Growl (24 page)

She blushed. Damn, but he loved the way her skin flushed that deep red. She'd had the same reaction when she was aroused, even more when she climaxed, and he'd better stop thinking about that or he was going to have a hard time hiding what he was thinking.

“You know it did. I can't believe I fell asleep on you guys.”

“You're kidding, right?” He tightened his arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek. Any more and he wouldn't be able to stop. Choosing to stay over with her as wolves had been its own sweet torture—it had also meant he and Brad couldn't take care of the problem at hand, so to speak, and just being this close to her already had Cain on edge. “You have to realize that's about the best compliment a masseur can get. It means you were totally relaxed.”

“Any more relaxed and I would have melted right off the table.”

“You didn't mind that we let the guys in to sleep with you last night?”

“Are you kidding?” She shook her head, and there was nothing about her that felt at all suspicious. Damn, he hoped he was right. They'd taken such a huge risk, opening up Feral Passions the way they had. Opening up the chance of their secret getting out.

“I told Brad they were great bed partners. Warm and quiet. Where are they? I thought when you walked in that you might have them with you, but these are all different wolves. They're so beautiful, each so unique. I never realized before how different wolves looked from each other.”

He shrugged. Tried to look as nonchalant as he could, considering one of her wolves was pouring coffee behind the bar and the other one was standing here with his arm around her. “We don't keep tabs on any of them. They come and go; sometimes they're gone for weeks at a time. Other times they hang out here at the lodge, now that it's done. When we were building, they stayed away, but once the equipment and construction crews were gone, they've started coming back. I've never seen wild wolves as sociable as these guys.”

“They're all males, the ones that hang around the lodge, aren't they? Isn't that unusual?”

She really was too damned observant. He shrugged as if it wasn't any big deal. “Not really. The females, at least the ones close by, all have pups now, and they're not going to bring them around so many people. If you come back later in the summer, you'd be able to see the females with their pups, but they're a lot shyer than the guys.”

Brad stepped out of the kitchen. Cain had forgotten he was cooking this morning. “Hey, Cain, can you help me with the trays? I've got breakfast ready to put out.”

“Duty calls,” Cain said, and gave Cherry a quick kiss.

She followed him into the kitchen. “I can help. I don't see any of your regular crew out there.”

Brad just shook his head. “Too much fun last night, I imagine. Thanks, Cherry. Be careful—the handles are cool, but the pan's hot.” He gave her a stainless pan filled with bacon and sausage. Cain had two with fried potatoes and scrambled eggs, and Brad followed them out with a big bowl of fruit and another with a large quiche. They had everything set up on hot plates or under heat lamps within a couple of minutes, and the line quickly formed.

Cain put the wolves outside, and Cherry got in line with Steph and Christa. They filled their plates and then found places at the long table in the center of the room. By the time they were seated, Trak arrived. Wils, Ronan, and Evan showed up a few minutes later.

Cain took a seat with Brad and Trak at one of the smaller tables, ostensibly to go over plans for the day's activities. He kept his fears to himself, but he'd watch Cherry closely.

Of course, he had no idea what he'd do if she asked him point-blank if he was a wolf. Why did he feel as if they maybe hadn't thought this plan through as well as they should have?

*   *   *

“I thought we'd never get a chance to talk.” Cherry led Christa and Steph along a shaded trail, following a map Cain had sketched on a napkin that was supposed to take them to a large meadow filled with wildflowers and a small pond. “I am dying to know what happened with you and Ronan, Cissy, and you and Wils, Steph. I mean, those guys are just so hot!”

Christa snorted. Steph blushed.

“Steph! You're blushing. You never blush!” Cherry planted her feet and laughed. “Must have been one wild night.”

Steph giggled and turned even redder. “Wils is amazing, and ‘wild' doesn't even come close.” She glanced at Christa and they both burst out laughing. “C'mon. I want to get a little bit farther from the lodge. I really, really don't want them to hear us talking about them.”

“Them?”

“Uh, yeah. Them.” Christa was blushing now.

