by Unknown
“Oh, my goodness.” Mom put her hand on his arm, stopping his forward motion. “Isn’t that little Madison Blake?” She hobbled toward Eli’s arch-nemesis. “Come on, let’s go say hello.”
Eli stood frozen in place. ‘Hello’ was the last thing he wanted to say to her. Why couldn’t Mom have just let him shop by himself?
His heart beat frantically. He could still get away. But then he’d look like a coward.
Eli slowly turned the cart around and followed his mom. Just like a little kid.
“Madison?” Mom said.
Madison turned. She saw his mother first and started to smile. Then she spotted Eli. Her face froze. She met his eyes for a split second then refocused on his mother, as though he wasn’t even there.
His gut wrenched. It shouldn’t bother him to see her do that yet again. But it did.
“Hi, Mrs. Couteau,” Madison said.
“It’s been so long,” Mom said. “Are you visiting?”
“I’m moving back, actually.” Madison adjusted her purse on her shoulder.
Just like usual. She couldn’t be bothered to say more than a single short sentence.
Mom smacked Eli’s arm. “Say hello, Eli.”
“Hey.” Eli could do short sentences, too. Especially since he couldn’t say any of the things he really wanted to in front of his mom.
“Hey,” Madison said softly.
“Are your parents coming back, too?” Mom said.
Eli gazed longingly at the deli counter. Would it be too rude if he wandered off?
#
“No, they’re happy in New York.”
Maddy’s palms sweated. Her first day back in Lunaville and she ran into the person she wanted least to see. Eli had picked on her for years. Even standing this close to him made her stomach hurt.
But Mrs. Couteau had always been nice to her. Maddy didn’t want to create a scene, even if she wanted more than anything to abandon her cart and run out of the store as fast as she could.
She’d hoped after all this time that Eli might have moved away. Or become nicer. Or gotten over himself. Based on the looks he was giving her, he hated her as much as ever.
She’d never known why.
Maddy realized there’d been a silence in the conversation. Mrs. Couteau looked at her expectantly. “I–I came back for the librarian job,” Maddy stammered. She really hated small talk. Or any talk, for that matter. She wasn’t anywhere near as shy as she’d been back in school but she still stumbled through social situations like this, never sure if she’d made a fool of herself or not.
“We should get going,” Eli said. He looked at her as though she was personally responsible for making him late.
“We’re not in a hurry,” his mother said.
Maddy couldn’t think of a single way to agree with Eli without looking rude. Another painful silence ensued. “Oh, I don’t want to keep you,” she said.
“Let’s go.” Eli turned the cart and took a step away from her.
Mrs. Couteau looked between the two of them, a crease between her eyes. “I’m sure we’ll see you around, Madison.”
“Maddy. I go by Maddy now.” She’d always hated the way ‘Madison’ made her sound wealthy and stuck-up. Just like Eli always said she was.
Mrs. Couteau smiled and squeezed her arm. “We’ll see you soon, Maddy.”
As they headed for the deli counter, Maddy took an inventory of her cart. If she left now with only what she’d gathered, could she get by? She didn’t think she could keep shopping knowing she might turn the corner and come face to face with Eli at any second.
Bread. She had to have bread. And then she could leave.
#
Donovan Geary loved books. He spent so much time at the library his mother said he should work there. His brother Matt said Donovan should move in.
Lately, the library hadn’t been open as much. One of the two librarians had retired and it took the powers that be a long time to find someone new. He might have considered applying, seeing if he could sweet talk them into letting him have a job he wasn’t qualified for, except he loved the job he had as a park ranger. As much as he loved books, he didn’t think he could spend all of his time cooped up in a building.
He’d heard they’d finally hired a second librarian, which meant they’d be open longer hours again. As he stopped in for the second time that week, he wondered if the new woman would be there–and if he’d know her. He knew pretty much everyone in town; he also knew no one in town was qualified to be a librarian.
