by Becca Van
He looked up when Sin and Taylor moved to the foot of the bed and they removed her shoes and socks. Reaching for the covers, he pulled them up over her, and after one last lingering look, they headed out.
Prim, Palmer, and Barrett were still in the living room, and from the anxious way Prim was looking down toward the bedroom, she was worried about Mari. Her next words confirmed it.
“Is she okay?”
“She’s sleeping,” Taylor said as he walked up to Michael’s side. Sin stood on his other side, and they all faced Primrose.
“We will make sure she’s safe, and if we think she needs to talk to you again, we’ll come get you right away,” Michael said.
“Do you promise?” Prim asked.
“We do,” Taylor stated sincerely. “You know how this works, Primrose. We won’t ever do anything she doesn’t want, and each of us would give our lives to protect her.”
“I know.” Prim sighed. “Just take care with her feelings, okay? She’s a lot like me.”
“What do you mean?” Sin asked.
“She’s shy, but if someone pisses her off she won’t hesitate to stand up for herself. She has no relatives that I know of, and although we used to get together, she’s not into people. But if you earn her respect and loyalty you’ll have a friend for life.”
Michael nodded and felt a little of his tension dissipate.
Palmer and Barrett clasped Prim’s hands and led her out. She looked back at them over her shoulder and said, “Don’t rush or pressure her. If you do, she’ll put her walls back up. Be yourselves, and for goodness’ sake don’t tell her what to do. She hates that and will fight you. Come get me, anytime, if you need to.”
Michael headed for the kitchen once Prim and her men were gone. He needed a beer to help him settle down a bit. He was so excited and horny he was beside himself and had no idea what the next step would be. One thing was certain though, he wasn’t about to let Marigold out of his sight, not if he had any say in it.
He handed out some beers and chugged down half the bottle in one go. Sometimes he wished his metabolism wasn’t so fast and he could get rip-roaring drunk, but he’d have to consume way too much alcohol to do that and he didn’t think his stomach could handle that much liquid. He pushed his random thoughts aside and sat down at the table. Sin and Taylor were already seated. None of them spoke, lost in their own thoughts, and it wasn’t until they’d finished their second beers that Taylor broke the silence.
“How do we go about this?”
Sin threaded his fingers through his hair before scrubbing his hand over his face. “I have no fucking clue.”
Taylor shrugged before getting up and heading back to the fridge. He handed out another round of beers and took his seat again. “I think we have to let Marigold set the pace. We don’t want her freaking out and running.”
“Should we take turns getting to know her, or should we all sit down and talk to her?” Michael asked.
“I don’t know,” Taylor replied.
“We are all going to want to make love to her together eventually,” Sin said. “I think we should all initially sit down with her, but if the opportunity for some one-on-one time comes up, we take that, too.”
“I’m worried that she won’t let us near her,” Michael said, voicing his concern. “She fucking passed out when Prim changed into her wolf. She had to be scared out of her mind to faint like that.”
“No, I don’t think so,” Taylor said.
Sin nodded. “I couldn’t smell that sweet, sickly scent of fear when we came in from outside.”
Michael frowned as he thought back and realized his brother and friend were right.
“It was more likely shock. She started hyperventilating,” Taylor said.
“Yeah, she did.” Michael sipped from his beer.
“She was probably overwhelmed,” Sin said. “Think about it. Prim told her a lot in a small space of time and then stripped and changed into her wolf. That had to be surreal for someone who had no idea our kind even existed.”
“You’re right.” Michael nodded then changed the subject to what was at the forefront of his mind. “She’s fucking sexy as hell.”
“Beautiful,” Taylor said in a deep, raspy voice.
“Stunning.” Sin grinned.
“I can’t believe we’ve finally met our mate.” Michael smiled and then chuckled.
“Me either.” Sin laughed.
“I’m worried.” Taylor’s voice cut into Michael’s excitement, and the smile slid from his face.
Sin leaned forward in his seat at the same time Michael did.
“What about?” Sin asked.
“I think we could be putting her in danger.”
“We would never do that,” Michael said firmly.
“I know, but not everyone from my previous pack is happy about the combining of yours and ours.”
“Yeah, you told us that already, remember? What’s going on?” Sin asked.
“There’s been more dissension and disgruntlement.”
“From who?” Michael asked.
“That’s just it, I don’t fucking know.”
“Then how the hell do you know about the opposition?” Michael sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Little things.”
“Like what?” Sin questioned.
“I feel like I’m being watched and I’ve smelt anger when all the members of my previous pack get together to socialize.”
“How come you can’t pinpoint who it is?” Michael stood up and began to pace.
“Whenever I try, whoever it is pushes their anger deep down inside. I’ve only caught a small waft every now and then. I don’t like it, but until I have proof of the discord and who it's coming from, I can’t do anything.”
“Officially you’re Alpha of Nomad Pack,” Sin said more to himself than to Taylor or Michael as he stared at the tabletop. “You think whoever this is, is going to challenge you for leadership rights?”
“That would be my guess,” Taylor said.
