by R. E. Butler
“You know why you came here, don’t you?” Quill nipped her neck, and each little bite sent a jolt of pleasure through her.
Brin grasped the waistband of her shorts and curled his fingers inside so she could feel his knuckles against her abdomen. “Tell us, Angel.”
“It’s crazy.”
Ian brushed his fingertips down her bare arm and she shivered at the light touch. “We’re certain it isn’t,” he said.
“I smelled you.”
“Why is that crazy?” Brin asked.
“I’m human.”
“Humans have truemates,” Quill said. “I think you call them soulmates.”
“We really don’t.”
“Then explain how we smell to you,” Ian said.
“Like cinnamon and sugar. I thought that someone was baking cinnamon rolls out here, which is nuts.” Her cheeks flamed, but they didn’t laugh at her, even though she thought it was the most absurd thing she’d ever said in her life.
Brin chuckled and cupped her face. “It’s not nuts. We’re hyena shifters. We felt you coming close to our camper. We didn’t know what was coming, but our beasts were going crazy.”
Everything stilled inside her. Hyenas?
“Are you really?”
“Hyenas?” Quill asked, kissing her neck again. “Yes.”
Quill slid his hands from under her top and turned her to face him. “Sweetheart, it doesn’t really matter whether you’re human or we’re shifters. The only thing that matters is that you found us and we’re so fucking happy. We’ve been alone for a long time.”
“Me too.”
“We’re not alone anymore,” Brin said. “None of us are.”
Ian looked thoughtful. “If you work for the campground, then you know about hyenas?”
“Yeah. And my best friends are mated to hyena clans.”
Brin smiled widely enough to show a dimple in one cheek. “It must be fate, then.”
“The campground owners thought I might meet my mates at the next gathering, but I wasn’t sure I’d be with a shifter.”
“How do you feel now?” Quill murmured, stroking down her arm and capturing her hand with his. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles.
“Still a little nuts. But glad I followed the smell.”
“You’re not nuts, just our mate,” Brin said. “Are you hungry? I can make something for you and we can get to know each other.”
She blinked as she realized how fast things had gone from touchy-touchy to no touching at all.
“Did I do something wrong?” she asked.
“What? Of course not. Why would you think that?” Ian asked.
“We were doing more than talking just a minute ago and now it’s like you’ve cooled off.”
Brin shook his head. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. My beast is banging in my skull to take you to bed right now, but we don’t want to rush you.”
“We can’t mate you properly without a ceremony anyway,” Ian said. “We wouldn’t rush you through a ceremony. No matter how our beasts are feeling about physical things, you’re the most important person in the world to us now, and you set the pace.”
Quill jerked her close with a soft growl, his eyes flashing amber as he cupped her butt with a squeeze. “It’s all I can do to keep from tearing your clothes off, Angel. You’re gorgeous and you smell like my best wet dream. It’s not that we don’t want you, it’s that we don’t want to overwhelm you.”
She could feel his erection against her belly and she smiled, reaching to cup his face. Drawing him down to her mouth, she kissed him, softly at first, licking and nibbling until he opened to her with a deep groan and stroked his tongue against hers. She felt the kiss all the way to her toes as he sucked on her tongue and lifted her off the ground, pulling her flush to his body. Brin caged her from behind, pushing her shirt up and kissing her back, while Ian slid a hand under her top, lightly tickling her side with his calloused fingers.
Quill eased from the kiss and lowered her to the ground, pressing his head against hers as they both panted for breath. “You’re fucking addictive.”
Brin kissed between her shoulder blades with a chuckle and righted her shirt. “Are you sure your name is Angel? It should be Temptation.”
She grinned as she faced Brin. “You’re giving me quite the ego.”
“I speak only the truth. Now how about breakfast?”
“You’re sexy and you cook, too? Be still my beating heart.” She looked at Quill. “Are you the oldest?”
