by Lacey Thorn
“As you wish.” He nodded.
“Why can’t I hear your thoughts the same way?” she asked. He had said that there was no need for words between them but it didn’t seem like she was hearing anything.
I can control what thoughts I desire to share with you. He spoke in her head again. It was really disconcerting. Eventually you will learn to do the same.
“Did…? Was…?” She couldn’t figure out how to word her question of what exactly had happened last night. Had she made love with two men? If so then where was the other one? The name Taggart came to mind. Had she really been so wanton as to sleep with two men, two strangers? Or had that part been a dream?
“It was a dream come true,” Jamison murmured. “Taggart and I formed a bond with you last night.”
Images flashed through her mind of the three of them together. She touched her shoulders and realized that her flesh still bore the marks of both men where they had bitten her. “You bit me,” she said.
“Yes,” Jamison nodded. “It is part of the bonding process.”
“What is this bonding process that you keep talking about?”
“In White Valley when a triad is formed, it is called a bonding,” Jamison said, seeming to search for the right words to use with her.
“A triad?” she questioned. So it was normal for a woman to be with two men in his home?
“Yes, it is what we all do,” Jamison nodded then seemed chagrined that he had answered another question that she hadn’t spoken out loud. “I don’t know how to explain this all to you without scaring you,” he said. “Please promise me that you will sit and listen to everything that I tell you.”
He seemed so sincere and afraid that she might bolt. What exactly did he have to tell her? Had she wandered from one cult to another? When the hell had all the cults shown up?
“We are no cult,” Jamison answered angrily. “At least not in the way that you envision it. I will not apologize for answering your thoughts this time when they are virtually screaming to me.”
“Well, it is not exactly like I can control them,” she snapped back.
“Nor can I control how I react to them,” he replied. “We are not a cult. We are an old society that has chosen to stay in the place of our birth and adhere to the way of life our ancestors walked.”
“And what way of life is that?” she asked.
He took a deep breath and looked at her as if he was debating what to share with her next. “We have an ability that your people have forgotten. A gift from the goddess to be embraced and loved.”
“What gift?” she wanted to know. “And how have my people forgotten it?”
“Long ago there were people who left the valley in hopes of finding what they desired on the other side of the veil,” Jamison said. “They turned their backs on their people and their heritage, instead choosing a new life where people judged one another by how much wealth they obtained.”
Yeah, that sounded like the world she lived in. Of course they also judged on beauty and body. The better you looked the more you were liked.
“I am sorry that your people have so little character that they would judge what they do not know,” Jamison said.
“So what do you judge on?” she asked.
“We don’t really judge,” he answered and she laughed.
“I guess perhaps we judge by a person’s actions,” he conceded. “How they treat others as well as themselves. We look to a person’s heart and know the beauty that lies inside.”
That sounded wonderful, but was it truly possible to live like that?
“We have never known of any other way to live,” Jamison said.
“It sounds nice,” she said. “But I don’t understand why I am here.”
“I’m not exactly sure myself,” he answered. “Taggart and I were told that you would be at the bridal pool and that we should go and see if you would choose to mate with us.”
She remembered saying the words that had popped into her head, choosing them as mates. What had she committed herself to? How long would she be forced to remain here?
“You will never be forced to do anything that you do not desire,” Jamison said and there was anger in his voice again. “What type of society did you live in that such a thought would occur to you?”
“You’re reading my thoughts again,” she said, deciding not to answer him. How did she explain to him that women were bedded and discarded all the time? That marriages rarely lasted forever. That it was common to marry and divorce several times.
“It is a sad world that you live in,” Jamison spoke softly. “I can’t imagine anyone wanting to go back to such a place.”
He was right. She had nothing to go back for, no one who would care. Her mother might want her but only so that her place in the cult she was now a part of would be sealed. It appeared that her mother had finally lost her mind and Reggie doubted that she would ever be able to save her. The only thing she would do would be to find herself trapped and married as the first wife to some religious dictator. She shuddered at the thought.
“How could a mother put her child in such a place?” Jamison asked. “How could a man desire more than one woman to be his life mate, to bring his children to life? We have no divorce as you call it here. When we take a mate we form a bond that lasts forever.”
“Is that what I did when I spoke those words?” Reggie asked. “Did I form a bond with you and your brother?”
“Yes,” Jamison nodded. “You accepted our desire to bond and mate with you.”
She nodded. So what did it mean to mate or bond with someone? Obviously it lasted forever to them? So did they not die? Age? What?
Jamison laughed. “Yes, we grow old and die. It is the cycle of life. Death gives way to birth and all life has time. But the bond we have formed is more than a physical one. Already I hear your thoughts and fears and they become mine. I sense your needs and want nothing more than to meet every one of them. I begin to know you and love the person before me. Do you not feel anything for me?”
Well, yes, of course she felt something for him. She wouldn’t say that it was love. She couldn’t believe that. Love didn’t happen that quickly. But there was something there. She knew that she didn’t want to hurt him. That it mattered to her what he thought and felt. And there was this thing inside her that kept wanting to take over, to have her give in to all that he desired. It was getting hard to fight. And her bones were starting to ache.
