Prowling the Vet

by Tamsin Baker

  A wounded noise sounded behind her and Laura ignored it. Tyler wouldn’t like the idea of her leaving, but she couldn’t stay if it meant Brandon kept sleeping around.

  “Stop it, you silly woman. That’s not what I meant. Now, let me finish.”

  Brandon was squashing her into his chest now, holding her head and arms down so she was tucked into him. His heart was beating beneath her, the sound soothing as she settled down to press her ear against it.

  As her anger drained away, she closed her eyes and nestled in, finding the most comfortable spot where all of her body felt warm and caressed.

  “What did you mean then?”

  He sighed and squeezed her again. “I mean…I will commit to you, only to you. I don’t care about Tyler being there, too, that’s not an issue in our community. I have always known I’d share a mate with my brother, I don’t think of it as you cheating.”

  A huge weight lifted off Laura and she sagged heavier into Brandon’s embrace. Now that her anger had left her, she felt vulnerable and a little fragile, and open to whatever feelings and thoughts they wished to share.

  “So, what is it then?”

  Brandon groaned and shifted her so that her ass was right over his crotch. She wiggled because she couldn’t resist and he squeezed her again.

  “Just remember that this is new for me, too. I’m not used to it yet.”

  Laura had to ask. “Do you want anyone else?”

  Silence for a moment, then Brandon barked out a laugh.

  “No. I don’t. I had a woman proposition me this morning at the gym and I growled at her. I wasn’t even slightly interested, though she was hot, and that’s strange for me. I’m not sure I entirely like the feeling.”

  Laura ignored the “she was hot” comment and processed the rest of the information. There’d always be good-looking women around, the concern was whether or not her men found them tempting.

  Her big wildcat wasn’t interested in all the other pussies anymore, and he was worried. He probably thought something was wrong with him.

  Laura slipped her hands up under his T-shirt and began teasing his tight little nipples with her fingers.

  “I like the feeling…” She began gyrating on his lap, rubbing her ass against his rising cock, and loving the feel of the feminine power rising in her belly. “I love the fact you want me above all others.”

  Brandon grunted, in agreement with her assumption or not, she wasn’t sure. She raised her head to stare into his blue eyes and found them looking strangely cautious. She smiled up at him with as much warmth as possible. “Because I need you.”

  Brandon crushed her against him and kissed her, his hunger evident in the thrust of his tongue into her mouth and the way his hands clung to her body like a dying man in need of her love.

  Chapter Eleven

  Laura stepped into the noisy bar with her men, tingles of awareness zinging along her nerves. The smell of sweat and beer assaulted her nostrils, yet she giggled like a schoolgirl on her first date. She felt so special between her men, their protective postures like strutting peacocks and angry gorillas all in one.

  Some huge guy was standing in front of her grinning like he’d won something, his muscular build very similar to Brandon’s.

  “Hey Ty, Brandon. Who’s your friend?

  Laura waited to see what her men would do and was surprised when Brandon spoke up.

  “Jim, this is Laura. Laura, this is Jim, a friend of mine from work.”

  Brandon’s mouth was turned down and he was shifting from foot to foot as though readying himself for a fight.

  Calm down, honey.

  “Hey.” Laura nodded at the guy and Jim stepped forward with a slight leer.

  “Wanna’ dance?”

  Laura laughed at such a blatant offer. This wasn’t exactly the sort of place she’d want to dance with a stranger, even if she hadn’t been with her men. Brandon stepped in front of her, blocking off Jim’s advance as effectively as a solar eclipse.

  “I don’t think so.”

  Laura rolled her eyes and turned to her right when a feminine hand slid into her palm. She turned to face a gorgeous redhead rolling her eyes in Laura’s direction.

  “Hey Renee.”

  “Hi Laura, let’s get a drink.” Renee tugged her away from the boys and Laura let her. She watched with amusement as Tyler and Brandon’s mouths dropped open, looking too much like cartoon characters than the big men they were.

