Love Found [Pack Law 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (2 page)

“Do you live locally, Alyson?” Tarkyn asked as he unloaded the cases of beer.

“I live in Bloomfield.” She walked over to where Tarkyn was just placing another case of beer onto a stack and reached out to pick one up.

“No. Let Tarkyn do it.” Rylan placed a hand on her shoulder.

“But…”

“Why don’t you come upstairs for a drink?” Rylan guided her toward the stairs on the opposite side of the room with a hand to her lower back. He didn’t want her running off now that she had finished delivering their order. He wanted to spend as much time with her as possible.

“Oh, but…”

“We have coffee,” Chevy said from behind them.

“Coffee sounds good.”

Rylan studied Alyson surreptitiously. Although she was tall for a woman, standing at around five ten, she wasn’t as big as he and his brothers were. Her head only came up to his shoulder, and to him she was just about perfect. He and his brothers were all big men, but the thought of having Alyson up against his body made his half-hard dick engorge so quickly, it jerked painfully against his zipper. She would fit perfectly between him and his brothers without being overwhelmed by their size. All of them were over six and a half feet. He was glad that their mate wasn’t small like some women. When he and his brothers eventually got her into their bed, he wouldn’t have to be afraid of crushing her.

Not only was Alyson tall, she was gorgeous, with her long black hair pulled back into a braid. Even in a braid, her hair reached to the top of her ass. Rylan wanted to release her hair and spread it out. He could almost imagine what it would feel like caressing his naked flesh. Pushing his wayward thoughts aside and his eager animal back down, he entered the door off the bar.

“Have a seat, Alyson. I’ll get that coffee.”

He returned with a tray bearing four coffee mugs as well as cream and sugar. Alyson looked pretty sitting on a stool at the bar. Her skin was pale but clear of any blemishes except for a small mole off to the right side of her mouth. Her lower lip was lusciously full, and the top, although thinner, was perfectly bowed. And her eyes…If he looked too long into those violet pools, he might just lose himself. He’d never seen such beautifully colored irises before, and her eyes were tilted slightly up at the outer corners, almost feline in shape. They were framed by the longest, thickest, darkest eyelashes he’d ever seen. She didn’t wear any makeup or perfume, for which his wolf was grateful. She had on a pair of tight hip-hugging jeans and a tank top. The muscles in her arms bulged slightly, a testament to the heavy lifting she did for her job.

“Thanks.” Alyson accepted the mug of coffee and then sipped appreciatively.

Chevy and Tarkyn had already claimed the stools on either side of her, so Rylan stayed behind the bar and watched her. She brushed a stray hair from her face, the move so feminine he was almost enthralled. Her violet eyes connected with his, and her skin flushed before she quickly looked away.

“How long have you lived in Bloomfield, Alyson?” Chevy asked.

“Uh, not long,” she hedged.

“How long is Shawn on leave for?” Tarkyn sipped his coffee as he watched Alyson intently.

“I’m not sure, but I think he’s on a long vacation.”

Good,
Rylan thought. The longer Shawn was away, the more he and his brothers would hopefully see of Alyson.

“Will you be doing all the deliveries here while Shawn is on vacation?” Chevy asked.

Alyson shrugged her shoulders. The movement made her breasts move and drew Rylan’s attention to her chest. He wondered what color her nipples were and if they would be sensitive. She had nice breasts, not too large and not too small. They would fit perfectly into his large hands. Rylan ground his teeth together. He had to get control of his emotions and desires. The last thing he wanted to do was scare Alyson off before they’d had the chance to woo her. Lifting his eyes from her chest, he was thankful to see she was still looking at Chevy and hadn’t noticed his perusal of her body.

“I think so, but I can’t ever be too sure. I deliver where my boss, Jerry, tells me to.”

“What made you get into this line of work?” Tarkyn drew Alyson’s gaze.

She didn’t answer immediately, looking from Tarkyn to Chevy. “You guys sure do ask a lot of questions.”

