by Treva Harte
How could you resist Mia? She warmed the coldness inside him with more than words. She used her own body. He could sense little prickles of warmth flowing from her to him as she pressed against him. Gradually Rome relaxed. His body fitted against hers. He brushed his lips over her hair. “How do you do that?”
“What?” Mia’s fingers were already burrowing under the loose shirt he wore, ready to strip him out of his clothing.
“Make the impossible sound easy.” He nipped her earlobe.
He wanted to bite her hard. To mark her. Claim her. He kept his grip gentle, though. He’d be gentle even though he shook with the need to possess her.
No. No. Now wasn’t the time for something he wouldn’t be around to finish.
“Oh. I suppose I learned from you and everyone else around me when they convinced me to join you. This whole situation should be impossible, but somehow we’re here.”
The gentle heat turned up to boiling. She brushed her tongue against one of his nipples and his lips curled back at the sensation. He bared his teeth, all of them, wolf-style. His cock was harder than he could ever remember.
Sex. He could definitely start and finish that with her. Uncomplicated, beautiful, hot sex. His balls drew up tight as he smelled her arousal. The ache was almost a pain.
“Damn straight. And I think we should take advantage of it.” He picked her up, tilted her against the wall, and buried his face between her breasts.
Heaven. The smell of woman. Of Mia. The musky scent of arousal and what must be her monthly change. Weres ‑‑ at least this were ‑‑ reacted to that new difference as if she was in heat.
Damn. He’d wanted her back in high school bad enough to hurt. She’d been dangled in front of him and then taken away and he’d wanted her ‑‑ everything ‑‑ back.
Of course he’d wanted anything he could screw back then. But he wasn’t a high school kid any more. He’d like to think he’d gotten a little more selective about who he laid nowadays ‑‑ then again it was easy to be picky about partners when you had the exact ones you wanted.
Still his little head had been smarter than usual when it first took notice of the only available were female in town. Now that he knew Mia, he realized she was even sexier, sweeter, better than he’d fantasized during class.
“But I’m ‑‑ you know. Not exactly up for sex.” Mia looked completely embarrassed. “I suppose those were hormones of yours don’t want to pay attention to that.”
OK. She wasn’t a fantasy. He could live with it.
“No, they want you especially because of that. But if you’re saying no to straight up fucking, we’ll manage something, babe.”
“All right.” She curled against him willingly, even though her voice was uncertain. “I guess my hormones don’t want to pay attention, either.”
Weird. He wanted her. His body sang with want. It would be good, whatever they did, and he wanted it like he wanted to breathe. But sex felt…incomplete without Grey. Was she feeling the same thing?
“You’re in my own room and you started without me? Haven’t you ever heard about waiting for your host?” Grey’s graveled voice was the answer to everything uncertain still swirling around inside Rome. Trust Grey to know when to make an appearance.
Steadied, Rome waved at their partner. He didn’t want to think about how right it was to have Grey with them.
“Hurry up, old man, or we’ll finish without you, too.”
Grey’s eyes narrowed and then he began to unbuckle his belt. “Wouldn’t like to see you try it.”
Rome wasn’t sure if that was a statement of fact or a threat. It didn’t matter. When Grey’s jeans hit the ground, it was clear from his stiff cock that no one would have to wait for long.
Better yet, Grey didn’t seem to still have a mad on.
Rome turned Mia over, flipped up her skirt and slapped one butt cheek, pausing to admire the rosy glow.
“This way will work for all of us. Damn, I like Mia’s ass.”
“I like yours. You want a spanking, too?” Grey was already circling the rim of Rome’s hole, spreading it with cool lube and hard fingers. Grey shoved two digits down together with no more preliminaries. Rome swallowed and tried to keep his legs steady. He rubbed his back against the pelt on Grey’s chest until his breathing slowed down some. Damn, he liked the feel of Grey ‑‑ fingers, hairy hide, everything.
“Rome knows you like his ass. Everyone knows.” Mia sounded amused as she arched forward, giving Rome easier access to her own sweet butt. “I suppose I should be honored you sometimes notice mine instead.”
