Hunter ran a hand through his hair and paced, thinking long and hard about the horrible torture Bryan had endured to stay away from his mate to protect her. “Geez Bryan, it’s no wonder you’ve been in a bad mood for five years.”
“Well, that makes two of us,” Lacey admitted. “At least now there’s a reasonable explanation for my own failed attempts at sex.”
Bryan’s growl rumbled and Hunter quickly interrupted. “She said attempts. Failed attempts, bro.”
He risked looking away from Bryan to glance at her. “I had no say in this. I wouldn’t hurt you, either of you. You must know that.”
“Exactly what does all this mean?” Lacey asked, waving her hands in a circle incorporating the three of them.
“I’m yours.” Hunter shrugged his broad shoulders and tried to look meek. “I have to be honest. I’m not sorry it’s you my cat imprinted on.”
Lacey had to admit the look, when he spoke directly to her, had its merits. Charisma. He had it in spades. She had questions, too many to voice, but the first she managed through tight lips. “How could your lion imprint on me without us having sexual contact or either of us saying the binding words? You told me that’s what bound Bryan and I.”
Hunter stared at Lacey, giving her his sexiest smile. “I guess when you offered your life up for me, my lion took that as sign enough. We may not be bound the way you and Bryan are, but my cat has a mind of his own.”
“Well, so do I.” She fisted her hands on her hips to keep from punching something…or someone.
“Seems now you’re destined to be both our mates.”
That did it. Her fingers twitched and her hands balled up. “Well, think again.” She shook her head at Hunter to make her point and did her best to stay calm.
“I can see you haven’t gotten used to the idea yet. I’ll wait until the idea settles. Until we’re all comfortable with the situation,” Hunter said, backing up with a teasing sparkle in his eyes.
“Don’t hold your breath,” Lacey said through clenched teeth. No one, neither of them, could go around claiming her. She was a grown woman with responsibilities.
Hunter looked entirely too pleased from Lacey’s point of view, and the low grumble at her side meant Bryan wholeheartedly agreed with her.
“Wipe that shit-eatin’ grin off your face. You don’t have to look so damned pleased about it,” Bryan snapped.
“I swear I’ll go through the full moon cycle chained forever if necessary,” Hunter said. “Unless…she wants me.”
The rumbling in Bryan’s throat increased. His internal lion started a low, threatening growl. Annoyed with the whole incident and the possessive jealousy thing, too, Lacey backhanded Bryan’s shoulder.
“Not again.” She released an exasperated sigh. “Shut up, Bryan. Hasn’t your jealous cat caused enough problems?”
For a moment, his growl went deeper, like a complaint, but the growl turned into silence when she stood up and started pacing. At least he was smart enough to know when to back off. Instead of fear, she felt pissed. The men acted as if she didn’t have any say in the matter.
“Either we’re all in this together, or we’re all fucked,” Hunter said.
“Unless one of us dies,” Bryan mentioned in a flat tone.
“That’s not exactly my first choice for a solution. What about you, Bryan?” Lacey asked. “You ready to see Hunter dead?”
“No, don’t worry. We won’t fight to the death.” Bryan managed to say that without a growl and with a straight face.
“He’s right.” Hunter chuckled as if it was funny or something. “You’ll both just have to put up with me taking on the monthly imprisonment and a lifetime of
surly.
Let me tell you, payback might be fun after putting up with Bryan’s cranky attitude for five years.”
Bryan’s jealousy ruled his head, and anger ruled hers. Hunter was the only one trying to be lighthearted about the dilemma even if he wasn’t being entirely sensible about goading Bryan.
“Okay, no deaths, no imprisonments, and no lifetime of bad moods. How do we solve this problem?” Lacey asked. When did she become the voice of reason in this paranormal fantasy?
“Do you want me?” Hunter asked.
Lacey flushed, a dead giveaway to her feelings. “What kind of question is that?” Why did the thought appeal to her? Dammit. Why hadn’t she learned how to play poker?
