Halloween In Paradise (2 page)

Gabby wanted that. If that made her selfish, it was too damned bad. She’d spent most of her life alone writing her stories, losing her lovers because of deadlines and her constant need to write the next story.

For once, she wanted someone to put
her
first. She wanted someone to tell her she didn’t have to work if she didn’t want to, or that she
could
sit staring in front of a blank page for as long as it took to come up with a killer opening line.

She hated the fact that, in the
real
world, she had to work another job to make ends meet. Nothing would please her more than to sit at home in front of her computer and dream up new stories, new worlds and call it fiction. She didn’t care what people called it as long as someone read it—as long as someone garnered even a little pleasure from getting lost in her imaginary worlds for just a little while. It made her feel better to think of how many people she could touch, how many people could dream her dreams.

Was it selfish to want that? Was it selfish to want to touch the hearts of countless women who needed to feel the hope, the love that she tried to write into her stories?

Nothing could ever convince her that it was nothing less than the all-knowing hand of fate that had her board that plane, and then knocked it from the sky. Nothing could ever convince her that she was meant to be anywhere but here.

Did that mean the fates had a mate or mates for her in mind?
God, I hope so.

Gabby looked at the blond who sat next to her. He reminded her of some long-forgotten Norse god. His light hair and sky-blue eyes drew her. Normally, she wasn’t attracted to blonds, but this man could light her fire any day.

Shifting her gaze to the dark-eyed devil sitting across from her, she picked up a napkin, barely stopping herself from twisting it into a little ball of nothing. “Back to your declaration.” She paused to lick her lips and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “What I would say would depend on whether or not you’re serious about having a real interest in me.”

“It doesn’t shock you to find out that we both want you?”

“Not really. What shocks me is that you two have taken the liberty to sit with me, without my verbal consent, I might add, and you still haven’t introduced yourselves.”

Gabby almost smiled when the two men turned red. She didn’t think men could blush.

The blond glared at his friend. “You didn’t introduce yourself, Corbin? What kind of crap is that?” He turned toward Gabby, picked up her hand and held it in front of him. “Allow me to correct the situation. I am Vincent Rouchue and my forgetful friend is Corbin Lyon. We aren’t from Paradise. We are from a town far from here in Oregon.”

“Oh! I thought you were a couple of the prodigal sons returning home.”

“No. We have been traveling, looking for…family of sorts,” Vincent said as he brought her hand to his mouth.

The sensation of his warm lips against her skin sent shards of awareness up her arms, zinging through her blood in a beeline to her nipples and her now-throbbing clit.

“I’m Gabriella Robinson, but my friends call me Gabby. I moved here to Paradise after my plane crashed on the mountain about six months ago.” Goose bumps covered her arms when the other man picked up her other hand.

“I apologize for being a selfish cad, ma’am. Please chalk it up to my being mesmerized by your beauty,” he said with a crooked smile. His dark eyes peered into hers and Gabby swallowed.

“What brought you here from Oregon?” she asked, more than a little disappointed. She’d been in a threesome before and she had liked it. Though the arrangement had only lasted a week, it had been the best week of her life, right up until the two macho jerks each decided they didn’t want to share anymore.

That was another reason she had stayed here in Paradise. Something in her
needed
a relationship with two men. She wasn’t sure what it was and she didn’t care. All Gabby knew was that something about being with two men seemed right. She wanted that.

Her womb clenched at the thought that perhaps she could have a night with these two men. She knew better than to ask for more. Her panties grew damp at the thought and she shifted in her seat, too aroused to sit still.

Looking at the two men, she remembered her college days and her last night with John and Boyd. Pulling her hands free, she shook her head. “I’m sorry. I wish I could help you. I wish I could say that even one night with you doesn’t sound tempting because it does. But, I can’t act on this. I’ve been there and done that already.”

She looked out through the window, her eyes burning with unshed tears. It was just her luck to find that the only two men who wanted her were human and would eventually end up fighting over her. She couldn’t take that. Not again.

