Jessica gave a strangled false laugh.
Confused, contemplative brows met her gaze.
“We have no intention of changing you, babe.” Charles reached across the space between them and let his fingers stroke her arm from her biceps to her wrist. Two more inches and the act might have elicited the opposite reaction that it did. Perhaps if he had reached for her hand, entwined his fingers with hers, she’d have seen the gesture as equalizing. Instead, especially considering the current line of conversation, him stopping at her wrist and grasping her—no matter how tenderly—brought only visions of dominance to her mind. Not equality. And why did that make her squeeze her legs together? Lupine dominance shouldn’t have this effect. Damn it.
Would he hold her wrists like that while he fucked her into submission?
While she held her breath and glanced at his enormous fingers wrapped around her wrist, making it appear much more fragile and dainty than she’d ever considered, Charles pulled her onto the couch.
Against her better judgment, she sat, landing hard.
“I can see why you’d think along those lines, having witnessed both Lindsey’s and Kara’s claimings, but keep in mind they are both human. It’s not the same for wolves. You’ve met my sister, Tessa. That is not a woman living under the thumb of her husband, by any stretch of the imagination.” Charles shuddered. “Tessa says you’re a fantastic teacher and Miranda adores you. We wouldn’t dream of taking that away from you. We just want to … add to your life, and ours.”
“Riight,” she drawled. “That’s why neither of my educated friends are teaching, using their degrees, and both of them spend their days conforming to the needs of their mates.” This conversation was so irrelevant and not at all the root of her problems, but she’d let them continue this line because it worked in her favor.
Reese plopped on the other side of Jessica, crowding her between the men. “Kara and Lindsey are living a life they chose. No one is forcing them to do anything. I’ve met them. They’re the happiest groups of people I’ve ever known. It’s a tough adjustment at first when you’re human and this unknown world is sprung on you. It’s not the same for you, Jess. Right now, you’re only dealing with the pull of your body to mate with us. It isn’t compounded by the influx of information about the existence of our species or the inability to comprehend what’s happening to your body.”
No. Not compounded by anything at all. If her thoughts could bleed sarcasm, she wouldn’t need to roll her eyes at these mates of hers. She shivered when she realized what could happen to the ideas that ran through her head. If she let these two men claim her, she’d never have a thought she could keep to herself for the rest of her life.
Charles drew her attention his way. “I think there’s more to it than you’re saying.”
No shit. But Jessica flinched. The last thing she needed was for them to delve any deeper into her life. She shook her head and bit into her lower lip until the pain forced her to let go.
“Uh-huh. Fine. Whatever it is, we’ll work it out as we go along,” Charles continued. He leaned in gradually until his nose nestled in the crook of her neck. His breath brushed her skin, and his lips nibbled behind her ear. Warmth spread down her arms. It felt so fucking good. So perfect. So right. And before Jessica could stop herself, she relaxed her shoulders and leaned in to his touch.
Her nipples strained against the material of her bra, making her wish she hadn’t chosen lace today of all days.
Her eyes fluttered shut as Charles cupped her jaw with his hand. The legs she was squeezing together relaxed like jelly at the same time another hand, probably Reese’s, landed on her knee and gripped.
Bombarded with sensations never before experienced, Jessica sensed every neuron in her body firing at once, sending fireworks from her brain to every limb and her torso. She had no control over her movements, her synapses shooting messages everywhere at once.
When Charles nibbled his way around to claim her mouth, Reese lifted her hand and kissed each finger, lingering leisurely at each one to flick it with his tongue.
Charles wiped her mind of all thoughts when he devoured her lips, angling himself around her until she was smashed into the couch, crowded beyond belief. His kiss was anxious, demanding, a rapid fire of insistence leaning left and then right as though he were starving. When he swiped his tongue over the seam of her lips, pressing between them for entrance, a moan filled the air. Was it hers?
