A Faire in Paradise Read online

  We have to tell her. You heard Adam. He practically ordered us to do so. Wade didn’t sound happy about any of it. I’d rather let her get to know us first, but our alpha has taken that choice out of our hands. She’s going to continue to ask us about it until we tell her.

  “Exactly how different are you?” She waved her hand with a blush. “I mean aside from the whole shifting shape thing. What did that other man want you to tell me? What did he mean when he told you to tell me what I am to you? Was it the whole mate thing? Because if it was, you can forget it. I’m not about to commit to a relationship with either of you. I don’t even know you.”

  “It wouldn’t be with just one of us, Alexa. You are mate to us both.”

  Her eyes widened and her cheeks turned red. “I-I’m not sure I’m following.” She cleared her throat and took a few deep breaths. “I know what I think, but I need clarification. Are you telling me that I would have a relationship with both of you…at the same time?”

  Ryker almost grinned. She might act as though the idea didn’t appeal to her, but it did. The whole situation turned her on. Getting her to admit to it was the problem. “Yes, darlin’ you’d be mate to us both. He leaned forward slowly, closing the gap between them. He wanted her to smell him, feel his body heat, and let the el calor take hold.

  The longer they were in her presence, the more the mating heat would affect her. Ultimately, the el calor’s hold on her would be what would make up her mind for her. She would love it, but it would take her over just as surely as it did them.

  Before long, nothing would matter to her, but being with her mates, loving her mates. Ryker wasn’t sure how, but something in the el calor, the mating heat, always assured that mates fell in love and didn’t want to live a life without the others in it.

  Sometimes, mates even experienced love at first sight. Most humans didn’t believe in that sort of thing. He didn’t know why. He’d smelled it when it happened to them. With humans, love had a scent. Every emotion smelled different and love smelled a lot like cotton candy—to him, anyway.

  “That was what Adam wanted us to tell you.” Wade watched Alexa. Most likely waiting to see her reaction. “You’re our mate. As such, you will receive automatic acceptance council approval for residency in Paradise.”

  Alexa looked at them and bit her lip. Ryker was growing rather fond of that little nervous habit of hers.

  “I won’t be with you just to gain acceptance into your community. And I absolutely will not lie.” She stood straight and squared her shoulders. “I won’t bend my principals for that.” She began to pace.

  Ryker wasn’t sure how she managed it in the tight confines of the trailer. Though, she was smaller. Perhaps that had something to do with it.”No worries, sweetheart. Adam won’t deny you just because you can’t accept us right away. If your petition to stay here in Paradise is denied, it will be for reasons that he or the council might decide not to share with the rest of us.”

  He ran his fingers through his hair. Hell, maybe he should have jumped at that offer of a council seat when Adam offered it. To accept now would be suspicious and he wouldn’t blame the alpha for rejecting his acceptance now.

  Alexa stopped pacing to give them both a startled glance. “Are you saying that he can deny my application and not even tell us why?” She visibly paled. “Why would he do that?”

  That she used the term us didn’t slip past him. Ryker knew the el calor was already hard at work, attempting to convince Alexa that she needed them at least as much as they needed her.

  “If he denies your petition, he will have good reason whether he shares it with us, or not. It’s not our place to question the motives of our alpha. Despite the fact that we have a sheriff and a police department, the bottom line is, the alpha is the law here.”

  Ryker nodded. He couldn’t think of a way to explain it any better than Wade just had.

  “Then maybe someone should tell him about Perry, the man he made the deal with in the first place. He should know that he can’t trust the man he’s doing business with.”

  “We’ve already done that. Milla has informed her mates, and they, in turn, have informed our sheriff and our alpha.” Ryker sat back in his seat and crossed his legs at the ankles. “This Perry person will not be allowed to stay here indefinitely. The decision on that has already been made.”

