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“I’m so sorry, baby.” Birk’s hand came down on her head, and he stroked her cheek. “I hate myself for being too rough with you. I should have known it couldn’t work with a human.”
She gasped and sprang up. Her body screamed for mercy, but she ignored it.
“How can you say that? It was good, wasn’t it?”
Kotori walked into the room holding a glass of juice and something in his hand. She realized both men were dressed. Worry niggled at her gut. Pain choked her at the words Birk spoke, which were obviously a rejection.
“Here, baby, take these.” Kotori handed her two pills. She recognized the pain meds and wished it were three. Two had never worked on a regular headache. Grateful anyway, she took them and swallowed the meds with the juice.
Kotori sat down on the side of the bed. Birk had drawn up a chair to watch her sleep. He leaned forward now and made her lie back. She didn’t fight him because her arms shook with the weight of holding herself upright. They’d worn her out, that was for sure, but it was only because she needed time to get used to their lovemaking.
“I just need time. I’ll adjust.” Neither man responded, and she bit her lip. She would not beg to be with them. No one had claimed this would be long term. “Hey, don’t worry about it. It was fun, and we had a great time, didn’t we? If nothing else, I will walk away from this with a greater respect for your kind. I can’t, in good conscience, hand you over to my family. I’ll . . . I’ll find some excuse, and that will be all there is to it.”
She thought of how angry Kasen had gotten when she’d called it quits before. Well, he could get the hell over it. She would not be bullied to betray Birk and Kotori. Whether it was right to love them or not, she did, and she would not stand by while someone killed them. Maybe going back was the best way to protect them. She could control what information her family gained about the shifters and know that they weren’t targeting Alaska anymore.
Grogginess settled over her, and she yawned. “Just let me get a little more rest, and I’ll be ready to head back down to Juneau with you. Like I said, it was amazing. I hope you two enjoyed yourselves even though I wasn’t able to keep up.” She peered through her lashes at them, and the misery clouding their handsome faces shocked her.
“There is no pleasure outside of you, Shiya,” Birk said.
“Ditto.” Kotori’s answer was more a snap, filled with anger and impatience.
She reached her hand out to him, and he took it, brought it to his nose, and breathed deep. Birk slipped from the chair to the bed and drew her onto his lap. He buried his nose in her neck.
They act like they love me. Why don’t they say it? Why don’t they let me stay?
Her heart shattered, and she didn’t mean to do it, but she started to cry. Birk crushed her in his arms, and Kotori drew the covers around her. For a long time, they stayed in that position, until she drifted off to sleep.
* * * *
Once again Shiya woke from a long sleep. This time, a noise jarred her awake. Her mouth felt like cotton, and her muscles hurt no less. She rubbed her eyes to try to get the sleep out of them, and the pounding came again. She sat up and scanned the room to find she was back in her suite, in bed. Her heart plummeted.
“I know you’re in there, Shiya. Open this damn door!”
Kasen. She slid from the bed and looked around for clothes. An outfit lay neatly folded on the chair with her cell phone on top. The guys. She noticed they’d powered off her phone, probably to allow her to get some rest. She smiled, her eyes growing wet. She would not cry, no matter what. Her decision had been made, and now was as good a time as any to let Kasen know that.
She pulled on panties, jeans, a bra, and a long-sleeved shirt. “Hold on, Kasen,” she shouted and darted into the bathroom to brush her teeth. When she thought she looked presentable enough, including boots on her feet, she went to answer the door. Making the man wait this long, he’d probably be in a sour mood, but that couldn’t be helped.
Shiya swung the door open and gasped. “Shae!”
Her sister darted into the room and scooped Shiya into a tight hug. “Hey, girl.”
Shiya grabbed her hand and dragged her over to the couch to sit down. “I thought you were in Maine. What in the world are you doing all the way out here?”
Shae rolled her eyes. “Drama queen over here made me come. He said you needed my help.”
Kasen stalked around the room, checking closets as if he thought she hid shifters in them. His black mood radiated off of him until Shiya wanted to scream at him to get out. She turned back to her sister, who traveled so much, she didn’t get to see her as often as she liked. They talked on the phone daily, though, and when Shae had time in the evenings, they Skyped.
“Sweetie, where were you the last few days?” Shae asked her.
Shiya looked at Kasen, who’d gone still, and then back at her sister. “I . . . I was doing my job.”
“Yeah, fucking those things,” Kasen snapped.
Shae glared at him. “Get out.”
“Excuse me?” Kasen stood over the two of them, his brows dropping low and his lips tightening. A nerve jumped in his jaw. “Maybe I need to remind you, Shae, that you—”
“Maybe I need to remind you that I don’t answer to you, and that bullying shit you do with Shiya won’t fly with me. I’ll beat you down and send you home to your wife. Don’t play with me, Kasen, because I’m not the one. Now let me talk to my sister alone!”