“Your bones ache already?” Jamison exclaimed and she knew it would do no good to remind him again to stay out of her head. “The process is moving quickly. I must call Taggart back.”
“Where exactly is Taggart?” she wanted to know.
“He went for a run after you had fallen asleep,” Jamison said absently as he seemed to concentrate on something.
“Are you calling him without words?” she asked. “Can you just reach out no matter where he is and contact him?” Hell, that was better than a cell phone.
“Yes,” he said. “Our bond allows us to communicate no matter how far apart we might be. He is on his way back.” He sighed. “There are certain things you should know before he arrives.”
“Such as?” she questioned.
Jamison sighed again and shook his head. “I don’t know where to begin or how to share with you what I must without scaring you.”
“Well, telling me that is making me nervous so maybe you should just come right out and say what you need to say,” she stated.
“White Valley is the only home that I have ever known,” he said. “I have heard tales of what lies beyond the veil but I’ve never crossed.”
That was still a little weird to think about. How exactly did a fog create a veil between worlds? How did she manage to cross it and, more importantly, what did it mean? She’d never heard of a White Valley.
“That is because it does not exist in your world,” he answered softly.
What did that mean? She was no longer in America? No longer on
Planet Earth? What the hell?
“I knew that this would be difficult,” he said again. “You are and yet you aren’t.”
“Well, that explains it,” she said dryly.
“I’m trying, Reggie,” he said. “My fear of losing you is holding me back from what I need to tell you.”
“We’ve only just met,” she said. “How could you fear losing me?”
“Perhaps you didn’t understand what I said earlier,” he replied. “We have already formed a triad bond. To lose you now would mean that Taggart and I would walk the rest of our days alone. We mate for life, there can never be another for us at this point.”
“I don’t want to hurt you, Jamison,” she said sadly. “I know that something inside me calls to you, desires to be with you, almost demands it. But I-I just…”
“You don’t believe,” he said.
He was right. Part of her was still convinced that this was some dream she was still in the middle of.
“It is no dream,” he promised. “I do not know how to convince you of that. Soon, sooner than we anticipated you will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is real, we are real. I cannot shelter you from what lies ahead.”
“And what is that?” she asked. “What lies ahead?”
“When Taggart and I both claimed you at the same time and we all reached fulfillment together we formed the final mating,” he said. “It is that act that begins the process that you feel inside you.”
“What process?” she demanded. What the hell had they done to her?
“There is still so much to explain,” he sighed. “The why, the how, so much detail. But I have run out of time. Taggart is here.”
He rose from the bed, doing nothing to cover his nakedness and she couldn’t help the way her body responded to his. He was perfection. He moved across to the door and opened it just as a dog ran in. Hell, that was no dog. It was a wolf. A big one at that. She moved to the center of the bed on her knees, eyes wide as the wolf moved toward her.
His coat was beautiful, reminding her of Jamison’s hair with varying shades of brown, blond, and red. And the eyes were the same chocolate color. The wolf came right over to her and put his front paws on the bed, leaning in to lick her face.
“What is this wolf doing here?” she asked and she knew her voice was shaking with the fear she felt. Those jaws looked strong enough to tear her apart with one bite.
“He would never hurt you,” Jamison said.
“I’m glad you’re sure of that,” she murmured.
“Taggart, you are scaring her,” Jamison said.
“Taggart?” she asked and looked back toward the door that Jamison had already closed. “Where is he?”
“Right in front of you,” Jamison replied, watching her.
“Are you trying to tell me that Taggart is the wolf?” she laughed.
“Show her,” Jamison said with a sigh. “I think it might be the only way that you start to believe.”
The wolf moved back so that all four paws were on the floor. She could hear popping noises and then right before her eyes the wolf began to change. So much happened at once that she couldn’t keep her eyes on just one spot. The muzzle retreated, the fur began to shimmer and transform to skin and soon the wolf was gone and Taggart rose to stand in his place.
“You’re-you’re…” she was stuttering and her mind was as well. There was no way that she had just seen a wolf transform into a man. Werewolves didn’t really exist. Not outside books and movies.
“We do exist,” Jamison answered quietly as Taggart just stood before her, watching her. “And soon you will see for yourself.”
“What does that mean?” she wanted to know.
“You’re one of us now,” Taggart replied. “Your wolf is already awakening and soon you will transform as well.”
“That is why you feel the ache in your bones,” Jamison added.
A wolf? Werewolves? A veil that separated worlds? She must be going crazy. That was it, had to be it. She was locked up in some hospital somewhere because she had lost her mind. She closed her eyes, squeezing them tight.
When I open my eyes, I’ll be back home. When I open my eyes all of this will disappear. When I open my eyes, I won’t be here. When I open my eyes I’ll be in my bed at home and this will have all been just a dream. Just a dream.
Chapter Five
“We are not a dream,” Taggart said. “And when you open your eyes we will still be right here.”
