Sophie's Seduction (2 page)

Champion, Inc.'s private plane touched down at
the airport just outside of New Orleans.  Cade had already arranged for them to rent a car to take them into New Orleans, they were actually going to be staying in a small town outside of the big city called Reims.  As they loaded their gear into the rental, Sophie was quick to jump in the backseat, ignoring the chuckles from the men who took the hint and sat in the front.

Sophie was happy to leave the plane behind
.  It was a beautiful plane, large and comfortable, but with Jackson and Cade on board, it had become suffocating.  She knew there was an attraction among the three of them, but she didn't know if she could handle two men at the same time.  It seemed to be the norm in the Otherkin community, but not in her own.

After being left on the steps of the church, she had been passed through several foster homes
.  She had been lucky and had been moved to an older couple's home when she was thirteen. The Thompsons had adopted her and been wonderful to her, they had treated her like their real daughter.  She was their only child. They had been a family and she had cared for them deeply. They had died of natural causes a couple of years ago.  Her 'dad' had died of a heart attack and then her 'mom' followed a few months later of a broken heart. They had truly been in love.

She had had very few relationships with boys in her teens, choosing to revel in having a mom and dad instead
.  When she had turned eighteen and thought to leave home, the Thompsons had begged her to stay with them and go to college.  She went to local community college and got an associate's degree in business.  She had just moved out into her own apartment when Mr. Thompson had passed away.  She had given up her apartment to move back in with Mrs. Thompson.  She had hoped that being there, caring for her, that she would rally, but unfortunately, it didn't happen.

The Thompsons left everything to Sophie
.  Their life insurance had been just enough to pay for the funerals.  She had sold their home, keeping some of the furniture and selling the rest.  She had put all the money in the bank and had gone out to begin a life of her own.  Sophie couldn't seem to settle into anything at first, she realized too late that she didn't like being in an office so her degree didn't really help her.  She had ended up getting a job as a waitress and found that she liked it.  She liked getting to know the regulars and listening to the stories of those just passing through.

She had worked the late shift and had walked to work that evening
.  After she had closed up with another waitress, they went outside where the other girl's boyfriend was waiting on his motorcycle.  They had offered to wait while she called a cab, but it was a small town, she had declined.  It was while walking home that night that she had been taken by the men who worked for the trafficking ring. 

S
he had been rescued by two hot men who now seemed to be very possessive of her.  Jasmine had talked to her about the Otherkin and how they knew when they had met their mate.  Neither Jackson nor Cade had said as much to her so she thought they were just attracted to her and wanted a purely sexual relationship.  It wouldn't have been difficult as she was attracted to both men.  They were about the same height at around six foot three, but Jackson had short brown hair cut military style with the sexiest ice blue eyes.  Cade, on the other hand, had grown his light brown hair out and it hung all shaggy down the back of his head, he also had brown eyes with little gold flecks in them.  No, it wouldn't have been difficult to jump into bed with them at all.

In her adult life, she had dated a couple of guys but she never got
too close.  She never really let anyone close to her, she always had issues with attachments except for the Thompsons, but after they had passed it seemed she just didn't want to be close to anyone.  It hurt to lose someone, so she figured if she didn't get close, it would hurt less when they left.

She came out of her musings as they pulled up to the hotel Cade had booked them
.  It was settled on the back row of downtown New Orleans.  A valet approached them as they exited the car, signaling to a porter who was pulling a cart for their luggage.  They entered the lobby and Sophie looked around at the beauty before her.  It was one of the older hotels in New Orleans with the old city charm built literally right in.  The vaulted ceiling sported carved angels in the corners and had a large, glass, teardrop chandelier.  There were paintings depicting the history of New Orleans on every wall and her heels clacked on the beautiful marble flooring. 

"Welcome to the Angelique Hotel
," a young woman said as she greeted them behind the check-in counter. 

Cade began speaking to her as Sophie wondered how much this cost per night and knew this wasn't in her budget
.  As she opened her mouth to say something to Jackson, Cade turned to them waving card keys and gesturing toward the elevators.  She sighed and followed them, knowing they wouldn't allow them to split up so she could stay somewhere more affordable.  She didn't say a word as they rode the elevator in silence to the third floor.  When they stepped off, she followed, hating that she felt like a sheep going to slaughter. 

They stopped at a door and Cade put the card in to open it then gestured for her to proceed inside
.  As she thought this was her room, she turned to take the card from Cade. 

