Laurann Dohner: Something Wicked This Way Comes, Volume 2

Daniel gave her a teasing once-over. His ancient Stones tee hung to her knees and she looked adorable with all those blonde curls lying against the black of the shirt. “Looks a hell of a lot better on you than it ever did on me.”

“I hope you don’t mind.”

“Hell no,” he said, stepping closer. He lifted her chin and pressed a bold kiss on her swollen lips. Then he focused a sharp gaze on her. “Anything that’s ours is now yours, and you’re welcome to it, although I suspect we need to collect your things.”

Surprisingly, she leaned into them both and shook her head. “I just don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything, Livvy.” Nate took her hand and steered her toward the breakfast table. “You have to eat. You’ve got to be starving.”

At that instant her tummy growled. Livvy gasped, making both men laugh, and soon they scrambled around the kitchen, frying ham and eggs, pouring coffee and juice. Through it all, she sat watching them quietly. Daniel knew this had to be so surreal for her. She was in a new and unfamiliar place with two strange men who kept staring at her as if they wanted to eat her up with a spoon. Just looking at her caused his heartbeat to speed. His cock went hard behind the fly of his jeans.

Nate wasn’t handling the proximity to their mate any better. He cast covert glances her way and, damn, if he didn’t look distinctly uncomfortable.

In the end, Daniel was proud of the way they held it together. As she devoured enough food to feed the starving hordes, he and Nate exchanged glances and Daniel knew they were equally nervous. It wasn’t every day they found themselves cooking a simple breakfast for a stranger who was destined to be their mate.

His friend stood and fetched the coffeepot to pour her another cup and Livvy looked up and smiled a bit. “Thanks, Nathan.”

“Call me Nate.”

She nodded then glanced Daniel’s way. “And should I call you Dan?”

“Not if you want me to answer.” He smiled at her, hoping he didn’t look scary as hell since he really didn’t smile all that often. A sudden wide grin split her lips and he stilled. Damn, if she didn’t look like a blast of sunshine.

When she’d finished her meal, they walked through wide double doors onto the back patio that overlooked a massive pool. “You have such a beautiful house,” she said as she sat primly in a chair behind a glass-topped table. “I didn’t see much of it last night.”

“How about a tour later?” Nathan leaned against one of two big pillars holding up the roof of the patio.

“I’d love that.”

Daniel sat next to her and took her hand, absently stroking her skin. “Right now, we have to collect your things, honey. We’ll have to make a trip into the police station and I know time is a premium for you right now. Nate and I feel we should get you back here as quickly as possible. We need this business done.”

“Collecting my stuff shouldn’t be a problem,” Livvy said.

Daniel noticed a fine bead of sweat dotting her brow. The morning was cool so he knew it wasn’t from external heat, but internal . She was close. So close. He felt the fine trembling of her fingers and he tightened his hold, hoping to give her comfort. The scent of female jaguar heat hung heavy around her.

She glanced between him and Nate. “I’ve only been in town for about a month. Been staying at a hotel until I could find a place. Before that, I lived in Guadalajara with my mom. My dads were killed by hunters when I was little, so it was just she and I. She died recently, and…and with the change coming over me, I knew I had to come this way. Long ago, Mom told me there were jag communities in south and central Texas, even said she’d known a few from San Antonio. This seemed a good place to start my search. I’d planned to head to Arizona or New Mexico if I didn’t have any luck here. I knew it was important that I find mates and my people.”

Nate moved to her other side. When he sat, he rubbed a hand soothingly down her back as if he too sensed things were heating up fast. “And find us you did, darlin’. Thank the gods.”

Must have been scary as hell for her to head out into the unknown, Daniel thought as he leaned close to drag the scent of her into his lungs. Female jags led very sheltered lives. “We’ll head into town and get your things then get this interview with the police done. How does that sound?”

Without warning, she gasped and her eyes washed over with tears. “We have to hurry. Gods! I’m running out of time.” She bolted to her feet and the chair she’d been sitting in crashed to the patio floor. Her hands fluttered aimlessly in the vicinity of her chest as panic filled her eyes.

“Oh no,” she whispered, her voice raw with fear, her eyes dilated as she glanced between Daniel and Nate. “Not again!”

A blast of heat swept the air, covering Daniel like a heavy blanket, and he knew damn good and well what was happening as she spun on her heel and ran back into the house.

He and Nate exchanged a hard look and wasted no time following behind her.

Fire whipped through Olivia’s blood as she raced through the house, up the stairs and into the bathroom. Earlier she’d noted the size and opulence, but now nothing entered her mind except finding relief from the overwhelming heat that swept her body.

Her nipples tightened painfully, pressing against the cotton of her tee shirt, and cream flooded from her pussy to dampen her thighs. Livvy’s beast, hungering for birth, rolled and stretched inside her as she yanked open the glass door of the shower and turned on the cold water full blast. Clothes and all, she stepped beneath the frigid spray, a scream hovering at the edge of her lips.

She closed her eyes as the water washed the tears from her cheeks. Her mother had warned her of the animalistic heat, the overwhelming urge to mate, but had never once clued her in about the loss of self that came along with it.

She hated it! It shamed her to feel so helpless, to suffer this loss of control.

When in the throes of these violent sexual urges, nearly every vestige of human disappeared, leaving a clawing, hissing animal in her place. She was no longer Livvy, a generally sweet and tenderhearted woman who loved to laugh. She became something else entirely.

It terrified her, and she knew this was merely the beginning.

Suddenly the door of the shower burst open.

Jerking open her eyes, Livvy backed against the wall and stared at the naked men who’d crowded into the space. As of last night she was truly mated to them, but, despite their kindness, their consideration, the utter sexiness of them, they were still strangers.

They were also her knights in shining armor, and for them to see her on edge this way was horrifying to a woman who’d lived so privately.

Hot tears sprang to her eyes again as lust tore through her core. It felt as if a million tiny fingers stroked the most sensitive places on her body. Her nipples. Her clit. Reaching out, she grabbed both Nate and Daniel, squeezing the rock-hard flesh of their shoulders. “I have no control! Gods!” The words choked from her lips and, even in her despair, she noted compassion edged with hunger in the eyes of her mates.

Simultaneously the men reached for the hem of her sodden tee shirt and peeled it from her body. Daniel wrapped her in his arms, whispering against her temple. “We’ve got you.”

Nate joined them, his eyes beautiful, catlike and feral yet tinged with tenderness. His hair was wet, clinging to his very broad shoulders and to his strong neck. “Shh, baby. Shh. Let us make it better. Trust us. Don’t be afraid.”

Livvy opened her mouth to speak but only a soundless cry emerged as the heat of their bodies further enflamed her own. Mouths, lips, tongues and teeth brushed her throat. Big, warm hands stroked her torso, fanning the sensations raging through her to a fever pitch. Daniel latched on to a diamond-hard nipple, sucking it strongly into the heat of his mouth.