Mark of the Wolf; Hell's Breed (22 page)

She glared at him. “Don’t
start that again! You
are
human! You may be enhanced—Well, I know you are.
I’ve seen what you can do, but that makes you enhanced. It doesn’t
make you not human.”

The guys shared another look that she
had trouble interpreting. Lucien moved closer and pulled her into a
gentle embrace. “Baby …. Denying it doesn’t change it. We accept
what we are.”

Laurie stared up at him. “And you
think I can’t or won’t accept it?”

He smiled faintly. “Can you? Will you
… accept us the way we are?”

Laurie shifted closer. “I can and I
have.”

“
Does that mean you’ll
stay with us?” Kane asked.

“
That depends,” she
murmured. “Are y’all planning on staying with me? Because it seemed
to me that you were really anxious to go home. I thought that was
why you were trying to track my father down? Because he had
something to do with bringing you here?”

“
We don’t know that he did
or if he can send us home, but it doesn’t matter if you’re willing
to stay with us. We’ll gladly stay. At least … It doesn’t matter to
us. But most of our battalion came through that rift. And we
weren’t exactly welcomed with open arms. I expect a lot of them
still want to go home.”

He frowned. “I want you to really
think about this, baby. We want you. But we aren’t the same and you
know it. We’re wanted men. We’re going to either have to live on
the run or find some place remote enough they can’t hunt us down,
because they’re going to try. They want answers. They don’t just
want us. It isn’t much of a life we can offer.”

Laurie started to speak but he
silenced her.

“
I’m serious about this,
baby. Think it over. Let us know in a couple of days, when you’ve
had time to think everything through.”

* * * *

A week later, somewhere in
Alaska

The cabin was luxurious, spacious,
pretty much completely self-contained, and ungodly remote. As
accustomed as Laurie was to living in town—even if it was a small
town—the wilderness that surrounded the cabin was as unnerving as
it was beautiful.

She figured she could get used to it,
though, probably pretty fast, actually. After all, she’d only had
her cat for company before except when she was at work and she
couldn’t really count work time as social time. She was surrounded
with people she couldn’t chat with. Truthfully, she had far more
company and interaction than she’d ever had before.

She was going to miss her best friend
… and her cat, but the guys seemed pretty determined to keep her
occupied.

She’d been a little
stunned when she realized Lucien had really meant it when he’d said
she was
their
woman. She was still trying to get used to that idea, but
Lucien and Damien had both slept with her since the big battle at
the cabin and although neither of them seemed completely happy with
the arrangement they hadn’t tried to kill each other
afterward.

She supposed they were all going to
have to adjust to the group thing.

She thought that was probably the
strangest thing about this very strange situation she’d found
herself in. She thought it was also the one thing that was going to
be hardest getting used to, but she discovered she was more
inclined to find it wildly exciting than daunting.

It wasn’t as if she was repelled by
any of the four—far from it! She was attracted to them in every
way—physically, emotionally, and mentally.

Lucien seemed to think
that she was their soul mate, that they’d been meant for each
other. She thought that was the
most
romantic thing she had ever
heard!

It certainly didn’t make it less
romantic that all four of them felt the same way.

Well, she thought they did. They’d
split up for the trip. She’d traveled with Lucien and Damien and
the three of them had picked out the house. Kane and Basil were
supposed to be joining them soon.

And then maybe they could convince her
that they loved her as much as Lucien and Damien did, she thought
with a smile and a tremor of anticipation.

Almost a week passed before Kane and
Basil arrived and by that time Laurie was deeply worried. It didn’t
help her feelings that they came bearing gifts—they’d brought her
stuff from her apartment.

Laurie stared at it, too stunned to
speak for several moments, torn between the urge to berate them for
scaring her and deep appreciation for their thoughtfulness. “I’ve
been worried sick! I would’ve been more worried if I’d know you
guys were risking getting caught to get this stuff. It’s just
stuff! Not saying it isn’t dear to me, but you guys are way more
important than anything I had in that apartment.”