"No
, darlin', we are all staying here," Cade said, chuckling at her and strolled past her and into the room.

She turned to argue with him and saw the room for the first time
.  She had stepped into a suite.  It was vast with a large living room, complete with a kitchen.  As she stepped further into the living room, Cade, who had begun opening doors, started giving her a tour.

"To the right is your room, it has its own bathroom
.  We are across from you.  Come see the view from the balcony," he said as he gestured to the French doors he was opening. 

She smiled at him and stepped out onto the balcony as Jackson came up silently behind them
.  She gasped at the view from their hotel.  The hotel sat in the historic French Quarter, one block over from Bourbon Street, which was one of the most famous streets in New Orleans.  The buildings on their street were old and gave off an old world charm.  She felt like she had stepped back in time. 

While she was standing there, it wasn
’t hard to notice the two hunks standing on either side of her.  Jackson and Cade were about the same height and both men had bodies that romance novels were based on.

As she absorbed the view
and distractions beside her, Jackson said with humor in his voice, "Does this meet with your satisfaction?"

Sophie laughed
.  "It's very nice." She turned to Cade.  "Let me know what my half is so I can reimburse you."

She turned to go back inside and Jackson stopped her
.  "Your half? No, this trip is on us.  You are our responsibility and we will take care of you."

She faced him fully and said, "I don't think so
.  I am not your responsibility.  I take care of myself."

She went back inside and saw her suitcase sitting by the front door
.  She grabbed her case and went into her room, shutting the door behind her.  One minute they had her body flooding with desire and the next, they set her teeth on edge.  She sat down on the end of the king-sized bed and frowned.  She had to find a way to deal with these feelings before they got out of control.  She decided distraction was one way to go and so she stood up to begin unpacking.

Jackson banged his hand against the railing on the balcony
.  "Why does she have to be like that?"

Cade chuckled
.  "What, you expected her to bow down to both of us and be a good little mate?"

Jackson growled, "Well a little bending would be nice."

"We need to give her some time.  It wasn't that long ago she was held against her will and then I'm sure it was more than a shock to find out she was staying on a ranch with Otherkin and all that that entailed," Cade drawled. 

"I know, I know."
This wasn't the first time Cade had said these things to Jackson, but he was getting more frustrated.  Sophie was his mate, his and Cade's, and they needed to claim her.  The mating heat was riding both of them.

"Look, we should use this time in this romantic city to woo her
," Cade said matter-of-factly.

"Woo her?" Jackson asked
.  "Did you just really say that?" He began to laugh.

Cade punched him in the arm
.  "Shut up.  I'm going to order us a late lunch." He walked into the main room and picked up the phone.

Sophie had finished unpacking
and had been pacing her room for fifteen minutes trying to figure out how to deal with the two men on the other side of her door.  Finally, she grabbed her laptop and headed out into the living room of the suite. 

"Right on time
," Cade's deep voice came to her as she heard the main door to the suite shut. 

She looked over at him and saw he was wheeling in a cart and said, "What's all this?"

"Lunch," Jackson said, pulling out a chair for her at the dining table off the living room.

She sat down and Cade began to set covered dishes on the table
.  She went to help him and he waved her off, "It's okay, I got this."

She sat there with Jackson on one side and Cade on the other, trying to appear in control
.  "Okay.  Thank you."

"
What would you like to drink, madam?" Cade said with a fake accent, flicking a napkin over his arm like he was a waiter. 

"A soda, please
," she said with laughter in her voice.

With a flourish, he presented her with a soda, popping the top of the can for her and pouring it into a glass
.  Then Jackson reached over and began to pull off the covers on the dishes.  She saw they had ordered a BLT with chips, a cheeseburger and fries, and chicken salad.  She smiled at both men and reached for the chicken salad. 

She heard both men give a sigh of relief and looked over to see Jackson take the cheeseburger and Cade take the BLT
.  "I take it those are your favorites," she said to them. 

Cade grinned at her
.  "We were just hoping that you would choose the salad."

"Why?
‘Cause I'm a girl?" Sophie was a little offended. 

Both men looked like deer caught in headlights
.  They froze and their eyes got large, Sophie burst into giggles.  It was too funny to see the two big, sexy men sitting there wondering what to say as she acted offended.  She laughed so hard she had tears coming out of her eyes.  The men realized at that point she was teasing them and they began to laugh with her.  From then on it was a lighthearted lunch, they talked about how nice the hotel was and how wonderful the city seemed to be.

