The Secret

by Loribelle Hunt

  “Not alone,” Carlos ordered. “Not until we’re positive they haven’t tracked us.”

  And here came the protectiveness, though in this instance she conceded he was probably right. She made sure her agreement came out reluctantly, however. She didn’t want him or Declan getting the idea she’d let them have their way all the time. A little pampering, though; her cat liked that idea very much. Its purr was soft and eager, and Carlos answered it with a chuckle, Declan with a grin.

  She settled back with her sister for the rest of the journey home.

  Chapter Eight

  “What about my father?”

  Sunny sighed. She didn’t have any answers to give Gia, who’d been waiting with her mate, Anthony, on the porch when they arrived. Sunny had relayed the sanitized version of the trip’s events. Basically accurate, but minus the female shape-shifters.

  “I don’t know, Gia. I’m sorry.”

  The other woman bit her bottom lip and nodded. “You had to get your sister out. I understand.”

  “They were both gone when we exited the house,” Declan added.

  “Thank you for going after him.” There was acceptance on her face. She didn’t expect to see him again.

  It wasn’t long before Gia and Anthony went on their way, and Asa, promising to return in a few hours with dinner, also left. Declan turned to her.

  “You’ve been a very bad cat, baby.” He spoke in a tone that made her insides melt, then clench. Oh God. If he fulfilled even half that unspoken promise, she sure as hell hoped so. She’d be bad all the time if necessary.

  Carlos laughed. “Somehow I don’t think she’s feeling threatened.”

  “She knows she can trust us.” Declan spoke to Carlos but held her gaze.

  “Hmm. Yes. The idea occurs to me…she’s not human. We don’t need to hold back as much.”

  She squeezed her thighs together, knowing it didn’t make a difference. They would still scent how the words made her arousal spike, then continue to grow. Carlos smiled. Slow and carnal. Sexy and passionate. He glanced over his shoulders at the wood line.

  “Let’s go for a run, kitten.”

  She frowned, looking at the door. She couldn’t leave her sister unguarded.

  “We won’t go far,” Carlos promised.

  Both men were already removing their clothes, and her cat scrambled to get out and join them. Nothing matched running free through the woods in her other shape. Well, maybe one thing. She stripped quickly, shifted, and joined them on the lawn. She knew the perfect place to go, the reason she’d bought this property, and led them there.

  It wasn’t far, and when she entered the small clearing she went right to the large slab of rock on one side. It hung out over a small pool that the creek ran through, and she often sunned herself on it, bathing in the pool during the warmer months. She stretched out and gloried in the sun beating down, warming her pelt.

  Carlos and Declan entered the clearing and shifted. Her cat watched, breathless and horny and awed as Carlos pulled Declan to him. Kissed him. It wasn’t what she’d expected. It was slow, almost soft, and deep, consuming. She felt the tiniest twinge of jealousy before they broke apart.

  “I think our kitten is feeling neglected,” Carlos teased when he looked up at the rock. “Come down, Sunny. Leave the cat behind for now.”

  She stood on all fours, made a lazy preening stretch before jumping to the ground and padding softly to them. Declan came to her side, stroked her neck. She purred, and he laughed.

  “Yes, you’re gorgeous. Now change so we can fuck you till you can’t move.”

  Well, when he put it like that… She lay down on her belly and shifted, rolling to her back to look up at them when the change was complete. She laughed when they pounced until two mouths covered her nipples, two rasping tongues stroking until she thought she’d combust.

  Her chest heaved when they broke away. Her thighs were slick with her moisture even though neither had touched her there. Declan rolled to his back and pulled her over to straddle him. She groaned when his cock poked her belly. She tried to position herself to take him.

  “Not yet, kitten.”

  Carlos knelt behind her, fingers thrusting into her pussy, drawing at her cream, and rubbing it against her ass. She groaned, her mind filling with images of him taking Declan’s ass. Of Declan returning the favor.

