Second Chance Mates (15 page)

His fingers gripped her thighs as he
held himself still, fully seated within her body. Then he started
to move, pumping in and out as she clung to him.

"Oh, Clara. Baby, you're so tight
around me." He sucked her nipple, trailed kisses along her breast,
her neck, her jaw until he claimed her mouth again. "Say the word,"
he murmured against her lips. "Say the word and I'll claim
you."

Clara wrapped her arms under his,
flattened her hands against his back and held him tight, the feel
of his body against hers wonderful and new. Over his shoulder, she
saw Cade unzip his jeans, take his cock into his hand and fist
himself, watching as his friend powered into her.

Shouldn't he be mad that they were
having sex? Shouldn't he be mad that his friend's cock was where he
wanted his, inside and pumping her frantically. But no, Cade just
shafted himself furiously, his hand running along his thick dick as
he watched them, his face rapt.

The whole effect of being desired by
two men had her writhing against Luke as he tightened his arms
around her, tipped her backwards and covered her, never breaking
stroke for a moment.

She felt the tickling sensation of her
incisors growing longer as her wolf insisted they bite Luke, to
claim him as theirs. Only...she couldn't.

Sex, yes. Fantastic sex like what she
experienced now with Luke, absolutely, but a full-on mating for
life? It was scary and almost incomprehensible that her wolf was so
insistent. She thought they’d take their time. Clearly her wolf
still had other ideas.

Luke's own teeth grazed her neck and
his shoulders flexed under her hands as he fought to control his
own mating urge as he pounded her. "Say it," he growled into the
curve of her neck.

Closing her legs about his back, she
tipped her hips upwards, feeling the cream soaking from her and
coating him. When he inserted a hand between them and pressed his
thumb against her clit, stroking it with his calloused pad, she
succumbed to the inevitable, crying out as her climax ripped
through her.

A moment later, and with a roar of
triumph, he shot his seed, tightening his arms about her small
frame as he ground his groin against hers, thrusting every last
drop into her until he fell in a heap, panting, on top of
her.

"You have no idea how hard it was not
to bite you," he murmured. "It took every last inch of restraint
and I swear I don't think I'll have that kind of restraint next
time."

Clara, for once, didn't have a thing to
say. Instead she just lay panting on the bed. Her head spun. Her
heart pounded. Her skin was slick with his sweat and hers and the
scent of sex filled the air.

Why she hadn't done this sooner, she
had no idea. She felt
fantastic
.

Rolling her head towards the door, she
saw Cade was gone. Strangely, she wished she'd just called him
inside.

***

Cade waited a whole five minutes before
he went in search of Luke, leaving behind two open beers on the
living room table. He could smell their arousal by mid-stairs, his
own cock hard by the time he reached her bedroom door.

He'd sensed the growing connection
between his best friend and Clara, knew Luke’s intention to mate
her, but even with all the clues there, seeing them in a clinch had
still been a surprise. What surprised him most was how excited it
made him.

It wasn't the first time he'd seen or
heard Clara engaged in sex. She and Colton had no problems with
outdoor sex from what he remembered so he'd witnessed the act a few
times, wanted to stay, wanted to watch his brother make love to
her, yet he'd always turned away and given them their
privacy.

But now, when Clara looked up and met
his eyes, he knew she'd seen him and that she wasn't turning him
away. She was giving him permission. She's even watched as he'd
released his straining dick, fisting it, and pumping himself as he
watched Luke plunge inside, taking her again and again, filling and
stretching her sex, making her moan and writhe and pant.

How he'd wanted to step over there,
shed his clothes and join Luke in pleasuring their woman but he
wouldn't do it without an invitation. Instead he'd settled for
seeing her let go. The pride he felt at his friend breaking down
her barriers was immense and he gave silent thanks to Luke as he
watched Clara undulate under his friend's body.

Though somewhere amongst all the
feelings surging through him, there was a relief that she didn't
offer to complete the mating bond that Luke asked for. It was
selfish of him, he knew, but he couldn't help wanting the bond to
tie them together first.

He knew the moment Clara came. Knew the
moment she threw back her head, the blonde curls falling like spun
gold around her shoulders. His balls tightened, his cock went rigid
and he came into his hand moments before Luke filled her with his
own seed. Staggering backwards, he nearly collapsed against the
wall as the aftershocks of his orgasm made his legs weak. Stumbling
away, he washed up in the downstairs bathroom, his mind filled with
the memory of her scent, her glorious hair, her gorgeous body being
worshipped.

For a long time he sat alone in the
living room, sipping the beer, thinking how perfect things would be
when he had his own chance to claim her. Now, he was more certain
than ever that Clara was his future, his everything. This time he
was sure she wouldn’t reject him and even though he was alone in
that moment, his heart sang.

Chapter Twelve

"Hey, that you Clara?"

Clara looked up at the sound of her
neighbor's voice and pushed back her hat. She probably looked
red-faced and dirty after spending the morning hammering in the
section of fencing that bordered the road, but Petra wouldn't care.
Her neighbor, something of a misnomer seeing as there was miles
between them, was always easy going and they looked out for each
other. You had to living when you lived miles from anywhere, and
anyone, else.

"Hello." Clara waved as she hooked her
hammer into her tool belt and walked the few dusty yards to the
road where Petra waited, the window of the truck rolled down. A
cool blast of air conditioning seeped out and Clara took a moment
to relish it. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"Probably because of those two hunks at
your place I'll bet," said Petra, with an approving nod. "Don't
deny it. My daughter drove out and mentioned to me that you had two
yummy men working on the property. Her words."

