Sassy Shifter Brides: Complete Series - BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Mail-Order Romance (29 page)

“Hey, don’t let me bother you none, cowboy.” She smiled, and he felt at ease, catching her deep chestnut eyes for a second before she turned away. Could it be that he made her blush a little? His wolf straightened up a bit inside of him, taking notice.

They ate quietly for a while, though the heat radiating from Sabra and her smell drove him wild. They hadn’t got to spend a lot of time together, mostly because he never knew what to say to her, and she tended to either sleep at the house or keep Tyler company. Tyler had promised, though, that he’d been behaving himself as he didn’t want to give her any wrong ideas if Trey wasn’t willing to give them a shot. She deserved better than being jerked around, after all.

“Tell me about yourself,” Trey finally said, keeping his eyes on his plate. He could see her glancing at him, a bit of surprise at his interest evident in her gaze. He’d been pussyfooting around it long enough. He wanted to know more about her. As much as he could, really.

“What do you want to know?”

He thought about it for a second before meeting her eyes again. “Everything.”

“Hmm. Okay. I was born in Texas, but my daddy moved us to Florida when I was three. He always wanted a boy, lots of boys, but he got three daughters before my brother was finally born. So I grew up constantly following him around and making a nuisance out of myself until he taught me everything there was to know about construction and building. He was a foreman for forty years. I started going on jobs with him as soon as he would let me, and I essentially grew up with a hammer in my hands. He passed away when I was about to go to college, so I went and learned to become a project management or site manager in construction. I finished school a couple of years ago and got a job, but it tends to be tough to move up the ladder when you’re… well, an opinionated black girl and working in construction.” She smiled, and he chuckled, putting a piece of Cerise’s famous peach pie on both of their plates. He could imagine how Sabra commanded a whole construction crew with the flick of her wrist, and how some foremen might not take kindly to that.

“So I’ve been in Florida ever since. I used to have to help out with the family, but they’re all moving on now so I’ve been thinking about what to do with myself.”

“Is that why you took Tyler up on his offer?”

“That’s part of the reason, yes,” she said, and now Trey was sure she was blushing. It looked lovely on her. He licked his lips, and it had nothing to do with the pie. If he had a choice, he’d pick something else entirely as his dessert.

“What’s the other part?”

“Well, I’d been talking to Tyler for a while, and we hit it off. I wanted to see if it could go somewhere further. And if it didn’t, then I’d be fine with that too, since I’d get to do the work I love in a new place.”

“And how’s that been going for you so far? You and Tyler?” Trey asked, trying to sound as nonchalant about it as possible.

He couldn’t hide the note of strain that entered his voice when he said it. He couldn’t live with the thought of Sabra falling only for Tyler and denying him the chance to spend time with her. In that, he and Tyler were in agreement. Until they had decided to give up on completing the Alpha trifecta, neither one of them could seriously date without the other brother approving. And in Sabra’s case, well, Trey wasn’t in the mood to be left out. As far as his wolf was concerned, he was willing to take a chance on Sabra, even if his heart had not really recovered from the last blow. Her strong spirit and sexy body spoke to him on a level that he couldn’t ignore, but he knew well that what he and Tyler were offering wasn’t entirely common. If he didn’t want to lose her, he couldn’t rush her into anything she wasn’t prepared for. That in itself posed a problem – waiting and taking it slow was absolute torture.

“Okay, I think. He’s being a bit coy around me, which is something I wouldn’t have expected based on the messages we shared.” She laughed a little melodic sound that made him perk up and listen. “But I guess there’s merit to taking it slow. At the end of the day, this is a job as much as anything else, and I can’t get tangled in my personal interests when there’s still work to be done. And it’s not just him. Things are a lot more complicated in person than they are over texts, which isn’t exactly surprising.” Sabra nodded matter-of-factly as Trey finished his piece of pie and set the plate and napkin down on the ground.  “But tell me about you? I haven’t got to spend much time with you. Seems like you’re rushing from one project to another when I’m here.”

