Desiree Holt - Caught in the Middle

“I’m fine, sir,” she said to both of them.

With clear reluctance, they eventually took her at her word. A few minutes later they were dressed in what was left of their clothes and had left to wait for her in two of the bedrooms where other members of the council had spent the night. When the door closed behind them, the senior members of the council lost interest and filed out too.

Jasmine stared at the floor as possibilities rushed through her head. If they both wanted her to belong to them then… for the first time in as long as she could remember, she actually thought about accepting a man who offered her a place under his protection.

“Do you have any injuries to report?”

Mr. Washington ’s question dragged Jasmine out of her thoughts.

“No, sir,” she said.

“Very well, then. Get dressed. We’re leaving.”

She looked up at him, all protocols tossed aside. “You told them…”

“And when you don’t arrive at their door, they will each believe you have gone to the other man.”

Jasmine stared at him, at first unable to work out what he was telling her. “Sir, you said…” she trailed off.

“Are you questioning my orders?”

Jasmine shook her head. “I’m sorry, sir. I don’t understand…you said.”

“Do you believe that I will look after you, that I have your best interests in mind when I exercise my control over you?” he asked.

Jasmine nodded. “Yes, sir, but…”

“Then you will do as you are told,” Mr. Washington said.

Jasmine closed her eyes for several long moments. He had always given her a free choice before. She knew the older man wouldn’t order her away from someone who offered her a place in his house on a whim. None of that made it any easier for her to obey him right then.

Finally, she forced herself to nod. “Yes, sir.”

It took more effort than she would have ever believed possible to put on her clothes and leave the room with Mr. Washington right then. On the way out of the hotel, she looked at each of the bedroom doors they passed, wondering if she was walking past one of the rooms Stafford and Hayden were waiting in.

She shook her head at herself. Mr. Washington was right-she’d been crazy to think she could go to either of them. She forced herself to remember the truth of the matter-they’d been more focused on each other than her-it was only novelty and a competitive nature that led them to have even a passing interest in her.

That would have faded away in a few days and what would have become of her then? She glanced across at Mr. Washington as she got into his car. He turned his attention to her for a few moments and studied her carefully.

“Sir?” she asked, when the depth of his focus on her became uncomfortable.

“Take a few days,” he told her with surprising gentleness for a man who never forgot who the master was during a scene.

“Sir?” she said again, panic suddenly bursting inside her.

“I’m not disowning you,” he chided as he saw the worry in her eyes. “You spoke about visiting your family for a few days a little while ago. Take a few days to put both men out of your mind. Sometimes the paranormals can get inside a submissive’s head far more easily than a human master. Caught between the two of them all night, it’s no wonder you’re off balance. Take a few days, see your family, and come back to the club ready for the weekend. We’ll discuss everything then.”

He was right. She was off balance.

In that condition, Jasmine clutched onto the order like a lifeline.

“Yes, sir.”

Stafford stormed through the club. As hard as he tried to focus on the women swarming through the shadowy rooms, they really didn’t appeal to him. It had been three days since his last feeding and still, all he could think about was how the hell Jasmine could have picked the damn wolf over him.

The man had no idea what he was doing with a woman. He had no idea what he was doing full stop. He was an idiot. Stafford could barely close his eyes without imagining Jasmine’s fate.

Perhaps Hayden would treat her as well as he knew how, the vampire allowed. After seeing how careful he had been with Jasmine, he didn’t think the wolf was capable of real cruelty, but what of the other wolves in the pack? Hayden seemed very happy to share his lover with him, what if he didn’t have the sense to keep Jasmine to himself now she really belonged to him?

A low growl was Stafford ’s only warning before someone launched himself at him. Stafford just managed to put his hands out in time to avoid going face first into the wall. “What the hell!” He swung to face his attacker. Hayden loomed between him and the room.

“You couldn’t stay faithful to your mate for one week, could you?” the wolf demanded.

“What the hell are you talking about now?” Stafford snapped, pushing the larger man away from him. He looked around, eager for the sight of Jasmine and already wondering if he could convince her to change her mind. “Where’s Jasmine?”

Hayden growled and pushed him back against the wall. “You can’t even keep track of her. How the hell are you supposed to be her alpha if you can’t even…”

“What are you on-she picked…” he faded away at the same time as Hayden. “She didn’t come to your room?” Stafford realised.

Hayden frowned down at him, the hand against his chest stopped trying to push Stafford through the wall.

They held each other’s gaze, each waiting for the other man to blink, each hoping the other man would confess he was in the club screwing around behind her back, just so he could know Jasmine belonged to one of them and was safe.

“I wouldn’t be here looking for blood if she’d come to me,” Stafford said.

Hayden stepped back and let him move away from the wall. “Where is she?”

“ Washington,” Stafford remembered. “The human’s name was Washington.” He stormed toward the exit. In moments he’d pushed past the crowds and was outside in the cold night air, throwing himself into his sports car. Before he could even slam his door, the other door opened and Hayden folded his bulky frame into the small space on the passenger seat.

Stafford stared across at him. He bit back the order to get out of his space and out of his car. It was just possible a wolf might be useful if everything came down to brawn rather than brain.

“We find her and we bring her home,” Stafford said. “We’ll sort out whatever the hell is going to happen between you, me and her later. Deal?”

Hayden nodded and slammed the car door.

Stafford turned the key and put his foot down. “ Washington owns a club on the other side of town,” he told the wolf.

Hayden nodded again.

Stafford cast a glance at him. Hayden’s normally over cheerful countenance was conspicuously absent. In fact, the guy looked ready to kill. “We’ll find her,” Stafford said.

Hayden nodded once more.

“And when we find her, you’re going let me do the talking,” Stafford went on.

“You talk,” Hayden agreed.

His tone of voice said everything he needed to say. While Stafford was talking, Hayden might well occupy himself by ripping the throat out of whoever Jasmine was with now.

He looked across at Stafford. “She is our alpha female. Our pack. She wouldn’t walk away from us unless she had no choice. If someone has hurt her, I will kill him.”

Stafford stared out of the windscreen and made no comment. Maybe the werewolf wasn’t as stupid as he looked. It sounded like a damn good plan to him.

By the time they reached the club there was a low persistent growl building in the back of Hayden’s throat. For some reason, the bouncer took one look at them and waved them through without a word about the queue of people they’d walked past.