by Cara Adams
“Not exactly. We’re both scientists, but I can’t imagine much need for chemists and DNA testers here right now.”
Rhion had to school his face carefully not to answer that they were very interested in scientists. Fortunately Cadfael spoke, asking them about their work.
Rhion didn’t know a whole lot about science but he did know that werewolf packs around the world were all experiencing the same problem as his pack faced. Namely, a decline in the number of girls born over the last two generations. When werewolves continued mating other werewolves, only about one third of babies were female. But if wolves mated human women the numbers jumped back up to fifty-fifty. Of course, the odds of the baby being human instead of werewolf was the same, fifty-fifty, but it did guarantee that wolves wouldn’t become extinct, which was increasingly likely if they mated only other wolves.
Various packs both in America and overseas were working together to discover why this happened. His own pack had a team of people tracing family histories, in particular looking at whether humans had been brought into the mix before, and how many generations of pure wolves there could be before girls started to disappear.
But a couple of scientists trained in genetics would be an absolute gift to their studies. Of course learning about shape-shifters had brought these women nothing but trauma so far. They might not want to help. And there was also the issue of how and when to tell them they’d landed in the heart of a wolf pack. That would need to be handled delicately as well. So much to talk about and decide. And absolutely nothing he could say as yet.
Just as he couldn’t pull Willow into his arms and kiss her until her knees melted and she demanded he do more to her. Well, he and Cadfael. That was another discovery they’d made. Not only did including a human woman into the mix help balance the genders, but also two men sharing the same woman led to much more cooperation and harmony within the pack. Men had to work together to gain and please a woman. Plus there was the added bonus that twice as many men achieved their mate. It was a win-win situation all around. Or it would be when they could speak openly about it to Willow.
They talked some more and then Hawthorne and Willow looked at each other and stood up.
Hawthorne said, “Thank you very much for this evening. We’ve enjoyed your company very much.”
“But it’s getting late and we need to go now,” concluded Willow.
He and Cadfael jumped to their feet and escorted the two women into the elevator. It was so hard not to brush his body against Willow’s or hold her hand, or anything. His dick was aching for her and even stroking her hand would have been good. But he leaned against the wall, keeping at least six inches of air between their bodies, and tried to soothe himself by drinking her in. Her pretty face, her straight posture, her contained, graceful movements, and her sweet feminine scent. All of which added up to a huge ache that she wasn’t in his arms right now and that he couldn’t demonstrate to her how very, very much he wanted her.
When Eilidh opened the door of 7C, Rhion wasn’t sure what Cadfael did, but in the blink of an eye Hawthorne was inside, the door shut, and Willow was pressed against the wall with both men in front of her.
“May we kiss you good night, Willow?”
“We? As in both of you?”
“Yes.”
“I— I don’t know. I—Oh, all right.”
That sounded like a yes to him. Rhion stood aside as Cadfael pulled her into his arms and kissed her very thoroughly. When they separated, Willow’s eyes had a glazed look and she touched her index finger to her bottom lip. “Wow.”
Rhion gave her a moment to breathe, then wrapped an arm around her waist, letting her feel his hugely engorged dick. But instead of possessing her lips, he trailed his mouth over her eyebrows and kissed the tip of her nose. He sucked the lobe of her ear into his mouth, then twirled his tongue inside the pink shell, hoping she found it arousing. Her body shivered against his. He hoped it was in a sexy way. Certainly she wasn’t trying to pull away from him at all.
Next he licked along her jaw before placing a row of tiny kisses there, and only then did he take her mouth. She opened immediately for him, and he tasted her. What he wanted to do was fuck her mouth deep and hard to show her how he’d like to take her cunt. Instead he kept his touch gentle, exploratory, promising a whole lot more but not overwhelming her.
Reluctantly he pulled away from her and Cadfael knocked on the door again. Eilidh opened it as Willow stared at them both. “Good night,” she whispered and slipped inside.
