Brick House: Blue Collar Wolves #2 (Mating Season Collection) (2 page)

And the bitch of it was, it was getting to her. They were breaking her down, making her vulnerable in ways she’d sworn she never would be again.

She breathed easier when she entered the bar and saw them there. The highlight of her week was when she was at the garage doing the books, and she could look up from the numbers on the page to see Brick elbows deep in an engine, the biceps bunching as he pulled at stubborn parts, or admire the long lines of House’s backside as he was bent over and welding metal parts together.

And when one of them would glance at her, catching her eye, House giving her a small smile that lit his eyes or Brick’s face losing the eternal frown it seemed to carry, only when he was watching her? Every fucking time, her breath caught in her chest, expanding it past capacity to almost the point of hurt.

Her relationship with Brick and House was complete and total confusion, and she’d rather walk over glass than explain any of it to Dad. While trying to get things past him had always been useless, she was going to give it her best shot. “The bar is the place for the pack after dark. Of course they’ll be there.”

Dad’s voice took on the exasperated tone it only seemed to get with her, proving her thoughts on how well fooling him was going to go correct. “What do those boys want with you?”

Only her Dad would call two men who looked like Brick and House boys. Still, jig was up, and it would be nice to talk to someone. Bella was really the only other person she could talk to about this, but since hopefully Bella was getting her brains screwed out at this minute, Mel wasn’t going to call her oldest friend. “I’m stumped. Probably they are trying to help me out since they’re friends of Iron and Steel and know we all go back a long ways.”

Dad’s snort was shorthand
Are you that naïve, or do you think I am?
“They aren’t mated, but they’re always hanging around you – even during the mating season – because they’re friendly guys?”

“You know about the mating season?” Knowing about the wolves in general was one thing. Knowing about this, which was a private, intimate matter to the wolves, was on another level. Dad knew a lot more about the wolves than she thought.

“My baby was hanging out with
werewolves
and had been attacked by one. Did you think I was going to take Bill’s word at a single conversation? Believe me, I know everything.”

It was weird hearing Iron’s dad being called by his first name. “You never told me.”

The breathy sound that came through the speaker wasn’t quite a sigh. It was quieter, a bit harder to place, more indirect in its emotions. “It was your life and your friends. I didn’t want to intervene unless I had no other choice. And besides, it’s not like you were very
receptive
to my thoughts on friends or boyfriends while you were growing up.”

A flush rose on her cheeks, and Mel sipped at the coffee to give herself a moment to compose. No, she hadn’t been good at listening to her Dad’s warnings, which resulted in many things, up-to-and-including getting expelled from high school and giving birth before she could legally drink.

“Don’t think about it,” her Dad said, with his usual ability to read her. “Anyway, Brick and House are what I’m interested in.”

“Dad-” she paused, stumped how to continue when she didn’t even have a clue herself, but was saved by a knock. “There’s someone at the back door. I’ll call you back in a bit.”

What she was not expecting was Brick and House standing on her stoop. “Brick? House?”

House took lead, as he usually did. “We wanted to make sure you and Danny were okay. Can we come in?”

She stepped back and the two men entered the kitchen, making the cozy kitchen’s small space downright miniature. They were both wolves, which, since she’d never seen a werewolf of less than six-foot or having any physique other than your standard football player, translated to big and broad. Even for wolves, though, they were on the big side. Scratch that. House was on the bigger side. Brick was the largest wolf of the pack and was six-seven of tree-trunk thighs, growly disposition, and anvil-sized hands. If one of their mechanics ever told her that Brick didn’t use sledgehammers, he ripped cars apart with only those hands, she’d believe it without hesitation.

Mel wiped her damp palms over her denim covered thighs, looking around the small kitchen for something to divert attention, vaguely uncomfortable with the two wolves in her home for the first time.

Vulnerable.
That was it. No Danny around to distract, no bar or garage and the chaos inherent in both. Just her in front of the two wolves who had become the center of all her sexual fantasies and – even worse – her non-sexual ones, looking powerful and strong and
warm
while she was fighting the coldness of life’s realities. She hadn’t had time to close off, to throw her usual layers around herself before she met up with them. No, they came in the middle of the storm of her emotions, and everything was still swirling inside her head.

She could smell
them
, that hint of sweat and grease and forest and something more, something that wrapped itself around her senses and sunk claws in deep, refusing to let her step away and break free. Here, now, it was stronger than she’d ever experienced, tantalizing and taunting her, beckoning her to come close and
taste
.

Muscle in Brick’s forearm bunched and flexed, the strong thick lines of sinew begging her to sink her teeth into them.

The strength there brought forth primitive instincts, to desire to attack and force them to show her that they could make her submit. To prove they deserved her on her knees, deserved to be called her alphas.

Twin growls and the slight glow in their eyes broke the spell woven around her.

Shit. Shit shit shit.
She
knew
better, was
never
so careless around them. Growing up around the pack, she had some knowledge about the differences between werewolves and humans, and the
most important
fact?

Werewolves smelled
everything
.

Working in the bar, she’d seen enough of those wolfish grins from pack members flirting to know when a woman wasn’t interested, and when she was
faking
not being interested. Every damn time, after spying that grin, the woman ended up leaving with him.

“Brick, House, you’re here!”

Thank heavens for her baby’s timing. “Hi sweetie, how are you feeling?” She rushed past the wolves to get to her son, his arm in a sling and his hair the epitome of brown-hued bedhead.

