Triple Dog Dare [Triple Trouble 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (17 page)

Mai didn’t understand Lina’s joke about Callie being envious of the collar when Zack buckled it around Mai’s neck, but apparently everyone thought it was funny because they laughed their asses off.

With relief in her heart and her first full tummy in several days, Mai settled back on the seat, closed her eyes, and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * * *

They stopped at a hotel in Virginia, south of Richmond, sometime in the early, predawn hours. Kael clipped the leash to her collar and led her across the parking lot to a grassy area to do her business. She made sure to be the perfect dog, didn’t pull on the leash, and stood patiently while he used a plastic baggy to pick up her waste.

Perfect. I get two hunks waiting hand and foot on me, and they’re gay and I’m their dog.

She even stood patiently in the bathtub while they gave her a quick bath with orange-scented dog shampoo they’d apparently bought, along with the other accoutrements.

Truth be told, it felt damn good to have them massaging her aching muscles in the warm water.

She obediently sat on the tile bathroom floor while Zack went after her with the hair dryer. When he finished, her coat was poofy, but clean and smelling citrusy fresh.

It was nearly four in the morning when the men exhaustedly climbed into one of the beds. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do. The carpeted floor would be fine, but before she could curl up, Kael pointed to the other bed.

“Go ahead, Mai. You can sleep on the bed. I don’t know where you came from, but you’re a good girl.”

She nearly shifted in shock at that, wanted to cry. His voice sounded so tender, so loving.

She walked over to their bedside and put her front paws up so she could lick him in the face. Then she turned, jumped up on the other bed, curled herself nose to tail, and went to sleep.

I could get used to this.
She didn’t know what she’d do in a few months when she couldn’t hide her secret any longer, but at least she’d have a few months of peaceful living.

* * * *

Mai awoke late the next morning to someone knocking on their room door. Zack and Kael, who’d still been asleep, stirred. Zack got up and answered the door, greeting Lina and welcoming her in.

She immediately walked over to Mai’s bed, sat down, and gently stroked her head. “Good morning, Mai.”

I wish I could talk to you, lady. Whoever you are.

She looked at Lina’s bulging belly and felt a sad pang of envy. No doubt Jan and Rick, the other two men she’d figured out were Lina’s mates, were desperately eager for her to have their child. Probably loved the hell out of her.

Who’s going to love us?
She’d have plenty of time to think about that later, when she was safely in Florida. She still wasn’t sure how she’d broach the subject of her true identity, but she suspected it would be Lina she came out to first.

Lina offered to take Mai out for her walk while the men got their shower. After Mai finished and Lina had picked up after her, Lina looked at her. “I promise, whatever it is, we’ll help. I mean it. Okay? And we
can
help you.”

Mai swallowed hard, but nodded.
I don’t know if anyone can help me, lady, but you might regret making that promise. I won’t hold you to it.

Back in the room, the men were getting out of the shower. Neither acted bashful around Lina, and she was apparently used to seeing them in the buff, because she didn’t react. Lina dished her out a can of food and freshened her water. After eating, Mai curled up on the bed and waited for further orders.

The others were going to breakfast before checking out and would come back for her.

Before leaving the room, Lina turned on the TV.

“Why are you doing that?” Zack asked.

“So she doesn’t get bored. Duh.” Lina turned and winked at her.

Mai winked back and wagged her tail.

* * * *

Late that night, they crossed the state line from Georgia into Florida north of Jacksonville. They took I-10 west to I-75 and continued south. Just before dawn, they pulled off the interstate and Mai realized they were “home.” Or what would temporarily be her home.

They let her out of the car without the leash, and she pulled up short in shock. The house was huge and from the looks of it most likely built within the past couple of years. She had a bathroom break before being welcomed inside by her new friends.

She couldn’t help but let her tail wag. The place looked wonderful. Homey, not ritzy, yet well furnished.

Lina showed their three human guests to their rooms. She’d discovered from listening that Carla and Liam were Elain’s parents, but they weren’t married. And Elain was a good friend of theirs.

Zack put Mai’s food and water dishes on the floor in the kitchen, poured her out some dry dog food, and headed to another part of the house with Kael.

Lina let her two men go upstairs ahead of her. She waited until she was alone in the kitchen with Mai to open the fridge, pull out some lunch meat, cheese, and bread, and make an impromptu sandwich, which she placed in Mai’s food bowl.

“You’ve got to be sick of that other stuff. I’ll sneak you what I can when I can so I don’t blow your cover. Okay?”

Mai wanted to cry. She whined in gratitude and licked Lina’s hand. Lina gave her a friendly smile and patted her on the head. “If you need to go outside, come upstairs and bark at my door to wake me up.” Then she headed upstairs.

Mai considered shifting back to eat, then decided against it. She didn’t want to take the risk. She grabbed the sandwich from her bowl and devoured it in a few bites. Then she headed over to the couch where she curled up and went to sleep.

* * * *

Mai discovered later that day, once everyone had slept and arose to have dinner, that this wasn’t their last stop in their journey, even though it was home to most of them. They’d be on the road again, this time to Arcadia, where Elain lived with her mates.

Lucky woman.

With sneakily whispered asides from Lina, Mai was now up to speed on who Carla and Liam were as well. Ironic that she was in a very similar situation as Elain, only she damn well knew how much danger she was in.

Asshole.
Why had she ever trusted Paul in the first place? Oh yeah, because he was handsome, rich, and said he loved her.

Barely twenty-one, my family’s dead, and now I have an asshole wolf on my tail. Literally.

