by Lauren Dane
Galen rested his forehead on Jack’s shoulder, his neck so invitingly close. When Jack’s teeth began to press into that beautiful, dark caramel skin, he growled, holding Galen in place as he came in a heated rush. Not too much longer later, a breath perhaps, Galen followed.
The silence after wasn’t uncomfortable. Galen moved away, pausing to kiss the spot on Jack’s neck just below his jaw. He handed Jack a washcloth to clean up with, but not before licking up Jack’s hand, from wrist to palm. The gesture was tender, sexy and full of challenge. Loving Galen would be nearly as complicated as loving Renee. The two males were used to being in charge. The challenge of dominating one another would add spice and conflict too.
“I never expected this. I’ve been with men before. Loved men before. But this is so much more than what I’ve had in the past. You’re beautiful, sexy, strong, all things my cat, and the man, approves of.” He paused for a moment. “When I met Renee there was nothing else. She owns my heart in a way no one could ever do. I need you to understand that. You are my mate, I believe that. The bites have tied us closer.” Galen took a drink of his soda.
“But she’s my first priority.” Jack nodded. “And yours. I agree and understand.”
“Wow, this week, I gotta tell you, has been full of surprises.” Galen shrugged with a laugh.
“Do you regret this?” Funny to ask, Jack knew, but he needed to know.
Galen shook his head. “No. Despite my inner cynic about most things, I do believe in fate. I believe this is meant to be. That you love her and want to protect her like I do means more because we have a connection to each other as well. Without her, there wouldn’t be you. She’s the connection, I can’t regret her, or our connection to you.”
“I agree.” He looked back down the hallway where she’d retreated.
“We should get her out of the house tonight. Yes, it’s exposed, but she’s spooked and really pissed off. When she puts on Chaka Khan’s ‘I’m Every Woman’ you better know she’s still good and mad. If she puts on Patsy Cline, you need to wear a cup.” Galen sort of laughed, but Jack knew their woman was totally capable of it.
The music halted between tracks and Jack wondered if he’d be hearing Chaka and running for the door. Instead a slow, sultry number came on.
Galen smiled. “Etta James. We’ve turned the corner. Next song will tell us if she’s going to be our dinner date or if she’ll be in there another hour.” Both waited, continuing to look out the windows over the city.
Silversun Pickups came on, one of Jack’s favorite bands. “‘Three Seed’? Is that good or bad? This isn’t a love song after all.”
“‘Three came from one little seed,’” Galen said with a smile, indicating the lyrics. “Sounds hopeful to me.”
The door opened, music flowed out and she followed, singing to herself absently as she looked at prints in her hand.
“Whatcha got there, babe?” Galen lit up when their eyes locked. A smile bloomed over Renee’s features, making her so beautiful in that moment it unfurled something inside Jack.
She handed him the prints. Jack looked over Galen’s shoulder at the black and white shots he’d laid side by side on the bar.
“My parents?” Galen traced the set of hands in the photograph. Clearly a couple, hands clasped easily, fitting perfectly. Perched between the feminine thumb and forefinger, the stem of a tulip.
The focus had been perfect, highlighting the connection of hand to hand and through that of the two people not in the picture at all.
“Yes. You remember that weekend we went out on Carlos’s boat? It was just a silly moment. But they’re so close, united, it’s beautiful. I thought I’d have it framed for your mom’s birthday next month.”
Galen took her face between his hands. “Who am I that I’d be blessed to have you in my life? To see the world the way you do is to remember the magic all around us. Thank you. My mom will love this.”
Jack looked at them, at the way Galen touched her so very gently, with tenderness and care. This was his family, the place where his heart lived.
They looked at the other shots. One of Galen and a man who had to be a sibling sitting around a fire pit. They leaned toward each other, sharing something clearly mischievous.
“I want to have this framed for you and Max. You two can put them in your office at work and then the next time you want to break his nose, you can remember this moment.”
“God we’re trouble.” Galen laughed as he shook his head. “It’s a wonder my mom never tried to sell us at a garage sale.”
“She might have, but the neighbors would have known not to buy you, no matter how cute you were.” Renee waggled her brows and Galen snorted, kissing her quickly.
The others were nature shots, beautiful, simple, and, he noted, from perspectives most people wouldn’t have seen.
“You see a lot.” He turned her toward him and she automatically slid into his embrace.
“Meh. I like to take pictures. It’s fun and that’s about it.”
He began to sway with her, slow dancing in the kitchen as Goldfrapp’s “Black Cherry” came on. He didn’t need Galen to interpret this song. She was everything.
“I love this song,” he said, just being with her.
“Me too. This is a great sex CD.”
He agreed.
“When you two recover from your interlude, you can show me.”
“Our interlude?” Galen asked, still leaning against the counter, watching them, an amused smile on his lips.
“I know what pussy smells like after sex, and I know what the air smells like after you’ve come.” She writhed against Jack and his cock quickly let her know he was just fine to go again.
“Does that bother you?”
