Jessica's Wolves (8 page)

Fredrick hadn’t ever had the pleasure of making this boy’s acquaintance before, and frankly he’d been surprised to find the kid was the same age as Alyssa.

Fredrick waited, impatiently bouncing his leg under the table.

Finally, Leslie cleared his throat. “She took off in the night, sir.” He barely mumbled the words.

“She told you this? Have you spoken to her?”

Leslie shook his head. “No. No. She doesn’t even know I followed her.”

“Then how did you know
to
follow her, may I ask?” Fredrick clenched his teeth, seething, but not wanting Leslie to see his displeasure. It was like pulling teeth getting information out of the kid.

“I didn’t.” The boy swallowed and glanced at Fredrick. “I was … um … watching her house. It was a coincidence. I just happened to see her sneak out the window.” His head dipped again.

“You were spying on her?”

Silence for several moments, and then the kid started crying.
Crying
. “I didn’t mean nothin’ by it, sir. I just like her and, and, and she’s … pretty.” He choked on a sob.

Fredrick had to cover his mouth to stifle the grin spreading. It wouldn’t do for the kid to realize he found this humorous. What red-blooded boy
didn’t
at one point or another peep at a girl?

“Then what happened?” If they moved on, perhaps Leslie would calm and get the rest of the story out.

“I followed her,” he muttered, as though that offense were worse than the Peeping Tom offense he’d just confessed to.

“And?” God almighty. Was the kid ever going to actually give him anything to work with?

“She walked all night, practically ran, until she came to the truck stop off the highway outside of town. I stayed outside and hid behind a tree. She went in. She met with some people—”

“Met someone?” Fredrick ground his teeth. Damn it, why couldn’t he just keep his mouth shut for a minute so the kid could finish?

“Yeah, some … men.” Leslie wiggled in his seat and drew a random pattern on the floor with his shoe.

“Then what happened?”
Jesus. Spit it out
. Fucking men? That didn’t seem promising.

“She left with them.”

“Left? As in got in their car and drove away?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Did she know them? Did you?”

“Never seen them before, sir. But Alyssa seemed to know them.”

Great
. “Is there anything else you can remember? Anything at all. Any detail you can provide would be helpful.”

Leslie looked up, fear for his friend’s safety warring with his fidelity toward her.

“You wouldn’t want anything to happen to her, would you? She’s a good girl. We need to find her before she gets hurt.” Hopefully that would be the trump card. Appeal to the kid’s sense of fear.

Leslie leaned backward in his seat and stretched one leg to reach into his pocket. He pulled out a small slip of paper and handed it to Fredrick with trembling fingers. “Will this help?”

Fredrick smiled broadly for the first time in two days.

* * * *

Someone was calling her name. No, whispering it. Right next to her ear. Dragging her from sleep.

Jessica bolted up. How long had she been asleep?
Please tell me it’s been hours because I sure didn’t get more than twenty minutes at a time last night
.

Glancing back and forth, she became aware of Reese and Charles flanking her on either side.

“Sorry, baby. I hated to wake you. You were finally so peaceful. You’ve been wiggling around forever as though caught in a nightmare.” Charles ran a hand up and down her arm.

Jessica sank back onto the bed.
So, what’s the emergency?

“You were watching me sleep? What time is it?”

“Almost midnight. And yes. Well, not for very long. We were acutely aware of you even when we weren’t in the room though.”

“Midnight? Seriously?” Jessica realized they were whispering. It was very dark. Of course, she could see fine in the dark, but she still knew it was late.

There wasn’t another sound in the house.

“Everyone’s asleep.” Reese eased alongside her on the left.

Charles did the same on the right. They cocooned her in their warmth, each with a hand on her, rubbing her arm, her belly. That tight knot in her stomach flared anew.

“I need to go home. Why didn’t anyone wake me?”

“No one wanted to bother you. You were clearly tired and upset. Kara and Lindsey were very protective, insisting you be left alone.” Reese was the one with his palm on her middle section. With his fingers spread, his hand spanned distinctly from under her breasts to the top of her jeans.

“And now?”

