by Mandy Monroe
What if this three way balance went awry and they couldn’t function as a unit together? She loved both men and couldn’t stand to cause a rift between them. Doubts swamped her and she felt her throat close. She was still in there, staring at herself when her men came in the bathroom.
Maura knew her uncertainty was written all over her face, Gavin and Bain could already read her like a book. She averted her eyes, not wanting them to see so deeply in her thoughts.
"Maura." Gavin made her name sound more like a warning.
She answered with a noncommittal sound of her own.
Bain sighed heavily. "You might as well just get it out now. You know he doesn't give up when he thinks he knows something."
Gavin shot Bain a scathing look.
"Talk to us."
Maura took a moment to collect her thoughts and figure out the best way to tell them what was bouncing around her head. She didn’t want them to get the wrong idea but she was so unsure. She knew she loved them both but, would that be enough?
"I'm just unsure of what happens next. Will this work? What happens if you realize someone else is better for you or you want them more in the future? What if someone thinner, younger, or more attractive comes along?"
"Maura," Bain began, rubbing the back of his neck, clearly working to give her the words she needed. "Maura it's you, every bit of you. Everything about you calls to us. There’s no loving you despite what you look like. You’re perfect for us in all ways."
She felt stunned. They loved her. They loved her. She knew they wanted her, yes, but love hadn’t been mentioned yet. Mating had been discussed, but not love.
"Love?"
Gavin and Bain looked equally exasperated.
"How could you not know we love you, woman?"
Maura's eyes watered and threatened to spill over.
"You never said .... I didn't .... I wasn't sure .... I mean ...."
Maura stumbled over her words, not really knowing exactly what it was she was trying to say.
"Do you think we do this often? Did you not hear when we said you were our mate? That it was for the long run, not just for now. Mating is more serious to us and more permanent. Marriage can end in divorce, matings are forever."
Bain ran his fingers through his hair in a way that was becoming very familiar and endearing to her. Gavin fiddled with his hair, frustrated, but he would pull out his pony tail and refasten it over and over. She wondered if they even realized that they did it.
"Maura," Gavin began, "There is no 'unless' or 'until' with us. It's not a situation where we amuse ourselves until we get bored, too old, or unless someone else comes along. You were fated at from the moment your soul was formed, to be the embodiment of everything Bain and I would need in a mate. You were supernaturally designed to be the perfect match for both of us. You complete our soul and balance our beast like no other ever will. Love is a paltry description for the depth of what we feel for you."
"Have you ever thought," Bain growled, "that maybe the reason that no one man was right for you before, is that you were made to be loved by two?"
Maura's heart swelled, there were two men who thought she was the most precious, most beautiful thing on Earth. More than that, the way they treated her and looked after her every comfort was testament to how much they cared. The way both men did it was second nature, not something they called attention to or demanded compensation for or preened over, her well being was something they insisted upon.
Gavin and Bain had both gone out of their way to show her how beautiful and strong she was, and battled back the cruel voices of the past. She felt worthy for the first time in her life. She knew that it would be an unconventional relationship by many standards but she wasn't willing to let that affect her.
All her life Maura wanted someone to see the value in her. It never felt like too much to ask for just one person to see what she was inside rather than just the extra pounds she carried. Gavin and Bain had awakened her both in and out of the bedroom. They challenged her to test her boundaries in strength, adventure, and in sex.
Maura was tired of seeking the approval of people who could care less about her and broke her heart. There was really no deciding what she wanted, her heart only called out for two things, Gavin and Bain. As long as they looked at her with eyes full of pride, desire, and love, everyone else could shove their opinion up their ass.
Both men watched the emotions flicker across her face but it was Bain who finally spoke.
"We want you for forever."
Tears welled in her eyes again as she pictured the future of what their house full of their love would be like. Maura could not contain the overwhelming sensation of rightness that it all had. She began crying uncontrollably. Both men stared, shocked, not quite sure how to gauge the reaction.
Gavin looked like he was going to be sick . "Maura, I was abandoned by my mother. I don't even know who she is or what she looks like. Bain' s mother took me in, against the laws of the Bear counsel. Years later, when they discovered what she had done, they killed her and tried to kill us. I lost the only family I had ever known and caused Bain to lose the only family HE had. We have only had each other since then. We fought in the streets for money and survival. To be able to create a family of our own, with our mate, is the only thing we had to cling to. It was thoughts of a better life and future family that kept us warm on nights we slept covered in snow. It was what kept us going when there was no food and we couldn't sleep from the rumbling in our belly. It was you, Maura."
Maura reached for them and gathered them both in her arms, one wrapped around each neck. She told them the only way she could and nodded, hoping they would understand what she was incapable of saying right now.
"That's a yes?" Bain asked hopefully. "Tears of joy?"
She continued to nod laughing through her tears at the look of boyish exuberance that glowed from both men. Bain swept her up in a bear hug, lifting her off of her feet and spinning her around. He kissed her soundly and set her down in Gavin's arms.
Gavin, cupped each cheek with his palms and claimed her mouth. It was more than a kiss, it was taking possession of her mouth. She reveled in the masterful way he showed her how much he desired her, this level of intensity would forever be hers alone. These men would never have eyes that strayed because she was too fat or too old, she was the only keeper of their heart and soul. The only one there ever would be.
It was a heady, powerful feeling to be so confident in their devotion and she loved them all the more for giving her that, too. She would rather carve out her heart than leave them. In fact, leaving them would essentially carve out her heart anyway.
Her mates stripped her slowly and worshipped every inch of her body. She was licked, nibbled, and kissed in places she never even knew she had, but felt like she glittered from head to toe. Their first coming together was hectic, passionate and impatient in the desire to delve into one another as mates. Bain let his canines lengthen and bit into her neck marking her there.
Maura cried out at the initial sting of the piercing of her flesh, but it quickly became cries of ecstasy as liquid fire filled her veins. It was very much like a volcanic eruption within her body, the explosion threw her headlong into climax. Her pussy clenched in delicious orgasmic aftershocks with every continued pull he took of her from her neck.
Gavin marked her as well but placed his mark in a less publicly viewable place. While Bain kissed and stroked her from behind, Gavin knelt before her and licked her thighs. She eagerly spread them aching for his tongue on her most intimate spot. His rough tongue worked it’s magic, bringing her to the brink of pleasure and as she began to be pitched into mind shattering climax, his fangs sank into the artery in her thigh, marking her there also.
Bain wanted his mark seen as a warning to other males, particularly other shifters, to stay away. Gavin wanted his mark to be something that was more like a secret between the three of them. It was so intimately placed, these two men would be the only on
es to ever see it. They made slow and passionate love together dozing and waking only to begin again. Every time she felt more precious, desired, and loved. In between lovemaking they lay and chatted about plans.
Maura would move up here and begin organizing the medical files of the clients that attend the retreat as well as examine the filing and efficiency of the office and make improvements. As much as the newly independent woman balked somewhat about quitting her job for a guy (or two), she also knew that other women who quit for men weren't the spiritual mate of two supernatural beings and ordinary rules need not apply.
Bain and Gavin would go with her at the end of the week to pack her things. During the breakup six months ago her ex got most of the furniture, what she had was mostly hand me downs till she got more. Most of which could be donated or just left behind. Bain promised to make her whatever furniture she wanted since she loved his carved pieces so much.
It was almost sad to think how easy it was to leave her old life behind. But when faced with a future like this, why would she want anything else? They were made me make each other happy. She was made for Gavin and Bain and they for her. She really was made for two.
THE END