“Yeah, I’m our clan’s leader.”
Ian said, “I’m the middle brother, and the protector.”
He took her hand and led her to the camper.
Brin hurried ahead of them and held the door open. “You’ve got a date with my awesome cooking skills.”
She knew from Whisper and Bliss that clans always had three males, their duties arranged by age. Brin was the caretaker. It didn’t surprise her when he gestured to one of the padded benches on either side of the kitchen table and asked if she wanted coffee.
Ian sat across from her and took her hand, and Quill sat next to her.
Quill said, “Do you need to let anyone know where you are? I don’t want your friends to worry about you.”
“I was picking wildflowers, so no one will be expecting me to be anywhere at any given time. It’s the weekend, and I don’t work on weekends. Plus, I have my cell,” she said, pulling her phone from her pocket. “Are you traveling?”
“No,” Brin said as he put a mug in front of her. “Oh, because of the camper? No, we were living in an apartment a half hour from here when the asshole who owned the place found out we were shifters and said he didn’t rent to shifters.”
“I thought people couldn’t discriminate against shifters.” There were laws that prevented that kind of thing, but she could admit to not knowing much about it because she was human.
“He said that because we didn’t disclose it when we signed the lease, we violated the rental agreement. We bought the camper from one of the guys at the construction company where we work. It was supposed to be temporary, but we’ve been living in it for a while,” Quill said.
“Pretty tight quarters,” she said after fixing her coffee and taking a sip.
Brin pulled breakfast ingredients from the refrigerator. “It’s funny, because we were just talking about finding a permanent place to live and getting out of the camper except for vacations, and then you wandered into our lives. I’m glad we were still here.”
He gave her a sweet smile, and she returned it. “Me too.”
Chapter 4
Brin watched Angel eat the breakfast he’d prepared, and he was so proud that she enjoyed what he’d made. He couldn’t believe how fast their lives had all changed. One minute he’d been planning to make breakfast for himself and his brothers, and the next his beast had started going crazy. He’d headed outside with Quill, curious what was driving the hyena nuts, and spotted Angel immediately. Long, blonde hair like gold glowed in the morning sunlight. She wore shorts that showed off her shapely legs, and a tank that highlighted her curves. They’d both growled at the same time when their beasts recognized her for what she was – their truemate. One touch of her silky skin, one press of his lips to her throat, and Brin had been utterly lost. It didn’t matter that she was human; it only mattered that she was theirs. When Ian joined them, Brin had felt their connection as truemates snap into place.
Angel finished eating the simple meal he’d made, then followed him to the sink and offered to help with the dishes.
“I’m the caretaker, it’s my job to take care.”
She looked up at him and tilted her head. “All the time?”
“When it concerns you, definitely.”
Her brow furrowed. He turned off the water and dried off his hands. “What’s wrong?”
“How can you be sure?”
Brin glanced at Quill and Ian, who both stood and jo
ined them. “Sure about what?” Quill asked.
“That we’re mates.”
Brin cupped her face, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs. “It was instantaneous. Nothing has ever felt more right to me than being with you.”
Quill slipped his arms around her waist. “Sweet Angel.”
Ian said, “You’re ours. Before you showed up outside, I felt entirely adrift. Now I feel anchored, and that’s all you. Only truemates connect to each other so fast. Could you walk away from us? Honestly?”
She let out a shaky breath. “No.”
Ian smiled. “Good. I wouldn’t let you go, anyway.”
Brin kissed her, swiping his tongue into her mouth and savoring her sweet taste. “Want you,” he whispered against her lips. “So fucking badly.”
Her eyes opened slowly, the dark blue swirling with emotion. Part of him wanted to tell her they could take their time and get to know each other, but he could hardly hear that part over the howling hyena. He wanted all of her. Right now.
Quill pushed his hands down the front of her body slowly, stopping at the waistband of her shorts, unfastening the button and lowering the zipper.