“Now, we were finally able to talk to you without the whole world knowing.” Charles grinned.

Memory slammed back. “Who was the woman with you?” She wasn’t asleep now.

Charles turned his grin into a chuckle. “Caught that, did you?”

“She went home hours ago with Nancy.” Reese moved that damn hand as he spoke, driving her mad. “It’s complicated. Can we talk about it later? We really want to focus on you right now.”

“No, we can’t fucking talk about it later. Are you guys
with
her? Why the hell would you be pursuing me if you already have a woman in your bed?”
Ooh
. She stiffened.

And even with that information, her damn body continued to warm and respond to the finger climbing up her arm and the palm pressing into her belly. She squeezed her legs together. She needed to be mad right now. “Why would you chase me like rabid dogs yesterday and then bring another woman to Kara’s party today? Even if you were together with her before you met me, why the hell would you not have broken it off with her yesterday as soon as we met? How crude. How can you claim to be my mates but still keep another woman in your beds?”

“She isn’t a threat to you. We are most definitely not
with
her. It’s a long story. I promise. Trust us.” Charles leaned in and planted kisses along the line of her neck. Between them he continued to murmur. “Can we talk about Alyssa later?”

Jessica held still, rigid. She willed her body to stop coming alive under their touch. It was infuriating the way she reacted. They turned her brain to mush. She prayed for some sort of God to put an end to the maddening scent of their presence threatening to drive her to do something she would later regret. “Why are you still here?”

“Conveniently, we got trapped.” Reese pressed into her side, making her acutely aware of his hard-on against her leg.

“Trapped?” That was not exactly the most romantic way to lure a woman you clearly wanted to fuck.

Charles laughed again. “By the weather, babe. We had several cars here. Reese and I stayed to help Justin and Trevor chop some extra firewood. They thought an entire cord of wood wasn’t quite enough to keep their pregnant mate warm for the entire night,” he joked. “It was advantageous because, by the time we finished, the snow and sleet were falling so hard it was too dangerous to risk the trip home. You, my love, are also trapped.”

Jessica sucked in a breath and held it.
Trapped?
“So, the only other people in the house now are Kara and her mates?”

“That’s right.” Reese leaned in to nibble on the other side of her neck. He even boldly flipped a leg over the one of hers closest to him, wedging his knee between her thighs. “I’m pretty certain those three are too busy to pay any attention to what happens in this wing of the house. Even hugely pregnant, Kara still sparks their interest.”

“And what the hell is wrong with being interested in a pregnant woman?” Jessica bit her bottom lip, a habit she was well aware of, especially when she spoke unnecessarily.

“Not a damn thing, love,” Reese stated. “In fact, I’m quite certain I would be even more attracted to you round with my child than I am now.”

“What if it were
my
child?” Charles jested. His mouth wandered to Jessica’s shoulder.

Reese grinned against her skin, and his tongue flicked out to lick the space right behind her ear. “Same difference.”

Just like last night, Jess lay there like a bump on a log while these two men mauled her into submission.
How are you going to get out of this one?

“So, you woke me from an admittedly deep sleep so you could tell me I was stuck here for the night?” Her voice sounded hoarse even to her own ears.

“Yep, and so we could do this to you.” Reese flicked a finger over her nipple, making her body jolt, her eyes widen, and her tits stand at attention.

Jessica’s brain screamed,
Stop
. Her body … ignored the command.

Fighting two large men off with her hands proved equally futile. They squished themselves closer to her and pinned her arms against her sides.

The fever she’d sensed earlier returned with a vengeance, as did the dull pain in her stomach.

Reese smoothed his palm over her belly repeatedly. “Does it hurt?”

Huh?

At her pause, he added, “Your … womb. Ovaries. Whatever.” His lips tickled her ear while he spoke, his tongue darting out now to lick the lobe and even delving inside to send goose bumps down her body.

“How do you know anything about that?” This was beyond weird.

Charles leaned back a few inches, and both men froze.

“You really are rather unknowledgeable about our kind, aren’t you?” Charles cocked his head and gazed into her eyes. “How? What…”

“When? Where? Why?” she provided in rapid succession. “My parents died when I was ten, you wiseasses.”

