by Lauren Dane
“How about you just forge ahead? You’re not being graded or anything.” Galen spoke to Jack, but held a hand out for Renee to take, bringing her to sit next to him, placing her between him and Jack.
She leaned into Galen a moment, needing the contact, knowing he did too. When she turned her head, Jack was closer than she’d remembered. It...she wanted to say alarmed her, but it wasn’t that. It wasn’t fear, it was unexpected, different than she’d ever thought she could feel about any person other than Galen. But there it was, that anticipation, the depth of need, a sort of fascination. It all bound together, hanging just out of reach but never out of her thoughts.
He met her gaze, a smile hinting at his lips. “I’m just going to cut through the bullshit, okay?”
“Please do.” Her heart sped, her skin warming. She licked her lips and his breath caught, his pupils swallowing the iris of his eyes for a moment.
He gulped down the margarita. The alcohol wouldn’t last long for him so she put the bottle and a shot glass within his reach. Galen surprised her by taking a shot first and then pushing a full shot toward Jack.
Their fingers brushed, just briefly, but wow, the chemistry there wasn’t something she imagined. Though, so okay she wasn’t above imagining it—hello, the idea of the two of them naked and sweaty, hands all over each other—wow. Where had that come from?
She gulped the shot herself and refilled it. “Sorry. Do go on.” They wouldn’t get tipsy for long, but she wasn’t a shifter so she could. Of course, Galen could eat eleventy million calories in one day and not get fat either. There were definitely plusses to this whole shifter metabolism thing.
Jack looked at her, and laughed. “Nervous?”
“Are you fucking kidding me? Of course I’m nervous. I don’t know who you are or what you mean to me or my life. I don’t know why I can’t stop thinking about you or why the way you smell makes me sort of forget what I was saying.” Whoops, tequila setting in.
Jack leaned in and took her hand. “Sweetheart, there’s no easy way to bring this up as we sit here at the table you share with your husband and all.” He looked to Galen for a moment and then back to her. “I’m your mate. That’s why you can’t stop and neither can I. That’s who I am and what I mean to your life. I don’t know how else to say this.” He looked to Galen and she turned her head to see. Challenge hung in the air, but it sharpened into expectation.
“I’m her mate.” Galen didn’t raise his voice, didn’t get up. He sat there, very preternaturally still for so long she began to wonder if she could see him breathing. His gaze locked with Jack’s as they stared each other down. Galen put his hand on top of hers in a gesture, an underline to say she was already taken.
“You are. I don’t dispute that. But there’s more.” Jack leaned closer, his scent drawing her to lean in, taking Galen with her.
The tension between them rose, tautened so much she felt pulled by a pretty leash. At the same time, her connection to Galen glittered between them. Laced her to both these men in a way that had she been standing, would have driven her to her knees.
It was as if she couldn’t breathe once she was close enough, his scent was the only thing she was aware of. It ran riot through her system, jangling nerves, scrambling thoughts.
“You call to me, Renee.” Jack slid his thumb over each of her knuckles, sending shivers through her.
In her ear, Galen purred, tugging on her consciousness. Goddess knew there was no way to hide how aroused she was right then. Her nipples pressed against her shirt, her pussy slicked, her clit was swollen to the point that each move she made sent ripples of sensation outward. “Babe, you’re throwing off some serious magic just now and your pussy smells so fucking good it’s taking all my control not to toss you on this table and eat you right this moment.”
Renee closed her eyes a moment, trying to keep control.
And then Jack reached out to touch her face.
Galen’s hand shot out, catching Jack’s before he could touch Renee. The circuit they made, the three of them in that moment, brought a moan from her lips and a half growl from both men. She couldn’t stop it. Something within welled up and began to flow out. Magic. Shit. So much magic her skin pricked where it brushed against her.
She turned, letting go of the sight of Galen’s hand holding Jack’s. Of the way the grasp had turned into something else. She turned and Galen’s eyes moved to her face, roving over each of her features before settling back to her gaze. His lips parted, breathing sped. His cat lurked right there, a shadow just below the dark skin.
Slowly, knowing what he was, she moved closer until making contact, rubbing her cheek along his arm, chest and to the hand caressing Jack’s hand. His growl turned into a smooth purr again, his cat realizing her bond was safe.
“Babe,” Galen murmured, gasping as her tongue darted around the fleshy tenderness below his thumb. “This is going somewhere you need to be sure you understand.”
The moon was high overhead, heavy with its own magic. That magic called to both men. She sat back but didn’t break contact with either man.
“What does this mean?”
“I don’t know what it means on top of whatever we have right now.” Galen didn’t look at her though, he stared at Jack.
“My bond with her won’t erase yours. She’ll still be imprinted with you. I can’t say I love the idea of sharing, but—” he turned to face Renee, “—but I want you so much I can’t think straight. I want to know you. I want to be with you. We can work the details out. I’m not here to try to break anyone up. When I come inside you, our DNA will change, forging a bond only death can break. It’s forever.”
“Come inside me?” Renee struggled to get her head clear. She moved back, trying to break contact, but both men hung on. “I don’t even know you.”
