Obsessed with Fur [3xtasy Lake 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (6 page)

“It’s okay. I made it,” Marcario said with a chuckle.

Marcario couldn’t help the grin that curled his lips knowing what Vencel’s concern was. Mai made the worst black sludge and then had the nerve to call it coffee. No one had the heart to tell her the truth, so they all went to great lengths to distract her from the coffeemaker. As soon as Mai had left the kitchen earlier, he dumped the pot she made and remade it. Vencel filled his mug and then turned the machine on again to make another pot.

Marcario reached over his shoulder and dug his fingers into the tight muscle that ran under his shoulder blade. No matter how much he tried to massage it, the damn thing wouldn’t release until it was good and ready.

“Shoulder’s still bothering you, huh?” Vencel pulled up a chair next to Marcario. “Why don’t you go and see River Biswas? She’s been going to school for massage therapy. It might do you a world of good to have her work on your shoulder. You might be able to talk her into a happy ending if you make an effort.” Vencel grinned at him over his mug.

A flash of Jess’s face appeared in Marcario’s memories. He’d been living like a fucking monk for five months because every time he thought of another woman, Jess’s image flooded his thoughts. That night with her stretched out between him and Jelani and the sexy noises she’d made in her sleep had plagued him and made his cock ache repeatedly at the thought. “I don’t think so.”

“Why not take a chance, or are you thinking of someone else?” Gaspar looked down at his paper as he asked, but Marcario suspected that he wasn’t really reading anything. Why did they care about his sex life anyway? Theirs wasn’t suffering any because…it was his sister, for Christ’s sake. He didn’t want to think about what they did with her.

“She asked about you two the other day.” Vencel didn’t attempt to be as subtle as his brother.

“Really? When?” Marcario realized his mistake the moment the words left his mouth.

“You
are
attracted to her. I
knew
it!” Vencel grinned over his coffee mug and waved his hand at his brother. Gaspar gave Marcario a dirty look and pulled a twenty out of his pocket and handed it to his brother.

Marcario glared at them both. He was going to make certain they drank the next pot of coffee his sister made. “Why did my sister marry you two assholes again?”

“I fell for their best lies,” Mai said as she sauntered into the kitchen. She kissed Marcario on the cheek and then gave each of her husbands more attention. “Where’s Jelani?”

“He was still sleeping when I got up this morning. I didn’t want to wake him up too early. I heard him up a few times in the night.”

“He’s still suffering from nightmares?” Mai frowned. “I thought he went to see someone about that.”

“He saw someone a couple times, but you know what he’s like. Until he is ready to let go of what is bothering him, then there is no amount of talking that will change anything.”

“True enough,” Mai answered as she went to pour herself a cup of coffee, but Vencel pulled her into his lap. “Nice try,
Nyuszikam
. No caffeine for you.” He laid his hand over the growing bump of her tummy. “What flavor would you like this morning?”

She laid her hands over his and smiled up at him. “Strawberry?”

“Coming up.” Vencel pressed a kiss to her temple and then placed her in the seat he vacated.

“Thank you.” She shifted in her seat slightly and then put her feet in Gaspar’s lap.

Marcario grinned when he noticed that Gaspar put down his paper and started rubbing Mai’s feet. He loved that her husbands spoiled her so much, especially now. “How’s your stomach feeling, Mai?”

“Much better. It was a bit touchy for a while, but it’s settled down.” She rubbed her hand over her belly. “Last time I went to the doctor, I was told I’m still not at the weight I should be so I have to drink a homemade milkshake every morning when I get up and right before I go to bed. I gained a pound and a half last week. We’re going for another ultrasound next week at my thirty-six week appointment.”

Marcario knew that his sister was worried about the baby, and not gaining enough weight might endanger her pregnancy, but with the way her husbands looked after her, he was sure she would be fine. She looked small for being six months along, but she always was tiny.

