Dual Embrace: 3 (Shadowpeak Wolves) (15 page)

Cooper frowned. “So where is Cain?”

“At his house, I think.”

Cooper raised an eyebrow. “You think?”

“Brynn turned up at Cain’s house. I left him and Cain having a, umm, conversation.”

Cooper immediately tensed. “Tell me.”

Dusty quickly told Cooper what had happened— Well, most of it, anyway.

“A demon? What the hell?”

“By now he’s probably back in Hell,” she muttered.

“This is not the time for jokes,” Cooper said sternly. “We need to know more about this—this demon. Let’s go. We’ll be lucky if Cain hasn’t killed him by now.”

“Brynn can hold his own.”

Cooper folded his arms and stared down at her firmly. “I’ve let you get away with a lot lately, Dusty. You’re on the path to self-destruction. That ends now. From now on you are going to every doctor’s appointment and every physiotherapist appointment. Understood?”

She nodded, knowing there was no choice. Cooper’s patience had finally run out.

“You got anything else you want to say?”

Yeah, but from the look on his face she’d be better off keeping quiet.

“Good. We need some help at headquarters. You’ll report to Rye tomorrow. Piss me off again, and I’ll put you on every social committee I can find, got it?”

“Yes sir,” she said quickly, frantic to avoid that punishment. She noticed Laney bite back a smile and glared at her.

“Now I want to meet Brynn. I’ll follow you back to Cain’s. See if Cain left anything to bury.”

“Cooper,” Laney scolded.

“Ha ha,” Dusty replied dryly.

Although she couldn’t help but feel a little worried as she pulled up outside Cain’s house. What if they’d hurt each other? She shouldn’t have left them alone.

“Stupid, stupid,” she muttered.

Cooper pulled up beside her, jumping out.

“Stay in the car until I check it out,” Cooper ordered Laney before following Dusty onto the porch. She paused at the doorway, taking a deep breath.

“Can’t sense anyone inside,” Cooper said from behind her. Dusty looked over her shoulder, noticing the way his gaze roamed over his surroundings. “I tried calling Cain on the way over here. No answer.”

Dusty opened the door. “Brynn?” she called out. If he was around, he wasn’t showing himself. She didn’t know whether to feel relieved or worried.

Cooper took out his phone. “I’m going to call Cain again.”

He’d probably gone for a run to cool his head. She wished she could do the same.

“Still no answer. Pack a bag—you’re coming to stay with us for the night.”

“What?” She turned to look at him in surprise. “No, I’ll be fine.”

“It wasn’t a request.”

Dusty sighed. Damn it. The last thing she wanted was to spend more time with the happy couple. Not that she wasn’t glad for them. But every time Cooper looked at Laney with love or touched her, Dusty was envious.

A car door slammed shut and Cooper moved toward the front door, frowning.

“Damn it, Laney,” he called out, striding outside to collect his mate.

“Neither of them is here.” It wasn’t a question as Laney walked into the empty living room.

“No.”

“Come on.” Cooper gestured at them both to leave. “I’ve left another message on Cain’s phone telling him you’re coming home with us.”

Dusty shook her head. “I want to stay here. Cain will be back.”

“And if Brynn comes back first?” Cooper asked.

“He won’t hurt me.”

“And just how do you know that?”

“Because he’s all about pleasure when it comes to Dusty,” Laney sang.

Dusty and Cooper both turned to glare at her.

“What does that mean?” Cooper asked.

Dusty sighed. Looked like she would have to tell him all of it. “I nearly slept with him, with both of them.”

Cooper looked at her in disbelief. “Cain and Brynn? Cain wouldn’t share you.”

“Before tonight I would have said the same thing,” Cain’s deep voice interjected. “Now, well, it’s a different story.”

Dusty stared over at Cain hungrily as he stepped into his living room. She stood still, unsure. He walked over and pulled her into his arms. He nipped her lower lip sharply.

“Hey,” she protested.

“What did I say about running away?”

A tiny spark of guilt flickered in her stomach. “I didn’t run. I just needed to think.”

“I understand. But I didn’t like it. Next time, expect me to come after you.”

Turning, he greeted Cooper and Laney before quickly recounting what had happened.

“Where is Brynn now?” Cooper asked.

Cain shook his head. “Don’t know. He disappeared. I think he’ll back though.”

“He’s running from what happened,” Dusty guessed. “It scared him.” It had sure as hell scared her. She was still terrified of Cain’s reaction. At least he hadn’t kicked her out. Yet.

“Yeah,” Cain agreed.

“We’ll leave you alone,” Cooper interrupted. “Contact me immediately if he turns up.”

Cain nodded and showed them out. Laney winked at Dusty before Cooper pulled her away.

“Come on,” Cain said when they were gone. “I’ll make us some dinner.”

“I’m not really hungry.”

“You need to eat.” She was gaunt, exhausted, her green-blue eyes too large in her gorgeous face. She’d lost even more weight. Dusty was tall for a woman. Before she’d been injured, she’d had lush curves, a strong body. But she hadn’t been taking care of herself. She’d lost so much weight she now looked fragile.

A surge of protectiveness overwhelmed him. Taking care of her soothed him, calmed the wolf. He moved into the kitchen and grabbed some eggs out of the fridge.

“Cain? What are you thinking? Are you mad at me?” she asked as he added mushrooms and cheese to the beaten egg mix.

He dropped the whisk and drew her into his arms, kissing her hard.

“No, I’m not mad at you. But how about we have some dinner, then we’ll talk. Okay?”

Cain cut the omelet in half then flipped the pieces onto two plates, sprinkling them with chives. He placed both dishes on the counter before taking a seat across from her. He stared at her worriedly as she pushed the food around on her plate.

