“What in the heck are they waiting for, an invitation?” Well, hadn’t she practically given Aiden just that earlier in the day? What was taking them so long to claim her?
Her stomach clenched just thinking about how it would feel for them to pin her between them, their hands and mouths skimming over her body as she moaned and writhed between them.
She squeezed her thighs together and wished she knew what it was like to have two hot men vying for her attention. Would she ever know that feeling?
A knock on the front door startled her out of her daydream. She set the broom back in the closet and headed for the door.
“Oh, hi, Garret.” She wasn’t pleased to see her cousin. He would no doubt try to scare her into going back to Virginia. He wasn’t past doing whatever he felt was necessary to get the land, by fairness or deceit. The man was a predator and she knew it. She only hoped he wasn’t so much of one he would do something illegal to get the property deeded in his name. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to talk some sense into you.” He pushed past her, stalking into the cabin, ignoring the rug in front of the door, and stomping the snow from his expensive loafers onto her freshly-washed floor. “You can’t seriously be thinking of staying up here by yourself for an entire month.”
“Well, I don’t have to be here by myself. I could have a friend or two come stay with me.” She crossed her arms and scowled down at his feet. “Gee, thanks, Garret. I just mopped the floor.”
“Really?” He curled his lip. “I couldn’t tell. This cabin is so... rustic. I’m surprised it doesn’t have a mud floor.” He unwound the expensive scarf he wore and hung it on a hook, along with his designer coat. “I see you managed to get it warm in here, at least.” He warmed his hands in front of the pellet stove and eyed the hole where the picture window used to be. “What happened to the window and what hideous contraption is that covering the hole?” He raised his brow. “Is that something one of your bumpkin neighbors brought over for you?”
“No, actually, it’s the shutter system Grandpa had put in after the windows froze and broke while he and Grandma were spending Christmas up here one year.”
“Shutters, huh?”
“Yes. And I’ve decided to shutter the windows every night from now on. I woke up freezing when that broke.” She headed for the kitchen to check her roast. “Is there some reason you decided to drive up here?” As much as she wanted him out of her home, she couldn’t bring herself to ask him to leave.
“I just wanted to check on my favorite cousin.”
“I’m your only cousin.” After washing her hands, she opened the oven, pulled the pan out and set it on the stovetop.
“Well, that, too.” He eyed the roast. “That’s an awful big hunk of meat for one person.”
“It’s called leftovers, Garret.”
“Oh.” He curled his lip again. “I forgot you liked that sort of thing. Me? I’d rather have fresh food every day.”
“Some things taste better the second time around.”
“If you say so.”
“You still haven’t said why you’re here.” She turned the roast, seasoned it and placed it back in the oven.
“Let me have the cabin and I’ll make it worth your while.”
“No, thank you. I love this cabin, and you know it.” She wiped her hands on a dishtowel and pulled several pounds of potatoes from the pantry. “I plan to keep this in the family. I don’t want it sold to developers who will make some sort of campground or resort out of it.” She placed the potatoes in a strainer and carried them to the table. “If that’s all you wanted, you know your way out.”
“You’re not even going to invite me to dinner?”
“Would you stay if I did?” She met his gaze. “The last I heard, you hated pot roast. I believe you called it roast beast and hated it with a passion.”
“People change, Roxanne.”
She stiffened at the use of her full name. He only called her that when he wanted to rile her.
“Well... when you change, be sure to let me know. As far as I can tell, you’re still just as rotten on the inside as you ever were.”
“Why you little—” Garret moved toward her, his fists clenched at his sides.
Roxie flinched as she had a flashback of the last time she’d pissed her cousin off.
“Touch her and die, you son-of-a-bitch.”
A low growl filled the kitchen, startling Roxie enough that she cut herself on the sharp paring knife she used to peel the potatoes.
“Ow!” She bought her cut thumb to her mouth and glared at her cousin.
