But the first word out of Jackson’s mouth shook her to the core. “Cooper?”
Too stunned to speak, Sharon simply gaped at the two of them.
“What are you doing here?” Jackson asked.
How the fuck did Jackson know Cooper Hamilton? What was Cooper doing in town? And why was she the last to know this detail?
She lifted off the couch, doing her damnedest to keep up the charade of her supposed lingering injury, and hobbled toward the door. When she grabbed the frame, she stared into the eyes of a stubborn man who had spent months—no years—dissing her.
His eyes spoke volumes. He was sorry. He was completely chagrined. And he had somehow known Jackson was there. It was the reason he’d joined them.
Why?
Because holy mother of God, he too was her mate.
Sharon thought she would faint. In fact, she was sure of it. Just before her knees gave out, Cooper swooped in and grabbed her, hauling her off the ground and cradling her against his chest. He ambled into the room, kicking the front door shut behind him, and settled her back on the couch.
Leaving a very confused Jackson standing rigid by the front door.
He narrowed his gaze on her bandaged shin. “How’s your leg?” he asked by way of introduction.
“It’s healing fine,” she muttered. Someone must have told him what happened. The same someone who didn’t bother to tell her he was in town. Probably Laurie. Why?
“Uh-huh.” Cooper kept his gaze on her as he stepped back, breaking all contact. His puzzled expression softened when he turned toward Jackson and then looked back at her. “Right. Of course.”
Exactly. And don’t blow my cover, she thought.
How the hell had she gotten into this mess?
She winced when she realized she’d just boldly lied to Jackson minutes ago about not being interested in having two men. On her behalf, until Jackson opened the door to Cooper, she’d truly believed her words.
Now?
Fuck.
“What’s going on?” Jackson asked. “Do you two know each other?” He stepped farther into the room. In fact, he didn’t back down either. He boldly resumed his seat next to her on the couch, even settling his palm on her knee and squeezing as if he’d already done so dozens of times and it was perfectly natural.
Cooper took a deep breath and stared at Jackson’s hand for several seconds before seeming to rein in his obvious dismay and yanking his gaze away. He turned to pace the room, rubbing his forehead.
He was shorter than Jackson. His black designer T-shirt hugged his pecs perfectly. She couldn’t breathe remembering them pressed against her chest as he lifted her. Her brain had overloaded with so many sensations at once. His deep male scent, hard body, dark chocolate eyes. Lord. Even the way he wore his short brown hair was sexy.
Sharon didn’t have a clue what to say, so she let him have his moment. After all, this was his doing. He clearly knew what he was walking in on when he came to the door. How was still a mystery to Sharon, but she would find out soon enough.
“Is someone going to fill me in?” Jackson asked. “The tension in this room is so thick I could cut it with a knife.” As he spoke, he eased his palm up her thigh, pushing the hem of her dress higher until she was almost exposed to both of them. Her pussy pulsed with a renewed need that slammed into her with far more force than earlier.
Sharon opened her mouth to say something, hoping it would come to her quickly. But before she was forced to put nouns and verbs in some semblance of order, something to her other side grabbed her attention.
She yanked her gaze toward the front door at the same time Jackson and Cooper did the same.
The black aura that hovered near the entrance to her condo, coalescing into the shape of something that looked like a large bear, didn’t frighten her. It shocked her. Stunned her speechless. But she’d heard enough about its appearances in and around the time of her brothers’ matings often enough that she knew to give it credence.
It wanted something. From all three of them. And it wouldn’t stop until it got what it wanted. Might have been nice if it waited to make its first appearance until after Jackson had been filled in a bit on the details, but Nature didn’t always follow the rules of man.
“What the hell is that?” Jackson asked.
Sharon glanced at Cooper to find his chest rising and falling with each breath, but he wasn’t scared, either. He knew the same things she did.
