Overcome (5 page)

“Are you a shifter?” Aw, shit.
Floor, just swallow me now, please. Anytime. Yoo-hoo.

The whites of Albatross’s teeth showed with his grin as his thumb traced a hypnotic line on the inside of her wrist.

“Would that bother you?” His murmured tone seemed almost passionate. Either that or she suffered from a fever as well as a knot on the head because there were butterflies dancing in her belly and a telltale tickle between her thighs.

“Well, um…a bit. Yes. I don’t know much about you.”

“We both are.” He included Marc in his “we” but never took his gaze off her.

“Oh. That’s nice.” She licked her lips, well aware he still had her wrist in his hand. What the hell else was she supposed to say?

“And you, sweetheart, are human.”

Anna bristled at the nickname, but her heart skipped a beat. “Did you send Stern Face out so you could eat me in private?”

Marc snorted, which annoyed her to no end, and Albatross laughed before he spoke. “Any eating of you on our part will be done in private, for sure, but I doubt it’s the type of eating you are referring to.”

Oh. Shit.

The color either drained from her face or flooded it, she really couldn’t tell, and it really didn’t matter when Marc plopped his gorgeous muscled self right next to her on the couch, his thigh running the length of hers.

“Are all shifters this touchy-feely, or am I just the lucky one here today?”

“I think many of our females will definitely consider you lucky.”

“Top bitch might be more apt,” Albatross murmured, his loafer-covered toes wedging their way between her feet and spreading her legs.

If this wasn’t becoming the most compromising of positions, then she didn’t know what was.

“Okay, first of all…” She pushed Marc away with her elbow in his gut as he got closer and closer to putting his nose in her neck, “…what do you mean
our females
and second, did you just call me a bitch? A might personal since you know nothing about me.”

Albatross laughed again. “Bitch refers to a female wolf.”

“Which I am not.” She elbowed Marc again for encroaching. “Down boy.”

“Can’t help it.” Marc wrestled his face into the curve of her neck and she sighed.

“Do
not
lick me or I swear to God…”

“You smell sooo good.”

“It’s called soap. Get. Off.” She shoved him with both hands this time, but he remained in place, his nose tracing a line up her neck. “You’re like a damn puppy.”

“Mmm…”

Albatross finally dropped her wrist, only to put both his hands on her knees to lean over her. “You’ve already got him eating out of your hands.”

Damned if the man didn’t impinge on her neck as well, on the free side.

And now she had two dogs sniffing her up.

“For Christ’s sake,” she shouted, scrambling to her feet and pushing between their obnoxious, overbearing bodies. “You act like I’m part of your threesome or something.”

When she turned around, hands on her hips in exasperation and annoyed that her nipples were puckered tight, she found Albatross had taken a seat next to Marc, and they were both arrogantly eyeing her as if their third is exactly how they saw her.

Anna swallowed.

Because for some oddball reason she kinda sorta wanted to be the middle of their wolfie sandwich.

•
●•

Marc’s cock swelled impossibly hard, and the only thing keeping him from bending her over the couch and pushing inside her was the knowledge that he’d freak her the fuck out. If she were a shifter, he’d have no such qualms; she’d know the score. But Anna appeared innocent in all, if not most, things shifter. Something he definitely needed to help her correct before she started teaching and the little ones of their pack ate her alive. Figuratively.

Those pups could smell fresh meat anywhere. First graders were a handful anytime, but make them shifters and your handful just tripled. They could be scheming little monsters. He knew this because he’d been one once. His mother never let him forget it, either. Sometimes he wondered if the only reason he kept them under reasonable control was because they knew he was their alpha.

Her face was a mix of emotions. Heat, lust, want, need, anxiety, fear, frustration, and annoyance all warred for position. Her sweet lips pursed in irritation, but all Marc envisioned was them wrapped around his erection as she stared up at him with those bottomless blue eyes. He’d tangle his fingers in the long strands of honey, currently a bit snarled from her nap on the couch, and guide her as she took him deeper and deeper in her mouth.

“Seriously? You’re slobbering. Get your mind outta the gutter.”

Marc chuckled. Yeah, he’d been caught, but no way would he apologize. If Colton’s squirming next to him was any indication, his brother was of a similar affliction.

