They stopped speaking for long moments, staring at each other.
The doorbell made her nearly jump out of her skin.
“I’ll get it.” Cooper stood and strode from the room.
Sharon closed her eyes, grateful for the way Cooper was treating her.
Any number of people could be at the door, but she willed it to be Jackson. In fact, she inhaled long and deep, over and over, as she heard the door open and close. And then she blew out a breath.
Thank God.
She pulled herself to sitting and propped against the pile of pillows at the headboard as both her men wandered into the room.
Jackson looked nervous. His hands were in his pockets, and he shuffled his feet, only meeting her gaze fleetingly.
Sharon was afraid to speak, afraid she would say the wrong thing and scare him away.
Apparently Cooper was too.
“Did you…” Jackson waved a hand between them, not meeting either of their gazes.
“No,” Cooper said. “We can’t. I mean, we really can’t. Nature won’t let us.”
Jackson breathed out in relief. “I see.” He paused. “My sister came over this morning. Laurie called her.”
Sharon nodded, pursing her lips to keep from speaking.
“She says I can’t avoid this. I’m beginning to think she’s right.”
“She’s smart,” Cooper said.
“She’s convincing.” He paced the room now, running his hand over his head. “It’s hard to argue destiny with a woman who has spent two years sneaking around hiding her relationship out of fear of public ridicule.”
“Yeah.” Cooper stepped closer to Sharon, but stopped before reaching her.
She willed him to stay where he was.
“People talk about your families behind your backs.”
“They do.” Cooper nodded.
“That must be hard.”
“It is. But we deal with it. We don’t have a choice. We try to be as unobtrusive as possible in public. But it’s tough, like your sister said.”
Sharon made a mental note to hug the life out of Jazmine the next time she saw her.
Silence.
Sharon’s heart beat wildly, threatening to explode out of her chest. Every breath forced her to concentrate on not whimpering. She needed these two men worse than she needed to breathe. If someone didn’t break the ice in a second, she considered stripping off what little clothing she wore and parading in front of them naked until they couldn’t deny her.
Jackson whipped his gaze toward Cooper and pointed. “Not ever fucking you, man.”
Cooper smiled. “Good. I would have to break your arm.”
Jackson looked relieved to hear that. He tucked his face back toward the floor, avoiding Sharon. “She’s like a drug,” he said as though she weren’t in the room.
“She is. Intoxicating, isn’t it?”
“How does this work?” Finally, Jackson met her gaze. “It feels so clinical.”
She parted her lips to smile and reached out a hand. “Trust me, it won’t. Just relax.”
Thank God he approached her. She wasn’t sure what she would have done if he had denied her. In fact, he kicked off his shoes, climbed onto the bed, and crawled toward her. “I’ve never had sex with a woman this early in a relationship. Seems disrespectful.”
“Good. I’m glad you’ve always been such a gentleman. And I appreciate the sentiment. I don’t want you to misunderstand. The list of men I’ve slept with is short, and I’ve also never had sex with anyone I didn’t know far longer than I’ve known you.”
Cooper sat on the edge of the bed on her other side. “I don’t even remember the last time I had sex.” He tapped his fingers on his lips as though pondering it. “But I can assure you it wasn’t in haste for me, either.”
“So why are we doing this?” Jackson closed his eyes and leaned in to stroke his nose along her neck.
Her entire body came alive at the contact.
Cooper reached for her hand and brought it to his face. “When we meet our mates, a frenzy takes over. It’s consuming. And it won’t stop until we accept our situation and claim Sharon as our own.”
Sharon tipped her head back to give Jackson more access to her neck.
He brushed her hair away from her neck with his hand, his fingers bringing goose bumps to the surface. “And then what happens? Prepare me,” he mumbled. “Some sort of woohoo hokey pokey thing and presto, we’re bound together like—”
“Wolves,” Cooper finished for him. “Wolves mate for life. And two things will happen you should know about.”
“Of course they will. Why am I not surprised?” Jackson sat back and met Cooper’s gaze. He kept his hand on Sharon’s neck though, stroking the thin skin there until she had to hold her breath to keep from leaping on top of him and ripping his clothes off.