“Okay, then we’ll have to figure out a way to share you.”
Share her? She had to stop them from thinking of her as theirs. She didn’t belong to them. She wasn’t a horse or a car. “There you go, again, talking like there are no other options—like I don’t have any say in the matter.”
“You don’t,” they said in unison.
“We’ll see about that. Bryan, you and Hunter can stand there all day, naked as the day you were born, but I’m going to go soak my aching muscles in the mineral springs. If you want to talk, let me know when you’re ready. That’s where you’ll find me.”
* * * *
Rewinding and securing her hair off her neck, she didn’t look back as she made her way through the tunnel. She took the one to the grotto, where the hot, mineral pool bubbled in invitation.
“Since she belongs with both of us now, it will be even better—” Hunter sounded like he was already making plans.
“Fuck that! What happened to you backing off and giving her time?”
“Smell her scent? She wants me. I think she’ll need me.”
“I haven’t even settled things between the two of us and you’re already honing in—”
“Hold on right there,” Hunter said. “I’m not honing in. This isn’t what I had in mind for your homecoming.”
“Me either.” Bryan scrubbed a hand down his face.
“Did she say ‘talk’?”
“Yeah, just talk, Hunter.”
“Not likely if she takes off that top,” Hunter whispered softly. The low rumble of desire was hard to miss.
Bryan’s eyes narrowed, and he licked his lips. “Hunter, I just love talking to a woman who takes charge.”
“Since when? Bryan, you’re alpha through and through.”
“Since her.” He glanced in the direction Lacey took and groaned.
“Yeah, but are you going to be all right with me and her?”
“Under normal circumstances? No. But Hunter, she’s my mate. My alpha female. Our bond forces me to see to her needs, no matter what I feel. Maybe her lioness did imprint on you and …”
“If so, she’ll need me as much as she needs you. Then what?”
“It’ll be the hardest thing I’ve ever done short of leaving her. But I won’t see what happened to me happen to you or her, and I won’t risk losing her again.”
“You know there’s no doubt my lion wants her, but until she accepts me, this could be dangerous for her.”
“No. It won’t. I’ll protect her from you and herself. Until she accepts what she is and realizes your lion is also what she needs, I won’t take issue with it. But she’ll have to want you and accept you before I can deal with the two of you being together. Can you wait?”
“I’ve seen what it’s been like for you. Geez, Bryan, I’m afraid. What if her cat didn’t imprint on me. What if she can’t accept this?”
“You catch her scent around you? I’ve already seen the way she looks at you. Think about it—she protected you from me. That had to mean something.”
“Hell, I could go rogue.”
“You won’t. You’ll hold out. You’re stronger than I was, and I haven’t lost it yet. I’ll take care of you like you did me.” Bryan hesitated and ran his hands through his hair, making it stand on end. “But you have to wait…you know…before you and Lacey…” He hesitated and sighed. “She and I have things to settle between us.”
“Hey man, I understand. Only, I’m not as strong as you think.” Hunter stared at Bryan long and hard. “Don’t wait too long. If her scent gets any stronger I won’t be able to hold back.”
“Stop worrying. I trust you.” Bryan clapped his brother on the shoulder, shoving him in front of him. “Follow her. Let’s go talk.”
“No.” The rumble rose inside Hunter’s chest. He stopped and looked toward the grotto then back toward the cave entrance. “I can’t do it. My lion is pushing me to claim her. I better take care of the horses and go hunt.”
“You gonna be okay?”
“Yeah, for now. You take care of your mate. When she needs me, I’ll be there for both of you.” Hunter looked back toward the grotto. “And Bryan? Don’t worry. I won’t claim her until she wants me. Like I said, I want her to want me.”
“I won’t let her fuck you if it’s just about you. This has to be her need or nothing.”
“But really, will she accept all this? The shifting? You? Me?”
Bryan chuckled. “Lacey’s a scientist. With enough evidence she’ll turn us into a study.”
