Triple Dog Dare [Triple Trouble 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (9 page)

“That’s it, baby,” he gasped. “You know what I like.”

Brodey, meanwhile, had found the perfect angle and knew it. He started taking harder, shorter strokes inside her. With her clit already primed and swollen from her first orgasm, it didn’t take her long to crash over the edge again.

“That’s it, baby,” Brodey urged as her body responded, her pussy milking his cock as her orgasm swept through her.

Her moans around Cail’s cock triggered his orgasm. His hand tightened in her hair as he thrust into her mouth. She sucked harder, moaning again as she felt his cock pumping, then tasting his cum as he filled her mouth with his seed.

Brodey barely held back until she finished. Then he grabbed her legs, threw them over his shoulders, and fucked her, hard and deep, shaking the whole bed until his back arched and he let out a deep groan.

Elain released Cail’s cock and wrapped her arms around Brodey. She held on to him until his body finally relaxed and he dropped on top of her, sated, exhausted.

Too tired to talk, she thought to them,
“I love all of you.”

Ain leaned in from somewhere and kissed her. “We love you, too, babe.”

On that note, she checked out, gratefully letting sleep wash over her.

Elain awoke late the next morning after a blissfully dreamless sleep. Getting herself boinked senseless by her men tended to do that for her.

At least insomnia’s a problem I don’t have.

She left her men sleeping in bed and grabbed a quick shower. Instead of dressing, she grabbed her bathrobe and wrapped it around her before silently slipping out of the bedroom. The entire house lay quiet, all their guests still asleep.

She started the coffee. When it finished, she poured herself a mug then took it outside onto the lanai where she sat in a lounger. Staring at the woods beyond the backyard, she tried to process everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours. Between her mom’s bombshell, meeting Lina and her gang, and then Liam showing up…

Dad
, she thought.
My dad.

How many countless times had she longed for a dad growing up? Latching on to friends who had seemingly perfect families with a dad and a mom? Or, at the very least, one parent and one stepparent? All the while mourning the fact that her father was either “somewhere” or a “no-good louse,” depending on when in her life she’d asked her mom about him.

How many times had she watched moms and dads, or at least divorced parents but the dad showing up sometimes, cheering their kids on the sidelines at track meets or karate competitions?

Yes, her mom was always there for her. Always her rock, always dependable and making time for her no matter what.

But…

She sat back in the lounger, stretching out and staring at wispy clouds that drifted into view in the distance across the pasture to the east of the house.

Inside the house behind her, Elain now had her complete family gathered under one roof for the first time in her life. Men, Mom, Dad, and the siblings-slash-cousins she’d always longed for.

Let’s not forget it looks like I’m a wolf, too.

She snorted in amusement. Somehow, that factoid had slid down the importance scale with the arrival of everyone else.

She heard the sliders to the living room open. Cail, dressed in shorts, stepped out. He carried a mug of coffee.

“Good morning, sweetheart.”

She nodded to him.

He kissed her. “You all right?”

“Yeah.”

He studied her for a moment. “You want company, or do you need some space?”

She took a deep breath and held it for a moment to think before letting it out. “I think,” she quietly said, “I need some space. No offense.”

“None taken. That’s why I asked.” He leaned in again and kissed the top of her head. “Ain and Brodey are up and moving, too. I’m going to grab me something to eat and head out to the barns with Brodey. Unless you want me to hang back?”

“I’m good.” Truth be told, the irony was she did need to be alone, even though her life was suddenly filled with all the people she’d wished for over the years.

“Let me know if you need me, okay?”

“I will. Thank you.”

He returned to the house, leaving her to her contemplation. He must have passed the word to the other men, because neither Ain nor Brodey came out, although she sensed Brodey left with Cail and Ain stayed behind.

No one else appeared to be awake yet. Not even the two lovebird horndogs.

She snickered at that. In light of recent developments, what had happened between Micah and Jim now fell even farther down the scale of importance, as well as provided a humorous note to her life.

Familiar sounds of birds and distant traffic on the road beyond their driveway came to her. She closed her eyes and listened with new attention based on the revelations of the night before.

The breeze picked up a little. She took a deep breath and enjoyed the scents of morning dew drying on the cypress and pine trees in the nearby woods. The sweet scent of the backyard grass, which had been mown the day before. Even the faint but still detectable aroma of the cows in the pastures beyond the woods.

Maybe I should take a ride.
Brodey had bought her two horses. She still wouldn’t consider herself an expert rider, but the men now let her venture around the ranch by herself without worrying themselves to death.
A ride would help me clear my mind.

She had a house full of people, over half of which she’d just met. All of them, apparently, related to her in some fashion. One of the things she’d always wished she had—a large, supportive family—and now…

Sigh.

She had no clue what to do with all of them.

The sliders opened again a little while later. When she looked, Liam offered her a tentative smile. “May I join ye?”

She nodded. She wouldn’t tell him no. She just wasn’t sure what to say to him yet.

He took a seat in a chair facing the lounger. “Are ye doing okay?”

“Honestly?”

He nodded.

She shook her head. “Not really. It’s all so overwhelming.”
Why not tell him the truth?
“I’ve had my world upended several times already over the past few weeks. Meeting the guys has changed my life and my perception of the world. Now I’m finding out all this other stuff.” She shrugged. “It’s like what is going to fall out of the sky on me next? I don’t know what I’m supposed to be thinking.”

“No one expects ye to act a certain way.”

“I expect it from myself. I had my life pretty much planned out. Then I met the guys. Okay, great, shape-shifters are real. Fine. I love them. I’ve been processing that. I was just starting to get the hang of that. Then all of…this.” She focused on the woods again. Maybe what she really needed was a run. Not to be chased, just to…run.

