She wiped them away, but not fast enough. Jaxon looked back and forth between them. Them coming out of the woods, him half dressed, her crying. Jaxon drew his own conclusions and pounced on Levi, shifting mid-air. Levi seeing what was coming, shifted too. By the time they slammed into each other, they were two giant angry bears.
Bailey screamed at them, the tears in her eyes falling freely now. “Stop! Please stop! You don’t understand.” But what could she do? There were two bears with every reason to kill one another. How could she possibly stop them?
The two of them wrestled, neither getting the upper-hand. They both tried to get the other’s neck between their teeth, but neither succeeded.
Fortunately, Evan wasn’t so easily deterred, and he knew where the high pressure hose was which he unleashed on the grappling pair.
It worked, the high slam of water pushing them apart. The two of them shifted back, sitting on the ground in puddles they panted. Both of them were covered in scratches and bites. “I didn’t hurt her, you idiot.”
“Then why is she crying?”
“How should I know? Perhaps you should ask her before drawing false conclusions. But I guess accusing people of crimes they didn’t commit is a talent passed from father to son.” Levi bent down and retrieved his mother’s necklace from the grass.
Jaxon picked up the scraps of clothes he had left and walked over to Bailey, “Let me take you home.”
She gave a nod and followed him back to his car. As she walked away, she couldn’t help but glance over her shoulder at Levi. Evan was already attempting to guide his employer back in the house, he was probably getting a Christmas bonus for this.
Jaxon headed to the back of his Bronco and pulled out a change of clothes. He must have kept extras nearby being a shifter. After he was dressed in jeans and a flannel button up, he climbed in next to her. “I am so sorry this happened to you. I wouldn’t have guessed in a million years that he’d pull something like this. I guess I underestimated him.”
“Why would you steal his mother’s necklace in the first place?”
“I knew how much it meant to him. I thought I could trade it back in exchange for him leaving.”
“Why not just give him leadership?”
He glanced over at her as they drove. She realized she’d been defending him ever since Jaxon got in the car. “Did he tell you what my father did to get leadership?”
“He didn’t give me the details about that.”
“Well, he’d been stealing money from the clan. When they discovered the missing money, he had already set Levi’s father up to take the fall. His father was exiled, he lost everything. Years passed before anyone found out about the truth and by then he’d gambled most of the money away and left the company and clan in ruins. I’ve spent years picking up the pieces my father left behind and if I thought Levi’s intentions were honorable, I’d step aside. But you’ve seen how far he’ll go and he hates the clan, what will he do to them if given the opportunity. I’ll tell you what he’d do, he’d burn it all to the ground doing the same thing to the clan that they did to his father.”
Bailey bit her bottom lip. She knew Jaxon was right. If he was willing to destroy a three million dollar painting to prove a point, he wouldn’t hesitate to decimate the clan for what they did to his family. “So what are you going to do?”
“Everything I can to protect my people.”
“Including finding a womb for your cubs, I suppose.” Now she was the one acting like a brat.
“Only if I like the woman attached to the womb. No one binds themselves to another person for life without being fairly confident they’ll be happy to that person.”
That reminded her of something Levi had said, “What do I smell like to you?”
“Home,” he said without hesitation. “When I catch your scent in the air, it’s like the place I belong is in that direction.” Then his eyes narrowed. “Did Levi say something to you?”
“Yeah, he said I smell like his. But he probably only said it to keep me away from you.” What were the chances that two gorgeous, amazing men both desired her on a primal level? Next to nil.
“Levi wouldn’t lie about something like that. If he says you’re compatible, you are. How do you feel about that?” Jaxon’s voice was the steadiest she ever heard. He sounded more like a psychiatrist with a patient, rather than someone about to hear something they probably didn’t.
“Confused,” she answered honestly. “All of this confuses me. I don’t know what to do.”
“Then maybe you should go out with both of us until you’re sure about what you want.”
Bailey shook her head. “No. I couldn’t do something like that.”
“I was serious when I said that my clan mates for life. There is no option for divorce a few years down the road. If there is even the smallest chance your heart might belong to another, I need you to know for sure before we move forward.”
“I’m surprised you’d be okay with me dating your foe. After all, you’re wearing his claw marks down your chest right now.”
Jaxon chuffed. “I got in a few good hits of my own. And we weren’t always enemies. Before his father was exiled, Levi and I were best friends.”
“It’s strange. As a child, I dreamed of having parents. I begged and prayed for them. Every birthday, that’s what I wished for. Never once did I imagine having a father that did what yours did. He tore apart your life in so many ways. I’m so sorry.”
Jaxon shrugged. “If he hadn’t been a failure as a person in every possible category then I wouldn’t be the man I am today, and I happen to be quite fond of me, so for that, I’m grateful.”
He managed to find the bright side no matter what. His father dropped a mess on his lap and he endured it without complaint. He wasn’t a perfect man, but he was definitely a good one. Bailey laid her head against the window imagining a future with Jaxon. It was a beautiful picture, but now some part of her thoughts went back to Levi. How was she going to choose between these two men? She’d have to take Jaxon’s advice. Date them both and figure it out before it was too late.
