Penn, Jenny - Chasing Lacie [Sea Island Wolves 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Jenny Penn

  Cresting the grassy peak, she grimaced as a harsh glare blinded her. Sunlight bounced and danced off the sparkling surface of the watering hole, burning her eyes and making her instinctively slam on the brakes as she squinted into the unknown. The truck slid down the hill, getting no traction from the grass as she rolled straight for another, all too familiar, truck.

  Gathering her scattered wits, Lacie stepped back on the accelerator, spinning the wheel to the left in an attempt to avoid the oncoming collision. She might have run herself right into their trap, but there was no way they could make her stop long enough to be caught.

  Aimed to clear around Chance’s truck, Lacie forgot all about missing it when a sudden streak of white had her standing on the brake. The whole ass end of the truck lifted as the wolf darted right in front of her bumper. The engine gave a loud growl and ominous crank beneath the sudden pressure. Then everything banged back to Earth except Lacie’s stomach, which remained missing in action until she caught another glimpse of white darting off into the field.

  Anger shot through her like a hard hit of whiskey as she considered how reckless Davis had behaved. She could have killed him. Right then she kind of wanted to. Before the curses on her lips could crystallize into coherent words, the back of the truck banged again hard enough to make her foot slip from the brake.

  The truck rolled forward as her mind went blank. Climbing over the tailgate, Chance didn’t look happy and he was coming straight for her. The panic returned, kicking her pulse back into a frantic pace and flooding her body with overheated blood.

  The heat melted through her resistance, making unwanted images flash through her mind. Getting caught wouldn’t be that bad. There could be fates worse than being pinned against all those hard, rippling muscles and forced to endure one climax after another while he fucked her straight into oblivion with that big dick of his.

  Crash!

  The sudden, sharp cry of twisting metal heralded a shudder that had the whole truck rolling with the motion. Lacie pitched forward as Chance disappeared over the edge of the bed in a flail of limbs. The truck rocked backward, slamming her back into her seat and triggering instincts that had her reaching for the wheel.

  Spinning it, she managed to turn the truck until it was aimed straight at the calm waters of the pond. Slamming on the brakes in a belated reflex, she made the bed of the truck lift for a second time. It slammed back down hard, but the front wheels held, keeping both her and the truck from taking a dip.

  It took a moment for everything to sink in. Lacie sat there strung high on the vibrations still trembling through her muscles. She’d almost driven the truck straight into the water. And it wasn’t her truck. Things were getting way out of hand.

  Chance! He’d fallen out of the truck, could be lying dead or dying on the ground. Throwing open the door, Lacie scrambled out of the truck. The bumper she’d sheared off Chance’s truck lay on the ground, twisted and mangled, the same as the large dent scraped down the side of his truck. Her heart seized on the idea of Chance in the same condition.

  “Chance?”

  “Oh, for God’s sakes, woman,” Chance groaned, his grumpy expression easing the sudden pain in Lacie’s chest as he rose into view. With one hand, he clutched at the side of the truck, while the other one cradled his head. “My skull is already pounding. I don’t need another damn demonstration of how shrill your voice can be to make it hurt worse.”

  “You’re all right?”

  “Of course I am. No thanks to you,” Chance snapped. “What the hell you trying to do? Kill me?”

  “No.” Her indignation flared at his accusation, but quickly flamed out as she found herself issuing the lamest of excuses. “It was an accident.”

  “Oh?” Chance straightened up, shooting her a hard glare. “You just nearly gave me an accidental heart attack by faking an injury? And driving right into my truck, that’s just a ‘whoops’? Ah, God. My truck!”

  Chance’s tirade gave way to a plaintive whine as he cleared the back of the bumper of the borrowed truck to confront the damage Lacie had done to his vehicle. She stared down at the disaster and couldn’t find it in her to feel a bit sorry. Ultimately, this was all his fault. He and Davis had started it.

  Not that she expected Chance to buy that argument. Eyeing him and the scowl starting to darken his features, she figured she had only minutes left before he started looking for revenge. There wasn’t a damn thing she could do to stop him from taking it.

