Fated Mates: The Alpha Shifter Boxed Set (12 Book Bundle) (Insatiable Reads)

by Hunter, Adriana

  Naomi’s lips twitched and when she smiled, Ethan almost fell to his knees in worship. Stunning. Absolutely stunning, and if he wasn’t mistaken also thawing toward them.

  “Don’t think you’ve won the wager yet,” she actually teased. “That won’t be decided until the next family get-together.”

  “But don’t we deserve a small prize at least,” Javier murmured moving closer to her. His hands palmed her waist and drew her forward. As if a signal, Ethan moved in behind her, brushing his big body up against her back as Javier cuddled her front. Her head tilted back, exposing her neck and her lashes swept down as Javier caught her lips in a sensual kiss. Ethan felt a moment’s regret his friend got to taste her, but only for a moment before his own mouth latched onto the smooth skin of her neck. Sucking at her tender skin and feeling the rapid beat of her pulse against his tongue excited him almost as much.

  Placing his hands on her hips to hold her steady, Ethan gyrated his erection against her plush backside, cursing the clothes that separated their skin. Her low moan of response made him shudder and the perfume of her arousal almost made him bite her, his beast clamoring to mark this woman and then take her like her body so obviously craved.

  But, I am a man, not an animal. I won’t force her. I want her to choose me.

  Ethan sensed more than saw Javier’s hands moving up to cup her heavy breasts, but he could imagine Javier’s thumbs brushing across her peaks, tightening them into buds ready for sucking. A need to touch her—intimately—drove him to slide his right hand, the one hidden from public view by the car, down to the short hem of her skirt. He dragged the silken material up, his knuckles brushing the smooth skin of her thighs.

  Her soft cry of surprise was caught by Javier’s mouth, but Ethan felt the slight tremble in her limbs as he let his hand rove around to the front of her body. Her thighs were clamped together so he pressed the heel of his hand against her pubes, still covered by the thin silk of her panties.

  Slowly, he rotated his hand against her, the scorching heat making him pant in need. When she eased her thighs apart, he almost melted. Lightly, he let his fingers run along her cleft, the damp fabric showing her excitement better than words.

  He slid his finger under the elastic and tickled it over the lips of her sex. Her knees buckled, but Javier grabbed her and held her steady, capturing her mewling cries with his mouth as Ethan continued to explore her pussy. He parted her lips and penetrated her with one digit, then two. The moist walls of her channel clamped onto him. Swallowing hard at her eagerness, he worked his fingers in and out while allowing his thumb to rub against her clit. He buried his face in the curve of her neck, the torture of pleasing her almost too much to bear.

  Her sudden climax forced the silken walls of her sex to convulse and squeeze around his digits. Damn, but I wish it was my cock in there instead. Ethan’s free arm clung to her, pushing her tight against him as he ground himself against her ass while she rode his fingers hard.

  It took a shouted, “Get a room,” to bring him back to reality. Unfortunately, it also broke the spell of sensuality they’d woven around Naomi.

  She pulled away from them and his fingers slipped out of her with reluctance. Her eyes stared at them wildly. “Oh, no. That did not just happen.”

  “It’s all right—”

  She cut Javier off. “No, it’s not. I don’t do things like this. Especially not in public.”

  “No one saw anything,” Ethan replied.

  Her glare made him flinch. “Proper humans, like I want to be, don’t have orgasms in a parking lot with two men. Oooh.” Her inarticulate cry of frustration wounded him along with the confusion in her eyes.

  Ethan wanted to speak, but Javier shook his head. It killed him to watch Naomi climb into her car with shaking hands, then peal out of the parking lot. They ended up not far behind her in Javier’s Lexus.

  “Why did you stop me?” Ethan growled watching Naomi’s erratic flight.

  Javier weaved through the traffic after her. “She’s not ready.”

  “She felt plenty ready to me,” Ethan bit out, the scent of her on his hand driving him wild.

  “We provided relief for her physical need. She is not ready, though, to give us her heart and to give up her foolish belief she can be happy living as a human. But fear not, my friend, she’s close to changing her mind.”