Long moments passed before the black smoky substance drew in on itself and poofed out of existence, leaving no sign it had ever been there. If any one person would have seen it, they could have written it off as a figment of their imagination, but there were three of them. And the message was undeniable.
“Ice breaker,” Cooper said as he turned back around to face them. He even grinned, a slow smile that spread across his face to stop her heart and endear him to her in a way she would never forget. His eyes lit up as he met her gaze. She didn’t get the impression he usually smiled. But he was smiling now. And the light in the room grew brighter for it.
“Pardon?” Jackson released Sharon’s leg, making her wince to know he was pulling away. Giving up. He’d stood his ground for a minute, but this was getting to be too much for him.
In fact, he inched away, and she feared he would run.
Cooper held up his hands, palms out, and took charge, thank God. “I’m so sorry to barge in on you like this. I know it’s rude.”
“I thought you were going to your sister’s,” Jackson stated.
What the hell?
Instead of asking the ten thousand questions swimming around in her head, she decided to save them for later.
“I was. I changed my mind. Other things were more important.”
“How do you know Sharon? And what the fuck was that thing at the door?” His stress rising palpably, Jackson stood and stepped into the center of the room to face off with Cooper.
“It was a spirit. Sort of a guide.”
“A spirit? That’s insane.”
“Yeah, well, that’s the least of today’s insanity,” Cooper muttered. “Stick with me, and it will get so much crazier.”
Sharon smiled. At least he’d brought his sense of humor. For a moment she thought she was going to have to field this entire madness alone. Later she would need to thank him. He was late. About two years late in her opinion, but at least he was here now when it counted.
In all fairness, Fate probably had this scenario completely orchestrated since the beginning of time. It was going to be a bitch trying to explain things to Jackson until he fell into the plan, but it would work out in the end.
She was confident enough that she exhaled and let her shoulders relax.
“You gonna help me out here, gimpy?” Cooper said.
Sharon inhaled a sharp breath and jerked her gaze to his face to find him teasing her, his mouth cocked up on one side in a silly smirk that made her almost laugh. “Seems like you’ve got it under control,” she tossed back, leaning into the cushions and crossing her arms under her breasts. She knew the effect that would have on him. And she did it anyway.
Sure enough Cooper’s gaze lowered to her swollen breasts, and he rolled his eyes before he yanked his focus back to her face.
Feigning pain, Sharon lifted her fake injury with both hands and hauled her ankle up to rest on the coffee table in the most exaggerated fashion she could manage. “I really shouldn’t be on my feet, and besides, I think you owe me.” She batted her eyes as she smiled coyly, tipping her head to one side.
He so owed her. He owed her so badly she would milk it for all it was worth for years to come. And he could start now, by figuring out a way to explain to Jackson how his life had just entered the Twilight Zone.
Letting her skirt ride higher on her thighs, she nodded at Cooper. “You were saying?”
Cooper closed his eyes for a moment, probably fighting the warring need to both throttle her and fuck her senseless.
And
she was okay with that. Because it was only fair.
The man had knowingly left her hanging for two years because he was too stubborn to make an appearance. Never mind that Fate wouldn’t have let all things come together until the timing was right. Sharon still wanted to punch his lights out for torturing her.
He could start making it up to her now.
“I think I should go,” Jackson said, twisting around as if looking for some loose belongings he should gather first. “You two obviously have a history that needs to be worked out. I’ll let you do that.” He didn’t meet Sharon’s gaze as he wiped his hands on his jeans and stepped toward the door.
Cooper’s shoulders fell. “No. Don’t. If anyone leaves here tonight, it has to be me.”
Jackson turned around and faced Cooper, still avoiding Sharon. It stung, but she understood how confused and hurt he must be. “And you think it would be a better idea if we all three stayed?”
“Yes.”
Jackson lifted his arms and ran his palms over his short-cropped hair. “Do I even speak the same language as you?”
Cooper smiled and pointed at the couch. “Please. Sit back down and hear me out.”
