Growl (34 page)

“I read,” she said. “A lot.”

“Cain, my friend. We need to borrow some of this lady's books.”

Cain smiled. He lay close beside Cherry, one arm thrown over his eyes, the other holding her hand. “Nah. You were right. We just need to keep the lady.”

 

CHAPTER 19

Friday

Thursday and most of Friday passed in a blur of hiking and fantastic meals, drinks and laughter in the dining room and on the big deck, and the most amazing sex any woman could ever imagine. During the days she'd had very little time with Brad and Cain, who were busy working, but they'd more than made up for their preoccupation with their jobs when they'd come to her last night.

She couldn't wait to see what they had planned for tonight, though she certainly hadn't been bored while they'd been busy. There'd been more beautiful wolves coming and going throughout the two days, almost as if they were checking out the women, and the Brad and Cain wolves had been her regular companions, which had Cherry wondering just how much actual work the human Brad and Cain had to do.

As far as the other wolves, many of them newcomers, Cherry wondered if any of them were the guys her sister and the others had met at Growl Wednesday night. Cherry had hardly had a chance to talk to them since they'd gone, at least not when there weren't men hanging around.

So far, she'd only gotten tidbits about the crazy fun they'd had at the bar.

She wasn't comfortable talking about anything personal in front of potentially eavesdropping wolves, but Cherry hadn't shared her suspicions about werewolves. She was having too good a time, and she hated the thought of starting rumors if her suspicions were untrue. She was actually enjoying the fantasy, if that's what it proved to be. A mystery she might never solve, once they all headed home.

Both Wednesday and Thursday nights with Brad and Cain had been amazing, so far beyond her expectations of what sex with two men could be she knew she'd never forget. She also accepted that what they'd had here would end when the three women left in the morning.

For all their insistence on calling what they did “making love,” neither Cain nor Brad had vowed undying love to her. They talked of a nebulous future, but nothing she felt she could really count on.

That was okay. Today was her last day, and she planned to leave tomorrow with no regrets. There was no doubt in her mind that she'd miss them—both men were too good to be true and she knew she'd never find anyone to take their place. Which, of course, made it imperative that she not fall in love with them. They weren't hers to keep, and she really didn't want to spend her life yearning for two men she couldn't have.

Guarding her heart was still the only viable solution.

*   *   *

Cherry left out the loose yoga pants and T-shirt she planned to wear for the long drive home, along with the one clean dress she'd saved for tonight, but she carefully folded the rest of her clothes and packed them in her suitcase. She wished she didn't feel so much like crying. She'd known this night was coming, though at the beginning of the week she hadn't had a clue how she'd feel when it was time to leave this amazing place.

At least she'd gotten a lot of pictures of the people she'd met and Christa had taken a couple of great shots of her with Cain and Brad. One was good enough to enlarge—that one was going in her bedroom. Christa had caught both Cain and Brad wearing ragged cutoffs and work boots, their chests bare, strong bodies tanned, arms resting on each other's shoulders with Cherry in the middle. She'd been wearing her favorite dress, and she looked almost petite beside the two big men, her arms around their waists, all of them smiling, Cherry looking as if she didn't have a care in the world.

No one would ever know that, at the precise moment Christa snapped the picture, Cherry'd realized their vacation was coming to an end, and this picture might be all she had to remind her of her magical week at Feral Passions.

She turned on her phone and brought up the photo, just to stare at the image. She looked beautiful between her men. She looked like a woman in love.

Sighing, she flipped off the phone and took one last look around the room. She had everything packed except the few things she'd need for tomorrow. Dinner was in an hour. There'd be someone on the deck having a glass of wine or a drink. A last night with new friends.

Her last night with Brad and Cain.

She pasted a smile on her face, grabbed her sweater, slipped on a pair of sandals, and headed down the trail to the lodge.

Steph, Christa, Suni, and Darnell had beaten her there. They were already drinking their margaritas on the deck when she arrived. She glanced around and realized one was missing. “Where's Fred?”

