“I’m human, remember. It seems strange to me.”
“Well, you’d better get used to the idea, because, my dear little mouse, you will be mated to Clint and I.”
“What if I don’t want to?” She acted contrary even as her body-and heart-screamed yes.
Brandon halted their progress up the hall and pinned her to the wall. “Don’t challenge me to prove you wrong,” he said, his mouth hovering close to hers.
“Everything’s happening so fast. I mean first I find out you’re werewolves. Then someone threatens me. And now you expect me to just swallow the fact that you and Clint intend to bite me and-and be intimate with me at the same time.” She couldn’t say it without blushing.
“You can’t tell me you don’t feel the same pull, the need to touch us, skin to skin.”
“Great, I’m a magnet for werewolves,” she grumbled.
“Only two,” he replied.
“And here I thought you liked me for me.”
His brown eyes gazed down at her, and he smiled gently. “What’s the difference? Some men are attracted by looks, others intelligence, and then there’s the ones who see a woman and instantly feel a connection. Does the root cause matter?”
Does it? “If it weren’t for this pull, you would never have looked at me twice.”
“Don’t be so sure,” he murmured, dipping his head down. “There are many things about you that I enjoy, Josie.”
His lips skimmed hers, reigniting the fire that, while banked at the interruption, still simmered beneath the surface.
Brandon broke the kiss before it went too far. “I’m needed outside. Stay inside where it’s safe.”
“When will you be back?”
“Soon. Why, did you want me to join you in bed later?”
A part of Josie-the wanton side-screamed ‘Yes!’, but her meek side, couldn’t bring itself to voice it aloud. That and she needed to think more on what they wanted from her and decide if she could handle it emotionally, because physically my body is all for it. It’s my heart I’m worried about.
Her answer must have shown in her face, for humor lit his eyes, and he brushed his knuckles across her cheek. “When you’re ready, we’ll be here for you. Dream of us.”
He walked away, and Josie bit her lower lip as she watched the sexy waggle of his ass receding.
I am such a ninny. Why did I say no?
Maybe because the one thing they’d both never said was what happened after the threesome and biting. Would they go on their merry way when they tired of her, breaking her heart?
Or even scarier, would they want a forever-after. Hey, dad, can you make two extra spots for Christmas dinner because I’m bringing home not one, but two boyfriends?
Despite the awkwardness involved in explaining a polygamous relationship to friends and family, she couldn’t deny she was intrigued. Who am I trying to kid? I’m already in love with them both. So, why am I fighting the perfect solution? Her mind knew the answer. Because they’d never said they loved her.
Josie readied herself for sleep then tossed and turned in the strange bed, her mind in turmoil as she tried to decide the best course for her. As night deepened, she almost regretted not taking Brandon up on his offer of a bedmate. It even occurred to her to search him or Clint out. She didn’t want to close her eyes, for she sensed the tendrils of fear reaching out to snare her. Her nightmare was just waiting for her to fall asleep. Like a dark predator, it hid in the corners of her mind, waiting for a moment when her guard was lowered. She fought against slumber, fought the drag that pulled her eyelids down. But fatigue won and tugged her into its chilling maw. Within moments, she was screaming-just not out loud.
Chapter Six
Clint couldn’t sleep, not knowing Josie was only a room away. This whole taking-it-slow thing was really chafing, but Josie was the type to flee if she felt cornered. So, against his desires, and to the chagrin of his raging hard-on, he lay on his bed, hands laced under his head, planning the next step in his seduction.
The scene out at her apartment had chilled him, for he realized if they hadn’t come to rescue her, it might very well have been her blood decorating the carpet and walls in her place. As it was, the two pack members he’d left to guard her place were in bad shape. They’d heal, but whatever attacked them had been vicious, and even more disturbing, neither victim remembered a thing. Their foe appeared to not only be some kind of mind-fucker, he was also wily. The eye-watering fumes and overwhelming stench of ammonia splashed about the apartment foiled their attempts to track by scent. What the fuck are we dealing with?
When he’d arrived back at the ranch, dreading Brandon ’s triumphant grin-for in his place he would have seduced his sweet Josie-he found himself happy that Brandon hadn’t gotten lucky while he was out. A possible perimeter breach had sent Brandon outside to check on things, and while a false alarm, he hadn’t the chance to pursue a lone seduction of Josie.
And, as Brandon grimly informed Clint, she’d refused the offer of nighttime company. Probably a smart move on her part given he didn’t think he’d have resisted the seductive allure of her body for platonic rest. It was the reason why he hadn’t sneaked into her room to cuddle her in repose. Had she woken, he would have claimed it was for protection, but in honesty, he just didn’t like being apart from her. So, instead of spooning and making love to his woman, he stared at the ceiling in his room with a hard-on to batter down doors.
The blood in his veins froze as he heard with acute auditory senses Josie whimper through the walls. Unease gripped him. In a flash, he was out in the hall with his hand on her doorknob. A prickling sensation at his back let him know Brandon had joined him. They might not have marked her, but the connection, even if faint, was there between them.
Together, they proceeded with caution into her room. It was pitch-black, but to a shifter, that meant nothing. Their enhanced nature allowed them to see in the dark-the tool of a predator that hunts at night. The room to his relief contained no intruders, only a thrashing Josie, and yet, there was a scent in the air that didn’t belong. Clint inhaled the musty aroma and almost gagged at the alien stench.
“What is that smell?” whispered Brandon.
“I don’t know,” muttered Clint, “but I do believe that Josie’s nightmares aren’t a product of her mind, but someone else’s.” Even as he spoke, Josie let out a shriek, a chilling cry that was suddenly muffled as if someone had gagged her. Brandon flicked on the bedroom light, dispelling the shadows as Clint dove onto the bed, next to a catatonic Josie, looking for a foe that didn’t exist for him to fight. Frustration made him curse as he beheld her, helpless. Her eyes stared ahead of her, glazed with terror and unseeing when he waved his hand in front of her. Brandon on her other side touched her hand, but he quickly snatched it back. He shook it.
“What the fuck? She’s ice-cold!” Brandon said.
“Something’s screwing with her dreams. We’ve got to snap her out of it.” Clint tried shouting and shaking her pajama clad shoulders, but she remained caught in the unnatural nightmare. Clint let out a sound of vexation for he couldn’t fight something he couldn’t touch.
Brandon looked just as lost. But we can’t give up. She needs us. Clint straddled Josie and placed his face directly in front of her unseeing eyes. “Josie, baby, I need you to wake up.” He hadn’t expected her to respond. Not knowing what else to do, Clint did the only thing he could think of to jolt her body. He kissed her.
It was like embracing a corpse her lips were so cold, but at the skin-to-skin contact, she let out a small gasp. Encouraged, he slanted his lips across hers again and was rewarded with them warming under his touch.