by Jane Jamison
Yes. She hurriedly texted her answer then blew the whistle signaling the children into the house. Shoving her phone back into her pocket before any of the sharp-sighted children caught a good look at it, she pivoted on her heel and strode inside. Her step had an extra bounce to it.
I get to see them tonight.
The searching gazes of the children brought her out of her reverie. “Okay, everyone, let’s have silent time. Then we’ll get ready to go home.”
* * * *
“Chance, please, stop.” Rachel halfheartedly shoved against Chance Rothman’s broad chest, loving the hardness beneath her palms. The bond between them had grown even stronger, and her willpower was fading as fast as the winter sun on the Texas horizon. More than likely, he could hear the lie in her voice.
“Come on, baby. Why can’t we finally make love to you? We’re connected, plain and simple.”
“It’s not that simple.”
Yet, he had a point. At times, she felt ridiculous insisting that they wait for the right time and place. For insisting that they find a way to ensure their peoples would accept their union. For insisting that something or someone else was needed.
They’d come very close to having sex many times before. But each time, the men had respected her enough to back off. She wasn’t as worried about them pushing her into sex as much as she was worried about her own faltering resolve.
They were her mates. She felt it in her gut as much as she did her heart. Even if they hadn’t been tall, handsome men, she would’ve loved them anyway. As cousins, they were similar in appearance, although Dylan liked to wear his black hair longer, touching the tips of his shoulders while Chance’s brown hair was kept neatly groomed. Their rich brown eyes were captivating, deep pools of chocolate lava any woman would’ve loved to dive into. Their waists were lean and their legs strong. Simple denim shirts and jeans were their usual attire finished off by worn boots that were scuffed and broken in. They weren’t the type to wear any jewelry. Their silver buckles and cowboy hats were all they needed.
Her heart skipped a beat, and the flutters in her stomach grew whenever she was around them. They were her men, and she was their woman. If anyone wanted to deny them their right to mate, they could go straight to hell. At least, that was how she felt. Putting that bravado into action, however, was an entirely different thing.
Dylan eased up behind her, catching her in the middle. “We’re mates. You know it. Holding out is ridiculous.”
She paused, loving the sensation of his hard body pressed against hers. For only a moment, she let herself give in and then immediately regretted it. They couldn’t. Not yet. Not until she found…
Found what?
She tensed and shoved them both away. “No, it’s not.” Yes, it is. Kind of.
Her breath hitched in her throat as Dylan skimmed his tongue along the curve of her neck. She clutched their shirts as though that would keep her weakening knees from giving out. Maybe he was right. Why the hell was she holding out, anyway?
Because I know there’s something more.
Chance’s hand on her breast sent a spark of lust racing through her. She gritted her teeth, refusing to allow her hand to cover his and move it lower until his palm would cover the growing wetness between her legs. She couldn’t, however, keep back a small moan of frustration.
If she weren’t a weretigress, if she were only human, she would’ve given in a long time ago.
“We only want what any mate wants.” Chance pulled back, probably as much to tease her as to keep himself from going further. She ached to touch his hand as he dragged it through his thick, touch-me brown hair. His dark eyes shone with lust, and a muscle clenched in his jaw. “I want you. All of you. More than a taste.”
“He’s right, baby. A man can only hold out for so long.”
A taste. Oh hell yeah.
She melted, remembering the last time they’d gotten together. Both men had taken their turn lapping up her cream. She’d used her mouth to pleasure them and had barely managed to resist giving in to their demands. Instead, they’d treated her, bringing her to one orgasm after another.
Chance dropped to his knees in front of her, tugging at the button on her jeans. “Give me another taste, baby.”
God, how she wanted to let him lick her, but if she gave in with her resistance so low, there’d be no turning back. She gasped as he bit her mons and gripped her ass cheeks. If he shifted, he could tear the denim material from her.
Dylan traced his tongue around her earlobe. “Come on, sugar. Give in.”
Summoning strength she didn’t know she possessed, she shoved them away again. “No. Not yet. I’m sorry.”
Chance bolted to his feet. “What the hell are you afraid of? Even if you’re right, even if there is a third man, who the hell cares? We’re here right now. We want to be your mates in every way possible.”
Her hands shook as she pulled up her jeans. “Then let’s tell them. Let’s march into Twisted right now and tell everyone we’re connected.” She tucked her shirt back into her jeans. “And then what? Are you ready to give up your ranch to move somewhere else? Because that’s what we might have to do. If they don’t accept us, we may have to give up everything and go.”
Could she give up her life, her family, her people for them? The answer was easy enough. She’d give up her entire world without a second thought. But she couldn’t ask the same of them. Although weretigers liked to be a part of a group, they could live alone, too. Werewolves, on the other hand, lived for their pack. How could she make them give up their families and friends in Forever?
“They’ll handle it. It might take time, but our people are basically goodhearted, and I’ll bet the folks in Twisted are, too. Even if they are tigers.”
She shot Chance a look, knowing he was kidding but warning him just the same.
“Other shifters have pushed the limits. After all, we’re all humans.” Chance took a step toward her then backed up at her low growl, her second warning. A rumble rolled from deep in his chest, giving her a warning in return.
