Romance: JADEN: An MMA Fighter Romance (Bad Boy Tattoo Romance) (New Adult Pregnancy Short Stories) (41 page)

   Hailey opened her eyes, gasping as the energy in her body rebounded and snapped back in place. She was shaking, and both Jacob and Pete were stroking her forehead and murmuring as they poured energy into her body.

   “What did you do?” Pete asked, his eyes pale yellow. She could tell he was exerting a tremendous amount of force trying to give her energy without shifting. She smiled weakly at him, but she was too drained to speak. Jacob touched her cheek, and she felt a tingling sensation spread across her skin, almost like being dipped in a minty bath. Her hummingbird heartbeat slowed, and she met Jacob’s stormy gray eyes just as in influx of cool energy sapped the soreness away from her muscles. He slipped one arm behind her back and helped her sit up.

   “What did you do?” Pete repeated gently as his eyes faded back to deep blue. Jacob’s were still white, since he was still feeding her energy. Her trembling slowed and finally stopped, and she took a deep breath.

   “I made him stop,” Hailey said, the heat in her eyes must have told Pete that she meant him. They darkened with understanding, and he reached around her to hug her to him. She felt Jacob’s arm move around them, and smiled as she let them sandwich her between them.

   “I’m glad you did,” Pete said softly. Jacob squeezed them both.

   “Me too,” he said. “So…what now?” He pulled back from them and sat on the bed. Hailey scooted close to him, pulling Pete across her lap so they could all touch. The shimmering energy flared to life again, and Hailey felt her own fiery energy burst into being in answer. She felt her beast uncurling, and looked from Pete to Jacob, heat spreading through her body. Hailey grinned slowly, an idea forming in her head.

   “I think we should practice mingling our energies some more,” she said innocently. “I feel like we should get the temperature down before we put out a call.”

   “Temperature?” Pete asked.

   “Yeah. Sometimes I burn hot, sometimes I feel completely cold. I think we should find our balance.”

   Jacob and Pete looked at each other and started to snicker.

   “What?” Hailey asked, annoyed.

   “So, you want we three bears to practice, until we find out what’s just right?” Jacob’s smile could have melted butter. Hailey giggled.

   “Yeah, I guess I am saying that.” She leaned back on the bed and opened the straps of her robe. “We have an advantage, though.”

   “What’s that?” Jacob asked, his dark gray eyes moving over her naked body hungrily.

   Hailey spread her legs and looked from Pete to Jacob, her smile growing in proportion to the lust in their eyes. “All of three of us are bears,” she said softly. “No holding back.”

THE END

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Copyright 2015 by Ruby Scott - All rights reserved.

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by Ruby Scott

   “Careful, Alex, don’t flatten the pillows!”

   Alex bristled at Nathan’s tone. He froze, peering up at the taller man from his place on the bed. “How am I supposed to do anything with you standing over me all the time?”

   Anger flashed through Nathan’s golden brown eyes, and his broad shoulders tensed as they squared. “I stand over you because if I don’t,  you won’t do it right.” He strode to the other side of the bed and shoved Alex’s shoulder, more roughly than his usual playful swat. Alex stood and backed away, watching Nathan’s dark brown head of hair move around angrily as he finished fluffing the mattress with his wide, calloused palms. The ice around Alex’s heart thawed as he watched his partner tidy up the bed more quickly than he could have.

   Nathan stood and turned, ready to move out of the room, but Alex quickly stepped around and in front of him. He felt a wave of red-hot energy lash the air in front of him, but he knew the bear’s rage wasn’t truly meant for him. Alex tilted his angular face upward, trying his best to smile in the face of Nathan’s intimidating glower.

   “Thank you,” he said softly. “I really can’t do anything without you, but that’s why Rachel is coming.” Nathan seemed to tense further at the sound of their mail order bride’s name, and Alex wondered if he’d made a mistake. Then Nathan’s shoulders relaxed, and he smiled weakly, his energy cooling around him.

   “I’m sorry.” He took Alex’s smaller hands in his and gazed down at the man, warmth creeping into his eyes as the anxiety drained away. “You’re so great to arrange this, really. I couldn’t have done that without you.” Nathan leaned forward and pressed his full lips against Alex’s. When he pulled back, his smile stretched to his eyes, and Alex felt his the energy from his own bear form stir awake.

   “Careful,” he murmured. “Don’t start something you can’t finish.”

   Nathan chuckled, low and rumbling like thunder on a plain. “Let’s finish setting up, and we’ll see what I can start.” He winked and turned away to pull the clean comforter from the closet.

   Alex had been watching that man walk away from him for eight years---before they’d moved in together, in 1882. Both men had been new to town, looking for a bear pack to fall in with. Soon they were not only involved in the same pack, they’d fallen in love with the same women, and neither had been willing to yield. Annabelle, luckily, had been a woman eager to find common ground between her lovers---she’d proposed a ménage. After two blissful years, Annabelle was stricken ill with a blood disease, and the men had been forced to console each other while they watched the love of their life fade away over three months that were somehow torturously long and deceitfully short.

