by Marla Monroe
She felt another blush creep up her face. She hated that she was so easy to read and easily embarrassed.
“Don’t worry about it. It just proves that you love him and will be loyal to your mate. It’s a very good trait. Even some mated wolves will let their eyes wander. They could never act on it because, well, for the men, they couldn’t get it up, and the touch of another man on a female is repulsive.”
Her face grew hotter. She really had to get over the blushing already. Now she needed some air. She felt as if she was suffocating. Looking around, she noticed one of the doors leading outside was just behind them.
“Can we go outside for a few minutes? I’m hot. I think if I don’t get some air, I might pass out.”
Gabby frowned and instantly stood up. “Are you okay? Should I go get your mates?”
“No. It’s nothing wrong. I’m just flushed. With all the dancing and my embarrassing blushes, I got too hot.”
“Okay, but just for a minute. Your mates won’t like for you to be outside at night without them.” Gabby led her to the door and pushed it open before leading the way outside.
A small patio with several wrought iron chairs around a glass-topped table offered a place under a light that looked to be perfect to Nessa. She took a seat, soaking in the cool night air. She could already feel the heat easing from her cheeks.
“Thanks, Gabby. This is just what I needed.”
Before Gabby could answer her, someone darted into the light and grabbed Nessa by the throat.
“I’ll give you what you need, you ungrateful bitch! You owe me.”
Nessa couldn’t believe her stepbrother had her in his hands again. She couldn’t scream with his hand around her throat, but she fought with all her newfound strength. When she managed to break his hold on her, she felt a moment’s triumph. Then she looked over to where Gabby had been and saw why the other woman hadn’t come to her assistance. Anger boiled her blood at the sight of her new friend standing still with a gun to her head.
“Derrick owes us for his debts, Nessa. Time for you to pay up again,” the bastard her brother kept gambling with said with a sickening smile.
The other man with him grinned, showing yellowed teeth. “Think we might take her with us as well.”
“Leave her alone. She isn’t part of this.” Nessa wanted to cry at the injustice of everything.
She’d finally found a little piece of heaven and her stepbrother was going to ruin it for her. She had no doubt her mates would never want to touch her again once Derrick’s friends got finished with her. The fear that they would someday find out about her past had worried her from the start. Now it looked like it wasn’t going to be her past that killed her chance at happiness, but her brother’s greed.
“Her husbands will tear you apart if you touch her,” Gabby said.
“Husbands? Are you crazy? You can’t have more than one husband and my bitch of a stepsister couldn’t hold on to one man, much less two. She’s worthless. I have to beat her to get anything out of her as it is.” Derrick’s laugh grated on her nerves.
“I’m warning you, touch her and they’ll kill you.”
“They won’t do shit. They’ll never know what happened to her. Once my debt is paid, I’m shipping her off on the next skin train for a pretty penny. She’ll be some other poor bastard’s problem then.”
“And you won’t be able to tell anyone because you’re going with her. All that red hair will make us a mint.” The one holding the gun grinned.
“No! You let her go. She has nothing to do with this!” Nessa pushed past Derrick and shoved the gun away from Gabby. “Run, Gabby!”
The second man grabbed her off of the first, but she elbowed him hard in the stomach, making him let go of her even as the first man aimed the gun at Gabby’s racing form. Nessa screamed and launched herself at him, both of them falling to the ground. They fought for control of the gun, rolling around on the hard concrete of the patio.
Nessa prayed she was buying Gabrielle enough time to get away and perhaps find help. Derrick tried to grab her legs, but she managed to kick him in the shin and then nail his balls with her other foot. The second man stayed back, watching them like a kid at the movies. She wasn’t going to let them rape her ever again if she had anything to do with it. She was stronger now, she could stop them. All she had to do was keep the first man from aiming the gun or pinning her. She was sure that Gabby would get help soon.
She thought she heard Joe’s scream of rage, but in that instant, the gun went off and the deafening roar blocked out all sound. Pain blossomed in her shoulder even as she lost her grip on the gun and her strength fled. She looked up at the shock-filled eyes of the second man standing over them then nothing.
* * * *
Joe felt as if his heart was ripped from his chest as blood appeared on Nessa’s blouse before the bastard with the gun rolled off of her and got unsteadily to his feet. Sound evaporated as he raced toward his fallen mate. A red haze filled his sight and reason left him. Then he was there, and the man’s neck was in his hands. Blind rage filled him. This human had hurt his mate. He’d never hurt another person again.
The scent of pack filled him as the sound of their presence seeped into the empty void that had enveloped him. He was kneeling on the ground with his mate lying still in front of him. Jess was pressing on the bleeding wound on her shoulder yelling at their mate to listen to him.
“Don’t you dare die on us, Nessa! You hang on, precious. We’ll take care of you.”
“Move out of the way, son. Let Harper get to her.” His father’s voice got through to him, and he moved to one side so that their healer could see about Nessa.
Joe couldn’t believe this was happening. How had it happened and who were those men with her stepbrother? Once his mate was okay, he would find out and make sure that they never got the chance to go near her again. All that mattered in his life lay on the ground in front of him. And he hadn’t told her that he loved her.
