Shifting Michelle's Boundaries (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (19 page)

Despite the pensive air that surrounded the truck, he actually felt pretty damn good. They’d revealed their natures to Michelle with no issue, had had a
great
night, and all had woken up with no second thoughts. They’d even managed a little fun in the shower, despite them all being weary from the lack of sleep.

As they pulled up to a stoplight, Jack tapped his forefinger on the dashboard, his brow furrowed.

“What’s up?” Craig asked.

“Hmm?” Jack glanced over. “Oh. Just thinking about what’s coming.”

“It’s not like you to worry.”

He smirked. “Oh, whatever happens, I’ll come out on top. I always do. It’s just different now that Michelle’s involved.”

Craig could understand that. He’d been thinking exactly the same thing. The chances of Blondey—he made a mental note to find out the guy’s real name—trying to involve loved ones in the conflict depended on the kind of man he was, and so far it wasn’t looking good.

“We’ll keep her close,” Craig said, as he flipped open his cellphone. “And make sure she’s safe when we’re not around.”

He quickly texted a pack mate with Michelle’s address and place of work, and asked him to keep an eye on her. Almost instantly he got a reply assuring him that she’d be safe, and that Jack had already texted him earlier. Craig smirked and flipped the phone shut again. Jack must have spotted the text, as he had a smug smile on his face.

“All right, you’re smarter than me,” Craig said with a shake of his head.

“Sexier, too.” Jack nodded ahead. “Green light.”

They arrived at the nondescript building a few minutes later, and pulled into the parking lot beside Stefan’s car. Neither Mitch’s nor Paul’s car was present, and Craig couldn’t sense them. It looked like they had indeed been demoted, thanks to Paul’s behavior. Craig remembered the number of times he’d looked at Jack like he was something on the bottom of a shoe. It was no great loss, but it had to hurt for Mitch.
I’ll buy him a beer when I next see him.

The building used to be a video store, but had closed over a decade ago. Tate had stepped in and bought it, but he’d not bothered updating the exterior. A huge piece of plywood covered the large window, and a smaller one had been nailed over the window in the door.

Inside wasn’t much better, but it was warm and clean. The original contents had been thrown out, replaced with a large table and a dozen comfortable chairs. Only four were in use. Stefan and Tate stood as Craig and Jack walked in, but their bodyguards—another two high-up members in the pack—stayed sitting. Tate came forward to shake Craig’s hand.

“Good to see you,” he said with a genuine smile. “You smell like you had a good time last night.”

“Did we ever,” Jack said. “But that can wait. Let’s get down to business.”

“Of course.” Tate gestured to the table.

They had just sat down when the sound of an engine made them all turn to face the parking lot. As the door to the vehicle opened, a multitude of scents had several of the assembled men growling.

All of the people outside were shifters, and only one was a member of their pack.

* * * *

Michelle realized she was being tailed as soon as she got into her car and headed to work. A car she didn’t recognize had been parked nearby, and had pulled out straight after her. The man behind her looked normal enough, but he followed her every turn. Even the random ones she made to see whether he’d turn off. He didn’t.

Normally she would have considered it a coincidence, but after hearing that Craig and Jack’s pack had enemies, many thoughts rushed through her head, and few were good.

“Oh, geez…” She gripped the steering wheel tight as she pulled into another turn. “What do I do?”

She glanced in the rearview mirror for the tenth time and frowned. The man had caught her eye and was smiling and waving. Was it a ploy? Was he trying to get her to stop so he could attack her?
If he wanted to do that he could have broken into my house.

Against her better judgment, she pulled onto the side of the road and waited while he pulled in behind her. She left the windows up and the engine running, just in case, as she watched him climb out of his car. His posture was calm and relaxed as he walked over, and he didn’t try the door.
So far, so good.

“I’m sorry if I scared you,” he said through the glass. “I’m a friend of Craig and Jack’s.”

“Oh?” Her heart leapt, but she remained cautious. “Prove it.”

He smiled again and pulled his wallet from his pocket, then retrieved a photo from inside and held it against the window. Michelle peered at it, then grinned. It was a photo of all three men, along with several others, taken in a bar. All were arm in arm, and all were grinning like idiots.

“My bachelor party,” he said as he put it away. “Jack was my best man. The bastard got me so drunk I could barely stand until an hour before the wedding.”

The weight on Michelle’s shoulders lifted, and she wound down the window. “Thank god. I thought you were one of the bad guys.”

The man shook his head. “Not in this lifetime. They both texted me to tell me to watch over you while they were at the meeting. I guess I’m not too hot at tailing.”

She laughed. “You nearly gave me a heart attack, but I’m glad you’re here.”

They chatted for a minute or two, before he went back to his car. Michelle started off again, this time much more calmly. Her guys had gone out of their way to make sure she was safe, even though they’d only be gone a few hours. She felt loved, but also worried. Were they okay?

* * * *

Jack had to hold Craig back as Blondey strutted into the small building, five of his men with him. Behind them stood Paul, his arms folded across his chest and a look of pure hatred aimed at Jack.

“Well, what do we have here?” Blondey pulled a chair out from under the table and sat down. “It seems that I have the upper hand.”

“Remember how well that worked out last time?” Jack asked, his hand still on Craig’s shoulder.

Blondey snorted. “You got lucky.” He turned to Tate. “Been a long time.”

“Hello, Michael.” Tate nodded slightly. “You appear to have one of my men with you.”

Blondey, now Michael, shook his head. “He’s one of mine, now. Paul found me last night. He was rather…perturbed that you demoted him and replaced him with a kitten.”