“You’ve been where and done what already?” Corbin asked as he reached to grasp her hand again. “Believe me when I tell you that we are nothing like the men here. We can guarantee you that once you have our commitment, you’ll have it forever.”

“Commitment?” Gabby laughed. “We just met and you’re talking about commitments.”

“We move fast in the Cascade.” Vincent picked up her other hand and pressed a kiss into her palm.

“Okay, you two, if you can’t behave yourselves, you’re going to have to leave. I can’t have you molesting the customers in front of the windows. This is a family restaurant,” Sarah said as she set three glasses of water in front of them.

She winked at Gabby. “If it’ll make it easier on you, I don’t know them, but I
can
tell you they’re shifters. They’re just pussyfooting around the subject because they didn’t want you to think they were lunatics.” She glanced down at the forgotten menus. “I’ll just bring you all a round of cheeseburgers and you can use your time to get to know each other.” Reaching down, she grabbed the menus and tossed them to the booth behind Gabby. “Talk, eat, and then go find a room,” she said as she turned and headed for the kitchen. “I’m getting too old for this crap.”

“You’re shifters?”

“You know about shifters?” They all said at the same time.

Gabby nodded. “Two shifters saved my life. They both climbed the tree my plane crashed into and pulled myself and two other women out of it before it caught fire.” She shuddered. “I hope everyone else on board was already dead. I can’t imagine burning to death.”

“If they didn’t pull them out, I’m sure they were. We shifters can move fast when we want,” Vince said. He stared down at her hand that looked so tiny in his own. “I believe we all mate for life, as well. That’s one thing that we all do
not
have in common with most of our animal brethren. Some mate when the urge strikes. We aren’t like that.”

“I—I know.” She blushed prettily and looked away. “That’s why I wanted a shifter mate.” She wet her lips with the tip of her tongue.

The action shot sensation all the way down to his crotch and his cock stirred to life.

It was good to know that the damned thing still worked. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a hard-on. He’d grown so tired of meaningless sex that he hadn’t been able to get it up for at least forty years, though he suspected it was more.

Giving up sex wasn’t something he’d planned to do. It just happened. One day, a human woman threw herself at him and he was quite shocked to find that he wasn’t interested. Then, it dawned on him that he hadn’t been interested in a very long time.

“What about shifter
mates,
as in plural?” Corbin asked. Leave it to him to get right to the point. They had to know. Now that they had found Paradise, they needed to go back to the Cascade and report to the council. There was no great hurry. It wasn’t as though anyone would punish them for taking their time. After all, Corbin was the heir to the throne, as it were.

To his relief, Gabby smiled. “I’d really hoped for two.” Her cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink. “I’ve known for a long time that I wanted two men. I just didn’t know there was a town where it was acceptable.”

“It’s acceptable in at least two towns.” Corbin grinned. “Most of our families have two or three males. There are a few that have even more.”

Vince chuckled when her eyes went wide.

* * * *

“I’m not sure I could handle more than two, but I’d be willing to give it a shot.” She grinned when they both growled. “I can’t believe this.” She really couldn’t believe it. This was a dream come true. Her very own shifter males and they wanted her. “Are you saying that I’m your mate?”

Gabby had almost been too afraid to ask the question. She couldn’t do this again if it didn’t mean she would get a happily ever after. She wanted that more than anything else. She could even throw her morals to the winds and mate with them today if they promised to mate her.

Any other time, she might have thought that just a bit mercenary, but not with these two. She’d met several of the mated pairs and most of the women told her that the men knew they were mates the moment they met. Their love grew after the fact. Gabby knew she could live with that. As long as she knew beyond a reasonable doubt that she would eventually fall in love with them, she could surrender herself before the feelings. Hell, the attraction was there. Some women didn’t need any more than that.

“Yes, Gabby. You are our mate,” Corbin said with a smile. “You are our very much anticipated, long-awaited and soon-to-be-treasured mate.”

“Here you go,” Sarah said as she set their plates down in front of them. “I’ll be right back with a few colas unless you would like something else.” She wiped the palms of her hands on her apron and glanced at them expectantly.

