by HELEN HARDT
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Sorry? She was sorry? That was what she said after he’d just told her they were lion shifters? Get a grip, Erin.
“Thank you.” Nick rubbed his stubbled jawline. “Anyway, I challenged Landon for the right to lead the pride as the new dominant male.”
“You challenged your best friend?”
“Yeah. But it’s acceptable. We’re not fully human, Erin. We have some of our own rules.”
Of course. How silly of her. “Go on.”
“So we fought. Several times, actually. And no victor was declared.”
“You would have fought…?” Nausea bubbled in Erin’s tummy.
“To the death?” Nick’s full lips curved slightly upward. “No. We’re not like lions of the wild. What I mean is, we were so equally matched that neither of us could be defeated by the other.”
“So”—Landon cleared his throat—“my grandmother, whose wisdom is honored among us, told us we were fated to both be the dominant males of the pride. It happens sometimes, when nature intervenes to add outside genetic material to what already exists. Our pride will be stronger with both of us as dominants.”
“Uh-huh.” Chills crawled over her. This was crazy.
Nick reached toward Erin and rubbed his calloused palm on her knee. “She’s having a hard time, Lan.”
“Of course she is. Wouldn’t you?” He smiled. “My grandmother explained that when this occurs, the two doms share one mate, usually a human one, to configure even more genetic material into our mix. She said Nick and I would know her when we found her by her scent and by the ability to read her thoughts.”
They had known exactly what she was thinking… Had answered questions before she asked them…
“It’s you,” Nick said. “You, Erin, are our mate.”
“What?”
Landon took her hand, entwined their fingers. “You’ll bear children to both of us. You’ll strengthen our existence. And you’ll be revered over all other females in the pride.”
Right. Interesting. Thud.
* * *
“Erin?”
Warm fingers stroked Erin’s cheeks. She was on a bed. Her eyes opened and tried to focus. Two faces stared from above hers. Dark eyes, blue eyes.
Nick and Landon.
Sheesh, what a dream. “You guys aren’t going to believe this.”
“What?” Landon helped her ease upward. Nick held a glass of water to her lips.
She took a few sips. “I dreamed you guys told me you were lions and that you were the leaders of some pride of shifters and I was your mate.” She giggled shakily. “Something else, huh?”
Landon smoothed strands of hair out of her eyes. “It wasn’t a dream, baby.”
She let out a sharp laugh. “Of course it was.”
“We’re going to have to show her,” Nick said.
Landon nodded. “In a minute. Let her get her bearings.”
Erin shot into a sitting position. “My bearings are just fine, thank you. Show me what?”
“Don’t be afraid, Erin,” Nick said. “Remember how we made love to you last night? How much care we took? We would never hurt you.”
“I’m not scared.”
“We’re going to shift for you,” Landon said. “It’s painful to shift, but it’s also empowering. We enjoy it. So when we cry out, don’t be alarmed.”
“Huh?”
They stood, both naked and beautiful, and walked across the room, away from the bed.
“We need room,” Nick said. “That’s why our cabin is so big.”
Erin’s mind whirled. Lions? Completely impossible.
“Aaaauuugh!” Nick ground out. The pain sliced through the air in the room.
Erin watched, mesmerized, as golden brown hair sprouted from his skin and his body changed form.
Her heart ached. Oddly, she felt very little fear. Yet each snap of bone, each stretch of tendon rang in her ears and jolted through her body as if she herself were changing. But while she experienced the change, felt the wonder of it, the pain eluded her.
A beautiful animal was stealing Nick’s shape. His jaw became more square, his head more round. As his nose morphed into a feline snout, sharp cuspids replaced human teeth. Hands and feet became padded paws, and the regal animal dropped to all fours. Lastly, his glorious mane sprouted like golden silk around his majestic head.
When the lion stood before her, his dark eyes smoldering, she stiffened.
“He won’t hurt you, Erin,” Landon said. “He’s still Nick. He’s still in his own mind.”
Her emotions tumbled. Here came the fear. But also wonder. Her heart exploded with feeling, pure and awesome.
