pull at his shirt, frustrated that layers of clothing are coming between us, but my animal is in charge now, so my movements are clumsy and unsuccessful.
“That’s it. We’re helping her ride her wave,” I hear Herrick say, and my animal practically preens with victory. “She can’t go with a fucking human like this. Her animal will either go crazy and hurt him, or she’ll be left wanting. Neither of those is acceptable.”
“I agree with Herrick,” Man-Bun declares. “Penn?”
Penn pulls his mouth away from mine, and I make a squawk of protest. I try to get his mouth back, but he dodges me expertly by turning his head side to side. Undeterred, I start kissing up his neck and jaw instead, and I get rewarded with a shiver.
“You okay with that, Addie?” he asks huskily, trying to get my attention.
I hear his words, but nothing registers except for this raging need inside of me. My animal doesn’t understand why these three shifters aren’t taking care of me, and she’s getting frustrated that Penn isn’t giving her what she wants—what we both want. I bite him on his neck hard enough to draw blood as punishment.
“Ouch!” He flinches. “Mean little thing.”
Angry at him for denying me, I push away and wiggle out of his hold. As soon as my feet hit the ground, I spin and grab onto the next nearest shifter body, which happens to be Mr. Man-Bun.
“Hell yeah,” he smirks.
I yank him by the beard hair to shut him up. He laughs and lifts me up, and then starts carrying me away. “Guess that’s her way of saying yes,” he says over his shoulder as I start nuzzling into his neck. He smells so good.
“Addie? What the…What’s going on? Hey, Addie!”
I don’t even look up at the sound of Mario’s voice as Man-Bun continues to carry me off. My animal has completely dismissed him. I hear raised voices behind me, but then I’m being tossed into the back of an SUV and I don’t care anymore. As soon as Man-Bun climbs in after me and shuts the door, I try to jump him, but he just chuckles and holds me back.
He presses me against the seat and then buckles me in, keeping a firm hand over my collarbone to hold me in place. I huff out in annoyance when he stays out of reach, and his brown eyes sparkle with amusement. “Patience,” he chastises.
A noise close to a whine comes out of me, but it only makes him laugh. “You’re gonna have to wait, beautiful.”
I scowl at him, even as my hands come up to touch him anywhere I can reach.
The front doors open and Penn gets into the driver’s side while Herrick hops into the passenger seat. They slam their doors shut, and Penn wastes no time peeling out of the parking lot and onto the road.
Immediately, I lean forward to try and get closer to the guys up front, forgetting about the seatbelt and Man-Bun’s hold on me. When I can’t reach them either, my temper rises. Unfortunately, so does my heat. I feel like I’ve caught on fire.
Herrick whips his head back to look at me. “She’s sweltering, dude.”
Penn looks at me from the rearview mirror and immediately puts my window down. I don’t know if it’s to let the cool air in, or to force my scent out, but it’s not what I want, and my animal side doesn’t understand why I’m being denied.
My frustration and need becomes so intense that tears start falling down my cheeks. Man-Bun’s brown eyes widen. He slides closer to me and cups my face in his hands. “Shit. What’s wrong?”
“What’s happening, Lafe?” Penn asks, his tone clipped.
“I don’t know, she’s fucking crying!”
“It’s the heatwave, dude. You’re holding her back when what she needs is contact,” Herrick answers.
“Well, I didn’t want to take advantage and fuck her in the car!” Man-Bun, AKA Lafe, retorts.
I continue to cry, feeling the tears sizzle against my skin, and more wetness gathers between my legs as my insides clench and writhe.
“Move her over,” Herrick orders.
Lafe drops his hands from my face, unbuckles me, and slides me over to the center seat. Herrick climbs to the back with us so that I’m sandwiched between them. He immediately wraps me up in his muscled arms and presses my head to his chest where I can feel his warmth and breathe in his scent. It instantly makes me feel better. Behind me, Lafe starts kneading my shoulders