by Sable Sylvan
Daisy wasn’t the only one engaging in sensual exploration: while Liam touched himself, Bill ran his hands over Daisy’s body. The pads of his hands made even the slightest touch feel more erotic, as there was a natural masculine roughness to his broad shifter hands that turned Daisy on at a primal, biological level. Daisy stretched and turned to allow Bill access to her most private of parts, from the nip of her waist to the small of her back, and even the pillowy curves of her breasts were put on display for the men.
Bill brushed his hands over those amazing breasts, which were pale compared to the rest of Daisy’s body, as her torso had been covered by tank tops and shirts all summer, leaving most of her body tanned, but her most private parts were as pale as the skin forming petal marks on the men’s mate marks.
When Wylie pulled up and away, wiping his mouth, Liam took his place, placing the tip of his shaft against Daisy’s clit. He rubbed back and forth on the clit while Daisy was still making out with Bill and feeling up Bill’s strong, broad pectoral muscles. The pressure from the head of Liam’s shaft drove Daisy wild and she instinctively bucked, which pushed Liam’s shaft lower, closer to her proper entrance.
Wylie sat down on the other side of Daisy and turned her head so he could kiss her. While Wylie kissed Daisy, Bill moved his hands down to play with Daisy’s wet spot while Liam finally pressed the head of his cock into Daisy’s canal. The head was thick and wide, the widest part of Liam’s dick, but once that was in, it was smooth sailing as Liam pressed into Daisy, filling her to the hilt with his thick meat.
“Oh, Liam,” moaned Daisy. Liam’s cock wasn’t just long, it was heavy and girthy and very solid, unlike some very spongy penises out there.
“That’s right baby, we wanna hear you,” said Wylie. “Come on. Talk to us.”
“I really like all the attention,” said Daisy, turning to Bill. “But I don’t want to talk. More sex, less chit-chat.”
“You heard the woman,” said Bill, raising his brows at Wylie. Although the shifters were in theory in this together, there was still a competitive element to the lovemaking: the men wanted to see who could get Daisy to orgasm first, even if they didn’t say it explicitly.
All the stimulation was too much for Daisy: the pleasure almost began to feel painful because it was so intense, but then, a flick of Wylie’s wrist send his fingers over her clit, sending Daisy over the edge and into the realms of extreme ecstasy and giving Wylie the unofficial win.
As Daisy had her huge orgasm, each of the men laid one hand over her heart. They could each feel her pulse and the pulse of the other men in the room, and then, at first slowly, and then all at once, the men’s pulses stopped, and the world stood still...and their hearts started beating again, but this time, in sync with Daisy’s own heart, and by extension, with one another. The eyes of the men all flashed at the same time as the synchronization took place. Bill’s brown eyes flashed amber, Wylie’s green eyes flashed emerald green, and Liam’s pale blue eyes flashed a cool white color, the color variation visible even by candlelight.
One by one, the men in the room underwent an extraordinary change. Their mate marks started to do something they had never done before: they started to glow. The center of the mate marks, a yellow circle, turned from yellow to gold as bright as the sun as the mate marks let out a light of their own, emanating rays of beautiful, and magical light over Daisy and over each other. Liam’s cock twitched: the massaging action he’d felt from Daisy’s pussy when she came pushed him past the point of no return.
As each of the men’s mate mark’s lights hit the other men’s chests, the white petals of the mate mark started to glow. As soon as a spot on the white petals was hit with the golden light emanating from within the men, the spot started to glow bright, a warm ivory tone as Liam came inside of Daisy, his eyes flashing bright again.
With every heartbeat, the light pulsed, getting stronger and letting out another ray. The rays emanated from the centers of the yellow spots and spread out with each pulse in a random pattern until the entire yellow section of the mark was glowing as brightly as an oil lantern.
Inside each of the men, their bears roared with delight, getting on their back legs and pawing up at the air. The bears were filled with joy, having finally found their fated mates, even if their stupid humans hadn’t done what they said and just done what their spirit shifts had told them. Typical human nonsense, everything that could be solved by mating should be solved by mating.