His fathers’ hands rested on Joe’s shoulders. He looked up to see his mother’s hands on Jess across from him, her eyes filled with tears. This wasn’t supposed to have happened.
“Okay, the bleeding has stopped. We need to move her while she’s stable so I can remove the bullet. She’s trying to heal already.” Their healer sounded amazed but Joe wasn’t anymore. He knew their Nessa was special.
When Harper stood up to give them room to get to her, Joe eased his hands under her slight body and carefully picked her up. His eyes met Jess’s and they both nodded in agreement. Never again would she be left alone. There were two of them. There was no reason she should ever be in danger again. If she lived through this, Joe swore he would spend the rest of his days making sure she was happy and safe. His life rested in her hands. He wouldn’t want to go on without her.
Chapter Sixteen
Nessa slowly opened her eyes to the dim light of a lamp near the bed. She turned her head but didn’t recognize where she was. Fear punched a hole in her that Derrick’s friends had managed to spirit her away after all. When she tried to move, fire tore through her left shoulder and chest. It stole a moan from her.
“Nessa? Baby, can you hear me?” The sound of Joe’s voice was music to her ears.
“Joe?” she managed to croak out.
“I’m here, babe. So is Jess. He’s asleep, though. We’ve been taking turns watching over you. Are you in pain?”
“What—” Her voice cracked. She licked her lips trying to wet them.
“Easy, babe.” Joe moved closer and held a cup with a bent straw up to her.
After sipping some water, she swallowed and tried again.
“What happened?”
“From what we figured out, when you wrestled the gun away from Gabby’s head, she managed to run back inside and get help. We were on our way back bringing you something to drink when she burst inside screaming that someone had you. We raced outside just in time hear the gun go off. God, Nessa. My heart stopped in that
instant.”
Nessa couldn’t imagine how she would have felt if it had been he or Jess that had been shot. She was sure she would have gone crazy with fear for their life.
“I lost it, Nessa. Seeing you bleeding like that sent me off the deep end.” Joe’s face looked stricken.
“I’m okay, Joe. I’ll be fine. I just need to rest a few days and I’ll be back on my feet,” She wasn’t sure how badly she was hurt, but in that moment, Nessa knew she would do anything to take that look off of Joe’s face.
“I know, baby. You’re going to be fine. Jess and I will take good care of you, I promise.”
“Nessa?” Jess’s scratchy voice spoke up from somewhere out of her range of sight.
“She’s awake, Jess. I’m going to go get Harper to check her.” Joe backed away from the bed, and a few seconds later she heard a door open and close.
“Hey, precious. How do you feel?” Jess asked, stepping closer to the bed so that she could see him without straining her neck.
“My shoulder hurts, but other than that, I’m okay. Why is Joe so upset? I’m going to be fine.”
Jess grimaced. “He went crazy when he saw your were shot. He’s trying to deal with it.”
“I don’t understand. Deal with what?” She needed to know what was wrong with her other mate and fix it.
“He was wild with fear, honey. He didn’t know what he was doing.”
“What happened, Jess?” she asked again.
“He killed them, Nessa.” Jess gently touched her cheek with his fingers. “All of them.”
“Even Derrick?” she asked quietly.
“Yeah.”
Nessa felt a burden lift from her shoulders. For years she’d carried around the responsibility of taking care of Derrick. Even though she knew he wasn’t a blood relative and didn’t care one speck about her, she’d felt obligated to make the best of it and take care of him, then when she was old enough to go her own way, she hadn’t had a way to get out from under him. She had no money or transportation outside of what he gave her.
Guilt that she didn’t feel anything over his death pricked at her, but she pushed it back. He’d used her for years. After living off her small inheritance he’d then lived off of her, even going so far as to use her body as collateral to feed his addiction for gambling. The knowledge that he would never use her again and she would never have to fear his losses again eased the guilt she felt away.
Then another thought gripped her with fear. They knew now. Jess and Joe would know about her past. Shame filled her when guilt couldn’t get a foothold. They wouldn’t want her anymore. She was sure of it. Tears pricked at her eyes as she fought to stop them from falling. The struggle to contain them hurt her shoulder.
“Hey, precious, what’s wrong? Is the pain that bad? Joe will be back with our healer in a minute. Hold on, Ness.” Jess gently stroked her cheek and the top of her head as if he was scared he’d hurt her if he touched her anywhere else.
The door opened and a man she’d not seen before walked in with Andrea and Joe behind him. The sight of his gentle face eased her some. Neither Jess nor Joe acted as if he were a threat.
“Hi, Nessa. I’m Harper. Let’s take a look at your shoulder and see how you’re healing.”
He gently moved the loose-fitting gown to one side and pulled back the bandage covering her wound. It pulled slightly on the edges, but other than the slight sting, she didn’t feel much as he checked it then refastened the bandage and adjusted her gown again.
“Looks good, young lady. It should be completely closed by tomorrow. You’re going to continue to have some pain for a little while longer. The bullet tore through some muscles, and then I had to make a larger incision to get the bullet out. Just follow your body’s signs and you’ll do fine. More importantly you need to start eating better and get plenty of rest until you’re past your first trimester. These are the critical weeks in a wolf shifter pregnancy.”
