Mirror Image Seduction (Feline Shifters of Down Under Book 1) (3 page)

Lacey pressed her spine against the warm, worn leather of the booth, and her cheeks felt flushed as her mind raced a million miles a minute. That big guy had called the identical twins he’d been fighting with Ryan and Dylan. Could they really be the guys that she’d been searching for? The two who had helped Cameron?

They certainly looked strong enough to climb down a cliff and rescue a small boy. She’d found herself mesmerized earlier when she caught sight of how their shoulder muscles bulged as they moved. Their tight white t-shirts along with form fitting blue jeans disguised nothing about how sleek their physiques were.

Was that what they’d been fighting with that other man over? Cameron’s rescue? She’d heard the loud one say something about getting the job done. That had been before they’d gotten into a fist fight of course.
Bloody men.

She wrapped her suddenly sweaty palms around her frosty drink, trying to calm her overheated body. She didn’t know what was wrong with her, but her body was having a major
overreaction
to the pair of hot guys currently seated at the bar. Sure, they were beautiful male specimens, but she’d seen good looking men before and never had her belly tightened or her lady bits throbbed with need in reaction. As she took a deep breath she frowned. Did her nipples just harden with arousal beneath her bra and white tank top?

She couldn’t resist finding out, and she moved to brush her palm surreptitiously against her breast, gasping as her sensitive nipple tightened further at the light caress.

What the hell?
She wasn’t even looking at them anymore!

As she twisted around, Lacey slowly straightened her spine and lifted her chin until she could see over the booth so the twins were in her line of vision once more. The tall man who’d been fighting with them was nowhere to be seen, and one twin was sitting while the other stood. Her heart rate skyrocketed, and her mouth went bone dry when they stopped talking and froze for a moment as if they sensed someone watching them. The man standing settled onto a stool, and she took a deep breath in relief, figuring she’d dodged a bullet. But before she could return to hiding in her booth, she saw both twins move on their stools to face away from the bar. When they lowered their heads and began scanning the room, she knew she was in trouble.

“Shit.”

She ducked her head down and spun back around, grabbing the straw of her drink and sucking down the cold raspberry flavored liquid.

“Hey, do you want another one?”

She made a slurping noise as she sucked the last drops of liquid from beneath the ice before she looked up to smile at the chick who was holding a round black tray while she chewing on some gum. Lacey tried not to stare, but it was hard not to when practically every bared inch of her flesh was covered in colorful tattoos.

“Um, no thanks, but I was wondering if I could ask you a question.”

The chick snatched up a wet blue cloth off her tray and began wiping Lacey’s table down, grabbing her empty glass as she did.

“Sure. Whatcha want to know?”

“Ah, those two guys at the bar, the twins…”

Miss Tattoos gave her a cheeky smile and struck a pose with her tray resting on a hip.

“Yeah, that’s Dylan and Ryan. Their parents own the largest farm in the area, so everyone knows those boys. What about ‘em?”

So she’d overheard the names correctly earlier.
Holy hell!

Heat flushed up her already warm cheeks as she made direct eye contact with the strange woman.

“I’m a reporter for the
Melbourne Herald
, and I’m following up a lead on a story. I was told Ryan and Dylan would be able to help me, but I don’t think I should approach them here. Do you know where they work, or how I could contact them?”

The woman looked over at the bar, then back at Lacey, her shrewd blue gaze assessing Lacey’s plain clothes and over abundant breasts.

Lacey’s spine stiffened under the waitress’s scrutiny. The woman looked like a damn stick figure, and it made Lacey feel every pound she was carrying on her own curvy body. She fought the urge to lift her arms to cover her cleavage, as she shook out her hair and thrust her shoulders back. Damn it, there was nothing wrong with her size eighteen body. She wasn’t skinny, but she was fit and healthy and that’s what mattered.

“They work at the open range zoo. Dylan’s a chef in the restaurant out there, and Ryan’s an animal keeper. As far as I know, they live on their parents’ property.”

They worked at the zoo? A little ironic that she was following up a lead on men associated with cheetahs, only to find out that those men would have daily contact with the big spotted cats.

“That’s great. I’ll call the zoo on Monday to speak with them. Thank you so much for your help.”

