Riptide [Kismet Cove] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (7 page)

“Is the naked woman in bed between us distracting you?”
Rory added a mental snicker to his message.

“She’s not just any woman, Rory. Can’t you feel it?”

“I’m feeling something, sure. But I have no idea what the fuck it is.”

Evan’s next thought came with a surge of emotion so strong it made Rory’s breath catch.
“She’s a true mate, brother. For us.”

“No.”
Rory’s first reaction was denial. She couldn’t be. True mates were rare these days, and they were
always
selkies, no exceptions.

“Yes,”
Evan argued back along the link between them.
“How else do you explain what’s going on? She feels it, too, and she doesn’t understand it any more than we do. Less I think.”

“She can’t be. She’s human!”

“Human or not, I think she is. Try imagining letting her get up out of this bed and walk away from us so we never see her again.”

Rory did, and the idea of letting her go had him seeing red. His arm tightened around her and he knew there was no chance in hell he’d ever let her out of his sight, never mind out of his life.

“Yeah, I feel the same way. So, I’d say we found ourselves a mate.”

Rory’s mind was reeling. They’d found her. After years of looking, they had finally found the woman destined to complete their lives, and she was human.
Fuck. Dad isn’t going to like this.

Evan picked up on his stray thoughts.
“I know. The prince has to marry a selkie from one of the old bloodlines. But not even your father can’t make you marry someone else if you’ve found a true mate.”

Evan’s blue eyes met Rory’s as they stared at each other across the sleeping form of their very human mate. “If he tries to do that to us, you know what will happen.”

“That’s only a legend.”

“True mates are only supposed to be a legend, too, and apparently we’ve got one sleeping between us right now.”

They both glanced down at Jess and Rory could feel Evan’s feelings were the mirror to his own. Neither of them were willing to give her up, but to keep her they were going to have to break with traditions that went back to ancient times.

“The things in life truly worth having are worth fighting for,” Rory said the words out loud and their exhausted mate stirred and then settled back down with a sleepy sigh that pumped all the blood in his body straight to his cock. As Evan chuckled Rory realized that the telepathic bond between them was still in place, and his blood-brother had felt his response to Jess’s sigh.

Rory severed the link, but as he stared down at Jess he couldn’t help but wonder what life would be like if she agreed to stay with them. Mated trios often formed intimate bonds, even when one of the group was human. He had always kept Evan out of his head as much as he could, but if Jess was theirs, then those days may well be coming to an end. Rory had kept part of himself a secret, and he wasn’t sure how Evan would feel after he knew the truth about the darkness in Rory’s soul. Finding Jess might be the answer to their prayers, but she could also destroy what they already had. He hoped like hell that she was strong enough to deal with all the changes that were coming, and then he amended that thought. He hoped they were
all
strong enough to cope with the changes her arrival heralded.

* * * *

Jess woke up and found herself cradled between her rescuers. They were still, but the moment she moved she felt both tense and she realized they were awake.

“Hi,” she whispered, feeling shy despite the fact she had already traded toe-curling kisses with one of them and the other had actually undressed her not very long ago.

“Hey, sweetheart, welcome back.” Evan’s sky-blue eyes gleamed with warmth as he lifted his head enough to smile down at her. “Feeling better?”

“Well, at least this time she didn’t wake up and start screaming.” Rory rumbled from behind her and she blushed at that memory.

“Sorry about that, but, well…can you blame me?”

Rory laughed and his voice flowed over her like melted chocolate, dark and sweet.

“Not really. I’m still glad you seem calmer this time.” He feathered a kiss to her bare shoulder. “And warmer. I swear you were halfway to being an icicle by the time I got you back to the bo—” He stopped talking for a second. “I mean by the time we got you into the boat.”

Jess frowned as she tried to remember the details of her rescue, but it all seemed like one big blur of cold and fear and waves. “I don’t really remember much after the wave hit me. I just remember thinking that I was going to die, and then Evan was pulling me up into the boat.” Another fragment of memory popped into her head. “And there was a seal, there, too.” She rolled onto her back and glanced at Rory. “Did you see a seal?”