   Somehow, they’d rekindled their individual flames in the void Annabelle left behind, and found that being together was far more pleasant than being apart. Out of convenience grew fondness, and in that place love took root; it grew for six years, until they were as steadily passionate as any married couple. They claimed to be brothers if anyone asked, and, happily, no one asked how Alex got his red hair and Kelly green eyes when Nathan was a brunette. Despite their bond, they both missed the soft places and company of the fairer sex, and it was Alex who had found a solution.

   Recalling the words of a pack member, Alex scoured listings for eligible women who might be open to living in a situation such as theirs. At the same time, he sent out letters to be posted in other cities and states. The trick, Benny told Alex, was to use and look for certain keywords or phrases---shifters all around the world did it this way. Certain canine shifters might say they were “formerly a lone wolf in need of an Alpha Female”, taking care to use capital letters; cat-based shifters might ask for “help with a rodent problem” or “someone who doesn’t mind lots of fur balls”; and for Nathan and Alex, big ursine men they were: “must love Bears.”

   “It isn’t too subtle?” Alex worried as he penned the letter. “You don’t think it’ll be missed?”

   “Trust me!”  Benny nudged Alex conspiratorially. “Have I ever let you down?”

   Alex had shaken his head uneasily as he sealed up the letter. It turns that although Benny had let him down on more than one occasion, he shouldn’t have worried about this. After two weeks, they received three letters a week in their mailbox, then four, then five the next week; when Alex finally let Nathan in on his decision, his partner was too overwhelmed by choice to be angry.

   “This one says she’s never been with bears, but she’s been with two very large, very hairy humans, and her sister recommends it…this one comes from a family whose women all birthed at least…ten healthy children each! Wowee!” Nathan eventually had to find his reading glasses, sometimes holding the paper up to his nose to see. “She either loves bears or bricks…I can’t tell.”

   Alex weeded through most of the improbable matches quickly, reading until they were left with Rachel. She was 25, married once, but her husband had died in a steam engine accident three years before. She was used to an alternative lifestyle, she said---one like the one they were asking her to enter. Her husband kept their bedroom open during their four years of marriage, and they saw a different man or woman together every few months. Variety is the spice of life, she wrote in an elegant hand, and of love, too. With a good base, there’s nothing stopping you from sampling many flavors.

   Rachel was done sampling, however, and would be content to live at home with her two men. She wasn’t a shifter, but many of her lovers were; she said she had a particular liking for bears. Alex was nervous and excited, but the tint of his attitude was purely optimistic. Nathan was antsy and dramatic, like he always was. In the weeks leading up to Rachel’s arrival, he kept going over what could go wrong. What if she wasn’t compatible with them? What if she came there to do them harm? What if she couldn’t cook or clean?

   “A woman, not cooking or cleaning in 1890?” Alex asked, laughing. “Nathan, that’s not likely. Look, you can't do anything by worrying. Just relax and get ready.”

   “Worrying is how I get ready!” Nathan kept shouting. But as the days sped by, his worries ran as thin as his patience, so he found other things to complain about. Alex was glad Rachel was due to arrive that afternoon, because he might have started to crack under another day of Nathan’s piling on.

   Alex held his breath as Nathan finished making the bed and stepped back to admire the room. His eyes zipped from place to place, weighing each change they’d made against everything they’d chosen to keep the same. Finally, a genuine smile of satisfaction slowly moved across his face, illuminating his handsome features until he was breathtaking. “I think we got it,” Nathan said, his voice jolly. “What time is it, Alex?”

   Alex pulled a heavy onyx pocket watch from his trousers and jumped when he saw the time. “Ten to one! We gotta go.” He dashed over to the mirror and ran his hands through his slicked back hair, trying to decide if his green eyes looked like they were bulging from his sockets. His narrow face looked tense, he thought, and he wished he’d gotten more sleep the night before. Nathan had insisted on running out their nervous energy, however, and he always managed to look more refreshed. Alex touched the dark red stubble on his chin and cheeks, satisfied with his rugged look, at least; he hoped it would give him enough confidence to give a good first impression. You never get another chance to make a first impression! His mother’s words rang cheerily in his head; he heard them as often as he heard her say love conquers all, Alex.

   “Alex!” Nathan barked. “Come on!” He swatted his partner’s behind and rushed out of the bedroom and out the front door to hitch the horses to the wagon.

   “You took forever,” Alex grumbled good-naturedly as he grabbed his hat and hurried behind his lover. He straightened a rug as he moved through the living room, then set off running through the house, leaping across their sofa rather than going around. He bounded down the short flight of steps, letting the screen door crash closed behind him. Their orange cat, Ronald---who was really more of a stray cat than their own--- yowled at him as he flew by, probably requesting treats or a dish of milk. Alex ignored him and didn’t stop running until he got to the carriage at the end of the long driveway and leapt into the carriage in one motion, startling one of the horses.