She leaned back as if he’d dipped her, the long line of her neck exposed. His wolf approved mightily of the gesture of total sexual submission. The sound of her laughter, the way she glowed with pleasure and contentment, he knew the answer.
“No, gorgeous. Not at all. As long as there’s a place for me I have no negative opinions of it at all. It’s hot. You can let me watch sometimes though.”
Jack laughed as she straightened again. “Galen and I think dinner out would be good. What do you say?”
“Don’t you need to move some stuff in?” She got to her tiptoes to kiss him before twirling to the counter to get some tea. “Oh and I moved all my stuff to the closet in the guest bedroom. You can share the big closet with Galen. I moved my dresser in there too so there’s room for yours. Oh, and I moved my stuff from Galen’s office and put it into my darkroom area. I don’t need it and you may.”
“You moved that dresser? Damn it, Renee, that’s a heavy piece of furniture. I could have done it.”
Jack just met her smile with one of his. His mate, making their home open to him. “Thank you, sweetheart. I don’t want to push you out of your office space.”
“I have a really large space outside the darkroom. It’s well lit and I have my computer in there anyway. I don’t do a lot, not enough to need half of Galen’s office. If you need, or want an office of your own, we have the guest room too.”
“All I need is a space for a computer, a printer and a fax machine. A lot of my work is going to meetings and talking on the damned phone. I’m fine sharing with Galen if he is.”
“It’s a big space. Plenty of room for another desk. I’ve got a fax machine and a printer. Wireless through the house and my computer has teleconference capability, so you’re welcome to use it too.”
They discussed the logistics of all the stuff he wanted to keep and that he didn’t really care about. He made some calls and arranged to meet with some friends in the morning to move the big stuff. He’d put the condo on the market in a few weeks after he’d gotten settled with them.
She flitted arou
nd, chatting with them, clipping herbs from the pots in the window, making more tea, filling the space with the sweetness of her energy. It made him so unbearably happy.
Galen smiled, his gaze tracking Jack’s. “Yeah.”
She turned to them, catching them both staring. “I’m starving. How about Serafina? I think something carb laden with extra cheese sounds just right.”
“Good idea. Let me call and see if they can get us in?”
“I need to go by my place to get some clothes. I know where Serafina is. Call me and tell me when the reservation is and I’ll meet you two there. If you don’t mind, I’ll take you up on the parking spot here.”
“Not a problem. Why don’t I come with you?”
He realized how much he wanted to have some alone time with her when her suggestion pleased him so much. Part of it too was that she wanted to be with him as well.
“They can’t get us in for another hour and a half.” Galen hung the phone up. “I need to stop by my office. I realized I left my memory stick there and I want to work a little tomorrow afternoon. I’ll meet you at Serafina.”
“All right. Let me get changed and we’ll head to your place, Jack. Do you mind?”
“Not if I can watch.”
She laughed. “I’m pretty sure it’s not very exciting, but whatever floats your boat.”
“Be careful, babe. Listen to Jack when you’re out.” He stepped into his boots, zipping them.
“Damn, you look handsome.” Renee kissed Galen. “Yes, yes. I’ll be careful. You too. See you soon.”
Chapter Nine
Some time later, Jack and Renee headed to his condo. For the first time in his life, he was out and about with his woman. Not a woman he was enjoying or was dating, not with a woman who belonged to another man. Or at least not solely.
Pride warmed him as he led her into his place. It wasn’t big, but it was his. A place he’d bought with his own money. Partly because he had to get out of the same building as Grace and Cade, but also because he’d never had a place of his own.
“I hope you’ll bring the art.” She walked through the space, taking everything in. It made him a bit anxious, knowing she’d see him so intimately as she traced the lines of a wood carving or read the spine of the book on his nightstand.
He grabbed a duffel and began to stuff some clothes into it. “I like this. You and me alone, one on one.”
She nodded, picking up the picture frame on the nearby bedside table. “I like it too. I think we all need that. I want to know you. I admit, I’m hungry for details of your life.”
Nerveless fingers dropped the duffel. He moved to her, loving the way she tipped her chin to look at him.
“There’s this need inside me. It’s got your name all over it.” He cupped her throat, the feel of the thrum of her pulse beat against his fingers, settled within his head, a song just for her.
Her smile always made him want to give her one in return.
“You just satisfied your need with Galen less than an hour ago.” She sighed softly as he began to knead her shoulders.
She had no idea, how could she not know what she did to him and to Galen? “I did. It was sexy and he’s my mate. Touching is part of what shifters need. But you? What this is between you and me is something so deep it’s in my bones. You rush through my veins, you make my heart beat. I never understood it. People told me. I watched my friends find mates and they all told me. I even felt a sliver of it when I became Grace’s anchor. But to feel it? To have you inside me this way? It humbles me. It scares me. It calms and feeds me. You are something precious to me, in a way no one and nothing else can be.”
She looked up, into his eyes. “I waited a long time for someone to see me the way Galen does. I never expected him. I never thought I’d be loved the way he does. I can’t really do it justice, but meeting him, having a man like him love me is one of life’s biggest blessings. And then you came around a corner and the world went upside down.” She rested her head against his chest. “I don’t know how it’s possible that I’m here with you, when just five years ago I had no one. But whatever the reason, I’m glad. Now that you’re here, I can’t imagine life without you in it. I don’t need for you to love me more than Galen. It’s not a contest. I need for you to love me as much as you can.”
