There were more shouts, followed by doors slamming.
“Mario?” That was Hunter’s voice. Relief rushed through her.
She looked up at the man.
“Down here.” He set her on her feet. “It’s going to be okay.”
She stood, but even though she hadn’t been harmed, her legs barely held her steady. Mario must have sensed how wobbly she was, for he clasped her hand and slowly led her up the hill. Halfway to the embankment, both Derek and Hunter appeared over the edge. She might have shouted for joy had their shirts not been covered in blood.
She had just reached the pavement when everything turned black.
Chapter Thirteen
When Jen roused, she was sandwiched between Hunter and Derek in their truck. Derek smiled down at her.
“Are you okay?” Worry coated his voice.
She had to think for a moment. “Yes. You found me before they had a chance to harm me.”
She studied their bloodied clothes and spotted holes in their shirt. “Oh, my God. Were you shot?”
Derek threaded a hand up under his shirt and poked a finger out of the hole. “I’m good. Just a tear.”
There were two holes. How did he get two tears? “You sure?”
“Darlin’, the only thing I’m more sure about is the fact that I am flying high that we have you back.”
She rubbed her wrists, and Derek pulled her injured hands onto his lap. When he ran his thumbs over her skin, the pain seemed to disappear. Once Hunter turned to go up the mountain, she realized they were taking her to their home. She would have asked them to bring her back to town but figured they needed to take care of their wounds first. With all the shots fired and fist pummeling, they had to be bruised and battered.
“Who were those guys? They said they took me because I knew you two.”
“It’s a long story, kitten, one that Derek and I will be telling you as soon as we get out of these clothes.”
Overwhelmed by what had happened, she leaned back her head and tried to sort through her near-death experience. She should be experiencing some joy at having a story worthy of the front page, but right now everything was still too raw.
They parked in front of their main entrance and helped her out.
Derek ran his hands down her shoulders almost as if he was checking to see if she harbored any bruises. “I’m fine.”
“You want me to carry you?”
That got a small chuckle out of her. “I wasn’t the one in the fight. If I was strong enough, I should offer to carry you.”
His grin spread from ear to ear as he wrapped an arm around her waist. Once inside, Derek led her to his bedroom and Hunter split off to go to his. Since her armpits smelled from the fear, she wanted to shower, too.
“Hunter, do you think we could wash together?” she called after him.
She didn’t want to be separated from them anymore than necessary. Not only did she want to get clean, but she needed to check them out. She wasn’t buying Derek’s theory about tearing his shirt even though he didn’t act injured. The blood had to have come from somewhere, and unless they shot a few people and hugged them afterward, they wouldn’t have been covered in the stuff. Only by seeing them naked could she be sure they were healthy.
Hunter turned around. “That’s the best question I’ve heard all day.” He had a smile on his face as he returned.
As much as she’d love to make love to them, sex had to take a backseat until the adrenaline in her system dissipated. Besides, they’d said they’d give her answers to her questions.
Hunter followed them into the bedroom instead of going to his room. She nodded to both men. “Strip.”
They laughed, and a lot of the worry flowed away. She kicked off her shoes and unbuttoned her white blouse. All the while, she kept her focus on them. Objects don’t puncture shirts without harming the body underneath. Derek undid his shirt first, and she scanned his magnificent chest, detecting no holes, no scratches, and no bruising. His skin was streaked in blood, but that could have soaked through the material.
“How did you get blood all over you if it didn’t come from you?” She glanced from Derek to Hunter.
Hunter took off his shirt and ran his hands down his chest. “See? No harm. Can we shower and then talk?”
“Sure.”
She’d been selfish. Maybe they had some internal injuries and needed to care of them. As quickly as she could, she tossed off her clothes. She waited for the men to finish undressing then followed them into the shower.
“If we had a bigger tub, it might have been fun for all of us to soak in it.”
She shook her head. “Yeah, but then the water would be tinged with someone else’s blood. No thank you.”
Derek grinned and held open the glass shower door. As soon as she stepped in, all ten of the jets shot out warm water. “Whoa.” The streaming jets tickled. “You didn’t turn all of these on before.”
“We had other things on our minds.” Derek leaned over to nibble on her neck, but she lightly shoved him out of the way. “Wash. You kind of smell.” As did she.
“You’re right.”
Since there were two showerheads and a slew of side ones, getting clean was easy. The water heading into the drain flowed pink. She had to reach past Derek to the dispenser for a handful of soap. Instead of washing her body, she dragged her hands down his back, carefully checking for some wound. “I figure you couldn’t reach back there.”
“Once more, you’re right.”
Hunter tapped her butt. “When you’re done, don’t forget me.”
Here she thought they’d quickly shower then get on to the business of discussing what the hell was going on. The longer they stayed silent, the worse she knew what they had to tell her would be.
Not wanting to spoil being with two naked men, she didn’t dwell on her newspaper story, the horror of being kidnapped, or how they seemed to escape unscathed after the fight. After she was done cleaning Derek’s back, she couldn’t help but reach around and grab his cock.
