CHAPTER EIGHT
Best Kind of Love
A picnic blanket would have been helpful. Jolene did not relish the grass stains and bug bites that she was likely to receive from this new adventure, but at the moment she didn’t care because Zebe’s lips and tongue were on hers. He smelled so good and he tasted even better. The darkness that took over did well to cloak them and keep them safe from authority. One thing was for sure: even though he didn’t seem like much of a bad boy biker, his shrugging off of rules proved that he was a part of the club.
Right then, he was shrugging off more than rules. He removed his pants and then helped Jolene wriggle out of hers. They assisted each other with their shirts and then made out for a while longer in their underwear, feeling each other a bit on the cool, tall grass. Had his cock always been so thick? Last time she had made love to him, Jolene had mistaken him for his twin so now she was doing her best to mentally map him so she knew for sure that this was Zebe.
Her Zebe.
When he’d had enough foreplay, he pulled her panties off of her and tossed them aside. The wind picked them up a little and sent them further away than he had planned, which just made them both laugh. She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him deeply as he removed his boxers and entered her.
Making love with Zebe was unlike anything else Jolene had ever known. It felt so much like a team endeavor; they took turns asking each other if it felt good and what they wanted next. She wrapped her long legs around his middle, grinding her hips against his in an effort to bring him further inside her. “Ohhh,” she moaned. “Ohh, Zebe… I’ve never done this before.”
“I thought so,” he murmured back to her, smiling so brightly at her that she had no trouble seeing it. “But you didn’t resist me.”
“I could never resist you,” Jolene said.
He kissed her neck and bit at her earlobes, shifting their bodies from him being on top of her to them lying side by side. She liked this position. There was something cuddly about it. It was a comfortable position with her being as pregnant as she was. And that was a stark contrast to Luke and the way he behaved during sex. She could not imagine Luke ever wanting a position like this. He was all about dominance, whereas Zebe was all about what made her feel good. He took his time and in doing so made her feel an intense, indescribable pleasure.
Both Weir twins were sexy and dangerous… but Jolene was really falling for Zebe now. She thought she had been falling for him ever since she realized his existence.
Suddenly, to pay him back for all of his kindness, she pushed against him until she was on top of him, straddling him and riding his cock. She dug her fingernails into his hips and pushed against them as she gyrated, bobbing up and down against him.
Zebe closed his eyes, moaning and licking his lips. “Jolene… Yeah… Yesss!”
She could tell that he wasn’t far away from coming, and she appreciated that he was holding out from doing so. She could practically see the thoughts swimming through his head as he brought his hands up and rubbed them all over her baby belly. “You don’t have to fight it,” she said. “You can give in…”
His eyes shot open at that. “Never,” he said with a wicked sort of smirk. His hazel eyes were goldish now, changed by the pleasure and the lust. All at once, he flipped her back over so he was on top of her. Zebe quickened the pace of his thrusting until she could do nothing except throw her head back into the grass and shout.
“Oh!” she shouted in time with his thrusts. “Oh! Oh! Oh ZEBE! Oh! I’m coming! I’m comiiing!”
“Yeah, come for me,” he demanded, placing one hand against her jaw, as though he was about to force it open and stuff his cock inside it. Perhaps he was thinking of doing that. He pushed a finger into her mouth and felt her tongue as it rolled around.
Eyes widening and body trembling, Jolene came hard around his thick cock. She could feel herself tightening and loosening as Zebe continued to thrust a few more times. At last, he clutched her to him and came inside of her, opening his mouth in a silent howl.
He did not rush to pull out of her. Instead, he rolled back so they were side by side again. He kept her in his arms, petting her face and her stomach while they both came down from their heights of ecstasy.
Jolene smiled at him.
She had to say it. Even if it made things awkward and difficult, she had to say it.
“I love you.”
Zebe looked at her, surprised and seemingly delighted. He leaned in and kissed her, carefully moving his penis out of her now that things had settled down. “I love you,” he replied. “When Luke told me about the new woman in town, I thought I’d pop over to welcome you to the neighborhood… Best decision ever.”
She giggled a little, feeling an amused kind of embarrassment. She was glad that things had worked out and he hadn’t run away screaming after she jumped on him at their first meeting. How could she have been expected to know that Luke had an identical twin brother who lived in the same place? He might have mentioned that.
They hugged each other, nuzzling their cheeks against each other’s faces. Jolene imagined him in his wolf form and blushed a bit, wondering what it was going to be like to be in a relationship with a werewolf.
