"True." Her giggle lightened the load Jessica had been carrying since this morning. Kara was the sweetest person she knew. How the woman had managed to fall into a wolf ménage was beyond her. What were the chances? And then Lindsey too? It was ludicrous. As though fate were grabbing Jessica by the neck and shaking some sense into her.
Or cut off her oxygen supply.
"I was just calling to make sure you were still coming over tomorrow. Two o'clock."
Fuck. "Umm … "
"Jessica Murphy, you promised. Don't even think of flaking out on me now. It's Christmas break, remember? There is no way I'm letting you stay home alone in that apartment and stare at the television. We are having a holiday gathering tomorrow, and you are coming." She didn't even pause. Kara was a talker. She wouldn't stop to breathe until she'd made her point. "Everyone will be here. Lindsey and Ryan and Alejandro. Justin and Ryan's parents, Richard and Nancy. You've met them, right? Their younger brother, Michael. Their sister, Tessa, and her family. Hell, even Charles is in town. You've not met him. He's been away for half the year."
Jessica sucked in a breath and held it. No fucking way could she go over there tomorrow. "Jess, I-"
"If you aren't here at two, I'll send Trevor and Justin after you." Her voice had risen. Her mates were formidable if nothing else. "Don't weasel out of this, Jess. You're family. You're like a sister to me. Don't give me some crap about being a fourth wheel. Heck, with all those people, there is no way you could even feel left out. Christmas is in a few days, and I'm not leaving you holed up in that apartment alone during this break."
If she flat-out refused, there would be a scene to rival all scenes right now. If she left town this evening for the holidays, she could at least straighten her head out at a hotel for a few weeks and wallow in self-pity before facing the wrath of her friends.
Right now she couldn't even think, so arguing was out of the question. With the sweetest, most sincere voice she could muster, she muttered her reply. "You know I wouldn't miss it, Kara. I'll be there. Two o'clock sharp."
Chapter 5
The pounding on the door was insistent. Jessica stuffed the last of her things into the suitcase and moaned. Five minutes. She'd only needed five more minutes and she would have been gone. She had no illusions about who was most likely at the door.
Shuffling her feet, she meandered down the hall and then peeked out the curtain.
Yep. There they were. Charles and Reese. And they were staring right at her when she glanced between the curtain and the glass pane.
Not that it mattered. Who was she kidding? She could smell them from the other side of the door. Obviously her scent wasn't hidden from them either.
Jess leaned her forehead against the door, panting. Her stomach knotted. All the blood in her body raced to her center, stirring sensations she'd avoided her entire life. Feelings she'd never wanted to experience. A soft moan escaped her lips before she could stop it.
"Jessica?" The voice on the other side of the door, just two inches from her and separated only by the wood, was gentle and concerned. It was also Reese's. "Can we come in?"
No.
How could she do this? If she let them in, would she have the strength to put them off? Convince them she wasn't a flight risk, so to speak, and buy herself another night?
Hell, if she didn't let them in, would they leave?
"We aren't leaving, babe." Charles' voice was almost as calm as Reese's. The average person would have dismissed it as so. But he'd spoken through gritted teeth. "Just talk to us. Please?"
Would they beg? She almost grinned. Imagine that. Sweet, innocent, unassuming Jessica with two wolves at the door begging for her attention. Not something she'd ever expected to experience, or wanted.
Reese spoke again. "You can't stay in there forever. We can wait you out. But, why?"
Fine. She just wanted to get this over with. It was bad enough she was about to let down the two women who were both her best friends and her former roommates, practically sisters, by not showing up at their party tomorrow. Now, she was going to destroy the natural tendencies of two men who'd done nothing to deserve this, save fall for a woman as broken and emotionally unavailable as Jess.
With a slow squeak, Jessica gradually pulled the door open. She didn't look them in the eye, but she stood back to allow them entrance.
Along with a giant gust of chilly air, Reese and Charles filled the entrance and pushed the door shut behind them.
"We have to talk, Jess." Reese's gentle voice and the use of her familiar nickname tugged at her heart. Kara and Lindsey must have spoken of her as "Jess" in front of them.
She flinched, wondering if they'd told anyone about this unfortunate situation yet.
These men hadn't done anything wrong. They were just slaves to the way of the lupines, same as herself.
Charles reached one hand toward her face and raised her chin so he could meet her gaze. No swift movements that would scare her. His hand came in front of her in full view. But nothing, absolutely nothing, could have prepared her for his touch against her cheek and chin, caressing the skin and sending goose bumps down her entire body.
"We must talk, love." Those barely audible words wafted into her ear from Reese's mouth, along with his breath. Minty fresh as though he'd brushed his teeth in the car before approaching her door. How considerate. And presumptuous.
"I can't do this. I told you … earlier."
"Why?" Charles let go of her chin, but the damage had been done. He'd caused her pussy to weep.
"That's my business. I don't want to talk about it." Because I'm scared. Because I've seen things no human, or wolf, should see. Because if I never love, I never have to hurt again.
"With all due respect, Jess," Reese began, "I think whatever happens to you is actually our business too."
She gasped and stepped back. Hardly.
She knew enough to realize how these relationships went. Besides the multitude of problems at the top of her list-having to shift into wolf form, losing herself to the pull of her first heat, flipping the world she'd so calculatedly created upside down-there was also the issue of dominance so prominent in the lupine culture. In a heartbeat, against her good intentions, these two men could have her beneath them at their beck and call, begging for their attention.
Shit. Who was she kidding? They'd practically already accomplished that.
"Well, that's where you're wrong." She rose to her full height, at least average for a woman, but paling in comparison to these brutes crowding her apartment with their damn pheromones. "I didn't work so hard for the last twelve years to get out of school, earn my teaching degree, and find a good steady job, just to toss it all away the first time a pretty face-or two-shows up at the door."
Both men flinched. In a dance that reminded her of a wrestling match, the three gradually circled each other-two of them waiting for just the right opportunity to pounce and go in for the pin.
Charles spoke. "Is that what you think? That we'd strip away your identity?"
"Wouldn't you?"
"Of course not, love." That was the second time Reese had called her by that endearment, and the second time the tingling sensation ran down her spine when he did. It rolled off his tongue so fluidly, as though he'd called her that for years. And it pissed her off her body reacted so positively, affirming his claim, instead of rejecting his overture.
Jessica gave a strangled false laugh.
Confused, contemplative brows met her gaze.
"We have no intention of changing you, babe." Charles reached across the space between them and let his fingers stroke her arm from her biceps to her wrist. Two more inches and the act might have elicited the opposite reaction that it did. Perhaps if he had reached for her hand, entwined his fingers with hers, she'd have seen the gesture as equalizing. Instead, especially considering the current line of conversation, him stopping at her wrist and grasping her-no matter how tenderly-brought only visions of dominance to her mind. Not equality. And why did that make her squeeze her legs together? Lupine dominance shouldn't have this effect. Damn it.
Would he hold her wrists like that while he fucked her into submission?
While she held her breath and glanced at his enormous fingers wrapped around her wrist, making it appear much more fragile and dainty than she'd ever considered, Charles pulled her onto the couch.