He tasted faintly of mint with an underlying hint of his own spice. As he explored every crevice of her mouth, his hand lowered to land on her shoulder, his thumb sliding delicately over her collarbone, his palm brushing against the upper swell of her breast.
Jessica arched into him, meeting his tongue stroke for stroke now. She ached all over for more contact, her body demanding to feel and be felt.
While Charles tasted every inch of her mouth, Reese managed to graze his lips up her arm. Even through the material of her long-sleeved shirt, she could appreciate the warmth of his breath and the heat that seeped into her skin and traveled up her arm and down her torso to meet with all the other heat gathering at her sex.
When Reese reached her shoulder and bumped hands with Charles, there was a flurry of movement. Charles pressed her into the couch, seeming to enter her mouth even deeper, sucking the life out of her until the world spun. In moments, Reese was on the ground in front of her, spreading her legs apart, his hands traveling up her thighs until they landed on her waist. She couldn’t see him from this angle, but there was no mistaking his location.
Needing more contact like a hiker needs water in the desert, Jessica arched again, squeezing her eyes tighter. If she didn’t look, she could almost pretend this was a dream. God, her pussy was in front of Reese’s face. He leaned against her frame and shoved her shirt up several inches until both warm hands held her around the middle, and his lips licked, teased, tasted, and tortured her belly.
Oh my God! She was going to come, explode beneath these two men driving her to the brink of insanity.
Her hands, which had been lying limply at her sides, came to life, and Jessica grabbed Reese’s head, unsure whether her aim was to pull him closer toward her, push him toward the opening between her legs, or push him away. She just squeezed. And then moaned so loud it yanked her out of this trance.
Jess jerked her face loose from Charles and leaned to one side to gasp for air. Her senses did not return to normal. Her body burned, a tingly sensation creeping up her arms and legs as though they were asleep. Probably they were since all the blood in her body was making her clit pulse with need.
She gripped the couch at her sides and squirmed beneath the hands roaming over her body. Were there more than just four? Every inch of her fell to the exquisite assault of palms on her thighs, her arms, her shoulders, and finally her breasts, weighed and massaged through her clothes.
The two hands on her thighs pressed them wider, and then a palm landed at the apex of her legs, applying undefined pressure to her clit, sending her over the edge into a state of bliss. “Oh God.” Her head rolled from side to side, and she pulsed against Reese’s hand, her pussy straining. She rode the wave of her orgasm for several minutes before it subsided, leaving her limp.
“God, honey. That’s so hot.” Reese’s voice broke into her haze of awareness. His mouth hovered against her belly, hot air blowing over her sensitive skin as he spoke. “You’re amazing. I could watch you come like that every day for the rest of my life and never be sorry.”
“That’s for sure.” Charles resumed his initial position, nibbling around her ear.
Instead of feeling supremely content, Jessica wanted more. After a few deep breaths, her eyes flew open. She glanced from one man to the other, realizing suddenly what she’d done. Where she was.
Two sexy men smiled at her. Her expression must have registered shock, and her mouth hung open because both Reese and Charles had a half grin. Reese still held her firmly by the waist—at least he’d let go of h
er crotch.
Charles’ lips were inches from her own. “Do you still want to run from this?” He lifted a corner of his mouth in a wry smile.
As she stared at him, she became aware of two things: one, the room was so silent the only sounds were two wolves breathing so heavy they might as well have just run to her apartment; and two, their chests heaved under the exertion of that presumed run.
They squirmed and then leaned away. At the last second, Charles lifted Jessica off the couch and turned toward the hall, cradling her frame against his chest, still kissing her forehead as he walked. “Bedroom?” His eyebrows rose, and he nodded in the direction of the hall.
What? What?
Jessica shook herself and wiggled in Charles’ grasp. “God. Put me down.” When he didn’t comply fast enough, she arched and pushed her hands against his shoulders. “Charles!”
As if coming out of a trance, the man complied, stopping dead in his tracks. He loosened his hold on her until she slid to the ground.
