The Better to Eat You With: Urban Fairytales, Book 2 Read online

  Maybe not in words, but in deeds she had. So many times and in so many ways. “You didn’t have to.”

  “I’m confused.” Yvonne’s voice quavered as she spoke.

  “I know, baby.”

  “Let us in and we’ll talk this through,” Daniel promised. “Just the three of us.”

  Yvonne looked from one man to the next as if she was carefully weighing her objections. In her eyes, he could see the war taking place. On one side was the good dutiful daughter and upstanding citizen who’d never done anything scandalous in her life. On the other was a woman of unseen passions, one who wanted to explore all the options they were offering her.

  “You guys can come in, but you have to be good.”

  “I plan on being very good,” Daniel said in a playful, suggestive tone.

  Her full lips twitched. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

  “There’s no reason for you to ever be afraid of us,” Ezekiel said firmly.

  “It’s not the two of you that scares me.”

  Ezekiel scrunched his brow in confusion. “Then what does?”

  “I’m scared of myself and the way I feel when I’m around the two of you.”

  “That’s nothing to be scared of.” Daniel’s voice was filled with masculine pride.

  “Says you.” Yvonne took a deep breath then a step back, finally giving them room to enter her house. “You might as well come in so we can talk.”

  Talking wasn’t going to be the only thing they did tonight, but Ezekiel was wise enough to keep that to himself. Instead, he murmured a thank you as he slipped into the dimly lit room. As was his habit, he took off his jacket and hung it up on one of the coat hooks on the entryway wall mirror, before taking a seat in what he’d come to think of as his spot on her red couch.

  Daniel did likewise with his jacket, then joined Ezekiel on the couch, in his spot, leaving an empty space in the middle for Yvonne. To Ezekiel’s surprise though, she didn’t take her usual seat between them. Instead she walked over to the wall and flicked on the light switch, then over to the television to turn it off. When she was done with that, she pulled the coffee table back a bit then walked around it and sat on the wood-incased glass top.

  The confidence Ezekiel had felt on the stoop began to slowly slip away. She was trying to distance herself from them. Frustrated, he reached out and took her hand in his. “Don’t.”

  Ezekiel didn’t have to say what he didn’t want her to do. From the guilty look on her face, Yvonne knew all too well. “I need to know why,” she said, as she pulled her hand free of his.

  “Why what? Why you?” Ezekiel asked.

  “No, not why me.” Yvonne bit her lip and stole a quick glance at Daniel. “Why us? Why do you want us all to be together?”

  Surprised, Ezekiel glanced over at his frowning friend, then back to Yvonne. “Could you pick between us? If we’d both asked you out, could you choose between us?”

  “No.” Yvonne flushed and looked away. “I couldn’t.”

  “There’s your answer,” Ezekiel said. “We aren’t saints—”

  “That’s no lie,” Daniel interjected, adding his two cents.

  “Neither one of us were willing to take the high road and bow out for the other.” Ezekiel was unapologetic. “We both want you. We both love you.”

  “And we both plan on having you,” Daniel insisted.

  Yvonne cocked an eyebrow. “Do I get a say in the matter?”

  “Only if your response is yes to being our mate.”

  “Or,” Daniel cut in, “harder, faster, don’t stop.”

  Yvonne stared at Daniel in shock. “I can’t…” She shook her head as if to clear her mind. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

  “Neither can I.” Ezekiel shot his friend a disgruntled look. They were supposed to be wooing her, not letting their inner freaks out. At least not yet.

  “What?” The small smile Daniel flashed was anything but innocent. The man was a menace, and if it wasn’t for the fact they were friends, and his mate was in love with him, Ezekiel would have killed him on the spot.

  “I…I don’t think I’m ready for this conversation.”

  “Oh but you are.” Ezekiel wasn’t letting her backtrack, no matter how frightened she was. The time for hiding was at an end.

  “No, really. I’m not.” Yvonne knew she should have never opened the front door. Separate, the men were trouble, together they were lethal. Although she’d imagined being with the two of them time and time again, now the actuality of it all was staring her in the face and she was scared shitless.

