Chapter Eighteen

The hot water had seared away the night before from Tiffany’s skin. It didn’t remove the memory of the fight, of the things she’d said, but at least it made her feel reborn, like the scolding water could help her start over. She’d stood beneath the water until it had turned cold, until her skin had wrinkled, and she’d been forced from the spray by a parched throat and a growling stomach.

The cold air rushed in when she opened the door, when she risked a peek into the hallway. She’d avoided the men all morning, having no wish to deal with the night before.

She would have taken back the words if she could have. They’d been true, but that made them worse. She’d rather have shouted something fake, something that didn’t reveal so much of her. Instead, they heard exactly how much they’d hurt her, and how much she should have expected it.

Her bare feet pressed into the carpet as she braved the main living space, knowing that avoiding them any longer wasn’t possible. She wasn’t the type willing to starve.

In the living room, she found them. Kane sat on the kitchen island, a puzzle cube in his hands, his gaze locked on it. He wore no shirt, the colorful expanse of his chest tempting her even as she waited for him to notice her. How could he think I wouldn’t want him?

At the other side of the room, Marshall and Kieran sat around the table, pointing at the computer screen, discussing something there.

Had she gone too far? Would they decide she was no longer worth the trouble? What would she do if they kicked her out? Could she handle being tossed aside by the men she loved?

The word stuck the moment it broke free in her mind. Love? Do I love them?

The answer was obvious, even if she hated to admit it.

Yes, you idiot, you love them.

She sighed, and the loud sound drew their attention. Being the focal point of three alphas made her gulp. Kane’s feet thudded against the tile floor when he hopped off the island. He set the toy down, forgotten as if she were a far more interesting puzzle. “How you feeling, doll?”

She winced at the pet name.

The more she stood there, the surer she was that they were going to leave. No, not leave. Not them. They’d protect her because they had to, and they’d throw her away afterward. They’d made their limits clear. They’d each made no secret of how they felt, about what they were willing to give and what they weren’t.

They’d keep her safe because they were men of honor, and the moment they knew she was safe, they’d get rid of her. Tiffany would have nothing, yet again.

Only this time, she’d know what she wanted, what she’d almost had. She’d gotten a taste of it and losing it would hurt her beyond what she was ready to deal with, more than she thought she could handle.

The best defense…

“I’m fine,” she said with a haughty attitude. “Nothing to worry yourself about.”

Kieran’s eyebrow cocked up, but he said nothing.

Tiffany turned and slipped past Kane, trying for nonchalance, for that general attitude of ‘I don’t give a fuck,’ that other people managed so well. “Look, there’s been no movement on my apartment or the other houses, and we haven’t figured out why anyone would be after me. I think maybe we made a big mistake.”

“Excuse me?” Marshall asked, still seated at the table.

She pulled together her courage and turned to face all three of them. “We came up here because we thought I was in danger. I’m not. So, why don’t we head back into town? You guys have lives to get back to, and you don’t need me getting in the way of them. Besides, I have a life, too.”

“You’re too smart to say something that fucking stupid,” Kane said. “You know damned well we ain’t taking you back until we’re sure you ain’t in danger anymore.”

The nobility bit at her. He hadn’t said he wanted her to stay. No, they couldn’t get rid of her until they were sure she was safe.

She set her hands on her hips and tried to press her chest out like they did, tried to look as big and imposing and impossible as they all managed. “Fine, then I’ll disappear. Sure, starting over sounded nice, but I’ve been on the run for a year. I can do it again.”

“You’re not running again, and don’t you try to tell me that’s what you want.”

“What I want is to not be trapped in this cabin anymore.” Tiffany let her voice rise, covering her panic at being thrown away by the frustration at being trapped. It was easier to let them think she hated being there than it was to let them see the real problem. “I want my life back, and I’m sure you all will be thrilled to get yours back.”

Kieran took a step closer, his body seeming even larger. “That’s not happening.”

Tiffany moved backward, but without her realizing it, Kane had shifted so he stood behind her. She backed right into him.

Still, she drew her hands into fists and tried to sound calm and collected. “We all know this was a bad idea. You guys aren’t interested, and I’m clearly not what you want, so let’s call it. There’s no reason to keep pushing when it isn’t working.”

Another step and Kieran stood only a heartbeat away. He tilted his head down to look into her eyes. “What is this? Are you trying to push us away?”

Tiffany dropped her head back so she could stare up at him, into his dark eyes. It made her lean more against Kane. “You don’t want me.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Let’s forget it all.”

Kieran brought his hand up and brushed his pointer finger along the neckline of her top. A line of goosebumps lifted in the wake of the teasing touch. His hair, dark with the bits that had turned silver, was pushed back. His eyes, as solid as ever, trapped her. “I don’t think I’m inclined to forget anything about you.”

The touch intoxicated her. It slipped beneath the fear and ignited something else inside her, something that made her pussy clench and chased away the worry. The scent of alphas overpowered everything else and made her needy, made her want all the things she’d told herself she couldn’t have.

“Don’t do this.” Even as she spoke, Tiffany pulled her shoulder blades together and pressed her chest forward. “I’m tired of fighting, of wanting things none of you want to give me. I’m not going to pick. I can’t play this game anymore.”

Kane’s deep voice rumbled against her ear. “This ain’t playing, doll, and in case you missed it, we ain’t asking you to choose. In fact, there’s only one question you get to answer right now.”

Tiffany gulped at the way his voice crawled down her body. “What’s the question?”

Marshall grasped her chin to turn her face toward him, his large body closing her in, surrounding her so she was trapped between the three alphas. His eyes, dark and serious and familiar peered at her from his honest face. “Are you ready to take the three of us, omega?”

As if the rush of wetness between her thighs wasn’t enough of an answer so she nodded.

