Desired (Two Marks 2)

She gave a nervous laugh. Okay, we were probably both going too fast for a human.

“I have a place, but thank you,” she said politely. “That’s very nice of you.”

“You’ll stay tonight,” Nash insisted, his eyes taking on a wolf-like glow again.

“Please,” I interjected.

“All three of us?” She looked between us. “A slumber party?”

I managed to smile, as if the idea of her heading back to her apartment wasn’t the most serious fucking topic in the world to my wolf. “Yeah, all three of us. I have a king bed, and we already know from the shower how much we like the Rachel sandwich.”

Rachel blushed and shook her head, bringing her beer to her lips. “This is so crazy. I honestly can’t believe it’s happening.”

“Oh, it’s happening,” Nash assured her with a wink. The guy could be charming, for sure. I doubted he’d ever had trouble landing a female in his life.

“My mother would faint dead if she ever found out,” she admitted.

“That you’d been with two men at once?” I asked.

“Yes!” Rachel laughed and her cheeks turned pink. “She’s the definition of propriety. All she ever worries about is how things look to the public. I mean, we are a political family, so appearances matter. If it ever got out that I’d been with two men at the same time…”

“I never kiss and tell,” Nash said immediately, but his brows were down, and we exchanged a glance that spoke volumes.

Not only did we need to make our human mate fall in love with both of us, but we had to get her to agree to a lifetime. Requiring her to give up her family would be far too much to ask.

Yet it was workable. One of us could be her official husband and the other could remain in the background as a friend—at least to the outside, human world. It wasn’t ideal to have to hide what we were, but it could be done. We had to hide we were shifters, anyway.

I realized Rachel was looking my way and I shook my head. “I never kiss and tell, either. You’re safe with us, Rachel. You have my word.”

“One hundred percent,” Nash agreed. He’d finished his sandwich and polished off his beer. I drained mine as well.

Rachel looked between us. “You two… I don’t understand how you could go from throwing punches at each other over me to sharing, just like that. This is so weird.”

Nash cleared his throat. “I’m sorry about that. I’m embarrassed at how I acted. I just… I caught your sce—” He broke off when he saw my warning look. “I mean, I caught sight of you, and I sort of lost my mind for a minute. But then I was reminded I was in West Springs, where sharing females is a normal occurrence, and I realized I didn’t have to be pig-headed about this. Especially considering Cord had found you first.” His lips quirked in a grin to let her know he was teasing.

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not finders-keepers.”

He reached out and stroked a hand over her drying hair. “I know, beautiful. I’m willing to work for you.” He glanced at me. “We both are.”

“I’m not really, um, looking for something long term.” Rachel flushed again. “I came to West Springs to figure out what I want to do with my life. I’m not really ready to jump into any kind of commitment.”

Even though her words made sense, they hit me like a punch to the gut. My wolf wanted to howl, to rage at the delay. I had no doubt Nash was trying to remain calm too. We were all over commitment with her. One whiff, and there was no one else. Ever.

But Nash was right. We were willing to work for her. There was no other option.

“There’s no pressure, Rachel,” I assured her. “The only commitment I want from you is that you’ll stay the night.”

“And that you’ll let us satisfy you one more time,” Nash added with a grin. His gaze raked over her in just the t-shirt. “You tasted me. I am dying to taste you.”

Rachel squirmed in her chair, and the scent of her arousal made both Nash’s and my hands clench into fists. We sprang up from the table at the same time.

“I’ll clean up,” I said shortly, as if getting Rachel into my bed was a life-or-death emergency.

Nash seemed to understand perfectly. “I’ll take care of our girl.” He offered his hand to Rachel. As soon as she stood, he scooped her into his arms and carried her off to the bedroom. She squealed, then laughed.

Fuck the dishes. Rachel’s scent still filled my nostrils, driving my wolf to a fresh frenzy. I stacked the plates in the sink, left the bottles on the table, and followed.

We had a lot to overcome to claim our mate, but making her scream in pleasure? I was certain we would succeed.