by Jane Jamison
* * * *
The water chilled Livi to the bone, but she’d had no other choice. The wolves had her blocked from every side. The only way to put distance between them was to get into the lake.
Her teeth chattered and her body shook as she lifted the camera and took another photograph. She’d taken a few pictures of the pack, but her main focus was on the two huge wolves standing on the flat rock. The smaller, yet still large, yellow wolf that had jumped up to join the dark wolf had amber eyes. Yet it wasn’t the color that struck Livi as much as the malevolent glare in those eyes. It was almost as though the wolf hated Livi on a personal level.
She had to hang on until one of the Parker men came to check on her. As long as the wolves didn’t come into the water, she had a fighting chance of surviving an attack.
The yellow wolf snarled then leapt off the rock, and padded to the edge of the water. Livi stopped taking pictures to study the wolf. She was a female, she was almost sure of it. Not that she could tell physically. She couldn’t see underneath it to its belly. It was simply an impression she got. Like when the mean girls at her high school had targeted her to bully.
“What do you want?” She felt silly talking to the animal, but what else could she do? Splash it? Did wolves swim?
The yellow wolf tilted her head and pulled her lips back in what could have passed for an evil leer. She took another step, putting one paw in the water.
The large dark wolf that had stayed on the rock growled. The rest of the wolves reacted, whining and snarling then nipping at each other’s flanks. The yellow wolf placed her other foot into the water.
Oh, hell. She’s coming in.
“You’d better listen to your friends and go away. My friends are coming back soon.” She wasn’t sure what the Parker brothers could do to run off the pack, but she knew they’d do their best. She just prayed they wouldn’t get hurt.
A loud bark had the yellow wolf jerking toward the sound, then let out a low growl at the large gray wolf coming up behind the rest of the pack. His tail swished back and forth and his ears were laid back. His movements were confident and powerful as he padded toward the other wolves. She watched, amazed, as the pack split into two groups, allowing him to stride through them. Once in the middle, he spun in a circle, then growled again. At once, the pack scattered, disappearing into the darkness and the underbrush.
The yellow wolf was back on dry land and inching away from him. She snarled, matching the way he held his ears and tail, but her threat of violence was only a threat. Even Livi could tell she had no intention of fighting him.
The huge wolf on the flat rock let out a howl, startling not only her but the yellow wolf as well. More growls came from behind the gray wolf as she waited, forgetting the chill of the water as the drama played out.
“Oh, hell.”
A brown wolf had joined the first one.
The dark wolf snarled then leapt off the rock and ran into the bushes. Whining, the yellow wolf backed up more, but wasn’t ready to run.
Livi sucked in a breath when a large white wolf stepped out of the bushes closest to the yellow wolf. The she-wolf yelped, then went down on her belly and flopped over onto her back.
The white wolf padded over to her and pushed her with his nose like he was commanding her to get back on her feet. Stunned, Livi had forgotten about her camera until then. Taking care to make sure the focus was good, she aimed the camera at them and clicked the photo.
The white wolf shook its head at her. Did he want her to stop? Instead, she took one, then another photo. Had she heard it work? Worried that her camera may have missed the shot, she pulled out her phone from her shirt pocket, centered the scene of the white wolf standing over the she-wolf, then took the picture. As was her habit, she sent the picture to her computer.
The white wolf, its green eyes flashing, pushed the she-wolf harder, forcing her onto her paws. With a snarl, he shoved her again and she obeyed, dashing away from the lake and into the night. He snarled once more, then followed in the direction the she-wolf had gone.
The fear that had overwhelmed her earlier was gone, replaced by the exhilaration of the seeing and photographing the white wolf. She started toward the shore, then paused and scanned the area. The other wolves had gone, leaving while her attention had been on the white wolf.
Uncaring that she was soaking wet and shivering, she lifted her camera into the air and let out an excited whoop. “I got it!”
* * * *
Livi was still ecstatic about getting the pictures when she ran into the campsite. Once she saw the men’s faces, the thrill came to an immediate halt. Tony and Nick were scowling at her as hard as Eric was.
“What’s wrong?” They hadn’t seen what had gone on at the lake, and other than the fact that her clothes were wet, there was nothing outwardly wrong with her.
“We’re leaving.” Tony’s usually exuberant lightheartedness was gone.
“You are?” She’d gotten used to having them with her. More than that. She’d let herself imagine a celebratory time in the tent with all three of them. She felt the immediate loss deep inside her as though they’d already gone.
“We are. Meaning you’re coming with us.”
Not Nick, too. Had Eric convinced him to go along with him? “No. I’m not. We’ve already had this discussion. You’re not my bosses or my—” She stopped. What were they? She’d almost called them her lovers, but was that accurate? Or had the lake been a one-time fling with a woman passing through town?
“We’re not your what, Liv?”
She expected Tony to come to her, and yet, he stayed where he was. He was angry and more. He was afraid and worried.
“It doesn’t matter. If you guys want to leave, then leave.” She balanced the camera on one hand. “I got some amazing shots of the white wolf. Yeah. That’s right. He does exist.”
