Loving Her (Keeping Her) (3 page)

“Right,” she said,
trying to shake herself out of the haze Ben had left her in to follow Clytie
out of the room.  Unfortunately for her, they had to pass right by Mac on
their way out the door and he stopped her by stepping into her path so that
once again she was pressed up against him.  She tried to back up but
Clytie still had a hold of her hand in an effort to drag her to safety. 

Macs hand went into her
hair at the back of her neck and pulled her head back so that she had to look
up at him.  “You’re safe here,” he said quietly, the timber of his
voice once again sending shivers up her spine.  “We can protect you.”

“Yeah?  Who’s going to
protect me from you?”

He smiled at that.  It
was not a comforting smile, but his thumb brushed the side of her face and was
somehow...tender.  Making her heart flutter, he kissed her on the forehead
and stepped back releasing her into Clytie’s worried care.  She yanked her
out of the room so fast she nearly hit the doorjamb on the way.  

“Oh lord,” she said
following her cousin away from temptation.  “I think I am in serious
trouble here.”

“You are.  I’ve never
seen them like that.”  Clytie pulled her through the courtyard and towards
the front door.  “But I know that look.  I’ve seen it on Demon’s face
often enough.  They’re claiming you, and if we don’t get you out of here
right now, you won’t be going.  Period.”

“What are you saying, that
you think they’ll force the issue?”

“Please, I saw your face
when Ben kissed you, and when Mac touched you.”  Clytie pushed her out the
front door, following close behind with a snort.  “Force?  Hah!  You’re a
babe in the woods here.  I’ve thrown you to the lions by bringing you
here.”

“Clytie!”

“What?  Are you going to
stand there and tell me you aren’t in danger of falling for, not one, but two
heart-breakers?”

“I just met them!”  They
had reached the silver Toyota Corolla and Clytie finally let go of her hand.

“And?”

Cassandra opened her mouth
and then shut it again.  “You’re right; I’m out of here."

Clytie was shaking her head
while she got in the passenger side but when Cassie would have started the car,
she remembered she had left her purse with the guys.

“Uh, Clytie?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t have my purse.”

“Crap.”

They both looked back at
the house in time to see the front door open, all three of the men stepped out
on the porch looking displeased.  Mac held her purse up and swung it back
and forth.

“Crap,” Clytie said again,
and for some reason it made Cassandra laugh.

“We’re being ridiculous you
know.  This is not a lifetime movie.  I’ll stay tonight and leave
tomorrow just like I said and they can’t do a thing to stop me.”

”Ten bucks,” Clytie said
with a snort.  “Ten bucks says you don’t leave tomorrow.”

“Hey!”

“What?”

Cassandra narrowed her eyes
at her cousin and best friend.  “Fine.  You’re on, but you can’t egg them
on.”

“Hah!  As if they need
it.  However, we are having a sleep over tonight.  I don’t trust them
not to make a move, and you my dear, are putty in their hands.”

“Am not.”

“Really?”  Her voice
was sarcastic and doubtful all at once.  Cassie looked from her to the
front porch and the temptation standing there.

“We could watch old movies
and veg all night.”

Clytie smiled. 
“Sounds like a plan to me.”

They both sat there for a few
more minutes, the guys stayed on the porch, Demon with his arms crossed leaning
against the door jam.  Mac with her purse waving while Ben leaned against
the porch rails.

“I suppose we have to go
back in now,” Clytie said.  She was looking at Demon with a worried look on her
face.

“You think they’ll ground
us?”  Cassie asked seeing the humor in the situation.

Clytie laughed, “They would
if they could, believe me.”  Then she got a decidedly wicked gleam in her
eye.  “We will stick together, that should cause all kinds of frustration
for everyone.  It'll be good for them.  A little lesson in patience." 

Following along, Cassie
raised a dramatic fist in the air.  "We will strike a blow for women
everywhere against the sexy, always get what they want, hot guys of the world. 
May they never be lost to us."

Then they burst out
laughing.

When they reached the
porch, Demon made all their dramatics and planning for nothing by simply
tucking Clytie over his overly broad shoulder and absconding with her.  He did
not seem to mind that she was shrieking and pounding him on the back.  That
left Cassandra to face Ben and Mac alone.  She stood at the bottom of the
steps.  They looked down at her from the top.

“Going somewhere
sweetness?”  Ben asked with a definite bite to his words.

