Chapter Eleven
The next morning, Aimee’s hand paused on the doorknob of Anders Investments. She found herself reluctant to twist the knob and find the door locked. David’s car wasn’t in the tiny parking lot, which was an ominous sign. Not that she’d really expected him to be there. His life had just been turned completely upside down. Dillon said he not only had to leave ranch work, but he hadn’t been able to hold down any job because of battling his nature—and he had been turned six years before. Still, she hadn’t been able to stop herself from getting up at the usual time to shower, dress, and come to work.
Hesitation turned to fear, and she was about to release the knob without turning it when the door yanked open, almost pulling her off balance.
“David!” she said, her hand flying up to her throat. “You scared me to death.”
Although his expression bore no hostility, he seemed more imposing somehow while staring down at her with his new eyes. The same pale, glossy browns she’d known sparkled with gold highlights in the early morning sun. “How come you’re out here?” he asked.
She shot him a guilty grin. “I wasn’t sure you had showed up for work. Your car isn’t outside.”
“I got a lift from Adam this morning. He was heading down the mountain anyway.”
Her brow rose. “Wasn’t he the one you shot?”
“He’s right as rain now. And over it. Jack’s still busting my nuts over it, though.”
She cocked her head. “How’d you even know I was standing out here?”
“I picked up your scent.”
Her eyes widened. “You can smell me through a closed door?” A stab of alarm hit, and she took a step back. “Wait, I don’t still smell like…?” she trailed off, afraid to say the rest.
The smile he gave her was warm, genuine, and pure David. “Like every aphrodisiac on the planet mated together and made a love child? No. You smell like Aimee.”
Relief flooded her. “I didn’t realize wolves could smell things through closed doors,” she said.
“My senses are heightened unbelievably. But in all honesty, that also includes my ears. I heard the truck pull up.” He nodded to the four-wheel monster Kyle loaned her for the morning. “Car got towed after all, huh?”
She nodded. “We’re swinging by the impound lot later to spring it.”
“I’m surprised Kyle and Dillon let you come here.” He stepped aside and gestured her in. “You look dressed for work, if I’m not mistaken.”
Her eyes wandered over him as she followed him inside. He wore a mocha-colored dress shirt she didn’t recognize and his dark brown trousers. “So do you, if I’m not mistaken.”
She frowned when her gaze dropped to his shiny Italian loafers. His slacks, which were always meticulously tailored to hit just across the tops of his shoes, now hung above them. Her eyes rose up as she trailed him into his office, past his shoulders and higher than she remembered having to look to find the top of his head. “Are you taller?”
He turned when he got to the front of his desk and leaned against it. “A side effect of last night. My bones and ligaments stretched a little. My muscles were augmented during the transformation, too. I had to dig out an old shirt that was too big, but none of my slacks are long enough. I’ll have to conduct all my meetings from behind the desk until I can get out to go shopping.”
She stayed just inside his doorway and crossed her arms tightly. “You seem to be taking this quite well, all things considered.”
David shrugged, and she noticed that his shoulders did seem broader. “I can’t say yesterday ranked as my favorite day ever, but it’s done now.”
She hesitated. “I wasn’t sure you’d want me here after what I did.”
“You weren’t the one who bit me.”
“It’s my fault that you got bitten. You went there after me.”
“You didn’t make me follow you. One of the reasons yesterday is not my best day is because of my animal behavior toward you—and not all of it happened after I was bitten.”
She threw her arms up and stalked forward. “You couldn’t help it. It was my ridiculous scent. I’m the sole reason you went up there.” She averted her eyes to stare at the gray carpet. “And I betrayed you.”
He ran a hand through his brown hair, which hung loose over his forehead rather than tamed back like usual. “You were never mine to betray. I know that now. You couldn’t stop that bond any more than I could. Any more than Solomon could.”
She shook her head sadly. “That doesn’t change the fact that I strung you along. If I’d have just admitted the truth to myself and given that ring back sooner, you wouldn’t have wound up in that cave. I’m so very, very sorry, David.”
He pushed himself away from the desk and moved forward. He seemed to tower over her now, even though the difference in his height was only perhaps an inch or two. “Is that why you came here? So I’ll help you beat yourself up about how guilty you feel?” She blinked, taken aback. “If you would have handed me back that ring and told me it was over, it wouldn’t have changed a damn thing. I’d still have followed you up there and tried to change your mind.”
