STORY EXCERPT

Ethan shared a look with Seb as they stepped into the small, impersonal cabin.

“Has something happened to Dave?” Mila asked anxiously. “I wondered why I hadn’t been able to get a hold of him.”

Ethan’s throat had gone dry, and he found it hard to formulate any words. He hadn’t known what to expect, but Mila Riley sure as hell wasn’t it. Tall and slim, she had the cutest heart-shaped face with finely etched features, well-defined cheekbones, a cute turned-up nose, small chin, and wide, plump lips. She wore no makeup, but her round hazel eyes looked as though they were rimmed with black kohl.

It was her hair that sealed the deal. Thick shimmering silver locks fell below her shoulder blades. It was the color that old ladies spent a fortune trying to cover up, but on Mila it looked fresh and vibrant. Her eyebrows, by contrast, were thick and jet black.

She was that rarest of species, an endangered white wolf. No question. It didn’t surprise Ethan that she’d been drawn to environmental projects, unwittingly attempting to protect herself and others like her. Whether she knew what she was…well, that was another question entirely. She didn’t trust them yet, and it was Ethan’s assignment to alter that situation, if possible without freaking her out.

No pressure then!

“Dave’s at our headquarters in Dillon, Montana,” Ethan told her, taking a chair in front of the fire and holding out his hands to the blaze.

“Oh, he didn’t say. What’s he doing there?” She perched on a chair across from Ethan and impatiently pushed an escaped strand of hair behind her ear. “What headquarters, come to that? Who are you, and what do you do?”

“It’s a hedge fund, amongst other things,” Seb told her.

“Hedge fund?” She scratched her arm, looking perplexed. “You probably know that Dave and I are twins, seeing as how he sent you. We’ve not met yet, but you’re probably aware of that, too. Even so, from what he’s told me, the only hedges he knows anything about are the type you trim with sheers.”

Ethan chuckled. “We will explain everything, I promise you. But first, do you mind answering a few of our questions?”

“Depends what they are.” She sat back, hands folded in her lap, wary yet curious. “Fire away.”

“You like your privacy,” Seb said, glancing out the window at the vast openness, not another property in sight.

“Sure. No law against it, last I heard.”

“You get frightened about stuff happening to you that you don’t understand.”

Ethan’s casual statement produced a startled grunt from Mila. “What…how did you…”

“You feel more attuned to animals than to humans,” Seb added.

“You have an incredibly strong sense of smell, and like to touch things by rubbing them with the side of your face.”

Her mouth fell open, but no words emerged. Ethan reached across and took her hand. She looked surprised by the contact but didn’t object. Ethan turned it over and studied the tips of her fingers. He could see the indentations where her claws would emerge, but could also see that she hadn’t gotten that far.

“I’ve thought long and hard about how to tell you this,” Ethan said, “and there’s no real easy way, other than to come right out and say it.” But he didn’t. He gauged her face. She looked pale, on edge, and the hand he still held in his trembled. “The reason you feel so different, and why you feel instantly comfortable with the two of us is because you’re…well, you’re a shape-shifter.”

Her eyes bulged, and for a moment she said nothing at all. Then she snatched her hand from his, threw back her head, and roared with laughter. “What sort of con trick is this?” she asked, once the power of speech was restored to her.

“It’s no trick, darlin’,” Ethan said softly.

“Shape-shifters are the stuff of fantasy fiction.”

“Uh-uh.” Seb slowly shook his head.

“You two are serious.” She looked from one to the other of them, her eyes wide and wary, her laughter abruptly fading. “I don’t know whether to accuse you of being drunk, throw you out of my house, or call the sheriff and tell him to have you both carted off to the funny farm.”

“You won’t do any of those things because, deep down, part of you knows that what we’re telling you is true. It explains so much stuff. Although, frankly, how you’ve managed to cope all this time on your own, and controlled the desire to shift, is beyond me.” Ethan smiled at her, attempting to infuse confidence into her clearly confused self. “It must have been tough.”

“We’re full of respect for you,” Seb added.

“Okay.” Mila held up a hand. “Just supposing, for the sake of argument, that I believe all this bullshit. How? Why?”

“There are a ton of us living alongside humans,” Ethan explained. “Witches and vampires, too, but we won’t go there yet.”

“Let’s not,” she agreed, the suggestion of a humorous smile playing about her lips. She’d had one hell of a shock, but was recovering in double quick time. Ethan admired that about her, and so much more.

“The difference between us and you and Dave is that we grew up knowing what we were, and were properly prepared to grow into our powers. You and Dave were cut adrift as kids.”

“Again, pretending to believe you, why did that happen?”

Seb explained about the renegade wolves who were stripped of their powers to shift. “You and Dave slipped through the net. No one knew that your mother was carrying you at the time. Perhaps she didn’t even know it herself, or else deliberately kept it a secret.”

“Or some devious sod did know it, and made sure you were separated so that you couldn’t compare symptoms if you developed powers,” Ethan said, voicing a thought that had only just occurred to him.

Mila shook her head. “Well, if this is true, if you’re shifter thingies, then I guess it’ll be pretty easy for you to prove it to me.”

