The book featured a shapely woman in the clutches of a half-dressed man, with the title Claimed by the Mountain Man. It was just the sort of book she’d been looking for, before… Well, before all this happened. She was halfway through a new series she’d been writing for her secret publishing, now that her pirate series was done. The ideas had started drying up, though, and so she had wanted to do a little more research.
She put the book back, trying to find something a little less similar to her own situation. That knot in her stomach hadn’t gone away for two days now. Not since Lucas had dragged Kristoff into the cabin, covered in blood… and that kiss happened.
She knew she shouldn’t be dwelling on the kiss the way she was. She shouldn’t be thinking of it at random times, feeling her skin heat and tingle, wishing she could recreate in words the taste of Kristoff’s lips. She had never thought that a single kiss would leave her feeling like this. And that terrified her. Because if she ended up letting these wolves getting a hold on her, she didn’t know what was going to happen next.
She’d already told him about her infertility, something she had only told a few people. Only a few in the book club, her closest friends, knew about that! Why had she revealed such an intimate detail of her life to someone she barely knew? It had only been a few months since she started spending any real time with Kristoff.
“Hey.” Wanda came up beside her, holding a stack of books in her arms. “When did you come in? What happened to saying hello?”
Miriam shrugged. “I didn’t see you and thought it’d be creepy to ask for you at the front desk. We’re not supposed to do that, right?”
Wanda frowned as she searched the shelf. “Haven’t seen you at the diner for a while, either.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“Busy as in… getting busy?” Wanda smirked at her. “Don’t give me that shocked look. Everyone knows that you’ve moved up to Lucas Wilson’s place. Although it would have been nice if you told me yourself, so I didn’t have to hear from busybody Matilda Reese.”
“I…” Miriam grabbed a random book off the shelf. “I don’t…”
Concern washed over Wanda’s face. She shifted the books in her arms, then handed half of them to Miriam. “Help me take these into the back, will you?”
Miriam knew it was a ploy to be able to talk privately. She didn’t know if she wanted to talk at all, but not talking didn’t seem possible. Not to mention the silence was such a heavy burden. She wasn’t going to tell Wanda about the body she’d seen—that was too confusing, and she didn’t want to put Wanda in a position like that—but she could at least talk about Kristoff and Lucas, right?
In the library’s breakroom, Wanda set all the books on the table and grasped Miriam’s hands. “What is going on, Miriam? Is Lucas… hurting you?”
“Hurting?” Miriam blinked in surprise. “No…”
She trailed off as she considered it. No, he wasn’t hurting her. And he’d been so adamant that this was a game to him. That he didn’t want her to feel under threat. The truth was that as terrified as she had been that they were going to use her sexually… she was almost disappointed that all they’d done so far was tease and flirt. And Kristoff’s kiss.
She shouldn’t feel this way, should she? She shouldn’t want them to throw her onto the bed, order her to take off her clothes, demand her body as though they owned it. That was crazy! That was wrong…
But god! She did want it. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t deny it anymore. She wanted them to take her like a couple of animals, as though she was nothing but a warm body they could do anything with. And she didn’t even care if it was right or wrong, she just wanted it!
Wanda tugged on her hands. “Miriam? Are you okay?”
Miriam swallowed roughly. She couldn’t tell this to Wanda. It was too much.
“Things are just… crazy right now,” Miriam said slowly. “It’s like… Like I…” With a groan, she sank down onto the couch and hid her face in her hands. “My brain isn’t working properly. There is so much to tell and it’s so damn complicated. I have no idea where to start or how much I actually want to tell you. It’s like… like I don’t even know myself right now.”
Wanda sat beside her and put an arm around her. “Miriam… I know that it can be scary or uncomfortable, but if something has happened… If you don’t want to tell me there are hotlines that you can talk to.”
“They haven’t assaulted me,” Miriam replied quickly, so Wanda didn’t get the wrong idea.
“They?”
