Whitney Read online

  The knob turned silently, disengaging and allowing her to ease the door open. She peeked into the hallway, checking to make sure the coast was clear. Carpet stretched from one end of the hall to the other and there wasn’t a wolf or human in sight. Perfect.

  She held her breath, eased from the room and stepped out, ensuring the door clicked closed as quietly as possible. When no growling roars echoed through the hotel, she released the air in her lungs. Whew.

  She bolted down the hallway, anxious to get to Gabs and subsequently Scarlet for some girl talk. In moments she stood before her sister’s door. The keycard slid in easily, the little green light above the handle blinking to let her know she could commence with breaking and entering.

  The interior looked much like Whitney’s room, the entryway leading into a massive living room and two bedrooms branched off from the main space. Following the trail of clothing that led to the room on the left, she soon slipped into the trio’s bedroom.

  And way too much skin was exposed for her liking.

  “Gabby,” she whispered. Nothing happened. “Gabs, wake up.” The damn woman slept like the dead.

  Seeing a couple of socks nearby, she snared and balled them, slipping one inside the other. She hefted the light weight. It was just heavy enough to be thrown and hit her sister. Perfect. At least her time playing softball while her sisters studied wolf-land was good for something.

  Taking aim, she tossed it at Gabby, smacking her right in the face.

  “Wait, wha—” she snuffled. “No more. Tired.”

  God, she didn’t even want to know why Gabs was exhausted. Probably for the opposite reason Whitney wasn’t tired. “Gabby. I need you.”

  Her sister finally raised her head, hair sticking in all directions and squinting eyes met hers. “Huh?”

  “Come on,” she waved her hand, gesturing for her sister to get outta bed.

  Groaning, Gabby dropped her head back to the pillow and whispered into the room. “You so owe me. Breakfast. Lots. Coffee. More.”

  “Done. Come on.”

  Like a fluffy ninja, her sister wiggled and twisted her way from between her men, similar to what Whitney had done. Several tense seconds later, a very naked Gabriella was free of her sheet-prison. It wasn’t until her sister tumbled from the bed that she got an eyeful and Whitney whirled with a squeak. She loved her big sis, she just didn’t want to see all of her.

  The shuffle of clothes signaled the woman was getting dressed and then they were ready to go. Nearly silent they crept up the stairs.

  “Why are we sneaking away?” The whisper seemed like a scream.

  Right, nearly silent.

  “’Cause I said so.”

  “That only works when you’re older than me.”

  “Bite me.”

  “That’s Emmett and Levy’s job.”

  “I hate you.”

  “You love me.”

  God, normal. Normal felt so good.

  By then, they’d reached the top of the stairs to find a glaring Scarlet staring at them.

  Whitney smiled wide. “You’re awake.”

  “Under protest. The guys had some stupid meeting thing this morning and wanted a quickie before they left. Apparently baby making is number one on their to-do list.” The eldest Wickham shuffled to the large couch and flopped onto the cushioned surface. “I think my vagina is going on strike.”

  “TMI.”

  “Tough.” Scarlet stuck out her tongue. “Why are you here?”

  “To talk,” Whitney nibbled her lower lip.

  “Come on then. Order me some breakfast and pull up a seat.”

  A nearby guard stepped forward and Whitney didn’t even flinch. Crazy how, after two days, she’d already gotten used to the guards that surrounded her über important sister. She stared at the man, knowing he looked familiar. Well, more familiar than the others.

  “Hello Sexy! You’re still alive!” She grinned.

  Gabby nicked-named—or named depending how someone looked at it—the guard when she’d been going through the drama with her two mates the previous night. The guys had rejected her sister for some dumb reason. While Gabs had been trying to reaffirm her hotness, she hit on the guard. It’d been all fun and games until Gabriella’s mates threatened to rip the man’s head off.

  The wolf blushed and tugged at the collar of his uniform. “Um, Tor, Miss Wickham. And breakfast has already been ordered. It should be arriving,” a low ding from Scarlet’s elevator flitted through the room. “Now.”

  With that, the man disappeared and returned with a massive rolling cart topped with a half-dozen covered plates.