Suni rolled her eyes. “She's packing. She said she can't wait to get out of here, that she feels as if she lost a week of her life.”

“Really?” Cherry caught Christa's disgusted look and noticed that the others seemed to share the feeling. “I've had the best time of my life this past week. I'm so glad Christa and Steph talked me into coming.”

“We practically had to twist her arm off to get her here.” Steph laughed and pointed at the door. “One of your men is inside making his magical margaritas. Go ye and get one.”

“And see if he'll send out a pitcher for the rest of us,” Darnell added. She held up an almost empty glass and pouted. “I'm exhausted from having fun all day.”

“Yes, ma'am.” Cherry saluted and went into the dining room. Brad was behind the bar, talking to Trak, Evan, and Cain, who'd taken three of the barstools.

“Hey, Cherry. I wondered when you were going to make it down here.”

Brad leaned over the bar; she stretched up on her toes and kissed him. “I took a nap. Your relaxing activities have worn me out.”

He laughed and held up a glass. “Margarita?”

“Yes, please, and Darnell wants a full pitcher. She said she's tired of having fun, but I think she's just trying to get back in shape for sitting on her butt at work.”

Still smiling, Brad turned away to make the drinks. Cherry sat next to Trak. “I wanted to tell you what a terrific week this has been, Trak. You have a truly beautiful spot here, the meals have been amazing, and I've never had a better time in my life. I really hope Feral Passions is wildly successful for all of you.”

Trak smiled, something the big man didn't appear to do all that often. “Thank you. I never did get a chance to ask you about your work. I'm wondering if your skills are something we could use here to boost our promotion, since we're looking for such a specific clientele.”

Evan nodded. “What Trak is saying, I think, is how do we attract beautiful, young, single professional women like yourself, with a yearning for something different in their lives? Is there an algorithm for that?”

She laughed. She was really going to miss this, being treated like a beautiful professional woman. She didn't even get that at her job. “I'm sure there is, Evan. I'll work on it once I get back to the office Monday, but personally, all I think you guys need to do is post your pictures on the Web site and title the page ‘The Men of Feral Passions.' The women will come in droves.”

They were all laughing when Brad stepped out from behind the bar with a pitcher of margaritas and handed a filled glass to Cherry. “I'll carry this out,” he said. “Trak, I'm taking a few minutes. Can you cover the bar?”

Trak merely smiled and waved as Cain got up and followed them outside. They moved the party to the big table and before long Lawz and Dr. Tuck had joined them, and then Ronan and Wils showed up. Trak and Evan eventually wandered outside, and a few new guys Cherry hadn't met arrived.

Christa and the others knew them from their night out at Growl, and it looked like they were all headed back there after dinner. Brad draped an arm around her shoulders and whispered in Cherry's ear. “Do you want to go to Growl? Cain and I can take you, if you'd like.”

She turned and smiled. “What would you and Cain rather do? It's our last night and I know they're planning a party, but I've never been much for hanging around bars.”

“Me, neither. Your place or ours after dinner?” He kissed her, right there in front of everyone. So she blushed, of course.

“Mine's okay.” She glanced at Cain. “But I've never seen yours.”

“Wherever you are, sweet Cheraza, that's where we'll be.”

*   *   *

Dinner was a delightful celebration of good food and laughter. Again there was that amazing sense of belonging, of being part of something greater than herself, a part of the Feral Passions pack, as it were. She'd grown so comfortable with the wolves wandering in and out of the dining hall that she wondered if she should consider getting a dog when she got back to the city. She didn't live too far from a nice little park where she could walk one.

It might keep her from being so lonely.

She hated the thought of going home to her apartment, of walking in each night to an empty space. It had never bothered her before.

She'd never known what it was like to have a man in her bed every night, either, much less two men. When they weren't there, the wolves somehow managed to find their way in. She'd awakened to wolves almost every morning since she'd been here.

