by Cara Adams
“Are you the kind of shopper who likes to visit lots of different stores and check out all the different items and prices?” asked Morgan.
“I’ve already checked the prices. I know exactly where to buy what I want.”
“They might have changed since you last looked,” said Jett, thinking of the long, drawn-out business of going shopping with his dad.
“Google.”
“I wish I could introduce you to my dad. The man was a terrible shopper. When we went to buy a birthday gift for Mom, first we’d go into dozens of stores looking at items and Dad would make a list. Then we’d go back again and crosscheck prices and availability and what colors everything came in. Then half the time he’d go back and look at something that he’d already crossed off his list and we’d have to go to every store again looking at that item. We’d start the minute the stores opened in the morning and half the time we’d still be walking backward and forward as they were getting ready to close for the night,” said Jett.
“How often did you come away without a gift at all?” asked Eve, staring at him.
“Never after I was about eight. When it got to around four in the afternoon and the list was down to two or three items I’d randomly chose one and insist on buying it. But even worse, was a week or two later, Dad would want to go back and check all the stores to reassure himself he’d made the right choice. I was about ten before I refused to go with him. Once it’s bought, it’s bought. If he’d been ripped off after all that searching it was too bad.”
Morgan started laughing. “I just realized I can remember that. I’m two years older than Jett, so we were always in different grades at school. But I remember you talking about it once, Jett. You’d missed the baseball tryouts and were really upset about it.”
“Hey, I remember that, too. But they were in the morning and I knew I’d never get Dad to make a decision that fast.”
“Well, we can go to a dozen stores looking at things if you want to, but I’ve got deadlines to meet and am just as happy to go straight in and out of one store,” said Eve.
“One store is fine. I like someone who can make a decision,” said Jett.
“Tell us about your deadlines. Taige said you make the huge wall hangings,” said Morgan.
“I’d like to see them when we go back to the school this afternoon,” added Jett. He meant it, too. This woman called to him in the way no other female ever had, wolf or human. He’d worked out years ago that he’d need to do what the wolves in the town did, which was marry into another species, or share a mate. That was fine by him as long as the woman was someone he was prepared to live with for the rest of his life. He had no intention of causing an interspecies war by leaving a mate alone if he didn’t like her very much.
But this woman with her lean build, cool gray eyes, blonde hair, and her aura of tidy self-sufficiency was just what he wanted. He couldn’t wait to get her handcuffed to his bed, naked, and begging him for his cock.
The quiet, restrained ones were usually the ones with the most passion. Hidden passion was almost always much more incendiary than people who ran hot and cold in public. Having to share her with Morgan was a fact of life. With so few females, sharing was logical. Morgan was a man he knew and trusted. Some of the pack members were okay, but Morgan was a man of integrity. He couldn’t agree to share with anyone who wasn’t. He wanted a peaceful, happy home life. With a woman whose body called to him as Eve’s did, and a partner he could trust, life would be good.
He kept his gaze on the road as Eve answered Morgan’s question. “My deadlines are the same as anyone’s in any job. Customers need something by a set date. I have a very large commissioned wall hanging I’m working on. I have a smaller hanging that I need to start as soon as the big one is done, and I’m also making some little items for people to buy at the craft market.”
“Yeah, I guess there’s not a lot of impulse buys of very large and expensive things. What sort of small things do you make?”
“I try to change it up at regular intervals. I have a bunch of stuff on my website people can order if they want to. But at the moment I’m making some woven covers for electronic toys. Pretty covers for cell phones, and cases for sunglasses for women, brightly colored ones for men, and also holders for iPads. Just little things like that. Impulse buys. Something to attract a person’s eye that they can afford. Then it keeps me in their mind when they’re looking for home furnishings.”
“Good idea.” Jett had never had to run his own business. He’d known from childhood he’d work with the pack. It was simply a matter of deciding which kinds of jobs suited him best within the pack structure. But what Eve said made good sense to him.
“I wouldn’t have expected a farm to have a truck like this,” Eve said quietly.
Yeah, she was one smart female, this woman. Fortunately their standard cover story worked for the truck.
Morgan answered, “Way back four, five generations ago, a group of families settled the land together. They arrived together, and bought land together, made a community together. So long ago travel was much more difficult. Basically if someone wanted to go somewhere they walked. The few horses they had they needed to work on the farms. So the kids grew up and married inside the community. It didn’t take them long to figure out if they kept dividing up the farms for the next generation pretty soon no one would be able to make a living anymore. So the land became communally owned. As tractors and other machinery were needed the community bought things as a group and shared them. The system worked, so it’s still how everything is run.”
“What happens if three people want the truck on the same day?”
“It’s not likely to happen. Since the crops are farmed jointly everyone knows when something is harvested or ready for market. But people negotiate. There’s a scheduler, so for example if I want to use something other people might want, I ask the scheduler to make a booking,” said Jett.
He liked that she was smart. That made her so much more interesting. He also liked that she was dropping the cool exterior. Not much, but just enough that he knew his assumption that under the icy exterior red-hot blood ran in her veins was correct.
