Loving Her (Keeping Her) (11 page)

Once they were assured that
the women were all in the vault safe and sound they headed for the front door
that Lucas’s people had just fixed. 

“Last night crazed hillbilly
wolves, this evening uppity Jaguars,” Demon muttered.  “What’s next?”  Demon
and Ben both turned to look at Mac.

He shook his head.  “Don’t
look at me, I’m an orphan.  I’ve never even met another wolverine shifter.  Besides,”
he said dryly, “tomorrow we’ve already scheduled fuck up dirty cop day.  We’re
full up.”

“Maybe when we’re done
alienating or killing all the prides and packs in our hemisphere we could take a
vacation.  Somewhere tropical,” Ben said wistfully.  “See Cassandra in a
bikini.  Take Cassandra out of her bikini.  Make love on the beach.  Roll
Cassandra over and…”

There was a loud imperious
knock on the door shattering that daydream just as it was getting good. 

“First things first.”  Mac
said, opening the door.

  There was an older man
and woman on the other side, both tall with the same golden good looks.  The
man was tall without a single sign of stoop to his shoulders, with grey at his
temples and a custom-made Italian suit.  Though the woman was probably in her
late fifties, she wore it well.  Her hair a cool bob and her make-up impeccable
and understated.  She had the same blue eyes that Ben saw in the mirror every
day.

“Hey Ma,” Ben said
lightly.  “Wow, you don’t look a day over 60.”

“Apparently, the years of
exile have not done much to improve your singular brand of humor, Benjamin.”

“You should be happy I find
this situation funny, mother,” he said, then his eyes went cold and his voice
dropped.  “Otherwise I’d be fucking pissed right now.  You want to tell me what
you’re doing on my territory with the man who beat the shit out of me when I
was sixteen, then left me for dead with the trash along the side of the
highway?”

“Benjamin,” the old man
greeted in a tired voice.  “I did what I thought was right.  The crime you were
accused of was punishable by death.  Marshall was your best friend, it never
occurred to us that he was lying, there was no reason to, and Clarice was so
traumatized.”

“Yeah she was a great
little actress.  My best friend fell for it, backed her bullshit up, and just
like that, my family all believed the worst of me.  But why not?"  His
voice was bitter enough to hurt Cassie all the way down in the vault. 
"You always did anyway; so why not just take their word and assumed I was
guilty?  Without even asking for my side."

"We did what we had to
do for the pack.  We couldn't show favoritism for such a heinous crime."

“There was no crime!”  Ben
hissed.  "That bitch tells you I raped her and you just believe her. 
Yeah, you did what you had to do for the good of the pack, never mind that it
was all lies.  So now what?  Why are you here?"

"Please, Benjamin can
we come in and discuss this like adults?  In private?"  His mother’s cold
tone was another slap. 

"Why are you
here?" he asked again more firmly, ignoring her.

She sighed as if she
couldn't understand his lack of manners.

"Clarice told us that
Marshall compelled her to lie.  That you never raped her."

"Really, is that what
Clarice said?"  His voice had turned mocking.  "Well, it must be true
then.  Is that all?"

"We came to tell you
to come home."  She said it like it was a foregone conclusion that he
would pack his bag and jump in the car.  "You don't have to live in exile;
you can come back with your own kind."

"Home?” Ben said, as
if he tasted something foul.  "Why would you even think I would want to
come back after what you did?  Why would I want to be a part of that?"

"We did what we did
for the good of the pack."  The man barked out, "and you should
return for the same reason."

"The good of the
pack?  Are you going to give me the, it hurt me more than you, speech too?  Dad? 
Because I beg to disagree.  It was pretty fucking painful to drag my ass off
the road with broken arms and a crushed spleen.”

Down in the vault, Cassie
jumped out of her chair.  “Open the vault!”

“Cassie…”  Eli started.

“Open it!”  She screamed,
so he hit the release buttons and she was running.

“Cassie.  Damn it!”

He looked from the empty
door to Clytie who was wiping away her tears.  “I’ll stay here with Roxanne,
she said quietly, if you need to go.”

“No, if I go, I’ll kill
someone, and I don’t think this is a physical security matter anyway.”

“Watch your mouth,” the old
man said automatically.  “You’re still my son and you will show respect.”

“Fuck.  You.”  Ben’s voice
had gone ice cold, but his eyes had flared jaguar gold.

