A Bond of Brothers (6 page)

I blinked at him. "Why would you think that?"

"Well, directions are a part of nature, right? I mean, animals instinctively know the way home, birds know how to migrate and stuff. With your nature power, I just assumed you'd know how to get home."

I let out a small chuckle and then started to laugh. "I guess my sense of direction isn't all that hot."

"That's okay, we were right behind you. You didn't really think you were going to get away that easily, did you?" He reached for my hand and squeezed it, bringing it to rest on his thigh.

"You don't want to share me with your brother, Lynk. And this stuff between us is really new, anyway. I don't even know how I feel about you entirely; we've only known each other a short time. I can't make a decision that will affect the rest of my life after a day."

"We're not asking you to, lilenta. We have all the time in the world. But you can't just walk away from us. We'd go mad without you, trust me."

"So you do accept that I feel drawn to Tavian, too?"

"I don't like it, exactly, but I can't deny it."

I sighed, feeling an enormous weight rest on my shoulders. "You're going to lose your brother, one way or the other. I'm not worth it."

"You're worth your weight in diamonds, love."

I wasn't so sure.

The ride back to my cabin was quiet. Lynk let me have the time to think, and I was glad for it, although by the time he stopped next to my home, I had no idea what I was going to do. I just knew that I couldn't split their family apart. That would always hang over my head.

Tavian pulled in next to us and three of us walked into the cabin. Lynk went to the wood stove and started the fire that had gone out and Tavian moved to the small kitchen area and filled up the kettle I'd left on the stove and turned the stove on. He instinctively seemed to know where everything was, pulling mugs and tea out of the cabinets and setting them on a tray. I pulled off my jacket and put my boots at the door, glad that for the moment things were okay between them.

When the kettle whistled, Lynk straightened from where he'd been watching the fire in the stove and shut the door, while Tavian carried the tray over to the coffee table. They sat down, leaving a space for me between them. I sat down mutely and looked at the tray and then both of them.

They reached for my hands at the same time, each taking one, and I closed my eyes for a moment, enjoying the way it felt to touch both of them at the same time. "Shaylee?" Lynk said quietly, and I opened my eyes and looked at him.

"I'm afraid of what this is going to mean for your family." I said, squeezing both of their hands.

"This isn't about them, it's about us." Tavian answered. "Do fairies have an instant connection like bears do?"

"Not that I know of."

"Then it must have been one of those mysterious twists of fate that happens to our kind. You were driven to find Lynk as he was dying, save him, and..." Tavian stopped talking. What was left unsaid was that I was meant for both of them, not just Lynk alone. It was so strange to think in those terms, as something to be cherished and shared. No one, but my mother, had ever thought I was special.

"So what now?" I split the silence with my question.

Lynk squeezed my hand. "Now, Shaylee, we have a proposition for you."

"Really?"

He chuckled, but it was forced. He was still having trouble coming to terms with what had happened. But so was I. And at least he'd known in the back of his mind that this mate-call thing had the potential to be for more than one person. I, on the other hand, was as green as fresh grass when it came to were-bear mating rituals.

"Yes. You and I spent a day together. Although I wasn't conscious for all of it, I'm not going to split hairs. Tavian and I spoke before we caught up to you, and if you're agreeable to it, I'm going to leave in the morning and head back to the den. Tavian is going to stay here with you for the day and I'll come back in the morning."

I licked my lips. "And then what?"

He rubbed his thumb on the top of my hand and pressed his lips together. Tavian spoke, drawing my attention to him. "If you have made a decision, then we'll go back to the den together and share the announcement."

I blanched. "You think after one day I'll be able to make a decision?"

"Not necessarily. But it's a start. We'll be on equal ground, then. And we'll alternate days, one staying and one leaving, until you're ready to make your decision."

"That's how you want this to go? Switching days?" I looked at Lynk in shock.

He cupped my face with his free hand. "Lilenta, I'd love nothing more than to have never left this cabin for all eternity and have you to myself. But this is something we have to deal with now. Both Tavian and I are drawn to you as mates. It's what our kind do. When we scent our mate, when we find her, we want to be with her. Tavian has a right to get to know you, and you have the right to get to know him, too. Until you make a decision, then this will have to do."

"But you don't want to share me." Defeat and sadness crept into me like ice.

He looked slightly startled. "I, uh, I don't know the answer to that, Shaylee. I care for you a great deal. I want you to be mine. But to share you with Tavian?" He shook his head slightly. "I just don't know."

My heart sank. That was what I thought.

We spent the rest of the evening talking about everything except the elephant in the room. By the time I was too sleepy to keep my eyes open, I found Tavian to be as charming as Lynk and a real sweetheart. He was softer than Lynk, more caring and thoughtful from what I could tell. They actually balanced each other very well.

Lynk carried me to bed and tucked me in, and although I wanted to ask him to hold me while I slept, I knew I couldn't. He and Tavian were spending the night in the front room, one on the couch and one on an old sleeping bag.

When I woke up and showered, I yawned my way out into the front room, drawn out by the aroma of bacon and coffee. I kissed both their cheeks and we ate breakfast together. A strained silence filled the room, dotted with Tavian's expectant and heated smile and Lynk's unhappy frown. When I walked Lynk out to the truck, I hugged him tightly.

"I'm sorry." I said, my words muffled by his thick coat.

"Sorry for what, lilenta?" He smoothed back my hair and kissed my forehead.

"For all of this."

He smiled sadly. "It's not your fault that you're so lovely and enchanting that you attracted two were-bears as mates. I'll be back in the morning, sweetheart."

He kissed me goodbye and I stood in the snow and watched him leave until the truck was a far dot on the horizon and my teeth were chattering.