Donovan entered the brick building through the “front” door then walked down a little hall to the open doorway that lead into the library proper. As he headed across the open area in front of the check out desk, he got his first glimpse of the mystery librarian.
She was hot. Exactly his fantasy of the naughty librarian, she looked buttoned-up but he could easily picture himself releasing her caramel tresses from that loose bun and fanning them out over her shoulders before kissing her full lips until they turned red.
Then Donovan blinked. He knew her. Didn’t he? He walked closer. Yeah, he knew her. But who was she?
“Madison Blake,” a loud voice said from behind him. “I never thought you’d come back to Lunaville. Ever.” Lisa Griegson, a lanky blonde who did, indeed, have a big mouth, swept by him toward the desk.
Madison Blake? That sexy librarian was shy little Maddy?
His fantasies immediately flipped onto their side. He pictured himself curing her of her shyness by tutoring her to become a temptress in bed. He could do it, too. And he’d love every second.
Donovan wanted to talk to Maddy, but Lisa stood at the desk chattering away. Talking to Maddy in front of Lisa would be a big mistake–Lisa gossiped and exaggerated better than anyone he’d ever met. Saying hello to Maddy would mean half the town knew about their “wild affair” before the end of the day.
Instead, he headed for the fiction section. He’d almost finished every science fiction novel they had. Pretty soon he’d start in on the mysteries.
A half hour later, he emerged, looking forward to charming Maddy while she checked out his books. But instead, the head librarian sat at the desk and Maddy was nowhere in sight.
Squashing the disappointment in his chest, he promised himself he’d read as fast as he could so he could come back soon and see her.
#
The new librarian was perfect. Soft and sweet and shy. Since he’d come into town, the man had looked for women good enough to be his new wives. So far, he’d found only one. But the new librarian would make a beautiful second wife.
Now all he had to do was watch and wait for the right time to take her.
#
Maddy had been working at the library for a couple of weeks the first time the head librarian, Denise, asked her to man the place by herself. It was only the two of them, so Maddy had known from the start that there’d be times when she was alone. Truth be told, she preferred it that way.
She sat at the desk checking out books and answering questions while townspeople filtered through. Most of them had already welcomed her back to Lunaville, so she was having to have fewer and fewer awkward conversations about that, at least. Living in New York, she’d forgotten how “small town” Lunaville could be.
One of her friends from junior high, Lisa, stopped by the desk when she finally had a lull. “How’re you holding up? Ready to run for the hills yet?”
“Not quite yet, but check back in an hour,” Maddy said. Lisa was one of the few people she could talk to.
“Some of us are going to the bar tonight. Want to come?”
Going to the bar meant loud music, screaming just to be heard, drunk men hitting on her and fighting through a crowd to get to the bathroom. The bar was the last place she wanted to go. But she couldn’t stay cooped up in her apartment all the time, either. “Sure, okay. Maybe for an hour or so.”
A smell hit Maddy, the scent of freshly printed books and soda pop fizz and home.<
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Lisa said something else, but Maddy didn’t hear it. A need washed over her, moving her almost against her will. Maddy grabbed Lisa’s hand. “My mates.” She’d heard about this, heard about the unique, intoxicating scent that appeared when all three mates came into close enough proximity. And everyone described the scent differently, like it was tuned in to their very favorite things.
Lisa squealed as Maddy walked away, around the desk to the open area in front of it. She headed toward the hallway leading to the front doors. Where were they? Two men, one woman. That’s how it always was. Where were her men?
Out of the corner of her eye, Maddy saw a man catapult around the corner, coming from the fiction section. He stopped a few feet away from her.
Donovan Geary.
She smiled. She’d always found him attractive with his dark hair and eyes. Sort of mysterious and movie-star like. Donovan Geary. Her mate.
He moved toward her, a little more slowly now, and pulled her into his arms. “Hey,” he whispered in her ear.