  “You were more than ready in the kitchen at the meeting hall before my father interrupted.”

  “Yes, but then reality kicked in.”

  “What reality?” Ezekiel asked, much to her dismay.

  “This one,” she said, gesturing between the three of them. “Come on, guys, you know this could never work.”

  Daniel’s brow furrowed. “Why not?”

  “Because it’s not normal.”

  “You do know you’re talking to a werewolf, right?” Ezekiel questioned in a dry tone.

  “Okay, well.” She had to give him that. “But werewolves are part of the norm now. Ménages, not so much.”

  “I strongly feel the need to interject here,” Daniel said, speaking up. “I have two questions. One, what’s so good about normal and two, since when do you want to be like everyone else?”

  “I don’t necessarily, but I couldn’t even fathom how we should go about this.”

  “Don’t worry.” Daniel smiled. “I have ideas enough for all of us.”

  Amazed at his bravado, Yvonne shook her head. She’d definitely bitten off more than she could chew with the two of them. There was no way in the world she’d be able to handle them both, either in bed or out of it. “I think this was a bad idea. You should pick someone else. Both of you.” Even though it pained her to say, she had to. She couldn’t ever give them both what they wanted, and she’d rather see them happy with someone else than miserable with her.

  “Someone else,” Ezekiel echoed. “Don’t you know, Yvonne? There is no one else. Only you.”

  Only her? She was totally bewildered by his comment. “Since when?”

  “Since the day I walked into your shop and realized you were all grown up. It threw me for a loop, to tell you the truth. One day, you were this girl I knew and the next you were this woman I wanted to know better. The more we hung out, the harder I fell. I’ve been addicted ever since.”

  “I opened the shop three years ago.”

  “I know,” he said simply, as if that explained everything.

  “Are you saying you fell in love with me that day? Three years ago.”

  Ezekiel nodded. “Pretty much.”

  “And you?” Yvonne turned to Daniel, who’d been silently watching their exchange. “Did you fall in love with me then too and not say anything?”

  “No.” He smiled. “I was slower on the uptake than Ezekiel. It didn’t hit me until about a little over a year ago. But by then I was dealing with guilt of my own. I’ve known how Ezekiel’s felt from almost the moment he did and I couldn’t help but believe as if I was doing him dirty by loving you too.”

  “But the two of you worked it all out and came up with this great idea of sharing me.”

  “No.” Ezekiel chuckled. “I wish it was so simple.”

  “Amen,” Daniel muttered.

  “This was not an easy call on either of our parts, but we’ve had a year to become accustomed to the idea. You’ve had what…” Ezekiel looked down at his watch, “…four hours?”

  Who was he telling? Yvonne was painfully aware of every minute that had passed since his announcement. “Then are you guys going to give me a year to adjust to the idea?” Maybe by then she could work up the courage to reach out and take what she wanted.

  “No.” Daniel shook his head. “You have about five minutes, starting…now.”

  “Five minutes, I see.”
She should have known it wouldn’t be that simple. “What happens if I haven’t decided by then?”

  “Then we begin convincing you.” Ezekiel smiled his feral grin. “Slowly.”

  “Oh no you don’t.” Yvonne rose from the table and walked around it, putting a little distance between them. If he touched her, she was as good as done. “You still haven’t answered all my questions.”

  “What more do you want to know?” Ezekiel asked calmly. “We’re here at your command.”

  “Doubtful.” They were far too bossy to ever follow orders.

  “Try us.” Ezekiel sat up, rising to the challenge in her voice. “Try me.” The way he said it sent goose bumps racing across her arms. His stare was bold, his voice was like velvet and his smile was so animalistic it was frightening.

  Never before had he appeared more wolf-like than he did at that moment, and without thinking, she said the first thing that came to mind. “My, Grandma, what big teeth you have.”

  “The better to eat you with,” he parlayed back, apparently pleased with the comparison she made. “Do you want me to put it to the test?”

