Authors: Kristina Lee
Tags: #erotic, #paranormal romance, #wolves, #erotic romance, #erotic paranormal romance, #seduce
Cory shoved away on a growl.
The calm after this morning’s storm
between the two of them came to an abrupt end.
“Dammit, Zane. You can’t keep
protecting us both. And I’m not the one who needs your help should
a rogue strike. He’ll go for the heart of you. Your mate. You know
this.”
They both took a quick glance at the
cracked bedroom door where they’d left Selena sleeping. The second
she’d fallen asleep—purring from the sensual strokes—Cory had risen
from the bed, as if fearful of forming an attachment from remaining
too long. Zane refused to let him slip so easily from his emotions.
It was time he took ownership. “Stop pushing me away,
Cory.”
Cory strode to the far side of the
room, shaking open his jeans before stepping into them. His gaze,
when he finally returned Zane’s, was razor sharp, as violent as his
tongue. “Then get your head out of your ass and realize what an
idiot you’re being.”
Boxing him in again as he stepped
closer, Zane’s wolf wanted to slash at being prodded. He ignored
the impulse and ran his fingers through Cory’s thick hair. The
other wolf stilled and leaned toward him. A silent apology in his
own way. Zane lowered his voice.
“Insulting me won’t change anything.
Besides, Selena needs to go back to work tonight. As much as I’d
personally like to oversee the crew that will shadow her there, I’m
better fit to lead in the field. Hunting a rogue will take my mind
off of worrying.”
Zane refused to sit on his hands and
wait while Aden slipped further from their grasp. Time was not
their friend. The information Jesse uncovered this afternoon was
grim at best. Whether or not the rogue intended to divide the Pack
in hopes of overthrowing Zane or for the desire simply to cause
chaos, it was a mute point now. As far as Zane and the hunters were
concerned, the tapes linking him as an accomplice in two of the
hospital murders sealed his fate.
Cory’s hands on his chest pulled him
from his dark thoughts as he brought his lips to his lovers,
enjoying the hard slide of their firm mouths, the slick moisture of
his tongue. No matter how strong his love for Selena grew, he would
never sacrifice Cory, never willingly let their passion go
unanswered. Their love ran too deep.
Cory turned his head to break the
dizzying kiss, his breath a hot sting on his skin. “Fine. In the
meantime I’m going to do some preliminary scouting, talk to family,
etc.”
As he stepped away, Zane caught his
hand, giving a firm squeeze. “Everything will be fine, Cory. I
promise.”
Words he wished like hell hadn’t needed
to be spoken to Cory, one who trusted him without fail. He knew
Cory still teetered on wanting to run away from this new beast,
sprint as fast as he could away from the love the three of them
were beginning to share. But everything was intertwined now. Their
lives, their love, and soon the mating bond.
“Says the man who’s drunk from finding
his mate.”
Zane growled low, having run out of
patience for being pushed by the other male. “Cory,” he warned, his
skin heating with his rising anger.
Cory shook his head and ignored Zane’s
narrowed gaze, one of the few wolves who could without consequence.
“I know what it feels like to lose that happiness, that endless
sunshine, Zane. Don’t prevent me from doing all I can to make sure
yours never dies like Linnea’s did.”
The soft feminine gasp had both their
heads turning to the bedroom door which now stood ajar, Selena’s
petite frame covered in one of his t-shirts. Despite the vestiges
of sleep that still clung to her gentle features, her eyes widened
with shock as she rushed into the room and straight to Cory’s side.
His wolf pawed with pride over the little healer at
work.
Cory stiffened as she placed a gentle
hand over his heart, but he sat back wondering if his mate could
offer Cory what he’d never been able to. Sufficient
reassurance.
Her scent wafted around them in the
room. A soft, sweet hint of who his woman really was. Who their
woman was. Fresh spring mornings and lazy afternoons basking in the
sun.
Cory’s growl had him on his feet and by
her side a second later.
“Do not pity me.” His words a violent
verbal slap Selena recoiled from. His gaze momentarily found
Zane’s. “Either of you.”
