Surrounded by Pleasure (2 page)

And fuck.

Jesus, it’d been too long since he’d felt the warmth of a
woman’s thighs wrapped around his hips. He’d give anything to sink his hard
cock into the depths of . . .

He groaned as he dropped the log he’d been dragging into
the brush pile before trekking back into the woods, doing his best to keep the
briars from snagging his face and trying to put his mind back on his job and
off what he couldn’t have. He needed to shift and run tonight. Maybe that’d
help. He and his brothers hadn’t shifted as often lately because Josh had been
busy with his new wife, and Toby just hadn’t felt like it. He knew he should’ve
been happy for Josh that he’d found his mate—and deep down, he
was
happy for him—but he couldn’t shake
the feeling that he might never have what Josh now had. Toby figured his
brothers felt the same way. Tonight, he’d run as a mountain lion, hunt, and
maybe even sleep in the woods. Maybe if he embraced his feral side, he could
shake this weird depression.

Toby and his brothers were mountain lion shifters. So
were their parents. His father had changed their mother when they’d bonded all
those years ago, and after she’d died a few years back, his dad hadn’t found
the need to take another mate. He could still be around available women without
the overpowering need to take them just as if he were still mated. Josh was
lucky things worked out with Mikaela when he’d taken her as his mate. Their youngest
brother, Eric, hadn’t fared so well.

At times Toby hated this life, but he knew there wasn’t
anything he could do about it. Knowledge was lacking since their father had
been an orphan. Records had shown that Toby’s grandparents were in an accident
when his father, Thomas, was a toddler. For all they knew, they were the only
ones of their kind in existence.

And if they weren’t? Well, it wasn’t like they could go
walking around asking people if they turned into big cats with feral instincts
to mate.

He heard the static on his radio before he heard Josh’s
voice. “Toby.”

Sighing because he was feeling sorry for himself yet
again, he brought the radio up to his mouth. “Yeah?”

“We’re stopping early to meet in the den. You’ve got
thirty minutes to shower and get there.”

“Ten-four.”

Toby holstered the radio and crept back out of the mass
of limbs, briars, and trees, heading straight for his wheeler. Thirty minutes
was just long enough to do a little washing and a little masturbating. Alone. Yeah,
life sucked. Growling, he mounted the wheeler and hightailed it home, not
stopping to talk to his dad, who’d been leaning against the pillar talking to
Jeffery when he’d stalked by.

He rummaged around his room for a clean set of clothes,
still feeling agitated, but as soon as he stepped into the shower, Toby
immediately started to feel better. He wasn’t sure if it was the relaxation of
the hot water sluicing off his stiff muscles or the knowledge he’d be taking
the edge off his growing need. But as he soaped up, lingering on his cock as
the steam of the shower engulfed him, he didn’t care what the reason was.

Bracing one hand on the tiled wall, he watched as he
fisted the other over his erection. He knew just how to touch himself to end
this quickly. No need to tease himself, prolonging his pleasure, because the
gratification was shallow, meaningless. Oh, he needed it all right, but there
was no use turning it into something it wasn’t. As he tightened his grip and
worked his cock harder, brutally stroking it, the ecstasy was climbing higher,
faster. He threw his head back and groaned as lightning licked his balls and he
shot his load all over the shower floor.

Panting, he slumped against the wall and angled the
showerhead to rinse the evidence of his jacking off. Then he quickly washed
again, got out, dried off, and dressed methodically. Everything was routine
around here.

Everything.

Toby got up, ate breakfast with his family, worked in the
field, took a lunch break, worked his ass off some more, showered, masturbated,
shared drinks with his family, ate dinner, went to bed. Same damn thing every
day. Nothing ever changed for him. When Mikaela had shown up here, he’d hoped
for a change in the monotony. Well, he’d certainly gotten that wish. He
should’ve been more specific. He’d wanted to bed her, but Josh had practically
pissed all over her, marking her as his the moment she’d stepped foot on this
estate.