It made Cassandra smile. 
“Apparently not.”  She looked over at Mac and his face was devoid of emotion.

“Do you ever laugh?” she
asked him unexpectedly.

He came down the stairs
until he was right before her and sat so that they were eye to eye. 
“Occasionally.  Why were you trying to leave?”

“Panic.”

He smiled a bit at her
honest and blunt answer.  Then his face reclaimed his serious cast.  “All you
have to say is no.”

She blew out the breath she
had been holding.  Ben came down and sat beside Mac on the stairs.  She had
their complete attention.  Looking from one to the other, she shook her head at
the sheer male beauty before her.  She pushed them both over with a nudge to
each of their shoulders and sat between them to look out into the front yard.  If
she was not looking at them, she was better able to think.

“Clearly from my behavior
today, saying no is a problem for me.  You guys are a bit out of my comfort
zone.”

“If you think telling us
you can’t say no is going to get rid of us, you are out of your mind,” Ben said
leaning over until his lips were right below her ear.  He breathed in her scent
and nudged her shoulder with his chin.  “Fuck, you smell good.”

She shook off the tingles
and elbowed him an inch back.  “And you have the vocabulary of a teenage
rapper.”

He chuckled at that. 
Cassie turned to face Mac, rolling her eyes and fighting off a smile, it faded
from her face when she met Mac’s oh so serious eyes.  Her hand went to his face
to brush down his cheek.  What was it about him that made her want to comfort
him out of his sadness?  “What is it, Mac?”

He grabbed her hand and
pulled it to his mouth for a kiss to her knuckles.  His eyes never left hers. 
“You aren’t afraid of us, so why run?”

She bit her lip, then
released it quickly when his eyes zeroed in and heated, “There.  That look,
right there.”  She pointed to his face zealously and he bent down and took the
finger into his mouth before she could do more than gasp.  She felt the heat
and suction all the way to her sex and dropped her head to his shoulder with a
clunk.

He grabbed her hand and
held it so that he could make a thorough map of her hand with his mouth and
tongue.

“Do you have a PhD in
seduction, or what?”  She spoke breathlessly against the sleeve of his upper
arm, even as she felt Ben moving the hair away from her neck to make room for
his lips.  She pulled back, breathing a little heavier and reclaimed her hand
as Ben’s chin came to rest on her shoulder.  “And you wonder why I’m leaving
tomorrow.  You two should post warning signs at the gate.  You’re lethal.”

She felt Ben tense behind
her before she noticed Macs sudden sharp gaze.  “I thought we had settled
this.  You’re safe here with us.”

She raised her chin at his
tone.  “I can take care of myself.”

“No.”

“With the risk of sounding
like a child, you are not the boss of me.”

“Yes,” Mac said, leaning
forward until their noses touched.  “I am.”

Then she could do no more
than squeak as Ben pulled her back and down, holding her with one hand pressed
flat on her stomach so that her hair was spread across his lap and her eyes
were locked with his.

“We can prove it you know,”
he said, then buried his nose in that spot beneath her sensitive ear.

She whacked him on the top
of his head.  “Cut it out.”  But she was laughing.  She was completely turned
on and laughing.  It was a tempting combination.

Mac stood up and reached
for her hand, hauling her up and out of Ben’s arms.  “I’ll show you where your
room is,” he said, keeping his grip on her hand as he pulled her up the
stairs.  She turned to see Ben still sitting on the stairs with a narrow eyed
look directed at them.

***

The room Mac led her to was
big and bright with a lot of natural sunlight.  The bed was a standard king
four-poster.  The duvet was down and the cover decorated with sweet little blue
and yellow flowers.  An abundance of soft white down pillows in matching
pillowcases sat on the bed and wispy white drapes fluttered at the windows. 
The wood floors matched the dark wide planked pine of the rest of the house.

"This is a great
room."

"Clytie’s been slowly
introducing colors to all the rooms.  Things appear randomly throughout the
house.  like pillows and flowers, dishtowels."  Mac was leaning against
the doorjamb when she turned.  "She thinks we don't notice and it’s
hilarious to see her attempts at stealth so we leave her to it."

Cassandra studied him, the
way he swallowed the space around him.  His oh so serious face and crossed
arms.

"You and Ben, you've
been together a long time."

He stepped forward until he
was close enough to touch.  "Ask what you really want to know."

She blew out a breath. 
"Why do you share?  Women I mean.  Why do you share them?"

