by Cara Morgan
“It’ll be okay, Maggie. You’ll see. We’ll take care of you.”
After Case shifted into his wolf form, he came back to her and leaned heavily against her legs for a moment. When she touched his head, he trotted to the edge of the clearing and then paused to look back at them impatiently. Eli grabbed her bags and tossed them over his shoulder.
He grinned down at her. “How about a nice hike through knee deep snow?”
The wind blew a strand of hair across her face and he tucked it behind her ear. She didn’t really want to leave the cabin. It was her place, her territory, and she’d always felt safe here. Going to the lodge with Case and Eli was a big step.
Case’s head cocked to the side and she stepped forward, away from the cabin, her home and safety.
“That a girl,” Eli murmured, falling in beside her. She could almost feel Case’s relief as he turned and started down the mountain.
Maggie smiled at Eli as he offered her his arm. “Maybe I should invest in a dog sled.”
It didn’t take them long to reach the service road, and aside from a few dodgy moments when a large drift blocked their path forcing them to walk closer to the edge of a cliff than she’d have liked, it was largely uneventful. Case’s truck was a big, black SUV that had clearly been built to handle deep snow and icy mountain roads. Considering that it started to snow again when they were less than a mile from the cabin, Maggie was glad to see the truck already warmed up and ready to go.
Case was outside, clearing the wheels, but he straightened as they started down the last, steep incline. He looked different fully dressed in jeans and a parka, somehow even more intimidating than he had when he was completely nude. As soon as she reached the truck, he opened the door so she could climb in and then slid onto the backseat right behind her. Eli growled softly but took the front passenger seat next to Jack. As soon as the doors were closed, Jack put the truck in gear and they were off.
“Another half hour and we’d have been snowed in,” Jack said, glancing into the rear view mirror and meeting her gaze with a quick grin. “As it is, we might have to dig our way through a drift or two.”
He sounded pleased about that, like the bad roads were nothing but a big adventure.
“Jack’s a good driver,” Eli said. “He won’t take any chances.”
The words were as much a warning to Jack as a reassurance to her.
Jack met her gaze in the rearview mirror again. His blue eyes sparkled with laughter. “I’m the safest driver of the bunch, Maggie. You don’t have to worry.” To Case, he said, “I got a hold of Carson, and he’s on his way back to the lodge now. His trip was cut short due to the weather. He’s driving his party back to their hotel and should be at the lodge by morning.”
“Did you tell him what was going on?”
“No,” Jack said without an ounce of remorse. “I think it’s only fair he’s as surprised as the rest of us. The expression on your face this morning was a treat. I wish I’d been able to snap a picture.”
Maggie wondered at that. The only thing she remembered about Case’s expression when he’d met her was how carefully remote it had been. Maybe Jack, who’d known him a lot longer, had seen more.
“What about Declan?” Case asked.
Jack shook his head. “No answer. Someone might have to go track him down.”
Case sighed. “I’ll do it if it comes to that.”
Maggie took off her gloves and hat. It still seemed stuffy, so she shrugged out of her coat too. When that didn’t help, she closed her eyes. The heat was coming back. It couldn’t have been even two hours since she’d had both Eli and Case, but she wanted them both again. Control yourself, Maggie. She could hear Aunt Tildy’s voice in the back of her mind, and she shoved it away. She was doing the best she could.
Rubbing her palms on her jeans, she looked up at Case. “How much further to the lodge?”
Case looked sharply at her. “Are you okay?”
“I think…” God, this was embarrassing to put into words. “I think it’s the heat.”
Eli looked back. “Already?”
“I thought maybe I’d be able to control it better when I got used to it.”
Case shook his head. “I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way, honey. It gets stronger every day until it breaks like a fever. We’ll be able to manage it better when we’re home. Right now, your response might have something to do with being so close to an unmated male.”
Jack. With his laughing blue eyes and dark hair. The body that was more skin and bone than muscle. She’d hoped to at least get to know him a little bit before claiming him.
“I could help,” Jack offered. “We could change that.”
She shivered, responding unwillingly to the hard edge of desire in his voice. “You should keep your eyes on the road,” she said. “The roads…”
She trailed off as a wave of need rolled over her, making her gasp with the force of it. She suspected that Case was right. Before she’d mated with Case and Eli, she’d had the same unnaturally acute awareness of them both. Now, Jack seemed to be triggering the same response. The heat was getting stronger too, building faster, growing claws and teeth. Her symptoms had started only one day ago. If it kept getting stronger, how on earth was she going to get through this?
Case slipped his hand between her thighs, and she instinctively pressed against him, biting her lip to keep from moaning. Her jeans felt incredibly tight, the fabric itchy as wool against her sensitized skin, the seam at the crotch an excruciating torture.
Eli swore under his breath but Case leaned close to kiss her temple and her cheek. His soft lips drifted lower to her jaw and then her throat.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to worry. I’ll take care of you. Whatever you need.”
“I need to not be in this truck.”
“Shh. The truck’s fine. Ignore the truck.” His fingers pressed against her clit and she jerked. “I need you to take off your jeans. Do you want me to do it for you?”
