“Harris?”
A look crossed her face — something between unease and fear — that made his heart accelerate with anticipation. Let the games begin.
“This isn’t working for me anymore.”
At his words the expression turned to annoyance. “Fine,” she said, straightening. “I’ll leave.”
“I didn’t say you could leave, darlin’.”
He was as good at spells and potions as the next wizard, but that wasn’t what set him apart. He used his mind to slam the still open front door shut and turn the locks. The surprised look on her face was so comical he almost laughed. He did grin, and she gave him a dirty look.
“I had no idea you could do that.”
“Oh, I can do all kinds of things.” Read as much innuendo into that as you like, darlin’.
Small white teeth bit down on her bottom lip. He just managed not to groan remembering what they felt like on his skin.
“How?”
“Telekinesis.” He took a step forward, and she matched it with one in retreat. “It’s a rare talent, and mine is stronger than most.” Probably the strongest in the country, but she didn’t need to know that yet.
“Can you read minds?” she asked curiously.
“No.”
“And what can you do other than shut and lock doors?”
Ah, his curious little wolf. He had her. With a slow shake of his head and fighting a smile, he said, “Let me show you.”
But she didn’t take the hand he held out. “I thought you said this wasn’t working for you anymore.”
She frowned, but her eyes were feverish, and her gaze kept returning to the erection his towel did nothing to hide. The heat was taking over. He used a finger under her chin to lift her face so he could see into those cloudy eyes. Deep and whiskey colored, they only spoke of lust and need.
He grinned. “Don’t you think we should wait and talk about this later?”
“Oh yes.” She nodded, lust thickening her voice. “Definitely later.”
She reached for him, but he stopped her and turned her around. He kept his hands on her shoulders and moved up close behind her, his cock pressed against her ass, as he whispered in her ear, “Wait in the bedroom. You know where it is.”
“Aren’t you coming?”
He slid his hands down her arms to her elbows, moved them to her hips and held her still while he pushed his pelvis forward. She gasped and tried to get closer. It took all his restraint not to let her.
“Harris.” It was a panted plea, and he let her desire wash over him, a hot seductive wave. He knew what she wanted. A casual, undemanding, very vanilla joining. But he was certain that wasn’t what she needed. It might satisfy her body, but it wouldn’t give her the fulfillment she craved in her heart and soul. He wasn’t a telepath, he hadn’t lied about that, but he felt her emotions and most deeply hidden secrets on a psychic level. Secrets she probably didn’t even acknowledge to herself. The only other person Harris could read so well was Ethan, and Harris knew that was because both wolves were his. Ethan accepted that, but not his skittish little she-wolf. She required persuasion, and Harris was ready to use the most sensual kind.
Releasing her, he stepped back and slapped her ass. “Go. I want you waiting naked for me.” He looked down her stocking clad legs. It was time to make some demands of his own. “You can keep the shoes on.”
With one last uncertain glance over her shoulder, she moved down the hall and disappeared into his bedroom. He could sense a low-level tension under her confusion. As a high-ranking soldier in Redhawke, her instinct to resist his order was only quelled by the desire flooding her body. He heard the key in the lock behind him and turned as Ethan sauntered in. Grinning, Ethan looked him over.
“I figured dinner and a movie first, but if you want to skip straight to dessert, I’m game.”
Harris rolled his eyes, but it was only a feeble effort to hide his excitement. “Not now.”
Ethan shut the door and leaned back against it with a casual grace that fooled everyone who met him. It was a carefully cultivated image. He was tall and leanly muscled and looked more like a rich playboy than a dangerous soldier. Dark blond hair with tantalizing streaks of gold fell into his eyes, and he shoved the shaggy, wavy mass back to pin Harris with an emerald green stare. His eyes narrowed, and his nostrils flared. That easygoing mask slipped for just a minute as he waited Harris out.
“She just showed up,” Harris replied to the unanswered question. He knew his werewolf lover could scent the woman they both wanted in the house. He’d been with Ethan long enough to anticipate him. Usually. Harris half expected him to straighten and make himself scarce. He didn’t.