Eilidh shut the door again.
“I think that was positive,” said Cadfael leading the way to the stairwell.
Rhion would have preferred to take the elevator, but he followed Cadfael up the stairs. They had things to talk about and research to do. Having a couple of women in the pack who could understand genetics truly was a blessing from the gods. He’d felt all along the women were a gift from the gods. But now he knew they were.
* * * *
“Here at Hanson Mall, no one can force you to do anything you don’t want to do,” Eilidh said to her as soon as she was inside the apartment.
Willow looked around but Hawthorne wasn’t there. She couldn’t hear the sound of water running, so guessed her sister was already in their bedroom.
“Nothing happened that I didn’t want. But it’s very soon. Still, a kiss is perfectly acceptable on a first date.”
“Indeed it is. As long as whatever happens is what you want, there’s no problem. But if the men ask more of you than you want to give, just let me know.”
“Thank you, Ay-lee.” Willow deliberately pronounced the nurse’s name the way she’d learned to say it. This woman was fast becoming her best friend. Willow gave her a hug, then went into her room.
Hawthorne was sitting on her bed watching the door. “Are they good kissers? And did they kiss you one at a time or both together?”
Willow giggled. It was almost like being in high school again. “Yes they’re very good kissers. Cadfael kissed me first and then Rhion.”
“Which one was better?”
Willow sat on her bed and stared at Hawthorne. “You know, I never thought of them like that. They were quite different. I like them both.”
“That’s going to make it much harder to choose between them.”
“We won’t be here long enough for it to matter. As soon as we’ve worked out our next few steps it’ll be time to leave and make a new life for ourselves as Ann and Jane Jones.”
Her heart sank at the thought. She really liked these people. It would be much better if they could stay here, and make their new home here. Oh, well it was all too soon anyway. They had a heap of problems to resolve first. Primarily Bailey Hamilton.
“We aren’t any closer to finding out why Bailey suddenly hates me and wants me locked up, are we?”
Willow rushed across the room to hug her sister. “No. That’s true. But we’re safe. Now we’ve rested and can think more clearly, perhaps tomorrow we’d better start from the very beginning again and try to work out what his problem is. If we go over every tiny detail of his actions, perhaps we’ll work it out.”
Willow didn’t feel particularly hopeful, but it was true they’d been very tired and stressed, first by Bailey’s actions, then by having to keep running away from him. Now they’d had a couple of night’s safe, deep sleep. If they attacked the problem logically like a research project, perhaps they’d find the answer. “That’s what we do at work after all, isn’t it? Repeat tests over and over, going through the data again and again until a solution jumps out at us.”
Willow snuggled down in her bed, loving the deep, soft mattress, and the thick, fluffy blanket. At home she still slept in her childhood room and her childhood bed. Really, it was time they both moved on. They needed to start acting like adults. Not that running away had been a very mature action. But they could hardly call the police to deal with Bailey. He was a highly respected member of the community after all.
But was there the possibility of a future for them here at Hanson Mall? Likely not. Sooner or later this apartment would be needed once more for genuine visitors, the kind who were here to make business deals, selling or buying products. Whereas until she and Hawthorne were safe, finding a new job was just a dream. There was absolutely no sense in starting work when Bailey could arrive at any time to drag Hawthorne off to his friend, the psychiatrist.
Now that she wasn’t so stressed and exhausted that made even less sense to Willow than it had when it first happened. So what if Bailey’s good friend said Hawthorne was delusional? Hawthorne losing her job or having to complete some mental health program would bring no value or advantage to him.
Willow would prefer to think about Cadfael and Rhion. Of course, them kissing her was nice, very nice. Truly delicious in fact. But again, there was no future in it. She and Hawthorne would soon be leaving, on their way to find themselves a new home and new lives far away from Bailey.
