by Sarra Cannon
“Breathe.” His amused laughter didn’t make her feel any better. “I’m not goin’ to bite you.”
“Right now,” someone muttered.
“You need to understand somethin’,” Luc continued. “You don’ have to like me or my Pack, but you hear me on this. You choose to stay. You choose to go. That’s your right, and my boys here will be playin’ by that rule. The blue moon, she shows us who our mates are, but it’s up to the mates to be sayin’ yes.”
Her gaze flew to his. Talk about unexpected. An ultimatum to get her ass out of dodge? Some nasty comment about how she didn’t fit into his wolf pack? Sure. That she’d expected.
“I can say no?”
“She don’ wan’ to do that,” Landry growled.
“Is that the truth, honey?” Luc ran his eyes over her. “You wan’ my boy here? You wan’ to be keepin’ him? Think about it, because while you got the choice, you don’ get to be unchoosin’.”
He let go of her hands and stood up.
“I can leave any time?” She pushed her hair back from her face.
“Yeah.” Luc shot her an undecipherable look, and she decided then and there that she had no desire to know what he was thinking. He still scared the shit out of her.
Smoothly, Dre pushed himself upright and stalked towards her. “Let’s be discussin’ that choice of yours, then. Come on over here.”
Dre pulled her to her feet, grinning with male amusement. Before she could open her mouth—and say what?—he scooped her up in his arms and headed back to his cabin, kicking open the door and taking her through with him.
He set her on her feet, his arms falling away from her.
“You really want to sleep with me.” The words were out of her mouth before she could bite them back. She’d never understood the attraction of a virtual stranger before. But now, looking at him, she did. She wanted to know him, wanted all of him right now. He made her greedy.
His amused smile made her madder. “I’ll show you later.”
“You wish.” She knew she spoke too fast, her agitation spilling out of her and making her voice too loud, too sharp.
“The Pack will find Riley.” He let her go and reached for the small arsenal of weapons piled on top of a dresser.
“I want action, not words,” she gritted out. Her heart was racing, beating out a frantic hurry-up-and-get-there rhythm like her body knew where she was headed and wanted to get there stat.
“You’ve got my promise. Landry’s. The rest of the Pack’s.” He reached for a Glock, checked the magazine and tucked the handgun in his waistband. “Those aren’t just words, sha.”
“Your Luc asked if I’d chosen.”
“You will.” He spoke matter-of-factly. “Real soon.”
“No,” she said fiercely. “This is me, my life. I'm not giving in to this.”
“Fight.” His hand flattened on the closed door. “Believe me, I get fighting. Sometimes, though, there are battles you can't win, honey. This is one of them. You think Landry and I can’t convince you to be choosin’ us? This doesn’t have to be a battle, sha. You liked bein’ in my arms. As soon as I get done givin’ Luc a 4-1-1 on what Landry and I found out there in the bayou, I’ll be right back. We’ll see how much we can make you like my touch.”
Landry slipped in the door. His eyes slid from Mary Jane back to his brother, clearly assessing the situation.
“We’re ready to roll,” he said, and Dre nodded.
“When we get back,” he told her, “then we’ll have ourselves a conversation. Sort this out.”
Landry and Dre turned towards the door, ready to walk out on her and into battle. They knew precisely what it meant to fight. They had no business giving her the roll-over-and-play-dead speech. No business at all. That unfamiliar anger hit again, and it felt good. This time, she let the red tide swallow her up, snatching and launching a book from the bedside table.
Dre turned, preternaturally quick, his hand snapping up to snag the flying missile. Oh God. This kind of behavior wasn't like her.
And that definitely wasn't in control.
Her shoe landed on the bed beside her with unerring accuracy. “Stay calm. Stay put. I'll be back, sha. I'll take care of you then.”
His words could have been pure promise—or threat. Fuck him. She opened her mouth, but he was already prowling towards her.
Not moving was the hardest fucking thing she’d done. His eyes glowed as he stared at her, and his low growl had the hair standing up on the back of her neck. Her wolf wasn’t happy with her.