Instead a pained look crossed his face, and Ethan muttered, “that woman is gonna kill me.”
Harris understood like no one else could have. He wanted Ethan and Gabby fiercely, always. He wanted a right to them. A right to make demands from them. He was sick and damned tired of being on the outside, and he was pretty sure Ethan felt the same way. Gabby would only come to Harris when she was in heat, but she would only go to Ethan if she wasn’t. The woman had serious commitment issues.
He looked Ethan over and felt the usual lust strum through his body. He rarely allowed himself the fantasy of the three of them together, but things were changing, weren’t they?
“I told her this arrangement isn’t working for me anymore.”
Ethan gave him sharp look edged with hunger. “And yet, she’s in your bed.”
“Jealous?”
He snorted. “Hell, yeah.”
“I told her, but she isn’t exactly in a position to think right now. It would be cruel for me to send her away like that.”
“The heat. I thought I scented the beginning yesterday,” Ethan murmured.
“Hmm. No telling what she might agree to in that state.”
Ethan blinked, then a slow smile curled his lips. “That’s not right. Sneaky. Underhanded. I like it.”
Harris grinned. Gabby didn’t feel any compunction about playing dirty, why should they? Besides all was fair in love and war, and this was both. “After you then.”
Chapter Two
Gabby tried not to obey Harris’s order too quickly, too eagerly, but it was impossible. She burned. Unfortunately, she couldn’t blame it all on the heat. Her craving intensified each time she came to him. Heart racing like she’d just run a marathon, she shut the door behind her and stared, unmoving, at Harris’s huge bed. Three adults could comfortably share it. Leaning back against the door, she squeezed her eyes shut. This wasn’t the first time she’d thought about the number of people who’d fit in that bed. It wasn’t any more welcome now than then, especially when she reminded herself who Harris would invite to join them. Ethan. The wolf who teased her, tempted her, irritated her, and generally made her crazy.
It’s just the hormones, Gabby. Forget about it.
Damn the heat. Men didn’t have to suffer through this indignity. They didn’t get ambushed by their hormones every three months, didn’t become consumed with lust. Sometimes the desperation was so bad it hurt. The women in the pack said it wasn’t so bad if you were mated. In fact they said the opposite — that it was incredible with a mate. Gabby would never know. She had no intention of mating. It didn’t tend to work out for the strong females in the pack like her mother. Even Liza, who was paladin, second in strength and power only to the alpha and beta, constantly struggled against her mates’ instinct to dominate her.
No. Gabby would rather be alone than turn her personal life into a battleground. So why was she here now imagining Harris and Ethan in that bed with her? And worse, imagining being in their power, giving them total control. It was just the heat, damn it. Had to be. Ethan drove her up the wall 90 percent of the time, and despite the time she spent with Harris during heat she hardly knew him. They didn’t exactly spend their time together talking. When he tried to initiate conversations she did her best to keep it impersonal. Why tempt herself by deepening the attract
ion she already felt for him? It was better to keep him at an emotional distance.
With a groan, she moved to sit on the edge of the bed and put her face in her palms. None of that had stopped her from having sex with him before. She almost stood to leave, but where could she go? It was too late for the mix of herbs that would deaden the heat, and dangerous to use more than once a year anyway. If she went home, she ran too big a risk of running into a male who might scent her condition, and he’d try his damnedest to seduce her. She’d probably give in too, not because she wanted to, but because she couldn’t fight the need indefinitely.
No, that wouldn’t do.
At least there were no expectations of something more with Harris. They’d spend a couple of days together. She’d screw it out of her system and leave with no strings attached. And if that was getting harder to do, oh well. Life was a bitch sometimes. She’d deal.
Decision made, she kicked off her heels. Harris may like them, but they pinched her toes to the point of numbness. She gasped and wiggled them when they were free, then stood to roll down her thigh highs. She tossed them away and hurried to reach the zipper on the side of the dress when she heard footsteps in the hall. It was pulled to her waist before she realized there were two people out there. She held her breath, staring, when the door opened but she knew who was there. His scent was just as intoxicating, just as seductive as Harris’s. Rich and male. A hint of forest and dominance.