House moved as well to crouch in front of the boy, smiling at him the smile Mel knew from experience had women fighting each other to be the one to do what he asked. “How you feelin’?”

Danny’s little chest pumped up as much as was possible for someone on pain meds. “I only cried for a minute, and then I was fine.”

“Only a minute? I would have cried for a lot longer.”

“Really?” Danny’s eyes went huge at this admission from one of his heroes. He looked up to Brick. “Would you have cried?”

“Damn straight,” said Brick, and Mel stifled the sigh which threatened. Brick didn’t talk much, but he didn’t have a filter when he did, either, not even around kids. But the words brought a smile to Danny’s face, and his little shoulders loosened as he got over whatever worry he’d been holding on what Brick or House would think, and she couldn’t be mad after that.

“We both would have,” House reaffirmed, placing his hand on Danny’s head to ruffle his hair. “I don’t see a cast, little man. I was looking forward to signing something.”

“Doctor Henry said it’s a sprain, and that I’m good as long as I’m careful for a couple weeks.” Danny lowered his voice and spoke in put-upon tones, one man complaining to another over the unfairness of women, “Mom said I can’t do my stuff for awhile and I got to stay inside where it’s boring.”

House put his hand carefully around Danny’s shoulders and lowered his own voice with conspiratorial intent. “We’ll figure things out to get you away. Let me and Brick work on your Mom and get things set up.” As Danny’s face lit up with glee, House glanced at her and gave a wink.

Damn, that man was too pretty, and she was too old to start going to pieces internally over a stupid wink.

Brick moved over to her, breaking her attention from House, and though Brick was the opposite of pretty, those thick thighs and those
hands
, they made her double-take just as much as House’s sharp blue eyes and broad shoulders. They both caught her interest, the kind of interest that had her biting her lips some nights at the end of shift to stop from asking them to take her home, strip her naked, hold her down, and work her body over until she passed out from pleasure.

And it was for both of them.

Which made no sense. She hadn’t
ever
been a threesome girl. Women didn’t do anything for her sexually, and she had never wanted more than one guy before.

Maybe it was because they were always together, and she didn’t know one without the other. Maybe it was because they were so opposite in their types of attractiveness that the combination was fascinating. Maybe those wild oats weren’t as sown as she liked to think.

Whatever it was, the truth was she if she had her way, both of them would be working her over.

“What about Danny coming to the shop? Today is payroll and you can work and watch over him.” Brick’s words broke through imaginings.

“I don’t want him holding things up.”

“He won’t.” Flat statement, no cajoling or wheedling, unlike what House would try. Brick stated and everyone followed. Brick turned to Danny. “Want to come watch us work on the cars?”

Danny’s face lit up like it was Christmas and his birthday and the first day of summer vacation all wrapped in one. “Mom, can I?”

“I’m afraid you’ll get bored-”

“I won’t!”

“Or that you’ll interrupt everyone’s work-”

“Swear Mom! I won’t!
Please?
”

Three men were looking at her with different levels of hope and expectation. There was no way she could say no. “
If
you go there,” she began, but with the way Danny began bouncing on his feet, he already knew where this was going. “You behave. It’s a workplace, not a toyroom.”

“PROMISE!” Danny yelled, grabbing House’s hand and yelling over his shoulder, “Brick, we got to get me dressed. Help me out.”

The three left with Mel able to do nothing but watch. She’d been half-relieved she wouldn’t have to go to the garage today, and she was a little off her game now that she would be faced with Brick and House in their natural environment – surrounded by metal and grease and tools, and more often than not working in an undershirt.

With a small groan for the temptations the day ahead would bring, she went to get ready.

‡

T
he garage was
busy, in the midst of two repairs and three restorations, and while the attitude of the place was easy-going, all of the mechanics carried an energy about them that said things were happening.

The office was separated from the work floor by a large window. The shades were up right now, so Mel had an unobstructed view of the entire floor. Danny was sitting on the side, staying in one place like he promised, talking a mile a minute to Brick as the wolf worked on an engine, quiet except for a nod or quick look at her son.

Brick and House were always so good with Danny. It had made her nervous at first, the men with her son. Wolves could be unthinkingly cruel with those outside the pack. Not physically, but there was an us-versus-them mentality that meant some wolves were dismissive or remote, even borderline nasty with anyone not of the pack. She had the occasional small experience with it, and she grew up with Iron and Steel.

But it had never happened with Danny around here. There had been one almost occasion with one of the junior mechanics, but the moment she realized it was happening, Brick grabbed the younger wolf by the scruff and drug him out of the garage while Danny was looking elsewhere. When they returned ten minutes later, the wolf had a constant submissive posture and went overboard in showing Danny attention.

They were good with her son. Danny flourished under their attention, and everything from his grades to his overall health was improving since the two wolves arrived.

House stepped before the window and blocked her view, raising that damned eyebrow of his that, when combined with that smirk, had her wanting to smack him and kiss him senseless.

He opened the door, and a wave of sound came from the outside. “How’s it going in here?”

“I’m fine. I hope Danny isn’t talking Brick’s ear off.”

“Brick can deal with a little conversation.”

So could House. In quiet moments, the man projected a loneliness so intense, it could knock her over. Brick wore his as armor, using it to knock away any thoughts of sympathy. House hid his behind smirks and man-buns and scruff and gorgeous blue eyes. “How did you and Brick meet?”

The shocked look on his face had to mirror the look on hers. She’d never asked anything personal. She didn’t…she didn’t want the responsibility of knowing about them. They were so alone, and she had enough of people depending on her. She didn’t want two more.