by Jane Jamison
But Blane could no longer think straight. Reese would make sure she was all right. But with her pretty round bottom lifted in the air in front of him, he had only one thought. Grabbing her hips, he drove into her again.
She yelped but didn’t try to move away as he pushed into her even harder, faster than before. His cock was all the way inside her. She moved her butt sideways, letting him know that she liked what he was doing.
Blane closed his eyes and let the myriad of sensations swamp him. She was beyond wonderful, a perfect fit for him.
“Blane, back off.”
He heard the gruffness in Reese’s tone, but he didn’t care. He had to keep fucking her. She was so tight and yet so supple that he didn’t want to ever let her go. But in the next second she was pulled away from him. “What the fuck?”
“Don’t get your panties in a bunch.” Reese pushed Blane on the shoulder, urging him to get back on his side of the bed. Charlie, her hair mussed and her pretty lips puffed, lay down in the middle of the bed and shifted on to her side.
Reese got on his knees beside her then took her leg and drew it around his waist. With a groan, he pushed against her pussy and entered her. Reese grabbed her butt cheek, spreading her for his brother. “Get back inside her.”
Blane didn’t wait. He couldn’t have taken his time with her to save his life. Gritting his teeth to try and keep his orgasm at bay, he pushed his cock inside her again.
Like twin bookends, the brothers matched their rhythms. Charlie fondled her tits and reached a hand to her clit to massage it while Reese plunged into her pussy.
Blane closed his eyes, listening to the sounds of wet flesh slapping against other flesh. His balls drew up as they bounced against her ass, and he knew the end was near.
Reese’s growl had him opening his eyes to see Charlie, her face filled with ecstasy, start to move her hips, pushing against first Reese then Blane. Impossibly, the tight muscles of her dark hole clamped around his dick harder. She grabbed hold of Reese’s arm to help push then turned to gaze at Blane. Her eyes were clouded over with desire, her mouth parted in ecstasy.
He didn’t know which made him come, the feel of her anus around his cock or her loving, sex-filled face. His balls drew up, tightening for the release, and it was there, pummeling through him as Reese drove one last time and shouted his climax.
Her body trembled, and her walls convulsed as Charlie opened her mouth in a silent cry, heralding her orgasm. She held onto Reese but sought Blane’s eyes as her body shook. With one last cry, she laid her head down, her body still twitching in the aftereffect of her climax. Exhausted, Blane fell away from her, sliding his hand along her back as an unspoken thank you.
Reese went to her other side, and, for several moments, the only sound was the noise of their panting. Charlie let out a satisfied sigh as she turned onto her back and laid a hand on each man’s chest.
“Fuckin’ A that was amazing.” Reese turned to face them.
Charlie’s soft chuckle mixed with Blane’s laugh. “I couldn’t have put it any better, bro.”
* * * *
Charlie hopped out of bed and raced into the adjoining bathroom, eager to take a shower, get dressed, and find Blane and Reese. Had she really found two men who would love and treasure her? Did their feelings match her own? They were terrific men, men she could see spending her life with.
A sick feeling wrenched her happiness away as she looked at her image in the mirror over the bathroom counter. Nothing had changed regarding Shannon. She was still living with two werewolves, one of whom Charlie had shot yesterday. But at least Blane and Reese had admitted that werewolves did exist. That, at least, was a step in the right direction.
She hurried with her shower, washed her body with strawberry-scented bodywash, then luxuriated in the matching strawberry fragrance of a shampoo made by the same company. She giggled as she imagined Blane or Reese washing themselves with the perfumed toiletries. Had they left the items for her, or were they used to having women spend the night? She shook off the jealous feeling and tunneled her fingers through her wet hair to get out the tangles. Stepping out of the shower, she promised herself that one day soon she’d take an hour-long bubble bath. Where that tub would be located, she wasn’t sure, but she couldn’t help but hope it was in the men’s house.