“But…”
“Aimee,” he said, silencing her protest by taking her hands in his. His skin was hotter than Kyle or Dillon’s, and she wondered if he would always be warmer or whether it was a residual effect of the change that would wear off with time. “We could stand here and chicken-or-egg this all day, but it doesn’t matter anymore. Weres believe that those who are turned, by accident or design, become shifters by fate. Fate holds a lot of things in balance for were society, because otherwise the superior advantages we have could upset the natural order of things. I was meant for this. You were just the instrument that drew me to my appointment with fate.”
Her eyes searched his. “That sure doesn’t sound like the ‘I’m a practical guy’ boss who took me hiking a few days ago. You sound like one of them.”
He gave her a tiny smile. “I am one of them.”
They stared at each other for a moment. “What’s it like?” she whispered.
His smile held secret depths she’d never seen there before. “The first shift was a hellish nightmare I won’t even try to describe to you. But being claimed by the pack…” He trailed off for a moment, his eyes staring into space. “Well, you experienced what that was like yourself last night.”
“Yes, but I’m not supernatural now.”
“You are, in your own way,” he said. “Were mates are human, but more than just human.”
She wondered how he knew something like that when she didn’t.
Her eyes took another tour of his larger physique. “Do you feel different? When you’re not shifted, I mean.”
“‘Different’ doesn’t quite begin to cover it. I’m bigger and stronger. My senses and reflexes are sharper, and the wheels in my head whir a bit faster. And there’s the whole nigh-invulnerable thing, with rare exceptions. Don’t feel sorry for me, Aimee. I sure as hell wouldn’t have chosen this, but it definitely has advantages.”
“You’re stuck living in a pack now, though. Solomon’s pack.” She made a face as the name slipped out. “You have to do what he says.”
The corner of his mouth twisted upward. “Solomon’s not so bad, really. He’s just very territorial about protecting his own—and has a chip on his shoulder the size of Manhattan where Blaise is concerned.”
“You mean his bark’s worse than his bite?” He shot her a mock glare, and she grinned. “Sorry. Bad canine humor.” Her smile faded. “Are you sorry that you wound up in a different pack from mine?”
His Adam’s apple bobbed. “Yes. But in the long run, I know it was—”
“Fate?” she interrupted.
He nodded. “From the story I understand on Kyle, he’s a good man and was a loyal wolf until fate put him between a rock and a hard place. But I’m not sure I was meant to be under the command of a renegade cowpoke. You know I served in the military before college. Solomon’s more my speed.”
“How’d you get so knowledgeable about all these werewolf semantics after just one night? Dillon and Kyle explained things to me all weekend, and I still feel like I have no idea what’s what in that world.”
He chuckled. “Another werewolf advantage. A certain amount of genetic memory gets transferred from the one who bites you. Jack isn’t that old a werewolf himself, but he knows all the basics.” He tapped his forehead. “Now, I do, too.”
“That’s handy.”
Conversation lapsed, and awkward tension seemed to thicken the air around her. She reached into her skirt pocket and held the contents up to him. “I believe this belongs to you.”
His mouth settled into a straight line as he glanced down at the ring glittering between them. With a brief hesitation, he took it from her and dropped it into his palm. “Thank you.”
Her pulse jumped a bit as she gave him a wan smile. “Maybe someday it will go to the real mate who’s fated for you.”
He curled his fist around the ring for a moment and then dropped it into his shirt pocket. “I think it will go back to the jeweler, and a new one will replace it when the time comes. The commitment this one symbolized wasn’t nearly what a mate bond truly represents. Not by a mile.”
She nodded. Her tongue held on to so many different forms of apology, so many things she wanted to say to convey her regret that his proposal hadn’t been meant to be. But she could see in his expression that there was no need. Now that he was a werewolf, he understood more than she could have ever explained to a human.
“I was hoping you would show up today,” he said, pulling her back from her thoughts. “And not because I expected that ring back. I wouldn’t have asked for it.”
“I know. But it wouldn’t have been right to keep it.”
He snorted. “You mean Kyle and Dillon would have pitched a fit if you had.”
“That, too.” She eyed him. “So why were you hoping I’d show up?”
He circled his desk and sat down. “I figured you might not want to work for me anymore.”
“There’s no reason why I shouldn’t, is there? And Kyle and Dillon don’t mind me being employed by a werewolf, in case you were wondering.”
He straightened a stack of papers on his desk. “Not only that. From what I learned about Kyle, he’s fairly well off. I thought you might not need this job anymore.”
She shook her head. “Whatever money he has isn’t my concern. I have no plans for him to support me, even if he offers. So yes, I am very much in need of this job. Assuming your pack doesn’t insist you replace the trouble-making rival pack mate with one of your own?”
