by Becca Van
Jaimie screamed and screamed and screamed.
Everyone was dead, and it was all her fault. She had no idea who the gunman was, or why he was targeting her, but she’d decided to stay instead of leaving.
Why the hell didn’t she leave so that her colleagues and friends were safe?
* * * *
Daire was out of bed and on his feet before he’d even opened his eyes. He raced out of his bedroom, down the hall, and into the master bedroom before his sleep-hazed brain engaged.
The tortured sounds coming from his mate broke his heart in two. He hurried to the bed, sat leaning against the headboard and carefully pulled Jaimie into his arms, onto his lap. His brothers had entered the room seconds after him, but he ignored them as he held and rocked his mate as she sobbed.
Thank fuck she’d woken from whatever nightmare she’d been having as soon as he touched her because he wasn’t sure he’d have been able to cope hearing such pain in her tormented screams. Being careful of her arm, he caressed his hand up and down her back in long, soothing, smoothing motions as she bawled her eyes out.
Crispin and Beckett got up on the bed, caressing her wherever they could with worried frowns on their faces. After what seemed like hours had passed, her tears slowed until she was breathing spasmodically as she tried to regain her breath. When Daire loosened his arms from around her, she tightened the arm she had around his neck, clinging to him even harder, and he figured she wasn’t ready for him to let her go just yet.
It felt amazing to have Jaimie in his arms, he just wished it wasn’t under these circumstances. Finally, the tension eased from her taut muscles, and she slumped against him. His heart surged with the hope that she trusted him, but he quickly pushed his thoughts and emotions aside. Right now, he needed to concentrate on his mate, on her wants and needs, not his own.
“Are you okay, baby?” Beckett asked as he stroked her head.
Crispin was caressing her lower back, and Daire was rubbing her upper and mid back.
Jaimie nodded as a shudder wracked through her. When she lowered her arm from around his neck, Daire wanted to tell her to put it back, but he bit his lip instead.
She lifted her forehead from his chest before slipping a hand between them to wipe the moisture from her cheeks with the back of her hand.
Daire nudged her chin up and his heart broke all over again when he saw pain and fear in her blood-shot blue eyes. Even though her face as red and blotchy and her eyes were swollen, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. This time when his heart lurched, it was for an entirely different reason.
His tiger was pacing restlessly but was much calmer than he’d been earlier when he couldn’t see Jaimie while she’d been talking with Sage. His cock was hard, but he ignored the hunger coursing through his veins, blood, and body.
“Did you have a nightmare, sweet thing?”
Jaimie’s breath hitched as she nodded.
“Do you want to talk about it, honey?” Crispin asked.
She lowered her head and shook it.
Daire gritted his teeth. She was stroking up and down his chest, but he was sure she wasn’t even aware of what she was doing. He and his inner beast were though. His tiger started up purring, and while he tried to swallow the sound back, he ended up doing the same.
Jaimie lifted her gaze to his. Her eyes were wider than before, and then her lips twitched. For a moment, he thought she was about to start crying again, but knew he was wrong when he saw the twinkle of amusement in her amazing blue eyes. And then her lips curved up into a smile.
Heat traversed his blood, centering in his chest and down into his lower belly. His cock was so hard it was throbbing, and his balls were aching. He was sure he could feel them filling with his seed.
“Are you purring?” Jaimie asked, her voice low and raspy after all the crying she’d done.
It was sexy, and his mind immediately went to the gutter. He wondered if she sounded like that when she was climaxing. When he felt pre-cum bubbling to the tip of his cock, he pushed his lascivious thoughts aside.
“No,” he lied.
When her hand caressed down between his pecs, another low rumbled erupted from between his parted lips, causing Jaimie to giggle.
“You should do that more often, honey,” Crispin said.
Jaimie turned to gaze at him over her shoulder and grimaced. The faint scent of her pain drifted to his nose. Daire hated that smell on his woman and hoped after she’d healed that he never, ever, smelled it on her again. Since he didn’t want her hurting herself by trying to see his brothers, he gripped her hips, avoiding the bruised area, lifted and turned her until she was sitting on his lap side-on.
She gazed up at him with wide-eyed wonder.
“What?”
“You’re so strong.”
Daire shrugged. “We’re shifters, sweet thing. We’re stronger than the strongest human on Earth.”
“You are?”
“Yes,” Beckett said. “We have enhanced strength, hearing, eyesight, and a phenomenal sense of smell.”
“What else do you have?”
Daire relaxed deeper into the pillows behind his back, happy that their woman was asking questions. If she was curious, did that mean she was thinking about accepting to be their mate?
He wished he could ask her outright, but that would be pushing it. Sage had been right. They needed to let Jaimie go at her own pace. If they didn’t, they would be in danger of losing her outright.
Chapter Six
Gary was angry all the time. He was having trouble sleeping because every time he closed his eyes, all he saw was Billy’s tortured, painful expression. Yeah, he knew what his son looked like. It had taken him years to find him and the slut who’d given birth to his boy after she’d taken off, but his diligence and patience had paid off.
