by Diane Leyne
He was also a medical man and Jack had been thinking about getting certified as an EMT. Maybe having a Doctor in the family would come in handy when it came to studying.
And he loved Penelope. That was probably even more important than their blood tie.
Jack pondered. Was that why he’d been drawn to this town after working on Alex? There were a dozen towns he could have chosen to set up shop in, but he’d ended up in his mother’s hometown. What were the odds, unless that was what drew him here, which he’d visited just once? Maybe, he’d recognized the place on some cellular level.
“Don’t let these guys scare you off. We’re not so bad. It might actually end up being a good thing having a fifth around, you know, as a tie breaker when we argue.”
He looked down at Oliver, frowning. “Are you wearing Gucci loafers?”
“Please say no!” It was John, laughing. “No, strike that. Please say yes, then he can drag you shopping instead of me. Hey. Jack’s right. Adding a fifth is a great idea!”
John watched as Jack beamed at Oliver and then started laughing as Tucker and Kent piled on with great ideas how Oliver could help make their lives easier.
“Hell,” interjected Tucker. “If I’d known you existed, I’d have hunted you down years ago and dragged you home. You’ve got to be a better Alpha than Kent!”
Kent reached over and punched his twin in the shoulder and then they were on the ground wrestling. Kent was faster, but slow and steady Tucker soon had him on his back while Oliver watched, openmouthed with shock.
“Children, children!” Jack looked over at Penelope, whose delighted expression and tone belied her stern words. “Leave the man alone. He’s just been family for what, ten minutes. Don’t scare him off yet.”
“I don’t know what to say. It’s a bit overwhelming.”
“Well then hold on to your hat and be prepared to be even more overwhelmed. I just met your dad.”
* * * *
Penelope had heard the phrase that the silence was deafening before, but she’d never known what it really meant until now. Five sets of masculine eyes turned to her, and it occurred to her that, coloring aside, Oliver did resemble his cousins. They were distracted by the red hair and lanky build, but he had the very same eyes and nose, even if his eyes were blue and his nose freckled.
Finally, Oliver spoke.
“Now him I’m less excited about. He ran off when my mom was pregnant and let her die alone and abandoned me.”
“What if he didn’t?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean what if he didn’t run away. What if he was at your mother’s side when she died and was just a scared nineteen-year-old trying to do what was best for his son?”
“That would be a nice thought, to think my father didn’t reject me, but what you are saying is pure fantasy.”
“No, it’s not. I really just met him down in Mexico. I talked to him, and I believe him. He’s the nephew of Abuelita Marta. He told me what happened. He was young and panicked, but he did what he did out of love. And he’d seen you, you know. He went to visit your mother’s grave, and he saw you there with your new family. He said you were about five.”
“Oh, god. I remember that trip.”
“He said that there was a new baby and you all looked so happy. He decided that he would not disturb your life, but he wanted to know that you were okay and be there if you needed him, so he’s kept an eye on you at a distance.”
“He didn’t abandon me and my mother?”
“No. They married, you know. They got married when they found out you were on the way and were going to try to build a life together. They came to Harmony to tell her parents about the marriage and about you. They never did tell them about you after the cold reception Joseph got. They thought she was too young and wanted to get the marriage annulled, so your parents left without telling them about you. Maybe if they’d had more time, they’d have come around, but only a few months later, Rose died.
“Your father loved you both a great deal, and he’s missed you every day. He’s married now with two daughters and grandchildren, but he’d like to meet the son he lost, and your great-aunt Marta wants to meet you as well. I’ve been commanded to send you to her as soon as possible. She says that it is time.”
“Marta as in the Pack Elder you went to Mexico to visit? But why did they make themselves known now?”
“That’s her, but turns out she’s not an Elder. She’s the Alpha. I don’t know. Maybe you can ask her yourself, but if I had to hazard a guess, when you first made it to Harmony to operate on Alex, they worried it would draw you back so they tried to learn more about it and the people here.
“That’s when they found out about me and your cousins and our inability to Mate. You’re the missing link. By staying silent about your origins, they realized that they were also impacting us and could stay silent no more. Please go visit them, Oliver. Not for your cousins and me. For you. Do it for you, and your father. I think you need to meet them and reassure yourself you were loved and wanted, even if it is only for a single visit, please. I think that they did what they thought was right for you, and they want to know that you’re okay. They’ve followed you from a distance, but I think it would mean the world to them if they could just meet you and know you don’t hate your dad for letting the McKays have you.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“I’ve checked out flights. There’s one leaving at three, if you can be on it. There are plenty of seats available.” She handed him a piece of paper with the contact details.
“I’ll go pack.” He rose and then stopped. “Otis? And the clinic. Lena?”
“I’ll take care of them all.
Oliver looked at Penelope and then his newfound cousins. Then he looked back to Penelope again.
“Thank you.” He leaned forward and kissed her and then ran as fast as he could back to his car. He was going to meet his father, and then he stopped and went back to the café. The five faces turned toward him as he held out his hand.
