by Lauren Dane
Jack put the hammer back in the toolbox. “Why doesn’t Renee remember that? She was seven when her mother died. And they said murder! Had Renee ever mentioned that? Name changing or that her mother was murdered? I’d just gotten the impression it was a car accident or something.”
“Earlier today Rosemary said she believes Renee’s memory has been altered. She’s got a friend looking into it.” Galen reached out and slid a palm up Jack’s neck, his eyes half-closed for a moment before he leaned in and kissed Jack’s lips.
Slow and sexy, Jack let himself fall into that kiss, taking Galen’s kiss into his body, letting the simmer of their attraction heat into something more urgent.
Galen broke the kiss and stepped back with a sexy, smug look. “Sorry. I couldn’t resist.”
“Don’t. Don’t resist. If we didn’t have company I’d have your pants open and your cock out.”
They touched foreheads a moment, letting that intimacy between them settle before resuming their work. Jack wasn’t just moving into their house, not just into a relationship with Renee, but with Galen too.
“I like the way you taste, Jack.” Galen winked as he held the shelf in place for Jack to screw to the wall. “Back to the memory thing a second. Here’s why I find myself having a hard time with this. Renee seems flighty on the outside, but she’s amazingly detail oriented. She remembers the tiniest of things. Just a heads-up, she will kick your ass in an argument if you change your story.” Galen laughed.
“Sometimes severe abuse can cause memory issues. If that’s the case, well, we’ll have to take care of it.” Jack locked his jaw against the rest of what he wanted to say. She didn’t need the stress of his upset, but her abuse made him want to kill. When he met Galen’s gaze again, he knew he wasn’t the only one.
Galen liked the fierce look on Jack’s face, a look they shared there on the landing. The night before they’d both been scared to death, but they’d stuck together and they’d survived it. Not the ideal or usual way to start a relationship, but they were all far from usual anyway. Jack would die to protect Renee, that was the most important thing.
Galen and Jack puttered around, fixing things, putting things away, listening to music and falling into their new lives together. Sometime after ten, Rosemary and Kendra left with hugs and promises to meet the following day.
Her energy was good, her color better and best of all, the sparkle was back in her eyes. She was happy. Galen felt it through their link and saw it in her movements. She deserved it.
He pulled her into his arms, kissing her soundly.
“You taste like Jack.” She licked her lips with a smile and then turned to Jack. “Come here and let me see if you taste like him.”
Jack’s heat met hers, and Galen held his place, putting an arm around Jack as he leaned in to kiss Renee. She arched, her nails digging into Galen’s side as she broke off with a sigh. “Mmmm. Yes, you do. You both taste so good on the other’s lips.”
He wasn’t sure what he’d thought she would say, but that nearly drove him to his knees.
Galen licked up her neck. “I think the same. Before we end up naked and fucking, finish telling us about Rosemary and your sister.”
Neither male let her go, both holding her to them and to each other too. She drew their energy in, Galen felt her draw upon it, let herself accept that link between them. He smiled against her temple as he pressed a kiss there.
“Rosemary called my father. She wants to meet with my dad. Goodness knows how that’s going to go.” She shrugged. “He’s my father, I just can’t imagine him deliberately hurting me. But none of this is logical at all. I can’t understand why he wouldn’t let them see me. Who was my mother really? Are my memories even real? Do you know what that’s like? I’ve always thought the same thing about her. She’s my mother, she died when I was young. My dad, a grieving widower, heads east to make a new life, remarries, yadda yadda. Now it turns out it’s not true. Or it is and he’s not telling me something for some reason. I just don’t know.”
“Whatever you need, we’ll make it happen.” Jack kissed her forehead. “We’ll work it out. We just want you happy and safe. As for happy, you’ve made me that way. Thank you for putting my clothes away. You know you didn’t have to. The little stuff pleases me, I can’t help it.”
Her laugh was soft, echoing through Galen where he’d pressed to her.
“I liked it. Touching your things. Loved the way your scent clung to the fabric. It felt like each thing I put away was another step you took into our life. I like you here, in our lives, in our house. Making our own family.”
“Wow, that was pretty fabulous as compliments and love words go. Thank you.” Jack kissed her and then Galen.
Chapter Eleven
Jack woke at the sound of the shower turning on. All it took was a deep breath and he knew it was Renee. A glance at the alarm clock told him it was six a.m. What the fuck was his grumpy little cowgirl doing up?
He laughed at the last internal dialog, imagining calling her that just to see her reaction. Galen stirred.
“She can’t possibly want to go to work today,” Galen murmured.
“I find it illogical for a woman who hates mornings like she does to work a job that demands she be in so early.”
Galen laughed, reaching out to turn the lamp on. “She makes good profits on that cart. She’s crazy busy from the minute she opens until she closes at three. She doesn’t work weekends but takes on a few fairs and festivals in the summer. She donates the profits to this amazing children’s charity she loves.”
“Lotta layers, our girl.” An understatement, Jack knew. “I don’t want her working anywhere near those people, Galen.”