“And no one took you in? Educated you?”

“Sure. The fucking state of Oregon took me in. A variety of human foster parents raised me. That’s why I’m so levelheaded. So incredibly
not
screwed up.”

Both men gasped and held steady, only the subtle pressure on Jessica’s center and her shoulder indicating their reaction and support for her plight.

She’d not meant to blurt out so much information, but they’d driven her to react with their teasing.

“Oh, babe,” Charles began, “I’m so sorry. We had no idea.”

“Of course not. I’ve never told anyone.”

“No one?” Reese questioned. “Not even Kara? Lindsey?”

“They know the gist, but not the nitty-gritty.” She looked both ways and then continued. “They don’t know I’m lupine.”

“And why is that?” Reese kissed her cheek and nuzzled her neck before pulling back once more. “Why were you living in hiding, essentially?” He froze. “Is someone after you?”

“No. No. Nothing like that. Unless you count the religious bastards who kidnapped me in the summer in an attempt to lure Lindsey for their arranged marriage.”

Charles tensed. “I know about that too. I’m so sorry. That must have been awful.”

“Scary, sure, but I knew what they wanted. I was just bait. I also knew there was a pack of angry wolves coming to my rescue, and not a chance in hell were they going to let anything happen to Lindsey. That was a secret neither the zealots nor my friends were privy to.”

Reese shook her to get her attention. “You didn’t answer the question. Why so secretive? Your friends know all about us now. They think they are the ones keeping this crazy mess from
you
. Why the farce?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got all night. How about you, Reese?”

Jess smiled. “That’s how long you’d have to wait because I don’t intend to tell that particular story right now. I barely know you. If I haven’t told Kara and Lindsey, what makes you think I’m gonna tell you?”

“We’re your mates?” Charles offered.

“Yeah, yeah. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that line.”

Reese squeezed her belly, flexing his palm enough to press her into the bed.

“Relax, tiger. I’m kidding.”

Jessica’s stomach took that moment to growl.

Charles flipped away from the bed and returned moments later with a tray in his hands. “Thought you might be hungry.”

Finger foods of many varieties tantalized her senses as Jessica flicked Reese’s hand from her middle and sat. Without hesitation, she stuffed a small sandwich in her mouth. It hadn’t even occurred to her she was so hungry before.

Both men settled against the headboard behind her while she ate. She’d not had a thing since her small breakfast this morning. Her stomach hadn’t been stable even then.

She stuffed her face in silence. Grapes, apple wedges, carrots, triangles of sandwiches, cheese cubes, and a tall glass of water to wash it all down.

She wasn’t unaware of the men behind her with their hands on her back, but she was suddenly so ravenous she didn’t pay them much mind.

That is until she was satisfied. Grabbing a chocolate chip cookie from the tray, she slowed to reasonable pace, enjoyed the smooth dark chips, and swallowed her dessert
after
chewing it.

Reese took the tray without a word and set it aside. Both men nudged her to lie back between them.

Her senses returned in full force since she was no longer starving … for food.

Hands stroked her everywhere. Reese leaned over her, his broad shoulders so wide she couldn’t see around him. He was bronzed and so muscular his T-shirt stretched tight across him. Jessica stared at his pecs, fighting the need to lay both her palms across the expanse of male hardness.

She needed to get out from under him, wiggle away before her mind turned to mush again.

This was not in the plan, damn it.

His deep blue gaze burrowed into her until she couldn’t avoid meeting it. “We need you.” His voice was suddenly much deeper, hoarse, as though he’d spent the last several hours screaming at a football game.

Jessica shook her head. “I know, but I can’t do this.”

“Why?” Charles’ words were just as low. He came from the side and settled his head next to hers. “Why are you fighting it? It’s a natural process.”

When Reese took her lips in a gentle kiss, her brain went numb. He kissed her over and over again: her lips, her chin, her cheeks, her eyelids. No inch of her face was missed by the soft brush of his lips.

Breathing him in was unavoidable; his essence filled all the air in front of her nose. Even when she sucked oxygen into her lungs through her mouth, she could still taste him.