Miriam flinched, hating that she’d let something slip. “Uh… yeah. Lucas and Kristoff both have been… spending time with me. I mean, I’ve been cleaning their houses and stuff, and then one night we all went and stayed with them and then Kristoff was attacked—”
“Attacked?” Wanda’s eyes went huge. “By what?”
Shit! Shit, shit, shit! Wanda didn’t know about vampires. She wasn’t supposed to know about vampires!
Miriam swallowed heavily. “He was out running in his wolf form and he spooked a bear. But I was taking care of him, cleaning his injures and… and we started talking. And then he kissed me.”
Wanda stared at her, her mouth opening and closing like she didn’t know what to say.
“I kind of freaked out. But the truth is… the truth is I only freaked out because I liked it so much. It’s been a long time since anybody has kissed me like that.” A ghost of memory drifted over her lips, and she rose her fingers to touch her tingling skin, as though it was something she could banish or make real. Her hand dropped again. “But I can’t do anything about it. Not with my nephews there. They have to come first, and I don’t want this getting messy and hurting them.”
There. That was enough. She didn’t have to get into the details of everything else. And it was enough detail for Wanda to understand the conflict she was in. Well. Part of the conflict, at least. But Wanda’s brow was still furrowed.
“How would it hurt them? You mean like if they got attached to Lucas and Kristoff and then things blew up? Or if they walked in on you?”
Miriam flushed scarlet. The boys were so good at knocking and being respectful that it wasn’t even something she had thought of. But Wanda was right. If they saw their aunt making out with one of the wolves—or both—then it was going to lead to some seriously awkward questions. How the hell would she deal with that?
“Fuck,” Miriam murmured. “I have to get out of that cabin.”
Wanda’s brows disappeared under her bangs. “Because…”
“Because with the way things are going, I’m going to end up naked on the kitchen table and scar my nephews for life when they’re looking for cookies.”
Wanda laughed, slapping both of her hands over her mouth at Miriam’s dirty look. She flushed but still giggled, looking rather impressed. “It’s that bad, is it? Those two making you feel things. Oh, you’re going to end up like Chloe and Angela and Sandra, aren’t you? With two gorgeous hunks fawning over you all the time.” Wanda’s expression faded into a brief look of self-pity before she shook herself. “The question is, do you want them?”
Miriam groaned as she hid her face once again. But what was the point in denying it? “More than I should.”
“And why shouldn’t you want it? You’re always the one who says that life is too short to worry about what we should and shouldn’t want. If you want it, go for it unless it’s going to hurt you or others, or if what you want now is in direct opposition to what you want later.”
“Maybe it is,” Miriam mumbled. “But that’s another problem. I don’t know what I want later… I want… I want a firm relationship. I don’t care about having a wedding, but I want to be married. I want to have kids… I guess… I don’t know if I deserve—"
“Miriam!” Wanda looked aghast. “Of course you deserve it! You deserve to be happy. You deserve to be loved. You deserve to have your dreams come true.”
“Well, Lucas and Kristoff won’t give th
at to me. Not that there is anybody in Deville who can.” Miriam scowled. There were only a handful of single men in town between the ages of twenty and fifty. A third of them were creeps, a third criminals, and the other third were more interested in each other than women. “Maybe I should sign up for that marriage agency thing that was advertised around. What was it called again?”
Wanda gave her a look. “You mean the Paranormal Marriage Agency? Shifter marriage? Why sign up for something like that when you have shifters here already bringing you to live with them?”
“Because they’re not interested in marriage.”
“And they said that?”
Miriam gave her a dirty look, but it was all Wanda needed to hear. She shook her head, patting Miriam’s knee. “I always thought you were the strongest one of us in the book club. It’s weird seeing you like this.”
Miriam snorted. Her, the strongest in the book club? She was good at bullshitting her way through situations was all. She knew how to fake a smile and bury her feelings. The truth was she never had meltdowns like the others did from time to time because she never wanted to make them deal with her problems. She wasn’t worth it. She wasn’t worth causing them more trouble and their problems were more important than hers anyway.