  Glancing down his long, hard length, Lacie couldn’t find an ounce of fat on the man. Muscles thickened his thighs and made his arms bulge with the kind of strength that sent shivers racing through her stomach.

  Solid and thick all over, her gaze traced over the hard planes of his chest and down the ridges of his abdomen to trace the fuzzy line of dark hair down from his navel to where his long, thick cock jutted out hard and proud. Too big not to be a little threatening, Lacie couldn’t help but wonder if he wasn’t just a little too much for her.

  “Look what you did to my baby.”

  Lacie obeyed, dragging her dry eyes back to the red pickup she’d managed to smash up pretty good. “And here I thought I was your baby.”

  “Very funny.” Shooting her a hard look, Chance issued the threat she’d been anticipating. “You’re going to pay for this, Lacie.”

  “What do you want? A check?”

  Lacie knew better than to taunt him, but didn’t figure it made much of a difference now. Nothing she said would change Chance’s intentions. Besides, it felt good to be the one antagonizing him with a smile this time around. Now Chance got to enjoy being flustered and pissed.

  “You better watch yourself now, baby,” Chance warned her. “In case you haven’t noticed, the odds are still on my side.”

  He might be right, but Chance’s arrogance provoked Lacie’s instinctive need to resist. Maybe there was hope. Somebody had driven Chance’s truck over here. Perhaps they’d left the keys in the ignition. It would probably be too much to hope to pull off the same trick twice, but Lacie dared to dream as she slowly started backing up.

  “Now, Mr. Dillon.” Lacie treated him to her most professional smile and best condescending tone as she eased herself around the corner of his truck. “I don’t think there is any need to start threatening each other.”

  “I’m not threatening, Miss Chandler.” Chance prowled steadily forward. “I’m promising.”

  “And so am I.”

  Lacie eased herself past the tire well, feeling more confident the closer she drew to the door handle. If nothing else, she could get into the cab and lock them out. Then he’d have to smash his baby’s window if he wanted to get to her.

  “You’ve already paid a high price for your arrogance, Mr. Dillon. Don’t you think it’s time to admit defeat?”

  “Oh, Miss Chandler.” Chance smiled. “You’re still not understanding. You can’t win. You can’t escape. You belong to—”

  “Us.”

  Lacie started with a shriek, whirling around to find Davis blocking her path.

  “Hey, honey, having fun yet?”

  “No,” Lacie answered honestly, trying hard not to give in to the charm of his double-dimple grin. Cute, Davis might be, but she had a right to her grievances. “I am not, and for the record, I don’t belong to anybody. I’m not a damn dog.”

  “Not a dog,” Davis agreed, his smile warming with satisfaction. “A mate. Our mate. Surely Bud’s explained how that works to you.”

  “Maybe that’s why I don’t believe you.” Not willing to accept being cornered so easily, Lacie started poking Davis in the chest, marching him steadily back even as she tore into him.

  “I know how mating works, and it doesn’t include dragging a woman out to the middle of nowhere and releasing her to be hunted like a prey.”

  “Maybe in our book it does.” Davis dismissed her accusation without bothering to consider it. Digging in his heels after four steps, he came to a stop as he took his stand. “Bu
t trust me, Chance would never have risked his truck for anybody else.”

  Lacie guessed Davis thought that would overwhelm her, to know she ranked as high in Chance’s affections as his truck. It kind of actually did fill her with a strange thrill. His logic couldn’t be argued. Chance was clearly one of those cowboys who lived and died by his pickup. Probably had a thing about his hat, too.

  Not that Lacie would let the little bit of warmth starting to curl through her wash away her justified outrage at their behavior. If she really was their mate, then that just made all of this worse because she was due a whole lot better treatment. Hell, any woman would have been.

  Lacie kept those thoughts to herself as Davis reached out to cup her cheek. Letting him believe he had her under his charming spell, she let him pull her slowly closer toward his kiss. The anticipation was hypnotic, the lure to give in to the moment almost overpowering, and Lacie didn’t have to fake the breathless quality making her whisper husky.