“I think it’s time ye left.” Calum moved alongside Garret and nudged his arm. “I think the lady has had enough of your company.”
“Yes, Garret. I think it’s time you left.” She turned to Calum and Aiden. “This is my cousin, Garret Winslow. “She turned to him. “Garret, these are the two men who will hunt you down if anything untoward happens to me.” She smiled. “Now, if you don’t mind, I think Aiden will show you to the door. I don’t think it would be wise to attempt to stay much longer.”
Her stomach twisted as she told her cousin to leave. He’d always frightened her and seeing him so angry, and having that anger pointed at her, wasn’t something she’d been prepared to handle. Still, she was glad she had two hot Scots to point the ass toward the door for her. She could break down in a fit of nerves later after everyone went home. If they all went home.
Chapter Six
Calum glared at the man standing in Roxie’s kitchen. If the man’s body language was any indication, he was just about to strike Roxie. He’d have been a dead man if he had.
He wouldn’t put it past the asshole to have been the one who broke the picture window in Roxie’s front room, either.
“Aye, ye bastard. Get your ass out of this house before we throw ye out of it. No one threatens our Roxie in her own home.”
“Your Roxie?” Garret looked between them before he threw his head back and laughed. “Now I’ve seen it all. Little, perfect Roxie, starting her own little male harem. Wouldn’t the grandparents be proud?” He leaned forward, his eyes narrowed. “I always knew you were a little slut.”
Roxie’s knife fell from her nerveless fingers and she started to shake.
“That’s it. Get your ass out of here, unless you want the paramedics tae come carry your ass out.” Aiden grasped the man by the collar and shoved him toward the door. “This is Roxie’s home, not yours and if we have anything tae say about it, you’ll never step another foot inside her home.” He pushed the other man out the door.
Calum grabbed the man’s coat and scarf and threw them in his face. “Good riddance to ye man, and don’t let us catch ye sniffing around here again.” He stepped out onto the front porch. “We’ve just decided to invite ourselves to stay here with her. If you show your ugly mug around here again, I’ll kill ye, with a smile.” He grinned. “Now, I think it’s time ye left town and never bother to come back.”
Turning, Calum climbed the porch steps and entered the cabin with a smile. Gods, it felt good to protect his mate. Not once had he ever thought anyone would dare to insult any female under his protection. It was only more proof that the humans had managed to totally ignore all of their instincts, even the one that told them their life was in danger. That idiot clearly didn’t know the danger he’d been in. He had no idea that Calum and Aiden could make him disappear without a trace, and that made him that much more the fool.
“I’m sorry that ass had tae go and call you names, love,” Aiden said as he walked into the kitchen.
“It’s okay. It’s not your fault. It’s his fault he’s a jerk. His parents always gave him everything he ever wanted and never taught him the value of a job well done, or the need to work for what you want. The jerk has gotten everything he’s ever wanted and he’s used to it.”
“It’s no excuse for calling a lady names.”
“Do yo
u really think of me as a lady?”
“Of course we do.” Calum cupped her cheek and tilted her head back. “Just because we both want ye, doesn’t make ye any less a lady. Our grandmother is one, as well. Would ye call Maggie Wallace anything but a lady?” He smiled softly. “Of course ye wouldn’t. Yet, she would have had the same kind of relationship had her second mate come forward while her husband had been alive.”
“Some women get three or four mates. Aren’t you glad you weren’t that lucky?” Aiden grinned and winked.
“Ye are a lady in every sense of the word.” Calum pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “And I wish that ye would allow us to stay here with ye tonight. Even if ye don’t want to sleep with us. We’d feel much better knowing you’re safe from that cousin of yours. I don’t like the way he looks at this place. He has the expression of a man who would rather burn this place to the ground than let you have it.”
“He can’t.” She covered his hands with hers and pulled them from her face. “The land automatically reverts to me or my heirs if the cabin is destroyed prior to my completing the challenge. The only thing he can do is try to scare me from the property and I promise you, that’s not going to happen.”