Making use of the oversized, white fluffy towel hanging on the towel rod, she dried off and wished she had some of her clothes. But everything she’d brought with her, except what she’d had on yesterday, was still at the rental house.
The men, however, had thought to leave her a tube of toothpaste and a packaged toothbrush. Again, she wondered if she was just the latest in a long line of women. Did they keep new toothbrushes and toothpaste around just in case they got lucky?
“Stop it, Charlie. You know they had women before you. Two guys who look like they do can just crook their finger at a girl and she’ll hop into bed with them. Just like you did.” She gave her image a stern look. “You don’t have any claim on them, so cut the green-eyed monster act right now.”
“Yo, Charlie! Grub’s on!”
She smiled at her image. Grub? It figured that Reese would call breakfast by a cowboy term. “I’m coming!”
She walked back into the bedroom, thinking how much she hated to put her dirty clothes back on. Yet she wasn’t surprised to find her clothes, including her underwear, cleaned and ready for her, lying on the armchair next to the big window. Her shirt was wrinkled, but she didn’t mind. Slipping into her clothes as fast as she could, she rushed down the stairs to the first floor.
The aroma of fresh coffee, bacon, and eggs tingled in her nostrils. Her stomach growled, and her mouth watered. Guessing that the swinging door ahead opened into the kitchen, she tossed back her hair, bit her lips to plump them, and pinched her cheeks to give them a little color. She pushed open the door, put on a nonchalant expression, and promptly let her jaw drop.
“Wow.”
Reese already sat at the oval table with his plate piled high. “Hey.”
Taking the seat that Blane offered her, she took in the huge spread of food. “Bacon, eggs, sausage, toast, pancakes, and even fruit.” Her gaze found Blane’s blue eyes. “Are you expecting an invasion? Because it looks like you’re feeding an army.”
Blane chuckled and poured steaming coffee into her cup then into his. He took the seat next to her and began loading up his plate to match Reese’s. “Nope. This is how we eat all the time. Remember, I like to cook.”
Reese took a huge bite out of a piece of toast then drowned it by downing a large glass of orange juice. “Yeah, we eat like this every day.”
She put as much food as she thought she could eat on her plate then took a sip of the coffee. The warm liquid flowed down her throat and heated a trail to her stomach. But even its warmth was no match for the heat she got just being near the men. Would that ever change? If she was lucky enough to end up with even one of them, would the passion and the connection ever dim?
“Charlie, we need to talk.”
She choked on the sip she’d just taken. “I wasn’t sure…I mean, I didn’t want to assume that we were together.”
Blane glanced at Reese, who shrugged. “What?”
“Isn’t that what people say to each other when they’re about to break up? The old ‘we need to talk’ speech?” She thought Blane would get her joke, but he only grew more serious.
“No, it’s not that. As far as we’re concerned, this is your home for as long as you want.”
The sincerity in his voice overwhelmed her, and, for a moment, she found it difficult to speak. “But you hardly know me.”
Blane reached over to take her hand. “We know you just like you know us. In your heart where it counts. You’re ours as sure as the sun shines. If that’s what you want.”
She swallowed and tried to keep her tears from falling. “I do. I want you, both of you, more than I can say. But until I know what’s going to happen with Shannon… You can un
derstand that I have to settle that first, can’t you?”
Why did he suddenly glance away? Had she found love only to have it snatched away by her sister’s circumstances?
“We’ll figure it out one way or another.”
For one of the few times she could remember, Reese’s expression was open, even vulnerable.
She yearned to ask them to take her back to bed, to forget about everyone and everything, but sooner or later, reality would come crashing back. “So what did you want to talk about?”
The men exchanged another telling look. “We want to take you to Shannon’s place. You two need to talk.”
She couldn’t breathe at first. At least not until it hit her that the idea couldn’t be Shannon’s. “She told me to go away and never come back, so I know she didn’t put you up to this. Besides, what about the werewolves?”
