Keeping Kaitlyn (5 page)

“Give yourself over to the bond,
to us
,” Rafian added. “We can make you a very contented woman if you allow it. There is no such thing as disease here and we cannot get you pregnant unless it’s under special circumstances. Give in to us for two weeks, Kaitlyn. Enjoy it.”

Kaitlyn stood stricken for a moment, and then raced from the house.

* * * * *

Rafian watched Kaitlyn bolt from the house. Across from him, Lucas growled. “Burning hot spray in my face, door slamming, chair smashing, running away. I don’t understand this woman. We are hers, can’t she see that?”

“You’ll die if she leaves us. I see it on your face already. You’ve claimed her, just as I have.”

Lucas’s teeth flashed white. “I will sleep with her before morning, Rafian. I can feel how much she wants both of us. I will tempt her into a mating heat so great she’ll beg for my hands on her.” It all started with the mating heat. Sex came first and emotion…
love
…bloomed from there.

Rafian gritted his teeth, trying not to snarl. They’d agreed she wasn’t ready for both of them this early. They’d also agreed Lucas was the man to initiate the sexual relationship with her. Rafian was too uncontrolled, his appetites too wild.

That didn’t mean he liked it, but Kaitlyn wasn’t ready for him yet.

He stood, his hands fisting with frustration. He kept a home close to the village, the heart of the Lycaon community. In order to rein in his need, he would sleep there tonight. “Just don’t make her angry and keep your arrogance in check. You know you’re not the best with women, no matter what side of the veil they’re from.”

“I will.”

 
“I’m leaving.” Rafian couldn’t keep the entire snarl from his voice. Before Lucas could say another word, he strode out the front door. This was the way it had to be and he hated it.

The moon shone bright and silvery in the star strewn sky. From what Rafian had glimpsed of life in earth’s other reality, the sky was nothing like this. Too much light drowned out the stars. He could never live in such a place. It would kill the soul of his dire wolf.

Kaitlyn sat on a boulder between the house and forge. Her shoulders appeared slumped, as if weighted with worries he could not comprehend. She missed her sisters. He was sure of that much. He walked over her to her and she lifted her face to his. He couldn’t stand to see that turmoil and sadness in her eyes.

Wordlessly, he drew her to her feet and pulled her against him, brushing her hair back away from her shoulder. Her eyes became languid, her body melting a little, molding to his.
Ah,
that was better. Passion instead of sorrow. She was so warm and her skin smelled of the soap she’d used in her bath. He wanted to lick and kiss every inch of her, but he would have to settle for the barest of tastes…for now.

Dipping his head, he caught her mouth against his. Her silken lips made his cock go hard as steel. She slid her small tongue into his mouth, and his body erupted with fiery lust. He wanted nothing more than to strip her clothes off, bend her over this boulder and fuck her senseless right now. He could make her come again and again. He couldn’t wait to hear what kind of sounds she’d make, how her pretty little sex would feel as he moved inside her.

He shuddered against her and pushed away. Staring at her for a long moment, he imagined her bathed in only the pale night of the moon. His hands clenched. “I can’t touch you yet. I touch you and I lose control.”

She leaned against the boulder behind her, her chest rising and falling with her accelerated heartbeat, her breath puffing white in the chilly air. He’d affected her as much as she’d affected him. “What happens if you lose control?”

He took a step forward, sought her wrists and pinned them behind her. She yelped and tried to pull away, but he held her firm. Leaning in, he moved his mouth close to hers. “I like my women best when they’re bound. I like to take them long, hard, and rough. Are you ready for that, Kaitlyn?”

Her breathing caught in the back of her throat, but she said nothing in reply. Her body, however, spoke volumes. She trembled with need, aroused by his words. That was a good sign.
 
Very, very good sign. The fact she’d been mated to him meant she would probably enjoy his unique way of making love to a woman.

He hesitated, wanting to accept the invitation he read in her body’s excitement. As much as he wanted to push her, he knew it was a mistake. Releasing her wrists, he turned and stalked toward the woods. He took one running leap and four paws landed solidly on the ground.

At the edge of the woods, he turned and viewed Kaitlyn through his wolf eyes. She stood, hugging herself against the chill, staring after him.

He let the forest envelope him.

Chapter Four

Kaitlyn watched as Rafian took a running leap and transformed into wolf form. The huge animal seemed to glow in the moonlight at the edge of the forest the moment before he padded silently within.

Her muscles still seemed made of butter. He’d literally almost brought her to her knees. And it sounded as if Rafian was the kind of man who
wanted
her on her knees. She would never have guessed that about the taciturn, emotional man.
 

She never would have guessed how much she’d been aroused by the idea of it, either.

Her sex life had been average, she guessed, when compared to most women. Her sex drive had always been strong and she’d been willing to experiment in the bedroom, but her husband had never really been interested. Once he’d bought a pair of fur-lined handcuffs and they’d played around. It had been okay.

