Second Chance Mates (19 page)

***

The lake was one of the prettiest parts
of the property. Of course, lake was something of a misnomer. It
wasn't the type of water that they could push boats out on, but it
was plenty large enough for swimming and was surrounded by rocks on
one side and grass bank on the other, a thick canopy of trees
providing cover and privacy over another bank.

It had taken close to an hour to hike
out there, laden with blankets and the picnic basket, towels and
swimsuits. Lying there on the blanket in just her shorts and
sleeveless t-shirt, she had to admit it was a pretty good idea of
Cade's. Not that she would admit it, but their morning had left her
exhausted, satisfied and completely uninterested in any kind of
manual labor, especially that length of fencing, the mere thought
of which could send her mood into a steaming fury. No, she wouldn't
think about that. A day off was exactly what she needed.

She sighed again and squeezed her eyes
shut, only opening them when she felt footsteps, then someone drop
onto the blanket next to her. Cade plucked a daisy from the grassy
carpet and tickled her under the chin playfully. She pushed him
away affectionately.

"This was a good idea," she told him.
"You know what I can't remember asides from my last day
off?"

"Nope."

"The last time I came out here. I think
it was a year ago but I got so mad I just turned right around and
went home."

"We had some great times out here. You,
me and Col."

She picked at the grass. "That's why I
got so mad."

"I wish he was here," said
Cade.

"Me too."

"But you're glad you came?"

"Yes. God, yes. I've missed..." She
waved her hand around, to the sky, the trees, the
water...
him
. "This. I've missed just feeling
free."

"When are you going to get in the
water?"

"Soon," she promised.
"Soon?"

"Trying to work up the
courage?"

"How did you guess?"

He stroked the daisy along the bridge
of her nose. "I know you, remember."

Behind him she watched Luke wade out
the water, shaking himself off. She licked her lips. Cade turned
around, saw what she was looking at, and turned back with a laugh.
"Someone's horny," he mocked her.

"Nope. You two saw to that this
morning, thank you very much." She paused, smiled. "Though the
sight of Luke getting out the water would fit in one of my
fantasies nicely."

"Fantasies, huh? Any skinny dipping in
these fantasies of yours?"

Clara mimed zipping her mouth shut as
Luke approached them. His shorts plastered to his skin, making them
skin tight and close to see through. The way they molded around his
thighs was particularly nice.

"Ask me tomorrow." She laughed again
and flopped face down on the picnic blanket.

"What's so funny?" asked Luke, flicking
droplets of water at her as he lowered to sit next to them, just
off the blanket so he wouldn't soak it through.

"Apparently our girl here couldn't take
the sight of you in those wet shorts and needed a lie
down."

Luke poked her arm with a cool finger.
"Should see me skinny dipping."

Clara squealed into the blanket then
raised her head. "No teasing. It's not fair." Her head fell down
with a thunk and a moment later she shrieked as a part of wet
shorts hit her back. "Do I dare look up?" she mumbled into the
blanket, just as dry cloth hit her head. What were they doing?
Raising her head, and pulling at the cloth on her head, she looked
up, blinked and looked down at the cloth. Cade's shorts. Looking up
again, Luke came into view first, or more precisely his naked
backside as he strode back to the lake. Looking around she saw
Cade's legs, then looked up. And, oh, sweet heavens, the man was
hung. Her mouth dropped open.

"Coming for a swim?" he asked,
emphasizing the first word with a wink.

Scrambling to sit, all Clara could do
was blink as she ran her eyes over Cade's naked body. He stood,
entirely unabashed, in front of her. She had a flash of the image
of them entwined as he plowed her, and had to blink and shake her
head to shift the image. He grinned at her as she turned away,
barely able to bite back asking if she could taste him. If he knew
she even contemplated rising to her knees and taking him into her
mouth, he probably wouldn't be grinning down at her. He’d be in her
mouth already.

"Don't be long," he said as she flung
his shorts back at him. He dropped them onto the grass and she
simply watched as he strode to the lake. She flopped back onto the
blanket, gasping with excitement. Oh heck, if they were going
swimming naked she wasn't going to be a baby about it. She would
join them. In her bikini, of course, because getting naked and
sweaty with them in the seclusion of her bedroom was one thing but
she wasn't sure if she was ready to let it all out publicly. Not
that this was exactly public, she thought, glancing around as she
got to her feet. They were on her private property, far away from
prying eyes. They could do
anything
they wanted.

Keeping her pace even and measured, she
followed the naked men into the lake, wading out until she could
swim, catching them easily with her smooth strokes.

They played games, chasing, and
splashing in the cool water, playing tag and making her squeal when
one of them dove and grabbed her ankle, pretending to be a shark.
She felt so alive, so happy. And it was all because they'd come
into her lives. Her whispered words to Cade the previous evening
were pure and true and she knew that it wouldn't be long before she
loved him as she wanted to. Her wolf had always said yes, her heart
was saying yes and her head was whispering in agreement. Treading
water, she watched them lunge at each other, easily jostling and
playing, without a hint of jealousy.
Yes, they could do
this.

When they both disappeared from view,
she continued to tread water, spinning slowly to try and catch them
before they inevitably tried to sneak up on her. With a roar, Luke
resurfaced in front of her and she laughed, half with fright, and
splashed him until he caught her in his arms and kissed her.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed him back.

A moment later and she felt the water
part as Cade surfaced behind her. Another kiss planted on her
shoulder then his hands ran around her back and twanged her bikini
straps.

"Do you really need this?" Cade asked,
running his fingers underneath the strap.

"Yes," she said.

