by Becca Van
She crossed her arms beneath her breasts, unconsciously plumping the feminine globes and drawing his gaze. He bit the inside of his cheek to hold back the moan forming in his chest when he saw how hard her nipples were. Archer licked his lips as he wondered what they’d taste and look like. Where those hard buds a light pink color or dusky rose? They might even be a milk chocolate hue. His mouth watered as he inhaled her honeyed-hazelnut fragrance into his nose and lungs. She smelled good enough to eat.
“I’m waiting.” Broden tapped a finger against the wooden table impatiently.
“What the hell does it matter?” Dusty uncrossed her arms and waved her hands in the air.
“It matters because you matter,” Broden snarled.
Dusty frowned. “Why? You don’t know me?”
“Which is something we’re looking to change,” Airen stated as he came over with Dusty’s omelet. He placed the plate of food and silverware in front of her, before moving around to the other side of the table and taking a seat. “Eat up, honey. We can all hear how empty that belly is.”
Dusty blushed as she placed a hand over her stomach and then frowned. She canted her head to the side and met each of their gazes. “How is that possible? I can feel my stomach rumbling, but I can’t hear it.”
Archer tapped his ear and winked at her. “Good ears.”
She shrugged and picked up the knife and fork before cutting into the omelet and forking some of the egg, vegetables, and cheese into her mouth, but Archer knew she was still pondering over their exceptional hearing, because the frown hadn’t left her face.
He and his brothers talked about inconsequential things as she ate. Archer was about to protest when she pushed the half-eaten food aside and picked up her coffee mug, but Broden beat him to it.
“You need to finish that.” Broden pointed at her breakfast. “You haven’t eaten anywhere near enough to sustain you until lunchtime.”
“I’m full.”
Airen leaned his elbows on the table and bent forward. “How long have you been going without food, honey?”
Dusty glared at Airen and pointed for emphasis. “I’m not your honey.” She turned toward Broden and jabbed him in the arm. “I’m not your baby.” She shifted toward him and poked him in the side. “And I’m definitely not your sweetness. My name is Dusty. Use it!”
Archer rubbed a hand over his face hoping to hide his amusement at their mate’s feistiness, but she caught him.
“You think this is funny?” She shoved to her feet, the chair making a scraping sound as it moved away from her. “You think it’s funny that I have the leader of a biker gang looking for me, so he can make me his whore? That he killed my stepbrother after the little asshole tried to hand me over to pay off a debt, and I had to run?” Dusty spun away as a sob escaped from her parted lips. She covered her mouth with her hand and ran toward the door.
Archer was up and running after her in seconds. He snagged her around the waist and pulled her small, slight body back against his. She turned in his arms, gripped his shirt as if it was a lifeline, and sobbed her heart out. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, caressing up and down her spine as she sobbed. Her shoulders shook, and she gasped for breath in between the heart-wrenching sounds coming out of her mouth.
Archer was so fucking angry he wanted to hit something. His Kodiak was grumbling and growling with ire and trying to get out, but he shoved his animal aside. He was horrified at what Dusty had said, but he was damn glad the truth was finally out there. Once she settled down, he and his brothers would get the whole story from her, including the fucker who was chasing his mate. When he had that, he was going to hunt that bastard down and rip him apart, and he wouldn’t feel an ounce of remorse.
Anyone who preyed on women and children didn’t deserve to breathe air.
Airen and Broden rose and came over when Dusty continued to cry. Broden caressed her hair, and Airen smoothed a hand over her shoulder and up and down her arm.
Archer almost sighed with relief when her tears slowed, and she hiccupped a few times. It wasn’t that he hated seeing his mate cry, but he hated the pain he could smell coming off of her. Christ knew how long she’d been dealing with all this shit on her own. She was so precious and so fucking tiny compared to him and his brothers, he was scared of physically hurting her because of his shifter strength. He and his brothers were going to have to be extra cautious when dealing with their woman. They could inadvertently bruise her soft creamy skin without meaning to.