He laughed. “I could just see Jack or Hunter trying to make sense of my filing system. That, my dear Aimee, is a supernatural skill only you possess.”
She beamed at him. “Great. I’m glad that’s settled.” A warm glow spread through her chest. “And I’m glad that you’re happy with the way things turned out.”
“Funny, I was going to say the same to you.”
“I thought maybe you’d have to give up your business. Some shifters have trouble holding down a job, I hear.”
“Well, I will be taking a few extra days off around full moons for awhile.” He leaned back in his chair and hooked his hands behind his head. “Some of us in Solomon’s pack are gainfully employed. Quite a few of the shifters up in the falls were cowboys at one time or another, what with all the ranches in the area. I’m darn lucky that I own my own business, and it’s neither animal-related nor overly aggressive.”
“Will you move up there?”
“I’ll keep my condo but will be with the pack much of the time. They divide their time between a cabin and out in the wild. I spend a lot of time up there, anyway, so it won’t be that big a change. Except Adam and Solomon both snore like banshees.”
She giggled. “Just one other thing. Kyle asked whether I could take Wednesday off. He’s got something planned. If not, it’s no big deal. We can reschedule to the weekend.”
“Wednesday’s fine.” He shot her a knowing glance. “I know how persuasive alphas can be when it comes to getting their way.”
“Thank you. I swear he won’t interfere with my job, though. After Wednesday, I’m all yours.” She paused, her face flushing hot. “From nine to five, that is.”
He laughed and sat upright. “Good. Because with my improved mental clarity, I intend to bring our game up. Now, let’s figure out the next break in my schedule so I can go buy some new pants.”
* * * *
Aimee felt around in front of her while she took slow, shuffling steps in the darkness. She breathed in the fresh scent of forest pine, and the sound of roaring water in the near distance brought a smile to her lips.
“I hate to ruin your surprise, Kyle,” she said, louder than was possibly required but unable to help herself. “But I think this blindfold is kind of a waste of time. I can tell we’re over by the falls.”
She reached a hand up to the bandana tied snugly around her eyes to block her view, but a warm, firm grip on her wrist stopped her. “No peeking,” Kyle said.
He took her by the hand and gently pulled her forward for a disorienting stretch. Then abruptly, he stopped and dropped her hand. “Right here’ll do. Stay here, and do not cheat by slippin’ off that blindfold.”
“Yes, sir,” she said, cracking a sarcastic grin.
Then she heard his boots scuff away, and after a few moments of listening to the waterfall and bird chatter, she began to wonder if the men were playing a prank on her.
“Guys?” She reached out again, feeling around to find only empty space. “You better not be ditching me and running off. I have a thing about being lost in these woods, you know.”
“You definitely ain’t lost in the woods,” she heard Kyle call out from some distance away. “Just be patient a minute. It’ll be worth the wait, I promise.”
She opened her mouth to reply when a familiar sound snapped her jaw shut—and widened her unseeing eyes behind the bandana. The rattling noises came closer, then dropped to the ground in piles on either side of her. “Is that what I think it is?” she asked.
Dillon’s knowing chuckle seemed to confirm it. “Wait and see.”
A moment later, she heard the loud clink of a hammer pounding something metal. She listened to the echoing sound, pursing her lips in thought. “Are you driving in tent pegs? I know—we’re going to camp here.”
“Nope.” Kyle this time.
The pounding continued, first off to her left, then the right. “Are you sure you aren’t putting up a tent?” she said. “This is driving me crazy!”
“The driving-you-crazy part hasn’t even started yet, darlin’,” Dillon said in a butter-melting croon that set off a low tickle in her pelvis.
“It could start now, if you want to get her ready,” Kyle added.
Aimee froze. “Get me ready for what?”
She heard the crunch of approaching boots in the dirt, and Dillon’s familiar heat and scent caressed her. She felt his fingers brushing against her sternum, and the cool mountain air wafted to her bare chest as he opened the buttons on her blouse.
The graze of his fingers across her skin sent a chill through her, despite the sunny, warm afternoon. “What are you doing?” she asked, her voice dropping near a whisper.
He pushed the blouse back over her shoulders to let it fall away, and she felt his hands circle around her back to work on the snap of her bra. “What’s it feel like I’m doin’?”
She heard him groan appreciatively when her torso was bare. “Those perky breasts are the most beautiful thing out here,” he said. “You definitely improve the setting, and that’s sayin’ quite a lot at the moment.”
“Don’t give it away,” Kyle said, still pounding metal.