As they neared town he had to concentrate more on his driving, but he felt warm and happy inside knowing his woman was sitting right next to him in the cab of the truck.
* * * *
Morgan was delighted it had proven so easy to find something they could do together which was not only of interest to all of them, but also useful. Although what his body cried out to do was take her to bed and claim her so thoroughly she’d never want to get out of bed again, logic told him any woman capable of enchanting him would not be so easy to deal with. He wanted a woman with interests of her own. A woman with her own personality, her own life, not just a pale replica who’d be sitting on his bed waiting for him when he returned home at night. A woman with no personality and no interests would bore him to death inside a week, no matter how passionate she was in bed.
So, he hadn’t planned to shop for picnic tables, but it was better than shopping for shoes. Picnic tables said outdoors, and outdoors was a man’s world. He just hoped he didn’t get asked any questions he couldn’t answer. Although he was pretty sure Eve would have done her homework and he could leave her to answer questions, and just contribute his muscles and physical presence to the shopping expedition.
The Internet must have offered a store map as well, because Eve unerringly worked her way through the enormous precinct past all sorts of things he’d never even heard of, far less knew how to use, to the garden section where the picnic tables sat. Quite a few of them were set up and Eve pointed to the one she liked. He and Jett stuck their heads under the table, noting where the bolts fit. “We should be able to assemble them quite easily. It’s only a couple bolts to attach the base to the actual table, and the legs to the bench,” he said, hoping he was right.
There was a pile of boxes containing the picnic tables sitting beside the shelves, so Morgan
went off to get a flat trolley to load everything on. He easily followed the signs to where the trolleys were parked and a few minutes later he made his way back to them with two trolleys. “It doesn’t look big enough to hold all six,” he explained.
Together they loaded three tables and six benches on each trolley. “We’ve just about cleaned them out,” he said nodding at the shelf where just two more sets leaned against the shelving.
“Yes. I thought about getting the last two, but I really think six will be enough. We need to make sure there’s plenty of space for the concession trucks to set up their place to sell from, as well as parking spots for the clients. Too many picnic tables and we’d be running out of room,” Eve said.
Trying to steer the trolley was a bit like trying to steer a brick, so their walk back to the exit was a lot slower than their entry. Once Eve had paid for the picnic tables and they’d loaded them all into the truck, not needing the blankets after all because they were all in boxes, Jett said, “Why don’t we have a cup of coffee together while we’re here.”
“Actually I haven’t had lunch yet. Let’s eat. Or have you already eaten?”
“No, I haven’t had lunch,” Morgan replied honestly. Actually he’d eaten a very large late breakfast, but hey, he was a man and a wolf, and could always manage another meal. Besides, that was the best part of three hours ago now.
“I’m hungry, too,” said Jett. Morgan guessed he was sidestepping the question as well. But still, if she was agreeing to spend more time with them there was no way they’d say no. First, they needed to get her used to them, to accept them as they were. Once they were certain of her feelings they’d explain a little more about their community. Like, for example, that they weren’t human.
Morgan was sure Jasper would have told Taige not to break silence on this issue. So he was quite sure he wasn’t in any way lying to Eve. It was going to be damn difficult though, to be honest and truthful and build confidence with her, without discussing their heritage. But Jasper and Cornelian had evidently managed to do it, so he and Jett would as well.
Morgan turned in a semicircle, looking around the parking lot. As far as he could see it was either junk-food take-out or a health-food bar. He had a sinking feeling he’d be eating healthy. How terrible could it be? He’d be with Eve, which would have to make up for the trauma of eating raw organic vegetables whose names he didn’t know and which likely tasted disgusting. Taking a deep breath he said, “Do you want to go to Healthy Habits?”
She stared at him with piercing silver-gray eyes. “I felt sure you’d rather have a steak sandwich.”
Jett took her arm, turning her away from Morgan. “I’m multitalented. I eat anything. Come on, Morgan, let’s go.”
Morgan stepped up beside them and they walked through the parking lot over to the health-food restaurant. He opened the door for her, and followed Jett in. Eve was already standing at the counter, looking at all the containers of freshly chopped vegetables. They certainly did smell nice, and he could recognize a surprising number of them. The server offered a choice of breads, then made a sandwich as the customer pointed out to what they wanted on it. It was exactly like any other salad bar he’d ever been to, but with some new-to-him ingredients. Fortunately Eve asked some questions about various items, which incidentally let him know what they were, so when it came time to get his sandwich he was able to choose items he knew he liked.
The same pattern was followed when it came time to choose a drink. Eve pointed to the fruits she wanted, they were placed in a blender, and she was handed a big glass of fresh fruit juice. Morgan chose orange, watermelon, and pineapple, and was surprised at how refreshing a drink it made.
But the best part was simply sitting and watching Eve’s face as she talked. He let Jett ask most of the questions, happy to watch her silver eyes sparkle, and her pale cheeks glow with pleasure as the conversation ranged widely across a huge number of topics. Morgan was almost sad when it was time to drive back to the schoolhouse. While Jett drove the big truck he needed to come up with the perfect reason why she should go on a date with them, and where they could go.