When they were finished, Jackson turned to her and said, "So, what do you want to do today?
We have the whole afternoon."

"I was thinking about it and I thought maybe we could go down to Bourbon
Street," Cade said to her. 

Sophie sat back and said, "I think that sounds good
.  I would like to get the layout before we begin a serious search."

"Well then, that's what we will do
.  Do you want to change or are you ready to go?" Jackson asked.

Sophie looked down at her pink button down shirt and blue capris pants
.  "I'm okay like this, I just want to go put on some comfortable sandals." She got up from the table and headed to her room.

When she came out, the men were waiting for her in the living room
.  They both turned to her and smiled.  She had brushed her long, brown hair back into a ponytail and had perched her sunglasses on her head.  She had her sling around purse with her as well in case she saw something she wanted to buy.

They headed out of the hotel and followed the walking directions Cade had gotten earlier from the front desk
.  They walked two blocks down and then turned toward the water, they could hear the music from the various bars along Bourbon Street already.  When they rounded the corner onto Bourbon, Sophie was amazed at how many people were already out partying.  She also loved seeing all the shops as well as the various street vendors that were out. 

She now understood why people went to New Orleans and stayed a while
.  It would take her several days to see all of the sights just from this one street.  She kept swiveling her head from side to side to try to see all of the variety of items for sale. 

Cade leaned and whispered in her ear, "You don't have to see it all today
.  Just try to see one side."

Sophie shivered as his sexy timbre slid over her skin
.  All she could do is nod and smile at him as she tried to continue to look at the vendors.  His hand that had slid around her waist when he bent down to her stayed where it was and she didn't want to remove it.  These two men turned her on, that she wouldn't deny, she just wasn't sure what to do with those feelings.  They had been nothing but kind to her since she had met them. 

Once they had rescued her from the trafficking ring, they had even been so kind as to escort her to her apartment so she could pack her things
. When they had arrived at the apartment, she found while she had been captured, her lease had ended.  Since she hadn't been there to renew, the landlord had packed up her belongings and stored them.  Thank God her stuff had still been there, the apartment manager by law had had to store the items.  When he heard from her what had actually happened, he had been so upset and apologetic. 

Jackson and Cade had been so kind to her during that time, they had kept her calm and centered, helping her pack up her belongings in their truck and bringing her back to the ranch
.  They had assured her, along with Phoenix and Gabriel, she was welcomed at the ranch for as long as she wanted to be there.  She viewed them as good friends during that time.  Most of her time was spent with Jasmine getting to know her and trying to find out more about their past. 

She was pulled out of her thoughts by feeling Jackson grab hold of her hand
.  She looked down at their linked hands and then up at him.  He smiled at her and squeezed her hand, then began to rub his thumb over her skin.  Again, she felt a shiver at the contact. 

While Sophie had been having thoughts of Jackson and Cade, they were having a conversation about her
.  Otherkin were able to communicate through telepathy amongst all of their kind and then with their mates once mated. 

'
Just keep today simple.  We will just walk around and check things out
,' Cade said in Jackson's head.

'
I am keeping it simple.  I want to claim her.  It's that simple,
' Jackson growled back.

'
She is wound up tight.  We need to loosen her up so she will listen to us
,' Cade said calmly. 

'
Did you catch her reaction when you whispered in her ear
?' Jackson asked.

'
Oh I saw.  She doesn't seem to mind you holding her hand either
,' Cade said.

'
Look at that scarf she is looking at.  It's the color of her eyes
,' Jackson said.  Sophie had green eyes like Jasmine did but their eyes differed in shades.  Jasmine's eyes were a sea green where Sophie were emerald green.  Jackson loved Sophie's eyes, every time he looked into them he felt like he was falling into them. 

"Let's go down and get a drink at that bar
, I want to get one of those souvenir cups for Jasmine," Sophie suggested as she set the scarf back on the table. 

"That sounds good to me."
Cade took her hand and tugged her toward it, distracting her while Jackson bought the scarf. 

Just as they were sitting down at an outside table, Jackson walked behind Jasmine and slipped the scarf around her neck
.  Then he leaned down and kissed her cheek as he whispered, "As you wear this, know that everywhere it touches, we want to touch and soon we will take its place."

Sophie looked down at the scarf and then began to pant as she felt a stream of fire go through her veins at Jackson's words
.  God, that was hot.  She wanted them to touch her all over, all at once.  Her entire thought process shut down as he settled the scarf around her neck.  All she could feel was his breath on her cheek and Cade's hand as he held hers, running his thumb back and forth on her inner wrist. 