Galen propped himself up on pillows, managing to continue looking sexy and tousled at the same time. He noticed Jack’s interest and laughed. “Don’t get something started unless you want to finish it.”
It was Jack’s turn to laugh. “I’m fine finishing it.”
Galen moved then, quickly, to cover the empty space between them, naked skin meeting naked skin. “That so?”
Jack rolled him over, lying atop Galen’s body, idly stroking his cock.
A muffled jumble from the bathroom and a soft curse made them both smile. “Before she gets back out here, let’s form a united front on whatever we’re going to do. Then there will be finishing.”
“You learn fast.” Galen licked over Jack’s left nipple before speaking again. “I don’t like her at her stepmother’s shop either. But a frontal attack will not work with her. She has a deep sense of honor and loyalty. She’ll be struggling with that. I wish I could deal with it for her, but she won’t allow it. She has to face this stuff with her father on her own terms.”
“I agree. So how can we help her do that while keeping her safe and encouraging her to move to your building?”
Galen grinned. “I like the way you think. I have to go in to work for a few hours today. I left in a hurry on Saturday so there are a number of things I need to tie up. While I’m there, I’m going to talk to my brother and father about the results of the background checks I had run.” Galen’s strangled moan when Jack palmed his balls was enough to slow the moment down, load it with deliciously honey-thick sensuality. What he and Galen had was different, an ease borne from what they both did, who they both were and beyond an attraction for the other—their love for Renee. Jack had that level of intimacy with very few people and nothing like this with any other man.
Hard as it was to ignore the fist around his cock enough to speak, he managed. “Okay, good. I’ve got my people on it too. We’ll have to schedule a time to debrief and share info. I’ve got some really good people working for me so they should have something for me by day’s end. I have this week off, but I’ll want to check in daily at the Pack house. I can take her with me when I go though. It’l
l get Grace and Renee together more and I like her being around my friends and family. I suppose I want to show her off. All these years my friends would mate with amazing women and I’d be so envious.” He laughed. “And here I am and Renee is so special and beautiful and sexy, I want everyone to know it. There’s no one like her.”
“I know the feeling. I hope your pack is more accepting than my jamboree was at first. You’ll protect her from hurt.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement and Jack agreed with it.
“I hope so. We’re not as insular as cats are. Her not taking the change won’t offend anyone. I’ve petitioned for her to take on my rank in the pack. At one point, a human who hadn’t taken the change wouldn’t be considered a pack member. The Alpha of Cascadia pushed for that change several years back. Cade’s her anchor and brother-in-law so he saw her perspective and agreed with it. Renee’s being human won’t be a problem. She’s easy to talk to, she listens in a way that makes you feel like you’re the only person in the room. She’ll charm people.” He knew she would. Renee soothed him, calmed him, made him whole. Shifter or not, small female or not, she was one tough-assed woman. The last several days had been full of one shock after another and she persevered. He admired that and so would his wolves.
Galen moved, lightning quick, and pinned Jack, looming above him. “What’s Grace to you, Jack? I know this was the reason for the fight you and Renee had on Saturday. If this situation is going to make Renee unhappy, I will kick some ass.”
“I’m her anchor bond. There are complicated emotions between an unmated male and the female he’s anchored to. In a way, they’re mated too. When I volunteered to be her anchor, they lived in Seattle and I lived here. I thought it would be fine. But then they ended up here as Alphas in this pack. But when I Claimed Renee, when I sealed the mate bond with her, and you, it broke the most intense feelings I had for Grace. I care about her very much. I was in love with a woman I knew I could not have. I never would have acted on those feelings and she’s head over ass in love with Cade.”
Galen rubbed his eyes. “And how does Grace feel about Renee?”
“That’s complicated too.”
Galen groaned, sitting up. “Complicated? Like what people say on Facebook? Come on, Jack, what the fuck does that mean? This is Renee we’re talking about. You have to be high if you think I’d allow you to put her into any kind of situation where she could be hurt by people.”
“Hey, dickhead, she’s my woman too. Don’t you forget that. Do you think I’d deliberately set her up to be hurt? Grace is, at base, a good woman. She’s intelligent and she loves her family. There’s often a bit of drama between the anchor female and the mated female. Grace had a situation a lot like this one. It was rocky at the very start, but now she and her sister-in-law are extremely close. Shifter females are territorial. It’s part of why they’re so hot. She would have faced a lot of the same stuff from your jamboree, Galen. Renee is, you must have noticed, an awful lot like a shifter female, by the way. Grace is levelheaded. She and Renee will be fine. I’ll see to it. It’s not like Grace hates her, she doesn’t. How can anyone not love Renee within five minutes of meeting her?”
Galen sighed and stood. “I’m not sure about all those explanations, Jack. I hope you’re right. People tend to write Renee off, like she’s stupid and flighty. She’s anything but either of those things. She observes with such intensity that it seems like she’s not paying attention. She won’t take any shit. She’ll be friendly and up to a point, she’ll deflect tension to avoid a scene. But she has limits and I’ve seen her lash out so hard at a full-grown jaguar he fell off a chair and gave her his throat. It would be a mistake for anyone to underestimate her. Now, the water turned off and you got me all hot to fuck. I’m off to sully her before she gets dressed.”
