* * * *
Shilo woke to the feel of fingers plucking at one nipple and then lightly pinching it as it as it stood erect. A sigh of pleasure escaped her as the hand drifted to her belly after a moment, skated lightly across it and then a finger sought and found her clit, teasing it lazily. She sucked in a deep breath and held it as the hand moved to her thigh after a moment, urging her to lift it and when she did, a hard male thigh slipped between hers and an engorged cock plowed along her cleft.
She opened her eyes slowly.
Maurice was lying on his side facing her, his head propped on one hand. For a long moment their gazes locked. His gray eyes were tumultuous with unabashed desire. She felt her throat close with responding need, felt it compound the desire already rising inside of her from Dante's caresses as Maurice's gaze drifted downward and fastened on breasts for a long moment and she saw his face go taut. Her gaze drifted downward as his moved lower still and he studied the movement of Dante's hand on her clit.
Bulging muscles, lightly furred with hair slightly darker than the hair on his head, defined Maurice's chest and belly. His cock, stiffly erect and flushed darkly with his desire, bucked slightly in his hand as her gaze settled on it. She saw that he was stroking himself and watched the movement in fascination for several moments, feeling her mouth grow dry as the thought descended on her from no where to wonder what it would be like to feel his cock inside of her, to cover it with her mouth and taste it.
Dante shifted downward abruptly, realigning his body and thrusting upward to push inside of her. She gasped dizzily as she felt him enter her, closing her eyes tightly as a wave of heady pleasure swept through her.
When she opened her eyes again, she saw that Maurice was watching her face. He held her gaze captive as Dante looped an arm beneath her thigh and lifted it higher, plunged deeper and set a rhythm that began slowly and quickly escalated. A low moan escaped her as she felt her body burgeon, tighten toward release. Hearing it, Dante's hand slipped from her thigh to tease her clit. She looped an arm around her thigh, holding it as he'd held it before, high, to allow him better access, to allow him to drive more deeply inside of her.
Maurice's hand, she saw when she looked at him, was moving faster, as well, keeping pace with Dante's driving thrusts inside of her. Another groan of pleasure worked its way up her throat. She sucked in a harsh breath as she felt her body tremble on the verge of release, needing to close her eyes, wanting to watch Maurice as he watched her and pleasured himself.
Her eyes slammed shut of their own accord as her climax ripped through her abruptly. She gasped on a sobbing breath, uttering sharp cries as her body clamped down on Dante's cock, milking him of his seed, and then wilted as the tension left her, Dante's hoarse groans and Maurice's echoing in her ears as they found their own release.
The bed shifted beneath her after a few moments and she knew Maurice had risen and left. A confusion of emotions stirred, but she was in no condition to sort them. Spent, she drifted back toward oblivion.
The heavenly smell of coffee and bacon woke her a little later. Feeling vaguely sore but delightfully satisfied, she stretched languidly and finally opened her eyes when she realized she was alone in the bed.
Rolling onto her back, she opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling, allowing herself to savor the memories that drifted through her mind and the pleasant echoes that still lingered in her body.
Maurice had slept with her and Dante, she realized abruptly. She vaguely recalled the feel of being sandwiched between the warmth of their bodies, the nebulous realization that there weren't enough places for everyone to bed down and acceptance because of that despite a dim sense of discomfort when she realized she was naked between them.
It had been more than that, though, more than just a circumstance of necessity because there weren't enough places for everyone to sleep.
Maurice had watched Dante pleasure her, had pleasured himself while he did.
A blush started at her breasts and worked upwards. Both men had been completely aware of that they were doing, and, she felt certain, completely aware of what she was doing.
It had aroused her being watched, though she would never have believed it would. It had aroused her more to realize that Maurice had come.
A shiver skated through her as her body throbbed at the memory.
Unwilling to analyze any of the emotions churning in her, she threw off the covers and went to bathe and dress. The men were gathered in the living room eating breakfast when she emerged. Dante looked up, meeting her gaze with warmth in his eyes and a faint, completely satisfied smile on his lips. She smiled back at him tentatively and headed for the kitchen. Maurice was standing at the counter, pouring himself a cup of coffee. He turned to look at her as she entered the kitchen. Before she could prevent herself, she met his gaze.