The hair on the back of her neck had begun to tingle, and in a rush Lacey grabbed her bag and looked towards the exit. She’d come out to the bar, hoping to ask someone about the mysterious Ryan and Dylan. She hadn’t expected to run into them both here, or to be turning tail and running in the opposite direction as soon as she found what she’d been looking for.

She hunched over, trying to make herself smaller as she snuck out of the booth. She couldn’t resist once last glance at the twins before she left. On a gasp she nearly tripped when she saw both of their intense gazes were on her.

She squeaked and moved faster, her heart pounding against her ribs. She shoved open the door and burst out into the warm night air, gulping oxygen into her burning lungs.

Oh shit.
They’d seen her staring at them.

Oh pull yourself together. With how good they looked, it wouldn’t be the first time they’d had someone, especially a woman, staring at them.

Just as she stepped from the concrete footpath onto the parking lot, something growled near her ear moments before large hands gripped her hips and twisted her around so she was facing the side wall of the bar. Her handbag landed at her feet, and she raised her palms to push against the brick wall to prevent her face slamming into the solid surface.

“No! Stop! Let me go!” She screamed as the man behind her pinned her body against the rough bricks with his and placed his hands over hers, lacing their fingers together.

Adrenaline was pumping through her system, making her heart pound and sweat bead on her forehead. She should have been fighting, screaming for help, but some perverse instinct inside her craved more. It made her want to push back against the strong body pinning her in place.

“Where you goin’, beautiful?”

His voice was so deep that his words were barely more than a garbled growl, but she somehow understood what he’d said. The hairs on her neck rose once more, in response to the depth of possession that radiated from his tone.

“You’re scaring her, Dylan. Cut it out.”

Lacey panted as she looked toward the new voice. Like his twin, Ryan was gorgeous and sexy, but considerably calmer and more in control.

Unlike her, or the man behind her.

“He’s not … scaring me.”

Strong desire, like she’d never experienced before, raced through her system. Just like what happened in her favorite romance novels, it was instant, electric and all consuming. Fire was in her blood, lighting her up from the inside out, centering in her pussy and taking root there.

Dylan nipped at her ear, and she moaned, letting her eyes slide shut as another, stronger, wave of arousal flowed through her. Her knees began to collapse on her, but before she could fall to the ground, a thick muscular arm whipped around her waist and held her tight against a hard hot body. Dylan’s erection now pressed into the cleft of her ass in a way that made her instinctively arch back into his embrace while whimpering a little.

“Shit. I’m sorry. Um, let’s sit down.”

Dylan seemed to be getting control of himself as he pulled her away from the pub and toward a nearby park bench.

Lacey moved as though in a daze. Everything looked a little hazy, like a light fog had moved in, and she kept stumbling over cracks in the concrete as she walked. The entire time they moved, she remained in Dylan’s tight grip, so she didn’t fall.

She collapsed onto the park bench and put her hands down on the cold steel as she swayed where she sat. She was unable to process what she was seeing before her. Two sets of beautiful brown eyes, along with strong jaws and spiky black hair. A perfectly matched set. Squinting, she stared harder and saw in more detail. There were differences between them. One had a mole on the left side of his forehead and the other had one on the right.

“How much did you have to drink tonight?”

She laughed at the question, swaying with a delicious light-headedness that appeared to be caused by simply being close to these men.

“Ah, nothing other than one raspberry lemonade.”

She giggled again, then deliberately sobered with a frown, as she heard herself. She sounded like an idiotic teenager.

The men looked between each other, one flexing his fingers as though angry. Dylan maybe? She already couldn’t remember which one had grabbed her earlier. Didn’t help they wore the same damn outfit. Sensing danger, Lacey’s mind cleared somewhat, and she sat up straighter and focused more on the men in front of her. She had to be smart about this.

“What’s wrong with you now? One minute you’re pinning me up against a wall, all hot and heavy, and the next you look ready to hit … someone. Again.”

She nearly said “me”, but somehow she instinctively knew these men would never lay a hand on a woman.

The angry one stalked off with a harsh expletive while the other sat down on the seat next to her, a gentle smile on his lips.

“You saw Dylan fight with Luke?”

With a now clear mind, Lacey crossed her arms and nodded her head.

“Yeah, of course I did. Everyone in the building did. It was kind of funny seeing you finish it though.”