At all.
“No.” She held his gaze, knowing she couldn’t afford to give up any ground now. He was one hundred percent wolf. Give him an inch, and he’d take everything. Sure enough, his big body moved right into her space, pinning her between the wall and himself as he backed her up.
Dre’s possessive growl was warning enough that he didn’t like this situation, either. His hand slapped down beside her head, deliberately reminding her that he was bigger and larger. Dominant. No. She wasn’t helpless here. Something primal uncurled inside her. She. Wasn’t. Helpless.
“Mine,” she growled at them.
Dre’s eyes searched her face, and then that too-familiar, wicked grin tugged at his mouth. “Oui, sha. That’s the truth.” Landry looked at Dre. “I think we need to take care of this now.”
“And I think I’m agreein’ with you. We move fast, we can make up the time. Catch up with the Pack.” Dre nodded, like his mind was made up.
They both turned towards her. And uh-oh, was she in trouble.
Landry raised a brow. “You think we’d hurt you, sha?”
She looked uneasily from one to the other. She wanted to back down, but she’d started this. “No, of course not.”
“She does think that.” Landry didn’t sound happy with her halfhearted answer.
His big hand came up and cupped her jaw, turning her face to look at him. Calloused fingers scraped erotically over her skin. “You’re sayin’ no, honey, but you’re not meanin’ those words.”
“I think she should choose first,” Dre growled, but he moved closer.
She licked her lips. God, they both looked so fine. Even more fine when Landry grabbed the bottom of his T-shirt and hauled the cotton straight over his head. Six-pack didn’t begin to describe those luscious, hard ridges.
Tough on the outside. Sweet on the inside.
Something in her got that and let go of the worry.
“Maybe I’ll do both,” she challenged.
Landry’s grin made her knees go weak. “Don’ make promises you don’ wan’ to keep.”
Dre moved in closer, each step he took pressing her back towards their big bed in an age-old dance. Which was exactly where she wanted to be, although she wasn’t going to make this too easy for them.
“You wan’ more kissin’?” Landry asked the question.
She bit her lip. “I want it all.”
Dre caught the betraying gesture and looked at his brother. “You think she’s going to be handlin’ it all?”
Landry laughed, threading his fingers through her hair and tugging her gently closer. “We’ll find out.”
“More than kissing,” she said. “Definitely.”
“We’re not goin’ slow this time,” Dre warned. “Landry here, he’ll warm you up just fine. He can’t wait, either.”
“I’m kissin’ you.” Landry stroked her throat, casual and knowing. That touch shouldn’t make her so wet.
“Where?” She got the question out, but she couldn’t breathe with the anticipation of this game they were playing. Her voice was husky, trembling with the desire these two men roused in her. God, she was a lucky woman.
Landry smiled. “She wants to know where. Here,” he said, pressing the backs of his fingers against her lips. “And definitely here.” His hand moved down until he was cradled in the valley between her breasts, rubbing his fingers over her stiff nipples. “And then, if you’re a good girl, Mary Jane, I’l
l be moving on, because I’m certainly touching you here.” His hand dropped lower still, until his palm brushed the curve of her belly above her mound.
His eyes held hers while an erotically charged silence filled the room. Water slapped against the side of the boat, and an ibis called harshly, the nasal honk breaking Landry’s sensual hold on her.
Landry looked at her. “That sound like a plan to you?”
He pressed in, his knuckle finding her exquisitely sensitive clit. Her senses flamed, sweet sensation spearing through where they were connected. She pushed into his touch, wanting more—and he stepped away.
“Your choice, sha.”
She wanted this. Wanted Dre and Landry, both of them, in this bed with her. She was melting from the inside out, aching with this need they woke in her, but this time she wasn’t hesitating. They were going to be hers.
“Strip,” she ordered.
Denim and cotton hit the floor as they stripped, and she pulled off her own clothes in record time. They landed on the bed in a tangle of mouths and hands. Dre groaned, hungry, as he devoured her with a raw kiss. With one hand, he pulled her up onto his chest until her legs were wrapped around his hips, her arms beneath his neck.