Yes, I need this.

Kane groaned at the scent that wafted off the omega. She trembled between them, and never had she seemed so small before. All that attitude and mischievous nature damned near purred at the proximity of the three of them.

He snuck his tongue out to trace the shell of her ear, her natural scent filling his nostrils, not overshadowed by the lemon and lavender from the shampoo. She must have not used them, and he was fucking glad. He’d take her scent and the arousal that poured out of her over that fake shit any day.

Marshall dragged his thumb across her pouty bottom lip. “You know, I don’t believe we’re quite over you telling us off like you did.”

Tiffany parted her lips to answer, but Marshall took the opportunity to slide his thumb into her waiting mouth.

“I think anything you have to say will only get you into more trouble. Your best bet would be to remain silent while we work out our annoyances with you.”

Ah, there went that scent again, thick and heady and enough to make him drool. He wished he was buried between her thighs.

Kane leaned down and offered a gentle kiss to her throat before nipping the area over her racing pulse, scraping his teeth across her soft skin. He pulled away long enough for Kieran to remove her shirt and reveal the tantalizing lines of her stunning body.

The curve of her lower back and the sharp points of her shoulder blades stood out on her pale skin. The end of her braid followed her spine, and each muscle sat rigid beneath the surface.

Nervous?

Good. She should be.

Kieran dropped to a crouch as he pulled her jeans down her curvy legs.

Kane chuckled. “Nothing underneath, huh? You might want to snarl and pull away, but if that ain’t a sign of what you’re wanting, I don’t know what is.”

Kieran slipped his fingers between her thighs, and the way her hips rocked forward said she enjoyed the attention. “She’s drenched.”

All the reasons Kane had to be against this vanished. They disintegrated into nothing between the lust-drunk look in Tiffany’s eyes as her full lips wrapped around Marshall’s thumb and the way her hips shifted forward against Kieran’s seeking fingers.

Kane pinned her with his grasp on her arms, watching her chest rise and fall with uneven and needy breaths, and between them all, they’d stripped her bare.

Not of her clothing—well, of that, too—but of her defenses. The way she’d argued with them and tried to pull away had been her trying to build walls around her. They’d hurt her badly enough, she’d needed to lick her wounds. She’d wanted safety, and it shamed him that they hadn’t been the safe place she’d sought.

Why did I fight this so hard? Kane groaned when Marshall drew his thumb back, then pressed it deeper into Tiffany’s mouth. The motion was so filthy, as if he fucked her with his thumb, her saliva clinging to his skin. Kane’s cock hardened at the sight, at the memory of how good Tiffany’s soft and giving mouth felt wrapped tight around his dick.

Her eyes drifted closed as she let Marshall slide his thumb past her lips, the tension sliding from her body. She leaned back against Kane’s grip as if she trusted him to make sure she didn’t fall.

And he’d make sure of it. Fuck, he’d do anything to keep her there, to keep her safe. Kane had spent his life looking out for himself, since no one else had ever bothered to worry about him, but for the first time in a long time, he cared about someone else more.

The memory of the scars threatened to come back, but he shoved it away. Fuck before. Fuck his whole past. None of it deserved a moment of thought, and certainly not there.

Tiffany arched her back, pressing harder against him, a cry on her lips.

“How many fingers is that?” Kane asked as he slid his hands from her arms to her breasts, toying with the hard nubs between his rough fingers.

“Two.” Kieran’s biceps flexed, and even without being able to see, Kane could picture those fingers fucking into her.

“Only two?” Kane tsk’d, tone soft but mocking. “I know you can take more than that, doll.”

“She took my knot, so she can stretch.” Kieran’s arm moved faster, and Tiffany’s breathing matched the frantic pace.

The fact that Kieran had fucked her and he’d knotted her should have drawn up some jealousy.

Those feeling didn’t show. Well, he had some envy. He wanted to fuck her, too. He wanted to feel the way her pussy would grip him, wanted to lock deep inside her and hear her whimper as he wrung every last orgasm she could handle out of her and a few extra for good measure. It wasn’t anger, though, wasn’t jealousy exactly.

Instead of dissecting that shit, because Kane hadn’t ever been an introspective sort of man, he tightened his fingers around her nipples in a harsh pinch. “You know, these tits would look fucking pretty with some clips on them. You ever try that?”

She shook her head even as she arched into his touch, trying to lessen the pressure.

He hadn’t asked the question because he thought she ever had. Girl was too innocent for that shit. He’d asked because he wanted her thinking about it, wanted her realizing how far he needed to push her, all the things he wanted to do to her curvy little body.

It had him groaning to think of her at their mercy, spread out and all theirs.

Theirs. Hell, he didn’t even think of her as his alone anymore.

Instead of thinking about it, he released her nipples, then rubbed across them, knowing how sensitive they’d be as the blood rushed back into them. Sure enough, she gasped and pushed against him, trying to get away from the stimulation.

Deny it all she wanted, the girl got off on it. It was in the sounds she made, in the shiver of her body, but most of all?

That she came—hard. She unlatched from Marshall’s finger, mouth open on a silent cry. She shoved her hips forward as if Kieran’s fingers weren’t nearly enough, not deep enough, not thick enough, and her body went rigid.

Kane kissed her shoulder while she shuddered, as Kieran’s fingers pushed more waves to rush through her sweet little body.

Her scent clouded his head, made him desperate. His cock ached, his balls heavy, even his knot throbbing from the need to lock into her and fill her.

Kieran pulled his fingers from her, slipping them into his mouth, rapture across his features. He nodded toward her room. “There’s not nearly enough room for what we’re going to do to you, omega.”

And the shudder that ran through her? The way she whined in something between fear and excitement? That girl was going to get fucked, and she’d love every second of it.