“Hey.” She squeezed him tight. He felt as solid as a concrete block.
Donovan moved his head a little, then a little more, til his lips were millimeters from hers. Then he kissed her, more than a peck but less than a five-alarm-fire. When he pulled back, he didn’t pull back far. “Where’s our third?”
They both turned their heads to one side then the other. Maddy spotted him first. Before the knowledge even hit her brain, her knees gave out.
Eli.
Donovan caught her weight before she could fall. “Whoa. What’s wrong?”
Maddy didn’t say anything, just focused on finding her legs. Her stomach tightened and she thought she might throw up. This couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t be mated to him.
Donovan grinned. “Eli Couteau. I never would have guessed.” He held out his hand to Eli.
As Eli walked toward them and took Donovan’s hand, his face stayed frozen, his eyes locked on her face. Maddy tried not to look at him. She didn’t want to see how much he hated her.
The most horrible thing of all happened as soon as Eli and Donovan touched hands. She’d already felt the mating pull, but now the urge grew twice as strong. She wanted her mates. She wanted Eli. Wanted to pull off his clothes and kiss every inch of his body. Almost more than she wanted to run away from him.
Eli kept staring at her. “I can’t believe Miss High-and-Mighty is my mate.”
Chapter 2
Maddy’s heart squeezed tight.
“What the hell?” Donovan said.
She blinked her eyes so she wouldn’t cry. Crying in front of Eli would be the worst thing she could do. If he ever knew how deeply he could hurt her, he’d never stop.
She released Donovan and stepped backward. “I need to get back to work.”
Donovan followed her. “No…we should all go somewhere. You know. I’m sure someone can cover for you.”
Maddy didn’t stop, just continued around the counter where Lisa still stood, gaping. Even if Maddy could have gone someplace with them, she didn’t want to. Not now. Not with Eli. “I’m the only one here.”
He followed her all the way to the back of the desk. “Is this because of Eli?” He kept his voice low. “I’m sure he was just joking.”
“No, he wasn’t. He hates me. He always has.” Just saying that brought more tears to her eyes, so she stared at the floor until she was sure she wouldn’t start bawling. “You’re not supposed to be back here.”
“He doesn’t hate you.”
Maddy met Donovan’s eyes. “He sure acts like it. Why don’t you ask him?”
Donovan’s jaw tightened. “I will.” He brushed his hand down her cheek. “It’s going to kill me to walk away from you right now, you know that?”
She took a breath, pushing down the urge to wrap her arms around him. “Me, too.”
Donovan kissed her, hard, then walked away without looking back. He grabbed Eli by the shoulders and pulled him down the hallway toward the door.
Maddy sank into her chair. How could today be the best and worst day of her life at the same time?
#
Eli’s hands shook. He’d dreamed of the day he’d find his mates. He’d never dreamed it could be such a nightmare. Madison? Whichever fates decided who got mated with whom must have a really sick sense of humor.
As soon as they reached the sidewalk in front of the library, Donovan released him. Along the edge of the parking lot, trees with rapidly changing leaves sheltered the library from the rest of the town. The sun shone unnaturally warm for a September afternoon. “What the hell was that?”
Eli could barely catch a breath. “You saw her. She couldn’t even look at me. She thinks she’s so much better than the rest of us.”
“What I saw was you acting like a total asshole to our mate. What the hell’s wrong with you?”
Eli fought to keep from baring his teeth. “You shouldn’t talk about things you know nothing about.”
Donovan stepped toward him, crowding him. “Here’s what I know. You brought our mate to tears. You do that again, and you and I are going to have more than words.”
“She cried?” Eli had never seen her cry. She always acted like an ice queen. Was it possible his words had actually reached her? “I didn’t see any tears.”
“I saw them.”
“Well, I didn’t.” Donovan had to be mistaken. No way would Madison Blake ever cry. She was as incapable of emotion as a stone. And he’d tried. Over and over, he’d tried to get some kind of reaction from her but never got anything at all.
