First Beast (11 page)

He trailed his hand down her abdomen and slipped his fingers into her slick heat. At his touch, she seemed to lose all sense of propriety, all sense of guilt. She pushed away the image of Joshua alone and drinking in a bar while his wife went to bed with another man.

It was too late for recrimination. Too late for guilt and remorse. She was married to two men. Mated to two men. She just had to make the best of it. With that thought, she let her legs fall open, and gave herself up to Caleb's determined possession.

Caleb stroked slowly between Talia's legs, the heat from her slick folds beckoning him to explore her inner depths. It was difficult to hide his pleasure when she widened her legs and shifted her hips, a silent acceptance of his right to her body.

He wasn't entirely sure why he'd offered her an annulment last night. Perhaps because he'd never taken an unwilling woman in his life and, while he knew in his core that Talia wanted him, he had been desperate to hear her acknowledge that fact. If only by her rejection of his offer to dissolve their marriage. It had been a gamble, but one he'd known he had to take to have her fully accept him as her husband, her mate.

Last night, when he'd taken her, he'd expected it to be like most every other time he'd fucked a woman. When it was over he'd feel nothing. Which was one reason he didn't want the female around after sex. He didn't want to face the possibility that it meant more for the woman than it did for him.

What he hadn't bargained for was that Talia seemed more interested in Joshua's wellbeing than she did for his. He'd expected to bang her, to keep her so damn busy in the sack that she'd have no time or energy left over for his brother, or for that job of hers. He'd planned to control her, make her answerable to him.

He hadn't expected to feel anything. Certainly hadn't anticipated the tidal surge of desire, of possessiveness. Each time he made her climax, something foreign moved through him. Shit. He didn't want to share her with Joshua. Not that sharing was new to him. He and Tynan had sometimes wanted the same woman and, not being able to decide who would make a play for her, went in together. It had never meant anything.

It didn't mean anything now. Okay, he might have shared before, but he had never been married before. That was what this whole thing was about. He was a stranger in unfamiliar territory. Damn right he should be feeling disoriented. All he needed to do was keep his eye on the main purpose for his marriage, and that was keeping his pack safe.

In the process, he'd simply enjoy all the pleasures his new wife's luscious and willing body afforded him. Like the lusty little moans she gave when he sank his fingers into her moist heat, the way her muscles contracted around him. His cock pulsed with the need to be inside her again.

She arched up from the bed, her neck a long slim column of flesh that drove the need to bite her, mark her. The desire moved so strongly through him that he felt his fangs descend, but he fought back the impulse. It would happen—he would make damn sure it would happen. When the time was right.

Since her breasts thrust up at him, her nipples hard and inviting, he lowered his mouth and sucked hard. She cried out and squeezed her eyes shut. He wanted more. He wanted to hear his name on her lips the moment she lost herself in him. She damn well would cry out his name. If he had to fuck her from here to China, she would.

His frustration caused him to bite down hard on her nipple, and the next minute he felt her fingers slide into his hair, anchoring him to her. Her erotic little moans drove him on. He pushed his fingers harder into her, shoving his free hand beneath her backside and lifting her hips higher. She matched the motion of his thrusting hand and soon she came.

Frustration turned to anger when she bit down hard on her lip. Still, she refused to utter his name. Still, she refused to look at him when she climaxed. He whipped her over onto her stomach, yanked up her hips and drove himself inside her. He thrust like a madman, desperate to have her, to make her his. His breath came in crazy gasps that left him light-headed, his blood thundering through his veins. He stared down at her ripe pink ass slamming against his stomach each time he pounded into her, her own gasps smothered by the pillow into which she sank her head.

He came, in hot violent spasms that left him reeling. Only when he was sure he'd regained some control did he lever himself from her. He dropped onto his back and closed his eyes.

The bed dipped beside him and he looked up. “Where do you think you're going?”

Without turning, she padded toward the bathroom. “Getting showered and then dressed. I've got a job to go to.”

The tone of her voice and the slam of the bathroom door alerted him to the fact he wasn't the only one pissed. She was planning on heading to work, was she? He'd see about that. The first item on his agenda was to make Talia leave that damn job. He already had a few ideas, which involved plying her with duties as befit her position as pack leader's wife. Mostly charitable works and organizing events that involved other packs. Then, as soon as children came along, she'd have her hands full enough. He didn't go along with this whole career and motherhood combined shit.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and strode to the bathroom. She hadn't locked the door, which only went to prove how little she knew him. Did she really think he wouldn't come in after her?

