Stalking the Pharmacist (18 page)

Jack took a step forward. “So, does that
sort everything out?”

Ash blinked at him. “Ah…”

Jack opened his mouth, but Scott beat him
to the punch.

“Take your time. We’ll wait as long as you
need us to.”

Jack nodded and huffed a little.
Her poor impatient lion.

“Bed?”
Jack reached for her with his powerful and
talented hands.

Ash nodded slowly, her heart soaring with
love for her men. “Yes, but no sex tonight.”

“What?” Jack jerked upright, and Scott
grabbed her hand.

“Did we do something wrong?”

She shook her head.
“No,
not at all.
But I’ve had a huge couple of days and I need to just be
held and feel close to you both. Can we do that?”

It was still light out but her men took her
to bed and undressed her down to her knickers. They were naked themselves and
they allowed her full access to touch and feel them as she desired. She spoke
softly to them as she enjoyed their powerful muscles and soft skin, but never
once did she feel pressured or inadequate because of her lack of sexuality.

Jack and Scott returned all of her love,
giving her all the intimacy and reassurances she needed. Every cell in her body
was buzzing with happiness and light.

They massaged her and touched her for hours
until she fell into a deep, restful sleep. Her dreams of what life could become
were slowly coming true.

****

The heat of his morning
coffee seeped through the ceramic mug and warmed his hands. A sigh escaped
Scott’s lips, and a lightness of heart he hadn’t felt in over twenty years
invaded his chest.

Ash had changed everything.

Only a week ago, every
morning, Scott had to pull himself out of bed, dreading the day to come. His
work was great, his home was clean, and he had the freedom to do whatever he
wanted. But a terrible feeling of emptiness had occupied his body every second
of every day. This morning it was gone.

He inhaled through his nose
and breathed out through his mouth. His usually busy brain was completely at
peace. A full night of affection, loving kisses, and words had been enough to
convince him that Ashleigh really was their intended mate. The woman had been
custom made just for them. He’d never been so happy, and the best part was that
it was just the beginning. They had their whole life ahead of them, and he
could honestly say that his woman was the most incredible female he’d ever met
in his life.

Fate, it seemed, had been
kind to them after all.

His phone began to ring and
he glanced down.

Kerry.
Just great.

Negative thoughts began to
pour back in as did the clenching of his belly. What did she want now? Should
he even answer? It was seven o’clock in the morning. Maybe something was wrong
with the kids? Fuck! He had to answer.

With a grimace, he answered
the phone, sluggishly pulling up the mental barriers he always needed when
talking with his ex-wife.

“Hello?”

“What the fuck is this I hear
about you and Jack finding your mate? You always said I was your mate!”

His skull squeezed tight
around his brain, making his eyes ache. He had said that, to try to reassure
her that she didn’t need to be so insecure all of the time. It had never
worked, and her jealousy and pettiness had ripped them apart, destroying their
relationship from the inside out.

“We didn’t work out for more
than one reason, Kerry, and the main one is probably because Jack and I
are
a perfect pair. The legends always said we’d find one
woman that suited us both.”

And of course, you’re a fucking bitch, but you won’t accept that
as a reason.

“What a load of shit! You
never believed in those
fairytales
before.”

Scott took a deep breath and
let it out slowly. His blood pressure was rising just listening to that
high-pitched voice of hers.

“That’s true, I didn’t. But
I’ve been proven wrong.”

“You?”
She scoffed loudly.
“The perfect, intelligent, oh-so-talented Scott Tanner?
You’re never wrong, remember?”

Scott clenched his hand into
a fist. “I’m wrong, and often, but unlike some, I’m willing to admit to it when
I am.”

“Unlike me you mean? That’s
right, start telling me how it’s
all my
fault, when we
both know it’s not. You gave up on me, remember, Scott? You walked away from me
and the kids that you said you loved! You promised me you’d never leave me.”

Scott gripped the phone hard
and squeezed his eyes shut, remembering the night he’d promised her that. All
those years ago when he was sure he could make her love him enough to be a good
wife and a decent mother to their brood. He’d known on some level he’d been
wrong, and later, when the choice had come to either kill
himself
to get away from the depression and pain, or move out, he’d made his choice. It
had been much harder than simply ending his life, and he’d regretted his
cowardice many times. During the five years he’d lived alone she’d continued to
torture him and, compounded with the loneliness, he really had wanted to kill
himself.

Not anymore. Thanks to Ash,
he felt no guilt about his ex-wife. He also felt no need to placate her. With a
smile, he cut off his ex-wife’s rambling.

“It’s been five years. You
really need to move on. Now, do you need something, Kerry? I’m busy.”

She growled through the
phone, and his lion rose inside him.
God, how they’d fought
in the past.
Mostly words, but there’d been nights when his lion had
risen and roared through him, demanding he rip her limb from limb. It had been
mostly willpower and some luck that he’d never given in to the urge.

“How dare you threaten our
daughter, and over that little whore you and your brother are fucking? You know
that’s sick, right? You are totally perverted. We will never forgive you, and I
will make sure…”

Her voice disappeared as he
did something he’d never done before. He hung up on her. There was a small
amount of pride, but mostly there was pain. He may have just lost the family
he’d sacrificed everything for. Losing the stress of Kerry was a relief, but
his children were his life.