“Back off
,” Chevy urged Rylan and Tarkyn telepathically.

“And I thought you two were unloading the delivery,” Alyson added to Tarkyn and Chevy.

“All taken care of,” Tarkyn answered.

“It’s a small town, baby,” Rylan said, hoping to put her at ease. “We’re just being friendly.”

Alyson didn’t look like she was buying it. Shrugging, she answered Tarkyn’s question. “I needed a job and this one was available.”

“What did you do before?” Rylan leaned his hip against the edge of the bar.

Alyson looked wary and uncertain, not meeting his gaze. She studied her mug of coffee and wrapped her hands around the cup. “Oh, I just sort of flittered from job to job. Nothing grand.”

Rylan inhaled deeply. He scented fear and the light fragrance from her soap or bodywash but also the faint tinge of her womanly scent. She met his eyes and caught him watching her. Alyson’s cheeks colored a slight pink hue and as she nervously shifted on the stool, the sweet aroma of her arousal assailed his nostrils. It seemed Alyson felt the sexual attraction as much as he and his brothers did, but he pushed that knowledge aside for now. What concerned him most right at this minute was the essence of her fear. That he didn’t like one little bit.

“Our mate is scared,”
Tarkyn said through their private mental link.

“I’m aware. What I’d like to know is what she is afraid of and why she lied about her previous employment,”
Rylan said.

“How do you know she’s lying?”
Chevy asked.

“She keeps looking away and shifting nervously,”
Rylan explained.

“That could be because we’re strangers to her.”
Chevy narrowed his eyes at Rylan.

“Use your wolf senses, Chevy. You can smell the anxiety coming off of her.”
Tarkyn took a sip of his coffee.

“I was trying to keep my wolf at bay. It’s pushing at me to claim our mate. If I don’t keep a tight rein on my beast, I’m afraid Alyson will notice we’re different.”

“Fuck!
” Tarkyn shot an agitated look to Alyson.
“How the hell are we going to keep her here with us?”

“We aren’t,”
Rylan replied.
“It’s way too soon. We need to get to know her better first. She’s so nervous and anxious right now that if we push too hard, she won’t come back.”

“I think we should place more orders,”
Tarkyn suggested.
“We’ll have to run it by the Alphas, but if we schedule in smaller regular orders instead of one big one, we can see her every day.”

“You are a sneaky bastard, Tarkyn.”
Rylan smiled.
“I like the way your mind works. If Alyson has to come here every day, then she will definitely get to know us and hopefully become more comfortable with us.”

“I don’t think our Alphas will have a problem with us changing the order schedule.”
Chevy looked over at Alyson.
“The amounts delivered won’t change, just the regularity.”

“So, how long have you all worked here?” Alyson asked, looking at them with a frown as if trying to work out why they had been so quiet.

“We’ve been here nearly twelve months.” Tarkyn shifted on his stool. “We took over the running of the club when our cousins Justin, Roan, and Chet found—were promoted.”

“You grew up in Aztec?”

“Yes.” Rylan placed his empty coffee mug on the bar. “Our whole family lives in this town. Since we all do business together and we’re close relations, we all share a large house not far out of town. We each have our own suite of rooms though, which gives us privacy when we need it. But we like to hang out with our brothers and cousins.”

“Must be nice,” Alyson muttered under her breath and looked down at the bar.

She frowned, and a wistful expression crossed her face. Chevy opened his mouth, but Rylan shook his head slightly, stopping his brother before he could ask her about her family.

“Thanks for the coffee, but I need to get moving.” Alyson edged off the stool, careful not to touch Chevy or Tarkyn, and headed around the end of the bar toward the inside stairs. “Do you want me to close the outside door?”

