Summer Loving (7 page)

For the rest of the day, Summer worked to avoid her mates, which wasn’t hard because once her sister and parents arrived, they demanded more of her attention than she really wanted to give them. But she kept a smile on her face and tried not to let her sadness show.

But Winter saw through her as he always had. Though younger, he had always been the one who knew when she was hurting and would demand to help, as he did once again just after dinner that night. As dinner was breaking up, he took her arm and Spring’s.

“Excuse us, but we’re going to have a Ryan-siblings-only slumber party,” he announced before leading the two women out of the Wash House. “Bridget, Mom, if you’d like to join us, you’re more than welcome, but the rest of you men stay away.”

“Where are we going?” Summer asked when he led her down the path.

“We need to talk. We’re spending the night in the fortress, away from the Sullivan men,” Winter stated as they walked past the log homes and continued down the path.

Once they were inside the stone fortress looking house where he lived with his mates, Winter closed the door and turned to look at her. “What’s wrong?”

Summer blinked before saying, “What do you mean? Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine. We’re all together, and you and Spring are getting married tomorrow. What could possibly be wrong?”

She turned away and blinked several times to keep the tears that were pressing for release under control. She didn’t want to trouble them with her worries that her mates didn’t want her like theirs wanted them.

“Bullshit,” Winter said.

“I agree, and I’ve only been back for a couple of hours. Cole and Dawson are your mates, aren’t they?” Spring added.

“Yes,” Summer said softly, the misery in her voice plain enough for even her to hear.

“Then what’s the problem?” Winter asked as he went to the kitchen and pulled out three beers.

“Yesterday they were talking about weddings and marriage, and I told them I wanted a proper proposal. They said they’d think about it, but haven’t said anything further. Not even this afternoon when we were talking about the weddings.” Summer sniffed, and a single tear escaped to roll down her cheek. “I think they like to fuck me, but don’t really want to spend the rest of their lives with me.”

With that, the emotional control she’d always maintained crumbled, and she collapsed onto the couch in the living room and began to sob. A moment later, Spring and Winter sat down on either side of her and cuddled her as the tears continued to fall.

“I’m sure you’re wrong,” Spring said. “Of course their being men and shape shifters, they see things differently, but…”

Before she could finish, the front door opened, and Bridget walked in. “What’s happened?” she asked.

“Your sons are being pigheaded butts,” Winter declared.

“They’re men. Of course they’re pigheaded butts. But which sons are we talking about?”

“Cole and Dawson have claimed and mated Summer, but when she told them she wanted a proper marriage proposal, they said they had to think about it,” Spring explained.

Bridget nodded as she sat on the coffee table in front of Summer. Reaching for a beer, she opened it then wrapped Summer’s hand around the can. “Drink this, sweetie. Then I’ll explain a few things about these men you’re going to spend the rest of your life with.”

Summer nodded and took a long drink. “But how do you know that? I’m supposed to go back to Russia at the end of the week.”

“Whether or not you go back to your job is one thing, but know this,” Bridget said with a gentle smile, “your men will always love you. It doesn’t matter if you are here with them in Sanctuary or they are there with you in Russia. You should never question their love or loyalty. They are your mates, and you are the only one they will ever be with from now until their deaths.”

“I don’t understand,” Summer admitted after another long drink from her beer.

“For shape shifters, the most important thing in life is to find their mate. It’s not like in the human world where you fall in love with a person’s looks or personality or whatever. For shape shifters, there is one single person who was put on this planet for them, one person who will be their mate. Once they find that person, they’ve found their reason for living.”

“So why haven’t they proposed? I told them that I thought getting married tomorrow with Spring and Winter would be special, but they said they had to think about it,” Summer said, hearing the whining tone in her voice.

Bridget chuckled. “Knowing my boys, they’re planning something very special. But even if you don’t get married tomorrow, know this, being mated to Cole and Dawson gives you an even stronger bond than a marriage license ever could. The mating bond is only broken by death of one of the mates.”

Summer thought over the words as she drank the rest of the beer and Winter took them on a tour of the house that no one had been in since he’d started decorating it. When they reached the office the three mates shared, she’d made her decision.

“Winter, in all of these fancy electronics is there a phone I can use?” she asked as Spring and Bridget left and headed back downstairs.

“Local, national, or international?” he snarked as he pulled a cell phone off its stand.

“National. I’ve got to call my boss.”

“What are you going to tell him?”

Summer didn’t answer. Instead, she turned on the phone and dialed her boss’s cell phone.

“Hi, Travis. It’s Summer. I wanted to let you know that I won’t be returning to Russia like I’d planned. In fact, I’ve decided to take some time off.”

She pulled the phone from her ear when he began yelling and waited until he stopped before speaking again. “I finished the preliminary report before I left, and Hammond can go over and take care of the details. I’ve got nearly a year of vacation time you’ve been fussing at me to take, so I’m going to take some of it. Hell, I might even take all of it.”

