Claiming Hope [Wolves of River's Bend 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

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Claiming Hope [Wolves of River's Bend 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 15

by Suzette Rose Cauler


  He quickly shed his swim trunks and kneeled behind her, bending to kiss the small of her back. He bit her ass cheeks, then gripped the firm, round mounds in his hands, allowing his cock to slide between her legs and caress her pussy.

  “I’ve never done it that way, Adam. I’m not sure…”

  “You mean here?” He licked his finger and rubbed it around her tight rosebud. “I had a feeling you were a virgin there, but we won’t take you there tonight. We need more time to prepare you for that, and I want you too badly to take my time. Don’t be afraid, though, we won’t hurt you when we do take you that way. We’ll never do anything to hurt you, Hope.”

  That was all the explanation he could manage. He had to have her. Holding her hips steady, he pushed his cock into her as far as it would go in a single thrust, hearing her gasp as she took him in. Adam held himself still at first, allowing her to adjust to his size, and then began moving rhythmically in and out of her, each time inching a little more of his cock inside her.

  “Open your mouth for me, Hope.” Levi held his cock in his hand, offering it to their woman, throwing his head back and groaning as she obeyed.

  The room became a symphony of moans, groans, and pleasure-filled growls as Adam thrust into her from behind and Levi made love to her mouth. Adam gradually increased his pace until Hope moaned steadily around Levi’s cock. Knowing he was close, he reached around and found her clit, rubbing and flicking it in cadence with his thrusts. The pleasure of her slick walls built until he was ready to explode and raked his teeth against her neck, the primal urge to claim her nearly overwhelming.

  Adam heard Levi shout his release and felt his own balls seize up. He rubbed her clit faster, then pressed two fingers firmly against it, giving in to his own release as her pussy first locked on his cock and then began the powerful pulsations that marked her release. As his cock spurted stream after stream of cum inside her, he fought against his inner wolf’s order to bite down and make her his forever. It was a very near thing.

  * * * *

  Adam withdrew from her pussy, lifting her onto the bed, where he lay back, holding her tightly in his arms. Levi joined them, kissing her neck and whispering tender post-orgasmic words in the darkness. Hope’s heart swelled with so much feeling, she felt she would burst. The pleasure they gave her was indescribable, but the tenderness they showed her was beyond anything she’d ever imagined. As much as she had loved Brad, she had never felt this loved or this cherished in return.

  Then there were the perks that went along with being in bed with two men, such as when Adam fell asleep and Levi pulled her on top of him, murmuring, “Ride me” in her ear. She rode him hard until she exploded in another climax, crying Levi’s name out in the darkness. Adam woke up then, growing hard again in an instant, and took her again, this time flat on her back, feverish skin pressed up against the coolness of the sheets while he stroked her deep inside until her eyes rolled back and her toes curled with another shattering climax.

  As the three of them drifted off to sleep, still covered in each other’s sweat, she felt happy, so damned happy she could cry. Despite how firmly she’d told both men she’d be leaving them in just a couple of weeks, she didn’t know how she was going to do it. Eating TV dinners in front of the television every night would never cut it again.

  * * * *

  The three hadn’t gotten much sleep the previous night, and Hope was only vaguely aware of Adam and Levi kissing her goodbye in the morning. She pried one eye open to see that it was only 7 a.m. and promptly went back to sleep. When she woke again, the clock on the bedside table said it was nearly 10 a.m. and there was a tray of cereal, toast, fruit, bottled water, and coffee waiting for her. The milk was warm and the coffee was cold, but she didn’t mind. It was thoughtful of them to bring her breakfast and leave her a note saying they would be in town for most of the day. They didn’t owe her any explanations.

  After showering and getting dressed, she walked down the hall to knock on Sarah’s door and drag her out of bed. Jackson and Wes had headed into town, too, so they spent the day talking and playing cards, just like they used to before Sarah moved away. It was an amazing feeling to be back with her sister again.

