by Jane Jamison
Curt twisted in his seat to make sure she paid attention to him. “You’re staying right where you are. We’re not taking the chance that you’ll change your mind and run off.”
A soft smile formed on her full, kiss-me lips. She gave them a look that made Josh hold back a moan with the urgency to have her. Then, when she spoke next, he had no choice but to moan out loud.
“Boys, I’m not going anywhere.”
For a moment, silence prevailed.
“Jadon?”
“Yeah, Josh?”
“Get this truck on the road.”
* * * *
The Barberson men’s house was different than a lot of the homes in the area. It was an older home, three stories high, and made of red brick. Unlike most homes that had enough land to farm or run cattle, no barn rested behind the house. Instead, their barn was situated in an adjoining pasture.
“A blue barn? Aren’t barns supposed to be red?” The robin egg blue was bright, especially with the noontime sun beating down on it.
She had to fight to keep her gaze on their handsome faces and not their long cocks. Even though they weren’t erect, they were still very impressive.
“Our fathers built the home when they were in their twenties. Jadon’s father had already found his mate that he’d share with a friend, and since she was the only woman in the home at that point, they let her decorate however she wanted.”
“And the barn, too,” added Josh. “Her favorite color was blue so they painted the barn the way she wanted it. Even after she passed away, we kept it that way. It was kind of like having a part of her still here.”
The fact that they’d kept it blue even after her death was sweet. She’d kept her mother’s collection of ceramic and stuffed bears for the same reason. “I like it. She was right to choose a color besides red. There are too many red barns already.”
“We like it, too.” Josh had put his hand on her back, a few inches above her butt. She wished he’d put it lower.
She stepped inside the house, ushered inside by the men making her feel like a queen entering her palace. “Do you always leave your door unlocked?”
Curt tapped her on one shoulder, tricking her into turning that way, and then planted a quick kiss on her cheek. “Most folks around here do. Besides, who’s going to break into a bear’s home? Goldilocks?”
Jadon slapped Curt on the back of the head as he strode toward the stairs. “Wait here while we grab some clothes.”
“Okay.” She couldn’t help it. No red-blooded woman could’ve kept from watching their firm, tight butts as they took the stairs to the next floor.
She let out a breath. “My, oh, my.”
The interior was anything but palatial, but she liked it even better because it wasn’t grand. It was a large house with compartmentalized rooms, the way most older homes were laid out. The roomy living room with its two worn but comfortable-looking leathers sofas paralleling the stone fireplace flowed into a kitchen that boasted a coziness that spoke of easy Sunday mornings. A large tree stump sat between the couches and served as a coffee table. Photographs of past generations crowded the wooden mantle of the fireplace, while books rested in neat stacks on a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf against one of the walls. The white appliances in the kitchen along with the Formica countertop spoke of another era. She could easily see the men sitting at the three counter barstools as she whipped up a savory and filling meal.
“We know it’s not much, but it’s home.” Curt led the men as they came back downstairs.
“That was fast.”
“With you waiting for us?” Josh’s brown eyes softened as he found her. “Not fast enough.”
When he was close enough, she pressed her palm to Curt’s chest, and as she always did when she touched them, felt the sizzle of lust and something more—love—travel from him to her. “Your home is perfect.”
She didn’t feel like she needed to ask permission to sit on one of the couches. Watching the men vie to sit next to her almost made her giggle. Jadon, the one who seemed to take life more seriously than his cousins, was the odd man out and had to sit opposite her. His starling blue eyes sparkled with envy.
“So your father and a friend of his married, um, mated your mother?”
Jadon’s pleasure that she’d spoken to him first was obvious. “That’s right. And as far as we’re concerned, married and mated mean the same thing.”
Did that mean they already thought of her as their mate? As married in a common law kind of way? Did she dare ask? She wanted to know. Oh, how she wanted to know for sure, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask.
“I don’t want to be rude or anything, but how do you know which of the men was your biological father?”
“My mother was already pregnant with me when they realized that Morton, my father’s best friend, was her mate as well. But it didn’t matter. All children born into the family are considered to have all the men as their father. Does that make sense?”
“I think so. So it’s not who biologically fathered the child that matters because all the men play the role of parent. Did I get it right?”
“You sure did.” Jadon leaned forward, trying to get physically closer to her.
“Yeah, as you probably figured out since we told you we’re cousins, our fathers were brothers.” Josh’s smile was sweet as though remembering his father. “They didn’t have to share the same house and didn’t at the start of each of their matings, but the women became such good friends that they talked them into living in one house.”
Curt cleared his throat. “Josh didn’t tell you the whole of it. One of my fathers was killed in a construction accident and the other fell on bad times when I was just a kid. Jadon’s fathers offered to have my father and his mate stay until he could get back on his feet. Once they came and everyone liked each other so much, they stayed on.”
“Then when my three fathers—”
“Three?” She gawked at Josh. She hadn’t given having children with the men any thought. It was too early. After all, she’d only just realized that she cared for them and was still trying to sort out their possible relationship.