When I stepped back into the cabin and shut the door, I leaned on it and toed off my boots, hanging up my coat and rubbing my hands together to warm them. I took a deep breath and my eyes popped open. Tavian was standing in the short hallway, his arms stretched above his head and his palms pressed to either wall. His eyes were dark, his mouth was open slightly, and he was panting quietly. That scent! It filled the air around me and I stumbled towards him and heard his soft growling.

I gripped the edges of his flannel shirt and ripped upwards, popping the buttons in my haste and shoving the sides open. His incredibly muscular chest was laid bare for me, inches and inches of coppery flesh carved to perfection, from the indent of his navel to the dark chocolate color of his nipples. I planted my hands on his chest and looked up at him. "You smell so good, Tavian. I could, I could drown in your scent. It's like a beacon for me."

His fingertips dug into the walls, but he remained still while my hands explored his upper body. His skin vibrated under my fingers as he growled. "Why do you smell so strongly now, when before with Lynk here it wasn't like that?"

His mouth quirked up into a smile. "I was holding my bear in check. Lynk was, too. We didn't want to overwhelm you, not with things so up in the air."

"You don't seem as upset about this as Lynk." I traced the curve of his waist and ran my hands around to his back.

"I'm not against the idea of forming a family with you and Lynk. I love Lynk and I would rather share you with someone I love than not have you at all. But it's not my choice to make, it's yours and his."

"He's pretty miserable."

"You just need to focus on yourself, yanna. Whatever you choose, your happiness is all we crave."

"Yanna?" I asked, slipping my hands down inside the waistband of his jeans. I played my fingers along the hot flesh above the delicious curve of his ass. Edging my fingers lower, I pulled him closer to me.

He sucked in a slow breath, "Love."

"Tavian?" I whispered, looking up at the sweet rapture on his face. His eyes were closed, the thick lashes casting shadows on his high cheekbones. His lovely coppery skin was as soft as silk, the muscles rippling underneath with each movement.

"Yes?" His eyes slid half open, a sultry smile touching the corner of his mouth.

"I need you."

His hands dropped to my shoulders and he spun me around, eyes flashing with heat and desire. He walked me backwards towards the open door of the bedroom.

"Need me?" He growled.

"Want you."

"Do you, little fairy?" His body bumped mine as we danced backwards, each touch like a jolt of electricity.

I dug my fingers into his flesh. "Yes. Yes!"

The back of my legs met the bed and I sat down abruptly. His fingertips traced the curve of my jaw, his body trembling slightly as if he were only barely controlling himself .

"I'm yours, Shaylee." He spoke the words like they meant all the world to him, and in that moment, I was certain they did.

Our mouths met as I fell backwards onto the bed and pulled him with me. He shrugged out of his shirt and parted from my mouth for the hot second it took to rip my shirt over my head. With jerky movements we pulled each other's clothes off, ripping seams and muttering curses between kisses. He slid down my body and landed on his knees on the floor, pushing my thighs apart as he went. I went up on my elbows and looked down at him.

He rubbed his cheek along my knee for a moment, his eyes fixed to the apex of my thighs, before pulling me forward so that my thighs rested on his shoulders and his mouth was just bare inches from my pussy. His hands wrapped around my thighs and he took in a slow, quiet breath. "I didn't know that heaven could smell so decadently sinful," he chuckled with a low voice and I smiled before closing my eyes with a moan when his tongue parted my flesh.

He licked up my pussy with a languid stroke, deviling my clit with the tip of his tongue before shifting his head to the side and stroking his tongue over my hardened bud. I reached my hands down my body and spread myself for him, wanting to be laid as bare for him physically as I was feeling emotionally. He growled, tightening his hands on my thighs, and licked around the plump lips of my pussy before dragging his teeth lightly over my clit. I gasped at the sensations that flooded me and let out a whimper when he sucked my bud into his mouth, taunting it with his tongue until I was twisting and writhing under him. Pleasure was just in my reach, a tantalizing ball of heat that I wanted to hold onto forever. He lashed me again and again with his tongue, holding my clit hostage with his teeth and lips until I hit that edge of pleasure and jumped off, crying out and grinding my body into his face.

He moved me up the bed while my body shuddered in the wake of my orgasm, sliding between my legs into the cradle of my body and wrapping his arms around me. His cock pushed against my quivering entrance and for one brief moment our eyes locked, and I knew I wouldn't be able to live without him.

"Ah, Tavian!" I cried when he thrust into me with one hard press until our bodies were tightly locked together. My legs curled around him, holding him closer, closer and my hands pressed into his back.

"So perfect," he groaned, nipping at my pulse and pulling out of me until just the tip of his cock spread my pussy apart. My hands wove through his hair and I wrenched his mouth to mine as he slammed back into me, finding a hard rhythm. I met his thrusts with my own, our hips meeting as we panted into each other's mouths, heat pooling in my belly under his onslaught.

He slid one hand down my back and lifted my hips slightly, pounding deeper into me at an angle that drove all the breath from my body. He kept his eyes on me while he thrust into my willing body. I felt him begin to lose control, his rhythmic thrusting shifting to wild pounding. I closed my eyes and gave in; relaxing my body as he took what he wanted and gave me what I needed. My panting cries of pleasure shifted with a scream when I came, my body shattering into a million pieces as my nails drug long scratches down his back. He groaned as he came, holding me to him tightly as his body released into mine, sending little after-shock climaxes weaving through me.

He collapsed on top of me and I welcomed the warm weight of him, brushing his hair away from his sweaty face and kissing his forehead. "You're amazing, Tavian." I said softly, enjoying the look of utter relaxation and happiness on his handsome face.

He peeked at me through the veil of his lashes and smirked. "I haven't hit amazing yet, love."