He tipped her back so she fell on the mattress. “You have no idea. How can you not understand? You see so much, but not yourself?” He shook his head, unbuttoning her sweater only slow enough to keep from ripping it. The tiny bra with the bow perched jauntily between her breasts made him smile.
Her hand, the one that had been eagerly working to free his cock from his pants, suddenly stopped and moved to his chest where she shoved. Hard. “Wait. You’re anchored to Grace?”
Oh, yeah.
“Yes. She’s married to and mated with Cade Warden, one of my closest friends. They have three kids together and if my suspicions are correct, another on the way. You’ll meet her day after tomorrow when we go to dinner.”
“Are you actually going to try to act casual right now? You should have told me.” Her annoyance hit him, acrid and sticky.
“What else should I act like? Why are you mad? I anchored her before I knew you existed. You have another husband!”
She closed her eyes for a moment. “Get off me.”
“Not until we settle this. Sweetheart, I’m here with you. I just told you how much you mean to me. This is silly. I’ve only known you a few days. This is the first we’ve ever been alone. When should I have told you?”
“Get off or I will knee your balls into your fucking throat.” Anger coiled her muscles. His wolf stirred, agitated that she was upset, but undeniably attracted to a fully enraged, powerful female.
He rolled off to the side. “I can’t believe this is happening. I tell you how much I love you, how much you mean to me and this is how you react?”
“You truly believe this reaction is to the very sweet things you said to me earlier? Really? I’m done now.” She stood and straightened her sweater, buttoning up. It wasn’t until she moved to leave the room that he realized done meant really done.
He jumped up, halting her progress to the front door. “You can’t just walk away every time we get into a fight. You do this a lot I notice.”
Her eyes narrowed, her hurt pricked him. Why didn’t he learn from watching Grace and Cade fight? All his smart ways when it came to his job fell to the side when it came to handling this tiny woman.
“You notice? Really? Seriously, Jack, get the hell out of my way. I need to be not here with you right now. In your little shrine to Grace Warden. Christ, how did I not really notice?” She waved an arm around, indicating the pictures in the room. Two fell from shelves as the heat of her magic, the weight of her power throbbed in the room.
“Take it easy, Renee. You’re going to blow the place up over something totally stupid. For fuck’s sake! I’m with you. She’s married with three kids. She’s someone to me, yes. Special? Yes. But there’s nothing more to it than that. You’ve got some nerve to judge me when you have another man in your bed.”
She physically recoiled, her eyes widening. “Right. Yeah, I noticed you using that twice now. You came into my life, Jack. I told you the first moment you showed interest in me. I told you I was with someone. I told you I loved someone else. I never lied about my situation. I would never use this anchor bond thing to hurt you or her. But what? I can’t ask a question? I can’t feel anything about it when you hid it from me? I’ve got news for you, Jack. I don’t regret loving Galen. You can never make it into a dirty thing. I won’t allow it. You came to me. Over and over I might add. You came to me and Galen knowing what we were. You don’t get to use that to hurt me or accuse me because I did nothing wrong.
“Had you bothered to share with me, I could have told you I hav
e no problem with you loving other people before me. For goodness sake, why would I? That doesn’t excuse the way you handled yourself just now. All defensive. It’s unnecessary. I’m leaving now. I’ll see you at dinner.”
He didn’t budge from his place blocking the door.
“You’re right, I overreacted to your question. But it’s not an excuse to go haring off on your own when someone may be out there trying to hurt you.” He swallowed back panic at her leaving, annoyance with himself that he reacted the way he did to what he could see was a pretty mellow reaction on her part until he turned it into a fight. Still, the leaving thing didn’t sit well. “I don’t like it that you leave instead of stay to fight. Is what we have so fragile you can’t test it with a disagreement?”
The blast of her anguish was enough to have him reaching for her. But she stepped away, her face flushed, eyes fever-bright. “I need to not be here with you right now. Period. If you don’t like that I can’t help it.”
“This is ridiculous. Let’s talk this through.”
Her phone started ringing and she ignored it. She stood there so very still, her eyes focused on the floor. Her hands shook. Something wasn’t right and he couldn’t figure it out. He didn’t know her well enough to understand if this was her way of dealing with upset or not. But it didn’t fit.
He softened his tone, shifted his stance to seem less physically threatening. “Renee, please. Tell me. I’m sorry I reacted the way I did. We can’t work it out if you’re not here and you’re not safe out there without me.”
When she looked up, her mouth had hardened into a flat line. No emotion at all showed on her face and that hit him like a slap. “Fine. I’ll sit here while you pack. Then you can drop me at home before you go to dinner.”
This was worse than her anger, worse than her hurt. This was not his mate. She’d shut off, her emotions walled away even from the bond. He wasn’t sure how she was doing it, but it was totally unacceptable.