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But, it was her turn to chuckle. “As you may recall, I’ve been down this road. If you think a quick fuck would make things better between us, you’ve lost your mind.”

When she said “fuck” he flinched, but grinned at her. “I love a woman who isn’t afraid of four-letter words.”

This banter made her like him even more. He was sharp, witty, and quick all at the same time. She had no idea why Fate had arranged whatever craziness was her current situation, but at least She knew what She was doing. “So, tell me about yourself. I’ll give you seven hours to sum it up…”

Josh glanced at his phone in his lap. He’d received only cryptic messages from Samantha the entire day. Somehow her case had been canceled and she was heading in his direction. He had a strange feeling there was more to it, though. She’d mentioned a bit of a surprise and had ignored most of his texts, only giving him updates on her location occasionally. He assumed she was driving, but what vehicle? Hers was in the shop. A rental wasn’t out of the question, but why the mystery?

It was getting late. The sun would set soon. Josh had sat outside the apartment he hoped his sister was in for most of the day. He’d seen Damon leave in the morning and return about six, but no sign of anyone else.

The first time Evan pointed Damon out to him, he’d sucked in a lungful of air. Tall, too skinny, with brown hair hanging down to his shoulders, he wasn’t at all what Josh had expected. He didn’t remember ever having seen him before. Granted, Josh hadn’t been to a Gathering since childhood, and those meetings were so packed with shifters, he wouldn’t even know a quarter of them in an elevator.

At Evan’s suggestion, Josh had agreed not to go to the door of the apartment today. See if she came out. If she was in an abusive relationship, it would be a lot easier to convince her to go with him if he approached her somewhere other than where she lived. Entering her home would make her nervous and cause her to retreat.

But, Josh was anxious. No sign of his sister and abrupt texts from his mate had him on edge.

Evan sat next to him. They’d taken turns watching the front door. Evan had left several times to get food and once to sleep for a few hours. The man was costing Josh a fortune, but it was worth it.

Josh hadn’t left the car very often, and he’d slept in the seat whenever Evan was on duty.

“When can we just go to the door?”

“Tomorrow. I wanted to give her another day to come out.”

“We don’t know if she’s even in there.” Josh stiffened. The worst-case scenario was never far from his thoughts.

“True, but if she is, she’s really in deep. Few people I know do not leave their houses for days on end.”

“Do you think she’s locked up or something?”

“I rarely see that sort of thing. More like browbeaten into submission.”

“Which means what, exactly?”

“Listen, I’m a PI, not a therapist, but I’ve been sent to find a lot of missing people. When a woman is in a relationship where there’s isolation involved, usually the spouse is threatening her every single day about the repercussions of doing anything other than what he explicitly tells her. She becomes more or less brainwashed into doing his bidding. Or else.”

Josh shivered.
Or else what?
He didn’t want to ponder that again now. Was it possible Damon had killed her? Perhaps even in a different state and then moved here alone?

Anything was possible at this point.

Evan turned toward Josh, taking his gaze off the apartment door. His dark penetrating stare held concern. “Tomorrow we’ll go to the door. Apparently Damon has a day job. He’s left two days in a row at the same time and returned at six. We should be safe. If she’s in there, it could be tough to get her to come to the door. If she’s trapped in there and can’t answer or isn’t able to for whatever reason, we’ll have to make the decision about whether or not to call the cops or give it more time. We’ll decide all that tomorrow morning.”

Josh nodded. His cell vibrated. He glanced at the text, which read:

“Where are you staying? Can you meet me at the hotel? I’m getting close.”

Thank God. At least he wouldn’t have to spend another night alone without Samantha. It had been a very long twenty-four hours traipsing around without her, especially after mating with her yesterday. It was unnatural to take off after a claiming. And his body was well aware of the absence. He typed back:

“The hotel on 4th street right off old 78. U can’t miss it. Room 117. I’ll meet u there.”

Josh turned his head toward Evan once again. “Do you think anything’s going to happen tonight?”

“No. But I’ll stay here until about midnight and keep watching. If anyone comes or goes, I’ll call you. If not, meet me back here in the morning and we’ll go to the door together.”

