She viewed Shelly and saw the worry and sadness within her. She hoped that Shelly would find her happiness with Max and Eli. It was obvious that she cared about them, and they cared about her. Kaley could picture them as a family with a house full of kids. It was a nice picture—one that Kaley had her own secret desire to have one day.
You will be carrying soon, Kaley, the gentle voice of the woman continued. Your men will be thrilled. They want you, and they want the children that you will create from your love. Do not doubt their love, dear child. Do not deny their love.
Kaley closed her eyes and settled back against the deep cushions of the couch, sighing as Eric rested against her chest and twirled her long, dark hair around his tiny hand. Her entire body relaxed, and she sighed with contentment. Holding Eric always made her happy. She loved him so much. She also admitted to herself that she wanted to have her own family—with Nathaniel and Brett.
Nathaniel came up behind her as she was standing at the stove in the home that they shared. He wrapped his arms around her and covered her belly possessively, caressing her baby bump as he nuzzled against her right shoulder and kissed her mating mark.
“Hello, sweet cheeks. How was your day?” he asked her, laughing softly when she elbowed him lightly in his side.
“Nathaniel, why do you insist on calling me that?” Kaley asked in exasperation. She put down the wooden spoon she was using to stir the spaghetti in the pot of boiling water and turned to face him. She laughed softly as he pulled her away from the stove. He was always so careful with her safety.
“I call you that because you’re sweet,” he told her, pressing his lips against the pulse point in her neck before kissing her cheek tenderly. “I love you, Kaley Martin. I love you so much I ache when I’m not with you.”
“Oh, Nathaniel,” Kaley whispered. “You’re going to make me cry.”
“Don’t cry, honey. I want you to be happy.”
“I am happy.”
“Good. Me, too.”
He pulled her over to the table, tugged out one of the chairs, and sat down. Gently guiding her to stand between his spread legs, he slowly lifted the turquoise sweater that she was wearing to expose the beautiful swell of her belly. He placed his hands on either side of the baby bump then leaned forward and kissed her warm skin gently.
“Hello, little one. Have you been a good cub for Mommy today?” he whispered against her skin.
The baby took that moment to kick firmly, making Nathaniel laugh softly. Kaley smiled down at him, carding her fingers through his black hair and holding him tightly against her belly as he turned and rested his left cheek against her body.
“Poppa loves you so much,” Nathaniel whispered, kissing Kaley’s belly once again as he slipped his hands around her waist and tucked them inside her black velour pants to caress the cheeks of her backside.
Kaley moaned softly when he slid his fingers down the crack of her ass and circled her puckered star lightly. She pushed back against his touch.
“Nathaniel,” she whispered, moaning slightly as he pressed firmly and slipped his finger inside of her.
“What, sweet cheeks?” he whispered back as he looked up at her, his normally beautiful hazel eyes glowing golden. His wolf was urging him to claim their mate again.
“Having fun?” Brett’s amused voice garnered Kaley’s impassioned gaze.
“Brett,” Kaley whispered, reaching out her left hand to him and gripping his hand when he came to her immediately and offered his strength.
“I’m here, sweetheart,” he told her, his cock going hard in an instant as he scented her need.
“Nathaniel is determined to drive me crazy,” she whispered. “Want to help?”
Brett gasped at her words then growled in need as he reached out and pulled their woman’s sweater over her head and tossed it onto the kitchen table. He kissed her softly, caressing her belly lovingly as their mate moaned against his lips.
“I love touching your pregnant belly, sweetheart. Nathaniel and I want to repeat this beautiful gift with you many times over in our lifetime. Do you think you’d like to have a large family with us, Kaley?” He traveled kisses along her cheek and the left side of her neck to bite down on his mating mark on her left shoulder.
“We can talk about it later,” Kaley told them, her laughter morphing into a moan of pleasure as Nathaniel and Brett did wicked things to her body.
“Give me some encouragement, Mate,” Brett told her as he kissed her neck and tugged on her earlobe with his teeth.