“My turn.”
Landon cried out the same anguished moan. Again bones cracked, muscles shifted, hair grew, and again, the force of the change threaded through Erin. Landon shifted to the pale lion, almost white in the artificial light of the cabin. Searing blue eyes graced his leonine face. The tresses of his long mane swirled as he shook as a dog does after a bath.
They’d seemed catlike to her all night. The purring. The touching. Even the growling. Their beautiful slanted eyes. How they liked to rub against her.
But lions?
The evidence stood in front of her. She rose slowly, the backs of her knees pressing against the bed.
The darker one—Nick—advanced. A low growl rumbled across the thick nighttime air inside the cabin. She felt more than heard it.
Inside her mind a voice emerged. It’s me. Nick. Don’t be afraid. I won’t harm you.
He walked slowly, the pads of his lion paws tapping softly on the plush carpeting.
He was so big! No wonder this cabin was huge. That mouth, those teeth—he could gobble her up in an instant.
Touch me, Erin.
Seemingly of their own volition, her fingers inched forward and buried themselves in the feathery golden mane. Warmth spread through her. The hair was coarse, yet soft, and it slid through her fingers like strands of linen thread.
Don’t leave me out in the cold.
Landon’s deep voiced hummed in her mind, and the pale lion crept forward with stealth. Soon she was caught between the two beasts, naked, their fur rubbing against her in slick vibrations. So warm. So amazing, the sensation of their giant animal bodies caressing her.
She closed her eyes, and their roars shook the room. When she opened her eyes, Nick and Landon, in human form, rubbed against her, one cupping her breasts, the other her ass cheeks.
“Will you, Erin?” Nick’s voice was different. Deeper, more rumbly. Not quite human yet.
“Yes, love.” Landon this time. “Will you?”
“Will I what?”
“Be with us,” Nick said. “Mate with us.”
“Oh, this can’t be happening. I came here to”—she inhaled a deep breath—“to accept a new life. Life as a single woman. Not bound to anyone.”
Nick plucked at her clit, and her legs wobbled. “That’s not the life you were born for, honey. You came here to find us. You were led here.”
“It’s the truth, baby,” Landon said. “We need you. You’re ours, Erin. You belong to both of us. All of you—your body, your heart, your soul—is ours.”
Her mind wasn’t working. Thinking was out of the question. If she thought, she’d have to deal with the reality of the situation. And she would…eventually. Right now, though…right now, she wanted to feel. To bask in the bodies of these two beautiful men.
Men.
Cats.
Lions.
Human? “Are you…human?” she asked.
“Yes.” Nick’s fingers worked magic on her clit, snaked between the slick folds of her pussy. “Human. Human and feline. It’s a rare gift.”
“I never knew…”
“Most don’t.” Landon caressed her ass. “But we exist. Coexist. Peacefully.”
“So will you, Erin?” Nick asked again. “We won’t force you. But know this. You’re ours. We won’t find another.”
“If I don’t agree?”
“Then we won’t mate,” Landon said. “It’s as simple as that.”
“You won’t…have sex again?”
Nick laughed. “We didn’t say that. Felines are very sexual. Lan and I will definitely have sex. But we won’t procreate. Only you will bear our children. Without you, our line will die out.”
Ah. No pressure or anything.
Didn’t matter. Her decision had been made. She wanted them. In some strange, inexplicable way, she needed them.
“You’ll grow to love us, you know,” Nick said. “It’s in your blood. You may not believe it yet, but you will soon.”
Love? She was halfway there already. Not just her body was involved here. She’d never imagined falling in love with two men. But now the idea seemed not only plausible but necessary to her existence.
She needed Nick and Landon, not only physically but emotionally.
Spiritually.
They were her destiny.
Yes, she said to them in her mind.
Their minds melded together. They understood. They were one.
From nowhere, an orgasm built within her, her pussy pulsed, her nipples strained, and rivers of boiling honey whooshed through her veins. A second later, she soared into the throes of climactic bliss.
