Chase, Zara - Tigers' Temptation [Impulse 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (14 page)

Mikael was in heaven. He now loved not one, but two very special people. The two people who were, right now, giving him the ride of his life. He gave himself over to the pleasure as Philo swore at him, slapped his ass hard, and slammed into him so hard that Mikael had problems holding his position. Clearly, Philo was as turned on as Mikael was to have a third person join the party.

“Next time we’d better get you all trussed up and show Layla how you’re not quite so dominant with your balls pulled up, your arms out of use, and you’re reduced to begging me to fuck you. What do you say, big boy?”

“I need to come, Philo.”

“I know you do. You’re loving having my cock up your ass and Layla’s sweet lips around your cock. But you know the rules, lover. I’m in the driving seat today.”

“Please, Philo. Have pity.”

“You hear that, darlin’? I’ve got the big man begging.” Philo chuckled, not losing his rhythm for a moment.

“Spank me harder,” Mikael said on a fractured breath.

“Uh-huh, you know what they say about those that ask.”

Mikael’s balls pulled tighter when Philo did hit him harder. The devil was taunting him, and Mikael loved every moment of it. His cock twitched between Layla’s lips. He couldn’t hold out much longer. A dribble of pre-cum seeped from its head and was sucked away by Layla. Her tongue lingered, waiting presumably for the shower that would soon follow. He’d come when he was damned well ready to come and let Philo punish him as much as he liked afterward. That was part of the game.

“We need to pick this up, buddy,” Mikael said, his voice tight with tension.

“Yeah, okay, I guess we’d better.”

Mikael reached for one of Layla’s tits, wondering if he’d ever get enough of the feel of them. Wondering how he’d managed for so long without a woman. Without
this
woman. He and Philo had played with enough of them in the past, but they’d never risked penetrating one. It hadn’t seemed that important. Now the desire to do so was almost beyond his limits of restraint.

Philo’s slaps became harsh, telling Mikael that he was on the point of ejaculation, too. Layla swallowed half his cock down the back of her throat, and Mikael simply couldn’t hold it.

“I’m coming!” he yelled.

“Hell, I can’t hold on, either.”

Mikael ejaculated in a gush, aware of Layla’s throat working as she struggled to keep up with the flow. At the same time, Philo exploded in his backside, slapping him hard as he grunted and groaned with the pleasure of his release.

No one moved for some moments after that. Mikael didn’t have the energy and suspected it was the same for Philo. It felt as though every bone in his body had been liquefied. He’d never felt an orgasm so violently, had never had one that went on for so long.

And it was all the fault of the vixen lying beneath him, smiling up at him with wisdom in her eyes, like she knew what she’d just done to him was something remarkable.

Philo finally withdrew, got up, and returned with cloths to clean them both with. Then they fell beneath the covers, Layla sandwiched between them.

“Go to sleep, babe,” Mikael said, pulling her against his chest and kissing the top of her head. “We’ll see about your daughter in the morning. That, I promise you.”

“Sleep well, little darlin’,” Philo said, leaning in for a good-night kiss and draping an arm protectively over both her body and Mikael’s.

Chapter Ten

Philo was fully awake before the others had even stirred. The conflict raging inside his head made it nigh impossible for him to sleep much anyway. He knew within both his souls that Layla was
the one
for them. So did Mikael, but sometimes that tiger could be so darned stubborn that Philo despaired of ever talking any sense into him. He
knew
Mikael would try and cure Layla’s daughter. He also knew it would likely kill him because he simply didn’t have enough power left for his body to withstand the strain.

Layla could restore that power by agreeing to become their mate. That was all it would take. In their colony, one generation of shifters mated with fellow shifters, and the next mated with suitable humans. Once the shifters had full-on unprotected sex with their human mate, it was like someone had plugged them into the mains and they were fully charged again, good to go. No one knew why it worked that way—it just did.

Finding the right human was the problem that many of the alphas in the colony were now faced with. Rafe and Vilas had found Chantal. The rest of them hadn’t been so lucky, and time was running out. But now Layla—the human they’d almost given up hope of finding—had breezed into their lives. She was like a gift from God, but Mikael flat-out refused to explain what she could do for them, simply because he didn’t want her to make the decision out of gratitude.

“Let’s leave her to sleep a while,”
Mikael pheromoned.

Philo started. He’d been so lost in thought that he hadn’t sensed Mikael was awake.

“Good plan.”

He stole another glance at Layla, her features relaxed in sleep, her hair a wild tangle pillowing her head. Her beauty stole his breath away, and the urge to kiss her awake was almost overwhelming. Philo couldn’t risk it. One kiss would lead to another, and he didn’t trust himself not to take matters further still. That would resolve Mikael’s problem, but at what cost to their relationship? Philo shook his head, made do with gently removing a strand of the hair he so admired away from her face, and slid soundlessly out of bed.

“You’re gonna do it, aren’t you?” Philo said aggressively when they were tucking into the rare steaks Rochelle had delivered for their breakfast.

“Do what?”

“Don’t play the innocent.” Incipient rage, and fear, bubbled through Philo. “It’s me you’re talking to, and it won’t wash.”