“This is bullshit,” Michael snapped out. “They all agreed to the packs joining.”
“Yeah, they did,” Taylor said. “But what if it was all a ruse?”
“You think this asshole is trying to take over leadership of Sugar Creek Pack?” Sin asked.
“That’s exactly what I think,” Taylor answered.
“Fuck! We need to inform Lucien, Rafe, and Gabe.” Fear for Mari's safety sank into Michael's gut and heart. He hadn't even thought about someone wanting to try to take over as Alpha of Sugar Creek. If that was the case then Mari could be in a heap of danger. "We can't leave her alone." He pushed to his feet and headed for the door.
“I already have,” Taylor said, halting Michael in his tracks. “Security has been increased around the women and children, and someone is watching the wolves of my pack as much as possible.”
“Who do you suspect?” Sin asked.
“There are three possibilities.” Taylor paused to sip on his beer.
“And they are?” Michael asked as he moved back toward the table and took his seat.
“Ridge and Chad Owens, and Con Mitchell.”
“Ridge and Chad are Spicer’s cousins, aren’t they?” Sin said more than asked.
“Yeah.”
“So they’d have a grudge against this pack because Chase and Tony took him and his cronies down,” Sin said in speculation.
“I’d be their first target,” Taylor said. “I was the one who challenged their Alpha cousin and won.” Taylor sighed with what sounded like regret.
“You had no choice, Taylor,” Michael said. “Spicer Owens was out of control. He was going to rape Sara before handing her to the rest of the pack. She would have died before being tortured in the worst way a woman can be tortured.”
“We know that and agree, but obviously someone doesn’t.”
The silence after Taylor’s last statement was fraught with tension. Michael hoped that they coul
d find the cause of dissension before something happened to Marigold. Her getting hurt wasn’t acceptable in his eyes, and from the look in Taylor’s and Sinclair’s they were of the same opinion.
How the hell were they supposed to court her to be with them, and try and figure out where the danger to the pack was coming from, and keep her safe at the same time?
* * * *
Mari sighed and rolled over onto her back as she came to the surface of consciousness. She felt so warm, content, and safe, and she didn’t really want to wake up. It had been a long, long time since she’d felt so…happy.
A smile formed on her lips as her eyelids lifted and she blinked up at the ceiling. The smile slipped away, and she frowned. She wasn’t in her own room or bed. It took a few moments to remember where she was, and as the rest of her memory returned her breathing sped up.
No, none of that really happened. You must have been dreaming. Yeah, that’s it. I was dreaming.
But the image of Primrose talking to her and telling her about werewolves slammed into her mind, and then she remembered watching her friend strip down to her bare skin and change into a wolf.
“Oh. My. Fucking. Gawd,” Mari muttered, her heart racing, and she panted harder. All of it was true. Everything Prim had told her was real. Everything she’d seen had been reality and not some nightmarish B-movie dream she’d conjured up in her own mind.
She drew in a deep breath, held it, and then slowly released it. Her pounding heart slowed a little, so she repeated the process until she was once more back under control. But when her mind snagged onto the three men who’d stopped to help her and bring her to Sugar Creek land, her breathing and heart rate picked up pace once more. This time for an entirely different reason.
Her body started warming from the inside out, and all her girl parts started throbbing.
“Shit. Shit. Shit.”
She wondered if she was still in their house, and after concentrating on her breathing again she was pleased when it and her heart slowed back down to a normal rate. When she glanced toward the door she noticed it wasn’t closed all the way. She flung the covers aside, gingerly limping to the door, and held her breath as she eased it further open, and sighed with relief when it didn’t squeak or creak, and then she listened intently.
The low rumble of voices carried down the hallway, and even though she couldn’t hear what they were saying, she shivered in reaction as the deep cadences washed over her.
Marigold knew she was in deep shit and getting in deeper the longer she stayed. She was so attracted to Taylor, Sinclair, and Michael all she wanted to do was grab hold of each and every one of them and kiss them senseless. But that wasn’t the half of it. She wanted to feel their hands and mouths all over her naked body and to know what it felt like to have all of them at the same time, together and separately.
She drew in a ragged breath, closed the door quietly, and after turning the light on looked around the room. She spied another door on the opposite side of the room and carefully limped toward it, hoping it was a bathroom.
She felt a little more herself after showering and dressing in her comfy leggings and three-quarter-sleeve light sweater, but now that she felt better, she didn’t know what to do. Should she go out there and demand that they take her to Primrose’s place? Yeah right, like that won’t put a damper on the nearly newlyweds.
Maybe she could ask them to take her to a nearby hotel. Or if there wasn’t one of those close by, she could stay in one of the houses that was on this huge tract of land. Surely there was an empty cabin or house she could commandeer for the duration of her stay.
