Jace couldn’t stop himself from gently pulling his hand from Laurie’s and tenderly covering her belly. He smiled at the contented sigh Laurie released at his touch, and he looked up to face Jackson.
“We’re going to love her and fill her with our seed throughout the night, and if the Fates are kind to us, she’ll be pregnant by morning,” he whispered, his voice strong and determined despite its softness.
“We need to give her the choice, Jace,” Jackson whispered back.
Laurie reached down and covered Jace’s hand with her own, smiling in her sleep. Pulling her left hand down her body, bringing Jackson’s hand with hers, she placed his hand on her abdomen, beside Jace’s, then covered both their hands with hers and pushed them into her belly.
Jace smiled and rubbed his hand across her stomach, aching to know the reality of their baby growing within her womb. I think she’s already chosen, Jackson.
Not allowing himself to hesitate anymore, he leaned forward and lightly kissed his mate’s soft lips. Pulling back, he smiled down at her as a sigh of contentment passed her lips.
“Laurie,” he whispered, unable to wait a moment longer to claim her.
“Mmmm?” she answered, not able to pull herself out of the warm feeling of being held so tenderly by the two of them.
“Baby, we need you to wake up so we can talk to you,” Jace whispered, reaching up to carefully push back the hair that had fallen across her cheek to tuck it gently behind her ear.
Laurie pulled herself from the dream she was having, sighing contentedly at the feel of Jace and Jackson holding her between them. “I don’t want to wake up,” she mumbled, content as she lay on her back as each man rested his hand upon her stomach while they nuzzled against her neck, kissing her gently.
Turning slightly, she looked at Jackson, then at Jace, trying to pull herself back to reality, but it was difficult to do when her dreams were lying, so real, beside her. “Kiss me before I wake up,” she whispered.
Jace grinned at Jackson then leaned forward and took their mate’s lips in what could only be described as a claiming. Laurie turned her body into his and carded her fingers through his hair, pulling him closer to her as she opened her mouth to accept his seeking tongue. The taste of him exploded in her mouth, and she moaned against the softness of his lips.
The taste of her called Jace’s wolf to the forefront, and he allowed it to revel in the feel of their mate giving them exactly what they needed. He was overwhelmed with desire, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to hold back from mating with her for much longer. A growl of possession escaped him, and he tightened his arms around her body, feeling Jackson holding onto her tightly as he moved closer to her.
Laurie moaned and pushed her body against his, loving the feel of his hard body against her softness. When his lips left hers, she was panting with desire, but she felt a need to include Jackson in their closeness. Turning, she found him waiting to claim her mouth, and she opened to him easily, his taste having the same effect on her. She belonged to both of them. She knew it deep down in her soul.
Tears formed in her eyes as she felt the fear of losing her heart to these two men, knowing that they couldn’t possibly want her as well. Not in the way that she wanted them.
“Baby, why are you crying?” Jace asked her, wiping away the tears from her face with the pad of his thumb.
“I’m going to have to leave because I can’t stay here knowing how much I want to be with you both,” she whispered, looking at both men sadly.
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be with us, honey,” Jackson told her quietly, leaning forward to brush his lips across hers once again.
“And you won’t be leaving,” Jace told her seriously. “You belong with us.”
Laurie closed her eyes and sighed as she tried to calm herself. “I really feel that I do belong with you,” she admitted softly. “But this is just for now, and that’s okay.” She closed her eyes and settled back onto the mattress, lying on her back and resting her hands gently on her stomach.
Both men watched her silently, unable to keep the sense of peace and happiness from rushing through their bodies. The sight of her safe, content, and happy, lying between them, humbled them in a way that they could never have believed. Knowing that she was happy to be with them, that she chose them, even though she thought she would have to leave, made everything in the universe fall into place. In that one moment, even though they knew they would have to wait just a little longer before claiming her, they both felt the sense of rightness in their mate’s acceptance of them.