  “Putting it to a test gets my vote.” Daniel rose to his feet. “In fact, the more I think about it, the better it sounds.”

  Ezekiel wasn’t the only one who could make her squirm. “Oh no.” Yvonne took a step back. “Stay back, Daniel.”

  “Why?” he asked, as he began to slowly move toward her. “So you can keep putting up roadblock after roadblock, hiding from what we feel? Hiding from what you feel.”

  Yes, that was sort of her plan. “I’m not doing that. I’m merely trying to be logical here.”

  “Fuck logic,” Daniel bit out. “No, fuck me.”

  “Wait.”

  “No, I’m tired of waiting. Tired of sitting idly by the person I love more than life itself and being unable to hold her, touch her or tell her how I feel.”

  “Love?” She still couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact they loved her too.

  “Yes. Love. I love you. Ezekiel loves you, and damn it you love us. Now say it. Tell me you love me. Tell me it hasn’t all been one-sided. Or tell me you don’t feel the same way about us that we feel about you.”

  “I…can’t.”

  Daniel stopped in mid-step and stared at her incredulously. “You can’t say you love us?”

  “No, I can’t say I don’t feel the same way about you. I do love you.” Tears pooled in her eyes as she looked from one man to the other. “I love both of you.”

  Daniel reached out and pulled her into his arms. “God, baby. You had me scared there for a moment.”

  Yvonne clung to him. “I’m scared too. Scared of what my family will say, how people will react to the three of us, but mostly I’m scared of losing either one of you.”

  “You won’t.”

  “Never.” Ezekiel joined them, wrapping himself around her from behind, trapping Yvonne in a cocoon of their love. They stood together in silence for a few minutes before Ezekiel spoke again. “You have no idea what we had to do to get here today.”

  Yvonne leaned back against his chest. “You kicked butt is what.”

  “Damn straight I did. Lars didn’t stand a chance, and do you know why?”

  That was a no-brainer. “Because you’re a major badass.”

  “No, but thank you for thinking so.” Ezekiel kissed the top of her head. “But the reason he lost was because he was fighting for the right to marry. I was fighting for you.”

  “But that’s not the only thing we had to endure.” Daniel had a faraway look in his eyes as if he was remembering something before he spoke again. “Ezekiel and I had to come to terms with our feelings for you and overcome our own jealousies and insecurities. I never dreamt I’d share the woman I love with another man.”

  “Neither did I. Wolves are very possessive by nature, but this just feels right to me. Maybe not at first.” Ezekiel’s words caused Daniel to grin, which made her wonder what exactly the two of them had to do in order to come to terms with their feelings for her. “But now I know it could never be any other way.”

  “I know we might seem a little pushy, but don’t think for one second we don’t realize the difficult situation we’ve put you in.”

  “We just knew in the end it would be worth it.”

  Yvonne wished she could feel as secure as they obviously did. Despite how warm and cozy she felt when surrounded by the two of them, Yvonne moved out of their arms. She needed to think and that was next to impossible to do when they were so near. “Let’s say I agree to this madness. How would it work?”

  “How?” Daniel’s brow furrowed with confusion.

  “For instance, where would we live? We all three own homes.”

  “True,” Ezekiel agreed, “but my house is larger with more land if we ever feel the need to expand.”

  “Plus,” Daniel added with a smile, “his does come with the already built-in doggy door.”

  Ezekiel chuckled. “There is that.”

  Moving out of her house made things seem even more real, and it also brought up another question. “How is the sex thing going to work? Do I share a room with you for half the week then one with Ezekiel for the other half?” There were seven days in a week. To be fair, would she spend Sunday alone in the guestroom? “How do we decide who—?” In the midst of talking, she noticed the two of them glance at one another with a look that was too close to amusement for her peace of mind. Were they laughing at her as she tried to piece together their modern-day Brady Bunch? “I don’t think so. What the hell was that?”

  “What?” Daniel asked, his lips twitching as if he was fighting back a smile.

  “That, that.” Yvonne narrowed her eyes and gestured between the two of them. “The little ‘isn’t the naïve girl cute’ look the two of you shared.”

