“Please. I don’t understand what you want from me. How can you both want me when neither of you really know me? I’m not going to allow you to fight over me either. This is ridiculous.” She rubbed her hands up and down her hips on the fleece material of her warm-ups.
“We went about this all wrong, Nessa. Let us explain everything to you. No one is going to hurt you.” He took another step toward her. “Will you come sit down again and we’ll do the same? We just want to talk.”
She shifted her eyes from him to Joseph and back again. He could almost hear her mind racing as she tried to decide if she could trust them not to attack her. The distrust evident in her body language ate at him. His wolf paced with the need to calm his mate. His movements had placed his animal just beneath his skin, making him antsy with the need to shift. It took all his control to keep the wolf under control.
“I promise we won’t hurt you or force you into anything you don’t agree to, Nessa, and nothing will happen tonight at all. You’re still healing and we want you to feel safe and be happy.”
“We. You keep saying we. I can’t be with both of you. That’s ridiculous, Jessup. Are you really suggesting that both of you…” she stopped as if she couldn’t even put it into words.
“Sit down and let’s talk.” He held out his hand to her, praying she would accept it.
After staring at his hand for a long second, she looked up at him and sighed. Taking it, she let him pull her back over to the chair once again. He could feel the resistance building inside of her. They had to convince Nessa to give them a chance now, before she had time to convince herself that a relationship with them was impossible. He glanced over at Joseph, worried that his brother would bail on him without genuinely trying.
As soon as she had settled in the chair once again, Jessup stuck his hands in the pocket of his jeans to keep from touching her. She would feel pressured and perhaps even threatened if he let himself continue to caress and stroke her as he craved to.
“Do you know anything about wolves in their natural environment?” he finally asked.
“Um, some. I know that they are pack animals and are protective of their territory.”
“That’s right,” he said. “They are social animals and need their kind around them. Something that is unique about them is that they mate for life.”
Her cheeks reddened slightly, but she didn’t say anything in response. His attention was snagged by his brother’s low growl. Thanks goodness it was low enough that Nessa hadn’t heard it. He glared at Joseph, willing him to be quiet before he scared their mate even more than she already was.
“Wolf shifters are a lot like the wild wolves. We are territorial, social, and fiercely loyal.”
“And we mate for life,” Joseph said before he could add it in a slightly less
in your face
method.
“What that means is that there is no divorce in our world. Not because we don’t allow it, but because mates are connected on a level that is both mystical and intimate. The very idea of not being with your mate is distressing.” Jessup prayed he was getting through to her.
“Why do you think we are mates? I don’t understand what makes us mates, and why are you including Joseph? I don’t even know him.” Her eyes had the sheen of tears in them.
“It’s difficult to explain. Tell me something, Nessa. Did you miss me when we were apart? Did you feel as if something was missing?” he asked.
She didn’t answer him. Instead, she looked down at her hands. He knew she was trying to deny it to herself even as she recognized that what he had said was true.
“That doesn’t mean we are destined to be soul mates or anything.”
“Actually,” he said with a small smile, “it does. You aren’t a shifter, so the feeling is strange to you. The more we are around each other, the closer you will feel to us. The bond will grow even stronger once we’ve been intimate.”
“So if I leave right now, it will just go away.” Her eyes seemed to be searching his.
“No. It won’t go away, baby. You’re a part of us now no matter what. We’ve taken your scent into our bodies. Wanting to be near you—to fuck you—will never go away or weaken.” Joseph leaned in closer to her and sniffed near her neck.
Jessup wanted to beat his brother to a pulp. He wasn’t helping matters by being so blunt. She didn’t deserve to be subjected to his pissy attitude. Neither was she ready for all of the mating details. They had to go slowly with her or risk losing her forever.
She surprised him when she stood up and shoved at Joseph with both hands. Flashing eyes should have warned both of them that she was about to blow up. Instead, he tried to placate her while his brother pushed back by getting in her space.
“Don’t get in my face and try to tell me that I’m the reason you’re horny! I don’t know you. I don’t care if you are Jessup’s twin brother. You’re no one to me.”
Fuck!
