Becca Van (4 page)

* * * *

Janie couldn’t believe she’d just had sex with Lander while Seton and Wolf watched. She tried to prevent the gasp forming in her throat as he withdrew from her body, but a squeak escaped and her cheeks heated. Lowering her head, as she knew her face would be pink, she tried to use her hair to hide behind, but two growls from either side of her caused her to snap her head back up.

Oh God. What have I done now?

“Don’t hide from us, sugar,” Seton demanded and stroked a finger down her hot cheek. “Why are you uncomfortable, Janie?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered in reply.

“Yes, you do, baby. Answer Seton,” Wolf commanded.

“I can’t believe I just did that.”

“What? Let Lander love you while we watched?” Seton asked.

Janie tried to lower her head again, but Seton reached out and cupped her chin, preventing the action.

“Why are you uncomfortable now? We asked you if this was what you wanted before we even started. Talk to us, sugar, help us understand,” Seton said gently.

“I don’t do things like this. I’ve only ever had one serious relationship. I’ve never thought of having more than one man, let alone three.”

“Baby, we have known since we did our training that we were all attracted to the same women. I don’t know if that is because of the experiments we volunteered for or maybe the cocktail of drugs and hormones we were given, but after fighting over a couple of women, we decided that we would have to put our competitiveness aside and share. We love that we can all be in the same room and watch each other touch you, love you. It adds to the excitement for us, and with all of us watching, we are more aware of how you react. If you don’t like something, then one of us will notice and stop the other, if you do then it works the opposite way,” Wolf explained.

“But I don’t see how this can work. I mean, what happens if one of you gets jealous? I couldn’t live with causing a rift between the three of you. You’re family, and to me, family is the most important thing in the world.”

“Family is important to us, too, sugar,” Seton replied. “We lost our parents at a young age and all signed up at the same time. We met the rest of the team, and they have become our family.”

“We want you to stay and see where this thing between us will go, Janie. Please, stay with us?” Lander asked pleadingly.

“I don’t know what to think. I’m so confused. What do I tell my parents? They are so old fashioned, I don’t want to hurt them,” Janie sobbed. “But I don’t want to leave either.”

Seton reached out and pulled her into his arms. She tried to push him away, but he only hugged her more firmly, not letting her get away from him. Janie had never been a crier or felt so torn and emotional in her life, but she was so conflicted she felt as if she was going insane.
What the hell am I going to do?

“Fuck. How the hell do we convince her to stay here with us?” Wolf asked with frustration. He kept his voice low so as not to disturb Janie, sound asleep in Seton’s arms. He watched her face as she slept, heartbroken by the tears drying on her soft skin.

“We can’t, Wolf. It’s up to Janie to decide what she wants to do,” Seton replied.

“I hate that she’s so upset. God, I feel like such a bastard. I honestly thought she was ready for this,” Lander sighed.

“We all did, bro,” Wolf answered. “She’s such a sexy little thing. I want her to spend the rest of her life with us.”

“And how the hell do we deal with the issue of her parents?” With a growl in his voice, Lander went on, “Motherfucker, I hate this shit. It would have been so much easier if we had never volunteered for the program.”

“You can’t mean that, Lander. That program was the best thing we ever did. Come on, stop thinking with your dick. We have come so far. We could still be living on the streets if we hadn’t signed up,” Wolf reminded his brother.

“Yeah, I know. Sorry, just…fuck.”

Wolf got to his feet, wincing when he pulled his jeans on over his still-hard cock.

Giving one last look at their woman snuggled up with Seton, he turned on his heel and left the room. Knowing there wasn’t a chance in hell that he would be able to sleep anytime soon, he walked toward their office and his laptop, hoping to at least get some work done. Lander followed him in a few moments later, flung himself into a chair, and turned his laptop on.

“What are you working on?” Wolf asked.

“Checking my alerts on Dr. Smith. If we can get a pinpoint on this asshole, maybe we can take him and his goonies down and the women in North Dakota will be safe once more,” Lander replied with a sigh.

“You and I both know that this operation could be worldwide. We haven’t come up with anything yet, and neither have the cops. Smith is sure to have a dozen other aliases by now, and we don’t even know what they are.”

He tried to remind himself that it wasn’t as if they’d accomplished nothing. Months ago, they’d successfully shut down the arm of the operation which had captured Janie and the other women, and one of the organizers was in prison. Katlynn Wyatt had been screening women at a clinic in Bismarck and funneling them into the hands of the kidnappers, at least until she was kidnapped herself. Katlynn was now convalescing in state prison, never to be released.

But even that success was tinged with disappointment, since the Healy brothers had set their sights on Katlynn before her role in the operation was revealed. They’d been like bears with sore heads ever since, and Seton couldn’t blame them. None of the team wanted to be made to feel foolish, which was why they were so frustrated by the way the organ smugglers’ kingpin continued to elude them.

Wolf thought of Dr. Smith walking free and his blood boiled. “Fuck, I hate knowing those assholes are out there preying on innocent, unsuspecting women.”

“Yeah, me, too, bro, and the thought of Janie leaving here and inadvertently putting herself in the line of fire again just pisses me off.” Lander sighed.

“But Seton’s right. We can’t make her stay if she isn’t willing. It has to be her decision.”

“You think I don’t know that? Fuck, I hate this. I can’t stand the thought of her being so torn up.”

“Me either, Lander.” Wolf lowered his head and then got down to work.

He didn’t look up until twenty minutes later. “Shit.” Lander was staring at his screen in shock. “An alert just showed up in Fort Yates on a Dr. Smith.”

“Fort Yates in North Dakota?”

“Looks like the bastard hasn’t gone far. I’ll call Coulter, Trace, and Corbin. You get Seton and inform the rest of the team. We may need to head out first thing in the morning and see if we can find anything out.” Lander pushed back his chair, getting to his feet.