“Don’t you?” He stood, bringing her to his body. Full contact from head to toe and she drowned in him. All she wanted was to touch him, to taste his skin, to be naked beneath him.
“Holy crapdoodle,” she mumbled, pushing back, moving away before she did something stupid.
He moved with her, Galen right behind. They hunted her, she felt that very clearly. Even knowing that, she found herself responding, even as uncertainty and confusion overwhelmed her. Sexual male scent hung in the air, thick and alluring. The chemistry they had thrummed between her thighs, coursed through her bloodstream. She wanted to lie back and let it take her wherever it wanted to go.
She pulled at her arms to free herself, but both males truly thought they were protecting her and held on to prevent her from falling. “Stop! Stop. Both of you, just back off. I can’t think. I need to think.”
Galen bent, looking at her carefully. She saw the strain of his control, his muscles tensed, his breathing quick. He warred with his cat, with the beast inside. “Babe, take a deep breath.”
She stumbled back and this time, they both let her. “What is going on?” It all felt so right that she didn’t trust it. This was not how she was. Things were happening so fast. She wasn’t fast. She was slow and measured. She made choices she’d given a great deal of thought to. The edge of the thrill, the idea of something utterly meant to be, but so outside the realm of what she could believe, was laced with concern. At the same time, she did believe in meant to be. Was this such a thing? Was this moment meant to be and if so, which direction was she supposed to take?
The two of them there so close to her intoxicated her, muddled her senses with exquisite ferocity and sensuality. Before it was only Galen who did that. Now Jack did, as well. Her heart sped as she struggled to not just jump on them.
Galen licked his lips. She knew he wanted them on her and she wanted that too. Instead, he held back, his voice taut. “Renee, it’s the mate bond. I’m afraid Jack is right. I can see it when I look at him, I can feel it inside you now. Your connection to him
is forming.”
Jack allowed himself a small bit of relief. Galen supported it and that meant he had a chance, a real chance. He knew Renee felt the same attraction, but she was loyal and constant. She would not allow herself to entertain the mere idea of this threesome unless Galen was supportive of it. Even better, the attraction wasn’t just between two of them, all three of them had amazing chemistry.
For the moment, he had to help her get past her fear, he had to get her to trust him.
Renee shook her head as she looked back and forth between them. “Connection is doing what? Well I don’t want it to! Who said that’s what I wanted? Who said I’d be fucking anyone else?” Hysteria crept around the edges of her voice. He sent a look to Galen as her need crawled into his gut.
He felt sorry for her as she struggled. He only wanted to love her and he said so.
“I’m already in love with someone. I’m already mated! I’m a married woman and I don’t cheat!”
Jack never took his eyes from hers as he fleetingly brushed his fingertips over the soft skin of her temple. Her shoulders let go of a bit of tension. His wolf was so very close, the moon called that magic, mixed with hers until his hands shook from the need to touch her, to comfort her. He hated the panic on her face, but was relieved to see no fear there.
“Renee, you know me. You’ve always known me. It’s hard when one of the mates is human, it’ll be even harder that you have imprinted with Galen. I know this is a lot to take in. I know you love Galen. I respect that. If you tell me to go away, I will. I’ll walk out the door right now and never come back.”
He paused, taking a deep breath, only to be swamped with her as his hormones surged even higher. “I want you more than I can explain.” He held his hands out. “I’m shaking, I want you so much. But I want you to want that too.”
Galen raised his hand, slowly, giving her a chance to move away, but she didn’t. He tucked a curl, those gloriously riotous curls of hers, behind her ear. His voice was soft, gentle. “What is it you want? Tell me and I’ll make it happen.”
She shook her head, dislodging the curl Galen had just put back in place, before plopping back onto the couch. Galen followed, sitting so that his side pressed to hers. Jack watched as the calm slid through her, as she let Galen’s presence soothe. She looked up to him. “Jack, why don’t you sit, too?”
Galen handed her a glass of water and Jack sat on the coffee table, his knees nearly touching hers.
Renee turned to face Galen more fully. “What is it you want, Galen? I love you and I’m having a hard time here. I... I want someone else in a way I’d be devastated over if the situations were reversed. What do you think of all this?”
Galen sighed and Jack hoped like hell this would go in the right direction. He would leave if that’s what she wanted. But he didn’t want to. He wanted to stay. With her.
“I’m not human. I know what it means to live as other. I know what it means to have more than one nature and I know what it means to find that person who fits into the empty spaces inside. You’re that to me. You make me whole, Renee.”
She nodded, tears gleaming in her eyes. Jack realized that up until Renee, he’d found himself attracted to or romantically involved with women who weren’t overly emotional. Well, amend that. Certainly Nina and Grace Warden were emotional women, but more on the fierce side. Renee wore her feelings on her skin. It fascinated him, touched him to see the emotions play over her face the way they did. It only made her more beautiful.