  “Yeah, well, I hope she figures it out a little more quickly because I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”

  “Aah, but think of the pleasure when she finally comes to us.”

  Ethan shot him a dark look. “And if it takes a year or more.”

  “Then I’d better not drop any soap while in the shower, I guess.”

  Their laughter rocked the car as they ensured Naomi made it home safe. Then they roared in mirth again as she flipped them the middle finger before stomping up her porch steps and slamming into the house.

  She is so bloody perfect.

  Javier, now that he’d assured himself Naomi had made it home safely, pulled away from the curb. Ethan’s phone rang and he pulled it out, groaning at the number. “Not again.”

  “Who is it?” Javier asked as he drove them back to their condo.

  “Maurice again.” Their old coach from the Coyote Wilds. Since their decision to transfer for better money and a change of scenery, he hadn’t stopped trying to entice them back.

  “Might as well tell him. You and I both know we won’t move her away from her family.”

  “He’s not going to be happy. Not when we’ve had him jumping through hoops catering to our demands to come back.” Not that they had any intention. Maurice had also played a part in their leaving with his heavy-handed tactics.

  “Too bad,” Javier replied.

  Clicking the answer button, Ethan put the phone to his ear.

  “Ethan, I’ve been trying to get a hold of you.” Maurice’s deep voice didn’t sound too happy, not that Ethan gave a damn. Their previous team owner and coach seemed to have a permanent burr up his ass. It was part of the reason they’d ditched his team to transfer to the Ottawa Loup Garou’s.

  “Hey Maurice. Listen, sorry we didn’t get back to you sooner. We’ve got some good and bad news. Good news, we’ve met our mate. Bad news is we’re not coming back.”

  “Both of you?”

  “Well, it’s actually the same girl. Anyway, we’re still kind of courting her because she’s not into the whole mate claiming thing, but even once we do, we won’t be coming back. Her family lives here and she’s real close to them.”

  “You’ve not even marked her yet and you’re turning me down? What if things don’t turn out? Do you really want to stay in the same town? Shifter circles are small ones.”

  Ethan shook his head. Maurice knew as well as they did, once the mating fever hit, it was only a matter of time. “Yeah, well, Javier says it won’t be long. We’ve got a plan.”

  “I see.” Maurice got quiet and Ethan feared he’d hung up—or died of a stroke finally cluing in that his star players were never coming back. “Well, I guess the only thing to do is wish you guys good luck. I look forward to us kicking your ass in our next match. And remember, if you guys change your mind and want to relocate, I’ll meet all your terms.”

  “Gee, thanks, Maurice. If it’s any consolation, up until we met her, we really were leaning toward coming back.” Ethan rolled his eyes as he lied. “But you know how it is.”

  “Yeah, I do. Bye.”

  Maurice hung up and Ethan looked over at Javier. “I guess this means we’d better stock up on winter clothing. I hear the winters in Ottawa are a bitch.”

  “Ah, but we’ll have one very hot wolf to keep us warm, though, won’t we.”

  Ethan grinned in reply and made a mental note to have a fireplace installed in whatever home they ended up buying for Naomi because he could already picture her naked on the floor in front it as they idled the snowy winter hours away—on a synthetic fur rug, of course, anything else would ju
st be plain wrong or possibly related to him.

  Chapter Nine

  Grumpy didn’t come close to describing Naomi’s state of mind the next day. Hornier than hell. Tired. Annoyed. Those came close and yet none of those terms completely explained the turmoil boiling inside her.

  The previous evening, still shaking from her unexpected parking lot climax, she’d barely made it home. Her body—and wolf—howled at her to go back and take what they offered.

  However, that stank too much of submission. And I hate not being in control.

  Slamming into her house after flipping the causes of her displeasure off, she’d actually waited with almost bated breath for them to come pounding on her door. Begging her to kiss them goodnight. To resume what they’d started. She’d even partially fantasized about them, overcome with lust, pushing their way into her home, and taking her, right up against the wall.

