“Nothing…” She broke down. “Everything!” Gods, how could she live with herself knowing what had happened? How could she ever look her daughter in the eyes and tell her she loved her? How could she not? Holly was the innocent one in the mess that was her life.
Clay didn’t waste time. He leapt across the room and gathered her in his arms. “Shh, baby. It’s okay. Everything will be okay.”
How many times had she wished for someone to tell her that every time she moved? How many times had she prayed for someone to love her enough to hold her in their arms while they kept their hands to themselves?
Why did she have to find Gunter and Clay now? Why, after all of these years did she have to remember when she had finally found someone who could love her? What would they think of her now?
Pain burned the center of her chest. She would have to tell them what happened and they would hate her for it. They would hate Holly for her parentage and Riana would continue to hate herself for not having been strong enough to stop what happened to her all those years ago.
She hadn’t even realized she had said all that out loud until Clay drew her closer, rocked her in his embrace and said, “Oh, baby, no one hates you. You were a girl, little more than a child. How could you stop grown men from doing anything?”
No wonder she never trusted men all these years. No wonder she shuddered every time a man touched her or smiled at her. She sucked in a deep breath, then pulled from Clay’s arms.
She looked up at him and swiped at her eyes. “Why do I trust you?” She looked around with a frown. “And why do I trust Gunter? Where is he, by the way?”
Clay cleared his throat and looked away as though not wanting to tell her something important. “He’s doing a perimeter check.”
She tilted her head and licked her lips. “Why?” She looked around, finally realizing they were back in the hotel room. They obviously brought her back here after she’d had her meltdown at the carnival. “Where’s Holly?”
“She’s still at the carnival. We thought it best to leave her there with the men of Paradise. As your child, she has the protection of the entire town.
“But I don’t trust the entire town! I trust you and Gunter.” She started for the door, but he grasped her arm and pulled her to a stop.
“Don’t you trust your sisters, your grandparents? They’re there as well and they will protect her from harm.”
“Harm.” Riana’s heart pounded and she tasted bile at the back of her throat. “The evil has followed us here, hasn’t it?”
“It would appear so.” Clay’s grip grew tighter when she would have yanked her arm away. “You must stay here. Every man is at that carnival protecting your daughter. You only have Gunter and me to protect you. Don’t do something stupid like run outside looking for trouble.”
“I wouldn’t be looking for trouble.” She almost snarled the words. How stupid did he think she was? She only wanted to go to her daughter.
“Just walking out that door is looking for trouble. Whoever it is that stalks you is here in town. If they get you, they can challenge Adam’s role as alpha. You are the eldest heir of the second ruling house of Paradise.”
Pain sliced her chest as Riana realized every implication of what he said. “That’s why you want me here, isn’t it? You want me because of what I am, not who I am in here.” She slapped the center of her chest hard. So what if it hurt? Maybe it would distract her from the agony of her heart breaking in two. She yanked her arm from his grip and backed away, shaking her head. “You knew who I was all along.”
“No, Riana. We had no idea who you were. We had no idea you would be on that plane when we pulled you out.” He moved closer, stalking her as she backed away. “I’ll have to admit that we suspected you were a shifter when we made love to you.”
“Ha! I knew it.” She spat the words with a wave of her arm. “I guess I should be glad you’re willing to admit it.” She wasn’t glad, though. Riana looked up at him and wished with every part of her breaking heart that he would have denied it.
“Why should I deny it? Why should I deny the fact that I knew you were my mate and the love of my life when I made love to you? Why should I deny that being with you, loving you and just plain sleeping with you in my arms was the best thing that ever happened to me?”
“You’re lying now.”
Clay shook his head. “No, Riana. I’m not lying to you. Both Gunter and I would die for you.” He raked his fingers through his hair and shook his head. “Where do you think Gunter is now?” He gestured to the window. “He’s out there somewhere searching out those who would take you and Holly from us and he’s doing it alone. He could be out there dying alone. We would die before we let another man harm you ever again.”
Riana fell to her knees, put her head in her hands and sobbed. “He can’t die.” She looked up at him, her tears blurring her vision. “You can’t die. Gods forgive me, but I love you both!”
How could she feel so much for them in such a short time? She remembered about mates now. She should have one true mate, or so the counsel proclaimed. Why did she love both of these men and why had she fallen so completely and inexplicably in love with them so quickly?
Did it have something to do with the mating heat her mother had told her about all those years ago when she had her first cycle?
“Forgive me, Clay, but I love you both. I can’t choose between you.”
Clay knelt in front of her, cupping her cheeks in his hands. “There’s nothing to forgive, love. We want you to love us both. Once Adam took over as alpha in Paradise, we discovered that a truebond is the way we were meant to mate. A truebond has two males, if not more.” He smiled and kissed her gently. “It’s lucky for you, you get two men to dote on you and make you happy.” He pulled away and gave her a solemn look. “It also means that you get two males to help keep you safe.”
The window behind Clay exploded. Glass flew everywhere as he covered her body with his own, proving to Riana that he meant what he said when he told her he would protect her.