“Okay, but then you guys are going to tell me everything.”

Cherry led off at a good clip with her sister and Steph trailing along behind. They only went about a quarter of a mile before the trail dumped them out into a beautiful meadow. Deer grazed belly deep in thick grass on the far side near a line of trees, and a shallow pond stretched across the northern end.

Masses of wildflowers in shades of blue and gold, with patches of white and red scattered about, went so far beyond the “pretty flowers” Cain had described that the three of them just stood there at the edge of the meadow, staring.

There might not be any cell phone service, but Cherry was glad she'd kept her phone in her pocket. She pulled it out and snapped some pictures. This was just too beautiful not to. She glanced up when Christa called her.

“Over here.” Steph had found a weathered log in the shade and parked her butt on one end of it. Christa sat next to her. Cherry sat on a smooth boulder facing them. She felt like the grown-up in the room with a couple of misbehaving kids. Christa looked at Steph and they both looked at Cherry—and both of them blushed.

“I'm waiting.”

Christa turned to Steph. “You tell her,” she said. “I can't. She's my sister!” She practically wailed that last part.

Steph giggled again. “Okay. But it was all your idea.”

“No, it wasn't!” Christa covered her face with her hands.

“Was, too.” Steph was obviously loving this.

Cherry had to bite back a grin. She'd never seen Christa embarrassed before. Ever. “I don't care whose idea it was; what happened?”

“Okay,” Steph said. “So I was with Wils and Ronan had Christa, and—”

“Did he ever,” Christa muttered.

Steph ignored her. “We left together. The guys knew which cabins we were staying in and they took us on a trail that led from the back side of the deck. We all ended up at my cabin. Wils had snagged a bottle of some kind of really good liqueur—”

“Tasted like pomegranate juice,” Christa said. “It does amazing things to gin.”

“Oh, yeah. And that gin did amazing things to you, sweetheart.” Steph rolled her eyes. “Well, we all went into my cabin, and the guys mixed drinks for us—we'd been talking about cocktails at the lodge and so they'd brought everything they needed to make them.”

“They made a lot of them. They were really, really good. The next thing we knew…” Christa glanced at Steph.

“We were getting naked.”

“All four of you?” Cherry burst out laughing. And she'd been worried about what the girls would think of her! “Well? Then what happened?”

Steph and Christa looked at each other and blushed. Again. Steph took a deep breath, let it out. “I guess you could say that anything that two men and two women who find each other attractive can do with one another got done. More than once.”

Christa nodded sagely. “Those guys have got amazing stamina.”

“Amazing,” Steph said. “Really amazing.”

Cherry sat there with her hand covering her mouth. She did not want to interrupt this story. Not one bit.

“Ya know those romances you read?” Christa glanced at Steph and then focused on Cherry. “The ones with all the wild sex in them? Well, I can now tell you that yes, it is possible for two men and two women to get it on and all get off at the same time.”

Steph shrugged. “Well, it did take us a couple of tries to get it right.”

“I know.” Christa gazed at Cherry. “I think we need more practice tonight.”

“Good idea.” Steph glanced at Christa again and they both broke out in giggles. It took a minute before she stopped enough to actually talk. Then Steph very calmly said, “So, Cherry … how did your night go?”

“Well, not like yours, that's for sure, but it wasn't bad. It was just me and Cain and Brad. The guys gave me a massage, including an unbelievable orgasm, and then put me to bed. I slept with two wolves for company and woke up in time for breakfast. Not like your night, that's for sure.”

“Both of them?” Steph glanced at Christa. “Massaging you?”

“Yeah, but they had their clothes on.” Cherry sighed. “I didn't.” She almost laughed when she realized how much fun she was having with this. “I'm hoping we can change that tonight.”

Christa stared at her so long it made Cherry nervous. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because this is so not you, hon. You haven't had a boyfriend in, like, forever.”