The closer they got to the schoolhouse the more stressed he became, unable to think of a single good idea. Finally, as they turned into the access road he blurted out, “So, Eve, how do you feel about BDSM sex?”
Chapter Two
For a moment Eve wondered how long Morgan had been stalking her. Had he seen her go to the BDSM club in town? Surely not. He wouldn’t have asked that particular question if he knew she’d been there. He’d have asked how long she’d been interested in it or something like that. Unless he only thought she’d been there and wasn’t quite sure. If he was looking for confirmation, perhaps…
When in doubt, always answer a question with a question.
“Why do you want to know?”
Morgan stared at Jett and it was Jett who answered this time, although his gaze was fixed on the road in front of the eighteen wheeler. “Morgan and I are both involved in that world.”
“Involved how?”
“We’re both Doms. Do you know what that is?”
Eve’s belly clenched with anticipation, but she maintained her cool façade. “Why are you asking me these questions?”
“Do you always answer a question by asking a question?” That was Morgan sounding a bit tense.
“Why not?”
Jett parked the big truck in the schoolyard and turned to put a hand on her arm. “This isn’t a game of twenty questions, Eve. This is about our lifestyle and we’d like to know your feelings about BDSM.”
She knew they were serious now. She’d seen the tension in their muscles and heard the seriousness in their voices. They were genuine, not just trying to find out her secrets. “Yes, I know about BDSM. Yes, I’m a sub. Yes, I’ve been to the BDSM club in town, and no, I’m not at all sure I’d like to be with two Doms. I don’t see how that’d work.”
“What if we promise it would work. That’d we’d ensure it worked. Would you give a try?” asked Jett.
“As a strictly once-only test, perhaps.” But her panties were soaked with her cream. Her body was definitely willing to do more than a one-off test. The thought of two Doms was incredibly arousing. She could hardly even imagine all the things they might require of her, the number of orgasms she’d experience. And hell, they were both totally delicious to look at. Morgan, big and burly, blond and blue eyed like an ancient Viking warrior. And Jett so tanned and fit, muscular, with broad shoulders and dark hair and eyes. He looked as if he spent a lot of time out of doors either for work or for playing sports. The two men were the perfect set—light and dark, night and day in coloring, yet they seemed to get along so well together, their personalities must be similar or at least complementary.
Was she seriously considering getting naked in a dungeon with two men? Two Doms? This was not her usual restrained style at all. She was the kind of person who liked to watch a Dom for weeks, if not months, before handing her body into his care. And then it was never for sex, only ever for the punishment she craved. Her work was very intricate, very precise, and ordered. Her entire life was all neatly compartmentalized, run to a strict plan and system. But in the dungeon she was free to hand over all control to a Dom and simply to be, to rest, to do as he instructed her, assured of release and fulfillment at the end of the session.
How would that work with two Doms? Especially ones who aroused her so intensely? Physically they were everything she could ever hope to desire in a man. But she didn’t really know them as people. Okay, certainly they’d gone to considerable effort to help her get the picnic tables right now. But con men did nice things to entangle their victims in their webs, too.
Eve turned so she could look right into Morgan’s face. “Why were you following me? Do you stalk a lot of women?”
She was surprised to see his pale skin blush fiery red. Not just his face, but his neck as well. Even the tips of his ears were red. One part of her mind thought how cute
he looked. The other part wondered why he was so embarrassed.
“I wanted to find out more about you. I wanted to know if you were indeed the right woman for me. I didn’t think you’d notice me following you.”
“Yeah, well I did notice. Not all blondes are stupid, you know.”
Jett laughed out loud. “Oh, man, she’s got you there. Thank all the fates I’m not a blond like you.”
“I’m sorry.” Morgan’s words were soft and contrite. She liked that he was man enough to apologize and he really sounded as though he meant it.
“That’s okay. Now, I need to ask Taige where she thinks we should store this furniture. Perhaps the foyer. Just let me go check,” she replied.
* * * *
Morgan jumped out of the truck to open up the back door, ready to unload the picnic tables and benches, but Jett stayed behind the wheel. He scrolled through his cell phone for the correct number, then rang the BDSM club. Less than five minutes later he had a booking for the following night for his favorite dungeon, and both floor shows. He wondered about booking a bedroom as well, but thought that might be pushing things too far. It’d be better to see how Eve coped with two Doms in the dungeon first. And by booking for both floor shows, they could pace themselves, staying as long as they needed before or after their dungeon scene.
Later he and Morgan might take turns planning scenes for Eve, but this very first one, they needed to design together, with lots of options to ensure she was relaxed about every step they took. Scaring her off on their first date would not be a good look at all.
He looked up just as Eve and Taige opened the big double front doors of the schoolhouse, so he climbed out of the truck to help Morgan carry all the boxes inside.
“Just stack them all here in the porch for now. It doesn’t make sense to put them all in the shipping room just for a week. They might as well stay here closer to where we have to take them out and assemble them,” said Taige.