“You know I love you both,” Kaley told them. “I love being pregnant with your baby.”
“And you’d be willing to have more babies with us, sweet cheeks?” Nathaniel asked, pressing his finger into her puckered star up to the first knuckle.
“Yes,” Kaley answered, groaning at the sensual assault of her mates.
“Love you, beautiful,” Brett whispered, reaching around and unhooking her bra, and slowly peeling it from her body. It joined her sweater on the table.
Kaley was a vibrating mass of need. She felt Nathaniel’s hands divesting her of her pants and underwear. She was aware that Brett reached around her and turned off the flame on the stove. She was even aware of the fact that she was no longer standing. Somehow, she was now in Nathaniel’s arms and he was carrying her up the stairs to their bedroom. He placed her in the center of their bed and stepped back to remove his clothes.
“Our dinner is going to be ruined,” she mumbled as Brett gripped her hair and held her still as he devoured her mouth.
“Making love to our mate is more important than dinner,” Nathaniel told her, his growls filling the bedroom as he joined her on the bed.
He pressed up against her right side and looked down at her with such love in his eyes, she couldn’t help but feel the power of his emotions rushing through her. She felt his hard shaft against her hip and reached down to grip it firmly. His responding moan made her smile.
“I love you, Nathaniel,” she told him gently, unable to keep the words inside.
She turned as she felt the warmth of Brett’s body press against her left side. She sighed as he covered her body with his and slid deep inside of her in one smooth thrust. Groaning softly, she scored her nails down the length of his back and pressed against his firm behind to pull him deeper, spreading her legs wider to give him better access.
“So wet for us,” Brett whispered as he began a gentle rocking deep inside of her.
“I love you, Brett,” Kaley whispered, laughing softly as he reached around her to hold her carefully against his chest and flipped them both so that he was lying on his back and she was comfortably seated on top of him.
The new position allowed her to take him deeper, and she couldn’t prevent the moan that escaped her as his cock grazed her G-spot. She began to rock, sparks of pleasure shooting through her as each movement caused his shaft to hit that same spot over and over again.
She heard the snick of the cap on the bottle of lube and knew that Nathaniel was going to prepare her so that they could both make love to her at the same time. She didn’t know what he was going to do, but it didn’t matter. Whether he slid his cock deep inside of her alongside Brett’s shaft, or he pressed inside her puckered star and made love to her anally, the pleasure would be incredible.
When she felt his hand preparing her and pressing the lube deep inside of her ass, she smiled wickedly. Before she could say one word, she felt the press of the head of his cock against the guardian ring of muscle of her rectum. He rocked slowly, slipping more of his length inside of her with each thrust until he was completely seated inside of her.
She leaned forward and rested her forehead against Brett’s shoulder, kissing it lightly as he held her securely against his chest. Her belly prevented her from lying down completely, but the connection and the love between her and her men was there. Their arms surrounded her and held her tenderly but firmly as they thrust and retreated in tandem, sending her to the place where lucky w
omen were sent when their men loved them.
Kaley looked around the room in shock. Was it possible that the women surrounding her knew what she had just seen? Holy hell, she hoped not! Goodness! Her heart was racing from the erotic vision. It was also pounding because of what she had seen. Her men loved her. Her men were happy that she was pregnant with their baby, and they wanted to have a large family with her.
They also touched her gently, their deep feelings for her evident in every caress. There was no pain. There was no humiliation. There was only kindness, caring, and love.
The sound of heavy boots running toward the living room drew Kaley out of her thoughts. She knew before she even looked that it was Nathaniel and Brett. They entered the room with determined steps, their golden gazes zeroing in on Kaley as they stalked toward her. They crossed the room in four powerful strides and knelt down before her as she sat on the couch holding Eric. Brett knelt to her left, and Nathaniel knelt to her right. Both men kissed Eric’s cheeks lightly before focusing on her.
“We saw,” Brett told her calmly.
“We did,” Nathaniel agreed.
