Hard and Easy [High-Country Shifters 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Melody Snow Monroe

  She was just recovering when Brin tightened his hold and fucked her fast and furiously. As she bucked forward and back, her tits swayed. With each thrust, her orgasm threatened. When he flicked her clit once more, the dam broke. Wave upon wave of erotic lust rained down on her. Her breaths hitched, and her stomach contracted. She screamed his name.

  His yell came a second before his jism shot deep in her ass. Together their bodies became one, and her heart raced and her breaths quickened. Larek rubbed her back and stroked her face. Her mind splintered with the ecstasy. She ran her tongue along her lips to get the last drop of Larek’s flavor.

  She dropped her head then lowered onto her elbows. Brin eased out of her ass and she collapsed onto the bed. The side dipped, implying Larek had left. He returned with a warm towel and cleaned her.

  “I need a shower. I think I still have some goo on me. Anyone want to help me wash?” Both rolled her over and, as they tried to kiss her, banged heads. Probably for the first time ever, they didn’t communicate first. She burst out laughing. “Never mind. It might be safer for me to do it myself.”

  “Not a chance, babe. We’re in this all the way.”

  Life couldn’t be much better than this.

  * * * *

  As much as she loved meeting the wolf historian and then making love with the two men, by the time Monday rolled around, Madra was exhausted. All last night she’d tried to think of something that would enable her to teach what she wanted and still have her job.

  Since her brain wasn’t thinking very clearly, she wanted to put everything on the back burner for now. Not letting Frania in on the newest development had been a hard decision, but she thought she ought to give Lara the first crack at the information. After all, she had been the one to discover the cave.

  Getting through her first day back after the three-day break was tiring, but every time she thought about her men, she smiled. As soon as the last student left her classroom, she contacted Lara and asked if she could come over.

  “Absolutely. Henla just left an hour ago. She told me about the wonderful tomb you visited.”

  Telling was one thing, but getting to see images of the buried artwork would thrill her archeologist friend even more. After Madra jumped on the tram, she couldn’t wait to get out in the fresh air again. It didn’t take her long to get to the tree house. Once at the door, she knocked, and Lara opened up immediately. Taryn and Kellum must have installed some kind of security video or something, or else Lara had developed some animal sixth sense.

  “Come on in.” She nodded to her portable drive. “Are those the images?”

  “Yes, they are. Wait until you see them.”

  After Lara brought her a drink, they settled in. It took over an hour to describe everything she’d seen. Her friend asked tons of questions, some of which made her realize she might need a second visit to get more answers.

  Lara leaned back on the sofa. “That was amazing. I can’t believe how well we pieced together the history.”

  “I know. I was totally excited.”

  “I guess I need to visit my sister-in-law and see the tomb for myself.”

  “I think the wolves would appreciate your interest.”

  Lara slapped her thighs. “So now what?”

  “What do you mean?”

  She shrugged. “Are you going to show your principal this new evidence and tell him he had no right to prevent you from teaching the truth?”

  Her laugh came out a bit squeaky. “That might sound good in theory, but the backlash would be tremendous. I’m not ready to take on that chore. Remember, I work at a private school where they make their own rules.”

  “You can’t just sit on this.”

  “Yes, I can. In fact, that’s just what I’m going to do. The students will be better off. I already almost lost my job. If I did anything to jeopardize that, I’d lose the connection to the kids. I can’t chance that.”

  Lara’s lips tightened. “I guess you have to do what’s best for you.”

  This wasn’t about her. She stood. “I really do have a lot of work to do.”

  Lara stood, too. “Sure.”

  Madra saw herself out. Even when the elevator reached the ground, a wave of depression struck her, but she pushed it aside. “This is for the best.” Alienating Lara was the last thing she wanted to do, but people who didn’t teach couldn’t understand how exciting it was to help guide the youth.

  Satisfied with her decision to keep the status quo, she headed underground. The outside air suddenly seemed muggier and she was happy to be back underground. Her patience waned as she waited for the tram to arrive.

  When she finally got on, she spotted a poster noting the city councilman’s celebration this Saturday. Once a year, the stars and moon were in a perfect formation and caused the sky to turn a beautiful purple color. Larek had invited her to the special occasion because he was covering the event for the paper. She couldn’t wait to go. She needed something nice to look forward to that would bolster her spirits.

  * * * *

  Madra was organizing her tablet for the start of the day when Saren and her best friend Belna came into class.

  “You have a minute, Ms. Madra?”

  She had wanted to look over her notes, but it could wait. School wouldn’t start for another fourteen minutes. “Sure. What’s up?” She liked that American expression. She’d heard Lara use it often.

  Saren plopped down on a desk across from hers. “My dad won’t let me go to a summer sports camp because my grades aren’t as good as he’d like.”

  “That must be tough for you. How does that make you feel?”

  “Mad.”

  Belna looked at her friend then at Madra. “Saren has all As and Bs.”

  “That sounds good.” Anterra Prep was a very hard school.