Steam from the shower already misted the mirror and window—damn, but the woman liked her showers hot. Caleb opened the cubicle door and stepped in. Talia swung around, her eyes flashing blue venom.

“Get out.”

“Not happening sweetheart.” Casually, he took soap from the dish and lathered it between his hands. “I don't leave a job half done.”

“What do you mean?”

Her hair hung plastered across her head and shoulders, the tips teasing the top of her nipples. It made his mouth water and his cock pulse.

He grinned, placed the soap back in its holder and reached down to cup her pussy.

She moved back against the cubicle wall, attempting to create space between them. “You take too many liberties.”

Slowly, he began to move his hand, spreading soap between her legs. “Just ministering to my wife. Making sure her every need is met.”

She swallowed. “I already told you. Joshua takes care of—”

“Exactly how long do you plan to believe your own lies?”

Her hands pressed hard against his chest. “What lies?”

“That all your needs are met by anyone but me.” He continued the long slow strokes along her slit, pleased when the tension beneath her hands and between her legs lessened. “I seem to recall you begging on at least one occasion.”

“You're very good at sex. It's hard for a woman not to respond when a man knows his way around the female body. But then you've had enough experience at it, from what I've heard.”

“What have you heard, exactly?” He kept up the relentless stroking, noting the moment her eyes darkened, her nipples hardened and she began to move her hips.

“I'm not going to fuel your incredibly huge ego by repeating the rumors.”

Her hips all but gyrated, and she slid her hands to his shoulders. It delighted him that she responded so readily to his touch.

“Except now you know they're not simply rumors.”

“If you hadn't forced me into this marriage—mating, whatever you like to call it—I wouldn't have touched you with a ten-foot pole. I seek more than sexual prowess in a man. I want things like integrity, honor, humility.”

“Lofty ideals.” He withdrew his hand and gripped her hips, pulling her tight against him as water rained down on them. “Are you suggesting you find these things lacking in my character?”

“I know about Joshua's mother.”

The words came at him like bullets and he lessened his grip. It took him a moment to connect the dots, to realize the context in which she aimed the accusation at him.

“I know that you were going to banish her if Joshua didn't agree to this arrangement,” she continued, confirming his assumption. “You didn't want anyone to know about your sleazy threats, did you? Well, Josh told me because he was so worried I wouldn't go through with this marriage. Well now that I have, you can't hold that particular threat over him any more.” She shook her head. “I mean, for God's sake, what sort of man are you? Threatening a sick woman. It's disgusting. And all to get your own way, to satisfy your prurient desires.”

Not trusting himself to respond to her allegations, he let her go and stepped from the cubicle.

“Joshua might not be perfect, but he wouldn't stoop to the depths you have.” She came out of the cubicle after him, dripping water on the tiled floor. “He's honest and trustworthy and—”

“Can he say the same about you?” Anger rippled up from his chest to his throat. “His honest little wife?”

She paled a little, her blue eyes wide, but he refused to be taken in by the innocent act. She wasn't averse to manipulating a situation to suit her own ends.

He jerked his head toward her opened toiletry bag on the vanity unit. “I wonder what he'd say if he knew you were taking birth-control pills.”

If it were possible, she grew even paler. He'd considered the possibility that Joshua might have known about it, agreed to it, but her stark expression confirmed otherwise.

“How…how did you know that?” Moments later, fury shone in her eyes. “You went through my things?”

“Didn't have to,” he said casually, annoyed that she'd accuse him of invading her privacy. “If you're going to leave your bag open and the box in full view, you have to accept the probability someone is going to notice it.”

“I… I don't want to get pregnant. Not…not yet.”

She shivered, wrapping her arms around her chest. He grabbed a towel from the rack and tossed it to her. With trembling hands, she covered herself.

“You know how it works, sweetheart.” He wrapped a towel around his waist. “You marry the pack leader and you're expected to procreate. I'm sure it was made clear to you before you married.”

“I understand how important that is to the pack, and I want children eventually, but I need to establish my career first. It's really important I do that. You should at least be prepared to give me some leeway.”

