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“Sorry.” He clears his throat. “But uh, you need to sleep in the bed. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if you slept on that stiff couch all night.”
The couch really isn’t so bad, but it’s not nearly as comfortable as the queen-sized bed in the bedroom with the soft, downy mattress. Obviously, Quinn should have the bed because she should have the best of what we have.
“I agree. You take the bed, and we’ll sort ourselves out in here.” I don’t have to look at Ian to know that we’re thinking the same thing—that we might both end up sleeping on the floor by the bedroom door just to make sure she doesn’t sneak out on us.
Quinn’s gaze moves between Ian and I, a troubled look in her eyes as she nibbles at her plump bottom lip.
She lowers her voice and asks, “Should we talk about…” She holds her hands out and waits for us to fill in the blank, but I’m not sure if she means we should talk about the mate bond or the wolves following her.
“Anything you want,” Ian says, hanging on her every word. He steps closer, his eyes shining with interest as he waits to hear her finish her own sentence.
Her cheeks flush, which is so precious that I want to gather her curvy form up against me all over again.
“I’m not imagining the bond, am I?” she whispers, throwing a hand over her eyes like she’s too embarrassed by the words to look at us as she says them. That won’t do. I peel her hand away and clasp it in mine, ignoring the longing look Ian shoots our way as if he wants to take my place.
She has two hands, my wolf points out to him with a bit of a growl.
Ian wastes no time taking the place on the other side of her, sitting next to her on the couch as he takes her other hand and presses his thigh against hers. I’m pleased to see that she makes no effort to move away from either of us, so she doesn’t seem disgusted by the possibility of being double-bonded to brothers.
The thought had crossed my mind that she might immediately want to cast one of us out and claim only one. How would Ian and I survive that after walking away from our packs to be a family again?
Hopefully we won’t have to find out.My wolf doesn’t even like me considering the possibility, so I shut the thought down.
“Sweetheart,” I squeeze her hand in mine, “You’re sure as hell not imagining it.”
SEVEN
QUINN
Three mates in less than twenty-four hours. The reality of it makes my head spin as I stare at myself in the mirror and brush out my hair using a comb borrowed from Mason.
“You okay in here?” Ian slides into the partially open doorway and hovers a few steps away from me.
His eyes follow my hand as I needlessly continue to comb. I’m only using it as an excuse to avoid facing the situation outside the bathroom. I’ve already changed out of the dress and into a pair of shorts and T-shirtandbrushed my teeth. Twice. But I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do with… whatever the hell is going on with my life right now. Three mate bonds? It seems inconceivable.
I make myself set the comb down on the sink and turn my body to face him. I feel bad for being suspicious about Ian grabbing my bag earlier, because I realize now that he’s a complete sweetheart.
“I’m okay,” I tell him softly.
“We don’t want to make you uncomfortable, Quinn. We could take the sleeping bags outside and—”
“You don’t need to, Ian, I promise.” I take a risk and step closer to him, my heart hammering in my chest. There’s a thought dancing in my head that lodged itself there earlier. I haven’t been able to shake it, but I’m worried what he’ll think if I actually voice it.
He reaches out with his thumb and smooths the skin between my eyebrows, and I feel them jump toward my hairline as my stomach tightens pleasantly. “What are you thinking, beautiful?”
Say it.My wolf is insistent—she knows exactly what we want. I’m less sure but not totally unwilling to explore.Invite them into the bed before you lose your nerve.
“Maybe we could share the bed,” I rush out in one gust of breath.
Ian’s eyebrows furrow, and his mouth falls open slightly, looking as dumbstruck as I feel at what feels like a too-sudden suggestion. He blinks slowly before saying, “Did you just—”
“You don’t have to. It’s fine.” My stomach tightens harder, and I suddenly think I might be sick, heart sinking at the way he looks at me like I’ve surprised him. I don’t knowwhyI thought maybe they would have at least considered the idea of sharing the bed with me.
“Quinn, wait.” Ian tries to stop me as I slide past him, but I dodge him and slip away toward the bedroom.
My whole body feels hot with embarrassment. Of course they’re not thinking about sharing the bed with me. They’ve done nothing but be complete gentleman and here I am with my hormones waking up for maybe the first time ever. But there’s just something about these men that makes me want to throw myself at them.
What do I even have to offer them, though? I’ve spent the past several years making love happen for other people, but I know nothing about the bits beyond the emotions. I’m not totally clueless about the physical aspects of love, but...