“Yeah. Three. Werebears often have multiple mates. Anyway, my family came for a visit, fell in love with Shatland and its shifter community, then decided to stay. The original house was a third of the size it is today. They kept adding more to it whenever someone else moved in. We were all about the same age, so we grew up together.”
“Which is why sometimes we’ll call each other bro. We’re more like brothers than cousins,” added Curt. “If you ask me, they got the better end of the deal.” He curled his fingers, blew on the fingertips, and then rubbed them against his chest.
“Fuck off, bro,” joked Josh.
“That’s great. I wish my brother and I were closer.” If only John would understand how she felt about them. She had a feeling that he’d be even harder to tell than her father. If she ever revealed the truth to them.
“Do your parents still live here?”
“No.” Josh leaned back, stretching out his long legs. “Our fathers are all gone and all but two of our mothers have passed on, too.”
“Our moms decided to take off for Florida,” added Curt. “Just like other senior ladies, they’re looking for love in sunny Miami.”
“Wow. So many parents. That must’ve been something.”
“When we have time, we’ll draw you a family tree,” offered Josh. “Until then, just remember that we considered all of them to be our parents. It didn’t matter to us which kid belonged to which mother.”
“Okay.” Yet she wasn’t sure she’d ever understand completely.
“So tell me about Shatland. You called it a shifter community. I know there are werewolves in Forever, but what about Shatland?”
They grew solemn and the joy of the previous conversation was gone. Josh let out a low growl. “Most werewolves live in Forever and on the ranches surrounding that town. But just like Shatland, they have others living there. Like
faeries, werecats, and even a few vampires.”
He was kidding. He had to be. “Vampires? Real, bloodsucking vampires? Oh, wow.”
“Don’t be afraid, baby.” Curt took her hand. “The vampires around here don’t feed on humans or shifters. With all the television shows and movies featuring vampires lately, they’re keeping an even lower profile than they did before. They won’t bother you.”
“That’s good to know. And there are faeries, too? Like Tinkerbell?”
“They’re not at all like her. They look like full-size humans, like us.”
Faeries and vampires. What else would she find out was real? Ghosts? Zombies?
Getting to know them and hearing about the people in their town and Forever fascinated her. If she had a chance, she’d venture into Shatland again. Forever could wait, especially since it was filled with werewolves. But any visit would have to go on the back burner for now. Her burgeoning need for them demanded her attention. How could they look sexier than ever? They weren’t men defined by their clothing. As usual, they wore simple shirts and worn jeans. The boots never changed and neither did the sense of craving she felt sizzling from their bodies into hers.
She remembered how their hands had felt caressing her body. How their tongues had made her skin come alive. They’d brought her to an awareness she hadn’t thought possible and she never wanted that sensation to fade away.
What did people say? Use it or lose it? I’m sure as hell not going to lose it. Not if I have any say in it. They could talk later on. After.
“Um, how about you give me the fifty cent tour of the rest of the place?” She stood, deciding to take matters into her own hands. She kicked her running shoes off, then after stepping away from them, she turned, crossed her arms in front of her chest and took hold of the hem of her shirt. She smiled, tossed her hair, then lifted her arms and tugged her shirt off. Throwing it, she managed to hit Josh right in the face.
He took it, held it to his nose, and sniffed. “Mmm, good.”
The man could make sniffing an Olympic sport. “Wait until you get a whiff of the rest of me.”
Curt groaned. “Dibs on her panties.”
“Bullshit.” Jadon scowled at his cousin. “She decides who gets what.”
Josh tossed her shirt over the back of the couch. “Fine. You two can have her clothes. I get her.”
“Fuck you, man.”
Curt shoved Josh, and for a minute, she was afraid they’d start fighting. She cleared her throat, drawing their focus back on her. Then, popping her button in exaggerated slowness, she slid the zipper down, going even slower, and pulled the flaps of her jeans wide.
“I hate to disappoint you, Curt, but I’m not wearing any panties. I know you guys just got dressed again, so if you’d rather not…”
The three of them groaned in unison, each of them sounding like they’d die from lust if they didn’t touch her soon.
She let the jeans stay open, then went back to her bra. Taking each strap one at a time, she inched them down her shoulders, exposing more of her breasts. Then reaching behind her, she undid the clasps and caught the bra to her chest before it could fall.
More groans came, but these were filled with disappointment.
“You’re killing us, baby.” Jadon scooted closer to the end of the couch before she lifted a finger, warning him to stay where he was.
“Isn’t anyone going to give me that tour?” As soon as she’d finished the sentence, she dropped her arms, allowing the bra to fall to the floor. With a sinful giggle, she shoved her jeans down to her feet.
“You bet. How about we start with the bedroom?” Jadon was on his feet, charging toward her. He grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder.
“Was it about you guys and yanking me off my feet?” Her hair flowed down, covering her face so she couldn’t see where he was going. At least not until he started up the wide staircase. Curt and Josh followed them.
“Maybe we should explain first.”
She pushed against Jadon’s firm butt to lift up far enough to see Curt. “Explain what?”
Jadon carried her down a long hallway, then waited as Josh stepped past them to open a door. They went down yet another hallway, before once again, opening up a door.