Kane and Basil had exchanged an
uneasy/unhappy look, but at that they looked relieved.

“
It was my idea,” Kane
boasted. “I thought of it way back when you were worried about the
landlord putting it on the side walk. Basil stood my watch and his
while I went to your place, packed everything up, and put it in
storage. So it really wasn’t that risky. I didn’t have to go back
to your apartment to get it.” He shrugged. “I didn’t tell you
because I thought you might be pissed off about … uh … well, that
bastard landlord put the apartment up for rent. He’d already piled
most of it on the sidewalk when I got there. That’s why it didn’t
really take me long to pack it all up and move it.”

That relieved her of the sense of
guilt she thought had overshadowed their thoughtfulness.

“
I got something for you,
too,” Basil announced. He left the cabin and headed to the panel
truck outside. When he returned, he was carrying a cat that looked
like a whirling dervish, bleeding from scratches on his hands, face
and neck, and struggling to maintain his ‘look what I got you’
smile. Her cat wasn’t too happy either.

But then Marcy had never been
particularly fond of dogs and Laurie had a feeling she sensed their
wolf side.

Well, she’d just have to
adjust!

“
You wonderful man!” she
exclaimed enthusiastically. “You can put her down now.”

Uttering a deep-chested growl, Marcy
hit the floor running and disappeared under the couch. More snarls
and growls emerged once she’d found a place to hide, but Laurie
decided to ignore her.

Pretending she didn’t notice the
already closing wounds, Laurie surged toward Basil and up on her
tiptoes to kiss him. To say it wasn’t quite what she’d expected was
an understatement. She’d intended a friendly kiss of affection and
appreciation. She’d expected something similar. What she felt was
raw need as their lips met and Basil closed his mouth over
hers.

The feel of Basil’s mouth was as
unique as his essence as it flowed into her, branding her with the
feel and taste of his desire, dragging her deeper into the molten
abyss that had her as drunk as if she had alcohol flowing through
her veins. It seemed to last forever … and not nearly long
enough.

She was panting for breath when he
lifted his head. “It’s really hot in here,” she said weakly. “I
feel dizzy.” She glanced from Basil to Kane, trying to gather her
thoughts, and abruptly remembered, when she saw Kane was looking
both crestfallen and indignant, that she hadn’t offered to kiss him
for his daring deed!

Pulling away from Basil resolutely,
she moved to Kane. “I can’t thank you enough for your
thoughtfulness,” she said shakily as she strained up to reach
Kane’s lips.

He didn’t leave her to struggle alone.
Grasping her waist, he hauled her up tightly against his length and
laid a sizzling kiss on her that rivaled the heat in Basil’s. His
taste was like strong liqueur. It went right to her head and made
her even dizzier, heating her from the inside out. Her kegels
commenced to clapping ‘here boy!’. Her knees and legs felt like
they’d turned to cooked spaghetti, in fact everything below the
waist felt like it was cooking.

Abruptly, she recalled the fantasy
she’d entertained when they’d been at the first safe house and it
didn’t seem nearly as wildly improbable and way more
appealing.

Lucien and Damien were out
hunting and it seemed a really good time to get to know Kane and
Basil better. After all she was supposed to be
their
woman, wasn’t she? That was
what they’d said when she’d agreed to go with them. And yet not a
soul had touched her since they’d left the lower forty
eight!

And she had needs, she discovered,
that went way beyond any needs she remembered ever having had
before.

“
My, it’s hot in here!
What day is it? I mean time?” she asked when Kane finally broke the
kiss.

Kane stared down at her in bemusement,
blinked a couple of times and then scooped her up in his arms.
Turning, he surveyed the massive great room of the lodge, zeroed in
on the stairs leading up to the second floor and strode briskly
toward them.

Unless he was dancing the two step,
Laurie thought dizzily, Basil was right on his heels.

She tilted her head until she spotted
him, discovered she was right, and gave him a come-hither lash
batting signal and a dopey smile. “Are we doing a three
way?”