This was not how she’d planned to spend her life.

After dinner, just before sunset, they all loaded up again and headed south. She sat up and watched the unfamiliar landscape pass by outside the car. They were now heading to Elain’s home, in Arcadia, where more wolves awaited their return.

For the first time since her ordeal started a few weeks earlier, she truly felt safe. Like maybe she could figure a way out of this damn mess.

When they turned off the highway and down a long driveway, Mai took a sniff of the air.
Cattle.

They pulled into the yard surrounding a large, one-story ranch-style house. Three men, who appeared identical, stepped out onto the front porch at their arrival.

Elain jumped out of the car she was in and ran into their welcoming arms.

Mai watched, her heart aching. She wanted that, someone to love her.

Kael opened the back door of the car and coaxed her out. She jumped out, sniffing around, and running over to the fence line to do her business out of the way. Then, sticking close to Lina’s side, she headed inside with the others.

* * * *

Micah dozed in bed with Jim curled in his arms. They’d had the house mostly to themselves for the day and had taken full advantage of it to wear each other out. Elain and the others would return soon.

He wasn’t sure at first what awoke him. His eyes snapped open, ears and mind on full alert.

Something’s wrong.

He sat up. Jim barely stirred as he swung out of bed. That’s when he heard everyone coming inside and he knew what had set his senses off.

A shifted coyote.

With a growl starting deep in his throat, he threw the bedroom door open and ran out into the living room.

* * * *

Mai sat and stared at Elain’s three hunks.

Lucky, lucky woman.
Then she heard a door open somewhere down the hall. She barely had time to register the sound of a wolf’s dangerous growl when the naked man appeared in the doorway and glared at her.

When he spotted her, she didn’t even think before turning and bolting with a terrified squeal toward the first open door she saw. Unfortunately, with everyone now shouting and the naked man on her heels, Mai realized she’d put herself into a dead end, running through a huge bedroom and into a bathroom. She spotted a window, but with a terrified yelp she went sprawling across the tile as the man tackled her.

He wrapped his fingers tightly around her throat. A horrific snarl rumbled through him as he screamed, “Who are you?”

* * * *

Micah spotted the shifted coyote immediately. She spotted him, too, and took off running toward the master bedroom. She couldn’t escape him. Before she could jump for the window, he threw himself at her, tackling her and grabbing her by the throat. “Who are you?”

With speed that shocked him, he was suddenly holding a naked young woman by the throat. She clawed at his fingers. “Please don’t hurt me!” she gasped.

Ain, Brodey, and Cail caught up with them first, with the dragon men on their heels. Micah resisted their attempts to pull him off of her.

That’s when she stopped fighting him and protectively curled her hands around her obviously swollen belly. “Please, don’t hurt me,” she begged again, tears streaking her cheeks.

It felt like a shock wave slammed into him as an all too familiar sensation took control of his mind. He didn’t have time to process what it meant, only that instinctively, a switch had been flipped and one word pounded through his soul.

Mate.

He shook the Lyall brothers off as he grabbed the woman and pulled her protectively into his arms. Jim, apparently awoken by the ruckus, appeared in the doorway behind all the others.

“What the hell is going on?” he asked, pushing his way through the other men to get to Micah’s side.

Micah fought a wave of emotions threatening to swamp him. Anger at the intruder had given way to protective fury—for her.

Love.

Holy fuck.

The girl, now sobbing in his arms, had stopped fighting him once he’d let go of her throat. He placed one hand on the swell of her belly, on top of her hands. “You’re pregnant,” he said in wonder.

Jim dropped to his knees beside them. The world shrank until it seemed only the three of them filled it. Jim looked at him, shock on his face. “Who is she?” he asked.

Micah had changed position on the floor so he could cradle her in his arms. He brushed her tangled blonde hair from her face. “Ours,” he whispered. He looked at Jim. “She’s ours.”

Jim nodded, also reaching out to stroke her cheek and brush away her tears. Micah knew his mate felt it, too. After all that had happened, he wouldn’t question that he knew this woman was meant to be theirs, whoever she was. He felt as strongly about her as he had about Jim.

Please, don’t let her be mated to someone!

Jim grabbed a large bath towel and covered the girl with it. She looked up into their faces, her brown eyes red from crying. She wasn’t marked. Micah could tell that instinctively. But did she have a partner? Husband? He also sensed how terrified she was.

How alone.

The Goddess does have a twisted sense of humor.
He cupped the back of her neck with his hand and looked deeply into her brown eyes. Her sobbing quieted as she stared up at him.

“You don’t have anyone else, do you?” he asked her.

She shook her head.

Micah touched his forehead to hers. He’d sort the details out later. For now, he knew only one thing. “You’re ours,” he whispered.

She softly whimpered, but nodded.

Jim joined them, leaning in so his forehead also touched theirs. He wrapped his arms around them both. “Ours,” he echoed.

She nodded. “Yours,” she whispered.

* * * *

Could my life get any more whacked out?
Mai didn’t even know who these two guys were, just that the one who’d almost ripped her throat out was a wolf and the other was a human, and they were mated to each other.

She also felt a pull to them like no other. Certainly nothing like the tepid sexual attraction she’d had in the beginning with Paul.

The wolf stood, easily lifting her in his arms and carrying her out of the bathroom while the other man hovered close by. She threw her arms around the wolf’s neck and buried her head against his chest, afraid to let go of him now that she felt waves of protective fury flowing from him. They returned to the living room, and he sat on the couch with her still in his arms. Lina appeared with a bathrobe, which she offered to her.