“We’ll meet you in the kitchen of our leaders’ house in ten.” Wolf stood and headed out.

* * * *

Wolf sat tapping his booted foot on the tile floor of Coulter, Trace, and Corbin’s kitchen. He was impatient for the rest of the team to arrive and wanted to head out to Fort Yates right away but knew that wasn’t about to happen. His team leaders sat on the sofa across from him, watching him intently, but he kept his eyes averted, glancing at his watch and back to the door.

“What has you so fired up?” Coulter asked.

“Nothing.” Wolf snapped his reply.

“Don’t give me that shit. I know you. You are one of the most patient and logical people I know. So what gives?”

“Janie is confused,” he replied with a sigh. “She’s not sure about having a relationship with all three of us.”

“Shit. Why not bring her over here to talk to Brooke? Maybe she just needs the perspective of another woman,” Corbin suggested.

“Yeah, that may help, but not with everything.”

“How so?” Coulter inquired.

“She says her parents are old fashioned and doesn’t believe they will accept her being in a relationship with three men,” Wolf explained.

“Fuck, what does it have to do with her parents?” Trace asked.

“Nothing! Everything! Fuck it, she says family is everything, and I’m with her on that, but what she can’t seem to get her head around is having sex with three men.”

“Have all of you had sex with her yet?” Corbin queried.

“No!” Wolf growled.

“So you’re sexually frustrated as well,” Coulter stated. “Maybe she just needs more time.”

“Fuck, Coult, she’s had two months. She’s been living in our house for all that time, and we haven’t made it a secret that we want her.”

“Did you explain that you wanted to share her between you?” asked Corbin.

“Yeah, we told her.”

“And how much time did you give her to process that mind-blowing information?” Trace asked.

Wolf looked away, not willing to answer. Now that he thought about it, he knew they had fucked up. Lander had only asked Janie if they could all love her earlier tonight, and then they had all pounced on her. No wonder she was so confused. Now they were likely to be away on a mission for days, if not weeks. Their effort to shut down the organ smugglers could take them anywhere in the world. Janie would understand, but time away from her meant they couldn’t make their case.

“Not enough,” he replied honestly.

“There’s your answer then. What you should have done was tell her from the beginning,” Seton said.

“You all need to take a step back and let her process what you want. You have my permission to follow her if she decides to leave,” Coulter said.

“Thanks, man. The thought of her back in her home, with no one looking out for her, scares the shit out of me. You have no idea how much that relieves me.”

“Yeah, we do actually,” Corbin replied with a smile and looked up as the rest of the team entered the living room.

When the rest of the team was settled, Coulter stood up and began to talk.

“All right, listen up, everyone. A hit came up at Fort Yates, an hour and a half south of here. Smith might be operating out of the area, and we’re going to check it out. Ward, Stedman, and Bronsin are backup for Trace, Corbin, and me. We’ll scout the surrounding areas. Seton, Wolf, and Lander as well as Bryden, Linton, and Codi will go into Fort Yates to scout things out. I want all the clinics checked out as well as the local hospital and any other doctors’ offices.

“The rest of us will check out the airport and confer with the local authorities to see who has been coming and going or if there has been anything out of the ordinary reported. I don’t think these fuckers are going to set up locally again, but they seem to be targeting rural areas rather than the cities. People in the country are more laid-back and trusting, and women seem to be more accessible. We head out at 0900,” Coulter commanded. “Are there any questions?”

Wolf shook his head, and the rest of the team followed suit.

“All right, everyone try to rest before we move out. I don’t want anyone lagging and fucking up. See you in the morning.”

Wolf rose and headed out. He wanted to talk to his brothers but didn’t want anyone else overhearing, so he bit his tongue and waited until they were back in their own house. Pouring three cups of coffee, he handed them to his brothers and sat down at the dining table. Outside, the sun was beginning to illuminate the farm.

“We fucked up with Janie,” Wolf stated, breaking the silence.

“How the hell did we do that?” Lander asked with a frown.

“We all knew we wanted to share her, but we didn’t give her enough time to think about what she wanted,” Wolf said.

He walked his brothers through the explanation Coulter, Trace, and Corbin had shared with him. Both Lander’s and Seton’s faces opened in understanding as he was sure his had earlier.

“And we’re about to leave for a few days,” Lander added when Wolf finished. “That’s not going to help anything.”

“I get it now,” Seton said. “We’re at least ten years older than Janie and have had much more experience as well as time to realize what we want. She’s only just starting to spread her wings.” He looked to Wolf and Lander. “We have to let her if that’s what she wants.”

“You think we should let her go?” Lander asked incredulously.

“Yeah, I do,” Wolf replied.

“Fuck that, we only just found her. If we let her go home, she could be in danger,” Lander said. “We don’t know if these assholes have hired goonies to watch for the women’s return.”

“If she stays here, we won’t be able to protect her either. We have an assignment to complete.”

It seemed as though Lander couldn’t argue with that, but he certainly didn’t like it. He shook his head and bit out, “What the hell, Wolf? I thought you loved her.”

“I do, and sometimes you have to let the ones you love go. We can’t make her stay if she doesn’t want to. I don’t think she’s ready for the type of relationship we want with her.”

Lander glared at him then spun on his heel and slammed out of the house. Wolf looked over at Seton and waited for the explosion. It never came. His brother sighed with resignation, his body language telling Wolf that at least Seton understood what he was about.

“I’m going to spend the rest of the morning cuddling our woman. When she wakes up, we’ll talk. Are you coming?” Seton asked.

“Yeah,” Wolf replied and rubbed his chest. His heart was aching, and even though he wanted to hold Janie in his arms for the rest of his life, he knew they were doing the right thing by setting her free.