STORY EXCERPT

Hudson sat on the sofa, Amber’s head in his lap, as he watched Dylan pry Lucas’s hand away from Mason’s throat. Hudson’s coyote sat still and calm, absorbing the pleasure his mate suffused him with.  He felt strangely at peace considering he'd just left the only pack he'd ever known and was now joined to a pride of cougars. He stroked his fingers lightly down his mate’s cheek, circling her full lips and marveling at the pleasure he felt from the slightest contact with her perfect skin.

He had a mate, and he was feeling thrilled and terrified. He was also confused as to whether it was possible to be both of those things at the same time. His mate was a small, porcelain-skinned woman, with long, black hair that was as soft as silk. She had pale green eyes that had shone with pain and confusion as she’d tried in vain to make sense of the confusing emotions the abundance of mating musk had stirred in her.

As she lay restlessly on his lap, her eyes flickering behind her closed eyelids, her hands clenched into fists as she dreamed fitfully. The dark rings under her eyes showed she hadn’t been sleeping well, and his heart ached for the pain she’d been suffering since Mason left her. He left their mate. Hudson would see she was never again alone. He would stay with her himself if that was what it took to make sure she never again felt abandoned.

“Thank you for taking care of Amber,” Lucas said, pulling his arm from Dylan’s hold and turning to look at Jade’s mates. “Mason only told us today about finding his mate when he was working a case here two weeks ago.” Lucas flashed an angry glare at Mason. “If he’d told us sooner, I would have come and watched over his mate for him.”

“Yes, we would have,” Dylan said. “Even had he not told us of the possibility we may also be Amber’s mates, we would have come and kept her safe until Mason could return for her. It would have been our honor to guard Amber until he’d finished finding all the victims of Beau’s reign of terror.”

Hudson tried to imagine how he’d have felt if Mason had told them of Amber when he’d first returned to Duckwater. Lucas and Dylan were right. He would have wanted to come and keep her safe. Hudson should have thought to say that, too.

“I never even thought to ask,” Mason said, his voice rough as he rubbed at his reddened throat. Lucas had done some damage. Good. Amber was left unprotected for two fucking weeks. Hudson growled as he imagined all the things that could have happened to her. 

“Does she even live here in Eminence?” Lucas asked, rage making his voice tremulous.

“No,” Mason said, shaking his head. “She only came here to see that Jade was being well cared for after her attack.”

“So she may not have even been here? She could have gone home?” Lucas said, his frantic gaze flicking to Amber. Hudson growled softly at the thought of his mate disappearing off to wherever she was from. He might never have found her had that happened. His head throbbed at all the foreign emotions swamping him.

Feelings were something Hudson had trouble articulating. He’d never been able to link words to emotions. Never seemed to know what to say, and women especially, seemed to get angry with him over it. It frustrated the hell out of him and meant he’d never been able to have any lasting relationships, even friendships. That was, except for his brothers, and they had to talk to him. He was family.

“You should have told us about her, Mason. I would have come and watched over her,” Hudson said softly, stroking over Amber’s pale cheek. “I would have hidden in the shadows. She’d have never known I was there, but I would have made sure no harm came to her. She’s a priceless gift. A beautiful treasure, and I’d have cherished her as such.”

Lucas and Mason gaped at him while Dylan simply nodded and moved closer to hold one of Amber’s hands. Just because Hudson chose not to spend much time around people didn’t mean he was incapable of behaving appropriately when he did. 

“You need to stop, Hudson,” Lucas said softly. He ran his hands over his face as he groaned. “My whole life has just changed completely and having you acting this way is doing my head in.”

Hudson shrugged, deciding to ignore his brothers and focus on what was important right now, their mate. Hudson was probably well over a hundred years old. He wasn’t sure exactly how old he was as he’d stopped coming home for birthdays, or any celebrations, decades ago. After the tragedy, he’d had no reason to celebrate anything. He preferred the simple life in the desert with the native coyotes. They didn’t judge, didn’t nag, and didn’t make him talk about his feelings. 

Mason moved to stand beside Dylan, staring down at Amber in confusion. “What the hell did I do to her, Lucas? If this is my fault, then tell me what’s wrong with our mate?”