The twin she assumed was Ryan chuckled and cocked his head as he looked at her with an intensity that made butterflies take flight in her belly. His eyes were flicking around her face as though studying her, a sexy smile playing on his full mouth.

Heat flooded her belly once more, and she bit her lip to stop herself from moaning again. She felt like two different people, ones that were fighting with each other from alternate universes. Part of her, an almost animalistic side, wanted to submit to these beautiful men and give them whatever they wanted, but the other, larger part of her, was questioning her sanity. She already had one psycho ex. She didn’t need more weird men in her life.

“Where’s my bag?”

She looked around, and Dylan, who was still lingering nearby, followed her gaze back to the side wall of the pub. He stomped over to her black clutch and returned to her, passing it over with jerky movements.

“I’m sorry.”

“No need to be. I’m fine.”

The words were out before she could even think them through.

She pressed her lips together and crossed her legs in front of her, trying her best to show herself to be a lady, despite all her previous actions to the contrary.

“After everything that just happened, this feels a little ridiculous, but let’s go back to the start, shall we? I’m Lacey Clarke.”

She smiled up at them and tried to ignore the stomach-gripping excitement that was building inside her. What was wrong with her?

“I’m Dylan.” The standing twin tapped himself on the chest and then pointed to his brother who was sitting beside her. “That’s Ryan.”

She smiled, unable to stop the inappropriate reaction to this bizarre situation.

“It’s nice to meet you both. I’ve actually been looking for you. I’m a reporter with the
Melbourne Herald
, and I’m writing a story on the Cameron MacKenzie rescue. I have a few questions for you both.”

Chapter Four

Ryan stopped breathing for a moment. A reporter? Their mate was a bloody reporter for one of Melbourne’s biggest newspapers? This couldn’t be happening.

“What do we do, Ryan?”

“I have no fucking idea. Whatever it is, we need to be doing it away from here.”

“Maybe if we claim her, she won’t want to expose us?”

Ryan sighed out loud. They’d have to tell her the truth. Cheetahs were incapable of lying to their mates. Their minds simply couldn’t process the concept of being dishonest to the one destined to complete them.

Lacey cleared her throat, sounding nervous, and Ryan realized he and Dylan had been silent for too long.

“That’s a conversation that needs to happen behind closed doors.”

He heaved out a breath as her eyes sparkled with interest.

“So you’ll talk to me? You’ll answer my questions?”

He grimaced and looked away for a moment. He really didn’t want to tell her anything, not until he was certain she was fully theirs. Maybe the lions had a point about all their rules…

“Come with us back to our place for dinner, and we’ll discuss what happened last weekend.”

Lacey’s knuckles turned white as she gripped her bag. Ryan frowned as he glanced from her hands up to her face. What was wrong with her? Her mouth was now pinched into a flat line, and she was squinting at him with an intensity he wasn’t sure he liked.

“How do I know I can trust you both? I like meeting sources in public places, where I know I’m safe. How about a quiet restaurant? I’m not the kind of woman who makes it a habit to go home with men she’s just met. No matter how interesting the information you have is.”

Ryan inwardly cringed as his twin’s face lit up with wide grin.
Please don’t let him say something that makes her run from us screaming.

“Well, that puts you in a pickle then, beautiful. Because there ain’t a lot of options out here in the sticks. You can come back to our place with us now, or wait until we can get away from work long enough to go into Melbourne. That wouldn’t be until at least next weekend.”

She sucked her full bottom lip into her mouth as she frowned. Ryan had to bite his tongue for a moment to stop himself from moaning. Her mouth was a lush little slice of heaven, and he wanted a taste of it so badly he ached.

He shook his head and searched for an alternative solution. But he struggled to think about anything other than claiming her as soon as possible.

“We live in a small house on our parents’ farm. It’s less than half a mile between our place and our folks’. So, you won’t be completely alone with us out in the middle of nowhere. If you like, we could eat at the main house? You’d have to put up with at least some of our brothers, but our mother would be there, too.”

Her shoulders lowered a little, and she loosened her death grip on her bag.

“Um, okay. I’ll agree if we can do this at your parents’ place. It’s not too short notice for your mother?”

“I’ll call to check, but she’s always got plenty of food in the house so I can’t see it being an issue.”

Not to mention the fact she’d be overjoyed that not only had her youngest sons found their mate, but she’d also get to meet her today.