The room was bathed in a warm white light that was unlike anything that Daisy had ever seen, the dust motes of the room dancing in the magical light as the men held onto Daisy and savored the moment with their advance shifter senses. Everything that Daisy was experiencing was experienced more powerfully, on a physical level, by the senses of the shifter men. However, all four people, shifter and human alike, experienced the same emotional effect as the others, a feeling of pure bliss that was better than any feeling an orgasm could elicit.
Slowly, Liam slid out of Daisy, and as he did so, the lights from within faded until the light was softly pulsing before dissipating entirely.
“What...what was that?” asked Daisy softly.
“You know what that was,” whispered Wylie. “That means...we’re all your fated mates, Daisy.”
“It can’t be,” said Daisy, turning to each of the men in turn. “One woman can’t have three fated mates. There has to be some sort of an explanation!”
“Daisy, I think I speak for all of us when I say that we’ve never felt anything like that with any other woman before, and our mate marks have never glowed like that with anyone else,” said Liam, taking Daisy’s hand into his.
Daisy pulled away. “I don’t want this. I didn’t ask for this!” she said, getting up from the bed. Liam reached out to take Daisy’s hand but she slipped out of his grasp as she grabbed her robe off the end of the bed and made her way to the bathroom...where she locked the door behind her.
Daisy sat with her back against the door. “Daisy?” asked Liam, knocking at the door.
“Go away!” shouted Daisy as a tear ran down her face. “This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. Sex wasn’t supposed to make things complicated; it was supposed to make it simpler.”
Liam resisted the urge to laugh. “Daisy, sex never makes things simpler,” said Liam gently. The bear inside was telling him to shift, to tear down the wall and convince the mate that he was the one that was meant for her, that she could be happy in the unorthodox mate group, but the man hushed the bear.
“Just go away,” said Daisy. “I don’t want to talk to you.”
“Do you want me to wait?” asked Liam calmly. “I can wait here as long as you want.”
“How many times do I have to say it to you, you...stupid bear?” said Daisy, forcing herself to say the words she knew would drive Liam away. “I don’t want three gruff grizzlies for lovers, boyfriends, or husbands, and certainly not for mates. I never want to see you three again, never come near my land again, or I’ll call the sheriff, and press charges. Don’t come back tomorrow, or next week, or the next, and keep off my land, Liam...and keep your bears off my land too.”
“Alright, then,” said Liam, his stomach lurching. He didn’t want his fated mate to feel pain, but the bear inside was roaring and telling him to be with his mate, to show her through kisses and caresses that the world was really that simple, that she could be with all three of the Bills. “I’ll collect the guys, and we’ll head out and get out of your hair. Forever.”
Daisy heard Liam get up from the floor and walk away, before hearing a door open and shut, and then, in a few minutes, she heard men arguing, although she couldn’t make out the words. Finally, the men started up the car, and she finally got up and looked out the window...and watched the three men she knew she loved drive away, off her farm, and out of her life.
It was what she’d asked for...so why did it hurt so damn badly?
Chapter Seven
The better part of the next wee
k went by like a numb blur. Although Daisy had tended to the fields, and hired some laborers at the hardware store in town, it was only by talking to her friends back in Texas over the Internet that Daisy was able to get herself out the door on Friday night, glitzed and glammed up as best as she could be.
Daisy got into her truck wearing a pair of faux cowboy boots. She referred to them as her fake cowboy boots because there was no frikkin’ way that any of her bonafide cowgirl friends back home would’ve been caught dead in those boots on the farm. They were black with chain details and had fancy imprints on the leather. Her pants were also not the kind of jeans that Daisy would’ve been able to wear back on her parent’s farm, they were black and hugged her every curve, with a glitter design imprinted on the back. Daisy was wearing a lacy white tank top with the ensemble. Although she’d let one of her city folk friends from glitzy Dallas send this stuff to her, she’d never thought she’d actually wear it....but there was no way to get over the three Williams if she didn’t find someone to fill the hole in her heart where they fit.