  “Well, that’s a relief.” Her shoulders fell with relief. “But that’s not what I meant.” She bit her lip and began pacing again. “I’m not sure how he does it, but he blackmails people. I’m sure of it. Why else would people just hand him envelopes full of money?” Alexa stopped pacing and met his gaze. “If anyone in this town even hints that there’s some sort of secret here, he’ll ferret it out somehow and blackmail everyone involved. It’s what he does.”

  “We already have someone watching him.” Wade leaned forward as Ryker stood, rested his hand on her shoulder, and gave it a gentle squeeze. He was careful not to touch her skin. As they noticed outside, touching her skin could have disastrous consequences. He wasn’t sure how they would get past it to mate. He was sure their mate would draw the line at having sex with animals.

  “Don’t worry, darlin’,” Ryker said as he pulled her into his arms. “It doesn’t matter how he’s doing it. He won’t get away with it here in Paradise. We have some secrets of our own and they’ll help us find out just what this Perry is up to.”

  “Right.” Pulling from his embrace, Alexa stared up at him with those beautiful light blue eyes of hers. “How can you be so sure?”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Alexa stared up into Ryker’s eyes. He believed what he said. She could tell that. She shifted her gaze between the two men in her trailer, hogging up all of the oxygen. It wasn’t any wonder she felt strange and disoriented around these two men. They were so big, they sucked up all of the air, making it difficult to breathe. She inhaled slowly, trying to keep herself from hyperventilating.

  “We have many people with special gifts here in town. Two of our most gifted are sisters. Samantha and Sabrina both have mates here and hold their own secrets close to their chests. However, we do know that discovering other people’s gifts is one of their specialties.” Wade crossed his arms as he sat and stared at her.

  His intense gaze made her stomach clench and cream slide from her womb to soak her panties. What was it about these two that made her want to strip down and have her wicked way with both of them?

  “Wow,” she said instead of acting on her fantasies. “You guys have an entire town with more problems than we have.” Alexa’s face burned when she realized how that must have sounded. “I-I’m sorry. That didn’t come out quite right.”

  She stared at the two men for a moment before touching the tip of her tongue to her upper lip. What would it be like to be with these two? Would she like it? The better question might have been whether or not she could handle it—and what if they suddenly turned into animals again? Alexa knew she couldn’t handle it if the two men suddenly turned into leopards while they were making love, and that thought was enough to make her keep her hands to herself—for the time being, at least.

  “How…” She cleared her throat. “How do you people handle your matings?” She gave them each a look. “I mean…do you have a normal family unit with no fighting and no jealousy?”

  “We’d have to show you.” Wade said as he stood and moved closer to her small sofa. “Will you allow us to give you a demonstration?” He held out his hand, waiting for her to join him.

  The question was, could they keep from turning into their cats when they touched her? It didn’t take long for her to figure out that she’d finally gotten her gift, or perhaps she’d had it all along, but had never touched one of their kind before. If that was the case, she could have been ignorant of it for years, possibly forever, if she’d never come to this town.

  She looked at the two men who claimed to want her, even need her so badly and she gave her head a t
iny shake. No. She wasn’t sure she’d be willing to give up this experience for the comfort of ignorance.

  Wade gently closed his fingers around hers when she placed her hand on his. His hand changed, shifting shape as fur shot up his arm and his face half shifted into that of his leopard. Alexa stiffened, but didn’t scream. She’d been prepared for it this time. She watched as he fought his animal, the fur disappearing on his arms only to reappear several times before he finally stood before her, fully a man.

  “That’s some kind of mojo you’ve got there, darlin’.” He grinned at her as he slowly lowered himself to the sofa behind him as he turned her to face Ryker before pulling her down onto his lap. He stretched his legs out. “Rest your legs on top of mine, darlin’.”

  “I’m too heavy. Let me up.” She tried to pull away, mortified that he knew exactly how heavy she was now that he’d had her in his lap.

