Looking in the mirror, she brushed her hair down over a shoulder and kept on brushing it until it was smooth and silky. After that she applied a hint of makeup and a modest dab of perfume. The reflection looking back at her in the mirror told her she might pass Nathan’s inspection of her that night. Actually, she hoped he would take his time and inspect her thoroughly all over.
She smiled at her naughty thoughts about what was to come. Then she smiled when she thought about Nathan. He was a good man. He had tried to distract her from her sad thoughts, but he was always available to listen. The ability to understand was one of his best qualities.
So, refusing to think about anything sad that night, she went down the hall to find Nathan and discover what her surprise was.
* * * *
“Don’t tell me you’re getting overly engrossed in your work again?” Morgan cocked her hip and stood in the doorway to Nathan’s office. “Do you know what time it is?”
She came over and perched herself on the edge of his desk as she looked down at the computer screen containing his work. Nathan seemed relieved to shove the computer out of his way and forget about it for a while. He looked up and gave her a smile that told her he loved her.
“I am getting engrossed in my work again,” he assured her. “I love every minute of it. I’ve got my old life back.” He gave her a searching look. “And I hope I have you back?”
She came around the table to wrap her arms around him for a hug. He reached out and pulled her down into his lap, and she gave him a brief kiss. “You never lost me.”
For a moment he just cuddled her in his arms. The office was bathed in the soft twilight of the afternoon, and she let herself enjoy the moment.
“You look absolutely stunning tonight.”
“You told me to dress sexy.”
“Everything you wear is sexy.”
She was forehead to forehead with him on his lap and gave him another kiss. “Are you going to tell me what the surprise is tonight?”
“No.” A wicked smile came to his face. She had never quite seen this look on Nathan in the past. “But you’ll find out soon enough.”
“I’m about to go out to the kitchen and start dinner. What would you like?”
He shook his head, and the devilish grin deepened. “Not tonight.” He ran his hands up and down her body, making her hot and ready. If he didn’t stop soon, there would be no dinner or anything else because she was going to explode. “I’m having dinner brought in tonight.”
This was a surprise in itself. No place in Wolf Creek would deliver all the way out here in the mountains. “Who’s bringing dinner to us?”
“You don’t want us to plant anymore crops any time soon, do you?” He answered her question with another question.
Morgan laughed at the memory of her days spent as a wayward farmer. “No. I don’t think so. I wasn’t very good at it. I think I’ll stick with art to try and make a living.”
“How about the barnyard animals? Would you like me to buy us some more?”
Morgan sighed. “Well, they were kind of fun sometimes. I would love to have a couple of horses. But I’m afraid they’re just too much work for us now. You have your business, and I’m in my studio most days.”
“I’ll look into getting us some horses out here this spring.” Nathan never let her down. He always got her whatever she wanted without fail. “However, as for the rest of the land, I’ve decided to sell it.”
Morgan backed off his forehead. His eyes still had that devilish gleam in them, but she didn’t know why. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she advised him. “We wouldn’t know what sort of people might buy the land. Right now it’s only you and me out here in the mountains all by ourselves. That’s what I love best about this place.”
“Yes, I love that we can fuck any time night or day and no one can hear us. In the summer we can be naked in the backyard and no one can see us.” He was the devil tonight. Morgan had never seen him in this mood before. But she decided she liked it and rewarded him with a kiss.
“Stop with all of that.” Morgan was blushing as she kissed him, though everything he said was true, and the two of them had made love in most corners of this land the first summer they moved in. The privacy the mountains afforded was great.
“But seriously, Nathan,” she continued after she had gotten her flushed cheeks under control. “If you sell some of this land, what’s to stop the new owners from building a house on it?”
“Nothing. I suppose they probably would.”
“Yes. They could build a house right next door if they wanted. Then what kind of privacy would we have? That whole magical element of living here in the mountains would be taken away from us.”
“It depends on who buys the land.”
She shook her head gruffly. “I don’t really like this idea at all, Nathan.”
She got up off his lap. He still had the wicked regard for her when he watched her leave. It sent a tingling through her body that centered between her thighs.
“So you don’t want me to make anything for dinner tonight?” she asked over her shoulder.
“No. The prospective buyers are bringing dinner in from the steak house in Wolf Creek.” This caught her attention, and she turned back to him. “Promise me you’ll give the new buyers a chance?”
“Well, they sure must want to buy our land if they’re bringing up a steak dinner all the way from Wolf Creek. I still don’t think this is a good idea, but I promise to keep an open mind.”
“Good. They should be here any minute now.”
Morgan was faintly disappointed as she went back down the hall. But that gleam out of Nathan’s eye told her something was up. She didn’t know what it was, but she trusted Nathan’s judgment and decided to relax. At least all the activity was keeping her mind away from everything that had happened, and she didn’t have time to think or be sad.
“I think they must be here,” she called down the hall to Nathan’s office. The sound of a truck driving up out front had just caught her attention.
She only hoped the new people wouldn’t be too boring.
Drake held out a bouquet of a dozen red roses to Morgan when she opened the door for them. Hunter stood at his side holding another bouquet with another dozen roses.
Morgan’s eyes went wide. Drake watched a flurry of emotions pass across her face at light speed. He thought for a moment she was going to swoon.
“What are you guys doing here?” She was suspicious but accepted the second bouquet as Hunter handed them across the threshold to her.