“Oh, no,” she whispered.
“You’re still dressed,” Harris said.
No shit. “What’s he doing here?”
“Did you assume I didn’t have plans today, darlin’? Not very thoughtful of you.”
She hadn’t considered it one way or the other. “You should have said something. I don’t want to interrupt.”
Oh gods. Was that a note of longing in her voice? Get a grip, Gabby. She couldn’t have sex with both them and expect nothing to change. Ethan especially would be insufferable. He’d brought up relationships and commitments more than once in the last year. Hinted at but never uttered the dreaded ‘M’ word. Mate. Every time he did, she ran hard in the other direction. He was blocking her escape now though, wearing an expression that said he knew exactly where her thoughts had gone.
“You aren’t interrupting,” Harris said. He let the towel drop, and her mouth went dry. “You’re joining.”
“Um.” She licked her lips and wrenched her gaze from his cock. Need punched hard in her belly. “Bad idea.” She picked up her shoes, but Ethan didn’t move from his position blocking the door.
“I should go,” she said softly. “I need to go.”
What she really needed was one of them moving hard and fast inside her, but if they knew that they’d use it to keep her here. To make it reality. She shut her eyes, afraid they gave her away, and took a deep breath. A mistake. She took their scents deep into her lungs. Ethan was masculine and woodsy, while Harris was rich and mysterious. She got a seductive of hint of how theirs would mix with hers if they were mated. She frowned and took another breath. One already had a piece of the other’s. Harris and Ethan belonged to each other, though she didn’t think they realized it was a done deal yet. She opened her eyes, looked first at Ethan, then at Harris.
“I really don’t belong here,” she said, ignoring a twinge of regret. You don’t want that, remember? Two obnoxious alpha males trying to control her life? No way.
“You’re wrong about that,” Ethan said so softly even her sensitive ears had to strain to make out the words.
And still, he guarded the door. She very carefully kept her eyes off Harris, who stood naked just a couple feet away. She’d never find the necessary strength to walk out of the house if she looked at him, so she concentrated on Ethan.
“Let me go.” Damn it, the demand sounded more like a plea. If she showed any weakness to him now, he’d pounce. She knew it and she suspected she wouldn’t be able to resist.
“Where?” he asked sharply, letting that playboy façade that made her crazy drop. “Where will you go? To someone else? I’ve allowed this because of my relationship with Harris, but do you really think I’ll let you give yourself to another man?”
There was incredulity in his voice, but it barely registered. For the first time she thought there might be a way to defeat the heat. Fury. Pure, undiluted rage. The kind only a cornered female wolf would indulge in.
“Allow? Let? I don’t answer to you. Who the fuck do you think you are?”
She’d moved close enough to punctuate her words with a finger in his chest, and she should have known better. He gripped her hips, hard, bruising, and pulled her closer. The eyes that stared down into hers glowed yellow, the tiny partial shift that indicated the wolf was more in charge than the man.
“Your mate,” he growled. “That’s who I am.”
It was said with fierce possession, commanding, and oh so dominant. Her heart thudded in her chest, heavy and fearful. But a secret buried part of her was excited. Eager. He pulled the hem of her dress up so that it exposed her panties; then he slid his hands under them. Bare flesh. She was still furious, but her body, her wolf, knew this man’s touch. Knew how right it could feel if she just let go. But letting go with a dominant male equaled giving in. Submitting. If she did it once, he’d expect it always. Especially if she did it now, while she was in heat. He would expect her to take a submissive role and not just in the bedroom. It would change the entire dynamic of their relationship in a way neither she or her wolf could accept. Knowing all that didn’t change her secret yearning one damned bit, though.
