by Morgan Fox
* * * *
Ryken paced the home that now belonged to Tabitha. It hadn’t taken him and Luken long to track the last few places she’d gone. Her scent was fresh and easy to follow, even to the high-end restaurants and bars she’d visited with that attorney fellow.
Ryken’s nails dug into the palms of his hands as the idea of tearing out the lawyer’s throat surfaced. Not that he would. Not yet anyway. He had to trust that Tabitha was being truthful with him. There was too much at stake for him to fly off the handle like he’d done in her hotel room only a day ago.
“What makes you think she’ll even come here?” Luken asked, obviously not as impressed with Ryken’s plan as he was.
“She’s going to come here tonight because she just buried her aunt, and she’s going to be looking for a place to escape.” Ryken shot him a lopsided grin. “Plus I left her a note in her hotel room.”
“You’re going to piss her off,” Luken told him. “She’s going to hate you for inviting yourself into her aunt’s home. This is such a dumb idea.”
Ryken moved from the back window to stand near his brother. “You’re only saying that now, but when she shows up and she’s ours again, you won’t think my plan is so dumb.”
Luken snickered. “If she shows up and doesn’t want to murder us, I may give you props. Until then…it’s a dumb idea.”
Ryken shook his head, dismissing his brother’s negative thoughts. He wouldn’t be swayed from his instincts. He knew his mate, loved that she gave as good as she received. That was why sex between them had always been explosive and one of the reasons he’d feared asking her for more. He never wanted the passion they shared to end—a life like the one Sebastian, Brie, and Jonah shared, consumed with children, could do just that.
He remembered the way he’d taken Tabitha the first time, the way he’d pretended to be Luken, but she’d always known it was really him making love to her. She’d always been able to figure me out. He remembered the way she looked when she’d told them she wanted to live with them, when she’d promised to always be with them. That was the person he expected to unravel when she showed up tonight. Sure it might take some bondage at first, but she’d ultimately see his way was the only way. She always did.
“Okay, well, while you’re in here patting yourself on the back like an idiot, I’m going to get something to eat.”
“The refrigerator’s empty. I already checked.”
Luken laughed. “I’m leaving. I’m not staying here to watch this blow up in your face. One of us needs to figure out a way to salvage this mess, not make a bigger one.” He stumbled on something as he turned toward the front door. “Are the ropes necessary?” Luken asked, flipping them around in his hands.
Ryken smirked. “She’s gonna love them.”
“We’ve never tried it,” Luken reminded him. “Why do you think she’d love them?”
“It’s time we tried new things.”
The front door opened and Luken froze, the rope no longer swinging in his hands. It hit the floor the second his eyes drifted over Tabitha.
She arched a determined brow. “Bondage? Really? You think that’s what’s missing from our lives?” She closed the front door and stepped inside the house. She eyed Ryken. “Don’t tell me. This has you written all over it. Am I right?”
Chapter Six
Tabitha sighed hard. She didn’t know what she was going to do about her mates. Ryken and Luken were driving her insane. She should’ve known that they’d never agree to give her space, but she had to admit that even with the need to clear her head, her heart pounded like thunder each time she saw them. Powerless against their charms, not because of some mating bond that was fading, it was the love she felt for them both, the desire to have a future with them and only them. That was something that even distance hadn’t been able to erase.
Luken’s face paled as he hiked his thumb in Ryken’s direction. “His idea,” he confirmed before Ryken had a chance, “I was just about to leave to go grab some dinner.”
“Pussy,” Ryken mumbled, elbowing Luken as he closed the distance between him and Tabitha. “I see you got my message.”
Her body pulsed with an electrical charge as she slanted him with a look. Come to your new house or else. He thought he was funny, writing a note to her as if to say that her house was being held captive. She figured he was up to something. “Yes, I got your note, and I have to admit I was surprised to hear from you after the way you stalked out of my hotel room yesterday.”