  Over and over again, his fingers drew moisture from her body, until he could press three fingers into her ass, twisting them to stretch her, while Declan alternated between teasing her nipples and clit. Finally, she felt the head of Carlos’s cock pressed against her, not yet demanding entry though she knew it was coming. Declan took her hand and wrapped it around the base of his shaft.

  “Take me slow, baby.”

  She guided him to her entrance, took the head into her pussy slowly like he wanted. Carlos flattened a palm on her lower back, urging her to lean forward against Declan. She kissed him, a flutter of teasing brushes against his lips, as she sank onto his length. His hand held the back of her head; his lips bit at hers until she opened her mouth for him. She moaned when his tongue met hers, and tilted her head to get better access. She broke away with a gasp when Carlos began to push inside her ass.

  “Relax, kitten.”

  She couldn’t see his face, but she heard the wildness in his voice, the slipping control. She held herself still, panic rising as he gave her another inch. He stretched her impossibly, and it fell on the wrong side of the line between pain and pleasure she liked.

  “Relax,” he ordered again, this time nipping her back. He held her still with one hand on her hip while the other slid around her body, delved through her folds to touch her clit. Declan began to move in short, shallow strokes to match Carlos’s caresses.

  Her desire rebuilt with each move until it was once again consuming, until she whimpered with Declan’s long, slow withdrawal from her body. She shifted to take him back inside her, and Carlos, moving with her, slid more of his cock in her ass. This time it wasn’t pain that bloomed inside her but a different kind of pleasure. One that threatened to short-circuit her brain. Yet still it wasn’t enough. On Declan’s next withdrawal, she made her demand.

  “More,” she said, pushing back against Carlos. With a hiss, he gripped both her hips and slammed inside her. When he pulled out, Declan pushed back into her pussy. The pace was fast. The thrusts hard. Alternating so she was never filled by both at once, until the end, when her cry was more cat than human. When her whole existence just shattered, joy and ecstasy filling every nerve, every pore, as she came.

  It took a long time for her heart to slow, for her mind to repiece itself. She was sweaty, plastered between both men, and sighed her disappointment when Carlos withdrew his softening cock from her ass and rolled to one side. He pulled her off Declan so she lay between them.

  She stayed on her back in the clearing, enjoying the cool air, the wrung-out satisfaction in her body, one mate on each side lightly grasping her hands. Carlos lifted her knuckles to his mouth, grazed his teeth on them.

  “What do you want for Christmas, kitten?”

  She’d almost forgotten. She’d ignored the holiday for so long, having no one to share it with. “I already got it.” She smiled. “I got my sister back. I got you two. What else could I possibly need?”

  Declan’s palm settled on her stomach. “I can think of one thing,” he said softly.

  She snorted, half amused and half horrified. “No way. It takes all my concentration just to deal with you two.”

  Carlos stilled, and she waited for him to speak, half expecting his words. “It won’t always be just us.”

  She’d been anticipating that, after hearing about pride law. Maybe it was better if they got it all out in the open now. Better if they decided on a third now. She scowled. Provided she was given a voice in the decision.

  “Do I get a choice?”

  “Of course.”

  So what now? Parade possible suitors in front of her? The
n she was struck by an odd thought.

  “Who was the lion who led me and Jaz out?”

  Carlos smiled, and she sensed his satisfaction, his approval. He wanted her to pick that lion. Whoa, bubba. She hadn’t picked that one for sure.

  “He’s my younger brother. His name is Fisher.”

  “Odd name for a cat.”

  The smile widened to a grin. “Trust me, it suits.”

  “So I meet this brother of yours and decide if there’s any…spark there?”

  And she realized Carlos wanted her to feel that way. Pride law again. This was someone he trusted with his mate. In every way, apparently.

  “Okay. Well. I guess he should come visit.”

  “He’s already around.”

  She didn’t even attempt to cover her mortification. Around? Like, right-now around? “I’d prefer not to meet a potential mate naked,” she hissed.

  Declan leaned up on one elbow and grinned. “But you look so good naked. Why not?”

  She narrowed her eyes on him. “Cats share. It’s part of their genetic makeup. You’re a wolf, though. What gives?”