“Sounds good. Thanks. I’m going to head back to the hotel then. You’ll call if you see anything at all?”

“Absolutely. Go. I know your woman is meeting you.” Evan squared his broad shoulders and rolled them forward several times as he spoke. The man was built like a linebacker, his frame filling the entire space around his seat. He had to be cramped.

Josh smiled.
My woman
. That sounded fantastic. He suspected she would balk at being referred to in that manner in front of her, but it still sounded good coming from Evan. Josh had told him about Samantha during the day. Thank God he’d managed to find a PI who was a shifter. Otherwise, explaining his predicament would have been next to impossible.

Josh stepped out of the passenger side of Evan’s car and snuck away in the dark. Slinking off seemed absurd considering no one was coming or going from the apartment at all.

In minutes he was back at the hotel and in the room. He couldn’t wait to see Samantha. After the stress of the last day and severe lack of sleep, he was beside himself. He’d done nothing in this room yet. After checking in, he’d immediately headed to meet Evan. His bag sat on the bed where he’d dropped it.

Josh quickly grabbed his bathroom kit and headed for the shower. He hoped to at least be clean before she got there, because sleep or no sleep he intended to smother himself in her warmth and scent until he passed out.

Five minutes later, Josh stood at the sink brushing his teeth, a towel wrapped around his still-dripping body. As soon as he turned the water off, there was a knock at the door.

Thank you, God
. Samantha was the only option. No one else would be looking for him.

A huge grin splitting his face almost painfully, he sped around the bed and whipped the door open. And there stood Samantha…and another man he didn’t know. He strained to keep his smile pasted. The last thing he needed was company other than his mate. His only plan right then was fucking, over and over again.

Samantha stepped inside. She smiled too, but her expression was at least as forced as his. She kissed him—on the cheek.
What the fuck?

“Joshua Rice, this is Nathan Craig. Nathan, Josh.”

Great. The uninvited man has a name. That’s wonderful. And he’s a shifter?
Josh scented him easily. Yep, he was wolf. But something was totally off about this situation.

“Nice to meet you, Josh. I’ve heard so much about you in the last eight hours.” This Nathan guy was forcing politeness also. What the hell was going on?

“Samantha?” Josh turned toward her as he shut the door. The room instantly filled with weirdness—both physical and invisible.

She dropped her purse and computer on the floor and sat on the edge of the bed. Where was her overnight bag?

“I don’t even know where to begin.” She wrung her hands together and lifted her face to him. Tears filled her eyes.

Instantly Josh was at her side. He adjusted his towel, sat next to her, and pulled her into his embrace. She smelled so damn good, though she was laced with the scent of the other shifter.

With her head against his bare chest, he relaxed marginally and lifted his gaze to Nathan, his eyebrows raised in question.

Nathan pulled the single chair out from the desk and turned it to face the bed. He too dropped a briefcase on the floor and took a seat. “It seems we have a bit of a…situation.”

Yes. I would say so. The
situation
is that I desperately need to be alone with my mate and you seem to be in our small hotel room with us. Wanna watch?
Josh would have laughed at the thoughts in his head, except he suspected there was nothing humorous about what he was about to face.

Josh straightened his spine without meaning to. He felt incredibly jealous that apparently his mate had traveled eight hours in a car with another shifter. Someone needed to start explaining. “What sort of situation?”

Nathan wrung his hands together and faced Josh. “Samantha is my mate too.”

Josh stiffened. His mouth fell open, but no sound came out. He held Samantha tighter. He couldn’t pinpoint his emotion right then.

“I know it’s weird, and I’ve had the entire day to process this information. Now that I’m here with both of you, it’s a little clearer to me. Our scents mingle together in a way I’ve never experienced with anyone else.” Nathan smiled, but Josh wasn’t sure there was anything funny or remotely happy about this moment. “I worried all day about what it meant for you and I if we were both mated to Samantha. I can see now this…threesome only includes our interaction with her, not each other.” Nathan’s shoulders relaxed as he grinned.