Jace gently stroked Laurie’s face, leaning forward to kiss her lips, his tongue reaching out to taste the flavor that was their mate. He sighed contentedly and leaned back to rest his head next to hers on her pillow. He smiled as she turned toward him and kissed his chin softly, a gentle sound of contentment leaving her lips. Turning toward Jackson, she kissed his neck slowly, breathing deeply and sighing happily as his head also joined hers on her pillow.
Both men couldn’t stop the low growls that escaped them. Laurie’s body was sandwiched between them, and they felt her tension leave her body as she leaned against them, falling back asleep within moments. They settled in beside their mate and closed their eyes, relaxing fully for the first time in their lives, knowing that their mate slept peacefully between them.
If she even thinks she’s going to leave us, we’ll just have to tie her to our bed and show our stubborn little mate just how much we’ll love her.
The vivid picture Jace sent to Jackson of Laurie, tied naked to their triad bed, smiling up at them as they held her gently between them, was enough to make Jackson whimper with instant desire.
Aw hell, Jace! Way to make sure I have the hard-on of the century!
Jace’s laughter echoed in Jackson’s mind.
That makes two of us, Jackson.
Chapter 10
“Laurie, look at me,” Jace told her quietly, taking her face firmly but gently in his hand and turning her to look up at him. When she opened her eyes and smiled at him, the gentle softness of her melted any last bit of control he had. Leaning forward, he covered her lips with his, teasing her with his tongue as he tasted her sweetness.
When he pulled away, he kissed her gently one last time before Jackson pulled her toward him and covered her mouth tenderly with his own. She melted into his arms as he tasted her, gently stroking her face with his hand as he leaned into her soft body. Pulling away slowly, he smiled down at her and couldn’t help but chuckle at her confusion.
“This is not a dream, honey,” he reassured her quietly.
Laurie looked at Jackson then turned to Jace, blinking slowly as she tried to wake up and fought to come back to reality. This can’t be real. It’s too wonderful.
Deciding that she would choose the dream, she closed her eyes and sighed quietly. “It’s okay,” she insisted sadly. “I don’t mind. It’s the perfect dream for my last night here.”
Jace growled and covered the right side of her body with his with a quickness that made Laurie open her eyes in shock. He enfolded her in his arms and kissed her lips quickly, pulling back to look down at her, leaving only inches between his face and hers.
“Listen very carefully, Laurie,” he told her seriously, his blue eyes sparkling with emotion as he looked down at her. “Jackson and I have waited a very long time for our mate. Our mate will form a triad that cannot be broken. The Fates knew that we needed a special woman who would give us the comfort and love that we would need to soothe our souls. We’ve been waiting for the one woman who would give us the gentleness and love that we both ache for. Without our mate, we would lose ourselves to anger. We would lose control of our emotions. Every day we would suffer until we lost our humanity and were unable to lead our pack.”
“Your pack?” Laurie asked, confused by the use of the word she had heard often since she had arrived at their ranch.
Jackson leaned toward them, his body covering the left side of her bo
dy, kissing her gently. “Our family is our pack, honey,” he explained gently. “And your family will be our pack from now on.”
“My family?” Laurie looked at Jackson with a longing in her eyes that was tempered by fear.
“Yes, honey,” Jackson told her softly. “Your children will be part of our pack, and we will watch over them, love them, and take care of them from now on. Just like we will you.”
“I know this is very quick for you, baby, but you’re meant to be ours. You’re our mate,” Jace told her quietly, his eyes never wavering from hers. “We know it with everything we are. Your kindness and caring soothes us. Your humor lightens our hearts. Your gentleness touches our souls.” He leaned toward her then and claimed her lips softly, gently coaxing a response from her.
He pulled back slowly, smiling at the sleepy expression on Laurie’s face. He turned and smiled at Jackson, leaning back and giving him access to their mate’s mouth. Jackson wasted no time in leaning forward and tasting the unique sweetness of Laurie’s mouth, smiling against her lips when she whimpered slightly and gave herself to him without reservation. Pulling back to look down at her, he waited until she opened her eyes and looked at both of them. There were tears in her eyes as she gazed up at them silently.
