Babies for Nikki (37 page)

At that moment, both Alex and Butler looked up at her, instantly alert. She saw their eyes dilate as they took in her scent and was never so happy to see the golden glow looking back at her as their wolves recognized and desired her. The men’s instant smiles of pleasure as they saw her soothed her injured ego.

They stood and made their way to her, meeting her halfway across the waiting room. Opening their arms to her, she slid into their embrace, feeling the immediate sense of coming home.

“Ready to go home, sweetness?” Butler asked her softly, touching her cheek gently with the back of his knuckles. “By the Fates, I want to crush you to me and devour you right now.”

Alex’s growl of agreement made her smile. “You have something to say, Alex?” she teased.

“I love you, Mate,” he whispered before leaning forward and kissing her forehead gently, hugging her against him tightly before stepping back and looking down at her. “Let’s go. We have a mate to claim, Butler.”

They each took her hand and walked her through the waiting room to the exit. Doreen watched in silent amazement as the three of them made their way outside. Nikki couldn’t have been happier.

They led her to Alex’s truck, Butler reaching out to open the passenger door for her. Alex lifted her to settle her inside and was about to step back to shut the door when Nikki reached out and stopped him.

“I need to ask you both a question,” Nikki told them, her heart heavy with worry.

Alex pushed the truck door open as far as it would go so both he and Butler could stand side by side to face their mate. At the expression on her face, they knew something was very wrong and they were going to do everything they could to help her through whatever was bothering her.

“When we’re living at the ranch, will our triad be recognized?”

“Of course, Nikki,” Butler answered immediately.

“Will the women respect that you belong to me?”

“Yes,” Alex answered, smiling. “Just as the men will respect that you belong to us.”

Nikki nodded, her mind racing with the information. “So, no one will try to tempt you away from me? You’ll be mine forever?”

Both men leaned in, pulling at her legs so that she sat sideways at the edge of the seat so that she faced them. Their constant growls filled the quiet of the early morning air, but Nikki was oblivious. She reached up and carded her fingers through their hair, holding onto the silky strands tightly.

“You have nothing to worry about, Mate,” Butler whispered, his voice raw with emotion. “A triad mating is sacred. All members of our pack hope for one. Ours will be celebrated, and no one will ever question it or disrespect it.”

“Okay,” Nikki said finally, sniffling slightly. “Then I won’t have to kill anyone.”

Alex’s bark of laughter made her smile. She leaned forward and kissed him quickly.

“You think I’m kidding?” she asked him, raising her right eyebrow in question.

“No, baby,” he answered, smiling.

Butler took her face between his large hands and drew her toward him slowly. “I love you, sweetness,” he whispered before he kissed her lips gently. “Now, let’s get home. Alex and I are barely controlling ourselves. We want you home. In our bed. Naked. And claimed once and for all.”

Nikki smiled, reaching out to hold Butler’s hand tightly. She didn’t even realize she was already holding Alex’s hand, but it felt right. The connection with the two of them settled her nerves. She could feel the bond between them and wanted the soft ribbons that she could feel surrounding them to be set in place permanently.

Nikki couldn’t keep the smile from her face as they drove away from the hospital. She checked often to make sure that Butler was behind them driving the rented truck filled with her belongings.

“He’s there, Nikki,” Alex told her, smiling as she looked behind them for the hundredth time.

“I don’t like us being apart.” Nikki turned her attention from Butler back to Alex, her heart pounding, anxiety making her pulse race. “Alex, I can’t calm down. What’s wrong with me?”

Alex nodded. “It will get better after we claim you,” he explained gently. “The urge to be together gets stronger with each passing day until we finally complete the mating.”

Nikki accepted his words with her mind, but the anxiety she was feeling in her body made her worry ramp up. “How much longer until we get home?”

“We should be coming up on the ranch turnoff pretty soon,” Alex told her, reaching across the front seat to take her hand in his as it lay on the seat between them.

He squeezed her hand, turning to wink at her before facing forward to concentrate on the road ahead of them. When they pulled up in front of the Circle Three Ranch family home, Alex parked the truck and turned off the engine, watching as Butler carefully pulled in beside them with the rental truck.

Nikki opened the door of Alex’s truck and quickly jumped out, not waiting for Alex’s help. She walked over to Butler quickly and threw her arms around him as he stepped out of the rental truck and closed the door.

“I missed you,” she whispered against his neck as he lifted her in his arms so she could wrap her legs around his waist.

“I missed you, too, baby,” he told her, walking toward Alex so he could lean against her back and embrace her as they stood quietly at the foot of the stairs that led up to the pack home.

“She’s feeling the effects of the separation,” Alex explained softly, his silver gray eyes meeting Butler’s light blue ones with concern.

“I feel it, too, sweetness,” Butler told her softly, reaching up to pet her hair gently.

“Everything will be better soon, Nikki,” Alex whispered against her temple.

Nikki couldn’t prevent the whimper that escaped her. She hugged Butler tighter and grabbed for Alex’s hand to hold it against her chest. She refused to let go of either man as they walked carefully up the stairs and entered the ranch.

Martha met them as they neared the stairway to their suite. She nervously twisted the dish towel she held between her hands, concerned when she saw the worry on her son’s face. Butler was in no better shape, and Nikki was near panic.

“Is everything all right?” she asked them quietly.

“It will be,” Alex assured her.

Martha nodded, stepping back and allowing them to pass. As she watched them make their way up the stairs, she couldn’t prevent the smile that crossed her face or the happiness that filled her heart.

“I think I’d better start crocheting that baby blanket,” she spoke softly to herself as she turned to head back into the kitchen, her spirits light and hopeful.

