STORY EXCERPT

She rubbed her arms as she studied them and asked, “Okay, what do you want to talk about?” She knew she was being a bitch and had no right. She just couldn’t help it. She didn’t know that they were together when she had kissed Chase in her classroom, but she still felt bad. Even if she had been wrong for kissing him, it didn’t give Devlin the right to put his hands on her. He was lucky that she felt bad about kissing his boyfriend, or she would have let him have it. She had taken karate classes since she was seven years old and had a fourth-degree black belt. Gavin’s parents had insisted that every girl should know how to defend themselves. Because of this, they had paid for her classes when she was a kid. She had liked the classes so much she had continued them and was now a part-time instructor at her karate school. When he had grabbed her arm, she had almost reacted and defended herself, but something deep down told her not to fight the man. Her brain was at war inside her head. First it said fight and don’t let him hurt you. Then, just as she was ready to break his hold on her arms, it said, you deserve this for kissing his boyfriend. She couldn’t figure out why she was so confused around the two males. One part of her wanted to tell them both off and walk out the door, but another part wanted them to hold her and tell her they weren’t mad at her.

When she realized Devlin still hadn’t answered her, she crossed her arms and asked again, “What do you want to talk about?”

* * * *

Devlin watched the female rub her arms and was ready to kick himself when he realized he had left bruises on her arm. If what Chase said was true, which he was starting to believe, and she was their mate, he should be protecting her from being hurt, not hurting her. He stepped forward and went to reach for her arms to check out the damage he had caused, but she flinched and took a step back, and Chase put his hand on his shoulder to stop him from touching her. It seemed neither of them trusted him, and he didn’t blame them. It was going to take a lot of work on his part to earn her trust now.

While he was still not sensing her as their mate, he trusted Chase with his life. He knew he would never do anything to hurt him or to tear them apart. There was nothing left to do but trust in Chase and make their now-mate a part of their family. He was sure that when the stress of the day wore off, he would sense her the same way that Chase had. Now all he had to do was make things right with both of his mates. He had to admit that there was something about her that was drawing him in. If he hadn’t overreacted when he scented her on Chase, he probably would have been able to see it before. “I’m sorry I hurt you, sugar. I don’t know why. I just lost it. I’m very sorry, and it will never happen again. I will protect you for the rest of my life and see to it that you are never hurt again by my hand or anyone else’s.” She studied him and nodded her head but did not come closer. He dropped his hand that he held out to her and stepped back.

Chase was right there and wrapped his arms around him, kissing the side of his neck. He whispered low so no one but Devlin could hear him. “Just give her time. We have to earn her trust. I don’t think she knows what we are or why you reacted that way to her. She’ll learn. You’ll see.”

Devlin nodded and cleared his throat before saying, “My name is Devlin. What is yours?” She looked from his face to Chase’s arms around him, and the only word he could find for her expression was “desire.” Not the sexual desire he hoped to feel from her, but desire to be wanted and needed like he needed Chase.

“Amalya McKinnon,” she finally answered.

Tilting his head he asked, “McKinnon? As in Gavin McKinnon? Are you related to him?” Hurt and some other emotion passed over her face before she quickly schooled her features and answered, “Kinda. His parents adopted me when we were teenagers. Do you know Gavin?”

Devlin pondered her answer. “No, I have heard of him from other pa...um, family members, but I never met him. We only moved nearby about four and a half years ago. He has been gone for about five years, right?”

He could see tears in her eyes. “Yeah, almost exactly five years.” He knew he needed to change the subject fast. It seemed something bad had happened between them, but now was not the time to find out. Now was the time to earn her trust and explain things to her. They were somehow going to have to find out if she knew about wolf shifters and then explain that was what they were. If she was close to Gavin and his family, she should know about them, but sometimes people kept secrets. Gods knew he and Chase had kept a big secret from everyone for seven years. Devlin was trying to figure out a way to ask her if she was aware of what Gavin was when Dmytri and Adryk walked up to them and asked, “Uncle Devlin, can we go see momma now? The babies are asleep.” He knew this moment was coming but just didn’t know how to tell the boys that their momma wasn’t with them anymore, and they wouldn’t get to see her again.

ADULT EXCERPT

“Are you ready for your mates, milaya?”