  “I can’t believe they are so protective.” Laura nodded at Tyler and Brandon, and Renee laughed with a gusto similar to her brothers.

  “You’re kidding? They’re men who believe they’ve found the one and only woman designed for them. They’re not leaving anything to chance.”

  Holy hell, that sounded intense!

  “What can I get you to drink?” the bartender asked them, and Laura swung around her seat, facing the cute guy and giving him an automatic smile.

  “Renee?” She turned to the woman who had befriended her before she’d known a thing about her.

  “Yeah. Whiskey for me.”

  Laura grimaced. “Yuck. Red wine for me, please.”

  A hand pushed some money across the bar and Laura looked up to see Tyler paying for her drink.

  “Thanks, sweetie.”

  Tyler dropped his head and planted a kiss on her lips. It was hard, possessive, and very thorough. Laura threaded her hands through his hair and held him tight as white light tingled around her brain. When he finally lifted his head, his expression was soft.

  “You okay?”

  Laura nodded. “Of course. You go talk to your friends. I’ll hang with Renee for a bit.”

  Tyler glanced over to the corner where Brandon was standing with a group of guys.

  “Okay, but come find me as soon as you can.”

  He kissed her once more and swaggered over to cheers by the group.

  “What was that about?” She indicated to the men, who were handing beers around the group.

  Renee laughed. “Tyler’s been sulking for months now. His friends will give him a bit of crap tonight, but they’re happy for him and Brandon.”

  Laura frowned, watching the back-slapping and beer-guzzling with a jaded eye.

  “Is this what every Saturday night is going to be like from now on then?”

  Renee handed her a glass of red wine and they clinked the glasses together.

  “Cheers, and to answer your question, no. I have a feeling this may be one of the last times you’ll be here. The boys are too in love with you to take you to places like this.”

  Laura was forever grateful she hadn’t been drinking her wine when Renee said such a thing. She would have sprayed it all over the gorgeous woman.

  “Did you just say ‘in love with me’?”

  Renee could not mean that.

  “Yeah, of course.” Renee grinned and threw back her whiskey, swallowing it in one smooth motion.

  “But…it’s only been a week!” This made no sense to her whatsoever.

  “Shifters are like that. Mate for life, fated soul mates. Blah, blah, blah.”

  Heat seared Laura’s cheeks and she looked away for a moment. She was still finding it a little hard dealing with the whole, men-who-turn-into-mountain-lions thing, but Renee of course had been dealing with it her entire life.

  “Nae!”

  “Rosie!” Renee waved at a cute little blonde woman across the bar.

  “Do you mind if I run over to chat with Rosie for one second?”

  Laura waved her off. “Go, go. I’m going to enjoy my wine and think.”

  Renee winked and jumped up, her sexy little bum sashaying away. Laura would have been so jealous of Renee’s physique, if she even had an ounce of spare energy to do so. Tyler and Brandon had worn her out completely, making love to her in every way she knew, and ways she’d never dreamed of. Why be worried?

  “So you’re the new girl Tyler’s screwing?”

  Laura swiveled on her stool, gap
ing at the tart sneering at her. Was this woman really talking to her?

  “Excuse me?”

  Her eyes slid up and down the woman in front of her. This could not be the sort of bed partner Tyler usually went for. She was dark and short, attractive in a skanky sort of way. But her aura was horrible, all ice and flint.

  The woman tossed her head like a horse. “Tyler and his brother have slept with most of the women in this bar. I wanted to warn you not to get too close.”

  Another woman, this one tall and blonde, stepped up beside the dark one.

  “Yeah, you know you won’t last, right? Those two never keep any woman around for more than a week or two.”

  Laura swallowed the burning in her throat and tried not to think about her lovers taking these women into their beds.

  “Is there any reason you’re talking to me?”

  The dark one nodded. “You should be warned. You look like a nice chick. They take you to their beds, make you feel loved, act like you’re special, and shit…do they know how to screw.”

  Acid burned in Laura’s tummy and she placed the wineglass down with shaking hands.