“I’ll call her now. Dylan? You’ll stay with Lacey?”

“Of course.”

“Don’t do anything to scare her off before I get back.”

“Yeah, yeah. I got this.”

Ryan rolled his eyes at his twin’s arrogant tone, rose from the seat and pulled his mobile free of his pocket as he walked a short distance away. While he hit the speed dial for home he glanced back to see Dylan nervously sit next to Lacey. He wasn’t looking at her, instead tapping his fingers on his knee and glancing around. Ryan held back his laugh at seeing his normally overconfident, always in charge twin looking so lost with what to do. He hadn’t strayed far when he heard the call connect.

“Hello, Ryan, what’s up? Dylan didn’t get into another fight did he?”

Ryan grinned. Gotta love caller ID. His mother always knew who was calling now she had it.

“Well, he did, but that’s not why I’m calling.”

Her sigh came over the line like a strong gust of wind, long and forlorn. “Okay, I won’t ask for any more details about it. I honestly don’t want to know. So, what do you need me for? It’s not like you or your brothers to ring home this late on a Friday afternoon.”

“Um, Dylan and I wanted to bring someone around for dinner, and she’d be more comfortable at your place with a few more people around … so, I just wanted to check if that’s okay?”

“She? As in a woman?” His mother’s voice was now high pitched with excitement. Of course, she knew there was only one female he or Dylan would ever bring home to meet the family. “You’ve found your mate?”

He couldn’t hold back the buzz that coursed through his blood or the pride in his voice as he answered.

“That would be correct. She’s a reporter with the
Melbourne Herald
and is doing a piece on the rescue. She wants to ask us some questions.”

Ryan was being careful about what he said as he wasn’t sure if Lacey could still hear him. He was a little way from her now but hadn’t been able to force himself to go far enough to ensure she wasn’t in earshot.

“What? Oh hell. Okay, bring her over, and we’ll do our best to help you sort this mess out. I’ll go raid the fridge and see what I can come up with to add to what I’ve already got on the go.”

“Who’s at the house tonight?”

He hoped not everyone. He wasn’t sure how Lacey would cope with all seven of their brothers, plus them and their parents carrying on around the dinner table. It resembled a circus most times it happened. Fortunately, now they were all adults and had their own homes on the property, it didn’t happen too often.

His mother chuckled. “You know full well once word gets out that your mate is coming to dinner, they’ll all be here. She is Dylan’s mate, too, right?”

“Yeah, you were right about that.”

“Okay, well you best get back to her and I’ll see you all in a bit. Take your time coming out, though. Give me some time to prepare a full meal.”

He could hear it in her voice how excited she was and imagined as he hung up the phone that she was currently running around the house screaming her joy. Yeah, only one way all his family was going to find out about their dinner guest in the next half hour, and that was via his mother’s big mouth.

****

“You’ve got to be kidding me?”

Lacey’s mouth gaped open as she put her car into park and turned off the engine. She reminded herself that she was only here to follow up a lead on the Cameron Mackenzie story, not to do a full review on the property. Even though the beauty of her surroundings had her brain switching out of gear. This place was incredible!

She opened her door and got out as she stared up at the mansion that was Ryan and Dylan’s family home.

“I know it looks a little overwhelming, but wait until you get inside. It’s just like any other home. With so many kids, they needed a big house. I love how my parents built the house on the highest point of the property so that they could oversee the entire place.”

“Sorry?” Lacey hadn’t been paying attention as she was still mesmerized by the sash windows, massive wraparound porch, and the sheer grandeur of the sprawling, single story homestead.

“Look.” Ryan, or she assumed he was Ryan, due to his calm aura and gentle voice, turned her around so that she now looked away from the house and back toward the way they had driven in. She let out another contented sigh, her shoulders dropping down as though a weight had been lifted off them.

“Wow.” The house was on the top of a rise that had resulted in a breathtaking view that extended for several miles in all directions, which including several other homes that she assumed were their children’s houses. “So, they still look after you guys huh?”

Ryan shrugged and grinned. “They’re pretty awesome parents.”

Tears prickled at the back of Lacey’s eyes and a lump formed in her throat, so she coughed to clear it as she blinked rapidly. What was it about a man who loved his parents that got to her so much? Probably due to the fact that she had such a distant relationship with her own family and the one thing she’d always longed for was the closeness that she could see these men shared with their family.

