Page 13 of Just Right (The Beasts of Blackmoor #3)

SOFT

I think I always knew it wouldn’t be a one time thing. After having Finn, it becomes a ‘whenever we can be alone’ thing.

For the next three nights, I stay in Finn’s bed like I have been.

Only now? He’s not sleeping outside of the door like I caught him.

We’re fucking— sorry, mating . It would be ridiculous to let him learn all about pleasuring a woman while his brothers find excuses to leave the cabin—I mean, with the stacks of chopped wood growing outside, I know that’s what they’re doing—then pretend that I’m not once Colt and Rowan are home.

Besides, that’s his room. Why shouldn’t he sleep in the same bed as his…

What?

Fuck it, I have no idea what I am.

Am I his mate? I want to say that I am. It’s true that Finn almost too innocently changes the subject without ever confirming it to me, but when I think about how darkly Rowan promised that he’d mark me with his teeth if he gave in to my temptations and joined me in that tub, then remember that Finn has been careful not to even nip me with his teeth as he learns his way around kissing with his tongue…

I’m his lover, but maybe not his bonded mate.

Does that make sense? It shouldn’t. If bear shifters wait for their fated mate, and Finn fucked me after I all but threw myself at him, then I should be his mate.

Does a bite—or a lack of one—change that?

Does it matter? Especially when this can only last another week and a half at most and I still need to at least make some effort to look for Charlotte?

So busy with Finn these last few days, I’ve selfishly neglected the reason why I’m here.

I guess, in a way, I’ve accepted that my odds of finding Charlotte Linden in the whole of Blackmoor when I have a bear who won’t leave my side, plus his two older brothers who are insistent that I’m not allowed to step foot off of their territory until it’s time to lead me out of the forest again are pretty small.

My best chance is to just make it through the rest of the twenty-one days I promised Blackmoor, get my wish, and hope they weren’t full of shit when they said I could use it to find out what happened to my friend.

But that’s not the only thing I’ve been neglecting…

I thought that the strange fever I experienced would disappear once I took Finn as my lover.

In a way, it did. That all-consuming need to fuck hasn’t come over me again; at least, not anymore than my constant arousal when Finn is near.

He’s doing the best he can to satisfy me, and while I’m enjoying my time with him, it takes a few days before I admit that I… I’m not satisfied.

I need more .

Fuck, I’m greedy. If I’m Finn’s mate, I shouldn’t have a wondering eye. And yet… there’s been a few times that I’ve waited until Finn needed to make a trade or tend to his bees or do some other task that Rowan’s come up with to sneak out of the cabin and go in search of Colt.

Now, do I realize that Rowan is doing everything he can to keep Finn and me apart? Yup. Is it equally as obvious that, despite the way he came between Colt and me that day in the woods, he’s subtly pushing me toward the middle brother? Oh, yeah.

Does he watch me from the shadows of the living room like he wishes I would climb on top of his lap, join him on his stool, and kiss him as wildly as I do his youngest brother.

Uh-huh.

But it’s not Rowan that I search out. At least, not yet. Big brother is ready for Goldie, but Colt…

Every time I find him, he’s swinging his axe, sweaty and shirtless, smirking at me as he flexes his muscles, the display for me and me alone.

He invites me to sit on a log, watching him work, and if our conversations are a mix of innuendo, suggestions, and me having a hard time believing that, like his brother, Colt is also a virgin…

I’m enjoying this time with him while his twin is distracted.

Finn knows that this is where I spent my time when he can’t be with me. If he has a problem with me clearly flirting with his twin, I’d hope he would say something. Is this thing we have exclusive? Maybe if I was his mate, it would be. But since I’m not…

I like Finn.

I like Colt.

I like Rowan…

And I’m Goldie. Why shouldn’t I try on my three bears for size to see which one is just right?

I should be sleeping.

After the way Finn made up for spending most of the day tending to the hive, preparing for the upcoming change in season, I should be exhausted.

I’m not. If anything, I’m ready and raring to go again.

Not my ‘little bear’. I’ve exhausted him happily. His arm was heavy on my waist when my impulsive nature has me kissing the top of his hand before easing it aside so that I could slip out of his bed. He didn’t stir thankfully. He just let out a soft exhale as I tucked the quilt around him.

