A Summer in Paradise

by Tianna Xander

  Chapter Nine

  Pearl stared at him for a moment, her face heating up once again. Holy crap! He can’t be talking about me. Yet she knew he was. What else could he mean by that statement?

  “You—” She paused to clear her throat. “I’m going to pretend you don’t mean what I think you mean.” She took a drink from the glass of water in front of her. “You don’t even know my name, for heaven’s sake.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong.” Jarrod looked at Duncan who merely nodded his head. “Your name, if I’m not mistaken, is Pearl June Alexander. Your older sister is Gemma and your little sister is Crystal.”

  “How did you—”

  “We guessed,” he interrupted with a shrug. “We were relatively certain you were one of Gemma’s sisters because you disappeared right around the same time her sisters did. Plus, you were the only one of the two old enough to want to spy on two old shifters who sunbathed nude.”

  Duncan chuckled. “She thought we always did that.”

  “You’re kidding,” Jarrod said with a chuckle. “I’m glad we did it right then.”

  Pearl wanted to throttle them both. They’d played her all of those years ago. They had purposely got her all hot and bothered knowing full well they wouldn’t touch her until she was over eighteen.

  “I don’t believe you two.” She stood and began to pace, choosing to ignore the fact that Duncan had to dance out of her way before she ran into the hot pan he carried. “How could you do that to me?”

  “Do what?”

  Pearl suspected that Duncan knew exactly what she was talking about. Turning to glare at him, she practically snarled. “You two jerks got me all hot and bothered when you knew damned good and well you wouldn’t touch me until I was eighteen. Didn’t you?”

  “Don’t ask questions that you know you don’t want the answer to, darlin’.”

  “Who said I didn’t want the answer?” God, she was angry. She hadn’t been so pissed since she’d had her breakthrough in therapy. She was so mad, she wanted to hurt someone.

  “Sit down and eat. You can be mad at us later.” Jarrod turned her chair so the seat faced her.

  “Eat? What makes you think I can eat now?”

  “You can eat, because we tell you to eat.” Duncan set the pan of potatoes on the table and moved toward her. “You may have gotten here first, and by the rules of Paradise this cabin is yours as long as you want to stay, but you invited us in and therefore, into your life and you will listen to your mates.”

  “Mates? Ha! I don’t know you well enough to want you as mates.” She tried her best to sneer at them. “And from what I’ve learned of you two so far, I’m not sure I want any more to do with you.”

  “Sit down and eat or I’ll spank your little ass.”

  Pearl almost didn’t believe her ears. “You wouldn’t dare!” She glared at Duncan. Had he lost his mind? Spank her. Really?

  “Don’t count on it, sweetheart. We’ll spank you if you do something to warrant it and not taking care of yourself is at the top of the list.” Apparently Jarrod had lost his mind as well.

  “If you think I’m going to let either of you touch me after that threat, you’re both out of your ever-lovin’ minds.” Pearl stared down at the plate that Duncan had filled for her. “Not that there’s a reason for you to touch me.” She closed her eyes. Good grief, was she transparent or what? And why did she get all wet at their threats of spanking her? She wanted nothing to do with them if they planned to hurt her. She wasn’t stupid.

  Lifting her glass, she took a sip of her water with a frown. All those years of therapy and the men she’d lusted after weren’t any better than the men who had abused her all those years ago. Only this time it was worse. This time she was afraid she would like it, if the moisture gathering in her panties was any indication. What in the world was wrong with her?

  Duncan sat across the table from Jarrod which put one of them on either side of her, if she joined them. “Sit, now, or I’ll get up and put you across my knee.”

  “I’ll sit, and I’ll eat, but only because I want to. Not because you two Neanderthals told me to.” She moved to sit on the edge of her chair. “I swear. You two are like a couple of apes, or something.” She gave them each a sideways glance. “I half expect you to stand up and start beating your chests.”