"At first it was for
our own protection.  One man would always be aware enough to protect the other. 
When sex is done right, there is no more vulnerable time for a man or woman. 
Then we got into the habit.  Now I think it’s just how it was meant to
be."

"What do you
mean?"

"I think we were
always supposed to claim the same mate."

Her breath stuttered in her
throat.  "That's quite a statement."

"Yes," he said,
studying her face.  His hand going to brush back a curl that dangled at her
neck. 

"I'm not ready for
this."  She said back quietly.

"I know," he
said, kissing her forehead and stepping back.  "We'll wait."

Cassie watched him until he
was out of sight then collapsed down in a heap to the bed.  "They're going
to be the death of me," she said to the ceiling.  On the other hand ...
what
a way to go.

***

"What was that
about?"  Ben asked as soon as Mac came into the control room.

He didn't pretend to
misunderstand.  "She needs time."

"And you're the judge
of that I take it."

Instead of answering, Mac
cued up the computer playback of the room Cassandra was occupying to replay
their conversation.

When Mac had walked out
again, and Clytie had collapsed onto the bed with her final statement, he
stopped the playback.

"I think this is going
to be complicated," Ben said, his usual smile absent.  "I thought you
were going to try to cut me out."

"I know."

"I was going to fight
to keep her."

"I think we're both
going to have to fight to keep this one."

"But not against each
other."

"No.  Not each other,"
he said, solemn with it.  "But anyone who tries to hurt her or take her
from us won't walk away without bleeding."

"I can get behind
that.”  Ben’s smile returned with a slightly sinister edge.  "We start
with the ex-boyfriend who likes to hurt pretty girls."

"Call Eli and have him
start a search.  I'd like to know why he didn't come up in our original search
on Cassandra."

The proximity warning
sounded for the front gate.  Ben rolled the chair over to check the monitor.  "Huh,"
he said, looking in disbelief at an old woman and a small girl child.  He
looked at Mac and pointed at the monitor.  "Hillbilly in-laws have come to
call."

Mac raised a brow and
dialed on speaker.  Demon answered it right away.  "Talk."

"You better get to the
front gate.  You have visitors."

"Friendly?"

At that moment, the old
witch looked up with permanent wolf eyes and stared right at the camera.  "I
don't know about friendly, but I doubt she's here to do damage.  It’s that old
witch from the Bone Crushers and a little girl."

"What the fuck?"

"You want cover?  Just
in case."

Ben laughed.  "Cover? 
You think the little girl or Grandma Munster is packing heat?

Just then, the witch in
question scowled and flipped the camera the bird.  Ben stopped laughing. 
"Well, that's creepy."

"What?"  Demon
barked.

"The little old lady
just gave us the universal sign for fuck you," Mac answered, deadpan.

"Wonderful,"
Demon growled.  "I'll meet her alone.  Mac, I want you covering the gate;
Ben can take the house." 

They all heard Clytie
through the phone.  "Why don't you just open the gate and let them
in?"

"We are not going to
let them in without recon.  They're a potential threat."

"Really?"  The
doubt was obvious, even on speakerphone.  "An old lady and a little girl? 
Think they can take you guys?"

Demons voice had gone gruff
when he continued.  "For all we know they could be strapped with bombs. 
We don't take chances Clytie, especially not with you and Cassandra here."

"All right," she
said.  "No need to get your fur in a twist."

"Clytie..." 
Demon warned.

She just laughed and it
made Mac and Ben smile to hear it.  "Fine.  I'll go get some iced tea and
cookies ready.  You know, in case they aren't suicide bombers."

A minute later, Demon
hissed out a breath.  "Cookies, she says.  Woman has no sense when it
comes to safety.  I ought to paddle her ass just on principle."

"I take it she left
the room?”  Ben asked with a smirk.

Demon just grunted. 

"Meet you at the gate,"
Mac said, and hit the arsenal access code for the armory.  "I take it you
can handle the ladies while we're checking this."

"No better man for the
job," Ben said, and Demon cursed before the phone slammed down and he was
gone.

"Someday he's going to
hurt you."

"Nah, I'm too fast.  Besides,
I'm taken now.  He just hasn't noticed yet."

Mac checked the clip and
then the chamber and safety before holstering it.  "Be back in a few.  Try
not to scare off Cassandra while I'm gone.”  Then he left through the door
without a sound.

"I'll save you some
cookies," Ben yelled after him.