  “The only thing the two of us are going to share is you,” Daniel said. “There’s no look.”

  “Liar. From here on out, there will be no secrets. No secret looks, no secret talks behind my back, no secret planning. Tell me what’s going on. Now.”

  “There are no secrets, baby. In fact, so there is no mistake, let me go ahead and put it right there on the table. There will be no alternating days, weeks, months or even holidays. You’ll legally be married to me, my mate in the eyes of the pack and in the eyes of the law, but you will be wife to both of us. Live with both of us.” Ezekiel held her gaze. “Fuck both of us at the same time.”

  “Well sometimes it will be just one of us, but not for days or weeks on end,” Daniel added.

  “When we say we want to share you, Yvonne, we mean all of you. At all times.”

  She couldn’t have understood them correctly, could she? Yvonne glanced from Daniel to Ezekiel and all she could think was double gulp. “I’m not sure that’s feasible.” Her words came out in a hesitant whisper.

  Daniel chuckled. “Of course it’s feasible.”

  “More than.” Ezekiel smiled. “And we can prove it.”

  “You can?”

  “Yes,” Ezekiel said. “The only question is, do you trust us enough to find out?”

  And what a mighty fine question it was. “I…I…”

  “It’s us, baby,” Daniel reminded her. “Just say yes.”

  “And what happens if I do?”

  “Then we show you why two is better than one.”

  Well damn. Try as she might, Yvonne couldn’t walk away from that. “Then yes. Show me.”

  A sweeter challenge had never been laid down before him. Daniel felt as if he’d been waiting for this moment for what felt like a lifetime, and he planned to enjoy every single second of it. With his gaze firmly centered on her, Daniel walked around her until he was standing behind her.

  When he was in position, he glanced over at his friend, who was watching them with a predatory look in his yellow eyes. It was a feeling Daniel could attest to. The hunger he felt for Yvonne was like none he’d ever experienced before, and he couldn’t wait a second mor
e to have her in his arms.

  Gripping the bottom of her shirt in his hands, Daniel slowly began to edge it up her supple thighs. Even though he needed her more than he needed his next breath, he wanted to make sure she had plenty of time to call a halt to things if she so desired. “Raise both hands.”

  She turned her head to stare wild-eyed at him. “What?”

  “You heard me,” he said, this time in a firmer voice. “Raise your hands.”

  Still watching him, she did as he requested. “Good girl.” Acting swiftly, Daniel pulled her shirt up and off with one sure move.

  “Daniel,” she gasped as she quickly covered her bare breasts.

  “What?” he asked calmly, amused by her outrage. “What did you think I was going to do, ask you to do the hokey-pokey?”

  “No, but you could have given me some warning.”

  “Like what, raise your hands?”

  “You…” Yvonne paused in mid-rant to shake her head and smile, “…are such a brat.”

  “And you are the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen.” Daniel ran his gaze over her back, smiling at the dragon tattoo on her right shoulder blade, then groaned when his gaze landed on the sight of her full, mouthwatering bottom, framed ever so nicely by a pair of pale yellow bikini panties. “Speaking of sexy.” He reached out and lightly ran his hand over her firm cheek, giving it a little squeeze for extra measure. “Nice ass.”

  “Thanks,” she said, her voice filled with humor.

  “No, no. Thank you.” Reluctantly, Daniel removed his hand and walked around Yvonne until he was standing at Ezekiel’s side, facing her. “Take your hands down.”

  Watching them, Yvonne slowly lowered her hands to her side, bringing her large, full breasts into view. Her dark brown nipples beaded under their stare, making his mouth water and cock ache to delve deep within her. He watched her hungrily as she stood proudly before them, dressed only in bikini-cut panties. The golden color of the underwear made her dark skin appear even more decadent.

  “Damn.” The word slipped out before he could stop it, spilling into the silent room like a dirty secret. It wasn’t what he meant to say. Daniel prided himself on his silver tongue, but right now he couldn’t come up with a better compliment if he tried. She was truly breathtaking.