Bears' Claim [PUP Squad Alpha 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (5 page)

“Maybe later,” he said, pressing his face to her belly in a sleepy, affectionate move that was over way too soon. He moved away quickly, obviously unsure of her reaction.

“Why did you wait three years to tell me?”

Eric gave her that kind smile that always worked wonders on his frightened patients. “Bear-shifters can be…” He hesitated, and then glanced to West for help.

“Possessive, territorial, growly?” he provided with a wide grin on his face.

Eric shrugged. “That’s probably pretty accurate. Once bear-shifters claim their mates, we have a tendency to turn into…let’s just say, overbearing buttheads. I just wanted to give you a chance to know your own mind so if I ever do step over that line, you’ll have the confidence enough to smack me upside the head—figuratively speaking.” He glanced at West again. “Of course, I wasn’t expecting to have to compete with another butthead.”

“Compete?” West asked with far less than his usual cockiness. In fact the man looked downright disturbed. “I…um…Look I’ll just…” He didn’t finish the sentence, just shook his head and turned away.

“Shit!” Eric said, shocking the hell out of her. In all the time she’d known him she’d never heard him swear. “I’m sorry, Hannah. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. It’s not a competition.” He scrubbed a hand down his unshaven face. “I should…” He moved to get out of the chair, but Hannah put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

“Is it what you want?” She searched his face, not really sure she knew what she was looking for but figuring she’d know when she found it.

“It’s not
about
what I want,” he said in a dismissive tone. When he saw her shocked reaction, he tried to explain. “For bear-shifters, finding ‘the one,’ that special person who completes them, is very rare. Most give up long before finding them and settle for a human type of relationship. With true mates the connection is deeper, the base more solid, the chances of a lifetime commitment much higher.”

“But being mates doesn’t guarantee we’ll like each other?” she asked as the information she needed began to unfurl in her mind. Somehow that felt both right and wrong, but knowing that she had a choice to walk away only solidified the growing feelings she was having for both men. Either that was the Great Spirit’s grand design or humans and bear-shifters were both very contrary species.

“No, there aren’t any guarantees. The only thing we know for certain is that your bear will recognize our bears and want to be with them. The human side, that’s where the free will comes into it.”

“Whoa, back up a little. My bear?”

“Sorry, I feel like I’ve known you so long that I should have already told you this. I suppose that’s the drawback of protecting you from afar. If I’d known a pixie was going to come after you, I can guarantee you would not have had to face that fear alone.”

She gave him a lopsided grin and waited for him to realize that he still hadn’t answered her question.

“Oh, right…You said you know about our healing gifts.” She nodded. She still wasn’t sure how, but she did know it was true. “Well if we use too much magic to heal someone there is a side effect—they become one of us. A bear-shifter. In cases where we find our mate is a different species we can use that magic to make you one of us, too.”

“Wow. How old are you?”

He looked surprised by her out-of-left-field question, but then grimaced as he said, “One hundred and four.”

“That’s about thirty in comparable human years, yes?” She wasn’t sure where the information came from. Again it was just one of those things that she knew.

He nodded. “Bear-shifters tend to live three or four human lifetimes so that would be pretty accurate.”

“So if I become a bear-shifter we’ll grow old together.”

“Absolutely,” he said, looking far more enthusiastic than he had a moment ago.

“And if I decide to stay human?”

He growled a sound of discontent but then seemed to realize that this was part of that free will he’d been talking about.

“Then West and I will spend the rest of your life trying to make you happy.”

“So, you’re okay with West being my mate as well?”

“It was a shock. I won’t lie about that, but finding our mate is something to celebrate, even if it means we have to share.”

“I can’t promise you any type of future just yet,” she said, trying to warn him that she had no idea where her life was headed, “but I’d like to explore the possibilities.”

He pulled her onto his lap, hugging her close. She felt a fine tremor in his muscles as he lowered his mouth to cover hers. The touch was gentle, reverent, his lips brushing over hers again and again before his tongue traced lightly over her teeth and explored the dark recesses of her mouth. By the time he moved away, they were both panting for air.

“Holy cow,” Eric said as he lifted her off his lap and onto her feet. “You better go talk to West before I throw you on the bed and forget everything except showing you how much you mean to me.”

She shivered, the sensual promise sending heated lightning streaking up and down her spine. Her knees wobbled, and she wondered how on earth she’d make it all the way to the kitchen, but as she reached the doorway, another thought occurred to her. “Eric, when you said ‘share me,’ did you mean separately or both of you at the same time?”

Eric just smiled. “Go talk to West.”

West lifted the forgotten cup to his lips and regretted it almost immediately. In his current state of mind there was just something really distasteful about cold coffee. He moved over to the sink and dumped the contents down the drain, but as he turned back to the coffeepot he found himself face-to-face with his beautiful mate.

Except, it didn’t matter what his bear said, she belonged to his cousin, and West had every intention of doing the honorable thing by walking away.

“Can we talk?”

“Sure.” He steeled himself for the rejection he knew was about to come and hoped like hell she’d make it quick. He wasn’t one for drawn-out pain if he could avoid it.

“I’m sorry that we didn’t meet under better circumstances.”

“It’s all right, Hannah.” He resisted the urge to touch her face, pushing his hand firmly into the back pocket of his jeans instead. “You and Eric have known each other for a long time. I’m happy for you two.”

“That’s good,” she said, searching his face for something. He swore silently that she would never see the pain walking away from her would cause him. She was his destined mate, and even if he couldn’t be with her, he wanted her to be happy. “But I think the Great Spirit has plans for the three of us.”

He tried to tamp down the instant excitement that sentence caused. “I won’t be competition. I won’t make you choose between us.”

