Didn’t those males know how easily people died? One moment alive, the next dead. The bonds would snap like a dry twig as the Mother gathered in a shifter’s spirit. Margery could still feel the broken-off tie to her littermate Orson.
Yet…Donal and Tynan did know of the fragility of life. A healer. A cop. In their own ways, they dedicated themselves to saving people. To dealing with death.
Despite her hot shower, the coldness lingered inside, as if her bones were made of ice. Donal and Tynan had almost died, dammit. The thought kept circling back. Didn’t they understand how much she lo—
She shook her head hard. No, love wasn’t what she could possibly feel. She hardly knew them.
Yet the thought of losing them was wrenching. Unbearable.
She tossed the towel on the rack. She needed to see them, to feel the warmth of their skin, to hear their voices.
The bedroom was dark, the only light came from flickering candles around the room. There was enough illumination to see Tynan sprawled on the immense bed, Donal on the small couch. Both wonderfully naked. Tynan so powerful and broad-chested. Donal all hard contoured muscles.
Smiling, they rose as she walked closer.
“Meggie.” Tynan’s smile faded. He touched her face gently, then silently gathered her into his arms. He laid his cheek against the top of her head. “What’s wrong, little wolf?”
For years, she’d dreamed of going home to Dogwood, of having everything back to what it was when the world was safe. His embrace gave her that feeling.
“I just…” Why was it so difficult to ask for what she needed? “Can you hold me for a minute? Both of you?”
“That we can do,” Donal murmured. He leaned against her from behind, his body warm and hard. He slid his arms between her and Tynan, his palms warm against her abdomen.
The males radiated heat. Her shivers faded. “I was so scared.”
“We were all scared.” Tynan stroked a hand over her hair. “Terrified, actually. But we’re alive, Meggie, and unharmed.”
“Can we—”
“Wait.” Donal’s grip tightened around her. “Tynan and I talked. We’d like to clear the air between us.”
What did he mean? “Clear the air about what?”
“About taking Oliver to task.” Fingers under her chin, Tynan tilted her head up to meet his eyes. “Sure, and it’s easy to forgive people when there’s life-threatening danger, but that seems too much of an easy out. What we’d like is this—”
“We stand by what we said—he should have protected you.” Donal kissed her hair. “But…we can see he’s having a rough time with all the changes in his life.”
Tynan’s thumb rubbed over her chin. His eyes were intensely blue—and honest. “We jumped in without talking with you first, and that was wrong. We hope you’ll forgive us, and we’ll try to do better next time.”
The resentment and anger toward them had still been there, buried down deep. As the tiny knot in her chest released, Margery leaned back against Donal’s hard body. “You’re forgiven. And…thank you.”
She smiled up at Tynan and hugged Donal’s arms closer around her. “Thank you for caring.”
“A cuisle mo chroidhe, that’s not something you’ll ever have to worry about.” Tynan’s words were an Irish-accented rumble. He bent to kiss her ear. Her neck. Her shoulders.
The Celtic endearment—pulse of my heart—blossomed inside her.
And under his touch, desire rose within her, as inevitably as the sun’s warmth brought flowers in spring. “Ohhh.”
Behind her, Donal’s hands cupped her breasts as he nibbled on her arm. “Mmm, you smell like cinnamon and apples. Very edible.”
Apple pie scented bath soap had been in one of the dispensers. As Donal kissed up her shoulder, her thoughts fragmented.
She ran her hands over Tynan’s thickly muscled chest, laying her palm there, on his sternum, to feel the beat of his heart.
A big heart to contain all that protectiveness and caring. So much like his brother. And she wanted them both so badly she started to shake.
She swallowed. They’d been making her ready, slowly, helping her to adjust to the idea of taking them both at once.
No more waiting.
Reaching back, she put an arm around Donal’s neck. “Tonight, I want you both. Inside me.”
Under her palms, she felt their muscles tense.
Donal paused. “Margery, I don’t know…”
“Tonight.” She made her voice firm.
Tynan studied her, his gaze darkening to the blue of a twilight sky, then he smiled slightly. “We’d hate to deny our female anything that would make her happy.”
“Ah, well, when you put it that way.” Behind her, the werecat laughed, then soundlessly moved away,