Page 20 of Just Right (The Beasts of Blackmoor #3)

TOGETHER

F inn doesn’t join us.

As Colt curls up at the foot of the bed, and Rowan snores away after I sucked every last drop of come he produced before making a show of swallowing it, the fact that Finn didn’t join us… it’s not right.

It’s not right.

Looking back later, I’ll know that was the moment that I finally understood what Blackmoor… what the fever… what the bond was trying to tell me.

There is one. Or, rather, there’s three . Me and my three bears, and the reason it didn’t feel right after being in bed with both Colt and Rowan?

It’s because Finn wasn’t there.

I know he has to be awake. I did my due diligence as a wicked mate, making both Rowan and Colt scream with pleasure before we were done. Even if Finn did listen to Rowan and go to bed, he has to be awake.

He is.

Finn is lying on his side, his back to the door as I push it open. I ease in, letting the door close behind me after I gave it a gentle shove. He doesn’t move, but I can sense something in the air. A heavy emotion that has my over-sensitized nerves twanging away as I move silently toward the bed.

He doesn’t move. I reach out, tapping his bare back. Knowing it would only come off as rejection if he ignores me—and that Finn is too kindhearted to do that to me—he turns so that he’s on his back.

The quilt is tented. Unlike Colt, Finn didn’t decide to take hs cock in hand once he heard his older brother and me going at it. Instead, if let the erection linger as though he couldn’t be bothered with it.

Good. I’m more than happy to take care of it…

Through the rising sun seeping in through the open window, I can see the hope mingled with confusion flashing across his features.

“ Honig ,” he murmurs softly. “What are you doing here? I thought… I thought you chose Rowan as your mate.”

See? That’s the problem. Like me, Finn believed I would settle on one. But that’s where I got it all wrong.

Who says I can only have one mate? If they don’t mind sharing… I sure as hell don’t.

Instead of answering him, I throw the quilt away from him. Finn makes a small ‘oh’ sound when his erection is revealed—and when I immediately reach for it.

His eyes roll back in his head as I squeeze. “ Honig… ”

“ B?rchen ,” I murmur, leaning near him. “Do me a favor. Sniff me?”

He doesn’t ask why. Once he gathers his wits about him, his nostrils flare. “Colt? You smell like Rowan and Colt?”

I nod, twisting my wrist as I leisurely stroke him.

Shame that it’s not enough to distract him. “But… why ?”

“That’s the wrong question, Finn,” I tell him. “The better one is why make a choice at all, hmm?”

He doesn’t quite understand. “What does… oh. Oh . What are you doing?”

I lift my head up from his lap. While he looked at me in confusion, I took advantage of it to lie out on my belly, leaving my legs hanging off of the side of the bed, taking his cock into my mouth.

It falls out with a slight pop as I glance up at Finn. “I got to taste Rowan’s honey tonight. Now I want yours. You mind?”

He shakes his head so quickly, I swear his eyes bobble back and forth. “Not at all.”

I know.

Because I’m his mate. Just like I’m Rowan’s, and Colt’s, too.

And as their mate?

I can do whatever the fuck I want.

Except keep them—or can I?

Claiming to be a little sore and a whole lot of tired, knowing that the three bears would each blame themselves for my teeny-tiny fib, I take the opportunity to sleep by myself for the first time in days.

I nap straight through to the afternoon, then ask the first Brown brother I see if he’d be a gem and fill up the tub for me.

Part of me is glad that it’s Finn. After that charged moment between Rowan and I the last time he dunked me in the tub, I’m not sure if I would have been able to hold him off the way I planned.

Thankfully, Finn is so eager to just see a smile on my face, he fills the tub, brings me shampoo and soap, and leaves me alone so that I can bathe without him ogling me, hoping for a quickie.

That’s important to me. If I do what I’m about to do… and, who am I kidding? I know I’m gonna… but if I make the next move, I want it to be about more than sex. I mean, sex is great. It’s definitely a factor in my decision, but that can’t be all there is.

Last night, after Finn fell asleep while I suckled him, I stayed awake a little longer, thinking about what it is I want. For so long, it’s been about what everyone else wants. My bosses. My job. My neighbors.

Charlotte…

What about me? I’m thirty-two, stuck in the same level without any hope of a promotion on the horizon. No relationship. No family. No real friends since Charlotte disappeared… what do I have to go back to? And what would I give up if I left?