Ryken looked pained. “About that—”
“Don’t apologize,” she said directly, cutting him off. “I shouldn’t have waited so long to tell you about my aunt and the inheritance. I should’ve called you right away.”
“And yet you didn’t.”
Nerves swam wildly in her belly as Ryken bent to pick up the rope. She wasn’t sure what he had planned, but she didn’t like the idea of being tied up. Moving away from him, she said, “You could’ve just asked to meet me. You didn’t have to break into my aunt’s house.”
“Your house,” Luken corrected, folding his arms over his chest.
She didn’t bother to look at him. He was starting to annoy her just as much as Ryken was. What did she expect from twins?
She studied the rope in his hands. If they wanted to play rough, she was game. “So I ask for space and your immediate thought it to tie me up?” she asked, crowding in on Ryken to poke him in the chest. “I’ve got news for you, lycan, I’m not going to let you—”
She hadn’t realized what a mistake she’d made by getting so close to him until he had the ropes wrapped around her wrists and her hands locked behind her back in seconds.
“Hey,” she cried out, wiggling against him. “What the hell, Ryken?”
He pulled her back against his chest and nuzzled the crook of her neck. “I wasn’t kidding, Tabitha. I wanted to bring you back to McCarthy Ranch the day you left us. I was ready to tie you up and drag you back if necessary. Depending on how tonight goes, I’m still considering it.”
She locked her jaw, the muscles flexing under the strain. Her body tingled, and she hated that while her brain was trying hard to be angry, a part of her was sexually charged. “This is not the way to win me,” she argued through clenched teeth.
“Haven’t I already won you?”
Was that really what he thought? That once she’d fallen in love with them, his duty had been fulfilled? Why was he so damn hardheaded that he couldn’t see that she didn’t want to leave them? She simply wanted them to want a family with her. If they didn’t, then there was no point in staying.
She went limp in his arms and rubbed her face against his chest. Just as she assumed, he loosened his hold on her wrists, and she took advantage, pulling out of his hold and ramming the heel of her foot down hard onto his toe. He groaned as she quickly put distance between them.
“Did you really want to tie me up? Is this really how things are going to go down tonight? I have no desire to be dragged back to McCarthy Ranch.”
Ryken’s gaze darkened as he tore his shirt up over his head. “What I really want is for your hands to roam me freely.” He charged at her, but she moved as quickly as her wolf instincts would let her. “I want my mate back. I want the woman I love to come home with me.”
He was crouched low, his big body ready to launch at her. She glared at him. “That’s what I thought you’d say.”
Tabitha could sense his primal need, but she wasn’t ready to give in just yet. They needed to talk, something that never happened at home because all they did was fuck. She stuck her hand out to stop his aggressive charge.
“Stop,” she shouted. “We need to talk.”
Ryken growled, gently pushing against her hand. “I don’t want to stop. I want my mate.”
Luken grabbed his arm, pulling Ryken’s gaze toward him. “But we want our mate to come home too. Let’s find out what’s on her mind.”
Ryken exhaled hard, breathing like a caged animal. I
t took him several moments to collect himself. “Fine,” he barked, folding his arms over his chest. “Let’s talk.”
Tabitha arched a brow. “You’ll actually listen to me. No fighting or storming off like you did from my hotel room?”
He gritted his teeth. “Fine.”
She wasn’t sure if he could hold it together long enough for her to get everything out, but she was going to try anyway. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and I’m concerned about the direction of our relationship,” she started. “I’ve been offered a chance to build a new life.”
“And you’re considering it,” Luken said, his hand still on Ryken’s arm.
She nodded. “I gave up my old life to move to McCarthy Ranch. I had a job, money of my own, friends—”
“Do you miss your old life?”
Tabitha grimaced as the deep timber of Ryken’s voice hit her. She did miss it, but not because she wanted to be human again. She missed it because of the chance to have the life she once had. “I do.”
