Third Time Lucky

He was blocking her escape now, though, wearing an expression that said he knew exactly where her thoughts had gone.

“You aren’t interrupting,” Harris said. He let the towel drop, and her mouth went dry.

“You’re joining.”

“Um.” She licked her lips and wrenched her gaze from his cock. Need punched hard in her belly. “Bad idea.” She picked up her shoes, but Ethan didn’t move from his position blocking the door.

“I should go,” she said softly. “I need to go.” What she really needed was one of them moving hard and fast inside her, but if they knew that, they’d use it to keep her here. To make it reality. She shut her eyes, afraid they gave her away, and took a deep breath. A mistake. She took their scents deep into her lungs. Ethan was masculine and woodsy, while Harris was rich and mysterious. She got a seductive hint of how theirs would mix with hers if they were mated. She frowned and took another breath. One already had a piece of the other’s. Harris and Ethan belonged to each other, though she didn’t think they realized it was a done deal yet. She opened her eyes, looked first at Ethan, then at Harris.

“I really don’t belong here,” she said, ignoring a twinge of regret. You don’t want that, remember? Two obnoxious alpha males trying to control her life? No way.

“You’re wrong about that,” Ethan said so softly even her sensitive ears had to strain to make out the words.

And still he guarded the door. She very carefully kept her eyes off Harris, who stood naked just a couple of feet away. She’d never find the necessary strength to walk out of the house if she looked at him, so she concentrated on Ethan.

“Let me go.” Damn it, the demand sounded more like a plea. If she showed any weakness to him now, he’d pounce. She knew it, and she suspected she wouldn’t be able to resist.

“Where?” he asked sharply, letting that playboy facade that made her crazy drop. “Where will you go? To someone else? I’ve allowed this because of my relationship with Harris, but do you really think I’ll let you give yourself to another man?” There was incredulity in his voice, but it barely registered. For the first time, she thought there might be a way to defeat the heat. Fury. Pure, undiluted rage. The kind only a cornered female wolf would indulge in.

“Allow? Let? I don’t answer to you. Who the fuck do you think you are?” She’d moved close enough to punctuate her words with a finger on his chest, and she should have known better. He gripped her hips, hard, bruising, and pulled her closer. The eyes that stared down into hers glowed yellow, the tiny partial shift that indicated the wolf was more in charge than the man.

“Your mate,” he growled. “That’s who I am.”

It was said with fierce possession, commanding, and oh so dominant. Her heart thudded in her chest, heavy and fearful. But a secret, buried part of her was excited. Eager. He pulled the hem of her dress up so that it exposed her panties; then he slid his hands under them. Bare flesh.

She was still furious, but her body, her wolf, knew this man’s touch. Knew how right it could feel if she just let go. But letting go with a dominant male equaled giving in. Submitting. If she did it once, he’d expect it always. Especially if she did it now, while she was in heat. He would expect her to take a submissive role and not just in the bedroom. It would change the entire dynamic of their relationship in a way neither she nor her wolf could accept. Knowing all that didn’t change her secret yearning one damned bit, though.

She struggled to free herself, but it was a halfhearted attempt, and they both knew it. Ethan didn’t let her go, and from the corner of her eye, she saw Harris step up behind her. His erection pressed against her butt, and she didn’t know if she should groan or cry. They were insistent, and she was weak. She could resist the pull she felt toward Ethan most of the time, but she couldn’t fight the heat or the attraction she felt for them both now. Her usual emotional armor was useless with this need raging through her. The only recourse was to beg. She laid her hands flat on Ethan’s chest and looked up into his gaze.

“Let me go,” she pleaded. “Don’t do this to me, Ethan. Please. You know what happens with the dominant females when they mate. I don’t want to become that woman.” He looked stunned at her admission and a little hurt. “Gabby. Baby. You know I can’t walk away now.”

Because in a roundabout way, she’d admitted it, hadn’t she? Admitted she knew he was her mate, that she’d been fighting the bond for what felt like forever. She leaned her head back against Harris’s chest, and Ethan reached up to brush her hair out of her face. Maybe they would sleep, and she could sneak out later. Run fast and far. With enough distance, maybe she could free herself. She was strong and capable. Another pack would take her in.

“Whatever plan is going through that pretty little head, forget about it,” Ethan said softly.

“And it’s not all the dominant females. Liza isn’t exactly submissive. I don’t think she knows how to submit.”

“And it’s a constant problem. How many arguments have you walked into?” she asked.

Ethan didn’t look concerned anymore. Instead he smiled. “I asked Zach about that once.” Zach was the pack’s beta. “He said the arguing is fun, because then they have to make up.” She scowled. “That’s stupid.”

“But it’s probably the only time Liza will let them take care of her. Spoil her.”

“Even stupider. All that strife just to give in?”

“Maybe,” Harris said in her ear, “you should ask Liza how she feels about it.”

“I would hate it,” she grumbled.

Harris laughed. “You aren’t her, and we aren’t them. What makes you think our relationship will be anything like theirs?”

Our relationship? She wanted to point out he was taking a lot for granted. She wasn’t agreeing to any kind of relationship with either one of them in her current state. But the point of no return was quickly approaching. She needed to get out of this room, out of this house. Though she admitted she probably didn’t have the will to leave anymore.

Harris’s cock still pressed insistently against her ass, and Ethan had moved his hands to cup her breasts. She