Second Chance Mates (16 page)

***

Luke paced the deck, waiting for Cade
to finish checking his emails or whatever it was the guy was doing
on his laptop. When the lid finally shut with a click, Luke
beckoned him outside. From here they could both see Clara weeding
the patch of scrub that she'd announced was about time it was
turned into a vegetable garden. Mostly, to Luke, it just looked
like an excuse for Clara to hit the dirt with her
shovel.

"I've had an idea," Luke
said.

"Does it involve you getting into
Clara's pants again?"

"No. Though, man, I gotta tell you she
is one helluva lover." Luke shut his mouth at Cade's glare. "Sorry,
but I was not going to turn her down. You can get that look right
off your face too. I've seen the way she looks at you so don't go
having a pity party on my account."

"Sorry. I'm happy for you,
really."

Luke raised his eyebrows.

"Really!" Cade said again, this time
with feeling. "I love her and I want her to be happy."

"I'm damn sure I'm going to love her,"
said Luke. He sat on the deck, legs dangling over the edge and
watched as Clara beat the shit out of some weeds. Cade flopped down
next to him.

"You'd better," said his old friend.
"'Cause if you ever, ever..."

Luke held up a hand. "You don't need to
say it. I'm in this for the long haul. Every single bit of me feels
it but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

"No?"

"No. This stuff with the property
developer, this Stanton guy, is bothering me. I don't think this is
the first bit of sabotage Clara’s put up with."

Cade nodded. "I've been thinking the
same thing. Can't see how we can prove it though."

"Now that's what I wanted to talk to
you about." Luke grinned. "Remember how I got hired for that
surveillance job last summer?"

"The one from the construction site?
All that hi-tech cyber stuff?"

"That's the one. I think I can do the
same thing here. If we catch Stanton in the act, there's no way he
can do anything but back off. And if it isn't Stanton, we still
catch the culprit. Should solve some of Clara's
problems."

"What do you need me to do?"

"Keep Clara company while I head into
town for supplies. I should be able to pick up cameras and wireless
transmitters there. I'll be a couple hours, maybe more depending on
if I can’t get the stuff I need there."

"And by keep Clara company..." Cade
trailed off as they watched her bend over and grab a handful of
weeds, completely unaware that her top dipped down leaving a fine
view of hers breasts cupped in white lace.

Luke immediately stiffened at the
sight, remembering how he'd walked in on her talking a shower only
a couple of hours ago. It had taken him all of thirty seconds to
disrobe, jump in and service her thoroughly against the wet tiles.
Damn it, if he wasn't already ready to go again and in the wide
open too.

"I'll leave that to you two, man.
Whatever happens, I've got no problem with it," he said. "I've
never shared a woman but I know plenty that have and they seem
happy enough. No reason why it can't work for the three of us, if
she's willing. Hell, we all know it's right."

"Feels pretty damn right to me," agreed
Cade. "The whole time I've known her, I've known she'd never be
just mine and I never really had a problem with that. Neither did
Colton. If things change...I've always just wanted her to be happy.
If I'm happy and you are too, that's icing on the cake."

"So long as we don't have to keep
baring our feelings," growled Luke. "I'm not turning
metrosexual."

"That man purse you bought says
otherwise."

"It's a laptop bag,
asshole."

Cade snorted. "Yeah."

"Wait until Clara finds out how many
shoes you have."

"You have what, three pairs? I like
shoes."

"Now who's metrosexual?"

Cade tackled him, knocking them off the
deck to the ground and Luke sucked in a playful punch, groaning in
mock pain as he rolled away. "Get outta here before I seriously
take you down," laughed Cade, shoving him off and making his way
towards Clara without a backwards glance.

***

“
You know what I want?”
asked Clara, straightening up as Cade meandered over to
her.

“
Tell me.”

“
I want to go for a run. I
haven’t gone wolf in a long time and I have the urge to be on four
feet. You with me?”

Cade grinned at her. It wasn’t what
he’d had in mind for keeping her occupied but now she said it, it
struck him how brilliantly opportunistic the moment was…and how
much he wanted to switch to his furry lycan self. Living in the
city had its plus points. The downside was trotting the streets as
a wolf wasn’t exactly acceptable. But out here? Not a person to see
for miles. “You bet I am.” He pulled off his shirt and laid it over
the fence, unsnapping his jeans.

“
Cade!”

“
What? Nothing you haven’t
seen before.”

“
Well…”

“
I know you and Colton
changed out here all the time.”

“
Well, I guess…”

“
I’ll turn my back, okay?”
he sighed but turned anyway. Clara had nothing to be shy about. He
knew that not only from the times he’d seen them naked—they were
wolves, it went with the territory—but also from the way her body
had arched and writhed as Luke took her the night she’d let him
watch.

A soft thump as her jeans hit the fence
told him she was getting ready for the change. A moment later the
air sizzled behind him. He chanced a glance over one shoulder and
saw the small pale-furred wolf standing where Clara had been. Her
tongue lolled to one side. Her paws padded at the
ground.

“
Too bad I can’t join you,”
said Luke from the deck.

“
Yeah. Too bad,” said Cade,
without feeling. “Later, man.” He waited until Luke’s footsteps
retreated, before pushing down his boxers and standing naked in
front of her. “Like what you see?” he asked.

Clara flopped onto the ground, covered
her eyes with her paws.

A moment later and a cold nose nudged
her’s and she sprang to her feet, sniffing Cade, recognizing his
own larger furry self. She circled him, nipped his ears and sprang
forward, yipping for him to follow.