Cherry shrugged. “I don't think of Brad and Cain as boyfriend material. I do, however, think of them as a really fun way to enjoy a spectacular vacation. They're both sweet and sexy and they like me.” She leaned close and pressed her hand against Christa's knee. “I know what you're thinking, but they're not like that other guy. He was a cruel, self-serving jerk, but he's over and done with, and he's part of the past. Brad and Cain are…” She paused and thought about it. “I guess they're more right now.”

She laughed, but then it was her turn to blush. “That is, if I don't fall asleep on them again. But what about you guys? You know that whatever you find here ends when we go home on Saturday, right?”

“God, I hope so.” Steph glanced at Christa. “If I had sex like that every night, I think it would kill me.”

“I know.” Shaking her head, Christa laughed. “At least they've allowed me to take a few fantasies off my bucket list. And talk about beautiful bodies. Amazing.” She poked Steph and they both cracked up. When she finally got it together, Christa merely shrugged. “However, we never got into likes and dislikes, or anything personal, not even their last names. So yes, I can honestly say I'm not thinking long term with either of those guys, but I wouldn't mind a few more nights.”

Neither would Cherry. Brad and Cain filled something in her that she hadn't realized was empty until now. She flat out had fun with them. They made her laugh and they made her sigh, and damn, but they made her feel like that sensuous woman she'd always thought might be inside. She liked that woman and she didn't want to lose her, this woman who could take off her clothes in front of two handsome men and feel voluptuous and sexy, not fat. It wasn't going to be easy to walk away from that freedom at the end of the week. Not when she'd let herself go with Brad and Cain more than with anyone else in her life.

Including the jerk who'd been so horrible to her during her senior year in high school. She'd been so shy and awkward, but she'd thought she loved him and thought that love was returned. Obviously, it wasn't. He'd been a classmate in her advanced college prep calculus class. She'd helped him with his homework, and she'd crushed on him. Seriously. He'd finally asked her out, and they'd had such a good time. She thought.

It wasn't until later she'd learned the truth, that he needed her to help him pass the class and he'd taken a bet from his buddies that not only would she get him through calculus, he'd get into her before the semester ended.

Whoopee … he'd won. If he'd only just quit there. But no—he'd wanted her total humiliation, and he'd gotten it.

The walk back to the lodge was quieter. She wondered what Steph and Christa were thinking, if they planned to get together with Wils and Ronan tonight. Cherry had no idea what she was planning to do. It depended on Brad and Cain.

And maybe just a little bit on her.

 

CHAPTER 11

Cherry stepped into the lunchroom just as Steph and Christa were leaving with trays of food. “Where are you headed?”

“Brad and Trak made a run into town for supplies, but they left plenty of stuff for lunch and told us to take what we wanted.” Christa glanced at Steph and laughed. “We've both got books we've been wanting to read, so we're going to veg out at my cabin with food, a bottle of wine”—she laughed when Steph held up the bottle—“and the books. They're your sexy romances by the way. I'm reading
Hot Alphas
. Steph's got one called
Alpha's Woman.
Notice a theme, here? It's all about the alpha male. We're thinking of them as educational reading at this point.” She laughed and jabbed Steph with her elbow. “And wondering, of course, which guys here are the true alphas.” She laughed. “I'm voting all of them. Thanks for bringing the books. You're welcome to join us.”

“Thanks, but … where's everyone else? Did the L.A. contingent go somewhere?”

“Just to the pool, but they loaded up on the drinks,” Steph said. “If I drank that much, I'd be asleep by dinnertime.”

“I probably will be, just on principle alone. I can't remember the last time I was this relaxed.”

Steph snorted. “Me, either, but that's because we can't remember the last time we were getting such creative … um, workouts. I had no idea this place offered such fantastic entertainment. Anyway, Cherry, if you don't find something else to do, come join us.”

Steph grabbed Christa and the two of them left. Cherry almost went with them. She really didn't want to spend the afternoon alone in her cabin, but an afternoon reading and eating sounded pretty boring. She made a sandwich, poured some iced tea, and went out on the deck, but she took a seat at one of the small tables—it would feel too lonely, sitting at that long picnic table by herself. Cain showed up a few minutes later. He stepped out of the lodge with a couple of sandwiches for himself.