3#Unlikely Mates: BBW Shifter/Vampire Romance (Their Everything) (8 page)

Rushe
was freaking perfect since guys didn’t normally feel the need to listen much.

After
a long pause. With only her sniffs and soft whimpers to break the silence, Ross
eventually spoke. “Cosmo?” He grinned and shook his head. “I will forget I
heard that.” He paused for a beat. “Speak to us, sweetheart. I am also a very
good listener.” Ross smirked at Rushe.

She
had to suppress a groan. They were both seriously irritating but somehow also
seriously, freaking perfect. “It’s been a very long time since someone cared so
much about me. Aside from Tanya that is. It’s been really hard since she left
Sweetwater.” She hardly saw her best friend anymore.

“What
about the males you were with before?” Rushe growled, sounding angry. His body
tensed up. “Surely they cherished you? Listened when you needed them to?”

She
had to giggle. “Not really, but that’s not what I mean. This is the first time
that anyone besides my nanny and sometimes my parents tucked me in and it’s
been many, many years since that happened. I was probably only five or six the
last time my parents came to say good night and even before then it was a
rarity.”

“What?”
Ross’ eyes were wide. “Did they make you go to bed all on your own?”

“Like
I said, I had nannies that took care of me. My parents are both surgeons, very
career orientated. They traveled often, I guess, they didn’t have much time.”

“What
is a nanny?” Rushe asked.

“A
nanny is someone hired to look after children.” She answered, thankfully her
tears had mostly dried. “My parents were quite difficult and demanding so we
went through lots of hired help. I learned at a young age not to become too attached
to any of my caregivers.”

Ross
looked confused. “You mean humans pay people money to look after their children?”
He didn’t sound like he believed her.

Rushe
growled softly behind her. “That’s not right.”

“Not
all humans,” she managed a smile. “But it does happen, especially with parents
that are very busy. They hire people to clean the house and yes, very often, to
look after the children.”

“That
doesn’t make sense. Someone who is being paid to do this will not love you the
same as your own flesh and blood. Will not give you the same level of care. It
should be the responsibility of the family.” Ross actually looked angry. “Most
especially of the birthparents, to look after the children.” He shook his head.
“Vampire children are rare. They are cherished…” His eyes lit up. “Raised by
their parents and family…hell, the entire coven.” He paused, looking
thoughtful. “Did you not miss your parents?”

Becky
felt tears well.
No please not again.

“I
can tell that this is upsetting you.” Ross carefully brushed the tears from her
face. “It is not my intention to make you upset. Forget I said anything. I did
not mean to put down your parents.”

Rushe
pushed himself even tighter against her. “Tell us what we can do to make you
feel better. We will hold you for as long as it takes.”

How
utterly sweet
. They were both so sweet that it gave
her the courage to keep talking. It felt kind of good to get this off her
shoulders. “It is upsetting only because you’re right. My mom and dad paid
other people to take care of me, I was more of a thing to them, a possession
rather than a child to love and raise. Later on I became a gigantic
disappointment to them.” She felt her face crumple, she cried harder, putting a
hand up to cover her face. “I’m so sorry, I’m whining and I must look awful.”

“You
could never look awful. Even with a runny, red nose and swollen eyes, you are
the most beautiful female I have ever seen.” Rushe lifted himself onto his
elbow so that he could look down at her face.

She
had to giggle and used a hand to cover her face. “No, don’t look I’m a mess.”

“I
will always want to look at you, Becky. Even when you are crying, even when you
are heavily swollen with our child…” She gasped and shook her head, but he
ignored her. “Even when you are old and grey and your skin—”

“Enough.”
She had to laugh at his comments.

“I
will admit, wolf”—Ross narrowed his eyes at Rushe—“you are smooth in a rough
kind of way. I am going to have to up my game if I want to win our bet.”

Becky
sucked in a lungful of air. “What freaking bet?”

