Brooke, Leah - Panthers' Prey [Black Panthers 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (27 page)

The incredible sense of warmth and caring surrounded her, bringing her alarmingly close to blubbering like a baby.

She could never let them know. Helplessness wasn’t an option.

Held against him, her shaking began to subside, and without thinking, she pulled his arms more firmly around her, holding on to them to keep him from moving away.

She had to clear her throat before speaking, firming her voice to hide her alarm at the riot of emotion bubbling up inside her.

“I’m fine.” She wasn’t fine. Far from it.

Marc lifted his head.

“Something’s wrong. What is it?”

She didn’t dare tell him. How could she, when she didn’t really understand it herself? Clearing her throat, she forced a drowsy smile.

“Nothing. I’m worn out. I’m going to sleep a little bit more and then go downstairs. I have a shipment coming in. Just let yourselves out.”

She needed some time alone to think. She’d responded to Marc’s every touch, every caress, but she hadn’t been completely satisfied afterward the way she had with James. No matter how much pleasure Marc had given her, she couldn’t get over the fact that she’d needed James to hold her in order to settle.

James leaned over her shoulder, caressing her with long strokes that calmed the tremors just under her skin.

“Trying to get rid of us? I thought we’d already established that you’re our mate, Bailey. You’re not getting rid of us. Do you think we don’t feel your insecurity? The vulnerability that you’re trying so hard to hide?”

Alarmed that they knew so much, she pushed her way out of their arms, a little surprised—and alarmed—that they let her. Without looking at either one of them, she crawled over Marc and got up from the bed on shaky legs. Grabbing her robe, she slid her arms into it and started for the bathroom, hoping her legs didn’t give out on the way there.

“I already told you I don’t believe in that mate crap. Just because you say it’s true doesn’t make it so.” Turning, she smiled sarcastically. “I still can’t quite believe that other stuff. I can’t quite figure out what’s going on, but it has to be something else.”

James lifted a brow.

“Do you mean the fact that we’re shape-shifters?”

A cold knot formed in her stomach each time he said that. No matter what she’d seen, she couldn’t quite accept it.

Waving her hand negligently, she swallowed the cold ball of fear working its way up her throat.

“Whatever. I don’t want to talk about it. Look, the sex is amazing, but I’m not going to let you run my life or make decisions for me just because you’re good in bed. You want to have an affair? Fine. But that’s it. I just don’t want to hear any more about fucking panthers.”

Turning, she ran into the bathroom, slamming the door shut and locking it behind her. She couldn’t believe any of this. She felt like she’d walked into a movie and was the only one who didn’t know her lines.

Staring into the mirror, she blinked, hardly believing that the image staring back at her was really her.

Her eyes looked huge in her face, lighter and more golden than they’d ever looked before. Her cheeks were flushed a flattering pink, her hair a wild golden-brown tangle around her face, and she had a look about her she couldn’t quite identify.

Blowing out a breath, she stared at her reflection.

“Wonderful, Bailey. You could never do anything the easy way, could you. Having an affair with not one, but two men. Smart. Like that could work out. “

Turning away, she dropped onto the edge of the tub.

“Shape-shifters. Panthers. Oh, God. They can’t be. They don’t exist. It’s some kind of trick. It’s just not possible.”

She looked up as the bathroom door flew open and both Marc and James came inside, shutting the door behind him.

Between one breath and the next, two black panthers sat on her bathroom floor.

“No!” Jumping up, she threw herself into the corner of the shower. “Stop it. Turn back.”

She blinked as the black panthers became Marc and James again. Blowing out a sigh of relief, she wrapped her arms around herself.

James came forward and cupped her cheek. “It’s not only possible, it’s a fact—one that you’re going to have to get used to, my mate.”

“Don’t call me that!”

Marc closed in on her from the other side, cupping her chin and running his thumb back and forth over her swollen lips.

“I wasn’t ready for you any more than you’re ready for me, but we’re just going to figure out a way to make this work. I find, my mate, that I just can’t live without you. We’re both going to have to find a way to deal with that.”

Chapter Ten

 
Even with her back to the door, Bailey stilled, a smile tugging at her lips. No matter how busy she got, she always knew the exact second Marc and James walked into the bar.

The atmosphere changed, their overwhelming presence making the bar seem smaller, adding an element of danger and tension to the room that hadn’t been there just moments ago.

Unable to resist the opportunity to watch them move, she turned to watch their approach, her stomach clenching in admiration of their smooth, long-legged strides. She looked up to meet James’s steady gaze and then Marc’s, hardly able to believe that the two darkly intimidating men closing in on her were the same men who’d been in her bed this morning.

Men who’d shifted and shifted back again right before her eyes.

Both appeared formidable and unforgiving, the hard light in their eyes as effective as her bat in clearing a path as several of the patrons scrambled to get out of their way.

She didn’t know if she’d ever get used to the fact that the same men walking toward her, the men who had every man in the bar eyeing them with respect and the women with feminine interest, came to her bed every night. The most fascinating and masculine men she’d ever met made love to her each night as though she was the most desirable woman on earth.

