Two for Protection (7 page)

Tad’s
laptop sat on the table. With nothing to do other than wait for Jeffery to show
himself, Milo decided to see what he could find. Connor might be the geek of the
clan, but Milo had his own abilities when it came to finding information. Those
years spent away from the clan left him with some very important contacts. Once
he had some of the basic information, he’d make a few calls. Within a few hours,
he was sure he’d know whatever Jeffery was trying to hide.

Chapter Nine

As he
stood in the shadows of the porch, Tad waited while Turi did the final pass of
the perimeter for the night. He had been trying to get Turi alone all evening.
Instead, his brother always seemed to sidestep out of it. Not this time. It was
time for them to have a few words, though what those words would be he wasn’t
completely sure. Part of him wanted to scream at Turi for bringing up what
happened to Rosemarie, while the other side knew without Turi’s blunder the
events of the day would have stayed locked away in the dark place within him.

Turi
stepped onto the porch, shaking the snow from his shoulders and hair before
looking over at Tad. “What are you doing out here? I thought you’d be in there
snuggling with your mates. Oh, how the older Brown brothers have fallen.” He
teased.

Tad
couldn’t help but smile since. The eldest two brothers were mated and were just
as Turi described them. They couldn’t get enough of their mates. Taber and
Thorben were completely at Kallie’s beck and call. Not that he had any room to
talk. In just a short time, Courtney already had him wrapped around her little
finger.

“Boy,
one day you’ll be mated and you’ll be the same way.”

“Not
me.” Turi sounded certain, as if he had a say in it. “Not going to happen,
especially if Mom’s right. There’s no way Trey and I could share a woman like
Taber and Thorben do. We fight over stupid shit too much. Plus, Trey is too
possessive.”

The
youngest set of twins were a handful, especially when they were growing up. Now
that they were older, they were starting to calm down. Even with the occasional
teasing, they were as close as any of them. Actually, now that Tad thought
about it, Turi and Trey were closer than even Taber and Thorben.

“Once
you’ve found your destined mate, nothing can stop you from claiming her, not
even the idea of sharing her with Trey.” He couldn’t help but chuckle at the
idea. The poor woman who had to deal with them day in and day out deserved a
medal. “About earlier…”

Turi
held up his hands and cut him off. “I know you’re pissed but they deserved to
know, especially Courtney. Mom always said you have to go into the mating with
no secrets.”

“It
wasn’t your secret to tell.”

“That
might be true, but you weren’t going to do it. No one else was here who would
do it. Tate and Hazel might know, but they would never say anything. Hazel
might have adopted Tate and accepted some of the shifter ways, but she doesn’t
understand mating. She doesn’t realize the undeniable draw to your mate, the
need to be with her. So she couldn’t understand the need to be completely
honest either.”

Tad
ran his hand through his hair, shaking off the snow. “For someone who isn’t
mated and doesn’t want to be, you sure understand the connection.”

“You
said it yourself, there’s nothing like it and there’s no way to deny it.
Keeping something that made you the man you are a secret will only lead to
problems. Courtney might be taking this well right now, even accepting there
are shifters, but you start lying, even by omission, and it’s not going to go
over well.”

He
wanted to punch his brother. She was
his
mate. Did being raised in the
human world differ that much from how he was raised? His family was secretive,
so much that the children barely left the island until they were adults and
could keep their secret. Even then, only Devon ventured off for supplies, while
the rest stayed on the island unless they began to get desperate to find their
mate.

The
brothers had duties to the Alaskan Tigers, and their kind. They traveled
frequently to the Alaskan Tigers’ compound, and on missions. They rarely had
contact with humans who were unaware shifters lurked in the shadows, living
their own lives. If he was honest with himself, he knew very little about the
way humans were raised. It had never been important for him to find out until
now.

Whatever
differences he had from Courtney needed to be addressed before it caused
problems in their mating. Milo had spent years among humans; surely he’d help
Tad.

With
no anger left within him, Tad let out a soft growl of frustration.

“All
I’m saying is stop interfering with my mating, unless you want me to do it when
the time comes for you.”