Jamison watched her eyes flash open, saw the fear and uncertainty in them, heard the echo of panic in her thoughts and felt them like a knife to his heart, to his soul. How was he to protect his mate from her fears when what she feared the most was him? Lynx had warned them that this would be hard, that the woman meant for them would be filled with doubt. Jamison had hoped differently. But now he understood exactly what they faced. And if they didn’t convince her before the change began in earnest, before her wolf forced the shift, Reggie might not survive.
“You must calm down and listen to us,” Jamison urged, wanting to move closer to her, to take her in his arms and yet knowing that she would not be accepting of such an act in her current state. “Reggie, I am begging you to stop panicking and listen to me, to us.”
He watched her struggle to gain control and felt pride when she finally managed and gave them a nod. This was their one chance to win her over. They had to fight past the fears and doubts she’d brought from her world and open her up to how life worked in theirs.
“You have bonded with us,” Taggart said. “You are now mated to us for life. Soon your wolf will call and you will have no choice but to answer and let it free.”
Well, apparently his brother would be of no help. But then Taggart had always been the one to act first and think later.
You are not helping the situation, Jamison told him.
No, he’s not. He started as he heard Reggie’s voice in his head. Not her chaotic thoughts but her actual voice.
He smiled. He couldn’t help it. “You spoke to us,” he told us. “We heard you.”
She shook her head. “None of this makes sense. What you are asking me to believe just isn’t possible.”
Taggart stepped forward and took her hand, pulling it until it rested against his chest. “And yet I am real. I am the man who made love to you until you passed out from the pleasure. It was my cock buried in the snug grip of your ass. Tell me you don’t remember the pleasure you experienced with us.”
Jamison watched Reggie blush, read the memories of the previous night in her thoughts and smiled.
“Perhaps we should show you again?” Taggart asked and Jamison watched his brother move her hand down until it touched his straining cock. Jamison wanted that touch for himself. “Is that what you want? To feel us again and know that we are real and not some figment of your imagination?”
Jamison could read the hunger in her, felt it as his own. She wanted them, wanted to believe and yet a part of her just couldn’t seem to. Maybe Taggart was right. Maybe what they needed to do first was convince her that they were real, alive and all hers. Then maybe she would be more willing to listen and believe what they were trying to tell her.
Reggie didn’t know what to say or what to do or, heaven help her, what was even real anymore. Except that she could feel Taggart. Could feel the heat and firmness of his flesh. He was real. He had to be. No dream could feel this way. No imaginary man would feel so alive beneath her hand. Taggart’s question took root in her mind and she couldn’t think of anything else. Yes, that was exactly what she wanted right now. Not to think, or question or wonder. But to feel them and know that they weren’t going to disappear.
She let her fingers wrap around Taggart’s shaft and stroked up and down the length. He groaned and stepped closer, placing one knee up on the bed. “I want you to be real,” she whispered.
“I am,” he promised, reaching out to touch her face and let his fingers trail down her cheek. “But I am more than you have ever
known.”
A werewolf. They were men capable of shifting into animals, wolves. She had thought such things didn’t exist in real life but Taggart had changed right in front of her eyes. And Jamison said that she would be able to change too. How was that possible? She’d never changed in her life. Why would she be able to now?
“We will answer the rest of your questions after,” Taggart promised as he moved onto the bed with her. “First I desire only to assure you that I am flesh and blood, alive and all yours.”
She nodded and when he leaned in to take her mouth, to push his tongue inside and explore she gave herself over to every sensation he evoked. Her hands found his shoulders and her nails gripped him. He was flesh and blood and male. And yes, he was hers, all hers. She couldn’t touch enough of him. Although it wasn’t as debilitating as her desire had seemed the first time she still wanted him, craved him and couldn’t wait to feel him inside her.
“The first time was aided by the waters of the bridal pool,” Jamison spoke from behind her. He must have moved around the bed while she was wrapped up in Taggart. “The waters help to make a woman ready to mate with two men, to ease her. You have no need of that now.”
“Your body knows our touch, craves it,” Taggart added, his lips moving down to her shoulder where his tongue licked over the mark he’d left when he bit her. “Your body knows and accepts what your mind can’t seem to.”
She was panting with desire. At some point she had lost the blanket and now her flesh was flush against Taggart’s. She loved the rub of his hairy chest against her nipples, the way his hard muscles felt to her softer flesh. Most of all she loved the touch of his mouth and the way his cock brushed her stomach, leaving a wet trail. Taggart bit her again and she cried out, more in pleasure than pain. She felt a need to do the same to him.
He pulled back, his tongue soothing the mark before his lips pressed a kiss there. “Go ahead,” he urged. “Follow your instinct.”
She ran her lips over his shoulder and neck, letting her teeth scrape his flesh. She trailed her mouth down to his chest and let her teeth scrape over his nipples before moving to grip his right pectoral muscle between her teeth and biting down. The small act was like an aphrodisiac bursting under her skin. When she let go she pushed until he fell to his back before her and she could slide on top of him.