Blake, Abby - Suddenly Bear (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (11 page)

She nodded. She believed him. She really did. But she couldn’t decide if that meant she was being a fool or not. She dropped her hands to her sides and didn’t resist when he stepped closer and pulled her into his embrace. She burrowed into his warmth, happy just to accept the comfort he offered. Surely, at least part of what she knew about these men must be true. She’d lived with Jayden long enough to know he was the man she thought him to be, hadn’t she?

“What was it about?” she asked, needing to know.

“Drugs,” Jayden said quietly.

Again her heart did that little squeeze of fear. She’d never known Jayden to involve himself in something illegal. Her ex on the other hand… Declan must have given Jayden that “explain immediately” look he did so well, because Jayden sighed and sat up in the bed as he told them the full story.

“Apparently Bruce has managed to work himself into a big gambling debt. The people he owes money to were willing to overlook his obligations for a steady supply of prescription drugs.” He gave her a wry smile. “Apparently, he still considers me a friend, despite the fact we haven’t spoken in nearly a year and that the last time I saw him I threw him against a wall. He tried to convince me to help. When I refused, he became agitated and started making threats about ruining my career. When I laughed in his face, he shot me at point-blank range with the largest fucking handgun I’ve ever seen. I hadn’t even realized he was carrying a damn gun.” Jayden laughed quietly. “A smaller caliber bullet probably would have bounced off. I wonder how he would have reacted to that.” He winked at Violet. Obviously there was much more to learn about this bear-shifting stuff, but for the moment it could wait.

“So now what?” Violet asked. “We can’t exactly go to the police and tell them he shot you when you don’t look shot. A report like that is likely to land you in a rubber room.”

“True,” Jayden said with a smile on his face. “Perhaps that’s exactly how we should handle it. We should get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a big day.”

* * * *

Violet woke to the insistent buzzing of the front door. She moved to go see who it was, but Declan pulled her into his embrace and whispered sleepily, “Jayden will get it.”

A few moments later Jayden came into the room with another man in tow. She blinked sleepily, but when she recognized who it was, she leapt off the bed and into Brandon’s embrace. “Hi, baby girl,” he said as he wrapped his arms around her for the first time in months. They’d spoken on the webcam probably twice as often than she had with Declan, so her niggling fear of their bear-shifter status was calmed just a little bit more.

“Can you read minds?” She hadn’t meant to blurt it out like that, but it was something that had bugged her all night. She’d managed to think rationally enough to decide that they’d probably only hidden their shifting skills from her in case things didn’t work out the way they’d hoped. And she felt confident that they would have told her when the time was right. Surely she would’ve sensed some sort of deceit if they’d been hiding anything else.

“No, baby girl—no mind reading, no extrasensory skills of any kind. But you probably noticed the increased hearing and sense of smell, and well, for the most part we’re stronger and heavier than we look.”

She took a step back, glanced at Brandon’s bulging muscles, and wondered just how strong he meant. He crossed his arms and tilted his head in question, but didn’t say anything out loud.

“Sorry,” she said, feeling just a bit silly. “I’m just getting used to the whole not-quite-human part.” He smirked slightly, and she wasn’t sure what he expected her to do now. Brandon let her stand alone for all of three seconds before he stepped over and pulled her back into his arms. She’d missed him. He had a way of making her feel like everything would work out. She whispered the words, lifting her face to press a kiss to his jaw.

“I’ve missed you, too, baby girl.” He took her lips with his own, groaning as she opened her mouth and let his tongue push inside. Her heart was racing by the time he lifted away, but he turned her around and practically placed her in Declan’s arms.

She shuffled awkwardly, unsure what Declan expected—or even wanted. They’d never talked about having all three men in bed with her at the same time. He seemed to hesitate as well, so the embrace felt strange and uncomfortable. But then he took a deep breath, pulled her closer, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. In that moment every doubt she’d had about a relationship with all of them melted away. Whatever their differences, they could work it out.

She turned back to Brandon. “What are you doing here?” She knew that Declan had called Brandon and his parents last night to fill them in on the situation, but he hadn’t mentioned anything about anyone hopping on the next flight and landing on her doorstep.

“Well, that isn’t the welcome I’d been expecting,” Brandon said in a teasing voice. “But where else would I be when my woman is in danger.” He smirked at Jayden and added, “Oh and my little brother, too.”

Jayden took the playful mocking in stride, having obviously been treated like the youngest brother all his life. “Next time maybe you could get here before I get shot.”

Brandon laughed, Declan grinned, and Jayden pulled her away from his brother and into his arms in feigned annoyance. Yet, even if they didn’t admit it, she could sense their relief that their youngest brother was all right.

“Okay, let’s get this over with so we can get back to the lodge,” Declan said in a gruff voice.

Disappointed that it seemed Declan and Brandon wouldn’t be able to stay long, Violet pulled out of Jayden’s arms and asked, “How long can you stay?”

“Only today, baby girl,” Brandon said as he touched her face with his large calloused hand. “But don’t worry. You’re coming back with us.”

* * * *

Jayden would have laughed out loud if his brother’s mistake hadn’t been so damn serious. The one thing that he knew for sure was that Violet didn’t like being told what to do. She’d vehemently declined their offer to pay for her ticket and adamantly refused to risk losing her job by leaving without taking official vacation time. She certainly wouldn’t be impressed by Brandon’s bossy attitude. Jayden could almost hear the words she would yell at his brother.