“All I’ve promised to do is to take a look at the child’s records.” He shrugged. “She might already be beyond help.”

“You and I both know that isn’t true.” Philo stood and paced the room, his anger blurring both his vision and his thought process. “Don’t I mean anything to you, Mikael? Don’t my opinions matter? Doesn’t what we have count for anything?”

“Of course it does.” He tried to grab Philo’s hand, but Philo snatched it away, making Mikael frown. “Philo, what’s wrong, buddy? I’ve never seen you so mad before.”

“For some reason I’m unable to explain, I love you like crazy, and yet you’re prepared to put your life on the line, throw that all away, for no reason.”

Mikael remained infuriatingly calm. “A sick child’s a pretty good reason.”

“You’re very clever,” Philo said, rounding on him. “Is that what you need to hear? You’ve got a better brain than me and you’re able to do remarkable things with your power. Better yet, you don’t do them for personal glory, or for any reason other than a genuine desire to do good in this rotten world.”

“I won’t tell her,” he said, fixing Philo with a resolute expression. “Not even for you.”

“She didn’t just happen on Impulse by chance. You know that as well as I do.” Philo had learned a long time ago not to question how things worked in this place. He’d gotten a headache for three straight days the last time he’d tried it. “I don’t know about you, but I’ve already fallen in love with her. And, you know what, I think those feelings just might be reciprocated.”

“I’ve fallen for her, too.” Mikael’s admission was so unexpected that Philo’s towering rage gave way to astonishment.

“Well then, what’s the problem?”

“That’s why I won’t risk telling her what she could do for us, at least not now.”

He stood up and pulled Philo into his arms. “Tell you what, lover. I’ll look at the child’s records, and then we’ll talk it through on our own.”

“Perhaps we can keep her and the child here for a while,” Philo said, feeling himself weakening when Mikael nuzzled his neck and kissed his way down it. “Shit, Mikael, don’t distract me like that when I’m trying to stay mad at you!”

Mikael unzipped Philo’s pants. “You were gonna suggest that we keep them both here, give Layla time to get used to Impulse, and to us, and see where it leads?”

Philo groaned when Mikael’s fingers closed around his shaft. “Something like that.”

“It won’t work. She’d sell her soul to the devil if she thought there was even an outside chance of Lucifer helping her kid. Same applies to us. We’ll never know if it’s us she wants, or what we can do for her daughter.”

“Not, necessarily…shit, don’t do that.”

Philo pulled himself out of Mikael’s hand and zipped back up. He could see that he’d really gotten Mikael’s attention now. On the rare occasions when anger got the better of Philo’s even temperament, Mikael could always bring him around—with deeds if not words. Not this time.

“I can see you’re upset, buddy, but—”

“Upset doesn’t come close to the way I feel right now.”

“You need to understand—”

“No, lover, it’s you that needs to face facts. Stop deluding yourself and accept that if you try it, it’ll kill you.” Philo glowered at the man he loved so much that it hurt. “Are the odds on her mating with us and then walking out worse than near-certain death? Come on, you’re a betting tiger, you do the math.”

“If she walks out, we’ll lose our power again, won’t be able to find another mate, and we’ll die anyway.”

“You know how long it took me to trust you,” Philo cried passionately. “To trust anyone after what happened to Milo. If you die you’ll be killing me as well. Have you even stopped to think about that?”

Mikael shook his stripy head. “It won’t come to that.”

“Yeah, it will. I can’t go through all that shit again.” Philo resumed his pacing. “Didn’t it feel absolutely right this morning, waking up with her warm body between us? Didn’t the sight of those glorious tits and lovely long legs make you feel all hot and steamy?”

“I’ve told you how I feel about her.”

The louder Philo spoke, the quieter Mikael’s responses became. Even so, Philo knew him well enough to realize he wouldn’t change his mind, no matter what arguments Philo employed. He could tell Layla the truth himself, like he’d been tempted to do when he woke up next to her. But if he did that, if he went against Mikael’s authority as the ultimate alpha tiger, it would drive an unbridgeable rift between them.

“If you knew what self-control it took not to sink my cock into her sweet cunt last night,” Mikael said, growling.

Philo groaned. “I know. Believe me, man, I know.”

“And those cute noises she makes when she’s close to orgasm.” Mikael threw his head back and growled. “Hell, she’s killing me.”

Philo twisted his lips into a cynical smile. “Accurate choice of words, buddy.”

“She made her position clear enough,” Mikael argued. “When her kid’s dad bailed on her, she gave up on relationships, just like her mom did before her.”

“She hadn’t met us when she made that decision.”

“No, but she meant it. It wasn’t just a line. You must have sensed that, too.” Reluctantly, Philo nodded. “I won’t have her changing her mind for the wrong reasons and then regretting it.”

“No, that’s a good point, but we could persuade her. We could make her fall in love with us.”

Mikael sighed. “Not with the child’s illness always coming between us.”

“Yeah, I hear what you’re saying, but—”

“Think of her child,” Mikael said in a supplicating tone. “What’s the point of being able to do what we do if we can’t use it to help kids? We’re lucky to live three times as long as an average human, and to have the added advantage of enjoying our feline impulses. We agreed, didn’t we, that we’d use our skills to give something back.”