He looked forward to possibility of being a father one day, but with the lifestyle that he and Jelani were used to, it did not look like it would happen anytime soon. It’s not like there were a lot of women willing to be shared by brothers, and that was the relationship that he and Jelani wanted. Although the odds of meeting someone in Ecstasy Lake were better than the rainforest on the African continent.

He had driven Mai out to Pillywiggins antique shop yesterday, and he met Mai’s quirky friend Holly Marshall-Denninger. Mai didn’t blink when Holly pressed a gentle kiss to her tummy and greeted the “little human.” Marcario thought Holly was a bit strange and eccentric the way she flittered about the shop. She moved as though she wasn’t entirely used to walking on her feet. Before they left he had the opportunity to meet her husbands, Colwyn and Brand. They catered to Holly the same as Gaspar and Vencel did with Mai. It was nice to see people having a healthy alternative relationship.

Marcario was staring to feel like he needed a project to work on. As much as he loved to be up here visiting and letting his shoulder heal, he was used to a more active lifestyle.

“Do you have any plans today, Mai?” He would gladly shuttle her around if it meant he could see more of the area.

“I was going to help Catherine decorate for the spring festival. Do you want to come?”

“I’d love to. Why don’t I go down to the house and wake Jelani and get him out, too? The distraction would do him a world of good. I’ll meet you back up here in about forty-five minutes?”

Mai nodded and then gave her husbands a pointed look. He looked back and forth between the two men. “What?”

“Nothing,” Vencel replied. “We do need to talk about something when you two get back. Shouldn’t take long.”

“Okay, sure.” Marcario knew that nothing was going wrong with his sister’s pregnancy. They would have her wrapped in bubble wrap if that was the case. She could be having twins or they wanted him and Jelani to be the child’s guardians if anything was to happen to them. He didn’t know why they would want to have a formal conversation about it, because Mai should have known that they would volunteer for that duty in a heartbeat even though it would mean staying home. While their parents didn’t mind taking them around the world, he and his brother and sister all agreed that they would raise their children in one place and give them a sense of roots and pride in country instead of moving from one place to another.

He truly loved Canada and was proud to be a Canadian, but he didn’t really identify with his country, having spent most of his life around the world. He had been conceived in South America, Jelani in Africa, and Mai in Vietnam. Their parents had given them names from those areas but had made certain that they were born in Canada and had retained their citizenship.

* * * *

Jelani heard his brother come in. The winterized cottage they were staying in was down the road from his sister’s house. He lay in bed listening to the sound of quiet, watching as fat snowflakes drifted past his window. In Africa it was always noisy. Most animals were nocturnal, so they were always moving out in the darkness. Mosquitoes buzzed outside of the net under which he slept and water rushed in a nearby river. The jungle only quieted when danger was near. Too bad hadn’t been listening closer the night that everything had gone to hell. Maybe he would have heard the mercenary raiders coming. Here, it was always quiet. The cold weather froze the water and the snow insulated the sounds. Occasionally, he’d heard an animal lumbering through the forest but the bears were hibernating and all he had seen was a couple of wolves. He had seen the strangest thing the night before. He’d stood at the living-room window looking out into the early morning light, hoping it would chase all his dark memories away.

The moon was high in the sky and about a quarter full. Still it had been a clear light reflected off of the snow. From the edge of the forest, he’d seen a doe carefully walk into the clearing. Jelani hadn’t wanted to startle her, so he’d kept as still as possible.

She’d nibbled at some bark off the trees and then had seen him through the window. She’d stepped closer and they had stared at each other through the glass. Maybe he was losing his mind, but Jelani had thought that it wanted to say something to him. When he’d stood up, the doe had skittered back and then leapt for the tree line. He’d thought about nailing some salt licks to the trees and hopefully enticing her back. It had felt nice not being alone with his thoughts in the middle of the night. She’d distracted him and he fell asleep shortly after she’d left, but he didn’t dream about the baby he couldn’t save. Instead he’d dreamt of Jessica, and in his dreams her hair had been the same colour as the doe in the moonlight.