Of course, Doug was
nothing
like Rafian.

She headed back into the house on shaky legs, not sure how much more of this she could take. Now they were tag teaming her. How was she supposed to handle them?

You will
never
be able to resist us.
Lucas’s voice eased through her memory. Yes, he was probably right. Her body wanted to raise the white flag right now.

When she entered the house, she found Lucas cleaning up the kitchen. Lovely fingers of warmth radiated from the roaring fireplace and she shivered off the last of the chill from outside. Lucas stood at the sink, washing up the dishes, the black tribal tattoos on his forearms flexing. There was another really arousing sight—a man doing housework.

“Where did Rafian go?” she asked.

“Home.”

She frowned at him.
 
“Home? I thought he lived here?”

He shook his head. “We built this house for you. I’ve been living here for a while, but Rafian has said he won’t move in unless you accept us as mates and stay here permanently.”

And that would never happen. It couldn’t. She wasn’t ready for another relationship yet—let alone two of them—and she couldn’t leave her sisters, her job.
God, her sisters….

“Rafian has family close to the Lycaon village,” Lucas continued. “He wants to stay near them.”

“What about you? Don’t you have family there?”

He turned toward her, his face tightening into a mask. “They were killed by Magica hunters.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

He turned away. “It was a long time ago.”

“Why do the Magica hate the Lycaon so much?”

“We’re a threat. We could take over their civilization if our fertility rates weren’t so low.”

“They created you with the intention of controlling and using you. Now that they’ve lost control, they want you destroyed because you frighten them.”

“Exactly. It’s been that way since the beginning of our recorded history. It will never change.”

Her jaw locked. “What a bunch of assholes.” Seemed like there were assholes everywhere, didn’t really matter which reality you were occupying.

“Yeah.” He finished the dishes and turned toward her. “You must be exhausted.”

“Unbelievably.”

“Your bedroom is up there.” He pointed at the loft. “Warmest place in the house. There’s a big feather bed and I set out a nightgown and pair of slippers for you. There is also a selection of clothes in the wardrobe, including shoes.”

“Thank you.”

He walked over and kissed her forehead. “Good night.”

She closed her eyes and counted to ten. Even such a small act, walking over, kissing her forehead, made her body burn. The warmth of him radiated out, soaking into her skin. The faint scent of leather touched her nose and his voice rumbled through her so deep and lovely.

Exhaling slowly, she managed to say good night, then turned and went up the stairs.

* * * * *

 
“No, Doug!”

She woke in a sweat and with the soft sheets tangled around her body. In the dark, a huge form loomed over her, pinning her wrists. Kaitlyn screamed and thrashed, managing to free a hand and score the man’s cheek with her nails before he pinned it again.

“Kaitlyn! Kaitlyn, it’s Lucas. I won’t hurt you, baby. You were having a nightmare.”

She stilled, breathing heavily, remembering where she was. Swallowing hard, she assessed the situation. The dream came back in a rush and a shuddering breath escaped her. She’d probably been screaming in her sleep and Lucas had come in to wake her. To do that he’d draped himself almost completely over her.

His chest was muscled, his thighs strong. She could see the strain of his biceps as he pinned her wrists, apparently in an effort to keep her from moving her arms and hurting herself.
And just like that, she was suddenly very aware of the hard male body against her.
 

Very aware.

That damn mating bond made times like this very inconvenient. Her mind said
knee him in the balls
, but her body said
fuck me. Fuck me hard and fuck me long.
Her nipples had gone erect and sensitive and her sex had become warm and aroused. Just the scent of either Lucas or Rafian could bring this on. Their very presence sent her into heat.

Lucas must have noticed it, too, because he went very still.

She stared into his eyes. She wanted him to yank up the hem of her nightgown, force her thighs apart and thrust his cock deep into her. She wanted to feel that hard length pistoning in and out of her until she orgasmed so hard she saw stars. Kaitlyn had no doubt that this fine specimen of manhood was capable of it.

One more minute of this and she would beg him.

“Get off me, please,” she whispered.

Lucas hesitated, then rolled off her, putting a hand to his cheek.

She pushed up and looked at the damage she’d done. Blood marked his skin. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s nothing. Tell me about the dream.”

She sighed, not wanting to answer. Instead she went into the bathroom, returning with a damp cloth. She sat down next to him and pressed it to his cheek. God, help her, the man was shirtless. He just
had
to be shirtless, didn’t he? The man was a menace. Both of them were. A double threat to her sanity.

As she explained, she idly traced over the tattoos on his forearm. “The dream is from something that happened in my past. My ex-husband was a nice guy, and then he wasn’t. I’ve had some version of this nightmare a few times. I don’t really want to talk about it right now.” She studied the mark she’d made on his face. His scar was near it. She ran her fingers down its length. “How’d you get this?”

“You’re changing the subject.”

“Yep.”