This shit was going to
escalate, Demon thought.  Watching this spectacle of family love had him
fighting against his own driving need to plant his boot in the old man’s face. 
Mac’s eyes had bled to cold steel and Ben was shaking with his pent up anger.  However,
Cassie ran right through them all, while they stood around with their thumbs up
their asses, and punched that old Jaguar in the face.  And man did she wail on
that fucker. 

Cassie wasn’t thinking,
just feeling, and what she was feeling was the need to annihilate.  She put her
whole body behind the hit and landed one right on his pompous mouth.  Then she
swung again, and just kept swinging until she was pulled off the old bastard
and into Ben and Macs combined arms.  They held her while she tried to
struggled back after the shocked old man again.

“She’s human,” he
sputtered, completely disheveled and bleeding from his lip and just below his
eye. 

“No shit.”  Demon said,
while Ben and Mac were too busy holding Cassie to pay attention.

“Cassie baby,” Ben said,
holding her face so that she had to look in his eyes.  She was so mad it took
her a second to really see him.  “I need you baby, calm down.”

“Ben?”  Her face was soaked
with her tears, but finally the anger was receding.

“We have you Cassandra.” 
Mac murmured, his face pressed into her hair as he held her still, his arms
wrapped all the way around her.  She stopped struggling and dropped into their
arms. 

“He beat you and left you
on the road like garbage,” she said, her voice breaking with her tears. 

He held her face between
his hands; his forehead pressed to hers and wiped her tears with his thumbs. 
“Yeah baby, he did.”

 “How can family do that? 
She looked so lost for a second, then the anger was returning.  "And to
you?  My Ben!  How could they?  You always tell the truth, and you make me
laugh even when I shouldn’t.  You touch me and I feel beautiful and loved.”

“You are baby,” his voice
broke.  “Stop crying.  Fuck Cassie, you’re killing me here.”

“They hurt you.”  Her hands
went into his hair and held on.  “By coming here they hurt you again.”  Then
her voice changed, went low.  “Never again.  They leave now and they don’t come
back.  You have a real family now.  One that loves you like they should.  They
don’t get one more single piece of you.”

“You heard the lady,” Demon
growled, done with the standing around shit, he moved to put his body across
the doorway.  “Fuck off.  Come back here, go anywhere near Ben, or anyone of
ours again and I will re-enact Bens childhood beating, only I’ll smash more
than your spleen and you won’t be dragging your ass anywhere.”  Then he slammed
the door so hard it cracked the frame.  “Well fuck,” he said, looking at the
damage.  “I just fixed that shit once.”

“Cassie,” Ben said looking
into her eyes with wonder in his voice.  “You do humble a man.”

“Not my Ben,” she said,
finally smiling weekly and caressing a hand down his face.  “You wouldn’t know
the meaning of the word humble.”

He smiled, leaning down and
burying his face in her neck, he breathed a few cleansing breaths.  “Thanks for
fucking up my dad.”

Cassie laughed, had to
swallow, then kissed him on his silky gold hair.  “You’re welcome.”

Ben's voice changed, went
firm.  “But next time you want to attack a shapeshifter, that could snap you
like a twig in defense of my honor, try going over that ‘your shit and my shit’
speech in your head again.”

Cassie cleared her throat. 
“Right.”

“And the ‘you stay in the
vault’ agreement,” Mac said dryly.  “Also should be addressed here for future
reference.”

“Fine, I get it,” she said
exasperated.  “Bad Cassie.  No cookie.”

“I wouldn’t say that.”  Ben
drawled.  “You might get a cookie but you’re definitely going to bed without
your supper.”

“And there will be
punishment,” Mac promised darkly.

Cassie narrowed her eyes. 
“You’re not going to try and use this as an excuse to play some twisted bondage
games with paddles are you?”

“Oh, I don’t think paddles
will be necessary.”  Mac kissed her full on her soft lips and let her go.  “But
twisted bondage games?  That’s a definite possibility.”

From tears to laughter. 
How did they do that? 
Cassie
wondered she had been on such a rollercoaster of emotions all day; she wasn't
sure what she was feeling anymore.  Turned on, definitely.  Scared, somewhat. 
Emotionally exposed, absolutely.  Ready for the sexy and determined looked Mac
and Ben were sending her way? 
Hmm.

She took off running for
the stairs.

    Demon looked at Ben and
Mac who were both watching Cassie run up the stairs with identical predatory
eyes.  He cleared his throat.  “Might be best you move Cassie into your wing
tonight.  Seeing as how all the soundproofing is between the wings and not the
rooms.”

“That’s an excellent idea,”
Mac said.  “We’ll just get Cassie now.”