  “Well, not to my dad. He had the highest average when he went here.”

  Being the daughter of the top student had to be difficult. “What do you think you could do to change his mind?”

  Saren scooted to the end of the desk. “We thought maybe you could talk to him. You’re my advisor and all. Can’t you tell him how hard it is now to get As? It’s not like in his day.”

  She laughed. “I’ve only been here for four years, so I have little authority to make that claim. How about if you come up with a plan that your dad will be happy with?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Maybe ask him if you can go to camp if, say, you make better grades on your year-end exam than you have now.”

  She scrunched up her nose. “I’m not sure I can pull it off.”

  “I bet if you studied three hours a night, you could.”

  “Three hours? I don’t do more than one. Ever.”

  That could be the problem. “Maybe your dad isn’t as unhappy with your grades as he is with your effort.”

  Saren looked over at Belna again as if she’d have the answer. “So you think if my dad sees me work hard, he might let me sign up for the camp?”

  Now she got it. “Why don’t you ask him and see?”

  The five-minute warning bell chimed for class to start. Saren smiled and hopped off the table. “You’re pretty smart, Ms. Madra. Thanks. See you fifth period.”

  “Let me know what he says.”

  She gave her a thumbs-up.

  As the first group of students poured into her class, she leaned back and smiled. Being at Anterra Prep made her feel alive.

  She quickly pulled out her plans and glanced over them one more time.

  “I can’t believe we only have twenty more days of school.”

  Twenty days? Really? Where had the time gone? It seemed like yesterday when the school year started.

  She looked up to see who’d spoken. It was Clarin, who seemed to have more energy than usual, probably because the idea of getting out of school for the summer gave him hope.

  If he didn’t pass his final test, though, he might be coming back for a summer session.

 
When the bell chimed to signal the start of class, Madra went to the screen on the wall and called up the timeline of the nineteenth century. She remembered chuckling when she took the class in Earth history and studied that time period. The two realities might have formed at the same time, but Anterra’s technological advances were a lot more developed.

  Today for some reason, the student questions didn’t sound whiney, and she didn’t get upset that a few hadn’t read the material before coming to class. Maybe she’d finally made peace with history.

  As soon as lunch rolled around, a couple who looked familiar stepped into her room. Her mind blanked at their names. “Can I help you?”

  “We’re Bandro’s parents.”

  Bandro was a sweet boy, and she liked him well enough, but he could do more. He was quiet. While he always did his work, he rarely came in for extra help. “Come in.” She hoped they weren’t upset about anything. Instead of sitting behind her desk, she pulled three chairs in a circle. “What can I do for you?”

  They smiled. The mother glanced at the father first then back at Madra. “We had to stop by another classroom and thought we’d come by here to tell you how much Bandro loves your class.”

  That was nice to hear. While he did participate, he rarely asked questions. “Thank you.”

  “We know he’s a quiet boy who doesn’t interact with many students, but he feels so comfortable in your class, and that means everything to us.”

  “I so appreciate you telling me this.” It was too bad the school year was drawing to a close. If she’d known, she might have been able to reach out to him more.

  “When he gets home, he pulls out his tablet and researches history. You’ve made him want to go to the university and continue with his studies.”

  She was stunned. “That’s fantastic.”

  The father clasped his hands together. “I always thought he’d be a food grower like myself, but when I see him this happy, I know it’s the right thing for him.”

  “If you need me to point him in the right direction, please feel free to contact me.”

  They stood. “We will.”

  As soon as they left, her heart soared. She had made a difference.

  Happy, she went back to working on tomorrow’s lesson plan. No sooner had she started than two of her students breezed in. Today was a whirlwind of small conferences.

  “Ms. Madra, can you help us?” Drema was in her third class of the day whereas Tana was in the one after lunch.

  She put down her stylus. “Sure.”

  Drema slipped a hip on the desk. “It’s about boys. Can you help us?”

  She chuckled. Her mind raced to the image of her dabbing the cake frosting on her tits. “Maybe. What’s going on?”

  Drema spent fifteen minutes telling her how she’d had a crush on Clarin for three years now and he’d finally asked her out.

  “I would think you’d be ecstatic. What seems to be the problem?”

  Tana piped up. “Her parents won’t let her go out with him.”

  Drema leaned forward. “I’m almost seventeen.”

  That was a tough one. She didn’t want to lecture her on morals, but she wanted to guide the young lady. “Maybe you could have Clarin come to your house. If your parents saw what a nice boy he was, they might let you go out with him.”

  Drema shook her head. “I don’t think he’d go for that.”

  She leaned back. “Then maybe he doesn’t deserve you. If he can’t make this concession, where do you see this relationship going?”

  Drema glanced at Tana. “You might be right.” She smiled. “Tana, let’s go talk to Clarin and tell him he needs to come over to my house or I won’t go out with him. Thanks, Ms. Madra.”

  Before she could respond that’s not quite what she meant, the two ladies were out the door. She didn’t think demanding Clarin do something was going to work, but in truth, she thought a bright girl like Drema deserved someone better than Clarin.

