Arielle and the Three Wolves (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (25 page)

Arielle nodded her agreement. “That’s wise,” she told him. “I wish I didn’t have to either. But it’s hard to break away from a way of thinking after you’ve been taught it your whole life. I’m just trying to picture how I’m going to tell my parents and Bethany that I’m letting two men share me.” A wicked smile played over her lips. “I like the way shifters think. I like the freedom this lifestyle offers me. It isn’t just about the physical relationships. It’s about love and family. I like that. It feels right to me. But I don’t think my family and friends back home would share that opinion with me.”

“You’re worried about how to tell people back in your world about Jason and Kyle?”

“I don’t think I can tell them about Jason and Kyle.” Arielle sighed and set aside her plastic plate of rabbit stew. It was mostly finished. She opened another bottle of water and took a swallow. “Funny thing is, that’s part of the fun of a new relationship, to tell people you care about how wonderful it is…to brag to them about how happy you are. I’d love to share my happiness with Bethany and my mom and dad. I even want to tell them all the wonderful things shifters can do.” She watched his handsome face in the flicker of firelight. He appeared stoic and unmoved by her words. “I guess you shifters are pretty private. You don’t really want anyone talking too much about you to outsiders.”

“You’re just starting to understand us, Arielle.”

“Yeah, I think maybe I am.”

She watched him across the fire. She wondered if this was it. If now was the time he would make his move. She still had not decided what her answer to that move would be. But Luke made no move. He just sat with her by the fire, and together they enjoyed the silence of the forest and the occasional rumble of distant thunder. It was peaceful, and now it was almost fully dark. The moon was covered by clouds tonight, and the fire was their only light.

She was happy and relieved that he didn’t try and make a sexual advance toward her. She could just sit with him and enjoy his company in the midst of the beautiful setting without the worry of whether she had become a slut. However, as she had more time to sit and think by his side, another wicked smile played across her lips. She thought of how he had looked without his shirt on, and she decided it would have been a lost cause on her part if he had made a move on her. She would not have been able to tell him no.

Under other circumstances she would have thought his reticence to initiate physical contact between them was shyness on his part. But as she watched his proud profile in the glow of the firelight, she didn’t think Luke had a shy bone in his body. Was it respect for her and respect for the relationship she had built with his brothers that stayed his hand? She would have to think more about that. Luke was a tough shell to crack. She didn’t think she had him figured out yet. He was a misfit just as he had described himself. He seemed mature beyond his years. He seemed mature beyond her years, and she was six years older than he was. But of course since she had met the Wildback brothers and learned about shape-shifters, she had not acted her age. She picked herself up from the ground and dusted off the seat of her shorts. Those shorts felt all too short on her legs as she stood before him, and this was just one more thing for her self-conscious to feel a twinge of shame about.

“I’m going to turn in, Luke,” she said and waited. She wasn’t for sure what she waited for. Perhaps one more smile from her handsome kidnapper.

He didn’t disappoint her. The dangerous smile was back. The firelight amplified it. “Good night, Arielle,” he told her quietly. “Go to bed before it starts raining.”

“Good night, Luke.” She bent to him and gave him a brief pat on the shoulder. She felt compelled to have just that minute contact with him. She wanted to let him know she had enjoyed their unconventional day.

Inside her tent once more, she found she was still tired and ready for more sleep. The outdoors and the thin air of the high elevation did that to her. It was a strange sensation, rather like the time she spent with Luke Wildback.

He had told her that Jason and Kyle would probably come up here for them. She wondered if that foreboded trouble. She also worried about both men. Jason still had his broken leg to recover from. He shouldn’t be hiking out in the woods yet. And Kyle, dear, sweet Kyle, he would argue with Jason the entire trip up the mountain over one thing or another.

She allowed herself to smile into her pillow as she thought about her two lovers. This was what it was like to have two men and no jealousy. It was a strange sensation, but very nice, and extremely erotic.

She might have a future with them. But where in the hell did Luke fit into it all? Even as her mind worked over time with all of the possibilities, sleep overtook her, and her eyes fluttered shut.

* * * *

Arielle woke up again and turned over to look at the time. The fluorescents on her watch showed the time to be nearly three in the morning. The sky still thundered outside the tent, but now the rumbles were nearby. She rubbed some sleep out of her eyes and then climbed out from under the blanket. She had to go to the bathroom.

She didn’t bother to put her shoes on and was quick to unzip the tent and run out to the woods. When she was on her way back she realized just how dark the forest was at night without the light of the campfire to make things bright. She stubbed her toe on a tree branch and hopped on one foot back into the camp. An evil flash of lightning illuminated everything and made her hurry faster.

Back at the outside flap to her tent she was just in time as the heavens opened up and started to pour rain. She crawled in under the flap to get cover from the deluge. Safe from the rain, she stared outside at the campground that got drenched from the storm. Movement on the other side of the camp caught her eye. It came from inside Luke’s tent. He must have been awake. The storm had awakened him, too. Then the next illumination from the lightning told her why. There was a tear on the roof of his tent. Already it sagged under the weight of the water, and rain poured into the tent from the top.

Luke came out of the open flap and inspected the damage to his tent. He wore only his boxers. His body was slick with rain water. It looked like he had just taken another dip in the pond. Arielle held the heavy plastic flap of her tent over her head for protection and stuck out her head.

“Luke!” she called out to him. “You’re going to catch your death out here!”

He motioned to her that it was okay. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’m used to this. Go back to sleep. Your tent is new. The roof will hold.”

“I’m not worried about my tent. I’m worried about you. You can’t sleep in there with all this rain.”

He gave another nonchalant shrug. “Don’t worry!”

She held open the flap of her tent for him. “Come on inside with me before you get sick.”

