The Purrfect Predicament (Australian Shifters) (13 page)

Andy knew his brother was right; River would come down on their heads if they did hunt him down and tear him to shreds.

"We need to focus on Juniper. She's had a shitty life, and we to need make it up to her. Spoil her and show her that being with us is the best thing since sliced bread."

Andy scoffed, "Sliced bread? You're getting old, old man."

"Yeah, by a whole two minutes." Hamish glared over his shoulder before turning on the oven.

"Well we could start by getting her some real clothes, feminine ones. We need to take her shopping." Andy suggested, tossing more peeled spuds onto the tray.

"Not just shopping, we need to do other stuff as well, romance her, Bro, do all that mushy stuff from her books."

Andy felt his anger melting away, replaced with the heated memory of the softness of their mate's body, and how bloody fantastic it felt to be inside her. "Haven't we already skipped to the good parts: kidnapping and ravishing?"

They both chuckled. "Yes, but we need to show her it's more than just sex."

"It is?"

Hamish's shook his head. "Grow a brain, other than the one in your dick."

Andy snorted, "Like it's stopped you."

Hamish grinned. "Okay then, romance and sex, we can manage both, surely?"

Andy handed the tray to Hamish, who slid it into the oven. "Fuck yeah, in fact, I have a plan."

Hamish groaned. "You and your plans."

"Stop bitching, it's gotten her into our home and lives hasn't it?"

Hamish shrugged, unable to refute Andy's statement. "Alright then genius, what's your plan?"

~ * ~

Any hope of resisting the Brown brothers was tossed out the window the moment she wandered back down the stairs, wearing a clean t-shirt and drawstring boxer shorts one of the guys had left on the end of the freshly made bed. They had been busy during her soak.

Their twin smiles as she came into the kitchen sent her body into heated meltdown.

"Hello, beautiful." Andy winked as Hamish drew her into his arms, hugging her tight before tipping her head back, and diving in for a slow, sensual kiss.

Her stomach quivered and her sex pooled with moisture, her nipples tightening.

"You feeling any better?" Hamish's low, husky voice washed over her, before he pulled back. She whimpered in protest.

Andy chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes."

She was tugged from Hamish's arms and the assault on her senses begun all over again. Andy playfully nipped at her lips, his hands possessively on her arse as he pulled her tight against his harder muscular body, before plunging in and conquering her mouth as if he had every right in the universe to do so.

"That's enough, Brother. Her sweet scent is already driving me mad." Hamish hadn't left, but had been running a hand across her shoulders.

Both men pulled back, leaving Juniper dazed and confused. She blinked and drew in several deep breaths to regain some equilibrium.

"Right, dinner and then fun." Andy tugged her towards the kitchen table.

"Fun?" Juniper squeaked. Her body already turned on, burning with lust, could imagine the kind of fun these two had in store after the 'fun' of this morning.

Andy chuckled in amusement; he crowded in behind her, pulling her to a stop before she could sit down. His hot breath against the skin of her neck sent spikes of erotic chills down her spine.

"I think you're having naughty thoughts, sweetheart. I do like you're line of thinking."

The heat flushed through her cheeks, no doubt turning her redder than a ripe tomato. "It's not my fault, you two are perverted. Were you two doing this sort of thing before you met me? Sharing women?" She glared back, finding the bravado to defend her red face, and trying to calm her over hyped libido.

"She's got us there, Bro," Hamish said. He was now moving around the kitchen plating juicy looking steaks and baked potatoes piled high with chopped grilled bacon and cheese.

"We never expected us to have one mate to share." Andy pulled from her back, and she instantly missed his warmth surrounding her. She sighed and sat down. "But you're right; we have, in the past shared women. But you do realize you are our only woman now. It is physically impossible for us to be even remotely attracted to another. It's the nature of true mates."

"Some Goddess or God up there in their divine wisdom made us even more different from humans in that we only get one soul mate during our life span."

Juniper studied her men's faces, realizing it must be even harder than humans to find that special one you wanted to spend the rest of your life with, but having no choice once you meet the one, all because it was predestined by some higher power. It didn't seem right, that they couldn't find their own.

"Do you feel cheated you have to share me?"

Hamish's face became serious as he pinned her with a stare. "No, sweetheart. As annoying as Andy is at times, he's my brother and we've really been blessed, never cursed or cheated to have found you."

"I'm annoying? I'm the one who has to put up with Mr. Responsible's bad habits, for the rest of my life. But I am one hundred and twenty percent in agreement. I'm more than thrilled you're ours, and don't you forget it, okay?" Andy kissed the top of her head, before moving to grab the piled plates, setting one down in front of her. Each took a chair on either side, Hamish uncorking a bottle of red wine and pouring her a half glass.

"We know it's been a whirlwind of a day for you. But we're not sorry for what we did. I hope you can now understand our motives."

"Yes and no." Juniper's mouth twitched up in a grin. "But I think I like you better as Panthers." She took a swig of the delicious fruity red wine.

"Oooh, straight to the heart." Andy's grin was infectious. "We can play cat and mouse later." He winked roguishly. "Till then eat up."

"Cat and mouse?" She almost spluttered her wine all over the table.

"We're predators, sweetheart, and you're our prey." Hamish joined in teasing her. She rolled her eyes.

"What you both need is collars, with bells."

"Now you're pulling the cat by the tail," Andy joked, before tucking into his steak.

She giggled as they laughed, her body and mind relaxing in their company, teasing and eating, generally having fun.

After dinner they banished her from the kitchen for clean-up, instructing her to find a movie she wanted to watch from their extensive collection on the shelves.

She ended up choosing a movie called
Cloud Atlas,
settling down on the comfy sofa, before the brothers came in brandishing bowls of salted snacks and beer bottles.