Hannah let out a deep breath, stepped closer, and then wrapped her arms around his middle. His own arms curled around her despite telling himself not to. “You know Eric didn’t mean that, right? He doesn’t want to compete with you either.”

“What about you? Surely the whole ménage à trois thing isn’t something you’ve previously considered.”

“Not seriously, no,” she admitted with a secretive little smile on her lips. “But, well, a girl has to have her fantasies.”

“I can be really demanding,” he said, trying to warn her.

“And I can be rather picky,” she countered with a smile.

“I’m a stubborn, outspoken pain in the ass.”

She giggled quietly, and he just wanted to soak up the sound. Was there anything more amazing than the sound of a mate’s happiness? “As long as you’re
my
stubborn, outspoken pain in the ass, I think I can deal.”

And just as he was beginning to think that true happiness lay in his future, she added a qualifier. “I want to try. I want to see where this relationship might go, but, West, so many things have happened in such a short time that I’m not willing to make any promises.”

He felt his heart squeeze at the thought of losing his mate, but then pulled the emotion back. She was in his arms now. It was right now that he and Eric had a chance to show her how good it could be between them. West planned to do whatever he could to convince her, so that when the time came, she wouldn’t want to go anywhere without taking them with her.

* * * *

Eric watched the woman he’d loved from afar and the cousin he’d always respected embrace each other tightly, and for the first time since learning that Hannah was West’s mate as well, something inside him settled. Somehow his future now seemed even more amazing than he’d hoped.

“That is a lovely sight,” he said, truly meaning it. West watched him closely, apparently still willing to walk away if that was what Eric and Hannah wanted. Fortunately it wasn’t what any of them wanted. “The bed is empty. Why don’t you two go put it to good use?”

Hannah tensed in West’s arms and turned to face him. “Not without you,” she said in a tone of voice he’d only heard her use a few times. It was the one that said she wasn’t budging, she wouldn’t negotiate, her way or no way, and he couldn’t have been more pleased.

He smiled. “Now that sounds even better.”

West nodded slowly, a silent acknowledgement that they were in this together, before grinning wickedly and lifting Hannah off her feet. She leaned her back against his chest as he splayed his hands on her backside to boost her higher. She laughed as he told her to open her legs, but did exactly as she was told, wrapping her long, beautiful limbs around Eric’s waist as West supported her upper body.

“Kiss him,” he whispered. “I want to watch.”

Hannah smiled, apparently not the least bit disturbed by West’s voyeuristic tendency. She leaned forward, using her strong thighs to lift herself higher against Eric’s chest. The kiss was gentle, the touch achingly similar to the kiss they’d shared back in the bedroom. But then she tightened her thighs, pulling herself harder against his cock, rubbing her pajama-covered pussy over the hard ridge. As they broke apart, panting hard, West placed soft kisses on her neck, one of his hands lifting to claim her breast, his finger circling the hard peak of her nipple. Eric ran a hand over her soft curves, watching as Hannah’s eyes fluttered closed, her skin at her throat flushing slightly from arousal or embarrassment, or maybe both.

“Hannah, babe,” West said in between kisses and little bites that sent tremors through Hannah’s long limbs and the smell of her arousal flooding the room. “We need you naked.” She groaned her agreement. “Go with Eric. Let him strip away your clothes. I want to see that beautiful body splayed on the bed. I’ll join you in a few minutes.”

A little concerned by West’s words, Eric nevertheless took Hannah from him, but smiled when he saw West reach for his phone. Always the protector, West was making certain they were safe before he lost his head in their mate’s sweetness.

Eric nodded to his cousin, very glad that one of them remembered why they were living in a house in the middle of nowhere surrounded by so many magical wards and protection spells that even the bugs couldn’t get inside.

* * * *

“Just checking in,” West said as soon as Thomas answered his phone.

“Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”

“Smart-ass,” he said with a happy grin. Several members of PUP Squad Alpha had been assigned to a rotating shift to protect Hannah from outside the house. With Thomas’s keen sense of smell, it wasn’t really a surprise that he would know what the three of them had been up to in the kitchen. “Am I clear to get some rest?”

“Sure. Brody and Adam will be taking over in about an hour.” After what felt like an uncharacteristic hesitation, Thomas added, “Go spend time with your girl, West. Finding your mate is very special. You should make the most of it.” Surprised at the sadness in Thomas’s voice, West was still trying to find a way to ask about it when Thomas reverted to his usual cocky self. “Just remember while you’re fucking your mate into next week we’re out here freezing our balls off, you lucky son of a bitch.”

West couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped him. It wasn’t exactly cold outside, so it was clear that Thomas was joking. “Will do,” West said with another laugh. Thomas made a rude noise and hung up.

* * * *

Hannah hugged Eric close as he carried her into the bedroom.

“Well, he warned me he was bossy,” Hannah said as Eric put her on her feet and lifted her sleep shirt over her head.

“That he is,” Eric said with a warm smile. “Feel free to put either of us in our place anytime you think we’re too bossy.” Eric’s eyes fell to her breasts, the nipples pulling tighter as he watched. His warm hands slid up her sides, his thumbs grazing over the hard buds as he dipped his head and claimed her mouth in a devastating kiss. He let her up for air a moment before wrapping his arms around her middle and lifting her to kiss her once more. His tongue pushed past her teeth, the slick muscle gliding over her gums, exploring her mouth as she dangled in his grasp.

He broke the kiss and stared into her eyes, panting almost as hard as she was. But she could see the question, maybe the worry of being rejected now that she knew who he truly was. She smiled, touching his face with her fingers. He closed his eyes and sighed.