“We should probably head back,” he said, bursting her bubble somewhat. Going back meant having to deal with reality again. Couldn’t they just stay there, naked, in that meadow forever?
“Yeah,” Jolene said somberly. “Luke is probably wondering where we are.”
“Well, I was,” came a familiar voice from behind them. There was a rustle in the grass and was Luke. In his wolf form.
Jolene sat up and quickly gathered her clothing together to put it on, as if Zebe’s brother hadn’t seen her naked before. But Luke paid no attention to her. He growled at Zebe and slowly approached, clearly trying to start a fight.
Zebe looked at his brother and stood up, blocking Jolene from his view so she could get dressed and feel somewhat safe. She did feel safe with him there, although she wasn’t sure how much of a match he was for Luke while he was still in his human form.
“Shift,” she said to him under his breath.
He gave a small nod and then smoothly shifted his skin into his wolf form. The only way she could tell the two wolves apart was the fact that Zebe was slightly lighter, and he had that crescent moon mark on his neck, much clearer when he was a wolf. It seemed almost like it was a marking in his fur.
As soon as he had shifted, Zebe was off like a shot and on top of his brother. The two wolves fought and tore at each other. Meanwhile, Jolene stood there in her state of half-dress, watching and hoping that they did not kill each other. “Stop it!” she cried, seeing that they were bleeding and doing real damage to each other. “This is not helping anything!”
Luke rolled off of Zebe, blood coming from his mouth. His eyes flashed gold and green in the darkness. From far away they might have been mistaken for fireflies. “We had an agreement!” he barked at Zebe, though it seemed that he was saying it to both of them. “We were going to put aside our differences and raise the cubs together!”
Jolene felt terrible for choosing one over the other now, but she could not deny what her heart wanted. For so long, she had been in what she thought was a happy marriage but in the end it had been proven to be loveless. Now she had a real shot at love with Zebe. Sure, it wasn’t without its…difficulties. But she really did feel like she had a chance now. She loved him. It had been fun with Luke, but she loved his softer, gentler brother.
She did not want to hurt Luke’s feelings, though. She could see now that he liked her quite a lot. It made sense. Why else would he have kept coming back to her? “I’m sorry,” Jolene said, and she meant it. She finished pulling on her shirt. Zebe’s shirt. She hoped Luke wouldn’t notice. It felt unusual to be having this conversation with a wolf creature. If she kept looking at his eyes, she could almost forget that he was a snarling, drooling beast. Almost.
Meanwhile, Zebe slowly shifted back into his human form. The cuts and gashes were much more noticeable now that he was in this skin. “It started as an accident… A simple mistake. Jolene thought I was you.”
Luke switched back into his human form as well. His clothing was all ripped from the fight and from the movements involved in shapeshifting. This was why Zebe had not even bothered to put clothes on. No sense in ruining a perfectly good pair of pants.
“I gathered as much when I introduced you to each other,” Luke said. He was clearly not happy, but he had calmed down considerably. “You seemed like you’d already met.”
Jolene fidgeted with her fingers a bit, not knowing what to say. “I didn’t know you had a twin. When Zebe showed up…” She cleared her throat and looked Luke in the eyes. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter now. You know what happened. The point is, whether or not these babies are his or yours… I want to be with Zebe.”
Luke appeared hurt now. Irritated at his brother, but hurt that he had lost this round. “Did I do something wrong?”
She shook her head, hoping that he could see it in the dark. “Why don’t we go back to your house and discuss this in a well-lit place?”
The irony was not lost on her. This big, important conversation with her electrician savior was being conducted in darkness.
Zebe went to her and then bent down to pick up his discarded boxers, carefully putting them back on as if the effort was seamless. Then he did the same with his pants. Compared to her mad scrambling to get dressed, he was so graceful. Jolene could not help but smile at him.
“How did you get here?” Zebe asked his brother. Even after all of their tousling, he was still caring enough to ask that.
“I took my bike,” Luke replied.
“Oh,” Zebe said awkwardly. “We drove. We’ll see you at home in about half an hour?”
Luke seemed reluctant to leave his brother alone with Jolene but he was beginning to loosen his grasp on her. He wasn’t happy about her choice—or the fact that she had chosen at all—but he was coming to terms with it. She was relieved that he was going to sit and chat with them instead of just running off and getting drunk out of his mind. This proved that he was still a step above a lot of the bad boys she had dated in the past.