“Eat.” Cain tapped her plate lightly with his fork and she looked up at him in surprise, managing a weak smile. “Just a few bites,” he coaxed. “You have to have some food in your stomach to take your pills.”

Dusty took three bites before setting her fork down. “Why aren’t you yelling and cursing me, demanding that I stay faithful to you? You cannot be okay with what happened.”

She was so wound up he was afraid she’d shatter, and he knew neither of them could bear that.

Standing, Cain walked around to her, stilling her hands with his as she tried to gather up the plates.

“Leave them, I’ll do them later.”

“Oh, but you cooked—”

“Hush.”

He pulled her up into his arms, carrying her to the sofa, sitting with her on his lap.

“You’ve got to stop ferrying me around.”

“You feel right in my arms.” Like heaven on earth.

“Others will think I’m weak.”

He nudged her chin. “No one thinks you weak, Dusty. You’re the only one who thinks you have to prove something.”

“Cooper ordered me to work at headquarters.”

“Good, we need you.”

“But…”Her voice trailed off.

“But what?” he asked, knowing she’d get around to what was truly bothering her in her own time.

“It’s not the same, is it? I won’t be an enforcer. It’s like rubbing it in my face. Here’s what you used to have, now you get to look at it all day and know you can’t have it.”

He groaned. He should have known she’d see it that way.

“Sweetheart, Cooper didn’t mean it as a punishment.”

“Yes he did. It’s because I didn’t tell him about Brynn immediately.”

“I asked him to give you a job. I thought you would want to work. I’ll have a word with him, get you off.”
I’m an idiot.

“No, it’s all right. And at least I know why I didn’t tell anyone about Brynn. The bastard manipulated me. He could be really dangerous, Cain.”

“And yet I don’t think he’s any threat to the pack.”

“You’re defending him?”

Cain looked down at her shocked face. He didn’t entirely understand it himself.

“I don’t know. I just didn’t get any malicious feeling from him.” He kissed her on the forehead. “Come on, I think I have something that might make this conversation a little easier.”

Ten minutes later, Dusty sighed, the hot water in Cain’s outdoor tub soothing her tense muscles. The dark night settled around them as she lay back against Cain’s chest.

“So we’re all right?” she asked him.

“Better than all right. I love you, Dusty.”

“Even though I nearly fucked someone else?”

“Hey.” He turned her, clasping her face in his hands. “You listen to me. I can hear the guilt in your voice and I don’t like it. You have nothing to feel guilty about. You didn’t cheat on me. I was right there, participating. I felt it too—the overwhelming desire, the need. There’s something more going on here than just lust and I think you know that. Can’t you smell the change in our scent? He’s here, with us, inside us, same as we are him.”

“That’s what Laney said. Do you think it’s something like our true mate link?”

“Tell me something,” Cain said slowly. “If I said to you that I wanted nothing to do with him, that I wanted you to stay away from him, what would you say?”

Dusty looked up at him. “I’d say I can’t live without you. I love you. If that’s what you wanted then I would never have anything to do with him. You come first.”

Something tight and hard inside Cain relaxed a little. He’d never make her choose but he’d needed to hear her say it.

“Even though you wouldn’t be as happy as you would be with him,” he murmured half to himself.

“I wouldn’t be able to live without you.”

“But what if you could have us both? I feel something for him too. Having him with us felt so right. It’s crazy, but watching him touch you was incredibly arousing. However, if this feels wrong to you, if you don’t want it, then it stops now.”

“We don’t even know him. But he… I feel like…”

“Like he fills a missing hole?” He ran his hand over her hair. “This happened to all of us. Don’t feel ashamed of your feelings or try to hide them, okay? Eventually, Brynn is going to realize that he can’t hide from them either. We need to talk this over with him. Figure out where to go next. Understand what happened and if it is permanent. I want answers.”

“He could be as awful as he said. We should be furious that this happened to us.”

“I don’t believe he meant for this to happen. We can be angry at him for other reasons, but not this. And I don’t think he’s as horrible as he makes out. He was warning us, after all. Oh I’m not saying he’s all goodness and light, but—”

“But we all have a past and it’s the future that counts, right?”

His lips turned up in a smile. “How’d you get so wise?”

“Must be from hanging around with you.” She kissed him. “Do you suppose he’s going to come back?”

“Yeah. If he’s aching as much as we are then I don’t think he can stay away.”

“I don’t want to lose you. I love you.”

A smile crossed his face. “I love you too, honey. We’re in this together. I say that we wait. If he comes back then we’ll see how we feel. We don’t do anything if you don’t want to. We stick together, talk to each other, love each other, and anything else will take care of itself.”

“I feel out of my depth,” she admitted, sniffing with amusement. “Lord, I used to be so sure of everything. More sure than I had a right to be, that’s for certain. I feel him inside me now. Do you feel differently about me?”

Leaning in, he kissed her with so much passion her head reeled.

“If anything I love you more. I certainly want you more. Watching Brynn touch you made me hotter than I’ve ever been. It drove me insane, and not with jealousy. It was hot. When we came together, it was like—”

“Magic,” she finished his sentence. “And he thinks he can just walk away?”

A dark smile crossed his face. “I don’t think he’ll be able to stay away for long.”

She smiled her own devilish grin. “Boy, is he in for a surprise.”

“Oh yeah.”

Brynn watched them from the shadows. He should have realized something weird was going on. He’d never been so obsessed by anyone before, mortal or demon.

And now he had two of them to contend with.

Watching them was the sweetest kind of torture. The need to touch them was painful. He wanted more of their energy, the taste he’d had was addictive.