Black Storm [Panther Key] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (3 page)

Blake poured her a fresh cup of coffee while Jake set big platters on the counter that were piled high with eggs, bacon, sausages, and toast. Blake sat next to Kate and took her plate, filling it with a little of everything. The brothers all sat down in the other chairs and started loading their plates with food.

“I hope you like big breakfasts, Kate.” Blake winked at her as he set the plate in front of her.

“Well, I usually just have a bagel or something, but I am kind of extra hungry this morning.” She reached for the strawberry jam, spread some on her toast, and then took a bite. “Mmmm…this jam’s really good.” Blake thought he was going to lose his mind as she stuck her tongue out and licked the sticky fruit spread off her lips. He was sure she had no idea how damned sexy that was.

Drake chuckled softly. “Glad you like it. We grow the strawberries and make it ourselves.”

“Really? So you’re all like, what, farmers or something?” She continued to devour the toast and jam, and Blake was starting to forget about everything except watching her mouth move.

“Sort of.” Blake registered that Jake was the one answering her question. “Drake’s the one who can make things grow. I come up with recipe and other ideas. Blake’s our marketing guru, because all the plants die if he goes near them, and you do not want him doing any cooking.”

Kate sputtered as she started laughing into her cup of coffee, which snapped Blake out of his daydream. He was getting lost in his own thoughts while gazing at this incredible and unexpected female.

“Yes, well, someone has to figure out a way to sell the stuff you two come up with. You’re both just really lucky I’m extremely talented at what I do.”

Jake took on a look of mock offense. “Hey, from what I can smell, Kate seems to like my latest creation.”

A look of confusion crossed Kate’s face. Blake rolled his eyes at Jake. “He’s talking about the shower products you used, Kate. Those are out latest products.”

Kate’s eyes widened. “You can smell me?”

Blake grinned at her and then watched as her cheeks took on a pink blush. Gods, she was beautiful!

Kate gulped and then cleared her throat. “So, um, the storm…do you think it’s gonna be a really bad one?” She asked the question with a breezy casualness, but Blake could tell she was trying to change the subject. He also heard a slight nervousness under the calm at the mention of the storm.

Blake put his fork down and reached over to push a stray strand of her silky black hair out of her eyes. The pink flush across her cheeks deepened into an even more enticing shade. Blake had to remind himself what she had just asked him. “It looks like it. Have you ever been through a hurricane before?”

Kate shook her head, and her eyes clouded over with something that looked like sadness. “I just moved to Florida last year.”

Blake had a sudden urge to know everything about this beautiful woman and what could have happened to put that look in her eyes. “Where were you headed last night?”

“Orlando. My condo’s on the beach in West Palm Beach and, um…I was afraid to stay there during the storm, so I was trying to get inland before it hit.”

“Well, you’re inland, all right.” Drake motioned around them. “But I’m afraid you definitely took a wrong turn somewhere. You’ll be safe here though. This house is built to withstand the worst nature can throw at us.”

As if testing his words, at that moment, a great gust of wind slammed into the side of the house, rattling the walls. Kate jumped at the sound, and they all turned to the one window over the kitchen sink that didn’t have storm shutters over it. They could see heavy rain blowing sideways across the window but couldn’t see much beyond that.

Blake saw what looked like fear cross Kate’s eyes. “And you, um, really don’t mind? You know…if I stay here?” Her voice was so full of doubt Blake had the urge to pull her into his lap and cradle her against him.

He brushed her cheek with the back of his fingers. “We really don’t mind, Kate. In fact, we’re glad you’re here.”

* * * *

Something about these guys made Kate feel like she couldn’t breathe. Or talk. Or even think, for that matter. She was usually not a blithering idiot, but she felt like she couldn’t say anything intelligent around them. The way they all looked at her should have sent her running for the nearest bathroom and locking the door firmly behind her, but instead, she found herself getting all flustered and…well, pretty damned aroused.