“So, how old are you two anyway?”

What made her ask that, she had no idea. It certainly wasn’t pertinent to the story.

“Twenty-three.” Ryan grinned, and Dylan sauntered up, knocking his twin’s shoulder roughly with his own. “But I’m older.”

Ryan shoved him back with a super fast reflex. “Yeah, by a whole three minutes.”

Lacey laughed. She couldn’t help it. As an only child with her sort of parents, sibling camaraderie was another thing she had no experience with.

“Cool.”

She stared at the men before her, as her mind began to catalogue the differences between them. Dylan’s face was slightly longer, Ryan’s a bit rounder. Dylan’s lips were curved into a cheeky smile, which flashed the dimple in his left cheek, and his gorgeous brown eyes were bright with humor. Ryan seemed to always be more reserved, more serious, even in his looks. She wondered if he’d have a dimple in his right cheek…

“Hello, boys,” a strong woman’s voice called out. When the twins turned toward her, they spun in opposite directions, and Lacey couldn’t help but chuckle. She glanced up and saw who must be their mother standing on the front porch, a serene smile on her face and white apron in place.

Ryan took Lacey’s hand in his, and surprised by his touch, she tried unsuccessfully to pull free. For some strange reason, within seconds, the warmth of his skin and the feel of his callused palm touching hers, settled her. The waitress had said Ryan was an animal keeper, so he must be like a horse whisperer, assuming animals reacted to him like she just had.

They began walking up to the house, and Lacey’s belly did a nervous little flip, like this was a first date or something, and not the purely professional interview that it was meant to be.

Yeah, but the last few hours haven’t exactly been normal, have they?

“Hello, I’m Maggie Monaghan.”

Lacey was a little awestruck. Maggie was simply beautiful. Everything a mother should be. Her warmth glowed around her like that white ring that surrounds the moon on special nights. It was in her aura, every line of her face, and the naturally dark brown hair which was shot through with grey.

Her cheeks heated as she realized she’d been standing there silent staring like a fool.

“Mum, this is Lacey.”

She twisted to flash a grateful smile at Dylan for saving her as he began to introduce her, and her eyes widening in surprise as he’d spoken. His voice had dropped to such a low level she could only describe it as gravelly. And it made her body tingle in an extremely unprofessional way. What the hell was with that?

He shot her a sideways glance but offered her no explanation.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Lacey. Please, won’t you come in?”

Maggie waved her in, and Lacey ascended the stairs. Ryan finally released her hand, and she clenched it onto her bag as her nervousness resurfaced. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea? She had the strangest feeling that once she entered this home, she’d never be the same again.

She followed Maggie, who she noticed was nicely rounded like herself, through the front door and was instantly hit by a cacophony of noise. It reminded her of when she’d step out into a hot summer’s day, after being in the cold air conditioned office all day. A harsh shock to her system that stole her breath and stilled her mind.

After forcing her feet to move two steps into the house, she couldn’t go any further. The delicious smell of roasted meat and potatoes combined with a raucous amount of laughter and the voices of several men talking. This wasn’t what she’d had in mind. She envisioned one or two brothers, not an army of them! This was worse than meeting the twins alone somewhere.

“It’s okay, it’s just our brothers.”

Ryan’s statement wasn’t reassuring in the least.

“And how many are there?”

Lacey couldn’t make her feet move. She was firmly caught between her fight and flight instincts. Did she stay or did she run while she still could?

“This was meant to be just an interview. I think I’ve made a mistake…”

She began backing towards the door, her heart pounding against her ribs as her feet shuffled on the polished wood floor.

As both twins lunged toward her, they both made strange growling noises in their throats that made her skin tingle, but it was Maggie that reached her first. The older woman slid her arm around Lacey’s and gently began to lead her toward the noise.

She chuckled as she squeezed Lacey’s arm. “Don’t you worry about a thing, sweetheart. You’ll get your interview, and you can sit with me if you like. It’ll be nice to have a little more estrogen around here for once.”

Lacey’s panicking calmed instantly as Maggie’s gentle touch and smooth voice washed over her. Just like Ryan’s touch had done earlier.

“I only came to ask a few questions about Cameron Mackenzie.”