Reese dropped his fork on his plate and scowled at her. “Get this straight. Nobody puts us up to anything. But we can’t let this go on any longer. Anderson and Daniel have agreed to get Shannon to sit down with you and talk it out.”
“Providing you come unarmed.” Blane reached over and placed his hand on hers. “You’ve got it all wrong. Yes, Shannon’s men are werewolves, and yes, they can change at will. But they’re still men. They’re still the men she’s chosen to make a life with. As far as we can see, you’ve got two choices. Either you give her a chance to show you that her life with them is good or you forget she’s alive and move on.”
“And let her stay with those animals?”
Reese’s laugh came out sounding more like a bark. “They’re animals? Are you for real?” His face crunched into a snarl. “I’ll tell you what an animal is. An animal is a man who kills his neighbor to take his land. An animal is a man who kills for sport and not to fill his stomach. An animal is a man who pollutes his land for the sake of an extra buck. An animal is a man who fucks a woman against her will. Those are the real animals.”
Reese stood up, shoving his chair out from under him. “If you have half the sense I think you have, you’ll get your pretty ass in the pickup. They’re expecting us.”
Charlie stared after Reese as he kicked the back door open and strode outside. Reese’s outburst had alarmed her and thrilled her more than she could say. Instead, she turned to Blane and asked, “Was it something I said?”
At least this time he chuckled at her joke. “Ya think? That’s about the longest speech I’ve ever heard him make.”
He grew serious again. “Anderson and Daniel are our friends. They have been for a long time. We’ve accepted Shannon as their woman just as she’s accepted them. You don’t have to worry about your safety. They won’t hurt you, and we’ll be there with you. So what’s it going to be? Are you going to see your sister? Or are you giving up?”
* * * *
Shannon was even more beautiful than Charlie remembered. She’d always been envious of her sister’s golden hair, her innocent face, and her curvy body, but now she possessed an added quality that Charlie couldn’t define.
“Charlie.”
Charlie bit her lower lip. No how are you or even get the hell away from us. Just a cold, impersonal tone and her name. “Can I come in?”
Shannon’s gaze lifted past her to the four men standing in the front yard, and Charlie followed her gaze. They were obviously trying not to watch the sisters’ interaction and failing miserably. Daniel and Anderson were werewolves, yet they looked and acted like any other men.
“Was it their idea or yours?”
Charlie smiled, hoping to break her sister’s cold demeanor. “Truthfully? Theirs. But I’m glad they made me come.”
A slight smile came and went before Shannon pulled her lips into a thin line. “Mine, too. They threatened to hunt you down and drag you back if I didn’t agree to talk to you. Nosy-ass men.” She nodded, turned her back, and walked away from the screen door.
Charlie opened the door and followed Shannon into the living room. A large couch dominated the room along with a stone fireplace centered on the longest wall. The furnishings reflected her sister’s laid-back style with tans and earth tones along with a few more colorful pieces thrown in to brighten the room.
“This looks a lot like Blane’s and Reese’s home.”
Shannon sat down in an easy chair and motioned for her to sit on the casual-style couch. “It should. Their families came to Forever around the same time. I think they may have even helped each other build their houses.”
An awkward silence followed with the only sound coming from the front yard. The men laughed and joked with each other, making a direct contrast to the tension between the sisters. Charlie dropped her gaze to the patterned rug lying over the hardwood floor.
“I’m sorry.”
Charlie jerked her head up. “For what?”
“For telling you to get lost yesterday.” Shannon’s gaze locked onto hers.
“I don’t blame you. I’m sorry, too.”
“Yeah, well, I was kind of upset when you shot Daniel. For the second time.”
Charlie bit her lower lip and tried not to laugh. “Yeah. Although this time I didn’t actually mean to shoot him. Things just got out of hand. He must really hate me.”
Shannon shook her head and chuckled. “You’re not his favorite person right now.” She narrowed her eyes. “Good thing he’s a werewolf, or he’d be dead.”