“You know, I have an idea.” Wanda grinned, a sly smile as she leaned back on her chair. “Jamie and I were going to go on that road trip, remember?”
Miriam nodded. She was supposed to join them, but when Lucas and Kristoff took her as their slave she’d had to cancel.
“What if we took the boys with us? They’re all doing great in school, right?”
“Yeah,” Miriam said hesitantly. “They are. They’re smart kids and I think school is starting to bore Geoff, actually.”
“Then they could go a week out of school and not suffer for it, right?”
Miriam nodded. Some of the tension released in her shoulders. With how weird everything was, her greatest fear was for the boys. But if they went on the trip with Wanda and Jamie, that meant Miriam would have the space to work everything else out without risking the boys getting more scared than they already were.
“Then there we have it.” Wanda nodded, looking rather pleased with herself. “And we’ll make sure to stop at places like the science museum so it will be educational, too. I just have to OK it with Jamie! Sound like a good idea?”
“Actually… yes.” Miriam leaned back and smirked. “As long as you two think you can handle three boys. They’re good kids, but they are kids.”
Wanda laughed out loud. “Girl, I was the oldest of seven. I was acting like a mom by the time I was twelve. I know how to keep kids occupied.”
“Okay.” Miriam smiled. “Then that’s the plan. As long as Jamie agrees, of course.”
“Of course. And, if you want a little advice?” Wanda propped her chin in her hand and gave Miriam an extra wicked smirk. “You tell those wolves exactly what you want from them. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from listening to Chloe and the others it’s that they’re all alpha males and you gotta be extra clear because their instincts are to protect us from everything… even themselves.”
Miriam opened her mouth and closed it again. She hadn’t considered that… they just seemed so confident and demanding. They were the ones burying the body. It never occurred to her that they might be protecting her. From what, though, other than themselves?
She sat there in a daze as Wanda patted her knee again. “I have to get back to work but you can stay back here as long as you want. And try to come to girl’s night tomorrow, ‘kay? We all miss you.”
Miriam nodded slowly. As Wanda left, she let herself fall into her thoughts, letting them swirl around her until she had figured out two things. One, that she needed to have a good chat with all the girls and try to figure this out—talking with Wanda had really helped, so maybe this once she could be selfish and impose her problems on them.
And two, she needed to figure out what the hell she wanted with Lucas and Kristoff because if she didn’t do that, she was going to end up lost in a rabbit hole with no way out of Crazy Town.
Chapter Eight
Lucas rolled over in bed, wondering why today felt strange before he’d even woken up. His wolf huffed, flopped out on its side in his chest. It lifted its head, huffed, and stretched out again. Oh, right. That was it. He yawned as he arched his back, stretching out. It was Monday, and he should have been getting up to drive Miriam and the boys to school.
But the boys weren’t in Deville anymore. They were off on a road trip, and he didn’t have anything to wake up for. Lucas snorted as he stretched out, tucking his hands behind his head. There was a strange, unsatisfied sense running through him. Maybe it was because without the boys here and with Miriam sleeping in the next room over, he had had a hard time convincing his wolf to stay in his room and not go creeping into hers.
“Yeah, because that wouldn’t freak her out.”
Lucas scowled. He had to admit, there was part of him that wanted to do just that. Not scare her, no, but prove to her that she was feeling things for him that she wasn’t admitting to herself. If he went to her room late at night, letting her take in his shirtless muscles by moonlight, he was certain she’d be drooling all over herself.
He knew she wanted him. He could smell it in her arousal so often when they were together. It drove him crazy! But the fact was, she was also afraid of him still. And until she wasn’t afraid, he couldn’t do what he wanted. Because if she was afraid, then he couldn’t truly know if she was giving into desire or just trying not to anger him.