The men shook their heads. “Cola is fine,” they said at once.”

“I’d like an unsweetened iced tea, if you don’t mind.”

“One unsweetened tea and two colas coming right up,” she said as she turned and hurried away. “You three enjoy your lunch. I’ll be right back.”

“Unsweetened, huh?” Corbin asked as he eyed her thoughtfully. “That’s probably a good choice. You smell sweet enough already and neither of us need a toothache.” He grinned and winked at her.” Leaning forward he asked, “Shall we find a hotel after lunch?”

“The Paradise lodge is right up the road. You two can go get a room while I run an errand. I have someone expecting me. I wouldn’t go, but we need to talk,” she lied. What she really wanted to do was talk to the sheriff, Merrick Hunter. He needed to know that there were two unknown shifters in town and she needed to know that she would be safe with them. While she wanted her shifter males more than anything, Gabby wasn’t eager or stupid enough to go to a hotel room alone with them when no one even knew who they were.

“I shouldn’t be gone more than an hour. Just tell the desk to give me your room number when I get there.” She hoped Merrick could get the information on them in an hour. It shouldn’t take him too long once he had the name and driver’s license number of the man who rented the room.

The men agreed, but they ate in silence after that. Gabby wondered if perhaps she had upset them or if they really weren’t what they seemed and were plotting to kidnap her even now.

Nervous, Gabby pushed her food around her plate. She ate little and wanted less. She couldn’t wait for them to let her out of the booth. She would go to Sarah for help if she must. She knew the older woman and the cook would help her if she needed it.

“Have you changed your mind?”

Not on your life, buddy. If you’re who and what you say you are, I’ll be there. Take my word for it.

“Of course not.” She smiled to ease some of the tension she could feel building between them. “I’ll be there with bells on, just as soon as I make sure that everything is as it should be with my friend.” She wasn’t about to tell them that the
friend
she planned to visit was a lawman. Gabby might be a lot of things, including loose with her favors, but she had
never
been careless or stupid.

They finished their meal in continued silence and the men escorted her out. They stopped her next to a huge SUV and, for a moment, Gabby feared they planned to pick her up, dump her in the truck and leave. Instead, Corbin cupped her cheeks and stared down into her eyes. “Come back to us, beautiful. We’ll make it worth your while, I promise.” He kissed each of her eyelids. “Just to prove to you that we are who and what we say we are, each of us is going to kiss you and initiate the mating heat. Once you begin to feel it, there will be no doubt in your mind that we belong together.”

Slowly, he tilted her head back and gently pressed his lips against hers. Gabby’s world tilted and her head spun. He swallowed her gasp of pleasure as he thrust his tongue into her mouth. He tasted of the mints Sarah gave them after lunch.

Reaching up, she thrust her fingers through his hair with one hand and cupped his cheek with the other as he pulled her tighter into his embrace. His cock hardened, lengthening against her as he continued to stroke her tongue with his.

Slick cream seeped from her channel, making her panties damp. Her stomach flip-flopped as he arched into her, pressing his cock against her mound with a groan.

Slowly, Corbin ended their kiss and set her down. It was a surprise to find that he had lifted her off the ground.

“Come back to us. Now that we’ve kissed, you’ll hunger for me if you don’t.”

“I know,” Gabby said as Vincent pulled her toward him. “I know.” Gabby stared up into Vincent’s sapphire gaze as he wrapped her in his arms. She could feel his erection pressing against her. She marveled that these men could get aroused as they watched their women with their best friends.
She
couldn’t do it. Gabby knew from experience that she didn’t play well with other women. She didn’t like to share.

“Yes, Gabriella. Come back to us, or we’ll all suffer from the mating heat.” He stared down into her eyes, his expression solemn. “You
do
know what happens when we ignore the heat, don’t you?”

“I know.” She nodded. “I hear it’s not pretty. Eventually, we
will
seek each other out and come together with violence.” There was no way she wanted that. Either way,
that
would be a no-win situation for her. “I’ll be back. I promise.”