Jessup started to push between Nessa and his brother, certain that Joseph was going to lose it with her. He’d never known his brother to raise his hand to a woman, but he honestly didn’t know what his brother was capable of these days.
Joseph managed to shove him aside and had Nessa against the wall behind the chair before Jessup could stop him. He wasn’t touching her anywhere at the moment, but had her caged in with his hands planted on either side of her head and his body a hair’s breadth from hers. If Jessup hadn’t been so pissed off and worried, he would have found the sight erotic as hell, their woman dominated by his twin with wild eyes and swollen lips.
“Joseph?” He couldn’t help the question in his voice as he eased closer to the two of them.
“You wanted me to be a part of this, Jessup, so back the fuck off!” He leaned closer to Nessa and rubbed his face against her hair.
“You aren’t helping…”
“She has a right to know all of us, brother. Not just the soft underbelly you want to court her with. She deserves the full truth after what she’s been through already.” He nuzzled his cheek against hers. “Don’t you, baby.”
“Nessa. Just relax. He won’t hurt you.” Jessup’s dick felt as if it was on fire at the sight of his brother rubbing—marking—their woman.
He watched as she seemed to fight against herself as Joseph licked a long line along the side of her neck. The rise and fall of her luscious breasts grew faster, more pronounced, even as her eyes darkened. She couldn’t deny that she felt something for either of them now. The scent of her arousal called to him. Jessup had to fight the instinctive need to claim her right then and there. As much as he wanted her bound to them, she wasn’t ready yet. Not for both of them, but it wouldn’t be long. There was no way his wolf, much less his brother’s, would wait much longer.
* * * *
Heat raced along her body, burning her skin, sizzling through her blood. She didn’t understand what was going on. Nothing and no one had ever affected her this way before. She felt as if her skin was going to crawl off her body. And that scent. Nessa wanted to rub herself in it. Where was it coming from? The earthy smell of the woods on a warm spring day seemed to permeate the air around her.
“W–what are you doing to me? I can’t think.” She couldn’t bring herself to move away from him.
“Showing you what it feels like to want you, need you like the air that I breathe. Can you feel it? My cock is so hard right now that I could drill a fucking hole in the wall. You smell like chocolate mint to me. I want to feast on your juices and lick every single inch of you.”
She nearly gasped when he ran his tongue up one side of her neck along her jugular then all along the edge of her jaw. The wet trail he left cooled, and chill bumps erupted all over her body. Her eyes closed in the wake of his sensual touch. How was she ever going to resist what they were suggesting? She couldn’t give in. Could she?
“Let her go now, brother. You’ve made your point.” Jessup stood on the other side of them, not touching but close enough she could smell him.
Where Joseph’s scent was earthy and raw to her, Jessup smelled of a meadow on a warm summer day. They were unique and yet part of the same whole in their personalities. Jessup made her feel comfortable and content while Joseph stirred her up in ways she’d never imagined in a thousand fantasies.
Joseph leaned closer and nuzzled along her throat and jaw before slowly stepping back and dropping his hands from beside her head. He didn’t go far though. The door out of the bedroom was still blocked.
“Nessa. There isn’t anything we wouldn’t do for you,” Jessup started saying.
“Except leave me alone.” She managed to get out around the hard lump in her throat.
“You’re everything to us. We want to make you happy and keep you safe. Knowing that you are in danger right now is pushing hard at our wolves. We won’t tolerate any threat to you.”
“To your mate, you mean.” She didn’t understand being their mate.
“You
are
our mate, Nessa. There is no doubt of that.” Joseph’s voice rumbled along her nerve endings.
She stared at Jessup then Joseph. Both of them had the same determined expressions on their faces, but on Joseph, it was almost painful to look at. His held a desperation that called to her, while Jessup’s appeared less intense. How could she trust that these two men wouldn’t hurt her just like her stepbrother and his friends? What made them any different?
They are werewolves, Nessa. Wouldn’t that make them more likely to hurt me when they get angry?
Joseph hadn’t hurt her earlier though. Could she believe that given another reason when his brother wasn’t around that he wouldn’t hurt her? Nessa just didn’t know what to think. Everything swirled around in her head, mixing with her already innate distrust of men. Where did that leave her now?
