“Tell my sister to bug off. Is she pestering you? Your thoughts are all jumbled, but I can tell you’re with her.”
Okay, now this was just too weird. Nancy took Lindsey by the arm and led her to a chair. “Sit. Coffee?”
“Please.”
“Tell my brother to stay out of your head for a while. It’s too confusing the first morning after you’re claimed. I nearly tripped and fell with Aaron constantly nagging me only hours after we mated.” Tessa took the chair beside Lindsey and a giant light bulb went off.
“Good grief, does everyone know? Couldn’t you keep this to yourselves for one freaking minute?” She hoped she was shouting at Alex and Ryan and that they both heard her loud and clear.
“Babe, we didn’t tell anyone anything. We should have warned you about this. They can, for lack of a better explanation, smell it on you.” Alex’s “explanation” did nothing to soothe her.
“What?”
“Your pheromones change when you’re claimed. Wolves, we know a lot about each other just by walking into a room. We can even tell when a woman is ovulating or pregnant. Your scent is distinct at those times.” Ryan’s addition was worse than Alex’s.
“A little warning would have been nice.” She shuddered. Pregnant? Ovulating? She wasn’t ready for those kinds of thoughts.
“Sorry, mi alma. We’ll give you more details later. Enjoy some breakfast. Don’t let anyone get to you. It’s the same for every newly claimed woman. Family gets excited. That’s all.”
Great. Fantastic. She was sitting at the table with Ryan’s sister and his mother who knew every detail of the type of sex she’d engaged in last night with their son and brother … and another man, for heaven’s sake.
Could this day get any stranger? The sun wasn’t even all the way up.
“Here,” Nancy set a cup of steaming coffee in front of her. “Sugar? Cream?”
“Thanks.” She took the offered tray of embellishments and stirred them into her mug without lifting her head.
“It’s okay, you know. Weird for you, I guess. Kara still tells me this is too peculiar for words, but for us it’s just life.” Tessa leaned into her line of vision. “Forgive me? I was just so excited. It’s great to have another woman around here.”
“I’m just still in shock,” Lindsey said.
Nancy changed the subject. “We didn’t expect to see you so early. You looked exhausted last night. Did we wake you clamoring around in here?”
“No. Not at all. I … think I was having a nightmare. Those stupid people stalking me must be getting to me. Now I’m dreaming about sermons from my childhood.” Something still niggled in her mind.
Lindsey laid her head on her palms, breathed in the scent of hot coffee doctored to perfection with cream and sugar, and tried to recall her dream. Pastor Stone’s words rang through her thoughts.
We have a special announcement today. Sister Mary Katherine has just turned twenty-two and has agreed to marry Brother Thomas. Please praise the Lord our God for this union. Would the betrothed come forward to complete the union?
Father God Almighty, blessed is your name. Thank you for all you have provided us. We pray in your name that you help this couple in their journey. Guide Sister Mary Katherine as she commits herself to serve you and her husband. Bless them with many numbers. Anoint them with your love and grace. Amen.
Lindsey gasped and jumped from her chair, sending the seat careening back against the floor.
“Lindsey? Honey? Are you okay?” Nancy stood and placed a hand on Lindsey’s arm. Through the haze of unwanted memories, Lindsey saw Nancy’s eyes, her brows scrunched in worry.
The back door opened and Ryan and Alex flew through it nearly side by side.
“Lin, babe? ¿Qué pasó? What happened?”
“We could feel your terror from across the yard.”
“I remembered something.” Her whole body shook. Alex and Ryan each took an arm and led her to the living room. All three sat on a sofa.
“What?” Ryan gazed into her eyes.
“When I was in my early teens, maybe just twelve, there was a wedding. Oh, man. I didn’t know any different. I didn’t realize it was all wrong. Off. Not normal.”
“What happened, cariña?” Alex ran his palm up and down her shivering arm.
“They must marry their women off at precisely twenty-two years old. That’s what I saw. I’ve been to several of these ceremonies in fact. As a child. They aren’t really ceremonies actually, not in the traditional sense. More of an announcement during the service. I remember one particular girl’s face like it was yesterday. Why didn’t I think of this earlier?” Lindsey scrunched her eyes closed and buried herself in the memory, trying to piece together her thoughts.
“It wasn’t her name. I didn’t usually pay close attention during meetings. I was a kid. But that day I looked up when they called her forward … because I knew her name was Christa. They’d called her Sister Mary Katherine and I thought that was strange. Why would they do that?”
She took a deep breath, squeezed her eyes tighter and continued. “I watched in shock as they quickly married her with a simple prayer to a man twice her age. She looked horrified and turned toward the congregation, pleading for help with her eyes as he led her out of the church. I was probably the only one who even knew that since I had turned around to watch her exit through the back, much to my grandmother’s dismay. ‘Eyes forward, child. Never look back,’ she said.
“Shit. That must be what they meant when they said my grandmother had made arrangements for me. They want to force me into an arranged marriage.”
Lindsey bolted from the seat and started pacing. Her heart raced with the unwanted enlightenment. Sweat beaded on her forehead even though it was a cool morning, and her skin was covered with incongruent goose bumps.
