The Purrfect Predicament (Australian Shifters) (8 page)

Andy summoned his Panther, letting it take him over. The change washed through to his every cell and molecule, mutating into his other half. He dropped to the floor, his tail swished as he stared up at Juniper. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were as wide as saucers.

"That did not just happen!" she squeaked, in a high pitched panicky tone.

"It did, baby girl. He changed, just as you witnessed." Hamish soothed her, running his hand up and down her arm.

Andy pushed his nose against her legs and purred, before dropping and rolling on the floor like he had in her house.

"Oh, no, no, no nooo…not possible, I'm hallucinating!"

"Slow deep breaths, baby girl. It's real, just as I'm holding you now."

She twisted in Hamish's arms. "How do I know you're even doing that? Gorgeous twins don't just barge into my life, claim they want me, it's…it's not possible."

Andy sat at her feet, pulling all his energy into changing back, but stayed crouched down by her legs. He grinned up at her.

"Cat in a cardboard box? Remember that, sweetheart; it's all real, watch again." He changed back into a Panther, then nudged at her with his large head, meeting her wide-eyed gaze. He could feel her hand trembling as she reached out, running her fingers through his fur. He purred in approval at her touch.

Her brow dipped in a cute little furrow. "Hang on, if…if you can do that, you…you were both in my house... It was you…you who, this morning…when I…I bathed." Her face reddened, and Hamish chuckled.

"Yes, I watched you bath naked. Do you know how badly I wanted to change back and take you? You have no idea how good you taste, sweetheart."

Andy inwardly chuckled. Hell, Hamish had a lot more control than he would have seeing her bathing, water gleaming on her pale skin.

"So Bill didn't send you? You're not the cops, and you're both shifters, who think I'm your mate."

Andy changed back with her hand still on his head. She startled, but again ran her hand through his hair, as if comparing it to his Panther's.

"No, honey, this has nothing to do with your past. You are the safest person on the planet with two shifter mates to protect you. And we don't just think you're our mate, we know you
are
our mate. It's natural animal instinct, if you will. The pull to have you and claim you as ours is very strong. Shifters, who finally find their mates, need to be with them. If not we will slowly go insane, in a really bad way."

To Andy's surprise, she actually breathed a sigh of relief. "You kidnapped me because I'm your mate."

"Yes."

"Oh, well, that's okay then."

Andy glanced at Hamish. They were both thinking the same thing.

"You're taking this, ah, rather well."

"Can anyone find me here? You won't tell anyone my real name?"

"We'll have to deal with your problems sooner or later, but no, no one will find you here, sweetheart. You are safe with us."

She stood up, moving into the centre of the room, wobbling slightly on her feet. "Well, this is better than what I had feared." She dropped the blanket and giggled. "Men who turn into Panthers, and I'm safe." Her giggles came out a little more hysterically.

"Uh, oh, here it comes; Tinder and Storm warned me about this." Her eyes rolled back in her head, and her body dropped. Andy darted forward, catching her before she hit the floor. He glanced down at her now serene face, before glancing hopefully up at his brother.

"Great, is it wrong to fuck her while she's out?"

Hamish gave him a dry look.

"Yeah, I know. But honestly, my balls are going blue."

"As if mine aren't?"

Andy really wasn't that insensitive as to take advantage of her unconscious state. No, he wanted her to feel every touch of his hand, every kiss, and the way his cock would slide deep into her wet heat, making her moan and writhe in pleasure. Andy shifted her in his arms, carrying her out of the game room down the hall towards the stairs.

Hamish followed closely behind. He darted around Andy to open the door of the master bedroom, which had been their parents’, but now that they had Juniper, they were going to take it as theirs.

"Hopefully after she rests, we can finally take things to the next level." Andy lay their mate down on the bed, gazing down at her shapely limbs. His palms itched to trace the curves of her breasts again.

Hamish sighed, arranging her limbs and pulling the cover over her. "You stay with her; I need to go talk to River. No touching without me."

"Oh c'mon, how can I not touch?"

"Well, no fucking her without me," he amended, leaning down to kiss her forehead with tender devotion. Andy saw the signs; his brother had fallen hard for her as well. "One of us will be with her always."

Andy nodded his firm agreement. No way were they letting her out of their sight. After witnessing how others in the town had suffered the pain of almost losing their destined mates, they would guard her every heartbeat for the rest of their lives. She had two mates instead of one, which worked in their favor, she would never be alone, ever again.

With a heavy sigh, Hamish turned and walked out of the room.

Andy crawled under the covers and pulled his mate into his arms. Oh yeah, this was where she belonged, in his arms. It would be even better with his dick nestled within her heat squeezing him. But, Hamish was right, she belonged to them both. He'd refrain from making love to her until they could do it together, as a team. Andy grinned and kissed her shoulder. It didn't mean he couldn't do other things.

~ * ~

In the office at the back of River Black's house, his cousin Hawk Black greeted him with a hefty slap on the back. "Hey, I hear congratulations are in order, cuz."

River rose to his feet from behind his desk. "I take it you left Andy with her." River shook Hamish's hand.

"You done the whole show and tell yet?" Hawk leaned in on the side of River's desk.

"Yes, hence her resting."

"They always pass out, it's our animal magnetism." Hamish fought the urge to roll his eyes at Hawk's quip. At least Andy's jokes weren't as bad as Hawk's.

"Tinder's going to be disappointed you two won't pose for her any more, she and Storm tell me erotic ménage stories are all the rage at the moment." He chuckled at the private joke. "Guess you two are an old hand at sharing."

It wasn't a secret that Andy and Hamish liked to share women, bringing them double the pleasure. They'd always worked well together, despite Andy's big mouth.