He turned around and regarded her. Another flash of lightning showed his face twisted with all sorts of unknown thoughts. He seemed to reach a decision and loped across the camp and to her tent. The rain chased him as he ran.

She held the flap open wide for him, and he climbed inside with her. As soon as they were both safe and under cover, she closed the flap and zipped up the tent. The night and the sound of the storm were shut out. As he moved past her in the tent, his wet body got her clothes wet and splashed the polyethylene floor.

They both fell to the floor and breathed heavy. She turned on the flashlight by her pillow and was amused by the look on his face. She laughed. “You’re all wet,” she told him. “I think the damage has already been done.” She picked up the blanket and walked behind him on her knees and draped it over his shoulders and his body. This covered him more than his boxers did.

“Sorry I’m getting your tent wet,” he apologized.

“You’re shivering. You’ve probably already caught a cold.”

“Wolves don’t catch cold,” he told her in his best tough-guy voice.

“Yes, they do,” she corrected him. “I’m a vet. I know for a fact they do.”

“It’s my fault. I should have prepared better for this camping trip.”

“Don’t blame yourself. Anyway didn’t you tell me these tents were built for two?”

“But you only have one blanket.”

“I’ll live.”

He reached back to her and pulled her down. He unwrapped the blanket and cradled her in it. The two of them fit smugly under it together. The blanket had gotten wet and at first she scowled at its touch. Then she felt the heat of his body under the cotton fabric with her own body, and she began to relax and get comfortable. He was warm. With his arm around her shoulder, he pulled her close to him. She rested her head against his chest and brought her arms around his stomach.

Suddenly things had become real cozy inside that little tent. Arielle didn’t have time to think about it. The rain that beat against the roof and the occasional rumble of thunder in the background added to the effect. “This is better than my tent,” he told her quietly as they both lay down and listened to the sound of the rain outside.

After they were silent for another couple of minutes, she realized the situation she had invited him to. She had not meant to do it. It was just her internal need to nurture that had kicked in when she saw the leak in the roof of his tent and how wet and cold he had become. She had not thought about his gorgeous, nearly naked body or the fact that she had essentially invited him to stay the night with her.

She chanced a glance up at him. He still wore an unreadable and stoic expression. All she had wanted was for his comfort, and she supposed he was more comfortable now. She was surprised to find she was actually more comfortable with him inside with her. The longer they went without words and just lying in each other’s arms and listening to the rain outside, the faster her heart started to beat. She didn’t know what to expect now because she still really did not know him. He was still beside her and as solid as a rock. His arm over her shoulders felt good and gave her comfort.

She had to check on him again with another surreptitious glance up his chest. For a moment she thought he might have gone to sleep. But his eyes were still open, and he still listened to the storm noises outside with her.

She had time to compose her thoughts. He gave her time. It occurred to her that in his shifter world, she was supposed to be his mate. So it was only natural that mates would hold each other like this.

Her legs had started to go to sleep on her and she moved them down his body. Her knee brushed the warm edge of what must have been a massive erection inside his boxers. She quickly stilled her movements and felt a flush come to her face. She knew men couldn’t control that reaction, but didn’t want to make him anymore uncomfortable than he must have already been.

If he truly thought of her as his mate it would only be natural for them to do other things now beside merely cuddle. But he remained unmoving at her side. His hand gently stroked her shoulder. After a while his touch calmed her rapid heart rate, and she started to relax with him.

“Luke?” she asked him and partially sat up against his chest. “You don’t talk about us being mates as much as Jason and Kyle do. I actually appreciate that because, not being a shifter, I don’t understand that whole mate thing. It was weird when Jason first brought it up. It put a lot of pressure on me.”

Luke gave her a simple smile. Not the wicked one, just a nice open and honest smile. She snuggled in closer to him. “You know that old mating wives’ tale that shifters live by is something I always found hard to believe,” he told her.

“Really?” Arielle was surprised.

“Yeah. The idea of knowing the woman I was destined to spend the rest of my life with the moment I laid eyes on her always sounded like a crock to me. I guess my parents believed in it, and Jason and Kyle do, too.”

“But you don’t?”

He gave a laugh. “You know me. Always the misfit.”

She smiled and looked back down at his chest. “You feeling warmer now?” she asked him.

“Yes. How about you?”

“Yes. Me too.” She moved her legs again, careful to avoid his erection that tented the blanket, and ran a hand up his chest to make sure he was dry. “I’m really relieved to hear you say that about our mating. I mean, it’s a romantic notion, and the thought of having a destined love is appealing, but it just isn’t very practical in the everyday world.”

“I agree with you totally. There is something to be said for freedom of choice. Arranged relationships are just too old-fashioned.”

“Absolutely. I agree. In spite of what I have with Jason and Kyle, I think it was just blind luck that I met them. I mean if I hadn’t hit Jason with my car, we never would have met.”

Without any more thought she snuggled tighter against him, and his arms enfolded her body stronger. “So have you ever met a shifter woman who you wanted to hook up with?”

She felt Luke sigh beneath her. “I’ve met a lot of them,” he said. “I’ve been with a lot of human woman, too. I think if it wasn’t for women I would just stay out here in the forest all the time and away from people. But sometimes a man just gets the urge for a woman.”

Arielle shook her head and stifled a smile at his naiveté. “That wasn’t what I meant. I wasn’t asking you how many women you’ve slept with. I wanted to know if you have ever found someone special who you thought about entering a long-term relationship with.”

“I can definitely say no to that one.” He returned her smile and laughed with her. “I don’t think I’m cut out for long-term relationships. That’s why I’m happy you’ve got something with Jason and Kyle. You make them happy. And even though I get as angry as hell at those two goofballs, they are my brothers and I love them. I want them to be happy.”