Brin asked, “Do you want us, Angel?”
Her shorts slid down her legs, and she inhaled sharply. “To mate with me?”
Quill glanced at Brin and then Ian. “There’s a mating ceremony that has to be performed before we can mate you properly, sweetheart, but we’d love to make love to you right now. Unless you want to wait.”
Ian let out a soft growl. “The scent of your arousal is driving us crazy.”
“Stay here with us,” Quill murmured.
She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment and then leaned back against Quill. “Yes.”
“Yes?” Quill demanded, lifting her shirt to bare her stomach.
“Yes to everything.”
Brin helped her off with her shirt and tossed it behind him. He shed his own shirt and dropped to his knees, lending a hand with her hiking boots, socks, and shorts. Then he gazed up the length of her body, watching as Quill’s fingers splayed across her belly.
Ian stood at her side and lowered her bra strap until her breast was free, the sweet globe tipped with a tight nipple.
“Mine,” Brin said, his hyena howling in agreement.
Angel breathed out the word yes, and that was all the encouragement he needed.
* * *
Angel thought she would combust. Brin – one of the three sexiest guys she’d ever met – was on his knees before her, looking like he’d been given the best gift of his life. She was hot and achy; Ian’s light teasing to her nipple, and Quill’s little nips on her neck, not to mention the way his hot hands felt like brands on her skin, didn’t ease her desire one bit.
“You’re mine, too,” Quill said, whispering the words into her ear.
“And mine,” Ian said, pulling her other strap down until both her breasts were free.
Brin tugged her panties slowly down her legs, baring her to his hungry gaze. Quill’s hands were on her stomach, holding her against his chest as Ian plucked her nipples and cupped her breasts.
She looked at Ian. She saw lust and desire in his eyes, but deeper than that was the connection she felt between them. A first spark of love. It was strange to feel so at ease with men who had been strangers to her just an hour earlier, but she wouldn’t deny that she felt something for them.
“I’m yours, Ian, and you’re mine.” Emboldened by the words, she looked back at Quill and said, “You’re mine, too.”
“Damn straight,” Quill said.
Brin’s mouth brushed across her lower abdomen, and she exhaled as he wrapped his hands around her thighs. Quill’s lips crashed to hers as a growl rumbled in his chest. He cupped her breasts, his fingers and thumbs rubbing her nipples and holding her close as Brin kissed down her stomach to the top of her pussy.
He spread her pussy open with one hand and licked her clit slowly, circling and flicking the nub as he slid a finger into her. She arched her back and pulled away from Quill’s drugging kiss as Brin leisurely fingered her. He pulsed into her and rubbed her clit, licking and sucking as he drove her to pleasure.
Ian tilted her face until she was looking at him. He kissed her, sucking on her tongue as Quill cupped her breasts and nibbled her neck. Brin began to pick up his pace, his fingers and tongue making pleasure sing through her. Her toes curled a heartbeat before she came, Ian eating her moan of pleasure as Brin slowed his touch and brought her down from the heavens. She really did feel like an angel right then, as if she’d been floating through the clouds instead of standing in a kitchen.
This was her heaven. A camper in the middle of the woods, and three sexy hyena shifters with their hands and mouths on her at the same time. She knew where she belonged now, and it was here.
* * *
Quill unhooked her bra and tugged it free of her body, then turned her to him and cupped her face. Her blue eyes had gotten darker and brighter, like sapphires lit with fire from within. She was stunning from head to toe, and the sweet scent of her climax was far more addictive than he’d thought possible.
She panted for her breath, her lips swollen from kissing and her cheeks flushed.
“You’re fucking gorgeous,” he said, kissing her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and drew herself close, rubbing her lower body against his still-clothed one.
“Ah,” she gasped, pulling away from his lips. Her head fell back against Ian’s shoulder, and Quill watched as his brother’s hands slid down her stomach slowly. “I don’t want to stop.”
