Freakn' Shifters Bundle (3-in-1) (12 page)

Mental note to self:
Next time make sure we’re both naked before I piss her off.
It didn’t take a genius to realize, despite her claims she desired a chaos and violence free life, her hot temper and even more boiling blood would always ensure fabulous fireworks.
I guess Ethan and I will find out if makeup sex is all it’s cracked-up to be.
It almost made him want to pull the wolf’s tail right that instant to find out.

While she would never admit out loud, Naomi actually found herself glad of Javier’s support. The process of getting her broken car on the flatbed tow truck proved hard to watch as bits and pieces fell off, clanging to the floor, or in the case of the broken glass, in a tinkling shower.  Naomi alternated between rage and melancholy, her emotions in such a fluctuating state, she didn’t object when he draped an arm around her shoulders and kept her hugged tight to his body.

Even more surprising was Javier’s calmness. If her dad or brothers had shown up and seen the mess the thug made of her car, a copious amount of yelling and punching of things would have occurred. With Javier, while she could see ire in the flashing of his dark eyes and the rigidity of his jaw, those were the only outward signs. She appreciated it, but a teensy tiny part of her kind of wanted him to rant and rave, to show vocally and physically how much he cared.

I’m such an indecisive ninny.

It took a while before they were able to leave the garage. The mechanic’s shaking head as he surveyed the damage not exactly an encouraging sign.

“I don’t know, Naomi,” said the grizzled wolf—her dad’s brother and favored uncle—who worked as head mechanic. “It might be better to simply buy a new car and write this one off.”

Tears flooded her eyes and she wandered away from Javier and her uncle Ken, the only male she trusted with her baby. She ignored their murmurs as she stroked the crumpled hood.
Not fair. I worked my ass off to get her.
Somehow, it seemed wrong to just toss her car out because someone had a grudge against her.
But, how will I ever manage to pay to for the repairs?

Shoulders slumped, she didn’t protest when Javier’s hand landed on the middle of her back, guiding her away from the wreck. She let him seat her in his car for the ride home, too depressed to protest.

The first few minutes of the drive, she stayed silent, peering out the window at the whizzing streetlights. Cocooned in the cabin of his car, his scent surrounded her, reminding her she wasn’t alone. A male had finally come to her aid and proven beneficial. What a novelty not having to babysit, apologize for or rein in someone who under the guise of help, just made things worse, say, like her brothers. It deserved an acknowledgement.

“Thanks for coming to get me,” she muttered.

“Anytime, sweetheart. I want you to know, you will always be able to count on Ethan and I. No matter what.”

Her lips twisted into a wry grin. “You just don’t give up, do you?”

Turning his head sideways, Javier winked before he flashed her a hundred watt grin. “You aren’t the only stubborn one around here. You’ll soon see we’re not like other shifters. For one, we’re much better looking.”

A snort escaped her. “And conceited, too.”

“I prefer to use the term honest.”

“So you say. I guess only time will tell.” She fell silent again, and in the quiet, to her embarrassment, her stomach rumbled.

Javier chuckled. “I think someone’s hungry. Good thing Ethan’s waiting for us at your house. I called ahead and made sure he ordered in some food.”

His words snapped her discomfiture. “You did what? Wait a second, how the hell did he get in?” She slapped her forehead. “Wait, let me guess. My mother gave you her spare key?” Meddlesome parent. Naomi really needed to have another talk with her mother about letting her make her own choices. Not that she expected her to listen.
I’m sure if mom owned a shotgun she would have used it by now to force a wedding.

“She’s just got your best interests at heart,” Javier said softly.

“She’s encouraging me to sleep with two guys because our beasts, or fate, or whatever power directs us, says we should.”

“Would it be so bad?”

“You and Ethan don’t stand to lose anything. Me, I lose my freedom and quiet existence.” And she’d gain incredible pleasure. However, there was more to life than lust. While she knew they’d be able to provide for her, and they weren’t as dumb as she’d initially thought, she still didn’t know much about their character. How they were with kids. How they dealt with adversity. If they planned on making love to her together or one at a time.

Her eyes widened at the last thought. Exactly how would a dual mating work? Did they plan on swapping her back and forth, maybe designating days to have sex with her? Or would they pleasure her together—twice the cock, tongue and fingers.

Somehow she got the impression they did everything as a pair.
Oh my.

“Mating is not a prison. Think of it as expanding your horizons.” He stopped speaking and sniffed the air. She could almost see his body tense up as he growled low, “What’s got you blushing and smelling delicious?”

The burn in Naomi’s cheeks got hotter as he perceptively caught the external evidence of her inner thoughts. “N-nothing,” she stuttered. No way would she tell him. Besides, she wasn’t supposed to be interested.
Liar,
her subconscious chided
.

“Better tuck your naughty thoughts aside for later. It looks like we’ve got company.”

Naomi peered ahead through the windshield and groaned as she saw the cars parked outside her place.
My family to the rescue—more like destructive warpath.
She cringed, wondering at the damage probably already awaiting her inside.

As if reading her mind, Javier said, “Don’t worry. Ethan will have made them behave.”

“That’s usually what starts it, though,” she grumbled. Her mother would tell her brothers to stop. Then, one would point to another and say he was to blame. And thus chaos would erupt and a trip to the local furniture store would ensure in the aftermath.

Javier’s fingers laced through hers as they headed up the walkway to her home. She didn’t pull away, glad of his comfort. She would probably need it when she saw the interior of her home, and god help her family if they’d broken her butterflies!

They walked in to a scene of eerie silence, and to her relief, not a sign of destruction anywhere. Her brothers and father sat on the pair of couches, their bodies stiff. They turned their heads almost as one to glare at her, but they didn’t say a word.