“Come with me?”
Penelope looked down at Otis and then at Kent, who nodded. Then she put her hand in his, and Oliver led her out of the café and toward his past.
Chapter Eleven
Penelope wasn’t sure what she was expecting. She should have realized from the Hermes bag that the family business wasn’t a little mom-and-pop shop or a small farm. Abuelita and her family owned one of the most luxurious hotels in the Cabo area as well as several high-end restaurants.
There also seemed to be a winery and a number of fishing vessels. The wolves of Cabo were doing very well for themselves. She also found that Jose finished his degree in Mexico, but he got his MBA in London, the same as his mother. In fact, that was where she met his father, the Scottish Laird.
They settled into their room. It wasn’t actually until the bellman had left and closed the door that they even thought about the fact that they were in one room with one very large bed. Penelope looked over at Oliver’s stricken face.
“I didn’t know. I mean, I’m not trying to take advantage of you…”
As his voice trailed off, Penelope walked over to Oliver until they were so close they were touching. Then she reached up and pulled his head down to her.
“Shut up and kiss me.”
And he did.
Penelope felt her toes curl at the intensity of the kiss. He may not be wolf, but he was definitely related to her wolves. Suddenly, he broke the kiss and pulled her tight in his arms.
“You know I love you, don’t you? I know it’s only been a short while, and I know I promised to give you space so you can figure things out with my cousins…my cousins. That sounds nice. But I need you, Penelope, I need you with every cell in my body. I know you went to Mexico to deal with your problems, but you solved one for me that I didn’t even know I still had. I’d convinced myself that I didn’t care who my birth parents were or why they gave me up, but I did. It didn’t matter what m
y adoptive parents said, and they’ll always be Mom and Dad to me, but it’s important to me to know my true origins.”
“You would have found your mother sooner or later, Oliver. Once you settled in Harmony, it was only a matter of time.”
“But I wouldn’t have found my dad. I’m sure my grandparents felt terrible after rejecting Rose, and then she died before they made it up, but they rejected my dad, too, and they never knew about me, so they wouldn’t be able to help find my dad. You did, even if that’s not what you set out to do.”
Penelope looked up into Oliver’s eyes and saw the same mixture of nervousness, excitement, and fear that she was feeling.
“I met Jose, that’s what your father goes by now, and he seems like a kind man. His wife, Luisa, I think you will like her, too. She’s the one who encouraged him to look for you. They’ve got two daughters and two granddaughters. You are a brother and an uncle.”
“I’ve got sisters? Blood sisters?”
“Yup. I get the impression you’ve got quite the extended family on your father’s side.”
“What’s his name? I just realized that I don’t know his full name. I was told his name was Joseph, but you are saying it is Jose? And look at me, Penelope. I don’t look very Mexican.”
Penelope smiled. “His birth name was Joseph McGregor, and his father is Scottish. He uses Jose, the Spanish version of Joseph, when he’s in Mexico. They showed me a photo. You are the spitting image of your grandfather Hamish.”
“Hamish McGregor? Oh my god. That explains so much. The McKays weren’t rich, and medical school costs so much. I won some kind of obscure scholarship that, frankly, I didn’t even remember applying for from the McGregor Foundation, headed by Hamish McGregor. My grandfather?”
He was in tears, now.
“They may not have wanted to disrupt your life with your new family, but they never forgot about you.”
Oliver sat down abruptly, pulling Penelope down onto his lap. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.
“You had a tough start to life. You lost your mother and your father. But you got the McKays. And now you have both your mother and father’s families. You have a plethora of families, a cornucopia of relatives who love you. And you have me.”
* * * *
Oliver looked down at Penelope and smiled. No matter what happened, no matter how this all worked out, he had her. Hell, he didn’t even know how that would work out. She was already practically Mated to four wolves, his cousins, but they’d find a way. And now he had two additional families to get to know.
He knew it was a bad idea. He knew that making love with his cousins’ Mate wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but it was the right thing to do.
He locked one arm around her waist and reached up with his free hand to grasp her face. Holding it in place, he lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her slowly and reverently. He may not have been a wolf-shifter, but he felt his primitive instincts rising.
“Mine!”
“Yours!”
At her acknowledgement, Oliver surged to his feet with Penelope in his arms. He couldn’t wait. He had to mark her as his. Maybe when they got back to Harmony there’d be hell to pay and there would be a lot to iron out, but for tonight, she was his.
Laying her gently on the bed, he slowly, reverently removed her clothing piece by piece before covering her body with his, still fully clothed. He rested most of his weight on his elbows as he kissed her mouth again before working his way lower, worshipping her jawline and her neck before making his way lower. When he reached her firm, ripe breasts, he had to stop and drink in the sight for a moment. Penelope moved impatiently, grabbing at his head and pushing his mouth toward one hard, pointed nipple. Not one to disappoint his woman, Oliver took it into his mouth, sucking strongly, and was rewarded by her moan of arousal. Nibbling and sucking more, Oliver was spurred on by the sounds she was making.
