Claiming Their Mate Read online

  Although he and Drake recognized she was their mate, she didn’t. Until she fell in love with them, it was her right to choose. Right now, she’d rather run than make love to them.

  Damn. Living the rest of his life alone would suck. He had to do something to make it right.

  He shook his head and tried to force the anger from getting in the way of his thoughts. He almost chuckled, remembering another time when he’d been this pissed. He was ten, Daniel six, and Jeffrey twelve. It was Christmas, and their parents had gotten the three of them the Mario Brothers video game for their Nintendo—one he’d been wanting all year long. He was playing it right after the New Year, and Jeffrey decided if he couldn’t use the game, no one could. It didn’t seem to matter they’d agreed to each having an assigned time slot when the game was theirs and only theirs. Well, apparently, Jeffrey decided the rules didn’t apply to him, and he pulled the cassette out of the machine and stomped on it.

  Kurt remembered crying and running to his mom. Jeffrey was grounded for the week. But it took a long time for them to repair the rift. Eventually they grew up and got better games.

  A few years ago, Jeffrey must have remembered the hurt, because he bought a vintage Mario Brothers game on eBay. The console now had two controllers, and Jeffrey had invited him over. Kurt smiled. They’d played for hours and the long-forgotten hurt had been permanently forgiven.

  That’s it!

  Jeffrey would know how much the game meant to him. Kurt rushed over to the game console. It was now an Xbox, but sandwiched in between the games was the old Mario Brothers cassette, snug in the gray sleeve. He pulled it out and removed the game. On the back of the cassette was taped a piece of paper with the location of the drug house.

  He looked up. “Thanks, bro. When we meet up, we’ll have to play again.” His chin trembled, but he refused to get sentimental. He had a killer to catch for his brother.

  He locked the door but kept the key. At some point, he’d have to clear out the apartment. The pain of his brother’s death would never go away, but that meant his memory would stay alive.

  His next step was to get back to the beach house. He debated whether to call the general about his find. Although he knew he should, the chance to kill Mendez himself would be the one thing that would bring him closure—the ultimate high.

  No. Think again. The ultimate high would be making love with Chelsea.

  By the time he arrived at Orangeburg, he had his plan firmly in place.

  He steeled his body for what he’d see when he stepped inside. He wondered if his stupid partner had made up with Chelsea or if they’d be fighting. As soon as he caught the laughter, his question was answered.

  He tossed his car keys on the table by the entrance. “Hey, Drake?”

  His partner turned from the old Chevy Chase movie they were watching and obviously enjoying.

  “Yeah?”

  “I need you.”

  Drake stood and trotted over. “You find the location of the warehouse?”

  Kurt tapped his head. “You bet.” He strode to the dining room table and Drake followed. “Here’s what I want you to do.”

  Drake was a computer guru, capable of hacking into the toughest networks. If he didn’t enjoy doing hand-to-hand combat and tracking down the Colters, he would have been one of the general’s top men in the computer department. Hacking and setting up surveillance was his forte.

  “I’m listening.”

  “I want eyes inside the warehouse. I also want to know what’s on their computers.” Drake once told him if he could ever get his hands on the computers, he could bypass the signal and have all future correspondences routed to his system.

  “How do you suggest I get around the alarms and the guards?”

  “Scope it out. See if Clay and Dirk will go with you.”

  Drake pushed back his chair and stood. “By the way, I apologized to Chelsea for my actions. I don’t think she’s forgiven me, though.”

  “She shouldn’t.”

  Don’t be that way.

  Maybe if you’re instrumental in bringing down Mendez, she will forgive you. Kurt hoped that using Chelsea’s feelings as a potential reward would motivate Drake to do his best.

  Drake went over to Chelsea and told her he needed to take care of something. Both agreed it was better if she didn’t know the details.

  As soon as Drake left, Kurt had the urge to get outside. He bet Chelsea was tired of being cooped up, too. The day had warmed, and being inside didn’t appeal to him. Perhaps he’d go for a run.

  “Up for a walk on the beach?”

  She jumped up. “Really? It’s safe to go outside?”

  His sympathy spiked. “When you’re with me, it is.”

  “Can we go swimming?”

  “Not until your stitches come out.” He hated to burst her bubble.

  She scrunched up her face and looked so cute. “When will that be?”

  “Maybe we can stop by the doctor’s in a day or two.”

  “I can wait until then, I guess.”

  Not that she really had a choice.

  He needed to change out of his hot jeans if they were going to traipse in the sand. “You might want to slip into something cooler.”

  “Good idea.”

  He followed her down the hallway and wished he could watch her undress. The tips of his fingers tingled as he imagined running his hands down her body, watching how her face transformed from ordinary to total ecstasy. Then he’d take her to the highest cliff, and together they’d jump. From the way she’d moaned when she’d been with Drake, she was a wild one in bed.

  Christ. It was going to be next to impossible to be on his best behavior around her. His thoughts jumped to Drake. Even though Kurt demanded obedience in the bedroom, at the end of the night, he’d never leave her unfulfilled. After her experience with Drake, the poor woman was probably hornier than hell. That thought had his cock humming.