  Nikki knocked on Sarah’s door just before lunch, and Hope agreed to brave the dining room with them. It wasn’t as bad as she thought, even without Adam and Levi there. The shifters did gawk here and there, but the mate comments came less frequently. Maybe Adam and Levi had spread the word that she didn’t like it.

  The three women sat by the huge windows that looked out over part of the grounds, talking long after the lunch dishes had been cleared away. It seemed Luke was learning how to build a house and his mishaps created much hilarity, especially with the crazy faces Nikki made while talking about them.

  Hope glanced out the window as Nikki launched into another story about his hijinks, and her jaw practically hit the tabletop. “What the—?”

  Nikki and Sarah turned to look. After a few moments of silence, they both let loose gales of laughter.

  “Your face…” Sarah said.

  Nikki shrugged, still smiling. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.”

  Hope knew wolf shifters were naked when they returned to their human form, but she’d been unprepared for the large group that had just gone running past bare-assed naked. She could still see a couple of the guys. It looked like they were tackling each other. “What? Why?”

  “Well, I saw a football. They were probably out running, shifted I mean, and decided to shift back for quick game of Attack. It’s our variation of football.” Nikki said all of this as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

  “So that happens a lot?”

  “There’s a lot of nudity in River’s Bend. It’s just the way it is, but there are spots around the territory stocked with cover-ups, blankets, and odd pieces of clothing. It’s up to the wolf if he wants to wear them or not.”

  “I haven’t seen anyone nude since I got here.”

  “Zion asked those who live closest to the lodge to tone it down a bit, but it’s hard to keep some of these guys under wraps for long. After a while here, you’ll barely even notice.”

  Hope highly doubted that. “I don’t see how you could ever not notice that.” She cocked her head toward the window. “Are any of these guys not built?”

  Sarah nodded, looking out as another two heavily muscled wolf shifters ran past. “I can see your point, and there’s nothing wrong with looking. It’s just easier to ignore when you have men like ours to go home to.”

  * * * *

  Adam and Levi didn’t make it back in time for dinner, and Hope hung out in the rec room with Sarah, Wes, and Jackson for a while. There were two pool tables, a huge TV, and a couple of game tables. They played pool for a while and then Hope headed upstairs to check her e-mail, something she’d neglected since coming back to River’s Bend. She forwarded some priority items to her assistant, Jen, fooled around some on social media, and was just getting ready to play solitaire when someone knocked on her door.

  She opened it to find Adam and Levi, both in pajama pants with bare feet and chests.

  Levi held a bunch of DVDs in his hand. “Miss us?” he asked.

  Yes, more than I should have. “No,” she lied.

  Adam made a big show of looking hurt. “Well, we missed you anyway.” He buried his nose in her neck, taking a deep whiff. “You smell good.”

  “Okay... But why are you in pajamas.”

  Levi grinned. “We thought we should get comfortable. It’s movie night.”

  Adam hustled her backward into the room. “It’s chick flick time. Go get your pajamas on.”

  Hope laughed. Was he serious? She reached for the DVDs Levi held. Yup, all romantic comedies that would definitely qualify as chick flicks. “You can’t be interested in these. Seriously, I was joking last night. We can watch something else.”

  Adam shook his head. “Nope. We’re asking you to accept our world, so it’s onl
y fair that we get into the things you like, too.”

  “That’s great, but I also love a good action flick.”

  Levi exaggerated a grimace. “Now you tell us. But tonight, it’s your pick. Go on. Get changed.

  Fifteen minutes later she was sitting between two overgrown wolf shifters in pajamas on a loveseat only meant for two, with a big bowl of popcorn on her lap and a tray of drinks nearby. She had a hard time concentrating on the movie at first, and tried to apply herself to other things.

  Running a hand up Adam’s thigh earned her an “Uh, uh. Watch the movie” from him. Applying that same effort with Levi earned her a quick kiss and an “I’m trying to watch. It’s just getting good.”

  Brad would never have bothered watching anything like that with her, and she was glad she’d finally stopped wearing his ring. Why she had continued to wear it was beyond her now.

