Nailed (Black Mountain Bears Book 3) (6 page)

Orrick’s mouth left hers and he cupped her breasts gently, hesitantly. “Gaia, you are beautiful. Is it still all right for us to touch you? You haven’t asked us . . . but this is what you want, right?”

Jade bit her lip as she looked down where Sten’s hands had paused at the tops of her inner thighs, so close to her core, she thrummed with need for him to go farther, to go beyond the boundary they’d set.

She nodded. “I asked you to show me how to shift. That’s what you’re doing, right?”

“Yes,” Orrick said, brushing his thumbs over her nipples. “Let the awareness sink into every cell in your body, Jade. Close your eyes now and feel everything. Let your senses take over.”

She did as he told her, though it took some effort not to simply focus on where they were touching her. It was the shift of Orrick’s hips against her low back, pressing his erection tight against her that awoke everything else. Suddenly his breath in her ear sounded like the wind, and the scent of his desire reminded her of the spring rain. Her own fecund aroma reached her nostrils as Sten’s fingertips delicately parted her folds.

His breathing was just as ragged as Orrick’s when he bent his head and pressed his mouth between her thighs. Impulsively, she reached up and pulled Orrick’s head down again, kissing him savagely.

The need overtook her and her back arched, her hips bucking into Sten’s lapping tongue. The raw, primal power filled her so completely she finally understood what it meant to inhabit her true form, but she held it back, enjoying their touch on her bare, human skin too much to let it stop just yet.

The sweep of Sten’s tongue over her clit switched to a tight, hard swirl. Every sense came alive in a split second and her eyes flew open. Her gaze met Orrick’s just as her climax shook her, vibrating through every muscle. She let out a sound that could not have been human, that she knew
wasn’t
human, and the world shifted, tilting on its axis. One moment, Jade was in the arms of two gorgeous men, and the next she was on all fours, letting out a roar that nearly put the fire out. Her entire body tingled deliciously and she shook herself.

Jade looked down at her hands and saw huge paws covered in velvety-black fur. A surprised laugh escaped her throat, but came out as a series of deep chuffles. She turned her head and sniffed, found Sten sitting back on his heels with a surprised look, his face still glossy from her juices. She had the strangest urge to kiss him, and without thinking raised her head and swept her tongue over his mouth.

He batted her away with a laugh. “Not kissing a bear, sorry.”

When she looked at Orrick, her mood plummeted. He had such an anguished expression, she went to him with the intention of comfort. Immediately, she felt her shape change and she was kneeling in front of him in her human form again.

“What is it?” she asked softly.

In a strained voice, he said, “If you chose us, that was when you could begin the mating process. You’d mark us with your claws, then we would make love to you and we would seal the marks.”

“I know how it works,” she said, confused by his attitude. “My mother told me, but Emma gave me all the gory details from her own mating. Why do you look so upset?”

“He was hoping you would be ready to choose tonight,” Sten supplied. “The idiot talks about patience all the time, but he’s really the least patient person I know.”

“It’s more than that,” Orrick said. “Your magic is powerful, which we should have known. Your cousin’s was almost too much for us, but she is pregnant, so that’s to be expected. You’re nearly as powerful as she is and you’re not even in estrous yet, much less pregnant. If you aren’t ready to choose, that’s fine, but we can’t behave the way you want us to if we’re going to travel together.”

Jade glanced between them both, then grabbed her blanket and wrapped it tightly around her shoulders. “You mean we can’t fool around if I’m not ready to commit to you, is that it? If so, I think it’s bullshit.”

Before she could blink, she found herself flat on her back with her blanket ripped away. Orrick’s huge body hovered over her, pinning both her hands above her head.

“
This
is what you’re asking for, Jade,” he hissed. He pressed a knee between her thighs, forcing them apart.

Jade’s heart pounded and her core quivered, aching for exactly the thing he threatened her with. His cock hovered above her belly. She tilted her hips up teasingly.

“Yes,” she said, her entire body thrumming with the promise of being filled by him.

