“She was though,” Caine said, coming to stand next to Rowan. “Thank God.”
They all tensed when Samson preceded the vampire into the room. Finn stood close behind him, blocking any means of retreat.
“I need to wake her,” Aiden said, “or she will remain in this state.”
Gabriel joined his brother and Rowan in growling loudly at the creature. He wanted him nowhere near his precious mate.
“I believe he means us no harm,” Finn said.
“He has proved himself quite capable of taking Jordanna at any time, if that were his intent,” Samson said. “He says he needs to merely touch her.”
“If this were Bethany would you be so agreeable,” Rowan said, stepping up to confront Samson.
Samson snarled and threw Rowan against the wall with one swipe of his massive arm. “I would if it meant she would otherwise remain asleep forever.”
Aiden used the distraction to dart forward and place his finger briefly on Jordanna’s forehead. He moved so quickly that Gabriel could barely see him, let alone hope to stop him.
He then stepped smoothly away from Caine’s swiping claws. The speed of his movements made them all appear as though they were moving in slow-motion.
Jordanna’s loud yawn drew his attention away from the vampire immediately. She blinked up at Gabriel. “Are you all right, angel?” His voice came out rough as his cat’s anger at the vampire was close to erupting.
“Gabriel? I was fighting to get away, to get back to you, and here you are.” She raised her hands and ran them up his shoulders and neck to grasp his face. She pulled him down to her lips. The taste of her exploded on his tongue, filling him with happiness.
“I thought I’d never get the chance to tell you that I love you, Gabriel. I love you all.” She reached out and found his brothers and Rowan.
As soon as Gabriel had established that Jordanna was unharmed, he handed his precious mate to Caine, who took her lips in a long kiss, as Gabriel went to stand in front of the vampire.
“I have some things to tell you,” Drake said, coming to stand at the vampire’s side.
Gabriel didn’t lift his gaze from the vampire’s eyes while Drake, Samson, and Finn told them what they had discovered about Aiden St. John and his reasons for taking Jordanna.
“I extend my apologies to you and Jordanna’s other mates for taking her from you. Ignorance is a poor excuse, but it remains the reason for my actions.” Gabriel could detect no emotional scent from Aidan, but if Samson and Finn had decided to trust him, then he would be a fool not to.
He still had other issues with the creature. “Have you led danger here to our mate?” Gabriel watched the vampire run his gaze around the occupants of the room.
“It is abundantly clear that your pride is not involved in the attack on my friend. I am still honor-bound to find his killer.”
Gabriel could scent the sorrow coming from the vampire, as well as the faintest crack in his schooled expression mirroring the emotional tell.
“I wish to ask your Alpha if he’d accept a meeting with my friend’s brother. He is now Alpha, in place of his dead brother.”
“The man who believes me complicit in the murder of his brother?” Finn raised a brow at the vampire.
“I have no doubt of your innocence in the murder of my friend, young Alpha. I will assure Richard of this. If he were allowed to interview the witness, I believe it would make him as certain as I am of your innocence.”
Gabriel growled at both the insult to his Alpha, and to the idea of a wolf shifter getting near Jordanna.
“Are your assurances going to sufficiently convince the new Alpha to come into my lands for a meeting?” Finn looked at Samson.
“I don’t want them anywhere near Eminence, Alpha. Best to hold the meeting somewhere neutral,” Samson said. “Somewhere on the edge of our territory, but defensible.”
“The issue of our involvement needs to be resolved,” Finn said. “I will meet with this new Alpha at the abandoned ranger station, halfway to Grand Springs. Samson will provide you with the coordinates.”
“Jordanna will not be attending,” Gabriel said. He would fight his Alpha on this point if necessary. He didn’t want her near any wolf shifter until he was certain of their intentions.
“No, Gabriel, she won’t,” Finn assured him. Gabriel looked at Rowan and his brothers and saw them all relax a little at Finn’s assurance.
