Mirror Image Seduction (Feline Shifters of Down Under Book 1)

by Tamsin Baker

  With a raised eyebrow, Dylan glanced over when he heard Trent hollering from the safety of behind the bar. With a long suffering sigh, Ryan wrenched him away from Luke, and Dylan staggered to his feet. Dylan had planned on letting it end there. He didn’t want to get banned from the only pub that was anywhere near their home, but Luke obviously had other ideas. As soon as the bastard found his feet he lunged at Dylan, hands outstretched and curled as if he had his lion claws out ready to attack him with. Was he planning on shifting in the middle of the bar?

  “What the fuck? Cut the shit, Luke.”

  Ryan’s voice was little more than a growl as he planted a hand on Luke’s chest to keep him from reaching Dylan. Luke slapped Ryan’s hand away and took a swing at him. Rage clouded Dylan’s vision. No one messed with his twin. No one. With a growl Dylan barreled straight into the stupid lion.

  A low hiss sound was the only warning before ice cold water hit him in the back of the head. Dylan curled his lip as he spun around on his brother.

  “What the fuck?”

  Felines did not like their faces to get wet. Ever. Dylan took a menacing step toward his twin. His animal instincts on high alert, he seemed to be fighting off attacks from all angles. Ryan quickly dropped the hose and put his hands up as if he were surrendering.

  “Easy, Dylan. It was the quickest way I could think of to get you two to quit laying into each other.”

  Dylan glanced over his shoulder to see Luke storming out the front door. Once more he curled his lip with a growl as the bastard ran away. Typical. Always started the damn fight, never hung around for the ending. That’s what happened to males who counted on their females to provide everything. Bloody lions and their “pride”. Cheetah males looked after themselves, their mates, and offspring. As it should be.

  When Dylan spun back to give his twin a mouthful of abuse, his body began tingling. He froze and took a deep breath. There was a scent on the air. One he’d not smelt before, but would know anywhere. He turned to Ryan, who was pulling the same shocked silent routine as he was. Relief flowed through him. Their mother had been right when she assured him he would share his mate with his twin.

  “You smell it, too?”

  “Of course I do. Wait, you doubted we’d share a mate?”

  “I’d hoped we would share one, but couldn’t be certain. Fate can be twisted with its sense of humor.”

  Their mate was here in the pub. The thought hit him as his heart began to pound against his ribs. Since hitting puberty, Dylan had waited to smell that scent, and it was the sweetest moment of his life.

  The flash of color as Trent tossed a towel had him snapping back to reality just in time to snatch it from mid air. Dylan wiped his face and hair with it before dropping it on the bar.

  “Sorry, Trent. Didn’t mean to start shit in the bar.”

  “Yeah, I know, mate. But you and Luke need to sort your shit out. You’re not teenagers anymore.”

  Tell that to Luke, Dylan thought. Dropping all thoughts about the aggravating lion, he sat on the stool next to Ryan and casually turned to face away from the bar. He had much more pressing—and important—things to deal with. Like locating his mate.

  “Where is she?”

  “No idea, the air con has her scent circulating around so I can’t pinpoint it.”

  “We can’t leave until we find her. Shit, my blood is pounding through my veins already.”

  “Mine too. It’s the Calling. Don’t worry, Dylan. She’ll be feeling something, too. We’ll find her.”

  Dylan took a deep breath as he rearranged himself on the stool. Damn, he hoped they found her tonight. His body was going to be strung tighter than a bow until they claimed her.

  ****

  Lacey pressed her spine against the warm, worn leather of the booth, and her cheeks felt flushed as her mind raced a million miles a minute. That big guy had called the identical twins he’d been fighting with Ryan and Dylan. Could they really be the guys that she’d been searching for? The two who had helped Cameron?

  They certainly looked strong enough to climb down a cliff and rescue a small boy. She’d found herself mesmerized earlier when she caught sight of how their shoulder muscles bulged as they moved. Their tight white t-shirts along with form fitting blue jeans disguised nothing about how sleek their physiques were.

