Defying Pack Law (9 page)

“
I think you will. I think,
regardless of your fighting words, that you’re tired of running.
Why not stay? Give it a try. You might be surprised.”

Dana shifted restlessly. She could handle
yelling and arguing. His calm discussion took her unaware, and she
didn’t know how to fight back. “What, and become some mindless
robot wolf who thinks that polygamy is all right just because it’s
the way things are done?”

John appeared to ponder his next words. “I’ll
admit, even having grown up with it, and seeing it in such a
positive light, I wasn’t too sure if that’s what I wanted for
myself. There is something to be said about not sharing. But at the
same time, the sense of family, the built-in companionship, it is
quite tempting. Even more so when you find the right woman and
realize that unless you’re willing to share her, you won’t get a
chance.”

Is he saying I’m that woman?
The concept should have made her curl her lip and
spit in his direction. Instead, her cheeks bloomed with color
before reality slapped her. “Nathan will never go for it. He just
wants me in his bed and doesn’t care how I feel about it.”
And even odder, I’m no longer sure how I feel
about it.
Before the kidnapping, she’d have
said never would she take him back, not in a million years.
However, now faced with him again, feelings long buried rose to the
surface, and they were saying maybe it was time for something new.
Something that didn’t leave her blinking back tears of loneliness.
Time for a life where running was done for pleasure and not to save
her life.

“
Leave Nathan to me.”
John’s
hands had stopped stroking her skin at the start
of their conversation, but they now resumed checking her ribs. Dana
gasped when he pressed a sore spot.

“
Sorry,” he murmured. He leaned down
and placed a light kiss on the area that hurt. Lust shot through
her like a bolt of lightning, and she gasped again for an entirely
different reason.

John didn’t stop his sensual caress,
but neither did he grow bolder. Lightly, he trailed his mouth over
her ribs, stopping at the hem of her T-shirt. He pulled it down
with his teeth, covering her. She almost wailed,
Why are you stopping?

She closed her eyes as her cheeks heated. He
brushed his lips against hers. The barest touch, but it made her
shiver down to her toes. “I look forward to becoming friends, and
in time, when you’re ready, lovers.”

Then he left. The soft thud of the door
shutting had her opening her eyes to find herself alone with only
the tingling touch of his lips to remind her she hadn’t dreamed
it.

Could it be like he says? Could I
be happy?
What he’d described sounded so
beautiful, happy, and best of all, peaceful. But, was it even a
possibility?

She wanted to deny her attraction to the men
she’d engaged herself to. Well, three of them anyway. The redhead
didn’t actually draw her like the others. He’d just been convenient
during her vengeful tantrum. But the blond with the dancing green
eyes who’d kissed her? John who calmed her inner turmoil? And
Nathan whom she’d never stopped wanting and even in her current
anger made her long for him?

Is this what I want? To chain
myself to these men, to bed all of them?
John had struck a nerve when he’d called her previous life a
prison. Content didn’t equate happy. With her blood rushing through
her, her body aroused, her mind whirling, she felt more alive than
she had in all the years she’d embraced her freedom.

But, she didn’t want to rush into things, to
make a decision based on hormones and possibly vulnerability from
her attack. She needed time to decide. Time to reevaluate her
mindset on the whole polygamy scenario. Time to see if these men
could make her happy.

Chapter
Seven

Nathan hit the punching bag over and over
again. It wasn’t working to clear up his frustration, but he felt
better for smacking something.

I handled it all so fucking
wrong.

He’d cared for Dana so tenderly during her
convalescence, acted the perfect gentlemen as he’d lifted her for
bathing and other private necessities that would have surely made
her blush had she known. He’d wanted to care for her himself, but
had grudgingly allowed John, who had the medical expertise, to
monitor and treat her. He’d restrained himself from punching the
lights out of his best friend when he noted how his friend lingered
over her, his eyes alight with an expression Nathan recognized all
too well.

But he’d consoled himself with the fact that
once Dana woke, he’d talk to her, apologize for not standing firmer
against their fathers, make her understand he’d do anything to make
her forgive him because he couldn’t live without her.

Nathan had tried to forget Dana, but scores of
women in his bed couldn’t erase her memory. They sated a basic
need. However, none came close to filling the hole in his heart and
soul.

He’d determined if the only way to
get Dana back was to keep her to himself, then so be it. He’d kill
any who opposed his plan to selfishly keep all her love for him
alone.
I’m the alpha of this pack. If they
don’t like it, then they can line up for a beating.
As for the Lycan council, they owed him with all
the favors he’d done for them. Surely they wouldn’t begrudge him
claiming and keeping to himself the woman he loved.

He’d had it all planned, from his apology to
her tearful acceptance followed by his joyous marking and claiming
of her. A great plan until she’d woken and he’d seen the looks
she’d exchanged with John, sensed her interest in another male—an
interest reciprocated. Jealousy had consumed him and then spoken
for him. With words, he’d laid claim to her in a Neanderthal
fashion that had backfired so badly.

She didn’t want him. Or if she did, she hid it
well. She’d chosen others, and while a part of him acknowledged she
did it out of revenge and hurt, it didn’t change the fact. She’d
set the rules. He’d have to share her.

He no longer knew if he was capable of
that.

A tap on his shoulder made him whirl, and he
saw John.

“
Let’s spar while we talk.” John
inclined his head toward the open area in the gym, and Nathan
followed too eagerly, his fists all too willing to
talk
to his supposed best
friend
.

They both dropped into a fighter’s stance and
circled each other, seeking an opening.

John began the verbal one. “We need to talk
about Dana.”

“
What’s there to say? She hates me
and wants you.” Bitterness colored his words.

“
She’s hurt and confused,” John
replied with a jab that went wide.