“Gee, make me feel welcome in my home,” she snapped.

“They’re just worried about you, sweetheart,” Javier cajoled, his arm squeezing her.

Ethan came out of the kitchen, barefoot and wearing low-slung jeans and a t-shirt that delineated his upper body. He smiled at her and Naomi couldn’t help the fluttery happy feeling at seeing him again. His brown eyes softened as if he knew. “Just in time. The Chinese food just arrived.”

“Don’t you think we have more pressing things to do than eat?” Stu muttered, his brows drawn so close together they almost formed a seamless line.

“Yeah, like hunting down some asshole and kicking his ass,” Kendrick added along with the smacking sound of his fist hitting his palm.

The bodies of her brothers began bristling on the couch and Naomi prepared to dive in front of the glass case of her figurines. However, before she could move, Ethan planted himself in front of the curio cabinet and scowled at her family.

Arms crossed, he growled. “What did I say about behaving while in Naomi’s house? Do we need to go somewhere to
discuss
this?”

Heads dropped, and the tension level in the room receded. Naomi gaped in astonishment at Ethan who nodded at her. “Come and eat, baby. We can’t solve anything on an empty stomach and you’ve had a harsh day.”

“But we’ve already eaten,” Mitchell replied in a sulky tone.

Ethan’s head swiveled and he fixed her brother with a dark glower. “I wasn’t talking to you.”

Laughter erupted and Naomi looked over to see her father bent over with mirth, slapping his leg. “Oh,” he gasped. “Your mother was right. You don’t need us here. Come on boys, let’s go home.”

“But—”

“How come—”

“Hey—”

“Now!” Naomi’s father barked and her brothers stood with sullen looks. They filed out the door, with Chris tossing back a, “No fair. I wanted to kick some ass, too.”

Her father beckoned and Naomi went to him for a hug. She snuggled her face in his plaid shirt, his Old Spice scent a familiar comfort. He kissed the top of her head. “I’m glad you’re safe, baby girl, and it’s about time you found some decent men to take care of you.” With those words, her dad took off briskly.

“What? Hey, I can take care of myself,” she yelled to her retreating father’s back. He just waved in reply.

Slamming the door, Naomi whirled to find Ethan and Javier gone. Following the smell of food—Chinese, her favorite—she located them sitting at her kitchen table, ladling food onto plates. How utterly domestic and at the same time sexy.

Sliding into a seat, she thought about telling them to leave, but hunger—and a stupid girly happiness at their presence—won out. Besides, she couldn’t eat all this food alone. They’d bought enough for a small army.

In between bites of chow mein, she eyed Ethan with curiosity. “How did you get them to behave?
I kind of expected to see that a tornado had passed through.”

“I wasn’t going to let them get rowdy in your house. I told them that either they sat and waited, or we’d go to the gym right that second and I’d work off my anger issues.”

“And they listened?” she asked.

Ethan shrugged. “I can be persuasive.”

“Just who are you? Aliens?”

Javier choked and Naomi whirled to fix him with narrowed eyes.

“Whatever do you mean, baby?”.

“Knowing what happened to me, my brother’s should have been raving lunatics, destroying things left and right, venting. Instead, they were all prim and proper. Did you drug them?”

Javier spat out his water and Ethan chuckled. “Your brothers can act civilized. They just need reminding.”

“Well, whatever you did, thank you. I don’t know what I would have done if my butterflies had gotten trashed the same day as my car.” The reminder of her Miata’s demise soured her mood and she pushed food around on her plate.

“Don’t worry about your car. The important thing is you’re uninjured. Dessert?”

Naomi scowled. Why did they keep ignoring the fact she’d been victimized? At least her brothers wanted to hunt something down and kill it. Her supposed mates? They stuffed their faces, as if oblivious.

Isn’t that what you wanted? Nice, normal human reactions. You should be happy your home survived a visit from your family, instead you’re complaining because no one’s roaring death threats.

Their lack of impulsive action should have pleased her. It didn’t. She slid off her chair and paced. “Why are you both acting like my car getting trashed and my getting threatened is no big deal?” She blurted her thought out, and in the process of clearing the Chinese food, two sets of distinctly male eyes rotated to meet hers.

“Oh, we care alright,” Javier replied softly.

“The asshole who did this will pay,” Ethan rumbled.

“But don’t worry,” Javier continued. “We’ll take care of this out of your sight so as to not upset your delicate sensibilities.”

“You won’t even hear them scream,” Ethan promised.

It took her a moment to grasp their serenely spoken threats. “So you are pissed?”

“Of course we are,” scoffed Javier. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t contain ourselves.”

“Control, baby. We told you we had it. A prime example is how I didn’t smack your brothers around when they arrived frisky and spoiling for a fight.”

Javier turned to Ethan. “Dude, do you realize what this means?”

Ethan turned chocolate eyes, alight with smoldering lust her way. “It means we handled her family, and this situation, without violence.”

“But you’re planning on getting physical,” she said, backing up even as a fire lit in her lower belly.

“As we said, you won’t see or hear a thing, which meets the terms of the bet,” Javier replied circling the table to the left. She whirled to flee via the other side, but Ethan already stood there.

“Don’t tell me you’re a sore loser,” he chided. “This is one case, where being the loser is a win-win situation.”

She thought about protesting more—maybe a little kicking and biting as foreplay—but her body betrayed her. Her head tilted back as Javier’s hands slid around her middle from behind while Ethan crowded her from the front, towering over her.

“So you concede you lost?” Javier whispered in her ear before tugging at the lobe with his teeth.

“For now,” she gasped as Ethan cupped her breasts, his thumbs brushing over the peaks. Even through the thin silk of her blouse, it felt like he branded her. Moist heat invaded her cleft and her legs trembled.