Authors: Lorna Jean Roberts
He moved slowly forward, it was torturous. Now that the
initial pain was over, she wanted more, all of him.
“Faster,” she ordered.
“No,” Connor countered, his voice breathless. “I’m not going
to risk hurting you.”
“You’re not,” she told him, frustrated. She attempted to
move her hips, to grind herself back on him. But he held her firmly, not
allowing any movement that he didn’t intend to happen.
“Suck on Cade’s cock, trouble, before that mouth runs away
on you and I forget you’re already injured and spank that ass.”
She leaned up and took the tip of Cade’s cock into her
mouth. He ran his hands through her hair, looking down at her with shining
eyes.
“Feels so good, sweetheart. Suck me in, take me deep.”
She took him as far as she could. Connor continued to enter
her inch by agonizing inch, until he was fully embedded inside her.
He paused, panting. “Christ, I feel like a teenager, I swear
I’m about to blow.”
Cade chuckled. “That good, huh?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe, brother. She’s sucking me in,
bathing me in her heat. I’m not going to last long.”
Cade gathered her hair in his fist, turning her head
slightly to one side. “Hear that, darlin’? You’ve got Connor ready to blow from
just one thrust.”
She smiled and pulled back. “As long as he takes me with him
when he goes.”
Cade guided his cock back into her mouth as Connor moved,
pulling back then thrusting forward, in and out, driving her insane until small
sounds of want spilled from her lips, smothered by Cade’s thick shaft.
“I’m nearly there,” Connor choked out, reaching between her
pussy lips to tease her clit. She clenched around him in pleasure. “Shit,” he groaned.
“I’m right there with you,” Cade panted. He placed his hand
around the base of his shaft, pumping firmly as Shelby drove her mouth over
him, sucking strongly.
Connor let out a low moan, stilling as he came. “Fuck,
sorry, sweetheart. I wanted to wait for you, but you felt so damn good.”
He slipped from inside her. The bed rocked as he changed
position and then he drew her hips toward him. His tongue slid over her highly
sensitized clit and she shuddered, moaning.
“Come with me, Shelby. Come with me,” Cade commanded.
Pleasure swept over her, making her moan with ecstasy.
Cade’s essence spurted inside her mouth and she barely managed to swallow as
she shook with her orgasm.
Shelby collapsed forward in exhaustion, not even opening her
eyes when they rolled her onto her back. Something warm was pressed against her
pussy and she murmured a protest, trying to close her legs.
“Uh-uh, darlin’, lie still. This will help with the pain,”
Cade told her.
“Embarrassing,” she muttered.
He chuckled. “I would think you’d be past embarrassment with
how many times we’ve played down here.” He patted her pussy gently.
She snuggled deeper into the pillows. He was right and she
was way too tired to protest anyway. God, this bed felt great.
Cade moved the washcloth away and she forced her legs to
close even though it felt like a tremendous effort. The bed sank on either side
of her.
“So tired,” she murmured.
“I know, sweetheart,” Connor said, running his hand over her
hair. “Go to sleep now.”
“I wanted to take you both inside me. Together.”
“Not yet, darlin’, but soon,” Cade promised.
She opened her mouth to protest, but he placed his fingers
over her lips.
She rolled onto her side and snuggled against Cade’s chest.
Connor spooned her from behind, surrounding her in their heat.
“Hmm, this is nice,” she murmured.
“Thank God we returned when we did,” Connor said.
“Why did you? What happened?” She suppressed a yawn.
Exhaustion pulled her under. She felt almost out of it, floating, as if her
head was detached from her body.
“Sam wanted to come back and we thought it would be safer
here than in the hospital. Luckily the bullet just scratched him,” Connor told
her.
“It never should have hit him in the first place. Hudson and
Gage found the asshole who shot him,” Cade growled.
“That’s good then,” she said sleepily.
“It is?” Connor asked. “You’re happy he’s okay?”
“I wouldn’t say happy,” she said, half-asleep by now. “But
if anyone’s going to kill the bastard it’s gonna be me.”
“And why would you want to kill him?” Connor asked in a
near-whisper.