“And I’ll check with Shawn
and Eli to make sure our guests are gone.”  Demon muttered, watching them
saunter up the stairs with purpose.  “Maybe hang out in the vault with my
girls.  Watch a Disney movie…or two.  Just in case.”

What exactly is my plan
here?  Again? 
Outrunning
shapeshifters in peak physical condition was probably not going to happen. 
Hiding might be a better way to go, she turned to find a less obvious hiding
spot then her bedroom, and Mac and Ben were leaning against opposite sides of
the doorway.

“I’ve decided to panic,”
Cassie said, looking at them with huge eyes.

“Why?”  Mac asked while Ben
looked like he was studying her.

“I don’t know.  It’s been
an emotional few days,” she said backing up when Mac took a step forward.  He stopped,
so did she.  “I feel off kilter and exposed here.  Like I'm way out on a limb
by myself.  After the way I reacted downstairs, it’s pretty obvious how I feel
about you both.  But I don't know what you're feeling.  And, I’m not sure how
to get past this.”

“I love you Cassandra,” Mac
said unexpectedly.  His voice deep, his eyes quicksilver.  “I have since the
first time you laughed.”

Cassie felt all the air
rush out of her lungs. 

“We’ve all gone
insane," she finally said, her words breaking.  "No way it should
have happened this fast.”

“The problem with saying ‘I
love you’ now,” Ben said quietly, “Is that it’s going to sound forced, when
it’s not.  But, I’m still going to wait and tell you I love you tomorrow, so
there isn’t any doubt.” 

Cassie laughed through new
tears, shaking her head.  “Then that’s when I’ll say I love you too.”

“We’re moving you into our
wing tonight,” Mac said with finality.

“More accurately, we’re
moving you into our wing tonight and your stuff tomorrow, when we don't have
better things to do.”  Ben's voice was rough, his cat close to the surface.

“I’m closing my eyes,” she
said suddenly.  Then did, “That way you can make your move without me seeing
you coming and panicking.  So feel free to…”  Her little speech was interrupted
when she was picked up and carried from the room.  She opened her eyes and Mac
was holding her with Ben leading the way.

Well that worked. 
She wrapped her arms around Mac's neck and sighed. 
Whole
hog and all in.  No more running
.

The bedroom they took her
to was massive.  Easily making three of hers.  The bed was a king and the color
scheme of subdued greys and blues made her think that this was Mac’s room. 
Since none of the attacking wolves had made it through to the other wings of
the house, they had remained relatively untouched.

"Whose room is
this?"

"Mine,"  Mac
said, "We were thinking if the three of us kept this wing we can turn
Ben's into the command center and training area, since that's mostly what it is
now anyway.”  He shrugged, "His bedroom, and the other two in that wing
can be the guest rooms when the pack is visiting."

"You guys have been
planning this?"

"Since the first day
you arrived," he said.  His eyes silver pools.

"You've been talking
about us living together since day one?"

He raised a brow.  "Is
that such a surprise."

"I guess it shouldn't
be," she said, needing a deep breath.

"But you thought maybe
we were playing you?"

"No!"  She
shuddered out another breath.  "Not that.  I guess I didn't realize how
much you were holding yourself back, waiting for me to catch up."

"And that makes you
sad?"  Ben asked, coming up besides them while Mac sat down on the bed
with her in his arms.

She looked from one to the
other, both so different, like flip sides of the same coin, but somehow they
fit.  With her.  "I want you to be yourself always, not hold back because
you worry about how I'll react."

"Giving you time to
trust us is not holding back," Mac said, "Not in the way you mean. 
We aren't pretending for your sake Cassandra.  And we don't want you to be
anything but what you are.  Ever."

She ran her hand down his
oh-so-serious face.  "Do you know anything about our family?  From
Clytie?""

"Some," Ben said,
sitting beside them.  "We know they're very religious and not in the good
way, but in the judge everyone way," he said.  "And that her sister
was disowned when she turned up pregnant.  We know she killed herself and
Clytie found her.  Now she has very little to do with them."

"She won't talk about
it," Cassandra said, her eyes sad.  "But I know what it’s like to
grow up trying to be something you aren't so that your family will love you. 
People who should love you unconditionally."  She shook her head. 
"How can you not love Clytie just as she is?  But there are always
conditions.  To be accepted.  To be family.  My whole life I feel like I've
been wandering, searching for a place I can belong."

Ben laughed without humor. 
"You've met my parents,” he said roughly.  "Believe me, I understand
conditional acceptance and wanting to belong to something bigger than
yourself.  That's why I joined the SEALS.  Then we formed the Lionsgate pack
for protection, and it became...more."