"I hope you didn't pick one of Hamish's sappy chick flicks." Andy set his pile of snacks on the smoky glass coffee table before sitting to her right, throwing his arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his side.

"They are not sappy, but educational," Hamish protested, handing Andy a beer. "Want one?" He waved a bottle at her. She shook her head; she never did like the taste of beer.

"Does he cry in the sad parts?" Juniper joined in the teasing.

"Like a fucking baby."

She giggled, and Hamish growled, glaring at his brother, before winking at her and sitting down to her left, snatching the DVD cover from the table where she'd left it. "
Cloud Atlas
, it's got a bit of everything, romance, action and fantasy. Nice choice, sweetheart." He kissed the top of her head. She felt all gooey inside at his praise.

Andy loosened his hold as Hamish took possession of her arm, his large hand holding hers, playing with her fingers.

"Relax, baby girl, we're not planning to jump you tonight. Mr. Horny over there will keep it in his pants."

Andy snorted. "So high and mighty, I swear if we didn't look-a-like, I'd be asking just exactly how we were related."

Andy sighed. "There is nothing I would like more than to make love to you again, but we're big boys and can do without. No more pressure until you're ready. I think we all need time just to get to know each other better. Sound good?"

Juniper hid her surprise and glanced between the brothers. It sounded perfect actually. She had been rather overwhelmed by the sexiness and long suppressed hormones. It was very sweet they would think of her welfare over their own dicks.

"I appreciate it." She was still feeling a bit sore from this morning, and getting to know her men beyond the bedroom was a very good idea.

"Great." Hamish kissed the top of her head, tugging her into a more comfortable position, reclining her back against his side, while Andy took her legs draping them over his own.

"Tomorrow we'll take you shopping and show you around Black Town. You're our girl now and remember nothing is too good for you. We both want to spoil you rotten so, be prepared, and no protesting, got it?"

Her chest heaved in a deep sigh, before she relaxed into Hamish's warmth. "Really guys, I don't need much stuff, and I don't want you spending—"

A hand clamped over her mouth. "Nuh, uh. Remember, there is no way you're going to bankrupt us, sweetheart, we're loaded. Just go with the flow and trust us to take care of you. Alright?"

Seeing the stubborn gleam in Andy’s gaze, she guessed there was no choice in protesting
.
She nipped at Hamish's fingers, and he hissed and pulled back his hand from her mouth.

"Alright, if it makes you feel good." She grinned, feeling the rumble of the chuckle coming from Hamish's chest.

"Now you're learning, good girl," Hamish replied, leaning over, snatching the bowl of salted popcorn, away from Andy.

"He'll eat the whole darn lot by himself, if we don't watch him."

"Ha! This coming from someone who can polish off a full-sized bag of corn chips in less than sixty seconds. Now he has to share. Ladies first."

She giggled again, taking a handful of popcorn. "Thank you."

The last of her anxiety slipped away under the playful banter. She focused back on the movie, musing over just how her life had changed so dramatically for the better, in just one day.

Chapter Eleven

"You're a true evil genius." Hamish eyed all the paper and plastic bags he'd just dumped on the bed. They were full of clothing they'd helped Juniper pick out. Andy made sure not one masculine item of clothing was put through the register.

Hamish hovered close behind Juniper as Andy pulled skirts, blouses, and dresses from the racks, adding them to the pile in Juniper's arms. Hamish made sure she didn't look at a single price tag, then insisted she try on a few, to make sure of their fit. Unfortunately, they both couldn't fit in the fitting room with her. So Hamish slumped outside, ignoring the flirtatious glances from the sales woman.

"Don't hand me that title yet, Bro, two days and no sex. I'm not sure I'm going to survive much longer." Andy adjusted his crotch, before he started clearing out the old clothing from the dresser in the main bedroom.

He and Andy had agreed to move into the Master bedroom, now that they were to share their little mate.

Hamish understood the sexual pull of their mate, but her mental wellbeing needed attending to more than her sexual one. "It was your plan to get her more comfortable with the idea of, well, everything. Settle her into a new way of life. Seeing her smiling and happy, it's worth blue balls for a while."

Andy paused, a reflective gaze in his brown eyes. "She does look more…"

"Radiant, feminine," Hamish offered, moving to the walk-in wardrobe.

"And fucking sexy, in that new yellow dress," Andy groaned, his eyes glazing over in wanton lust.

"I was surprised she didn't protest as much as I thought she would." She kicked up a fuss after lunch in a little restaurant, when they'd ushered her into a lingerie store. Having never ventured into one before, Hamish's gaze had moved around the frilly, lacy and silky displays in utter bemusement. He knew what he liked and what he liked was Juniper, naked.

To Andy's credit he seemed more at ease in the store, flicking through the racks, pulling out what he wanted to see their woman wearing. Sheer teddies, and black, lacy, push-up bras, which gave her a deeper cleavage. Hamish had been more than grateful to be holding many of the bags to hide his raging erection.

Shopping trip over for now, they could hear her moving about down stairs, clanging pots and pans. She'd insisted on cooking dinner for them. Hamish suspected she wanted to pay them back in some way for what little they'd spent on her so far.

He wasn't going to argue, liking the fact she wanted to cook. It meant they didn't have to live on steaks and baked potatoes, and takeaway roast chicken anymore. Spicy smells of grilling meat wafted up the stairs, as they re-arranged the bedroom closets, allowing Juniper plenty of space to add more clothing as time progressed.

"We should insist she put her stamp on our home, you know feminine stuff, so she feels like she belongs." Hamish watched Andy hang up some of his dress shirts.

"Good idea, hadn't thought of that. It will help her settle more. She was a bit tense when we arrived home."