She rolled her eyes at them both. “So let me get this straight. You two want to share
me,
and you’re already sharing
my
house, so do you share each other too?”

“Um, that is called incest, and I can gauran-damn-tee you that is not happening.” Marc shivered at the mere thought and scooted away from Colton.

“Incest? Wait, that would make you…cousins?” Her gaze went back and forth between them trying to figure things out.

Colton answered her. “Brothers.”

“You look nothing alike. And you don’t have the same last name.”

“Half-brothers,” Marc clarified. He’d rather be doing anything with her than going over their genealogy, but this did need to be hashed out.

Colton sat forward, put his elbows on his knees, and loosely clasped his hands together. “Our father had two mates. Women. They each had a son, well, and there are a few other siblings thrown in there too—”

“How many?”

“Six.”

“There are eight of you?” Her jaw dropped open.

Marc chuckled. “Not of us, but kids, yes. Dad was a randy guy, what can we say? He had five pups with Colton’s mom, Karen, and three with my mom, Darcy.”

“Okay…that’s not weird.”

Colton sighed. Marc did too, but he shrugged it off. She didn’t know shifter dynamics yet, so he couldn’t blame her for thinking them
weird
.

“Anyway, as the two oldest, we took over alpha status of the pack when Dad was done with politics. That’s all it pretty much is nowadays. Keeping order in the pack, settling squabbles, helping raise and teach the pups our ways. Occasionally it means a fight or two to prove dominance or keep someone in line, but that doesn’t happen too often.” Marc settled back on the couch, crossed his right foot over his opposite knee, and waited for more questions. He didn’t have to wait long.

Anna bit her lip. “Sooo…if your dad had two women mates…why were you both looking at me like—”

“Like we wanted,
want
, to devour you?” Colton slowly got up and stalked deliberately toward her. “Our dad was one man. Alphas mate in threes. He didn’t have a brother to fill a mate third with, so two women were chosen for him.”

Marc watched Anna swallow, her eyes widening as Colton advanced on her, but Marc gave her credit for holding her ground. “Chosen?” The one word squeaked out.

“Uh-huh. Chosen. Good ole Mother Fate decides which person, male or female, is best suited for a shifter.” Colton circled Anna’s body, his own touching her in a slight caress. “We know when we’ve found them by their smell.” He paused and leaned in to inhale her essence.

Marc nearly came in his pants. He didn’t have to be as close to her as Colton to know what his brother likely smelled. Fruity shampoo, her skin laced with a touch of soft perfume, the cream between her legs.

Marc rearranged himself to ease the ache growing steadily in his balls. If they didn’t have her soon, he feared they’d scare her to death with their over-eagerness.

Colton continued his revolution around Anna’s stiff body. “If Dad had had a brother, one woman might have been chosen for them to share. Like one has been chosen for us.” He shrugged. “Or not. He might still have been blessed with two women mates.”

“And who’s been chosen for you?” Again her voice squeaked as if she really hadn’t wanted to ask the question but couldn’t stop herself from doing so, and her fingers curled into fists at her sides.

Marc took the opportunity to join his brother. They stopped right in front of her, and each grabbed one of her hands and brought them to their lips.

“That would be you.” Marc closed his eyes and kissed the knuckles of her trembling hand.

•
●•

She was dreaming. A pleasant, horny dream with two hot guys about to fulfill her every fantasy, but a dream nonetheless. She’d fallen off a chair, smacked her head on the floor, given herself a concussion, and now she was in a coma. Had to be the case because no way would two gorgeous wolf shifters hit on her and tell her she was their mate. As if by the simple act of saying it made it so. She’d have to be out of her ever-loving mind to believe it for more than one second.

Anna pulled her hands free from their grasps and wiped her sweaty palms on her pants.

“Ok, well, now that we’ve got that settled…”

Albatross grinned and Marc took up that I’m-not-taking-no-for-an-answer pose with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Right. So, any idea how I can get to my car?” She had to leave. Now, before she jumped them both. Then she’d be nothing less than a potty-mouthed whore of a first grade teacher. Oh God. What would the principal say if he found out about this? She turned to leave. “I’m going to lose my job.”