  In all fairness to the typical male, Adam did fall asleep once, but she elbowed him playfully. After that, he stayed awake until the credits rolled.

  “So? Did you like the movie?” she asked.

  “That guy was an idiot,” Levi said. “Why couldn’t he see how much Callie loved him? But besides that, it was pretty good.”

  “Yeah,” Adam said. “I wished I could reach into the TV and snatch him out of it a few times, but at least he finally got it together in the end. He wasted all that time chasing other women and claiming he only wanted to be her friend.”

  “Well, there was no fate involved. It’s not that simple for humans.” She stretched and yawned. Then smiled brightly at the pajama-clad wolves. “Well, I’m ready for bed. How about you?”

  Levi nodded. “Yeah, we should say goodnight.”

  “What?” She practically barked it at him.

  Adam kissed her cheek and squeezed her knee. “We can’t make love to you tonight, Hope. It’s too soon. You have to be sore after last night.”

  “And the night before that,” Levi added.

  Now that he mentioned it, things had been a little tender when she’d showered that morning. Did she care, though? Not at all. She could bear a little discomfort for all that pleasure. “It doesn’t matter. I want you anyway. Both of you.”

  Adam stood up and pulled her to her feet, wrapping her in his arms. “No, Hope. It’s not going to happen tonight.”

  “Shouldn’t I be the one refusing?” She felt like pushing him away and stomping her foot. No fair getting her hooked and then saying no.

  Levi came up behind her and lifted her ponytail, kissing the back of her neck. “If you want us with you, there are other things we can do.”

  His words and the look in Adam’s eyes almost took her breath away. “Oh, yes?” she asked.

  Adam lowered his lips to hers and kissed her until she truly was breathless. “Oh, yes.”

  * * * *

  The next day, Adam and Levi did make it back in time for dinner. After a hearty meal with them and everyone she was starting to think of as the gang, they took her back upstairs for a late nap. Nap turned out to be a euphemism for sex. She’d just drifted off for a real nap, when Levi woke her by trailing kisses down her back.

  “What time is it?” she asked.

  He placed a kiss on her tailbone. “It’s only a little after eight. Wake up, sleepyhead.”

  “Hey, I was promised a nap. Where’s Adam?”

  “He went to get dressed. You should, too.”

  He’d peaked her curiosity. “What for?”

  “You’ll see. Meet us downstairs in twenty minutes.”

  Hope dragged herself out of bed when he left, but a shower woke her up and she managed to make it downstairs in a half hour. She hadn’t known what to wear, so she’d put on a pair of jeans and a tank top, then grabbed a sweater. The nights were getting cooler.

  She found them waiting for her in the foyer wearing only cut-off jeans. “Isn’t it a little cold for that?” she asked, looking them up and down.

  Levi held the door open for her. “We don’t get cold as easily. We run hotter than humans.”

  Yes, she’d noticed that. Even when it got chilly in the middle of the night, she didn’t need a blanket when she slept between them. They kept her warm.

  She smelled it before she saw it, a bonfire like the ones she’d enjoyed as a child at summer camp, only much larger. It had been lit in a clearing and was attended by what seemed to be a few dozen wolf shifters, some sitting on blankets and portable lounge chairs, others sitting directly on the grass.

  “What is this?” she asked.

  Adam stopped a few feet behind the rest of the crowd and sat down in the grass, reaching for her. “It’s the Ceremony of Myrar, for Sarah.”

  She took his hand and allowed him to pull her down to his lap.

  “I’ll go grab some blankets,” Levi said, walking off into the darkness.

  Looking around, she saw that most of the shifters were scantily clad. Even the women wore tiny shorts and what looked like very thin tank tops. She scanned the crowd, noting that some wore nothing but bikinis. “I don’t see Sarah.”

  “She’ll get here last, with Jackson and Wes, once everyone else is in place.” He held her tightly against him, speaking close to her ear. “I don’t want you to be afraid, but once Grey and Zion arrive, most of those in attendance will shift. Your sister and her mates won’t at first, not until the ceremony’s end. Levi will shift, but I’ll stay in this form. We don’t want you to feel nervous being the only one who isn’t shifted.”