“Because he murdered my mom,” she mumbled before slipping
off into sleep.
* * * * *
Shelby rolled over in bed with a groan. Just as she’d
thought, she felt a hell of a lot worse this morning than she had last night.
She opened her eyes and looked around, realizing that she was alone. She hadn’t
even felt the guys get up. The adrenaline drop combined with a too-hot bath and
some amazing sex had exhausted her. She’d barely been with it last night.
She sat up slowly. Damn, she felt like an old woman. Everything
ached, her face worst of all. Maybe she should have taken the guys’ advice and
changed, at least then she wouldn’t feel like a worn-out ping-pong ball.
Shelby dragged herself to the edge of the bed, swinging her
legs out slowly. She wondered how long Cade and Connor had been gone. She
attempted to squelch the flicker of panic that tried to build. She was okay.
She could be by herself for a while. She didn’t need them here 24/7, guarding
her.
Maybe if she kept repeating those facts she might come to
believe them.
She forced herself to stand and shuffled into the bathroom.
Splashing herself with some water, she dared take a glimpse in the mirror. A
bruised, fragile-looking woman stared back at her. Her eyes had circles beneath
them. A large bruise marred her cheek, she pressed against it gently. Not
broken, but not pretty either.
Well, she guessed she’d wait for the guys to come back and
ask them to take her outside so she could change. She didn’t feel like changing
in the room, even though there was enough space. Once in wolf form, she’d want
to run.
She could scarcely believe how they’d taken care of her as
if she was precious, breakable, holding her until she’d fallen sleep.
“Oh fuck. Oh no.” Her memory fully returned, stealing her
breath. How could she have been so stupid? She’d told them. Not everything, but
enough that if they went to Garrison she was in real trouble. Would they
protect her from him?
They’d seemed sincere last night, but maybe it had all been
an act to get her to confess. Suddenly, she wasn’t so sure of anything anymore.
“What should I do? What to do?”
What she couldn’t do was stand around and agonize over it.
She had to take action. Now.
She had to get out of here, work out what her next step was.
Biting her lip, she opened the drawer and grabbed the swipe
card she’d taken from the guard. Moving into the bedroom, she grabbed some of
Connor’s pants and a belt. They were still way too large, but with some luck
they’d stay up. She moved to the door, her palms sweating. What if they had a
camera in the hallway?
Well then, she’d soon find out whose side they would take.
She held her breath then swiped the card over the access
box, praying that no one had time to disable the card. She didn’t know why the
guard had access to this room anyway. She turned the knob and the door opened.
Moving swiftly, she shut it behind her and crept down the hallway, her heart
thundering in her chest.
* * * * *
“What I want to know is how the hell he accessed our
bedroom,” Cade said, pacing the room. His team looked back at him, their faces
tense.
“This is my fault. Buckley got the best of me. I wasn’t
expecting it and I should have been.”
The first clue they’d had that something was wrong was when
Dylan wouldn’t respond to any of their calls. When they’d landed the chopper,
they’d been on full alert, Cade, Trick, and Gage taking point and exploring the
house before they’d allow the others to bring Garrison in. Cade had found Dylan
first, unconscious, a huge bump on his head from where Buckley had knocked him
out.
While Trick and Gage had explored the rest of the house,
Cade had raced up to Shelby, his heard pounding so hard he’d thought he might
have a heart attack. Then when he’d seen Buckley hurting her, touching what was
his, he’d nearly exploded with uncontrollable rage.
He knew he should have stopped after the first few punches,
knew he risked terrifying her further, but he’d been in the throes of a fury
unlike anything he’d experienced before. His wolf had been only steps away from
exploding free, demanding that they protect their mate, that they kill any
threat to her. It was only after he’d caught sight of her pale, frightened face
that he’d managed to bring himself under some control.
“None of us could have expected it,” Trick told him. “Those
guards had all been checked, there was nothing in Ian Buckley’s background to
indicate what a depraved bastard he was.”
“If anyone is at fault, it’s me and Cade,” Connor said
tiredly. “We never should have left her unprotected.”
“Been a hell of a few days, huh?” Gage said.
