Nessa's Two Shifters (11 page)

“We need to make a trip out to your place and bring your things back. You don’t have enough here to live on,” Jessup said.

“I’ll go and bring back most of it in a few days. I have enough for now. I’ll keep my place for when I need to get away.”

Jessup wanted to kick something. Joe was so fucking stubborn. The place he lived in wasn’t fit for a wolf, much less Joe. He’d told them over and over that it suited his wolf just fine. Jessup was sure he spent most of his time in his wolf form, and that wasn’t good for him to do. The longer someone spent in their shifted state, the harder it was to acclimate to being human again. It was why one of them periodically went out to check on him when he moved out there.

“Things are going to change, Joe, now that we have our mate. You’ll see. Once we’ve mated her, your wolf will settle and you’ll start to live again.” Jessup finished putting away his things and added his baskets to the stack Joseph had built.

He grabbed them and headed toward the front with them. He knew Joseph was following him though he didn’t say anything. His wolf’s hearing was sharp enough to pick up even his brother’s soft footsteps as they crossed the floor to the front door leading to the stairs.

“Let’s go wake up our mate. It’s nearly time for dinner,” he said when they’d started up the stairs.

* * * *

Nessa tried to help Lee and Even clean up after dinner, but they wouldn’t let her. When she turned away, disgusted with them, it was to find Jessup’s smug expression as he watched with his arms crossed over his broad chest. Joseph stood by the French doors with his back to them. She could tell by the tense set of his shoulders that something was bothering him more than usual. She couldn’t help but believe it was whatever her brother had said to him.

Jessup took her hand and led her out of the room and into the living area where he pulled her onto his lap when he sat on the couch. His arms encased her in a loose hug as he buried his face against her neck.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Inhaling your beauty, sweetness. It completes me.”

She honestly didn’t know what to say to that. Before she could answer, Levi, Aaron, and Galen walked in. They grabbed seats with Aaron snagging the remote on his way past the TV. For the next ten minutes, they argued over what to watch, switching back and forth between stations until finally Levi growled when Aaron turned past the show he wanted. One growl was all it took for them to settle down and leave the TV alone. She shivered at how the sound had made her skin itch. She was surprised it hadn’t frightened her, but she wasn’t scared.

“Are you cold, sweetness?” Jessup asked.

“No. I’m fine. What is wrong with Joseph? He’s always so, I don’t know, tense, but now he’s upset over something. What did my brother say?”

Jessup hugged her tighter before whispering in her ear, “We’ll talk about it later. Joseph is—edgy.”

He hadn’t revealed anything she hadn’t already figured out for herself. To say that Joseph was edgy was an understatement as far as she was concerned. Her big scarred wolf was an enigma she was going to have to figure out if she was truly embracing their way of life. A way of life she still knew little about.

Nearly an hour later, Joseph appeared next to them on the couch. She hadn’t even noticed him enter the room, much less heard him when he sat down. He pulled her from his brother’s arms to his lap where he nuzzled her neck much as Jessup had done. Only with Joseph, it was more like a wild animal scenting its prey. Another round of shivers traveled over her skin. He didn’t ask if she was cold. Joseph merely stood up and carried her out of the room in a direction she’d never been before.

Nessa turned her head to look over his shoulder and was relieved to see Jessup following them. He gave her a reassuring wink that did little to calm her now racing heart. They descended a set of stairs that ended in a small alcove with three doors. Joseph crossed to the door on the far left and pressed in a series of numbers on a pad before opening the door. Though there was light from somewhere in another room, it wasn’t enough to allow her to see anything as they walked through other doorways into a massive bedroom where a single lamp burned.

She couldn’t help her gasp at the size of the massive bed in the center of the room. She’d never seen one that large before. A deep-maroon-and-gold comforter lay turned down at the foot of the bed, revealing brilliant gold sheets that looked softer than anything she’d ever felt before. Two enormous chests of drawers were located on one side of the bed and an equally impressive dresser on the other side. Nessa had never seen such beautifully made furniture before. Even when her mom and stepdad had been alive, they’d never had anything this elaborate before.

