by Maia Dylan
Having just cut her off at the knees by talking about something she had longed for all her life but had never had the chance to have, he turned and left the hospital room. Lucille closed her eyes against the sudden sting of tears. Cheese and rice, how nice would it feel to be someone so protected. To actually have people she could rely on or turn to. Pull on your big-girl panties Lucy. It’s just you, babe. You against the world.
Taking as deep a breath as her aching ribs would allow, she opened her eyes. Brendan had moved silently over to the other side so they flanked her in the hospital bed.
“Why are you here?” Lucy asked, her voice shaking a little. She wasn’t really sure she was ready to hear the answer.
Brendan sighed and ran his hands through his hair in a clear sign of frustration. “Lucille, I’m sorry if you found my tone or comments before to have crossed a line with you. That was really not my intention. I was simply scared by the thought that anything could have happened to you, before you even got to Grey River.”
Lucy could understand that. It was clear to see that both these men were protective in nature and the thought of anyone putting themselves in situations that could potentially be harmful would make them uncomfortable. She was tempted to tell them that she had stowed away undetected but she quickly came to the conclusion that they’d probably find that worse.
“I get that, Brendan, I really do.” Lucy gave him a small smile, wanting to show that all was forgiven. “But I am still trying to understand why you are still here? According to Doctor Carson, you were the paramedics who brought me in, but surely coming back to see me the next day isn’t standard procedure, and is over and above the call of duty?”
The brothers shared a look, and then they each slowly reached for one of her hands, careful of the wires and tubes running into her, and giving her plenty of time to signal she didn’t want them, too. Interestingly, she didn’t move and actually turned her hands to make it easier for them to pick up. “And now we get to the part of the evening where we are thankful as h—ah, heck that Tyler has left the room,” Cody muttered, then took a deep breath. “Lucille, we’re still here because we don’t want to leave you. Since we walked into that bathroom yesterday afternoon and saw you lying on the floor hurt, we haven’t left your side.”
Lucy’s eyes widened, and she inhaled sharply at that. What on earth? “What? Why? You don’t even know me. You know less than nothing about me, so why would you stay?”
“We stayed because we want to get to know you, Lucille. Get to know every little thing about you. As soon as we met, we felt something for you. A bond so damn strong it rocked us.” Brendan rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand, which made her shiver. But there was something he said that made her pause.
“Um, us?” Lucy ha a fairly good idea what he meant but needed to make sure that she was actually on the same page.
“Yeah, us. Cody and I are both interested in you. Grey River is a little different from most towns, and you’ll get to see and appreciate that the longer you stay. Ty was talking about the fact that we can be a little heavy handed when we are concerned about your safety.” Brendan winced. “I know you don’t know us or anything about Grey River, but things are different here. Our need to protect you is instinctive. We have this bone deep need to ensure you’re safe and make sure that there is nothing or no one that can hurt you.”
Lucy felt a warmth spread through her chest as he spoke. There was danger here, of her relying on these men or, worse and extremely likely, falling for these men. It would be her luck that she gave it a go and she ended up worse off than she was now. “I’m not sure if that’s such a smart idea.” Lucy knew she was nothing but bad luck for this town. Wherever she went, Mani was sure to follow. She had a head start, but the more time she stayed in one place the more likely it would be he would turn up.
“Why not.” Cody reached out a hand and swept her hair behind her ear.
God, she knew what she looked like, even before the whole black-and-blue decorations were added, she knew she was no beauty, but the way they looked at her made her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world. “I’m not sure how long I’ll be staying here. My intention was just to pass on through.”
“Lucille,” Brendan said, lowering his voice, “you’ve had what we like to call a pretty shitty couple of days, and I can see and feel how very tired you are. Why don’t you just close your eyes and sleep for a while. Cody and I will watch over you and keep you safe.”
Lucy looked at them both standing there, tender looks on their faces. Nodding she closed her eyes and felt the men settle into the chairs on either side of her bed. As she drifted off to sleep, she marveled at the irony of it all. She had been badly beaten, feared for her life, witnessed a horrendous crime against someone she had once thought she cared for, survived a cross-state trip in the back of a truck, lost an internal organ, and was lying in a hospital bed with a homicidal maniac on her tail. And yet, she had never felt safer in her life.
Chapter 3
“How in the world did I let you talk me into this, Faith? I feel like mutton dressed up as lamb, masquerading as pork.” Lucy looked in the mirror and tried to reconcile the face she was looking at as being hers.
She was due to be discharged from the hospital that afternoon, and Faith had talked her into a makeover before she left. It still surprised the stuffing out of her that she had actually stayed in the hospital. She knew the danger she was in. Mani was never going to give up, yet here she stayed and she didn’t know why. Well, okay, that was a big fat lie. She did know why, and it came in the form of two brothers who made her feel safe and warm and tingly and a whole lot more than she was ready to admit to herself.
She had been in the hospital for a week, and the brothers had been to see her every single day. She knew that one or both of them sat with her through the night. True to their word they had kept her safe and got to know her. Well, as much as she would let them. And she had got to know them.
