Chapter Seven
Okay then, so this was wow, so much more than she’d imagined that something to be. This was huge. Hot. Scary. Beautiful. She was utterly in over her head and she had no plan whatsoever to stop.
She couldn’t stop. Her emotions clanged around inside her, driving her. She’d never felt her connection to Galen as strongly as she did right then. Each breath he took, each step he took, she felt. His desire, his need for her blanketed her skin, her senses. His love for her meant she could stand on this ledge and jump because it would be there no matter what.
If she overthought this, she’d do something bad like start to cry or laugh hysterically. It was surreal in the way it just felt like what they were all supposed to be doing. How odd, that it took this long in her life to really feel the hand of fate so strongly.
Their bedroom was lit by the streetlamps outside, and the moon overhead seemed to spotlight directly on the bed.
Before she could talk herself out of it, she pulled her shirt off, tossing her bra along while she was at it. Shimmying out of her jeans and panties took another half a minute and when she turned around again, both men stood side by side, watching her.
“Um, okay then. Here I am. There you are. Only I’m naked and you two aren’t. It’s okay that Galen is here, right? I’m babbling, oh my God, I’m babbling like an idiot and what are you two even doing here with me? Look at you!” She gestured at them both.
“Of course it’s okay that Galen is here.” Jack took the few steps he needed to get to her. “I’m here with you because there’s no one on earth I’d rather be with. Naked is always a plus.” He trailed a fingertip over her shoulder, across the spot where Galen had marked her.
A strangled gasp broke from her at that contact. Galen was suddenly there, turning the blankets back and helping to ease her onto the mattress.
“There. Pretty as a picture.” Galen dipped down to lick over the spot on her neck where he’d bitten her a second time. She shuddered and squeezed her thighs together to try and ease the ache.
“I told you nearly four years ago and I’ll say it again, you’re mine. I take care of what’s mine. I love you.” Galen spoke as he pulled his T-shirt over his head, exposing the upper body she’d just rubbed herself all over that very afternoon. Her breath caught and he laughed.
Not to be outdone, Jack got rid of his shirt too. The pale gold hair on his chest gleamed in the low light and called to her hands. She got to her knees, sliding her palms up the flat belly, over the broad chest, stopping to kiss the scar on his right side.
“Why do you have a scar here? I thought you guys healed really fast.” Behind her, she heard the jingle of Galen’s belt and the shuss of jeans being shoved down and kicked off.
“Silver-tipped knives.” His voice was thin with strain as he took her hand to another spot on his upper back. “Gunshot with silver ammo. Everything else heals just fine. And can I just tell you how pretty you are? Lie back, sweetheart, and let’s get a look at you.”
As she did, he got rid of his pants and boxers and stood for long moments, totally naked and obviously happy to be there, just looking at her.
“You’re like the inside of a seashell, pink and fragile but so strong.” He took her ankles in his hands, trapping them with his grip before slowly sliding them up her legs.
“I don’t like that someone tried to hurt you.”
The idea of him being in danger made her slightly ill. Galen brushed the hair back from her face and took her mouth in a kiss meant to reassure but quickly began to seduce, to cajole and possess.
“He’s dead and I’m here with my hands on the most beautiful woman on earth. I think I got the better deal. It’s part of my job, being attacked.” He laughed softly and she did not feel like joining him.
The sight of his olive-toned skin stretched over the wide shoulders—shoulders holding her thighs apart so he could, yesss, take a long lick from her gate to her clit and back again—was almost as sexy as the way his hair felt on her belly, against her pussy.
“She tastes like the sea with an edge of sweetness,” Galen said and Jack hummed his agreement. “Do you like that? Does his mouth on your pussy feel good? You look so sexy right now.” He traced his finger around the bottom curve of her left breast and then around and around her nipple.
“By the way, she comes fast and hard,” Galen managed to say right as Jack began to suck her clit in and out of his mouth. Stars painted her vision as she arched, fingers digging into the blankets.
Her pussy still clenched, wanting to be filled, when he was there, his cock nudging her open.