  Was that what they’d been fighting with that other man over? Cameron’s rescue? She’d heard the loud one say something about getting the job done. That had been before they’d gotten into a fist fight of course. Bloody men.

  She wrapped her suddenly sweaty palms around her frosty drink, trying to calm her overheated body. She didn’t know what was wrong with her, but her body was having a major overreaction to the pair of hot guys currently seated at the bar. Sure, they were beautiful male specimens, but she’d seen good looking men before and never had her belly tightened or her lady bits throbbed with need in reaction. As she took a deep breath she frowned. Did her nipples just harden with arousal beneath her bra and white tank top?

  She couldn’t resist finding out, and she moved to brush her palm surreptitiously against her breast, gasping as her sensitive nipple tightened further at the light caress.

  What the hell? She wasn’t even looking at them anymore!

  As she twisted around, Lacey slowly straightened her spine and lifted her chin until she could see over the booth so the twins were in her line of vision once more. The tall man who’d been fighting with them was nowhere to be seen, and one twin was sitting while the other stood. Her heart rate skyrocketed, and her mouth went bone dry when they stopped talking and froze for a moment as if they sensed someone watching them. The man standing settled onto a stool, and she took a deep breath in relief, figuring she’d dodged a bullet. But before she could return to hiding in her booth, she saw both twins move on their stools to face away from the bar. When they lowered their heads and began scanning the room, she knew she was in trouble.

  “Shit.”

  She ducked her head down and spun back around, grabbing the straw of her drink and sucking down the cold raspberry flavored liquid.

  “Hey, do you want another one?”

  She made a slurping noise as she sucked the last drops of liquid from beneath the ice before she looked up to smile at the chick who was holding a round black tray while she chewing on some gum. Lacey tried not to stare, but it was hard not to when practically every bared inch of her flesh was covered in colorful tattoos.

  “Um, no thanks, but I was wondering if I could ask you a question.”

  The chick snatched up a wet blue cloth off her tray and began wiping Lacey’s table down, grabbing her empty glass as she did.

  “Sure. Whatcha want to know?”

  “Ah, those two guys at the bar, the twins…”

  Miss Tattoos gave her a cheeky smile and struck a pose with her tray resting on a hip.

  “Yeah, that’s Dylan and Ryan. Their parents own the largest farm in the area, so everyone knows those boys. What about ‘em?”

  So she’d overheard the names correctly earlier. Holy hell!

  Heat flushed up her already warm cheeks as she made direct eye contact with the strange woman.

  “I’m a reporter for the Melbourne Herald, and I’m following up a lead on a story. I was told Ryan and Dylan would be able to help me, but I don’t think I should approach them here. Do you know where they work, or how I could contact them?”

  The woman looked over at the bar, then back at Lacey, her shrewd blue gaze assessing Lacey’s plain clothes and over abundant breasts.

  Lacey’s spine stiffened under the waitress’s scrutiny. The woman looked like a damn stick figure, and it made Lacey feel every pound she was carrying on her own curvy body. She fought the urge to lift her arms to cover her cleavage, as she shook out her hair and thrust her shoulders back. Damn it, there was nothing wrong with her size eighteen body. She wasn’t skinny, but she was fit and healthy and that’s what mattered.

  “They work at the op
en range zoo. Dylan’s a chef in the restaurant out there, and Ryan’s an animal keeper. As far as I know, they live on their parents’ property.”

  They worked at the zoo? A little ironic that she was following up a lead on men associated with cheetahs, only to find out that those men would have daily contact with the big spotted cats.

  “That’s great. I’ll call the zoo on Monday to speak with them. Thank you so much for your help.”

  The hair on the back of her neck had begun to tingle, and in a rush Lacey grabbed her bag and looked towards the exit. She’d come out to the bar, hoping to ask someone about the mysterious Ryan and Dylan. She hadn’t expected to run into them both here, or to be turning tail and running in the opposite direction as soon as she found what she’d been looking for.