That statement got another earsplitting response before she said, “Have Cindy pack up my stuff and ship it to my parents’ house. Thanks, Travis.”

Before he could say anything further, she clicked the end button and turned the phone off. “He’s not happy, but he’ll let me have a couple of weeks to think about it.”

“Good, now let’s party. Maybe Bridget will tell us how to keep our men in line without resorting to wooden spoons or frying pans.” Winter giggled as he led the way back downstairs.

“I don’t know,” Summer said. “Wooden spoons could be interesting.”

* * * *

The next morning as Summer helped her sister into the pretty yellow sundress that would serve as her wedding dress, she couldn’t help but smile. Talking with Bridget about life with the twins, she’d come to the realization that it really didn’t matter whether she married Cole and Dawson or not. They were her mates, and there would be no other woman for them but her. And she, who had dated but had never found Mr. Right, now had two of them who would lay down their lives for her.

Life was good.

Sure, a marriage proposal would make things perfect, but it didn’t matter. They were mated, and that was even more important than being married.

“You look like you’re feeling better today,” Spring said as she smoothed the front of her dress over her prominent two-baby pregnant belly. One of the shocking things they had learned from Bridget the night before was that shape shifter pregnancies were only six months long.

“I am. I’ve decided that being married isn’t important as long as my mates continue to love me,” Summer said as they headed to the front door.

She looked down at the pale blue sundress she’d bought in Charlotte for the wedding. It was pretty and feminine, and her men had nearly drooled when she’d stepped out of the dressing room.

They’d kicked Winter out earlier so they could dress for the wedding in peace. Their mother had shown up and become so teary-eyed they finally sent her to the Wash House to find the bouquets Summer had put together the day before.

Winter and his father waited just outside, ready to escort them to the Wash House where the ceremonies would take place in the community chapel. The twins’ father, Thomas Sullivan, was a minister and would be officiating.

Following her sister out the door, Summer was surprised to find they weren’t alone. Cole and Dawson stood before them, in identical black suits with white shirts, wearing ties that exactly matched their bright eyes. Winter looked pleased and her father looked stunned as the four men turned to face them.

“Girls, you look beautiful,” her father said before looking at Summer. “Darling, these two have something to ask you before we head up to the chapel.”

“Summer Margaret Ryan, it’s only been three days since we met, but you are the other half of our souls,” Cole began.

“We loved you then, we love you now, and we’ll love you until we take our last breaths and beyond,” Dawson continued.

Summer smiled as the two men stepped forward and knelt before her side by side.

“Will you marry us? Will you make us two of the happiest men in Sanctuary today by becoming our wife?” they finished together.

“Yes, I’d be honored,” she said, closing the distance between them and wrapping an arm around each man’s neck and kissing first Cole. “I love you.” Then she kissed Dawson. “I love you, too.”

“Now that’s enough, you three. Cole, Dawson, go join your brothers as the Wash House while I have a few words with my girls.”

“Yes, sir,” the men said as they stood up. Leaning forward at the same time, they each kissed a cheek and then turned and walked away.

Summer watched them leave, her pussy clenching as she watched them walk up the path. She sighed when her father stepped in front of her, blocking the view.

“Are you sure about this, Summer?” he asked. “You only met them a couple days ago.”

“Daddy, I’ve never been surer about anything in my life. It’s like I’ve been waiting my entire life for them to show up,” she said with a happy sigh.

“How about you, Spring? Are you sure about tying yourself to two men?” He turned to her sister.

“Yes, Dad. I feel the same way Summer does. Now let’s go before they come looking for us.”

Summer took his right arm while Spring took his left, and they began up the path. Summer forced herself to keep to the sedate pace her father set, though she wanted to kick off her shoes and run to her mates.

“I now pronounce you husbands, wives, and mates for life,” Thomas said ten minutes later.

Though on legal forms for the world beyond Sanctuary the women would be married to oldest twin brother, the Sanctuary wedding ceremony had been tweaked slightly to include a second husband. Winter’s marriage to his mates would not be acknowledged by anyone beyond the family.

Cole didn’t wait for permission before turning Summer to face him and kiss her long enough that he heard his brother make a grumbling sound. Pulling back, he looked into the face of his bride. “I love you, Mrs. Sullivan.”

She smiled up at him, still breathless. “I love you, Cole.”

Then Dawson turned her around and kissed her until Cole tapped his shoulder. “Enough, brother.”

He grinned when Dawson lifted his head, and ignoring him, said, “Love you, baby,” to their wife.

“I love you, Dawson.”

* * * *

An hour and a half later, Cole took Summer’s hand and led her toward the back door of the Wash House.

“Where are we going?” she asked as they stepped outside where Dawson waited with a big basket at his feet.

“We thought we’d take you to one of our favorite spots,” Dawson said, picking up the basket and taking her free hand. “Can you walk in those shoes?”

