Wolf-Bound: Unfamiliar Territory (8 page)

Her face flushed. “I…I didn’t feel drawn to them like…like my life mates or anything. I hate to admit it, but it had been a fantasy of mine, ever since…” Her voice trailed off, her cheeks red as apples. “Well, I wanted to --”

“I think I get the picture.” Jenny tightened her arm around her friend’s shoulders in a hug. “Don’t worry. I can’t blame you. Weyr have incredible sex appeal.”

Tara laughed, an explosive sound that seemed to finally release some of her tension.

“Lord, I never in my life thought that some day I’d be confessing to my best friend that I used to have sexual fantasies about her weyrwolf husband.” Her gaze turned shrewd. “Or should I say, husbands.”

It was Jenny’s turn to blush. Tara nudged her with a shoulder. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

But I keep getting off track. Time to end this sorry tale.”

She slipped out of Jenny’s grasp and stood. Walking over to the porch rail, she stared out into the woods. “Bottom line, I didn’t think of the consequences. I just accepted their advances and went for it, even though there was obviously something going on with them.

They were running from something, or hiding from something or someone, I think.”

She turned and faced her friend, leaning against the corner post. “I know this sounds nuts, but I think they knew -- well, Johnathan, at least -- that I’d gotten pregnant. He left me this card with some shamrocks, on the morning I was leaving. It said to take care of them, their gift, and I thought they meant the clover at the time, but now I think they knew about the pregnancy, even knew it was twins.”

“They probably did.” Jenny watched her closely. “It’s another aspect of full weyr. They can sense our natural rhythms and know that we’re ovulating, that kind of thing.

Apparently, if you are ovulating when you have sex with both males of a set of full weyr twins, you will get pregnant, no matter what. At least, if you’re human or half-weyr. If I remember correctly, Damien might have told me full weyr females have some control of their own in that situation.”

Tara took a deep, shuddering breath. “So, I come back, and I’m pregnant, and I don’t hear from either of them for four months. And then I-I lose one of the babies.” She swallowed hard. “I was devastated, but at the same time, I started thinking, finally, about what this pregnancy really means.” She met Jenny’s gaze pleadingly. “What do I know about weyr? How can I possibly raise a weyr baby by myself?”

Jenny stood and joined her by the rail, facing out toward the wooded mountainside, her hands resting on the wooden railing. “I’m sure you can do it, Tara. I mean, I didn’t even know I was weyr. My parents raised me completely oblivious of my origins, and nothing

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untoward happened.” She hesitated. “Well, until I met Damien and Dev and… Well, I have to admit, I very much resented not having been raised with the knowledge. Even now, I still have questions.”

Tara shook her head, fighting back tears. “It’s not just that.” She grabbed Jenny’s shoulders, turning her so they could look eye to eye. “I’m not ready for children.” She sobbed. “I wasn’t in love with them. It was a fling, a thirtieth birthday adventure and the fulfillment of a longtime fantasy. And now, Marshall and I…we have something. And he’s perfectly fine with the idea of raising someone else’s child, but it’s not fair to him, and…”

“Oh, honey.” Jen wrapped her arms around Tara and held her close. “Don’t worry. I’ll give you all the help you need. You’re not alone. So many people care about you. We’ll all be here for you. You’ll make it through this, I promise.” She patted Tara’s back. “Everything will be all right. You’ll see.”

Shuddering, Tara rubbed at her brimming eyes. “You don’t understand.” She sniffed noisily, visibly struggling to get a grip on her emotions, and her sobs faded. “I came to ask you…” She shook her head. “God, I’m so selfish. You’re going to think I’m awful.”

Jenny pushed Tara’s tear-dampened curls back from her face, cupping her cheeks.

“Tara, you’re my best friend. You’re not awful, and nothing can make me think that.”

“I want you to raise the baby.”

Jenny stared, not certain she had heard correctly. For a long moment, she was speechless.

“See?” Tara wailed. “I knew you’d think I was horrible!”

“No, no.” Jenny let go of her friend’s face and stepped back, running a hand through her dark brown hair. “This is just…unexpected. I’ve thought from the beginning that you knew more about Damien and Devlin than you let on. To find out all at once that you’ve known since you were kids, and that you’ve been involved with weyr yourself, and… Us raising your baby, it’s… I understand your reasoning, and I don’t think you’re horrible to admit that you’re not ready for children, if that’s the way you really feel. But…are you sure?

