Jaguar Secrets (4 page)

Sighing, she forced the questions down. She’d ask them
later about all the finer points. For now, she needed to decide whether she
should give them a chance or to clear out.

Growing up being shuttled around the foster care
system, she’d seen and heard all sorts of tales about what men were like. She’d
been lucky. Her one and only brush with rape had been when her drugged-out
mother had taken custody of her at fifteen years old. Suffering withdrawals,
she’d sold her daughter to her dealer for the evening. Cammi thanked God every
day that the guy had been a user, too. That he’d been so high she was able to
escape him and run like hell before he touched her.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she headed
over to the toilet where she carefully folded several sheets of toilet paper to
form a makeshift pad. She knew the second she saw the men, she’d get wet all
over again. Even though her shorts were black, she didn’t want to have a damp
patch showing. Very carefully, she got dressed, making sure her pants didn’t
reveal any odd lines. She reached for her bra and caught sight of herself in
the mirror.
Bloody hell!
Her chest
was covered with whisker burn and small hickeys from where the men had lavished
attention on her. Her lips were swollen from their kisses and her eyes were
clear and sparkling. Quickly putting her top on, she then took her hair out of
its now very messy pony tail and finger combed the waves before tying it up
again. Damn, she hoped Tim didn’t look too closely. After running away from her
mother’s dealer, she’d hitched a ride with a
truckie
.
A lovely middle-aged man on his usual route out west.
He’d asked why she was running and in her panic to get away she’d told him
everything. He’d told her to hop in the truck and he’d make sure she was safe.

It was the truck driver who dropped her at Tim’s door,
promising he’d protect her. That was a little over four years ago and Tim had
firmly taken on the role of her big brother. Always out to protect her from any
and everything. He was at his worst when she went hiking, always telling her
bullshit stories of wild cats in the bush that would attack and kidnap her. The
man certainly had an over active imagination.

Taking a deep breath she opened the door and found
both men leaning against the end of the bed with their arms casually folded
over their chests. She moaned as she felt herself dampen at the sight they
made.
Damn, they need to come with
warning labels.

****

While Cammi was in the bathroom, he and Nate leaned
against the bed. Luca’s cock continued to throb with need. From Nate’s stiff stance,
Luca assumed he was equally uncomfortable. But it was more than that. He needed
to have Cammi in his arms.

“How long till she’ll accept us do you think?”

“Not sure Nate, although I hope it’s soon. I’m going
to explode or something if I don’t get relief soon.”

“Yeah, and my damn piercing keeps catching on my
pants. Think I’m going to have to start wearing briefs to help ease the
torment.”

Luca couldn’t help but chuckle, even though he could
relate, at least to the walking around with a hard on part. He’d forgotten
about Nate’s Prince Albert piercing.

“Wonder what
Cammi’s
going
to think of that?”

“She’ll love it. All chicks do. It rubs in all the
right places.”

Nate gave him a sly grin and a wink and Luca laughed
again at his best mate, glad most of the initial shock and awkwardness of
discovering they were co-mates had dissipated.

Their kind could sleep around all they wanted to,
until they met their mate. Once they met them, all others ceased to exist, and
unlike causal bed partners, males couldn’t initiate sex for the first time with
their mate. She had to take the lead, offer herself freely so they could mate
with her. The first time they had sex, they would bite her at the junction of
her neck and shoulder as they came. The mating mark would appear soon after.
Because Cammi had two mates, they would both have to take her and bite her
before the mark would appear. Luca eyed Nate as he thought that over.

“You know, I love you like a brother, Nate.”

“Yeah, I feel the same about you. Where are you heading
with this?”

“Not sure I want to have sex with you, man.”

Nate punched his arm.
Hard.
“Don’t worry about it, I’m not going anywhere near your cock or ass, buddy. And
you better not go near mine. We’re
Cammi’s
co-mates.
Not each other’s mates.
Big difference.”

“So how the hell is this going to work?”

Nate gave him another sly grin. “You really don’t get
out much do you? Cammi has a mouth and a pussy. She has an ass too if you’re
into that. Personally, it doesn’t do anything for me.”

Luca shuddered at the thought, “Her ass is safe from
me. Not my thing, either.”

Nate clapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry so
much, Luca. We’ll work it out. I’m already falling for her. Like your Dad said,
it was always meant to be and I’m sure if we both stick with following our
instincts, it’ll all work out fine.”

“She’s an easy woman to love.”

Luca didn’t say any more and Nate let the silence
continue as they both relaxed back against the edge of the mattress. The
bathroom door opened to reveal Cammi, dressed in her
lycra
jogging gear. Damn, she was hot.

She moaned after eying them both off. Luca grinned
like a fool. They turned her on as much as she did them.

“Okay, so um, I’ll just be going now.”

The both moved to follow her.

“What are you two doing? You can’t escort me home.”

“We’re your mates, Cammi. We are coming with you, to
make sure you arrive safely. It’s something we can’t resist doing.”

She closed her eyes on a sigh. “Okay, but no letting
my house mate
see
you. He already acts like an
overprotective brother. I’d hate to see what he’d do with the two of you
turning up after I’ve been missing for hours.”

Luca would like to see him try anything against either
him or Nate. Not too many human males could take on a shifter and come out on
the winning side.

“Okay, on one condition. You agree to
come
hiking with us later.”

Luca wanted to high five Nate for his quick thinking
but wisely kept the feeling to himself. He didn’t think Cammi would appreciate
it one bit.

“Not today, I have plans. Tomorrow I was going to go
hiking out in the Reserve anyway. Is that where you go?”

Luca grinned broadly.
Perfect
.