  In his room, he tossed on running shorts and a tank. He was lucky he never sunburned. Chelsea, on the other hand, had auburn hair and creamy skin he bet was sun-sensitive. When his mom had visited, he’d bought sunscreen for her.

  He went to Chelsea’s room and knocked. “I found some sunscreen for you.”

  “Come in.”

  When he pushed open the door, he froze.

  Chapter Seven

  Chelsea quickly covered her bare breasts. “Kurt?”

  “I’m so sorry. I thought you said ‘Come in.’”

  “I said I was coming.” Her mind shot back to Drake’s rules about not climaxing only until he allowed her.

  He waved the sunscreen. “I thought perhaps you’d need some protection.”

  “Thanks.” Her tank top scooped low in back, and she could use a hand. “As long as you’re here, would you put some on my back?”

  Why did she ask that?Because you want him to touch you.

  After what Drake pulled last night, her pussy had been on high need alert. Her right arm covered her breasts, and with her left, she scooped up her hair and turned around. She swore he moaned.

  He moved close and squeezed some of the paste on her back. She expected him to rub it in quickly and leave. Ever since he’d agreed to protect her, he’d kept his distance. Instead, he swirled the cream slowly and gently massaged her shoulders. From what Drake implied, it was Kurt who was the dominant one of the two. Could have fooled her.

  All she needed was for him to do her upper back. When he rubbed the sunscreen lower and let his fingers touch the side of her breasts, she couldn’t stop him. Everything told her to say thank you and step away. But his hands were so gentle, she wanted to enjoy this moment for another a minute.

  He stopped. Damn.

  “Need any other place covered?”

  My tits and my pussy? “I’m good.” Coward.

  He stepped in front and handed her the tube. She faced him wearing nothing but her pink thong panties. He’d seen her ass and her tits. Hell, she might as well jump his bon
es. Then Drake’s rudeness reminded her she might end up worse off than she already was.

  “I’ll be in the living room waiting.” He turned and slipped out the door.

  She’d seen the bulge in his pants. So why hadn’t he at least attempted to kiss her? That’s right. Kurt was the one with control.

  Get dressed.

  She hoped the fresh air would clear her head. She got ready and met him in the living room.

  “You good?” His gaze shot to her tits then off to the side.

  Her body sizzled under his scrutiny. As soon as they stepped outside, she sucked in the ocean air.

  “Nice, huh?” he asked.

  “It feels so good to be outside.” She took in her surroundings. The oak trees and palms secluding their home prevented her from seeing any neighbors. On the plus side, they couldn’t see her, either.

  Kurt pointed west. “We’ll have to cross the road to get to the beach.”

  So, they weren’t on the ocean. In a way, that was better, since it made access to the house more difficult. They walked on a shell drive to reach the main road. Once across the street, they reached an access trail in about three minutes. During their walk, Kurt seemed to have a lot of pent-up energy. His stride was actually springy.

  She looked up at him. “Where did you go this morning?”

  His lips pressed together as if he was deciding what to tell her. “I went to my brother’s condo to see what I could find out about Mendez’s organization.”

  That couldn’t have been fun. Touching his brother’s possessions had to have dredged up a lot of pain. “Jeffrey was a realtor. Why would he know anything about Mendez?”

  “It’s complicated.”

  That was not-so-subtle code for “you don’t need to know.” These men pissed her off. “Mendez is after me, you know. The more I know, the more I can be on alert.”

  They reached the beach, and except for a few people in the distance, the long stretch of sand was basically theirs.

  “You want to dip your feet in the water?”

  “What I want are answers.”

  He stopped and moved in front of her, so close their lips were inches from each other. “Honey, don’t ask me to explain. All you need to know is that until Mendez is caught, you aren’t safe.”

  She inhaled and blew out a breath. “Well, honey, I’m worried about the rest of the people at the real estate firm where I work. First, Liz is targeted. Okay, she did try to poison Harvey Couch, so I guess he had every right to want to come after her. And I did witness a murder, so I get why Mendez wants me dead. But your poor brother was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Who’s next?”

  He clasped her bare shoulders. “That’s not how it works.”

  His warm fingers sent tingles up her spine.

  How could she make him talk? Her sexual prowess took over. She rubbed his crotch with one hand and tugged on his shirt with the other. As their lips touched, a fire ignited inside her.

  Kurt lowered his hand to her wrist and stepped back. “You just entered very dangerous territory, honey. If you’re trying to get me to tell you all of Jeffrey’s dirty little secrets, you better be prepared for the consequences.”

  “What are you going to do? Tie me up and spank me?”

  You didn’t say that. Drake already tried that and you liked it. Kurt will be more demanding.

  He tilted his head back and laughed. “You have no idea what I really want to do with you.”

  Suddenly, the topic of why her coworker was targeted took a back seat. “Tell me.”

  Kurt grabbed her hand and walked her toward the water. “I’ll play your little game. From what Drake told me, he explained how he and I like to operate, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, Drake is the nice one.”

  She rolled her eyes. “He’s the mean one. Would you ever leave a woman on the precipice of an orgasm?”