“There’s
no reason for me to interfere any longer. Just remember she’s been through a lot
and you need to be straight with her. Lisa raised her right, and she has a good
head on her shoulders. She’ll keep herself safe. You need to focus on Jeffery
if you want to eliminate the threat to her. If you watch over your shoulder to
make sure she’s not doing something stupid, you’re going to get yourself
killed. Losing one brother already this year was enough. I also don’t want to
drag your heavy body home and explain how you got your dumb ass killed to Mom.”
Without another word, Turi brushed past him and into the house.

Anger
spewed forward, sending the bear within him close on its heels. He wanted to
grab Turi by the neck. Turi might be an adult now but he wasn’t too old for Tad
to give him a lesson he wouldn’t forget. Young bears needed to mind their
elders if they wanted to live a long live. He threw his head back and let a
deep growl escape, shaking the ground and sending snow falling from the trees.
The beast within him wanted to shift, to run off the irritation at Turi. The
only thing that stopped him was the sound of the door opening behind him.

“Stay
inside, Turi, I’ve had enough right now.”

“Courtney
is worried about you. Your growl shook the whole damn house,” Milo’s deep voice
called out. He never noticed before, but the sound of his voice was like
echoing thunder. So much command and compassion held within those syllables.

He
turned to find his mate alone. Movement by the window caught his gaze. Turi was
doing his best to drag Courtney away from view, which only sent his beast
growling again. No one should lay hands on her.

“Don’t
get upset with Turi, he’s only doing as I asked,” Milo said. “Courtney standing
by the window makes her a target. Now if you get your ass inside, she wouldn’t
be fighting him. What the hell happened anyway?”

“Turi
has always known how to get under my skin with his comments. I swear that boy
needs put in his place and this time I’m about to do it. Taber and Thorben
aren’t here to protect his scrawny little ass this time.” He looked back at the
window. All was still, the curtain pulled tightly back into place.

“I
don’t believe this is the time for family fights. Our mate needs our support,
she’s beginning to climb the walls. In her mind, darkness only means one thing,
that Jeffery will be on the move. His kind operates best at night. Darkness can
hide him better from humans, making the police less like to catch him receiving
the drugs. It does nothing for him when it comes to shifters. Still, if he’s
going to try to attack Courtney, tonight is his best chance. Tomorrow the storm
will start to break up, and with a little luck Taber can fly in before the
second one makes landfall.”

“Go
ahead inside, I need a few minutes first.”

“No.”
Milo shook his head and stepped closer. “I promised Courtney I’d bring you back
inside with me. She needs you, and I need to make a few calls. I spent the
afternoon following up on this Jeffery Park. He’s not who he says he is.
There’s a trail as long as I am tall of dead bodies in his wake. Drugs are his
thing now because it’s quick money, but he’s no stranger to black market
babies, human trafficking, whatever can bring him the thrill. Seems our mate
got herself tangled up with a rather nasty fellow.”

Tad
rolled his shoulders and nodded. “I shouldn’t have left you alone to deal with
Courtney when I knew you were dealing with other things. Turi could have
waited. Let’s go put our mate’s mind at ease.” He made his way across the porch
to the door with Milo a step behind him.

“She’s
our mate, we can cover for each other when one needs to deal with something,
but right now she needs both of us as much as possible. She’s scared, and
though she is trying to hide it, being around so many strangers has her on
edge. I don’t believe it has anything to do with the fact all of us, except
Hazel, are shifters.”

“I
know.” He nodded and opened the door. Inside he found Tate stretched out on the
sofa, his eyes closed. Turi was blocking the path between Courtney, who sat on
the armchair, and the door.

“Get
out of the way, Turi,” Courtney demanded at the sight of her mates.

Tad
shook off the snow that had gathered on his hair and shoulders and kicked off
his boots. He was wet through from standing outside, but Courtney didn’t seem
to notice or care as she wrapped her arms around him.

“You’re
okay.” She ran her hands over his back as if searching for injuries.

“I’m
fine. What has you in such a state?” He focused on his mate, not giving Turi a
second glance, his patience gone.

