up despite them looking and acting rather healthy. She’d never heard of a lion having a relapse, but she supposed it could happen.

She weighed her options. It might take her an hour to walk home, especially in these sandaled heels. While she could ask them to escort her, she didn’t want to tire them out. “I think I should go. I don’t want to be a burden.”

Brin glanced at Larek. “That parent could be out there.”

Her body tensed. “You said he had a broken leg.”

Brin nodded. “Most likely, but what about the other guy? He seemed in quite good shape when he ran out of the bar.”

She thought she’d seen him dash out. That was Frania’s dad. “You might be right.”

“We’ll sleep on the floor and you can take the bed.” They really seemed to understand her concern, but she still wasn’t sure why they’d asked her. There were too many possibilities to draw a definitive conclusion.

The sofa was rather short, and she probably couldn’t fit on it anyway. “You sure?”

They both smiled. “Positive.”

* * * *

Brin had surely lost his mind when he’d asked her to spend the night, but when he’d been talking with her about his cases, she’d completely understood the complexities that went into dealing with the prosecution and what constituted proof. His upper half told him this might not be a good idea, but the lower half was cheering him on. He wanted to take it slow and not do anything that made her uncomfortable, but he got the sense that when they connected, she wanted him, too. The kiss they’d shared had flipped some kind of internal switch, hopefully for her, too, and his gut told him that now was the time to test the waters.

He understood the difference between a one-night stand and something that might have permanence. He and Larek had been trying to find the right woman for over ten years and had been unsuccessful. Madra seemed like that woman.

If he made love with her tonight his life would never be the same, either in the courtroom or out.

Take the chance
.

He wanted to tell his cock to shut up, but if there was one thing he’d learned in his thirty-three years, it was that the beast inside him couldn’t be silenced once he set his sights on something or someone he desired.

“Come with us.”

He and Larek escorted her into the bedroom. Brin crawled onto the bed and got on his knees. “Come here, Madra.”

Her eyes widened. She glanced between him and Larek acting as if she had no idea they wanted to make love to her.

“I don’t understand. You want to make love to me?” Her eyes sparkled.

“Yes.”

He was determined to reassure her. All it would take would be one kiss. Yes, he said they would sleep on the floor, and they might, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to see if she wanted them as much as they wanted her. If she responded to him like before, then there would be no holding back, and he’d be willing to love her like she’d never been loved before. Given her tentative nature, he wouldn’t press the issue of fucking her ass, but he sure would be dreaming about it for the days to come. He held out his hand.

As soon as she placed her hand in his, Larek came up behind her and fondled her breasts. She groaned from the attention, and his cock got hard seeing his friend massage her nipples. The moment her eyes closed, he squeezed her hand to reassure her. Thoughts of blindfolds, ropes, and paddles raced through his mind, but if he turned too aggressive, she’d run for sure. Sometimes plain, old, sweaty sex was the best.

Brin tugged her arms and pulled her close enough to force her to place one knee on the bed. Larek lowered his fingers to her waist and then let go. Indecision tore at him. He wanted to touch and taste so much of her that he didn’t know where to begin.

As if his inner lion surfaced, he scooted closer and pressed his chest to hers and captured her lips. He wanted to be gentle, but his urges made him take her hard. When she pulled back, opened her mouth, and drew him to her lips, he knew there was no turning back.

He cupped her wonderful, round ass and wanted nothing more than to lick her clean and ride her hard.