  “You’re not heavy, darlin’.” He chuckled and pulled her back against him. “We shifters are a strong lot. You don’t feel any heavier than a child to me. Now…rest your legs on top of mine if you want to know what it feels like to have two men give you the attention you deserve.”

  Alexa’s stomach fluttered as she did what he asked and stretched out on top of him, her back pressed tightly against his front.

  Reaching up, Wade cupped her breast in his hands. “This is going to take a lot of touching. Are you okay with that?”

  With a nod, Alexa gave her consent. She couldn’t speak now. The most she could do was pant and nod as she sat on Wade’s lap, his hands cupping her breasts while the ridge of his cock pressed tight against her rear.

  Her short pants changed, her breaths growing heavy, labored. Her head spun, filled with pleasure and lust as his thumbs brushed lightly over her sensitive nipples.

  Warm breath tickled her ear, giving her goose bumps as he nuzzled her neck before sucking the lobe of her ear into his mouth.

  He did all of that as the man, not the beast and Alexa didn’t care enough how he did it to worry about it. She wanted more of this decadent loving. She wanted to feel Ryker’s hands and mouth on her as well, even if it took a moment for him to overcome whatever it was inside her that brought out the beast in him.

  Ever so slowly, Wade opened his legs, taking hers with them. Cool air brushed the inside of her thighs when her calf-length skirt rode up almost to her hips. She barely noticed Ryker until his jean-clad legs brushed her inner thighs. Startled, she opened her eyes to see him staring at her.

  Was he afraid to touch her? Did he know it was something inside of her that brought out the animal in he and Wade outside and again Wade here in the trailer? She couldn’t tell. She stared back at his intense expression so full of need that something inside of her snapped. All at once she didn’t care that they were shape shifters. She didn’t care that part of them was all animal. She needed to give the man staring down at her with such desire everything he wanted and something told her that the everything he wanted was her.

  Alexa felt heavy with desire. Decadent and wild. It was almost as though some strange previously dormant part of her finally came to life. Was it because of the mating heat they spoke of? Could some shifter chemical that was alien to her human body give her some sort of imbalance, make her want these two men so much that her body would overrule her head? Could it really make her fall in love with these two men she barely knew?

  God, she hoped so.

  She was tired. So tired of spending her life alone. She ate alone, exercised alone, drank alone and, most importantly, slept alone. She was so weary of being alone that living with an ape would have been preferable to another lonely night. Thankfully, these were two men not apes. Also, thankfully, they were more human than animal and, since she’d already seen them naked, Alexa knew they were well endowed men, to boot.

  Ryker lowered himself to his knees careful not to tough her skin. He grasped the hem of her blouse, gently pulling it out of her skirt. “If we do anything that makes you uncomfortable, let us know and we’ll stop.”

  “Okay.” She nodded, unable to say much else.

  Cool air bathed the exposed skin of her belly as he lifted her shirt. Her nipples pebbled beneath the thin lace of her bra and she gasped when Ryker leaned down, pulled the cup aside and took the hardened peak into the warmth of his mouth.

  Alexa gasped when he changed, fur growing on his face, the rough pad of his tongue swiping over her sensitive nipple. His hands changed, claws growing at the tips of his fingers as they gently raked the skin of the undersides of her breasts and stomach.

  After a few seconds, Ryker was fully a man again, his mouth still tightly latched around her right nipple as Wade pulled and twisted the left. Darts of pure sensation shot straight from the tips of her breasts straight to her womb. Her stomach clenched, heat burned through her blood, settling in her middle, between her legs, to slide through her channel soaking her already damp panties.

  Closing her eyes, Alexa’s breath hitched as Ryker and Wade brought her closer to what felt as though would be her biggest orgasm she’d had in months.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Wade knew Alexa was close when she stiffened in his lap. He reached down with his right hand, stuck his hand beneath the waistband of her skirt and slid his fingers through her wet slit.