“I’ll get to your ass soon,” Grey growled at her, but Rome heard the humor lurking there. Grey never yelled at Mia. Then again, that would be difficult to do. Especially when you were about to have sex like this.
Perfect. The words sang inside Rome. No one ever got perfect but this was…
Hot. Tight. So fucking right. It almost hurt, it was so good.
It was like hearing Grey’s words in his head. Or maybe hearing his own thoughts in Grey’s. Except that the inner voice sounded like Mia. Rome’s hands stopped tracing the pretty blue veins in Mia’s legs.
“What the hell ‑‑ ”
“Don’t. Ask,” Mia said aloud, her voice thin. “I’m just…I feel like a telephone wire or something. What’s going on in your brain is spilling out and over.”
It wasn’t just his brain, though. She’d heard Grey.
“Can we think about it later?” Grey asked aloud. “You all are distracting me from what’s important here.”
He couldn’t be bonded to Grey and Mia. Weres couldn’t bond more than once even at the best of times. But Mia was hearing them. Their thoughts. And he felt so…so…
Connected.
Then again, Grey could be right. If they thought too hard, they might stop screwing. Grey’s cock was so close ‑‑
Jesus, Grey was huge but he hadn’t grown a few inches overnight, had he? Grey’s entrance made him feel full, damn full. The pressure almost hurt. But Rome didn’t wait too long for things to ease up. He moved against Grey’s cock fast, savoring the length and breadth of Grey in his ass, wanting the pleasure enough to endure the sting. Everything fit together soon enough and he didn’t want to stop for thinking or foreplay any more than Grey did. Any more than Mia did, either, judging from the impatient little twitches and murmurs underneath him.
Grey hit the right spot, the one that made Rome moan every time.
Rome moved over Mia, resting his head against her shoulder. She had her arms draped over Grey’s bed, bracing herself for the two men pumping against her. Which was going to start just about now. Rome thrust forward gently. Home.
Mia whimpered and pushed back, just like he had for Grey.
And they stayed, unmoving, for a long, impossibly long moment just like that first time.
Mia and Grey. They were slick against him. Soft and hard. Soft cries of delight and rough cursing. Surrounding him. Enveloping him in sweat and heat and strength and gentleness. Sensation layered over sensation. Differences that combined into one.
Then, like before, like always, they all moved in a sudden burst of energy and lust, matching each other stroke for stroke. More. He wanted more. Rome found himself holding Mia’s breasts, her soft nipples hardening in his hands as she squirmed against him. Grey was holding Rome’s hips, not letting him move while Grey pounded hard inside him, just the way Rome wanted to do to Mia. Instead Rome waited, half in warm female flesh, dying to get further in.
Mia moaned, clamped down on what was in there already. Rome shook with wanting more. Damn that Gray.
Gray hit the perfect spot again with one sure stroke and Rome shook with satisfaction. All right. He wouldn’t damn Gray yet.
It seemed like forever, posed midway between satisfaction and torture before Grey let him free. Instantly Rome pumped himself inside Mia, hating to pull out but making up for it with the fast slide back in.
Damn it, they all wanted more.
Nastier. Harder.
I want to be between you and Grey next time. It’s like being between two explosions waiting to happen. So powerful. I love being with you both.
Mia moaned again, shuddering, fitting him like a tight fist.
Rome shook his head, but Mia’s words echoed there, heightening the edgy need. Knowing what she wanted from her thoughts, hearing Grey’s gasp against his back ‑‑ he felt the rush of his come surging up from his balls. This wasn’t just sex. It was better than sex.
But the sex was fucking good. Oh, yeah!
Rome gave in as the pleasure and heat lanced through him. He came first, hard, long. Forever.
He wanted it to be forever.
Rome woke up first, as always. Once his eyes got used to the dark, he focused on the two people toppled on the bed near him. Mia had one hand resting on his arm and another on Grey’s chest. Grey was snoring lightly. Rome lay there for a moment more, listening to them. Looking at them. A tendril of Mia’s blonde hair was caught between her lips. Grey’s face was relaxed in his sleep, the way it never relaxed while he was awake and watchful.