The unexpected swat on her ass had her freezing. “Lift up some,” Landry instructed.
She turned her face into Dre’s neck to hide her flush. Her head wasn’t sure how she felt about the little smack, but her body liked it. The erotic sting streaked straight to her pussy and made her wetter.
God, she wanted more. More of what, she didn’t know.
Dre nudged her face back to his, leaving her ass canted in the air. Embarrassment fled, her skin warm and tingling where Landry had spanked her. His fingers smoothed over that sensitive spot, stroking the soft bottom curve and dipping down to where she was wet. For a long moment, as Dre kissed her, he simply teased her, gathering her moisture on his fingertips and spreading it.
“You ready, sha?” Landry’s question warned her even as a finger speared her, pushing firmly inside her rear. One. Two. Her breath caught as he scissored her gently open. Three. “We still need to talk, sha.” Landry’s voice rumbled against her ear, his fingers moving deeper.
Dre let go of her mouth, giving her one last, hard kiss, and she whimpered. Kissing was easier than talking.
Maybe he felt the same way, because his fingers found her nipples, his palms shaping her breasts as his calloused fingers flicked at the hard points. The sensation was rough. Pleasurable.
Landry’s open palm landed on her ass, a sharp crack followed by a burning sting, and she gasped out his name.
“Landry, yes?” he asked. “Landry, do it again?” He tapped her firmly on the other cheek. “I’m not hurtin’ you.” His fingers descended, giving her another small smack. “Am I, sha?”
He popped his fingers free, and she arched her back. “Do it again.”
— —
Dre seated himself deep inside her heated channel with one firm thrust, parting the slick tissues. Landry smacked her ass again, enjoying the way she jolted forward onto that penetrating cock.
“I’m waitin’.” And Landry would wait as long as it took, too. No way would he let their Mary Jane weasel out of admitting the truth now. She liked their sexy play. She liked them.
“But I’m not,” she whispered. The way she rode Dre’s cock, she’d be finished before either of them.
“Mary Jane,” he warned. He was dying to be inside her too, but there were things that had to be said first. This wasn’t just sex, not anymore. This was their future, this woman cradled in his and Dre’s arms. So he’d make sure everything got done right, because he wasn’t losing her.
Dre’s hands held her head still, his eyes meeting hers. She’d look them both in the eye when she gave them the truth. Good or bad, there’d be no hiding from it, but Christ, he wanted this with everything he was. He wanted to make a life together, him and Dre and Mary Jane. Question was, what did she want?
“Are you choosin’?” Dre’s voice was hoarse but sure. His brother knew what was at stake here. Heart racing, he waited for her answer.
Mary Jane didn’t hesitate. When she went in, she went all in. “Hell yes.”
Yes. Landry didn’t know which one of them uttered the word, but elation filled him. This, this was what he’d been waiting for. Centuries for this one special female, and now he got to hold on to her and hold on tight. She made everything right in his world.
Landry breached her ass with a shallow thrust. Perfect. He opened her up, slamming in and out, matching his thrusts to Dre’s.
His brother wasn’t done yet, though. Must have needed more.
“More words,” Dre growled. “Because yes isn’t cuttin’ it, sha.”
“You,” she bit out. “Landry. Both of you.”
“Lady’s choice,” Landry gasped. Christ, she was killing him. He’d died and gone to heaven, and that was just fine with him.
Dre growled, nipping at her shoulder and marking her. His teeth left a small red crescent branded into her skin and Landry liked that. The Pack, the whole damned world, would look at her and know. She belonged to them. Hell, he couldn’t wait until she returned the favor. He’d wear her mark proudly. Pressing forward, he bit lightly, adding his brand to Dre’s.
In. Out. Thrusting home again and again, Dre slapped his hips against hers as Landry rode her ass until he came, pouring himself heart and soul into her. As he stilled, watching the pleasure roll over Dre’s face, he felt her small shudders. Her body clutching them both right there, her face buried in Dre’s throat.