“Give what away?” Dillon asked. Aimee felt his fingers fumble with the button of her hiking shorts. “I don’t even know what all’s goin’ on.”
She heard her zipper give way, and the shorts slipped down to her ankles. “We’d better not be in the middle of a campground.”
“Hold onto my shoulders,” Dillon said. “Steady yourself so I can get your shoes off.”
She did as instructed, noting that his shirt was already off. His torso was warm and damp with sweat while he finished undressing her.
“Come help me,” Kyle said, and she felt Dillon wander away to leave her naked and blindfolded in the middle of God knew where. Prickles of nervous anticipation tingled all along her skin.
The rattle of chains returned just before she felt a man on either side of her, taking hold of her arms.
“Remember our chat yesterday about safety words?” Kyle whispered in her ear.
She nodded. “The word ‘red’ stops the game.”
“Right. Do you trust us to begin?”
A shiver ran along her spine. “Yes, but I’m afraid someone will see us.”
“No one can see us here,” he said. “We’re completely alone.”
Cold metal slid around her wrists, clicking into place. She tried to raise her arms when Kyle and Dillon released her, but she couldn’t lift them higher than shoulder level.
She sucked in a breath. “This is what I thought it was. You’re chaining me up.”
“You said the bondage thing turned you on,” Kyle said. “So is it?”
Wet warmth gathering between her thighs answered her before her mouth even opened. “Definitely.”
“Spread your legs,” Dillon said. “Just a couple feet apart.”
More metal clamped around her ankles, stopping her from moving forward more than a few inches. Having all her bare limbs shackled into place like this set a cloud of butterflies loose in her stomach.
“How does that feel?” Dillon said, sliding a hand along the back of her calf.
Heat rushed through her as she tugged the chains to test their strength. “Like I want to fight against them.”
“Because you want them off?” Kyle’s voice held a note of tender concern.
She smiled. “No, because it triggers that whole animal thing I warned you about.”
His growl in reply sent a shock of pleasure through her clit. “You definitely ain’t alone there.”
Then both men were against her, and she felt bare flesh rubbing hers. The demanding mouth claiming hers was Kyle’s. She could tell because of the lack of stubble along his upper lip. Another tongue was teasing her nipple into a stiff, throbbing peak, and her hand went to the top of Dillon’s head to thread through his hair and pull him closer. Her knees weakened as desire and adrenaline surged through her veins, sending moans of lust from her throat. Though she knew only her two cowboys were present, the blindfold played tricks on her mind until all she could feel were hands and mouths everywhere on her flesh—groping her breasts, her ass cheeks, parting her pussy lips. The sheer, animal decadence of being bound naked in the middle of the wild, engaging in nature’s most primal act while surrounded by the scents and sounds of male lust and the great outdoors, sent thrills of longing through her. She couldn’t imagine anything more erotic than making love with her wolves right out in the forest.
Seductive lips pressed against her clit, and a rough tongue flicked out to run along her slit until her legs wobbled. Fingers pinched both nipples, twisting them while cupping handfuls of her breasts. She cried out and parted her thighs as best she could, groping male flesh to hold herself upright when the tremulous peak of climax crashed over her with force. Aimee arched her back and let out a piercing cry, only vaguely aware of the possibility that she could be anywhere and that anyone might be in earshot. She didn’t care in that moment. The only entities that existed in her world were the two men whose hands and mouths expertly brought her off until juices ran down her legs.
Her climax seemed to impress no one else, however, for her two cowboys were far from done with her yet. Dillon took her left hand while Kyle took hold of her right hand, the latter pushing her hand down to his stiff, throbbing cock. “See what the hell you do to me?” he said in a barely restrained growl. “Feel how fuckin’ hard you make me, screamin’ out that way when you come?”
She greedily squeezed his shaft and milked it up and down in her fist, feeling the slick drops of fluid on the wide head. Meanwhile, Dillon’s mouth went to work on her other hand, sucking in her index finger in a seductive gesture she remembered all too well. He rolled his tongue around the tip of her finger, and the resulting flare of excitement shot all the way through to her pelvis.
“God, Dillon,” she breathed. “It makes me so crazy when you do that.”
By the time he got to her third finger, she could neither speak nor think straight anymore. The feel of his hot mouth over her fingers, paying them the same erotic attention she’d seen him give to Kyle’s cock and her pussy, coaxed her climbing orgasm higher with each movement he made. The familiar graze of his teeth over her finger sent a hiss from between her lips, but when he pulled away she was mystified to note that he’d left something behind.
“What is that?” Her thumb prodded at the anomaly, and she blinked behind the darkness of her blindfold. “Did you just put a ring on me?”