“Let’s
take this to the bedroom,” Milo suggested. “You can change and we can have a
little privacy.” Without waiting for their response, he led the way down the
hall.

“You
both just want her to yourself, a little nooky before the fight,” Tate hollered
after them.

“You’re
jealous, Tate,” Tad replied.

Tate’s
comment put ideas into Tad’s head that made him want his mate naked under him.
He wanted to feel himself buried deep within her as she took Milo in her mouth.
The memory of that experience, with the glow of the fire dancing over their
bodies, made him instantly hard.

“Doesn’t
sound like a bad idea to me,” Courtney whispered.

Milo
leaned against the door waiting for them, a cocky grin on his face. “It seems
our mate is frisky.”

As if
on command, she tugged Tad’s wet shirt from his jeans, pulling it up his chest
and over his head. As quickly as it was done, her hands were back on his chest
as she toyed with the little patch of hair between his pecs.

“I
don’t understand this need within me,” she said, her voice husky. “It’s always
there, demanding the two of you. When you’re beyond arm’s reach, there’s a
longing that aches within me for your touch.”

“Maybe
this isn’t the best time. We should wait until you’re safe.” Tad tried to
reason with her before he lost whatever control remained. Her fingers teased
along the waistband of his jeans, but it was her tongue flicking across his
nipple that did him in. The need to throw her on the bed and claim her again
took over logic.

“Now’s
the prefect time. If I’m going to die tonight I want to feel the two of you
pressed against my naked body.” Her breathy words came seconds before her hand
dove inside his jeans.

“You’re
not going to die, none of us are, but we can give you what you want regardless.”
Milo came up behind them and kissed her neck.

Tad
kicked the door shut and edged the trio closer to the bed. “My control is
flimsy tonight, the beast within is on edge. I want you naked.” He laced his
fingers through her hair and forced her mouth closer to his.

He
pressed his lips to hers, demanding her. His tongue dove into her mouth,
teasing along hers in a hungry frenzy. He devoured her. The sweetness of the
hot chocolate she had earlier still coated her mouth, making her even more
desirable than ever.

Seconds
before she tugged his jeans down his legs, he had enough logic left to grab his
gun from the holster and place it on the bedside table. When she wrapped her
fingers around the length of his shaft, it nearly stole his breath. Slowly she
worked her way up and down the length of him. The passion controlling him
didn’t allow him to reconsider what they were doing. Danger might be lurking
outside, but in that moment he didn’t care. Turi, Tate, and Hazel would alert
them. All that mattered right now were his mates.

“Naked,”
Milo urged. “I want her naked.”

Tad
gave her one final kiss before pulling back. The loss was immediate and his
need for her came rushing back full force. Milo pulled her shirt over her head
and Tad fumbled with her jeans.

“Let
me.” She quickly unbuttoned them and slid out of them, along with her panties,
before glancing back at Milo. “If we’re naked, then you should be too.” She
turned to him, her fingers unbuttoning his dress shirt while her other hand was
firmly wrapped around Tad’s shaft.

Milo
slid his shoulder holster and gun off, setting it next to Tad’s, before ripping
his shirt off sending the remaining buttons flying through the air. “What?” He
asked when they both looked at him. “Time is of the essence.” He undid his
jeans and stepped out of them, along with his boxers.

Courtney
wrapped her free hand around his shaft. “Ahhh, two men standing at attention
for me. I hope I don’t let either of you down.” She shot them a sexy grin that
almost had Tad losing his patience.

“You
couldn’t, darling.” Milo smiled and leaned in closer. He kissed a path down her
neck. The sensations poured through the connection overwhelmed each of them as
she became more aroused with each touch.

“On
the bed,” Tad ordered.

While
Milo explored her breast, he wanted something a little farther south. She let
go of their shafts and climbed onto the bed. Milo followed, quickly regaining
his place kissing along her neck, slowly working his way back down to her
breast. Tad stood there a moment, observing them. The way she came alive with
their touch thrilled him. She was like a flower, waiting for that special
moment to open up and let the whole world see how beautiful she was.