“I’m not sure how I should feel about that.” Hunter grinned. “I guess it depends on how much is sexual.”
Lacey’s feelings for Bryan were mixed, understandably, considering their history. She was still angry, but she couldn’t deny being attracted to his sexual magnetism. His voice, his scent, and the way his eyes caressed her when he looked at her reminded her of how they had once felt about each other—how, if she was completely honest with herself, she still felt.
Hunter was a different issue entirely. There was an underlying connection between them making Lacey prickly as hell. Some undeniable attraction drew her to both men. She had to admit Bryan’s brother was hot, yet Hunter’s appeal confused her.
What had gotten into her? She never wanted anyone after Bryan. Since meeting Hunter, she sensed he’d be able to please her well, and she might enjoy pleasing him right back. After five years of abstinence, for no reason other than she’d had zip for sex drive, suddenly she was ready to jump both men’s bones. Both of the men set her blood on fire.
Both? Did she dare allow the fantasy? What would being naked with them be like? The thought made her blush when she envisioned one man at her back caressing her and the other at her breast. Her insides went molten. The thought sent a heated spiral of lust straight to her core where her fingers pressed to ease the aching need. The sensation spiked the need growing within her.
She slouched down in the water, leaned her head against the stones, and let out a long breath.
Visualizing both men touching her made her moan. “Mmm.” They’d be just what she needed. Her lips curled into a smile, remembering the way their skin glimmered in the pale light the other evening.
“I hope that smile’s for me, babe.”
Her eyes popped open. She gazed into the dark, passionate expression painted on Bryan’s face, knowing he sensed her arousal. The burning hunger for her was seared clearly on his face. With a voice so rough she could hardly decipher the words through his pleading tone, he offered to replace her fingers.
“Let me, please.”
He moved closer, sitting on the lower ledge on her side of the pool. He reached under the water and touched her belly.
“Where’s your brother?”
“Don’t worry about Hunter. He’ll be back when we need him.”
“What if…I need him now?”
Bryan’s brows rose. “Do you? I’ll call him.”
He called her bluff.
Lacey lowered her lashes and shook her head. “Not yet.” She wasn’t ready to have any other man’s hands on her. “We have unfinished business.”
Bryan exhaled sharply. He leaned over and kissed her, ravishing her mouth as his hand cupped her breast. The texture of his rough palm grazing over her soft nipples felt exquisite. The tips puckered, begging for attention, and he nuzzled her breast with his rough, bearded jaw. He took first one nipple in his mouth and nipped gently, then licked it until she wanted to scream.
She’d been empty too long. Her body, her heart, and her mind needed filling. The pulsing water continued to relax her while his hands and mouth stimulated her.
Her internal muscles spasmed, unable to resist the promise. They longed to embrace his cock, needed to embrace his thick, hard shaft. She wanted the thrust and pressure of a man’s cock filling her, claiming her. It had been too long. It felt like it had been forever since a man made her want this.
Lacey reached for Bryan’s wrist when he slipped a finger inside her.
“I want to watch you come.” His voice sounded raspy, guttural, almost harsh. “I’m so fucking desperate for you—the taste of you, your scent, your warm, tight heat. I know it’s been a while for you, so I’ll be careful, but I’m not sure I can be gentle.”
“Then don’t be gentle. Take me. Make love to me, Bryan.”
She extended her arms to him, and he lifted her out of the water as if she weighed next to nothing. He was fully clothed and she was wet and naked. He walked her over to the same place where they’d made love the first time and, like that time, he’d already spread a blanket before he joined her.
“I promise I won’t hurt you. Never again…if I can help it,” he swore.
How did he know those were the words she needed? The truth. The reality of their situation. Her heart clenched in her chest, and her throat tightened when she recognized his concern. Hot tears of happiness filled her eyes and spilled over her cheeks before she could stop them.
Tilting, he kissed her lips, soothing her, licking away the tears from the corner of her lips. “Are you okay with this, Lacey?”