Billy had only been sixteen years old when he’d died. Tears burned Gary’s eyes. His child’s life had just been starting but had been snuffed out in the blink of an eye. He’d only ever set eyes on his son’s handsome face once.
The slut of a mother had already paid the ultimate price for keeping Billy from him.
He’d vowed to his son just before he’d been lowered to his grave that his death would be avenged. Nothing was going to stop him from keeping his promise to Billy.
* * * *
Jaimie couldn’t believe how comfortable she felt while sitting on Daire’s lap. Maybe it was because she’d been scared out of her mind after having that terrifying nightmare.
While the note part had been partially true, the rest had been pure imagination on her part. However, it wasn’t a surprise her mind was playing tricks on her after everything that had happened and the pain medicine she was on.
“We heal much faster than a human,” Crispin said.
“How much faster?” she asked curiously.
“A bullet wound takes about two hours to mend as long as the bullet’s been removed.”
“Are you kidding me?”
Crispin shook his head. “No, honey. I wouldn’t lie to you about something like that.”
“The women who have mates also heal quickly,” Beckett said. “Not as fast as we do, but way quicker than normal.”
“They don’t have to worry about getting sick either,” Daire interjected.
“What do you mean?” Jaimie asked as he met his gaze.
She sucked in a breath and held it when he cupped her face, his thumb caressing her skin as he stared deeply into her eyes. “When a shifter mates, he shares some of his DNA with his woman. It doesn’t hurt her in any way nor will she change into a shifter. Those stories which tell the reader that a shifter can change a human by biting them is total crap.”
“It is?”
“Yes. There’s only ever been one human changed into a shifter and that was by accident. The woman’s mates had to share their blood with her to save her life,” Crispin explained.
Daire scowled at his younger brother for telling Jaimie that. S
Crispin glanced at Daire before meeting Jaimie’s gaze again. “Don’t be scared, honey.”
“What do you mean by ‘share their blood’? Do you mean like a vampire?”
“Fuck no, baby.” Beckett tugged her hand from Crispin’s, threading his finger with hers before lifting it to his mouth and kissing the back of it. “What Crispin should have said was the doc hooked them up with an IV to give their mate blood, one after the other.”
“Are you talking about someone in this town?”
“It was Tami, baby,” Beckett said. “She was bleeding out too fast and the only way for Zayn, Karter, and Jace to save her was to give her their blood.”
“Was she…upset?”
Daire turned her gaze back toward his. When she licked her lips, his eyes zeroed in on her mouth, and her insides turned to what felt like hot mush. Heat centered in her lower belly as her pussy moistened, and her clit throbbed as it began to engorge. Her breasts felt swollen and achy and her nipples turned to hard points. She couldn’t stop herself from imagining what it would feel like to have Daire’s lips on hers, but it wasn’t just him she was imagining kissing her. She wanted to know what it was like to be kissed by Crispin and Beckett too. Thankfully, Daire started speaking again, pulling her from the aroused trance she’d almost fallen into “No, she wasn’t upset. She was happy to be alive and looking forward to spending the rest of her life with her men.”
“What can she turn into?”
“A wolf.”
Jaimie nodded, not sure what else to say.
“What were you dreaming about, Jaimie?” Beckett asked.
“It’s not important,” she said quietly.
“Bull-fucking-shit,” Daire snarled, causing her to startle. She was about to get off his lap but before she could, he tightened the arm he had around her waist to prevent her from moving. He took a deep breath and visibly relaxed before continuing. “Sorry, sweet thing. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Jaimie initiated contact. She hated seeing contriteness in Daire’s eyes. She cupped his cheek, loving the contrasting sensation of scratchiness and softness of his beard against her skin. “You didn’t scare me, Daire. You startled me but that’s not the same as frightening me. Okay?”
“Okay.” He breathed out in relief. “We want to know what’s going on with you, Jaimie.”
“Why? You barely know me.”
“We’d like to change that, honey,” Crispin said. “We want to get to know you. Will you give us the chance?”
Jaimie’s immediate response was to say yes. All her life she’d played cautiously, and look where it had gotten her. She was being threatened by some crazy asshole for something he had to have imagined in his own delusional mind. She was a nurse for god’s sake. It was her job to save lives, not take them. She’d never killed anyone and never would. She’d had to leave her home to keep her friends and work colleagues safe. Even though she had no idea if the bastard would have followed through with his threats and hurt them, she hadn’t wanted to take that chance.
She wouldn’t have been able to live with herself if someone had been hurt or killed because she’d dismissed the threat.
While she hadn’t met anyone she was attracted to in her own hometown of Natchez, Louisiana, having to leave had made her think she’d never meet that special someone she’d been dreaming of.
These three men were offering her everything, but she was scared to reach out and take it. Yet, on the other side of the coin, the thought of walking away from them was unbearable.
It wasn’t as if they’d asked her to mate with them right away. All they were asking for was a chance to spend time getting to know each other. The attraction between them was far too strong for her to not give them all a chance to see where this thing could go.
If she did, she’d be kicking herself for the rest of her life wondering “what if.”
“Yes,” Jaimie finally answered.
“Thank fuck,” Daire rasped out as he grasped her chin, turning her eyes up to his.
