Chapter 14
LAUREL
I stayed at Calvin’s for dinner. When the baby fell asleep and Barclay began giving Calvin longing glances, I took the hint and said goodnight.
The walk was chilly but short, and as a few raindrops fell on my head, I was already marching down the driveway to the B&B. Stupidly, my chest felt all jittery and tingly as I neared the house. Were they home? Jordy was probably at work, but maybe Monty…
The windows downstairs shone yellow in the dark, but Monty always left the lights in the breakfast room on. It didn’t mean he was there. The main door was open too, but in Beauville, nobody locked their doors.
I stepped inside, peeked into the breakfast room, and something tickled in my chest at the sight. I pursed my lips to dampen my giddy grin.
Monty sat in an armchair, with an open beer bottle and a laptop on the table in front of him. Had he been waiting for me? As soon as he saw me, he closed the computer and beamed at me.
“Good evening. Have you eaten?”
“Hi. Yeah. Had dinner with Calvin and Barclay.”
He gestured to his beer bottle. “Want one?”
“No, I’m good.”
His face fell a notch but brightened again when I lowered myself into the armchair facing him.
Nervousness crept in, making me fidget. This could get so awkward.
Monty’s eyes glittered with excitement, though. Yes, he’d been waiting for me, and that shouldn’t have made me this happy, but it totally did.
“Listen, about last night,” I began, and Monty’s eyebrows flew up.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Um. I slept great. So thanks, I guess.”
“I assure you, it was our pleasure.” His gaze dropped to my lips, but only for a split second. He kept his expression carefully friendly.
I fingered the zipper on my hoodie, moving it up and down an inch. Suddenly, I regressed to high school, my stomach in knots as if I was about to ask a crush to grab a milkshake with me. Where to start?
I might have been taking Monty’s interest in me for granted.
But if I wanted more, I would have to open my mouth and say so.
And what about Jordy? Because I wouldn’t want anyone to feel left out…
Who was I kidding? I was so fucking greedy.
I wanted them both, big and warm, squishing me between them like a sandwich filling.
Maybe I should bring up the practicalities first and see where we’d land.
“You’re quite discreet, aren’t you? I mean, nobody knows about Jordy and you.”
Monty leaned back, playing with his half-empty beer bottle, pulling on a loose edge of the label. “Nobody in Beauville, no. It’s none of their business.”
“Uh-huh. Thought so.”
The zipper got stuck, and I fiddled with it until it slid down. The room was warm, so I left my hoodie open in the front. With annoyance, I noticed a small stain on the gray shirt I wore underneath. Was that tomato sauce? Eww. I’d never get it off.
“I would never tell anyone anything about you,” Monty said. “And Jordy will respect your privacy too. You know that, right?”
I lifted my gaze to meet his. “Yeah.”
I barely knew why, but I trusted him implicitly. His warm brown eyes bore into mine, curious but kind.
Monty wore yet another red-checkered flannel shirt, unbuttoned over his massive chest, his bulging pecs and round belly outlined by the thin white cotton T-shirt underneath.
A tuft of brown chest hair stuck out from his collar.
I could climb into his lap and snuggle up to all of that and breathe in the scent of cocoa…
“Are you feeling more relaxed today?” he asked, the question heavy with meaning.
“Um. Sort of.”
I’d be more relaxed if you could call your pal and lick my hole some more…
Jeez, was I nuts? I couldn’t say anything like that out loud.
He drank his beer, and I searched my brain for the right combination of words—something that wouldn’t make me sound like a creepy nympho. Before I could come up with anything, Monty set the beer bottle aside and cleared his throat.
“If you want…”
“I want,” I blurted.
Forcing myself not to fidget, I held Monty’s gaze. He studied me without a speck of judgment.
“Jordy and I could help you unwind again tonight,” he said.
Oh please, yes, thank you. A thousand times, yes.
“Is he here?”
“He should be on his way from the pub.”
“Um.” Fuck, why was I blushing? “I’d love to…unwind with the two of you. Maybe in the vicinity of a bed.”
Suddenly all businesslike, Monty grabbed his phone. “Let me message him.”
Before he could finish typing, the main door opened. Jordy walked in, shrugging out of a wet raincoat. I hadn’t noticed the pattering of drops on the window, but now I could hear it. It sounded like a proper downpour.
“Hi,” he called, stomping his boots on the doormat. When he noticed me, he hesitated. “Hello, Laurel.”
“Hi, Jordy,” I piped up.
He hung the coat on a hook, took off his boots, and put his hands on his hips. He glanced from Monty to me. “This is weird.”
Monty chuckled. “A bit, yeah. But Laurel and I were talking, and he said he slept really well last night. Maybe we could help him unwind tonight again.”
