by Erica Woods
Damn you, brain!
His grin changed to a carnal smile, wicked intentions gleaming in his amber eyes as he licked his lips like a wolf before a meal. “Why, how you would taste, of course.”
Before I could stutter a reply, he walked away, leaving me standing with my jaw slack and my eyes wide and unseeing.
Two men? What were you thinking?
I was in so much trouble.
49
HOPE
Later that day, I was nestled into Ruarc’s side—my legs thrown over his lap, his arm around my shoulders, my head on his chest—when Jason waltzed into the living room with a broad grin on his face and a square box carried under one arm.
“It’s time,” he pronounced with a serious expression. “Too many moons have passed since our last battle, and we have a new member to initiate.”
“Initiate?”
“Yes, my sweet dove. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen this one”—he arched a brow in Ruarc’s direction—“battle it out on the board.”
“Dove? Aren’t doves just fancy pigeons?”
“It’s a term of endearment, love. Don’t ruin the moment.”
I laughed, enjoying Jason’s playfulness and the way he brandished his box when he spoke.
Eyes sparkling with mischief, Jason sauntered over to the couch where we sat. “You ready?”
“To battle? What, exactly, does that mean?”
Ruarc put his chin on top of my head and turned to Jason. “Looking for a whooping, pup?”
“As a matter of fact, I am.” Jason flashed a grin. “Why don’t you bend over and let me get started.”
A quick extraction from our entangled limbs, and then Ruarc was on his feet, towering over Jason with his teeth bare in challenge. “Careful.” The warning was accompanied by a low snarl, the threat in the terrifying sound so chilling I wrapped my arms around myself in an instinctive attempt to protect my vulnerable areas.
“Is this the place I’m meant to say, ‘my, what big teeth you have’?”
I cringed, prepared to see fists flying, but instead, Ruarc’s lips spread wider, turning an alarming baring of teeth into an alarm-baring-of-teeth-that-was-also-a-smile.
A smile I’d come to love.
Jason grinned back and thumped Ruarc on the back.
“The others?” Ruarc asked.
“Ash is bringing snacks, and Lucien is probably waiting till we’re all ready. You know how he is,” Jason added in a strangely neutral tone.
My stomach dropped.
It was my fault. If Lucien chose to miss this—whatever this was—it would be because of me.
And I couldn’t even blame him.
His dislike of me, his suspicion . . . Everything he’d accused me of had been true—or if not everything, then most of it. I’d lied to them, misled them. Just being here put them in danger.
My hands tightened into fists. “I’ll be upstairs.”
“No, you won’t.” Before I could move, Ruarc sat down and lifted me onto his lap.
“But—”
“No buts!” Jason interjected. “Although, yours is particularly exquisite . . .”
I gasped, and Ruarc glared at Jason. “Behave,” he said, but then his hand slid down my body and squeezed the butt in question. “Mmm.” He growled into my ear, teeth baring in good humor at the goosebumps rising in tandem across my skin, like little toy soldiers ready to battle.
“Oh, I see how it is.” Jason looked pointedly down at Ruarc’s hand. “You playing favorites already, love?”
Even though I knew he was kidding, I couldn’t help a quick stab of worry. Ruarc was my first real boyfriend, and he was quite protective.
I squirmed.
Did Jason expect me to change that, to make the rules myself? And, more importantly, should I?
I like how things are now, though. I like having Ruarc take charge. It makes things so much easier.
But easy wasn’t a good reason for anyone to get hurt.
“I’ll always be the favorite,” Ruarc growled, squeezing my hip. A second later, his lips found their way to a spot behind my ear. There, he pressed a quick kiss to the sensitive skin, making me shiver. “Was smart enough to claim her first.”
Jason threw back his head and roared with laughter, and just like that my worries disappeared. A smile tugged on my lips, and before long I was laughing with him.
“You hear that, love? I think your, err . . . boyfriend’s ego is growing out of control.”