“He could take ye from here and no one would ever know. Ye just wouldn’t be here when your lawyers show up for ye to sign your papers.”
“I never thought of that.” She bit her lip. “You really want to stay, even though I’m not... I’m not ready to sleep with you?”
She might not be ready to sleep with them both, but they might be able to convince her to accept one of them at a time in her bed. It was time to ratchet up their pursuit of their little mate.
While their little Roxanne might think she wasn’t ready to share her bed with them, her scent said something totally different.
As much as she might not be willing to admit it, she wanted them bad enough that she was wet with it. The scent of her body’s desire wafted from between her legs like the smell of sweet, sweet candy. Calum fought the urge to lick his lips. She wanted them, whether she was willing to admit it to herself, or not.
Chapter Seven
Dinner was over before Roxie knew it and so was clean up. The two men helped her with the dishes, each of them doing something that made her job easier and harder at the same time.
The kitchen wasn’t an overly large one and, as big as they were, the two men kept bumping into her as they worked. Before she knew it, she was a huge bundle of nerves, just waiting for them to touch her in just the right way to send her careening over the edge.
She was sure they didn’t mean to bump into her, their arms lightly brushing the hardened tips of her breasts. Nor did they mean to blow their hot breath on the back of her neck as they reached around her to put dishes in the cabinets or grab them from the dish drainer. No. That was all in her overactive imagination.
Still, her body was in overdrive and in sore need of a mind-blowing orgasm and she knew they would oblige if she only asked. Yet, she couldn’t bring herself to ask. Her cousin’s words kept reverberating in her mind.
“I always knew you were a little slut...”
Was Garret right? Was that the reason she craved the attention of her guests, or did she really have some strange mystic bond with them that her cousin could never understand?
Roxie entered her room and went straight to the window. Starting immediately, closing the shutters would be a nightly ritual for her. While she had never given her body lightly, she had never really cared if someone got off on watching her. The thought that someone found her attractive enough to watch her covertly had always been a bit of a turn on. Not anymore. Her cousin had formed his opinion of her somehow, and frankly, the thought of him watching her undress made her skin crawl.
The shutter in her bathroom was the last to slide into place. Turning, she twisted the taps on the tub and began removing her clothes.
A long hot soak was just what she needed. Besides, she could get off on the jets and finally release the pent-up desire while she was at it. It was a win-win, as far as she was concerned.
An hour later, Roxie climbed out of the tub and pulled the plug, watching as the cool water spiraled down the drain. It didn’t seem to matter how many times she used the water jets to come, she just couldn’t seem to unwind. It was as though she needed the real thing.
“Well, you’re not getting it tonight.” She wiped the steam from the mirror and shook her finger at herself. “The last thing you’re going to do is prove Garret right.” She thinned her lips. “I refuse to prove that ass right.” She had never been easy and she certainly wasn’t about to start now.
Entering her room, she flopped face-first onto the bed and sighed. After waking up at oh-dark-thirty, she was exhausted and with any luck at all, she’d be able to relax and go to sleep.
“Did you sleep well?” she asked as the two men strode into the kitchen the following morning.
They appeared well rested, though neither of them seemed to be in a good mood. Apparently, they had been luckier than she and hadn’t been plagued by erotic dreams all night.
“We slept fine, lass.” Calum poured himself a cup of coffee and then took a seat at the table.
“Aye, we slept fine.” Aiden winked as he poured two cups of coffee, handed her one, then took his place at the table next to his friend.
If their expressions were anything to go by, at least they hadn’t dreamed about her the way she’d dreamed of them all night. She’d had several wet dreams throughout the night and kept waking up in the middle of her orgasm, every single time. She was frustrated as hell.
“Don’t count on it, lass.” Calum met her gaze and raised a brow. “We shared your dreams with ye.” He reached down and readjusted the bulge in the front of his jeans.