She struggled to free herself, but it was a halfhearted attempt, and they both knew it. Ethan didn’t let her go and from the corner of her eye she saw Harris step up behind her. His erection pressed against her butt, and she didn’t know if she should groan or cry. They were insistent, and she was weak. She could resist the pull she felt toward Ethan most of the time, but she couldn’t fight the heat or the attraction she felt for them both now. Her usual emotional armor was useless with this need raging through her. The only recourse was to beg. She laid her hands flat on Ethan’s chest and looked up into his gaze.
“Let me go,” she pleaded. “Don’t do this to me, Ethan. Please. You know what happens with the dominant females when they mate. I don’t want to become that woman.”
He looked stunned at her admission and a little hurt. “Gabby. Baby. You know I can’t walk away now.”
Because in a roundabout way she’d admitted it, hadn’t she? Admitted that she knew he was her mate, that she’d been fighting the bond for what felt like forever. She leaned her head back against Harris’s chest, and Ethan reached up to brush her hair out off her face. Maybe they would sleep, and she could sneak out later. Run fast and far. With enough distance maybe she could free herself. She was strong and capable. Another pack would take her in.
“Whatever plan is going through that pretty little head, forget about it,” Ethan said softly. “And it’s not all the dominant females. Liza isn’t exactly submissive. I don’t think she knows how to submit.”
“And it’s a constant problem. How many arguments have you walked into?” she asked.
Ethan didn’t look concerned anymore. Instead he smiled. “I asked Zach about that once.” Zach was the pack’s beta. “He said the arguing is fun, because then they have to make up.”
She scowled. “That’s stupid.”
“But it’s probably the only time Liza will let them take care of her. Spoil her.”
“Even stupider. All that strife just to give in?”
“Maybe,” Harris said in her ear, “you should ask Liza how she feels about it.”
“I would hate it,” she grumbled.
Harris laughed. “You aren’t her, and we aren’t them. What makes you think our relationship will be anything like theirs?”
Our relationship? She wanted to point out he was taking a lot for granted. She wasn’t agreeing to any kind of relationship with either one of them in h
er current state. But the point of no return was quickly approaching. She needed to get out of this room, out of this house. Though she admitted she probably didn’t have the will to leave anymore.
Harris’s cock still pressed insistently against her ass, and Ethan had moved his hands to cup her breasts. She was having a hard time sticking to one thought. Her arousal was growing, and she didn’t want to think, didn’t want to argue. She just wanted to feel. To feed the craving. She wanted to be used and come so many times that she lost count. Until she couldn’t think anymore.
Ethan slipped the straps of her dress down her arms and pushed it to her waist. He bent, brushed kisses over the top of one breast, then the other, before sucking a nipple into his mouth. His touch was soft, gentle. A caress. He took the opposite breast in his palm, circled the nipple with his fingers and squeezed. She gasped. The combined sensations of tender and hard were more seductive than she would have imagined possible. Weakness swept through her and she clung to Ethan’s shoulders, certain she would melt into a puddle at his feet at any moment.
Harris wasn’t idle, either. He pulled her panties down her legs and lifted each foot free of them before pulling the dress the rest of the way down. It fell, pooling around her feet. Harris slid his hands up her inner thighs and nudged until she widened her stance. His fingers skimmed over her sex, back and forth, once and then again in a light stroking rhythm that made her pant. He spread the lips of her sex and pushed one finger into her pussy. She was embarrassed by how wet and ready she was, but she couldn’t leave now if someone paid her. One finger became two, and he stroked her, turning his hand so on each retreat and thrust his fingers dragged over her G-spot.
At the same time, Ethan suckled harder. She was swamped by sensation, the emotions she refused to acknowledge and the heat she couldn’t fight heightening the pleasure. Her orgasm was fierce and sudden. She cried out when it consumed her and was left trembling and stunned in its wake. Someone carried her to the bed, but she didn’t open her eyes to see who until it dipped on either side of her. She stared at the ceiling and tried to slow the rapid beating of her heart. She cracked a smile as hands moved on her. Exploring. Demanding. Well, she’d wanted to feel used hadn’t she?
Spellbound Moon Page 19