Brendan was the more serious of the two. Oh, he had a cheeky, fun-loving side, too, but he was definitely the more serious than Cody. He would talk about their childhood and whenever they talked about the pranks they played against their friends, Ty, Trent, AJ, and Sam, in particular. Brendan always made sure that she understood that it was in retaliation, going to great lengths to justify why they did. He was a debater, not an arguer, but he definitely liked to argue a case. It was no surprise to her that he had a law degree in his back pocket that he used on occasion for his friends and family, but he was otherwise content with being an EMT.
Cody was jokester and a flirt. He loved life and wanted to squeeze as much joy out of it as possible. He was extremely touchy-feely, always reaching out to touch her hand when he talked to her, or rubbing her arm. After recent events, she would have thought she would have put a stop to that, but if Lucy were being completely honest with herself, she would have to admit to not only liking it but almost craving it. It was odd how connected she felt to Cody and Brendan in such a short time, but there was something between them that compelled her to have them near. Cody had a huge heart, and his family and friends definitely came first with him. He didn’t have a law degree. His love was numbers and figures, so he worked with many in Grey River to help with their business accounting and finances.
Lucy had never even had the opportunity to finish high school, but not once did they ever make her feel like she was anything less than they were. If anything, they worked hard to convince her she was so much more than how she saw herself.
“Hey, Lucille! Come on back to me, girl. I need to know if you like the finished result!”
Faith teased her back into the moment and she grinned at her before turning back to the mirror. Lucy’s jaw dropped in shock, was that her? Was that black-haired beauty with huge violet eyes, flawless glowing skin with no sign of any bruises, and soft pink lips actually her? “Shiitake mushrooms,” Lucy said breathlessly as she continued to turn this way and that. “What form of black
magic is this? That doesn’t even look like me?”
“Whatever, girl. You need to take your head out of your, ar—um, armpit”—Faith harrumphed—“and see what we all see. You are stunning. All I used was some foundation to cover up the last discoloration of the bruises a little mascara, blush, and lip gloss. Nothing witchy or magical about that. You should know that I would kill for your cheek bones and your eyes leave men for dead.” Her grin turned wicked. “Well, two hot and sexy EMTs at least.”
Lucy blushed and shook her head. She was about to ask if Faith really thought that when the door opened and a familiar toe-curling voice said from the door behind her.
“See, Trent, I told you your wife thought we were hot.”
Lucy laughed as Faith giggled and was then plastered against another hot body. Boy, oh boy, this town definitely had its fair share of cuties.
“Baby, you’re gonna get it when we get home. You know Ty doesn’t like to hear you talk about anyone but us.”
Trent growled against her throat and Faith giggled even more. She didn’t look scared by that threat at all, nope, sparkling eyes and breathless with anticipation? Yes. Scared? Ah, that would be no.
Faith had told Lucy about the relationships in Grey River being made up of triads or groups and that no one sees that as being anything but normal. This was after one of their chats with Rowena, a doctor Faith had cajoled into talking to her in an attempt to help her get over some of the emotional trauma of her life. She had mentioned feeling attracted to Cody and Brendan and not really knowing what to do with that or how to process it, so Faith filled her in on her, Ty and Trent.
Lucy had been a little shocked at first, then intrigued and curious, but now after a week of spending a lot of time with Brendan and Cody, it had most definitely morphed into envy. No one could look at those two so wrapped up in each other it was like they were alone in the room and not see how devoted to and loved by each other they were. Smiling at them she turned toward Cody and was about to ask him how his day was when she realized he was frozen beside her. He had a definite deer-caught-in-headlights look about him.
Lucy tilted her head at him, and when the silence became a little too much she said, “Faith did it.”
“What?” Cody frowned a little.
“The makeup and stuff. Faith did it. It’s not something I ever had or bothered with. I’m more of a soap, water, and a hair brush kind of girl. I look different,” she said, babbling, “and it might not be a good thing, but we were bored and Faith thought it might make me feel more human. We—”
“Oh, for God’s sake, Cody! Stop staring at her and tell her how she looks,” Faith snapped, her hands on hips.
Cody blinked and shook his head slightly as if to clear it. “Lucille, you look stunning. I’ve been standing here simply basking in your beauty trying to form a coherent sentence but I am not sure I even have the words to tell you just how beautiful you are. The makeup and everything is very pretty, but all it does is accentuate what I have always seen. You are absolute perfection, and you simply take my breath away.”
Wow. She had no idea what to say back to him. Not having had many compliments in her life, she tucked this memory away in her heart to bring out whenever she needed it. She and Cody just looked at each other, and Lucy felt a strange humming in her body, not unpleasant but strange nonetheless.
Faith suddenly turned and whacked Trent in the arm breaking the moment.
“Hey! Baby, what’s with the violence?”
“Why can’t you say things like that to me? Well, you can take lessons from Cody from now on, lessons on how to make your woman melt. Now, move it! We’re heading home so we can let these two get on with their day.”
