Arielle and the Three Wolves (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (23 page)

“Jason’s a good man,” he told her. “He would never hurt you or make you do anything you didn’t want to do.”

“I know that,” she acknowledged. “In the end I came up here for myself and not for him. The idea of having three men who wanted me was a big turn-on, especially after two years of celibacy where I thought I had turned into the Wicked Witch of the East. It also helped that you and Kyle turned out to be so cute. I had never done group sex, or sex with strangers. One-night stands were never my thing. I’ve never had one. So the idea of exploring myself sexually attracted me, and also at the same time made me feel sort of dirty. It’s hard to explain, but that’s as honest as I can be.”

“You’re still in love with Jason, aren’t you?”

She gave a firm nod of her head when she answered, “Yes, I am.”

“If Kyle and I went away, you and Jason could be together.”

She smiled at him sadly. Her heart went out to the completely unselfish gesture he made. “Ten days ago I would have gladly taken you up on that offer, but it’s not that simple anymore.”

“Why not?”

“Because I think I love Kyle, too.” She paused. She had never had the time to admit to herself the way she felt about Kyle. Now, here by the brook, she told his brother. This was weird, and her confusion level hit maximum. “In fact, I know I love him,” she added. “It’s different from the way I love Jason, but it’s just as strong. It’s like they’re both two parts of me.” She sighed. This was the painful part. “But I’m not a shifter like you are, and the thought of having two men for the rest of my life is just so foreign to me. It’s against everything I was ever taught. I don’t think I could look my mother and father in the face if I told them about it, and I know my sister would probably have me committed. The fact of the matter is I don’t think I ever could tell anyone I know about what I’m doing with them. So what kind of a future would that be?”

He gave her his crooked smile again. “Don’t worry,” he told her confidently. “I have faith in you and my brothers, Arielle. I think you’ll work it out about what to tell other people—like maybe it’s none of their business.”

“Could be,” she mused. “I don’t know if I’m that brave.”

“Anyway the cool part is you don’t have to choose between them. They’re shifters and want to share you.”

“I guess that is the cool part. If they were normal men I would have dug a big hole for myself by now. Even though I’m playing by their rules, I still feel like a fool for having started a relationship with both of them.”

He set aside his line on the ground and turned to look at her. “And, Arielle,” he said, and got her attention. “If you and I don’t click when we’re out here, don’t worry. I won’t stand in your way when I take you back to Jason and Kyle. I’ll clear out and make room for the three of you.”

She was touched again by another selfless gesture from Luke. For a moment she couldn’t even respond to him. Then her sanity returned with all its painful consequences. “When you take me back to the ranch I’m probably going to be the one to clear out myself,” she told him.

He drug in his line. There was a fish at the end of it. “Let’s not think that far ahead,” he said. “Right now let’s just get these fish back to our camp and make ourselves some lunch.”

“Okay. Sounds good, and I think you beat me in the fish-catching contest. You got two, and I only got one.”

“I’ll share one of them with the pretty lady,” he said and took her by the hand.

“Why thank you, sir.” She clasped his hand, and together they walked back to the camp.

* * * *

They had the three fish for lunch. The fish were large mountain trout and there was plenty to go around between the two of them with some left over. Arielle cleaned the fish and Luke worked on the camp fire and then cooked them. Arielle was proud to show Luke she knew how to clean fish and could hold her own in the camp. Luke also broke out bottled water for them and they each had a bag of potato chips. For desert Luke dug into one of the bags and brought out a couple of Twinkies. The fish were delicious and Arielle enjoyed the food outdoors far more than she would have inside.

It was one in the afternoon by the time they finished their leisurely lunch. Luke got up from his spot on the ground and took his shirt off again. Arielle, who was also seated on the ground, stared up at him.

“I’m going for a swim,” he announced. He had rummaged through the magic duffle bags that seemed to have everything they needed packed inside and brought out a couple of towels.

“Now see, if you’d given me time to pack last night, I could have brought my swim suit and I could go with you,” she chided him.

“That’s not a problem. Come with me,” he commanded her. Arielle had to smile to herself because when Luke spoke in a tone of command, he sounded an awful lot like his older brother.

“All right,” she answered him. Heaven forbid that she not promptly obey an order from one of the Wildback brothers. She picked herself up off the ground and dusted off her shorts with her palms.

She followed him back to the beautiful pond they had passed that morning. Now in the heat of the afternoon, the cool pond water actually looked very inviting. On the opposite side of the pond she found a big rock on its shore and sat down to take her shoes off. When she stuck her toes in the water, she found it was cold and bit her skin. She let her feet dangle over the edge of the rock and become used to the water temperature, but without a change of clothes she wouldn’t be able to go in any farther.

She had lost sight of Luke for a moment while she tested the water. When she caught sight of him again, he was undressing. He was still on the other side of the pond.

“Skinny-dipping?” she called across the water to him. Her voice sounded lost as it bounced off the canyons farther up in the mountains.

“I was hoping you would join me,” he called back to her.

“No, thank you. The water’s too cold.”

“It takes your body about three minutes to adjust to it. After that it feels great on a hot day like today.”

“No, thank you,” she repeated. She dipped her feet up to her ankles in the cold water and turned her head as Luke finished with his clothes on the other side. She distracted herself with a glance up at the mountain peaks and marveled at how enormous they were. In another minute she heard a splash in the water and turned back around to see Luke swim across the blue waters. He submerged fully and swam under water for about half a minute. He came back up just below her position on the rock.

“You were right about the water,” she told him. “My feet have already adjusted to the temperature. Now I can’t take them out of the water without my toes going numb.”