"Hawk, cut the man some slack. They've only just found their mate, and by his stiff walk they haven't yet consummated their relationship." River grinned.

Hamish glared at his cousin. "Juniper is a little more emotionally fragile. We can't just fuck her and all will be well. There's been big trouble in her life; I want to hunt down this bastard who hurt her."

"Yes, Andy mentioned the gunshot wound." River frowned. "I've got Forrester looking into it, with what little info we have."

"She mentioned someone called Bill, she also mentioned cops. Whatever it is she's been hiding from, it's big and bad. The terrified look in her eyes…" He drew in a deep breath to suppress the burning rage mixed with the pain of seeing her so afraid. "It hurts River. I kind of now know what you felt like when Gia tried to kill Storm. We need to help her and bring this, whatever it is, to an end."

River's face darkened. "We are family, and your mate is family too. We always protect what is ours. You've always been here for us, and done your duties. We'll stand by you now. I'll take this new information to Forrester, but find out as much as you can."

Hamish was eternally grateful for his cousin's and Alpha's support.

"We also want to thank the ladies for the food; we're not the best of cooks, and our mates been living rough, barely making enough to feed herself."

"Bloody good thing you found her when you did." Hawk's face shadowed. "I shudder to think what would have happened to Tinder, if she'd not turned up here."

"We'll pass on your thanks. They were more than eager. Storm's gone into a cleaning frenzy. No way am I going to get between her and the duster." River grinned. "Unless I'm the one holding it, for other reasons."

Hamish shook his head, and Hawk rolled his eyes.

"It'll be okay." Hawk shoved off the desk again, patting Hamish on the back. "We'll find this asshole and put him out of commission. Until then, you should be with your mate. First few days together are critical. Anyway you don't want to let Andy have all the fun."

Indeed, Hamish knew just what kind of fun his brother was having without him, but he wouldn't betray his trust and fuck her until Hamish returned.

River chuckled. "Leave it with us; I'll switch both your duties around for a while, until you can get your mate settled. Until then, go and enjoy her."

Hamish grinned at his cousins, nodding his gratitude and headed for the door. After all, who was he to disregard an order from his Alpha?

Chapter Seven

Every part of her body tingled, inflamed with desire. It felt so good, a large calloused hand skimmed over her skin, making her body quiver. Such a wonderful dream, she wanted more, more of him to touch her, never had she felt this good.

Such a change from her usual nightmares; no, this is one dream she never wanted to end.

Had she really seen Andy Brown turned into a big beautiful Panther? Maybe she was just daydreaming again, trying to escape the hard reality of her life, like she used her books to escape, for a little while.

Hot, wet lips trailed over her skin, pulling her further from her sleep. His hand moved to cup and gently squeeze her breast. Her moan echoed in the room, rousing her further.

The hand felt too real to be a dream. Slowly her eyes fluttered open, only to find herself staring up into rich chocolate brown eyes.

"Hello, sweetheart." His full masculine lips curved up into a heart fluttering smile. Andy.

She licked her dry lips and Andy's gaze zeroed in on them, before returning to meet her gaze again.

"Did you really turn into a Panther?"

"Yes I did, and no you didn't dream it up. I can do it again if you need more convincing."

The pressure of his hand on her breast, rolling her nipple between his fingers, made her gasp.

Her lower belly quivered; more heat speared through her. But, did she want him to stop? Should she push him away?

No. Truth be told she wanted his touch, wanted them to make love to her. She swallowed. Them? So wickedly sinful, yet she wanted it so badly, so different from Neil's hesitant touches.

"What was that thought, sweetheart?" Andy propped himself on his elbow, gazing down on her while his hand continued its exploration, skimming across to her other breast. "Your face is so expressive and you stiffened, your mind is conflicting with your body. Tell me what you were thinking."

How did he do that? Read her so well? Trust him?
He has nothing to do with your past, Juniper. They have shown you their most guarded secret. Panther shifters.
It still boggled her mind. Her problems seemed much paler now, in comparison to who these men were.

"I was thinking about someone else's touch."

She watched a dark shadow pass over his face, his lip curled into a sneer. "Another lover?"

She shook her head. "No, no nothing like that… I was just thinking, you're not like, my uh, former boyfriend." Not that he really ever was her boyfriend. "You're much better than he was. He never touched me like you do," she blurted out.

A feral possessive smile curved up Andy's lips, making her belly quiver. If she'd been standing, no doubt it would have made her knees weak. "Not very good in the bedroom huh? Well, sweetheart, we're going to make sure you forget any man who's ever touched you." He lowered his head, pressing his forehead against hers. His hand squeezed her breast tighter, before pinching her nipple.

On her gasp, he caught her mouth with his in a hard, possessive kiss, his tongue sweeping in tangling with hers. No one ever kissed her like this…like she was the very air he needed to breathe.

When he pulled back, she was panting, breathless.

"Do you accept us, Juniper? You are our mate."

With her brain half scrambled from Andy's devastating kiss, she fought to think, to remember what they had told her before. That they were mates.

"What does it mean that I'm your mate?"

"It means we were destined to be together forever, we will always protect, cherish and pleasure you. Anything you want, baby, it's yours. You belong to us, and we to you. Once we claim you properly."

"Claim me, how? With sex?"

"A little more than that. Sex is a part of it, but when you fully accept us, we'll each bite you, just here." He nuzzled in at her throat and ran his tongue over her skin, making her shudder and her sex pulse with a need to be filled.

"Then what?"

He raised his head, his face a mask of seriousness.

"We're as good as married, only it's a bond that can't be broken, except by death."