Kaley’s heart rate kicked up even more. She was embarrassed that the men had seen what she had seen. How was that possible? Were her own erotic thoughts now being projected to them?
“Mother Fate told us that She wanted us to see our future with you,” Brett told her quietly, taking her right hand in his and holding it tightly.
“I guess Mother Fate took pity on us,” Nathaniel said, laughing softly.
“What do you mean?” Kaley asked, confused.
“We’ve been thinking that we should probably give you space,” Brett told her quietly. “We can’t force you to care about us.”
“We’re pretty determined to have you as our mate, Kaley,” Nathaniel explained. “It doesn’t matter to us that you’re not sure about us. We’ll prove to you that we’re meant to be together.” He hesitated a moment, weighing his decision to take the kiss from her that he wanted so desperately. After a moment, he leaned forward and kissed her lips gently, licking at them slowly before pulling away. “Mother Fate gifted us with that vision so we wouldn’t give up. You’re ours, Kaley Martin.”
Kaley wanted to be angry, but she couldn’t. As much as Nathaniel and Brett wanted that vision to be their future, she had to admit that she wanted it more. She smiled slowly as she looked at both men, thinking about the fun she was going to have with them if she had the courage to put aside her fears. Old hurts, cruelty, and abuse that she had sustained were still very fresh in her mind.
“You’re going to have to work for it,” she told them finally, unable to keep the smile from her face when she heard the soft, rumbling growls that escaped both men as they looked at her with golden eyes.
“She’s throwing down a challenge, Brett,” Nathaniel said, smiling with satisfaction.
“Challenge accepted,” Brett said quickly.
“Let’s see how quickly we can claim you and make that vision a reality, sweet cheeks,” Nathaniel whispered.
“I would wager that we’ll be able to make that vision a reality within the month,” Brett said with determination. “Do you want that vision to come true, sweetheart?”
Kaley blushed lightly, looking around the room and seeing that the women were watching her with equal measures of concern and happiness. She knew that they wanted her to be happy.
“I guess you’re going to have to find out,” Kaley answered, skirting the question.
“She’s a tough one,” Nathaniel said, pride obvious in his voice as he spoke.
“It will just make the victory that much sweeter,” Brett declared, his wolf growling in agreement.
“You’re so certain you’ll be victorious?” Kaley asked them, unable to keep the sarcasm from her voice.
“Oh, yeah,” Nathaniel answered for them both. He leaned closer and breathed in deeply against her neck. “You look beautiful pregnant, Kaley.”
“We’re looking forward to making babies with you,” Brett said as he pressed against her right temple and kissed it lightly.
Kaley pushed at both men with very little effort, smiling softly as they eased back and looked down at her. She saw their satisfied smiles and knew that she was weakening in her promise to keep herself away from any man. She couldn’t help but wonder if they would be successful in convincing her to accept them. She had a feeling that it would only be a matter of time before she gave in to her determined mates.
“We’ll see,” she said finally, loving the wide smiles that her men gave her. Her men. She never thought she would ever think something like that was possible in her life.
“You have wolves, too, Aunt Kaley,” Eric spoke up, laughing softly when his aunt hugged him tightly.
“Maybe,” Kaley said gently, gazing at Brett and Nathaniel for a moment before looking down at her nephew. “They’d better be good wolves.”
“They are,” Eric said with surety.
“We are, Kaley,” Nathaniel said very seriously.
“We’re your wolves,” Brett pledged.
Chapter 31
Shelly left the living room of the ranch home and walked down the hallway to Jace and Jackson’s office. Watching the interaction between Kaley, Nathaniel, and Brett made her think about her own situation with Max and Eli. She wanted them to be her mates again. Only her own guilt and fears were keeping her apart from them. She needed to talk to Jace and Jackson. She knew that they would be able to help her remember the truth of the day that she had left pack land so many years before.
As she stood before the door of their office, she took a calming breath. She had to know if what Max and Eli had told her was true. She needed to know. It was what she needed to help her let go of her guilt and move forward. She hesitated a moment then raised her hand and knocked twice.