  “Do they now? How would you know? Had both of them, have you?”

  The blonde narrowed her eyes at Laura. “They never cross swords. I slept with Brandon a few weeks ago, and he told me his brother and he never share.”

  A small flame of triumph flared in Laura’s belly, despite the anger and jealousy threatening to consume her. Her heart was pounding and she could barely swallow the bile that was rising in her throat. This was a nightmare come true.

  “Well, I’m glad you weren’t good enough for both of them. But I am.”

  The women reeled back as though she’d struck them.

  “What?” The blonde gasped. “You’re screwing both of them?”

  Laura shuddered at the word, unable to link the two images together—the way her men touched her, loved her, and the crude way these women were expressing it. These women had shared the same things with Brandon and Tyler as she had? Impossible.

  “No. I make love to them.”

  The women began to laugh, a cackling, evil sort of sound. “You’re kidding, right? Those boys fuck anything with tits and a cunt. They may talk sweet, but then they fuck you all night long.”

  Laura was going to be sick, she actually dry-retched and gagged. Visions of her men doing those exact things to her flashed before her eyes. Heat bloomed in her cheeks and she gripped onto the bar so she didn’t topple off her seat.

  Another woman came along and the dark one grabbed her.

  “This is Tyler’s new chick.”

  The new one, who had beautiful eyes, smirked at her.

  “Lucky bitch. Enjoy him while you can. He has the most talented tongue I’ve ever come across. I’ve tried to get back in with him, but he likes new flesh.”

  The beautiful eyes looked Laura up and down, showing her true colors as the ugliness surged, transforming her once-pretty face.

  “And there’s plenty of you to go around, so you might last longer than us.”

  Laura was really going to be sick now. Her stomach surged and she jumped up. “I have to go.”

  She pushed through the group of women, their laughter following her as she made her way to the toilet. She burst into the dirty little room and locked herself in a stall, shaking uncontrollably with hot tears rolling down her face. How many historical romance novels had she read that said the best men to love were reformed rakes? A bad boy who turned good just for you?

  It so wasn’t true. Loving men like that hurt. The sobbing started and she covered her mouth with her hand, rocking forward and back. She couldn’t compete with women like that. She didn’t want to. How could she ever believe that they’d stay with her, if those were the sort of women they liked.

  Laura unrolled some toilet paper and wiped at her face, memories of their times together flashing in her mind like some sort of porn movie. She’d believed them when they said she was special. But she wasn’t. She was just one of the many women they’d fucked and the first they’d tried sharing. How many women had they licked? How many vaginas had those cocks been in? She’d sucked them and loved every minute of it. How could she make love to them now that she knew what sort of men they were?

  Laura took a deep, shuddering breath as a group of girls burst into the bathroom. She needed to get home—now, where she could be alone. She stood up on shaky legs, making sure her breathing was at least a little regular, then she stepped out into the room.

  The women all stared at her, one little redhead stepping close.

  “You okay?”

  She nodded, walking to the mirror and inspecting the damage. Crap. Thank God she didn’t wear much makeup.

  She turned to the woman close by. “I need to get out of here, but don’t have my car. Are there any taxi’s out front?”

  The redhead lay a gentle hand on her arm. “Sure. When you go out, just turn left and follow the hallway. It’ll take you right to the front where the taxi’s are.”

  Laura gave the woman a smile and checked her pockets. She still had her phone and money on her. Perfect. She was so done living in this fantasy world. Better to get out now before she got her heart totally shattered.

  “Thanks.” She nodded at the one kind woman she’d met tonight and ducked out the door. She ran straight into a gorgeous, skinny, platinum-blonde.

  “Look who we have here. You’re Laura, aren’t you?”

  Laura nodded, defeated. What more could be said to her tonight?

  “Well, I’m Simone.”

  The woman placed her hand on her hip and flipped her hair, the tone of her voice making it clear that she thought she was important.

  “Yeah, so?”