Galen looked to Jack and then back to her. “But you could make him whole too. You aren’t a shifter, but you know there’s more out there—” Galen indicated the world around them with the sweep of his hand, “—than most people imagine. I know my cat responds to you on a level only an other would get. Your magic calls to me, your heart holds me. I’m yours. Period.” He shrugged. “But his wolf is the same. I see how he looks at you. This isn’t some game he’s playing. I can scent the truth. I can see how you respond to him. I can see your magic envelop him like it does me. I’m not noble. I’m not good. I want you all to myself, but the truth is, you’re his too. Fate, the goddess, God, whatever you want to call it, has brought the three of us here to this moment right now. What I want is for you to be happy and to fulfill your fate. I think that fate includes Jack. Whether I like it or not, that’s the truth.” He paused.
“And? I can tell there’s more,” she said.
Galen looked Jack up and down before the left corner of his mouth lifted and Jack felt a shiver of desire up his spine as he wondered what that mouth would taste like.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find him sexually attractive. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit thinking he makes you safer, this makes my nest safer, my mate safer. This makes some part of me I can’t even define very satisfied.”
She blushed, but didn’t hide her smile. Jack couldn’t find himself bothered by Galen’s attraction, probably because he felt it too. The possibility of what this could be stunned him.
“What do you want?” she asked Jack.
It was a dangerous question. He wanted everything. Instead he said, “I’d really like to be touching you right now. Would that be all right?”
She looked up with a small smile, but one he needed. She patted the couch next to her and he moved. Barely, he held back his need to fully rub against her, instead content to sit with part of his leg along hers.
“I know you don’t come from this background. You’re not a shifter, but you’re something more than human too. What I want is to be with you. I don’t want to date you. I don’t want to only see you on weekends. I want you to be my family. And with you, Galen, too. We can make a family.”
She took his hand. “Before this goes any further, you have to understand something. Family is incredibly important to me. It’s not a joke or a way to get around my trepidation over this.”
“My parents abandoned me. My birth parents. My mother was a wolf, my father apparently human. He couldn’t handle what I was so they dumped me at the hospital and I spent the early part of my life in and out of foster care and group homes. When I was eight, a man showed up at the foster home I lived in. At the time I had no idea who he was, but he was a wolf too. He’d seen me on the playground, knew enough to know there weren’t any pack families in that neighborhood so his wife asked after me. We don’t achieve our first change into wolf until right around puberty. They knew I’d be doing that alone and afraid and they stepped in. He and his wife became my family. They brought me into their home and into their Pack. Family means everything to me, Renee. When I say I want that with you, it’s anything but a ruse.”
Sorrow washed over her face, followed by contrition. “I’m sorry. About your parents and also about misjudging you.”
Galen interrupted. “I ran a background check this afternoon. No criminal record. Owns his own condo. Has a car, motorcycle and a boat. No outstanding debt. Pays his bills, lives within his means. Has a lot of ex-girlfriends.”
Jack meant to be pissed, but he’d done the same thing with them just that morning. And the smile on Renee’s face wiped it all away.
He gave in to his desire to brush his thumb over her bottom lip. “What are you smiling about?” Again she shone with her emotions, teasing his senses.
“Galen checking up on the man who wants to share me with him. You having lots of ex-girlfriends.” She looked him up and down. “Like that’s a surprise. Galen’s got scads of them too, both genders and they’re all ridiculously gorgeous.” She frowned for a moment and then laughed again. “The total absurdity of this moment makes me feel like I’m watching a Tim Burton movie.”
“It’s certainly not what I imagined my mate bond would be like. I figured it would be easy. Of course when it came to my friends finding their mates, none of them got easy women. Even Grace, who’s small and quiet like you, takes all Cade�
�s energy to keep from being steamrolled.” Jack nearly cringed at the mention of Grace, especially when Renee’s eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly. He’d meant to bring it up in a more finessed way.
The Grace discussion would be a whole new conversation, one he imagined would go slightly better than the tales of when Grace and Nina Warden met for the first time. Grace meant something to him. He loved her, and up until the moment he’d met Renee, she’d been the one woman he’d never been able to stop loving when he put his mind to it.
“Christ. Pour me another.” Renee waved a hand toward the bottle of tequila and Galen got up to retrieve it for her.
“You sure about this?” Galen asked as he handed the shot glass over. “You’re the definition of lightweight.” One corner of his mouth quirked up and she rolled her eyes in response. She knocked it back and poured one more. Jack looked to Galen briefly, reassured by the other man’s expression. He looked far more amused than worried.
“Think I can manage it.” With a snort, she got up, moving past both of them, heading to the stereo. Galen watched her move with the same look on his face Jack imagined he had. He liked the way she walked, so very intent on her path. Jack also liked the curve of Galen’s neck, wanted to see that body naked of clothes, glistening with sweat.
He sat back and pondered that for a little bit. He’d been with men before though nothing lasting. None of them had ever captured his attention enough to come back for more after a month or two. But Jack had a feeling this man would.
“Just wait,” Galen murmured in a voice so low only another shifter would have heard. The sound brushed over Jack’s skin like a caress.
“Don’t think I don’t know you’re frowning,” Renee called over her shoulder.
Galen snorted and shook his head. “Never say so, darlin’. I never frown when confronted with your ass. I’m always smiling and thinking about you naked.”