“So, about my wrong turn last night.” She turned to look at Blake. “Please tell me I just dreamed about a bear, and it wasn’t real.”

Blake took a long drink of coffee before clearing his throat. “Well, actually…”

“Oh my God! Do you mean that really happened?” She was trying really hard not to get hysterical, but it wasn’t working out so well for her. She had actually been chased by a bear! Her breathing was getting shallow, and she could tell she was about to start hyperventilating. Blake got up and led her over to the big leather sofa in the living room. He sat Kate down and sat close next to her then put his big arms around her and pulled her close to his chest.

“Shhh. It’s okay, I promise. You’re okay.” Blake spoke reassuring words to her while Drake sat down on her other side, and Jake settled on the floor in front of her. Drake took one of her hands and started rubbing her wrist soothingly. Jake lightly massaged each of her legs in long strokes. “Relax, baby. It’s gone, and it’s not going to hurt you.”

Kate looked down at her hands, only just now registering the small scrapes on her palms. She looked at her legs and saw the small scratches from running through the underbrush. How had she not noticed them when she was taking a shower or getting dressed? Maybe her mind had just refused to go there before now.

“What about the other thing?” Her voice came out as a cracked whisper. She cleared her throat. “The gold thing that chased the bear away? And the man! There was a naked man!” She looked down at Jake, who grinned and looked up at Blake. Kate followed his gaze and met Blake’s eyes. “What? You?” This time all she could do was mouth the word. Her voice was completely useless.

Blake grinned a sheepish grin at her, and she almost stopped breathing again. Even in her current state of near hysteria, she couldn’t help but respond to the blatant sexiness of him. And the fact that his two identical and equally sexy brothers had their hands on her was so not helping!

“You were…um…naked.” If the heat she felt in her face was any indication, Kate was certain she had probably just turned the same shade as a very ripe tomato.

“Yeah, I was. Kate, are your parents around?” Blake’s off-topic question startled her.

“My parents? Why do you want to know about my parents?” She really didn’t want to talk about this. The pain was still too fresh.

Drake brushed his fingers over her cheek, and she turned to look at him. “It might be relevant to what happened last night. I know you’re confused but, please, just trust us.”

She looked into Drake’s eyes and saw the sincerity there. She looked down at Jake and recognized the same in his gaze. She wasn’t sure why or how, but she felt like she could trust these men. She took a deep breath.

“I didn’t know my father. Mom never talked about him. At least, not until right before she died.” Tears instantly sprang to her eyes. All three men moved closer to her, their hands moving soothing patterns over her skin. “Mom was diagnosed with brain cancer just over a year ago. The doctors said there wasn’t much they could do. She lived in Florida before I was born and wanted to spend her last months at the beach, so I quit my job and moved here with her. She died eight months ago.” She was trying hard not to break down and sob, but she couldn’t stop the tears from spilling over and sliding down her cheeks. She hadn’t talked to anyone about this since her mother’s death, and now here she was, talking to three complete strangers. In a strange way, part of her actually felt relief at finally speaking the words.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart.” Blake pulled her closer to him as he spoke. “What do you know about your father?” She looked up at him, confused as to why anything about her father was important. But he looked truly interested, and something about him made Kate want to tell him everything she knew.

“I stopped asking questions about him years ago because Mom refused to tell me anything. She always got really sad whenever I brought the subject up. Then, maybe two weeks before she died, she said she had to tell me something important. I thought she wanted to talk about her will or something, but she started talking about my father.” Kate felt like a dam had broken inside of her, and everything she had kept bottled up was tumbling out. Now that she had started talking, she didn’t think she would be able to stop if she tried.

“She said she met him here in Florida, and it was love at first sight. At least it was for her. Anyway, it only lasted for one summer. He disappeared right after she found out she was pregnant. She never heard from him again. She moved back to Austin to be near her sister and never talked about him.” Kate took a deep breath, knowing this was where things were going to get weird.