Cade leapt forwards, the urge to race
surging through him as their primal selves indulged in the freedom
the sanctuary offered. He couldn’t wait for the day when it opened
to other shifters, could only imagine the animals that would mill
around her, but for now, he was content with it just being the two
of them.

Chapter Thirteen

It seemed strange to be in the house
alone with Cade. Though the guys hadn't been staying with her long,
she'd grown used to their amiable duel presence, enjoying it even.
It was nice to wake up and hear noises in the house, familiar
things like the radio or whistling while one of them made
breakfast. The scent of coffee waking her, or the smell of bacon
and pancakes if they were feeling particularly hungry. And of
course, it was other things, things that seemed so familiar now,
through the day that made the house feel occupied. At long last,
the house felt lived in, not as if she merely existed in
it.

This house was made to be lived in. She
couldn't bear thinking about how it would be if they were forced to
leave by Stanton, especially now that she and Luke had connected in
such an intimate and enjoyable way. It wasn't just the mind-blowing
sex though. Having them both around, helping her out—the to do list
she had been floundering though had diminished by half in a
week—and jumping in on all the projects, discussing them with her,
pointing out flaws in her plans and where she could improve them,
admiring her ideas, was so welcome that she wondered why it never
occurred to her to ask for help before. Damn her stubborn pride and
grief that kept everyone at bay.

Maybe she could have gotten some of
that from hired hands, but she wouldn't get the down time she
looked forward to at the end of each evening too. No more evenings
alone, mindlessly watching television or picking up a book she
could have cared less about. No, now evenings were all about
relaxing in good company, time to sooth their aching muscles and
work their jaws with conversation and laughter. Evenings spent with
Luke sat on the floor, his long legs stretched out, working away at
his laptop, while Cade put a movie on or insisted on snatching her
romance novel and reading out the bits that made her
blush...

And the touching. She craved the
touching. Since that night when she'd kissed Cade outside the bar
with almost violent abandon, she'd felt a lot more receptive to
him, more relaxed when their hands brushed or when he gave her a
good morning kiss. She initiated the flirting too. The confusion
about what she'd always felt for him had drifted away, turning into
something deeper and more soothing. Cade was always gentle, never
overstepping the mark, always ensuring she was comfortable around
him, despite them both knowing she had slept with Luke, and allowed
him to watch.

She was fairly certain that he knew she
and Luke had had sex again since then, though not exactly by
design. Luke had simply walked into the bathroom earlier while she
showered, disrobed and joined her, taking her hard and fast against
the slippery tiles. She knew Cade probably knew because she'd cried
out when she came and she hadn't exactly been quiet. Not that Cade
said anything when she returned downstairs a few minutes after Luke
to find him with his laptop open at her table. Luke made no attempt
to disguise his cheerful demeanor and Cade had just winked at
her.

To her surprise, at first, she enjoyed
initiating some of the contact with Cade; it gave her a thrill to
have him respond. She wasn't even all that cross about waking up
and finding him in bed with her a couple of times. After she got
over the surprise, and after Luke had taken her to bed, she'd found
it nice to snuggle up to someone in the morning. She'd missed the
intimacy of having a lover so much.

This was the first time they’d been
properly alone though. Sliding onto the sofa next to Cade, she
snuggled against him as he lifted his arm in invitation. She
pressed against him happily as he curled his hand around her arm.
Two years she had gone without being touched. Now she couldn't get
enough.

“
How are your muscles?”
Cade asked.

“
I think I’ll be sore in
the morning but I loved it. I felt so free!”

“
When did you get so
fast?”

“
Col and I loved to run and
being out here meant we could do shift whenever we wanted. I
haven’t for months. I felt slow tonight.”

“
If that was
slow…”

"Wait until you see me go fast! Hey,
what did Luke say he was doing in town?" she asked, still puzzled
at the sketchy excuse he had given about getting some sort of
computer equipment.

"His laptop or something. He's the tech
guy, not me." Cade shifted and his hand landed on her head,
stroking her hair. She tightened her arms around him, resting her
head on his shoulder. "Want to watch a movie?" he asked.

"Mmm, sure. I was thinking about
getting a glass of wine. Want one? Or a beer?"

"Sounds nice. You get the wine and the
glasses. I'll take remote control duty."

Disentangling herself, she walked back
to the kitchen, grabbed the white wine from the refrigerator and
snagged two crystal glasses from the open shelf as music filled the
room. Setting them on the coffee table, she jabbed the corkscrew
in, cursing when she couldn't get the cork to budge.

"Let me." Cade took the bottle from her
and had it open in moments.

"I weakened it for you."

"Sure you did," he scoffed. "Do you
mind if we just listen to music instead? I looked through your DVDs
and gave up." Cade laughed as he poured her a glass, drawing her
back to the sofa and back into his embrace. She sipped, resting her
back against him and drew her bare feet onto the sofa, stretching
out her legs.

"Not at all. I like this. Very
relaxing." She recalled all the lonely evenings she'd spent over
the past two years. Sometimes she had just stared at the wall, too
numb to do anything. She had to stop thinking of that time and
enjoy these moments. Now she let the music soothe and lift her
spirits, enjoyed the feel of Cade stroking her hair. He stopped and
kissed the top of her head.

"Despite what I might have said when
you turned up, I... like having you here," she said, picking her
words carefully. She didn't want to imply there was more to them
just yet—even though she knew there was—but she wanted him to know
that she appreciated him, that she liked him. That she
wanted
Cade here. She didn’t want him to feel rejected in
anyway. She wouldn’t do that to him again. "I don't feel lonely
anymore."

His breath ruffled her hair as he
spoke. "I'm glad."