Jessica's Wolves (13 page)

She must have had a suspicion because her unease was palpable. Reese could practically smell it.

“Come over to the bed.” Reese tried desperately to impart a mixture of command and understanding at the same time. In the bedroom, he intended to earn her submission, but she was so new to sex and to men in general he didn’t want to frighten her before she realized the score—that any dominance on his or Charles’ part was meant to heighten her pleasure. They wanted her to scream their names. To feel worshipped and adored like no other female on earth.

Jessica lifted her face and walked over to the bed with only the slightest trepidation visible. She tried to appear strong and in control. And that was the moment Reese realized he was falling in love. Sure, a mating always started with lust, but this woman was piercing her way into his heart faster than a speeding bullet. Her strength and tenacity attracted him to her more than she’d ever know.

Charles sat on the edge of the bed.
“I know what you’re thinking. She’s addicting.”
When she reached his side, he tugged her towel and tossed it aside. “Lean over the side of the bed, babe. And spread your legs.”

She did as she was told. Reese had to give her that.
“She’s so strong. So sexy.”
Her hands shook as she grabbed the sheet, but she didn’t back down.

“Do you know what I’m going to do, love?” Reese soothed her by stroking her back.

She shook her head but didn’t turn toward him.

Reese grabbed the lube from the nightstand. “Just relax. I’m going to put a small plug in you. We want you to wear it for the day. It’ll help loosen your tight rear so, when we take you, you’ll be ready for us. We don’t want to hurt you.”

Jessica tensed, but she didn’t move an inch.

Reese swelled with pride. He didn’t want to force her to do something she couldn’t tolerate, but he did want her to trust his judgment. She walked that fine line, and she did it with grace.

Charles stroked their mate’s ass cheeks and then held them open for Reese.

Reese squeezed a good-sized glob of lube onto his finger and worked it slowly into her hole. So tiny and pink, it puckered under his perusal. “Don’t tense, Jess. Just relax.” How many times had they told her to relax so far? He worked her for several minutes, circling his finger before adding a second. With both fingers, he scissored and then pumped deeper inside her until his palm was flat against her ass.

Jessica
moaned
. Thank God. She was enjoying it. In fact, she pushed back to get better contact.

While she was in that state of bliss, Reese removed his fingers and pushed the small plug inside her with ease. The bulb at the top would hold the plug in place. The round flat surface outside would serve as a constant reminder she was theirs, and they intended to make that permanent as soon as possible.

“You okay?” Reese lifted her to stand before them.

“I think so.” She squirmed but didn’t grimace. “How long do I need to wear this?”

Charles turned her to face him. “All day if you can, okay? The longer you wear it, the sooner you’ll be stretched enough to accommodate us.”

“Do you think she’ll last ten minutes?”

“Not really, but my dick is hard just watching her fidget like that.”

Jessica’s face flushed. She turned away and glanced around. “Where are my clothes?”

“Kara left you a pile of things to borrow.” Reese pointed to the chair next to the bed.

As she dressed, Charles stood. “We have to go home for a bit. Talk to my parents … and Alyssa.”

At that, Jessica jolted upright. She’d forgotten the “other woman,” as had Reese frankly.

“Don’t glare like that. I promise it’s not what you think.” Reese walked toward her.

“Are you sleeping with her?”

“No,” both men replied at once.

“Were you sleeping with her before you met me?” She muttered that second question hesitantly, her body stiffening.

Reese flinched and tipped her head to meet his gaze. “No. I swear to you she asked us to do her a favor, and that’s the extent of it.”

“And what was that favor? To bring her home to meet the family?” Jessica was a bit perturbed. She glanced around the room as if looking for something to occupy her hands.

“Yes, but not for the reasons you suspect. Trust us. Please. We will sort this out. Today. I promise. And go from there.” Reese leaned his forehead against hers.

“I’d ask you to come home with us, but—” Charles began.

“Not a chance in hell,” she retorted. “Get your shit together and clean up your mess and then talk to me.”

“Promise.” Reese kissed her chastely on the lips, even though she only barely returned the gesture.