Chapter Five
Bailey checked the clock. She was running late. Levi would be at her door at any minute and when she wasn’t on time, he’d watch her silently, his lips in a straight line. It drove her nuts, so she picked up the pace. She dashed across the room in search of his latest gift. The blue box was still sitting on the coffee table. She pulled out the diamond earrings and put them on.
Bailey spent three blissful months dating both Jaxon and Levi. She went out with each of them twice a week and used the other three days to get things done. It was an ideal arrangement. Jaxon took her kayaking. She capsized three times and he had to fish her out the water like a drowned rat. Afterwards, they cuddled by the fire just laughing about it. Levi flew her first class to New York to see her favorite musical after he caught her humming a few bars of Satisfied.
But the clock was ticking, and soon she’d have to pick one of them over the other and she was no closer to deciding than she was when she first met them. They were both amazing men that met everything she asked for in different measure. She even tried to prioritize the things she wanted, and still they came out tied.
She could sense the rising tension in the men, both gentle prodding to figure out if they were the one she’d chosen. She knew no matter which one she picked, she was going to break someone’s heart. It was an impossible choice and she felt like a monster for not making it sooner and forcing two people to endure the kind of uncertainty she herself could never stand.
She heard a knock at the door as she putting on her shoes. “Coming,” she said hopping towards the door. She smoothed down her skirt and opened the door.
Levi stood there looking dashing in his suit, which he wore as though it was a second skin. He gave her an appraising look that made her blush. “Nice,” he said with a nod. “Are you ready?”
Levi wouldn’t tell her where they were going, only that it
was formal. But she never knew what to expect with him, for all she knew it could be a formal event in the south of France.
“Yes. Though for what, I do not know.”
As they walked towards the elevator, he put his hand against the small of her back and guided her to the stairwell.
She gave him a confused look as they took the stairs up to the roof of the building. The occasional teenager hung up there to sneak some weed, but other than that, there wasn’t much there.
When the door opened, she gasped. The roof of her building had been transformed. Flowers covered every visible surface, and lights hung from post to post, circling a table that was already set. It was a scene out of a fairytale and he’d brought it to life. “It’s lovely, but why?”
He gave her a sad smile. “You know why.”
Because she’d have to pick soon, and if she didn’t choose him, this was their goodbye. She could feel her heart breaking in her chest at the thought. She couldn’t imagine how he must feel.
Soft music played in the background. It took her a moment to realize it was a violin rendition of her favorite song. He must have had it custom recorded because she couldn’t imagine many violinists were N’Sync fans.
He pulled out her chair and she took a seat. Then he took the cover off the tray in front of her and she had to bite back laughter because it was her favorite food. The most elegant bowl of mac-n-cheese ever crafted. She could only imagine the poor five-star chef tasked with this job.
When he uncovered his meal, she figured he’d be eating something a bit fancier, but no, he was having the same thing she was having.
They sipped their wine and ate mac-n-cheese off hundred dollar plates and just talked. They talked about work, their friends, the best cheese to noodle ratio for perfect mac-n-cheese. Spending time with him had become easy.
After they ate, he took her by the hand and pulled her close. They danced cheek to cheek on rose petals surrounded by fairy lights. She held him close and didn’t want to let go.
He pulled back so that he could look into her eyes. “When I was little, I asked my mother how she knew she loved my father. He was a difficult man who did not seem easy to love. She told me that she knew she loved him because she cared more about his happiness than her own. At the time, I didn’t fully understand what that meant, but now I do. I would slay dragons for you. If you wanted the moon, I’d find a way to pluck it from the sky and lay it at your feet.” He took a gold chain out of his pocket, a bear pendant hanging at the end of it. “I want you to have this.”
She took a step back, her eyes were misty. “I can’t. I haven’t chosen yet.”
He closed the space between them and unclasped the chain. “It doesn’t matter. No matter what you decide, I’m yours. There is no helping that. So this is yours.” He clasped the chain around her neck and then he kissed her.
He kissed her like a man taking his last sip of water before being forced to cross the desert. She melted against him, returning his kiss. Her hands slipped under his shirt, caressing his firm chest. He kissed a trail across her cheek and down to her neck. He unzipped her dress in a single fluid movement leaving it hanging from her arms.
As if hit with a bucket of water, she stopped. “Wait. We can’t,” she said as she tried to close her dress again.
“So it isn’t me,” he stated softly.
“No, that’s not it. I really haven’t decided. It’s just that I haven’t…with him…so if I…with you, then I feel like that would be deciding for me.” How easy it would have been to forget herself. To let him take her right there on the rooftop, on a bed of rose petals under the night sky. She would have never imagined herself mourning having two dreamy men in love with her. But as time ticked down, that’s exactly how she felt.