This is a big decision. Are you sure you’ve thought it through?”

“Yes. And I’ve talked it over with Marshall, too -- leaving the wolf part out, of course.”

She wandered over to the swing and sat down, staring up at Jenny. “He’s really wonderful.”

Her tone softened as she spoke of him. “I love him, Jen. He hasn’t asked me to marry him yet, but I think he will, and I want to accept. He’s told me over and over that he’ll help with the baby any way he can, but if I marry him, I want to do it right. I want him to myself for a while, and when we do have kids, I want to plan ahead of time, have him with me every step of the way.” Her eyes filled with tears again. “Is that selfish?”

Jen leaned back against the porch rail, giving a half-shrug. “Honestly, it is, but I understand. Still…”

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“I shouldn’t have come.” Tara buried her head in her hands, her words muffled. “It’s too much to ask. I knew it was. Why would you want to take on another child? You’re having twins; you’re going to have your hands full from day one. I just…I couldn’t face the idea of giving my baby up to strangers.”

Jenny walked over to the swing and rested a hand on Tara’s shoulder. “I don’t think you’re asking too much. A lot, yes, but not too much. And I have no qualms whatsoever about raising three boys instead of two, especially if it’s for you. It’s just that… Well, I have to be honest with you, Tara. If we do this, if Damien and I adopt your baby…” She shook her friend’s shoulder gently until Tara raised her head and looked her in the eyes. Jen tried to soften her words, but there was still a bite to her tone. “If you were ever to regret your decision, it would destroy our friendship. I’ve heard too many horror stories of children living with adoptive parents for, sometimes, several years, and then the biological parent decides they want their baby back. It’s traumatic for everyone involved, but we would fight, Tara, because we will love your boy every bit as much as our own; you know we will. And I don’t believe a child should be ripped from loving parents, from the only home they’ve ever known. We’d fight, and we’d win.”

Tara grinned, though her eyes were still misted with tears. “That’s one of the reasons I love you so much, because you’re always honest with me.” She rubbed her red eyes. “This is another reason why I want it to be you -- because I know how much you care. I won’t regret this, Jen, but there’s no way I can prove that now. All I can say is that I know in my heart this is the right thing to do. Theron needs to be raised by people who know and understand what he is, and he needs to be raised by someone who wants children now. And there’s something else -- or someone, I guess I should say -- that the three of you are better prepared to deal with than I am.”

Jen tilted her head. “Someone?”

Tara’s fingers worried busily at the hem of her maternity blouse. “I-I’ve seen one of the fathers. Jacob. He’s here, in Alabaster. He showed up at the office a couple of weeks ago. He said his brother was…was dead. He seemed fine, at first. He said he wanted to help me raise the twins, so I had to tell him -- Well, I didn’t tell him; he figured out --”

Jen sucked in a sharp breath. “That you’d lost one of the babies.”

Tara nodded, almost sobbing again. “And-and he looked s-so horrible, and he started to ch-change, and he ran out, and --”

Jenny went stiff with shock. The baby’s father had to be their rogue weyr. Abruptly feeling weak at the knees, she dropped down beside Tara on the swing. “Oh, no.”

Tara nodded, misunderstanding her concern. “I know. He could possibly want custody, but I thought maybe, if he met the three of you and knew his son would be raised by weyr, with such a wonderful family…” Her voice trailed off.

Jen stared out at the mountainside, struggling to wrap her mind around everything that she’d learned. Without a doubt, she must save Jacob. There was no way she’d be able to live

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with herself if she knew Damien and Devlin had killed the baby’s only remaining father. As far as adopting the child, she couldn’t say no. Plans might change if they were able to rescue the weyr, of course -- if Jacob wanted custody and was fit, they shouldn’t fight him -- but for now, she could at least put Tara’s mind at ease. Stress wasn’t good for the baby.

Jenny reached out and covered Tara’s clasped hands with her own. “We’ll do it.”

Tara whipped her head around, eyes wide. “You will?”

Jenny’s gaze pierced her. “If you’re sure.”