We can do that for you. Their voices chorused through her soul. We can make you come with our minds.
Ah, heaven! Nick’s lips came down on hers in a ferocious kiss. Landon’s cock wedged between her ass cheeks.
Let us fuck you, baby. Landon.
Yes. Please fuck me.
Both of us. Nick. Both of us in your pussy at the same time. Just the three of us. Together.
Could they? Would it work? Though wet as a waterfall, she was only one woman. Only one pussy. A tight one, they had told her.
You will stretch and accommodate us. You were made for us.
Nick lifted her thigh, draped it over his sinewy forearm, and eased his cock into her wet cunt. Ah, fullness. But room existed for more. She could take two. Total satiety.
Nick backed her to the bed and lay down, Erin on top of him, presenting her already full pussy to her other lover. Landon’s cock nudged her, and she reached behind her to spread her pussy lips and welcome him. His hardness nudged into her wet sheath.
One feminine body to take them both.
Hers.
Her mind whirled with emotion, vibrant images, incredible feeling. Jumbled thoughts. Words. Single words. Then colors. Reds. Purples. And golds. Vibrant searing golds of a lion’s mane.
Mate with me. Make me yours.
They obliged, fucking her hard. Fucking her fast. Her pussy expanded, took both of their cocks inside. Exquisite stretch. Sweet, slow burn.
Pure completion.
“God!” Landon thrust into her. “Your cock, Nick. It rubs against mine. It’s…”
“I can feel every thrust,” Nick said. “Yours and mine.”
“She’s ours, Nick. Our woman.”
“Yours,” Erin echoed.
Thousand of tingling arrows shot through her cunt, and the sensation built to fever pitch. Rainbows swirled through her mind, taking her higher, blazing, straight into the sun that rose outside the cabin.
Take me to the mountains, my lovers. My primal lovers.
Always.
She shattered, and her body splintered against the two strong men. As the walls of her vagina clenched both cocks, both men roared.
Two lovers.
Two amazing lovers.
“Is this really happening?” Her voice was husky, and her breath came in short puffs.
“It’s happening,” Nick whispered as he pulled his cock from her swollen pussy. “You know it as well as we do. In your heart.”
“In your heart,” Landon echoed, retrieving his own shaft.
Gently, they rolled her towards the middle of the bed, each snuggling against her.
“Time for sleep,” Nick said.
Her Two Lovers: Pianist Envy
Pianist Envy
Chapter One
As applause thundered around her, Jane stared at the chiseled face of the blond man who had been guzzling shots of tequila all evening. His full pink lips were pursed, his facial muscles taut. His fingers curled around his empty shot glass. While his companion cheered with the rest of the audience, he didn’t lift a hand to clap. Clearly he was unimpressed with her and her music, but at least he hadn’t gotten loud and raucous. Yet.
Jane eyed the red-haired woman sitting in the back. Lisa Taylor, agent extraordinaire, had come to this show just to see Jane Rock and the Stones. The set had gone well, and Jane smiled. Within an hour, God willing, her band would have representation and be on its way to the big-time.
“Encore, encore!” voices shouted.
Jane turned to Fernando, her bass player, and nodded.
“Thank you,” she said into the microphone. “You’ve been a great audience.” She signaled Lenny, her keyboardist, and began the count.
“Aw, fuck me! Not more of this musical atrocity!” The voice boomed above her count.
Jane turned to stare at that same man who held another shot glass to his shapely lips. His chiseled jawline tensed. She inhaled. Should have followed your instinct, Jane, and asked to have him thrown out before it got to this. He might look like a Greek god, but she was hoping the bouncer would have him booted.
“Hey, Jim!” she called to the large man sitting by the entrance. “Could you get rid of that guy?”
Jim, burly and balding, headed toward asshole’s table.
Jane closed her eyes to clear her head. She tilted her head back and let her long dark hair tickle her bare back. Feel the music, Jane. Let it take you. The pure rawness of rock and roll always moved her. The cheers of the audience were icing on the cake.
