Authors: Cooper McKenzie
Hmm, sounds like a plan. I only hope the home’s owner won’t mind.
Next was the biggest, reddest barn she’d ever seen. Only it wasn’t a barn. It stood three stories tall with a wide covered deck out front and lots of windows on all three levels. There was a sign just above the first floor windows, but she couldn’t read it from here.
Moving on, she took in a trio of log cabins, each with a wide front porch. They looked like some of the other cabins she’d seen on her drive through the mountains. At least they looked like they belonged in this mountain hideaway. The one to the left was smaller and obviously decades older than its companions. Its logs had weathered silver while the others appeared much newer in construction. Could it be the original homestead?
The last building had Autumn swallowing hard as she fisted her hands. The gray granite castle was built of stone with a flat roof and a square turret at each corner. The pale-gray structure too closely resembled the desert castle where she had been held prisoner for two weeks before being rescued. Sure, it looked exotic and medieval, but just the sight of it caused Autumn’s stomach to knot and her breathing to grow harsh. The big difference between this building and the one in her nightmares was that satellite dishes and antennas topped one of the turrets.
Climbing from the truck, Autumn decided to leave her things until she was sure she would be staying. As she locked and slammed the driver’s door closed, she heard the whine of machinery coming from the metal building at the end of the parking lot.
Crossing the parking lot toward a well-marked path that circled in front of all of the buildings, she took a deep breath and froze. Instead of clean mountain air as she expected, her lungs filled with an aroma so enticing she froze mid-step. Another breath and she identified individual scents of healthy male sweat, fresh cut wood, and some kind of spice.
She gasped as her body responded immediately. Her nipples beaded, her clit throbbed, and her pussy flowed with sex. Never before had she been so aroused. Following the scent like a cat tracking a mouse, Autumn approached the garage. The scent grew stronger the closer she got to the open sliding door
Just inside the open garage door, she stopped. Halfway across the room, two men were feeding a large, thick sheet of wood at a huge machine. She decided to wait until they finished before making her presence known. Her next thought was to question to which of her siblings these two fine specimens belonged.
One of the men lifted his head and looked out of the corner of his eye for a second before returning his attention to the wood panel in his hands. Something deep in her pelvis and behind her clit clenched in reaction. What the hell was going on?
In profile, the man was gorgeous. She couldn’t wait to see what his entire face looked like. The knowledge that he had a twin knotted her nipples even tighter.
Her immediate physical response shocked her.
She had been around thousands of well-built men in the past six years. More than a few of them had been good-looking in one way or another, and during her first year in the Army, she dated and slept with many of them. After her first year in the Army she’d accidentally overheard two of her conquests talking about how she was sleeping her way up the ranks. As they comparing notes as to her performance, she took a long, hard look at herself. She didn’t like what she saw. She was, indeed, becoming a slut. After that, she looked at anyone in a green uniform as a patient, not a potential sexual partner.
Then “The Incident” happened and since that time, men had become a source of fear, not pleasure.
Until now. For the first time in more than a year, she wanted to lie down on the closest flat surface and beg for one of these men to fuck her boneless.
Chapter Two
Hearing an almost silent footstep, Evan Sullivan looked away from what he was doing just enough to see someone standing in the doorway. When he realized it was a woman and she didn’t appear to be threatening, he turned his attention back to what he was doing. They could not stop planing the tabletop now without ruining it. And he and his brother, Frank, had spent the four days piecing the damn complicated thing together. This was the tabletop’s final trip through the planer and any hesitation would mar the top.
Once the wood cleared the machine, he helped Frank carry it to the sawhorses where they would do the fine sanding and then staining and varnishing. Only then did he turn and acknowledge the visitor. Taking off his safety goggles and sawdust-covered baseball hat, he headed for the open doorway.
“Hi, can I help you?”
“I was wondering if you could tell me where I could find my brother and sisters?” the woman asked as she stepped farther into the building.
She took three steps in then stopped and assumed an “at ease” stance that spoke of military training. She looked familiar and yet different than the pictures he had seen of Autumn Ryan, the only member of his in-laws’ family they had yet to meet. Her jaw-length curly hair was redder than that of her siblings and longer than in the last pictures she’d sent just a week before the wedding. The wild curls looked cute on her.
As he approached, so he didn’t have to yell at her, the fear and hunger he saw in her amber eyes surprised him.
His gaze dropped and he took in the black ARMY T-shirt and khaki cargo pants that hung from her. While her sneakers looked brand new, the rest of her outfit appeared worn. Forcing his eyes back to her face, he saw she hadn’t noticed his perusal. She was busy looking around the workshop. He thought it was just as well as he didn’t want to scare her to death.
Taking another step, the scent of fresh apple cider and spices teased his nose.
Mate,
his brain registered. With that, his cock filled, and an intense craving for this woman urged him to tackle and claim her. This was the woman destined to spend the rest of her life between him and his brother.
Turning his head, he looked at Frank who’d moved up beside him. Did he recognize her as well? Or was he the only one affected by the earthy scent wafting on the air?
When Frank turned and met his gaze with wide eyes, Evan nodded with a single drop of his chin. The brothers smiled at each other and then turned to look at their mate. He was surprised to find her staring at them with an uneasy expression.
“This is Sanctuary, isn’t it?” she asked when he hadn’t answered in a timely manner.
“You must be Autumn,” Evan said.
He slowly closed the last few feet between them. He did not stop moving forward until he wrapped his arms around her back and hugged her close.
She immediately went stiff in his arms. “Uh, yeah, that’s me,” she said.
She sounded lost and confused but felt like heaven in his arms.
“I’m Evan Sullivan, and he’s Frank,” he said as Frank eased up behind her.