"Sorry, ears full of water. I think you
said no." Her bikini top tightened just briefly as he pulled the
strings at her neck, then her back, his hands travelling around to
peel the wet triangles from her breasts, his hands pausing for a
moment to cup her for Luke's view.

"Mmm," said Luke, looking down. His
hands went under her butt and hoisted her up. "Put your legs around
my waist, baby."

"You'll drown," she
protested.

"Actually my feet are on the bottom.
You're the only one little enough to drown." Luke's hands ran down
her sides, then around to her front. He hoisted her a little
further and bent his head, taking one nipple in his mouth, sucking
it and teasing it with his tongue until it was hard. When she was
panting, she found herself being lifted off Luke and turned to
Cade's awaiting arms. He held her securely, bending his head to her
untended breast and repeating Luke's wicked tongue action. With her
legs still around Cade, she unhooked one arm from around his neck
and pulled Luke towards her.

"You sure?" Luke asked.

"Hell, yes."

Luke claimed her nipple with his mouth.
As she lay back under the afternoon sun, the cool water at her
back, she was grateful she had two men to hold onto as they sucked
and laved her nipples, their hands roaming her body, as the
sensations went straight to her pussy. Thankfully she was already
soaking wet from the lake, enough so to disguise how wet their
attentions made her. Not that, now she thought of it, they wouldn't
be pleased or anything. Actually, with her legs around Cade's
waist, slipping a little lower now, she could feel just how pleased
he was and it took all her willpower not to grind her hips against
him.

She couldn't tell whose fingers pulled
aside her bikini bottoms or whose fingers slid inside her. Her legs
tightened around Cade's waist.

"Oh, that feels so good."

"Yeah? You like that, baby?" Luke
paused.
Ah, so it was his fingers. Fabulous.

Her breath caught as another finger
slipped into her.

"How about that?" asked
Cade.

"Oh... oh..."

"I think she likes it," murmured Cade
as they both began to fingerfuck her.

"I bet she'd like it a lot more if we
took her over to the side of the lake and took turns making her
come."

"Oh..."

"Yeah, I think she'd like that," agreed
Cade.

"
Oh!
"

"Though there's a good chance that's
going to happen before we make it to shore," murmured Luke.
Suddenly, the fingers stopped and both men turned their heads to
the sky. Cade inhaled deeply.

"You smell that?" he murmured to
Luke.

Luke gave a sharp nod. The fingers
eased from her and Cade pulled her against him
protectively.

"Take her to the shore," said Luke.
"I'll investigate."

Clara looked from Cade to Luke with
wide eyes. Her breath was still short but something had
unmistakably shifted in the mood. The atmosphere was tense. She
shivered and that's when she caught it. The faintest scent.
"Someone was here?" she whispered, just loud enough for her men to
hear.

Cade nodded. "I just caught it. Is
there any reason why anyone would be out here?"

"No. The neighbors' properties are too
far and the lake is too far into mine. There's no access routes
near here either. I pump some of the water from the stream that
feeds the lake to keep the land irrigated when it's dry like this."
She wrinkled her nose in thought. “If anyone came out here, it’s
deliberate.”

"The woods," murmured Luke, his eyes
flickering in that direction as he silently searched the area with
his superior tiger eyes. "Let's wade over to our things like
nothing's wrong. Go ahead. I'll follow."

When they hit the shallows, Clara
unwrapped her legs from Cade's waist. They waded together, stepping
onto the bank and shaking off the water. Almost immediately, Luke
dropped to the grass, his body contorting. In a flash, he was gone.
In his place stood a tiger, huge and fierce. He stared up at her
with amber eyes and she felt her jaw drop. He butted his head
against her hand and she scratched him tentatively between the
ears. He rewarded her with a purr. Whipping around he bound away
and they lost sight of him as he passed through the
thicket.

"I've never seen a tiger up close," she
said, her voice soft as if someone could hear them. Maybe they
could. They’d gotten so close and they didn’t even notice. "Will he
be safe?"

"Most likely," Cade assured her. "I’ll
place a bet he’s the most dangerous thing out here. He'll be back
soon. Let's gather our things and head back to the house. We'll
wait for him there."

"I don't like this," said Clara, her
voice trembling. Sliding her hand in his, their revelry thoroughly
broken, they headed to the blanket, their ears and eyes wide
open.

Chapter Fifteen

"Sweetheart, you're going to wear the
floor out pacing like that." Cade walked over to Clara, wrapped his
arms around her and she rested her head on his shoulder, comforted
by his presence.

"I'm worried," she told him as she
tried not to sniff his scent. Getting horny now would be just plain
wrong. "It's been three hours! What if he's hurt?"

"He's fine."

"How can you know?"

"Have you seen his teeth? I'd like to
see someone get the better of him when he's gone tiger."

"Maybe he got shot! We don’t know who
was in the woods!" Her voice trailed off in panic.

"Maybe he joined a traveling circus and
is making out with the hula girls."

Clara pulled back and shook her head in
annoyance at his jest. "That's not funny."

"What's not funny?" asked a voice from
the doors. "Not leaving my clothes by the lake? Woah!" Clara
slipped from Cade’s arms and leapt towards a naked Luke, throwing
her arms around him. "This is a nice welcome," he said, gathering
her up and pressing a gentle kiss to her lips.

"Sorry about the clothes," she mumbled
as she pressed kiss after kiss against him. "I just grabbed
everything. I didn't think."

"Not a problem. I just shifted again
and ran all the way here. Man, it felt so good. Not as good as
this, but very good."

"Are you hurt?"

Luke hugged her close. "Are you
panicking?"