Toby hadn’t had a chance. None of his other brothers had
either.

It was just as well, for Toby loved Mikaela, but not like
Josh did. Those two were meant to be together. Toby figured that maybe when a
man found his soul mate, he just knew.

At least he could hope.

As he neared the dining room, Toby heard some loud
laughter and immediately smiled. That was Rob. He was always such a jokester,
but lately he’d been in a funk, too. It was good to hear that sound coming from
him again.

Toby opened the door, and his brothers looked at him.
Jack was frowning; no shocker there. Jack was a sourpuss on his best day. Rob
and Josh were smiling.

“What’d I miss?” he asked as he grabbed a glass for his
scotch.

“Nada, brother,” Josh said, chuckling. “Jack’s just
pissed he has to work in the Burnout Hole tomorrow.”

“Fuck you, Josh.”

“Not my type, man.”

Rob choked on his drink as he tried not to laugh again,
and Toby didn’t even try to keep from chuckling.

The door swung up, and Toby turned to watch as his father
joined them.

“Good evening, boys. I take it work was daunting as usual
today.”

The guys all grunted and nodded. Then Josh sat his drink
down and faced everyone. “I’ve got some news that might cheer you up. Mikaela’s
bringing someone to help her with her lawyer stuff. She’ll be staying here
about a month or so while Mikaela helps us finalize the purchase of
Caldwell
’s property.”

“She?” Toby mumbled, and he was pretty sure he heard his
brothers ask, too.

“Yes. Her name is Krista Owens. She’s a young lawyer at
Mikaela’s firm.”

Toby felt his hands tremble. He knew he shouldn’t get his
hopes up, but he couldn’t stop his adrenaline from spiking.

“Dad and I have already talked about this,” Josh said, “and
he’s given the go-ahead for her to be here. She’s not married—”

Toby gasped, which cut Josh off. Then he glanced over and
saw Rob’s jaw had dropped and Jack’s eyes were narrowed.

“But she’s taken. She’s very much in love with a longtime
boyfriend and plans to spend the rest of her life with him.”

Toby’s heart plummeted. He hadn’t wanted to get his hopes
up, but up they had been . . . right before crashing to the ground. Fuck, he
couldn’t catch a break. Not that he should’ve suspected anything differently.
It was suicide to have an available woman around. His life sucked, but he had
no intention of checking out early.

“Damn it, Josh,” Jack growled. “Care to tell us how the
fuck that’s supposed to cheer us up? You want to dangle a woman in front of us
for a month? One we can’t have?”

“Dude, I think you’re incapable of cheering up,” Rob
said, shaking his head at Jack, then turning to their dad and Josh. “But he has
a point.”

Josh smiled. “I said she was taken, not that she was off-limits.”

Toby’s head snapped up from the amber liquid he’d been
studying. “Explain.”

“Krista is in an open relationship. She loves her
boyfriend, but they allow each other to fuck other people.” Josh shrugged as if
what he’d just said was the most uncomplicated thing in the world, and Toby had
to fight not to punch that grin off his face.

“What about Eric? Have you forgotten what happened to our
brother? He’d gotten cozy fucking Pam while she was still married. She’d been
in an open relationship when that started, too.”

Josh frowned at him. “I know. I know this isn’t perfect,
but Eric hadn’t known she’d gotten divorced either. You have nothing to worry
about here.”

Toby glanced at his dad, and he was just sitting back,
quietly watching his sons argue.

“So, let me get this straight,” Rob said as he stepped closer
to Josh. “Are you expecting us to take turns fucking her? Is she expecting
that? ’Cause I gotta tell ya, I ain’t into that shit.”

“Oh, no. She’s not expecting anything. And nothing may
happen with her. All I’m telling you is that if she chooses to pursue one of
you, then I’m letting you know it’s okay to fuck her.”

“She’s mine,” Jack said as he took a sip of his scotch
with an air of righteousness.

“Oh, fuck you, hotshot. You can’t call dibs on pussy,”
Rob snarled.