“But, Jason,” I began, determined not to worry about the way he’d stumbled over the boyfriend thing, “as long as I’ve known you—”
“Not long at all,” Jason reminded me with a grin.
I smiled back. “That’s true, but as long as I have”—I waited to see if he would interrupt again, but when he only raised a brow with silent expectation, I continued—“your ego has been like that. I don’t know why you’d suddenly start worrying about it growing out of control.”
A deep, rough chuckle rolled out of Ruarc like claps of muted thunder. “She got you there.”
I was too surprised, too awe-struck by the beautiful sound to react. And I wasn’t the only one.
For several seconds, Jason stared at Ruarc in silent wonder, until a slow, wide smile broke out across his face. This one was so warm, so heartfelt, that it made unbidden tears prick at my eyes.
“Brother,” Jason said quietly. The two men shared a long look, neither speaking. Then, in tandem, they both turned to me. “Thank you.”
I tilted my head. “For what?”
“For everything, mo chridhe,” Ruarc said and buried his nose in my neck.
Warmth flooded my chest—even though I didn’t quite understand—and my voice was low and hoarse when I replied, “I should be thanking you. Everything you’ve done for me—”
“Was nothing,” Ruarc interrupted.
“It was everything, Ruarc,” I whispered back.
“Are we interrupting?”
I twisted on Ruarc’s lap and looked straight into a pair of piercing, blue eyes. The owner of said eyes held a bowl of popcorn in one hand, the other a pitcher of water.
The guys almost always drank water. Water or beer, with the occasional soda thrown in once in a blue moon.
Lucien walked past him, and my guard immediately rose to shield me from the crisp, cutting voice that would soon wonder out loud what, exactly, Ash thought they had interrupted.
But while I was shrinking into Ruarc’s side, Lucien simply glanced at the box Jason had put on the table when the others walked in and made no comment.
“Nothing that can’t be picked up again later.” Jason took a seat on the couch next to me and Ruarc, kicked his feet up on the table, and shot me a sly wink.
Something hot and fervent pierced my heart. A hope, a wish for a future I could never have.
This . . . this was a taste of family, of belonging.
And I never wanted it to end.
“We waited,” Ruarc said and jerked his chin at the table.
Ash followed his gaze. “Monopoly?” A smile broke over that too serious face, a smile that warmed his eyes and instantly transformed him from a controlled and guarded male, burdened by responsibility, to a carefree, younger version of himself. He took the last seat on the couch. “We have not played this since—”
“The berries,” Lucien interrupted. A flicker of humor sparked in forest-green eyes as they swept over Jason. “I’m surprised,” he drawled. “I seem to recall a young pup claiming monopoly was for the devil?”
A hint of color tinted Jason’s cheeks. “I’d forgotten about that.”
“Really?” Ash’s brows rose. “I would think it hard to forget that distinctive color of red.”
Lucien snorted, and if not for Ruarc’s stubborn habit of keeping me wrapped up in his arms whenever he was near—a habit I’d come to adore—I’d have fallen out of my seat.
Lucien snorting?
Was the world ending?
�
��It wasn’t simply red,” he said, and this time his lips twitched, almost like he was on the verge of a smile. He joined us around the table—gracefully folding his lean frame into one of the two available chairs. “It was rose-red. Or so the lady claimed.”
Jason cleared his throat. “I don’t think Hope needs to hear the whole story—”
“She does,” Ruarc interrupted in that low, gravelly voice that always seemed to drag across each of my nerve endings in a way that left me tingling.
“No, she doesn’t. It has nothing to do with—”
“Monopoly?” Ash lifted the lid of the box and revealed a colorful cardboard surface, strange metal shapes, and various plastic pieces and cards. “Is it your wish that we pack it away?”
Ruarc grunted out a laugh, while Jason scowled.
“Let’s just play,” he grumbled.
“We will. And while we do I am sure Hope would appreciate another piece of insight into one of her mates.”
As soon as the words left Ash’s mouth, we all froze. Me, because I wasn’t sure how to act around the others with our new dynamic, unsure if they even knew. The reason for Ruarc’s and Jason’s unease could be for the same reasons, but I doubted it.