“Come in,” Jace’s deep voice called to her.
She turned the handle on the door, opened it slowly, and walked into the office. The memories of that day that she had left pack land, completely destroyed by the loss of her mates and her baby, assailed her the moment she passed the threshold. Dizziness swamped her and her knees turned to jelly. She found herself on a slow fall to the floor as her strength left her and her mind worked overtime to protect her. It took all of her determination to remain conscious. Her body wasn’t cooperating, though. She had no control over her muscles and couldn’t stop herself from collapsing.
“Shit!” Jackson yelled as he lurched forward and grabbed for Shelly, preventing her from hitting the floor. He scooped her up into his arms and cradled her against his body, holding her tightly as Jace bounded over his desk to help. “Jace! What the hell?”
Jace touched Shelly’s neck and felt the rhythmic pulsing of her heart. He breathed easier knowing that her heart rate was strong, but not happy at all that something had triggered her physical collapse. He closed his eyes and said a silent prayer to the Fates to help Shelly. He was very concerned about her.
Talking everything over with Laurie and Jackson hadn’t helped him to come to any conclusion about what he could do to help his little sister. Laurie had suggested that it had to be Max, Shelly, and Eli who had to work through their problems. He agreed with her, but he also hated that he couldn’t fix things for his pack family.
“Shelly,” he called to her gently. “Are you okay, little wolf?”
Shelly mumbled something incoherent as she shook her head in a negative fashion. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her breathing was quick and labored.
“I don’t know what happened, but it’s obvious that she doesn’t want to deal with this,” Jackson said quietly.
“Shelly, listen to me,” Jace told her gently but firmly. “You need to tell me and Jackson why you came to see us. You have to be strong.”
“Jace,” Shelly whispered. “I hurt.”
“Where, honey?”
“My head.”
Jace reached up and carded his fingers through her hair at her temples, massaging her sk
ull lightly. Jackson sat down on the couch, bringing Shelly with him so that she was cradled carefully upon his lap. Jace knelt down with them so that his soothing touch was never interrupted.
“Concentrate on my voice, Shelly,” Jace said firmly. “There’s nothing here that’s a threat to you. You’re safe. Jackson and I will keep you safe.”
It took a few moments, but Shelly’s eyes fluttered as she fought to open them. It wasn’t until she did and Jace was looking into the deep blueness of them that he was able to relax.
“Did someone hurt or threaten you, Shelly?” Jace asked her gently.
Shelly nodded.
“Who, Shelly?” Jackson demanded.
“Vera.”
“What?” Jace looked at Jackson, completely stunned. “Has Vera returned to pack land?”
“No.” Shelly’s voice was soft as she spoke. She let out a shaky breath as she fought to calm herself.
“Then how did she hurt you?” Jace leaned forward and kissed Shelly’s forehead lightly. “Tell me, honey. What did Vera do?”
Shelly reached up and gripped Jace’s hand, bringing it to her cheek and nuzzling against it. She rubbed her temple against Jackson’s chest, needing the connection to both of her brothers.
“The day that I came to you and asked you to take me to Synthia, Vera had tied me to my bed.”
“What the hell?” Jackson nearly roared.
“She said I was going to be the mate of Alpha Hayward.”
“That bastard,” Jackson said, growling softly. “Never gonna happen, Shelly.”
Shelly smiled up at Jackson and saw the way his gentle, brown eyes had turned completely golden. Looking at Jace, she saw that his blue eyes had also been changed by his wolf. Both men’s powerful wolves were there, ready to protect her.
“Hayward was in Vera’s house,” Shelly continued. “He said that he wouldn’t take me until the mating marks were burned from my shoulders with silver. He also said that Vera had to get rid of the baby I was carrying.”
“I’m confused,” Jackson admitted.
“Vera gave me an herbal drink that made me lose my baby,” Shelly said softly, watching both men carefully so she could gauge their reactions.
Shelly's Forbidden Mates [Beckett's Wolf Pack, Triad Mates 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 30