In a rush of unnatural speed, he shoved
away from Selena’s outstretched fingers, leaving both of them to
stand and watch as he bolted from the room, slamming the door
behind him.
Chapter Ten
The darkness would be oppressive if not
for the men she sat between. The drive from Zane’s house to the
hospital was almost an hour, three quarters of which they spent in
silence. The tension between Zane and Cory still radiated like a
violent charge in the warm air of the truck cab. She held a hand
with each of them but otherwise they were all lost in their own
thoughts, the mood clearly as dark as the moonless night they
traveled in.
The closer they drew to the city, the
worse her nerves tightened with anxiety. Zane was dropping her at
the hospital entrance and picking her up there but still she
couldn’t shake the eerie memories of last night’s attack—the feral
eyes of the wolf that tried killing her, the haunting howl when she
thought she’d die.
Both men squeezed her hands together in
sync, drawing her focus off her own personal nightmare.
“You’ll be perfectly safe at work,
little healer.”
Zane’s smooth voice reassured her on an
elemental level and she believed him instinctively. Everything
would be fine, she told herself. Despite the bizarre series of
events that transpired in the past day, she’d found the love of not
one but two incredibly strong, protective men. Their love wrapped
her in a cocoon of sorts, dampening most of her worry. The team of
hunters that would be watching the hospital tonight took care of
some of the rest.
“But will you two be safe
too?”
“We’ve hunted together many times,
Selena. This isn’t anything we can’t handle.”
Only she felt the tension ride up
Zane’s arm, knew he was worried about something tonight too.
Something beside her. Before she could speak her concerns out loud,
Cory’s hand slipped past the elastic waistband of her hospital
scrubs and panties to draw circles around her clit. She
gasped.
“So many easy opportunities for Zane
and I to take your mind off things.”
Too shocked to respond, she dropped her
head back on the seat, writhing when Zane slid his hand through her
curls and together they each pushed a finger deep inside her. She
bucked when their thumbs pressed against her clit, rubbing
alternating patterns not quite in tune.
“That’s more like it.” Cory’s seductive
whisper grated across the exposed skin of her neck as he leaned
close, pulling his hand away from her moist sex to push up beneath
her sweatshirt and tug on her aching nipples.
Selena whimpered as Zane added a second
finger, thrusting them inside her no less demanding than if it were
the powerful movements of his cock. For a moment she marveled he
could keep the truck on the narrow road but when Cory licked the
tender mark at the nape of her neck, she melted to the seat, all
thought lost.
Gone were the chills of the night air
as her body greedily drank in everything they offered. An insidious
heat spread from her belly outward, scorching every inch of her
skin as it consumed her. Cory continued to toy with her beaded
nipples, pinching them through the fabric of her bra and making her
cry out.
His kisses were like fire as he grazed
over her cheek, her chin and neck. Resting her head on Zane’s
shoulder, she dug her nails into his thigh, the pleasure tightening
every muscle inside her.
“Bite her,” Zane growled.
Cory stiffened beside her, his hands
gripping her waist as his breaths came out ragged against her
cheek. As if sensing the torture his withdrawal caused, Zane pumped
his fingers deeper inside her, his thumb teasing the swollen nub of
her clit with precision.
She opened her eyes to watch Cory, saw
the deep, old wounds he couldn’t hide. “It’s alright,” she panted.
“You don’t have to.”
Zane growled beside her, his fingers
curling wickedly to hit her most sensitive spot, a form of
punishment for her speaking against him. “Bite her, dammit. Make
her ours.”
They entered the edge of town, the
streetlights flickering into the cab of the truck to illuminate the
pinched worry on Cory’s angled face. She didn’t need to know about
the losses of his past, didn’t need to experience his hesitation to
want to comfort him. Raising a trembling hand, she cupped his
cheek, lifting off Zane’s shoulder to feather her lips over
his.