  She hunched over, trying to make herself smaller as she snuck out of the booth. She couldn’t resist once last glance at the twins before she left. On a gasp she nearly tripped when she saw both of their intense gazes were on her.

  She squeaked and moved faster, her heart pounding against her ribs. She shoved open the door and burst out into the warm night air, gulping oxygen into her burning lungs.

  Oh shit. They’d seen her staring at them.

  Oh pull yourself together. With how good they looked, it wouldn’t be the first time they’d had someone, especially a woman, staring at them.

  Just as she stepped from the concrete footpath onto the parking lot, something growled near her ear moments before large hands gripped her hips and twisted her around so she was facing the side wall of the bar. Her handbag landed at her feet, and she raised her palms to push against the brick wall to prevent her face slamming into the solid surface.

  “No! Stop! Let me go!” She screamed as the man behind her pinned her body against the rough bricks with his and placed his hands over hers, lacing their fingers together.

  Adrenaline was pumping through her system, making her heart pound and sweat bead on her forehead. She should have been fighting, screaming for help, but some perverse instinct inside her craved more. It made her want to push back against the strong body pinning her in place.

  “Where you goin’, beautiful?”

  His voice was so deep that his words were barely more than a garbled growl, but she somehow understood what he’d said. The hairs on her neck rose once more, in response to the depth of possession that radiated from his tone.

  “You’re scaring her, Dylan. Cut it out.”

  Lacey panted as she looked toward the new voice. Like his twin, Ryan was gorgeous and sexy, but considerably calmer and more in control.

  Unlike her, or the man behind her.

  “He’s not … scaring me.”

  Strong desire, like she’d never experienced before, raced through her system. Just like what happened in her favorite romance novels, it was instant, electric and all consuming. Fire was in her blood, lighting her up from the inside out, centering in her pussy and taking root there.

  Dylan nipped at her ear, and she moaned, letting her eyes slide shut as another, stronger, wave of arousal flowed through her. Her knees began to collapse on her, but before she could fall to the ground, a thick muscular arm whipped around her waist and held her tight against a hard hot body. Dylan’s erection now pressed into the cleft of her ass in a way that made her instinctively arch back into his embrace while whimpering a little.

  “Shit. I’m sorry. Um, let’s sit down.”

  Dylan seemed to be getting control of himself as he pulled her away from the pub and toward a nearby park bench.

  Lacey moved as though in a daze. Everything looked a little hazy, like a light fog had moved in, and she kept stumbling over cracks in the concrete as she walked. The entire time they moved, she remained in Dylan’s tight grip, so she didn’t fall.

  She collapsed onto the park bench and put her hands down on the cold steel as she swayed where she sat. She was unable to process what she was seeing before her. Two sets of beautiful brown eyes, along with strong jaws and spiky black hair. A perfectly matched set. Squinting, she stared harder and saw in more detail. There were differences between them. One had a mole on the left side of his forehead and the other had one on the right.

  “How much did you have to drink tonight?”

  She laughed at the question, swaying with a delicious light-headedness that appeared to be caused by simply being close to these men.

  “Ah, nothing other than one raspberry lemonade.”

  She giggled again, then deliberately sobered with a frown, as she heard herself. She sounded like an idiotic teenager.

  The men looked between each other, one flexing his fingers as though angry. Dylan maybe? She already couldn’t remember which one had grabbed her earlier. Didn’t help they wore the same damn outfit. Sensing danger, Lacey’s mind cleared somewhat, and she sat up straighter and focused more on the men in front of her. She had to be smart about this.

  “What’s wrong with you now? One minute you’re pinning me up against a wall, all hot and heavy, and the next you look ready to hit … someone. Again.”

  She nearly said “me”, but somehow she instinctively knew these men would never lay a hand on a woman.

  The angry one stalked off with a harsh expletive while the other sat down on the seat next to her, a gentle smile on his lips.

  “You saw Dylan fight with Luke?”

  With a now clear mind, Lacey crossed her arms and nodded her head.

  “Yeah, of course I did. Everyone in the building did. It was kind of funny seeing you finish it though.”