  Instead, they’d left. The jerks. And she’d gone upstairs to a big, lonely bed with an aching pussy that still quivered faintly in remembrance at Ethan’s touch. Actually, she still ached today, sitting in her office chair, her cotton panties damp and chafing.

  No fair. Why couldn’t I have felt like this for Phil or some other normal guy who won’t make my life a chaotic hell?

  She loved the calm orderliness of her home and life. She still loved her family, but she much preferred weekly visits to the day-to-day violence rampant in a household with six oversized males. If she let Javier and Ethan into her life, what would she condemn herself to? Would her home require a bucket of plaster and paint on hand for mishaps? How would her delicate collection of butterflies survive? But without them, how will I stay sane?

  Another pencil snapped between her fingers and, with a sigh, she tossed it in her garbage pail to join the other half dozen she’d destroyed already today with her tenseness. Checking her email, she discovered the lawyer for the uncle on that possible fraud situation had replied to her missive the previous evening around six p.m.

  Hey Naomi,

  I spoke to the uncle and he got pretty in my face over the implication he might be playing around with the children’s money. He’s claiming he just forgot to send in some receipts for stuff the kids needed. But I don’t know, he seemed pretty pissed, and I kind of got the impression he wasn’t on the up and up. As per your recommendation, I’ve frozen the accounts until we can dig a little deeper and he coughs up those supposed receipts.

  Good eye for spotting it. Let me know if you find anything concrete on your end, and I’ll do the same from my side.

  George

  She skimmed through the rest of her emails, most of it minor stuff that could wait. At the bottom of the list, she noticed a second email sent by George that morning at the ungodly hour of five a.m.

  Ignore the previous message. Audit not needed. We’ll talk later.

  Short and to the point, it raised every single hackle she owned. She grabbed her phone and dialed his office number, but his direct line went straight to voicemail. She left a message for him to call her and made a note to try again later.

  Lunchtime arrived and Naomi caught herself drumming her fingers on her desktop, watching the door. It remained closed. Josie had taken the day off to volunteer for her daughter’s class trip. The minutes ticked by and Naomi frowned. Chewing on a granola bar she found in her drawer, she slammed things around on her desk, irritated and it certainly wasn’t because of disappointment they hadn’t shown. I am such a liar.

  Her phone rang and she dove on it. “Hello, Bitten By Numbers Accounting, how may I help you?”

  “Hey, baby girl,” her mother said. “Why are you at work instead of lying in bed?”

  Naomi leaned back in her chair. “I know I am going to regret asking this, but why would I be in bed?”

  “Well, I could barely walk after your father claimed me; more times than I could count, the horny devil. I figured since you managed to snag two strapping men, you’d probably need more time to recover.”

  “Oh, eew! Mom!” She didn’t know what was worse—the mental image of her parents actually doing it, which she’d walked in on once—talk about scarring—or the fact her mother was talking about her getting fucked so hard she couldn’t walk. On a disturbing scale of one to ten, they both ranked in the twenties.

  “Oh, don’t play innocent with me. It’s not like you’re a virgin. Heck, the whole neighborhood knew when you lost it. You made such a fuss about it.”

  Poor Tommy, in his enthusiasm to breach her after she said yes, he’d hurt her more than he intended. His screams as he ran down the street, her hot on his ass pelting rocks at his bare backside had raised a few eyebrows. His family ended up moving, they had to when her brothers wouldn’t stop stalking Tommy and detailing ways they were going to remove the cock that tainted their sister. Since her disastrous first time, Naomi had enjoyed a few sexual encounters. Although none of them came close making me feel the way I do with my two bloody jocks. The sensations they could evoke with the simplest of looks and touches made her wonder if the main event could truly live up to expectation.

  “Hello? Earth to Naomi? Are you still there?”

  Her mother’s voice acted like a cold shower on the lusty train of her thoughts. “I’m here. Did you just call me to embarrass me or did you have another purpose in mind?”

  “I take it you’re still being stubborn. You’re a Lycan, Naomi. Lycans meet their mates, fuck and mark each other.”