His mouth was firm, his lips unmoving
but she teased her tongue across his teeth and stroked his hair
with her fingers until he relented, softening just a bit. When his
nails scratched at her waist, his grip almost too tight to breathe,
she whispered “I want this, Cory. I want to love you
both.”
He shook against her whether from
restraint or need she couldn’t tell. Zane’s fingers worked faster
inside her and she rocked her hips too close to the edge to hold it
back any longer. With amazing agility Cory leaned over her, one
hand tilting her head to the side, baring the unmarked side of her
neck.
He tongued the heated flesh, kissing
and sucking the smooth expanse of skin until she was crying with
need. “Please!”
“Forever, little one.” His sharp teeth
pierced the skin of her neck the same moment the first shattering
waves of her orgasm rolled through her. Her cries echoed through
the small truck cab as Cory pinched the tender area harder with his
teeth before sucking the aching flesh into his mouth and flicking
it with the tip of his tongue. Zane pulled his hand from her, the
aftershocks of her climax still rocking her back and forth. He
lifted his hand to gently ease Cory’s mouth from her trembling
body.
She found herself tucked into Cory’s
powerful arms, his ragged breath against her neck the only sound
audible. The truck jerked to a stop in the empty back parking lot
of the hospital and Zane wrapped both his arms around her, pulling
her from one lover’s embrace onto his lap. Cory watched with hooded
eyes as Zane stroked every inch of covered skin, branding her with
his own possessive heat, helping her unwind after the intense
earth-shaking bliss.
“Promise me you’ll wait inside the
hospital tonight until one of us comes in for you.”
Selena nodded, leaning her head on
Zane’s solid chest and letting out a sigh of contentment. The love
these two strong men doled out pushed away her worries, her fears
of being abandoned to live alone once again. She wouldn’t
jeopardize that by risking another attack, certainly not when Cory
and Zane hadn’t given her many details about how much danger she
was still in.
“You have our cell numbers if you need
anything.”
Tilting her chin up to his face, she
smiled into Zane’s rough kiss. Wrapping her hands around his neck,
she teased him with her tongue, silently promising to return the
pleasurable bliss later. “Stay safe.”
Cory popped open the truck door and
slid out. Selena slipped off Zane’s lap and followed his lead,
finding herself pressed against the open door as Cory boxed her in,
his mouth capturing hers in a gentle, slow dance. These men were
night and day, truly two opposite halves to the whole. And she
wouldn’t have it any other way.
Cory ran his hand over his fresh bite
mark, the skin tingling from the rough pads of his fingers. When
she shivered, he pulled back, concern filling in his light eyes.
Selena shook her head and drew one hand to his cheek. “Sssh. I’m
okay. You stay safe too. Patching more of your wounds isn’t my idea
of fun later tonight.”
His wickedly charming grin brought a
smile to her lips as he walked her the few short steps to the
employee secured entrance, but it didn’t take long for her mind to
return to the activities her two lovers intended to partake in
tonight.
“See you in a few hours, little one.”
Cory wrapped his arms around her, taking her key card and swiping
it through the security box.
“Promise?”
He pulled open the heavy glass door and
she lingered against his solid frame, soaking in his endless warmth
and memorizing the beat of his fierce heart. Finally, he eased her
inside.
“Promise.”
* * * *
“Sometimes you can be real jackass,
Zane.”
Cory kept his gaze on the deserted
streets and his nose tilted toward the cracked window of the truck
but he still picked up his Alpha’s tension with ease.
“You were going nearly feral for a
taste of her, love. All I did was prod you to take what you
wanted.”
Cory laughed, the cynical chuckle
echoing between them in the truck cab. “What I wanted was for you
to mate Selena and save the Pack. What I wanted was to walk away
with a little dignity so you could give her what she
needs.”
Zane’s hand smoothed over Cory’s denim
clad thigh and rested over his knee. The warmth of his touch did
little to soothe his anger, especially when he knew the stubborn
Alpha had never intended to let him walk away. It was the sole
reason for going along with his plan in the first place. Zane
wouldn’t have found her otherwise. And her soothing presence in the
Pack had immediate benefits.