Reese ran into the two of them at the abrupt stop. “What’s the matter?” Concern etched his face. He glanced up and down as if searching for some injury. “Are you okay?”
Deep breaths. Jess leaned against the wall of the hallway, wishing she could slip through the paint and drywall and land on the other side, putting distance between this ridiculous distraction and her good senses.
“What the hell are we doing?” she muttered. “I can’t sleep with you two.” She shook her head to emphasize her words, especially in view of the two men staring at her from above with blank expressions.
Leaning a bit too far away from the men currently occupying all of her personal space and stealing her oxygen, Jessica indeed fell through the wall, or at least the opening to her bedroom that had been closer to her than she’d expected.
She landed on her rump and spider-crawled backward until she bumped into the bed.
When she looked up, both men had their gazes trained on the top of her mattress.
“Going somewhere?” Charles leaned on the doorframe and glared at Jess in annoyance.
Shit. Her suitcase. It sat on the comforter, jammed with the essentials and waiting to be zipped shut.
Reese eased past Charles, entered the room, and leaned over Jessica’s body to investigate. “You were really going to leave? Just go?”
“Uh-huh.” The sound was soft, but no one missed it. “I can’t do this,” she managed to say.
“Still?” Reese looked hurt, his mouth straight, his eyes narrow. He crouched beside her on the floor. He touched her cheek and then the bob of her hair. His fingers tangled in the strands until he had a good grip, and then he leaned in to kiss her firmly on the mouth. His tongue darted inside with no hesitation, a starving man who’d not gotten his turn.
His taste was unique. Minty, as though they’d both reached into the same packet of mints a while ago, but a hint of coffee and chocolate tempted her taste buds as he explored for the first time.
Jessica’s arms wobbled from holding herself awkwardly off the floor. Reese must have known because he reached behind her to steady her frame and take her weight into his own embrace.
The kiss turned urgent, demanding. The moan that rent the silence was his. Well, maybe mixed with hers.
She lost purchase on the floor with her heels as they slipped out from under her.
When Reese finally pulled back and leaned his forehead against hers, he mumbled through gasps of air, “This is far, far from finished. You aren’t going anywhere, sweetheart. And … you taste heavenly.” His genuine smile made her heart beat faster.
Charles kneeled on the floor beside Jessica. “Please. Let us love you. I need to taste more than your mouth. I need to lick my way across your nipples, taste the expanse of your body until I can bury my mouth in your pussy.” He glanced at Reese before continuing. “We can smell your arousal, the cum leaking from your orgasm.”
Jessica’s body betrayed her. A new flood of arousal eased out of her to soak her panties. Her jeans felt too tight. A pulse point she’d not known existed throbbed against the crease of the denim.
No. No. No. A voice in her head screamed. Remember what happened to your parents. She flinched and then jumped to her feet, untangling herself from both men.
Pressed against the bed, she finally found her voice. “No. I can’t do this. I. Can’t. I don’t want to.” After a pause, she said, “I won’t.”
God. They had to get out of here before she lost it. She couldn’t think straight in their presence. Her intentions got skewed. Warped.
Darting between the men, she headed for the front door. She opened it and savored the clean, fresh air. Even the freezing temperature didn’t bother her. She needed deep breaths of any atmosphere that wasn’t permeated with the scent of the two horny wolves chomping at the bit to ravage her.
Both men stepped behind her. All her fears jumped to the surface when she noticed she could already sense them. Not just their presence, but she could even distinguish one from the other by their smell, one distinctly more outdoorsy—Charles. The other, Reese, with a stronger hint of his particular soap, some masculine bar of something she’d rather not have ever been in the presence of since she’d never shake it from her conscience.
She could almost feel—or hear?—their heartbeats without touching them. They often beat in sync. And fuck all, if she wasn’t mistaken, the essence of their thoughts was even niggling into her head.
“You have to go.” She spoke without turning around. Hugging her arms around herself, she intended not to ward off the welcome chill of the evening air but to put up a wall that kept out unwanted intruders of the heart.