Three large jaguars leapt into the room, their deadly gazes locked on Clay. Riana screamed, finally remembering the last little bit of her life before. That was what she was. That was what everyone who lived in Paradise was. They were shape shifters and they fought to the death for their mates.
She recognized the repugnant odor of these three males. They were three of the six that had defiled her on that fateful night her daughter was conceived. Her skin crawled at the memory, but she pushed it back. Tonight wasn’t a night to cower under the power of old memories. Tonight was the night she would finally get her chance to fight back.
“Run, Riana. I’ll hold them here as long as I can.” Clay pushed her behind him, fully intending to die for her if necessary. She could see the intent in his eyes.
“I won’t let you do this. I won’t let you die for me.” Too many had already died for her. She remembered the night of her escape. She saw five people fall in battle protecting her and her family as they ran from this town. She saw her parents die protecting their children as others whisked them away to safety. No. She wouldn’t leave this time. “Too many people have already died protecting me. It’s time I learned to protect myself.”
Concentrating on her jaguar, Riana called her forgotten beast forth for the first time in over a decade. Her face elongated, her legs shortened and muscles grew more compact. Riana’s jaguar burst forth quickly as though impatient to be set free. She snarled at the three males, daring them to touch her.
Oriana McWerty was no longer a child. She was a grown woman with a child of her own and she would damn well show them that they had created a force to be reckoned with.
Chapter Twenty-seven
“Go, dammit!” Clay barked the order at Riana before he shifted.
Gods, Clay. Why didn’t you tell me you were a lion?
We didn’t say anything because we thought you were human. We didn’t want to scare you away, Clay replied as he moved his
body in front of hers when she attempted to stand beside him.
I can take these males without your help.
Arrogance will not help you now.
Clay snarled at her. It wasn’t arrogance he felt, but a deep-seated need to kill the men who threatened her, then to spank his unruly mate for her disobedience.
The three intruders attacked when his attention was on her. One landed on his neck, its claws digging deep, the other two landed on his back. Do you see? A female is weaker than they are. They don’t even consider you dangerous.
That’s their mistake.
Riana circled around as the four cats wrestled, bit and clawed each other. As much as Clay wanted to believe he could take on the three cats, even in his lion form, he just wasn’t big enough to do it on his own. When the fourth, fifth and sixth jumped through the broken window, Riana snarled and joined in the fray.
Two of the newcomers took on Riana who fought valiantly, but knew very little about her other half. As hard as she fought, the two had her pinned. Had she taken on one, Clay believed she could have won, but against two, she had no chance of victory.
Where the hell are you, Gunter? We’re under attack and Riana refused to run. She stayed and now two have her pinned while I take on four others.
I’m on my way. It took me a while to realize the scent I followed circled back to the hotel. They managed to dupe me and I’m not happy about it.
Just then, Gunter leapt through the window. The floor shook when he landed. Clay’s attackers split while one of the beasts holding Riana to the floor leapt on Gunter’s back, its claws raking deep furrows in the lion’s flesh.
With a roar, Riana flipped over, brought her feet under her and stood. Unsheathing her claws, she swiped at the shifter trying to dominate her. Deep slashes appeared on his face and he howled with rage, fighting her back.
Clay lost sight of her when another cat leapt on his head, its teeth sinking into his neck as its back legs dug relentlessly at the front of his neck and chest.
What a stupid move. With a chuckle, Clay lowered his head, pressed the other cat to the floor, and opened his mouth. By the time the other male realized what he meant to do, it was too late. He had already closed his mouth around the cat’s body and eviscerated it.
A high-pitch scream drew his attention to Riana. Thank the Gods for Gunter’s aid, the alpha lion had already taken out his three and Clay’s spare. The only male jaguar left alive stalked Riana with no regard for his backup. It seemed that the male was confident that his team had triumphed, because he didn’t even look their way.
He had Riana backed into a corner. She spit and snarled, swiping her deadly claws as he dodged out of the way.
He’s playing with her.
Gunter stared into Clay’s eyes for a moment and Clay knew he would never want to find himself an enemy of that deadly glare. Silently, Gunter walked up next to the jaguar and pushed him away. Turning, he knocked the cat down with a swipe of his huge lion’s paw. Grabbing him by the neck, he flung the other around like a rag doll until the cat stopped squirming.
Clay closed his eyes. He almost wanted to cry. Just because Riana knew she was one of them, didn’t mean she would accept their way of life, especially now that she’d seen them at their worst.
He concentrated on his human half, bringing his human self forward in his mind. Again, bones snapped and popped as they reshaped and muscles shrunk to fit over the humanoid bones.
“You’re free now,” he said to Riana who shivered, naked in the corner. She had managed to change back into her human form, but apparently didn’t remember how to use their magick to dress herself again. “You can go anywhere and do anything without fear of having a stalker.”
“I know,” she said with a nod. She held her head down, refusing to meet their gaze. “Those were the six that…that—” She couldn’t finish her sentence.
Clay smelled the scent of shame roll off her. Both of them hurried to her side. “You have nothing to be ashamed of, Riana.” Did she believe they would hold her responsible for the acts of insane men?