  “You know very well we are not apes. I don’t even think an ape shifter exists.”

  “Really? You think not?” She shrugged at Jarrod’s comment. “I think they used to.” She gave them both an assessing glance. “You both must have at least one in your family tree.”

  “Stop stalling and eat,” Duncan said, pointing a fork at her plate.

  Pearl stuck her tongue out at him and picked up her fork.

  “You shouldn’t give us ideas, Pearl.” Duncan grinned. “I can think of a lot of things you could do with that little pink tongue of yours.”

  What was it about them? She bowed her head and stared down into her plate at Duncan’s comment. They always seemed to know what to say to make her blush. She felt the heat of it as it crept up her neck and into her face.

  Spearing a small piece of fish, she brought it to her mouth. Nothing could have prepared her for the flavor of the fish as the first bite touched her tongue. It was delicious. Tall, sexy and they could cook. What more could a woman want in her men?

  What was she thinking? They weren’t her men. They never would be. She planned to use them, plain and simple. They weren’t hers and she wasn’t their mate. What she was, was one damned horny woman who wanted to know what it was like to make love to the two men she’d fallen in love with before she left the country.

  Bound and determined not to bring her troubles to their door, Pearl had decided to take the position in Scotland and nothing would stop her from doing so. A summer in Paradise was all she would ever have and she planned to make the best of it.

  During the meal, Pearl stole a few glances at the two men, certain that they would never raise a hand toward her in anger. It just wasn’t in them. They might hurt her without meaning to, but she refused to believe that either one of them would ever hurt her intentionally.

  She only hoped she didn’t live to regret that belief.

  After dinner, she stood and gathered the dishes. “I’ll do these. It’s only fair. You two cooked.”

  “Leave them in the sink. We’ll wash them tomorrow. No one is going out to gather water in the dark.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Jarrod. The well is just a few feet off the side of the cabin.” She bent to pick up the pails. “I’ll be right back,” Pearl said as she headed for the door.

  Just as she opened the door, Duncan reached over her shoulder and pushed it shut with a bang. “Jarrod said it could wait. Must you disagree with us at every turn? Do you wish to go out in the dark and have that boar return when you can’t see him?”

  Pearl looked up at him and bit her lip. She hadn’t thought of that. “Then what do you suggest we do?” She set the pails down beside the door then straightened.

  “This,” Duncan said just before he cupped her cheeks and slanted his mouth over hers.

  All her life, she’d read books or seen movies about the heroine seeing fireworks when the hero kissed her. Never, did she ever think it could really happen. Yet, it did when Duncan kissed her and Jarrod came up from behind and nuzzled her neck.

  Heat filled her as Jarrod reached around and cupped her breasts. Cream slid sinuously from her channel, coating her panties. She wanted them, but she wasn’t sure she should trust them now. Would they really get violent?

  Duncan pulled back, his hands still cupping her face. His thumb caressed her bottom lip while she looked up at him. “Never think that we would get violent with you, sweetheart. We might threaten to spank you. We might even spank you, but we would never, ever touch you with anger.”

  “What do you call spanking me?”

  “We would do that for your protection.”

  They both release
d her and stepped back. “Would you still want to go outside after we threatened you with a spanking?”

  Pearl looked up at him. Was he serious? “Of course I wouldn’t you’re both bigger and stronger than me.”

  “Never think we would use our strength to harm you, darlin’,” Jarrod replied.

  “How am I supposed to know that?” Other men had. Even a human man had used his strength against her. How could she live with herself if she found that she had run from one abusive relationship into another?

  “Because,” Duncan said as he feathered his fingers though her hair. “We love you.”

  “Yeah,” she said with a snort. “I’ve heard that one before, too.”

  Duncan cupped her cheek again and she couldn’t stop herself from leaning into his hand. What was it about these two that made her trust them when every thought she had told her to run?