“I would like to be there, Alpha. I need to be there.” Finn nodded in agreement and Gabriel felt immensely relieved. His Alpha understood that he needed to see for himself that the wolves would not present a threat to his mate before he let them close to her.
They left the Alpha with his brother and Samson to make the arrangements with the vampire and his wolves. Gabriel wanted to get Jordanna home.
He drove the truck and Drake held Jordanna in his arms the entire way back to their ranch.
“I can’t believe I slept through a meeting with a vampire,” Jordanna said sleepily. “Was he sparkly? Or was he the kind with a widow’s peak and flowing black cloak?”
“You’re hilarious, little mate,” Drake said, kissing the top of her head. “He looked a bit like Axel, actually.”
“Oh, so gorgeous?” Jordanna laughed as Drake nibbled on her neck growling. “Peata thinks Axel is gorgeous, I’m just repeating what I’ve been told.”
“He was creepier than Axel,” Caine said. He shuddered and Gabriel had to agree. He moved with the grace of a feline, but the lack of scent was unsettling to his cat. Plus he had a feel of age and weariness about him that eclipsed anything he had ever encountered before, even Shana.
The snow had stopped falling, but the temperature had dropped considerably. He needed to collect more wood from the barn so they could have a warm fire going through the night for Jordanna.
As Drake carried the now sleeping Jordanna into the house, Gabriel pulled Caine aside. “Come and get some wood for the fire with me. We need to talk.”
They walked to the barn with Rowan close on their heels. Rowan hadn’t forgotten either that Caine had something still to share about Jordanna’s past.
“You need to tell us what happened with Jordanna this morning,” Gabriel said. Caine didn’t pretend not to understand what they were talking about.
He held up one hand and counted on his fingers. “Five, four, three, two…” Before he got to one, Drake had skidded to a halt beside Rowan.
“She’s on the sofa. I’ve wrapped her in a blanket. She’s fast asleep,” he said.
“What else did that fucking bastard of a husband do to her?” Rowan said, his cat riding him hard, making his voice low and rumbling.
Caine sighed and rubbed at his temples. Gabriel growled. Not at Caine. His cat knew it was about to be enraged. “This morning she experienced her first-ever orgasm,” Caine said, “and I’m sorry it had to be with us.”
Gabriel’s growling stopped suddenly with his confusion. They were all staring at Caine now. Rowan even had his mouth open.
“Jordanna’s ex-husband only had sex with her when he was drunk, and when she was no longer consenting. He was an abusive rapist. I just wish that her prior sexual experiences had been good ones.”
“Fuck,” Rowan said between growls. “I need to kill him so badly.”
Gabriel waged a battle with his cat. It needed to seek vengeance for its mate. He was close to letting the shift take him. To letting his beast free. But he knew logically that it would be futile. There was no longer anyone to punish. He took deep breaths and calmed himself with the knowledge that brain tumors were extremely painful.
“I hope that fucker writhed in pain before he died,” Drake said coldly.
“It’s like you read my mind, brother,” Gabriel murmured.
“Fate chose her for us so that we could make it right. Show her what love really is. The love she rightly deserves,” Caine said. He gathered some chopped wood in his arms and headed back to the house.
“She st
ayed alive despite what that bastard did to her. We can’t ever forget how strong she is,” Drake said, “or she’ll kick our butts.”
“I don’t know how she’s still so loving and kind,” Rowan said.
Gabriel followed his brothers and Rowan back to the house. The cold air misted his breath and the snow crunched under his boots. He shuddered, not from the cold, but from the fear he felt creeping into his veins. Jordanna was safe in the house, but an ominous dread still plagued him. He stopped and stared at the beautiful vista, letting his feelings form into thoughts.
The fact that the murdered wolf had been an Alpha had been a disturbing discovery. According to Jordanna, the two wolves had been arguing when the Alpha had been brutally murdered. He would only have let a friend close in an argument. The Alpha had been betrayed by a member of his own pack.
He went inside to call his Alpha. They needed to be careful in their dealings with this entire wolf pack. Any of them could be the murderer.