Orrick gripped her hip with one hand, fingers digging in hard enough to bruise.

“We have incredible self-restraint when we follow the rules. But there’s a reason we don’t fuck with them. If we make a mistake, it could destroy the Sanctuary. If I fucked you now and you happened to be close enough to your estrous to get pregnant, you wouldn’t have a choice but to follow through with a mating. If you
don’t
want us, don’t fuck with the rules.”

Jade clenched her eyes shut, ashamed at how little she understood about this place. Slowly, she nodded. “I understand.”

Sten moved close and placed a hand on Orrick’s shoulder. “Let her go. I think you made your point.”

With a harsh sigh, Orrick gently released her and tugged her blanket back around to cover her up.

“I am sorry for that,” he said, giving her a sheepish smile. “If we were mated, you’d be getting what you want as often as we could give it to you. It’s just too big a risk. Servicing your cousin was good practice, but we knew she belonged to Julian and August, so there was no temptation to break the rules. With you, it’s different.”

“Because I’m single.”

Sten threw on a pair of shorts and tossed a pair at Orrick. The smaller male sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He still dwarfed her in his comforting embrace. Jade let out a sigh and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“Because you’re single, beautiful, you smell like fucking heaven, and you
taste
even sweeter. It isn’t easy to be around you without popping wood every five minutes. We’re young and still figuring out how to function as mature males.”

“I’m still trying to figure out this whole ursa thing, too. It’s confusing as hell, but I think I can adjust,” she said.

Orrick sat on the other side of her, fishing into his overstuffed hiking pack. “In the meantime, pretty much any other issue can be solved with food.”

Jade laughed. “I think you might be able to change my mind about choosing you, if that’s your regular philosophy.”

A little later, she curled up in her sleeping bag, exhausted but content after the feast Orrick cooked. She slept soundly and woke sometime in the early hours. Gazing up at the crest of the waterfall, she simply lay there, enjoying the pinking sky.

She wasn’t sure if she could go back to viewing the two males as substitutes for her absent brother, not when she’d discovered how much she had wanted Orrick to follow through with his threat the night before. But she did know that she wasn’t ready to give them what they wanted, so she supposed she would have to compromise and accept what they
could
give her, if they were willing to wait for her to figure it out.

A noise caught her attention over the sound of the waterfall and she turned her head toward the other side of the campsite where the two males had laid down in their own sleeping bags after they’d eaten. In the shadows beyond the dark coals of their fire, she saw their bodies entwined, a single sleeping bag draped across the back of Orrick’s hips while they moved. Sten lay beneath him, arms stretched over his head with Orrick’s hands holding him down.

Jade’s entire body flushed with the understanding of what they were doing. Their eyes were locked together, soft grunts of pleasure carrying to her ears. The image was more intimate than any moment she’d experienced and she closed her eyes, not wanting to intrude. Even though they knew she was there, they must have thought she was still asleep.

But she couldn’t keep her eyes shut. She opened them and watched, then slowly slid her hand up her thin tank top to clutch at one breast, teasing her nipple into a hard nub. She pushed her other hand down into her shorts. Only then did she close her eyes, bringing herself off while she imagined each of them taking turns holding her down and fucking her.

Chapter Six

O
ver the next few days, Jade let herself simply enjoy the scenery. Each waterfall they led her to was more spectacular than the one before it. Each meal they cooked more delicious than the last, especially the ones the males would forage for, finding wild mushrooms, berries, and one day, a nest of grouse eggs which they turned into the most mouthwatering quiche-like concoction Jade had ever tasted.

Sten and Orrick’s demeanor shifted back to being sweet and solicitous, which she decided she didn’t mind. The evening they’d shared teaching her how to shift was never far from her mind and had changed her opinion of them significantly. If anything, it made them more attractive, since she’d had a glimpse of the primal beast that lived within them.

Jade’s true nature craved release more often each day, and so the three of them took to shifting for a few hours at the end of the day. They taught her how to fish with her claws and she had her first taste of raw meat that left her craving more.