She shook her head and, with shaking hands, she slipped her jeans down past her hips. The fabric stopped at her boots and she left them there. Boots were beyond her at the moment. She opened her eyes. The nearest window was beginning to steam up and the scenery blurred past. Eli had half-turned in his seat and looked at her with desire and concern stamped clearly on his face. Jack was silent and tense behind the wheel, but his gaze met hers briefly in the mirror before he looked away.
She grabbed Case’s wrist. “Stop. We can’t do this here.”
“Ignore them.” Case nuzzled at her neck. “Close your eyes.”
“It’s wrong, Case. Anybody could see.”
Maybe not anybody. But someone might see in, and there was Eli and Jack. They couldn’t possibly ignore what was happening in the backseat.
Case didn’t relent. “Close your eyes.”
She responded instantly to the note of command in his voice, closing her eyes before it even occurred to her to disobey.
“That’s good.” His removed his hand and she whimpered at the loss of contact.
She flinched when something soft touched her forehead and then slipped over her eyes. “What is that?”
“Just an ear warmer. It’s not tied and you can take it off anytime you want.” He paused. “But it would please me if you left it on. I don’t want you thinking about anything but the way my hands feel on you right now. No one is going to see anything. The road’s practically deserted. No one but us. Your mates and Jack, who wouldn’t do a thing to harm you. He wants you as badly as we do. Isn’t that right, Jack?”
Jack growled, low in his throat, and Maggie shivered again.
A touch of amusement in his voice, Eli said, “I’ll make sure Jack keeps his hands on the wheel and his eyes on the road. Let Case take care of you, Maggie. We’ll take care of everything else.”
This time when Case moved his hand back between her legs, she let go of his wrist and let her thighs fall open.
His breath was
warm at her throat. “You smell delicious. You want to be fucked again, don’t you?”
“Yes.” Oh, God. Yes, she did. By Case and Eli both while Jack watched. But she kept that to herself, because she also wanted to survive the trip and that meant Jack had to concentrate on the road.
Case touched her, his fingers sliding effortlessly. “So slippery and needy.”
The tip of his finger circled her clit, and she opened her eyes. Her lashes brushed against black fleece. For a moment, the darkness was disorienting. It made her feel vulnerable and on edge. But having her vision blocked also made it easier to focus on her other senses, particularly her sense of touch as Case’s clever hands manipulated her body. She closed her eyes again, sinking deeper into the heat. It didn’t hurt when she didn’t fight against it. When she gave in, it wrapped around her like warm water. It was only when she fought that her body rebelled.
Seeming to sense her capitulation, Case growled low in his throat. He pushed up her shirt above her breasts and jerked down the cups of her bra. Fastening his mouth on one taut nipple, he continued to slide a single finger through her folds. Up and down, in slow, easy sweeps. On the down stroke, he dipped lower, almost entering her but not quite penetrating. She moaned as he started the slow, sweet slide upward to circle her clit.
“Case…” She didn’t recognize her own voice. Husky and desperate, it might have belonged to a stranger.
“I got you. All you need to do is relax and let it come.”
Relaxing wasn’t an option. “Please.”
“You need more, honey?”
If she asked for his cock, he would give it to her, she knew that. Her mind filled with the vision of Case fucking her in the backseat while the other two men in the truck tried to pretend that nothing was going on.
“Your fingers,” she whispered. “Just your fingers.”
Turning his hand, Case immediately pushed two fingers inside her. Her hips rolled forward and she groaned.
“Like that?”
It wasn’t exactly what she wanted, but it would do for now. Catching her fingers in his hair, she pulled his head to her breast. He sucked hard at her nipple and she nearly arched off the seat.
Case’s hand wedged between her legs, his fingers pressed high and tight inside her pussy. He held her there as he licked and lapped at her breasts. Teasing her. She tugged at his hair, but he refused to move until he was good and ready. And then it was only to lift his head enough to speak. “I don’t know if getting you off like this will help with the heat or if it’s the sex that pushes it back. Do you know?”
Moaning, she shook her head. He withdrew his fingers slowly, dragging them against her swollen flesh. “Does it feel good, Maggie? Does it feel right to you?”
“No.”
He stopped, and she shuddered in frustration. “You’re teasing me, Case. I need more.”
“My cock?”
“I need to come. Just make me come. Stop screwing around.”
He laughed, his warm breath feathering across her skin. “Your wish.”
He dipped his head to her breast again, sucking her nipple into his mouth as he worked her with his hand. He stopped trying to drag the moment out. His fingers slid in and out of her at a smooth, steady pace while his thumb pressed lightly against her clit. When she was panting with need, whimpering his name and riding his hand, no longer caring about the other men in the truck or who might see what, Case finally started to move his thumb, caressing her clit in a small circular motion, gradually increasing the pressure. She became more and more frantic until her body went rigid, her head fell back and her body clamped down on his fingers.
Case buried his face in her neck and growled as she came. The sound of it trembled through her body and pushed her higher. When it was over, she found herself clutching Case’s head to her chest and breathing heavily. The blindfold had slipped down around her neck.