He laughed at her as he pushed his wet hair back off his face. “Come on in. It’s not very deep. Your legs can just about touch bottom even in the middle. You can also wash your clothes and they can be drying while you swim.”

“How am I going to wash my clothes out here?”

“It’s easy. Dunk them in the water and get them good and wet. I already washed mine. Now they’re drying.” He pointed to a flat rock that was lit by the sun on the south bank. She noticed his clothes were set out neatly and soaked up the sun on top of it. “They’ll be dry in a couple of hours on a day like this. It’s warm, and there isn’t a cloud in the sky.”

“That’s pretty ingenious how you wash and dry your clothes out here,” she told him, as he splashed around in the water at her feet.

“Are you going to try it?”

“No, thank you.”

“Come on, Arielle,” he prompted her.

She cleared her throat and watched his wet body just between her feet in the water. “Luke, if I go in there with you it’s just for a swim, okay?”

“Sure.”

“Do you promise you won’t try anything?”

“I promise.”

She cocked her head at him and wondered if she could trust him. “I don’t know,” she said. “You Wildback brothers only have one thing on the brain.”

He gave the wicked, dangerous kind of smile. His hand came up from the water, and he stroked her ankle. “That’s only when you’re around.”

“Stop it!” she yelled at him, kicking his hand away and splashing him with water. She laughed at the wild expression on his face. He was a man in heat. She didn’t think she could trust him. He was just too cute.

He came up from under the water and splashed her. She squealed and slid back on the rock. “Hey, stop that!” she yelled at him. The water did feel good, and she was tempted.

He came back up and splashed her again. This time her shorts got soaked.

“I told you to quit!” she yelled at him again. “Now you’ve done it!”

“Yes, you’re going to have to come in with me.”

“You Wildback men always get what you want, don’t you?”

“Always. Now give it up and haul your ass in here.”

She stood up and felt her shorts. They were too wet to wear. “All right. Turn your back please,” she told him.

He gave her another dangerous smile but complied with her wish. He turned around and swam to the other side with his back to her. She quickly removed her halter and wet shorts. She left her bra and panties on and stepped slowly into the water. She shivered as her body went under the cold waves, and her teeth clattered together.

She brought her halter and shorts down into the water with her and submerged them as he had suggested. Without detergent it wouldn’t be the best wash in the world, but if she could get them dry and get them back on, it might be worth it.

She walked on the rocky bottom of the pond part of the way, and when it became too deep, swam the rest of the way. She had to get back out of the water briefly to put her clothes next to Luke’s on top of the rock he used as a dryer. The granite surface had absorbed the heat of the sun all afternoon and was hot to the touch of her bare feet as she walked across it. She moved fast to get her clothes up to the rock and almost slipped a couple of times since the soles of her feet were wet against the smooth surface.

When she got her clothes up to the rock, she didn’t want to waste any more time, her wet body was just too damn cold, and she dived off the rock and back under the comfortable waves of the pond.

Luke had behaved himself the entire time and was still on the other side of the pond and did a lazy back stroke across the water. She swam over to him. She wondered if things would get uncomfortable now. Would he try and make a move on her? If he did, what would her response be? She didn’t have an honest answer for herself to that question. But she supposed she had to think about it a little too long for it to feel completely right. This was one time when she forced herself to think with her head and not with her pussy.

She kept enough distance between the two of them to preserve some modesty. Although she had left her underwear on, he was completely naked below that water. For the first time since he had brought her up here, she felt alone with him and awkward. She had run out of things to say. She didn’t even want to look at him and kept her eyes on the water in front of her. He had said it would be two hours until the sun dried their clothes. This would be a long two hours.

He paddled over to her, and she was forced to look up at him. He had that wicked smile on his face. Just in case he did make a move, she ran through all the things she could tell him in her mind. She wanted to let him down easy. But he was just so damn cute and sure of himself, anything she said would be the wrong thing.

“You said it was about two hours until our clothes are dry?” she asked him. It was a dumb question. He was dangerously cute and dangerously close. She thought he could feel the pressure between them, too. She hoped he could, and that she wasn’t the only one. “So did you all come up here a lot when you were kids?” Another dumb question, followed by another dangerous look from Luke. Surely he had to feel the heavy build-up in the air between them the same as she did. It was so thick she could have cut it with a knife. She felt so foolish and vulnerable as she talked with the gorgeous naked man in the water with her, and not five feet away. So close he could have reached out and touched her. Or she could have reached out and touched him.

She wasn’t ready for this. She didn’t want it, not with a third man. God, how complicated would her life have to become before she flipped out totally and was ready for a padded cell and a strait jacket?

“It’s okay, Arielle,” he told her, and instead of the touch that she expected, he splashed her with more water. Now that she was completely wet, it actually felt good to have the cool water rain down on her wet hair.

“Oh, no!” she yelled, and started to flay her arms. She generated some splashes of her own and got back at him. A battle erupted between them, and they played in the water furiously. After a while Arielle didn’t even think about the cold, or the two-hour wait she had to collect her clothes, or that she was in the pond with a naked man. She just concentrated on the game with Luke.

Luke dived under the water and came up behind her. He took her legs out from under her and she fell backward into the pond. She looked up at the blue sky and the snow on the mountain tops and wondered why she ever worried about anything. In this place she didn’t have a care in the world.

“I’ll get you back for that!” she screamed at him when she came back up from under the waves. She chased him around the pond and soon caught him under the water where she returned the favor and tripped him up and sent him to the murky bottom. She came back up to the top and shouted for victory.