The ride back to the house was not as majestic and carefree as it had been before, when Zebe was showing the lake view and trees to Jolene. Now they were quiet, thinking about the conversation that they were going to have to have with Luke. She felt better about her feelings now that she and Zebe had talked about things. It did not hurt that he loved her back. Maybe they could make this all work out the way that Anjelica had told them.
When they arrived at the house, Zebe carefully helped her out of the car as usual. He held her hand as they made their way up to the front door. Luke’s motorcycle was already in the driveway, as well as another one that must have been Anjelica’s.
Jolene took a deep breath.
“Are you okay?” Zebe asked her kindly. “Do you need anything once we’re inside?”
She gave him a little nervous smile. “A glass of water would be nice, thank you,” she said. “I think I mostly just need to sit and relax for a while. Please promise me that you two aren’t going to kill each other.”
Chuckling, he shook his head at her. “I can’t promise for him, but I promise that I won’t do any killing tonight.”
Killing? What have I gotten myself into? she thought as she walked into the house, hand in hand with Zebe.
Anjelica and Luke looked at them from their places at the long dining room table. It looked like they were there for a business meeting. That was a sign that they were about to have a serious discussion.
Jolene didn’t know why, but she felt guilty and like she was about to be punished. She hadn’t felt this way since high school, and she did not like it. These werewolves could sure be downers.
Thankfully, Zebe was not like that. He kept on holding her hand as they made their way to the table and sat down. He made sure to sit across from his brother rather than next to him, he was out of claw range that way. Jolene sat next to Anjelica, hoping that she might find some kind of feminine solidarity with her.
It did not seem likely when she caught the other woman’s eye, however. She seemed more annoyed than Luke was.
“How could you let this happen, Zebe?” Anjelica asked. “You knew the plan. You know how important this is. It’s not about any of us anymore.”
Zebe set his jaw at that, taking offence at her tone. He did not like being spoken to as though he was a child who had stolen from the cookie jar. “I’m pretty sure this happened before Jolene’s pregnancy,” he said. “At least before we knew about it.”
“Regardless, you’re putting the twins in jeopardy by letting your feelings get involved,” Anjelica snapped. “This sort of stress and irresponsibility can have detrimental consequences.”
“Don’t you think I know that?”
Jolene looked up from the table. She felt sullen and like she was not being considered as an equal part of all this. In fact, she felt as though Anjelica didn’t see her as a living person who was carrying these babies. To her, Jolene was just a shell. A casing for these precious, historic offspring.
Maybe this was why she had never thought about being a mother. Now that she was going to be one, she wished that she could feel at least a little excited about it, instead of constantly being shamed about who she chose to spend her time with or what she wanted to do. She could not sit in bed every day, goddammit!
She hit her palms against the table. “I want feelings to be involved!” she shouted, her voice coming out a lot shriller than she intended.
The six eyes of the wolves were on her now.
Emboldened by their attention, Jolene proceeded. “I know that all three of you care about my babies, but have you ever stopped to care a little about me? They aren’t just your werewolf twins. They’re my twins. My children. And I want my children to live in a happy family. I don’t know, I’ve always had the crazy notion that if I started a family it would be with someone as the father… I know that you all want to help. And I know that we don’t know if Luke is the dad or if it’s Zebe… But I love Zebe. I want to be with him. And I don’t want to be shamed for wanting that. It’s more stressful for me if you just make me sit in the bedroom and not have a life of my own.”
Anjelica was looking at her skeptically now, but Luke at last seemed to understand. It wasn’t easy for him to hear that the lovely redhead he had the hots for was more interested in dating his brother, but he was beginning to see where she was coming from. Now was not the time for bickering or trying to control her. The babies were her babies too, as she said… As a matter of fact, they were her babies first and foremost.
Once Luke looked past the jealousy, he realized that Jolene was right.
“She’s right,” he said then, turning to look at his sister. He still could not bring himself to admit his defeat to Zebe, but at least he could say it to Anjelica while his brother was right there in the room to hear it. “What’s done is done. I can’t keep being mad at them for wanting to be together, and we can’t keep treating Jolene like she’s the babies’ host. That’s not right.”
Then he turned and smiled at Jolene. “We’re wolves, but we don’t have to be animals.”
Jolene smiled back at him, gasping out a pleased and grateful breath. She reached over and took his hand, squeezing it in a show of thanks.
“I won’t lie and say this isn’t awkward,” he said, looking at Zebe then and giving him a slight smirk. “But I am happy for you two. Here’s hoping you name one of these babies something that is less stupid than The Lone Wolves.”
Zebe laughed a little. “Hey!”