Roxie looked away, her cheeks burning. No matter how she tried, she couldn’t seem to get the image of them out of her mind.
In her dreams, the two men had been completely naked and obviously aroused. She peered at them from the corner of her eye before glancing quickly away, her face burning with mortification.
“You... you know about my dreams and... how do you know what I was thinking?”
Calum nodded. “Aye, lass. We shared them with ye. And we weren’t listening to your thoughts. Ye were mumbling to yourself and we have wonderful hearing.”
“Oh... God.” She covered her face with her hands.
Having erotic dreams about them was one thing. Having them sharing her dreams was something else entirely.
“Is sharing dreams normal?” She busied herself cooking bacon and eggs. “I mean for your clan?”
“Not that we are aware.” Aiden sat down, forked a large pancake onto his plate and drowned it in syrup. “We thank you for dinner last night.” He licked a drop of syrup from his thumb.
“And we thank ye for breakfast, as well,” Calum added. “You’re a fine cook, lass.” He winked at her. “And a fine and vivid dreamer, too.”
“Look, I can’t help what I dream.” She sighed. “I’m sorry if it makes you think less of me.”
She pulled the hash browns from the oven, set them on the table with the rest of the meal and switched off the burners.
Her eyes burned and the center of her chest ached. No wonder Garret thought she was easy. She barely knew the two men sitting at her table and they’d already seen her naked. It didn’t matter that it was only in her dreams.
“Don’t upset yourself, lass.” Calum stood and before she knew it, he’d pressed against her back, and wrapped his arms around her, his forearms brushing the undersides of her breasts. He nuzzled her neck, his warm breath brushing her ear. “We don’t think less of ye if that’s what you’re worried about. How could we?”
He spread his fingers wide, his big hand nearly spanning her ribcage. “You’re the woman we’ve waited lifetimes for. How could we ever find fault with anything about ye?”
“But Garret said—”
“
Sh...love.”
Aiden was suddenly beside her, sliding his hand over her hair, his touch so gentle it almost brought tears to her eyes.
“Your cousin is an ass.” He sighed and met the reflection of her gaze in the window, his expression sincere. “It doesn’t matter what he thinks. He’s only trying to make you feel unworthy of your grandfather’s love so you’ll leave this place and give him what he wants.” He lowered his hand, tangling his fingers with hers. “Don’t give him what he wants, lass.”
“Can we stay here with ye, or are there other stipulations in the will?” Callum kissed her neck.
“You...you could stay. I just don’t think you should.” She needed to be alone for a bit, to think. Their being shifters was cool, but was she really ready to cohabitate, even for a little while? “There’s nothing in the will that says I can’t have guests. The only stipulation is that I must live here, spending every night under this roof, for a full thirty days.”
“How will they know ye didn’t cheat?”
“The GPS tracker in this bracelet.” She raised her arm and showed them the wide black band. “I have to wear it twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week while I’m here and it’s somehow coded to my biometrics. It knows if I’m wearing it and not someone else, so it can’t be tricked. If I leave to go to the store, or out to dinner, I must return by midnight.” She gave them a lopsided grin. “Grandpa called it his Cinderella clause. The only excuse for my not being here that is acceptable is if I’ve had a medical emergency, and even that must be corroborated by the nearest hospital.”
“They’ve thought of everything, haven’t they?” Calum rubbed his chin.
“Yes, they have.”
“What’s to stop your cousin from seeing to it that ye disappear?” Calum growled, his protective instincts obviously getting him in a tither. “They’ve put ye in danger from that greedy cousin of yours.”
She tilted her head and met his gaze. “Not really. If I should disappear, or die, the land automatically goes to the state as a nature preserve. They did the only thing they could to keep me and the land safe.” At least her grandparents had realized Garret could do something nefarious to get the land and made it so he couldn’t harm her without losing it altogether.
Tempting the Bears Page 3