His wolf growled and Lucas growled right back. What the hell did it think he was going to do? Go out there and fling her across the table and take her while she begged for him to stop?
Was that what she was afraid he’d do? Was that why she was so insistent that the boys go on this road trip? So that he’d do what he wanted and not end up with the boys being traumatized by it?
Lucas swung out of bed, growling even louder. This was so ridiculous! He wasn’t a rapist and had told her as much. If he was, wouldn’t he have done something already? How long was it going to take for her to stop being afraid of him? And this even while she craved him! What the hell was really happening here? Did Miriam realize what she was doing, or did she just keep changing her mind?
He didn’t bother dressing as he left his room. This was his cabin, after all, and if Miriam didn’t like to see him in his boxers then tough for her. She could just make up her damn mind about whether she wanted him or was terrified of him.
Grumbling under his breath, he stalked to the kitchen to find Miriam at the table, her laptop up before her, typing furiously. Lucas paused. Normally she wrote in her room. He couldn’t remember seeing her out here like this before. What was more, she was wearing her harem outfit. Which, normally, she didn’t wear except when he asked her to. The veil was pinned around her shoulders and then thrown back, as though she put it on to be warm and then decided that it was in the way.
Somehow, she managed to look fucking hot and absolutely adorable at the same time. Probably because of the combination of her curves and deep cleavage contrasting with the way she had her tongue sticking out from the corner of her bubblegum-pink lips and her nose wrinkled in concentration.
Lucas walked up behind her, humming to himself. It was only when he leaned over her, his shoulder brushing her ponytail, that she seemed to realize he was there. She jumped, yelped, and slammed the laptop shut.
Not quite fast enough that Lucas didn’t read the last line she’d written. Throbbing pleasure burst over her, sending fireworks through her whole body.
“Oh, is that the next one in your series?” he asked, leaning back as she jumped to her feet, flushing.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, folding her arms over her chest and squashing down her cleavage.
“Wondering how much coffee you’ve had.” Lucas frowned at the mugs littered around the sink. That was the funny thing about Miria
m. She couldn’t use the same dish twice. Even if she was cooking and used something to measure out water, she had to wash it before using it again. There were at least eight mugs out. “Are you trying to give yourself a heart attack?”
“No,” Miriam muttered. “I just…” She slumped back in her chair. “I was waiting for my laundry to be done.”
“Hmmm.” Lucas shrugged. “What are you making for breakfast?”
Miriam scowled at him. “Nothing! You can make your own breakfast for once. If this really was supposed to be a game why are you…”
Lucas rose a brow at her as surprise flitted across her face. “Why do I what?”
“Is it morning?” she blurted, twisting toward the window.
Lucas laughed out of sheer surprise. “Yes, it’s morning. Have you been up all night? Is that why you downed eight mugs of coffee?”
“Eight?” Miriam rested her head in her hand as she followed his gaze to the mugs. “No, not all of that was coffee. I also had some water and orange juice. But that’s too much all the same, isn’t it? Damn it… my doctor told me to stop pulling all-nighters.”
Lucas couldn’t help but laugh at that. So that was it, was it? She had decided to do her laundry after he’d gone to bed—because she had nothing clean to wear except her harem outfit, he guessed—and then got so caught up in writing that she hadn’t realized how much time was going past. He smirked at her. So he’d have had a different challenge altogether if he’d wanted to go creeping into her room the previous night.
Miriam looked at him again and her cheeks turned bright red. Quickly, she looked away. “Go put some clothes on!”
He wandered to the coffee pot, which had a little bit left in it. It smelled scorched so he dumped it out and started washing it. “Look who is giving the orders now. I’ll put on more clothes when my breakfast is ready, Miriam. Can’t get something without giving it, can we?”
“You’ve been getting breakfast for the past few weeks without giving me anything for it,” she grouched back. She yawned, her back arching in a way that pushed her breasts out more.
Enslaved by the Wolves Page 5