Prowling the Vet (2 page)

Laura
swallowed against the lump that had risen in her throat and felt an intense
pull in her lower belly as her primitive side responded to the sexual
attraction of this exceptionally hot male.

“Uh, yes.”
She cleared her throat and
staggered forward on legs that were shaking. She must have looked drunk.

“You all right?”
The man stepped forward,
grabbing her naked elbow. She gasped, sparks flying up her arm and tingling all
the way to her core. Her heart sped up and she bit back a groan. She’d never
felt anything like it before.

“Fuck!”
He growled, letting go. He backed up so quickly Laura almost fell forward onto
the front hedges.

He
continued to growl weird, panting noises. His eyes flickered from their dark
brown to a strange tawny yellow. Was there something wrong with him, or was it
just the light?

She
looked and saw it again. What the hell was this guy on?

“I’m
fine, what’s wrong with you?”

Laura
straightened up and glared. This man was a stranger and she was here to get her
sister away.
Get your head back on the
plan.

She
flicked her head and straightened her spine. “I’m here to pick up Belle. She
told me she’d be here.”

The
man nodded with jerky motions, still breathing like he’d run a marathon, and
gestured for her to follow.

“She’s
probably inside…with my…brother.”

His
voice had dropped a couple of octaves and as he bounced up the steps to the
house and unlocked the front door, Laura got a great view of his tight ass.

Stop it stupid! When has a man
like that ever looked at you?

Laura
pulled her pink short-sleeved cardigan tighter around her overabundant breasts
and rolls of
flubber
. Now she wished she’d worn a
woolen coat, despite the summer heat.

“In
here.”

Laura
shivered as the voice from the phone rang through the air. His voice was like
the richest chocolate—smooth, hot, and melted. Heat seared Laura’s cheeks as
she followed behind the dark-haired man who was still looking like he wasn’t
comfortable in his skin.

Laura
stepped down the hallway and walked into a massive, white kitchen and living
space.
Parquetry floors and modern, expensive leather
furniture in what was a relatively spotless house.

Wow. Two men really live here?
Maybe they’re gay and I just made an idiot of myself?

“She’s
in the bathroom.”

Laura
dragged her eyes away from the view out of the floor-to-ceiling windows and
looked toward the melted chocolate voice.

Oh my fucking God!

The
same force that hit her outside pounded into her chest and sent her stumbling back
against the marble-top bench. Her heart raced against her chest as blood flowed
through her body at a pounding pace. Sweat broke out along her neckline.

“What
the hell is going on here?”

The
two men shared a look and some form of communication passed between them. Maybe
they really were a couple. Stupid Belle had gone home with a gay guy, or at
least a bisexual one!

The
dark-haired one turned toward her, his hands gripping the chair next to him so
tightly his knuckles glowed white.

“I’m
Tyler and this is my twin brother Brandon.”

Oh, thank God they’re not gay.
Didn’t think my
gaydar
was that far out!

Laura
looked between the two men who could have easily graced the front cover of a
known magazine. “Obviously, you’re not identical.”

The
men chuckled and glanced at each other weirdly again. They were almost carbon
copies of each other in looks, yet with totally opposite coloring, with Tyler
being smaller in build and shorter than Brandon.

“No,
we’re not. What’s your name?”

Laura
straightened up and folded her arms across her chest.

“Laura.”

Both
men repeated her name and made strange purring noises.

“What
is with that?”

Tyler
looked at his brother and gestured toward Laura.

“Go
shake her hand.”

Brandon
stared at Tyler dumbly, but moved forward anyway.

“Hi.”
He walked within an arms length of her and extended his hand.

Laura
stared at the massive palm and that shiver caressed her spine again.

She
reached out and their skin connected.

“Holy shit!”
Brandon jumped back in a similar
way that Tyler had earlier, and heat pooled in Laura’s lower belly.

Heat
stole across her cheeks as the heat turned into a deep, arousing throb. She
opened her mouth to ask another question when an unusual noise broke through
her subconscious.

She
cleared her throat. “Is that my sister?” She lifted her chin toward the sound
of vomiting.

Brandon
nodded and crossed his arms over his massive chest. A few buttons had been
popped and Laura got a good view of golden skin and blond, curly chest hair.

Laura
inhaled sharply and ignored the strange looks she was getting from the men. She
strode forward and felt a deep twinge over her heart when both men moved
rapidly out of the way. What? Did she look like she had something contagious?

“Belle?”
She called as she pushed open
the sliding door and sighed, her shoulders sagging in defeat.

Her
beautiful sister was slumped on the bathroom floor, vomit covering her half-exposed
tiny, perky breasts.

She
whirled around to face the man who’d brought her home.

“Do
I have to worry about an after-morning pill? Or didn’t you quite get that far?”

Brandon’s
face contorted and turned bright red.

“Are
you kidding? You think I’d fuck a vomiting, half-conscious woman?”

He
looked truly perturbed by the idea, his face twisting into a grotesque mask.

Laura
turned away to hide her smile. The man might swear like a sailor, but she
couldn’t fault his morals on this one.

“Excuse
me.”

She
stepped into the bathroom and shut the door.

For
fuck’s sake, Belle!

She
let out a sigh that should have belonged to their mother. But both their
parents were long gone and buried, so Belle was her responsibility and it was time
to get her sister cleaned up.
Again.