Trey shrugged a little, letting a smirk turn the corners of his mouth upwards. “Well, as you said, things are complicated. Tyler and I moved here last year when Deacon, Warren and Rake proposed seeing if we could start something by ourselves. Between the five of us, we had all the resources we needed to get a running start, and I wasn’t comfortable with the situation of our pack anymore, so we left.” Saying he hadn’t been comfortable was a massive understatement. The pack had gone to hell since the old Alpha trifecta fell apart after one of the brothers – one of Tyler and Trey’s fathers – had died and the factions within the pack couldn’t figure out who should take over the leadership role. Tyler and Trey were the most logical choice, but since they hadn’t secured a third yet, they both felt that they didn’t want any part in the squabbling, bickering and violence that followed. They weren’t going to be rushed into the most important decision of their lives by necessity. It had to be motivated by love.

“We moved here, built a life for ourselves, and now we’re helping others build theirs. We won’t become rich but that’s not what we’re after. We just want a place where everything doesn’t have to be life or death, and you can be yourself without a hundred pairs of eyes judging your every move based on some rites and rituals that haven’t been relevant for generations.” Trey huffed a bit, turning his attention back to Sabra. She was smiling warmly, a lock of hair falling on her cheek. He had to restrain himself from wiping it from her face.

“You and your brother must be very close.”

“You have no idea,” Trey said with a chuckle.

“What do you want from life?” Sabra asked, making Trey quirk a brow at her.

“What do I want? I want a family. Stability. To work hard and be rewarded for it. To love someone and have her love me. All the things that should be perfectly normal but seem to be hard as hell to achieve as a shifter.”

The way Sabra looked at him as he said that made him want to grab her in his arms and never let go. Her eyes sparkled with recognition, as if his words mirrored the feelings hidden in her heart. Right then and there she looked soft and feminine, completely alluring and as if made for him. He could see her fitting in with him and Tyler perfectly, evening out their differences and making them into a consistent trifecta, stronger together than they were apart. It took his breath away.  Without a second thought, he slipped his arm around her waist and caressed her chin with his fingertips, locking eyes with her. He could feel the little hitch in her breathing as he first touched her and the long exhale that tingled through her as his fingers twirled into her long hair at the nape of her neck.

“I’m going to kiss you now, Sabra,” he said, his words as matter of fact as they were pierced with need. She nodded softly, and he pushed her chin up a little as he leant in, letting their lips touch for the very first time. Kissing her was like drinking from the fountain of life. Her sweet taste wafted through him, filling him up with her warmth and tenderness. He pulled her closer, letting his tongue tease into her mouth, drawing a moan from her. Trey’s chest rumbled with a growl, his animal driving him forward, faster, harder. But he had to contain himself. For now, it could just be a kiss. The most breathtaking kiss he had ever had.

When he finally pulled back, he couldn’t help but smile at the hazy look in her eyes. She’d been as taken by the moment as he, and it was a small relief to know that he wasn’t in this alone. Maybe, just maybe, he could rally love someone again. Instead of making him quake with discomfort, this time it filled him with joy.

CHAPTER FIVE

Trey’s kisses still lingered on her lips. She’d stayed with him for the night as she had originally intended to help out with the patrols and guarding, but instead of being curled up in a sleeping bag, she’d slept next to him. He wouldn’t agree to have it any other way, and it wasn’t as if Sabra wanted it any differently. Trey had been a perfect gentleman, just snuggling up against her and enveloping her in his protective embrace, though judging by the hardness that had pressed against her ass, he would have been more than willing to go further. They’d made out but neither one had wanted to go beyond that. What had happened made her head spin.

On the one hand, she had the smiley, good-natured Tyler, always ready to crack a joke and get things done. On the other, there was Trey, dark and mysterious and obviously wounded, but so strong and inviting that being around him was like being sucked into a force field. The two of them were like two sides of the same coin – completely different, yet oddly alike. Both possessed the drive to achieve, and the way they treated her could have made even the most jaded woman swoon. The twins were forces of nature, and Sabra had to wonder if she’d got between a tsunami and a tornado without a way to get out unscathed.