“W–what? Did you say pregnancy?” Nessa couldn’t be sure she’d heard him right.
“That’s right. You’re only a few days along, but I can feel the cubs. They’re strong.” He smiled down at her. “I just know. I’m a healer and I can sense life inside of you.”
She rested her right hand over her belly. How could she be pregnant when she’d had the birth control injection? She had only been mated with the guys for about a week. Or had she been unconscious longer than she knew?
“What day is it?” she asked no one in particular.
Andrea answered her. “It’s Monday evening, Nessa. You’ve been asleep since late Saturday night.”
“I think we all need to leave and let them talk now,” Harper said, looking from Nessa to the guys and back.
“If you need anything at all, Nessa, please let me know.” Andrea kissed her lightly on the cheek and followed the healer out the door.
“Did you already know?” she asked her mates.
“Yes. Harper told us yesterday once you were out of danger.” Jess reached across the bed to squeeze her right hand still resting on her abdomen.
“I don’t understand. I’m on birth control shots. I’ve taken them for years.”
Jess grinned. “Contraception doesn’t work on shifters. Well, anything but condoms that is.”
“You’re okay with me being pregnant already?” she asked.
“Ecstatic is more like the word,” Jess said. “The thought of you round with our cubs makes me happier than a wolf has a right to be.”
She shifted her gaze over to where Joe stood a little ways from the bed. She could tell he didn’t think he deserved to be happy. She wanted to wipe that idea from his head and soothe the ache she felt in his heart.
“What about you, Joe? Are you happy about it?”
He slowly looked up at her, and the anguish she saw in his eyes nearly choked her. No one should have to endure what he’d gone through then convince himself that he didn’t deserve happiness.
“It’s a gift that I will always cherish, Nessa. Any children you give us will be loved beyond measure.” She could hear the uncertainty in his voice.
“Joe. Come here.” She lifted her right hand and held it out to him.
He slowly eased forward and took her hand in his. He held it to his lips and closed his eyes as he kissed her, breathing in her scent. It was one of the most erotic things he could have done. One she so didn’t need right then with a hole in her shoulder. Nessa swallowed down the need to feel them inside of her and concentrated instead on easing her mate’s anxiety and hoped they would forgive her as easily.
“It’s okay, Joe. I don’t blame you for what you did. They deserved whatever they got. Derrick had used me for so long that I felt worthless until you and Jess changed my life. I can only pray that you won’t hold my past against me. I don’t hold anything you did out of fear for me against you, Joe.” She waited fearfully as Joe looked at her with dark eyes.
“The past isn’t your fault, babe. You didn’t ask to be used any more than I asked to be held captive. We both need to learn how to forgive ourselves and move past our fears and the past. I’ll try if you will,” Joe said.
She smiled a watery smile. “I can do anything with you and Jess in my life.”
“I love you, babe. I wanted to tell you the other night, but was waiting for the perfect time to tell you. I almost missed out on telling you at all. I’ll never let an opportunity pass me by again. I love you with all my heart, Nessa.”
She couldn’t believe her ears. He’d actually said the words. She hadn’t expected that. She’d known how he felt by the way he treated her and the looks he gave her. To hear those words from his lips overjoyed her. She reached out for Jess’s hand next. His unwavering support of his brother despite the hardships Joe had endured and the effect they had on him gave her hope for their future children. Her relationship with Derrick had always been strained at best, souring her on men in general and raising children to love their siblings. After seeing the love and support all o
f the Shoewater brothers gave each other, Nessa knew her relationship with her stepbrother had been unique in how Derrick treated her.
She squeezed Jessup’s hand as he smiled down at her. Jess’s eyes always held a slight twinkle of mischief, even when she’d first met him. Now she knew it to be what it was, his love of life and now his love of her. She looked up into his eyes.
“I love you, Jessup, with all my heart. I promise to always be here for you.”
He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips before speaking.
“I love you, too, Ness. Hurry up and get well.”
“I love you, Joseph. I love the way you look at me and even the way you growl sometimes.”
Jessup growled low in his throat before kissing her gently on the lips.
She laughed then groaned as her chuckles pulled on her shoulder. She cursed under her breath, which had Jess laughing as he sat down hard on the chair off to the side.
“I swear, you’re both certifiable,” Joe groused.
“Certifiably in love,” Jess said with a smirk.
THE END
WWW.MARLAMONROE.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marla Monroe has been writing professionally for about ten years now. Her first book with Siren was published in January of 2011. She loves to write and spends every spare minute either at the keyboard or reading another Siren author. She writes everything from sizzling-hot contemporary cowboys, to science fiction ménages with the occasional bad-ass biker thrown in for good measure.
Marla lives in the southern US and works full-time at a busy hospital. When not writing, she loves to travel, spend time with her cats, and read. She’s always eager to try something new and especially enjoys the research for her books. She loves to hear from readers about what they are looking for next. You can reach Marla at [email protected] or visit her website at www.marlamonroe.com