“Then your job is finished.” Eric’s green eyes, so much like those of the white wolf, blazed at her. “There’s no reason for you to stay.”
“And yet, I’m staying. I want to get more photos. Especially of his eyes.” She came over and set the camera on the table. The wine she’d brought with her was gone. It seemed the men had finished it off.
“His eyes?”
At least Tony seemed open to talk to her. “Yes, his eyes. They were this amazing green color.” She studied him. “Like yours and Eric’s.”
She took the camera and searched through the photos she’d taken. But none of them had captured the green of his eyes. “The shots I took didn’t catch the color. Have you ever seen a wolf with green eyes? Is that normal?”
“You’re not listening. You’re leaving with us.”
She pulled the camera toward her and out of Eric’s reach. “No, I’m not. Get over it. What you say doesn’t matter.”
She wanted to bite off the end of her tongue the second the words were out. What he said and thought mattered a lot to her. Just like what Tony and Nick thought, too. It was just that Eric had a way of getting under her skin and making her say things she didn’t mean.
“We saw what happened.”
“What do you mean?” Yet she couldn’t look Nick in the eye and tell him he was wrong.
“Come on, Liv. We saw you in the lake. If the other wolves hadn’t come along and scared off the first group, who knows what could’ve happened?”
“But they did.” She glanced from one to the next. “Besides, if you were there, why didn’t you help me? Why didn’t you frighten the wolves away?”
Unless it was her imagination—and she didn’t think it was—they all looked very sheepish. They hadn’t tried to save her. Had she pegged them wrong? Even Tony?
“They were already on the run when we got there.”
“That doesn’t add up, Nick. Even if that’s true, why wouldn’t you come to the lake and help me out? They could’ve come back.”
“And what would you have done then?”
Eric’s attempt to turn the conversation away f
rom the fact that they hadn’t helped wouldn’t work. Not in the long run. “I’d have gotten to my backpack someway, somehow, and grabbed my gun.”
“Gun?” Tony’s jaw dropped, yet it was his stunned expression that cut her. “You’ve got a gun?”
“Of course I do. Do you think I’m stupid? I’m not going out into the woods without protection.” Yet they stared at her as though that was the most ridiculous reason to ever have a gun. “I don’t get it. Why is it such a big deal? Don’t you guys have guns? You said you went hunting.”
“Not with guns.” Tony tunneled his fingers through his hair.
“Then with what? Bows and arrows? Traps? Your bare hands? Tell me you can run a deer down and tackle it.”
“I never would’ve picked you as a gun owner.”
“Well, I guess you don’t really know me that well, do you, Tony?” She was getting angrier by the second, spoiling her mood. “What’s wrong with you guys?”
“Keep the damn gun in the backpack. We wouldn’t want you to shoot one of us by accident.”
“Are you sure it’d be by accident?” She had to keep her trap shut. Things she didn’t mean were falling out without censorship.
Nick shook his head and turned away from her. He started picking up the camp, grouping things together to put them back in the car.
“Livi, you’re going back in the morning.” Eric’s face was stone-like. “Whether you want to or not.”
“Oh, really? And what are you planning on doing? Tying me up like a pig and throwing me in the back of my car? Because if that’s what you’re thinking, you’ve got another thing coming.”
His eyes seemed to darken with his soft smile. “If that’s what it takes, then so be it.” Turning on his heel, he stalked into the woods.
Tony shook his head. “Be ready to leave in the morning, Liv.” He followed Eric out of camp. Nick dropped what he was working on and took to Tony’s footsteps.
Livi stayed where she was, too surprised to do anything but stare. She had no doubt that Eric was serious. He’d haul her back to town, hogtied and slung over his shoulder if he had to.
She did the only thing she could do. Not wanting to up and leave in the morning, she left things as they were, including leaving the bag of food hanging in the tree where Nick had put it. He’d warned her that it might draw “critters” and having it hanging from a branch a few yards from the campsite was the best way to keep raccoons and bears away from it. She glanced around the lonely campsite then pulled up the zipper of the tent. Maybe by the time they came back, everyone would have settled down.
The men had placed her sleeping bag along with their blankets over the blowup mattress, making it into one large bed. She fell into the middle of the pile and started scrolling through her photographs. They weren’t the best quality of photos she’d ever taken, but they weren’t bad, either.
Soon she found that she was going through the pictures without really seeing them. Instead, her mind kept returning to images of Tony and Nick in the water. She could still feel the heat of their skin next to hers, still hear the splashes of water as they moved around her. She spread her legs, recalling how Tony had played with her pussy. He’d stayed underwater a long time, but she hadn’t complained.
Giving up on searching the photos, she lay back on the sleeping bag and closed her eyes. Eric’s hard face came to her. She could imagine what he looked like without his clothes. He’d be as hard and lean as his brothers. His shoulder width was wider than theirs and his hands were bigger. Did that mean he’d have a bigger cock? She wondered if the myth about hands and feet showing a man’s size was true.
I’ll have to find out.
She yawned, suddenly very tired.