He could almost hear the howl of the wolf that stalked Jordanna as he closed the door behind him. He had no doubt that it would come for her, and it would come soon.
Chapter 14
Jordanna woke to the sound of deep voices. They were mumbling, so she couldn’t understand what they were saying. She tried to sit up, but found herself wrapped up like a cocoon in a soft blanket.
She finally got one arm out, and used it to free herself. As she sat up she felt warmth on her face and could hear the crackling of a fire. Sniffing, she detected the aroma of food and burning wood.
She yawned. “I can’t believe I went to sleep. I must have slept all day.”
“Only another hour, sweetheart,” said Rowan, kissing the top of her head.
“What’s all the mumbling about? Has something happened?” She could picture them all looking at each other and trying to decide whether to tell her or not. “You may as well tell me. I’m sure it has to do with me and my safety. You go all grumbly and snarly when you talk about keeping me safe.”
She was gently pushed back onto the sofa by a huge snarling cat. She laughed out loud and ran her hands through the thick, luscious fur of Rowan’s stomach. He chuffed, his warm breath washing over her face.
“Rowan, I didn’t know a mountain lion could have coffee breath.” She laughed as he chuffed again and licked lightly at the side of her face. He remembered to lick softly so as not to hurt me. Her heart skipped a beat. She loved him so much.
He lowered a little and the warm weight of him covering her felt wonderful. She wrapped her arms around his sides and squeezed him in a hug. Her arms didn’t meet. He was huge. She laughed again as he rubbed his head against her face. It was such a feline show of affection.
She felt his weight lift and then he was gone. He had leaped off her and landed silently on his four feet. Sitting up, she reached out a hand to stroke hard male flesh. Naked Rowan.
“I liked those jeans,” he said, grasping her hand and pulling her to her feet. “But it was worth it to hear you laugh. I love your laugh.”
She was about to answer but he pulled her against him and kissed her deeply. He sucked on her bottom lip as his hands caressed down her back to grip her ass. He pulled her tighter to him, his erection thick and hard against her stomach.
She couldn’t help the sigh that escaped her lips. She just couldn’t resist them anymore. She’d been drawn to them from almost the minute she’d woken up.
The fact that she’d never seen them, and probably never would, had not lessened that attraction. It had heightened her other senses and they had all sparked to life around these four men. She loved the smell of them. The way they felt under her hands, against her skin. She loved the way the sound of their voices rippled along her nerve endings, igniting her passion like never before. They even tasted good, their kisses somehow addictive. She knew she’d never tasted anything as good as them before.
They all felt so hard. Bulging with muscles. She should have been afraid of strong men after what she’d been through with Garry. But they had done nothing but make her feel precious. They didn’t deserve the fear her ex-husband had planted in her heart for all men.
Without another thought she reached around and gripped the smooth round globes of Rowan’s ass, pulling him tighter against her. Her whole body tingled where it touched his naked skin. He was hot and hard, and so sexy.
She gasped as he used her ass to lift her off her feet. He plunged his tongue into her mouth with a groan and she wrapped her legs around him. Her pussy and clitoris were now rubbing against the hard length of his cock and she wriggled against him. It felt so good that she moaned and reached up to pull his face closer as she sucked on his tongue.
Her pussy clenched and it made her feel empty. “Rowan. I’m burning up.” She felt hot and needy. She’d never desired sex before. With Garry it had been painful and frightening. But she wanted to feel Rowan’s skin on hers. No. She needed to feel Rowan’s skin against hers before she screamed with the pain.
Releasing his face, she pulled at her top, trying to get it out from between their bodies. “Please, it hurts.” She was not above begging them to stop the pain. She was going to explode if she didn’t get out of these clothes.
“Have I hurt you, Jordanna?” Rowan sounded horrified, his body stiff with anxiety.
“We’ll help you, Jordanna,” Gabriel said, pressing himself against her back. “Rowan has started the mating, that’s what you’re feeling. You need to be sure.”