When she melted into him, he glanced down. The top of her head rested just under his sternum. He and his siblings were so fucking huge compared to her. They all stood well and truly over six and a half feet. That was another thing that worried him. If—and that was a huge if—Dusty did consent to be their mate after all the cards were laid out on the table, how the hell were they going to claim her without causing her pain?
Archer pushed those thoughts aside. He was getting way ahead of himself. There were more important things to deal with right now.
He loosened his hold on Dusty’s waist, and after nodding to his brothers to move back, he bent and scooped her up into his arms. Her breath hitched in her throat, and he half expected her to give him another mouthful, but she surprised him when she looped an arm around his neck and hid her face against his skin.
Archer carried her into the living room and sat in the middle of the huge sofa. Broden and Airen sat on either side of him and their woman. Archer wanted to pepper Dusty with questions but decided to let her go at her own pace. If they pushed too hard, they might end up losing her before they even had her, and he didn’t want that.
Finally, she shifted on his lap and wiped her face with the back of her hands. She looked up into his eyes and sniffed. “I’m sorry.”
Archer shook his head. “You have nothing to be sorry for, sweetness.”
“Archer’s right,” Broden agreed. “It sounds like you’ve been living with a lot of stress, baby. The weight on your shoulders was bound to get too heavy.”
“I didn’t mean to blurt all that out.”
Airen snagged her wrist and placed a clean handkerchief in her hand. “We’re glad you did, honey. We can help you, you know.”
Dusty lowered her gaze and frowned at the handkerchief in her hand. She unfolded it, lifted it toward her face, and blew her nose. “How can you help? I don’t even know how many men are looking for me, who they are, or what they look like. If those assholes somehow manage to find me, I don’t want anyone getting hurt because of me. I just couldn’t—”
Archer placed a finger over her lips and tried not to wince when Dusty shifted on his lap. His cock was hard and throbbing “Shh, sweetness. You don’t need to worry about any of us. All the men in this town are retired military. We can take care of ourselves.”
Dusty shook her head. “What if they have guns? Those bastards are into all sorts of illegal activity.”
“Such as?” Broden reached out for Dusty’s hand and laced their fingers together.
“They sell weapons illegally, deal drugs, and I think they also sell women. They don’t care who they hurt or kill to get what they want.” Dusty sobbed, but then took a deep, steadying breath.
Airen stroked a hand over her hair. “What you need to do is start at the beginning, and tell us what happened.”
“I don’t see how—”
“Dusty, we want to help you, baby,” Broden said. “We’ve fought for our country because of fanatics and people like the men you’ve mentioned. We know what we’re doing, mate.”
Archer tensed over Broden’s slip of the tongue. He glanced down at Dusty to find her frowning at his older brother.
“Why did you call me mate?” Dusty asked. “Do you have friends in Australia, or have you been there recently?”
Archer grinned. He couldn’t help it. She was so far from the truth, it was funny. A low, rumbling chuckle started down deep in his chest and burst out of his mouth. Dusty gazed up at him with her
mouth gaping open, but then she quickly closed it again. His humor dissipated when desire hazed over her stunning green eyes, and her pupils dilated. He groaned after sniffing the air. Their little mate was turned on, and the aroma of her honeyed-hazelnut scent grew stronger. His dick twitched and pulsed in his pants as pre-cum leaked from the tip. He felt as if he was about to lose his wad. He followed the movement of her tongue when she licked her lips, and he squeezed his eyes closed as he wondered what that sexy mouth would feel like wrapped around his hard cock. When he shifted in his seat, trying to relieve the restriction on his erection, he quickly opened his eyes again when Dusty gasped.
She tensed as if she was about to scramble from his lap, but he hooked an arm around her waist to keep her in place.
“We’ve never been to Australia, baby, and no, we don’t have any Australian friends,” Broden clarified.
“Then why did you call me mate?”
Airen shifted on his seat until he was sitting sideways on the cushion. Broden went to his knees and turned until he was facing Dusty and Archer.