  He kissed her. Soft. Quick. It made her blood pump. “I love you.” Then her heart lodged in her throat. “You’re a lion. You need a group. You crave it, don’t you? Somehow, I knew that even before I knew you could shift. As long as I can have a piece of your heart, I’ll learn to share.”

  Carlos cleared his throat, and Declan looked up to meet his gaze with a grin. “That goes for you too.”

  “I almost regret interrupting,” a fourth voice said into the clearing. Oh God. The other lion. She tried to snatch her hands free to cover her breasts, but Declan and Carlos held them down. Carlos gave Declan a look filled with such wicked intent she was afraid she’d come on the spot.

  “We could stake her out. Like an offering.”

  She could see Declan actually considering the idea. It should have made her furious. It should have made her feel used. All it did was bring her libido back to screaming wakefulness.

  “Another time, I believe we will.” His gaze moved down her body to where her nipples had become painful points. “She likes the idea.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut, torn between mortification and lust. She wanted Carlos or Declan or both to fuck her. She wanted to forget her own name. She wanted Fisher to leave. Didn’t she? No. She couldn’t lie to herself. That churning feeling in her stomach was excitement.

  Fingers slid up her calf, to the inside of her knee. Two hands spread her thighs, and this new person, this stranger, brushed her folds, stroked over her clit. It shouldn’t be a turn-on, but her body responded even though her mind ordered it not to.

  “Oh yeah,” Declan muttered. “Tying her down has definite advantages.”

  Crap. No, no, no. She was supposed to get a choice in this, right? Her eyes snapped open. “I thought I got to pick?” But her body had already decided for her. She almost snarled when the exploring fingers stopped.

  Carlos’s eyes crinkled at the edges. He was enjoying this. Watching her get wound up. Watching her try to fight embarrassment and lust at the same time. “But how will you know whether you want him or not if you don’t try him out, kitten?”

  Oh God. How did he make that sound like the best, most reasonable invitation she’d ever had? Fisher took Carlos’s words as permission. When his mouth met her pussy, she couldn’t hold back a cry, couldn’t control her hips when they thrust up to meet him. When his hands closed over her ass and lifted her to him, she quit fighting it. Let herself just feel. It wasn’t long at all before his wicked, sinful tongue wrung one orgasm, then two, then three, from her body.

  When he finally lifted his head from her, he looked at Carlos. “May I?”

  “You tell me, kitten. Do you want him inside you? Do you want him thrusting you to another orgasm?”

  How could he ask her that? She couldn’t think anymore. She was just a ball of need, a creature that demanded more. She nodded, knowing her voice wouldn’t work. Fisher lifted his body over hers and thrust into her without hesitation, as if afraid to give her a chance for second thoughts. Once inside though, he held still until she met his gaze.

  “How hard?” And she remembered. He knew what she was.

  “Hard. Fast.”

  He took her at her word, plunging and withdrawing, deep and furious, with a fast rhythm that blew her mind, and he made sure she came first. It wasn’t until she was shaking, trembling in the aftermath that she felt his muscles tense, felt his cum filling her as he cried out his triumph. She felt limp, sated and satisfied, as he rolled to one side, Carlos making room for him.

  No one spoke for a long time. She couldn’t have even if she’d wanted to.

  Chapter Nine

  Declan waited on the front porch, admiring the colored lights Sunny had reluctantly allowed him and Carlos to hang. He knew eventually someone would come find him, and he wasn’t surprised when it was Carlos. He sat next to him on the glider, and they let the silence spread until he couldn’t stand it anymore.

  “I knew I was going to have to share her,” Declan said softly. “I can live with that. I don’t like it, but I can live with it.”

  “What can’t you live with?” Carlos asked, and Declan took a deep breath. He wasn’t walking away from either one of them. He’d learn to adjust.

  “Just how much sharing am I gonna have to do?” Okay, maybe not so much.

  Carlos chuckled. “It’s just you and me, wolf. I’m obviously not sleeping with my brother, and for some reason he isn’t interested in you.”