How can you want both of them? Gah, Sabra, don’t be ridiculous,
Sabra scolded herself as she drove towards the Warfangs’ ranch house from Trey’s construction site. She’d been going back and forth between the two compounds all day and hadn’t had much of a chance to talk to either of the twins since she snuck out of Trey’s trailer early in the morning.

She felt like she should have been at least a little bit ashamed about making out with Trey, but it was hard to reason with herself when it felt
so
right. Kissing him was like finding a piece that almost completed the puzzle of her life – so close to perfection. A nagging voice at the back of her head told her that it coul
d
be better – if she could have Tyler as well. But that, obviously, was impossible, so for the rest of the day she’d tried to make herself busy so she wouldn’t have to deal with her confused emotions. Tyler obviously liked her, more than a little, but he’d been giving her space for a reason still unknown to Sabra. She was sure it wasn’t because of anything she’d done, and the looks he kept giving her when he thought she wasn’t paying attention told her that he was attracted to her, but still he’d kept his hands to himself. Much to Sabra’s chagrin.

And then there was Trey, the quiet one, who had almost knocked her on her ass because of the lightning bolt of lust that went through her the first time they touched. She’d been curious about him, and within a matter of minutes of talking to him, found that she thought him completely irresistible. The fact that he’d kissed her like his life depended on it left little doubt in her mind that those feelings were not just one-sided.

So what was a girl to do? – That was a question that was yet to find an answer in Sabra’s head. It was getting late now, and she was running out of excuses to avoid the Warfang brothers. First and foremost, she needed to talk to Tyler and Trey in an effort to understand what was going on. In her wisdom, she had decided to do what had worked so unexpectedly well the night before – use food to talk herself into a man’s heart! This time she’d just bought double the amount and invited both of the brothers to join her for dinner. Best to get it over with fast, like ripping off a bandage. Sabra parked her truck in the driveway and lugged the bags of food into the kitchen. The house was almost too pristine. It was obvious that the brothers barely spent any time there – constantly going off to work– and Sabra thought that the house was badly missing a woman’s touch. Everything fit, but it wasn’t quite right. Like there was a link missing that would bind it all into a consistent whole.

She set the plates out around the dining room table and took out the boxes of food from Cerise’s Sunrise Diner. Cerise was a treat, sassy and full of confidence, dealing with rowdy cowboys with the same finesse as she did with her most loyal customers. Sabra liked her immediately – a woman after her own heart. It didn’t hurt that Sabra had got a chance to throw back a couple of shots with her the other night. Nothing made better friends than tequila at midnight.

When the table was set, Sabra hardly knew what to do with herself. What was she going to say anyway? “Tyler, I think you’re great. Trey, you’re an awesome kisser. I think you’re both super hot, and I want to have your babies!” Yeah, that wasn’t going to work.

You really should have figured out what you were going to say before you called them both here,
Sabra noted glumly, opening the glass door that overlooked the big backyard and the stretch of road the brothers would be coming down to make it to the house. Trey’s building site was just a bit away from the house, and once it was fully built, they were going to be able to see the rooftop from the back porch. For now, only a bit of scaffolding glinted in the low light of the setting sun.

The Warfang brothers didn’t make her wait for too long. Tyler was the first to arrive, parking his truck next to her rented one. He covered the ground between the truck and the house with quick, long strides that looked completely effortless. He looked at her, and her heart skipped a beat. Those green eyes that could stare right into her soul twinkled with mischief, and he gave her a wolfish smile as the front door closed behind him and he made his way over to her. Without a second thought, he put his arms around her and hoisted her up, spinning her around once before setting her back down again. Sabra giggled. There weren’t a lot of men around who could make her feel light as a feather, but the Warfang boys seemed to be masters at making a tomboy feel like the belle of the ball.