“It’s only fair for you to wear a ring of ours, since you came to us wearin’ one from another guy.”
“Consider the ring a token to go along with that mark,” Kyle said, grinding his hips against her hand. “Weres consider the matin’ bond as a fair equivalent to marriage. If we decide to do somethin’ more legally bindin’ later, you’ll already have the ring.”
Her heart pounded as she twirled the band around experimentally. “Can I see it?” She held her left hand up in front of her as high as her arm would go.
He pulled his erection out of her hand. The blindfold was tugged down over her nose and mouth, and there in front of her was a crisscrossed double band of gleaming gold. One had a brushed finish, while the other shone like her cowboys’ eyes.
“We wanted two joined bands so one could represent each of us,” Dillon said.
“I don’t know what to say,” she whispered, emotion choking her throat.
Then the backdrop around her hand came into focus, and her eyes widened as she took in the view. She was all of maybe three feet from a tree-studded cliff, and the falls were visible in the stunning vista from much closer than at the overlook she’d visited with David. The green, lush mountainside and the spray of the majestic Shay Falls drop-off were crisp, breathtaking, and completely unhindered from this vantage point.
“Oh, my God, it’s so beautiful,” she said. “Just stunning.”
“The ring, or the view?” Kyle asked, nuzzling her shoulder as he stood beside her.
“Both. Where are we?” She twisted around to survey the open flat expanse of landscape behind her. “Is this near the advanced trail?”
“We’re on private land,” Kyle said, pausing to meet Dillon’s gaze from her other side. “My land.”
“This is part of the old West Ways Ranch?” Dillon asked in a tone of slight awe. “Wasn’t sure I’d ever see this place.”
“Figured it was high time to bring you both here. And break it in again with some new memories.” He took hold of Aimee’s chin to turn her face to his, then placed a kiss on her lips so tender that she felt her insides turn to mush. When he pulled back, however, his eyes were glittering with a wicked heat. “Get down on your hands and knees,” he commanded.
The gleaming desire evident in his eyes had her scrambling and rattling in her shackles to comply. He came around in front of her, careful not to get too close to the edge of their unfettered view of the mountainside. When he knelt in front of her, she assumed he meant for her to suck his straining cock, but when she opened her mouth and tried to take him in, he pushed her away. Instead, he slid down under her, scooting his naked back along the dirt until his head was right beneath hers as she knelt above him. “Straddle my cock. Sink it all the way inside that hot, sweet cunt.”
Aimee’s heart pounded with delicious anticipation as she groped the head of his dick and lowered herself onto it. Both of them hissed as his impossibly stiff erection filled her dripping pussy inch by glorious inch.
He closed his eyes for a moment. “Ah, yeah. That’s right, baby. All the way down. Then stop.”
She sat herself upright until she felt him hit bottom.
His gaze returned to her filled with fire. “I’ve brought you to nature’s most spectacular view, chained you up, and given you my ring. I suppose you’ll want to make slow, sweet love to me now?”
She shook her head. “Hell, no. I’m so hot to fuck you that my heart is trying to beat its way out of my chest. Please.”
His eyes darkened with need. “Good answer. Dillon?”
The other man came around to the side of them so she could see he was stroking his hard, reddened shaft.
“I need that thick meat of yours in my mouth,” Kyle said, and Aimee’s heart skipped a beat at the wicked gleam in his eye when it met Dillon’s. “I’d never seen your cock get as big and hard as it’s done since Aimee wandered into the cave. Must ache like hell.”
“It will if it don’t get some attention soon,” Dillon said, his voice hoarse. “Both of you are makin’ me fuckin’ insane.”
He knelt beside Kyle’s head and leaned over him. The moment Kyle’s mouth slid onto his shaft, Dillon let out an almost agonized moan that sent Aimee’s hips into a wild gyration.
She sat back, shifting her chained hands until they rested behind her on Kyle’s tense thighs. She ground her cunt lips on his pelvis and watched his tongue and lips turn Dillon’s cock into a glistening, purple blade. Dillon’s jaw clenched as he shoved himself deep in Kyle’s mouth, prompting her to pivot her hips faster. She worked herself back and forth, then around in circles, fucking Kyle until her bangs stuck to her forehead and rivulets of sweat ran down her bouncing breasts.
“You know what you want,” Kyle said to Dillon in a tight voice when he pulled away from his dick. “Take it now.”