ADULT EXCERPT

“So Finn just gave us this house?” Amber asked. She swallowed as desire coursed through her. She hadn’t needed the image of them all naked either. She wanted these men, badly, despite her side throbbing like a bitch. The throbbing of her clit was fast overtaking that pain, and having Dylan and Mason so close was a torturous temptation. She could have lost one of them. Fear was making her desperate to connect with them. Feel them inside her as deeply as possible. 

“He said he’d been fixing it up and was going to rent it out. The last owner apparently left it to the pride when he passed away,” Mason said. He inhaled sharply, and in the next instant, Amber was straddling his lap as Mason plunged his tongue into her mouth.

His kiss was raw and hard, his hands gripping her hair and anchoring her to him. It was unnecessary, because Amber didn’t want to go anywhere. She moaned as she tangled her tongue with his, her passion breaking free at last.

“Jesus.” Lucas’s curse reached her ears as the truck came to a screeching halt. The movement had her core bumping against the hard ridge of Mason’s cock. Amber moaned as her pussy clenched. Her hands were already around Mason’s neck, but she held him tighter, tried to draw him even closer.

“Inside,” Dylan said.

“Yes,” Amber said. She needed Mason inside her, or she’d explode. Her skin felt tight, and she felt the heat build inside her as Mason’s hands released her hair and skimmed down her back to cup her ass. 

Mason licked along her lips as he drew away from her mouth. He was panting as hard as she was, his fingers flexing against her ass as he pulled her tighter against his cock. It wasn’t enough. Her body burned for him. Burned for his touch, for all of them to be touching her.

“Take them off,” Amber said. Her voice sounded rough and foreign as it slipped from her suddenly dry throat. “I need you inside me, Mason. Please, it hurts.”

“Mason. What the fuck?” Hudson said.

Amber turned at the sound of his voice. He was standing in the open doorway of the truck. No longer a coyote, no longer wearing any clothes. 

“I promised,” Amber said. She shrugged off the blanket and pulled at her sweater, struggling to remove it. The thing was scratching at her sensitized skin like it was made of steel wool. “I see you now, Hudson. You’re naked and gorgeous. I want you.”

Hudson’s eyes blazed red, and that was all Amber saw before she found herself in his arms and moving fast. His skin, all that naked skin, was calling to her, and she ran her hands down his back as she licked, kissed and sucked at his neck. He tasted so good. Her hands roamed over his shaved head, the scrape of the emerging bristles tickling over her palms.

Hudson moaned her name as he ran, his fingers dug into her ass. It was not enough for her. She wanted more. She wanted to feel his hands on her bare skin.

“The bedroom’s here,” Dylan said. 

Amber ran her teeth down the hard cords in Hudson’s neck. She was mindless with need as she rubbed her core against the hard planes of his abdomen, seeking relief. She ached deep inside, so empty she wanted to scream.

Her back hit the softness of a bed, and she bounced as she looked up at Hudson, licking her lips to draw the taste of his skin into her mouth. She needed all of him. Needed him now.

“I need to ask one more time if this is what you want, Amber,” Hudson said, his big hands stroking up her legs to the waist of her jeans. “There’s no going back from this. We mate you and you’re ours. Forever ours.”

Amber was rapidly losing her mind to the ache in her body. “I want you, all of you. It terrifies me how much I want you all, but after tonight, I know losing any of you terrifies me more.” Hudson yanked down her jeans, taking her panties with them.

“You smell like heaven, sweetheart,” Hudson said, crawling on the bed with her. Her back bowed off the bed as he spread her legs and gently licked the lips of her pussy. “Fucking delicious.” His tongue circled her clit, and his lips closed around it. 

One gentle suck, and Amber splintered into a million pieces. She screamed with the force of the pleasure, her legs stiffening as wave after wave of ecstasy rocked through her. Her orgasm drew out as Hudson softly stroked his tongue over her clit.

When the pleasure turned to pain, she released her grip on the bed covers and pushed at his head. “Too much.”

“No,” Hudson said, a growl distinct in his rough tone. “Never too much.” Her eyes fluttered open to see Hudson’s face was now inches from hers. “Mine.”

She wrapped her legs around his hips as she felt the bump of his erection at her pussy. Her core clenched, and she reached for him. Finding his hard, throbbing cock, she guided it to her pussy. She felt desperate. She needed him inside her.

“Yours,” she breathed the words into his mouth as his lips touched hers.