“
Gee, I hadn’t noticed.”

“
She still cares for you beneath her
anger.”

Nathan swung hard and hit the arm John brought
up to block. “Great. I feel so much better. And how’s that going to
help me when you end up fucking her because she likes you more
right now?”

John stopped moving and glared at him. “It’s
that attitude that’s going to fuck it up for all of us.”

“
That’s it. Blame me for everything.
If I’m such an asshole, then why not just claim her for
yourself?”

“
Goddamn it, Nathan. Would you stop
acting like a fucking child? Yes, I think she might want me, but
guess what? I know she wants you too. She might have asked for a
true mating in the heat of anger, but I think there’s a chance she
might actually go through with it.”

Nathan dropped his guard, and John jabbed him
in the midsection. Nathan wheezed and danced back, trying to catch
enough breath to speak. “What makes you think that?”

“
She’s tired of running. She just
wants to be happy, but because of something in her past, she seems
to think that’s not possible in a true mated
relationship.”

Nathan blocked some shots and threw a few of
his own, wondering how much he should reveal of Dana’s upbringing.
With a sigh at his stupidity in refusing the truce his friend
offered, he told him the unvarnished truth. “Dana’s dad was a dick.
Probably why he got along so well with my old man. He treated his
wife like shit, and the men he shared her with were no better. Not
just that, but he shared her with any buddy who showed up to
visit.”

“
Are you fucking kidding me? That’s
sick. The mating bond is supposed to be sacred between those who’ve
marked her.”

“
Yeah, well, we all know that’s not
always the case. My dad knew he was doing it and did nothing to
stop it. Said it was none of his business how Ted and the others
treated their wife. Needless to say, Dana’s mom wasn’t a happy
person.”

“
It explains why Dana has such a
poor view of the whole thing.”

“
Yeah. She thinks that all ménages
are like that. I never bothered explaining otherwise at the time. I
never thought it would be an issue given she was a dormant until I
took her maidenhead.”

“
No wonder she freaked. Watching her
own mother live in misery because of it . . .” John shook his head.
“I heard her mother miscarried quite a bit until she finally died
of it.”

Nathan shifted uncomfortably, and John used
this to his advantage to slide under his guard and bruise his
ribs.

“
What are you hiding?” John
demanded, stopping to face him with stormy eyes.

“
She did miscarry, but it wasn’t the
babe that killed her, but Dana’s father. Dana was the only babe
that made it. Her mother lost almost a dozen babes after her. Ted
blamed her. Claimed she was doing something to kill them in her
womb.”

John snorted with disgust. “Sounds more like
they didn’t give her body time to heal before trying
again.”

“
Could be. Anyways, her dad beat
Dana’s mother after the last one, bad enough she never recovered,
and died.”

The horror in John’s eyes mirrored the ache in
his heart. “Does she know?”

“
I don’t think so, but she might
have suspected. Her dad wasn’t one to hide the fact he was a
dick.”

John rubbed his face. “Well, this would
certainly explain her attitude. We’re going to have our work cut
out trying to convince her it can work.”

“
It’d be easier if you and Kody
butted out.” Nathan threw it out there even as he knew the answer.
Once a man’s wolf caught scent of his mate, nobody else would
do.

John grinned at him. “You wish. What’s wrong,
afraid of a little competition?”

Nathan wanted to be pissed that his friend
found the situation so funny, but instead of hitting him, a chuckle
burst free. “Ha, you don’t stand a chance. I know her weak
spot.”

John held his hand out, and Nathan clasped it,
then yanked the man who was like a brother to him for a hug. It
only lasted a moment. They were, after all, men.

John laughed. “Good thing we like each other
because if we can convince her to stay, we’re going to be together
a long time. Think we’ll ever get her to open up enough for her to
take more than one of us at once?”

Nathan, who’d have said never in a million
years a few days ago, now had to wonder. Dana had changed, and he
could no longer say with certainty what she would or wouldn’t
do.

As for him, the idea of a ménage intrigued him.
While he was a true lover of the female form, there was something
to be said about the eroticism of a group orgy that made him hope
that one day Dana would be open enough to try.

“
If we do ever get that lucky, that
puppy Kody better not be there. If what I hear is true, he’d put us
both to shame.”

John looked down at his crotch ruefully. “Damn.
That would explain the number of ladies always hanging about
looking for him.”

Nathan laughed. Maybe things wouldn’t turn out
so bad, so long as he was first to mark her and claim her with his
cock. That wasn’t something he was willing to
relinquish.

Chapter
Eight

Dana paced the bedroom, torn between annoyance
and anticipation. After her failed escape attempt and titillating
exam by John, she’d napped. A nap that left her hot and bothered,
and even worse, more confused than ever. Her dreams were filled
with men, familiar ones bent on seducing her, touching her,
pleasing her—all at once. And damned if she didn’t find it hot.
But, at the same time, she didn’t know what to do about
it.

Dana was fast approaching thirty-one, and yet
she embarrassingly lacked sexual experience. Her maiden voyage, so
to speak, with Nathan was her one and only attempt at lovemaking.
Not because she didn’t desire sex or intimacy, she just hadn’t
found anyone else who drew her in the twelve years she’d hidden.
Inexperience, however, didn’t mean she was completely clueless.
She’d taken to reading romance novels and erotica. She became quite
adept at masturbation, touching herself in a quick frenzy that
didn’t completely satisfy her. However, a self-induced orgasm was
one thing, a mind-shattering experience like the one she remembered
at Nathan’s hands a whole other. Despite her misgivings, despite
her confusion and, yes, even fear, she longed to taste that passion
again. The most shocking part, she didn’t just desire Nathan. She’d
jumped to the extreme and found herself wanting three men—possibly
at once.