Ryken turned away from her. “And with this new inheritance you can have the life you’re speaking of.”
Damn it, it wasn’t about the inheritance. Why couldn’t Ryken or Luken see that? Why was it so hard for either of them to see that she wanted to marry them, have children with them?
She covered her mouth with her hand, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Why couldn’t she just tell them what she wanted?
I’m scared.
She blinked back the tears. “It’s true that the money and job opportunity play a part in my future, but it’s not all I want.”
Ryken faced her, his expression bleak. “Have I already lost you?” he asked, slowly moving toward her. He cupped her face in his hand. “Did I hurt you by falling in love with you?”
She shook her head, unable to hide the tears any longer. “No,” she whimpered. “I don’t regret a moment of our time together. I’ve loved every second. You and Luken mean the world to me.”
He lowered his mouth to hers and gently sampled her lips. The caress was so unlike the normal power he possessed when they made love. His fingers weaved into her loose hair, angling her face to deepen the kiss. She trailed her hands around his waist and up his back, feeling the strength of his body surround her. This was a kiss she’d never experienced with Ryken, only dreamed of sharing.
He eased back enough to tug her shirt up over her head, tossing it to the floor. Pulling her against him, he whispered, “Before I go, I want you once more.”
Her eyes widened. “Before you go?”
He nodded. “Luken and I will return to McCarthy Ranch in the morning. You”—he choked on his words—“take the time you need. If you want a life with us at McCarthy Ranch, we’ll be waiting for you.”
“Ryken?”
He pressed his index finger to her lips to keep her from speaking, his eyes glossy. “You need this. I now know that forcing you to come back with us is the wrong thing to do. I want you to want to be with us for the right reasons. I forced you once before. I won’t again.”
“You were trying to save my life from Mason Levi.” She reminded him of the lycan hybrid who’d been ordered by a crazed vampire to destroy their kind. “You protected me.”
A soft smile touched his lips. “But I didn’t give you a choice either.” He tenderly kissed her. “I’m offering you that choice now.”
After a long moment of staring into his glacial-blue eyes, she wrapped her arms around him. Her heart was crushed. “If this is what I really need, then why does this hurt so much?”
He held her, brushing his fingers through her hair. “I’d be pissed if it didn’t.”
She leaned back to look up at him. “Kiss me again, Ryken. Take my breath away.”
He lifted her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist as they loved each other’s mouths with a passion she’d never felt between them. Maybe it was fear. Maybe it was desperation. She didn’t know. What she did know was that it felt amazing. He felt amazing.
“Tear off my clothes,” she begged.
Ryken lowered her to the floor, gripped the fabric of her undershirt, and tore it in pieces. He did the same thing with her bra. She kicked off her heels and moved to unfasten the buckle of his belt. Her eyes darted to Luken who was watching them from the sofa. She hooked her finger in his direction, beckoning him closer. When he drew near, she unzipped Ryken’s pants, and then moved to her tiptoes to kiss Luken. His touch was always more gentle than Ryken’s, but this time it was anything but. He took her mouth hard, kissing her as if to brand his lips to her own.
As they broke the kiss, Luken pressed his forehead to hers. “You taste like forever,” he muttered and she understood what he meant.
Their souls knew each other. Their wolves knew each other. The idea of being without each other seemed wrong and unfathomable.
What’s wrong with me?
Ryken dropped to his knees, helping her out of her skirt and panties. He left on her black thigh-high stockings. As she worked Luken’s pants loose, Ryken nipped at the globes of her ass, pressing his finger along the crease.
She guided Luken to the sofa and had him kneel on the cushion beside her. Ryken crawled up, parted her thighs, and began feasting on her pussy. She moaned as he seemed to savor her, licking and sucking until she was rolling her eyes in the back of her head.
Tangling her fingers in Ryken’s hair, she took her free hand and stroked Luken, and then fed his cock into her mouth, sucking and licking him with the same fiery intensity that Ryken was using on her.