“A seal?” He got an odd look on his face and then nodded. “Now you mention it, I think there was a seal out there. They’re pretty common around here.”

“Is it common for seals to grab people and pull them around, too?” she asked.

“What? No. Seals don’t do that. They’re playful sometimes with divers, but they’re not aggressive.” Rory shook his head. “And I didn’t see a seal pulling you around.”

“Well, it did.” Jess folded her arms over her chest. “And that’s not the first time it’s happened, either.”

The two men looked at each other and then down at her with such intense expressions that Jess wondered if she’d said something wrong.

“What do you mean, it’s happened before?” Evan asked, his usually gentle voice rife with tension. “When? Where?”

“Here, when I was a little girl.”

“You’re from
here
?” Rory interjected.

“Well, no, but my cabin has been in the family a couple of generations. We used to come here for summer vacations when I was a girl. We stopped coming when I was six or seven. The last year we came was the year I saw the seals. I remember thinking they wanted to play with me. They were pulling on my life jacket like the seal today was doing. It’s strange that I didn’t remember that until recently. I never remembered why we stopped coming out here. I guess my parents got a little freaked out. And here I am twenty-odd years later, and my first time in the water there’s another seal. Weird, huh?”

“I’d say so.” Evan grinned. “Maybe it’s your perfume?”

“Ha-ha.” She stuck out her tongue at him, only realizing her error when she saw the flare of lust in his blue eyes.

“If you stick that out at me again I’m going to put it to good use, sweetheart. As I see it, you still owe me a kiss. Right now Rory’s one up on me.”

Arousal collided with panic somewhere in the vicinity of Jess’s chest and suddenly it was very hard to breathe. She managed to choke a single word past the iron bands squeezing her lungs up through a throat gone completely dry in a matter of seconds. “What?”

Evan’s lower lip stuck out in an overly dramatic pout. “You’ve kissed him twice.”

“Please tell me you’re kidding.” Rory clapped a playful slap up the side of Evan’s head. “Don’t you even think of keeping score, Ev, or I swear I’ll dropkick you off the back of this boat the next time we’re out in deep water.”

Jess hugged her arms tighter across her chest, her gaze bouncing from one to the other and back again.

“So you two…” She trailed off and tried again. “I mean the three of us—hell, I have no idea what I’m even trying to say here!”

“I think that in this case, the word you’re looking for is yes.” Evan waggled his brows at her. “I’m sure hoping that’s what you’re going to say, anyway.”

“Oh, very smooth.” Rory leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth and she felt his tongue briefly dance over her skin. He kept his lips just brushing hers as he continued talking. “Evan and I have been best friends since I was ten years old. He’s a part of my life, and I’m part of his. We share everything.”

“Everything…as in…
everything
?” Jess stressed the last word, her heart beating faster at the erotic images that invaded her mind as she considered just what Rory meant.

“Absolutely everything, baby.”

Evan chimed from her other side as he brushed back her hair to kiss her temple. “Not everything. I have my own toothbrush.”

Jess giggled. She hadn’t meant to, but the ridiculousness of the entire situation simply made it impossible to do anything else. Giggles turned to laughter, and she found herself reduced to chortles and snorts until her cheeks were hot and there were tears streaming down her face. Still sniggering, she reached up a hand to each of them and patted their stunned faces. “You should see your expressions!” She fell into fit of giggles.

“I think she’s lost it.” Rory looked slightly panic-stricken as he stared at Jess. “Maybe she hit her head harder than I thought?”

“You’ll have to excuse him.” Evan finally joined in the laughter, leaning down to cut off her giggles with a kiss that seared her all the way through to her bones. “He’s always too damned serious. I really hope you can help me fix that.”

Jess was too surprised by the kiss to react at first, and by the time she got over her shock, her body had very definitely overridden her mind. At least that was what she told herself as she found herself burying her fingers in Evan’s sandy hair, her tongue dueling with his.

“Holy shit, that’s hot.” Rory swore and reached out a hand to cup her breast. “So I guess this means you don’t have a concussion?”