Ethan raised one brow. “You want me to shift for you.” He casually extended his claws, watching her face pale as her eyes grew huge with fascination rather than fear. “Consider it done.”

ADULT EXCERPT

“You jealous?” Ethan asked casually.

“Nope.” Seb shook his head. “Perhaps. Hell if I know.”

“Come here.”

Ethan opened his arms. Seb hesitated for a fraction of a second, but there was never any doubt about what he’d do. The pull, the allure of Ethan, was simply too strong. He walked straight into those arms and rubbed his cheek down Ethan’s chest, a sign of contrition.

“You smell of sex, and hot female wolf,” he said accusingly.

“Yeah, I didn’t get to take a shower yet.”

And then they were kissing, Ethan’s lips hard and demanding on Seb’s. There was no sign of the cool, controlled Dom tonight. It was as though he had a point to prove. An apology to make for his lapse of judgment. He damn near ripped Seb’s jeans in his haste to get them off him. Seb stepped out of them, rock hard and ready to play. He tossed his shirt over his head, watching as Ethan abandoned the jeans he’d only been half wearing anyway.

“You are so fucking hot when you get jealous,” Ethan breathed, bending Seb over the back of the couch. “Spread your legs for me. This is going to be brutal.”

“I’d thought I’d come where I stood when I saw you and Mila in bed,” Seb admitted. “She’s the complete package.”

“Yeah, she is. She’d had a lot to take in today, but none of it has totally freaked her out. Gotta admire that about her, and a hell of a lot more besides.”

Seb felt something cool being squirted over his anus. Lube? Where the hell had that come from? Seb didn’t bother to ask. Ethan must have been a Boy Scout, he figured. He wasn’t complaining about his state of preparedness.

“Get down on the floor,” Ethan ordered. “Hands and knees. Need you to hold firm for me. This is gonna be a fast, rough ride.”

“I can do that.”

Seb sighed with pleasure when he felt the heat of Ethan’s body hovering over him. He inhaled his unique aroma as the tip of his slick cock forced its way into his backside.

“This what you need, Lynx?”

“You know it is, Sir.”

Ethan grasped Seb’s hips in a tight hold that would likely leave bruises. “Need me to fuck you?”

“Need to be fucked. You got that right, Sir.”

Completely invested in the subliminal friction of Ethan’s actions, it took Seb a moment to realize that they weren’t alone.

“I guess I’m not the only one who couldn’t sleep.” Mila’s voice came from behind Seb.

“Join the party,” he said without thinking.

“Sure.”

What? Seb hadn’t expected her to agree.

Ethan’s hands remained firmly on Seb’s hips. His cock was still in his ass, but he stopped moving. Both men watched as Mila, still in her flimsy robe, let it fall open as she wiggled beneath Seb’s crouched position.

“Wrap your legs around his neck, darlin’,” Ethan ordered. Seb grinned, unsurprised that he felt the need to control them all. Seb leaned down and kissed Mila firmly on the lips. She tasted of the outdoors and Ethan’s cum.

“Hey,” he said, smiling at her.

“Hey yourself.”

Seb needed both hands to hold his position for Ethan, who’d started plunging into his ass again like a man with a point to prove. But with Mila’s long legs around his neck, Seb’s junk was now getting up close and personal with her pussy. Her long, cool fingers grasped his throbbing cock and eased it into her.

“Greedy, ain’t she?” Ethan muttered, amused.

“Look who’s talking,” Mila replied, with enough sass to earn herself one of Ethan’s punishments. Seb didn’t know if he’d acquainted her with them yet, but had a feeling that she’d take to them as naturally as she’d crashed his and Ethan’s fuck-date.

“Let’s do this,” Ethan said, an edge to his voice.

Seb wasn’t about to argue. He felt Mila’s fingers digging into his back. No, not fingers but claws. Hell, she was catching on quick! Seb let out a rattling purr as he buried his cock inside Mila, and Ethan skewered him from behind. It was so fucking hot. He was on fire. He watched Mila’s tits moving as she lifted her pelvis to meet Seb’s downward thrusts. His fingers itched to mold and explore, but he couldn’t let go. He was the filling in the sandwich, and if he didn’t hold steady, the entire fuck would collapse. Couldn’t let that happen. His endurance would be called into question.

Something sharp landed on his buttocks. Ethan’s hand, urging him on.

“Shit!” he muttered, teetering on the brink.

“Let it go, both of you!” Ethan said curtly.

It was all it took. Incandescent desire ripped through Seb like a tornado as Ethan and Mila continued to titillate him with their mind-blowing creativity. Rational thought disintegrated into pure sensation. He threw back his head and growled, claws scraping against the wood floor as he shot his load deep into Mila’s pussy at the exact same moment as Ethan returned the favor, coming hard and deep in his ass. Mila’s scream—more of a howl—was accompanied by a sharp scratching of her claws on his back. She didn’t know how to control them yet, and had likely drawn blood. Seb welcomed the pain as a tangible reminder of the most incredible scene he’d ever participated in, convinced nothing could ever top it.

They collapsed in a tangle of sweaty limbs, laughing, temporarily sated.