She tried to ignore the hopeful looks they would each give her in the evening, but they never asked the question she knew had to be on their minds. Would she choose them, agree to mate them?

In spite of her deep longing for the kind of connection the pair of them obviously shared, she just wasn’t sure if it was
them
she really wanted. It could just be the idea of what they had during those intimate moments she continued to silently eavesdrop on every morning.

On the fifth day, she awoke not to the sight of them making love a few yards away, but to a feast more spectacular than any other she’d had since their trip began.

Sleepily she sat up, then laughed at the eager grins on their faces.

“What the hell is all this? My birthday’s not for months.”

Orrick pressed a mug of coffee into her hands and Sten piled a tin plate full of food and set it on the sleeping bag beside her.

“We’re going to be at Gaia’s Falls by this afternoon,” Orrick said. “We thought the event deserved a little celebration.”

“So, tell me about this place,” she said.

“Nope.” Sten shook his head. “Words don’t do it justice. You have to see it. Eat up, because you’ll need your strength for the climb. It’s a tricky one.”

The excitement lingered, overshadowing any other thought or worry. When she spied a waterfall spilling down a sheer rock face, she let out a soft gasp at how lovely it was with the sun shining through the leaves above it.

“That isn’t it,” Orrick said, his lips close enough to her ear that the rumble of his voice made her tremble a little. “Wait until you see. The path up starts over there.” He stood aside to let her take the lead.

“You guys missed ogling my ass, didn’t you?” she teased.

“You found us out,” Sten said, then smacked said backside playfully. “Get a move on, we don’t have all day.”

It was no trickier a climb than any of the others, but Jade nearly toppled over when she reached the top and came through the trees.

Before her, stretched for what had to be acres was the clearest, glassiest lake reflecting the cloudless blue sky above. At the end closest to them, cascading down the lush, foliage-covered rocks was the most perfect waterfall. It wasn’t huge by any means, but fell like a wedding veil from high above, the white rush more powerful and deafening than any of the others they’d visited during the last few days. She couldn’t make out the crest of the falls, as obscured as it was by clouds of mist and greenery.

Orrick tilted his head up, gazing reverently at the top. “They say the source is Gaia herself, her fertile fluid flowing down the mountains and providing the Sanctuary with life.”

“So, Gaia’s a squirter, huh?” Jade said. The remark earned her a stern look from Orrick. Sten let out a loud laugh. At least she could count on him to respond to her jokes.

The terrain was more or less flat, and they soon found an ideal campsite. Jade resisted the urge to strip naked and dive into the water. She might shift later, but right now she just wanted to enjoy the serenity that permeated her very core. Solitude was something she had never really had, growing up. But after the last few days of traveling with a pair of males who alternately made her horny and achingly lonely for what they shared with each other, she could use a respite. After helping them set up camp, she wandered down a path that bordered the lake and found an outcrop of rock.

Jade sat, closing her eyes and letting the rushing pulse of the waterfall fill her mind. She’d discovered that if she paused to listen, she could discern a distinct pattern in the sound. Each waterfall had its own rhythm, too. This waterfall’s tempo seemed to speak to her more deeply than any of the others. With a deep, slow breath her tension and worries began to slip away.

“Jade?”

She jumped at the sound of Sten’s voice coming up behind her. Smiling, she patted the rock beside her, inviting him to sit and suppressing her mild annoyance at being intruded on.

“Actually, we were considering hiking around to the other side of the lake instead of camping here. It’s still early, and there are plants on the far shore we want to harvest and bring back to the lodge.”

Jade shook her head. “This spot is too perfect for me to move. You guys go on and do what you need. I’m not going anywhere for a while.”

Sten studied her, and after a moment, nodded. “All right. But it’ll take us a few days to get there and back. You sure you’ll be okay? We’ll only take what gear we need—we’ll leave the rest with you.”

“I promise I’ll be fine. I grew up in the woods, you know. Besides, I’d like some time to think.”

He smiled and nodded, then turned to go. Hesitating at the path, he turned back. “I know you’ve been watching us . . . in the mornings.”