His struggle to take it slow showed on his face. One lock of hair slid down over his forehead. “Please. I need you now.”
“Yes, yes, please, inside me.” She squirmed to get more as he began to press inside. It felt so unbelievably good it was almost too much.
“Once I fuck you and the Claiming is done, we’re going to take our time and do this all over again.” Jack’s voice had gone low, his wolf in every word.
She opened her eyes again once he started to thrust, sensation lighting up her body with each press. His cock touched parts of her Galen didn’t, just as Galen’s cock had that swing to the left and nudged her just right.
“Okay, I may need to soak in a bath of Epsom salts first though.” She laughed and Galen curled around her from behind. She snuggled into him even as Jack began to stroke harder and deeper. “Yes, like that. Harder. I won’t break.”
The sound Jack made nearly made her come again.
“You like it hard?” Jack thrust, jiggling her breasts.
“Yes, yes, yes. I do.” She gasped when Galen pinched her nipples in time with the thrusts.
“Me too.” He grinned and began to fuck her in earnest, hard and deep. The bed squeaked a bit.
Galen’s cock, hard at her back, was just out of her reach. God she needed it, she needed him too. All that naked skin, two cocks, four hands, two mouths, the idea of it was enough to make her want to giggle.
Instead she cried out as a hot rush of climax filled her and then teeth, two sets of teeth, sank into her skin. Galen on her shoulder and Jack, on her side, just below her left breast. He came inside her and the world tipped on its side as her cry of climax became a sob, a sob at the wonder of how it felt to be there right at that moment.
So much magic! It flowed from her until she wasn’t sure she could hold it together. Dizziness hit and she smelled forests and fur, heard the growl of big cats, the howl of wolves.
Galen lay there, Renee in his arms, Jack leaning against them both, all three panting. Galen had never seen anything like it. She was so powerful, she had no idea, he wagered, just how much raw magicks she poured out. It wrapped around them, made him feel safe as his cat recognized her taste and approved of the new flavor. Jack.
He felt her. Before that moment he’d been connected to her. He understood her without her even having to speak. He knew her bond to him was made by choice and by pleasure. But right then, they’d all three clicked together in a way that felt as natural as breathing.
He felt Jack’s wonder, his fascination and adoration of their woman. Jack was a powerful shifter, Galen’s cat approved because it meant she’d be safer too. The scent of sex hung in the air, teasing him, bringing his need back even though he’d had her only hours before.
“Wow,” she mumbled, her eyes still closed.
Jack petted her hip. “Are you all right? I know the Claiming can be really difficult for human women.”
“And you did it anyway? Without saying?” Galen wasn’t quite ready to be pissed yet, but it was there, drawn out by any threat to Renee.
She looked up at Galen, seeking to reassure him. “I think my connection to Galen made it okay.” She sat up. “I can feel you.” She touched Jack’s chest and he leaned into her touch. “I feel you in my head and in my heart. And you.” She swiveled to speak to Galen again. “I feel you too, in here.” She pointed to her belly and heart. “You were there before, but this is different. This is deeper. I’ve never...” She started to cry and both men, distressed and confused, rushed to comfort her.
“I...please don’t cry. I don’t want you to be sad. God. I’ve never in my life felt so happy. I’ve been so lonely at times. I suppose I thought it was normal so I just accepted it. But now I feel home. I feel full. I feel like I belong and that you and Galen belong to me.”
“They’re good tears. This is good.” She cupped Jack’s cheek and then Galen’s. “I’m overwhelmed, but not sad or scared.”
“Oh. Good. I’m glad. How do you do it, Galen? How do you keep your hands off her?” Jack looked around Renee to ask.
“I have four bite marks! Does it look like he keeps his hands off me?”
Galen laughed, pulling her to him and opening his arm wider, inviting Jack. The three hugged, with Renee’s sweet curves in between them. Galen hungered for her with a ferocity no amount of Epsom salts could cure.