“Fuck, I’m sorry, Jordanna. I didn’t mean to…”
“I want you. I want to mate you. All of you. I want all of you to be mine forever. I love you.” She gasped as Gabriel pressed his erection against her back. The fire burned hotter in her veins. The darkness that she’d grown accustomed to in last two days blazed a fiery red.
She had a moment of doubt as the silence lengthened. Did they not want her as their mate? After everything they’d told her she’d thought that they did.
“You have made us the happiest men on the planet, Jordanna,” Gabriel breathed into her ear. She sighed in relief and the inferno fanned impossibly hotter inside her.
“I love you, Jordanna,” Rowan said, crashing his lips back onto hers. She heard the tearing of material and her top was pulled away in pieces. She pressed herself against Rowan’s chest and the burning heat cooled a little as she reveled in the contact. She felt electrified, her body enlivened from the feel of him against her.
There was the sound of more tearing and Gabriel’s naked chest pressed against the length of her back. She cursed the dressings that stopped her feeling most of him, but the parts of her back that he did touch sung with joy at the feel of him.
“I feel better now, but I need more. Please, I need you all.” She reached out her hands, seeking contact with Drake and Caine. She felt a pressure building in her heart but it released when they each took one of her hands. She stroked down Caine’s chest, finding one of his hardened nipples with her hand.
She leaned toward him until her head bumped his chest. Moving her hand she licked the hardened flesh. He groaned and she felt his hand grip some of her hair. “God, what you do to me. I am so hard right now, my sexy mate.” Caine’s voice was low and rough, the rumble vibrating against her tongue.
She pressed her lips around the hard bud and sucked it gently into her mouth. He moaned and she felt him grip tighter at her hair. Releasing her mouth from his nipple, she turned her face up and hoped he took the hint.
He used the hand in her hair, to guide her to his mouth. He licked along her lips before softly kissing her. “I would love to see those lips sucking on my cock like that,” he whispered.
Her pussy clenched again, more juices leaking onto her sweat pants.
They all growled. “You smell so fucking good, Jordanna,” Rowan said, his voice low as his breath came in gasps. He ground his erection against her.
The feel of him and the sound of their growls ignited her senses, making her skin prickle with the need to r
ub up against them. The need became so acute that she felt pain. Curling her fingers into her palms did nothing to ease the ache to feel them. Any of them. All of them. She needed them all pressing against her. She needed them inside her.
A confusing but primal drive rose inside her. She wanted to scream with frustration. What the hell is wrong with me? The fact that she couldn’t see them drove the need to touch them to a fever pitch.
Or is it the way they smell? She had the urge to bury her face into their hard, warm flesh and breathe the fresh scent of pine and man into her lungs. Into her soul. God, I’m going crazy.
* * * *
Gabriel thought he was going to be permanently disfigured by the zipper that was pressing deeply into his swollen shaft. He had never seen a sexier woman in his life. Jordanna was perfect.
He reached around to hold her perfect breasts in his hands. For such a slight woman, her breasts were large. They nearly filled his hands, the nipples hard and tight against his palms. She groaned and arched her back, pressing her breasts more firmly into his hands.
“We need to go upstairs,” Drake said. He kissed the side of Jordanna’s neck before nipping it with his teeth. “This is where I’ll mark you, my darling.” Jordanna’s flesh broke out in goose bumps. “I’ll sink my teeth in here when I come inside you. Then, you’ll be mine forever.”
“Yes, Drake. I want you inside me.” She moved her hand into his hair and pulled him down for a kiss. They were both breathless when Rowan broke their kiss by walking toward the stairs.
“If you rub your hot, wet pussy along my cock one more time, I’ll be inside you where we stand.” Jordanna blushed at Rowan’s words but moved her hands to his shoulders and wriggled against him.
“You just feel so good, Rowan. I can’t seem to help it.” She pulled herself closer and licked at his neck. “You taste so good. So sweet.”
Gabriel slapped Rowan on the back and ran up the stairs ahead of them. “You were the one who started the mating in the sitting room.”
Jordanna [Eminence Shifters 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 11