  “And then live happily ever after blah, blah, blah. Yes, I know. And wow, talk about eloquent. Now I really want to run out and hitch myself. Not!”

  “Don’t take that tone with me. I don’t know why you’re so reticent about it. I’d have thought your dad and I would be a prime example of opposites working out.”

  True, after thirty five years, her parents still managed to make everyone sick with how much they cared for each other. It would have probably even been cute with anyone else’s parents. “But what about the chaos, mom? I can’t do it. I won’t. Don’t you ever get tired of it?”

  Her mother let out a long sigh. “Oh, Naomi. Not all households are like ours. I’ll admit, your brothers and father are a rough bunch, but they’re big boys. They get excited.”

  “Excited? They’re like bulls in china shops, who I might add, should have moved out by now.”

  “They will when they meet their mates. Besides, you and I both know boys take longer to mature.”

  Naomi snorted. “What’s dad’s excuse then?”

  “I like him rough and raw around the edges. Not all of us want some effeminate pansy, you know.”

  A choking sound escaped her. “Mom, I never said I wanted a pansy.”

  “Says you. If you ask me, you don’t know what you want, or worse, you do, but you’re scared to admit it. Javier and Ethan are good looking, polite, and smart. Three items on your list.”

  “They’re also jocks in a pair of violent sports.”

  “So they have a place to let off some steam. Cut them some slack. You can fight it, baby girl, but in the end, you’ll just fall harder.”

  “Says you.”

  “Says someone who’s seen it before. What? Did you think you’re the first one to fight fate? Guess what darling, it never works. Add to that the low divorce rate in mated couples and I don’t see the big deal.”

  “The deal is I like my life and I like my things and I’m not going to let anybody, not even my wolf, tell me what I have to do.”

  Her mother cackled. “Oh. You always were my favorite.”

  “You say to that to all of us, mom.”

  “And I mean it. See you at dinner on Sunday?”

  “Of course. Love you.”

  They said goodbye and hung up, but her mother’s accusations and reminders sat heavily on her mind. Am I making mountains out of molehills? Maybe. However, it wasn’t in her nature to give into anything easily, not even love.

  Banging her head on her desk a few times, she tried to reassure herself that her Freudian sl
ip of the word love was really meant to be lust. Nevertheless, once spoken, even if only in her mind, it hovered there taunting her. She buried herself in her work in an attempt to forget it.

  The rest of the afternoon proved a write-off because she just couldn’t stay focused. How stupid of her to assume they would make lunch with her a daily habit, or at least pop by and say hello. It was even dumber of her to experience disappointment when they didn’t. I don’t want them in my life, so why am I on pins and needles wondering when I’ll see them again? Horniness or not, she’d never felt like this for anyone else, and this out of control sensation pissed her off.

  Much too distracted to work, she decided to call it a day. She grabbed her bag and locked up her office on the sixth floor. She took the elevator down to the basement parking garage where she paid a hefty premium to reserve a spot for her baby.

  Heels clicking loudly on the pavement, she strutted to her car, eager to get out of here and into the sunshine. There she could open up the top, slam the pedal to the metal and let the wind rush through her hair. Addicted to speed, her brothers joked she should have chosen a career as an Indy car driver.

  The section she’d parked in loomed ahead of her, darkly shadowed as the fluorescent lighting in the area appeared broken. She made a note to call maintenance in the morning if they didn’t repair it overnight. While she didn’t fear for her safety, the human women in the building needed all the security they could get.

  Even with the gloom, though, she noticed the wrong looking aspect of her car. Her confident steps stuttered to a halt.

  “Oh, no. No. No!” Her baby, her precious car she’d scrimped and gone without for, that she’d lovingly hand-washed for years and maintained like the pickiest of mother’s, was ruined. Killed. Demolished in a heinous crime of violence.

  Naomi let out a wail and rushed to the crumpled hood, her shaking hands running in disbelief over the dents and scratches. The windshield gaped toothily at her with its pointed glass shards. The honeycombed chunks, smashed free, adorned the torn leather seats. And the convertible top? Slashed to tatters.