Page 122 of Tempting Fate

Chapter Forty-Seven

Emerson

Jamie is the first through the door when we return to the house. He pauses in the hallway, head cocked to one side as he listens. “Nick?” he calls. No answer.

Patch closes the door behind us, which brings him in close to me, the heat of him pressed against my back. My heart pounds against my ribs. When we first got in a taxi to come back, I thought we might sit and talk for a while, but now that we’re here…

I want them. I need them. Logically, I know that they haven’t lied to me and we’re all in this together—in fact, I think Patch and Jamie might be even deeper than I am—but I need them to prove it to me. I need to prove it to them.

“No one’s here,” Patch says. I want to see him shift again, too. I want him to explain every little detail about being a wolf, and I want Jamie to share everything he knows, so we can discover this world of magic together.

“Really?” Jamie spins around. He’s grinning. “You’re sure?”

“Positive.” Patch doesn’t put an arm around me, so I lean back against him. He makes a surprised sound. “I thought you’d want to talk about this. You’ve learnt a lot. You’ve got to have questions.”

I do. I’m sure I do. Except now I can’t think of a single one except, “Why aren’t we in bed right now?”

Jamie’s eyes darken. “Great question. Patch, why aren’t we in bed right now?”

Patch snorts. “I swear…” he mutters, and then his arm tightens around my waist, and he drags me in so my back is flush against his chest. His breath is hot on the back of my neck. “I need to know you’re both all in on this. Please.”

“One hundred percent,” Jamie says, chin high.

I sink back against Patch and meet Jamie’s gaze. “I’m all in,” I say. How can I not be? I want these two men so desperately, and since the moment I met them, a part of me has known that. “I promise. I don’t think that’s ever going to change, but I’ll let you know if it does.”

“And mating?” Jamie asks. He pulls a face. “I need a bit of time for that, I think.”

My cheeks heat. Sam explained that to me—and Cate, since she was just standing there—in great detail. There seem to be a lot of things to consider when it comes to that.

“Yeah, me too.” I twist in Patch’s arms so I can look up into his face. “That’s okay, right?”

He kisses me softly, lips lingering. “More than,” he says. “We’re going through enough change as it is. Besides, my sister would kill me if I mated you both without you meeting her first.”

“So… no mating tonight?” Jamie says. I don’t have to look back to see he’s smiling.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Patch replies. “We should practise. We wouldn’t want to be terrible at it when the time comes.”

I lean in and ghost my lips over his. “Perish the thought.”

Jamie laughs before I can kiss Patch, dragging me back by my belt loops. “Come on upstairs. I’d fuck you both in the hallway, but I think Nick would finally lose his shit if he walked in on that.”

We’re careful to keep our hands to ourselves as we make our way upstairs and into my bedroom. Jamie grabs for me first once the door is closed, and I groan into our kiss, giving back as good as I get. Patch stays close and tugs at the hem of my T-shirt, dragging it up.

Yes. This is what I want. We were slow and careful last time. I want us all to lose ourselves this time around, when Jamie knows where he stands with us, when Patch and I aren’t caught between our own confusing feelings.

When Jamie pulls back from our kiss, I grab Patch and haul him in for one of his own. He moans into it, going docile under my touch. Jamie inhales shakily. I lift my head and watch him kiss down Patch’s throat.

“Can he leave a mark tonight?” I want to see that. I need to see that.

“Fuck, yes,” Patch says. His eyes flash silver. I grin. I’m sure I saw that before but thought it was a fleeting trick of the light or that, later, I’d imagined it. No. That’s a sign of his wolf, isn’t it?

Jamie says nothing, but he keeps his mouth on Patch’s throat as he shoves his hand down the front of Patch’s trousers. Patch whines and arches into his grip. I shove Patch’s T-shirt up until I can get my mouth on one of his nipples. When I suck hard, he keens, thighs shaking.

“Fuck, oh—Fuck.” His eyes flutter shut and I see, when Jamie lifts his head, the red bruise on our mate’s skin. Possessive heat curls in my belly.

“That looks so fucking good.” I barely recognise my voice with how gravelly it is. Jamie’s hand keeps moving and he grins at me cockily.

I grab him by the back of the neck and slam my mouth on his. He pushes back when our tongues tangle, but then I suck on his, squeeze his nape, and he sags a little, letting out a breathy moan.