“Whoa, whoa, wait a minute.”

Before she could reach the door, Marc stepped in front of her and Albatross closed ranks behind her.

“First of all…” Albatross nuzzled her neck from behind, somehow settling her nerves a tiny bit. “Your car is at the house, or will be by the time we get back there.”

“And secondly,” Marc continued, “you won’t lose your job. Why on Earth would you?”

Did he not have a brain? She shook Albatross off her neck and flicked a finger up. “Got arrested for stealing a car, doesn’t matter it was
my
car, still got arrested, and…” she flicked a second finger up, “…about to have sex in the police station, and—oh my God.” Eyes wide in mortification, she stomped on Marc’s toe and used his sudden incapacitation to escape.

Those damn wolf instincts were much quicker than hers, though. Albatross slapped the door closed with a hand over her shoulder. Anna had nothing left in her. Completely embarrassed, she thumped her forehead against the wood.

“Just can’t keep your trap shut, you little idiot.”

Strong fingers grasped her nape and soothed her. It was as if her tension ebbed away whenever they touched her. What was up with that?

“Not an idiot. Just not used to the rush of feelings you’re having. Trust me, we’re a little overwhelmed ourselves.” Marc tried to pull her off the door, but she resisted.

Maybe if she pushed hard enough, she could somehow pass through it and back into the dimension she’d woken up in that morning. As opposed to the one she currently found herself trapped in. Marc unglued her fingers from the doorknob and gently rubbed along her knuckles with his thumb. Albatross brushed his palm down her spine, she guessed in an attempt to soothe her.

Anna mustered up any ounce of courage she could before she ended up back on that couch naked beneath two wolf men.

“I really,
really
need to go.”

“So you don’t have sex in the police station?” Albatross’s words whispered against her ear, sending a chill across her skin.

“That too.” She stood stock still, her jaw clenched as their skin and clothing rasped against her arms. Goose bumps pebbled along every inch, and her nipples threatened to tear a hole in her bra and shirt. They had seduction down to an art.

“Come home with us.” Marc’s lips moved on her temple.

She snorted. “I have no idea who you are. No way am I going home with you.”

“It’s your home too.” Between Albatross at her back, Marc at her left side, the door in front of her, and the wall to her right, Anna was getting down right close to claustrophobic. Albatross’s statement only made things worse.

She sighed and dropped her chin to her chest. “If what you say is true, then it’s not my home anymore.” Damn it, she didn’t want to do this here. Didn’t want to cry like a blubbering baby in front of two gorgeous men who’d done nothing wrong. Her bastard ex was responsible for the current situation, and as soon as she could manage, Anna vowed to find out what the hell he was trying to accomplish. Selling their house behind her back, then giving her the keys, knowing she couldn’t take possession, and then reporting her car stolen?

“Sweetheart, the house is yours. I know you’re confused about all that’s happened today, but I promise you, neither Marc nor I have ever attacked a woman and tried to make her believe she’s our mate just to get in her pants.” Albatross threaded his fingers through hers and squeezed.

Confusion was putting it mildly. But she sucked in a breath, lifted her gaze, untangled their fingers, and turned to face them both. “I…I think…that…well, I sorta, okay, maybe not so much, but I kinda understand where you’re coming from. Not really, that’s a lie. I have no idea where you’re coming from. I’m still in shock from learning about the house and then the car, and now you’re telling me I’m supposed to drop my clothes, make love to you both, and live with you forever—I think that’s what you’re saying anyway—but, really, how many women do you know who’d realistically do that?” She held up a hand when Marc opened his mouth to speak. “I mean human women. Not the ones in your world who know the score. And I can’t just blindly follow you home and park myself in your lives ’cuz that’s just really weird, and if I did that, it’d be like I’m one of those crazy women in a romance book that moves way too fast, and seriously? Who falls in love that fast? It’s not possible. And now I have to go and find out who my ex-schmuck husband thinks he is selling my house and then laughing behind my back after he gives me the key and says it’s yours, and then on top of that reports my car stolen when it was never his to begin with, and why he’s doing this in the first place because, what the hell?
He’s
the one who had an affair with Ms. Candy Apple,
so what the fuck did I do to suddenly cause this problem
?”