Excitement tickled her senses at his commanding tone. Aimee wondered what he meant for Dillon to do to him and almost voiced the question before Dillon’s head whipped around to her. His eyes were churning with feral gold, and his jaw lengthened just enough to see the tips of fangs protrude. Whatever he had planned, it involved her. Her lust churned faster at the thought.
As fast as the facial distortion had come, it disappeared again. But his eyes still bore the erotic flame that made her clit throb. She rubbed it harder against Kyle to ease the ache.
“Bend over,” Dillon said to her in a near growl. “Lay yourself down on Kyle.”
He got up and moved behind her, pushing her down by the shoulders even though she was already moving to obey. She felt Kyle wriggle his legs apart and Dillon kneel between them. Lying belly-to-belly on Kyle spread her ass cheeks wide, and Dillon slid his wet cock head up against her anus.
Realizing what he had in mind, she began to wriggle impatiently on Kyle’s cock. He groaned and pulled her lips down to his. “You feel so fuckin’ good,” he said, thrusting his hips upward and his tongue deep inside her mouth. His arms wrapped around her narrow waist, drawing her tight against his slick, muscled body while he ground himself against her pussy until breath left her.
Then Dillon thrust his shaft in her ass with an animal grunt, and she cried out with a desperate moan of desire she was sure others on the mountain would hear whether she was on private land or not. He leaned over her back until she felt his hot breath against her neck. “You do feel fuckin’ good. Your ass is so tight I already want to fill it full of my cum.” He pushed himself into her again, sending a groan out of Kyle this time. “You want to fuck Kyle hard, do you? How do you want to fuck me, darlin’? How do you want me to give it to you?”
Another climax was dangerously near, and while she knew she’d explode faster than she wanted if she gave in to the overpowering urge to fuck these men like a wild thing, she also knew primal need would win out.
She shoved her hips back against him with a grunt. Her nipples tightened as they slid back along Kyle’s chest.
“Oh, yeah,” he crooned, sliding a hand under her belly and pulling her torso up a bit. “Get up on your hands and fuck me, then. Fuck both our cocks together like a bitch in heat, if that’s what you want.”
It took a couple shifts in angle to figure out what he meant, but she soon realized that with her hands steadied on the ground above Kyle’s shoulders, she could rock herself up and down on two cocks simultaneously. Once that rhythm took her over, pleasure flooded every inch of her until it crowded out most of her rational thought. Dillon gripped her hips while she pounded herself against them. Kyle reached between their bodies to tweak and pinch her sensitive, tight nipples as her breasts jiggled beneath her. The tangy scent of sex and sweat mingled with fresh mountain air. She whimpered and moaned louder each time she thrust back to fill her lower half with two lovers at once, and every nerve ending in her body soon began screaming for release from the intense pressure building in her clit and pussy.
Dillon grabbed hold of her hair and pulled her head back. “I can’t wait anymore,” he growled, mimicking her thoughts. “I’m gonna mark you, Aimee. Finally.”
“Finally?” she breathed. “I haven’t even known you a week.”
“Yeah. But I’ve been waitin’ for you for years.”
“Do it, Dillon,” Kyle ground out. “Make your own claim on her flesh.”
With a snarl that aroused rather than alarmed, she felt his fangs bury themselves in the shoulder opposite from Kyle’s mark. Sexual energy shot through her like cannon fire as she stared ahead, watching the surreal power of the waterfall pouring down to the depths below. She stiffened and cried out as one more thrust took her beyond ecstasy. Dillon reared back, relinquishing his hold on her shoulder as he shouted out her name. The three of them shuddered in ecstatic convulsions that lasted for a seemingly endless stretch, hot cum filling her until it leaked out and wet all their thighs. Climax receded at long last, leaving them panting and collapsed in a fevered, sweaty heap.
They each remained in their own alternate state of reality for some time as they uncoupled, and Aimee’s breaths and heartbeat slowed only after several silent minutes had passed.
A short while later, the three of them looked out at the majestic scenery with Aimee reclining against Dillon’s bare chest and Kyle stretched out alongside them. Dillon stroked her hair while she ran a hand absently along Kyle’s rock hard thigh until he captured it to play with the new ring on her finger.
“I can’t imagine any place more beautiful,” she said while she gawked at the landscape, feeling happy little tingles from his contact with her hand. “And to think you own this view.”
“This was always my favorite spot,” he said, nodding to a copse of pines nearby. “I used to tie Monty up to that tree over there and just stand here, starin’ out over the cliff.”
She shot him a look. “Oh, really? I thought I was the first person you bound up on this spot.”
He grinned. “Monty wasn’t a person. He was my horse.”
“A horse named Monty?” Dillon asked with a teasing lilt.