They’d reached the upper hallway by
that time. Kane halted in his tracks and turned to look at Basil,
who he apparently had realized was following them step for step.
Basil and Kane exchanged a strange look. “Baby …,” Kane said
finally. He frowned and looked around and then headed into the
nearest bedroom and set her down beside the bed. “Why don’t you lie
down? We’ll talk about it later.”

“
Can we lie down together
and talk about it now?” Laurie asked, dropping abruptly to the side
of the bed and falling backwards. “I am
so
hot! And you guys didn’t get a
turn. We can do it now,” she said playfully, lifting one leg and
scrubbing the sole of her foot over the hard bulge in Kane’s
jeans.

“
With both of us?” Basil
asked, beginning to sound more than a little peeved.

Laurie sighed. “I guess that’s a no? I
can just lay here and be a Laurie sandwich,” she added. “We don’t
actually have to do anything … maybe a little petting?”

Kane flicked a look at Basil again.
“Fuck it! Lucien and Damien are bound to be pissed when they get
back, but …. Well if I get my ass kicked it’ll at least be worth
it!”

Peeling his jeans off, he joined her
on the bed, dragging her around to lie lengthways on the mattress
and then pulling her t-shirt up. Blinded by the shirt over her
face, Laurie was struggling to finish removing the t-shirt when she
felt the heat of his mouth settle over one breast. She lost her
breath as she felt the first tug of his mouth on her. The bed
dipped. She managed to peel her ‘blindfold’ off as Basil captured
her other breast in his mouth.

The two men eyed one another across
her chest and growled.

Laurie moaned at the twin founts of
fire flowing through her and pooling in her lower belly. Freeing
her arms finally from the t-shirt, she cupped a hand on the back of
each head, urging them on, struggling to hold perfectly still to
enjoy the delicious pull of their mouths on her fully. After a
moment, they ceased glaring at one another and focused on
pleasuring her and themselves.

Hot and ready from their kisses even
before they’d begun to finesse her breasts, Laurie felt as if she
would come from no more stimulation than their mouths on her. She
wanted, needed penetration, though, she realized
feverishly.

Kane left off kissing her breast and
moved upward, sucking and nipping at every inch of flesh between
her breast and her lips. His hand skated down her belly as he
closed his mouth over hers, encountering Basil’s as he reached for
the same goal.

Kane broke the kiss and scowled at
Basil. Basil glowered back at him and shoved his hand between her
legs. She groaned, arching against the finger that found her clit,
teased it. “Not too much!” she whispered raggedly. “I don’t want to
come yet.”

Her words brought their focus back to
her. Curling his hand along her head, Kane dragged her close for
another kiss, settling his hand on her hip and gliding it downward
until he could grasp her thigh and drag one leg across his hips,
opening her wider to Basil’s exploration.

She shuddered, fighting the rising
tide that was sweeping her closer and closer to completion and
finally broke the kiss to gasp a desperate plea for penetration.
Having succeeded in grabbing the forward position, Kane grasped his
cock in one hand, aligned himself and heaved upward, impaling her
with the tip of his shaft. Balked of his own goal, Basil shifted
his attention upward, cupping a breast in one hand and plucking at
the nipple as he blazed a nibbling trail of kisses over her
shoulder and the side of her neck. She twisted her head to meet him
as he neared her lips, gasping at the feel of Kane’s flesh as he
worked himself more deeply inside of her.

The fervor of Basil’s kiss combined
with the first slow glide of Kane’s cock along her channel almost
undid her. She groaned with a mixture of pleasure and reluctance as
she felt her inner muscles quake, threatening imminent release.
Groping blindly along Basil’s hip and belly until she managed to
capture his cock in her hand, she guided him toward her. He needed
no more encouragement. Shifting his hips closer, he penetrated her
rectum, forcing his engorged flesh slowly deeper as Kane withdrew
along her channel. She fought the urge to curl her hips, grasping
Basil’s buttock and pulling at him until he’d burrowed into her to
the hilt.