   Nathan raised his eyebrow as Alex grinned at him, puffing, from the passenger seat. “Are you done showing off?” he asked dryly, but Alex saw that he was stifling a grin. He also saw his eyes slip to trace over his muscular thighs and thick forearms, and he glowed with happiness, feeling the stirrings of desire even though Nathan was trying to mask it.

   “You love it,” Alex said easily, sitting back in the seat and watching the street go by. He touched Nathan’s thigh flirtatiously, sending a gentle pulse of warm energy into the muscle that he knew would make his lover shiver. Alex grinned as he watched the frisson of movement slip down Nathan’s spine and a gasp slipped from his lips.

   “Stop,” Nathan said, playfully shoving Alex’s hand away and laughing. “You’re going to make me crash!”

Alex pulled his hand back, satisfied.  He turned toward the street again and waved at the butcher, who was toddling back from lunch to reopen his shop, and the mailman dropping a stack of letters in front of the green grocer’s building. They were both bears from the local pack, quiet men who changed with them once or twice a month and went trundling through the forest in their ursine forms. Running in their bear forms was liberating beyond words, and the only thing better was the feeling they were hoping to recapture with Rachel.

   Nathan pulled up in front of the train station at five past one. “Her train is probably already here,” he said nervously, eyeing the crowd pouring out of the exit. “She said she’ll have a big red bag and a matching dress…tall and brunette haired…is that her? Golly, she’s pale. Alex! Is that Parker she’s talking to?” Nathan’s voice took on a panicked note, and Alex sat up straight in his seat to look where his partner was pointing.

   He followed his finger to a woman in a blood red dress, standing next to two trunks---one black, one in the same shade of red. She was indeed pale, with dark brown hair pulled back from her head in a simple bun, but a few wild strands hung around her heart shaped face. She had bright blue eyes and full, pink lips, and though she was lean, Alex could see the swell of a generous bosom beneath her dress, and ample hips. God, she’s beautiful, he thought feverishly; then his heart went cold when he saw that she was indeed speaking to the wild-eyed, shabbily dressed Parker.

   “I’ll be back,” Alex said shortly. He hopped out of the carriage, ignoring Nathan’s sputtered opposition. Anger was flooding his veins, and he felt each of his senses heighten as the adrenaline ate away at his distraction. His eyes zeroed in on the side of Parker’s neck as he stalked across the street, focusing on his pulse point like a bulls-eye. Rachel was nodding politely at something the man was saying, but it never registered with Alex by the time he got to them. Her eyes widened in surprise as they fell on him, and he nodded curtly before tapping Parker on the shoulder.

   The elderly man spun on his heel, his hairless face pinched with fury. The rage only deepened when his eyes recognized Alex. “You,” he spat, running a hand over his bald head nervously. His beady eyes looked Alex up and down. “What do you want here, boy? This gal doesn’t want anything to do with your kind.” His lip curled upward in a sneer, and he placed his wrinkled hands on his bony hips.

   “Actually, this gentleman is my new husband.” Rachel spoke in a high, clear voice, but Alex detected an undercurrent of steel. He looked at her face, now pulled into an expression of distaste; he wondered what Parker had been saying that made her believe he wasn’t bigoted and deranged. “I’ll be going now, but it was…so good to make your acquaintance.” Rachel backed away from Parker, who had rounded back on her and was gaping at her with his mouth hanging open; Alex picked up both of her trunks and started to move between them.

   “Now wait just a minute!” Parker pointed one skeletal finger at her. “You don’t mean to say you’re going home with these---heathens?”

His tone was so incredulous that passerby might have been forgiven for thinking that Alex and his ilk sacrificed infants for sport. “Don’t you know what they do behind closed doors?” Parker’s voice dropped an octave and he took a step toward Rachel, who was now moving behind Alex.  “Don’t you know what those men do to each other ain’t right? What they do to other people?” His glistening black eyes were sharp with malice. “You’re gonna get yourself ate up, girlie. Ate right up by the devil’s spawn they’re gonna put in that pretty little belly.”

Alex swung the red trunk forward to stop Parker from taking another step, but the wily old man dodged the blow just in time, chuckling madly. “Get out of here, you crazy old bastard. No one believes your stories! Go beg for scraps on a corner somewhere!”

Parker cackled again, and it filled Alex with fury so suddenly that he stepped right up to his and growled, low and long from the back of his throat. The old man’s smile faded and was quickly replaced by a look of terror; Alex knew that his green eyes had slipped to the shade of yellow they took on in his bear form. His ursine energy was clamoring inside him---he could smell the sweet prickle of fear coming from the old man’s body, and he wanted very badly to sink claws into his body and end the whole circus of gossip he’d been perpetuating for years. Instead, he showed the old man with his eyes how close he’d come to hurting him, and smiled with satisfaction as the man scrambled away.