He flicked his phone to
silent and threw it in the direction of the lounge room, the phone making a
thud as it hit the carpet.

He wrapped his hands back
around his coffee and searched for the peace he’d woken with this morning. Acid
burned in his belly and he groaned. She’d got in, the fucking bitch. His
ex-wife was like a leech.
Feeding on his pain.
Draining every drop of energy out of his blood.

He sipped the coffee, feeling
the tension in his shoulders gather and tighten.

“Fuck.”

He sat there for another ten
minutes and finished his coffee. When the happiness he’d woken up with didn’t
return, he moved to his study and got into his work. His lion was still
vibrating with rage. Would he ever be free to be happy?

Chapter Thirteen

Ash stretched and groaned,
deliciously warm and being snuggled by a big, cuddly male.

“Good morning.” She smiled as
he kissed her neck and bumped his pelvis against her, his hard cock pressing
into her bum. Ash’s body responded instantly, her pussy tightening and pulsing
in anticipation of what was to come.

“Good
morning to you too.”

She smiled up at her
beautiful footballer and reached out for her scientist. The other side of the
bed was cold, and Ash couldn’t stop her hands from searching the space. She
didn’t like the fact he was gone already. Scott said he was committed to being
with her, but there was something holding him back. It was time she worked out
what it was. She pulled herself out of bed and heard Jack groan behind her.

“Where are you going,
beautiful?”

She wasn’t quite sure.

“I think I need to find
Scott.”

He should still be in bed
with them, especially after the awesome night they’d had. Where was he?

Jack let out a groan and
collapsed back onto their bed.

She pulled on the grey
singlet Jack had left on the floor, the cotton floating down over her body and
covering her to
mid thigh
.

“Well, get back here ASAP!”
Jack called out after her, his frustration making her giggle as she moved
through the house, looking for her tortured hero.

Last night had been amazing,
but there were still things she needed to learn about Scott. He wasn’t as
simple as Jack. With her big footballer, most of his scars were on the surface
and he was honest and comfortable with them. You knew what you were getting
with him. Scott was different.

She turned the corner into
Scott’s beautiful lounge room and saw his dark head in front of a computer
screen.

“Here you
are,
my lovely one.”

The words flowed out of her
mouth without conscious direction. He whirled around, his face shocked and a
little dark.

She needed to bridge the gap,
and quickly.

“Good morning.” She gave him
her brightest smile and cupped his cheeks, kissing him with all the love in her
heart.

He moaned and kissed her
back, slipping his tongue into her mouth so she sucked on it,
reveling
in his sweet
flavor
and
the way he shivered beneath her hands. She loved how he did that. It was as
though he’d never been touched before.

She pulled back slowly,
rubbing her nose against his.

“Couldn’t wait to get
working?”

She pulled back and
straightened, giving him a slightly pissed off look.

He shrugged, his mouth
pulling down on the side. “I can’t sleep past six, so I got up to have a shower
and a coffee, but planned to come back after that.”

Ash glanced at the clock. It
was past eight.

“What happened, then?”

His mouth pulled tight again
and Ash sighed. “Let’s go sit on the couch.”

She didn’t let him answer,
just turned and walked over to the couch, dropping down onto the soft leather
and waiting for him.

It took a moment, but he was
soon sitting opposite her, his hands clenched in his lap.

“Where’s Jack?” he asked, his
right leg jiggling in an annoying way.

“He’s probably gone back to
sleep.” She shrugged to indicate that Jack was the last of her concerns.
“You all right?”

He mimicked her shrug and
glanced away for a moment, then looked back with a bleak look in his eyes.

“Yeah, of
course.”

Ash needed to push forward,
but she didn’t know enough yet to even guess right, or did she? There only
seemed to be one thing that made Scott flinch—a small blonde who’d birthed his
offspring.

“Did your ex or one of your
kids call you?”

His head came up, his eyes
widening.

Yes!
Right on target.

“Ah, yeah.
How’d you know? My ex called
this morning.”

Ash made a disgusted noise.
That woman sounded like hell in a skirt.

“And what did the bitch
want?”

A shocked laugh came out of
Scott, while Ash huffed and crossed her arms. “You know she’s nothing to you
anymore, Scott. If you’ve got me, you can let go of whatever link you have to
her.”

Scott’s face grew taut. “I
don’t have any connections to her anymore, except for the kids of course.”

Ash grimaced. This was a hard
conversation for them to have but it had to be done.

“I don’t have any kids, so I
can’t really imagine what it must feel like to be linked to someone like that,
but I know that people only have power over you when you allow it.”

Scott grimaced and huffed a
little. “I don’t let her, it’s just… I don’t know.”

Ash flexed her fingers and
took another slow breath. “Okay, let’s leave that topic alone. Can we talk
about you and me? You feel colder this morning. Further away from me.”

Scott stared at her and
didn’t speak, so Ash
plowed
forward, calling on every instinct she had.

“Are you worried about our
connection not lasting, or me preferring your twin?
Or what?
I just can’t shake the feeling that you’re not committed the way Jack is?”

And she knew Scott wasn’t as
into the relationship as his brother was. She could feel Jack’s love like a
never-ending fountain of heat and power. Scott was only giving her what he had
to, what he thought was enough. It wasn’t. She needed his all. That sort of
imbalance would never work in their family.