“Yes,” she said with a nod, “I do. I had a chance to kill him and I didn’t.” She gestured to the male who taunted and played with her before Gunter killed him. “He smells a lot like Holly. I just couldn’t…” She looked up at them through her tears. “Can you forgive me?”
“There’s nothing to forgive, love,” Gunter said as he drew her into his arms. Clay moved around behind her and added his body heat with the hope of reducing her shock-induced tremors. “We aren’t angry because you have a heart. Your heart is what draws us to you, why we have fallen so deeply in love with you in such a short time. Yes, the mating heat draws us together, but it’s your heart that has us so fully enthralled.”
“He’s right, you know,” Clay agreed. “You have such a beautiful soul, we can’t help but love you.” Leaning forward, he kissed her shoulder and cupped her breast with Gunter following suit on her other side. Clay smiled when she moaned.
“I don’t believe this. Here you two are, all scratched up, with dead bodies surrounding us and all you two can think about now is sex.”
“Darlin’, when you’re around, that’s all we think about.”
She giggled and squirmed between them. “You know, I never thought I would ever feel this way about a man. I’m really surprised that I can feel this way about you two, and I love you, too.”
Chapter Twenty-eight
Riana exited the bathroom, wearing the scandalous teddie, panties and garters her sisters bought her as shower gifts. The four-inch, white lace-covered fuck-me pumps and the sheer lace robe they purchased for her yesterday gave it just the right extra touch. She knew they would. Her sisters were geniuses.
She smiled in the mirror over the new vanity the guys had purchased and put in their huge bedroom for her. For the first time in her life, she was truly relaxed. She felt safe and she felt as though she belonged. She had sisters! She had grandparents and best of all, she had two men who veritably worshipped the ground she walked on.
The thought made her giggle. Her potions shop, Your Inner Goddess, opened next week and was already inundated with orders. She hadn’t done too badly for a woman who, just last month, had no home and no hope of feeling safe in her lifetime. Tonight, she felt like a goddess because her men had told her exactly how they would worship her.
She loved the fact that no one blamed her for bringing the evil back to Paradise. No one blamed her for the mass of dead bodies at the hotel and that no one minded that she opened a potions shop in town. Most of all, she loved the fact that she had two men to love her and to love in return and her daughter was finally happy. Paradise was just that…her paradise.
This was what she’d been searching for when she had researched new places to live. She had wanted to find a place where she could find someone to love who would love her in return and she wanted a place where they could be safe.
Smiling, Oriana realized she had found it here, with these two men.
The door opened quietly behind her and she heard her mates suck in their breath. “You look exquisite,” they both said at the same time. Hardly a moment went by when they didn’t say something of that nature.
Turning, Riana opened her arms to them and smiled. Cream seeped through the lace crotch of her teddy and coated her thighs. “I’m ready when you are, my mates.”
Watching as the two men drew closer felt like slow motion. They moved forward, tugging and pulling at their clothes as they approached. Her mouth grew dry as she watched them undress, slowly revealing their hard, muscular bodies that she couldn’t wait to touch. She fisted her hands at her sides to keep herself from reaching for them.
“We know you want us, and we know you agreed to be our mate at the public ceremony, but we need to hear it now, before we take you together. Afterward you won’t be able to change your mind. If you wish to do so, now is the time,” Gunter said as he moved to take her in his arms. “Tell us now while we can still gi
ve you the choice.”
With a smile, Riana moved closer, wrapped her arms about his neck, and pressed her body against his. “I love you both. I want you both. For once in my life, I’m not afraid. I don’t feel as though I need to run and I have the love of the two bravest men that I have ever known.”
Reaching down, Riana grasped Gunter’s cock in one hand and Clay’s in the other. “I want you both to do what you promised and make me scream with elation.” She grinned. “That is what you promised me.” She gave them each a look, her brow raised. “And I won’t accept anything less.”
Still smiling, Riana leaned forward, her tongue out, licking first Clay’s flat nipples, before moving to Gunter’s muscular chest to do the same.
Again, Clay moved behind her. Reaching around, he cupped her breasts and lifted them for Gunter’s attention.
Riana reached back, wrapping her arm around Clay’s neck as she leaned into him. Pressing her head into his neck, she kissed him, nibbling lightly on the sensitive skin where his shoulder met his throat.
Gunter wasted no time in untying the teddy and garter belt before peeling them from her body. After he knelt and removed her shoes, he stood, cupped her cheeks, and kissed her hungrily. He didn’t waste more time with gentle touches. Now wasn’t the time for that. Tilting her head back, he deepened the kiss. This kiss wasn’t a slight nibbling of her lips, but a kiss borne of pure possession, of bone-deep desire.
Riana hungrily kissed him back, meeting each thrust and parry of his tongue with one of her own. Her eager response should have shocked her, but didn’t. This was right. They were right. Perhaps the fates, knowing that these two men awaited her, designed her experiences for this moment, this mating.
For once, Oriana felt as though she’d done something right. Getting on that plane hadn’t been as crazy, as stupid, as she first believed. The plane crash was just another vessel that brought her closer and closer to her truebond mates. She would never feel guilty for the decisions that brought her to them ever again.
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