She breathed in, visualizing success. Though regionally Jane Rock and the Stones had been headlining for a few years, they hadn’t yet made it nationally. Lisa Taylor could change all that. Jane exhaled and opened her eyes.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” The asshole’s voice was deep and just a little husky.
Sexy, actually—a bit of a contradiction to his clean-cut looks. Gorgeous, yes, but very clean cut, as though he had been reared on milk and corn with a side of caviar and educated at the finest prep schools in the country. His honey blond hair was cropped fairly short above his ears, and his striped cotton shirt screamed Ivy League. All he needed was tortoiseshell glasses to complete the look.
To cover those smoky green eyes, though, would be a sin. Even from the stage, they smoldered. Not Jane’s type at all. No, she preferred long-haired rockers. Hmmm…asshole would look great with long hair. Wavy blond locks feathering around his perfectly-shaped face, dipping just a touch into those long-lashed green eyes…
“I’m kickin’ you outta here, is what I’m doin’.” Jim’s Southern accent boomed over the din in the audience.
“I haven’t done anything.”
Jane grabbed her mic and took a deep breath. “You’ve been rude all night,” she said. “You’ve been drinking like a fish, and now you’re interrupting my music.”
Asshole scoffed. “You call that music?”
His companion touched his arm. “Calm down, Chandler.”
Chandler. Perfect rich boy prep school name. “Uh, Chandler?” she said into the mic.
“What?” He jerked his arm away from his friend.
“If you have such a problem with my music, why exactly are you here? There are plenty of other clubs where you could harass the talent.”
He scoffed again. “Talent?”
Jim yanked him out of his chair. “I said you need to leave, friend.”
Jane’s blood boiled. But she had the rest of her audience to think about. Focus, Jane. Don’t let him get to you. She closed her eyes again. Time to get ready for her encore.
“I bet Jane Rock isn’t even your real name!”
Her eyes popped open. As
shole, er, Chandler, again. Who did he think he was?
“Just something you made up to make yourself sound like a rock star.”
Jane seethed and the hair on her arms stiffened. “Jim, please.”
“I’m tryin’, honey. The guy’s stronger than he looks.”
“I’m really sorry,” Chandler’s friend said. “He’s had a rough week.”
“Sure, whatever.” Jane rolled her eyes upward.
When she looked back out into the audience, her stomach dropped. Jim lay flat on the floor with Chandler standing over him, a loafer-clad foot resting on the burly man’s chest.
“What the hell?”
“He’s a black belt in taekwondo,” the friend said. “Shit, Chan, you’re gonna get yourself arrested.”
“Damn right you are.” Jim’s muffled voice rose from the ground.
“Fuck me,” Jane muttered. “Ladies and gentlemen,” she said into the mic, “I’m afraid we won’t be able to offer an encore tonight after all. As you can see, we have—”
“Oh, please”—Chandler lifted his foot and Jim eased into a sitting position—“don’t let me stop you. Continue with your noise.”
That was it. “You think you can do better?” Jane’s voice cracked, but determination won over nerves. “Come on up here and give it your best shot.”
“With pleasure.” Chandler stalked forward.
Jane tried not to stare. His green-and-white-striped button-down shirt covered his broad shoulders, and he had rolled his sleeves up, showcasing golden and muscular forearms. Crisp dark blue jeans covered what Jane instinctively knew were equally muscular legs. She readied to hand him her guitar, but instead he walked toward Lenny and the keyboard.
“Do you mind?” he said to Lenny.
Lenny raised his eyebrows at Jane.
She nodded. “Fine. Let’s see what you’ve got. We’re doing ‘Come Back Alive.’ There are several key changes, so try to keep up.”
He sneered at her.
“One, two, uh, one two three!” Jane strummed her intro and the melody floated through her amplifier.
She’d written “Come Back Alive” when she was sixteen years old. She didn’t usually play it in her sets anymore, but it was her classic encore song. She could play it in her sleep. And indeed, she usually closed her eyes and let the music guide her as she sang. Today, though, she kept her eyes wide and focused on Chandler at the keyboard. She didn’t want to miss his fuckup.