Fire of the Wolf [The Gray Pack] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (3 page)

Before the man next to her could respond, a movement at the door caught her attention. She jumped a little bit when a mirror image of the man on her left, moved up to her right and leaned in closer as if to hold her hand. She saw him take a deep breath in. Was he smelling her? He must like my perfume, she thought in confusion. She felt very small with the two large men standing over her bed. She assessed the two of them, her eyes jumping between them for a quick moment. They were tall, and they were built well. Damn were they ever built well. The one on her left had a deep dimple on his right cheek, and the one on her right had a deep dimple on his left cheek. Other than that they were carbon copies of each other. Surely she was dreaming them up?

“Shhhhh. Don’t try to talk too much. You’ve had quite a day, and that throat has to be sore from all the smoke you swallowed,” the second guy crooned softly to her. “We damn near lost you today, and we just can’t figure out what were you thinking sticking around in that apartment.”

Caroline closed her eyes as she remembered everything that had happened. The fire, the sounds, and smells raced through her brain, and her heart jumped into her throat. Her eyes popped wide open, and she gasped out loud, “Tyler? Molly? Are they okay? I have to see them.”

Surprised by her outburst, the two men looked at each other, and seemed to be silently communicating before interrupting her panic.

“I’m guessing they would be the two lucky ones that you helped rescue today? They are absolutely fine, sugar, and are quietly resting in a hospital room a floor down from us in the pediatric unit. Apparently mama bear wasn’t willing to be in a separate hospital room from her cub. The little guy—Tyler—he had a struggle coming out of an asthma attack, but they have him stable now. He should be okay.” Guy number two spoke softly to her. His voice was a soft caress and calmed her jumpiness immediately. He spoke to her as if he knew her intimately, but Caroline knew she had never seen these men in her life.

She damn well would have remembered them if she had. Working in a hospital as a nurse meant seeing all kinds of people, and occasionally patients formed an attachment to their nurse. She had been caught off guard by many people stopping her at Walmart, or the gas station hoping she would remember them from when they were patients. It was an inevitable part of her career.

To the best of her knowledge, she had never ever nursed any men that were built like Adonis, and as dark as Lucifer. Not to mention there was no way she would have forgotten those killer dimples that kept flashing as though they were waiting for her to do something special.

She closed her eyes, and took a couple of minutes to gather herself as the men continued to stare at her. The one on her left, guy number one, began to caress her hand softly as if she were a frightened animal.

“Who are you guys, and as much as I’m enjoying the company, why are you in my hospital room?” she finally asked, although she didn’t really want to know because it might mean the end of the gentle touching. It had been years since she had last felt a man’s soft caress, and she remembered now why she liked it.

“Well, beautiful, I’m the man that carried you from a burning building today. I’m Damon, and this is my twin brother.” Guy number one seemed to be trying very hard to keep their interaction casual, but she sensed something more in the tightness of his muscles. It was almost like he was struggling very hard to resist something. He gripped her hand just a little tighter, but his fingers never stopped their lazy circles over her palm. The friction of his callused fingertips almost made her moan, and she blushed lightly when her mind wandered to what those fingers tips would feel like in other more intimate places.

She remained quiet, thinking about his huge arms holding her tightly at the apartment building when he scooped her up, and a sudden delicious heat filled her belly. Her insides quivered, wondering, and something inside of her ached to reach out, and grasp him by the hair so that she could just devour him whole. What would he taste like? She closed her eyes again, trying to get her mind to slow down, and process his words without the effects of his closeness. She opened her eyes and looked back at Damon closely. His name seemed to suit him, and she had to bite her tongue to stop herself from whispering it back to him. He was such a large man, and though Caroline had always been small, she had never felt so dainty as she did now staring up at him from her hospital bed. His emerald eyes flashed and filled with heat as his lips curved up in an arrogant grin. She could see his nostrils flare, and she felt her pussy weep with joy into her panties at that sinful smile. Oh, God, I’m horny after a near-death experience, she thought to herself.