The last thing she really wanted to do was to make them angry, but she’d hold to her guns. Still, she knew she could push them only so far. She was surprised they’d taken her lead for as long as they had. One day they’d have enough and would just take her, claiming her as their own. She tingled at the thought. “And they’ve had a rough go of it.”
“So we’re not worth a hard time?” Dylan, the easy-going one of the two cousins, couldn’t resist turning anything, even an argument, into a joke. He cupped his crotch and winked. “Get it? A hard time?”
“Knock it off, cuz. This is important.”
She jumped at the opening. “Which is why I want to wait.”
The dark interior of William Dunston’s home unsettled her. Obsidian statues that would’ve been better suited in a big city high-rise than on a ranch in a small Texas town dominated the vampire’s stylish living room. One lamp was mounted on each wall, giving only a minimal amount of light. Strangely, the rest of the place was furnished like ninety percent of the homes in Texas. Basic and comfortable décor made it feel welcoming. Nonetheless, knowing a vampire slept in the basement made her jumpy.
“Baby, you’ve got to trust us. Almost everyone will accept us. Fuck those who don’t.”
She wanted to agree but held back. She couldn’t. It wasn’t only a matter of having her parents and her two brothers, Jarrod and Richman, accept them as her mates. Something she couldn’t put her finger on kept her from committing to them. Was she just plain scared? Or was it really something more? Someone more? She tugged at her sweater, a nervous habit she’d never broken.
As a woman, she wanted to give in, to feel them between her legs and in her mouth. Yet, as a tigress, she’d learned early on to listen to her instincts, and her instincts, the same instincts that told her Chance and Dylan were her mates, told her to hold back. If only her instinct could tell her why. Was there really a third man? What if she was wron
g?
“It’s not only what people and your family will think, is it?” asked Dylan.
Although he was the jokester and more laid back of the two men, he was also often more perceptive than Chance. Chance was the serious one and tended to take everything at face value. Ideas and people were black and white to him while Dylan saw more of the grays in life.
Chance let out a low sigh and dropped onto the couch. “It’s that damn feeling again, isn’t it?” He made air quotes around the word feeling.
“How can you believe in the connection, but not what I’m sensing?” She’d tried to explain how she felt more times than she liked to think, but it was as though Chance had a mental block keeping him from grasping the idea. If there was a third man, she wanted to know him first before giving herself fully to them. What if they didn’t like that man? As mates, they had to get along, or none of their relationships would work.
“He does, sugar.” Dylan moved to her, taking her by both arms, and grinned. “He just doesn’t like admitting it.”
The hot sizzle of lust swept through her harder than before, wetting her between the legs and knocking her resistance down another peg. She wanted them more than she could say. If it hadn’t been for the strange feeling holding her back, she would’ve hopped into bed with them.
How long could she resist them when she really didn’t want to? How much would they take before finally claiming her as werewolves were supposed to do? If they did, she wouldn’t be angry with them. Hell, part of her wanted them to throw her to the ground and shove her legs apart. They couldn’t change her as they could a human female, but it didn’t matter. They didn’t need to. She’d already given them her heart, claiming them as her mates as they’d claimed her.
“Okay, let’s say this feeling you’re getting is real.”
She turned all her frustration onto Chance. “‘Let’s say?’ Seriously? It’s as true as my connection with you two.”
“Fine. It’s real. But if it is, then what’s the problem? If you have a third mate out there, he’ll understand our having sex.”
“Will he, Chance?” Rachel arched an eyebrow. “If you were the third mate, would you?”
The muscle in his jaw clenched, giving away his answer. He had no choice but to relent. “Okay, maybe he won’t, and no, I wouldn’t like it much, but what’s the alternative? Waiting until he shows up? What if he never comes?”
“I don’t know.” She’d thought of the possibility, too. Of course, she wasn’t willing to wait a lifetime for the missing piece of their puzzle. She couldn’t ask that of Chance and Dylan. Besides, she wasn’t even sure it was another mate that was holding her up.
“We’ll give it a little more time.”
She gave Dylan a grateful look. There were so many reasons why she loved them. Not only because of their hot bodies but their minds and their hearts, too. They were kind and loving, willing to give in to her wishes when other men might’ve walked away or forced her into doing things their way.
“Damn it, Dylan. Shut the fuck up. Whose side are you on, anyway?”
“Her side. Hell, our side.”
As angry as Chance sounded, she knew he was a softie for her. He’d never hurt her, but that didn’t mean his inner wolf wouldn’t give him hell for waiting.
“Just a little while longer, Chance. Please.” She pouted her lips, giving her plea all she could. She felt as though she was channeling her inner Gabby.
“No. I’m tired of waiting. Why aren’t we enough, baby?”
Chance was a strong man, which made seeing the desperation in his eyes so powerful.
“You are enough. It’s just that—”
“That you want more.” His eyes flashed amber as his inner wolf rose closer to the surface.
“It’s not that I want more.” She struggled to find the right words to make him understand. “It’s that I feel like—” She gave up, unable to find a better way to tell him what was in her heart.