  She closed her eyes. Every one of her instincts had told her to trust Glenn. Had her self-preservation meter gone wonky? Whatever the reasons, she’d trusted her ex and he’d hurt her.

  Maybe she didn’t trust these two because she just had bad judgment when it came to men.

  With a sigh, she made her decision and stepped closer. Whatever happened, she wanted this time with them. Even if her heart steered her in the wrong direction, she would at least know what it was like to be with them and at the end of the summer, she would leave, just as she’d planned. Either way, she would at least know what it was like to sleep with the two men she had loved since she was only a girl.

  Chapter Ten

  Duncan fisted his hand in Pearl’s dark hair and drew her closer. When she was just a girl, she had always smelled of flowers and sunshine and sexy, sexy woman. Even though it had been hell to be around her when she was younger, they always anticipated her visits.

  Though she never knew it, they heard her coming when they had come up here to relax all those years ago. They could hear her walking through the woods, talking to the animals while she made her way up the mountainside.

  She had been so full of life, of innocence. At first they had thought it was her love of life that drew them to her so inexplicably. It was only after she left, when they thought her lost to them, that they realized that she could have been their mate.

  Perhaps it was for the best that she had gone. If she had stayed and had been violated like her sister, it would have driven them mad. Their beasts would have sought out and killed the men responsible for raping her. In their rage, they would not have been careful, they would have sought out the men and killed them as viciously as they could. Inevitably, someone would have seen them and their cover would have been blown.

  He slanted his mouth gently over hers, loving the feel of her soft lips pressed against his. No, her leaving had been for the best. Perhaps it had even saved all of their lives.

  When she opened for his questing tongue, he thrust inside.

  She tasted of the honey she used on the biscuits he had made. The cabin, always well stocked, had the makings of several meals in the pantry. With no electricity, the meals were simple, but nourishing and he’d used some of the flour to add to their meal.

  Duncan felt Jarrod’s head near his as the other man nuzzled her neck, his hands cupping her full breasts. This was what they had dreamed of all these years. This woman completed them.

  Hell, no wonder he was so fucking horny he could drive a railroad spike through a tree trunk with his dick, he was so fucking hard. His cock jutted up, pressing against her stomach. No embarrassment here. No difficulty in getting his cock to stand at attention for this woman. Relieved that his equipment wasn’t defective after all, he pressed forward, rocking her against his hard length.

  Breaking their kiss, he moved lower, his lips and tongue gently tasting every inch of her jaw and neck as he pushed her oversized t-shirt aside to suckle the tight peak of her breast.

  He inhaled deeply, loving her scent as he moved from one breast to the other while Jarrod held them up for his loving attention.

  Bending his legs, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tighter against him as he continued to suckle and lave the hardened nubs.

  He almost chuckled when she groaned, her head falling back to rest on Jarrod’s shoulder. This was how they were meant to be together. This was why his body wouldn’t respond to another. It had waited for her to return.

  “Spread your legs, baby,” he whispered against her breast. Gooseflesh covered her arms and legs as his hands skimmed over her lightly tanned skin, as his hand made its way past the elastic waistband of the shorts he’d hidden here so many years ago. He thrust his hand between her spread thighs, his fingers delving deep between her slick folds.

  Not once did he come back here to retrieve them. He knew that once he had her scent in his nostrils again, he wouldn’t stop until he found her. Then, when he finally came to the decision to go in search of her, she returned to his side.

  She hadn’t changed a bit. She was the same girl who left here all those years ago. The only difference was that she was no longer that little teenaged girl. She was a woman who could drive both Jarrod and himself wild with just a smile or an innocent glance.

  He straightened his legs, lifting her off the floor when her legs gave out. He continued to suckle her breast while Jarrod moved toward one of the double beds and turned the covers down.

  Gently, Duncan lowered her to the bed. Before joining her, they both shed what little clothing they wore and left it in two forgotten heaps on the floor. He moved down her body, removing her clothes as he went. He didn’t know what he would do if she turned him down now. He hoped to God he could stop before he hurt her. His beast rode him hard to bury his face between her legs and drink of the sweet nectar it knew it would find there.