Ross
grinned. “Nothing to concern yourself over right now. How could your parents
see you as a disappointment? Look at all that you have achieved.” Ross gestured
around her. “You are a wonderful healer. You’re very beautiful, are highly
intelligent. In short, you are everything a male could ever wish for.”

She
narrowed her eyes at Ross. “If you think you can sidetrack me, you are
mistaken. I’ll carry on this conversation but you are so telling me about your
little bet.” She took a deep breath, stealing herself for what she was about to
say. “I am a disappointment to my parents. They had hoped that I would become a
surgeon. You know, follow in their footsteps.” She sniffed. “They were actually
insulted when I told them I wouldn’t be studying any further. That I was happy
remaining a lowly general practitioner.” She paused, licking her lips. “When I
married my ex-husband, it was like I was finally doing something right for the
first time. I wanted so badly to make them happy.” Had Tanya been right about
her marrying Carter for that reason?

“Husband?”
Rushe said on a low growl. His hand tightened on her arm.

“Isn’t
that the same as a mate?” Ross’ eyes narrowed.

“I
told you that I was with someone and that I didn’t love him so I left him. I
tried to make it very clear to the both of you that I’m not mate material. That
I don’t do forever. Yes, I was married or mated, whatever you want to call it.
The whole thing was a big mistake. I guess”—she took a deep breath—“I have just
realized that I only did it to please my parents. Although I was attracted to
him…”

Both
males growled and the whole bed vibrated making her giggle. “Ohhh, that
actually felt kind of nice.”

“It’s
not funny,” Rushe said, his voice low. “We don’t like that you were with other
males.”

“Hate
it.” Ross bit out, his jaw tense. “I might just hunt them down and kill them.”

“No,
don’t do that.” She could hear the panic in her voice.

“Why?”
Rushe growled. “Do you still have feelings for your husband?”

“Ex-husband
and the answer is no, not at all.”

“What
about other males?” Ross’ eyes were dark, they seemed to look right into her.

“What
other males?” She asked, feeling her brow crease. “I may have dated a few guys
but I assure you that I no longer want them. That’s kind of my problem. I fall
in love easily and out of love just as easily.”

Rushe
shook his head. “I’m not talking about males from your past. We would have to
kill anyone who touched you now.” Rushe said, his voice sounding dead calm.

“Titan
will die as will any other male, even if you were to allow them to touch you.”
Ross’ voice was so deep that it caused goose bumps to form on her arms. It also
pissed her off.

She
rolled onto her back, pushing them away as she did. “What do you think of me?
That I’m some kind of slut that sleeps with every guy that crosses her path?”
Her hands shook she was so angry. “Well, despite what happened with the two of
you, I’m not some bed-hopping hussy. I might flirt a bit but I don’t fuck
around. I don’t like what you are insinuating.”

They
at least had the good grace to look really sheepish, which helped her to calm
down. “No, I don’t plan on fucking anyone else. From the sounds of things I
won’t get to have sex with the two of you either. So there, okay? You won’t
have to kill anyone.”

Both
males visibly relaxed. Rushe lay back down, he urged her to move back into his
embrace. “I’m sorry, honey.” He smiled and she melted…a little.

“We’re
both sorry.” Ross squeezed her hip. “We can’t help but to get possessive over
you. It’s a miracle that we’re not killing one another even now.”

“No.”
Her eyes widened. “Please don’t. I couldn’t take it.”

“It
explains why you left your last mate.” Ross looked thoughtful. “You didn’t
really love him. You mated him because your parents wanted you to.”

“I
may have married him because of my parents, but it doesn’t explain why I am the
way I am.” She looked at them both in turn. “I just can’t stay in love. I think
I might be wired that way. I dated quite a few guys before settling down, I
left them all. I’ve had one serious relationship since my divorce and I left
him too.” She tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. “I would end up
leaving you too.” She looked somewhere between them, her focus on the far door
because she really didn’t know which one to address.