“Baby, why are you crying?” Jace asked her quickly, reaching up to lightly follow the path of the tear that fell from the corner of her eye to disappear into her hair.
“You can’t possibly be right, Jace,” she told him sadly. “I’m not the person for you. You deserve a perfect woman who is pretty and small with no baggage and...”
Jace and Jackson growled at the same time and pulled her body against theirs, not allowing her to continue berating herself. “No, Laurie,” Jace said angrily. “You will not talk about yourself in that way ever again.”
Laurie looked at both men in shock at the vehemence in their expressions and their words. She looked from Jace to Jackson and back again. Dare she hope that what she saw in their eyes was unconditional acceptance and desire for her?
“You are all that we want and need. Ever. For the rest of our lives.” Jace was firm and strong, and Laurie’s brow furrowed in confusion.
“You’re the mate that was destined to find us,” Jackson told her quietly, reaching up to tenderly stroke her check. “You were meant to be ours.” He hesitated, worry creasing his forehead as he looked down at her. “Do you think you can learn to care about us as we already care about you, Laurie?”
“You care about me?” Laurie gasped, unable to stop her heart from racing at their words. “How can that be? You don’t even know me.”
“We do care about you,” Jace insisted. “It’s the way of true mates. We’re drawn to you first by your scent.”
Laurie looked at both men with her eyebrows raised. “That’s what the wonderful smell is every time I’m near either one of you?”
Jackson chuckled and nodded. Laurie looked at him and couldn’t help but smile. She took a deep breath and turned to look at Jace, loving the scent that she drew deep within herself. “I do love the way you smell,” she admitted on a sigh.
Jace laughed and leaned forward to kiss her lightly. “Your scent draws us to you, Laurie, but the Fates wouldn’t pick someone as a mate for us unless they were perfect for us in every way that we need.”
“Your kindness, your understanding, the way you’re supportive of every one of the members of our pack, everything that is your nature is what we need,” Jackson told her quietly, tenderly rubbing his hand up and down her arm as he spoke.
“We’re drawn to you because of the person you are, Laurie,” Jace continued, his voice tender as he leaned forward and nuzzled her chin before leaning back to gaze down at her with an openness that took Laurie’s breath away. “You center us. You make us feel a hope that we’ve never felt before.”
“You are the most kind and giving woman we have ever met.” Jackson’s brown eyes softened as he looked down at her, his words emphatic.
Laurie looked up at him in shock. Before she could utter one word of protest, Jace continued Jackson’s thoughts. “We’ve watched you with our family and see how you help, how you listen, how you make them laugh.”
“The children look forward to the time you spend with them,” Jackson continued. “Martha adores you. You’ve stepped in without hesitation and have brought a new sense of togetherness to our home.”
“I haven’t done anything,” Laurie protested.
Jace stroked the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip, leaning forward to gently claim its softness. “Yes, you have, Laurie,” he whispered against her lips. “You’ve done that and more by being the adorable and loving woman that you are. When you’re near us, we’re centered. We feel at peace and relaxed. It’s only when you’re near us that we finally feel that everything is the way that it should be in our lives.”
Laurie looked at both men and couldn’t stop the tears that filled her eyes. The fact that they needed her was nice, but once again, she realized that her friendship and support was what they needed from her. Could she settle for that to stay with such a warm and welcoming family? It would be wonderful for her children to be accepted unconditionally. Maybe she could put aside her desires and dreams and just live as she had been living for the last seventeen years. Could she stand to live without love in her life?
She looked at the two men who stared down at her silently. Her heart broke. She knew that she couldn’t stay with these men feeling what she already felt for them. She wanted them as her husbands. Yes husbands. She couldn’t pick between them. She wanted to be with them both, but she couldn’t stay with them just to fill their void. She needed to be desired. She needed to be loved.