“It was short for Montezuma. Stubborn as all go-get, but a real beauty.” Kyle glanced at Aimee. “A lot like someone else I know.”
“What happened to him?” she asked. She regretted the words when Kyle’s expression immediately went grim.
He let go of her hand and sat up, staring out over the falls. “He’s dead.”
She laid a hand on his thigh. “I’m sorry.”
“Damn hard, losin’ a good animal,” Dillon added.
Kyle’s jaw set. “Especially when you’re the one who murdered it.” Her eyes widened, but she tried to maintain a neutral expression when he turned to them. “I killed him the night I changed my brand-new ranch boss into a werewolf.”
She felt Dillon stiffen slightly behind her. “You never told me you turned someone,” he said.
“It was an accident.” Kyle scowled and added, “Well, that’s not exactly true. It was my own stupidity that done it. If I’d have just listened to Solomon, it never would have happened.” He fell silent, staring at the landscape.
“If you don’t want to talk about it…” Aimee said.
He sat cross-legged, facing them. “It was the first full moon after I was turned. Solomon had saved my life but couldn’t save me from my own denial. I wanted nothin’ to do with bein’ a werewolf, and even less to do with his pack of cowboy and societal rejects. All I wanted was to go back to ranch life. So despite Solomon’s warnin’, I tried to carry on like I hadn’t been turned into somethin’ unnatural. It became obvious straight off that things would never be the same.”
“Your animals got skittish as hell, no doubt,” Dillon said.
Kyle grunted. “To put it mildly. That bite effectively ended my career. Although since I was dyin’ when Solomon marked me, I suppose my ranch days were over either way.”
“You must have had hands on board who could have picked up the slack for you,” Dillon said. “Far as I could tell, that’s how Kade Winchester managed to keep his ranch runnin’ even though both he and his partner are weres.”
The other man nodded. “Sure, I had cow hands. Fired the lot of ’em after what happened that first full moon.”
“What did happen?” Aimee asked.
He picked at a bit of dirt beneath his fingernail. “Didn’t take long for me to figure out I couldn’t be in charge of range work anymore. I couldn’t get near any of my animals—not even Monty. Went out to curry him the next day, and that son of a bitch bucked and whinnied like I was about to rip his throat out. I promoted one of the hands to ranch boss within the week, makin’ up some cock-and-bullshit story about needin’ more time to manage the books. Thought I had my situation nailed down and sealed tight.” He shook his head. “Then the full moon hit.”
“And no one to help you through it,” Dillon said. “Not an experience I wish on anyone.”
Kyle glanced at Aimee. “You saw what David went through with his first shift.” She nodded, her spine crawling with the uneasy feeling that she knew where his story was headed. “I was alone in my study when my body started rippin’ itself apart. When I changed, instinct took over. I busted right out the window and headed for Solomon—I could sense him out in the woods. I could sense trouble. When I caught the animal scent from the barn, however, a whole other instinct took over. Went straight for Monty and took him down right in his stall. Poor bastard.”
He paused, and Aimee swallowed down a greasy churn of nausea.
“It wasn’t until I was tearin’ up the carcass that I picked up a whiff of human scent. My new ranch boss had stayed behind to finish up some work. He wanted to impress me.” His eyes gleamed with dark fire. “He heard the commotion and pulled a pistol on the wolf tearin’ up the barn, but I turned on Jack before he could get a shot off. Not that it would have done him a lick of good, anyway.”
Aimee sat straight up, away from Dillon. “Jesus.”
“That’s when the pack showed up. Solomon had meant to come for me before the change hit, but he got waylaid by one of Blaise’s frequent pissin’ contests.”
Dillon muttered something unintelligible under his breath.
“Solomon got there in time to keep me from killin’ Jack, but I’d already had my teeth in his flesh. With the moon in full swing, the change came on him in minutes. The barn was full of nothin’ but howls and agonized screams.”
“Wait. Jack?” Aimee asked. “You don’t mean Jack from the cave the other night?”
He nodded. “The one who turned David. Ironic, ain’t it?”
She swallowed. “Solomon took over as his alpha when you turned him, same as he did for David.”
“He marked Jack as his own and took him into the pack, after all but beatin’ the bloodlust out of me, that is.” He turned to Dillon. “Bet you didn’t realize my past was quite so colorful.”
Dillon got to his feet. “Can’t say I’d have guessed it. But what happened was an accident. Believe me, I saw much worse livin’ under Blaise’s snout.”
While the three of them dressed in silence, Aimee contemplated what he must have gone through. “What happened once you shifted back?” she asked. “How did you deal with it?”
