She lifted a brow. “Really?”
“Really.”
“Now you listen to yourself.” She stood abruptly and set her hands on her hips. “Do you have any idea how stupid you sound talking to me like that?”
He cringed. Yeah, probably pretty dumb, actually.
“Look at me.”
He met her gaze.
She was shaking. “Do you think I chose to be in a relationship with a white woman from Cambridge? White, Jackson. And a woman. Does that sound easy to you? Jesus.” She ran her hands through her short brown hair and tucked it behind her ears.
She lowered her voice. “I love her, Jackson. That’s why I’m with her. I would give my life for her. I would give up my life for her. She’s my world. And yes, we hide it. We do so in order to keep our businesses running. We each own a preschool. If people found out about us, they would pull their kids out of our schools and put us out of business.
“So we hide. We sneak around in the night and put hundreds of miles on our cars to spend fleeting moments together. You have never experienced what that’s like.”
He lowered his shoulders, deflated. “I suspect I’m about to find out.”
She slowly smiled. “Yeah, well, at least there are about two dozen family members waiting to help you.” She sat back down next to him and took his hand. “I love you. You know I do. Let it go. Embrace it. It won’t go away. I promise you. When Laurie mated, she tried to break the bond and failed miserably, putting all three of them in a state of shock until she returned.”
“How many of them are human?”
“Not many. Amanda, Mary’s sister, of course. That’s whose house you went to last Friday to pick up the papers. Also Rebecca. You met her at the lodge Tuesday.”
“The nurse?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s up with that? I saw the blood on Sharon’s leg. Thought I might pass out with worry.”
Jazmine shrugged. “They heal fast. They shift into wolf form to do so.”
“Oh, so that’s why they nearly shoved me out of the lodge.”
“Yes. Apparently Sharon didn’t want you to find out like that. So abruptly.”
“I see.” He grabbed his coffee and leaned back against the cushions.
“Do you?”
He shrugged. “Maybe.”
“You have to go to them. You won’t be able to rest until you do.”
“I’m so tired.” He leaned his head back and held his coffee against his chest.
“I know. And it will only get worse.”
“I haven’t slept more than a few hours since last Friday.”
“Neither have they.”
He shuddered. “What about Cooper? There’s no way in hell I’m…”
She giggled. “It doesn’t work that way. It’s just you and Sharon and Cooper and Sharon. Don’t worry. Your heterosexuality isn’t in jeopardy.”
“So we’ll be like sharing her? Like every other night or something?”
She shook her head.
He didn’t think he wanted to hear the answer to that question.
“No. You’ll share her at the same time. In fact you have to take her together the first time in order to complete the claiming.”
He cringed. “Like both of us in her at once?”
“Yeah.” She glanced away, her face red. “This is so not a conversation I ever imagined having with my older brother, but yes. Anal and vaginal. Can we move on now?”
“Please.” He felt the same heat rushing up his face. He still couldn’t imagine such a thing. “I’m not in the habit of spending time naked with other men.”
“It won’t seem strange once you get to know them. I promise.”
“I find that hard to believe,” he muttered. He took another fortifying sip of coffee and tried to picture the scenario.
Nope. No matter how he processed it, he ended up cringing. Sure, he knew guys who shared. Hell, he knew several members of the Masters family at least peripherally. But he’d never had his cock out in front of another man except to piss. And he’d never fucked a woman with another man present, let alone rubbing against him.
“Fuck.” He took a longer drink of the now-cooler coffee, though Lord knew he didn’t need the caffeine.
“Did you sleep at all? You look like shit.”
“No.”
“I need to get back. I left Mary sleeping in my warm bed to come talk some sense into my stubborn brother.”
He smiled. “For the record, I’m glad you found someone you love.”
“Thank you. You did too, you know. Now stop dorking around feeling sorry for yourself and go claim your woman.”
“I’ll think about it.”