His hand clasped onto her wrist in a second. “I’m warning you, darlin’, stay there too long and he’ll be exploring that sweet ass or pussy of yours as soon as I step out of this shower.”
Since she wanted answers first, she let go. “Later then.”
Next she washed Hunter’s back carefully looking for any sign of a struggle. She knew both men were fit, but to get into a fight with all those brutes and not even get a bruise was remarkable. “Are you sure you two fought?” There had been others who’d arrived. Maybe they were the ones who engaged in the hand-to-hand combat. But if that were true, where had the blood come from?
“Our turn.”
Her men sandwiched her. Armed with a handful of soap, they dragged their hands over her body. Somehow the brothers synchronized their actions with Hunter taking the upper half and Derek the bottom. All thoughts of the bad men and the fight left her brain. Replaced were the heady sensations of erotic lust tripping over her body.
Derek pressed his chest against her back and dragged his hands around to her belly. His cock, now very hard, pressed against the top of her ass. The questions could wait. She wanted his cock now. She would have expressed that thought except that he slipped a finger in her pussy just as Hunter palmed her tits.
Her ability to think clearly went up in smoke. All ambitious thoughts of cracking the case and getting the best story disappeared.
Hunter leaned forward and nuzzled her neck. “I was so fucking worried about you.”
Only now did it occur to her that he had to know she’d been taken. “Did you get a ransom note or something?” It was the only thing that made sense.
Her body stiffened, awaiting his answer. Derek added another finger to her pussy and she relaxed back against him. She pulled his hand away. “I can’t think when both of you are touching me.”
They stood back. Hunter looked over her shoulder. “She’s right. Let’s finish, and then we can talk.”
Derek didn’t say anything but she bet he’d nodded. They all finished getting clean. Once she got out of the shower, Derek and Hunter dragged towels over her body. She would have complained, but they seemed to have a need to touch her, to make sure she really hadn’t been harmed. Physically, that was true. Mentally, she wasn’t so sure.
“I’m dry. Really. I’m good.” She took the towel from Derek. “Turn around.”
He did, and she enjoyed wiping the water off his back. As long as she’d gotten this far, she decided to finish the job by running it over his cute bubble butt and muscular legs, stopping briefly to dip the towel between his legs and brush an edge against his balls.
Derek laughed and whipped the towel from her. “Do Hunter.”
He moved close and handed her his towel. “I already dried my back.”
His front looked pretty devoid of water, too, but she wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity to get close to him. She patted his chest dry then wiped his waist. She held out the towel. “Here.”
He shook his head. “You missed a spot.” Hunter nodded downward.
She took back the towel and dropped to her knees on the cushy mat. “Your calves are still wet.”
Taking her time, she worked her way up past his knees and over his sculpted thighs. Hunter held out his cock. “He needs some attention.”
She stood and blotted his cock at little. “After you and I have our talk, I’ll be happy to finish the job.”
A flash of what she would call angst filled his eyes. “Sure.”
Back in the bedroom, she pulled on her panties, jeans, and bra, but she didn’t want to put on the shirt that kind of smelled. “Do you think I could borrow a T-shirt?” She glanced between the men.
Derek walked over to his dresser and pulled out a black Carolina Panther shirt with the blue panther logo on the front “It’s big.”
“I don’t care.” The fact it belonged to Derek and had the insignia of their favorite team delighted her.
Hunter disappeared but returned shortly looking sexy as usual. “How about we go downstairs and get comfortable.”
From the way his tone had lowered, she wasn’t going to like the conversation. She followed Hunter, but Derek split off. She’d never been in this den, but the leather furniture looked comfortable. He motioned she sit on the sofa while he sat across from her.
Derek came in a minute later, carrying a tray with an iced tea for her and a beer for each of them. So that was how it was going to be.
She thought at least Derek would have sat next to her, but instead he, too, chose the seat opposite her. They glanced at each other probably trying to figure out who should go first. Derek nodded and Hunter leaned forward.
“First of all, we want to say that you have become the most important person in our lives.”
Her pulse soared. “May I say that I, too, think about you both all the time.” That wasn’t a profession of love, per se, but she wasn’t sure they were asking for one.
“We do have secrets, but we now trust you enough to tell you about them.”
Her stomach churned. “What kind of secrets? Are you involved in something illegal? Is that why those men kidnapped me?”
Hunter almost looked relieved by her line of questioning. “No. Nothing illegal. It’s really hard to explain.”
Derek held up a finger. “I’ll start with the fact that I’m a hundred and twenty-five years old, and Hunter’s five years older.”
She rolled her eyes. “Be serious.” She watched them, waiting for the smiles that never appeared.
“We are serious, darlin’. We’re that old because we live to about four hundred. Not only that, but we are indeed panther shifters.”
They’d played the joke one time before with her. She wasn’t going to fall for it again. Now she was pissed and crossed her arms. “If that’s true, then show me.”
Once more the men exchanged glances. A flash of light appeared and before her sat two sleek panthers. She screamed.
