Juneau Heat (6 page)

“She’s
angry with you about the woman,” Kotori supplied.

Shiya
whirled on him. “Who asked you?”

Birk leaned
forward, captured Shiya’s hand, and dragged her into his embrace. She had to
admit she loved the feel of his bunched muscles beneath her hands, but she
wouldn’t make it easy for him. She and Birk knew each other a little better
than she knew Kotori, and she expected—well, she didn’t know what she expected.
Maybe she had no right to assume anything.

Then she
considered if the woman was like them. Wouldn’t they prefer a nonhuman lover to
share? Had they ever had sex with a human? This whole affair had her head
spinning, and figuring out the right path seemed impossible. Fight her head,
fight her body, and . . . no, her heart had nothing to do with it.

“Hey.” Birk
touched a finger to her lips, and she turned her head. He turned it back toward
him. “Look at me.”

“Birk, I’m
not here for games. I—”

“What are
you here for?” He pinched open the buttons on her jacket. She wiggled in his
hold, but he gripped her tighter. “Tell me, Shiya, why are you here?”

She had a
moment of panic thinking he knew the real reason, but if he did, would he be
opening her jacket the way he was? Would he push her blouse up to show her bra,
and would he brush fingers along the valley between her breasts? She moaned
when he did that, and he tugged at her bra as if he would raise it or drag it
down. He did neither, but hooking his finger in the middle set her on fire. She
didn’t look up at him.

“I have to
work a little while longer.” He pushed a knee between her legs and drew her up
along his hard thigh. She resisted humping it like the horny heifer she was. Birk
raised her chin and kissed her lips. “However, tonight I want to be in your
bed.”

Why did it
sound more like a command, or his informing her of where he would be tonight,
like it or not? She licked her lips and nodded. “Fine, but I’m not sharing.”

The card
the woman had given him stuck out of his shirt pocket. She swiped it and
crumpled it in her palm. Rather than display anger, Birk grinned, and his eyes
flashed excitement.

“Whatever
you want.” He smacked her ass and released her. Shiya stepped over to Kotori
and slipped her hand in his. He drew her to his side and wrapped an arm around
her waist.

“What time,
bro?”

Birk
checked his watch. “Five? I need to see a few more patients. You two having fun
without me?”

Shiya
thought she saw a significant look pass between them, and Kotori raised his
brows. “Don’t worry. I won’t eat her before you join us. After that, you’re on
your own if you’re too busy.”

“Hold on.
You two are pretty confident,” Shiya complained. Both men laughed, and Kotori
ushered her out the door.

They spent
the rest of the day wandering the city, with Shiya checking out every shop
until Kotori dug in his boots and refused to visit another. They ate lunch
together, and then he dropped her off at her room until it was time for them to
meet later. She intended to get plenty of rest, because it was for sure Birk
and Kotori would work her over that night, and she could not wait.

At four,
Shiya rose and showered. She wrapped a towel around herself and knotted it at
the side of her breast. Then she checked her messages. Seeing a tick beside the
voice mail emblem, she clicked that button and found she had three. Bypassing
the ones from her dad and Joe, she chose Shae’s.

“Hey, girl, call me. I want to know how
the seduction is going. I also heard Joe’s up there, and want to know if you’re
dealing or do I need to come bust his balls. He wants you back, you know. Call
me!”

Shiya
groaned. She didn’t want to remember Joe was in town. She’d almost wiped the
memory of him visiting her room out of her head. She couldn’t blame Shae,
though. Her sister cared about her emotional well-being.

She checked
the time and figured she could afford to spend a few minutes on the phone. Just
before she dozed off earlier, she’d texted both Kotori and Birk that they would
have dinner in her suite tonight. She knew they would drew conclusions from
that and look forward to it. Even as she thought of them, the unsettled
feelings for Joe made her wonder if she should cancel.