  His grip tightened. “No. That was inexcusable behavior. He said he apologized.”

  “He did.” But her pussy still hadn’t forgiven him. “He claimed if he had given in and come inside me that our fate to be together would have been sealed.”

  Werewolf or no werewolf, that still sounded like hooey. He’d thrown around the term their mate, but she still didn’t understand what that entailed.

  “I would not have handled your insolence the same way.”

  She slipped her hands from his. If she thought she had a chance of being with these men, she wanted to understand them. “Define insolence.”

  “Drake and I believe that making love is an art form. It takes years to develop a trust between the parties, but we base the foundation of a relationship on making sure the woman, in this case, you, has the best experience possible.”

  “News flash. Women, in this case, me, expect to climax at the end of having sexual intercourse.”

  They’d walked into the water up to their ankles. The water was refreshing, but soon her toes turned cold, and she stepped back to the warm sand.

  “I can see it will take a long time before you trust Drake again. I know him well. He was trying to teach you that if you do as we say, your sexual experience will be unparalleled.”

  “That’s a laugh. It might have started out wonderfully, but in the end, he failed.”

  Kurt cleared his throat. “What do you say we go back and get something to eat?”

  That was so typical of a man to shift the subject just when it was getting dicey. “Fine.”

  “Do you mind taking a trip to the grocery store? We haven’t been here in a while, and there’s not much to eat.”

  “I’d like that.” Being around other non-werewolves would be nice.

  They walked back in silence. At least Kurt didn’t make an excuse for Drake’s behavior. That put him one step above his partner.

  He held open the back door for her. “Why don’t you go wash your feet and put on something more—”

  She had to laugh at his discomfort. “Decent?”

  “Honey, if I had my way, I’d make you walk about naked, but I’m afraid the good folks of Orangeburg would have heart attacks.” His chuckle made it sound like a compliment.

  “I get it.”

  As soon as she had changed into a thicker T-shirt and washed the sand and grit from between her toes, she reentered the living room. Kurt was waiting with a piece of paper and a pen in hand.

  He looked up. “What do you like to eat?”

  “The better question is, what do you like to cook?”

  “I know how to cook about eight things and all by a recipe. Drake just throws shit together and it comes out good.”

  They were more alike than she thought. “I need directions, too.”

  “Then let me show you my options and you can pick a few.” Once in the kitchen, he pulled down a decoupage box that contained three-by-five note cards. “My, ah, mom made this for me.”

  She figured it had been a gift. “That’s sweet.”

  He cocked a brow. “Sweet would have been decorating it with something more manly than butterflies.”

  “It takes a man who’s secure in his masculinity to even pull that out.”

  He puffed out his chest. “You’re right. I am secure in my masculinity.”

  That seemed to break the ice. “Let’s see what you got, cowboy.”

  For the next few minutes, they studied the cards to decide what would be easy to make and taste good. In the end, they chose a chicken casserole, a lasagna dish, and salmon coated in a teriyaki glaze. They agreed that would last them several days.

  Kurt’s logical analysis of each meal impressed her. They appeared to be on the same wavelength.

  “Ready to battle the old folks at the store?”

  “You bet.”

  This time when they left the house, the strain between them was no longer an issue. The grocery store was small by Gulfside standards, but they were able to find all of the necessary ingredients. The only hitch was that Kurt insisted on reading the label
for each item he purchased. Instead of a twenty-minute trip, it took them over an hour. In the end, she was sure they had the healthiest ingredients the store had to offer.

  When they returned to the beach house, she was a little surprised Drake wasn’t there yet. “Is Drake coming back tonight?”

  “Probably not. He had to take care of some business near Gulfside. I wouldn’t be surprised if he waits until dark to do what he needs to do.”

  This time, she was smart enough not to question what this business entailed. For sure, it related to capturing Mendez, and probably bordered on being illegal. Hell, they appeared to avoid the authorities at all cost.

  “Which meal do you want to tackle first?” he asked.

  “How about the chicken casserole?” The other two meals would probably come out better under Drake’s hand.

  “You got it.”

  After they removed the food from the bags, Kurt set aside the ingredients they needed. He handed her the packaged salmon. “How about you put the other groceries away, and I’ll start chopping the chicken breasts?”

  She was happy to have something constructive to do. When she opened the refrigerator to store the salmon, she was impressed with how neatly everything was stacked. “I’m guessing you organized the fridge?”

  “Hell yeah. If I allowed Drake any control in here, I’d never find anything.”

  She laughed and was careful to keep the labels faced out, as Kurt seemed quite particular. When she finished, she stepped over to the center island. He’d only cut up half the chicken breast, but each cut appeared to be the exact size as the previous cut.

  “Do you need a ruler to measure that piece?”

  He tossed her an exaggerated frown. “I’ll have you know that if the pieces aren’t the same size, they won’t cook evenly.”

  “Okay...” She’d never considered that before. “What should I do?”

  “Cut up the mushrooms.”

  Oh, boy. What would he do if she haphazardly chopped them? As much as she wanted to tease him, she took her time to make the slices even. She caught him checking her out and spent more time being precise. She actually finished at the same time he did.