"Colton's brother Cade, and his, our,
friend Luke." The automatic reply didn't surprise Clara too much.
Luke had easily proven his friendship in his light, happy
personality. However, she was struggling to think of him as her
lover even if they had spent a night entwined in each other's arms,
waking to sleepily make love again as the sun rose. The sex had
been spectacular, exciting, warm; the perfect antidote to years
without. They hadn't talked about it in the days since but it was
probably coming and...well, she was thinking that perhaps they
could see how it went. Just take it easy, make no promises, and see
if something else grew between them.
Silly, deluded fool
,
whispered her inner wolf, unusually active and playful today,
he's your mate and you’re half in love with him already. He's
not going anywhere
.

Yeah, Luke was definitely more than her
friend.

"Glad you have company, and while my
Melinda and I had hoped there was more gossip to it than that,
that's not why I stopped."

"Oh? Something I can help you
with."

"Actually, it's more of a problem for
you and I hate to tell you this because you're going to be real mad
in a moment. Well, I was just driving home from town and I saw a
section of your fencing all smashed up. And as I recall you only
finished it last week. It's on the north edge of your
property."

"You've got to be kidding
me!"

"'Fraid not, Clara. Looks to me like
someone drove their truck through it."

Clara froze, shocked. "I guess I'd best
go check it out."

"You call me if you need any help
mending it. I can send my husband and one of my boys will be glad
to help out. I'm damn annoyed at whoever it was for making a mess
like that and apparently not even telling you!"

"Me too," said Clara through gritted
teeth. "Thanks for letting me know."

Petra didn't make any moves to drive
off. Instead, she wrinkled her mouth, her shrewd eyes watching her
as she asked, "Clara, have you been having any other
trouble?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I've seen Stanton around. Wondered if
he'd been by." That was Petra. Straight to the point and no
nonsense from her short ponytail to her work boots.

"He has and I sent him packing each and
every time."

"Good girl. If he doesn't take the
hint, call me and I'll send the boys. Though you do have two fine
men to help you out. They staying?"

Clara shielded her eyes with her gloved
hand and smiled. "Is this gossip part?"

"You got me." Petra made a bashful
finger clicking gesture and laughed. "Remember the invitation to
come by. Haven't seen you in a while."

"I appreciate it." Clara stepped back
as Petra rolled up the window, taking the air conditioning with
her, and drove away with a wave.

Packing up her tools didn't take long
and she lowered them into the back of the truck, hopping in the
driver’s seat and turning the truck around, powering forwards to
the area Petra had said was damaged. A few minutes later and Clara
rounded the bend, pulling up alongside a long stretch of fallen
fencing. Except, it wasn't just broken. It was smashed to pieces.
Like Petra said, a long stretch of brand new fencing looked like
someone had run a truck straight into it, accelerated, stopped and
then reversed over the smashed pieces, ensuring they couldn't be
reused. Posts were bent and splintered and the same devastation
continued at least another two hundred yards. It had cost Clara
plenty to have the hired hands dig in and lay the posts, and cost
her a week of time to hammer the boards into place and it was all
for nothing. She could scream.

She started to gather the smashed wood
into a heap but ended up hurling the chunks instead. "I know it was
you, Stanton," she screamed in frustration into the still
landscape. "And you are never getting my land! You hear me?
Never!"

Staggering back to her truck in
frustration, she hooked her arms over the door and indulged in
quiet, furious sobs until they subsided. Wiping her arms over her
eyes, she dried them quickly and glanced at her watch. It was gone
noon and she was expected home. Getting into the truck, she was
beyond angry. Looking into the mirrors as she drove away from the
devastation, she couldn’t help muttering curses but by the time she
reached the house she was crying again and frantically trying to
wipe the tears from her face. She punched the truck into park and
was still sniveling as she climbed out, her feet hitting the ground
as Luke rounded the corner, his face splitting into a broad smile
that faltered as he reached her.

"What's wrong?"

"Stanton," she spluttered. The name
brought on a fresh round of tears and she found herself pulled into
Luke's arms as he stroked her hair and said soothing things, his
large presence at once reassuring and comforting her. Finally when
she'd stopped sniffing enough to put her arms around him and lay
her head against his chest, she was able to say, "Stanton's men
smashed up a section of the fencing."

"They were here? Did they hurt you?"
Luke pulled back, his face an angry mask as he frantically searched
her for any signs of damage. "If they hurt you, I'll..."

"I'm okay. I didn't see them. My
neighbor Petra saw the damage and told me, but it had to be them. I
just know it!"

"Baby, I'm so sorry. We'll fix it, I
promise." Luke enveloped her in his arms again and kissed the top
of her head.

"What's the point?" She sniffed, her
jaw wobbling ever so slightly as she tried to hold it together.
"They'll only smash it down again."

"Maybe Cade and I should go pay Stanton
a visit." Luke's voice was menacing.

"No." She squeezed her arms around him.
"Don't do that! He'll just accuse you of harassment." She didn’t
want to hurt any male pride by pointing out Stanton always had
hired muscle on hand and she would hate for Luke to get
hurt.

Luke patted her back gently, then let
his hand move in circular movements that had her feeling like she
was being lulled to sleep and it was awfully reassuring and
comfortable in his arms. Resting against him, she didn't want to
let go.

"I'm pleased that you'd be worried
about Cade and me, but we're big boys. We can take care of
ourselves," Luke said softly.

And me too
, she thought,
I
want you to take care of me too
. Not that she'd ever say it
aloud. She had her pride after all.

"And we'll take care of you too," he
said, like he'd plucked the idea from her mind. "I'll always take
care of you, sweetheart." And with those words, he melted the last
bit of her resolve to be cautious.