Ryan and Alex were at her side in seconds. Wrapped in their embrace, they led her down the hall back to Ryan’s room. “Deep breaths, hon. We’re here. Nothing is going to happen to you. We promise.” Even Ryan’s consoling words would not calm her nerves as they sat together on the bed.
“What if they don’t give up?”
“They will. You’ll be twenty-two on Tuesday, right? Maybe after that, it’ll be too late.” Alex sounded more confident than Lindsey felt.
These rock-solid men/wolves who seemed to have landed at her doorstep by coincidence, may very well have saved her from a life of hell.
Thank God.
* * * *
The next time Lindsey awoke, she was not alone. Alex lay alongside her, his hair tussled about his face, a lock laying over one eye. She thought he could be a cover model if he’d just hold still for a moment so she could get a camera.
She smiled up at him. “You didn’t leave me alone.”
“Never.”
“Where’s Ryan?”
“Talking to his parents.”
“About?”
“Making sure you’re safe, mi amor.”
He kissed her chastely on the lips and drew her into a hug. “Feel better?”
“Much. Sorry I wigged out,” she said against his bare chest. Even groggy and still carrying the edge of fear in her system, she wanted him. He smelled of the slight sheen of sweat he must have worked up earlier, his own personal musk, enticing her to curl around him and beg him to enter her again. Would she ever feel quite safe even with these men wrapped around and inside her? Could she at least forget the fear at those times, if only for a while? When would Pastor Stone give up and leave her alone?
“Relax your brain, mi alma. Your thoughts are giving even me a headache.” He chuckled lightly. “We are here. We won’t let anything happen to you, ever. And just think of your luck. You have two of us. We can tag team and make sure you aren’t alone a single minute if need be.”
Her shoulders sagged, and she tried to relax her grip on Alex’s biceps.
“Our queen has awoken,” Ryan announced as he came through the door.
In retrospect, she’
d felt his presence even as he walked down the hall. Knew instinctively he was near before he came into the room.
“Hungry? It’s almost noon. You haven’t eaten.”
“Damn, I never even got a sip of my coffee. No wonder I’m out of sorts.” She sat up and tried to smile.
Unwelcome tears pooled in her eyes as she glanced from one sexy hunk to the other. “How did I get so lucky?”
“Ah, but we have you fooled. Perfect.” Ryan rubbed his hands together in a mock gesture to solidify their game plan.
“Could I be in love with you two fools after such a short time?”
“Sure,” Ryan inched forward like a predator stalking his target. “What’s not to love?”
The tears broke forth and streamed down her face. There was no doubt. It may have only been a few days, but these men were under her skin and in her soul to stay.
“I love you, cariña. With all my soul,” Alex said, his face sobered to complete seriousness as Ryan climbed up on the bed.
“And I love you with all my heart,” Ryan added as he took her into his embrace.
Squeezed between the two sexiest men in the world, Lindsey’s heart tightened. There was no doubt, she’d love them for the rest of her life.
Chapter 16
“It’s been two weeks, don’t you think it’s safe enough to go by the apartment and at least get my stuff?” Lindsey turned to Ryan from the counter where she’d been making sandwiches for lunch.
“Probably. But why don’t you let Alex or I just go for you?” He came up beside her and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.
“It’s my home. I lived there for four years. I need … to say goodbye.”
“To the apartment?” Ryan grinned and furrowed his brow. He didn’t get it.
“Sentimental thing and all. Charles and Michael have been driving by every day. They haven’t seen anyone or anything suspicious since the day after I turned twenty-two. Surely, we can at least go there for a few hours.”
They’d been staying at Ryan’s parent’s house for fourteen days now. She was used to it by now, having so many people around. Everyone knowing her business.
They’d talked just last night about moving out, getting a place, but Lindsey had turned down the idea. She felt safe here. She was never alone. It was going to take a while for her to venture out on her own after the craziness of the last few weeks.
She was a strong woman at heart, but still… And Ryan and Alex had breathed a collective sigh of relief that she had no intention of doing anything foolish.
Through the connection, she knew they were both secretly elated she was willing to stay with Ryan’s parents for a while. It eased their minds. They’d only brought the subject up to make sure she was okay with the current arrangement. Neither of them could stomach the idea of moving out right now.
She’d not been able to start the teaching position she’d intended to begin last week. The idea had been stressful at first, feeling as though she’d wasted her education by not moving on to that stage in her life, but she got over it. Life on a farm was always busy. She was enjoying learning all the jobs that needed to be done around here and glad she could help out. It kept her from feeling like a total freeloader.
Alex had lectured her two days ago. “You’re not a freeloader, mi amor. You’re our mate. Even if you did nothing but lie in bed all day and wait for our return, we’d be elated. We love you. And you do plenty, more than we would like. Take some time to find yourself, regroup so to speak. A lot has happened. If you still want to teach next year, we’ll make it happen.”
He was right. She needed to relax, wrap her mind around everything that had been dumped on her plate in less than three weeks.
Apparently the transition after the claiming was quite a bit harder for a human than a wolf. She had so much to learn. And she still wondered when on earth she would stop craving sex day in and day out. Sort of.
