Chapter Twenty

Abbey cursed the hot tears that were spilling from her eyes. She had never been the type of woman to cry. Life had taught her that tears never improved a situation and often only made things worse and always left her with an aching head. And yet it seemed that all she had done for the last twenty-four hours was cry over one thing or another.

Now she was crying because Marcus only cared about her because she was his mate when she had already told herself less than ten minutes before that that was enough for her and she was going to be happy with it.

Abbey knew these tears weren’t only because of Marcus and Julian. These were ten years, probably even longer if she were being honest, worth of tears that were just now finally beginning to fall.

She curled up on the bed and her tears fell harder when she realized she could still feel the warmth from the brother’s bodies and she could smell Marcus’s masculine scent on the pillow.

There was a sharp knock on the bedroom door. Abbey sniffed, wiped her face on the blanket and swallowed hard around the lump in her throat, “I’ll be out in a few minutes.” She assured whoever was there.

“I’m coming in,” Marcus’s voice came back through. Before Abbey could say a single word, Marcus was in the room. A string of gruff curses left his mouth when he caught sight of her and in a movement that was faster than Abbey’s eyes could move he crossed the room, leapt into the bed and pulled her tight against him. “These tears are killing me, Abbey,” he scolded accusingly.

“Well I don’t like them either,” Abbey snapped in response, surprising even herself with the sudden surge of temper. She tried to struggle out of Marcus’s grasp but he growled and held her tighter, nearly to the point of cutting off her air completely.

“What did I do?”

“What?”

“Downstairs,” Marcus snarled. “What did I do?”

Abbey felt his lips brush against her hair, “Nothing,” she croaked between both the despair and desire clogging up her throat.

“You make a habit of randomly run crying from rooms after getting hotter than hell good morning kisses often?”

“I do when they don’t mean anything,” Abbey replied without thinking. She closed her eyes and winced. What had gotten into her?! Her mouth didn’t seem to know when to stop speaking anymore. After ten years of keeping her head down and her thoughts to herself her traitorous mouth seemed to be gaining a mind of its own.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Marcus demanded.

Abbey made one more attempt to get out of his strong arms and this time he released his hold. She scrambled from the bed and crossed her arms over herself protectively, “It’s nothing, Marcus. Can we just go downstairs and eat breakfast with the kids?”

Abbey turned to head toward the door but once again Marcus moved with that superhuman speed and was in front of her before she could take a full step. “No we can’t. Not until you tell me what the hell you mean by it meant nothing. It sure as hell fuckin’ meant something to me.”

Abbey pinched her nose between her fingers as her head pounded, “Marcus….”

“Dammit,” Marcus growled. “I thought we were better than this, Abbey. I thought that we….” Marcus stopped speaking and his blue eyes searched hers. “Why do you think that kiss meant nothing?”

Abbey didn’t want to have this conversation with Marcus. It was one thing to be sexually open with this man and another to be emotionally vulnerable. But she could not stand to see the pain and confusion in his eyes knowing that she had been the one to put it there…

But why was it there? Why would he be hurt by what she had said? She hadn’t meant to hurt him. Abbey would never hurt Julian and Marcus intentionally… not after all they’d done for her and not with how deeply she loved them both.

“Marcus, I don’t want you and Julian to think badly of me. I don’t want you to think I am a needy, whining woman who constantly needs more than what you’re giving…..”

“I find you frustrating, tempting and sexy as hell, Abbey. Needy, ungrateful and whiny are not words I would ever have used to describe you. Now quit playing games and beating around the proverbial bush here and tell me what the hell is the matter with you and what exactly you mean by it doesn’t mean anything?”

Abbey could tell that Marcus’s temper was hanging by a thread. She chewed her nail and backed away a step, “It’s okay, Marcus. I am happy with what you and Julian have given to me and my children, more than happy. The rest isn’t important.”

“The rest?” Marcus questioned, his thick black brow raising.

Abbey let out a breath of annoyance, “You’re not going to let this go are you?” she demanded.

“Nope. I’m the stubborn one,” Marcus growled.

Abbey smiled. How did he do that? How did he always seem to make her laugh and smile no matter how badly she was hurting or how scared she was? “Fine. With everything that you and Julian have given to me and to my children, I want you to know that it’s okay that love is not a part of that.”

“What the hell are you fuckin’ talking about?” Marcus snapped, his voice so deep and angry that his words were nearly unintelligible.

“You don’t have to love me,” Abbey assured him, praying that it would soothe his temper. “I promise it’s okay and I won’t cry or make a big deal about it any longer. I will….”

“Shut-up,” Marcus snapped and before Abbey could draw another breath he was on her. There was no tender build up to the kiss. It was hot and fiery right from the start as Marcus demanded entrance to her mouth and dominated her.

His hands went to her head and he buried his long thick fingers in her hair pulling until pain and pleasure mixed together and coursed through her scalp and down her body.

He pulled his mouth away and bit her bottom lip causing her to gasp, “We love you, Abbey. We fuckin’ love you so damned much that it hurts us. So damned much that every time you pull away, hide your feelings, doubt us or doubt your acceptance of us it almost kills us. Why can’t you see that?”

Abbey stared at him with shock. The effects of his kiss were still coursing through her blood causing her body to feel heavy and her mind to feel drunk. His words took a moment to sink in fully given her current state but when they did sink in she stumbled back.

“You love me?”

Marcus’s gaze turned more tender and gentle than Abbey had ever seen it before as he reached out and ran his calloused knuckle along the leather string of the necklace he had given her just the day before, “Of course I do.”

“Because I’m your mate.”

“Yes.”