"Yes, exactly.  It's
obvious when you guys are together that you’re family.  More than the one you
were born to; a real family doesn't hurt each other, not on purpose anyway. 
They just love you and let you be who you are.  I want that.  And I want to
give that to you."  She looked from Ben to Mac.  "To both of
you."

"What I know about
family I learned from watching others," Mac said, his voice gritty with
feeling.  More than she'd ever heard from him.  She met his eyes and they were
molten silver.  "I've never called anyone family, not even the pack.  I
don't know what that is, not really.  I don't know if I can give you what you need,"
he said, pushing her hair off her face with a touch so soft Cassie was ready to
cry again.  "But I'll spend the rest of my life trying."

"Oh Mac," she
said, kissing him softly.  "Don't you get it?  You and Ben are it for me. 
I love you both.  No conditions attached.  No expectations to change.  No
trying required.  Just be exactly who you are."  Then her smile turned a
touch teasing.  "I mean, if I have to settle for two hot shape-shifting ex
Special Forces hotties that make me laugh and turn me on with a touch or a
look, well," she said, grabbing a fist full of Ben's hair when he nipped
at her shoulder.  "We all have our crosses to bear."

They both growled, and
Cassie laughed.  Then she was turned and laid across the bed with Mac leaning
over her, Ben right beside him.  “I guess we'll have to find some way to make
it worth your while."

"Worth putting up with
you, you mean?" she asked, her hands caressing up his chest until she
reached his neck and could pull him down for a kiss.  "Well, you are pretty
tough to take," she said right before their lips meshed.  Then Mac was
pressing her full bodied into the bed. 

All her softness
surrendering to his firm body and sure lips.  Then he was slipping over her to
the other side and Ben was helping him pull off her clothes. 

Cassie was more interested
in baring their skin then her own, but was hindered by lack of help until she
was naked and they were suddenly in a hurry.  It was quite a struggle.  She
laughed and sighed, hands lingered, lips sought warm spots to nuzzle, and
finally they were naked body against naked bodies.  Mac ran his lips down her
throat until he could latch on to a nipple and suck. 

The man really has the
softest lips,
Cassie thought on a
caught breath.

Her back arched, presenting
herself like a feast to two sets of eyes, one flowing quicksilver, and the
other slitted and golden cat.  Ben claimed her other breast on a purr, laving
it with attention, then moving down her body until he had nipped and licked
every inch of her.

Mac went the other way,
palming her breast with a squeeze, and finding her lips again.  He stayed
there, just memorizing her mouth as if he was content just to kiss her for days
while their breath melded and their tongues danced.

He was still kissing her
when Ben made it to her legs, his hand palming her hot pussy, then delving a
finger in to pump and rub.  Mac caught her groan between his lips, and then
each successive shaky breath after that, while Ben used his fingers and then
his lips to push her into a shuddering orgasm. 

Mac caught that too. 
Growling while he tweaked her breasts, then when Ben started back up her body,
Mac rolled her over and they started on the other side, kissing, nipping, and
licking their way down her back.  Mac spent an eternity marking her ass with
sharp little nips and hot wet licks.  All Cassie could do was grip the bed and
writhe beneath them.

Ben pulled her up by her
hips so she was on her knees and spread her thighs.  Knocking her knees open
with a curse, he entered her in one thrust.  Cassie screamed from the pleasure
of it, and pushed back to meet his plunging hips.

She felt a caress on her
face and looked up to see Mac watching with fire in his eyes.  He had pulled a
tube from the bedside drawer and was patiently waiting.  His eyes were wicked
hungry.  "What do you want?"

"I want you both,"
she said.  Her voice breathy, her eyes caught by his.

He looked over her head and
nodded to Ben, who pulled out, then flipped her over, and plunged back in with
a savage thrust.  Then he wrapped her in his arms and flipped them so that she
was on top and Mac was at her back.

She looked down into Ben's
golden cat eyes while Mac spread the globes of her ass, his fingers cool and
slick with lube he rubbed along her back entrance, making her shiver, even while
Ben forcibly tried to keep her attention with his monster cock.  When Cassie
closed her eyes and arched her neck, he pulled her down for a kiss.  His hands
firm, his mouth hot. 

Mac growled at the feel of
Cassie's soft ass in his hands.  He rubbed along her nerve endings and then
pushed in, his finger taking the possession that his cock would soon claim. 
When she finally relaxed, he shuttled two fingers into her back entrance,
stretching her while she was slammed down on Ben's cock.  When she was close to
climax, he removed his fingers, led his cock to the same spot, and pushed in.