  She screamed and arched her back as his fingers circled her erect clit. Her body stiffened and shook as she came on his lap. Wade’s cock grew thicker, harder, until it ached with the need to ram deep in her silky depths.

  After a moment, she relaxed, her body spent. She panted on his lap, her eyes closed. She licked her lips and his cock throbbed. He wanted nothing more than to slide his thick member between her lips and watch as she sucked him until he came, shooting his release down her throat.

  Ryker straightened, staring down at their mate, his arousal and awe evident in every expression that chased across his face.

  ”That is what it’s like to have two of us pleasure you, darlin’.” Wade whispered against her ear. “Can you imagine what it will feel like to have us both in side you, one of us in your gloriously wet pussy, the other lodged deep in your ass?” He tongued her ear. “What would it feel like to have one of us ramming in while the other retreats, only to have us repeat it over and over again?”

  She moaned as he sucked her ear lobe back into his mouth, his tongue lashing the back side of her ear. Goose flesh rose on her arms and legs as Ryker leaned down to take one of her nipples into his mouth while he plucked and twisted the other.

  Alexa cried out, her eyes closed. She wrapped her legs around Ryker’s waist and pulled him against her. The ridge of his cock pressed tight against her center.

  Wade smiled. Their mate’s actions were proof enough to him that she was a passionate woman. She was also succumbing to the heat of the el calor. That much was obvious.

  “We either need to stop, or take this into the bedroom. I don’t want our first time to be in your living room on your couch. Making love to our mate for the first time is something that both Ryker and I intend to savor.”

  He waited for Ryker to pry her legs loose and back away.

  Her face turned red as she cast her gaze to the floor. She, no doubt, took their reticence as some sort of rejection. “Make no mistake, Alexa. Both Ryker and I want you more than we have ever wanted another woman. However, we want you to be sure that we are what you want before we make love to you. Once we make love to you, the mating heat will drive us mad. It is already doing so, but it will accelerate once we make love to you and do not mate. You must be certain that we are what you want before we go any further.”

  Ryker stepped closer, reached down and grasped her hand. He pressed it against his erection so plainly visible beneath his jeans. “Is this the hard-on of a man who doesn’t want you, baby?” He shook his head. “I think not. I think that this is the steel spike of a man who can’t wait to sink his cock so deep inside you that you’ll never get him out. I want you s
o much it hurts, Alexa, but I refuse to allow the mating heat to take your choices away from you.”

  “As do I,” Wade agreed. “We have waited lifetimes for you. We don’t plan to muck up our chances by rushing you or making you feel less than you are.”

  “You are everything to us.” Ryker backed up a few more paces as though he didn’t trust himself in such close proximity to their mate. Perhaps he didn’t. After all, Wade was having a difficult time keeping his hands to himself.

  He wanted nothing more than to slide his hand beneath her waistband and take her to heights she didn’t know existed. He wanted to give her orgasm after orgasm until she sobbed with her releases and begged them to make her theirs, but that wasn’t fair.

  She had to make up her own mind or they would muck everything up. To become a man’s mate was always up to the woman. If they took that choice away from her, it could very well damn them all to hell.

  “So what do we do now then?” Alexa asked as she slid off his lap and stood on shaking legs.

  Wade stared up at her, mesmerized by her beauty. She looked so lovely standing before him with her face flushed and her hair mussed. She had whisker burns on her neck, just below her ear. The marks made him smile. Any male who lived here in Paradise would know that those marks meant she belonged to someone and they would keep their distance. The visiting humans were another story. Any one of them could see his mate and make a move on her. They wouldn’t realize the significance of another’s mark on her silken flesh.

  The thought made his cat snarl. He did his best not to allow the beast’s frustration to show. The last thing he wanted to do was scare Alexa. She had enough to think about without having to worry that either of them would turn into their cats and devour her. While he thought devouring her wasn’t a bad idea, he was certain they weren’t thinking of the term in quite the same way.