“I want you so badly. But I’ve had you twice today and Jack once.” As he said it, his hand, dark against her belly, slid down, his fingers gently brushing through her pussy.
“Mmmm. Good thing I like sex or you two would wear me out. Forget about my ass, buddy.” She grinned. “But I need you. I need this.” She reached down and grabbed his cock, sliding her fist around him, pumping just the way he liked. “I’ve been with you thousands of times and I still haven’t gotten my fill.”
Bending, she began to lick around the crown. Jack reached out and grabbed Galen’s cock, holding it for Renee. Their gazes locked for long moments before Galen was drawn, as always, back to her.
He adjusted himself, putting pillows behind his back so he could lean and watch her as he reclined. His beauty, as she crouched between his thighs, her mouth on his cock, her hands on his body. Each knob of her spine pressing against her skin called to his hands, his mouth, each brush of her nipples against his thighs brought a twinge, a deeper need for her. Her scent, her skin, the honey between her thighs, mixed with Jack, hung around them, comforting as it excited.
Jack sat next to where Renee knelt, his hands on her, stroking, touching, caressing like he couldn’t get enough and Galen knew the feeling.
Her mouth was hot and wet, the heaven he daydreamed of a hundred times a day. Her tongue knew all the best parts of him, pressing just hard enough, swirling, licking fast and hard, slow and gentle. She drove him higher and higher, sucking his cock, cupping his sac, occasionally scoring, ever-so-gently over the sensitive skin there. Her middle finger extended to play over his asshole. He nearly laughed, remembering her stern warning away from her ass. He knew, when her hand left his balls, that she was reaching down to her cunt, bringing her lube back up. He groaned when the fingers sliding over his rear passage were hot and slick. Even harder when she pressed inside, deeper and deeper, widening gently by scissoring her fingers. When she brushed against his prostate he nearly wept with joy, it felt so fucking good. Something she kept mindful of as she sucked him deeper with just the right pressure and speed.
“Damn it, I’m not going to last,” he managed to gasp out, right before orgasm barreled through him and into her.
It dizzied him, her love, the way she touched him, the way she knew him and yes, those pale blue eyes watching him as Jack caressed Renee with one hand and Galen’s thigh with the other. He let his eyes close, fell back to catch his breath and just let himself enjoy the moment.
When he was able to open his eyes, he saw Renee kiss his belly and look to him with love and acceptance.
“I love you.”
She rolled over, dropped a kiss on his lips. “You’d better. Be right back.”
She headed into the adjoining bathroom.
“You all right?” Galen asked Jack.
“I’ve never been this all right. I...well, thank you. I know she wouldn’t have done anything with me if you hadn’t supported it, even if she wanted to. She would have chosen you and your bond.”
Jack flopped next to him.
“She’d always have missed you if I had sent you away. She’d have wondered and I’d always worry that I stepped in the way of fate, endangering her or you, by not accepting what is so very plain. You’re our mate. If I hadn’t supported it, I’d have missed that too.”
Jack’s laughter shook the mattress a bit as Galen watched her silhouette in the doorway to the bathroom. She nearly glittered she had so much magic flowing. He sat to get a better look.
“Jesus. Babe, you’re like gushing magic. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“It’s beautiful,” Jack murmured.
“It’s a bit scary, sort of like I feel after two glasses of champagne. I don’t know what to do with it.”
“Come to bed.” Jack held a hand out and she moved to take it, getting in bed between them, and Galen realized how utterly and totally satisfied he was at that very moment her body slid against his.
“We’ll figure it out.”
“Don’t you have a coach or something?” Jack pulled on one of her curls and let go.
“No.”
Galen wished she’d open up about this whole thing. He knew enough that her stepmother, despite owning that shop, didn’t believe in magic and had made Renee believe she was unnatural and wrong. There was more there, something dark, but for years Renee had refused to go into it so he’d let her. He’d tried to research her mother’s family, but had come up empty. In fact, their lives before they’d come to Boston seemed a mystery. Her father wouldn’t speak about it at all. He barely tolerated Galen as it was and he didn’t know Galen was a shifter. He did know Galen had dark skin and was a lawyer and that had been two strikes already. The stepmother liked him well enough. He kept Renee out of trouble as she saw it. He’d never say it to Renee, but it was also that the woman felt like with Galen around, they didn’t have to do anything for Renee. She saw the expensive suits and figured he’d be a source of financial support, despite the fact that Renee had supported herself since the age of seventeen.