“Swear to us you won’t skip town.” Reese spoke inches from her right ear. “Promise you’ll sleep on this. Revisit it tomorrow. If we don’t have your word, we won’t leave you.”
They both stepped around her and gazed deeply into her eyes. She glanced back and forth between the blue, piercing depths of Reese’s eyes to the deep chocolate brown of Charles’. They burrowed like a mole into her soul.
Breathlessly she let a small squeaky “yes” slip her lips, followed by a nod of consent.
Charles tipped his head and gazed into her with a scrutiny unlike anything she’d ever experienced. “Jess, don’t run. We’ll give you a day to think. We’ll come by tomorrow night and talk again.”
Jess laughed, a chortle of sarcasm combined with a snort. “Talk? Like we talked tonight?”
Both men smiled, their faces softening at her quip.
“Tell you what,” Reese began, “you promise not to leave town with that packed suitcase, and we’ll promise to keep our hands off you tomorrow until you call uncle. ’K?”
She nodded, biting her lower lip to keep from smiling.
Charles touched her lip and pulled it from between her teeth. “Stop that. It drives me crazy. I can’t even think when you do that.” His words were so soft, his tone so low, she wouldn’t have heard him at all if she’d not been lupine.
Releasing the offensive lip from the grip of her teeth, Jessica backed inside, shut the door, and leaned against it to gather her wits.
Several minutes went by before she realized the error of their conversation. Tomorrow? She was supposed to go to Kara’s tomorrow for a Christmas celebration. And two very naughty wolves would be there also. Would they tell everyone? Would she survive the day?
She was fucked.
* * * *
It was nearly eight o’clock when Reese slipped in the back door behind Charles and the two of them made their way to the room Charles had occupied for most of his life. The house was big, thank God, because on numerous occasions one or more sibling had actually stayed at or lived in the house with their mates when the situation warranted.
“Jesus, guys. Where have you been?” Alyssa’s hissing voice jagged through the darkened room and wrapped around Reese like a thorny branch. He jerked in his spot as Charles soundlessly shut the door behind them.
“Shit
. You scared the crap out of me.” Reese turned toward her voice and found her sitting in the dark in the window seat where she’d apparently been staring out into the night. “We—”
Without waiting for excuses, she cut him off and continued. “Your parents and your brother Michael tiptoed around me, attempting to avoid eye contact so I couldn’t see how sorry they were for the weird behavior of their asshole of a son and his friend. I finally had to proclaim exhaustion and retreat to your room to escape the looks. And then I had to sit here in the dark and do nothing but wait for you to return so they’d think I was sleeping.”
Reese flinched. He really was an ass. No doubt about that.
“You’re gone most of the day, breeze through here for like one minute this afternoon, and then don’t show again until way after dark. People are suspicious, and I feel like a heel lying to everyone. Do you want me to go?”
“No. Sorry.” Charles spoke sheepishly and crossed the room to her side. “It was … unavoidable, and unexpected.”
“Whatever.” Alyssa glanced at both men in turn.
Reese himself felt like a heel now. “We—”
She held up a hand and stopped him again. “Why did you bring me here if you were just going to dump me and run? I thought… Well, I’d hoped…” She looked down and fidgeted with her fingers.
“God, what does she expect from us?” At least now, Reese could communicate with Charles in front of Alyssa. There was a shining pot of gold.
Charles sat on the bed and turned in her direction. “Alyssa, you are so young. I’m sorry if you thought this would … whatever.” He swung a hand through the air, motioning indistinctly. “We want to help you. Truly we do, but you are going to have to give us a bit more information. Soon. Like yesterday.” “She expected us to mate with her. She clearly wanted us also. Why? What woman would want to mate so quickly with two men she barely knew and wasn’t immediately bonded to? I don’t get it. What isn’t she telling us?”
Jessica's Wolves (Wolf Masters, Book 3) Page 4