  He hadn’t been sure if he was expected to fuck the other lion too. He exhaled a sigh of relief. Sunny and Carlos had come to mean so much to him, so quickly, it was a struggle against his wolf side letting this other male in. It didn’t want to share its lovers. Didn’t understand the necessity. Thank God he’d discovered earlier they wouldn’t be expected to always keep this third male. Once the pride was convinced the three of them were solid together, Fisher could go his own way. Just thinking of the other male made him growl.

  “Where is he?”

  They’d decided to give Sunny and Fisher some time alone so she could make her decision. She had six months, but if she decided she didn’t want Fisher, they’d still need time to find a suitable replacement.

  “Gone. For now. He went to report to the king. He’ll be back in a few days.”

  Declan froze. “She’s made her decision?”

  “Sort of. She enjoyed him. He enjoyed her.” Carlos shrugged. “They’ve decided on a trial period.”

  He ground his teeth together, trying to come to grips with his mixed emotions. On the one hand, he didn’t want to share her more than necessary. On the other, it was a hell of a turn-on watching her be pleasured, watching her release.

  “I don’t think he’ll be around longer than necessary,” Carlos went on with a considering look at the front door.

  “Why?” he asked, confused and not liking it.

  “He had…a look on his face when he passed Jaz’s door.”

  Ah, Christ. That spelled trouble. They hadn’t spoken yet, but he was pretty sure that Jaz was Asa’s mate. Not that she was in any frame of mind to deal with men. Human, wolf, or cat.

  “That could be a problem.”

  “We protect her until she’s healed.”

  “Her mind may never heal. We don’t know what they did to her,” he said softly, aware of how many were ears were nearby.

  Carlos looked at him with disturbed eyes. “Let’s hope that’s not the case. Their animal sides will reject that.”

  And that was the other disturbing thing. “They can’t both be her mate. Not like that.”

  Carlos shrugged. “It’s a new world, isn’t it? If she were wolf, I might agree with you. But she isn’t. She’s a lion, and we seem to be programmed for group relationships.”

  “Shit,” he muttered. “This could be a problem.” Especially since Asa was hung up on a male lion too. Unless Fisher was that lion.
They’d just met him, but Asa had made it a point to disappear whenever Fisher showed up.

  “What?”

  “I was just wondering if Asa and Fisher will share her. And each other.”

  Carlos gave him a crooked smile, and his heart skipped a beat before taking on a pounding rhythm.

  “Maybe. They’ll figure it out. Just like we will.”

  Somewhere in the house, he heard the sound of water being turned off, followed by a soft rustling.

  “She’s waiting for us,” Carlos whispered.

  Declan grinned. “Let’s not keep her waiting then.”

  He led the way to the master bedroom. Sunny was curled up on her side, eyes closed and chest rising and falling in the even rhythm of sleep. So much for that idea.

  Then Carlos stepped up behind him and put his hands on his waist. He held Declan still while he nuzzled his neck, licking and teasing.

  “You’re pretty hot for a wolf,” he whispered.

  Declan chuckled. “Yeah, well. You’re not bad for a lion.”

  He closed his eyes and tilted his head to give Carlos more access. The werelion’s tongue stroked, teased, made a leisurely study of his skin. Sunny murmured, and when he opened his eyes to check on her, she was watching them with heavy lids, still not fully awake.

  Carlos slid his hands to the front of Declan’s jeans, and she watched while he undid the top button, then pulled the zipper down. He freed Declan’s cock, wrapped his big hand around it, and pumped it slowly. Sunny licked her bottom lip.

  It was easy to see her enjoyment of watching them together, and when she held her hand out to them, Carlos let him go. They removed their clothes and joined her on the bed, one on each side of her.

  They urged her to her back, pulled the blanket down to expose her body. Carlos immediately bent to take one nipple into his mouth. Declan just watched for a few minutes, heart racing. She was a miracle. His chance at having a happy life. And to have Carlos too? He’d obviously done something right in a previous life.