If she hadn’t been so stubborn he’d have purchased her a permanent space for her juice bar as far away from that shop as possible. But she wanted to do things her own way and he respected that enough to stand back and help however she’d let him. For the time being, but after that scene with her dad and stepmother that afternoon, he doubted it would go on much longer.
“No?”
“It’s not a complicated answer. No.”
Galen laughed, he couldn’t help it, she was so full of shit.
Jack snorted. “There’s a story behind that, I can tell. Just so you know up front, I’m nosy and I like to take care of people. It’s what I do and who I am.” Jack sighed and Galen grinned in the dark.
“Good luck with that,” he mumbled and Renee huffed, reaching across his body to turn on the light. He grabbed her and she laughed.
“Punk. Let me go.”
“Not ever.”
Her annoyance melted and she smiled, that sweet, crooked smile reserved only for him. “Just ’cause you’re all hot and hard and you have a big cock doesn’t mean you can boss me around.”
“Oh, my sweet beautiful witch, of course I can boss you around. You like it.”
“I like it when you’re fucking me. Or licking my pussy. Something useful. Not when you’re poking at me on this magic stuff. I’m just a girl with some interesting talents. Nothing special.”
Jack growled. “You’re special, Renee. Don’t ever talk like that about yourself. Sweetheart, I don’t know a lot about witches and magic, but even I can see you’re powerful. If you don’t have a teacher, we’ll get you one. I have no idea how we’d find one, but we will. I’ll get my people on it when I go back to work.”
“You can stay, can’t you?” Renee looked to him, her lashes fluttering, and Galen bit his lip to keep from smiling. She didn’t want to talk about it and she’d make sure Jack forgot. He could never stand against her when she truly wanted something either.
“I’d love to stay.” Jack moved to snuggle in on her other side.
“We’ll have to figure out the logistics of all this.” Her voice was sleepy and Galen knew she was tired. So much had happened that day.
“Tomorrow.” Galen let drowsiness claim him, satiation, satisfaction. Life was very good.
“Are you off tomorrow?” Renee asked Galen.
“I am. But I ran out on a few things earlier. I need to put in a few hours but it can wait until the afternoon.”
She kissed his side before turning over to face Jack. “You?”
“I don’t have days off. Or I didn’t. I guess I will now, or I’d better because you and I have a lot of time to catch up on. I need to go in in the morning though, to explain things to Cade and Grace. They’ll want to meet you. You’ll be officially accepted into the Pack too. But that’s not anything we have to deal with right this very moment.”
“The alarm clock is on your side.” She leaned over Jack to get to it. “Hmm. I realize I’ll be giving up having a side of the bed now. Unless you two want to sleep next to each other.”
“Not that I mind sleeping against Galen, but I’d rather sleep against you. This place is nice. We might need a new...okay well we can talk about all this over the weekend. Set the alarm for seven please.”
She groaned and Galen decided he’d let Jack figure out just how much she hated mornings on his own.
“Done.” She sat. “I’ll go set the coffee maker.” She bounced off, happy, and Galen grinned.
“You don’t have to do that. I usually eat at Cade and Grace’s.” Jack got out of bed to follow her.
“Well, now you’re mine. I feed you.” Renee began to pour water and measure coffee, pushing buttons on the coffee maker and setting it to start brewing right before they woke up.
Galen pinched Jack before he spoke again, shaking his head hard, telling him to shut up. Renee may not be a shifter but she was not a woman to be messed with, especially when it came to taking care of her people.
“All right.” Jack yawned.
“Good answer.” Renee turned to them with a smile. “Now how about some snacks and a movie? I don’t have to be up early.”