“I’ll hang out with her at the cart today,” Jack said as he got up. “What? You think I’d leave you to sully her all by yourself?”
Renee heard their laughter as she toweled off. It made her smile, the way they’d bonded. Then again, they double-teamed her now. As if she wouldn’t notice? Hmpf, how could she not notice? One pushy man was more than a full-time job. Two of them meant she had to push back twice as often when they got up in her business. Just a few days in and Jack seemed to fit in with Galen on the pestering just fine. Good thing they excelled at other things like sex and being nice to look at and stuff or it would be too much for any mortal woman to take.
She snorted a laugh as she heard the door opening.
“Oh, just in time. I can never get lotion on my back.” She tossed the bottle to Jack, who caught it without pausing on his way to her.
Galen, naked and happy to see her, stalked over. He played against the bite marks, licking, caressing, nibbling until she squirmed. She could never win at the playing at nonchalance game with him. Thirty seconds after he touched her, she was pretty much begging.
“Interesting technique,” she managed to mumble when Jack began to apply the lotion with his upper body, sliding against her, heating the air and her skin as the soft scent rose.
“Always thinking outside the box.” Jack took the opportunity to make sure her breasts had plenty of lotion as he knelt at her feet.
She closed her eyes a moment at the wave of feeling.
“That’s right, sweetheart, just close your eyes and let us wake you up,” Galen murmured as he nipped her earlobe.
With her eyes closed, she gave in to the experience. Though she knew who was doing what, she let go, falling into the experience.
Wet. Tongue sliding up her calf.
Roll and tug on her nipples.
The hard brand of a cock at her hip.
Cool softness of hair on her inner thigh.
Nip of teeth on ear and belly button.
Hands caressing.
Whispers against skin.
Fingertips on labia, pulling her open.
Whoosh of air as a mouth found her clit.
Tongue caressing.
One hand clutching the head at her pussy.
One hand wrapped around the cock at her hip.
Thrust. Thrust. Thrust.
Warm and sticky.
Breath at her ear ragged.
Whisper of a growl.
Push and pull.
Orgasm edged around the corners, flowing into her, filling her up with each breath.
Fingers pressing into her gate, stretching.
Mouth on clit.
Teeth abrade.
Gasp for air as it hits.
Sharp sweetness.
She opened her eyes, meeting Jack’s as he moved behind her. “You taste so good.”
A flex of his hips and his cock invaded her pussy slowly but surely. Unable to look away from his gaze, she gripped the counter and pushed back against him.
His nails raked down her sides, hard enough she couldn’t ignore, but not so hard it caused her pain. “I love this tattoo right here.” His thumb rode over the skin above her hip where the tiny G surrounded by ivy lay.
“I got it two years ago. Now we’ll have to find a way to work a J in there.” She reached down, between her thighs, sliding her fingertips up and down the slick line of his cock each time he thrust.
He growled and she watched in the mirror as Galen kissed Jack’s shoulder before leaning down to kiss hers. “You look so beautiful here, bent forward, your breasts swaying. If I hadn’t come already, with embarrassing quickness, I hasten to add, I’d have my cock in your mouth right now.” He noted the position of her hand. “Greedy.” Galen slid one of his hands down her belly, fingers joining hers, and the other hand down to grip the base of Jack’s cock.
She moaned at the added sensation of his fingers on her pussy and at the idea of him holding Jack’s cock. Each time Jack fucked into her, the knuckle joint of her middle finger sl
id against her clit.
Meeting Jack’s pleasure-blurred gaze in the mirror, it pleased her to see his reaction to her. Pleased her to know she still did it for him. While she was glad he and Jack shared some amazing sexual chemistry, she’d be lying to herself if she didn’t admit her relief he still found her sexy too.
“Can you come again? Hmm?” Jack increased the speed and depth of thrust as she answered his question all around his cock.
“Holy...” Jack growled, his head falling back, his fingers digging into her hips as he came.
She worked to catch her breath as she looked at the picture they made in the mirror. They may not have been the average romance, but they were love, and that made all the difference in the world. Despite the darkness in her life at the moment, she’d found something important and no matter what, she had her family. It was a shield between her and the worst of the hurt.
* * *
“Woolgathering?” Jack asked from his nearby perch on a wooden bench. He’d accompanied her to The Willow Broom that morning, not letting her out of his sight. Galen hadn’t been any help, backing Jack up totally, and really, Renee didn’t disagree that she needed some muscle so she wasn’t complaining.
Susan would most likely flip her wig when she saw him and there was no real hope she’d take the news of another man in Renee’s life, especially another non-human male, well. No, there would be drama and woe. Right about then, Renee couldn’t have cared less about Susan’s feelings.
“Just wondering why you’re here instead of sleeping in since you have the time off.” She handed an orange mango delight to a customer and began to assemble the strawberry banana whip for the next person in line.