“Mine,” she said fiercely, lifting her head to watch Dre’s face. He loved that note of possession. She was all wolf at heart, staking her claim every bit as thoroughly as they’d staked theirs.
“Hell yeah,” Landry said, collapsing against her.
Dre’s hands stroked her back, rearranging her between them. Settling her down as sleep beckoned. “Ours.”
Chapter 12
Later, much later, after hours of mind-blowing sex she suspected the rest of the Pack had heard clear across the bayou, she rolled into Dre’s arms, Landry spooned up against her.
“Better?” Landry ran a hand down her back, working out the knots.
She was.
Tell them.
They deserved to know the truth, to understand why parts of Pack life would be off-limits for her. The words weren’t easy to find, though. She opened her mouth. Closed it.
Dre watched her carefully, like he sensed her internal battle. Maybe he did, being part wolf. “You don’ have to say anythin’ you don’ wan’ to.”
I do.
If she kept this to herself, it would always lie between them. They both knew something had happened to her.
“My father, he beat on me,” she admitted, the familiar shame choking off her voice. She should have done something, should have figured out a way to stop his abuse. Hell, how hard could it have been to walk away? Left foot and then right foot, rinse and repeat. And yet she hadn’t done it.
“I didn’t stop him,” she confessed. Landry’s hands stilled, then started moving again.
“He bigger than you?” The question was level and even, like he was discussing the weather with her.
“Yeah.” She didn’t want to dwell on the memories. Living through the pain and the fear once had been enough.
“He was your daddy?” Landry continued when she nodded. “So the way I see it he was the Alpha in your pack. His job was to love you and take care of you.”
“To keep you safe,” Dre rumbled.
“An’ he didn’t do these things, did he?” Landry’s voice sliced through the silence.
“No,” she admitted. She clung to that truth, savoring Dre and Landry’s warmth.
“So any shame there, it’s all his.”
“Shoot, sha.” Dre’s big hands joined Landry’s, stroking over her back. He dropped his forehead to hers. “You point us at him, and we’ll make sure he understands that.�
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A smile cracked her lips. “He’s dead.”
She’d identified the body after a week in the bayou. He’d fallen in coming home from his nightly bender at the local bar, and no way had she dredged up any tears for him. After all, he’d likely been coming for her.
“That’s a shame.” Landry’s eyes were cold. “I’d like to have me a shot at him.”
Dre cursed. “One shot wouldn’t be enough. Not for me.”
“I’m not telling you this for sympathy.” She wasn’t. Her past, though, was something they needed to understand because there were parts of their Pack life she couldn’t deal with now.
“I love you,” Landry said roughly. “That means I want to hear whatever you got to tell me, sha.”
“It means a whole lot of other things, too,” Dre murmured. His mouth brushed her ear.
“Life in the Pack isn’t always easy. It’s not pretty. You ever been to one of those medieval times banquets up Vegas way?” Landry asked. “That’s not so far off. We were born into a pretty brutal time, and we held our own. We fought. We killed. Sometimes Packs forgot who they were supposed to be protectin’ and turned on their own. Livin’ in the wild, cut off from our mates? We didn’ always make right choices.”
“Landry...” Her voice broke. He did understand. Maybe he’d been there, too. She ran a hand over his arm. He was so strong.
“I wouldn’t let that happen to you. Hell, you wouldn’t let that happen to you. Joinin’ our Pack will be whatever you wan’ it to be. Just because you don’ wan’ to wade into a fight, fists swingin’? That don’ make you weak, sha.”
“That makes you smart,” Dre added.
“We need that touch of softness,” Landry continued. “Reminds us of a side of life we don’ wan’ to be forgettin’. Pack life can be brutal.” He hesitated. “Some Alphas care more for makin’ a point with their fists than they do for takin’ care of their Pack.”
“I’m not weak.”
“Never said you were.” Dark eyes watched her. “Just said you were no alpha.”
“And being beta isn’t a synonym for weak?”