Hudson looked at Connor for a long moment. “Why was she in
your bedroom, anyway? Shouldn’t she have been locked in the basement? Cade near
killed Buckley, that wasn’t the reaction of someone concerned about his
prisoner.”
“She isn’t our prisoner,” Cade growled. “She’s ours. She’s
our mate.”
They all looked at him in shock.
“He dared to touch our mate and we weren’t here to protect
her,” he raged, clenching his fists. Damn, what he wouldn’t give to have
another go at Buckley. This time he wouldn’t stop.
“Your mate?” Gage asked. “You’ve mated her?”
“Not yet. She’s not ready for that right now, but soon.”
Soon
she would be his,
he thought with satisfaction. His wolf was restless, out
of sorts, needing to take her. Once he had her bound to him, then he could
relax.
“Jesus,” Trick said. “I hope the two of you know what you’re
doing.”
“Has she told you what she was doing spying on Sam, then?”
Hudson asked.
Cade looked over at Connor who sighed and shrugged his
shoulders. “Yes, she told us last night that she believes Sam killed her mother
and she wants him dead.”
“And the two of you want to mate her?” Gage asked
incredulously.
“What we do with her is none of your business, understand?”
Cade snarled.
“Cade, calm down.” Connor sent him a hard stare and Cade nodded.
He needed to bring himself under control.
He paced up and down the room as Connor related what Shelby
had told them last night. He was still in shock.
“There has to be some mistake,” Connor told them all. “As
soon as Garrison wakes up, we’ll talk to him about it.”
“How exactly did her mom die?” Dylan asked.
Connor shook his head. “We don’t know. She was still asleep
when we got up this morning and I have no doubt that she’ll be furious with
herself when she remembers what she told us. She’s not going to willingly tell
us anything more.”
“If she’s your mate, then she has no choice. Order her to,”
Gage said.
Connor looked at him with exasperation. “You’re just like
Cade, a caveman. You can’t just order your mate to do as you wish.”
“I don’t see why not,” Cade muttered under his breath. “No
one has answered my question yet. How did Buckley get into Connor’s room?”
Dylan raised his head, his face pale. “My swipe card. I
couldn’t find it this morning. He must have taken it. Did you find it on him?”
Connor shook his head. “No, we stripped him of everything.
There was nothing on him. Can you bring up the access history?”
Dylan grabbed his laptop and opened it, bringing up the
program.
“Fuck,” he said, staring at them with dawning horror.
“What?” Cade asked.
“He used my card all right, but that wasn’t the last time it
was used to open your door. According to this it was used an hour ago.”
Cade looked at Connor in fear. “Shelby,” they said together.
* * * * *
Shelby ran through the freezing stream. Her wolf’s fur
provided her with some protection against the cold, but this wouldn’t have been
her first choice of escape. She’d managed to make it out of the house and over
the wall surrounding the estate without detection, but she knew it wouldn’t be
long until they discovered she was gone. She needed a quick getaway, so she’d
decided to lose her clothes and change into wolf form.
Now she was trying to hide her trail as best she could.
She could have been at her cousins’ place by now, however it
wouldn’t take them long to find her there. So instead, she’d headed upstream
toward town.
Once she got there, she’d find some way to contact her
cousins. Even though she didn’t want to drag them into this shit, she needed
their help. There was no way she could get out of this on her own.
Particularly not when her wolf was pushing her to return to
Cade and Connor.
Mine. My mates.
No. They’d used her. They’d used her vulnerability, her need
for them to get the answers they wanted. They’d betrayed her. Now Garrison
would know she was alive. He’d come for her as well—he couldn’t afford to let
her live, not with what she knew. He might even send Cade and Connor to take
care of her.
Would they do that? Could they?
Shelby wasn’t sure of anything anymore.
* * * * *
They tracked her to where she’d changed. Her clothes lay on
a pile on the ground. Connor brought them to his nose, sniffing deeply. Her
scent clung to them and his wolf snarled.
He couldn’t believe that she’d run. As soon as he got his
hands on her, he was going to teach her who was boss. Maybe Cade had the right
idea. Their mate would learn obedience or she’d feel his hand against her butt.