Jackson hesitated.
For a moment Sharon didn’t think he would take the offer. A knot formed in her throat, threatening tears. “Please, Jackson.” She held out a hand, opening herself to a level of vulnerability she’d never faced.
An olive branch.
Jackson finally met her gaze. His face was contorted in a mixture of confusion, anger, and the underlying arousal he didn’t understand and wouldn’t be able to escape.
It was that last emotion she was counting on to keep him in the condo long enough to make him see reason.
The drive to mate was a powerful feeling. Even for a human it was all-consuming. And in this instance it won because Jackson reached out, took her hand, and climbed over her legs to settle back at her side. He didn’t leave any space between them this time. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and held her close.
She thought he might be using her as an anchor. And that was good because she needed him for the same purpose.
“Cooper?” She wasn’t joking this time. She really hoped he had the verbal skills to dig them out of this hole.
Cooper planted his feet wider and set his hands on his hips as he faced them both. And then he launched. “The black aura is a well-known Native American sign of something ominous heading our way. Surely you’ve heard the lore.” His gaze was planted on Jackson, a full Native, although human.
Jackson nodded. “Of course. But it’s just that, lore.”
Cooper lifted an eyebrow. “Did you not see it?”
Jackson swallowed but said nothing.
Sharon set her hand on his thigh and pressed hard enough to ground him more firmly. She tipped her head back when she felt his gaze turn toward her. “It’s real. Trust me.”
“What does it want?”
“That’s the mystery. When it comes, it’s always like this. A warning. A clue. It doesn’t communicate. It simply hovers at the most inconvenient moments, taking the witnesses by surprise and forcing them to take heed.”
“And we’re supposed to do something about it?” Jackson asked.
“Eventually,” Cooper added. “When we figure out what that is.”
“Is this some sort of game?” Jackson stiffened beside her. And then his gaze jerked back to Cooper. “Wait. Did you say your last name is Hamilton?”
“Yes.” Cooper lowered his hands to his sides.
“As in the Bartel-Hamiltons?”
“Jackson…” Sharon saw the light bulb come on quickly.
He lifted his arm back over her head and scooted away. “Sharon, I was perfectly clear earlier. And I wasn’t kidding. I don’t share.” He scrambled farther down the couch until he wasn’t touching her anymore, forcing her to release his thigh when he yanked free. He slapped his forehead. “How did I not realize what this was?”
“What are you talking about, man?” Cooper asked.
“You.” Jackson’s voice rose as he pointed at Cooper. “And you,” he continued, poking his finger in her direction. “The Hamiltons and the Masters. You’re all living in some sort of commune or something. I’ve heard about it.” He jumped to his feet yet again. This time he backed toward the kitchen, his hands fisted at his sides.
“Jackson…” Sharon’s heart hurt.
“Don’t,” he shouted. “Don’t try to play me. What is this? Do you people perform some sort of ritual or something, luring in another man from outside the family to offer him up as a sacrifice to the Native American spirit guides?”
Cooper started to chuckle, but Sharon shot him a glare. “You aren’t helping.”
He sobered and lifted his shoulders in defeat. “There’s only so much I can do. I don’t like this any more than he does.” His voice rose as his face sobered once again. “Why the hell do you think I stayed in Spokane for as long as I have? Do you think I like the idea of sharing you with another man?”
Sharon gasped at the quantity of information he was spewing out into the room.
But he kept going. “No. I don’t. Plain and simple fact. I hate the idea. It makes my skin crawl. And I hate that Fate is so controlling of my destiny that I don’t have my own free will. Fuck,” he turned his gaze toward Jackson, “even Jackson doesn’t have his own free will, and the poor fucker didn’t even know it. Is that fair?” His voice continued to rise.
Sharon opened her mouth to say anything, but Cooper stopped her with a palm held out.