Joseph walked across the hardwood floor toward the bed and carefully eased her down until she was able to stand next to it. He kept a steadying hand on her arms as she regained her balance. Then he released her and stepped back next to his brother. Both men stared at her as if she were the most amazing thing in the world to them. She didn’t know what to think about their intense scrutiny.

“We need to talk about what being our mate means, Nessa.” Jessup eased down on the bed to one side of her.

“I agree. I don’t understand any of this. I didn’t even know that werewolves—um—shifters existed before now.” She almost squealed when Joseph lifted her with his hands at her waist and settled her on the bed before stretching out next to her.

“That’s why we need to talk.” Jessup lay down on his side and pulled her down between him and his brother.

“When wolves mate, Nessa, it’s for life. There are no divorces in our world. Many of our kind mate in groups. Usually two or three males to a female. It is nature’s way of assuring that our females are protected and cared for. While one mate is out hunting, the other is there to protect her and any cubs.” Jessup stroked a calloused finger down her arm as he spoke.

“Cubs? A–Are you saying I’ll have puppies?” she all but squealed, trying to sit up.

Joseph growled and held her still with one hand pressed lightly against her upper chest. For a brief second, Nessa worried she might suffocate if she didn’t sit up, but he relaxed his hand on her chest.

“No, silly. We call them our cubs, but they are born just like you were born.” Jessup kissed her lightly on the forehead, easing some of her anxiety.

“So, there are other, um, families around with more than one man in the relationship? Don’t they get jealous of each other?”

“No. There is no jealousy. All we want is to see our mate happy and healthy. As long as the other males are helping to keep her happy, we are content.” Joseph spoke up for the first time.

She turned to look at him now. His eyes continued to pierce her in their intensity. She couldn’t shake the feeling that he was fighting himself to keep from scaring her. She had no doubt that both men could be scary as hell, but Joseph didn’t need to turn it on like Jessup would have to. Joseph was just the opposite. He had to work at hiding that side of himself. Despite his constant scowl and easy growl, Nessa found that when she looked deep inside of herself, she wasn’t really afraid of him at all. He startled her and made her uneasy at times, but she was positive he would never hurt her.

“As our mate, you will be taken care of and kept safe. You will be a member of the ruling family and have some responsibilities, but you will not need to hold a job. We will provide everything you need.” Joseph’s words sounded so cold to her. They lacked any passion though his body reeked of tightly leashed emotion.

“All of this sounds nice on the outside, but how can a relationship work if we don’t love or at least care about each other? Aren’t we rushing this? I mean I’ve only known you a few weeks, Jess, and just met Joe the other day.” She felt as if her entire world had been upended, shaking the foundation of all her beliefs.

“Precious, we knew the moment we scented you that you were to be ours. Normally, when wolves meet their mates, there are no preliminaries,” he said.

“They know they belong together and mate, sealing their bond as soon as possible. We don’t waste valuable time on rituals or getting to know each other. We belong to each other and nothing is going to change that fact.” Joe seemed to be watching her reaction to his statement.

Nessa wanted to protest that she wasn’t a wolf and needed time to get to know them, but the fact of the matter was, she already knew that she cared about both men on some level. It was as if her heart had already made up its mind and was only waiting for her head to catch up with it. Still, she wasn’t letting them think she was easily manipulated or they would walk all over her the rest of their lives. She looked from one serious expression to the other then stared hard at Joseph.

“So all you have to do is fuck me and you’re bound to me?”

Joseph narrowed his eyes at Nessa’s blunt statement. He wasn’t fooled. She tried to act as if she understood and wasn’t uneasy about the situation she had found herself in. No doubt it didn’t feel that much different than the one she’d been in with her brother at this point. She didn’t have a lot of say over her life right now and that had to bother her. Most human women were used to a certain amount of freedom. The fact that Nessa had not had that in several years didn’t mean she didn’t yearn for it.

“If you want to put it that way, then yeah. Once we fuck you, you’re ours as much as we are yours. Do you want to know what we’re going to do to assure that we are well and truly mated?” he asked.