As she came out of her sexual haze, she turned to Jackson and smiled
.  "Thank you so much, you shouldn't have." She took her free hand and smoothed the scarf over her breasts as Jackson's eyes tracked her every move.  She did it to send her own little message to him and saw she had achieved her goal when his eyes began to glow.  She knew that was his inner animal reacting to her, Jasmine had filled her in.

She felt Cade lean forward on her other side
.  "We wanted to.  Besides, it matches your eyes," Cade murmured as he continued to stroke her wrist. 

She shivered and thought about suggesting they go back to the room, then a waitress came to their table and took their orders
.  She sighed, a cold drink would be a blessing right now, she needed something to cool her down from the inside out.  She glanced at the two men and saw the knowing in their eyes.  She knew then their little dance would be coming to an end and she would have to make a choice.  Was she in or out?

****

Jackson watched the emotions flicker across Sophie's face and knew she was waging an internal battle.  He knew sooner or later he and Cade would win out.  Sophie was their mate and he knew that soon they wouldn't be able to hold back anymore.  They would need to claim her, but they were trying to give her time to adjust to them.  They also needed to help her trace her family so she and Jasmine could have closure.  Most importantly finding out what these Hunters wanted with their kind. 

He did
n't have a good feeling about the whole situation but Sophie needed answers and he would do anything to help her.  He pulled in a deep breath through his nose and inhaled all that was Sophie.  He felt himself harden to the point of pain as he watched her little pink tongue dart out to capture the straw in her drink.  He glanced over at Cade as he leaned back to give himself more room in his pants.  Cade's eyes had darkened as he too watched Sophie with interest.

Suddenly the hairs on the back of Jackson's neck stood up and he covertly glanced around them
.  It felt like someone was watching them, and he didn't like that.  He saw that whatever it was that had gotten his attention, had also gotten Cade's.  He saw Cade finish his sandwich and then nod to him, indicating he was going to have a look around.  Jackson nodded back as he continued to keep an eye on their surroundings. 

Sophie had watched the interplay between the men without them saying a word
.  She leaned toward Jackson as Cade got up and said, "What's going on? Where is Cade going?"

"It's nothing
.  He just wants to do a sweep of the area," Jackson told her as she saw his eyes dart around them.

Sophie knew these two men didn't give her enough credit for seeing past their nonchalant behavior
.  She knew something was going on and she began to glance around them to see if she could see anything out of place.  As she did, she realized that in New Orleans, out of place had a whole new meaning.  The people here seemed to be in their own planes of existence.  There were flamboyant costumes, rowdy groups, no one really seemed 'normal' here.  Sophie smiled as she looked around, it did seem the one thing everyone had in common was they all seemed happy. 

The waitress came to their table and left the check
, which Jackson swiped off the table as she was reaching for it.  She frowned at him and he frowned right back as he slipped his credit card inside.

"I was going to treat for lunch
," Sophie said with a pout.

"Well I wanted to do it
," Jackson said with a finality that told Sophie not to argue.

Sophie huffed out a breath but didn't say anymore as she saw Jackson stiffen again
.  She glanced down one side of the street and then looked down the other to see Cade slowly walking toward them.  She thought that was odd, as he seemed to be casually strolling along the sidewalk.  Why had he left them? What was he looking for?

Sophie decided she had had enough
.  She stood and said to Jackson, "I don't know what is going on but I want to head over in that direction." She pointed the way that Cade had come.

Jackson reached out and snaked an arm around her as he stood as well
.  He leaned down close to her ear and whispered, "Not now.  I think we should head back to the hotel."

Sophie turned her head sharply to him and snapped, "I don't want to go back yet
.  What the hell is going on?"

"We seem to have drawn attention
.  No, don't look around," he said as she stiffened and began to turn her head.  "Just act natural and stroll with me."

Sophie nodded and allowed Jackson to keep his arm around her as they began to head back toward the hotel
.  "Where is Cade?" she asked as they walked.

"He's following at a more sedate pace to see what kind of attention we have drawn
," Jackson said in a calm tone.

Sophie was worried now
.  Jackson sounded calm, but she knew he was anything but as she could feel the tension in his body.  Who was watching them? They had just arrived in town.  Maybe there were Hunters who had followed them from the ranch in Promise.