Maybe he should, but only because he'd been giving the matter some thought himself. It bothered him, sharing her with his half-brother. He hadn't wanted to consider that Joshua might be the one to make her pregnant. When he'd used the bathroom during the night and spotted the pills, his initial fury that she would go against pack expectations had turned to morbid satisfaction. She had presented him with the ideal solution to his temporary problem.

Which meant, when the time was right, he would be the one to plant his seed in her.

But regardless that the current situation suited him, her deliberate flouting of the rules confirmed he was doing the right thing. Talia's tendency to travel her own path, to plow her own furrow, regardless of her responsibilities as pack leader's wife, was further proof of her disregard for their culture and tradition, and a warning to him to keep her under tight surveillance.

“I'll allow you to continue taking precautions.”

Relief washed over her face, but was quickly followed by outrage. She opened her mouth, no doubt to protest, but he held up a hand. “Before you decide to argue the point, know this. When the time is right, you'll become pregnant with my child. There'll be no negotiation, no argument. You are married to me, mated to me. As pack leader, I have an obligation to procreate, to maintain the line. My family has been first family of this pack for many years, and I'll not jeopardize that obligation because my wife has…hobbies. This community's future wellbeing is paramount.”

He exited the bathroom, aware she stared at him open-mouthed and all but spitting fury. Good. Maybe now she would finally realize who was in control in this relationship.

Chapter Nine

Talia came home a little after seven that night. She'd deliberately stayed late at the newspaper because she didn't want to see Joshua and she certainly didn't want to lay eyes on Caleb. Josh had called her during the day, but apart from speaking to him that morning she hadn't taken the rest of his calls.

An overwhelming sense of disloyalty still tore at her, but if anything she should be the one feeling aggrieved. Despite her compassion for his mother, Joshua had placed her in an untenable position. All but forcing her into marrying his despicable brother.

So he'd allow her to keep taking her birth control tablets, would he? Like what she did with her body was his decision? All day she'd been berating herself for not keeping the packet safely hidden deep in her bag, the way she usually did. Her only consolation was that she hadn't been thinking straight. Caleb had knocked her for six. Passionate and demanding, yet determined to string out her pleasure as well as his. She hadn't expected that.

Not that she would dwell on it any longer, any more than she would on the smattering of dark hair across his muscular chest, the toned abdominals, the impressive cock. Nor would she give another moment's thought to the way his muscles bunched when he drove into her…

Her pussy clenched and she shook her head. No. She wasn't going to waste another second thinking about the man.

She closed the front door and Joshua came into the hall. She glanced at him before dropping her bag and keys onto the nearby bureau.

“You're late.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I was worried.”

“I sent you a text saying I'd be late.” She shrugged out of her jacket. “I had a lot to catch up on.” She wanted to say after having been obliged to take yesterday off for the marriage that he'd essentially forced her into, but the words stayed frozen on her lips. It wasn't really Joshua's fault. He'd been as much a casualty of Caleb's machinations as she had.

Avoiding eye contact, she went into the kitchen and poured a glass of water. Her stomach was somersaulting like crazy and she had to resist the temptation to ask Joshua if he knew where his brother was. She'd tried convincing herself she didn't want to see Caleb, but considering she'd spent all day replaying their wedding night, it was hard believing her own arguments.

“Are you okay?” Joshua asked, his breath soft against her ear.

Without turning, she sipped her water. “Not really.” Her throat tightened and she took another sip. “I had sex with another man last night. How could I be okay?”

He placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. It was only then she noticed his blackened eye and the cut across his lip. “What happened?”

He shrugged. “Got into a fight in town. Every time I thought… Shit. Talia.”

“Shh.” She brushed her fingertips along the edge of the bruise. “It's okay.”

“No. It isn't.”

She wanted to console Joshua, to drive the pain from his eyes. As much as she wanted to drive the memories of Caleb's possession from her heart.

Her heart? Was she insane? No way would she allow herself to become emotionally attached to someone like him. The sex was good—make that sensational—but that was all it was. She supposed if she had to be married to two men, she was lucky both of them knew their way around a woman's body.

Joshua took her mouth in a passionate kiss, his hands grabbing for her skirt and pulling it up to her waist. His fingers dug into her backside and squeezed.