  Good. She was feeling more and more comfortable in River’s Bend, but she wasn’t quite ready to be surrounded by dozens of fully shifted wolves. “What’s the ceremony for?”

  Levi returned with two blankets, which he spread out on the ground next to them. “It’s a ceremony to welcome Sarah to our clan. Since she was human, she doesn’t have a clan family, and this will give her one. She’ll officially become a member of the clan tonight rather than at the joining. Sometimes it’s done at the joining, but Jackson and Wes want the joining ceremony to focus only on the three of them rather than on the clan as well.”

  Levi sat on one of the blankets and patted the space next to him. She scooted off Adam’s lap and went to fill it. “Is that Grey?”

  Zion walked straight toward the bonfire accompanied by a man she hadn’t met but who resembled Luke and Mason in stature. There was an authority about him that made her think he might be the other alpha.

  “That’s him,” Adam said, taking up residence on her other side.

  Next came Sarah in a short, white sundress, her men dressed only in shorts. They kneeled before Grey and Zion, who’d turned to face the crowd.

  “Do you want to move closer?” she asked, wondering if they’d sat so far away for her benefit. The heat from the fire warmed her even from there, but they could sit several feet closer with no problem. “It’s fine if you do.”

  It was Levi who answered, whispering in her ear. “Adam never sits closer than this. The fire. It makes him…uncomfortable.”

  Hope looked over at Adam who gave her an unreadable look. Was he afraid of the fire? She found that hard to believe. In fact, it was hard to believe he was afraid of anything.

  “Tonight,” Zion began, his voice carrying well on the night’s breeze, “the gathered are here to witness the acceptance of Sarah Davis into Clan Liekos. Sarah is mate of Jackson Lowell and Wes Liulfr, and many of us have come to know and like Sarah since the claiming.”

  There were murmurs of agreement from the crowd, and Hope was glad to hear that her sister was well liked. She’d noticed some of that over the last few days.

  Zion spoke next. “Is there anyone here who would object?”

  Maybe it was the distance from which she watched or even a trick of flame and shadow, but Grey seemed to glare at the crowd.

  “Personally, I’d be afraid to object,” she said, half to herself.

  “He does have a way with people, doesn’t he?” Adam leaned closer. “Zion likes to give clan members a voice,
but that seems to annoy Grey. Privately, he says the only way to lead is with an iron hand. Zion is tough when need be, but he has always given us a voice.”

  “So if someone spoke up, Sarah wouldn’t be allowed to join?”

  “It’s pretty much a done deal and the ceremony is just a formality. Denying her could mean alienating Jackson and Wes. The alphas would hear the objection, but ultimately the choice is theirs. Claimed, formerly human mates are accepted into the clan, except when allowing them to join would endanger our clan or the claimed.”

  Levi leaned in from the other side. “We do have a say in some things, though. For very serious matters that affect the whole clan, we are often given a vote.”

  Hope gasped as a man she didn’t recognize handed Zion what looked like a knife with cloth wrapped around its handle.

  “It’s very old, the Dagger of Lyall,” Levi said. He took her hand and raised it to his lips. “You should prepare yourself. He will cut her and then the knife will be passed along. It will look scarier than it is. I promise you, it will be no more than a quick sting and she will heal quickly.”

  She opened her mouth to say something, but before she got the words out, Zion had sliced into Sarah’s hand. Hope gasped and scrambled to get to her feet, not having any idea what she would do, just knowing she needed to get to Sarah.

  “No, Hope.” Adam grabbed her around her waist and settled her between his legs. “This is what Sarah wants, and she is perfectly fine. Trust us.”

  Her distress hadn’t gone unnoticed, and several of the clan members turned to look her way, including Grey. She could already tell she wasn’t going to like the man. Maybe it was her imagination. It could even be his version of a smile, but she was pretty sure he’d bared his teeth at her.

 

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