Jack smiled, showing teeth. “Careful, Blondey. This kitten has teeth.”

Michael shrugged. “And I’ve got a nine millimeter handgun in my belt. Care to see which is more effective?”

“Settle down.” Tate stood, his hands raised in a gesture of calm. “What do you want?”

“Your territory.”

“Not going to happen.”

Michael rapped his knuckles on the table. “Then we have a problem.”

“We do. The question is, what are we going to do about it?”

“We?” He laughed. “We aren’t going to do anything. I, however, am going to take your territory. By force, if necessary. I have more than enough men to do it.”

It was Craig’s turn to laugh. “No you don’t.” All eyes turned to him. “You have a dozen at best, and half of them are less than a few years old.”

Michael started to color. “Bullshit.” His hand started to slip beneath the table. “We have three times as many.”

“Keep your hands where we can see them, Michael,” Tate said. “Same goes for your boys, as well as mine. There’s no need for this to end in violence.”

“There isn’t?” Michael turned his attention to Tate. “This is coming from
you
?”

“I’m not who I once was.” Tate walked toward Michael, but kept his posture nonthreatening. “I propose a deal. In exchange for an area of the city, we cease all hostilities. We won’t retaliate for what your boys tried to do to me, and you won’t try to take over the rest of my territory. What do you say?”

Paul stepped forward, his venomous gaze still on Jack. “I say fuck that. We take what we want and kick them out of
our
city.”

Several of Michael’s men voiced their agreement, but Michael shot Paul a glare, silencing all of them. It was clear that the man had put a lot of stock in the pretense that he had a much larger pack. He hadn’t known that Craig had been watching their meeting in the church the previous night.

The man scratched at the back of his neck, his gaze flitting between Tate, Jack, and his own men. After a long minute, he nodded slowly, as if to himself.

“I’m willing to negotiate.”

Michelle dropped a cardboard box onto her desk and began piling her possessions into it. Her boss hadn’t been too pleased about her quitting without any notice, but Michelle didn’t particularly care. She had enough in the bank to cover her ass for at least a few months, and with Jack’s help she’d have her freelancing business set up in no time.

A few of her coworkers came by to commiserate, but most didn’t know her well enough to care. Alison had been tied up taking notes in a meeting for the morning, so she hadn’t seen her yet. By the time she had filled her box, though, Alison had appeared at one end of the building.

“So you did it, huh,” she said as she draped her arm over Michelle’s shoulder. “How was it?”

“Hard, but I feel good. Glad to be free.”

Alison smiled and kissed her on the top of the head. “I’m proud of you, honey.”

“Me, too.” Michelle grinned. “Oh, and, uh, I’ve got something to tell you. About Craig and Jack.”

“Oh?” Alison dropped to her haunches as Michelle sat in her desk chair for the last time. “Don’t tell me, you’ve been fucking them both.”

Michelle blushed, then nodded. Alison’s mouth dropped open.

“You’re fucking kidding me!” she said, a little too loudly. “Both?”

“At the same time.”

Alison looked like she was about to explode. “That’s…I mean, I was joking when I said it…that’s…” She laughed and shook her head. “And they’re both okay with it?”

“They prefer it, if anything. They’re super close.”

“Wow.”

“So you’re not freaked out by it?”

“No way, of course not.” Alison put a hand on Michelle’s arm. “If you guys can make it work, I’m all for it.” She leant in closer. “I mean, what’s not to like about double the cock?”

Michelle stood, box in hand. “It’s pretty damn intense.”

“I’ll bet. I don’t suppose they have a couple of friends looking for the same thing, do they?”

Michelle laughed. “I’ll ask.”

“Please do.”

They chatted idly about Michelle’s new job while they waited in the parking lot. The weather was nice, so neither of them minded that the boys turned up a little late. Michelle was glad to see that both men were smiling and unhurt. Either they’d talked their way around the issue, or they’d at least won the fight.

Alison introduced herself to both of them, and made it quite clear that she knew what was going on between the three of them. The men were taken aback for a moment, but recovered admirably. Alison then kissed Michelle on the cheek and headed inside again, leaving them alone.

“So.” Michelle handed her box to Jack, who headed back to the truck with it. “How did it go?”

Craig shrugged. “We made peace. Kind of.”

“Kind of?”

“Well, the fighting is ended, as long as both sides uphold a few rules. I don’t know if it’ll last forever, but for the moment all is well.”

Michelle took his arm and squeezed. “That’s all we can ask for.”

Craig smiled, more genuine this time. “True. Let’s get you home.”

As all three got into the cab of the truck, Michelle naturally in the middle, she let out a long breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. All was well. For the time being at least. She turned to Jack and slapped him on the thigh playfully.

“Hey, Alison was wondering if you guys had any friends that would be interested in her. Two guys at once, I mean.”

Jack laughed. “Actually, I can think of just the guys. But we can talk about that later.”

“Oh? And what are we talking about now?”

“I won’t be talking.” He reached over and began to slide down the zip of her pants. “I’ll be busy.”

Michelle sat back in her seat, closed her eyes, and let the men do the driving.

THE END

WWW.AUTHORKELSEYBLUE.BLOGSPOT.COM

Kelsey Blue is a British author of erotic fiction, focusing mainly on ménage (group) relationships with an otherworldly twist. After all, wolves, vampires, and various other denizens of the supernatural realm need love, too.

Other than reading and writing, Kelsey enjoys walking and painting.

For all titles by Kelsey Blue, please visit

www.bookstrand.com/kelsey-blue