Hunger rose in his eyes as she stared at him, unable to drag her gaze away, and she felt warmth flood her, felt the muscles in her belly clench in response. “Good morning,” he said huskily.
Unable to prevent a blush from mounting her cheeks, she looked away. “Good morning."
"Did you sleep well?"
She threw him a look of confusion and blushed harder when she saw a gleam of amusement had entered his eyes. She couldn't prevent her lips from curling upward in response to the teasing gleam, though. “Yes, thank you."
"Coffee?"
"Please! I need caffeine."
He took a cup down and filled it for her. She took it, settling gratefully at the table. She felt weak all over and thoroughly confused.
"We're lycan,” he said quietly. “Pack brothers."
She looked up at him at that. He held her gaze for a long moment and finally turned away. Emptying what was left in his cup, he dropped it into the dishwater she saw had already been prepared to clean the breakfast clutter. He paused behind her chair as he turned to go. Lightly, so lightly she might almost have imagined it, he stroked his fingers along her cheek.
The door had barely closed behind him when the others began to wander into the kitchen. “We're going out to reconnoiter,” Dante, the last to leave, said as he paused behind her and settled his hands on her shoulders. “We won't be far."
It was almost a relief to have them out of the house.
Pack brothers.
She'd been so discomfited she'd barely registered the way Jessie and Kane had looked at her when she'd come out of her room—thought she hadn't. She'd seen
that
in their eyes, though, the same hunger she'd seen in Maurice's eyes, the same look of anticipation.
She covered her face with her hands as it dawned on her that they'd heard everything. She'd hardly been quiet about it, had been too wrapped up in ecstasy to even consider that they would hear, to wonder what they would think about it.
As difficult as it was for her to grasp, though, she realized they
all
wanted her.
And they
all
expected to have her.
What she wasn't certain of was how she felt about it.
Erotica/Romance. 74621 words long.
Chapter Sixteen
Shilo was on her knees admiring her flowers when she sensed a presence and looked up to discover Maurice had come to stand and watch her. Smiling up at him tentatively, she returned her attention to her flowers, studying the bright colors with pleasure, lightly touching first one and then another as she tried to decide which ones to cut and which to leave.
He crouched beside her. “Hummingbird,” he murmured.
Shilo lifted her head in delighted surprise, looking around for it. “Really?"
He chuckled. “You. You remind me of a hummingbird."
Wondering whether to be pleased or not, she looked at him questioningly. “Long beak?"
He laughed, flicking a finger along the bridge of her nose. “It's a pretty little beak.” His gaze moved over her face caressingly. “Just like the rest of your face—pretty."
She blushed at the compliment. “Thank you."
He nodded slightly. “I was talking about the way you flit from flower to flower, as if you can't quite make up your mind which appeals to you the most."
"Because I never can,” she admitted, smiling. “Sometimes I think the reds are my favorites, but then I like the blues and purples, too. I was trying to decide whether I wanted a bouquet with red, yellow, and orange, or a bouquet with blue, purple, and pink."
He studied the flowers in question. “You're good at this—or the soil's really rich."
Shilo laughed. “I think it's the soil. I just drop the seed in and water it.” Deciding to wait a day or two before she cut more, she started to get to her feet.
Maurice straightened, catching her hand and drawing her up with him. They were standing nearly toe to toe, she discovered. Feeling the breath hitch in her chest, she looked up at him questioningly. His face was taut now, all traces of humor having vanished.
His gaze settled on her mouth.
He wanted to kiss her. She saw it in his eyes.
Her mouth went dry at the thought. Still, she hesitated as he drifted closer, licking her lips unconsciously as she felt his heated breath caress them, uncertain of whether she should. He'd said they were pack brothers, though, and Dante hadn't been angry when he'd watched them together.
Which still left the question of whether she wanted to or not, but she realized there wasn't actually any question of that. She'd been acutely conscious of him in a purely sexual way since the first day she'd awakened to find that he'd shared the bed with her and Dante. He hadn't made any attempt to touch her with more than his gaze before, but he'd aroused her thoroughly by doing no more than that.