Ian glanced at Quill with a grin. “We don’t either.”
Quill tugged her fingers free and kissed her knuckles. He pulled her with him as he walked backward to the largest of the two bedrooms. Although not nearly big enough for four people to sleep in, it was the best they could offer for now. He wished they had a beautiful home to take her to, but he also knew that if they hadn’t been camping here, they might never have met her.
The queen bed took up nearly the entire room, with a walkway cleared at the bottom and one side. She grasped his waistband and undid the button and zipper of his jeans. He shoved them down and then sat on the bed, beckoning her with his finger.
She paused in the doorway with Brin and Ian behind her. “Are you going to bite me?”
Ian slipped his hand over her shoulder and squeezed gently. “Not until the ceremony. Then we’ll all give you our marks.”
She nodded. “I’m on the pill.”
“Do you want us to wear condoms?” Brin asked.
“No. I don’t want there to be anything between us. I might be human, but there’s a part of me that’s…dying for us to have sex.”
Ian chuckled. “No dying today.”
Quill held out his hand to her and she joined him. She put one knee on the bed and swung her other leg over, then kissed him. It was the sort of kiss that made time feel like it was standing still. Slow. Deep. Planting her hands on his chest, she ended the kiss and pushed him until he was flat on his back. Then she straightened, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
Ian and Brin joined them on either side. The three males watched as she grasped Quill’s cock and lowered herself slowly onto it. Angel was a tight, hot heaven, and his eyes nearly crossed from how good she felt.
Quill grasped her hips and lifted and lowered her slowly. Her hips flexed, taking him deep with each stroke. Brin cupped her breast and sucked on her nipple. Angel moaned, moving her hips faster as Brin sucked her deeply, his cheeks hollowing.
Ian touched her clit, rubbing in circles with his index finger.
She groaned and wrapped her arms around both Brin’s and Ian’s necks, kissing Ian as she moved wildly on Quill. He closed his eyes, not wanting to come before she did, but he knew he was fast losing the battle. She felt too amazing. Her pussy started to clutch his cock rhythmically. He growled as he squeezed her hips and started moving her faster.
She threw her head back and screamed,
her whole body shuddering as she came. Quill wouldn’t have been able to stop from coming for anything, following her swiftly into bliss. He’d never come so hard in his life, his vision blurring and his beast growling in pleasure.
She slumped on top of him with an exhaled sigh. Brin and Ian rested their hands on her back; both of them wore big smiles.
“Sweetheart?” Quill said, brushing her hair from her face and kissing her forehead.
“That was so good I almost passed out.”
“It was amazing for me, too,” he said.
Rising up, she kissed him, then reached for Ian. “I’m ready for round two.”
“Whatever you want, love,” Ian said.
* * *
Ian knew he was grinning. He couldn’t help it, even if his cheeks ached something fierce. He couldn’t remember a time in his life when he’d ever been happier than he was at that moment. Angel was lying between him and Quill, while Brin was in the kitchen getting drinks for everyone. Her eyes were bright with passion, her body flushed, and the scent of their combined arousal saturated the air.
She rested her hand on his shoulder, her thumb brushing his collarbone as she stared dreamily up at them. He laid his hand on her stomach and forced his brain to stop thinking about taking her again. She was by far the most willing female he’d ever been with, but it was also different with her. She wasn’t a fight groupie looking to be with the winner, or a hyena female who just wanted to be with a clan… Angel wanted all three of them, and not just for one night, or a few nights, but for every night forever. He’d long wanted to find their shared mate, but he hadn’t known how strongly he’d feel about her so quickly. They’d been making love all day, talking in between and getting to know her. She was sweet and funny, and perfect for them.
“I’m going to fall asleep,” she said, her eyes closing and opening slowly, as if to punctuate her words.
“Is that such a bad thing?” Ian asked.
“No. But I should let Brierley know I won’t be home, or she’ll worry.”