Then, without looking back—just in case I lost my nerve—I padded barefoot out of his room, made a pit stop in the water closet, then approached the room next door to Finn’s.

I knew exactly where I was going, and when I see that the door is left ajar?

I know that I’ve been expected .

Taking a deep breath, I tiptoe inside. Grabbing the doorhandle, I close the door behind me.

The first thing I notice is that there is a single oil lamp running on his nightstand, a flame climbing high, throwing orange light on the male waiting for me in the bed.

His bed… I remember that, of the three in the cabin, Colt’s was the softest. Layers of furs, pillows and blankets, sheets that smelled like woodsmoke and sin. Then I met him, and I couldn’t help but think that it was too soft for someone like him.

At first, at least. Now? Now I know better.

Colt likes soft things, but despite his more aggressive nature, he has a soft side, too.

I don’t have a brush, but on more than one occasion, he’s used his claws to untangle the knots in my curls.

When he realized that I like apples, he ventures further into the woods so that there is always a fresh supply for me to choose from if I get peckish.

As cocky and demanding as he is, he also takes every chance to brush up against me, breathing me in, touching me…

and I don’t just mean in that possessive way he did when he was ready to take me up against the tree.

Though, as I lock eyes with him, I’m hoping that that’s exactly how he’d like to touch me now .

Colt is currently sprawled out across his bed, hands behind his head, eyes on me expectantly like he’s been waiting for me.

Oh. And he’s naked .

That’s not so unusual. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about shifters, it’s that nudity doesn’t bother them.

They’re naked as their bear, and they come out of any of their shifts without a stitch of clothing on.

Besides, the three of them live alone in a secluded part of a mythical forest. It’s not often they have company on their territory, and they don’t have some freaky incest thing going on, so what does it matter if they’re naked?

But the way his cock is on display, his body propped up so that I can’t miss it among the piles of blankets and furs?

Yeah… he’s been waiting for me.

His lips curve upward, no hint of his bear’s fangs. I don’t fall for it, though. The Brown brothers, whether they’re in their skin or their fur, are always bears.

“Little thief, sneaking into the night… I was wondering how long you were going to sleep alone.” His eyes flash in the lamplight. “Or how long Finn was going to keep you all to himself. Doesn’t he know that brothers should share?”

There’s a whisper of something dark in his otherwise light-hearted tease. Part dare, part something else entirely, I know that I made the right decision coming here tonight when he mentions ‘sharing’ as cavalierly as he does.

He knows that I just left his brother’s bed. Sure, I cleaned up a little before coming here, but if the hungry look on his face is anything to go by… he doesn’t give a shit.

He’s more than happy to share.

Well. In that case…

Trying my best to sound as bold and brash as Colt usually does, I remind him, “You said that you’d never let me leave your bed, knowing I was in it once.”

He raises his eyebrows, though I’m not sure that’s more because I climbed on top of his bed, hurriedly straddling him awkwardly before I sunk down into the mattress, or because of my reminder.

His hands land on my thighs. Despite his smirk, his fingers are trembling slightly. “I meant it, Aurelia.”

No, no, no… Colt might call me ‘Aurelia’ instead of ‘Goldie’ because he can be contrary like that, but when we’re together… “Aren’t I your little thief, Colton?”

He shudders. “Fuck me. You don’t have to steal what I’m happy to give away.”

I let out a soft laugh. “Well, I’m glad to hear that.” I plant my hand on his chest, using my thumb to rub the space between his pecs. “And I’d love to take you up on that offer.”

For a moment, he’s stunned, then he’s confused. His tongue darts out, dabbing at the corner of his mouth. “Yeah? What offer was that, gorgeous?”

I lean in so that he can’t miss the lust on my face as I tell him: “To fuck you.”

Now, I know I shouldn’t compare the brothers. I especially shouldn’t compare the twins. I’m sure Finn and Colt are used to that, but they’re so different to me, it’s easy to separate them.

When it comes to fucking? That’s another way they’re completely distinct.

Our first time— his first time—Finn took it slow.

Colt? He’s the opposite. As though he’s convinced that I’ll change my mind if he doesn’t take me up on my offer immediately, there is no foreplay.

There is no honey on my tit or his tongue in my pussy.

Nope. There’s just a powerful lumberjack using his strength to flip us both so that my back is cushioned by his super soft bedding, his big body pressing down on me as he takes his first kiss.