  No sooner had her thoughts left the dilemma with Clarin than her next class began. While some of the students paid more attention to their neighbor, the class time breezed by.

  Two more classes brought the day to an end. After school, she worked on getting a head start on her year-end exam. When she looked at the time, she couldn’t believe she’d stayed an extra hour. The stores in the mall would be closing soon, and she needed a pair of sandals since the strap on her shoes had almost snapped.

  She decided to walk instead of taking the tram. She hoped the shoes didn’t bust on the way there.

  At Rein’s shoe store, she peeked her head in. Rein was helping a customer, but as soon as her friend noticed her, she grinned and held up a finger. That worked for Madra, as she had to figure out what to buy. She was halfway through the second wall of shoes when the customer left and Rein raced over.

  “I can’t believe you came to shop.” Her mouth turned into a frown. “Or did something happen?”

  “Both. You have a minute?” They had so much to catch up on.

  “Sure.”

  As soon as she started in on her decision to go to wolf territory, three customers came in. “I do need shoes, but those can wait. How about you stop over after work? I’ll pick up some food.”

  “Perfect.”

  They hugged, and Madra headed out of the store, walking carefully so as not to put any more stress on the strap. As a treat to herself for the good day she’d had, she picked up a bottle of wine along with a crusted pie, topped with tomatoes and cheese.

  Once home, she put the food in the refrigerator and changed into lightweight pants and a baggy top. Getting the chance to chat with Rein would be a great way to spend the evening.

  Right on time, her friend arrived. Rein rushed in with a bottle of white.

  Madra laughed. “I bought a bottle of red for you.”

  “And I got a bottle of white for you.” That was what good friends were for. “Dinner’s ready. Let me take it out of the oven.”

  Once they were seated, Madra launched into what had happened in her life since she’d last seen Rein. She’d already filled her in on how when Larek had brought her to the cave, they’d met up with Frania.

  “I bet she was excited to have you show her the drawings firsthand.”

  “She was.”

  Madra picked up another slice of the tomato pie. “You know Henla came back here. Did she stop by the store?”

  “Yes, but we only got to chat a bit though. She looked great, didn’t she?”

  “She sure did. She seems so excited about having the baby.”

  “I know.” There was a wistful look to her gaze.

  Not wanting her meal to get cold, Madra ate instead of talking. She washed down the crusted tomato pie with some wine. “Did Henla mention I visited her?”

  “Just that you came, but then she told me she was expecting and we talked about that. Tell me about it.”

  “After my visit to the cave, I got this urge to learn more about this new history, so I wanted to make certain the wolves, and not some charlatan, drew the pictures thousands of years ago. The only way to do that would be to visit wolf territory myself.”

  Rein’s eyes widened. “I can’t believe you went there. That’s so dangerous.”

  “I sought out Jalen to escort me.” She explained how his friend went instead and how through a friend of Henla’s, she met with a wolf historian. “The tomb was amazing.”

  “So did everything you think about the history pan out?”

  “For the most part.”

  “So what are you going to do now?” She sounded so much like Lara she feared she’d get the same reaction.

  “Nothing.” She held up her hand. “My only issue is what Larek and Brin are going to think.” They never shied away from finding the truth.

  “They’ll think the same thing I do.”

  From the way Rein picked at her food, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know her real opinion, but she had to ask. “Which is?”

  “That
you need to find a way to connect with the students and teach the truth.” Rein’s eyes dimmed for a moment. “I totally get that you need your job. I get that you love helping the students, but I know you. You love to dig for the truth. You’ll never be happy unless you find a solution to your problem.”

  “I appreciate your honesty.” Rein would never understand.

  Not wanting the night to be a total waste, she asked about Rein’s love life. Since it was currently nonexistent, as soon as they finished eating, she seemed to have to get home.

  As soon as her friend left, Madra poured another glass of wine and thought about the conversation. Rein was definitely right about one thing. Larek and Brin would never go along with her decision to abandon the whole concept of proving the lions dominated the wolves.

  She held up her glass. “Well, I guess we just don’t belong together then.” Tilting the glass, she finished the contents in one long gulp.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Madra had tossed and turned all night. She could still picture Rein’s dismissal. She acted like the decision to teach the old way wasn’t the right one. That was too damned bad.

  Madra worked hard not to cry about her decision to leave Larek and Brin, but once more, she knew that was the right thing to do. In the end, their relationship would never last.

  The problem she faced was that as much as she loved being with Larek and Brin, she knew they’d always be disappointed in her, and changing for their sake wouldn’t make her happy.

  In the morning, she messaged both Larek and Brin and told them she needed to speak with them. Telling them they were through was going to kill her, but for the men’s own good, she had to do it. Their suggestive message reply implied they had no idea what was she was going to say, which was only going to make it harder.

  The anxiety from last night had spilled into today. At school her stomach ached and her head hurt. Getting through her classes while acting civil had been one of the most difficult acting jobs in her life.