No hint of their true identity, and for all she knew that's exactly what they were—wolves.

And she was exactly who she'd always been—Christa DuBois's chunky big sister, the math whiz more comfortable with numbers and her computer than real people in the real world.

At least that's what she'd be when she got home. Here she'd felt good about herself for the first time that she could remember. It truly had been a fantasy week. She glanced up as Cain and Brad walked across the dining room floor. They'd been in the kitchen serving dessert for some of the guests, but now they appeared to be headed straight for Cherry.

“We have something for you.” Brad pulled out the chair next to her while Cain stood behind him with his hands on Brad's shoulders.

“For me? What for?”

“So you won't forget us. So you'll come back as soon as you can get away from work.” Brad tipped his head back and looked at Cain, who sighed and then turned away.

Finally, he grabbed another chair and sat next to Brad. “We can't leave right now because of the work schedule, but we don't want you to think that this past week hasn't meant more to us than either of us can explain. You mean more to us, Cheraza. We don't want to lose you, but it's going to be at least a week before we can get away. We want to come and see you, spend some time with you in your world. If you'll let us.”

It took her a moment to catch her voice. It seemed to have deserted her entirely. “I … I'd like that. A lot. You've got my phone number and my address. Let me know, okay?”

Brad handed her a small package wrapped in plain blue paper. She had no idea what it was, but she opened it carefully and pulled out an absolutely exquisite silk scarf. It was all shades of green and brown, and when she opened it out and laid it across the table the pattern became clear.

It was a beautiful hand-painted rendition of the Brad wolf and the Cain wolf racing along a woodland path. “It's amazing. I know these two! Who painted this?”

“Dr. Tuck. The big guy's quite an artist.” Cain shrugged and glanced at Brad.

“We're glad you like it,” was all he said.

“These are the two wolves that sleep with me when you're not there.” Her eyes filled with tears and she brushed them away with the back of her hand. Maybe Brad and Cain really did mean what they said. Maybe they truly wanted forever. “I will treasure this. Thank you.”

She wrapped the scarf back in the paper to protect it and set it by the door with her sweater. A few minutes later, Christa and Steph, Wils, and Ronan joined them at their table, but she didn't show them the scarf. It held too much meaning for her, and she wasn't ready to share it with anyone. Suni and Darnell came over with Evan and Dr. Tuck, but Cherry felt sort of detached from the last night of partying and the celebrating everyone was into.

She wasn't ready to celebrate anything.

She'd obviously done a pretty crappy job of protecting her heart. It would be so much easier if she could believe Cain and Brad when they told her she mattered, but she'd learned the hard way that words were easy, though when Brad suggested they go upstairs to his and Cain's suite, Cherry was surprised by the change in venue but more than ready. Cain had already gone on ahead and it was a simple thing to step into the kitchen and go up the stairs to their private rooms. She doubted anyone would even miss her.

“I had no idea that staircase was even there. I've never been up here before.”

Brad walked her down the hallway with his arm around her waist. “I know. Cain and I just realized that this morning, that we've always gone to your cabin and you didn't even know how to find our rooms. He reminded me tonight, when you said you'd not seen our place.”

“It's not a problem, but you're right. I guess I've had other things on my mind all week.”

“You're not the only one.” They paused in front of a door at the end of the hall, and he kissed her. “This is it. Cain told me you probably thought we were hiding something up here.”

Brad opened the door and stepped aside so she could enter.

“You came.” Cain stepped into the main room, grinned at Brad, and then hugged her close. He stepped back and shrugged. “I was afraid you wouldn't want to.”

“Why?”

“We've thrown a lot at you the past couple of nights.”

“And I've loved every minute. Have you heard any complaining?”

He took her hand, dragged her into the kitchen. “No. I think that's what makes me nervous.”

Brad hung back a bit. She glanced over her shoulder and saw him standing there, watching her, smiling.