Daisy found a parking spot in lower downtown Port Jameson and parked, getting out of the car and wandering around the downtown area. Port Jameson wasn’t like Seattle or Portland, there weren’t night clubs or many art galleries, but what it lacked in glitz it more than made up for in heart. Most of the businesses were on Port Jameson’s main street, aptly named Main Street, and Daisy walked down the street, which was lit by string lights, as she looked in shop windows which were lit even though the stores were closed.
Many stores caught Daisy’s eyes. The two most intriguing stores were Spinning A Yarn, a yarn and general knitting store, as well as the Bear Claw Bakery. Their pastries smelled absolutely heavenly and they were open late, so Daisy went in and bought one of the discounted leftovers, the bakery’s signature pastry, a bear claw.
Daisy nibbled on the bear claw as she exited the store...and as she tasted honey, the first thought wasn’t a business idea as it would have been weeks ago, about collaborating with the bakery as a supplier. No, Daisy thought of the three bears who would love to try the pastry, who she could split it with easily, who would probably tell her that it was their favorite pastry, that the Bear Claw Bakery was their favorite bakery, and that they’d grown up eating those pastries as after-school snacks...
Daisy’s thoughts about the three boys raced and her head started to feel full, making her feel dizzy, so she sat down on a bench and put the pastry back in its paper bag...but as she sat and people watched, she felt worse, not better.
A couple walked by her. There was a tall, muscular shifter, a tiger one could ascertain easily by the stripes on his arm, holding the hand of his artsy looking girlfriend who had curves like Daisy’s. Although the couple, straight out of a Portland caricature, looked happy, the sight didn’t put a smile on Daisy’s face but made her instead realize how empty her hands felt, even holding the pastry, and how much she wished the hands of the three shifters, each hand larger than a man’s, but proportional to their body and different from one another’s hands in many ways. Bill’s hands were strong and broad, making her feel protected. Wylie’s fingers were long and nimble like those of a pianist or an engineer, and Liam’s fingers fit into hers perfectly, as if their fingers and their gaps formed the edges of puzzle pieces. Even a week later, she could still remember the feeling of their hands in hers...and the feelings of their hands on her body.
Daisy watched as another group walked by: there was a human family, a man and a woman...and a little boy, who had features of both the parents. Each parent was holding one of the little boy’s hands. They whispered in their child’s ear, and the child waved at Daisy. Daisy waved back with a small soft smile, a genuine smile and the first she hadn’t had to force in a week, and the family walked away...but what stayed with Daisy was the desire for a family of her own, for a husband and for a child. Daisy could almost see it in her head, except the face of her future husband and child cycled as Wylie, Liam, and Bill replaced the husband, over and over.
Daisy got up from the bench and walked down Main Street, looking in window shops, but then, one last group caught her eye. There were three guys with a girl, three tall men who must’ve been shifters with a curvy woman with red hair. The men were all laughing and talking as one of the shifters held the woman’s hand in his...before the woman held another man’s hand. Nobody got upset or jealous, so Daisy was sure that what she’d seen was some trick of the light. She must’ve been mistaken, no way were three shifters going to really be able to share a woman. They might think they could, but jealousy had to get in the way...didn’t it?
Daisy kept walking until she ran out of street to walk down before crossing the street...which landed her right in front of the Port Jameson Saloon. She’d forgotten it was at the end of Main Street and it was the last place she wanted to be, because she knew that if she went in, she’d see Liam bartending...but the outside of the bar had a sign that caught her eye.
The Daisy Special - $15/pitcher
The Daisy Special is only sold as a pitcher because it’s best for sharing with friends. The drink consists of marionberry lemonade with a kick of Daisy’s secret syrup.
Daisy’s stomach lurched. There was no frikkin’ way that after all this, Liam had her drink on the menu. She’d sent him away...so why was her name on his bar’s chalkboard placard?