  Simone glared at her, fire spitting out of her ugly aura. “You know Brandon left you to come to me last night?”

  What?!

  White noise filled her head as the breath froze in her lungs.

  “What are you talking about?”

  The blonde tossed her glistening long hair over her shoulder.

  “Brandon was in my bed last night. I know you think you have them all to yourself, but you don’t. They’ll always find a way to get what they need, and you obviously can’t give it to them.”

  Pain shot through Laura’s chest. A piercing, crippling sensation that had her staggering back and fumbling along the wall toward the back door. This couldn’t be happening. She should have listened to her inner voice when it’d told her it had all been too good to be true.

  Her phone was vibrating in her pocket, and it made her move faster. Her men were too smooth-tongued to trust them to tell the truth. She fell out the back door and into the cold night air. A white cab waited by the curb and she stumbled toward it. She yanked open the door and told the man her address.

  Her swollen eyelids slid down over her painfully gritty eyes and she wrapped her arms around her shaking body. She felt cold, empty, and disgusting. Had she just left a part of her soul back in that club?

  As the silence fell down on her like a brick wall, she knew she’d have to face the truth. She’d already fallen in love with Tyler and Brandon, and without them she’d live her life as though half of her soul were missing.

  ****

  Tyler walked to the back of the darkened room again and looked over to where Renee stood by the bar. She lifted her arms in a confused shrug and Tyler closed his eyes briefly. What the hell happened? One minute he’d been drinking beer with some mates and the next thing he knew, their woman was missing. He made his way back to Renee in time to meet up with Brandon, who’d been doing another lap outside.

  “One of the bouncers said she left in a taxi about half an hour ago.”

  “What?” Tyler couldn’t believe it. “Why would she do that?”

  He turned to his sister. “Nae, what did you say to her?”

  Renee held up her hands and stepped back as though she’d been struck. “Nothing, I swear. Although, I probably shouldn�
��t have left her alone for so long. I did see a couple of women talking to her but didn’t think much of it.”

  Tyler shuddered as an ex of his walked past and gave him fluttery eyes. He looked away with a grimace.

  “Did we do something totally moronic bringing her here?” he asked his brother, a feeling of cold dread slithering up his spine and circling his chest.

  “I’m gonna’ call her again.”

  “No. You’ve already called her ten times.” Tyler thought quickly. What to do?

  “Let’s drive over to her place. If the lights are on, we’ll bang on her door, and if they’re not, we’ll come back in the morning.”

  Brandon grunted his ascent and they both headed toward the door.

  Twenty minutes later, they were sitting in the car outside Laura’s house, staring at the bricks and mortar.

  “No lights on. I’ll call her again.”

  Tyler let Brandon do whatever he wanted, but he knew she wouldn’t pick up the phone. Something was wrong.

  “Pick up, pick up, pick up.” Brandon chanted, tapping his foot on the floor of the car.

  Tyler shook his head and turned the car back on. “Let’s get some sleep. I think tomorrow is going to be a very long, yet interesting day.”

  They drove home in silence, Tyler’s head buzzing with incriminations while his heart sank lower and further into his chest.

  Chapter Twelve

  Laura heard the pounding on her front door, and her mobile phone was vibrating its little heart away on her coffee table. It was barely eight a.m. She didn’t need three guesses to know who was behind both.

  She closed her eyes and picked up the remote control to turn on the TV.

  “Laura, we know you’re in there. Please just open the door and tell us what’s wrong. Did something happen last night?”

  Tyler’s voice was calm, but Laura could hear the strain behind it.

  “Go away!” she shouted through her front door before whispering, “Please, just leave me alone.” She didn’t want to do this.

  Bang, bang, bang. A bigger fist this time.

  “Laura!”

  Laura shivered at the growl behind Brandon’s words. She half expected him to ram the door in, which she wouldn’t deny he had the strength to do. Squeezing her eyes shut, she realized she was going to have to let them in before they did do some damage to either themselves or the door. At least they could then have it out once and for all.