  “I’m your mate?”

  “Our one and only,” Davis assured her, his breath brushing over her lips in a soft caress that was almost too good not to savor.

  “Then where the hell are my flowers?” Gathering her strength, she delivered that shout along with a forceful shove. Planting two hands on Davis’s warm, smooth chest, she sent him stumbling backward before her fingertips could give in to the temptation to let her hands roam over his hard body.

  “Flowers?” Davis repeated in confusion as he regained his footing. “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about the way you’ve been treating me.” And just having to explain it irritated her all the more.

  “Baby, you should be thankful you aren’t getting the spanking you deserve.” Chance came around the edge of truck past where his bumper should have been, looking ready to deliver on his threat. “Because I’m getting tired of this attitude.”

  Lacie wasn’t too tickled by his, either. “Do. Not. Call me the same thing you call your truck.”

  “I’ll call you whatever I want,” Chance shot back, full of cocky confidence. “Because you belong to me, baby.”

  “Do you just delight in irritating me? Because I can make your lives hell, and I just might if you don’t stop with the attitude and start with the wooing.”

  “Wooing?” Davis gave a bark of laughter, waving her dirty look away when she turned to glare at him. “Sorry, honey, it’s just that Chance and I don’t actually do the woo.”

  “Then you better start learning how. I’m your mate. You’re supposed to take me out and shower me with affection and then get down on bended damn knee and beg—”

  “There is only going to be one person begging in this relationship,” Chance informed her. “And it isn’t going to be us, baby.”

  Oh, he was asking for it. Once Lacie figured out what kind of reward he deserved, she’d be all too happy to give it to him. Until then she could only snarl at the smug bastard. “Is that fact?”

  “Give me five minutes and I’ll prove it to you.”

  “Give me a lifetime and I’ll make you regret it,” Lacie assured Chance with equal sincerity. “Now I want an apology. Then you two are going to get dressed, take me home, and maybe I’ll consider your request after a proper courting has taken place.”

  “Sure thing, honey.” Davis smirked. “We’ll get right on that.”

  “You better.” Lacie searched for something to follow that but couldn’t come up with anything beyond the classic, “Or you better sleep with one eye open for the rest of your life.”

  Davis snorted at that.

  “I mean it.”

  “I believe you.” Davis so clearly lied that it made his agreement all the more insulting.

  “Damnit,” Lacie spat, annoyed that she couldn’t think of anything worse to threaten him with and pissed that she never really would follow through on anything even if she did think of it. “You owe me an apology and flowers.”

  “Okay,” Davis sighed, appearing to grow more serious, though Lacie suspected it was all an act. “You’re right that we didn’t do things the more traditional way, but we just got back from the field a few days ago and didn’t stop to get our itches—no, wait. That’s not what I…well, it’s just…”

  “You didn’t stop by the whorehouse,” Lacie filled in what Davis was so clearly trying to back away from.

  After a lifetime of spent around lycans, Lacie had no doubt that’s what he meant to say. At the age of eighteen, most lycans went off to war in other, far away worlds. When they came back, they tended to overindulge in one of the most basic of urges—fucking. Given the way Davis actually blushed at her words, Lacie could tell that had been the plan. Something had gone wrong, and she doubted it had anything to do with her.

  “I feel so honored,” Lacie stated with complete disgust. “I guess, at least, now I don’t have to take you in for a flea dip.”

  “Don’t be that way, baby.” Unrepentant and full of cheer, Chance cajoled her in a clear attempt to annoy her. “We could always go find a more willing lady if you want to take some time to come to terms with your situation. Just say the word and we’ll give you all the space you need.”

  The very idea of them with another woman made her want to kill something, like him. Somehow they’d turned this whole conversation around on her. She was supposed to be the one irritating them. They were the ones who were supposed to be groveling.