It took the men no time at all to climb the three flights of stairs to their suite. Alex opened the door for them, allowing all of them to enter together. He quietly closed and locked the door behind them, standing close to Nikki as Butler slid her slowly down his body until she was standing between them.

“I can’t stop shaking,” Nikki told them, her voice quivering. “I don’t like feeling like this.”

“We’ve waited too long,” Alex told her quietly.

“Do I feel this way only because the mating need is making me feel this way?” Nikki’s voice was nearly hysterical. “These aren’t my true feelings? It’s just the pheromones?”

“It’s a combination of the mating pheromones and what you’re feeling, Nikki,” Butler explained softly.

“I don’t want to feel this way,” Nikki told him, panicking. “Make it stop, please.”

Butler led her to their bedroom, walked her over to their triad bed, and lifted her to carefully place her in the center of the mattress. He climbed up beside her and held her, waiting for Alex to climb onto the bed to take his place at her other side and hold her tightly between them. She immediately leaned into their touch and pulled them closer toward her.

“Everything will be all right, Nikki,” Butler told her calmly as he slowly ran his hand down her arm, petting gently as he spoke.

“Just listen to our voices, Nikki,” Alex told her softly. “Feel the beating of our hearts. Match your breathing to ours.” He leaned into her neck and inhaled deeply. “Let our scents soothe you as your scent soothes us,” he whispered, kissing her cheek lightly.

Nikki listened to their words and relaxed under their touches. Closing her eyes, she allowed the men to guide her to a place of calm in her mind. As they lay so close to her, pressing their bodies tightly against hers, she felt herself giving in to the extreme exhaustion she was feeling. In no time at all, her need to sleep outweighed any other thoughts or feelings, and she surrendered to it, knowing the two men beside her would see to it that she was safe and protected.

“Thank you,” she whispered before she slid into unconsciousness, unaware of the smiles or the contented growls of the men beside her.

Nikki opened her eyes slowly, not moving an inch for fear of waking the two men who were beside her. She listened to their even breathing and closed her eyes in relief that they still were sleeping. Taking an evaluation of how she was feeling, she was relieved that she felt like herself again. Her heart was no longer racing, and her mind wasn’t swamped with fear or need. She was just herself.

Thank goodness!

She never wanted to feel so helpless and out of control again. She had always valued the fact that she was levelheaded and clearly in control of herself and her life. She had taken care of herself for as long as she could remember, and she didn’t like the fact that she had totally lost control of her emotions or her needs.

Opening her eyes again, she looked up and saw the ceiling of the bedroom, noticing for the first time how it sparkled with some form of synthetic crystals. It was pretty. Nikki smiled at the thought that these very masculine men lived in a suite with a ceiling that sparkled when the light shown on it just right.

“Now, that’s a sight I could wake up to every morning, sweetness,” Butler’s sleepy voice broke the silence.

Nikki looked at him, her heart pounding at the sight of him. “What, Butler?” she whispered.

“Your smile, honey.” He reached up and brushed her hair from her forehead before reaching down and taking her hand in his. “What were you thinking?”

Nikki smiled broader, trying unsuccessfully to hold in the giggle. “I was just thinking how pretty the sparkles are in the ceiling,” she told him, her blue eyes shining with merriment. “Nice touch.”

“Alex chose it,” Butler answered, not missing a beat.

Nikki didn’t even have a chance to answer when she saw the sudden arc of a pillow sailing over her to hit Butler a glancing blow in the face before it sailed across the bed to land somewhere on the floor.

Butler’s laughter filled the bedroom, making Nikki unable to hold in her own laughter any longer. Rolling over in one smooth move, she straddled Alex’s waist and leaned down so that her nose was mere inches from his.

“And what did I tell you about hitting Butler?” she asked him seriously, leaning forward and biting his shoulder firmly.

Alex’s growls were immediate. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her tightly against his chest and flipped them both so she was beneath him with his body pressing intimately against the cradle of her body.

“I will continue to hit Butler if he continues to goad me,” Alex told her firmly. “There is nothing wrong with the sparkles in the ceiling.”

Nikki looked up at Alex and smiled. “They’re beautiful,” she whispered. “I think we should put the same thing in our home. It will be like looking up at the night sky.”

Butler leaned into her neck and kissed her just below her ear. “I think the cubs will love the sparkles in their rooms,” he whispered in her ear, biting down on her earlobe with just enough pressure to send shivers of need throughout their mate’s body.

Nikki looked at Butler, unable to speak. Instead, she reached out and touched his face gently, running her index finger across his cheek to gently trace his lower lip.

She smiled as he kissed her finger lightly, opening his mouth and drawing it inside before biting down on it gently and swirling his tongue around its tip. When she felt Alex lay his head on her chest and hug her tightly, she knew at that moment that she totally trusted and wanted these wonderful men forever.

“Are you ready to commit to us, sweetheart? Are you ready to allow us to claim you as our mate?” Alex’s deep voice vibrated against her chest. He kissed her over her heart before pulling back so he could look down at her. “We need to hear the words. We need to make sure that this is what you want.”

“Nikki, we want to claim you and make you ours for the rest of our lives,” Butler told her, leaning up on his forearm so he could see her face and judge her emotions. “The choice is yours.”

Both men waited silently for her answer. She could see their need. She could feel their desire for her. She also saw their vulnerability. The way they held themselves so still, waiting for her answer, spoke of their worry that she might reject them.

“You’ll belong to me and not want any other woman?” she questioned.

“Only you,” Alex promised.

“You won’t try to control me?”

“As if we could!” Butler answered sarcastically, laughing at the thought.

Nikki smiled. “Just remember that, buddy,” she warned him.