Ben stilled his thrusts
with an effort, feeling his cat fighting for domination of their mate.  He
waited, running his hands up her sides and back while Mac adjusted.

"Push out Cassandra,"
Mac growled.  He was so out of control, he could feel his teeth elongating, he
wanted to mark, and he would, as soon as they claimed what was theirs. 
Finally, he felt the give and pushed all the way in while Cassie whimpered
against Ben's lips.

"Easy Cassie.  I have
you," Mac murmured, even as he fought the need to hammer her soft ass. 
Then he was all the way in and it was hot, tight, and incredibly erotic.

Cassie was feeling invaded,
claimed, and uncomfortably full of male.  Then they started moving in harmony,
one out, the other in, and again, until every nerve in her body was screaming
from the intimacy of it.  She was surrounded.  When they both reared back and
bit her on opposite shoulders, claiming her completely, she lost what control
she had left and screamed her release.  They felt her spasming around them and
followed, roaring their own releases.

"You bit me," she
said awhile later when she could speak coherently again.  She was back between
them, her head on Bens chest with Mac curved around her back.  They had cleaned
up and come back to bed, squeezing in close despite the large king mattress. 

Ben was running his hand
around in circles on her shoulder blades.

"We claimed you,"
Mac said.  Licking over the bite.  "Not a shifter in the world will mistake
that you belong to us," he rumbled with satisfaction.

Cassie considered how she
felt about belonging to them, and what was, argumentatively, a big neon sign
proclaiming it to the world.  "I'm actually...alright with that."

Ben chuckled underneath
her.

"What's so
funny?" she asked lifting her head off his chest to look at him.

"You are," he
said, pushing her hair off the bite he'd put on her shoulder.  The smile
lighting his eyes.  "No games, nothing false, nothing hidden, just beautiful
Cassandra."

She smiled and put her head
back down, kissing his chest.  "That's OK then.”  When Mac started
laughing too, she shifted to watch, her head stayed on Ben's shoulder but now
her body was facing Mac, who was chuckling, his eyes lit with humor.  "Now
what are
you
laughing at?"

"Same thing," he
growled out, the full frontal view of her distracting him from his humor
immediately.  He ran his hands down her soft body.  Starting at her shoulders,
across her breasts, then framing her hips.  "Fuckin' beautiful," he
ground out.  His voice dropping two octaves. 

It sent a thrill up her
spine.  "You start up again, we're never going to get any sleep," she
warned, her words coming out breathy and weak.

He looked at her, starting
at her toes, over all her womanly softness and beading nipples, ending at her
lips.  Then he reversed the order only using his lips this time. 

"Well,” she said, when
his lips left hers with a final nip and traveled over her breasts and kept
going down.  Ben's hand came up and over a breast, his other hand in her hair
as she arched.  "Sleep is over-rated anyway."

***

This time it was Cassie at
the kitchen island nodding over Wheat Chex.

When Clytie and Roxanne
joined her for a late breakfast, Clytie started laughing.  "Guess I know
why Demon kept us up late watching Disney movies in the vault," she said
and then opened her eyes wide, purred and clicked her teeth suggestively.

That made Cassie laugh,
despite her exhaustion.  “You are an idiot."

Then she noticed Roxanne in
her new purple shorts and t-shirt that said "Live to Ride" with a
sparkly pink horse.  "Wow.  Roxanne you look amazing."

Roxanne smiled huge.  "Did
you see?" she asked, putting out her foot.  They were pink Keds with
sapphire blue sparkles.

"Pretty," Cassie
said, smiling at the little girl’s enthusiasm.  Even her French braid ended in
a hair band with dangling pink stars.

"So what are the guys
working on today?"  Clytie asked sitting down.  "Anything good?"

"No idea.  They were
gone when I woke up."

"Huh."

"What huh?" 
Cassie said, catching a tone.

"It's just that
Roxanne wanted to show off her shoes so we went by the command center first. 
Eli is on duty, and he said nothing much happening today.  It's just weird the
guys would be out of bed early when they could..."  She looked at Roxanne
who was as usual studying everyone with wide eyes.  Clytie cleared her throat. 
"...sleep in."

Cassie sat up straight. 
"Shit."

"Hey.  Watch the
language around Roxanne."

"Sorry, but I
forgot," she said, nearly falling out of her stool trying to get up. 
"It's fu..." she changed the word mid sentence.  “Beat up dirty cop
day!"

Clytie’s eyes widened. 
"Oh.  Shit."