She started limping toward the door after putting her stuff away into her bags and stumbled when an actual, physical pain hit her chest and gasped when her sore swollen ankle nearly gave way. She placed her weight in her good leg and clutched the door handle. But there was an ache in her chest, too, and when she rubbed it and the pain didn't go away, she dropped her hand and wiped her sweaty palm on her pants. At first she'd thought there was something wrong, but when she realized the pain was emotional, she tried to push it away. That seemed to be an impossibility. The more she thought of leaving, the more upset she became, and when tears burned the back of her eyes, she rolled her eyes in exasperation.
Get a fucking hold of yourself, woman. What are you? Two?
Drawing in a deep breath, she pushed her shoulders back, held her head high, and stormed out of the room. She'd only managed one step before she halted in her tracks and winced in pain as her hurt ankle made itself known. Although it felt better than it had last night, it was still damn tender, and it felt weaker than normal. After taking a few deep breaths, she managed to limp to where she'd heard the voices coming from.
She paused in the doorway of the kitchen, inhaled deeply, and was hit with another bout of lust so strong her knees nearly buckled. The aroma of pine and musk hit her stronger than ever before, and she felt like she was floating across the floor toward the three men sitting at the table, rather than walking. A hysterical laugh bubbled up in her chest, but she suppressed it ruthlessly, barely keeping it from erupting from her mouth.
Three heads turned and three sets of sexy eyes locked onto her, and she felt like she was drowning in a sexual fog and a sensual heat, and they weren’t even close enough to touch.
She had no idea who moved first, second, or third, but the next thing she knew she was surrounded by three tall, hot, manly men.
Taylor stood directly in front of her with Sin and Michael at his sides. Her eyes flicked to his hands as they lifted, and then they fluttered closed when he palmed her cheeks.
“Look at me, baby,” Taylor demanded.
Her lids lifted, and she stared into his heated gaze. He slowly leaned forward, and although she opened her mouth to speak, she ended up licking her lips instead. Taylor groaned right before his lips covered hers.
Mari whimpered, reached up to grip his wrists to stop herself from falling, and sighed into his mouth as he deepened the kiss. His tongue pressed into her mouth, gliding along and swirling around hers. The desire she’d felt before was nothing compared to what she was feeling now. The heat spread out from her womb, heating her blood and consuming her entire body. She shivered and trembled as he devoured her mouth. Sexual hunger seared through her in a world not quite sane, but she couldn’t seem to care. All the mattered was the next rub of his tongue on hers, the next brush of his lips over hers.
She needed more. More of him. More of them. More of everything.
When he broke the kiss, she growled with frustration and opened her eyes. She gripped his wrists tighter, trying to keep him from drawing away, but he just smiled at her and then stepped back.
Mari shifted her gaze from Taylor’s when a hand landed on her hip, and she peered up into Sin’s hungry eyes. He lifted his hand from her hip, wrapped his warm, muscular arm around her waist, and pulled her up against his hard body. She tilted her head back just as he bent down.
He slanted his mouth over hers and delved deep. His tongue explored her mouth before coming back to slide against hers. His teeth nipped, his lips nibbled, and she was so breathless she wasn’t sure she’d survive his all-consuming lust. But when she felt a gust of air near her back and then the searing heat of another hard, hot body up against her own, she was done.
She couldn’t fight the feelings washing over her, not that she really wanted to. Mari wanted to feel it all. She felt like she was in a frenzy of need and drunk on their passion as well as her own. She wanted to be devoured until the hunger dispersed, but she had a feeling that it never would, that she would never be satiated and would never have enough of these three men.
Sin finally slowed the kiss until he was sipping at her lips. Her legs were so weak she didn’t know if she could stand on her own, so she rested her head against his chest and gulped in breath after breath until her panting finally began to slow.
Soft, warm lips nibbled up and down the side of her neck, and she tilted her head aside
to give Michael access to her skin. Goose bumps raced over her body, and she swayed in their hold.
“Rest back against me, sexy. I won’t let you fall.” The rumble of Michael’s chest against her back sent another quake up her spine, but she let herself lean against him. She just didn’t have the strength to fight him, them, or herself. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t normally like this. What mattered was that they kiss and touch her more and take away the interminable ache deep down inside her.
She looked up at Taylor when he moved up to her side. It was really hard to keep her passion-heavy lids open when all they wanted to do was close.
“Marigold, we need to touch you more, baby. Will you let us love you?” Taylor asked. “I promise we won’t do anything you don’t want and we’ll keep our clothes on.”
“This will be about you, honey.” Sin stroked a finger down her cheek. “We just want to show you how good we can be together.”
“Say yes, Mari,” Michael whispered against her ear, causing her to shiver again. “Please, sexy? We just want to make you feel good.”
Mari didn’t have to think at all. It was what she wanted, hungered for more than anything. She would be a total idiot to refuse these three men. She trusted them to keep their word to her. She trusted them to keep their clothes on and stop if she asked them to. She trusted them to not hurt her and give her pleasure.
Oh, shit. I really trust them. How is any of this even possible?
Chapter Five
Mari finally got her brain and body into sync and nodded.
Taylor and Sin each lifted a hand to her cheeks.
“We need the words, Mari,” Michael said in a firm voice that sounded more like a demand.