Moonlight Menage (17 page)

With his free hand, he brushed her clit, once, twice, and felt her tighten even further around him as she came.

And with Duke’s muttered “Fuck”, he joined them.

* * * * *

“Come on, Sleeping Beauty. You need a shower. And Duke needs to help us keep our strength. We need food, man. Now.”

Duke forced his heavy eyes open and turned toward the sound of Nic’s voice.

Tira lay beside him on the bed, the warm, sweat-slickened skin of her side pressed against his as she lay with her eyes closed though not asleep. Her chest rose and fell in a fast-paced rhythm as she tried to catch her breath.

Duke was right there with her. He felt like he’d just run a marathon.

While Nic… He looked strong enough to run one.

Nic’s normally pale skin no longer held the gray tinge he’d had since the ceiling had fallen on him. His green eyes were bright, no longer dull with pain.

Nic looked a whole hell of a lot better and that made Duke’s lips curve in a smile. The feel of Tira against him made his blood run thick and hot through his body and he just wanted to lie here and have her again.

He hadn’t realized—

Nic ripped the pillow out from under his head and hit him with it.

“Sex later. Food now.”

Duke’s immediate response was to give Nic the finger, to which Nic replied with a laugh. “Yeah, I love ya, buddy, but you’re not my type. Now, the beautiful lady…” Nic reached over Duke to lift Tira off the bed and into his arms.

As Nic lifted her, the silky strands of her hair trailed across his chest and upper stomach, making him groan. And her husky laugh as she wrapped her arms around Nic’s neck was a sensual punch in the gut.

Rolling to his side, he watched Nic carry her to the attached bath where he stopped when she put her hand on the doorjamb. Looking over Nic’s shoulder, she smiled at Duke.

“Aren’t you coming?” she said.

Duke’s breath caught in his chest as he hesitated. Yeah, he wanted to join them but he’d figured Nic would want time with her alone. And Duke would never want to get in the way. But when the expression on Nic’s face turned wickedly erotic, Duke realized Nic didn’t see him as a rival. He’d wondered about that. Worried about it, how they’d actually handle this situation if it ever came up. How they’d—

“Duke.” Nic’s steady tone dragged his gaze from Tira’s. “Did you
honestly
never wonder why I built the shower to hold three people? Hell, I’ll actually help you cook later.”

Two sets of eyes gazed at him. Waiting. For him.

Rolling to his feet, he started toward them. “I’ll do the cooking. We need to actually be able to eat the food.”

Tira’s smile spread until he could barely see her eyes then she started to laugh. Sliding a hand into her hair, Duke tugged until she bent her head back. He kissed her hard, caught her sigh in his mouth and felt his pulse race when she kissed him back.

“Let’s make this fast. We need to eat at least once today.”

* * * * *

Tira sat at the table half an hour later, nibbling at her third pancake and fourth piece of bacon.

Across from her, Nic had almost finished a half pound of bacon and his tenth pancake. At the stove, Duke had at least six more on the griddle and he’d had just as many as Nic, though Duke had rolled his up like tortillas and stuffed them with bacon which he ate while he cooked.

She loved sitting here, watching them. She’d made a conscious effort to shut off the part of her brain that wanted to analyze and count down every second they spent together today. She concentrated only on feeling happy. Content. Even with desire beating along with her pulse.

Huge wet snowflakes fell outside, but the guys wore gym shorts and no shirts because the house held an almost subtropical heat from the hot air pumped out of the roaring fireplace in the front room. It was so warm she only needed one of Duke’s t-shirts and a pair of Nic’s boxers, rolled over at the waist a few times to make them sit on her hips.

If the guys had had their way, she’d have stayed naked in bed while they catered to her every whim. But she didn’t want to be treated like a queen.

She wanted to spend this day as if it were a normal day, just a day the three of them might share. If things were different.

If
she
were different.

Her gaze fell on Nic, his beautiful auburn waves sticking out at odd angles. He was smiling at something Duke had said. She had no idea what because she hadn’t really been listening to their conversation so much as listening to their voices. Duke’s low, rough rumble and Nic’s smooth-as-silk, drop-your-panties drawl.

