COYOTE SAVAGE (5 page)

the damage the cougar had left behind. It wasn’t until Talon had removed her shirt that she’d

realized how much blood she’d lost.

“But, I didn’t think…” She glanced at the boys just as Caden slipped a needle in her arm.

She winced and pulled back, feeling the medication slowly wash through her. “What?”

“It’s like Demerol, darling,” said Caden. “You’re not going to like it much when I stitch

that cut, even with some freezing.”

“Where did you get all this stuff?” Damn. Had her tongue suddenly doubled in size? It

felt as if she was talking around a stump.

“We need it to treat the injured coyotes we take in.” Caden smiled at her. “Don’t worry.

I’ll be gentle.”

His words evoked another warm rush, only this one wasn’t from the drug. Heat poured

out from her core and settled, uncomfortably, between her legs. She shifted slightly, suddenly

aware of how sensitive her clit was and how plump her lips felt. A low moan drifted her way,

and she looked over her shoulder at the men.

“What?”

Talon pulled his lips tight, and she could tell he was trying hard to concentrate on holding

the cut together as Caden tugged at a stitch. The men exchanged a look, then inhaled, the gold in

their eyes darkening into a burnished bronze.

The image blurred for a moment, as the drug played with her head, but she managed to

shake it away. “I’m waiting for an answer.”

Talon looked at her, his face twisting into a grimace. “We’re a bit busy here.”

“Not so much you can’t tell me why you keep looking at me as if I’m dinner or why I

keep hearing one of you moan.”

He grunted and met her stare. “You
were
in the woods when we shifted from our coyote

forms, right?” He didn’t even acknowledge her nod. “That means we’re part coyote.”

“Yeah…and quite frankly, I’m still not convinced this isn’t all a hallucination and I’m

not really back in my Jeep asleep at the wheel…but go on.”

“Just because we aren’t wearing the fur any more doesn’t mean we aren’t
still
part

coyote.”

Rebecca grunted. Her head ached, her feet tingled and she couldn’t tell if her words were

coming out as pure gibberish, yet Talon thought she was still capable of thinking. “I’ve been

attacked by a cougar, saved by two mystical half-breeds and pumped full of some animal form of

Demerol. Do you really think I can decipher your riddle right now?”

Caden chuckled, elbowing Talon in the side. “Go on, bro. Explain it to her.”

Talon glared back, then turned his gaze on her. Fingers of arousal wove through her belly

and into her pussy at the predatory look in his eyes. There was no mistaking the animalistic side

of the man, now, and she wondered if she’d just pushed her luck too far.

Talon inhaled again, the bronze tone in his eyes nearly hidden by the black. “Let’s just

say—you smell divine. And I don’t mean your perfume.”

Awareness dawned on her, and she drew a sharp breath, even as more moisture eased

from her slit to coat her sparse panties. She looked from one man to the other and back again,

reading the truth in the way they surveyed her half-naked body.

She forced a swallow past the increasing thickness in her throat and simply nodded. “So

you—you retain some of the traits while…”

“Human?” Talon suggested. “All but the physical form.”

“So…”

Talon held her gaze. “Keener eyesight, greater range of hearing and of course…a keener

sense of smell.”

She could only nod as she snagged her lip with her teeth.

Talon leaned closer, brushing those kissable lips along the shell of her ear. “This

morning, at the Carson’s ranch…damn. It was all we could do to use our senses to confirm that

coyotes hadn’t been in the area. Your pheromones blocked out every other scent. I swear even

Darrin seemed to notice your state of arousal.” He nipped at the skin, making her gasp. “Tell me.

Was it Darrin or us that got you all worked up?”

She wanted to deny his claim, but the drugs spoke for her. “You.”

“Me?” said Talon. “Or Caden?”

Something inside her snapped, and she blurted out the truth. “Both.”

The predatory look returned, only this time both men shared the same expression. Caden

tugged at her side again, then straightened, patting her gently on the back.