Rylan had already stepped out from behind the bar to follow her, but as she asked her question she stopped and turned, slamming right into him. She drew in a deep, shaky breath, her cheeks flushed once more, and she quickly stepped back from him. Rylan moved lightning fast and grabbed her hips just as her back foot met air. A slight squeak left her mouth, and then he pulled her up against his body, safely away from the stairs. She leaned her head on his chest and panted for air, rolling her forehead over his pectoral muscle. Her body stiffened, and she stepped sideways.

“Thanks for stopping me from falling. See ya.” Alyson spun around and jogged down the stairs.

Rylan didn’t follow her this time but watched her from the top. She rushed over to her dolly and then hurried up the ramp, pulling it behind her and muttering to herself the whole way. The outside doors slammed closed, and then she was gone.

“Fuck, she’s a skittish little thing.” Chevy stood up and adjusted his dick in his pants.

“Yeah, she is,” Tarkyn agreed, “but she smells so damn sweet. I’m so hard I think my balls have turned blue.”

Rylan unclipped his cell and dialed. “Hi, Jonah, I was wondering if you would be averse to us making a few changes to the delivery schedule for the club.”

“What do you have in mind?” Jonah Friess, one of his Alphas, asked, and Rylan was glad his brothers had enhanced hearing so he wouldn’t have to repeat the conversation. They had their heads tilted to the side slightly as they listened intently.

“We just met our mate. Her name is Alyson, and she made the delivery to the club,” Rylan began to explain.

Jonah laughed. “Congratulations, cousins. It’s about damn time, and you can do what you like with the delivery orders. I may be your Alpha, but we are family. You do whatever you have to and get to know your mate.”

“Thanks, Jonah.” Rylan disconnected the call. “Tarkyn, get on the computer and change our orders.”

Tarkyn smiled and took off for the office at a near sprint. Rylan sighed, but inside he was just as eager as his impatient younger brother to see Alyson again.

What the hell just happened?
Alyson sat in the driver’s seat of the small delivery truck and sighed.
Why was I attracted to three men? God! What is wrong with me?
She groaned and leaned over until her head touched the steering wheel. Taking a deep breath, she turned on the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot.

When she had sat on that barstool sipping her coffee, it had felt like those three men could see into her soul. She’d never felt such an instant connection to anyone before. It was damned disconcerting. She shivered and moisture leaked onto her panties at the remembered heat of each Friess brother’s touch.

Damn it, Alyson, get your head out of the clouds. You are already in a world of trouble, and you don’t need a relationship to complicate matters further.

Alyson concentrated on her driving as she thought over her reaction to Rylan, Tarkyn, and Chevy. She’d never been interested in a man before, let alone three men. Her previous line of work had made her wary in regards to the opposite sex. Of course she’d mucked around a bit in college, but she’d never gone the whole nine yards. Men were jerks and couldn’t be trusted. God knew she’d seen that time and again after graduating.

Chevy, Tarkyn, and Rylan might have caught her eye, but their questions had unnerved her. Six months working her way across Arizona and into New Mexico had taught her to hide her secrets well, but it was as if they knew when she was fibbing.
I should keep running.
The handsome club owners weren’t the first enticement for her to stay in this area. For some reason she’d stopped running when she’d reached Bloomfield. It wasn’t just that moving from town to town was as hard on her nerves as it was on her body. Something about the quiet town had called to her. So five months ago she had leased a fully furnished bungalow attached to the back of an elderly couple’s house and worked at odd jobs until this one came up. She had only been working for Jerry for two weeks, and even though she was still getting to know the cantankerous older man, she liked him, a lot. He was like the father figure she’d never had.

Jerry was gruff but fair, and if he didn’t like something, he wasn’t shy about letting you know. Alyson liked to know where she stood. The thought of trying to read between lines just irritated and frustrated her. If she’d done something wrong, she wanted to know about it so she could change or fix whatever her transgression was.

Alyson tugged on the steering wheel slightly when the front wheel touched the edge of the gravel. She sighed and pushed all those disconcerting thoughts aside and concentrated on her driving. Jerry would blow a gasket if she got in an accident.