  “Oh, I think I love you, Hello Sexy.” Scarlet’s words were immediately followed by a wince. “Never mind, I hate you with a passion unrivaled.” Ah, her mates had to be speaking with her telepathically. “There? Better now?” When no more grumbles from Scarlet came, Whitney figured things were good.

  In moments, the Wickhams were settled and munching.

  “So…” Scarlet nibbled on the only freaking cheese Danish in the whole pile of food. “I’m not seeing that well-fucked look and you’re moving a little too well for a woman who had two sets of wolfy chompers in her shoulder.”

  “Yeah. We aren’t mating until ‘they’ve done some research.’” Whitney swung the air quotes, banana in one hand, squished muffin in the other. Well, brownie, but a muffin—even squished—qualified as breakfast more so than a brownie.

  “No boinking? At all?” Gabby was horrified. “You three were on fire when we left. Did they even throw you a bone? Like an orgasm or ten as a consolation prize?”

  Whitney shook her head. “Nope. They’re concerned about what would happen. Plus, I think they’re worried about Sarvis even though they said they’re not.”

  Scarlet nodded. “Yeah, he’s evil with a capitol ass and lowercase hat.” She tilted her head to the side. “I’m actually surprised you got here. I mean, he shoulda been lying in wait to pounce and steal you away so he could kill you and solve his little problem.” She shrugged.

  “Are you kidding?” Whitney hadn’t thought of that.

  “Duh. He’s like the evil villain. With all that snarling and yelling about you being handled ‘permanently.’ Plus that whole abomination thing.” Gabby snorted. “Just don’t go into any basements. Or bleach your hair blonde. In the movies, it’s the dumb blondes who get killed first.” Her sister’s gaze fell to Whitney’s chest. “I’d say don’t get a boob job, but they’re already big. Yet another movie-inspired strike against you.” She sighed and shrugged. “Not much to be done about it now. I’m sure Emmett and Levy won’t let him kill you.”

  “I just… But… I don’t know what to…” Whitney was sputtering, but there was so much disbelief and awe bouncing around that she couldn’t stop. She shoved her squished muffin into her mouth to keep the incoherent words at bay. Except even then, she managed to shout around the chocolate goodness. “You’re talking about me being killed like it’s nothing!”

  Which hurt. And annoyed her. She wasn’t sure which was worse.

  A familiar baritone cut in. “That’s because they care about you and you took a huge risk by leaving your room without your mates.” Whitney scrunched her face and squeezed her eyes shut. She hated it when others were right. The cherry on top was that it was a man who was right. Ugh.

  “Hey, baby,” her sister purred at her mate, Keller.

  “Ladies.” Eyes still closed, she listened as he thumped across the room and then laid a moan-inducing kiss on Scarlet.

  “Whitney?” Keller spoke to her.

  “Huh?” She wasn’t opening her eyes. If she kept them shut, she was invisible. Period.

  “I’m sure your mates—”

  The building shook, decorations and furniture bounced off the floor and pictures fell from the walls. With the first tremor, her eyes snapped open and the world seemed to move in slow motion. Glass shattered as the wood frames collided with the marble covered ground. A wave of pur
e, bone-crunching power immediately followed the earthquake. On its heels was a roar so loud that whatever hadn’t broken, splintered into a million pieces.

  Scarlet clung to Keller, his amber eyes boring into Whitney’s, while Gabby held onto her chair and miraculously, didn’t lose hold of her donut. Whitney held on to her own seat, gripping it tightly as the combination of the trembling building, the intense magic, and deafening roar flowed over her.

  “Your mates are awake.” Keller yelled over the growing din.

  She really wanted to give him the middle finger and scream a great big “duh.” True the roars were animalistic and could have been anyone, but she knew without a doubt the source of the drama was her mates.

  “Can you tell ’em I’m fine?” She echoed his volume. The man gave her a deadpan look. Ass. “Howl at them or something. Don’t you have a werewolf bat-signal?” His expression didn’t change. “Seriously? You got nothing?”

  Keller rolled his eyes, tilted his head back and let out a howl that nearly shattered her eardrums. He repeated it, a quick, triple yell that finally quieted the building.