“Did you notice how big the men in this town are?” Airen asked.
Dusty nodded and licked her lips. “It would be hard not to, since I’m vertically challenged.”
Archer smiled. He liked the way Dusty said that she was short. He and his brothers were more than a foot taller than her, and if he hazarded a guess, they outweighed her by two hundred pounds or more. However, she had curves in all the right places, and he couldn’t wait to see that little sexy body naked. He stifled a moan and pushed his lascivious thoughts aside. Now wasn’t the time to get lost in carnal dreams.
“You are all so huge and handsome,” Dusty whispered under her breath.
“You think we’re handsome, sweetness?”
Dusty gasped and shoved up from his lap. She would have fallen over Broden’s knee if his brother hadn’t reached out to catch her. She shoved at Broden’s arm, but he was too big and strong to budge unless he wanted to. From the trepidation in Dusty’s eyes, their mate had seen how fast Broden had moved.
Archer had been leading up to telling her what they were, trying to ease her into their world, but now he realized that had been a mistake. He and his brothers should have just told her outright.
“How did you do that?” she asked in a shaky voice. “How can you hear me when I was hardly making a sound? Let me go.” Dusty pushed at Broden’s arm.
Broden released her with a sigh and slowly rose to his feet. Archer stood at the same time Airen did. Dusty was backing away from them, and there was terror in her eyes. Archer’s heart clenched with pain. He hated seeing the fear in her gaze and on her face, but what he hated more was that he and his brothers had put it there.
“You have no reason to fear us, honey,” Airen said in a low, gentle voice as he held his hands up. “Haven’t we already proven to you that we’d never hurt you? That we would do everything in our power to keep you safe and healthy?”
“What are you people?”
Archer winced when her voice cracked. He glanced to each of his brothers, and just as he was about to reply, Broden sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face.
“Just remember we’d never hurt you. Okay?” Broden said as he tugged his T-shirt up and over his head.
Dusty gasped, and when Archer turned his gaze back to her, she was licking her lips and staring at his brother’s muscular, toned chest.
“Oh. My. God,” she whispered as her gaze wandered over Broden’s broad shoulders and barrel-like chest. She followed Broden’s hand as he lowered it to his jeans, and when he popped the button, she snapped her eyes back up to his. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I need to show you what we are, baby. Telling you isn’t going to cut it. You won’t believe me.”
She frowned and tilted her head. “You don’t know that.” Dusty crossed her arms beneath her breasts and shivered.
Archer stifled another groan, but Airen wasn’t so successful. Their mate quickly lowered her arms back to her sides when she noticed where Airen was staring, and she glared at him. Airen’s lips twitched, but he quickly lifted his gaze up to hers. “You need to watch, Broden, honey.”
Dusty gazed at Broden and then gaped when their brother shoved his jeans down his legs, taking his boxers with them. He’d toed his shoes off while she and Airen had been interacting. Broden kicked his jeans and underwear aside and straightened. He stood still as a statue as naked as the day he was born and let Dusty look her fill. There was no way their mate could miss his brother’s huge erection, since it was pointing straight at her.
Dusty squeezed her eyes closed for a few moments and then opened them again. Archer stared at her chest and swallowed down a moan when her little nipples hardened even more. He shifted his gaze back to her face when she spoke. “What the…shit, I think I’m going to go blind.”
Airen chuckled and Archer grinned. She was so fucking sexy and sweet. The perfume of her arousal grew stronger, and he could see how rapidly she was breathing. Their mate was trying to keep her expression blank, but she was failing miserably. Her hunger was there for all of them to see, and the aroma of her arousal was so strong, he could almost taste her on his tongue. Archer swallowed the saliva pooling in his mouth.
“Why are you naked?” Dusty asked after gulping audibly. “What are you trying to prove?”
The second Broden dropped down to his hands and knees, Archer moved slowly toward their mate. He needed to be close to her to comfort her in case she freaked out. Airen walked toward her from her other side. She didn’t even notice them getting closer since she was watching Broden so intently.