Jade’s cheeks heated and she chewed on the inside of her lip, but kept her gaze aimed at the waterfall, waiting for Sten to continue.

“Just trust me when I tell you our greatest wish is for you to be a part of it, too. If you’ll have us, we are yours. But it’s all right if that isn’t meant to be.”

Her gut churned, but she tamped it down. “Thank you,” she said simply. “Have a nice hike, okay?”

He gave her a final nod and turned and walked away.

She didn’t see them go, but when she finally found the courage to walk back to the camp, they were gone and a small campfire burned near where she’d laid out her sleeping bag.

Loneliness nearly overwhelmed her. Maybe solitude was overrated. Maybe she should accept that they wanted her, choose them as her mates and be done with it. She knew she enjoyed their company, and there was no doubt in her mind that they could satisfy her.

Mindlessly, Jade cooked herself supper and went to sleep, trying to ignore the ache of longing to find what the pair of them already had with each other. She didn’t think she could ever compete with that. No matter how much they tried to convince her they wanted her, she would feel more like an intruder than anything else.

She slept fitfully and awoke in the early morning with a deep ache in her lower abdomen. Chilled, she discovered she’d kicked off her sleeping bag during the night and stripped naked without realizing it, but in spite of the cool morning air, her body felt inflamed from the inside out.

Groggily, she got up, clutching at her stomach and groaning at the way it seemed to tighten under her hands. It felt a little like the moment she’d discovered the power to shift, except instead of the fullness of that sensation, this was the opposite. Now, she had the clearest sense of a void inside her that desperately ached to be filled. She wondered briefly if it was menstrual cramps, which she’d dealt with for years before coming here, but her mother had assured her that was a thing of the past. Once she had her first estrous, she would only have to deal with that kind of discomfort every four years.

My first estrous.
Was it starting now?
Oh, fuck, please let it not be starting.

Not after she’d willingly sent the only two males on the mountain away for the next few days. But maybe it was for the best, since they had a hard enough time holding back when she wasn’t fully fertile. If she didn’t intend to choose them, it would be cruel of her to make them endure this with her.

Her eyesight wavered as she stumbled toward the shore and waded in, seeking to quench the heat in her. The chill of it soothed her, but only for a moment before a spasm gripped her and she cried out. Her nipples tingled and she touched them, craving the contact the way she craved cool water after a long hike.

Behind her, the steady, pounding pulse of the waterfall filled her senses. Teasing her nipples only made her core burn hotter. Touching her clit simply made her vaginal walls clench painfully. All Jade could think of was how amazing Sten must have felt to be fucked by Orrick, to have that glorious cock pounding into him. She could hear the sounds just as clearly as the waterfall. Drawn to the rhythm of it, she waded to the base of the thick, white curtain, somehow hoping that she could completely drown her need in that steady, violent rush.

She found a ledge to one side of it and grabbed ahold, using it to leverage her body so that her spread legs were on either side of the rush, the stream of white water hitting her core. This was no gentle flow of water, though. The force of it was too much and Jade lost her balance, lost her grip, and soon found herself plunged beneath the violent surge.

Struggling to find purchase on something, anything, she forgot her earlier ordeal in the terror of drowning. She found her way to the surface once, gulping for air and spluttering as the torrent of water forced her down beneath again. The sunlight had disappeared when she came up again, crying out in panic. A rock ledge loomed nearby, but the current kept pulling her back beneath the falls and it was too far to reach.

Before she got pulled under the third time, she thought she caught a glimpse of a face above her. She yelled out a plea that she wasn’t sure could be heard over the roar of water, even if she’d had enough breath to make a sound.

Suddenly something clamped hard around her arm and she felt herself being hauled bodily out of the water and pulled up onto a rough, rocky ledge.

“What the
fuck
were you thinking?” The rough male voice was unfamiliar and incredulous, and probably the most beautiful thing she’d ever heard in her life. She clung to his thick shoulders and sobbed in gratitude.