“Anyway, she told me some really strange things, and I thought it was the pain medications doing the talking. I mean, what else could I think when she started talking about black panthers and…um, stuff?” She didn’t know how to say the rest of the things her mother had told her. She really didn’t want these men to think she was crazy, either.

“Did she tell you your father’s name, Kate?” Blake was looking at her very intently. In fact, all of the brothers had gotten very still and were staring at her with very serious expressions.

Kate blinked, taken by surprise at the sudden tension. “Yeah, she did. His name was Jesse.”

There was a collective gasp from all three brothers. Kate looked around to all of them and saw the same stunned look on all their faces.

Finally, Blake found his voice. “Jesse Landers?”

This time it was Kate’s turn to gasp in shock. “How did you know?”

Jake squeezed her hands, and she looked at him. His eyes were sad as he spoke. “He was our father’s best friend. He didn’t have any family of his own, and our grandparents sort of took him in. He didn’t leave your mom, Kate. He was killed. He called our dad and left a message that he’d found the love of his life and was bringing her home for everyone to meet. He never made it. Our family never knew her name or how to find her.”

Kate felt the blood drain from her face. She was too stunned to respond. For all those years, her mom had thought Jesse had just walked off and left her to raise their child alone. A sob tore from deep within Kate’s chest as the tragedy of her mom’s lost love crashed down on her. “She never found anyone else. I don’t think she ever got over him.”

Blake wiped the tears that fell down her cheeks. “You need to know something about us, Kate. And about yourself, too, since Jesse was your father.” He stood up and moved to the middle of the room while Jake took his place next to Kate and wrapped his arms around her. Without any warning, Blake stripped off his shirt and tossed it on the floor.

“What the…” Kate tensed up, not sure she was ready for anyone to get naked. “Whoa! Uh, guys…hold on a minute!”

She tried to stand up, but Drake pulled her back into his arms. “It’s okay, I swear. He won’t touch you. But do you remember that gold thing that attacked the bear last night?”

“Yeah, but what does that have to do with him getting naked?” Kate was trying not to look at Blake as he undressed, but she just couldn’t help herself, and she peeked. Good heavens, he was gorgeous! His tanned chest and abdomen were ripped with muscles. Kate had an insane urge to run her hands over the contours of his body. He unfastened his belt and unzipped his jeans.

Kate knew she should look away—heck, she should be running away at this point—but his body was like a magnet, and she couldn’t tear her eyes away from him. He pushed the jeans over his hips and down his long legs then stepped out of them and stood up straight.

Kate let out a nervous giggle, unable to contain herself. He wasn’t the only thing standing up straight! Kate had been with guys before—okay, one guy, and it had been dark. But she had at least seen male body parts. One of her college roommates had a soft spot for
Playgirl
magazines, even going so far as to plaster their bathroom walls with the pages one afternoon. Of course, that just had to be the day that Kate’s mom had come by for a visit.

As Kate openly gawked at Blake’s hard body, her mouth went dry, and her breathing became shallow. She vaguely felt Drake stroking her hair before he leaned his mouth to her ear. “Hold on, darlin’. This is where it gets a little strange.” Kate was already bordering on hysteria—or maybe brazen lustfulness, she wasn’t sure which—and it hadn’t gotten strange yet? How could it possibly get any stranger?

It got stranger. As Kate watched in uncontrolled fascination, Blake’s body began to blur. Kate blinked, thinking her vision was getting fuzzy, but it didn’t help. In fact, it just got worse. Blake’s body seemed to be changing, but it was so blurry it was hard to make out exactly what was happening. It was as though there was some kind of aura around him. As she watched, mesmerized, Blake disappeared, and in his place stood a huge gold panther.

A scream started to work its way up her throat, but it never made it out. The massive cat sat down on its haunches and cocked its head sideways, gazing at her with wide chocolate-and-honey eyes. Kate knew those eyes. They were the same eyes in the painting of the panther in Blake’s room. Blake’s eyes. She was staring into Blake’s eyes.