Not knowing made me worry they regretted their commitment to me.
“Not mate. Boyfriend,” Ruarc spat, and I tensed further.
We hadn’t known each other long, but the way he disparaged our connection felt like a cheapening of what we had, regardless of my own uncertainty about our future.
Jason cleared his throat and gave a small shake of his head.
Ruarc stiffened, cursed, then tightened his grip on me. “Whatever you’re thinking, don’t,” he growled in my ear.
“I . . . I wasn’t—”
“Ruarc isn’t a fan of the human courting terms, love,” Jason said softly. “He is impatient, and since he can’t call you mate he has to settle on terms he feels are . . . lesser.”
He can’t call you mate.
Because I was human?
“I understand.” But I didn’t. Not really.
“Be patient,” Ash said, and I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me or Ruarc. “These things take time.”
Ruarc’s only reply was a dark, unhappy sound.
A ball of lead had formed in my stomach, and while I tried to digest it, I sneaked a peek over at Lucien.
His gaze was fixed on a spot above my head, his hands curled around his chair’s armrest.
His silence disturbed me.
“I’m the shoe!” Jason suddenly cried out.
“You’re a shoe?” Confused, I glanced at this feet. “You’re not even wearing shoes.”
“Sadly my feet are too big for normal shoes, love.”
Ruarc grunted. “That why you want the tiny shoe?”
“Ever heard of irony?”
“What’s with the shoes?” I asked again, looking around and seeing all four men staring at the box with various expressions of humor. Even Lucien.
“You know what they say love.” Jason wiggled his brows. “Big feet, big—”
“Shoes,” Ash interrupted. “Big feet, big shoes.”
Jason laughed, looked at my confused expression and laughed harder. “Exactly, oh wise one. Big shoes.”
I shook my head. “I am so lost.”
Leaning forward, Ruarc snatched something out of the box and held it in front of my face. “It’s a game piece.” He used his index finger to tilt my head back so I could meet his gaze. Molten silver traced the lines of my face, lingering on my mouth. “It’s yours, a chuisle,” he murmured and brushed a too-short kiss over my lips. Then he turned to Jason and glared. “For upsetting our female.”
“She wasn’t upset,” Jason protested. He reached for the little metal piece, but Ruarc jerked it out of reach and placed it in my hand.
“Hope, love, my little turtledove.” Jason turned comically large eyes at me. “I need my game piece. It brings me luck.”
“I don’t recall you ever winning, Jason, so I doubt it brings you luck,” Lucien said dryly. He tapped a finger against his lip, tilted his head, and reluctantly looked my way. “You could offer it to him as payment for the story.”
The devious idea took root, and I could feel my lips stretch in a grin of my own as I looked at Jason. “Lucien has a point,” I said. “I’ll give you the shoe . . . if you tell the berry story.”
Amber eyes widened. Jason blanched.
My stomach hollowed. “No, I—Don’t worry.” I reached over to give him the piece. “You don’t have to tell me, it’s okay.” If anyone knew what it was to prefer certain truths to stay buried, it was me.
As my hand opened, Jason’s eyes lit up.
I’d been played.
“Aha!” He snatched the piece away and gave me a triumphant smile. “I’ve bested you, fair maiden. Now that I have my shoe, I will be unbeatable and you will all tremble before your master!”
I blinked at him, took in his maniacal grin and the sparkling humor dancing across his face, and burst out laughing.
“I do not think you are suited to be a master, Jason,” Ash said. He snatched the shoe out of the other man’s hand and offered it to me. He didn’t smile, but his eyes were warm. “A master’s first job is to see to his partner’s happiness.”
“Have you met me?” Arms thrown to his sides indicate himself, Jason grinned. “All I do is spread joy.”
Lucien rummaged through the box and withdrew a metal thimble. “That cannot be pleasant for her.”
Amber eyes narrowed. “Pleasant for who?”
“Joy.”