“Hey, I’m Devin, and I’m hoping that you won’t ask us to leave, sugar.” The second godlike specimen reached up, and brushed a lock of her hair from her forehead, petting her hair like a small child. “You still look a little pale. Do you need us to get the nurse for you?”

“No, I’m fine. I’m just really foggy. I think I need a drink of water though. My throat feels like someone rubbed it with sandpaper.” She scooted up and used the buttons on the hospital bed to raise the back so that she was sitting up more than reclining. It made her feel just a little bit more confident as she stared down these sexy brothers.

Both men reached for the pitcher of ice water left on the hospital cart. Damon held the cup as Devin poured the water, and they both waited with bated breath when she leaned forward to sip from the straw. Her eyes widened when she heard what she thought was growling coming from both of them as her lips went around the straw and sucked hard, but the cold water felt glorious to her parched throat, and drove all other thoughts from her brain for a moment. She closed her eyes and gently leaned back on the pillow with a large sigh. Opening just one eye a crack, she peered at the two of them leaning over her.

“How long do I have to stay here?” she asked them impatiently.

“The doctor said you could go home tomorrow,” Damon said quietly.

Tears were falling from her eyes before she even processed his actual words. The realization that she had no home hit her. Everything she owned was gone! She thought of her photo albums that contained the only pictures of her parents she had kept after they died, and the embroidered bed pillow that her grandmother had made. She thought of all of the things that weren’t just things to her, but were gone forever. How was she going to start over? She had barely been surviving, and now she had nothing.

She felt strong arms reach for her, and pull her up from the bed. One of the brothers settled in behind her with her leaning back against his chest, just holding her as she sobbed, while the other shushed her by stroking her hip and back trying to help soothe her. There was nothing sexual in the motions, and yet her skin burned under their soft touches. She wasn’t used to such affectionate concern for her, and it made the pain in her chest that much more raw. She cried until she had no more tears in her, and her head hurt from the emotional exertion. Then she got irritated with herself.

Caroline Trainor was not a crier. Even when her parents died on September 11
^th
, she spent the next several months stoically focused on what steps she needed to take to clean up what she could of the lives they left behind. She spent weeks arguing with bill collectors about whether or not her parents were actually dead, because she didn’t have their bodies to prove it. They had worked on the ninety-fifth floor of the North Tower in the World Trade Center for an insurance company. Every day they shared a cab to work, and had spent their lunch hour together for more than twenty years. The first hijacked plane crashed into their floor, and Caroline knew almost immediately that they were dead, even before the towers actually fell. She just felt their loss deep down to her core, like they took the light out of her soul with them. Almost eleven years later, Caroline still didn’t have any bodies to prove their deaths, and she would never have them, but she did have bills as proof that they once existed.

She mentally shook herself when she realized that her silence was causing more tension then her tears had, and when she lifted her head to see the man that was holding her close, her eyes met Devin’s intense light-green orbs, and lust filled her belly again. A surge of electricity seemed to shoot from his hand on her scalp all the way through to her clit. It hummed with interest, and she took a quick breath in, biting her lip to keep from moaning. She felt his arms tighten just slightly as his muscular body clenched. His fingers moved to the back of her neck, softly massaging the tension there. It was like he knew what her thoughts were!

What was she doing? She had just been through hell and back, and all she could think about was the way this man’s muscular chest and rock-hard abs felt against her breasts in this flimsy hospital gown. He smelled divine, like cedar and coffee, and she wanted to lick his dimple just see if he tasted as good as he smelled. She blushed at her own lewd fantasies, and pulled herself away from his grip. Instantly she felt a sense of loss when they broke contact. Surely that wasn’t possible, that she could crave a stranger’s touch? She had obviously just gone too long without a man, she thought, and forced herself to keep the distance between them.