“Can ye ever forgive me?” he softly asked.

His question startled her. She refocused on him. “What?”

“For leaving your mum. For not being there for ye.”

“There’s nothing to forgive. You did what you had to do. I’m just…overwhelmed,” she repeated. It was the only word that seemed to apply.

“I can understand Carla being mad at me all these years. In her place, I can’t imagine I’d think much different. All I’m asking is a chance to get to know ye, be a part of yer life, if ye’d consider giving it to me.”

Over. Whelmed.

She took a deep breath and let it out again. “I feel like I’m losing my mind. Like I’m going to wake up and find out I was stuck in a coma or some weird stuff.” She thought for a moment. “Of course I want you in my life, Liam… Dad.” She smiled. “I’m sorry. That feels weird saying it. I’ll get used to it.”

He returned her smile. “I won’t lie. It sounds good hearing ye say it.”

“So why Bolivia all these years?” It was a question she’d neglected to ask the night before. She’d been too busy processing and crying to think of many questions.

He smiled. “It’s one of the last places any Abernathy would ever set foot on the planet. There’s a large jaguar Clan there who despises them.”

“Why?”

“Because Rodolfo stupidly thought he could have his way. About a hundred years or so ago, at a large Gathering, he tried throwing his weight around. He ended up insulting one of the jaguar leader’s daughters. His youngest daughter, who happened to be nineteen at the time.”

“Ouch.”

“Exactly. One of Rodolfo’s sons showed up the next morning with scratches across his face. His story was she attacked him. Her story was he tried to rape her and she barely got away. Rodolfo called her a lying…eh, rhymes with runt.”

Elain smiled. “Didn’t go over so well, huh?”

Liam rubbed his chin. “It was only because everyone else held back Ortega, the leader of the jaguar Clan, that Rodolfo and his ilk escaped out of there with his bollocks intact. Ortega invited Rodolfo to come down to Bolivia and settle it like a man. Needless to say, he didn’t.”

“So any of Rodolfo’s enemies are automatically Ortega’s friends now?”

“Exactly. I’m not the first person to head to Bolivia to escape Abernathy’s reach. In return, Ortega left me alone and offered me freedom to stay as long as I kept my eyes and ears open and passed any information along to him that he might need about anything I saw.” He sighed. “I hated every second of being away from ye. I suspected I’d do ye more harm than good if I showed up.”

“I’m glad you’re here.”

“Yeah?”

She smiled. “Yeah.”

* * * *

They talked for a little while longer. Carla joined them, a mug of coffee in her hand. She kissed Elain, but looked at Liam.

“Honey, would you mind if Liam and I talked for a little while? Alone?”

“No problem.” She hugged them both and headed inside.

Elain was making her way from the lanai to the kitchen when Lina and Zack emerged from their respective rooms.

Lina gave her a hug. “How you holding up?” Elain felt a wave of compassion wash over her. When Lina let go of her, the feeling disappeared.

Elain wanted to opt for a brave face, but she felt tears building inside her.

Lina squeezed her hand. “It’s okay to be overwhelmed. It’s natural. This isn’t easy stuff to deal with.”

“How did you deal with it?”

“She blew up a pine tree in our backyard,” Zack snarked.

“That was accidental,” Lina shot back. “I haven’t accidentally blown anything up in a long time now.”

“What about on purpose?” Elain asked.

She grinned. “Oh, all the time. I have to keep my guys on their toes.” Her smile faded. “How are you doing? Really?”

Elain sat at the kitchen table. “Can we focus on something besides me for a minute? I’m tired of being center stage. What, exactly, is your deal?” She pointed at the two of them.

Zack and Lina joined her at the table. “If we could label that,” Lina said, “it would make
my
life easier.” She looked at Zack. “Long story short, I’m the reincarnation of a really kick-ass lady goddess from a long time ago. Jan and Rick are the reincarnations of my mates from then.”

Elain stared at her for a moment as she tried to process that. “I’m sorry I asked.” Shape-shifters. Goddesses. Reincarnation.

This isn’t helping.

Lina smiled. “I know. It’s a lot to take in. I didn’t want to believe everything at first, either. I’ve found it’s easier to just sit back, admit I don’t know everything, and go with the flow.”

“Forget flow. I feel flooded,” Elain said.

“The short version,” Zack offered, “is magic is real, basically. Critters you thought were just myth really do exist. You know, sort of a variation on the theme of, ‘Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.’ Well, just because everyone else thinks these kinds of things don’t exist doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”

Elain stared at him for a moment before dropping her head into her hands and moaning. “
FuuuuUUUUCK
!”

She didn’t even care if Ain heard her swear. She’d gladly take the spanking. At least it would be something to take her mind off this craziness.

* * * *

Carla sat down in the lounger that Elain had vacated. For so many years she’d imagined what would happen if she had Liam sitting in front of her, how the conversation would go.

Now, she couldn’t recall a single scenario.

“You look good, Liam.” He’d barely aged, while she’d lived literally an entire lifetime since she’d last seen him. She felt a little self-conscious about that.

He kindly smiled. “Yer as pretty as ye ever were, Carla.”

She felt herself blush and looked down at her coffee. “You don’t need to lie to me to make me feel good, Liam.”

“I’m not. I mean it. And again, I cannot tell ye how much I appreciate ye raising Elain. I promise I won’t do anything to come between ye.” He wistfully looked at the sliding glass doors through which Elain had returned to the house. “Yer her mum. I’m so sorry I couldn’t be there to help ye take care of her, to help support her.”