Even now, although she knew they had to be acutely aware of their surroundings, they only had eyes for her.

Her body reacted, as always, to their presence, becoming tight with need, achy and hungry in a way she knew that only they could satisfy. Her nipples tingled and pebbled, pushing against the front of her bra as though reaching out to them for attention.

The inner walls of her pussy quivered expectantly, already coated with her juices. The awareness in her clit grew as it swelled, her arousal sharpening as they got closer and making it nearly impossible to stand still.

Even her puckered opening responded, awakening with little pinpricks and becoming alert with anticipation.

She didn’t think she’d ever get used to that.

Reminding herself of her resolve that she would not let her body make decisions for her, she greeted them with a pleasant smile.

“Hello. What would you like?”

James lifted a brow and slid onto a barstool, eyeing her coolly, but Marc’s reaction stunned her.

He came around the bar so fast she didn’t have time to react, grabbed her arm and hustled her into her office, breezing past Ricky, who stared in wide-eyed astonishment. Closing the door behind them, he loomed over her.

“I can’t stop thinking about you. I can’t get any sleep because you’re curled up against me with that hot little body. Your scent drives me crazy to have you. I can’t sleep alone anymore. You distract me from my work. All I can think about is getting back to you. So do me a favor,
mate,
and save that polite little smile for your customers.”

Bailey blinked up at him, stunned by the flash of heat in his dark eyes. Inwardly cursing that her pussy clenched in response, she lifted her chin.

“It’s not my fault you can’t keep your dick in your pants.”

Gripping her shoulders when she would have backed away, Marc pulled her close, pressing the evidence of his arousal at her belly and sending a surge of lust and reluctant alarm through her.

“Yes, as a matter of fact it is.”

In a show of strength that stunned her, he lifted her by the waist and sat on the corner of her desk, putting her on his lap so that she straddled him. Low groans rumbled from him as he moved her slit against his cock.

“I told you we were highly sexed, but that doesn’t mean I go around with a raging hard-on every minute of the day. That’s only happened since I met you. You’re slowly driving me out of my mind.”

The tenderness and confusion in his eyes undid her. Threading her fingers through his silky hair, she lifted her face, touching her lips to his jaw. Unable to resist, she rubbed against him, smiling when his hands tightened on her hips and he growled.

“I want you, too. All the damned time. I want you inside me every minute. I can’t be with you without wanting you. I can’t sleep if you’re not in my bed.” Tilting her head, she studied his expression, humbled at the affection she saw there.

“Really, Marc. It’s too much. It’s making me crazy, and starting to piss me off. Damn, I love the feel of your body against mine.”

Rubbing her slit against his cock, she cursed that their clothing kept him from being inside her. Wrapping her legs around him, she began to rock, running her hands over his chest.

Marc groaned, bending his head to meet her lips with his.

“This can’t go on.”

“I know. We’ll kill each other.”

Taking her mouth in one of those long, drugging kisses, he ran his hands up her shirt and rubbed her back in long, firm strokes, holding her against him. He lifted his head, his lips brushing over hers.

“It’ll ease soon. It can’t go on like this forever.”

Bailey gasped into his mouth, moaning as his hands came around her to cover her breasts. Without hesitation, she wiggled to get closer, wishing he would sweep her bra out of the way. Every inch of her body came alive, every erogenous zone screaming for his attention. She ached. She throbbed. She couldn’t catch her breath. Pulling away slightly, she nodded.

“Okay. We’ll just keep jumping each other until this thing settles.” Licking her lips, she bit back a moan as her clit swelled even more, the taste of him like a drug running through her system. “As long as we both agree this has nothing to do with that mating stuff and how I smell.”

Marc took her mouth again, the possessiveness and expertise in his kiss making it nearly impossible to think. Sliding a hand to her butt, he pulled her closer, rubbing his cock against her slit.

“Agreed. It’s much more. I want you, Bailey. I want you to come home with us tonight. I want you in
my
house. In
my
bed.”

Her head spun with need as they sank into each other, and she lifted her hands to his hair again in an effort to get closer. Turning her face, she ran her tongue over his jaw.

“I like
my
bed.” She couldn’t give up the independence of sleeping in her own bed. Not for him. Not for James. Not for anyone.

Her thoughts came to a screeching halt, a cry startled from her when he ripped her bra away. She always loved when the hunger made him forget his strength, thrilling that his need for her became so strong that it ripped the civilized veneer away, leaving only primitive need behind.

Pushing her breasts against him and rubbing her clit against his cock, she whimpered in her throat at the delicious feel of his hard body against hers, tugging at his hair in an effort to get even closer. “I ache everywhere. Take me.”

Bending her back over his arm, he nibbled at her breast, sending currents of electricity through her. “I’ve got to have you. I ache for you, too. I need to feel that pussy clamp down on my cock. But that’s not enough. I need to feed on you. Everywhere.”