Josh shook his head. He couldn’t stop it. On impulse, he stood, releasing his mate and stepping away from her. He ran his hands through his hair. “What the fuck are you talking about?” He stared at Samantha, but addressed his question to the goddamn wolf who had arrived with the woman Josh had claimed yesterday.

Fuck, had the two of them…?
Shit
.

Samantha straightened her spine where she sat. She didn’t stand though. “Josh, don’t look at me like that. I’m not some whore you picked up on the street yesterday.” She narrowed her gaze at him, threatening him with a look. “I have not slept with Nathan. I resent you would automatically assume I have, and if you would take one second to breathe, you would realize the truth…about everything.”

Josh inhaled deeply. His hands shook and he fisted them at his sides. He closed his eyes, leaned his head back, and sucked in air. His initial thought was to control himself and avoid howling, literally. But, the act of breathing also filled his nostrils with the truth. This Nathan guy indeed had not fucked Josh’s mate…yet. In fact, he hadn’t so much as touched her. His pheromones filled the room and mixed with Samantha’s and Josh’s, but other than being extremely aroused, Nathan was being honest.

Josh lowered his face and relaxed his expression before turning to address Nathan. “You drove all the way here all day and didn’t make a move on her?”

“It seemed prudent. Besides, Samantha would have slapped me.” He grinned. “She barely looked at me during the drive. She was completely true to you.”

Josh turned to Samantha. He felt like an ass for doubting her for even a second. But, hell, at this point she’d spent more time with Nathan than Josh. The two of them probably knew each other better. Most of the time Josh had spent with her had been in bed.
I think I came out the winner
. He mentally slapped himself.
This is not a contest
.

Samantha stood and stepped toward Josh. She lifted her face as she wrapped her tiny arms around his middle. Her fingers on his waist, and then his back, warmed him. She burned a trail around him with her touch. “I know this is strange. And I didn’t ask for it. It just happened. We have to deal with it. All three of us. Together.”

“Do you feel the same thing for Nathan you do for me?” He set his palms lightly on her hips.

“No. It’s not the exact same thing. It’s different. But just as intense. Kinda like a mother probably feels for both her kids.”

Samantha wanted Nathan as badly as she’d wanted Josh yesterday? And yet she’d managed to keep from acting on that for eight hours in a car?

As though he’d spoken those words out loud, Samantha responded. “It seemed like I would have been cheating on you to sleep with Nathan. As strongly as he affected me, you were the first to claim me and I couldn’t bring myself to take any sort of action until the three of us were together. It was crazy enough spending all that time together without you knowing, but I didn’t want to discuss it over the phone, and I knew you were having a rough day.”

“She’s not kidding, man.” Nathan said. He remained seated. Bless him.

Josh didn’t think he could handle any more yet.

Nathan continued. “She hasn’t told me why we’re here. Just that you’d needed to come here last night and she needed to get here as fast as possible.”

Samantha reached up and stroked Josh’s face. Her blouse brushed against his nipples and teased them into hard points. “Your sister?”

“Don’t know yet. I’ve seen her husband twice, leaving this morning and returning this evening, but no sign of Ashley yet. Evan wanted to give her a few days to come out of the apartment. Tomorrow we will go to the door.”

“Is Evan sure she’s even inside?”

“No.” That one word deflated Josh.

Nathan spoke. “Is your sister in trouble?”

Josh set his chin on the top of Samantha’s head and stared at Nathan. “She left The Gathering four years ago with her supposed mate and has been increasingly detached from everyone. I’ve been searching for her for months.”

“You think her mate was lying?”

“I do.” Josh nodded and held Samantha tighter. Her presence in his arms steadied him, gave him strength. She wrapped her arms around his middle and clasped her hands at the small of his back.

“God, how awful. I’m so sorry.” The man stood. He seemed less threatening to Josh by the minute. Nathan took a step closer. Finally, he set his hand on Josh’s shoulder and squeezed. “I’ll do what I can to help.”

The sincerity and support coming from this stranger melted Josh a little. His touch soaked into Josh’s skin and reminded him he was almost naked, except for the towel. He’d intended to open the door to just Samantha and hadn’t felt the need to get dressed only to tear all the clothing off again the second she arrived.