  When everything settled, the man gave her a small smirk. “You are going to be in so much trouble.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She sniffed. She’d blaze her way through the coming confrontation. She was a big girl. She could see her sisters if she wanted to and they couldn’t say any—

  Then they were there, hair sticking up, muscled chest and abs bare, pants barely clinging to their waists, and eyes blazing white. Their magic lurked just below the surface. No hint of amber, no tell-tale signs that the wolf or man were in residence.

  Of course, their physical appearance wasn’t what shocked her. No, it was the way they hadn’t used the stairs. Or the elevator. Or doors in general. They popped into the room à la “I Dream of Genie.”

  One second the room held the guards, the Wickham sisters and Keller and the next, they had two more bodies with them. Poof.

  “Oh, that’s wicked cool.” Gabriella’s words cut through the room’s tension.

  “’Wicked cool?’ What, you’re from Boston all of a sudden?”

  “I watched Good Will Hunting.” She sighed. “Matt Damon is so hot.” Then Gabby rolled her eyes. “I hear you, I hear you. The gorgeous Matt Damon is not hot in any way, shape or form O-glorious Lickable Men.” Her sister turned to her with twinkling eyes. “Telepathy, a gift and a curse. It is fun to rile them up now and again.” Gabriella’s attention switched to Emmett and Levy and pointed at them before returning her attention to Whitney. “Just not that much. ’Cause that is wicked, please don’t kill me, scary.” Growls from Whitney’s mates sent the last few unbroken pieces in the room clattering to the ground. “And now, I’m out.”

  It was a mass exodus. Guards, Keller, and her sisters were there one second and then they were gone, all of them scrambling for the exits.

  “Traitors!” Of course, they didn’t hear her because they. Were. Gone.

  Which left her with two very pissed off, very large, very powerful wolves.

  “Um, hey, you’re up.” She faked a chuckle and gave them an unsure smile.

  “Yes,” Levy slowly advanced, his voice a little too calm for her tastes. “We are. And do you know what we woke up to?”

  “Um, did they forget your coffee? I distinctly remember ordering coff—”

  Emmett growled. “You. Were. Gone.” With every word, he took a stomping step forward.

  Whitney immediately jumped from her seat and put distance between them, hiding behind the chair she’d just occupied. “Now, we can talk about this.”

  Levy disappeared from the spot before her and reappeared at her back. Strong, fur lined hands gripped her upper arms. Really neat trick.

  “We can talk about the fact that we awoke alone? That we thought the worst? That we thought you were dea—” Levy growled and squeezed tighter. “We couldn’t find you, Whitney. We can’t sense you because we aren’t fully mated.”

  “Which we’re going to fix.” Emmett approached her, barley contained strength and tension filling his every step. “Now.”

  “Wait now, let’s slow your roll right there. We should talk or… something. You’re a little cranky right now—”

  Levy nuzzled her, stepped closer and his heat slid through the thin shirt she wore. He aligned his body with hers, shoulders down to knees, and she felt every dip and curve of his muscles. Then there was the thick hardness that fit easily along the cheeks of her ass.

  “Cranky is waking up without coffee. This is little beyond cranky.” He scraped her neck with his fangs and memories of the previous afternoon assaulted her. The pleasure, pure and sweet, pinged around her brain and she couldn’t wait for a repeat. She just hoped the whole intense pain post-orgasm thing didn’t come along again.

  So engrossed in Levy, she hadn’t noticed Emmett’s closeness. Not until he dug his fingers into her hair, tightened his hold and forced her to look at him. “This is furious. This is filled with rage. This is fixing the problem so this never happens again.”

  “Problem?” She tugged against his hold, wincing with the slight sting. “I am not a problem, you jerk! I am sweetness and light and the best thing that ever happened to you. Do you hear me? Sweetness and light!”

  “Emmett, back off.” Levy’s order was unmistakable.

  “No, she needs to understand the result of her actions.” He tugged again and the dim light that surrounded her flared to life with the small pain. She glared at him, matching his anger pound for pound and not caring if the man’s eyes were white. She should have feared him, feared the ire, but she didn’t bother. She was his mate, it wasn’t like he’d really hurt her. Maybe.

