A Summer in Paradise Read online

  Whatever the case, they were just as handsome and positively hot as they had been all of those years ago.

  Neither of them had aged a day, but then she really didn’t expect them to. They weren’t human. It would be at least a hundred years before either of them would endure the middle-aged spread she was already subject to and she was only thirty-three.

  She barely noticed when the two grew silent. They just lay on their separate rocks, the sun beating down on their perfect bodies as their fishing lines went forgotten.

  Pearl noticed one of the poles bobbing, but didn’t pay attention to it until the rod jerked. She wanted to say something, but covered her mouth before she gave her position away.

  The one she suspected was Jarrod, jumped up and made a lunge for his pole before something gave it a yank and jerked it from his grasp.

  “Son of a bitch!” He dove into the water after it.

  It was funny that he thought he could catch it. It wasn’t a minute later that his friend did the same thing. After a moment, they both surfaced, their eyes flashing angrily. “So much for having fresh fish for dinner, Jerry,” the man who was obviously Duncan said as he surfaced and brushed his hair away from his face.

  Jarrod wiped the water from his perpetual five-day beard and shook his head. “How was I supposed to know something would bite the hooks at the same time and take off with our rods?”

  “I suspect our lines were tangled and only one culprit is guilty of taking off with our gear, but what the hell will we do for dinner now? I had a hankering for fish.”

  “Well,” Pearl said as she stepped from around the bush she’d been hiding behind.” “You could always borrow mine. I only have the one, but we could make do.” She didn’t know what gave her the courage to step out from behind that bush. For all she knew, they could still be part of the Tudra. If they were, they could force themselves on her. They could take her captive and have their wicked way with her.

  Cream coated her thighs at the thought and she frowned. What had come over her that she was turned on by thinking of these men taking her? It’s because you’ve been half in love with them for the past sixteen years, Pearl. Geeze. Grow up and take what you want for a change. Some inner hussy that saw the two men she’d been lusting after for the better part of the last two decades stood up and said, you can’t rape the willing.

  Pearl took a deep breath, pasted a smile on her face and hoped her inner self wasn’t serious. No girl wanted a man to force her to do anything, but with these men, she wasn’t so sure.

  Her heart slammed in her chest when the two men turned her way. She could see them scenting the air as though trying to smell her, but the wind came from behind them, so Pearl knew they couldn’t scent much.

  Still, it wouldn’t help her. As shifters, they could run a lot faster than she could. Besides, that was the least of her worries. Pearl stood looking at the two men she’d been half in love with since she was sixteen and hoped they’d want to chase her if she ran.

  Chapter Four

  Jarrod stared at the goddess that stood before them. Her one piece suit drew up on the hips, making her legs look like they were a mile long. Her full breasts and curvy body made his mouth go dry while making his cock harden.

  Shifters weren’t stupid like human males. They wanted a woman with meat on her bones. A thin slip of a woman was weak and they would fear breaking her. Not so, with a bigger girl. A bigger girl could handle a rougher ride—and Jarrod had always liked it a little rough.

  His eyes narrowed on her familiar face and he fought the urge to reach down and feel his cock to be certain she had elicited such a response. It had been too long since any woman stirred his body as easily as this one did.

  “That’s kind of you.” He pulled himself out of the water, aware that the sunlight glistened on his chest and shoulders as they worked to pull him out of the water. He sat on the large rock he’d claimed earlier, Indian style, to cover the fact that his hard-on was practically dwarfing the banana hammock that the general store called a bathing suit.

  He looked out over the lake and his stomach picked just that time to grumble. “I don’t suppose you have the pole with you?”

  She smiled and his heart almost jumped from his chest. She looked so familiar. Even the way she tilted her head when she looked at them reminded him of someone—but whom?

  Jarrod watched as the tempting little morsel nervously toed the dirt beneath her right foot. He sensed Duncan recognized her too as he stayed silent in the water.

  “No.” She turned and glanced back over her shoulder before she looked back at him with a smile. “But in the interest of being a good neighbor, I could run back to the cabin and get it.”

  So she was the one who was staying in the cabin. He looked her up and down and wondered what she thought gave her the right to wash the shorts Duncan had stored there.

  “We wondered who was staying there. The line cabins are usually empty this time of year.”

  “I know. That’s why I’m staying there.”

  She knew? How did she know? He didn’t recognize her as being anyone from Paradise, but then her mannerisms were familiar.

  “Yeah, we’d planned to stay there until we saw the clothes on the line. Then we decided that we’d spend one night under the stars then pack up and go home.”

  “Oh.”

  Was that disappointment he saw on her face? “We didn’t expect to see such a beautiful woman out here alone.”

  He expected the sickly sweet scent of fear to fill his nostrils at his comment. Unfortunately, he couldn’t smell anything with the wind at his back. She took a step back, most likely out of fear. The woman may be attracted to them and he could tell that she was, but she wasn’t stupid. Just the implication that they could harm her had her putting space between them—not that she could outrun them if they decided to give chase.

  “Don’t worry. We wouldn’t hurt you.” Duncan shot him a look that threatened bodily harm without his saying so. “We thank you for the offer of your rod.”