Rome blinked.
Easing his arm away from Mia’s hand, he got off the bed. The other two slept, curled together, like the dead ‑‑ or people who had fucked themselves to sleep. Rome stood, picking up his boots and clothing en route to the door.
Mia made one muffled sound, almost like a protest and Rome stopped moving until the sound eased back into peaceful breathing. Only then did he open the door and slip outside without looking back.
They were the two people he cared about most in the world. He hoped they’d understand when they woke up and found him gone.
Chapter Seven
Too bad Mia wasn’t here ‑‑ No. That wasn’t what he meant. Too bad he wasn’t Mia. She’d have disengaged the damn security system in less than the half hour it took him. But he did it. There was no sound as he slipped through the window.
Time to go hunting.
Once inside, he scented his prey. He’d gotten only the faintest whiff the day of the fire, before the smoke clogged his nostrils. But he knew that smell. That was the one who’d been in the house just before all hell broke loose.
The scent was stronger. Right there. Rome opened the door.
Two men sat there. They turned, as if they had been waiting, to stare at him.
“You think you should be here alone?” The smaller man looked faintly amused when Rome walked in. “Considering what you know we can do?”
Rome froze. He felt cold metal against his ear. There was the distinct click of a safety being unlatched on the gun that rested against his neck.
Hell. So much for caution. And giving warnings.
Another safety clicked.
“Who said he was alone?” That was Dek’s voice.
Dad? Double hell.
“Boy, you keep forgetting about the part where even when it looks safe, you keep your eyes open. Makes me wonder sometimes.” And Grey. Of course. He’d have to be there to watch Rome fuck up big time.
“And you never knew that you always check for a backup silent alarm. I cut that off first thing.”
Mia, too?
Rome fought his emotions and won. He managed to sound measured instead of strangled. “Shit. Bad enough you have to tag along. But you can’t keep your mouths shut after you do. Folks, we don’t have time for a long chat. Everyone needs to get out. Now.”
“Or?” The strange were, the one who had tried to kill them, didn’t move while he asked.
“Or you’ll blow up along with your fucking house in seven minutes. Did all of you really think I was stupid enough to ‑‑ never mind. Get out.” Not that he was going to move while that gun was still against his neck. Dying in seven minutes rather than right now seemed like a better idea. “Grey, get Mia the fuck away.”
He heard movement and then the sounds of footsteps. Rome almost relaxed. If the strange pack didn’t get to them first, Grey would get Mia out.
If.
His temporary captor looked over at the were who hadn’t spoken yet. “Hunt? Boss? Dunno if it’s true or not but seven minutes ‑‑ ”
“Six minutes thirty seconds ‑‑ ” Rome interrupted.
“Why don’t we all just put down our weapons, get out, and figure out what else to do later?” Dek said, very calmly. “Rossi, you first, of course. Or I’ll blast a hole in your head. I’d rather rip your throat out, but human weapons are faster and we’re a little pressed for time.”
It had been a long time but he should have known Rossi’s smell. Maybe it was all Rossi’s sweat and adrenaline that had interfered with Rome recognizing him. Too bad it was Rossi holding the weapon. The idiot might shake too hard and set things off.
“Rossi, if you keep that gun at my head much longer, I’ll be close enough to give you a big sloppy kiss good-bye before we head off to hell,” Rome said.
“Dunne? What are we gonna do?” Rossi’s distinctive whine was the same. And his stupidity. It was all coming back to him now. Even as an adolescent he’d known why the pack was glad to see the last of Rossi.
“If we don’t leave, we’ll all be done.” Damned if he wasn’t feeling a little sweaty himself. But charged. Rome had never felt so charged in his life.
“All right.” The man who was boss finally spoke. He stared hard at Rome. It wasn’t a friendly look, but Rome hadn’t expected a buddy. “Let’s go.”
“Damn, son. Where did you learn how to do that?” Dek looked at the opening that was now in the side of the pack’s office building.