“And Joy is?”
Lucien looked up, face expressionless. “Why, the person you’ve been spreading.”
For a second, Jason looked like he was going to pass out. Then his face twisted, relaxed, and finally gave into a smile so wide it nearly cracked his face in two. “You wily old fox!”
Lucien shrugged, placed the thimble on the board, and watched me with an expression that seemed to say, “Well?”
For some reason, my face went flaming hot, and I couldn’t hold his stare. Was I supposed to have understood the joke? Commented? Laughed?
Knuckles brushed over the back of my hand, just a quick touch, there and gone again. “Should we team up and take down this egomaniac?” Ash asked, tipping his head in Jason’s direction.
I immediately nodded.
“Ruarc, will you swap places so I can sit next to my teammate?”
A deep rumble vibrated in Ruarc’s chest. “I’ll join.”
“Join?” I tilted my head and looked back at him.
He’s so handsome.
Even wearing a scowl and pressing his lips tightly together, he was such a magnificent male. The scar slicing into his skin only made him seem more dangerous, more potent, and the scruff always covering his jaw made me want to rub up against—
“Your team.”
“Oh, no, you don’t.” Lucien threw something. It arced through the air and would have hit Ruarc smack between his eyes if his hand hadn’t shot up and caught it between two dexterous fingers. “You’re with me.”
“You can’t all gang up against me like that!” Jason turned his puppy-dog eyes my way. “Tell them, love.”
Holding back a laugh, I shook my head and smiled. “You and your ego brought this on yourselves.”
Jason clutched at his chest and threw himself back against the couch. “You wound me!”
“I’ll wound you,” Ruarc muttered as he reluctantly put me down and moved to the chair next to Lucien. “Your fault.”
“Somehow I believe you shall survive the separation,” Lucien said.
Seeing them all together like this, teasing and having fun, made my chest so tight I could barely breathe. They were a family. A real family.
Longing swept over me like a ten-foot wave, and I nearly drowned.
Was I strong enough to walk away when the time came? I could no longer picture my life without them. Without any of them. Even Luc
ien.
The most vivid memory I had of him didn’t include any insults or harsh words, but the way he’d saved me. The terrifying smile he’d worn as he’d torn off the part of Tim that would have hurt me. The safety I’d found, if only briefly, in his arms that night. The way he’d averted his eyes when he’d seen the state of my clothes, the simmering fury in shaking hands, the careful way he touched me.
A slight shift in the couch and the scent of horses, man, and wild plains; Ash settling in next to me. “Do you know how to play?”
I’d played board games when I was young, but never monopoly. “No. Not really. Is that okay? Do you want me to switch teams? I could always—”
“It is all right, banajaanh,” he said gently. “I will teach you.”
In the end, my inexperience wasn’t quite as much of a handicap as I’d thought. Ruarc kept trying to help me—to Lucien’s consternation—and whenever I landed somewhere where I had to pay, he’d growl at whoever collected my taxes, even when it was his own teammate. Several times, I had to bite my lip to stifle a smile—certain Ruarc double his effort to make sure I won if he saw my amusement.
Ash, ever the gentleman, made sure we didn’t take advantage of Ruarc’s protective nature, focusing instead on helping me learn and on beating Jason, who took the whole thing with good humor. That was, when he wasn’t pretending to be devastated by everyone trying to beat him, or cackling with manic glee whenever we landed on one of his properties.
“Will you stop making that god-awful noise?” Dice clenched in one hand, Lucien glared at Ruarc, who stopped growling at Jason long enough to bare his teeth at Lucien.
“He’s touching her!”
“What of it?”
“She’s mine!”
A strange glint entered Lucien’s eyes. “I was under the impression you two were sharing.”
Ruarc stared at Lucien as though he was an idiot. “But he’s touching her!”
Lucien stared up at the ceiling and muttered under his breath.
Meanwhile, a grinning Jason moved his hand from my knee up to my thigh.
I fought the urge to squirm in place, very aware of Ash’s nearness.