Levi helped her zip her dress back up and hugged her tightly. Wish her face pressed against his chest he told her. “Don’t worry. I understand.”
Chapter Six
Bailey drove up to Jaxon’s cabin, a place she’d gone so often she was starting to think of it as home. It was hard for her to wrap her mind about the idea of never going back there again. When she pushed open the front door, she was surprised to see Levi standing in Jaxon’s living room. “What are you doing here?” she asked unable to mask her shock.
“Is that how you greet me? It makes me think you aren’t happy to see me.”
“You aren’t robbing the place again, are you?”
Before he could answer, Jaxon came in through the back door. “I have condoms, lube, those edible panties you like—”
He froze when he realized that Bailey was there. “Oh…hey…”
Levi pinched the bridge of his nose. “I was hoping to breech this topic a bit more tactfully. Remember when you said that you couldn’t sleep with one of us before the other because you felt that would make you look partial to one of us over the other.”
Bailey’s mouth started to hang open, there was no way he was proposing what she thought he was proposing. But if he was, what would her answer be? Fuck, yeah! “I recall. We were talking about it yesterday after all.”
“Well, being deeply concerned with your happiness, we put our heads together and tried to come up with a solution to your dilemma.”
Jaxon walked up placing his hands on her hips. “In other words, we sat up half the night drinking beer and talking about what we wanted to do to you until we were about to burst.”
Bailey would have paid good money to be a fly on the wall during that conversation. She wondered what they said, but it would be more fun if she just let them show her.
Jaxon captured her lips with a kiss and she returned it without even thinking. She moaned against his lips, allowing herself to get lost in the feel of his broad chest pressed against her.
Then she remembered she was doing all of this in front of Levi. She was just about to glance over and gauge his reaction when she felt the warmth of his body behind her. A second part of hands roaming her body.
They slowly peeled the clothes from her body moving in perfect harmony. If only they had this level of cooperation in everything they set their mind to. The world would quake in fear with the two of them to contend with.
But instead, the only think quivering was Bailey, sandwiched in between these two gorgeous men. The three of them stood naked on a rug in front of a massive fireplace. Light danced across their skin as the two men licked and sucked every inch of her body.
Jaxon took her nipple between his teeth as he slid a finger between her folds. She was slick and ready.
I’d been a long time, she was so tight that she squeezed his finger, being filled with anything sending shock waves through her.
He knelt down in front of her and his tongue found her clit causing her to fall back into Levi’s arms. He held her steady, while Jaxon ravished her pussy making her thighs tremble.
When the pleasure became too much and she tried to back away, Levi held her in place, while Jaxon doubled his efforts, milking an orgasm out of her so intense she saw stars.
By the time he pulled away and the cool air caressed her heat, she was boneless which made it easy for Levi to roll her onto her side and prop up her leg with his.
A moment later she felt the cool chill of lube on her puckered asshole.
She had her face buried in Jaxon’s neck while Levi worked his fingers inside her until she could take them with ease. Then he replaced them with his hardness, the girth of which made her eyes go wide.
She held her breath as one inch after another disappeared into her asshole. Just when she thought she couldn’t be more stuffed, Jaxon began to take her from the front side. He was just as big, and having both men inside her made her feel fuller than she’d ever felt in her life.
They both held still inside her as she got used to their size.
She gave a nod telling them to continue, when they did, Bailey felt things she couldn’t even process. The both of them, moving in side her, sending waves of pleasure in every direction, firing off
her synapses, until she couldn’t form a coherent thought.
All that existed was the three of them, bound together inside her body. She never wanted it to end. The taste of salt on their skin. The firmness of their bodies, the heat of their lips. It was more than she could imagine.
The steady pounding of their hips against hers began to speed up. With a pounding crescendo, both men exploded inside her at the same time, filling her with their seed. They collapsed together in a mess of body parts and soon drifted off.
Throughout the night, she’d get awaken by one or the other, sometimes both. They took her in every way, every position they could think of. By dawn, her entire body ached, but it was the wonderful kind of pain, she never wanted to lose.
She grabbed Jaxon’s shirt and slipped it on as she headed out onto the balcony. She stood there watching the sunrise feeling more lost than ever. There was no doubt now. She loved them. Both them. In every way she could possibly love a person.
“Couldn’t sleep?”
She glanced over her shoulder to see Jaxon coming out after her. “I just wanted some fresh air. It’s so beautiful out here.”
“Levi’s gardens are beautiful too.”
She understood his meaning. The same question had hung between all of them for a while now. “But who’s to say which is better?”
Jaxon shrugged. “Someone whose seen them both, I guess.”
She didn’t know what to say, so she didn’t say anything.
He grabbed her arms and made her face him. “I know he’s smart, richer than Midas and probably knows what fondue is. But I’d never do anything to hurt you. I’d always be there for you. I’m sturdy. I don’t crack under pressure. You want to build a family. Who do you think would make a better father to your children?”
Paranormal Dating Agency: Bearly Rivals (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 4