Desired (Two Marks 2)

“Turn it off,” Rachel said, shaking her head. Her tousled blonde hair slid over her bare shoulders. “He has to realize I’m not his anymore, but I don’t have to listen to the fallout.”

Damn straight.

Cord must have pushed the right button because the cell went dark and he dropped it onto the bedside table.

“Come on, let’s get some food,” I said, turning toward the door.

“Naked?” she asked.

I glanced over my shoulder. She was staring at my ass. I raked my gaze over every inch of her perfection, and grinned. “Works for me.”

“The doctor says no cooking naked,” Cord piped up—referencing himself—and grabbed my t-shirt off the floor and helped Rachel pull it over her head.

My dick lengthened at the sight of her. “Looks better on you, beautiful.”

Cord tossed my jeans at me. I caught them right before they hit my face.

Her laughter as she followed Cord out of the bedroom relaxed me and my wolf. That soft sound soothed me. I tugged on my pants, then caught up.

“…live here in West Springs. I think they’re going to like you,” Cord said, his head stuck in his fridge. He grabbed a package of bacon and a carton of eggs and set both on the counter. Even though it wasn’t morning, it seemed we were having breakfast.

“I asked Cord after his family. You know about mine,” Rachel said, catching me up. She sat on a stool and leaned on the counter. My t-shirt rode up her thighs and offered me a creamy expanse of her silky skin.

Shit. Family?

“I can’t believe you have two dads,” she continued.

Cord turned and looked at her as he grabbed a bowl from the cabinet. “That’s right.”

“It really is a thing around here,” she added.

I went to Rachel, I couldn’t resist, and stroked her hair. “It’s a thing. Wife.”

A thrill shot through me saying that. This perfect, gorgeous woman was all mine. Well, halfway.

She tipped her chin up and looked at me. Smiled. “What about you?”

I was mesmerized by her pale eyes. “What about me?”

Parents. Fuck. I didn’t realize I was smiling until it slipped. My stomach plummeted, and the scent of bacon filling the air made me feel nauseated.

It was a simple question. Innocent.

I swallowed. “I grew up with my grandparents,” I told her, thinking of the tall, proud man and sturdy, but kind woman who’d raised me.

She tipped her head. “Oh?”

I nodded once. “My parents died when I was a baby.”

She instantly wrapped her arms around me, pressing her cheek into my bare chest. The feel of her, the comfort, eased the rough emotions. A little. Over her head, I glanced Cord’s way. He gave me a look, waiting for me to tell her the rest.

I owed her the truth, even if it was new to me.

“Shelby and her mom are from the same town in Montana as me.” Same town, same pack. “They’ve lived here for a bit now that Shelby’s with Gibson and Ben. But Marne had a piece of furniture she needed delivered, and I volunteered. When we met at the barbecue, I’d only been in town a few hours.”

“Okay,” she said, letting me know she was following but ready for more.

Cord set a glass of orange juice in front of her.

“Interestingly enough, I… I found out I’m from West Springs, too.” That was a very mild way of explaining the cluster fuck of my past. “Even though I grew up in Cooper Valley, my fathers were—”

“You have… had two fathers as well?” she asked, holding up her hand.

I swallowed again, hard, as if it was difficult to get these words out. “Yeah. It’s as much a surprise for you as it is for me. Turns out, one’s an asshole.”

She leaned back, looked up at me. “What did he do?”

I took a deep breath, let it out. Said the words that I wasn’t sure I could live with. “He killed my mother and other father.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. Yeah, that wasn’t something that happened every day.

Cord turned off the stove, moved the pan of frying bacon off the burner, and joined us.

“Nash thought his parents were dead,” Cord told her.

She looked from Cord to me.

“That’s what my grandparents told me,” I added. “That I had a mother and only one father. I never knew about the second one until yesterday.”

“Wow. That must be hard for you,” she said, her eyes full of concern.

I cleared my throat. “Turns out the asshole, Harlan, is still alive.”

“He is?” she asked, her eyes widening even more. “You really didn’t know?”

“Like you didn’t know about the Two Ma—West Springs way,” I almost blurted out about the pack, but saved myself just in time. “Neither did I. Cooper Valley’s not around the corner, and my grandparents have been gone for a while now.”

“Holy shit,” she whispered. “You have to see him. Meet him.”