“Welcome to Sanctuary,” Frank said by way of greeting.
Evan leaned down and nuzzled his nose along the side of her neck where it flowed out into her shoulder. He took a deep breath to confirm that the delicious scent of their mate was, indeed, coming from this woman. Hugging her even tighter, he frowned. Under the loose, baggy clothes, she was thin. Too thin. He could feel her ribs under her shirt.
“Mmmm, mate.”
When he released her, Frank twirled her around and gave her a hug and a sniff of his own. When he felt how delicate their woman was under her baggy clothes, he looked over her shoulder at Evan as if asking what was wrong with her.
Evan shrugged in response.
When Autumn squirmed in his arms, Frank released her with a sigh of regret. She eased to the side and back, not stopping until she was out of their reach. Shifting slightly, she positioned herself to keep them both in sight.
What the hell had happened to her to make her so wary of men? And how were they going to claim her as their mate if she wouldn’t even let them touch her?
Before he could voice his concerns, Autumn wrapped both arms around her middle as if to hold herself together. In seconds, the scent that swirled around them soured with her fear.
“We’re mates, aren’t we? Like our siblings? That’s why I’m feeling this way, right?”
Chapter Three
Autumn cringed when she heard the words that had just come out of her mouth. What the hell was she thinking? To admit you felt emotion was to give them the power. She remembered her drill instructor screaming that during basic training when she and her fifty or so comrades-in-training were soaking wet, freezing cold, beyond exhausted, or starving.
She’d taken that sentiment to heart. After trying to find comfort in the arms of a different man every night, she’d finally realized there was no comfort to be found. After that, she became the ultimate Army medic, caring for her patients with skill and competency while ignoring any sexual innuendoes that were tossed her way. It took only a few months before the men who had dealt with her on a daily basis changed her nickname from Runaround to Stone Cold Ryan.
Looking from one brother to the other, her breathing stopped. Two gorgeous men watched her with an intense attraction mixed with concern. She had seen pictures of these men with their brothers. The latest photos had been when they stood in their wedding finery with their parents and the three happy couples.
Though the brothers had similar features, each set of twins had different shades of brown hair. Evan and Frank’s were a sandy brown, which they wore long enough to pull back into bands at the base of their skulls.
Their bone structures and features were strong, masculine, and identical. The only difference she could see between the two men was that Evan’s eyes were bright green while Frank’s were sky blue. They stood several inches over six feet and were as wide as doors with muscles rippling under skintight, sweat-soaked T-shirts.
“What are you feeling, ladybug?” Frank asked as he eased another step closer. His gently spoken question brought her mind back to the sexual hunger zinging through her body like flies on steroids.
Could she put into words what she was feeling? Sure, she’d read erotic romances, but she’d never been one to verbalize her feelings or make demands. Looking into Frank’s sparkling eyes, she took a deep breath.
Since she didn’t know how to lie, she answered honestly. “My nipples ache they’re so tight. My pussy is creaming so hard my panties are wet. Though I’ve never been a hugger before, I want to snuggle with you, and it doesn’t matter which one. I feel like my body is going crazy.”
She didn’t move when the men growled deep in their chests before closing the small distance between them so they formed a triangle. Each man wrapped an arm around her back when her knees wobbled and she swayed.
At their touch, the crazy, itchy feeling lessened, and she sighed with relief. She looked from one to the other. “What’s wrong with me?”
The men grinned and moved even closer. Evan shifted around behind her as Frank moved to stand chest-to-breast with her, making a human sandwich with her as the filling. She closed her eyes and relaxed as their heat engulfed her. Then she gasped as long, thick erections pressed into both her belly and lower back.
All at once, the tiny, nagging voice that demanded she volunteer for every dangerous assignment and stay too busy to think, as she kept looking for an ever-elusive something that would bring her happiness and contentment, stilled. For the first time in her life, Autumn felt like she belonged.
“Nothing’s wrong with you, sweetness. It’s the pull of the mating bond,” Evan said. He slid an arm between her chest and his brother’s and cupped a hand under one full breast, causing her breath to stop again. “It’s stronger than an attraction you would feel for another human because the Fates have determined we are to spend our lives together.”
“Really?” she asked, not sure she believed him. “I’ve never felt like this with anyone before.”
The two men froze. “How many men have you been with?” Frank asked, his voice growly with suspicion.
Autumn’s belly clenched at his dark and disapproving tone. Instead of looking at him, she dropped her gaze and stared straight ahead as she forced out the word, “A few,” she answered cryptically, not wanting to admit the truth, “but none of them were serious.”
She was twenty-five years old, far beyond being an innocent virgin. Blinking hard, she tried to keep sudden, unexplainable tears hidden. A good soldier did not cry, no matter what.
She stiffened but did not fight when a finger slid under her chin and lifted her head until she looked up into Frank’s face.
“How many is a few, ladybug?” Frank asked, his tone now soft and gentle.
“It doesn’t matter,” she answered, suddenly feeling defensive. She then sniffed as a single tear escaped her left eye to roll down her cheek. When Frank caught the tear on the pad of his index finger and licked it, her pussy gushed again.
She tried to read his expression, but before she could make sense of it, he lifted his head to look over her head. All she could see was his strong, tanned jaw and neck. She was still looking up when the two men pulled their arms from around her and took a step back.
Immediately, the lonely feeling of inadequacy that had haunted her all her life returned. No matter how well she did in school, how many awards or accomplishments she’d received in the Army, there always seemed to be someone who was better. A little smarter, a little faster, a little stronger. She’d always felt out of step, always racing to catch up, always trying to make the grade. Even here, with these two, she suddenly felt like she had failed.