  Ha! Jarrod had a rod for her. He fought the urge to grab his cock and shake it at her. What was it about the woman that stirred his blood so completely? He hadn’t even gotten a whiff of her yet and his body raged for release.

  “I’ll just go back to the cabin and get it.” She smiled. “Who knows? You might get lucky and hook your own lines and then we could all fish.”

  “Why don’t you do that, sweetheart,” Duncan said as he heaved himself out of the water. “We’ll just wait here and try to dig up some more bait.”

  Jarrod watched as she turned and hurried away. “You know she’s not coming back, don’t you? She’s probably getting dressed and ready to scurry down the mountain to tell the good people of the nearest town that there are sexual predators up here on the mountain.”

  “No, she’s not. She’s coming back.”

  “I don’t know how you can be so damned sure of that.” Jarrod shook his head. There was no way to tell what the woman would do. “Neither of us could smell her. She could be doing anything right now, including getting a gun.”

  Duncan chuckled. “Can you imagine that little girl with a gun?” He paused, a startled expression on his face. “Do you think she could be our girl? She looks familiar.”

  “I doubt it.” Jarrod stared toward the cabin, wishing he could see it through the woods. “Why would she suddenly come back after all these years?”

  “I don’t know.” Duncan shrugged one shoulder negligently. “To see her sister, perhaps?”

  “Maybe, but why now after all these years? Gemma’s been happily married for the last several years. You’d think she would have come back for the wedding.”

  “Yeah.” Duncan sighed. “You’re probably right.” He brought his knee up to his chest and wrapped his arm around it. “We couldn’t get that lucky, could we?”

  Standing, Duncan made his way over to their tackle box. “We could all fish if I made a few more poles out of tree branches. They don�
��t have to be long. They only need to be strong enough to pull in a good-sized walleye.”

  Jarrod snorted. “When are you going to face the facts that there are no walleye in this lake?”

  “When I’m old and gray and still haven’t caught one. I seeded this lake with over three thousand of the damned things three years ago. I know some of them had to have survived.”

  “I think you’re dreaming.”

  “Dreaming about what?”

  Jarrod turned at the sound of the woman’s sweet voice and smiled. Right about then, the wind changed and carried her scent to him and his hormones went into overdrive.

  Duncan stiffened and stopped digging through the fishing gear and looked up, a predatory gleam in his eyes. “Welcome back.”

  “Yes,” Jarrod said as he, too, jumped to his feet and stood staring at the woman that he now knew was his mate. With luck, she was Duncan’s mate as well. If the gleam in his best friend’s eyes was any indication, she was his mate as well. “Welcome back.” He pointed at his friend. “Duncan was just looking in the tackle box to see if we had enough gear to make a couple of makeshift rods. Fishing with one pole will take too long if we all want to eat any time soon.”

  He shot Duncan a look. “Does Adam still have people plant vegetables at every cabin?”

  “As far as I know,” Duncan answered absently as he continued to dig through the box full of lures and line. “I think someone has planted corn, carrots, potatoes and onions at every cabin this year. He usually has someone plant vegetables that don’t need a lot of tending.”

  “If you’re talking about the garden that someone planted about a hundred feet to the west of the cabin, it has all of those things, plus beets, tomatoes and green beans.”

  Jarrod looked up at the woman and smiled. “Wonderful. There should be enough there to make a full meal for all of us, if you’ll invite us for dinner.” He glanced at Duncan. “That’s Duncan and I’m Jarrod, just so you’ll know who you’re feeding.”

  Jarrod inhaled deeply, taking in her intoxicating scent. He knew what he would love to have for dinner and desert—his mate, laid out on the table with her legs spread wide so he could feast on her fragrant cunt.

  “Of course I would love to have you for dinner.”

  Jarrod admired her dimples when she smiled. It made him wonder if she had some on her ass cheeks as well. He would love to know and if he had anything to say about it, he would. Very, very soon.

  Chapter Five

  Pearl swallowed thickly at the expressions the two men wore. They looked like they were cats and she was a dish of cream. Her nipples pebbled at the thought of them loving her the way Gemma’s mates loved her.

  Liquid heat pooled low. Her hand moved to cover her lower abdomen, almost of its own volition, and she wondered what it was like to have two men love her. She also wondered what it would be like to live her life in the safety of their arms.

  Instead, she knew that she must take what she could, when she could and be on her way to Scotland. She could go tomorrow, or next month. The position was available to her until the first of the year. She only hoped she’d have some good memories to take with her when she left.

  She wanted to take the memory of making love to the two men she’d fallen in love with so many years ago with her. She was here, they were here. There must be some reason why providence brought them all together again.

  Slick cream dampened the crotch of her swimsuit and Pearl took a deep breath. “We should get busy if we want something for dinner then. I’m hungry already.”

  Heat burned her cheeks when both men looked down at her chest. She knew her nipples were hard. They’d been like little rocks since she first laid eyes on them wearing their skimpy suits. Somehow, seeing them with the thongs was even more arousing than seeing them totally exposed. Why that was, she had no idea.