Yuck.
Not a pleasant task, but she’d certainly had to deal with worse. Then she had
to get her home again and ready to begin her new life. Belle was not missing
out on this opportunity for future study, and Laura would make sure she got
everything in life she deserved.

Chapter Two

Brandon’s
abs were quivering like he’d just run ten miles. What the hell was wrong with
his body? His heart was pounding, his hands were shaking, and he could swear
his balls had never felt so tight.

“Who
the hell is she?”

Tyler
tightened his hold on the kitchen bench top and growled.

“Hey.
Stop it!” Brandon stepped away from his brother’s vibrating figure and opened
the fridge, pulling out two cold beers. “What’s wrong with you?”

His
brother was smaller than he was, in both their human forms and their lions. But
fear pricked up his spine. He’s never heard his brother make that noise before.

“I…can’t…”
Tyler dropped his head and stretched back, his brown hair beginning to lighten
and change into the characteristic golden fur of a Canadian Rockies mountain
lion.

Shit!

“No!
Ty, pull yourself together.”

Tyler’s
head shot up, his eyes already changed to tawny yellow and his nose beginning
to disappear into the face of the lion.

It
was too late. Tyler’s human body was gone and in the pool of his clothes stood
his lion instead.

“Go.
Quick.”

Tyler
took off through the house and Brandon followed. Even so, Brandon still felt an
incredible lightness of heart as he watched his brother transform into his
shifter animal and leap out the open back door. He disappeared into the dark
and Brandon picked up Ty’s clothes and threw them into the laundry before
returning to the kitchen. He took a swig of beer, the cold hops relieving some
of the dryness in his mouth and throat.

I think we’ve found her.

He
sympathized with his brother because he knew what had caused Tyler’s shift.
Even with his control over his lion, the shifter in him was standing and pacing
along with the wild emotions running through him. He hadn’t kissed her yet, so
he couldn’t be sure, but he was beginning to believe his father may have been
telling the truth about their destiny.

Brandon
had always hoped their father would be wrong. How could there be just one woman
destined for them? And if they were part of some grand fated plan, it didn’t
mean he had to just fall into line. He did have some say in how he lived his
life. He wasn’t being told what to do and who to mate with.

But
the touch of her skin against his had been nothing short of brilliant. The
other problem was that she was nothing like Brandon had expected, let alone what
he looked for in a woman. Physically, she wasn’t thin or dressed to impress,
and he could see the intelligence in her eyes. She wouldn’t be easy to talk
around to his way of things.

His
brother losing control like that wasn’t a good thing. He’d learned how to
control his lion in his teenage years, letting it rise and fall enough times to
know how to accept it as part of
himself
. Tyler
hadn’t.

 
“Brandon?” Laura’s smooth, sensual voice
called out to him and he turned like so many men had before him, responding to
the call of their siren. The hairs on his arms prickled as he gazed upon her.

“Can
you help me get Belle into my car?”

Brandon
nodded and placed his drink down, not trusting himself to speak as he walked
forward and swung the tiny blonde up into his arms.

He
couldn’t help the instant comparison that flashed through his mind.

Belle
was a Barbie doll.
Skinny, pretty, and incredibly common.
He’d talked to her for an hour, like he always had to when he spoke to these types
of women. He was a builder, not an architect like his brother, yet he still
struggled to engage with airhead women.
Dumbing down every
sentence while flirting to keep them interested.
He generally ended up
bored out of his brain, but at least she agreed to come home with him. He hated
sleeping alone and his sex drive had hit an all-time high recently. If that was
on account of finding her, then she better be able to handle him.

Laura
walked ahead of them, her lush ass swinging seductively in her jeans. Okay, he
had to admit it. Laura was pretty sexy, beautiful even.
Magnificent
green eyes without a hint of makeup distracting from them and delicious-looking
skin.
He didn’t usually go for overly fleshy women, but she had perfect
proportions. Her huge breasts were just begging to be stripped and sucked.
Blood flowed straight to his cock, arousal sweeping through him as he imagined
what she’d feel like beneath him.

Perfect, probably.

“Thanks
for this,” she said as they walked down the stairs and she opened the car door
for him.

He
deposited Belle onto the seat, groaning and burping like a baby. She still
smelled like vomit, too.
Just lovely.

“I’ll
strap her in.”

He
stepped back to allow Laura to slide by him and he got a whiff of her
incredible scent.
Honeysuckle and daisies—fresh, earthy, and
clean.
He wanted to roll in the smell, close his eyes, and get lost in
it.

Fuck…move away now!

That
saving-grace thought made him stagger away as he felt his lion rise to the
surface. It felt like a pressure in his rib cage, a need to fall away into the
abyss and allow the cat to roam. He was calling for his mate, needing to claim
Laura as his own. He pushed his lion down with a small struggle, physically
clenching his abdominals and breathing out to contain him.

As
he watched the woman his lion believed to be
his woman
ready herself to leave, he realized he had to do
something to stop her. He couldn’t just let her go.

“Where
do you live?”

Laura
righted Belle up in her chair, kissed her forehead like a mother would, and
shut the door. His lion purred happily inside him at the maternal instincts
within Laura as she moved around to her side of the relatively new car.
Obviously, Laura wasn’t a student like Belle.

“Why?”
Laura
asked,
her elegant eyebrow quirking up.