“Please stay here. It’s still icy out there. I don’t want you driving, and I want to know where to find you later. Okay?”

“I suppose.”

Charles grabbed both men’s shirts off the floor and handed one to Reese. “Get something to eat and we’ll be back before you know it.”

She nodded but didn’t move.

Reese grabbed his boots from the corner and backed out of the room before he could change his mind about the woman still standing there flushed, her cheeks pinkened from one ear to the other. And if he even thought about that plug nestled inside her for a second, he’d come in his pants.

Chapter 11

Jessica was just finishing a heaping plate of breakfast when she heard the back door. Thank God Kara had been so kind as to prepare her a plate and leave it in the warmer. She couldn’t remember when she’d ever been this hungry.

Two giggly voices floated into the room with the cold air as the screen door squeaked open. Both Kara and Lindsey stepped inside, shaking snow from their hair and stomping their rubber boots on the floor mat.

Jessica stood and set her plate in the sink while she glanced behind her friends. It was snowing again, giant flakes fluttering toward the ground as though they were in no hurry at all to reach their destination.

“You’re up.” Kara pulled her boots off alongside Lindsey before they came farther into the room.

“Yep.” Jessica leaned against the counter and crossed her legs. With a long, slow inhale she realized something was different, and then she smiled. She’d never tapped into her wolf side. In all her twenty-two years she’d tamped down any hint of lupine and shoved it to the back burner, ignoring her abilities.

Of course, there was also the possibility she was better able to experiment with all her senses since she’d been so thoroughly fucked by two wolves who were inches from claiming her as their mate. Even without them in the house, she had the sensation they were creeping toward her, growing closer and closer by the second, crowding her space. Instead of making her want to run, the idea made her horny. She wanted them with a fierceness that was absurd considering the three orgasms she’d just had at their hands not an hour ago.

In any case, as she stared at her friends, arms crossed over her chest, she pasted a smug look on her face. She knew a secret. And, there was no time like the present and no better segue to out herself. “You too?”

She smiled at Lindsey, who froze in her spot, having only stepped a few yards into the room in her stocking feet. “What?” She glanced around her as though looking for some illusive reason for the strange question.

Jessica gazed at Lindsey’s midsection and nodded. “You’re pregnant.”

Lindsey’s eyes grew larger than saucers. “Of course not. What makes you say that?” She flattened her hands over her stomach, but the corners of her mouth tipped up.

“I can smell it on you. It’s faint. You’re not far along, but there’s no doubt.”

Both Kara and Lindsey stopped in their tracks.

“It’s time I told you a little bit more about myself.” Jessica took a deep breath and nodded toward the living section of the great room. “You might want to sit for this.” Without waiting, she wandered over to a large plush couch and took a seat.

For all the angst she’d suffered over the years, she was surprisingly calm, almost relieved to finally share her secrets with her best friends.

Why had she waited so long?

“What’s going on?” Kara sat across from Jessica, and Lindsey took the spot next to Kara.

“I’m lupine.” She gave them a moment to soak it in.

“But…” Lindsey couldn’t finish her thought. Her mouth hung open, her hands still stroking her belly.

“Congratulations, by the way,” Jessica began, “about the baby. I’m sure you aren’t too shocked. It happens when you have sex night and day for months with two men. Occupational hazard.” She chuckled.

“Are you sure?” Lindsey looked at her lap. “I mean, why didn’t I know? Why didn’t Alejandro or Ryan say anything?”

“They probably wanted to give you a bit more time,” Kara stated. “Justin and Trevor didn’t tell me right away either. Even though I’m sure they all knew the minute I conceived.”

“You’re a wolf?” Lindsey shook herself from her stupor and returned to the more pressing issue.

“Yes.”

“Why?” Kara asked.

“My parents were wolves. It’s genetic.” Jess laughed. That wasn’t what Kara meant, but still.

“No.” Kara shook her head, not cracking a smile. “I mean, why didn’t you tell us?”

“I never wanted anyone to know.” Jessica swallowed and took a deep breath. “You are the best and only real friends I’ve ever had, and I’m sorry I kept this from you for so long. I desperately wanted to be normal, whatever that is, and human. I’ve been fighting against my wolf half since I was ten years old.”