Tara nodded. “I’m sure.” She smiled, patting her tummy. “Theron -- that’s his name, Theron Matthew -- he couldn’t ask for a better mother or fathers.”

Her casual mention of Damien and Devlin both as the boy’s fathers, not father, touched Jenny deeply and brought home again the fact that Tara truly understood her situation. She now had at least one friend with whom she could be completely honest, and the thought made her so happy it brought tears to her eyes.

“I’ll have to speak to Damien and Devlin, of course, but I can’t imagine they’ll say no.”

“I guess they might be a little angry that I know about them.”

Jenny shivered, just a little. “I have to admit, I’m not so thrilled about telling them, but they’ll deal with it.”

Tara sighed. “I’m sorry.”

Jen put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed. “Don’t be. Everything will work out all right. I promise. Just please don’t let this situation make things awkward between us.”

Tara shook her head violently, auburn curls swaying. “Hell, no. I don’t know what I’d do without my best friend. I can’t remember how I ever functioned without you.”

Wolf-Bound: Unfamiliar Territory

45

Unasked Question

Hours later, Jenny relaxed in bed, reading an e-book while she waited for her husbands to come home. She and Tara had talked more about Jacob’s visit and what it might mean, but after a while Jenny had insisted that they put the problem on the back burner. They’d spent the rest of the day doing normal things -- chatting about their mutual friends, looking through magazines together. They’d even baked after all, the companionship and assistance making the heat more bearable for Jenny, and enjoyed melt-in-your-mouth brownies fresh from the oven with tall, cold glasses of milk. Before she’d left, Tara had mentioned that Marshall could take care of drawing up the adoption papers and making sure everything was completely legal, and Jenny had promised she would call her soon to let her know for sure whether her husbands had agreed.

As she touched the screen to turn the page, a light tread on the porch made her cock her head. She listened intently, then smiled. Damien and Devlin were back. Her weyr senses allowed her to hear their faint murmurs as they slipped off their boots and let themselves quietly in the front door. She hadn’t heard the truck, though. She frowned. Must have broken down again.

She shut down her reader and set it on the bedside table. Sitting up in the bed, she arranged herself cross-legged among the pillows, leaning back against the headboard, her hands clenched in her lap. She looked down at them and frowned. Deliberately, she flexed her fingers to loosen them. She had a lot to tell the guys, things that were bound to make them tense. She needed to be as calm as possible.

Dev popped his head in the door. “Honey, we’re home!” He flashed a grin, his teeth a dazzling white against his bronzed, rugged face. He walked into the room and flopped onto the bed, his head landing in her lap. He looked up at her, still grinning. “Miss me?”

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In answer, Jenny buried her fingers in his hair and tugged, pulling him up so she could meld her lips to his. When she let him go, he mimed wooziness. “Whew, that was something else!” He eyed her shrewdly. Despite his carefree façade, he was sometimes much more canny than she gave him credit for. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Damien saved her an answer by coming through the door. He walked up to the bed and bent over, his lips caressing hers. “Mmm. It’s good to be home,” he murmured.

She couldn’t help it -- the day’s stress came crashing in on her. She needed the reassurance of their strong arms around her, craved their familiar touch.

Revelations could wait.

She darted her tongue between his lips. Damien growled and wrapped her tongue in his, stroking, his hands kneading her shoulders. Jenny sighed and leaned back against the pillows. The bed shifted as he sat beside her, one hand straying to the ribbon that tied the neckline of her nightgown.

She reached up, running her fingers over his smooth, firm biceps. The muscles flexed beneath her touch as he deftly unknotted the ribbon, tugging her bodice down so that her plump breasts tumbled out.

He relinquished her lips and sat back, gazing at her exposed nipples. His gaze flicked to hers for just a moment, full of dark promise. Then he leaned forward and lapped at the tip of one swollen dark nipple.

Jenny moaned, settling more comfortably into the pillows. Devlin stretched out beside her and began tracing taut circles around the erect peak of her other nipple.

A weird and wonderful tightening sensation rippled through her breasts. She shivered, her erect nubs tingling. A moment later, a warm, melting sensation washed through her.

Tiny drops of clear fluid with just a hint of pearlescence appeared on the tips of her exposed nipples.