Hell yes! She nodded as she placed a hand on each of their shoulders. “I’m ready. Make love to me. Claim me. Make me yours. Forever, please.” The look of love that they both gave her was enough to make her knees weak again. Luckily, they were both there to catch her. They carefully laid her on the bed like she would break. Devlin lay beside her on her right side, head propped on his elbow, watching her. Chase knelt over her and covered her with his body. Chase took her lips in a kiss that said she was his, and she had better not forget it. When he left her lips and started raining little kisses down her neck headed toward her breasts, Devlin swooped in and took her mouth. Chase worked his way down to take one nipple into his mouth, and he sucked while Devlin took the other and rolled it between his fingertips. At the feel of Chase’s mouth on her nipple, her back arched, half her body coming off the bed. Every time he sucked her nipple it felt like he was sucking on her clit. It throbbed in response to his mouth. This was the best she had ever felt, and they hadn’t even touched her there yet. For a second, she wasn’t sure if she would be able to handle more pleasure. But when Chase started kissing down her stomach she knew she wanted more. No, she needed more. She needed him to touch her there. She needed his mouth on her. She needed his cock buried deep inside her.

When he was just above her mound, she lifted her hips, hoping he would get the hint. With a small chuckle, he slid her shorts and panties down her legs. Then he used his fingers to spread her outer lips. She heard a swift intake of his breath, and he froze. Wondering what was wrong with her, she lifted her head to look down at him. “What’s wrong with me?”

When he grinned up at her, he had a tear that was just starting to fall down his cheek. “Nothing is wrong. You are perfect. But I’m afraid to hurt you.” He looked to Devlin. “She is innocent. We can’t hurt her.”

She knew what he saw after his statement to Devlin. She was a virgin, as she had told them. She had been preached to by Gavin’s parents that it was important for her to keep her innocence until she found her “one” as they had always called him. They would probably be surprised to find she had two instead of one perfect man in her life. She reached down and ran her fingers over his jaw. “I know you won’t hurt me. I trust you. Please make love to me.”

Chase took a deep breath, and she thought he was going to stop. Just as she was ready to beg, he said, “Just let me know if it hurts, and I will stop. I will try to make it as painless as I can.” With that, he dipped his head. The touch of his tongue to her clit was enough to set her body on fire. She had never felt anything so amazing. She felt one of his fingers at her opening and clenched. He lifted his head. “Baby, just relax. I won’t hurt you. I don’t really want to take your innocence with my fingers and tongue, but if I don’t stretch you for me, it will really hurt. This is the way it has to happen.” She knew what he meant, but she had always thought that it would be a man taking her for the first time that would break her virgin barrier.

She took a deep breath and relaxed her body. Devlin helped by softly running his hand up and down her belly and kissing her neck. Chase must have felt her relax, because he again lowered his head and started licking at her. She knew she was wet from their attention and briefly wondered if she tasted okay to him. As if he read her mind, he answered her question when he moaned, and she thought she heard him mutter, “Delicious.” After a few minutes of just his tongue, she felt his fingers at her opening again. She didn’t tense this time. She knew she wanted these men to make love to her and that they wouldn’t hurt her. She felt him slick up a finger in her juices before slowly pushing it into her. She felt full but no pain as he licked at her clit and pushed his finger farther into her. She felt more heat and liquid rush to her pussy that was now throbbing when he worked a second finger into her. There was a small bite of pain but nothing compared to the pleasure she was feeling. The whole time, Devlin was rubbing her lower stomach and whispering words of love in her ear. Chase stopped licking. “So perfect, baby. Now come for us.”

She wasn’t sure she knew what he meant. While she knew some women took things “into their own hands,” she had never felt the need to bring herself pleasure. She wasn’t sure she would know what an orgasm felt like when and if she ever had one.

Wow, was she ever wrong. No one could mistake this feeling for anything else. Heat rushed to her pussy and then engulfed her entire body. She felt like her body was on fire and wouldn’t be surprised if she burst into flames at any moment. She was so caught up in the sensations she barely noticed that Chase had worked his way up her body and was now hovering over her. He was holding his cock at her opening and looking down into her eyes, as if silently asking her permission to enter. When she caught her breath enough to speak, she cupped his jaw and whispered, “Make me yours, my mate.”