Anjelica sighed, but she threw her hands up and gave Jolene a small smile. “Just… be careful. Maybe no more outdoor activities like that?”
Blushing, Jolene nodded. “Okay. That’s fair.”
Suddenly, her stomach growled. She brought a hand to her belly and felt a little kick along with the rumblings of her hungry stomach. Reaching over, she took Zebe’s and Luke’s hands and placed them onto her belly so they might be able to feel the movement of the twins too.
“Are you ready for some dinner?” Zebe asked her, more concerned about her than the babies, which she loved him even more for.
She smiled at him. “Yes, please.”
Luke pulled his hand away from her then, though he smiled at her. It was a slightly sad sort of smile, but it was not without kindness. “Come on, Anjie. Let’s leave these two love birds to it. I’ve got a Vermonster burger calling my name.”
He and Anjelica got up from the table.
Jolene smiled appreciatively at him. “Don’t drink too much,” she said with a soft chuckle.
“That’s impossible,” he said, giving her a wink.
Once he and his sister were gone from the house, Jolene looked over at Zebe and felt a little awkward for some reason. They were well past feeling shy now. The fact that they had essentially been given permission and Luke’s blessing made things feel official in a way that making love in an open field did not.
“I think there’s grass in my underwear,” she said.
They laughed together. At least that decreased the tension.
Zebe nodded towards the front door. “I’ll go get the food from the car,” he said. “Hopefully it’s okay.”
Jolene’s eyes went big when she remembered that she had put his casserole in the bag. “Oh god, I forgot. Your casserole!”
The likelihood of all of that cheese still being edible after sitting out in a car all day was not a very high one. She felt crushed. “I’m so sorry. I meant to eat it now that I was with you… I had saved it.”
Zebe’s smile only grew. “Aww,” he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and giving her head a kiss. “It’s okay. Let’s see if we can salvage it. Otherwise, I’ll make you another.”
With that, he got up from the table and went out to the car. Jolene put her head in her hands, her eyes filling with tears. She could not stop herself from crying. She knew it was irrational, but she was disappointed in herself for forgetting Zebe’s sweet gift to her in the car. There had been distractions galore, but she still felt stupid.
A few minutes later, Zebe came back inside with the bag of food. He brought it into the kitchen and placed it on the counter, pulling out the casserole container. Jolene stood up and joined him.
“It doesn’t look good,” he said. “But it’s okay. I’ll make you a fresh one.”
She leaned into him, sniffling but letting her tears subside. “I didn’t eat it when I had the chance because I didn’t want to lose the sweetest thing you had done for me,” she said. “You know? I didn’t want to ruin your gift to me by eating it.” She laughed then, realizing how silly it seemed. “But I’ve learned my lesson. I will eat whatever you give me now.”
Zebe raised his eyebrows at her, smirking a sideways smirk. “Don’t tempt me. I might start testing that promise.”
Jolene giggled. She sat at the small kitchen table, letting herself relax now that he had brought in the food and it had been decided that he would just make a new casserole for dinner. “Let me help you,” she said. “Don’t let me just sit here while you do everything.”
He looked at her skeptically, as if cooking a meal was too taxing for a pregnant woman. “You can read the recipe for me?” he suggested. “Look up tuna casserole on your phone and read off the first recipe you can find.”
“Ugh, so I do have to get up,” she joked, standing and going out to the living room to fetch her phone from her purse. She brought it back and sat down, searching the internet for the perfect tuna casserole recipe.
Meanwhile, Zebe dumped the old one into the trash and carefully put away all of the other items that she had so meticulously packed away in the bag. He laughed and held up the box of Pop Tarts.
“That’s my signature breakfast,” Jolene joked. “Get used to it. You can back out now if you want.”
He shook his head, beaming down at his casserole pan. “Read me the recipe.”
As Jolene told him what ingredients to use and the order to put them into the pan, Zebe made her a tuna casserole. When it went into the oven, she could smell it and her mouth watered as though she was now a werewolf too.
Her tummy growled and her baby wolves growled along with it, ready to eat the delicious meal their father was making for them. She was eating for three now, after all. That was the perfect excuse. She hoped that there would be many surprise casseroles in their future. Forget cakes or pies. This was somehow even sweeter.
Watching him, she knew she had made the right choice. There was no question in her mind. Zebe’s kind of love was special. It was relaxed and filled her up with happiness, and didn’t make her worry if he would come back to her again. She knew he would.
It was the kind of love she had been hoping to find. It was the best kind of love.