Charlie swallowed hard. She’d wanted to ease into the dreaded conversation, but Shannon had taken the direct approach. She eased forward to sit on the edge of the couch and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Shannon, how can you do it? How can you live with them? You know what they are. Please, please come home with me. Let me take you back to Boston.”
Even as she said the words, she felt a pain rip into her heart. Could she leave and never see Blane and Reese again? But didn’t she have an obligation to keep her sister safe?
“Why?”
“Why?” Charlie gaped at her. “I just told you why.”
Shannon stood and walked over to the front window. She pressed her palm to the glass as though wanting to touch her lovers before turning back to Charlie. “Do you remember our father telling us how to tell the difference between a bad deal and a good one?”
“Of course I do. But what has that to do with anything?”
“He said to listen to your gut. If you felt like the deal was going south or would cost too much, you’d feel it in your gut. It’s about the only sound piece of advice he ever gave us.”
Charlie could see her father, sitting behind the massive mahogany desk, refusing to listen to their pleas for him to play with them. She remembered the one day when he’d brought all three daughters into his home office and told them how business worked. She hadn’t paid much attention to his talk about dollars and percentages, but she remembered him talking about his gut. He’d followed his gut all the way into growing a successful worldwide corporation.
“Too bad his gut never told him to pay more attention to his children and his wife.”
“How do you know it didn’t? Maybe he just refused to listen to it.”
Charlie noted the way her sister stood. She seemed more confident, more secure in herself and…content. “I still don’t see what this has to do with you living with a couple of monsters.”
Anger flashed in her sister’s eyes. “They’re not monsters. They’re good, honest, hardworking men who love me with all their hearts. And I love them back with all of mine.”
“How? How can you love someone who changes into an animal?” She winced as she said the word “animal,” recalling Reese’s definitions of a real animal. Could he be right? Could being a man be more than what he looked like on the outside?
“I don’t know if you can understand this, Charlie, but, when I first met them, I felt a connection, a bond between us. I’ve never experienced anything like it before. But that connection was deep inside me. It took me a while to recognize it for what it was.”
Charlie dragged
in a slow breath. “It’s a link between the three of you. Like a cord that’s been tied to you and to them. An incredibly powerful, invisible cord that can never be broken.”
Shannon tilted her head, reminding Charlie of the way Blane and Reese sometimes looked at her. “That’s right. It’s like that gut feeling our father told us about, but even better. You’ve felt it, haven’t you?”
Charlie couldn’t find enough air to drag into her lungs. Was Shannon bonded to Daniel and Anderson? Did Shannon feel the same way about her men that she felt about Reese and Blane? But it had to be different since they were werewolves. The only thing she could do was nod.
Shannon came to her, knelt at her feet, and took her hands. “You understand, don’t you?”
Charlie shook her head, taking her hands out of her sister’s grip. “It’s different. Your men are werewolves. Blane and Reese…they’re human through and through.”
Her sister opened her mouth to speak then shut it. Charlie’s heart pounded against her chest as though looking for a way out. She wanted to ask Shannon what she’d started to say, but her courage died.
“I want you to do something for me, big sis.”
Shannon hadn’t called her “big sis” in a very long time. She waited, willing to hear her out. “What?”
“Take the day to get to know Daniel and Anderson. If you do, you’ll see how good they are. You’ll see how happy I am. Do this for me, and, if you still want me to, I’ll go home with you.”
Chapter Nine
Charlie tried to dislike Daniel and Anderson Holms, but the longer she stayed around them, the more she grew to like them. They were strong, funny, outgoing men who adored her sister. Whether they were near her or not, their gazes would shift toward Shannon and a smile would come over their faces.
The love was mutual. Shannon glowed whenever they came near her. She found every opportunity to graze her palm over Daniel’s chest and follow it with a touch on Anderson’s shoulder. Neither man appeared jealous and even seemed happy for the other. Shannon’s excitement for each man practically sizzled in the air.