“That’s where we go. How about we drop by and pick you
up at ten tomorrow morning? We can spend the day exploring.”

She gifted him with a true smile, one that made it all
the way to her eyes and his heart swelled. She was so beautiful when she
smiled. Like Nate, he was already falling for her. Without further thought, he
strode toward her, cupping her face and delivering a hard and fast kiss to her already
swollen lips. He pulled back and allowed Nate to pull her into his embrace for
a similar kiss.

“Okay, let’s get you home,
darlin
’.”

****

Cammi slid her key in the lock and opened the door.
Unable to resist she looked over her shoulder to watch the two men prowl down
the street. Damn, they were stunning. With a sigh she tore her gaze from their
incredibly fine rears and stepped into the house.

“You’re late, Cammi-doll. I was starting to get
worried.”

A jolt ran through her body as Tim’s deep voice gave
her a fright.

“Ah, yeah, sorry about that.
I met up with someone down on the beach, and we kind
of got waylaid.”

She looked around for Tim as her eyes adjusted to the
dim interior of their house. She found him by the window in the lounge, as if
he’d been watching for her to come home.

“Someone?
Or
someones
?
Looked like you were with two men.
Do you know them? Or
should I say, did you know them before this morning?”

What the hell was wrong with Tim? He’d never given her
the third degree like this before.

“
Ahh
, yes I was with the two
men who walked home with me, and this morning was the first time I’ve met them.
What’s your problem, Tim? You’re being really weird about this. It’s not the
first time I’ve been late back, and it’s not the first time a man has walked
with me.”

“First time I’ve known the men aren’t what you need in
your life.”

Cammi put her hands on her hips and glared hard at
Tim. “How the hell do you know that, Tim? It’s my life, not yours, and I’ll
live it however I choose.
Which means, it’s me that decides
on who I need in it.
I like them both and they’re probably going to be
around for a while, so you can just get over whatever stick is up your butt.”

Furious at Tim for killing her good mood she stormed
out of the room before he could respond. Grabbing her robe she went to the
bathroom, where she locked the door. Stripping out of her running clothes, she
stopped short when her makeshift pad fell to the floor with a plop. She picked it
up and chuckled as she felt its dampness. Damn Luca and Nate for being able to
turn her on with a look. Hell, they didn’t even need to look. Just thinking
about them did it.

Her mood feeling slightly better she stepped into the
shower and flicked the tap lever. As the steam surrounded her she thought back
over her morning and groaned as her womb clenched with need. Why didn’t either
man take her? She’d been more than willing to accept them if they’d made a move
to enter her. But they hadn’t even tried. They knew every inch of her while she
had no clue as to what they looked like naked.

Tomorrow that
will change.
After their hike, she’d
seduce them. Get them to reveal themselves to her. She might even be brave
enough to ask them to flash to jaguar form. She shook her head as she lathered
up the shampoo in her hair.
Wild cats in Ceduna.
Shape
shifters in the real world. Who would have thought all those romance books and TV
shows were so close to reality? Her cousin,
Bri
,
would pass out from over-excitement if she ever found out. That girl had a
serious obsession with anything to do with shape shifters.

A loud banging on the door shook her from her
thoughts.

“Go away Tim!”

“No, Cammi. We need to talk. I have to tell you about
what those men are.”

Her heart stuttered a moment, could Tim know their
secret, too? How would he have found out?

“I know what they are, Tim. How the hell do you know?”

“Fuck. Can you come out of the bathroom so we can talk
face to face?”

“Okay, just give me ten to finish off and get dressed.
Go sit out in the lounge.”

She heard him cursing the whole way back down the
hallway. Her stomach tightened as she finished off her shower, and not in a
good way. Tim never swore. Something big was going on and Cammi was fairly
certain she wasn’t going to like it.

Ten minutes later, she slowly made her way out to the
lounge to find Tim pacing the room.

“You’re going to wear out the carpet, Tim.”

Her stomach was still in knots. Tim’s behavior was so
out of character she wasn’t sure how to handle him. He turned to face her.

“Did I ever tell you about Tilly?”

“Your ex-girlfriend?
You’ve mentioned her name here and there, although you never gave me
details. Why? What has that got to do with Luca and Nate?”

“Jag and Claw, huh, such appropriate surnames don’t
you think? Considering what they are…”

“How do you know what they are? I figured it was a
pretty tightly held secret.”

“It is. I was informed if I told anyone what I knew,
I’d be made to pay. But I will not stand by and watch you go through what Tilly
did. I love you like a sister, Cammi-doll. I’ll pay the price to tell you, to
warn you.”

What on earth was he babbling about? She raised her
hand to rub her temple as she lowered herself into one of the sofas.

“Tim, you’re confusing me. Can you just spit out what
you want to tell me?”

“Okay, here it is. Tilly and I went hiking, out in the
reserve.
Just like you do all the time.
We were so
happy and in love. I was planning on asking her to marry me that day. Only I
didn’t get the chance. A huge black cat came out of nowhere and attacked me—”

Her breath hitched. “Your scars…” Tim had wicked
looking scars all over his torso and upper arms. He kept them hidden most of
the time, but Cammi had seen him shirtless a time or two in the years living
together. He’d always seemed self-conscious about them so she’d never asked him
how he got them.

“Yes, my scars. The animal mauled me. I was lucky to
have survived—even luckier to have managed to keep my arm
That
thing nearly ripped it off my body.
As I lay in a heap,
bleeding heavily and unable to move, the animal shifted to a human man.
He went to Tilly, who had passed out from shock, I guess. He gathered up her in
his arms, nuzzled into her hair and carried her off. I’m not sure what happened
next. I figure I must have passed out, because I woke in the hospital, having
been rescued.”