“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry.” Kara leaned forward over her huge belly and waited for Jess to continue.

“When I was about nine, my parents left our pack and brought me here to the northwest to live. I didn’t really realize why, but something bad had happened within the pack. My parents were bickering and arguing all the time before we left. I don’t think they disagreed with each other—they just didn’t know what to do, and it was a difficult decision to leave everyone we knew: family, friends, a lifetime of memories.

“We came here and lived as humans just outside of town in a nice little cabin surrounded by trees. About a year later, when I was ten, my parents had just started letting me stay home alone for short periods of time. They went for a quick run in the woods behind our house. I was staring out the window, watching for them to return, when two men pulled up in a beat-up pickup truck. I froze, sensing they were trouble before they even exited the car. I stood in the shadow behind the edge of the curtain and waited with my chest pounding.

“They didn’t approach the house, or even look my way. They simply waited, leaning against the bed of the truck as if they knew my parents would bound out from between the trees at any moment. Time stood still while I glanced back and forth between the woods and the men. Each man casually pulled a rifle from the truck bed. I’ll never forget that noise, the sound of a rifle cocking. I could hear it from inside the house. Two loud clicks as each man prepared their gun and aimed it at the forest.”

Tears streaked down Jessica’s face as she told the story for the first time in her life. She didn’t bother to wipe them away. She couldn’t move. Just sat there with her hands in her lap recounting everything in vivid detail as though it had happened only yesterday.

There wasn’t a sound in the house as she continued. “When my mom and dad leaped out of the woods, they never even saw it coming.
Bang. Bang
. Two shots rang out almost simultaneously and both my parents collapsed to the ground, still in wolf form. They were dead. They never even twitched as I stared in horror. I even wet my pants. But I didn’t move an inch. I was sure those two men were going to kill me next.”

Kara gasped, and Lindsey gave a short little sob, but Jess didn’t stop. “Shouts rang out and saved my life. A neighbor happened to be walking his dog nearby when he heard the gunfire. ‘You can’t do that here. You have to have a permit to shoot the wildlife. Get out of here.’ Without the interference of Mr. Gregor, I wouldn’t be here today.

“The assailants jumped into their car and sped away, tires squealing on the gravel. My neighbor came to the door then and pounded on it to see if anyone was home. The only reason he didn’t leave me there frozen in my spot was because he glimpsed me through the window.

“Eventually, I opened the door to him, and he called the police. I was catatonic. He waited and waited with me, as did the police, but of course, my parents never returned. No one ever knew why. Late that night I entered the foster care system. I could hear the adults around me talking, mumbling about where my parents had gone, why they hadn’t returned, but it was as though their voices came to me from under water. I was so far removed mentally by then I thought I might actually drown under that water.” Tears filled her eyes, and she blinked them back to finish the story.

“And I wished I had. For years I lived with that pain. That secret. I didn’t speak at all for a long time. As though I’d gone mute. After all, what was I going to say? Those dead wolves were my parents?

“Eventually, I got lucky. The second foster family I lived with dragged me from my shell enough to get me through high school and into college. It made me nervous, staying in the area. I’d always thought I’d run halfway across the country first chance I got. But I had a scholarship, and then I met you two…

“And that’s where I got lucky again, meeting you girls and developing the best friendships a person could ever have.” Now Jessica did wipe her cheeks with the backs of her hands. She was full-out crying. Her chest heaved with the sobs while she caught her breath.

Both women scrambled around the coffee table and flanked their friend. A giant group hug ensued, filled with kind words and tears.

“Oh, honey. We are so sorry.” Kara finally pulled back, leaving Jess hiccupping.

Lindsey soothed her hand over Jessica’s hair. “I wish you would have told us. We would have been there for you. Always.”

“I know, but it was tough. I’d hoped for no one to ever find out. And then you two both met and mated with wolves. Four of them!” She gave a half chuckle. “What were the chances of all the roommates in the world I’d get assigned to women who would get claimed by my own kind? It must have been a sign.”