But his jaw almost hit the floor when she nodded.

“Life’s too short,” she explained with a small shrug.

“Hell, if they’d known that was what it would take,” Jayden said with a wide grin, “they would have encouraged me to get shot sooner.”

* * * *

“Will they be okay?” It was probably a little silly to be so worried considering their unusual abilities, but Violet hated just sitting around waiting for news.

“They’ll be fine, kitten,” Declan said as he sat on the sofa beside her and pulled her into his arms. “Brandon will make certain nothing happens to Jayden. But, maybe I could think of something to distract you.” He ran a hand over her spine and pressed a kiss to her temple.

“No,” she said, stiffening in his embrace. “It wouldn’t feel right. I mean, what if something happens to them? I don’t want to be naked when the phone rings.”

“Kitten, nothing is going to happen to them. They’re going to make certain that Bruce gets the help he needs.”

“By getting him thrown him into a rubber room,” she said with a slightly warm feeling in her chest. Was it wrong to find that rather poetic? Bruce was a trained psychologist as well as a surgeon. From everything Jayden had told them, Bruce had seemed calm and not under the influence of any type of drug. He would remember shooting Jayden, so seeing him uninjured would certainly make him question his own sanity. Seeing a black bear or two in the hospital where he worked would likely send him running to admit himself for psychiatric analysis.

“Yes, by getting him to throw himself into a rubber room,” Declan said with a soft laugh.

Violet couldn’t help the smirk that covered her face. She could just imagine Bruce’s reaction to a black bear casually standing beside him in the men’s room. Of course the brothers would need to be careful, but without being able to press attempted murder charges against Bruce getting him locked up in the psychiatric ward was the next best thing.

She glanced at the clock, then at the watch on her wrist, and then at the man sitting beside her.

“They’ll be hours yet,” Declan assured her. “And I have a great idea for how to pass the time.” He gave her a lascivious smile that had her toes curling inside her boots.

“And what would that be?” she asked with a breathless little sigh. She’d talked to this man so often over the webcam that it seemed almost ridiculous that they hadn’t actually touched each other yet—well, not intimately at least.

“I think,” Declan said as he turned to her and started to undo the buttons of her shirt, “that it might just be easier to show you.”

“Is that so?” She smirked at him, and he leaned in to press his lips against her smile. His tongue traced the seam of her lips, and she lasted all of half a second before opening her mouth and letting him inside. He caressed her tongue with his own, the sensual dance distracting her from the fact that the man was busily getting her naked. Not that she minded. Naked was exactly what she wanted.

Declan’s kiss was like a drug, going on and on and leaving her breathless with desire. She could feel her pussy contracting, her body demanding his attention. Her breasts tingled, her nipples pulling tighter as the cooler air touched them.

“Okay, what did you have in mind?” she asked a moment before the front door opened. Declan groaned as his brothers came back into the apartment, both wearing huge grins.

“That was fun,” Jayden said as he lifted Violet to her feet and practically danced her around the room. “By the time we left the hospital Bruce was confessing all. He was babbling about big nasty bears, ghosts, and gambling debts.” Jayden became more serious as he pressed a kiss to her open mouth. “His boss overheard the gambling debts part, and must know the guy pretty well because he immediately connected Bruce with the stolen prescription pads and got a full confession. Even if Bruce manages to convince himself he isn’t insane, the stolen drugs will make sure he’s struck off the medical register, and he’ll probably do some time in jail.”

And that, Violet knew, would be more painful for her ex-fiancé than any other punishment. He’d always planned to grow rich from his work as a doctor. Losing his ability to make heaps of money was almost as good as locking him away for attempted murder.

“So now what?” she asked as she hugged Jayden and watched the faces of the other two men.

“Now, baby girl, we take you home.”

Chapter Seven

It was cold. Not the biting, bracing, chilly, in-your-face cold of home. More like freeze-the-tongue-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth cold. But Violet barely noticed. Surrounded by two of her bears—her bears? Would she ever get used to
that
?—was like being surrounded by sunshine. The warmth the men generated was astounding. No wonder they enjoyed living in a cold climate. Somehow, she couldn’t quite envision a tropical beach holiday with these two.

“Can we call Jayden?” she asked, not even trying to hide her anxiety. It didn’t matter that he was a bear-shifter or that Bruce was safely locked in a psych ward, pending trial for various misdeeds. She didn’t like the idea of him being back home all alone. If Declan hadn’t been there to get the bullet out, Jayden would likely have died.

“Of course, kitten,” Declan said as he pulled her into his arms. Brandon stepped into the hotel foyer ahead of them, so she didn’t see the opulence of the place until they were in the lobby.

It was gorgeous, the type of holiday destination most people only ever saw on television shows that advertised ski lodges the average waitress would never be able to afford. Hell. Violet was certain even on a wage ten times her current income she wouldn’t have been able to afford this place.

She glanced around the area taking in the designer-dressed patrons, the professional-looking staff, the obviously expensive and well-maintained surroundings, and wanted to crawl into a hole. She’d dressed for comfort on the plane, and while her clothes might be practical and in good repair, they certainly weren’t anything special. It would be obvious to anyone who glanced in her direction that she didn’t belong here.