“Joe…”

“We’re both going to take you at the same time. I’ll be in your hot ass and Jess will take that sweet pussy. We’ll bury ourselves inside of your body over and over again. Then, when we’re ready to fill you full of our seed, we’ll each bite you between your neck and shoulder on each side of you. I can almost taste the fiery tang of your blood in my mouth already.”

“That’s enough, Joe!” Jessup actually growled at him.

He could feel Nessa’s fine tremors where her body touched his. His dick pressed painfully against the unforgiving zipper of his jeans, throbbing in time with his heartbeat.

“She deserves to know what we are going to do to her, Jess. She needs to understand what it means to be our mate—my mate. I’m not an easy man or wolf to deal with. You know that, Jess. We are part animals and me more than most.” He needed to claim Nessa and soon.

If they waited much longer, he wasn’t sure he could hold back the demon inside of him that wanted out. Jess was taking too long. No amount of sugarcoating it would make things any easier on her. It would only make her not trust them to tell her the truth in the long run. They needed her trust in order to keep her safe. He wasn’t about to compromise that at this point.

“You’re scaring her unnecessarily, Joe.” His brother frowned.

“It’s okay, Jess. Joe’s right. I need to know what to expect. If we are going to live together, I need to know what my life is going to be like. Don’t treat me like something breakable. I’m not some simpering idiot who can’t handle the truth. You have no idea what I can handle or what I have handled in the past. Treat me like an equal. I won’t trade one prison for another one.”

Joseph wanted to smile at her bravery, but instead he pushed off the bed to undress instead.

“Enough! It’s time.” He grasped the collar of his T-shirt behind his head and pulled it off before tackling his boots.

Jessup seemed to search Nessa’s face for assurance that she was okay with everything before he, too, stood up and began to strip. Their little mate didn’t join in. Instead, she went up on her elbows and watched them strip as if they were putting on a show just for her. When she bit her lower lip, Joe felt his balls tighten.

He shucked his jeans in record time. Since most shifters didn’t wear underwear, his cock sprang free, standing out from his body, hard and heavy. He felt her eyes rest there. When he looked up it was to catch the tip of her tongue running lightly over her lower lip. His dick jerked painfully at the erotic sight as he imagined her hot, wet mouth wrapped around him. A drop of pre-cum leaked from the slit at the top. He wanted to watch her tempting tongue swipe it away. He could almost see her face as she tasted him for the first time.

Jess had finished undressing as well, and their little mate’s eyes traveled up and down both of their bodies with obvious lust. Joseph couldn’t wait to taste her nectar that even now he could smell easing from her pussy. By the flaring of his brother’s nostrils, Jess could smell her as well.

He couldn’t stand it any longer. Joe bent down and removed her shoes as his twin unfastened her pants. They each took a leg and pulled the material down, letting it pool on the floor. Before he even knew what he was doing, Joseph buried his nose between her legs, inhaling her feminine scent through the crotch of her panties. Her sudden gasp and his brother’s chuckle didn’t faze him in the least. The feel of his teeth elongating drew a growl from him. Without saying a word, he ripped her underwear so that he could jerk it from her body and reach what he’d longed for.

“I’ll handle her top by myself, brother. I can tell you’re a little busy at the moment.” Jessup’s amused voice was lost on him.

All Joe could think about was finding the source of the delicious scent that had his balls aching and his cock twitching. The smell of her arousal had loosened the wolf to the point that he had to give it something or he’d lose complete control. Right now, her juicy pussy called to him in both forms.

The first taste of her when he drew his tongue along her wet slit had his toes curling in ecstasy. Licking her essence from his lips, Joe lost himself in her taste and smell. He attacked her with his mouth, cleaning her thighs where evidence of her arousal glistened on her skin and following it to the source where he made himself comfortable as he dined on her pleasure. Had he not felt her thighs tighten around his shoulders, Joseph might have missed her first orgasm. His brother must be kissing her because the only sound she made was a muffled moan.

“W–why is he growling?” Nessa’s voice shook, pulling Joe back to himself.