“Need you.” He brought her up hard against his erection. “Fuck. Need you now.”

Before she could protest, he spun her around and pushed her back against the sink unit, his hands dragging at her silk panties and pulling them down. He yanked at his zipper at the same time the front door slammed closed.

They both turned and saw Caleb in the doorway, his gaze hard and uncompromising.

Silence thundered through the air, their bodies frozen in space, until he finally spoke. “This isn't how it's supposed to work.”

At Caleb's menacing tone, Joshua's hands tightened on her hips in a possessive move. “Why don't you take a hike while I fuck my wife, asshole.”

Caleb's gaze narrowed and he took three steps into the room. “Need I remind you she is now
my
wife?”

Aware that neither of them would back down any time soon, Talia extracted herself from Joshua's hold and stooped to pull up her panties. “And need I remind you—both of you—that I'm not a possession you can squabble over? Nor do I appreciate you talking about me as if I'm not here.”

She started to walk past Caleb, intent on getting to the bedroom and closing the door on them both.

His hand curled around her wrist. “We need to establish some ground rules.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“You don't let him touch you without me around.”

Talia stared at him, openmouthed. The arrogance and effrontery of the man never ceased to amaze her. “In case it's slipped your mind, he's my husband. He was here first. If anyone doesn't get to touch me, it should be you, without him around.”

Realizing what she'd said, Talia shook off Caleb's hand. “In fact, neither of you get to touch me unless I want it.” She glared at both men in turn. “Got that?”

When they said nothing, she whirled around and left the kitchen.

Damn men. Who did they think they were to tell her who could and could not touch her? She was in charge of her body. Her. And only her. She might have agreed to this farcical arrangement, but that didn't mean they could control her, give her orders and expect her to carry them out.

She flung the bedroom door closed, her body shaking with fury. If either one of them came storming in with the intention of exerting their power, they could go to hell.

Bad enough she'd taken this step, but she was damned if they would treat her like something to bargain over. Taking a few deep breaths, she tried to steady her thumping heart. God, she was mad. At them. At herself. But she needed to calm down. She needed all her thinking skills to stay on top of the situation. If she gave either one of them an inch, she would be lost.

She ran herself a bath and considered locking the bathroom door. Maybe they needed to realize she had boundaries beyond which they could not cross. Her bath time being one of them. But for some reason, she didn't lock the door. Maybe to test them? She didn't know. There didn't seem to be much she did know right then.

With that thought reverberating in her head, she stepped in, sank down and tried to drive all thoughts of exasperating men, and their demands, out of her head.

Wrapped in a towel, Talia walked back into the bedroom and stopped dead when she saw Caleb sitting on the end of the bed. His elbows rested on his thighs, hands clasped between his legs and his head bowed. He looked up, piercing her with that dark green gaze. She hated that her body reacted so fiercely whenever their eyes met. The way her stomach trembled and heat flared between her legs.

In the deepest recesses of her heart, she hated that she never felt that way with Joshua.

Clutching the edges of the towel tight to her breasts, she jerked up her chin. “What do you want?”

“I came to speak with you.”

“Where's Josh?”

“He agreed to give me a minute.”

That jerked her back a pace. That Joshua had agreed to give Caleb anything was pretty surprising, but alone time with her? She didn't feel inclined to press the issue, certainly not while she stood there in a towel, her body glistening from the lavender-scented oils of her bath.

“You'd better get on with it. Knowing Josh, he'll be barging in here as soon as your time is up.”

He ran his gaze down her body and slowly up again. “Joshua and I have been talking.”

Well, it was preferable to them beating the hell out of each other, which was what she'd expected. “And?”

“We've decided that the only way this can work is if we set up ground rules and stick to them.”

“Oh really?” Her voice dripped sarcasm. “I'm so glad that's what you've decided.”

He rose and walked toward her. Blood sped through her veins and the heat between her legs intensified. For a heady moment, she thought he would reach out and touch her, but he slipped his hands into his trouser pockets. “Like I said, we need to establish how we want this to work.”

“Well, for the record, I don't want this to work at all. But seeing as it's done and dusted now, you're probably right. Do I get a say in things?”

“Of course.”

A smile stretched across his lips, softening his expression from uncompromising to almost…human. The thought brought a smile to her own lips.

“Something funny?”