Jess giggled again and Evan lifted his head to glower at Rory. “You are ruining this moment for me, bro.”

Jess managed to gather her scattered wits and scooted out from underneath Evan until she could sit up. “I think we need to get me back to my cabin before we have any more conversations about seals, or sharing, or well, anything! I can’t seem to think straight when I’m around the two of you, and half of us aren’t wearing much in the way of clothing.”

“Fair enough.” Rory released her breast and Evan sat up, giving her an eyeful of sculpted male flesh that distracted her to the point she forgot what she was going to say next.

As Evan moved away from her and retrieved his shirt from the floor her synapses started firing again. “Guys? I’m going to need something to wear, please.”

Rory sighed. “You really don’t need clothes. We could just bundle you up in the blankets and then I’ll carry you to the truck. That way when we get to your place we can just pop you straight into the shower to get cleaned up.”

Jess turned and looked at him, doing her best to hide her smirk. “Nice try. But when we get to my place you two are going to let me out and I’m going to go home,
alone
.”

Just then her stomach growled and Jess ducked her head to hide her blush of embarrassment.

“New plan,” Rory announced. “We’re taking you back to our place first and feeding you. Then we’ll take you home.”

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re hungry.” He quirked a brow at her and gave her a sardonic smile. “Or are you going to argue with me about that, too?”

“I can eat at home. The two of you have done more than enough for me already.” Jess took a quick breath and then looked up at Rory. “In fact, I would like to invite you to dinner tomorrow night. Both of you. I’ll cook you a ‘thank you for not letting me drown’ meal.”

“Can you cook?” Evan asked her, grinning.

“I promise you’ll leave full and satisfied,” Jess answered and then winced inwardly as she realized the sexual undertone to her words.

Rory rose up off the bed, stooping to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling. “Then we are most definitely coming to dinner tomorrow. However that doesn’t mean you’re not coming home with us right now to get something to eat. I know I’m starving, and Evan’s delicate constitution can’t go long without food or he whines, so we’re eating. I’d really like for you to join us.”

Jess clutched at the blankets and tried to decide what she wanted to say. She was hungry, and she did want to spend time with the two of them. But it was just so much to take in. They were too much. She needed time alone to think about what they’d said, and what they’d offered her. Though she still wasn’t entirely sure what it was they’d been suggesting.

Before she could come up with an answer Evan dropped back down onto the bed. “Hey, sweetheart, it’s all right. You’ve had a rough day and I swear we’ll be complete gentlemen.” He glanced up at Rory. “Isn’t that right, Rory? And don’t think I’m going to forget about that delicate constitution crack either. You’re going to regret that.”

Rory just laughed and then reached up and skinned his sweater over his head, baring a chest that made Jess’s eyes widen in appreciation. He was broader than Evan, and where Evan’s chest was sculpted muscle, Rory was a solid wall of muscle and dark hair.

“Put this on while we go see if we can’t find you something to wear on your bottom half.” He tossed her the sweater and ducked out the doorway.

Evan made to follow him and then stopped in the doorway and looked back at Jess. “We’ll be back in a second with more of your wardrobe, sweetheart. Rory’s right, you need to be taken care of for today.” Evan’s eyes softened. “Please let us.”

She gave him a faint nod and his answering smile warmed her to the tips of her toes. He left her alone then, and she pulled on Rory’s sweater. It was still warm from his body and she found herself surrounded by his scent as she rolled up the overlong sleeves. When she stood up she laughed as she realized that it came to nearly mid-thigh, and no matter how many times she tried to adjust it, the whole thing kept shifting to one side or another, baring her shoulders. Jess was still fighting with it when Evan reappeared at the door, a pair of heavy wool socks in one hand and a rain jacket in the other.

“The only pants we could find on board were in the rag bin, and believe me you did not want those touching your skin. So I’m afraid that we’re going to complete this stunning fisherman ensemble look you have going on with a pair of ugly gray socks and a jacket to keep the rain off.” He offered her the items as his eyes raked over her body from top to bottom. “That sweater has never looked so good. I think Rory should let you keep it.”