Without words, the twins switched positions, and now it was Luken’s turn to taste her, while she enjoyed the hard feel of Ryken in her hands and mouth. The twins were insatiable, massaging her body, and teasing her with what was to come.
Her body was wrecked with sensations, her flesh tingly and hot. The way they pleasured her had her blood boiling, her veins buzzing with an energy that only happened when the primal urge closed in on her. Her wolf cried out in her mind, screaming for her mates. They were touching her, but it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. She gasped, realizing that living without them would never be easy, and it could very well destroy them.
As if sensing the sudden shift in her mind, Luken pulled her to him, sliding her off the sofa and onto the floor. He laid her flat on her back and moved up between her legs. He slipped inside her pussy, and slowly began working his hips. She sucked in a breath as he filled her, thrusting harder as she rolled her hips in sync with his own.
She held him close as they made love, cradled as tightly as two people could get. Arching upward, she kissed him, opening her mouth to feel the warm press of his tongue against hers. His flavor was maddening, and she wanted more, needed more. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his body, feeling every inch of him as he drilled inside her.
Her body shook as his pelvis teased over her clit, and his cock brushed over the bundle of her nerves in her pussy. She cried out as she found her release, holding him tighter. Then she heard the wild growl of Luken’s wolf as he came, his body shaking over the top of hers.
As they caught their breath, he raised his gaze. “I love you, Tabitha. Nothing will ever change that.”
Before she could say anything to him, he parted from her. She didn’t see Ryken anywhere. It was as if he’d given her over to Luken.
She stood, spotting him through the back window. He was in the pool. She tiptoed her way toward him, the moonlight coating her skin in its warm glow.
“Why didn’t you stick around?” she asked, stepping into the water to join him.
His gaze was fierce as he drank her in. “Isn’t it obvious?” he questioned with a curious look. “We both need you to ourselves tonight.”
Chapter Seven
Ryken eyed her as Tabitha descended the steps into the pool, admiring her body as if for the first time. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen and the only one he loved the way he did. That was why he was willing to do wh
at he had to do to give him and his brother a chance to get her back. Not acting like the barbarian and forcing her to return to McCarthy Ranch was the hardest thing he’d ever agreed to do.
The wild thump of his heart had him moving across the pool to collect her in his arms. “This is a beautiful home, Tabitha,” he said, kissing her. “Your aunt had impeccable taste.”
Tabitha laughed softly. “Are you serious? You actually like the way this house looks? I thought you’d think it was too snobby for your Texas blood.”
He shot her a lopsided grin. “Don’t let this Texas boy fool you, darlin’. I love modern, contemporary, and rustic styles of living.”
Her smile faded. “I didn’t know that.”
He brushed his hand over her cheek. “I’m sure we have a lifetime of things to discover about each other. I just hope we have the chance to do that.”
Tabitha’s eyes filled with sadness. “Ryken?”
He pressed his finger to her lips, stopping her from speaking. “I don’t want to hear anything that’s going to upset either one of us. As it is, I’m barely hanging on here. Right now, I only want to make love to you.”
He removed his finger and replaced it with his mouth, kissing her soft and slow, until the bubbling need rose up for more. He held her close, wrapping one arm around her waist, while the other was tangling in her hair at the back of her head. He probed his tongue into the depths of her mouth, tasting her. She would forever be the flavor he sought, and nothing would ever taste as sweet.
Her nipples hardened as he rubbed his chest over hers. Easing back, he raised her up to take her nipple into his mouth, flicking his tongue over it and then sucking it gently once more. She arched her neck back, offering herself to him. He took the invitation, exploring her breasts, neck, and jaw with kisses, nips, and licks. There was an overwhelming need clawing in his mind. His wolf would not be quiet and give him peace. His primal needs were so close to the surface he couldn’t ignore them.