Chance growled, amber flaring in his eyes before he dragged a hand through his hair.
“Hey, you two, calm down. We’ll figure this out. We’re mates, right?” Dylan tossed a look at Chance then at her. “Right?”
“Of course we’re mates. As for the other, we’ll get it straightened out soon.” She prayed it was true.
“Right,” added Chance.
“Okay then. Until we solve this mystery feeling of Rachel’s, we do what we can do. Let’s go for a run tonight.” Dylan clapped his cousin on the arm. “It’ll do us all good to turn our animals free.”
“We can’t.” She hated crushing yet another idea. “We’ve talked about this before, too. What if someone sees us? Two wolves and a white tiger running together? Hell, word would be all over the place in no time.”
“If someone sees us, then we finally tell everyone about us.” Chance stalked away, his animal pacing, only to turn back. “I’m not going to hold out much longer. No matter what. You have to understand that.”
Anger flared inside her, more at the situation they were caught in rather than at Chance. “No. I can’t, and I won’t. As for running? Forget it. You’d probably run straight down the middle of Forever just to get your way.”
“We could run through Twisted instead.” His mouth pulled back in a challenge, his fangs showing.
Forever, Texas was another shifter town not too far from Twisted. However, while weretigers dominated Twisted, most of Forever’s residents were werewolves. Moon Run Ranch, the men’s ranch, lay in between the two towns. She’d often wondered if that wasn’t a sign. Like the ranch was trying to bridge the gap between the two shifter communities, as they would eventually try to do with their mating.
“I can just see Lena Fortran watching us from her front porch. What do you think? Would she welcome us into her bed and breakfast or sic the rest of the town on us? Cats chasing canines. Now that would be a switch.”
“Very funny, Chance. Ha ha.” Suddenly, she needed to get out of there. Part of her felt the pull of nature nagging at her. Did she need to run? Or was she sensing something more was waiting for her?
Her heart ached for the men. She wanted them as much as they wanted her. She longed to run her hands over their magnificent bodies, to feel her lips against theirs. If she didn’t do something soon, she’d finally give in. She clasped her hands to keep from reaching out for them.
As though they could either sense her need or smell the heat between her legs, they each took a step toward her. She hesitated then strode toward the door, narrowly escaping Dylan’s grasp. “Maybe it’s time I leave.”
“Don’t go, sugar. We’ll stop talking about it. Hell, if Chance doesn’t shut up, I’ll shut him up myself.”
She flung open the door as the tears stung her eyes. Why was she putting them through this pain? Why was she doing it to herself? They’d fooled around enough. Why not just go all the way? Why hold out for a man who might not even exist? Suddenly, she wanted to give in, to finally put their torment and hers to rest.
Yet, before she could say as much, a sound made her freeze, ridding her of her desire to hold them. “Do you hear that?”
Chapter Two
Rachel had already started running toward the small barn close to the vampire’s house by the time Chance and Dylan said that they’d heard the sound, too. Dylan rushed past her and pushed the barn doors open. With Chance at her side, she hurried into the interior.
The dimly lit interior didn’t give her a lot of light. Quickly shifting to bring out her weretiger’s sensitive eyesight, she scanned the barn. The horses snorted and pranced in their stalls, but were they jumpy because of their sudden appearance or from something else?
The noise came again, confirming what her heart had already known, but what her mind had thought impossible. “It’s a baby.”
Chance moved off to the left, heading for the tack room. “It’s coming from in here.”
Rushing after him, she burst into the smaller room filled with saddles, bridles, and other eq
uestrian equipment. It didn’t take long for her to find the bundle wrapped in a dirty white blanket lying on a small pile of hay.
“Oh my God,” she whispered. She knelt next to the baby, her mind spinning. “Where did he come from? Why would anyone leave a baby in a barn?”
Chance scooped up the infant and handed it to her. “Beats the hell out of me.”
At first the baby squirmed, but then settled down when his eyes met hers. Gone was the cry. In its place came happy gurgles. Rachel cuddled the infant close to her chest. “What in the world are you doing here, precious?”
Her question was barely out of her mouth when it hit her. The connection. Unlike the sexual bond she’d felt the moment she’d seen Chance and Dylan, this one was different, yet it was just as strong, just as heartbreakingly beautiful.
The baby belonged to her. She knew it without a doubt.
“Check him out.” Dylan shrugged. “Just to be sure he’s okay.”
She undid the swaddling of the blanket and took in the smooth skin of the baby. Tracing a finger playfully over the child’s nose then down its belly, she revealed the truth. “She’s just fine.” She lifted her gaze to Dylan’s. “It’s a girl.”
“Holy shit.” Chance tilted his head, his eyebrows dipping toward his nose. “I don’t know for sure, but I’m thinking she’s not just a girl. She’s a werewolf girl.”
Rachel looked into the baby’s eyes again, searching for any recognition of an inner wolf. Slowly, she brought the baby to her nose and drew in a long breath. Although sniffing wasn’t a surefire way of determining what kind of shifter an infant was—the baby girl’s shifter scent would grow stronger as she aged—it would give them a solid guess. “I think you’re right. But I think she’s also part human.”