  The twin she assumed was Ryan chuckled and cocked his head as he looked at her with an intensity that made butterflies take flight in her belly. His eyes were flicking around her face as though studying her, a sexy smile playing on his full mouth.

  Heat flooded her belly once more, and she bit her lip to stop herself from moaning again. She felt like two different people, ones that were fighting with each other from alternate universes. Part of her, an almost animalistic side, wanted to submit to these beautiful men and give them whatever they wanted, but the other, larger part of her, was questioning her sanity. She already had one psycho ex. She didn’t need more weird men in her life.

  “Where’s my bag?”

  She looked around, and Dylan, who was still lingering nearby, followed her gaze back to the side wall of the pub. He stomped over to her black clutch and returned to her, passing it over with jerky movements.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “No need to be. I’m fine.”

  The words were out before she could even think them through.

  She pressed her lips together and crossed her legs in front of her, trying her best to show herself to be a lady, despite all her previous actions to the contrary.

  “After everything that just happened, this feels a little ridiculous, but let’s go back to the start, shall we? I’m Lacey Clarke.”

  She smiled up at them and tried to ignore the stomach-gripping excitement that was building inside her. What was wrong with her?

  “I’m Dylan.” The standing twin tapped himself on the chest and then pointed to his brother who was sitting beside her. “That’s Ryan.”

  She smiled, unable to stop the inappropriate reaction to this bizarre situation.

  “It’s nice to meet you both. I’ve actually been looking for you. I’m a reporter with the Melbourne Herald, and I’m writing a story on the Cameron MacKenzie rescue. I have a few questions for you both.”

  Chapter Four

  Ryan stopped breathing for a moment. A reporter? Their mate was a bloody reporter for one of Melbourne’s biggest newspapers? This couldn’t be happening.

  “What do we do, Ryan?”

  “I have no fucking idea. Whatever it is, we need to be doing it away from here.”

  “Maybe if we claim her, she won’t want to expose us?”

  Ryan sighed out loud. They’d have to tell her the truth. Cheetahs were incapable of lying to their mates. Their minds simply couldn’t
process the concept of being dishonest to the one destined to complete them.

  Lacey cleared her throat, sounding nervous, and Ryan realized he and Dylan had been silent for too long.

  “That’s a conversation that needs to happen behind closed doors.”

  He heaved out a breath as her eyes sparkled with interest.

  “So you’ll talk to me? You’ll answer my questions?”

  He grimaced and looked away for a moment. He really didn’t want to tell her anything, not until he was certain she was fully theirs. Maybe the lions had a point about all their rules…

  “Come with us back to our place for dinner, and we’ll discuss what happened last weekend.”

  Lacey’s knuckles turned white as she gripped her bag. Ryan frowned as he glanced from her hands up to her face. What was wrong with her? Her mouth was now pinched into a flat line, and she was squinting at him with an intensity he wasn’t sure he liked.

  “How do I know I can trust you both? I like meeting sources in public places, where I know I’m safe. How about a quiet restaurant? I’m not the kind of woman who makes it a habit to go home with men she’s just met. No matter how interesting the information you have is.”

  Ryan inwardly cringed as his twin’s face lit up with wide grin. Please don’t let him say something that makes her run from us screaming.

  “Well, that puts you in a pickle then, beautiful. Because there ain’t a lot of options out here in the sticks. You can come back to our place with us now, or wait until we can get away from work long enough to go into Melbourne. That wouldn’t be until at least next weekend.”

  She sucked her full bottom lip into her mouth as she frowned. Ryan had to bite his tongue for a moment to stop himself from moaning. Her mouth was a lush little slice of heaven, and he wanted a taste of it so badly he ached.

  He shook his head and searched for an alternative solution. But he struggled to think about anything other than claiming her as soon as possible.

  “We live in a small house on our parents’ farm. It’s less than half a mile between our place and our folks’. So, you won’t be completely alone with us out in the middle of nowhere. If you like, we could eat at the main house? You’d have to put up with at least some of our brothers, but our mother would be there, too.”