“I—I need to think. I can’t think with you so close,” she finally said.
“You need rest, sweetness. Let’s go to bed and we can talk more in the morning.” Jessup walked over to the bed and pulled back the covers.
“That’s a good idea. I’m going to get ready for bed. Goodnight, guys.” She slipped away from Joseph, still very aware of his intense gaze that followed her.
Gathering up her things, she escaped into the bathroom, praying they would leave while she was in there. All of what had happened in the last few days poured over her as she went about preparing to go to bed. What was her stepbrother thinking now? He’d kill her for sure when she returned to the trailer. Jessup and Joseph hadn’t done her any favors by bringing her to their house. It would just be worse when she finally went back. She couldn’t stay here. Could she?
When she opened the door and walked back into the bedroom, she stopped, dropping her bag to the floor in shock. Instead of leaving while she’d been in the bathroom, Jessup had climbed into bed minus his clothes while his brother stood next to the door leading out of the room in just jeans.
She looked from him over to Jessup and opened her mouth to tell them to get out, but she couldn’t make a sound. What were they thinking? That she would happily jump into bed with them? Anger soon replaced shock and she planted her hands on her hips.
“Get out of here. I’m not sleeping with either of you.”
Jessup didn’t say anything, but Joseph took a step closer to her. She took a step back. When he stepped even closer, she lifted her chin and refused to back down again. He didn’t scare her—much.
“We aren’t going to rape you, baby. We don’t like bedding unwilling women. All we want to do is sleep and keep you safe between us. No one can get to you through us. You are hurt and need to rest. Let us care for you, Nessa.” The words that flowed out of Joseph’s mouth should have come from his twin’s because they didn’t sound right coming out of the very territorial male standing in front of her.
“I won’t be able to lying between the two of you. You’re shifters and you’re huge and I’m certain that from what I can tell already, I’ll get too hot to sleep.”
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she knew she’d said it the wrong way. When both men roared with laughter, she cringed in embarrassment. Damn her overactive mouth!
“Easy, little Nessa. We know you didn’t mean it as it came out, but you have to admit that it was funny as hell,” Joseph’s voice no longer held the growly threat from earlier.
“I’m glad I could amuse you. Now get out.” She wasn’t going to forget her original demand.
“Sorry, precious. We’re staying. You are our mate. We couldn’t sleep anywhere but with you and especially when you’re in danger. Now climb on into bed so we can all get some sleep.” Jessup patted the bed next to him.
She shook her head and frowned. They weren’t cooperating one bit. Just as she had decided to go back to the bathroom and make a bed in the tub, Joseph moved so fast she barely registered it and picked her up in his arms. Her startled squeal turned into a moan when he captured her mouth with his.
Heat filled her body as his teeth nipped at her lower lip. He easily gained entry inside as she gasped at the slight sting that he quickly soothed with his hot, wet tongue. Goosebumps erupted all along arms that wrapped around his neck as if desperate to touch him. She felt as if she had no control of her body as he explored the inside of her mouth with determination.
Each stroke of his tongue across hers amped up the budding arousal that she never thought she would feel for any man, much less one as wild and untamed as this one. But then he wasn’t just a man, was he? She shivered.
“I could lose myself in your mouth, Ness. I love that minty taste, that spicy bite that tightens my balls and makes me want to howl.” Joseph spoke near her ear, barely making enough of a sound for her to understand the words he spoke.
The next thing she knew, Joseph had settled her in the middle of the bed with Jessup curling around her. Then Joseph pulled off his jeans and Nessa realized that he wasn’t wearing anything under them. And neither had his twin.
Joseph watched his mate’s face as he stood up straight after stepping out of his jeans. He was nail-pounding hard, his dick standing out from his body as if reaching for her. Perhaps it was. He wanted her more than he wanted anything right then. He hadn’t expected to actually feel this way after not feeling much of anything but blinding rage for so long. When he’d told Jessup he would help him claim her and leave, he’d been a fool. There was no way he could leave her to his brother.