  She loved the way Jarrod let his beard grow just enough to look a little scruffy. She also loved the way Duncan kept his face clean-shaven. Pearl wasn’t sure which way she liked best. All she knew was the two men made her elbows sweat, they were so hot.

  Both were the epitome of tall, dark and handsome. Each had broad shoulders and well-defined washboard abs. Each ridge made her practically itch to touch them. Both of them had broad chests, but where Duncan’s was smooth and hairless, Jarrod had a bit of soft-looking hair on his. It was just enough to feel the difference.

  Pearl found herself wanting to know how it felt to have each of them rubbing against her. She wanted to feel the disparity of their touch. Most of all, she wanted them to sandwich her between them so she could experience their passions and celebrate all of their differences.

  Her stomach did a little flip when they both closed in. They watched her with keen eyes as they continued to move closer. Pearl almost felt like running and knew that one day she would, but not today. Today, she would stand here and watch them stalk her with the predatory gaze of their beasts and revel in the fact that for one moment in time, she held their undivided attention.

  For years, she’d waited for this. A decade and a half had passed since she left Paradise and it had been longer still that she’d wanted these two men. Back then she hadn’t known it was considered normal. Back then, Camulus and his gaggle of goons had made women into little more than sex objects and baby factories. That was why she left, dragging Crystal with her.

  Pearl took a deep breath and stood her ground. The animal part of these men would enjoy a chase. She, on the other hand, could never outrun them on even ground, though one day she knew would try, but not today.

  “What are you looking at?” Pearl nervously licked her lips. God, she wanted them so bad she could almost feel their lips upon her skin.

  “We’re looking at you.” Jarrod said as he moved closer. He widened his approach, moving up on her left side, while Duncan took her right.

  “Is there a problem with that?”

  “No.” She shook her head at Duncan’s question. “Why would I have a problem with it?” Was that her voice sounding so husky, so breathless? Pearl cleared her throat as they continued to stalk her. “It’s just that…” She paused to lick her lips. “You both look so intense all of a sudden.”

  Duncan smiled as he moved to her side. “Has anyone ever told you that you smell delicious?” Leaning forward, he inhaled deeply. “Good enough to eat, even.”

  Pearl’s knees almost gave out when he said that. She imagined herself between them, her body bare as they worshipped her body, taking turns while tasting, even feasting, on the slick flesh between her legs.

  Her clit throbbed with anticipation of what these two would do with her. She found her mouthwatering with the desire to do the same to them. While her sense of smell wasn’t nearly as keen, she wanted to press her face against their skin and inhale their unique scents. After all of the years lusting after these two men, she had no idea what either of them smelled like. What was their favorite cologne? What kind of soap did they use?

  Leaning forward, Pearl took a deep breath, hoping to learn something about them. Duncan smelled a little of the musky scent of sweat, lake water, and sundrenched man. She suspected that Jarrod smelled the same.

  Her fingers tightened around her collapsible fishing rod that had, until then, gone forgotten. She raised her hand and held it out to them. “Here’s my pole.” She felt her face heat at her words when something crude popped into her thoughts and almost made her giggle.

  Jarrod took it from her with a smile that told her he knew the direction of her thoughts. “I’ll get this baited and tossed into the water.”

  Pearl watched as he turned. A thin layer of sweat covered his skin with a soft sheen and she wanted to grab his arm and turn him back so she could touch his tanned skin and feel the light coating of hair on his chest.

  Instead, she curled her fingers inward and held her fists against her thighs. Whatever this was that had come over her was overwhelming and she didn’t know what to do—what to think. Shaking her head to clear it,
Pearl turned toward the small river that fed the lake. “I’m going to go for a swim while you two are fishing.” She reached up to pull the hair away from the back of her neck. “I’m hot.”

  She wasn’t sure, but Pearl could have sworn she heard Duncan say, “Yes, you are, baby.”

  Whatever it was he said, she didn’t stick around to ask. She hurried to the river as quickly as she could. She needed to cool off in more ways than one. What was it about those two that always seemed to make her blood boil? Every nerve ending, every inch of her skin, always seemed to know when they were near.

  She had even felt it when she approached the lake for the first time today, but she’d ignored it. She had even called it wishful thinking. Yet, there they were when she got there, sunning themselves on the rocks the way they always had. The only difference was the addition of the skimpy swimming suits.

  Whatever it was that had her knowing they were near. It was different this time around. Some strange heat built in her stomach, flaring outward to her extremities until she felt as though she was burning up from the inside out.

  She first felt it when she went back to the cabin to get her fishing rod. Now she felt it again. Only this time it seemed even greater in intensity than the first time.

  When Pearl reached the riverbank, she didn’t hesitate. She threw herself into the cool water in an attempt to arrest the growing heat within her.

  She’d be the first to admit that the two men were hot, but she shouldn’t react this way to any man. What was this burning she felt the two times she’d exposed herself to the two men since she returned to Paradise? And why did she feel so damned horny?

  Chapter Six

  “What do you think?” Duncan removed the fish he’d just pulled from the water, placed it on the stringer with the rest of those he had caught and cast his line back out into the lake. He didn’t know what it was, but the fish had been biting, one after the other since their mate left. “Which sister is she?”