She tried to look at the wound, but the room tilted when she turned her head. She sighed

and relaxed on the cushions. “Are you done?”

Caden chuckled, and it was as if her body reacted on command, tightening her nipples

against the rough terry as shivers raced along her spine. She wanted them—and they knew it.

“I’m finished stitching your side,” he said, leaning in alongside Talon. “But we’re far

from done, darling.”

He nodded and Talon moved, scooping her up in his arms as he headed down the hall, his

hands staying clear of her wound. The towel slipped off, pressing one breast against his chest as

the other jiggled from the motion. She felt the coil inside her abdomen tighten and knew that

excitement had won the war. But what about them? Did they want to share her? Did they even

want to have sex with her?

Questions melted into numbness as her eyelids started to droop—of all the times to be

sleepy. She tried to suppress a yawn as Talon laid her gently on the bed, his body hovering over

hers. He traced a finger along her jaw, down her neck and across the swell of one breast. Her

breath caught and held as he circled her peaked bud, before finishing the journey down her ribs,

stopping at her waistband. Their gazes clashed as he popped open the button and slowly lowered

the zipper. Caden’s hands joined Talon’s as they both gripped one side of her pants, not waiting

for her to raise her hips before pulling down the fabric and tossing it to the floor, taking her socks

in the process. Their mouths tightened, forming small lines around the edges, and she knew they

could see the wet spot centered in the black lace.

“Lace.” Talon’s voice sounded strained, the word barely escaping his clenched teeth. “It

had to be lace.”

“Talon—”

He silenced her with a finger across her lips. “As much as we both want to join you, you

need to rest more. But mark my words.” He leaned even closer, his warm breath washing across

her face. “Come morning, the moon won’t be the only thing going down.”

Rebecca watched as the brothers backed away, though their movements made it obvious

they were still the hunters. An array of emotions filled her head, but exhaustion claimed her and

she drifted off to the sound of the coyote still calling in the distance.

Chapter Four

Rebecca groaned, rolling her head to one side as she fluttered open her eyelids, squinting

at the bright light filtering through the large windows beside the bed. The sun was already up,

bathing the room with a warm glow and making patchwork shadows along the floor. Yips and

barks droned in the distance, followed by a solitary howl.

She tensed, memories of the previous day shuffling in her mind. She’d been wading

through the snow back to her Jeep when…

She bolted upright, wincing when a dull pain stabbed through her right side. Shock kept

her from jumping off the bed as she traced her hand up her ribs, fingering the bandage taped to

her skin. It couldn’t be. The cougar, the coyotes…the men.

A mixture of anger and disbelief got her moving, and she swung her legs over the side of

the bed, grabbing the headboard as she pushed to her feet, tightening her grasp when the room

tilted beneath her. She closed her eyes, waiting for the motion to stop before taking a tentative

step forward. A cool draft breezed over her and she looked down, finally realizing she was

dressed in her black panties but nothing else.

“Come morning, the moon won’t be the only thing going down.”

Anger tipped the scale and she marched forward, snagging a stray shirt off the back of a

chair as she headed out of the room. She worked at the buttons as she stalked down the hall,

drawn by the faint echo of voices near the end. The boys had more than just a bit of explaining to

do, and without cougars or wounds to distract her, she was damn well going to get some answers.

She rounded the corner and stumbled to a halt, her breath hitching as she took in the

scene. The men were talking near the fire, dressed only in jeans, the tops of which hung open,

baring an inch of pale skin between the two edges. The rest of their clothes were stacked on a

chair just off to the right, the arms of the shirts grazing the floor. The light from the fire danced

along their bodies, accentuating the strong, rippling muscles in their arms and the firm lines

across their chests and stomachs.

“Damn.”