To Drake there had never been a better sight in his life than to watch Morgan’s face light up with surprise and concern. It was a wonderful feeling to come bearing good news for one he loved.
“Come on inside, men.” Nathan was behind Morgan and welcomed them into his home.
Morgan stepped out of the way and let them pass in front of her. She had become speechless.
Drake shook hands with Nathan, and Hunter did the same.
“Roses for the lady, huh?” Nathan arched an eyebrow at them.
“We intend to give you a run for your money in the presents department,” Hunter quipped.
Nathan laughed and gave Hunter a friendly pat on the back. The other day when Nathan had been at Hunter’s trailer, he had stayed on and talked with the two of them for several hours. They had shared a few more shots of scotch and talked of their respective lives as shifters.
By the time it was over, Drake knew the three of them were fast on their way to becoming friends. Nathan McLaughlin was the type of man he could trust and respect, and he had quickly come to like him. Drake imagined the three men could have quite a good time being next-door neighbors, especially with a hot woman they all loved to share their nights with.
“I brought beer along with dinner,” Drake told Nathan.
“Forget the beer.” Nathan went out to the kitchen and held up a bottle. “I stopped off in town and got us champagne. This is a celebration, isn’t it?”
“Touché,” Hunter told him and smiled.
“Didn’t Nathan tell you?” Drake looked down at Morgan. She still had not recovered from her shock.
“He said it was a surprise.”
“Hunter and I
are
the surprise.”
“Oh my God!” Morgan could clearly not believe what she was hearing.
Drake stood back with Nathan, and he poured them each a glass of the obscenely expensive champagne. Hunter had taken Morgan over to the couch in the corner of the room. He was explaining things to her in a low tone neither Nathan nor Drake could hear.
When Hunter was finished, they shared a kiss. It was quite a bit more than just a peck on the cheek. Their arms wrapped around each other, and there was desperation pent up from long absence released.
“I think we’ve made her happy,” Nathan said to Drake as they watched Morgan and Hunter kissing.
“I think you’ve made her happy,” Drake told Nathan.
“I’d do anything for that woman.”
“So would I.”
Morgan came across the living room to Drake. Tears of happiness were in her eyes. For a moment Drake stood looking at her, afraid to even touch her.
“Hunter told me. But I want you to tell me as well. Is it true?”
Drake took her in his arms. There wasn’t any embarrassment, care, or worry that the other men could see them. He bent and kissed her. She tasted every bit as good as he remembered. No woman in the world could ever compare to this one. She opened her mouth for him, and he fully claimed her in that one kiss.
“It is true, sweetheart,” he told her when they broke away for air. “Nathan is going to sell some land out here to Hunter and me. We’re thinking of building a house next door so we can be together all the time.”
* * * *
Nathan was pleased with how the evening had progressed so far. The steak dinner had been very good despite the fact the men had to drive for a while before they got it out here to the dinner table. The champagne was excellent. Morgan loved the roses the men brought her and showcased them in two vases on the mantel over the fireplace.
The conversation between him and the other two shifter men had been easy and free-flowing. As shifters, they had a lot in common. When he was growing up as a child, he had always wished he could have had a brother to experience life with. Already he was starting to think of these two men as the brothers he had never had.
However, they had kept the conversation light. No one had wanted to broach sleeping arrangements yet. Nathan wasn’t shy about talking on this subject and knew the other men weren’t, either. But they didn’t want to embarrass Morgan by bringing it up too soon.
All four of them were seated in front of the fireplace finishing the last of their champagne. Nathan had his arm around Morgan. He noticed that she had become unusually shy all evening after she heard the good news. He knew how Morgan’s mind worked, and she was probably already thinking two steps ahead and worrying over potential rivalries or jealousies among the men.
He would have to take it slow with her to reassure her. There were still one or two things about him she didn’t know, and if he shared them with her now, it might ease her into the new relationship they were about to embark on.
“I’ve always wanted to share you with another man.”
“But you never said anything.” She was relaxed in the crook of his arm. Her body felt warm and wonderful. This was as good a time as any to tell her his secret desires.
“Shifters like to share their women. From the first day I met you I imagined you under the body of another shifter male. I imagined him riding you long into the night and your body writhing with ecstasy under his thrusts.”
Morgan took a sip of her champagne. Nathan was afraid he may have embarrassed her when she didn’t say anything for a few minutes.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Two reasons. First off, I thought you would find the idea objectionable.”
“You’re right about that,” she admitted. Her eyes were glassed over, and she had a faraway look. “Until just a little while ago, I would have hated a proposition such as that.”
Nathan gave her a kiss, and she eagerly pressed her lips to his. “It didn’t matter to me. I loved you, and I loved the relationship we had for what it was. I didn’t need to change anything to be content.” Nathan looked over at Hunter and Drake. Since they were all seated on the floor around the fire, there was more room. Morgan was in his arms, her back resting against his chest. Hunter was on one side of her, his hand on her knee. Drake was on the opposite side. He had removed her shoes and was giving her a foot massage. Nathan thought that he was going to have to have Drake teach him how to do that for her. She seemed to love his fingers as they laced through her toes.
“The second reason I never brought up sharing you with another man was because not all shifters are good and trustworthy. I didn’t know anyone that I would have trusted enough to invite into our bed.”
Morgan flashed him a smile. Then she looked down at her feet and at Hunter and Drake. “Now we know two men. I trust them both.”
“I do, too.”
Morgan did him one better. “I also happen to love them.”