* * * *

Devin could feel her pull back, and he wondered what caused her resistance. He could smell the desire on her, and he had thought that she wanted to kiss him just a moment ago. He had held himself back, hoping she would make the first move. He didn’t want to rush her, but damn, he wanted her so much. He could afford to be generous with her for the moment because of the trauma she had just been through, but his wolf struggled inside of him at the nearness of its mate. Soon, he assured himself, she would allow fate to take over, and they would join.

His eyes met Damon’s as he let her retreat a few more inches from him.

How do we tell her?

We don’t. Not now. We need to give her some time to trust us, otherwise we will scare her. I’m not backing off, Damon, just giving her some space to accept it.

I’m not going to let her go, damn it. I know she’s my mate, and my wolf needs her. This will work out. It just has to.

“Umm, thank you, for rescuing me. I…uh…I think I need to rest, but I appreciate you guys comforting me. I’m not usually so emotional. Do you do this for all of the ladies you pull from burning buildings?” Caroline scooted farther away from the wall of Devin’s chest, and he moved off of the bed to let her lay back against the pillows again. She quickly pulled the covers up over her breasts, but not before Devin noticed her hardened nipples and rapid breathing. His cock pressed hard against his zipper, and he wanted desperately to whip the blanket off of her and show her how good they could make her feel.

Damon chuckled as he watched her settling herself again, and grabbed her hand to bring it to his lips. “Nope. Only you, beautiful. Do you have any family members we should call so that they don’t worry about you? The fire is all over the ten o’clock news.”

She shook her head and looked away from him. In doing so, it brought her face-to-face with Devin, and for a moment he could see the loneliness in her eyes as she admitted she had no one to call. Devin’s heart broke for her, and he wondered what had happened to make her so lonely. He wanted to bring a light to her eyes just to see if they sparkled when she laughed.

“Okay, then we will have to figure out what you will need when you leave here tomorrow, so that we can go shopping for you. I’m not exactly sure what the hospital did with the clothes you were wearing when you came in.” Devin could hear that his tone was bossy, but he couldn’t pull off nonchalance like Damon. He just felt too much right now.

“I don’t need anything., I’m not sure what I’m going to do, but I’m sure you guys have done more than enough. You don’t have to help me. I will be fine from here. I’m actually a nurse here at this hospital in the emergency room, so I have friends here. Thank you both.” She seemed to be dismissing them both as she withdrew her tingling hand from Damon’s large one.

* * * *

Caroline pulled her hand away from the big man’s grasp, and even without his touch, she felt the sparks of heat on her skin. She looked up after a second and made eye contact again with Devin. Those eyes could surely see right through her!

“That’s not up to you, sugar. Damon and I are going to help you one way or another, so get used to the idea. Tomorrow you can come home to our house, and we will get you settled and back on your feet in no time.” Devin said it in such a demanding way that a shiver of excitement caused goose bumps on Caroline’s arms. She loved the authority in his voice, and it crossed her mind that he might be that kind of strong man in bed, too. She had always preferred a lover that was just on the dominating side, but she didn’t like to be pushed around too much. She was a grown woman and had been taking care of herself for the last thirty years. There wasn’t a chance in hell she was letting this strange man tell her what to do and where to go, no matter how delicious he and his brother were.

She started shaking her head at him. “What do you mean I’ll go home with you? I don’t even know you. Why do you think I would go home with you?” She was getting herself worked up with irritation, and the flush in her cheeks caused both men’s nostrils to flare. Her eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed with anger as Damon said one phrase: “Because you’re ours.”

Astonishing herself, Caroline started to laugh loudly. She was almost giddy with the hilarity of his statement. Why would this man that she had never met, possibly think that she would just agree to whatever demands he made of her? Why would she be attracted to that kind of a possessive statement? She shook off the brief flash of heat that she felt, because secretly she knew that she was attracted to it. Something inside of her knew that she couldn’t let him know that yet, or she would never get any control back. She had heard of arrogance, but Lord have mercy these men took the cake!