Though she’d barely breathed the word, both men turned their heads, those golden eyes

matching the blaze of the fire. She felt the heat flash through her, making her toes tingle against

the cold wooden floor. Liquid arousal rushed along her veins, and she knew the moment her

moisture eased along her silky lips to dampen her panties. The brothers closed their eyes on a

low grunt, inhaling deeply before staring at her again, their mouths curling into matching feral

grins.

They moved slightly apart, twisting until they were fully facing her. Their gazes swept

down her body, lingering at the edge of the shirt before slowly creeping back up, their tongues

darting out to trace their upper lips. They both took what looked like an involuntary step forward,

before Caden seemed to snap out of the haze. He flicked his brother in the wrist, stopping the

man in his tracks. Talon glanced over at him then sighed, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Caden nodded at her. “You’re up. That’s good.” He cleared his throat as if it was a strain

to talk. “How are you feeling?”

Rebecca gave herself a mental slap to get her head back on track. Getting lost in the

gravelly tones of his voice or the way his eyes pleaded with her wasn’t going to get her any

answers, though the increasing bulge in his pants certainly looked promising.

She crossed her arms on her chest, wincing as the movement tugged against her side.

“I’m fine, thank you.”

Talon’s mouth pulled tighter as his gaze fell to the bottom of her shirt. “Yes, you are.”

Caden slapped him on the back of his head, murmuring something she couldn’t make out.

She stared at the men, not sure what the issue was until she realized her previous motion had

raised the hem of the shirt until it barely covered the crotch of her panties.

She lowered her arms, determined to stay distant until they’d talked. “Now that we’ve all

agreed to the state of my health, perhaps you boys will tell me what the hell is going on. What

happened yesterday…was it…real?”

Talon looked at his brother, raising an eyebrow and motioning toward her.

Caden stepped forward on a sigh. “Are you going to run screaming out of the house and

down the driveway dressed like that if I tell you it was?”

“Of course not. I’d toss heavy things at you first and hopefully knock you both over the

head.” She jutted a hip to the side. “And I’m not really the screaming type.”

Talon matched Caden’s step. “God, I hope that’s not the case. We plan on hearing you

scream…a lot.”

Caden rolled his eyes at her and turned to his brother. “Can you get your head out of your

pants for one second—just one?”

“Like you weren’t thinking it,” he said.

“Of course I was thinking it. I just had the good sense not to say it out loud.” Caden

looked back at her. “It’s not that we don’t take your concerns seriously, darling, it’s just…damn,

you look delicious in my shirt. And with the moon full rising tonight and it being the height of

the mating season…”

Rebecca sighed at the pained look on both of the men’s faces. This was obviously more

than simple attraction for them, though she didn’t know if she was prepared to think of anything

beyond ordinary lust. Though she’d secretly desired them since she’d first met them years ago,

she’d never imagined they’d be attracted to someone like her. Someone who never seemed to

quite fit in.

She gave them a soft smile, hoping it would ease some of the tension. “Look, this is

strange for all of us. I mean, I never imagined people could, you know, change into animals.”

“It’s not that common.” Caden leaned against a chair. “From what our grandfather told

us, it’s something that happens only once in several generations to families whose ancestors

inherited
the gift
.” He held up his hand, halting her from asking her next question. “Before you

ask, I have no idea what this gift is, no one does. It’s been lost through the ages due to the rarity

of the condition. All I know is that there hasn’t been a shifter in our family for nearly two

hundred years.”

“But both of you can shift?”

“They say it’s because we’re twins,” said Talon, joining in. “Fraternal, but twins all the

same. We share the same DNA, the same abilities…the same desires.”

Rebecca nodded, still not sure how to process the information. “When did you

discover…”

“That we were different?” said Caden. “Eighteen. That’s the age most shifter’s powers

evolve. They’re inherently unstable at first, so we weren’t able to pursue any kind of relationship

with you back then. Not until we were able to control the change.”

She ignored the plug about a relationship, knowing she had to concentrate on the facts