  “Are you going to cry?” Davis sounded more alarmed than concerned, making it hard for Lacie to control the snicker that ached to form on her lips. Everybody had a weakness. Tears were obviously theirs.

  “Oh, God. You are crying.”

  “No,” Lacie snapped, putting enough heat into the word to make it sound defensive enough to be a lie. “I’m just feeling sick over the realization that I’ve got two mates who obviously don’t care about my feelings at all.”

  “Well, that’s not true,” Davis denied instantly. “I care about you. Chance, tell her you care about her.”

  “Of course I care,” Chance grunted, sounding more annoyed than sincere. “The damn woman knows that. She’s just playing with you. Don’t trust her, Davis.”

  “What a horrible thing to suggest.” Lacie gasped, playing the outraged party even though Chance had it exactly right. “I’m trying to be honest here and you—”

  “Honest.” Chance barked up a harsh laugh at that thought. “Like tears rolling down your cheeks, voice quivering, and making me feel like the slime beneath the belly of the snake? That kind of honesty?”

  “You deserve it,” Lacie shot back, forgetting for the moment to make her voice tremble with sadness. “You’re the one implying you’re going to cheat on me if I don’t put out.”

  “Oh, please.” Chance rolled his eyes. “Baby, you’re definitely going to be putting out, as often as I want, so you really have nothing to worry over.”

  Chance’s taunt had Lacie seeing red and losing all reason for a moment. She just wanted to smack that arrogant smirk right off his face, but the bastard was too far away. His clothes weren’t. From shirts to socks, all their clothes were piled up in a bundle just over the edge of the truck bed, well within reach.

  Chapter 5

  Without thought of the consequences, Lacie started snatching things up and chunking them over her shoulder. Piece by piece, she emptied the entire pile into the pond until every article of their clothing floated on its smooth surface. Their expensive work boots had already sunk to the bottom.

  Her frustrations released, Lacie stood there at the water’s edge admiring her handiwork. She felt calm and reasonable, capable of finally handling the situation. She was their mate, but that didn’t mean Lacie would let them turn her into a lap dog.

  Now maybe they’d understand that fact. Though she couldn’t be sure what they thought. Neither Davis nor Chance had said a word or made a move to stop her. Neither shocked nor pissed, they both appeared to be studying the spring with simple curiosity.

  Finally,
Davis broke the silence with a sigh. “That was just wrong, honey.”

  Chance nodded, talking more to the water than to her. “You know we have a lycan law—”

  “A wrong is only made right by retribution of equal measure,” Davis filled in.

  “Yep.” Chance shot her a little smile. “It helps keep feuds from forming and things from escalating.”

  “You wouldn’t want things to escalate, now would you, honey?” Davis asked in a tone too polite and reasonable to be trusted.

  Lacie swallowed down the shivers trying course out of her spine and forced herself to keep an even tone. “It was an accident.”

  Chance laughed at that, a short roll of obnoxious chuckles that ended sharply. “I’m still going to have to ask you to hand over your shirt and pants along with any undergarments you might be wearing.”

  Like he hadn’t always intended on taking them. After all, they had this thing planned out apparently. Well, Chance could just stick to the script because Lacie wouldn’t be handing anything over. She might not get the wooing she’d dreamed of, but she sure as hell would get the ravishment she’d fantasized about.

  With a lift of her chin, she offered Chance a challenge she knew he couldn’t refuse. “You want them? Come and get them.”

  “That’s a bold thing to tempt a man with,” Chance warned her. With a smirk, he gave her a once-over that had her warming with something a whole lot more dangerous than anger. “Especially when you ain’t got nowhere left to run, baby.”

  “That’s what you think,” Lacie shot back and then dove for the ground. Before either man could stop her, she rolled right under the truck and started squirming for the other side as fast as she could. Above her the truck groaned and shuddered, bouncing under the weight of the two men clearly climbing over it.

  She’d never make it before they did. The only choice Lacie had was to drop back and slip out the original side. Jumping straight to her feet, she met Chance’s scowl over the bed of truck with a smile.