Chapter Fourteen
When the animals didn’t move, her scream evaporated. She blinked a few times to make sure she hadn’t imagined them turning into beasts. Next, she looked around to see if they’d maybe performed a magic trick. One of the animals licked his paws and the other yawned, acting as if being in this home was second nature.
Her heart wouldn’t slow. “This can’t be happening. There are no such things as shifters. You can’t be real.”
She studied them, almost expecting them to say something. She rubbed her eyes, trying to make sense of things and had to swallow to coat her throat. She wasn’t afraid of the animals, but her mind fought with itself. The reality was too intense.
Two separate flashes occurred, and Hunter and Derek reappeared. They focused on her. “Believe us now?”
She sank back against the sofa. “Holy shit. It’s true.” Everything she thought was true about life just got tossed out of the window. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Okay, that was a dumb comment. If they had, she would have freaked. “Never mind. I get it.”
Hunter stabbed a hand through his hair. “That probably wouldn’t have been very wise on our part. You are a reporter who was sent here to find out the real truth about us, remember?”
“Yeah.” Her need to be the best she could be career-wise collided with her desire to be with her men.
So lost in her own thoughts that all she heard were snippets like heal faster, stronger, love, and something about The Shield being good, and The Sword being bad. Too bad little of what they said registered.
She stood. “This is too much to absorb. I’ve had a bad day. Would one of you drive me back to the mall to get my car?”
Both men rushed to her side. “You shouldn’t be alone,” Derek said. “Stay with us.”
That was the last thing she needed. She’d never be able to think things through if she did. “I really do appreciate the offer, but I need to be alone. You understand, don’t you?”
“Sure.”
She hadn’t given them to chance to explain who those terrible men were or whether Hunter or Derek thought her life was still in danger, nor did they tell her how they knew where she was, but right now she didn’t think she could take in any more shocks. All that other information paled in comparison to learning that the human form could change into an animal at will. It was fantastic and scary at the same time.
“Sure. I’ll take you,” Hunter said.
“On second thought, could Mario drive me back?” He was probably a shifter, too, but since she’d only seen his human form, he seemed more real to her.
Hunter wrapped an arm around her. “How about if I have both him and Jeremiah drive you to the mall and you let one of them drive your car back to your apartment? I don’t think you’re in any shape to be behind the wheel.”
He was right. “Okay.”
One quick call and the man who had carried her out of the grasp of the members of this evil Sword appeared with another man who was even bigger. Without a word, they escorted her outside and into a new-looking SUV.
“Can I sit in the back?” Being pressed between them would wreak havoc with her mind.
Both men looked at each other before Mario pulled open the back door. She climbed in and stretched out her legs. Her stomach soured, thinking about what had happened. She thought she loved Hunter and Derek. Ha. Men. They were sort of, kind of, freaks, right? “Are you guys shifters, too?”
Whoops. Maybe they didn’t know what kind of people they worked for. Damn. She hoped she didn’t mess things up for the Black brothers.
“Yes. Does that scare you?”
Did it? “Let’s just say it scares me to think no one in the world knows of your secret.”
“The members of The Sword do. They’re tiger shifters. They’re the ones who took you.”
They were the bad people Hunter had mentioned. “Has the world gone crazy and I just overslept the day they made that announcement?” She was only half kidding. How could a secret of this
magnitude still have been a secret after what? Four hundred or more years?
“We were born this way so it doesn’t seem odd to us. It’s hard for us to know what it would be like to suddenly find out we have this alter ego.”
“Can women shift?” Hell, maybe she could and just never tried.
Mario chuckled. “Heaven help us if they could. It would give new meaning to cat fights.”
That did put a smile on her face. “These Sword people. You say they’re shifters, too. Why do they hate Hunter and Derek?”
It made sense that if they took her, their goal was to cause harm, either mental or physical to Derek and Hunter.
Mario swiveled around. “I guess neither Hunter nor Derek told you much?”
“I really didn’t give them a chance. I wanted to get out of there after they showed me their talent.”
Mario’s lips pressed together and his eyes latched on to the ceiling as if he was trying to find the words to explain. “Well, the members of The Sword go back as far as we do. Both of our clans believe that if the people of Earth don’t clean up their act that they will self-destruct. The problem is, we want to help the people, whereas the members of The Sword want to hurry up the destruction by inciting terrorism across the world, thereby bringing the downfall upon the people. That will give them the opportunity to take over the world faster.”
“That’s crazy.”
“We agree.”
For the remainder of the drive, she kept her questions to herself. She didn’t even tell them where she’d parked, yet they drove straight to her car. The hairs on her body stood straight up. “How did you know my car?”
“We followed you here to keep you safe.”
“Why?” She didn’t like the fact that Hunter and Derek had her followed even if they believed the protection was warranted.
Mario blew out a breath, acting as if he was a little disappointed that his bosses hadn’t done a better job of telling her about their number-one enemy. “We got word yesterday that The Sword might try something, which they did.” They told her about the bait and switch with the other girl.
Protecting Their Mate [Panther Cove 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 11