* * * *
Livi moaned at the touch between her legs. At first it was soft, a tender brush against her pussy folds. Instinctively, she spread her legs. Her hands gripped the blanket underneath her, yet when she tried to lift her hands, she found that she couldn’t move them. They were pinned down.
The gentle brush was gone in the next instant, replaced by a pressure against her lips that increased until it hit her clit. She moaned and struggled to pull her arms free, but her wrists were trapped.
She opened her eyes, and at first, saw nothing. Her eyes adjusted to the shadows of the tent, but it wasn’t her eyes that made her aware of her surroundings. His tongue, insistent and urgent, swept over her, bringing her body awake. She was startled, turned on, and needing more.
Lifting her head, she watched as the dark-haired head bobbed up and down between her legs. She opened for him, going wider than before, then threw her head back.
His hands spread over her body, caressing every changing slope of her form, exploring parts of her she’d forgotten had existed.
“Livi.”
Eric’s deep voice reached into her, passing through flesh and bone to reach the very soul of her.
He came back.
His tongue lashed at her, circling the hard bud that throbbed under his magic. She cried out when he sucked it into his mouth, bucked when he added two fingers to her pussy. She was lost, unable to command her body to do anything other than what he wanted.
“You taste good.”
She couldn’t speak. Was, in fact, afraid to speak. The spell he held over her was too fragile.
His hand slid up to take a breast and squeeze. She wanted so much to cover his hand with hers, but still couldn’t break free. Arching, she did what she could to urge him to do more.
He moved, up and over her, a dark form that would claim dominance over her. Her hands free now, she lifted them to roam along his arms and over his wide shoulders. Just as she’d suspected, he was as strong and buff as his brothers.
His mouth found her nipple and tugged on it. He nipped at the tender bud and brought his other hand around to take her butt cheek.
“I want you.”
“Then have me.”
He chuckled. “As if I need to ask.”
At any other time with any other man, she would’ve bristled at his audacity. With Eric, she wouldn’t have expected any less.
He rose, lifting his torso above her, then took her under the legs. He was a black form in the night, and yet his eyes seemed to glow with an otherworldly essence. If she could’ve spoken right then, she would’ve asked what they were.
He thrust into her, wiping away all thoughts of his eyes as his cock pierced her entrance. They came together, two bodies recognizing the other as though they were parts of one person that had been separated at birth.
He kissed her, nibbling at her lower lip as he took possession of her. She burned for him, ached to have him inside her more than was humanly possible. Instead, she did all she could, using her body, her caresses to silently tell him what she was feeling.
Their bodies hummed, connected through flesh and thought. Her finger skimmed along his shoulders when he lowered his body over hers, her breasts pushing against his chest. Like boats on the ocean, they rose and fell on the waves of their lovemaking.
She couldn’t have said how long they were together. Only that she was lifted high as her climax rolled over her, thundering outward from her core. She cried out, then realized his cry had mixed with hers.
When the sounds of their shouts died out, he fell to her side and drew her into the crook of his arm. Talking was unnecessary. The only thing she needed was his skin touching hers.
Although she fought against sleep, the comfort and safety of his body lying next to hers joined with her fatigue to take her once more.
* * * *
Livi awoke with a start at the sound of voices. Without thinking, she reached out for Eric, but found that she was alone. Had she dreamed what had happened between them? No, that couldn’t be. She could still feel his hands all over her body. Her body wouldn’t have that thoroughly fucked feeling if it hadn’t been real.
“Is she up yet?”
There he is now.
She threw off the blanket covering her na
ked body and grabbed her clothes. “I’m up.”
“Good. We’re waiting on you.”
She smiled at Tony’s rich voice. “Is Nick with you?”
“Sure.”
She couldn’t help but feel a little smug. They’d come back just as she’d known they would. Did Nick and Tony know that she and Eric had gotten together? If so, did they care? She worried that it would be awkward between the four of them once she came out, but there was no way to delay it any longer.
“Hurry up, Livi. We need to get the tent down.”
What?
She was up and pushing the tent flaps aside. Once outside, she stopped, taking everything in. Aside from the tent, every last bit of equipment and food was gone, loaded into the back of the Jeep. “You’re kidding. You’re still leaving?”
Eric tossed a bag of food into the car. “We’re still leaving. So get moving.”
Nothing had changed from the previous night. Except for the fact that she and Eric now knew each other’s bodies intimately.
“After last night?” She couldn’t believe he was acting like nothing had happened.
“Last night has nothing to do with staying or going. You got your photos so now you’re leaving. It’s as simple as that.”
Anger rose like a shark rising swiftly to the surface to enclose its razor-like teeth around the leg of a hapless surfer. She opened her mouth, ready to let a stream of curses fly, then clamped her mouth closed. As much as she wanted to fight them, she knew it was useless. Their hard-set faces told her that much. Each of them stood, feet planted apart, ready to do battle.
It hurt like hell to say it, but she managed to spit the word out. “Fine.”
If nothing else, she’d earned the right to say she’d surprised them. At first they didn’t believe her, but to their credit, they didn’t say so. Instead, Tony and Nick started working on the tent, easing past her to get the mattress, blankets, and sleeping bags.
“You’re too agreeable.”