And then his mouth was on hers.
He brushed his lips back and forth as if he was worried getting too aggressive too fast would scare her off, but she’d been dreaming of kissing Daire, Crispin, and Beckett from the first time she’d seen them hovering over her while she’d been lying on the road injured.
She moaned as her blood heated, her lips parting, and Daire immediately pushed his tongue into her mouth. Jaimie shifted on his lap, moving closer to him as she tilted her head and kissed him back. Their tongues swirled and curled, rubbing together before retreating and coming together again. The kiss got hotter with each passing second. Jaimie’s felt as if her body was on fire, and while she craved Daire’s touch, taste, and kisses, she knew if she didn’t stop it now, it would only lead in one direction.
With a frustrated groan, she turned her head away from him, gasping air into her bellowing lungs as she tried to regain her equilibrium. Jaimie had been kissed before. Quite a few times, but none of those kisses had affected her the way Daire’s had. When she reached up to push her hair back from her face, she couldn’t help but notice her hand was shaking. In fact, her insides felt as if they were doing an impromptu happy dance.
She so wanted to turn back toward him and kiss him again and again, but she’d be playing with fire in more ways than one if she did. When she shifted on his lap, she felt the hard bulge of his erect cock against her hip. Not wanting to incite his desire any further, she scrambled to her feet before pacing away from him. She didn’t stop walking until she was in front of the large window. She kept her back to them and stared outside, but, she didn't see anything beyond her own reflection.
Jaimie had no idea what they saw in her. Sure, she wasn’t ugly but she wasn’t exactly star or model quality beautiful either. She was an ordinary woman who until recently had had an ordinary, boring life. As she wondered if she’d ever have her old life back, she wasn’t sure she wanted it.
She’d been going through the motions of living, just existing from one day to the next. She hadn’t even socialized that much since she didn’t really have any close friends. She’d gone out occasionally with other women and men from work, but only in groups and never as a couple. Most of her work colleagues had been married or in relationships with significant others. They didn’t have the time nor the inclination to spend their free time partying with people from work. While she would have loved to have just one close friend, she didn’t begrudge her workmates from having someone to go home to. She’d dreamed of that very same thing since she was a little girl. Her childish dreams had changed from a handsome prince charging the castle dungeons to saving his distressed princess as she gotten older. She’d known that those fairy-tale stories were just that, but she had believed in meeting that special someone and having her happily ever after.
The older she’d gotten and the more she had seen, experienced life, those dreams had waned, but from what Sage had told her, if she agreed to be Beckett’s, Daire’s, and Crispin’s mate, she would have a long-lasting, strong relationship.
The more she thought about it, the more tempted she was. It wasn’t as if she didn’t know these men at all, but she was scared for more than one reason. If she did mate with them and the crazy asshole threatening to kill her found where she was, they could get hurt. Or worse.
The thought of having her work colleagues hurt or dying hadn’t been something she could deal with. The thought of the Rafferty men being in the line of fire was even more terrifyingly merciless. Yet from what Sage said, the men in Ambrose could certainly hold their own. They were retired military, and they were shifters.
“What’s wrong, sweet thing?” Daire asked as he came up behind her.
Jaimie shook her head, crossed her free arm beneath her breasts, and kept her back to him. When he gripped her shoulders, turning her toward him, she kept her gaze lowered, but she should have known he wouldn’t let her get away with that. All three of the Rafferty brothers had authoritative, domineering alpha-type personalities. Being retired soldiers, they were probably used to people jumping to attention whenever they gave an order.
Daire cupped her cheeks between his large, warm hands, lifting her gaze to his. “I’m not letting you go until you talk to us, Jaimie.”
She glanced at Beckett and Crispin when they came to stand on either side of their brother. Crispin was frowning and looking worried. Beckett’s green eyes were hard and full of determination. The look in Daire’s gaze told her he was just as stubbornly resolute as Beckett.
With a resigned sigh she said, “I don’t know what to do.”
“We can’t help you unless you explain what the problem is, honey.” Crispin laced his fingers with hers and lifted her hand to his mouth before kissing it.
If she hadn’t been prepared for the zaps of heated arousal flowing through her body, she would have gasped. Instead, she gnawed on her lower lip.
Beckett nudged Daire aside and swept her off her feet. Even though she pushed against his shoulder, trying to get him to release her, it didn’t work. He ignored her struggles as he strode down the hall toward the living room. He moved toward the sofa, sitting down on a cushion before plonking her into his lap and securing her there by wrapping an arm around her waist. He threaded his fingers into her hair, grasping the strands at the base of her neck, locking her gaze with his.
“Talk to us. Now!”
“You’re so fucking bossy.” She huffed as she crossed her arm defensively. When he gazed down at her chest, she unfolded her arm and grasped his wrist, trying to pull his fingers out of her hair. He didn’t budge an inch.
“Yes I am. That’s who I am. Get used to it.”
“Let me go,” she ordered firmly.
“Am I hurting you, baby?” Beckett quirked a brow. If she’d been a violent person, she would have smacked that supercilious look from his face. “Well?”
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