  He needed to fully taste this woman more than he had ever needed anything before in his long life.

  Once he had removed her clothes, with Jarrod’s help, he settled himself between her legs. Pressing the palm of his hand on her lower stomach, he rested his chin on her mons. “Tell me to stop this madness now, Pearl, or I will continue to love you, to taste you.”

  “Yes, baby,” Jarrod whispered in her ear, just loud enough for him to hear. “He’s going to settle himself between your creamy thighs and eat your pretty little pussy, until you scream.”

  Pearl whimpered, her breaths coming in short pants as Duncan continued to slide his fingers through her creamy flesh.

  “He’s right, Pearl.” He leaned down to breathe on the glistening, plump lips. “I’m going to eat this pretty pussy until you beg me to make you come.”

  “Please…”

  “Begging all ready?” He grinned then snaked his tongue through her pretty pink flesh, paying special attention to her clit. He lapped at the engorged nub, then sucked it into his mouth.

  Pearl arched her back, pressing her breast up for Jarrod’s ministrations as she reached down and grabbed his head. “Yesss.”

  She drew the word out slowly. Her hips undulated on the bed as he continued to lap and suckle her nether flesh.

  Chapter Eleven

  Pearl squirmed on the bed as Jarrod suckled her breasts and Duncan continued to eat at her pussy. She didn’t know what to expect next from the two men. She’d never felt this way. Never in her life had anyone taken the time to make her feel this wanted, or this sexy.

  She couldn’t count the assaults before she left Paradise. Most of the time she didn’t even want to think about them. Though, she’d thought of them more since she returned than she had in the last three years.

  Glenn was never one to take his time with anything. He rushed through everything, including sex, or perhaps, especially sex. He wanted his pleasure, but hers was barely an afterthought.

  “Stop thinking of old lovers,” Duncan almost growled the words against her flesh. It vibrated her clit and made Pearl shiver. If he intended to do that every time she thought of other men, she might do it a lot.

  Duncan swatted her rear. “I s
aid stop.” He lifted his head, his eyes glittering with anger and glowing with the predatory look of his jaguar. “Don’t make me spank you again, Pearl. The next time, I’ll put you over my knee:” He looked at her nether flesh. “I would rather continue to eat this pretty pussy.”

  “I would like that, too.” Pearl squirmed again. She didn’t know her voice could sound so breathless and needy.

  “Put your legs over my shoulders, mate.”

  Pearl did what Duncan ordered, but wanted to tell him she could never be their mate.

  Heat curled through her stomach and her blood. It grew with every stroke of his tongue, every time he thrust his fingers into her needy pussy. After a few minutes, he began to press up and massage the inside of her channel.

  Her body arched up off the bed as she panted with need. Jarrod plucked at her nipples, his fingers pulling and twisting them gently, then with a bit more force.

  “Do you like that?” he asked when she groaned. “We’re going to worship your body until you scream, until you come like you have never come before.”

  Duncan lifted his head and chuckled. “That’s the plan.”

  Pearl whimpered at their words. She arched her back when Jarrod wrapped his lips around her right nipple, pulling the tight peak into his mouth. The sensation shot arrows of pleasure from her nipple, straight to her pussy—her empty pussy.

  “Then stop talking about it and get it done.” She wished she could growl at them the way they did her, but she wasn’t a shifter. She was only human. Writhing on the bed in desperate need, Pearl couldn’t wait to feel what they had in mind. She only wished they would hurry up about it. She arched her back, thrusting her hips up in a silent demand.

  Jarrod suckled her breasts, alternating between them as Duncan suckled her labia, thrust his fingers inside her and blew his warm breath against her clit. She knew she would explode as soon as he touched the sensitive nub, but he seemed content to just tease her.