She wouldn’t mind going to bed with them once though. It could only be once. She couldn’t risk truly falling in love with them. Not when she’d have to leave soon. But once. Yeah once would be nice. Would Cadfael fuck her first? He’d kissed her first and he was the manager of this mall. But maybe they’d fuck her together. Or one would fuck her while she sucked the other one. Now that would be really good. So many possibilities, every one of which would please her.
What a damn shame likely none of them would happen. No way would they want a relationship with a useless nobody like her. A useless nobody dragging a barrel load of trouble with her in the shape of a problem she had no idea how to solve.
But that didn’t stop Willow lying in bed reliving the vivid memory of Rhion’s thick cock pressed against her belly, and Cadfael’s soft, sweet, but oh-do-demanding lips pressed against hers.
Chapter Five
The next morning Willow woke up full of purpose and determination. Once they’d shared breakfast and Eilidh had gone downstairs to the First Aid room, she cleaned every inch of their borrowed apartment, even scrubbing out the refrigerator despite them only having been there for a few days. Not long enough for any item of food to have spoiled. Next she sat at the laptop they’d been loaned, took out the notepad and pen they’d been given, and made a long list of items to research, before meticulously working her way down from item to item checking each one off her list.
Hours later she looked up to find Hawthorne placing a sandwich on the table beside her. “What have you found?” asked Hawthorne, picking up her own sandwich from the counter and sitting beside her.
“Zip, zilch, nada, nothing.”
“Which, when translated, means?” Hawthorne teased her.
“At first I thought maybe someone was out to discredit you. I feel certain PJ went through all my client files the first day I was away and contacted everyone, telling them to deal with him instead of me in the future. He’s never gotten over the fact that even though we started work at the same time, I’ve been promoted ahead of him. So I looked through all the records I could see at your work, checking for if anyone had been passed over and was bitter about it, or if the company had advertised your position, or anything. But they haven’t.”
They ate their sandwiches in companionable silence then Willow said, “If only we had a clue about the name of the psychiatrist Bailey wanted you to see. He never gave you a hint, did he?”
“I’ve gone over and over those scenes in my mind, trying to work out what made Bailey act as he did. I’m sure he never said a name. But I’ve just remembered. I’ve been meaning to unfriend Bailey from my Facebook account. Instead of doing that, let’s look through all his friends and see if one is listed as a psychiatrist or psychologist.”
Willow jumped up to hug Hawthorne. “Clever girl. That’s a really good idea.”
Neither of them had been on Facebook at all since they’d fled their home, and it was very tempting to like or comment on some of their friends’ posts, but they remained resolute, reading but not responding to anything.
“It’s just as well Bailey’s only got four hundred friends. Imagine how long this’d take if he had four thousand,” said Hawthorne as they clicked on the next person’s profile.
“And we’ve only been checking the men. Of course his psychiatrist buddy might be a woman.”
“I don’t even want to think about that.” Hawthorne groaned.
An hour later they’d checked the men and the women without finding someone listed as working in psychiatry in any way.
“Look at Bailey’s profile though. He doesn’t list his date of birth. Most people have the month and day even if they don’t have the year. And he hasn’t named his company either. That’s just plain weird. You’d think he’d be using his profile to advertise his business,” said Willow.
“Not only that, but quite a lot of the people who he’s friends with are more like casual acquaintances. I mean, a lot of people on Facebook friend anyone, but as we said before, he hasn’t got all that many friends. And of those friends he has got, some of them are people he barely knows. These two here, we met at a party only a few months ago and barely even said hi.” Hawthorne pointed to a couple of names.
“That is odd.”
Willow curled up in a chair to watch a movie, but her mind wasn’t on the screen. Two things were running around in her brain. The first was the overwhelming need to find out why Bailey wanted her sister and to get their lives back on track. The second, which was just as compelling, was her thoughts about the two men who’d kissed her the previous night. Cadfael Hanson and Rhion Jones. Both of them tall, handsome, and strong. Cadfael’s hair was black and his eyes a deep blue. Rhion’s hair was black as well and eyes were brown, a deep rich color she could easily drown in. She could definitely imagine herself wrapped up in their arms and safe. Safe from Bailey Hamilton. Safe to restart her life. Safe and protected and cared for always.