“Hey, Jelani! Wake the fuck up.” Marcario’s voice echoed in the small house as he stomped his boots after coming in.

Jelani got up and pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. “I’m up. What do you want?”

He opened his bedroom door and his brother handed him a warm travel mug. “Here, have a coffee.”

He paused before taking the mug from Marcario. “Did Mai make it?”

“Would I do that to you?” Marcario grinned at him, looking the picture of innocence, which was usually the first indication his brother was up to something. Marcario didn’t do innocent well.

“Yes.” Jelani opened the top and inhaled. It smelled fine, and the first sip was delicious. His body relaxed at that initial shot of caffeine. Definitely not the sludge his sister made. “That’s perfect. Thanks. What are you waking me up for?”

“You were already awake. I could almost hear you thinking the moment I pulled in. Regardless of how bad of a night you put in, you can’t sleep past ten.”

“Speaking of bad nights, how’s your shoulder? I heard you groaning in your sleep when you moved.” The threat of infection had passed, and the wound was healing well. But, Jelani worried that his brother was overusing it and risked damaging some of the healing tissues.

“It’s stiff, but I haven’t taken anything for it today. I’d rather suffer a bit of pain than the foggy feeling I get when I take the pills the doctor gave me. But that isn’t why I woke you. Mai and the guys want to talk to us before we go help with the spring festival. I told them we would. I didn’t think you’d mind.”

“Nah, I’m good. All this laying around is driving me insane.”

“That’s what I figured.”

“Okay, let me jump into the shower, and then we can get going.”

Jelani didn’t take long to get ready, and then both he and Marcario were in the Jeep heading up to their sister’s place. They crested the hill and it curved around into the small road that led to the Solfalvi home.

“What is that? Holy shit!” Marcario gunned the gas and the Jeep jerked forward.

Jelani looked in the direction his brother was pointing. Mai was running toward the house with two large wolves following her.

“Oh my god.” Terror struck him. His baby sister was about to be attacked by a couple of wild, possibly rabid animals. “Is there some sort of weapon in here?” Jelani looked around, and the only thing that was of any possible use was the long snowbrush.

The Jeep fishtailed on the slippery road and Marcario quickly twisted the wheel to counteract the Jeep’s motion. Jelani watched his sister, terrified they might not make it. But as they got closer, things didn’t seem right. The wolves raced past her and leapt up onto the back porch. Mai changed her direction and headed toward the front of the house. Was she still trying to escape?

“Something’s not right.” Jelani pointed to Mai, who was now leaning against the porch railing.

Marcario gripped the steering wheel with both hands, his knuckles white with the strain. “Why isn’t she running in the house?”

“Do you think she knows those animals? Maybe they aren’t wild wolves. They could be someone’s dogs.”

“They are
big
fucking dogs. Where did they go?” Marcario jumped on the brakes and the Jeep slid up to a stop. Jelani jumped out of the vehicle as soon as he could, still gripping the snowbrush.

“Where the hell did you learn to drive?” Mai yelled at them as soon as Marcario opened the door. “I thought you were going to spin out or crash into a snowbank. This isn’t Africa. You have to be more careful with how you drive here.”

“We thought you were being chased by wolves.” Jelani carried the snowbrush like a weapon, as if the ice scraper on the end was a sword tip.

“They were just playing. Geez, you two are a bit paranoid.”

Marcario narrowed his eyes at his sister. Mai was talking to them like they were overreacting. “Being chased by wild wolves is a big deal, Mai.” He started to suspect their little sister was playing a prank on them. “Let me guess, they are someone’s pets, right?”

“No, dummy. They’re my husbands.”

The sun was warm against Jessica’s cheeks as she looked out the window of The Shack.

“Men are jerks, and they can’t make their minds up about anything. Better to stay alone than have some overbearing male play games with you.”