They’d been to see Alejandro’s aunt, uncle, and cousins several times in the past two weeks. Everyone was so kind and thoughtful, they brought tears to her eyes. So much family in such a short time was overwhelming to a woman who’d had no family at all for several years.
Even though the Thompsons insisted it wasn’t necessary, Alex still spent a few days a week working with his family on their own farm. He didn’t like the idea of abandoning them after coming to the states specifically to help them out.
Ryan dragged her from her thoughts. “Jessica is planning to move back into the apartment and look for a new roommate or two.”
“She is? She didn’t tell me that. How did you know? When?”
“Today. Kara told me. So if you want to head over there later, you could see her for a bit while we get you packed.”
These men were both so thoughtful. And the one currently eyeing her like she was a delicacy to be savored began to stalk her like the wolf he was. She backed away from his possessive eyes giggling, which in retrospect was most likely his intention, because before she knew it she was down the hall and in the bedroom she shared with both men. Alex materialized out of thin air, shut the door behind him, and turned the lock with a loud click.
They’d teased her at first about the lock issue. No matter what they said about wolves knowing, sensing, or God forbid smelling, everything with their finely tuned noses, she couldn’t stomach the idea of having sex or even being naked with the door unlocked so anyone in the family could easily just walk in. She’d be mortified beyond belief if that happened.
“How about a quicky and then we’ll take you to your apartment.” Ryan tugged on her shirt without waiting for an answer.
“A quicky?” She snorted. “You don’t even know the meaning of the word.” Nothing they ever did could be called a “quicky.” Not once had she had sex with either one or both of them without coming at least twice under the skilled touch of their mouths, hands, and cocks.
Semantics, she thought while speeding up the process by popping the button of her jeans and wiggling her ass enough to make them fall to the floor before stepping away from the constricting garment.
“You can give me an English lesson later, mi alma. Right now I want you to lie in the center of that bed, spread your legs, and let us have our way with you.”
The usual shiver coursed through her body as she did as she was told. It always made her wet and needy when they bossed her around in the bedroom like that. If they dared to demand her compliance outside the bedroom, they’d have another thing coming. But, in regards to their sexual escapades, she found it incredibly arousing when they told her what to do, held her body down, and tortured it to orgasm.
Ryan spread his legs and straddled her torso so fast she gasped as his heavenly cock bobbed in front of her face. She licked her lips, knowing it would drive him insane.
He moaned, grasped both her hands, and pressed them into the pillow behind her head. His length was inches from her mouth, which watered with the need to taste him, but he wasn’t close enough.
The assault on her below the waist began just as she managed to get one desperate lick across Ryan’s balls.
Her thighs were spread wide and held open to Alex’s perusal. He teased her mercilessly with his breath so close to her sex, knowing by now what drove her mad with need. Her legs shook, her sex clenched, and she felt her arousal running down between her legs.
No one had touched her, she realized. And she was so close to coming she moaned. “Please,” she begged.
Why must they always torture me into an orgasm before they enter me?
“Because we can,” Ryan said. “And because you look so sexy and hot when we do. And because … you love it.” He smiled down at her.
Sometimes it was infuriating that they could read her thoughts so easily. She hadn’t begun to master the art of blocking some of them. At least she needed to learn to shut out some of the more lascivious ones or she’d never get a moment’s peace.
Or maybe she’d rather not learn that particular skill.
Ryan’s free hand toyed with her nipples, barely grazing over them, bringing them to stiff peaks. She strained in vain to lift her chest and get more friction against his fingers.
Alex licked a circle around her clit and pushed one finger inside her.
Together, in a most certainly arranged composition, both men increased their assault, Ryan pinching her nipples in earnest while Alex sucked her clit deep into his mouth and pressed his tongue against the exposed bud.
“Come for us, hon. I want to watch you as you explode around Alex’s fingers.”
She sucked in a breath and held Ryan’s gaze while Alex twisted his hand and dragged at least two fingers across her G-spot.
The explosion was intense, as always, shaking her body as she pulsed around Alex’s hand and moaned in a tone she still couldn’t believe was her own.
Before she could come down from her high, Ryan let his cock fall into her hungry mouth while Alex lifted her torso, stuffed two pillows beneath her ass to lift her, and plunged into her depths. His own groan of satisfaction mixed with hers.
She sucked as hard as she dared on Ryan, as though he were the last meal on earth and she wanted to savor every morsel. It wasn’t far from the truth.
When all three came together and collapsed in a tangled heap across the bed, she felt like the luckiest woman alive.
Man, I love these men.
“And we love you, mi amor.”
* * * *
Two hours later, the three of them walked into Lindsey’s apartment still high on their lust, joking and laughing with each other without a care in the world.
And then the ground dropped out from under them.
“Where’s Jessica? I thought she’d be here by now.” The apartment was too silent. Eerie. “Jess?” A tingle crawled up Lindsey’s spine and across her neck. “Jess?”
She practically ran down the hall calling her name when she didn’t answer.
And then she came back to the front room and froze.
Ryan stood still as a statue in the middle of the room, his eyes wide, a piece of paper dangling from his hand.
Lindsey's Wolves Page 20