She gasped and back up a step when Broden called to his Kodiak bear and began to change. The muscles and sinews under his skin shifted, and his bones started to reshape. Fur sprouted from the pores in his skin, and his body bulked up even more as his frame grew bigger and taller. His snout elongated, and his head widened as the talons on his paws lengthened, darkened, and slightly curved.
Archer wrapped an arm around Dusty’s shoulders when she backed into him, and he could feel how fast her heart was pounding in her chest. Her breathing escalated until she was panting rapidly, and she pushed back into him as she tried to get away from Broden’s bear.
Airen threaded his fingers with hers and brought her hand up to his mouth before kissing the back of it.
“What the…what is…that’s not…”
Dusty sagged in his hold, and he carefully swept her up into his arms and against his chest. Her head lolled onto his shoulder, and he cursed when he glanced down at their mate.
She’d passed out.
Chapter Five
“It was too fucking soon,” Broden sighed.
Dusty tensed when she realized that she was lying in a bed, but she wasn’t alone. From the rustling sounds she could hear, as well as just having heard Broden’s voice, she knew that all three of the men were in the room with her. Her heart flipped in her chest, and although she tried to regulate her breathing, she couldn’t seem to.
“Open your eyes, baby,” Broden commanded in a firm voice.
She shook her head and squeezed them tighter. She felt as if she was living in a dream where everything was surreal, and she was watching from a distance. Yet she couldn’t refute the fact that she’d seen Broden change into a big-ass bear. How was that even possible? Sure, she’d read a lot of books about shifters and other paranormal romances, but not once had she ever suspected those fictional stories were based on fact.
“Broden, Airen, and Archer would never hurt you, Dusty.”
She opened her eyes and turned to gaze at Emmy. The other woman was sitting on the side of the bed with a worried frown on her face.
“None of the men in Ambrose would ever lay a finger on a woman, child, or anyone weaker than they were.”
Dusty snapped her head to the other side and stared at the brown-haired, green-eyed woman watching her avidly. The woman smiled at her. “Hi, I’m Pixie. I’m mated to Tat
um, Rex, and Shaffer. They’re lion shifters.”
“Lions?” Dusty giggled a little hysterically and quickly covered her mouth. She nearly screamed when she noticed that not only Broden, Archer, and Airen were staring at her, but three other huge guys were, too. She grabbed the covers and pulled them up higher as she scooted up the mattress.
Pixie slid off the side of the bed and walked toward the three strange men. She looked to be shorter than her and was downright tiny standing next to all the tall, handsome men. “This is Tatum.” Pixie hugged the man before moving to the next one. “This is Rex.” She caressed a hand over his chest, and then she clasped the hand of the last guy. “And this is Shaffer.”
“Hi.” Dusty’s winced when her voice came out squeaking like a mouse. She had no idea what to do, but she was very uncomfortable being stared at the way she was. She lowered her gaze and plucked at the quilt.
“Why don’t y’all go and make us some coffee or something?” Emmy suggested. “We’ll be out soon.”
“Okay.” Broden nodded. “Just yell if you need anything.” He gave Dusty a pointed stare, but when she didn’t react, he sighed, turned on his heel, and left the room. The other men followed him out.
“Are you okay, Dusty?” Pixie asked as she climbed back up onto the bed.
Dusty couldn’t stifle a giggle, because the small woman had had to literally climb onto the mattress since it was so high off the floor.
Pixie smiled and pointed at her. “Don’t laugh yet, girlfriend. You’re nearly as short as I am.”
Dusty relaxed back onto the pillows as she returned Pixie’s smile. “I’m not short.”
Emmy snorted out a laugh.
She grinned and continued. “I’m just vertically challenged.”
The other two women burst out laughing, and Dusty joined in. Emmy grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “I like you. It’s great that you have a sense of humor.”
“It is,” Pixie agreed. “With all those dominant, sexy alpha shifters around, you’re going to need to look on the lighter side of life.”