Before she knew it, she was tossed on top of a huge bed. Laughing, she scrambled toward the headboard and put her back against the wrought-iron bars.
At first glance, she hadn’t had time to see what was in the room. Now that she did, she narrowed her eyes and tried to understand what was there.
A lasso sat on the nightstand along with a tube of gel and fur-lined handcuffs. A set of spurs along with a jar of chocolate peanut butter spread and a feathery whip rested on the other nightstand. It was the kind of whip with artificial feathers at one end of the rod and soft leather strips at the other end. She’d seen them in online sex toy shops and had wondered how it would feel to get lashed.
“Oh, my God. You guys are into kinky stuff, aren’t you?”
Josh started taking off his shirt. She didn’t know which to study first. His amazing body or the instruments of pleasure. “We’re not experts by any means, but we do like to play.”
“Have you done any of this, Mayla? If you’re not up to it, just say so.” Jadon paused in undoing his belt buckle as he waited for her answer.
“Truthfully? I haven’t had much of a chance to explore this kind of sex.” The idea made her nervous, but she couldn’t deny how wet her pussy was. Her skin was already tingling.
“Trust me, baby.” Curt had gotten undressed the quickest and sat on the edge of the bed. “You’re going to love it.”
She wasn’t so sure. Didn’t women get beaten after getting tied up? She wouldn’t have wanted to admit it, but she’d always secretly thought that women who allowed men to spank or whip them were weak-willed and lacked self-esteem.
“Mayla, like I said, you don’t have to do this.”
She put on a brave face for Jadon. “I know. I’m not worried about you three hurting me. I just wouldn’t want you to think any less of me for letting you”—she tilted her head toward the sex toys—“do it to me.”
Curt jerked away from her as though she’d struck him. “Why would we think less of you?”
“He’s right. We already think you’re the most amazing woman we’ve ever met.” Josh had finished stripping and came to the other side of the bed.
She tried not to look down. If she saw their long, hard cocks, she’d have to take hold of them. And if she took hold of them, one of them would get lost in her mouth. She could already imagine how tasty he’d be.
“Nothing you do, especially not this, would ever make us think that you’re anything but what you are.” Jadon smiled then picked up the handcuffs. “We know you’re a strong, capable woman who knows herself well and doesn’t flinch from trying anything new. The way you handled us changing into bears? Hell, not one woman in a hundred would’ve taken it like you did.”
“Shit. Not one in a thousand.” Curt searched her, his gaze boring into hers. “This is your decision. We enjoy playing, but if you don’t ever want to try it, then that’s fine with us. We’ll get rid of all this stuff and turn the room into one big closet for your shoes.”
She laughed. “Damn. Do you really think I have that many shoes? All my clothes together wouldn’t take up even a third of the space.”
She drank in their tall frames, wondered at their tree trunk sized legs, their shoulders that stretched so wide, and at their tanned chests with the bulges of their abs that led to their erect bulges. She couldn’t deny them a moment of pleasure. If sex play was what they wanted, then she’d give it to them.
“I’m game. But you’re going to have to teach me.”
“That’s what we were hoping you’d say.” Jadon handed a handcuff to Curt, then to Josh. “The first thing you need to do is to pick a safe word.”
“You mean a word I’d say if anything goes wrong? I’ve read about safe words somewhere.”
>
“That’s right. But you can use it anytime you want to.” Curt raised his eyebrows in question as he prepared to snap one of the cuffs around her wrist. His palm skated down her arm, then over her shoulder and came to rest on her nipple. He cupped her breast and took in her taunt nipple.
“Use it if you don’t like what we’re doing or if you just want to take a break. You can say it as many times as you want or not at all. It’s all up to you.”
She nodded, then sucked in a breath when the cuff clicked closed. If she’d had any doubt about attempting the new kind of play, the rush of juices between her legs put it out.
Curt put the end of the handcuffs around one of the iron slats in the headboard. She turned her head to see Josh do the same with his handcuffs. He nuzzled his nose against her neck, drew in a slow breath, then nibbled at her ear lobe.
The mystical connection took over, muddling her mind as sensations, as fresh to her as though she’d never experienced them, swept her up.
What had she been about to say? She couldn’t recall and no longer cared.
Yanking on the cuffs, she was surprised to find that they didn’t hurt at all. In fact, with a little harder tug, she could’ve slipped her hands out of them. “My safe word is polyester.”
“Polyester? That’s a strange word.”
Jadon picked up the spurs, and for only a moment, she was worried. But the worry was obliterated when she saw the love in his eyes.
Oh, yeah. That’s what I was thinking of. As soon as we’re finished, I’ll ask them.
Is this love?
As an attorney, her trained analytical mind had already surmised from their actions and their looks that they cared for her. After all, they’d said that being mated was the same as being married. What else did she need? A ring on her finger?
Okay, a ring would be nice. Would it be one ring for all three men? Or three individual rings?
But both as an attorney and a woman, she wanted confirmation. She’d get that later, too.
“What’s that smile mean?” Jadon crawled on the end of the bed, putting his body between her legs. He held a spur in his hand.