  “Whitney, Sarvis wants you gone. It’s a fact. We sugar coated things, but you know as well as I do that he’d like you six feet under. And if that happened, if you were torn from our lives,” Emmett’s hold eased, his fingers sliding from her hair to cup her cheek. He stroked her skin with his thumb, the gentle touch so different from the passion in his words. “If you died, the wolves wouldn’t survive it.”

  “Your wolves?” She was worried his answer would be…

  “All wolves.”

  Ouch.

  “The moral of the story is: staying alive would be good.” She released a small chuckle.

  “Yes.” Levy released her arms and slid his hands around her waist. “And part of that is mating you. Now. We’ll be connected like your sisters are with their mates and no one could ever take you and hide you. We’ll be a thought away.”

  Whitney’s heart hurt, a bolt of emotional pain spearing through her. “You only want to mate me to keep me safe. Last night you said…”

  “We said a lot of stupid things, but there’s no question that you’re ours and we’re taking you now. We can argue about it later.”

  “But later I’ll be—”

  She didn’t get a chance to finish. Not when Emmett kissed her. Hell, it wasn’t a kiss, it was a possession, a taking. His lips crashed to hers, molding to her mouth and forcing her to submit. Not that she had a problem with that. Especially when he slipped his tongue into her, licked and lapped at her. His flavors, sweetness with a hint of heat, exploded across her tongue.

  She moaned into him, letting Levy support her at her waist while she slumped forward against Emmett. She wanted more, she wanted everything. With the rise of her arousal her skin rippled and the glow intensified, the light slipping past her eyelids. She needed his touch, everywhere. Those lips needed to kiss the hundreds of Marks covering his skin. Twice.

  Their tongues twined and battled, Emmett stealing control until Whitney snatched it back. She wanted to submit to the large wolf, craved to let him take the lead, but she also didn’t want to simply roll over and bare her stomach. She hunted every hint of his flavors, delving deeper, sinking into him and she didn’t ever want to leave.

  Pushing even closer, she clutched at his shoulders and reveled in the feel of his muscles
flush against her, gloried in the thick cock that branded her hip. Regardless of their reasons, she wanted them. They belonged to her and she didn’t give a damn about the threat from Sarvis, she wanted to complete their mating.

  Whitney yanked her lips from Emmett despite her desire to do anything but keep kissing him. “Bed. Bed bed bed bed.” She pressed a hard kiss to his lips. “Bed.”

  “Coming right up.” Levy released her and Emmett swung her up into his arms, cradling her against his chest. He spun and strode toward an open door. A door that led to a bedroom in her sister’s suite.

  Whitney wiggled and fought. “Hell no, I am not mating in a bed I’m sure my sister has fucked in. She’s banged those two on nearly every surface, and I’m not risking coming into contact with their biological material.”

  “Biological material?”

  Whitney rolled her eyes and looked at Levy over Emmett’s shoulder. “Ex-wet spots. I am not touching those.”

  The wolf grinned. “You heard the lady, Emmett. No biological material.”

  Emmett gazed at her, and she returned her attention to the massive wolf holding her. “As my lady wishes. Hold on tight.”

  She opened her mouth to ask why except the air was sucked from her lungs and blackness invaded her vision. She couldn’t even see the now familiar glow of her skin within this… place. Yet, just as quickly as they’d entered the darkness, they emerged into the bedroom they shared. Still snug in Emmett’s arms, she pushed and wiggled until the man released her.

  “What the fuck was that?” She stumbled and fell back onto the bed.

  “That was how we got to you so quickly.” The two men advanced on her, Emmett to her right and Levy on her left.

  Only… suddenly, Emmett was gone.

  “And that is how we…” Gentle lips ghosted over the back of her neck. Levy was still in front of her which meant…” That is how we will always be where you need us.”

  “I, uh,” she shivered. “Need you.”

  Levy dropped to his knees and eased forward, nudging her thighs apart as he closed the distance between them. Her pussy heated, warming with their nearness and what was to come.