“Oh…” Abbey bit her lip to fight back the tears that threatened to spill once again.

Understanding dawned in Marcus’s blue eyes, “Is that what this is about?”

“What?”

“Abbey, we love you. It doesn’t mean any less if it’s because you’re our mate. I love Julian because he’s my brother. I loved my mother because she was my mother. I loved my father because he was my father. I love those pups because they’re my pups and I love you because you are my mate. My sexy, frustrating, confusing, strong-willed mate who over thinks every little thing and needs to learn to just feel.”

“Feel?” Abbey whispered. Could she? Could she turn off her mind, turn off her doubts, and simply feel?

“Yes, Abbey, feel. I know you can. You did so in the barn with me, you did so in the truck, you did it in Julian’s bed. Do it again, Abbey.”

Abbey closed her eyes and drew on that bond between them. She felt it there just as sure as she could feel her heart pounding. Marcus loved her. It didn’t matter why the love had started or where it stemmed from, all that mattered was that he loved her and she could feel his love in the very depths of her heart. Marcus’s hand came to her cheek, “Tell me you want me, Abbey.”

“I want you, Marcus.”

“I won’t be as easy on you as Julian was. I’m a demanding lover.”

Abbey swallowed hard but nodded. She knew she could please Marcus. What they had shared yesterday in his truck had showed him that.

“I still want you,” Abbey admitted, knowing she’d never wanted anything more than she wanted him right in this moment.

“I won’t take you unless I can bite you, Abbey.” Marcus growled, his breath washing over her ear as he leaned close, “I won’t be able to stop myself from biting you, marking you, making you mine.”

“Will I become a wolf?” Abbey managed to question as Marcus’s arm looped around her holding up her body which had gone suddenly weak.

“No. You’ll be changed in every other way but you will not have the ability to become a wolf until Julian and I have given you our blood in return.”

Marcus must have sensed Abbey’s nausea at the idea of drinking their blood because he chuckled and his hands gripped her backside, “I promise that when you do it it will be natural. You’ll want to bite us the instant we bite you.”

“Okay,” Abbey whispered, deciding to take Marcus’s word for it.

“Please, Abbey, tell me I can bite you,” Marcus growled. Abbey felt his teeth graze against her cheek. “Let me claim you.”

Abbey felt her heart crying out to say yes even as those doubts attempted to overpower it. Marcus’s words replayed themselves in her mind, ‘Just feel, Abbey.’

“I want you, Marcus, I want both of you. I accept you.”

Marcus looked into her eyes and Abbey saw the happiness and the hunger both filling the blue depth of his gaze. She rose on her toes, still unable to reach his lips as he towered above her at seven feet tall. Abbey pressed a tender kiss to the side of his chin and Marcus trembled against her.

“I can’t….” Marcus growled.

He jerked away from her and Abbey felt cold with the loss of him, “Why?” she demanded. “All this talk and getting me to agree just so you can pull away from me? Is this a game?”

“Hell no!” Marcus ground out, his fists were clenched so tightly that Abbey could hear them popping. “I’m going to mark you when I take you the first time Abbey and I can’t mark you without Julian. That is something we have to do together.”

Abbey’s eyes widened as his words sunk in, “Both of you?” she gasped. “At once?”

“Yes, Abbey, both of us. Both of us licking, tasting, teasing, claiming, touching. Both of us making you fuckin’ come until you can’t even remember your own name and can only scream ours as you plead for mercy….”

“Marcus, I want you now,” Abbey pleaded as she stepped closer.

“Abbey…..”

Footsteps pounded down the hallway followed by Tanner’s voice, “Mommy! Marcus! Breakfast is ready!” he exclaimed as he came bursting into the room.

“Tanner!” Julian came running in behind him.

“Your babysitter card has been revoked,” Marcus growled at his brother. Abby was too busy blushing and trying to calm her breathing as Tanner yanked on her hand.

“Are you both okay?” Julian asked quietly, his gaze locking with Abbey’s.

Instantly Abbey felt that sense of peace that Julian always seemed able to give her, “We’re fine,” she assured him and was surprised to find that she meant it. For the first time in a long time, Abbey knew exactly what she wanted and she was one hundred percent okay.

“Mommy, come eat!” Tanner exclaimed. “Julian made omgets.”

“Omelets,” Julian amended.

“Okay, let’s go,” Abbey replied. She paused when Tanner pulled her past Marcus, “Tonight,” she whispered.

She could hear the brother’s murmuring voices as she left the room and then she heard a hungry growl which she knew belonged to Julian. Trembles washed over Abbey’s body and tingles raged between her legs.

Tonight she was going to give herself to two men, her mates, the missing pieces of her soul. Tonight would change her, and her life, forever. She wouldn’t become a werewolf, not until she bit them which she wasn’t ready for, but the bond between she and the brothers would become more intense, she would have heightened senses and she, and her children, would no longer be human mortals. Their lives would be much much longer.

For a moment the thought of her children gave her pause but Marcus’s words came back to her mind and she was able to push aside her doubts, not silence them but ignore them. Her children would be better off, this is what was meant to be, Abbey believed that. She had to.

“Mommy, it’s Saturday!” Audrey exclaimed when Abbey and Tanner entered the kitchen. “Can we ride horses today?”

“Sure,” Abbey whispered, glancing at the clock. “If Marcus and Julian say it’s okay.”

“They will. They love us!” Audrey smiled.

Abbey nodded. They did. It was the greatest blessing in the world that those two men loved them all.

The curse of it was that it was only eight in the morning and it was going to be a very long day of anticipating what was going to happen once night fell.