Everyone seemed a bit stunned. What did they think he’d meant to do? He wasn’t here to play. The bomb had done just what he had intended it to do.
“From you. Well, sort of. Remember the summer we went to Alabama for your job? Folks weren’t taking kindly to the takeover there and there were bomb threats and explosive experts all over. I didn’t have anything to do except hang out and listen.” Rome couldn’t help but glance over at Mia and Grey.
They looked all right. Not too happy with him, but safe. Some of the adrenaline humming through his system eased.
“What did you think you’d get from doing this?” The tall, impossibly tall, thin Alpha called Hunt asked.
Icy voice. Icy look.
“Your attention. You seemed to have forgotten weres bite when they’re attacked.” Rome didn’t add that once he’d got the pack outside he’d planned to get a little more one-on-one with the Alpha.
“You got my attention. Maybe too much of it.” Hunt’s fingers tapped at his suit jacket. Rome wondered what lethal surprise he might have inside. “All we want is the female. Give her up and we can all go home. I might even forget about this. Eventually.”
“Give it up, Hunt. Mia is ours. She’s pregnant with my child. It’s over.” Grey’s voice was almost gentle.
“Damn it!” Rossi burst out. “You knocked my sister up? You’re lying. You couldn’t get it up for a woman ‑‑ ”
“Shut up.” Hunt didn’t even look over at the other man.
“I figure you’re the one who came up with this little plan to grab Mia to start with. You might even have been the one to burn her out.” Grey’s voice was almost gentle. His face wasn’t. “Me, I’m just a beta. I’m not in charge of saying what the pack will do to you next. But could be you’ll be getting another visit real soon. I wouldn’t sleep too hard for the next lifetime, if I were you, Rossi.”
Rossi glanced over to Hunt and Dunne but saw no support.
“Shoo.” Grey made a dismissive gesture. “Now.”
Rossi backed up. Slowly at first, then faster. A few yards away from them, he turned and ran.
“It’s time for us to talk, Hunt.” Dek ignored the interlude and jerked his head to indicate a spot further away. “Alpha to Alpha. Anything I say, Lowell will back when he arrives.”
“I hate negotiating.” Hunt’s smile glittered. “I’d rather try other methods.”
“Me, too. So let’s make it shor
t and sweet before we remember how much we hate this.” Before Dek moved, he touched Rome briefly on the shoulder.
Rome watched his father walk away before turning to face the rest of the group. The adrenaline was all gone now, leaving nothing but flat bleakness.
No one said anything but the silence was an accusation in itself. We almost got killed. Your daddy had to be there to mop up after you. You screwed up. Damn it, he knew that.
They could have died. All of them. Watching his damned back.
“I can’t stand this. I can’t be like you.” Rome pushed his hair from his eyes. “This just proved it.”
“But you needed us,” Mia blurted.
“I fucking well did not. Not this time, babe. Not next time, either. I don’t need ‑‑ I don’t want to need anyone.”
You’d rather die?
“Maybe I would.” Rome glared at her. “Anything is better than having to do what everyone else tells you to do. To breathe when they let you. To second guess what you do.”
To never measure up to what they want of you. He hastily tried to banish that thought in case Mia burrowed into his brain and heard it.
“But you’re part of us now. You can’t ‑‑ ”
“Mia, sweetheart.” Grey put his hand on her shoulder, sort of the way he had when they were in the burning house. It was more than a touch. It was an order.
She didn’t say anything more.
Then again, Mia could handle orders much better than Rome could. He felt as choked as when the smoke threatened to kill them. As smothered. He had to get out.
Before he went and blew their lives up.
“I know this is a cliché, but fuck it. It’s not you, it’s me. All right? Good-bye. Have a nice life. Be safe. Both of you.” Grey would take care of her. The whole pack would. And Mia would stick with Grey. Rome was sure of it. She and Grey’s baby would do just fine.
* * * * *
“Do you think he’ll be back?” Mia didn’t want to ask. Had to ask. Grey knew Rome better than anyone else.
“What if he doesn’t return? What then?” Grey held her, but he didn’t look down at her.