She searched in a drawer for fresh underwear. “I'm reminding myself that you're different. That I'm married to two men and as if that's not weird enough, they're shapeshifters. I really shouldn't expect anything close to normal.”

“Is that what you want? Normal?”

“I don't know. Maybe.” She selected a simple cotton bra and panties. “But my grandmother always said that once you've made your bed, the only thing left is to lie on it.”

“I think I'd like your grandmother.”

Strangely, Talia thought her grandmother would like Caleb. She'd liked straight-shooters, people who knew their own mind and acted on their beliefs and principles. “She died a while ago.”

“I'm sorry. You were close?”

“She was the closest to a mother I had. My real mother died when I was young.”

He stepped close and ran his fingers lightly down her arms, making her temperature rise. “That's tough. Did your grandmother raise you?”

She ignored the flames licking through her body. “Pretty much. I lived with my father and older brother, but my grandmother was the person I turned to.”

“You aren't close with your father?”

She shook her head. “I've always thought on some level he blamed me for my mother's death. I think my brother did too.”

“Then that's on him, and your brother.”

“I know.” The conversation was becoming far too intimate for her liking. It stirred things inside her that she didn't want to feel. And what gave him the right to console her and yet punish Joshua for his mother's failings? “It's all too easy to blame someone for another's wrongdoing, isn't it?”

It took him a moment to click in. “Perhaps sometimes it's justified. But not for a small child with no control over what happens.”

The hard uncompromising expression returned, signaling the end of their brief tête-à-tête, which suited her just fine. Better to face the outer beast than the inner man. It wasn't half as unsettling.

As if on cue, Joshua walked in and stood beside Caleb. She stared at the two men, both standing there with their chests puffed out, legs astride and hands in their pockets. She would love to know exactly what form this
talk
of theirs had taken, because Joshua's belligerent expression had disappeared to be replaced by a kind of resigned acceptance.

Caleb had no doubt reminded him that his mother's wellbeing relied on this ménage working without any hindrance on Joshua's part. The realization angered her, made her aware that with Joshua's reconciliation to the situation, she was in effect alone with her open resentment of it. It seemed she no longer had an ally. At least not overtly.

Wanting to hold on to her anger, Talia was tempted to tell them both to get out. She wanted to get some clothes on, to feel less exposed to their hungry gazes. But overriding that anger was another more powerful feeling.

While two pairs of emerald eyes devoured her, tiny chills erupted over her body, her pussy throbbing with the realization of what being married to two men would entail. She couldn't quite reconcile the bizarreness of her situation with the impossible lust that reverberated through to her very core. She had experienced sex with both of them on separate occasions, but what would it be like being with them at the same time? They were passionate, demanding…insatiable.

“We've decided it'll probably work best if we're all present when we have sex.” Joshua stepped forward. “It'll be easier that way and there'll be less bad feeling than if we take you separately.”

“Just a minute.” Talia moved back as discomfort skittered down her spine with a spiky edge of anger riding it. “I don't recall being party to this decision.”

Caleb levered his way in front of Joshua. He reached for the underwear she clutched like a lifeline, and tossed it back in the drawer. “You're new to this. It might be better to let experience determine how it should play.”

His voice, throaty and deep, sent her heart thumping wildly against her ribcage. “What do you mean, I'm new to this? Does that mean you're not?”

She kept her gaze on Caleb, but noticed Joshua's brief glance at his brother.

“Apparently,” Caleb said, running his fingertip along the top of her breast, “we've both ventured into the world of threesomes.”

What?

Caleb caught hold of one edge of the towel. Her breasts tingled, her nipples hardened against the soft cotton of the towel. The room felt hot, but still she shivered. They were experienced at this whole ménage thing? She didn't know whether to be appalled or enthralled.

While she was still deciding, Joshua moved behind her and ran his hand beneath her arm to catch hold of the opposite side of the towel. In unison, the men drew the edges of the towel away and she gasped in a breath as cool air brushed over her sensitive breasts.

“If there's anything you don't like, or want, you just need to say.” Caleb threw the towel onto a nearby chair and moved up close to her. At the same time Joshua pressed against her back. It was unsettling but wildly erotic being pressed naked between two powerfully built men who were still fully clothed. The denim of Joshua's jeans scratched against her backside as Caleb's shirt-covered chest brushed her nipples.