“I can’t.” Laurie’s tortured voice was barely above a whisper. “I need you both to leave my room. I’ll be leaving in the morning.”
Jace growled and leaned against Laurie’s side. “Why?” he demanded, his wolf raging inside of him. “Explain to me why you don’t want us.”
Jackson wrapped his arm around her waist and squeezed her tightly against him. “Tell us why you don’t think we could have a happy and loving triad.”
Laurie looked at both men through her tears. She was more than confused. “You want to be in a loving relationship with me?” she asked, her voice shaky with emotion.
“What the hell do you think we’re talking about?” Jace answered angrily, his eyes flashing an eerie golden color before turning back to his beautiful ice blue shade.
“I thought that you meant that you needed me to help you by supporting you as your friend,” she explained softly. “That’s how everyone sees me, Jace. Why would you and Jackson be any different?”
The words no sooner left Laurie’s mouth when Jace covered her lips with his own. He gave her no chance to protest. The growl that sounded from deep within his chest sent tingles down Laurie’s spine.
When he pulled back, her breath was coming hard and fast. There was no doubt of the passion he felt for her. She looked up at him in total shock. When she turned to look at Jackson, his brown eyes flashed the same golden color and held the same feral look of desire. Before she could speak, his mouth descended over hers, and he kissed her with such passion, she barely had time to breathe.
“Laurie, you’re our triad mate.” Jace spoke finally, looking to Jackson briefly before turning to pin her with his stare. “You are more than a friend, more than a lover. You are the heart of our joining. You are the keeper of our souls. Never doubt that we desire you. There hasn’t been a moment since we first set eyes on you that we haven’t wanted to wrap our arms around you and protect you and bury ourselves deep within your body until you scream out our names. It just is, honey.”
Laurie’s eyes went wide at Jace’s words. He wanted her? They wanted her? They wanted her as a lover, and not just a friend? Was that possible? The vision he painted in her mind of him buried deep inside her made her womb clench and her sex gush with arousal.
Jackson growled and leaned in
to kiss her just as passionately as Jace had. “We can smell how your body readies itself for us, Laurie.” He leaned against her and allowed her to feel the steel hardness of his cock as it rubbed against her hip. “Are you going to tell me you aren’t wet for us?”
Laurie blushed and looked away from his intense gaze, unable to look at either man. “I can’t help it,” she whispered finally. “I don’t understand it, but I can’t deny that I want to be with you both. There are so many things that I want to do to you.”
Jace laughed and leaned his body against hers, allowing her to feel his own hard cock against her right hip. “Baby, we want to do so many things to you, too. You were destined to be ours. We will never want another woman. We will never desire another woman, Laurie. Just you.” Jace’s voice was deep with sincerity.
Jace, tell her our secret.
Jace nodded and reached out to brush the soft lock of hair that rested against Laurie’s cheek. “There’s something else you need to know, honey.”
Laurie looked at him silently, knowing that he was preparing to tell her something important. She could feel the tension radiating from him. Without thought, she reached up and rubbed her hand across his cheek, her thumb rubbing below his ear as she reached behind his neck to massage the tension from him gently.
“Jace, I can feel your worry,” she told him quietly. “Please don’t worry.”
Jace smiled down at her, looking at Jackson briefly before leaning forward to kiss her lips lightly.
She’s able to sense my emotions, Jackson. When we claim her, she’ll be able to share our ability to communicate with each other telepathically even though she’s human. I just know it.
I agree, Jace. The way she can share her dreams with us has to be a part of the abilities we’ll share. There’s no other explanation. She’s definitely our alpha female. Now we just have to convince her without scaring her.
“Laurie, Jackson and I have an ability to talk to each other in our minds,” he told her finally. “We’ve been able to do this since we were teenagers. We’ll be able to do the same with you once we claim you.”
Bernard, Lynnette - Laurie's Loves [Beckett's Wolf Pack, Triad Mates] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 9