Now, I’m not saying that I’ve made up my mind one way or another. But if there is a chance that staying with my bears might be the right ‘happily-ever-after’ for me, I have to make sure that it’s on the table.

And that’s what I’m worried about.

Rowan would order me to stay.

Colt would make a sly comment that he wouldn’t let me go.

Finn would beg me not to leave him.

But together? Would the Brown brothers want to keep me as theirs forever? Because that’s what I need. No fling. Nothing short-term. If I sign on to ‘happily-ever-after’, I want that ever .

And that means I need to know that they all accept me as their mate. Until I have three bites, three marks claiming me in their shifter culture, I can’t be sure that they do.

After I’m as clean as I’m going to get, I do the best I can with my curls, then grab a thin robe from Rowan’s closet.

Ever since it dawned on me that he got all of those clothes for his mate—for me —I don’t even question why they all seem to fit me so perfectly.

It’s like he somehow knew that he was waiting for me, and with the magic everywhere in Blackmoor, I wouldn’t be surprised to know that was the case.

Still, there’s one thing that Blackmoor’s magic can’t account for, and that’s a human’s free will. I make my own decisions. They’re not predictable. Half the time they don’t even make sense. But when I make them, I stand by them.

After all, that’s how I ended up in the small German village in the first place. And that’s how I ended up walking into the living room, wearing a slip and an enigmatic smile long after I told the three bears that I was going to sleep.

Whoops. I fibbed again. I went upstairs after dinner to give myself one last chance to change my mind, but like I said, I made up my mind.

It’s time to go through with it.

Now that I’ve seen Rowan as a bear, for the first time since I’ve arrived at the cabin, he’s joined the twins on the floor in front of the fire in his fur.

The two smaller bears are clearly Finn and Colt.

They’re smacking each other with their paws, each trying to get the best spot next to the flames, while Rowan stretches out on his belly, watching them with clear and honest affection.

He’s the first one to sense me walking into the room. His head swivels, those adorable round ears of his twitching. He rumbles softly, a greeting from the bear, as he slowly pulls himself up into a seated position.

My smile widens just a little as Colt follows Rowan’s lead, discovering I’m watching the three of them with affection of my own. He bops his twin, Finn rubbing the back of his head with his paw, both of them chuffing when they see me.

Welp. Here goes nothing.

With a seductive shake of my shoulders, I slip the robe off.

I’m not wearing anything beneath it, and though there’s one thing I won’t do—fuck my bears while they are bears—I figure, if they will be naked when they shift back to their skin, I might as well get a start on it by undressing first myself.

I cup my breasts, showing them off, then ask, “So, which of you is my mate?”

It’s a trick question. I know the answer, and I only hope that they do, too.

Rowan shifts back first, immediately stalking toward me. Finn comes back to me next, with Colt shifting only a second behind his twin. However, while Rowan closes the gap, standing right in front of me, the twins hang back.

Just like I figured.

I arch my eyebrows. “Well? Now that I have you back in your skin… does anyone want to use their words and finally answer me? ‘Cause I know I’ve asked this a bunch of times. C’mon. Who is it? Who wants to be mine ?”

Finn whimpers. Colt mutters a soft curse under his breath.

Rowan speaks up first.

“I claimed you.” He ghosts his fingers over my fresh bite on my neck.

“You did,” I agree. “And then you shared me with Colt. But he still hasn’t marked me yet. So does that mean you’re my mate.”

“Not by my choice.” Colt takes a step toward me. “You wanted Finn. You chased after Rowan. But me? Oh, my little thief… you settled for me. You would never want my bite. Not the middle brother.”

Well, that explains why Colt didn’t bite me last night.

I’d wondered, figuring it had to do with the fact that Rowan didn’t give him permission to go that far.

Sure, fucking me while I blew Rowan was fine.

But biting me so soon as Rowan did? Oh, no, no, no.

My suspicion only seemed to be more justified when, after I went to Finn, he did the same thing.

He could’ve marked me while I sucked on his cock, but he didn’t.

What would he do if I asked him to?

What would his twin do?

What about their big brother?

That’s what I’m here to find out.

I figured it came down to this. They all know that I’m meant for all three of them, but they were oh, so careful not to tell me in case it scared me off. But I’m not scared. Colt got that right last night. I’m not scared.

But I am wet and willing and waiting for my mates.

“I do,” I tell Colt. “You think I would fuck you and not accept your bite? I’ve been waiting for it.” I glance at Finn. “From both of you.”