Summer nodded before they led her around the edge of the meadow to a path that started behind the fortress and went into the woods. Cole had warned the others away from following, and Evan and Frank promised to keep everyone else away while they celebrated their marriage.

“It’s so beautiful,” she remarked several times as they leisurely hiked through the woods.

Just before they reached their destination, Cole stopped and gave Summer a chance to catch her breath. Once she was rested, he led her through an archway in the bushes to a small clearing with a ten-foot waterfall at one end. The water fell into a wide, deep pond before making its way down the mountain.

“Oh my,” she breathed as she walked forward and looked around. “It’s amazing.”

“This has always been our favorite spot. Would you like to go swimming?” Dawson asked as he set the basket he carried on the rock ledge they’d carefully built from rocks taken out of the stream the summer they were fourteen.

“I didn’t bring my suit,” she said with a smile as she reached down and took off her shoes.

“That’s okay, we didn’t either. After all, we’re on our honeymoon,” Cole said as he shrugged out of his suit coat and worked his tie loose before starting on the buttons of his dress shirt.

“What if someone comes?” she asked as she started working the six buttons that held the front of her dress together.

Cole lost the ability to think when the dress opened and revealed nothing but skin and the pale yellow silk thong she’d bought during their shopping trip just days before.

She slipped out of her dress and carefully hung it from a tree branch.

“So, what do you think?” she asked as she turned a circle and showed off the sexy scrap of nothing she wore.

Cole couldn’t speak as he kicked off his shoes, tossed his shirt over his shoulder, and shoved his pants and boxers off all in one continuous motion.

Dawson didn’t have the same problem. “You’re beautiful,” Cole heard his brother say.

“Absolutely amazing,” Cole managed to croak before he took the three steps separating them and wrapped himself around their woman.

She looked up at him then to Dawson, who had moved in next to them. “I called my boss last night.”

“Are you sure you want to talk about this now?” Dawson asked.

Hoping to change the subject, Cole smoothed his hands down the long, smooth line of her back. When he reached her panties, he pulled and snapped the silk ties. Pulling the scrap away from her body, he tossed it over his shoulder with the rest of their clothes.

“Uh-huh,” she said as Cole picked her up then walked into the water with Dawson beside him, matching him step for step. The water was cold but did nothing to diminish the sexual firestorm that was brewing deep in his belly or the erection that occasionally brushed against his wife’s ass.

“So, what did you tell your boss?” he asked. He tried to sound casual, though he was anything but. His heart raced and his gut tightened in hope, fear and anticipation.

“I didn’t really tell him anything except that I’m not returning to Russia like I was scheduled to, and instead I’m taking some of the three months of vacation time I have on the books.”

“So what are you going to do with all that free time?” Dawson asked as he moved to her other side so she was between them. Since Cole held her easily, Dawson began to run his hands over her body, playing with her breasts then down her body to her clit and beyond.

“Well, if it’s all right with you, I thought I could spend that time exploring the area while I try to figure out if I want to go back to my job or not,” she said. “But that was before I received the most beautiful marriage proposal. I guess now I should call him back and just quit all together instead of waiting the three months.”

“Why don’t you wait and see if you like it here before making such a life-changing decision?” Cole suggested.

“You might decide after three months you’ll want to get away from us for awhile,” Dawson said.

Summer’s expression went blank. “Is that what you really want, for me to stay for a couple of months and then leave?” She began to struggle in Cole’s arms, but between the two of them, they held her easily, securely, yet gently enough that they didn’t hurt her.

“No, little one, that is not what we want. If we had our way, we’d keep you naked and filled with cock for the next sixty or seventy years,” Cole said, his voice dropping as the mental picture aroused him even more than holding his naked mate did.

Summer blinked and thought for a moment before she smiled and laid her head on his chest. “Mmmm, that sounds like it could be fun, but I’m not sure what your brothers would think.”

That snarky comment earned her dual growls just before Dawson stepped back and Cole pulled his arms from under her, dropping her into the water. They began to laugh at the scream as the cold water welcomed her with a splash.

When she found her footing and stood again, they moved in and surrounded her once more. “You are our mate, our Summer, to love now and forever,” Dawson declared as he lifted her from the water and carried her to the blanket he’d laid out.

Cole followed a half step behind as they lay down together. “If you want to go back to work, that’s fine, but we’ll be going with you to keep you happy and well-loved.”

Summer looked from one to the other with a smile that reached into his heart and squeezed while at the same time tightening his cock and balls. “I love you both so much. I promise I won’t make any decision without discussing it with you first. There is one other thing.”

“And what’s that?” Cole leaned in and licked at the water droplets that slowly tracked down the mound of her breast.

“I want babies. At least four babies to carry on the Sullivan legacy.”

Cole looked at Dawson. Dawson looked at Cole. Then they both looked at their wife. “That’s completely doable,” they said in unison before turning their attentions to giving her exactly what she wanted.