“Don’t. Don’t fucking tell me how to feel. I don’t want to hear it. This situation sucks donkey balls. There’s no way around it. If I thought I could escape, I would shift and run from here as fast as my legs would carry me. I’d rather hide in the wilds of Canada than let Fate control my life like this. But it’s done. She came. She conquered. She wins.”
Sharon knew he meant Fate, and he was right. It was defeating. Whoever She was, She must have been smirking down at them in laughter while watching this comedy unfold.
Cooper turned back toward Jackson again. “I’m sorry, man. Truly I am. If I could change this, I would. But I can’t. You can’t. And we have to figure this out together and make it work. Trust me. We don’t have another choice.”
“I don’t have to do anything,” Jackson said. Fortunately he didn’t put a period on that by stomping out the door.
“Really?” Cooper asked. “So your cock isn’t so hard for Sharon that you’d give your soul to have her right now?”
Jackson flinched, his face turning red.
Sharon would kill them both if they started throwing punches.
“How long have you planned this?” Jackson asked, his gaze shooting back and forth between Cooper and Sharon. “What did you drug me with?” He looked over his shoulder toward the remnants of their meal.
Sharon flinched. She hated knowing how he felt toward her right then. It made bile rise into her throat. She was hurting him. And it wasn’t avoidable.
If they let him leave, it would be so painful for all of them that she feared Jackson might get in an accident, or worse.
No. They had to make him understand.
She jumped to her feet, heedless of her fake injury. It was the least of her concerns.
Jackson glanced down at her leg and then lifted his face and rolled his eyes. He tossed his hands in the air and sighed. “Will the surprises never end?”
“Not for a while, no,” Cooper said. “The best thing to do is calm down and listen to us.”
“Why would I do that? I don’t want to become a member of your weird cult. I just want to go home. Whatever you drugged me with will surely wear off after a while, and then I’ll resume my regularly scheduled life.”
Sharon shook her head as she stepped closer to Cooper. She ached to touch him, but thought better of it. Not to mention she still hadn’t decided if she wanted to punch him or kiss him first. “It won’t wear off.”
“We didn’t drug you, man.” Cooper spun in a circle in frustration.
“Was it the wine? Did you do something to it? Is that why you bought a second bottle of it? Did you bring it here to reinforce the ritual?” Jackson glanced past Cooper toward the door. “Where is it? Did you forget it in the car?” He chuckled sardonically.
“No one’s drugging you,” Sharon stated in a calmer voice. “It just happens. We can’t help it.”
“We who?” Jackson asked.
“We…shifters. And the ones we’re destined to fall in love with,” Sharon breathed out on a rush. It would take a lot more than that, but it was a start.
A moment of silence reigned long enough for her to catch her breath. She leaned down and tore the bandage off her leg. The wound was almost gone. It would disappear completely in a few more days.
“It heal okay?” Cooper asked.
She knew what he meant. Was there any permanent damage? She smiled. “It’s fine.”
Suddenly his gaze intensified, and he lurched forward and hauled her body against his. He wrapped his arms around her so tightly she couldn’t breathe. When he buried his face in her hair and inhaled slowly, she knew she was home. At least halfway home.
“Can you two at least try to pretend I’m not invisible?” Jackson’s voice was rough. Defeated.
Sharon wiggled free of Cooper’s clutches to face her other mate. “Sorry. We actually haven’t met before.”
Jackson blinked. He turned around to face the kitchen table, grabbed a chair, and lowered himself slowly into it. “Start talking. And don’t leave anything out.”
Chapter Nine
Headway. Cooper took a deep breath and trudged across the room to grab another kitchen chair and sit. He left several inches between himself and Jackson, facing the man at an angle so he could include Sharon.
The woman made it difficult to think. He wished he had the balls to tell her to go put something else on, but he also wanted to see her curves and admire her full tits at the same time. It was a conundrum he hadn’t yet finished wrapping his mind around.
Sharon's Wolves (Wolf Masters Book 10) Page 5