She looked around her, feeling slightly dazed. Everything was the same. The scenery flashed by the window—snow, forest, and the occasional passing vehicle. The two men in the front seat were quiet and tense, but they appeared to be doing their damndest to ignore her and Case. Embarrassed, she released Case and reached for her jeans. Pulling them up as quickly as she could, she winced at the way the rough fabric scraped at her skin. Case smoothed the hair back from her face and kissed her hot cheek. “Did it help?”
She nodded. “It did, a little. I’ll be okay for a while, I think.”
“Good,” he said. “We have two hours until we get home.”
“Two hours?”
“I’m afraid so.”
Jack cleared his throat. “There’s a diner up ahead. Should I stop?”
Case looked at her with raised brows.
“Stop,” she said.
She needed to get out of the truck for a few minutes. She could definitely use a restroom and some food would be good. The truck began to slow and they pulled into the parking lot of the Tick Tock diner, a place she’d been coming to since she was a girl. Maggie took a deep breath and got ready to re-enter the real world.
Chapter Five
Amazingly, no one seemed to realize what she’d been up to for the last few hours. Maggie had somehow expected people to take one look at her and know she’d been engaged in a sex marathon with two of the men accompanying her and was even now thinking about taking on the third. But no one stopped and stared as they entered the diner, except for one teenage girl whose eyes widened when she caught sight of the three handsome men. The waitress seemed bored as she led them to a booth near the window, and the elderly couple waiting by the front desk only looked impatient to pay their bill and be on their way.
Maggie ordered coffee and excused herself to use the restroom. When she came back, the men were casually sipping coffee and talking about the best route home in the weather. Looking at them, she understood the teenager’s reaction. They were all attractive men in their own way. Eli, big and burly, with his bone-melting smile. Case, all stern and serious, with his trim body and handsome face. Jack, young and quiet, with his dark hair and laughing blue eyes. And then there was her. Always the girl with the pretty face and nice boobs, who was a little too tall and too big for men to look at twice. Except these men hadn’t gotten that memo. They all looked up as she approached the table and in that moment she felt like the most attractive woman in the universe.
Eli and Jack sat on one side of the table so she slipped in beside Case. Once the food came, they ate quickly, everyone apparently as anxious as she was to be on the road again. Her heat was already beginning to rise. She didn’t know if it had returned so soon because Case had only used his fingers to bring her to orgasm or if it was just the natural progression of the cycle.
Pushing her plate away, she drank a sip of her ice water, hoping it would settle her stomach.
Eli looked from her half-finished plate to her face. “You should eat more than that. We didn’t have much for breakfast.”
All three men had ordered the trucker special—four eggs, four slices of bacon and links of sausage, and a short stack of pancakes. The table was covered with food. She’d eaten her bacon and half an order of scrambled eggs. Normally, she might’ve eaten more, but today the sight turned her stomach.
“It’s important that she listen to her instincts now,” Case said. “If she says she doesn’t want food then she doesn’t have food. Unless,” he looked at her, “if there’s something you’d rather have than what’s on the table, we’ll get it for you.”
An image of the three men bringing down an elk for dinner flashed through her mind, and she shook her head with a rueful smile. “I’m good.”
“Her aunt—” Eli began and then yelped when she kicked him under the table.
“You don’t need to talk about my aunt,” she said.
Eli’s expression darkened. “You don’t have to be ashamed, Maggie. She was in the wrong treating you the way she did. None of it was your fault.”
“I know that.” She l
eaned back against the seat back, ignoring the curious looks Case and Jack cast her way. “It’s just that I’d rather not talk about any of that right now.”
She thought Case might argue, but he held his tongue and went back to his breakfast. After a moment, the others did the same, and she looked out the window. It was still snowing steadily and the roads were covered in rutted, gray slush.
She was frowning out the window and trying not to think about what her aunt would think about all this when Case’s hand fell on her thigh. There was nothing sexual in his touch. It was simply a comforting weight on her leg that withdrew almost immediately. Startled, she looked at his face. His expression was as remote as it’d been since they walked into the diner. Maybe he hadn’t actually intended to touch her. Much more than Eli, she had trouble figuring Case out. When he’d touched her in the truck, she’d been the absolute center of all his focused attention. The moment they’d stepped into the diner, his demeanor had changed completely. It wasn’t that he ignored her exactly, but while Eli was as warm as ever and Jack kept sneaking hungry glances her way, Case didn’t seem to care that she was there.
When they finished eating, Jack excused himself to use the restroom and Case went up to the counter to pay for their meal. Frowning, she reached for her coat.
“He’s different out here,” Eli said. She looked up. The corner of his mouth quirked up in a smile, and he shrugged. “Your expression…and I know how uncertain you are about all this. You didn’t say or do anything wrong. When he’s around people he trusts—when he’s with the pack—he’s a different person than when he’s out here around strangers.”
“Why?”
“He has reasons. Ask him how he got his scar sometime. He’ll tell you.”
They left the diner and, this time, Eli sat in back with her. When they started down the road, she curled against his side. With his strong arm wrapped around her and the steady hum of the road, she found herself slowly relaxing. Every so often, Eli would say something to Jack or Case and the deep rumble of his voice beneath her ear was a soothing comfort.