“I’m going back in there to try to convince Maddy to have dinner with us. You stay here. And don’t go anywhere.” Donovan was through the door before Eli could say anything.
Did she really cry? Mixed in with the elation that she might not be as immune to him as he thought, Eli felt a sick thread of guilt.
#
Donovan didn’t know what kind of fucked-up melodrama was playing out between his two mates, but he wanted it to stop. The three of them should be rolling around in the sheets marking each other, not sniping at each other and crying.
His body burned, he wanted his mates so badly. His cock was harder than a rock.
When he reached the lobby, he paused for a second to look at Maddy. She had a regal bearing and she always acted like a lady. At the same time, he remembered her from when she was a kid. They hadn’t known each other well but it hadn’t taken a genius to see she was painfully shy.
He walked toward her, his stomach jumping. His mate. Males didn’t always get mates; the odds were against them. He’d gotten really lucky. And damned if he was going to let this thing go south before it even started.
Maddy spotted him when he was halfway across the lobby. She looked behind him, hesitantly, then smiled at him. At least she didn’t have a problem with him. And she didn’t act like she thought she was better than him. Eli had it all wrong.
Someone was checking out books. Donovan waited in line until it was his turn to talk to Maddy. Her smile got bigger as he approached her. He itched to touch her.
“Let’s do dinner,” he said.
“Sounds good.” Her eyes sparkled when she smiled like that.
“All three of us.”
That’s when her smile faltered. She looked down, shuffled some papers. An artery pulsed in her throat.
“I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but we need to work it out,” he said. “Come to dinner.”
She pressed her lips together, tight. Finally she looked up at him. “Okay.”
That hadn’t been so hard. He’d expected a fight. “You’re not going to duck out or something, are you?”
“You think I’d do that?”
“I saw how he hurt you. So yeah, I think you might be tempted.” He paused a second. “Listen, what is this? What’s going on between you two?”
She gazed behind him, looking far away. “He’s picked on me as long as I can remember. And as we got older, h
e got meaner. I don’t know why any of it happened. I don’t remember doing anything to him. And even if I did, why couldn’t he just ignore me instead?”
The thought of his sweet dainty mate enduring that kind of treatment twisted his gut. If he weren’t mated to Eli too, he’d pound him into the pavement. “I don’t know. But I’m going to find out.” He picked up her hand, just for the chance to touch her. “When do you get off work?”
“The library closes at six today. I’ll need to do a few things after closing. I can probably leave around six fifteen.”
“I’ll pick you up then.”
“I have my car—”
”I’m picking you up. We can come back and get your car later. Maybe in the morning.”
Her mouth dropped open and she sucked in a hard breath as her eyes dilated.
She felt it, too. At the thought, he wanted nothing more than to drag her off to the nearest dark corner and ravish her. And if that glazed look in her eyes meant anything, she wanted it as much as he did.
Donovan lifted her hand and pressed his lips to the backs of her fingers. “Three more hours. I can’t wait.”
Maddy licked her lips. “I can’t, either.”
Looking into her eyes, it was easy to forget the friction between his two mates. Easier to think about the three of them curled up together so close they couldn’t tell whose limbs were whose.
Someone cleared their throat behind him. Donovan sheepishly backed away from the counter. “New mates,” he said to the tweed-suited man behind him. The man scowled.
Whatever.
Donovan returned to Eli, who was pacing in front of the door. Looking at his third, he felt a jolt of lust as strong as what he’d felt with Maddy. Most of the time, male mates were just as close–sexually and otherwise–as they were with their female. Even a man like Donovan, who had never been attracted to another man before, felt an overwhelming urge to make love to his male mate. He tried to hold back, but only because he wanted both his mates together the first time. Otherwise, he and Eli had three hours to kill…
“She’ll have dinner with us,” Donovan said.