She dialed
Shae and waited for the call to go through. When Shae picked up, hearing her
soft, yet confident voice soothed her somewhat.

“Hey, girl,
what’s up? How are things in chilly Juneau?”

“Chilly,”
Shiya responded.

“Wait,
don’t tell me your targets are playing hard to get. Wear something sexy with
your legs or boobs hanging out. That will reel them in.”

Why did
their whole job sound so sexist all of a sudden? She didn’t think the male
hunters had to put it on display so obviously. Then again, most of them were
sexy, so looking hot could be part of the job. No one ever said so outright.
Her involvement in the fieldwork had been limited by her own decision.

“No, it’s
not like that, and I would freeze my butt off if I did that. The season is
changing, and it’s freaking cold. Why didn’t I do this in summer?”

“You didn’t
have all your information together, and the witness took his time naming
names.”

Shiya
sighed. All Shae said was true. “Anyway, they’re into me.”

“Of
course!” Her sister whooped and then calmed down. “What’s that I hear in your
voice? Shiya Yvonne Keith, you better come out with it. Don’t make me get on a
plane and come down there—I mean up.” She chuckled.

“You can’t
laugh when you’re threatening someone.” She considered

whether she
wanted to tell Shae about sleeping with Birk and Kotori, but thought better of
it. Her sister might be sweet in most ways, but she hated shifters just like
the rest of her family. Shae might kiss them—because something in the DNA made
them all hot as hell—but she wouldn’t spread her legs for any of them. “Joe
came to see me.”

“Old Joe.”
Shae sighed. “He doesn’t know how to back off and let things be, and Dad’s
worse because he encourages him. I think he had visions of you two marrying and
working together in the family business.”

“Seriously?”
Shiya grumbled. “I can choose my own husband. In fact, I’m not sure I want to
get married—
ever
.”

Shae’s
voice dropped low. “I know he hurt you, sweetie.”

Shiya
clenched her hands into fists. She shut her eyes. Okay, she was so screwed up.
“I-It was both of us, not just him. We didn’t work out.”

“Shiya, he
used you to get next to Dad. I call that a scumbag wanting me to kick his balls
into his throat.”

“Now you
sound like Sakura.”

Shae made a
noise of annoyance. “I can’t touch that girl. She’s evil.”

Shiya
laughed.

“What?
She’ll never get a man, hateful as she is.”

“You know
you wrong, right?” She couldn’t help bursting out laughing because she felt the
same about their older sister. “Sakura will find the one. I don’t know about
me, but then I’m not trying.”

“Girl, you’ve
had one guy—Joe—and he wasn’t worth it. Sure he hung on for a while, still
seeing you after Dad put him into leadership, but that was so he wouldn’t get
booted out of his cushy new position.”

“Damn, you
make it sound like no man would want me unless he has ulterior motives,” Shiya
snapped. “I happen to think Joe loves me.”

Shae was
silent, and Shiya wondered if she’d hung up. “Then why did you break up with
him, honey? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply no one wants you. That’s baloney
because you’re beautiful. I bet you have those animals eating out of the palm
of your hand. Just be careful, Shiya, is all I’m saying. Joe was your first, so
you don’t have a lot of experience with guys. Shifters especially have sex
drives out of this world. It’s all I can do to make them keep it in their
pants.” Shiya heard the anger and annoyance in her sister’s tone. “I handle
them because I’m trained to, and I’ve been doing it for years. You be careful!
Check in when you’re supposed to, and above all else, do not go anywhere alone
with them, not in your room and not to their house. Okay?”

Funny her
sister should say those words as soon as a knock sounded at her door. Shiya
hadn’t ordered dinner nor put on any clothes. She sat on the side of her bed
still in a towel. “Okay,” she managed to tell her.

After a few
more comments, Shae hung up, and Shiya dropped the phone on her bed. The knock
came again. Would she go through with it and live a fantasy most women dreamed
of, or would she call it off and tell her dad she needed to stay behind the
computer screen because she couldn’t keep her hands or her body to herself?
Yeah, not telling him that last part.