But it was more than that. She’d soon get bored if she was just a toy to be looked after. She was ready and willing to be involved. Just as she was prepared to stand beside Hawthorne and get both their lives back on track, so she was also willing to stand beside these men and help them operate the mall.
Not that she had any actual knowledge about running a mall. Likely it’s the same as any business. Keep the paperwork organized. Pay the bills. Meet the deadlines. Be nice to clients. Find potential customers. Surely I could do that.
Could she? Could she and Hawthorne make their new lives here at Hanson Mall? Could she get to know Cadfael and Rhion better? Her body was well and truly onboard with that plan, but did the men want her as a woman? Sure they’d kissed her and kissed her very romantically, too. But that didn’t necessarily mean they wanted anything more from her. Perhaps they were just being kind, taking the two refugees out to dinner. Giving them a treat. Although it was her they kissed, not both her and Hawthorne. So perhaps they did like her. Perhaps they did want more from her.
Willow sat up straighter in her chair and pulled her cell phone from her pocket. It was almost four o’clock. If she moved fast she could make the next move. She and Hawthorne and Eilidh could invite the men for a meal here in their apartment. With only a microwave oven it’d be a very different sort of meal, but cold finger food would work all right. Dips, salads, fruit, maybe some nice cake.
Willow jumped out of the chair and raced over to the counter where she’d put the business cards from the various traders the first day when the security guard had brought them so many things. Daffyd, that was the name of the manager of the grocery store.
* * * *
Cadfael was intrigued to receive a text message inviting him to 7C for “a light meal” that evening. He immediately texted Rhion, only to receive a text saying, “Me, too.” At least that implied Willow liked them both and saw them as a unit. To him it was a natural assumption. More and more werewolves were forming ménages and sharing a woman. But to a human woman with no understanding about werewolf life, it was a big step to accept t
wo men.
Of course, the fact that she’d invited them both for a meal didn’t imply she was ready to form a relationship with both of them. But it was a positive sign. A very positive sign indeed. And he was excited to be spending time with her again. Likely her sister would be there as well, so he wouldn’t be able to do more than claim a second kiss, which was a shame. He longed to take her to bed and demonstrate for her just how good it would be accepting the love of two men. But her making a move at all was so good he wasn’t going to quibble about not fucking her yet. However that would be next. He couldn’t wait much longer.
Cadfael spent the next ten minutes trying to convince himself he could take her to a movie. If they arrived after the trailers had started so the lights were dim, and sat at the side of the theater away from the crowds, then left the moment the credits began to roll…But no. It wouldn’t be safe. They’d still have to walk in full light from the professional suites to the theater. Even though it was on the same level, too many other people might be around moving between the restaurants, the theater, and the parking lot. Fuck! I’ll think of something else.
A few hours later, Cadfael was surprised to find the meal consisted of several different types of bread, from which guests tore off a chunk and used this as a basis on which to spread a dip, and then make themselves a sandwich from a variety of salad ingredients. He and Rhion, Willow, Hawthorne, and Eilidh invented their own combination of flavors, and had only themselves to blame if they didn’t enjoy the result. Although, sometimes they were all laughing so hard or so intent on their conversation he was hard-pressed to remember what he’d just eaten. It was a time of lighthearted fun, and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d enjoyed an evening more.
That was quite a surprise for him. That he was so relaxed and happy in the company of these people. Normally he was more focused on all the tasks he needed to get done, or on issues in the pack. So many unmated werewolves meant there was also too much testosterone around and petty differences could explode into fights all too easily. At least now that the Supreme Alpha of North America had given approval for ménage matings and matings with humans that gave his bachelors more hope of finding a mate.