Kyle pulled on his hat and bent over to pry up the metal stakes they’d driven in the ground. “Once I came back to myself, I didn’t even want to live. I couldn’t face what I’d done. I knew then and there that I couldn’t risk hurtin’ anyone else. I fired the rest of the hands and sold off my livestock, along with most of the equipment. Since then, I’ve spent most of my time with Solomon and learnin’ ways to tame my nature.” He stood up, brushing dirt off his bare backside as he gazed around. “I rarely come out here anymore. Bad memories.”
“Why not just sell the land, too?” Dillon asked. “Get rid of the memories altogether.” His biceps bulged beneath the short sleeves of his tight, black T-shirt as he buttoned his jeans, and despite the somber direction the afternoon had just taken, Aimee couldn’t help but feel a small current of desire watching the muscles flex.
Kyle’s gaze hardened. “There are some memories we can’t afford to forget. I come back here every year on the anniversary of that night and sleep in that barn. I have to remember what I am and what I am capable of.” He dropped the chains in a pile and rose.
His blue eyes reflected not only the sky overhead but the blue checked pattern of his shirt. She wandered over to him and wrapped her arms around his taut waist. “I’m so sorry you had to go through all that. I’m surprised that you’d bring me here at all, if this place stirs up such difficult memories.”
His arms circled her as well, and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “It was long ago, and high past time to start buildin’ some new memories at the former West Ways Ranch. Memories I want to make with the two of you.”
Dillon strode up, setting his hat high on his head. “I’d say you’re off to a good start after the rather exhilaratin’ time we just spent with our lady.”
She loosened her grip on Kyle to catch hold of Dillon’s hand. “I’ll say. I won’t be forgetting that anytime soon.”
“Thought I might swing us by the house next,” Kyle said. “Let you two have a look-see. I figure it’s time to move back into the old homestead.”
Dillon raised his head to eye Kyle from under his Stetson. “Is that an offer to be bunkmates?”
“Unless you prefer sleepin’ under the stars when you ain’t chained up in a cave.” Kyle nudged Dillon’s arm with his elbow. “But if you do, one of the spare bedrooms has a hole in the roof that almost qualifies.”
“Beats freezin’ my ass off in winter when I’m shiverin’ too hard to manage a shift and pop out some warm fur.”
Kyle nodded. “Better than bein’ out in the woods where other packs and crazy redheads are lookin’ to take out hostility on the lone wolves.” He sighed. “I will warn you, though, the place has been neglected. Definitely needs some work.”
“Work is my middle name,” Dillon said with a sexy grin that quickened Aimee’s pulse.
“I thought devious mind was your middle name,” she teased.
“I think Kyle will find I made a fair use of my hands back in my ranchin’ days.”
Kyle grunted. “Oh, I’ve experienced fair use of your hands, among other things.”
The men exchanged a heated glance that had Aimee licking her lips.
“The offer applies to you as well, Aimee,” Kyle said, picking up her hand and kissing the back of her ring. “Whenever you’re ready to leave the city grind and move up here with a couple disowned cowboys, you can call dibs on the side of the bed you prefer.”
She cocked her head and pretended to ponder. “Hm, that depends. Do you steal the covers?”
“No.” Kyle grabbed her around the waist and swung her around. “But I might just steal you out from under Dillon’s stiff cock every now and then. Alpha’s rights, you know.”
“That sounds fair. And definitely enticing enough for me to consider commuting to work. I call dibs on the middle of the bed, then. Right between the two of you.”
“Good.” He lowered her to the ground, letting her slide down his body to feel that his cock was getting hard again. “That’s where you belong.”
“Maybe I can catch rides from David,” she said, suddenly feeling breathless. “He plans to spend a lot of time up here as well. How do you feel about me carpooling with a fellow werewolf?”
“Just so long as the fellow werewolves you come home to are the ones standin’ right here,” Dillon said, pulling her to him and slipping a hand inside her blouse. Her nipple tightened, cutting loose a new swarm of butterflies in her stomach.
Kyle leaned over to flick his tongue over her lower lip. “Let’s hop in the truck so I can take you over to check out our new digs,” he breathed against her.
She nodded as a surge of contentment and anticipation bubbled up inside her. After years of struggle to take care of responsibilities and keep a roof over her head, she’d finally come home.
Dillon grunted as he grabbed a bigger handful of her breast. “First thing is to test out each and every mattress in the place,” he said gruffly. “We need to decide which one is most fittin’ to ravage you on all night long.”
THE END
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