The two of them left in a flurry of hugs good-bye and promises to talk soon. Lucy listened to Trent sweet talk his wife as they walked off down the corridor and laughed. She looked up at Cody and saw that his eyes were slightly unfocused.
They cleared seconds later and he said, “Brendan’s on his way up. He wants to see you, too.”
“How does he know I had a makeover? Faith and I only decided to give it a whirl thirty minutes ago.”
“Oh, well, you know he always wants to see you every chance he can get.”
Cody gave her his patented trust-me-butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-my-mouth grin. Something was up, of that she was certain. “Well, I guess I had better finish getting my stuff together. Faith mentioned that there was a bar in town that had some accommodation that could be booked.”
Lucy checked the drawers beside the bed, and removed the last of her belongings, which consisted of a toothbrush, a hairbrush, and a copy of Twilight that Faith had lent her, and laughed like a lunatic when she did. Sad that everything she now owned in the world fit into a medium-sized paper bag. At least Faith was able to find her some clothes that fit. “I think I’ll head there for tonight and make some decisions on what to do next tomorrow.”
“Sorry to burst your bubble, Lucille, but that’s going to be a little problematic.” Brendan walked in and assumed his usual position, sprawled on the chair beside her bed.
“Why’s that?” Lucy asked as she turned to face him.
“Well, because—” Brendan paused as he looked directly at her. “Wow, kitten, don’t you look pretty without the delightful yellow your bruises are turning.”
He winked at her as he stood, came to give her a hug and press a kiss to her temple. As usual Lucy felt her heart kick and her pussy clenched a little. It was crazy how turned on she got around them.
“Now, as I was saying, it will be difficult because all the rooms at Country Blue are occupied due to a Binding Ceremony coming up soon.”
Lucy’s shoulders sagged as she realized she was homeless and had nowhere to go. Again.
“Oh Jesus Brendan, her sadness is killing me. Fix this!” Cody snapped down their link.
“I know I feel it, too.” Brendan moved toward her and pulled her into his arms again, which was right where she needed to be. He could smell her arousal as he neared her, and his wolf put his head back and howled. He eased back from her slightly so that she wouldn’t be freaked out by his erection, which was pressing insistently against the zipper of his pants.
“Kitten, don’t be sad. You know the old saying that when one door closes another one opens?” He waited until she nodded against his chest. “Well, in your case a while house has opened. Cody and I want you to come and stay with us until you know what your next move is going to be.” Brendan felt her tense in his arms, and he rubbed his arms up and down her arms in an attempt to sooth her. “There are no strings with this offer, kitten. None, whatsoever.”
“Brendan’s right, Lucille. There are absolutely no strings.” Cody moved to stand behind her and placed both his hands on her upper arms. “We want you in our home. We want to continue getting to know you. We most definitely don’t want you to leave.”
Brendan looked at Cody over Lucille’s head, a question clear in his expression. At Cody’s nod, he took a breath and then pulled back so he could look into the violet eyes that had featured in all his dreams since they had met. “Kitten, you have to know that you mean something to Cody and me.”
When she would have looked away, he reached up to cup her beautiful face with his hands. Damn her skin was so soft! “I mean it. Although there are no strings attached to our offer, we hope you’ll give us the opportunity to, well”—Brendan let out a frustrated breath and gave a sheepish grin—“court you.”
Lucille startled a little and her eyes widened in shock, but Brendan could clearly see there was interest there, too. The agreed-on plan for this stage was to take things slow, let Lucille absorb that they had romantic intentions toward her, get her into their house, and then spend the next few days romancing her into accepting a relationship with them. Right up until that moment, the plan had been perfect, and Brendan was 100 percent onboard with it, confident that there was nothing he and his brother couldn’t achieve together.
But there was one fa
ctor they hadn’t counted on that totally blew that plan out of the fucking water. Lucille’s eyes heated and positively blazed with need and want. She bit her bottom lip, which made his dick leap to diamond strength in seconds, drove his wolf to the surface, and had both man and wolf panting. Fighting for calm he took a deep calming breath, it was then that the intoxicating scent of her arousal took that plan cut it into tiny pieces, poured gasoline over it, struck a match, and blew the ashes all to hell.
With a groan of need, Brendan swooped in and took her mouth. Jesus she tasted like heaven, like the gods had made her of all things that made Brendan’s toes curl. He stroked his tongue over her lips and smiled when she whimpered, brought her arms up over his shoulders to grip to him tightly, her body melting into his. Oh. Fuck. Yeah.
Lucille opened her mouth and Brendan dove his tongue into it, moving in to swirl against hers driving his own arousal through the roof. When he realized he was in danger of throwing his mate to the floor, and had a damn good idea that she would be all for that plan, he pulled back. And they shared soft open-mouthed kisses. It was then he heard the impatient huff in the room and he heard his brother talking to him down their link.
“What the fuck happened to the plan we spent the last week working on, dickwad! We were supposed to take things slow and not scare her.” Cody’s voice rumbled down their link, and Brendan could feel the frustration and need in his tone. “Fuck it! Share, Brendan, or I swear to God I’m telling mama it was you that set the Thompsons’ barn on fire when we were twelve.”