He made sure her other nipple wasn’t feeling neglected. He leaned his weight to one side so he could pinch and twist and tease the nipple being neglected by his mouth until he heard Penelope begging inarticulately. “Please, please,” she repeated over and over as he worshipped her breasts.
But finally, he could hold off no more and moved again, sliding down toward that piece of heaven that was awaiting him. Pushing her legs apart and over his shoulders, he gently separated her lower lips.
“You are beautiful!” he declared before taking his first taste of the honey flowing so freely from her pussy. He licked repeatedly at her opening before sliding a finger inside and scooping up more of her cream. “And you taste even better!”
He laughed as more cream gushed out at his words and added a finger so he had two inside her, moving in and out, mimicking the sex act. She was really restless now, pushing against his fingers impatiently.
It was almost time, but first he had to do one more thing. With the fingers of one hand, he held her labia apart, baring her swollen clit to his gaze. Then he lowered his mouth and suckled it as he had her nipples earlier.
Without warning, he could feel her climax slamming through her as she screamed out his name. Surging upward, he covered her body with his and pressed his throbbing cock inside her, desperately hoping not to come too soon like a teenaged boy inside his first pussy.
Concentrating, Oliver pushed his cock into the hilt and stilled. Looking down, he waited until she opened her eyes and looked at him.
“I love you, Penelope!”
“I love you, too, Oliver.”
And then he started moving again, picking up speed, as he knew he wouldn’t be able to hold off his own climax. Reaching down between their bodies, he pressed hard on her clit and then rubbed it firmly until he could feel the tremors signaling another climax starting to move through her body. It wasn’t long before she was flying again, her pussy pulsing as if trying to milk his cock. As if waiting for that signal, he felt his own orgasm slam through him as he released rope after rope of cum.
Exhausted, he barely had enough strength to dispose of the used condom and return to the bed to spoon his love. They both dropped off to sleep quickly, but awoke a few hours later hungry for food and each other. Thank goodness for room service and the large-sized box of condoms Penelope had packed, just in case.
They fed each other tidbits of food and then made love again.
In the morning, Oliver awoke in the most pleasant way possible, with the feeling of Penelope’s lips wrapped around his hard cock. He lay back and let the sensations wash over him as she licked him up and down and then swirled her tongue over the head. Then she suckled, lightly at first before taking him deep, all the way to the back of her throat, and sucking hard as she wrapped her hand around him and pulled away.
She repeated the action, but this time taking him deeper until her nose was pressed against his groin for a brief second. It was this sensation that sent him over the top, shooting his load deep into her throat.
* * * *
“What do you think I should wear? I mean, I’m going to meet my father for the first time. Maybe I should have brought a suit?”
Penelope laughed and gave Oliver a hug.
“I think he just wants to see you. You could be wearing mittens and lederhosen and he’d still be excited to see you.”
“Well, since I forgot to pack my lederhosen, I guess khakis and a golf shirt will have to do. And you!”
Penelope smiled as Oliver pulled her close and kissed her. They would still have issues to be addressed when they got home, but for now, this was about Oliver. Was he the sign Marta had told her to wait for? She didn’t know how adding yet another man to the mix would solve anything, but she would try to do as Jose had asked and have patience.
They had been expecting a taxi, but it was a limousine and a uniformed driver that picked them up at their hotel and drove them high over the town through winding roads to the Villa Montoya. They both noticed the rose bushes planted on the right of the front of the house, with the large pink blooms. Pene
lope could feel herself tearing up. It couldn’t be easy in this climate. She kissed Oliver, who was also overcome by the roses.
The car pulled into the large circular driveway and stopped in front of the impressive double doors, which were standing open and from which literally dozens of people poured.
When the driver opened the car door, Oliver indicated she should go first, but Penelope shook her head.
“These are your people. You go first.” Oliver hesitated, and Penelope squeezed his hand. “Go!”
And he did. He stepped out and was swallowed up in the tide of happy people. Penelope leaned forward to talk to the driver, asking him to take her back to the hotel.
She was looking out the back window when she saw Oliver turn and see the car moving away with Penelope still inside. He made a move as if to go after her, but then she saw Jose clasp him on the shoulder and the two embraced.
She was crying as the car pulled away, but she knew she did the right thing. That was a family that had been missing a member for too long. They needed to heal together. She’d meet them soon enough. She hoped. She went back to their hotel to wait.
Chapter Twelve
Penelope looked at Oliver, who was deep in thought. He spent much of the last week like that. After he’d left Cabo, they’d headed to New Harmony. Penelope had been more afraid of that visit than the one with Marta. She and Joe knew about Oliver and were grateful for the chance to meet him, but the meeting with Rose’s family was more problematic. They didn’t know about him, at least she didn’t think they did, and their reaction upon meeting Oliver confirmed it.