“I’m the next to the oldest. It’s my fucking turn.” Jack
took a step toward Rob, and Josh stepped between them, putting his hands on
their chests.

“Listen, bro. It’s up to her. It’s okay if you want to
pursue her, but you can’t just claim her without giving the other guys a shot.”

“What, like you did with Mikaela? You have such a fucking
double standard.” Jack shoved Josh’s hand off his chest and stepped back.

“I hadn’t tried staking a claim before even seeing her.
Ms. Owens is a person, Jack, not a thing. You’d do well to remember that.”

“Whatever.” Jack waved his hand in dismissal. “I’m going
after her.”

“Me, too,” Rob said.

They both looked at Toby.
Great.
These two cats were acting like a couple of dogs fighting
over a bone. Not only did he not want to get in the middle of his brothers, he just
didn’t want to risk it. Eric had been in a very similar situation before he’d
died. Toby wanted no part of it.

“Thanks, but no thanks. You two can fight it out. I’m not
chancing it.”

And he wouldn’t. He envied his life.

His pathetic life.

Chapter Two

Krista stifled a yawn as she watched the countryside fly
by. She’d already had a hard time picturing Mikaela living out in the
country—the woman wore thousand-dollar shoes, for Christ’s sake—but seeing her get
into this testosterone machine once they’d landed at the airport beat all Krista
had ever seen.

After pulling her glasses off, she rubbed the corners of
her eyes, trying to revitalize them. She’d removed her contacts to keep her
eyes from drying out during the trip to the Woods estate, but sitting here with
her glasses on, resting on a plush seat, she felt as if it were night-night
time. With as much as she’d worked lately, sleep was a luxury.

If she forgot about the fact she’d stayed up half the
night thinking about how crazy she was hoping some sexy man would whisk her off
her feet and do naughty things to her, she didn’t acknowledge that.

“How much farther do we have until we get there?”

Mikaela chuckled. “Oh, my God, if you start whining ‘Are
we there yet?’ I’m going to reach across the seat and bonk you on the head.”

“
Bonk you on the
head
?” Krista laughed, and Mikaela laughed louder. As much as Krista tried
putting Mikaela in a boss role, she could see her becoming a close friend. Not
that Krista had many friends.

“For your information,” Mikaela hesitated to turn on her
blinker then pull up to a huge iron gate, “we’re here.”

“Oh, thank you, Jesus. I’ve had to pee for like the last twenty
miles.”

“Yeah, now you see why I had to stay here when I prepped
that codicil for Mr. Woods. We left civilization about sixty miles ago.” She
rolled down the window and leaned out to punch in a bunch of numbers on the
keypad. When she finished entering the code, she rolled up the window and
waited for the gate to open. “But there’s a little town about ten or fifteen
miles farther down the highway. No hotels, but there’s a shitty little bar if
you’re so inclined.” Mikaela smirked.

“I think not.” She rarely went out with friends. No way
was she venturing to an unfamiliar area by herself. Yeah, she was a grown-ass
woman, but there were some things she just didn’t do, and she had no interest
in getting raped or killed while she dallied about all by her lonesome in a questionable
establishment.

“Don’t blame, ya. Maybe I can talk Josh into taking us
out on the town one night.”

Krista appreciated the offer but still had no desire to
get all gussied up to be a third wheel. Instead of giving a definitive answer,
she shrugged as she looked out the window. The driveway wasn’t as narrow as
she’d expected, considering the forest seemed to grow right up against it, but
the picturesque ride through the curving path was truly breathtaking. The evergreen
trees provided a canopy, sheltering them from the autumn sun. And as they
entered a massive clearing, Krista gasped as she took in the huge log cabin. It
looked like some custom mansion but was made to fit perfectly in its surroundings.
Smaller cabins dotted the area, but even those buildings looked bigger than her
apartment.

“I know. The house is beautiful,” Mikaela said, seemingly
reading Krista’s thoughts.

“That’s an understatement.”