Daisy peeked into the bar; of course, there wasn’t a cover, as it was just a normal bar and not a fancy nightclub or some urban fake dive bar. She scanned the room from right to left, she spied two tall, familiar men in a corner, and as she turned to the left, saw the third. Their eyes met and both the man and the woman froze, their stares locking each other in...and Daisy broke eye contact first after somebody walked by her, knocking her out of her trance.
Daisy turned away and started to walk, fast, down Main Street. She just had to get back to her car and go home. It had been a mistake to come downtown to try and clear her head. No, it had been a mistake to come to Port Jameson in the first place. What business did a Texan gal have with a bunch of weird Oregon bears? And what business did they have, stealing her heart and splitting it in three?
“Daisy? Daisy! Wait!” called Liam. Daisy kept walking but Liam caught up to her and started walking backwards while facing her. “Daisy, please, talk to me.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you,” said Daisy, still walking.
“Wait, please,” said Liam. “Can you please talk to me?”
“What’s there left to say?” said Daisy, stopping and crossing her arms. “There’s nothing left to say, Liam, and you know it.”
“Daisy...I love you,” said Liam. “I love you, and so do Bill and Wylie.”
“Yeah, I know,” said Daisy. “I wasn’t born yesterday; I know how fated mates work. But I’m not looking for three boyfriends, Liam, and you guys said that you’re a package deal.”
“We are,” said Liam. “I love those guys like they’re my own flesh and blood brothers. When our mate marks appeared, after high school, we knew that it was a sign, that we’d need to find one special woman, Daisy, and that’s you. You’re the woman we’ve waited for our whole lives.”
“And I’m still waiting to find just one man,” said Daisy. “Not three. Humans don’t have fated mates, Liam.”
“You don’t know that,” said Liam. “You don’t think you, as a human, can love as deeply as a shifter can?”
“I don’t know if I can love anyone right now,” said Daisy. “And maybe if I figure out what I want and more importantly, what I need...I’ll give you a call. But don’t wait up for me, Liam. Don’t wait for me at all.”
Daisy walked past Liam, who didn’t move to stop her, but once she was a block away she accidentally bumped into a big, tall shifter. The man had a wolfish grin and a lean build, there was no mistaking him for anything but a wolf shifter. Wolf shifters were either the best people you met, or some of the worst, if they were lone wolfs who didn’t have a personal code of h
onor. This man seemed to the latter.
“Sorry,” said Daisy quickly, but the man grabbed her wrist and yanked her back, hard enough to break one of her cheap bangle bracelets.
“You should watch where you’re going, sugar tits...unless you’re going to my place,” said the man, wrapping his arm around Daisy.
“Let go of me,” said Daisy, pushing at the man who had her wrist and her waist in his grip. She couldn’t wriggle away: his grip was too strong.
“Let’s you and I have some fun,” said the man, whispering into Daisy’s ear. His hot breath sent a chill down her spine.
The hairs on the back of Liam’s neck had bristled as he heard Daisy’s voice calling and he’d run over. “Get off of her,” ordered Liam, pulling the man off his mate. Liam pulled Daisy close and Daisy didn’t resist his touch at all because she felt safe and secure around Liam, and she stood behind his back, watching the scene unfold.
“What, you her mate or something?” asked the wolf with a laugh.
“Matter of fact, I am,” said Liam. “And I’ll give you a five second head start for making that astute observation...so if I were you, I’d shift the heck out of here.”
“Oh yeah?” asked the wolf, his muscles already starting to shift.
“Daisy, stand back, and get the guys,” ordered Liam.
“But...” started Daisy.
“Daisy, just do it,” said Liam, turning back to the man who was already half into his shift before Liam stepped back a few feet and then, with a running leap, ran into the man...but as he ran, the man turned into a wolf, and Liam turned into a bear, so two animals, rather than two humans, collided in midair.
Liam’s bear form was larger than the wolf’s shift. The wolf, grey and mangy, snapped and growled at Liam’s big brown grizzly bear. Liam roared at the wolf and turned, looking at Daisy before it nodded towards the bar, and then roared back at the wolf.