Duke’s voice rubbed against her senses like raw silk while Nic’s brushed like satin.

Both made her wet, hot and horny. Together… Well, she was in a constant state of arousal.

She’d eaten only because they’d insisted and because she wanted to keep her strength up. But she couldn’t eat much because her stomach jumped with excitement.

She wanted them again.

What would they do if she spread herself on the table and ordered them to feast on her?

Heat burned low in her body and between her legs. She knew exactly what they’d do.

Her gaze tripped to Duke, leaning against the counter, watching her with heavy-lidded eyes. The dark lust blazing there made her swallow convulsively.

“Are you finished eating?” Duke walked over to the table and, without waiting for her answer, took her plate. “You’ve been pushing those last few pieces around for a few minutes.”

She nodded, sliding a quick glance at Nic who’d also turned to stare at her. “You’re a very good cook. Did your mom teach you?”

As soon as the words were out, she knew she shouldn’t have said them. Talking about Duke’s mom was a surefire conversation killer. She wanted to say she was sorry, to ignore the question as he stiffened when he turned to put the dishes in the sink. Then he released a heavy sigh as he turned to lean back against the counter again and stare at her.

“Some, yeah,” he said, shocking her into silence. “When we were gone those six months, she taught me how to hunt and how to cook what we caught. After she left, it was something I just kept doing. I enjoy it.”

“Do you miss her?”

Tira didn’t know why she had such a burning urge to talk about Duke’s mom but she couldn’t seem to stop. Nic was an open book. She knew she could ask him anything and he’d give her an answer. Maybe not the answer she wanted to hear but he wouldn’t blow her off.

If Duke didn’t want to answer a question, he simply shut his mouth and nothing would entice him to open it.

But right now, she needed him to give up something of himself.

Answers she knew Nic wanted as well.

Duke barely hesitated. “Of course. I honestly thought I’d never feel worse than I did when my dad died. I thought my heart would stop beating and my lungs would forget how to work, that I’d die from the pain.

“And then I looked at my mom and I knew she was going to leave. She was going to leave me behind and go off somewhere to die.”

Tears formed and began to roll down Tira’s cheeks at the matter-of-fact pain in Duke’s voice. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nic’s hands clench into fists on the tabletop. Duke let his gaze move to Nic, the muscle in his jaw jumping as his teeth clenched.

“She wanted me to stay. Here. With you.” Tira knew he wasn’t talking about her right now. He was talking about Nic. “She knew about Tira, about what we wanted to have with her. Hell,” he snorted softly, “I think the entire legion knew what we wanted with Tira.”

“
You
went after her.” Nic’s voice held revelation. “She didn’t take you. You followed her.”

Duke nodded. “Took me a few days to find her because she didn’t want to be found. And when I did…” He shrugged.

“The scar…” Tira bit her lip. The words had slipped out before she could catch them back.

Duke nodded, his gaze darting back to hers. “She didn’t do it intentionally. I snuck up on her and she scratched me pretty good before she realized who I was.” He lifted a hand to rub at his right temple, where the scar started. “I couldn’t shift to heal it, though. She would’ve run and I wouldn’t have been able to catch her. She kept running but I wouldn’t give up. Finally, I think I just ran her down. It took me three months to convince her to shift into her skin to talk to me. Another three to get her to come back to the den. By that time, she said she was too ashamed to show her face.”

Duke’s gaze went back to Nic. “I told her I wasn’t coming back without her. She told me she couldn’t stay. We compromised.”

“She came back for
five
days.” Nic shook his head, his eyes wide. “
That
was the compromise?”

Duke nodded. “I’d hoped your mom and dad could convince her to stay longer. But when she was there, I knew it’d never work. She couldn’t stay. I understood that. So did your parents.”

Nic shook his head. “
I
don’t understand. We were her family. You were her
son
. You needed her.”

Duke was shaking his head. “Don’t lay that on her. Hell, I didn’t even lay that on her. I was twenty years old. I was a man. I was taking my legion post and…”

He paused and ran a hand through his hair then pushed it away from his face.

“And I was supposed to be there,” Tira said.

Duke and Nic both looked at her.

“Yeah.” Duke nodded as a muscle ticked in his cheek. “You were supposed to be there.”