She most definitely wanted to kiss him. Feeling shaky and lightheaded, she tilted her head after a moment's indecision, lifting her lips to him in offering.
She caught a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes a split second before he slanted his mouth over hers. A heated languor stole over her as light as the contact was as his lips clung briefly to hers, parted, and then settled more firmly over her mouth, his fingers tangling in hair as he cupped the back of her skull to hold her for his kiss. She lifted her hands to rest them against his hard chest as his other arm settled around her, drawing her closer.
His tongue stroked along her lower lip and then delved inside as she opened her mouth to him. Pleasure skimmed her nerve endings as he raked his tongue along hers, filling her mouth with his taste and scent. Her stomach went weightless, filled with the sensation of fluttering butterfly wings of excitement. Enthralled with the feel of his mouth, his taste, with the faint roughness of his tongue as it stroked hers in delightful friction, she leaned against him, clutching two fistfuls of his shirt as his essence flowed into her blood stream and set off a heady thrill of anticipation.
Beneath her knuckles, she could feel his hammering heartbeat, feel faint shudders rippling through him.
He withdrew his tongue from her mouth after a few moments, sucked briefly at her lips and then deprived her of his touch altogether. She opened her eyes to look at him reproachfully. He swallowed hard, shifting his fingers from her hair to her cheek and lightly stroking it with the edge of his thumb. “Lady, if you knew how badly I want to throw you down right here and fuck the hell out of you, you wouldn't look at me like that,” he said hoarsely.
Surprise flickered through her, but she wasn't offended—far from it. His words made her want just that.
He saw it in her eyes.
His hands tightened on her. Reluctantly, he eased his hold, staring down at her for a long moment as if he was fighting the urge to bring her against him for another taste of her. Instead, he lifted his head, dragging in a deep breath.
Amusement gleamed in his eyes when he looked at her again. “I smell something burning."
Shilo stared at him blankly while that slowly sank in. “Oh god! There goes lunch!’ she exclaimed, whirling and darting toward the door of the house.
She'd nursed some hope that disposing of the charred food and airing the house would prevent discovery by the others that she'd burned the food again. She could see by their amused glances as they came in, however, that none of them had been fooled. “I thought we'd just have sandwiches for lunch today,” she said uncomfortably.
Grinning at her, Dante dragged her close and kissed her briefly before he released her. Lifting his head when he pulled away from her, he looked at Maurice. Shilo tensed guiltily. Confusion filled her, though, when he merely lifted one dark brow and looked away again.
She hadn't realized until that moment that she still had reservations about her understanding of the situation, was still worried that Dante would be angry, even though it had seemed he wouldn't have any objections. The pack mentality was hard to understand. Even if it was just lust, and she figured it probably was, it was still disconcerting, and hard to accept that they
expected
to share her.
The thought rattled her. On the one hand, they were an unnervingly attractive bunch, not just handsome and well built, but charismatic with a purely sensual, animal magnetism. She couldn't deny she found them attractive, all of them, each in a different way, and yet she felt uncomfortably decadent even to think that way, felt a vague sense of guilt.
She didn't think, though, when none of them seemed to see anything wrong with it, or felt the least antagonistic toward one another, that she was going to be able to resist temptation if they approached her—wasn't even certain she wanted to. She certainly couldn't think of any
reason
why she shouldn't if it didn't bother them.
The men spent the afternoon working around her place on repairs. She felt guilty about that, too, but finally realized they were accustomed to being busy and needed something to do to keep themselves occupied.
She hadn't considered
that
before, how they would spend their days if they stayed indefinitely when they were used to working. She supposed she should've when she was bored and restless herself much of the time, needed to keep busy to keep from going insane, but she hadn't because she wasn't used to thinking in terms of others, certainly not the needs of guests, and they had been pretty much idle since they'd arrived.
In the evenings, they watched movies or talked and Dante kept her well occupied with bedroom gymnastics once they went to bed, but even Dante had nothing to do to while away the hours during the day.
It was a good thing they did find something to do to occupy themselves, though, she thought wryly, because once she'd arrived at the certainty that they were all impatiently awaiting their turn with her, she became a quivering wreck.