“You
would have to pick one of us first.” Ross said, his voice a rich baritone.

Her
mouth opened and closed and opened again. She shook her head. “I would rather
not.”

“Not
right this second…but soon, sweetheart…soon.” Ross threw her a grin that just
about melted her panties. “I want to hear more about your parents and why you
think you are a disappointment to them.”

 “When
I told them that I was divorcing Carter, they gave me an ultimatum.” She
squeezed her eyes shut, remembering the pain.

“What
kind of ultimatum?” Ross asked. Rushe took her hand, giving it a squeeze.

“They
said if I divorced Carter, I would be cut out of their will. That they would
want nothing further to do with me. Guess what?” She swallowed hard, trying not
to cry. “They stuck by their decision. I am their only child and they want
nothing to do with me. I’ve been told that Carter visits them with his new wife
once a week. How freaking creepy is that?”

“Well
good riddance. To all of them,” Rushe growled. “I’m really sorry, Becky, but
sometimes it’s not actually worth having people like that in your life. Even if
they are family.”

Ross
looked furious, his eyes burned. They darkened up a whole lot in the space of a
few seconds. “You didn’t love this male. You didn’t want to be with him and
decided to leave him, and your parents cut you out of their lives? You are
their child. Their daughter.” He shook his head. “I’m inclined to agree with
Rushe. You know that we both have strong feelings for you. We both see you as
our future mate. I don’t want to concern you with that right now, but know that
we are both here for you. We both care for you and want the best for you.” 

Rushe
moved in closer. “We want to date you. Please give us a chance, get to know us.
In the end, you can choose one of us in the knowledge that we will cherish you
always.” His voice was low, with a little bit of a husky edge. “I know for one
that I would love to tuck you in each and every night. Neither of us would give
you such bullshit ultimatums. No wonder you are afraid of loving with
everything that you are and everything that you have.” He paused, shaking his
head. “No wonder you hold this part of yourself away.”

“It
irritates me to say it, but Rushe is absolutely right,” Ross growled. “I can’t
believe I’m agreeing this much with a shifter. I never thought the day would
come when vampires and shifters would see eye to eye on something, but that day
is here.” He took in a deep breath. “You do realize that you do hold a part of
yourself away, Becky, don’t you? You close yourself off and then make sure that
you leave the male first. You don’t trust enough that someone is there for the
long haul, that someone can really love you for you and be there for you
always.” He licked his lips, breaking eye contact with her for a second before
re-establishing the connection. Her heart raced at a mile a minute. “You make
sure that you end it first. Isn’t that right, Becky?” He kept his eyes locked
with hers.

Could
it be? Was he right? Surely not. “I don’t think it’s as cut and dry as that. I
didn’t have the best of childhoods, but that doesn’t automatically mean that
the relationship I had with my parents would affect future relationships with a
partner. That’s too freaking talk show to be true.”

“It
sounds about right to me,” Rushe said. “You were raised by strangers. Lots of
different strangers who never stuck around. People paid by your parents, who
cared more about their work and making money than about being with their only
daughter.” He sighed.

Becky
felt her eyes well with tears again. A couple of months ago she had reached out
to her mother. In a moment of weakness, Becky had called her. Was it so bad
that she needed to hear her mother’s voice? She had spent her whole life
looking for approval, trying hard to do everything that they wanted, everything
that they required. All she wanted was to be seen, acknowledged and maybe
loved.

Her
mother had told her to never to call again and had put the phone down in her
ear. Up until then, she had lived in hope that they were just overreacting. That
they would get over her divorce and her not being a surgeon. She had prayed
that they would get over the glaring fact that she wasn’t the perfect,
debutante type.

 “You’re
right, they never looked back. Was I such a terrible daughter?” Her voice was a
mere whisper. This whole day was rubbing her raw, making her feel things she
hadn’t felt in a long time.