She stood,
checked that her towel remained secure, and strode into the living room, to the
door. When she swung it open to reveal Birk and Kotori, she knew she would not
back down from her decision. Not this century. “Hello, gentlemen. Care to come
in?”

The two of
them stepped through the doorway, and Birk handed her a bottle of wine. Shiya
calmly thanked him and went to the kitchen area for glasses. She poured each a
glass and one for herself.

Birk took a
sip of the wine, his gaze sweeping her from head to foot. “I like the way you
get down to business when you’ve made up your mind.”

She put a
hand on her hip. “I intended to be dressed and ready, but time got away from
me. I never ordered food either.”

“Who needs
food when there’s you to eat?” Kotori threw in, stalking closer.

She took a
step back, searching her mental database. No shifters were known to eat humans,
were they? The lust in both men’s eyes told her she was on the menu, but not
that kind of eating. A gush of desire led her to squeeze her legs together.
Both of them lowered their attention to the hem of her towel as if on cue. Oh
yeah, she’d made no mistake in her assessments.

She spun on
her heel. “I’ll be right back.”

She zipped
to her room and lotioned her body, then threw the towel aside to grab the dress
she’d intended to wear. Yanking on a thong with one hand, she struggled to get
her hair into some semblance of order with the other. In the end, she opted to
pin it at the back of her head, stick a barrette in it, and call it a day.

When she
returned to the living room, she went barefoot. No sense putting on shoes when
they weren’t going out, and she had nothing but the stylish heels the guys
seemed to think were impractical. Two sets of eyes watched her as if she were
prey crossing the living room to the table.

“Here’s a
listing of restaurants that deliver,” she announced, “or did you have a
specific place for us to order from?”

Birk strode
over to her and took the listing from her hand. He laid it on the table and ran
his fingers along her hip. “I preferred the towel—easier to remove—but the
dress molds to your curves just right.
This
,
however, won’t do.”

She stood
there stunned when he reached up to her hair and took out the barrette and pins
she had painstakingly put in.

“I like
your hair down. You’ll wear it that way for me?” He angled his mouth above
hers, tempting her beyond reason. What the heck else was she going to say?

“Of
course,” she said in a breathy whisper.

“Good
girl.” Birk led her to the couch, where Kotori had taken a seat. He guided her
to sit beside his friend, and then he took the spot on her other side. “Let’s
discuss things.”

She raised
her brows, peering from one to the other. “Things?”

Kotori
nodded. “We need to know what you like, what you don’t. Is there anything
off-limits?”

Birk cut in
with a hand on her inner thigh. He slid it higher until goose bumps rose on the
sensitive skin, and she squirmed beneath his touch. “Are you a virgin or
experienced?”

That
question took her by surprise, not because she didn’t think it should matter,
but because Birk seemed excited with the prospect of her answer. She couldn’t
tell if he hoped she’d done it, or if he preferred her as a virgin so he could
teach her.

She tried
looking as self-assured as possible, crossing one leg over the other and taking
up her wineglass for a sip. She leaned back, swirling the contents, and kept
her attention on the burgundy liquid. “I’m not a virgin, but I’ve only been
with one man.”

Kotori
closed the space between them until his massive thigh touched hers. Shiya’s
breath hitched, and her heart tried jumping from her chest. So much for
appearing calm.

Her dark
soon-to-be lover took the glass from her trembling fingers and raised her hand
to nip her inner wrist. “Do you like to be spanked?”

She
shivered. “I think I might like it. I haven’t officially had it done.”

“And what
about anal?” Birk suggested. “Do you like it?”

“I’ve never
tried it.”

Birk undid
the buttons on her dress and let it gap open a bit, revealing that she had
elected not to wear a bra. He skimmed his hand over her nipple, pebbling the
little bud. “And?” he demanded.