I wanted the ground to swallow me up. I literally asked them to make me come so I could sleep. What was wrong with me?
But Jordy just smiled, his dark eyes glinting with good-natured mischief. That smirk was unfairly sexy. “Sure, we can.”
“A bed? He’ll be more comfortable in a bed.”
Jordy gave a brisk nod. “Let me just grab a shower, and I’ll be right with you.”
He swiveled on his socked feet and disappeared down the narrow stairs to his apartment.
Oh God. We were doing it.
Monty grinned, all warm and friendly, as if we’d just decided on a soup dinner and a foot rub. That man was really a different species.
“Would you like a drink in the meantime?”
“Do you still have the prosecco you served me the first night? That was nice.”
His grin widened as he shot up from his seat. “Sure do.”
He rooted in the fridge behind the bar and took out a bottle. He opened it and poured two glasses. He left the third one empty, presumably for Jordy to decide whether he wanted one.
I expected doubts to start creeping in, but as I followed Monty to the bar counter, I remembered how I lay on top of it last night, naked from the waist down, white-knuckling the edges. How it felt to have them eat me out, over and over, until I vibrated with pleasure…
Nope, I wouldn’t back out of this.
“How’s Calvin?” Monty asked casually.
We’ve just agreed to have a threesome. But sure, let’s chat.
“He’s great. He enjoys being a dad, and Barclay dotes on them both. They’re happy.”
“Barclay used to be a sad, grumpy loner. Now he seems a decade younger. Lucky bastard.”
“The mating thing. It really perks one up, huh?”
Monty clinked his glass with mine. “It works on most bears. A happy, loving bond is the most important thing in a shifter’s life.”
“You and Jordy are not looking for mates?”
He got suddenly overly interested in the bubbles rising in his drink. “It’ll happen one day. I refuse to lose sleep over it until I’m at least thirty-five.”
“You can’t be mated to each other?”
He shot me a confused look. “I’ve never heard of two bear shifter alphas being mated to each other.”
“I know a few alpha couples. Humans, though.”
“That’s good, I guess. Folks used to be assholes about two alphas or two omegas in love, right?”
“Some still are, but it’s getting better.”
“Huh. I figure it’s different for shifters. You kinda know that you’ll find your fated one day. So everything else has an expiration date.”
For the first time, I noticed genuine sadness in Monty. He must care about Jordy more than he let on.
The stairs squeaked, and Monty’s face brightened. Jordy came up from downstairs, in jeans and a worn-out T-shirt that used to have something on it but had been washed so many times it was no longer clear. He was barefoot, and his hair still looked wet. Damn, he was sex on legs.
“Want a glass?” Monty asked.
Jordy didn’t take his eyes off me. “Yup.”
The sound of fizzy liquid filling a glass grew deafening in the stillness that followed. Monty closed the bottle with the kind of cork that kept the bubbles in and set it back in the fridge.
My stomach was in knots, and my heart thumped double time, as I watched Jordy throw back the contents of his glass. His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he licked his lips.
Monty appeared behind me, the heat coming off his body permeating the material of my hoodie. Or maybe I imagined that? Because I felt hot all over, my skin prickling.
But Jordy didn’t seem nervous at all. His smirk grew, bordering on cocky.
“So? Where do you want us, superstar?”
Oh my God.
Was I crazy?
I lifted a finger, pointing at the stairs.
“Lead the way,” Monty murmured behind me.
So I went. I had to consciously slow down my steps because a part of me, the horny, touch-deprived part, wanted to sprint up to the top floor while ripping my clothes off on the way.
They followed, floorboards creaking under their feet.
By the time I reached my room, I was breathless. I wouldn’t look back. I opened the door and dragged the hoodie down my arms. The air felt chillier than downstairs, and goosebumps rose on my arms. Even so, I took the shirt off too, and unbuttoned my jeans.
Then I paused, facing the bed. Should I lie on it? Should I strip or wait for them…
The door clicked shut.
“Can I?”
It was Monty’s voice. A warm palm skimmed my shoulder blade.
He was asking permission to touch me.
Shit, I was shaking so hard I was vibrating. Was it really that cold in here?
“Yeah.”
But then planes of hairy skin pressed to my back, and I exhaled with relief. I fell into the warmth, closing my eyes. Monty’s palms stroked along my waist and over my belly.
Could I just not do anything? Not decide anything?
“What do you want, Laurel?” Jordy’s breath brushed my temple.
A second pair of hands rubbed my pecs and shoulders, down my arms, and back up.
“Warm me up?”
What a silly request. Out of all the things I could have asked for…
“You have goosebumps,” Monty whispered.