Tears threatened again but she bit them back. No more tears. “I’m sorry.”

Duke shook his head again. “This isn’t about blame, babe. I don’t blame you for anything.”

She rose from her seat and walked over to him, lifting her hands to cup his whisker-roughened cheeks. “But if I had been stronger—”

Duke bent and kissed her, effectively cutting her off.

He grabbed her hips, his desire hitting her with the force of a hurricane. She tasted his heated longing as he slid his tongue into her mouth and engaged hers. He didn’t hold back but he didn’t do anything other than kiss her.

And when she finally went weak in the knees, his lips curved in a smile she felt against her own.

“I’m gonna clean up the kitchen and go for a run.” Duke nodded at Nic. “Why don’t you two go find something to do. I’m sure it won’t be hard.”

Nic didn’t move, just watched Duke, his eyes narrowing. “Where are you going?”

“To stretch my legs. I won’t be gone more than half an hour.”

Tira saw indecision in Nic’s eyes and it took her a second to realize he wanted to go with Duke. He wanted to run too. Then his gaze sliced back to hers. But he didn’t want to leave her.

“I love the snow,” she said. “Just give me a few minutes to dress.”

Chapter Nine

Nic shook snow from his fur on the porch before he headed into the house.

Duke had already shifted and headed for the shower, brushing a brief kiss across Tira’s lips as she unwrapped herself from the layers of clothing she’d dressed in to play outside.

While he and Duke had stretched their legs in the field, she’d rolled a snowman. The thing was lopsided and only about three feet tall but she’d enjoyed it.

Now her cheeks were bright pink, her eyes sparkled and Nic’s heart hurt like someone had reached into his chest and pulverized the damn thing.

Gods damn it,
this
was how their lives were supposed to be. Not just one fucking day.

The anger and frustration he’d tried so hard to lock down started to leak past his guard, raising his blood pressure. He wanted to growl but he didn’t want to scare Tira.

If he was in his skin with the ability to speak, he’d be shooting off his mouth. Probably better to keep the pelt for a while.

So he sat on the floor in front of the fire and let the warmth soak into his fur. The snow melted, most of it dripping into the rug on the hearth but some had worked through his fur and onto his skin, making him shiver. With a full-body shimmy, he shed the water from his coat, hearing it sizzle and pop as it hit the flames.

Behind him, Tira gasped. He turned to find her wiping her face.

“You’re supposed to do that outside,” she said, laughter apparent in her voice. “Didn’t your parents teach you any manners?”

He grinned at her, knowing it was an odd sight on a wolf and knowing she’d love it. And shook again.

Her return smile was exactly what he’d wanted to see.

“You think you’re cute, don’t you?”

She obviously did, if her expression was anything to go by. Now down to her undies and a t-shirt, the rest of her wet clothes on a pile on the floor, she walked over to the fire with him.

Lowering herself onto the floor, she sat cross-legged on the plush carpet in front of the hearth. Her hair shone with red highlights from the flames as she used her discarded sweatshirt to wipe the water from his pelt.

His eyes closed as she rubbed his fur then sank her fingers into it. As she began to pet him, his entire body went boneless and he sank onto the floor in front of her, stretching out on his side so she could pet more of him.

She laughed, a throaty murmur that made him growl deep in his chest.

“I swear I heard his IQ drop a hundred points.” Duke walked out of the bathroom, rubbing his hair with a towel, wearing only a pair of gym shorts. “You’re such a man whore, asshole. Have a little dignity.”

The sneer in Duke’s voice made Nic want to give him the finger. Since that wasn’t physically possible at the moment, Nic ignored him. Duke was only busting on him, which actually felt pretty damn good. They’d all been under so much stress lately, no one had had much cause for ribbing or laughter.

Falling onto the couch behind Tira, Duke let his eyes close as his head rested on the cushion, only to open them when Tira scooted back until he spread his legs far enough for her to sit between them.

As she continued to pet him, Nic saw Duke’s hand rise to brush against Tira’s hair.

Now this is how it’s supposed to be.

The thought wouldn’t leave him alone. It kept rattling around his head. But on its heels was,
It wouldn’t be like this always
.