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At that, I dove away from the guys and into the main body of the creek.

The current was sluggish, so it was safe.

The boys followed me, trying to put their plan into action and keep teasing me, but I slipped free of their arms without effort, so things pretty much devolved into the usual pool hijinks of splashing and dunking.

We emerged a little chilled and pruney as the sun was well and truly starting to set.

“Your stuff is in the tent over there,” Aaron said as he stood by me on the riverbank, shielding me from the view of the other guys milling around camp. “Wear something easy to remove.”

My eyes dropped down to his hard cock.

“Brandon’s gone to help with the cooking. We could?—”

“Figure I’m the weakest link, did ya?” He moved closer to me, and I could smell the fresh male scent of him. He cupped my chin and then kissed me, slow and sweet. “He’s our mate, and nothing makes him happier than playing these games, so let’s play.”

“He won’t know,” I said, my feet shifting. I could feel him, smell him, and it was weird to not just reach out and take one of my mates. I had become spoiled in a frighteningly short period of time.

“In this camp? Everyone’s gonna know when we take you, Jules. Now off you go. Wear something light, if you have it. I want that damn scent of yours in everyone’s nose, making their mouths water for something else altogether.”

I growled, because of the command in his voice, because of the way those dark hazel eyes flicked from my eyes to my mouth, because I knew I’d do as he said. He grinned when I stepped back, then I turned and dove for my tent.

“Oh, hello.”

Jack and Hawk looked up from their bedroll where they lay nakedly resplendent in each other’s arms and looking smugly drowsy from no doubt an awesome fuck, if the close atmosphere in the tent was anything to go by.

“Hey,” I said as I located my bag, dropping my dirty clothes on one side before starting to pull out clean ones.

Something light, something light. I hadn’t exactly brought a summer dress along, since I figured that wouldn’t be needed.

I had some thin sleep shorts, but I’d be freezing by the time night fell if I wore them.

I shrugged and drew out a long sleeve shirt and jeans.

Not what they wanted, but it’d have to do.

I shoved the shorts in my back pocket, which got some raised eyebrows.

“Someone’s sleeping out tonight,” Jack said in a singsong voice.

“You gonna climb Mount Aaron in honour of your mating? If you wanna broaden your horizons first, we’re happy to help.

” Hawk rolled away from Jack, got to his knees, and shuffled over, that big beautiful body drawing my eyes down, down… “Chuckles here wants to?—”

I knew what he wanted. I could see it as clear as day, and I wanted it too.

“Shut up, Jack,” Hawk snapped, shooting the words over his shoulder.

“But you?—”

“If you ever want me to do that thing with my tongue again, you will shut the fuck up. You’re my mate now, you need to start listening to me.” Jack fell back on the bedroll, arms crossed, but that ever-present smirk was still there. “Jules, we talked, and I just wanted to say…”

I watched Hawk struggle to get the words out as Jack lay there, fairly twitching with the need to interfere, so I reached out and placed a hand on the man’s forearm.

I didn’t know if being pack gave us the same bond as my mates had with me, or if he could feel anything down it, but I tried to send warm reassurance to him.

Hawk looked up, his shoulders squaring, a big breath hissing out between his lips. “I want some time, just me and you, Jules. I wanna see where this could go. I need to know if there could be more between us.”

“Looking for another mate so soon?” I joked, but I saw that was a mistake as soon as the words were out.

I thought it a gentle one, but the way his face closed down said otherwise.

So I crawled over and wrapped my arms around him, waiting for him to do the same.

I felt the faint quiver in his limbs when he finally reciprocated.

For a minute, I rested my head on his shoulder, smelled the scent of campfires and pine forests, and just felt him.

It was subtle, but I could feel it, the rapidly shifting snarl inside him as he processed what was happening.

Hawk and I were very similar, I realised, in that we both often went into a secret internal emotion spiral when triggered by our pack members.

People struggled to understand those intense reactions, assuming it meant some sort of impairment, but it wasn’t.

You had to be bloody strong to be hit hard by emotional stimuli and keep on putting yourself out there.

I tipped my head up, his lips crushed down on mine, and it all fell away.

When we pulled apart, I just stared into his eyes. That shy smile was back on his face, and I was glad.

“I’m happy you asked, Hawk. I’ll always want you and want to spend time with you.

Whether you want it with the two of you,” I saw Jack’s eyes light up at that, “or just you. Any combination, I’m there.

I can’t tonight though. I’ve made a commitment to Brandon and Aaron, and I’ll need to work around that, but otherwise, yes. Tell me when and where you want me.”

“All the time…” Hawk rumbled, kissing me again. I again questioned the wisdom of Kelly’s workplace advice when I came here. Being Tirian obviously came with a raging sex drive. How did they get anything done? “So, tomorrow sometime?”

“You got it. Now, I think we’ve got dinner on soon, so clothes, or I’ll be doing some stuff by the campfire that may or may not raise the soldiers’ morale.”

I wondered about Jack as I followed my own directions.

He seemed awfully glad to have his lover back in his arms. Everything between me and him was centred around Hawk, and he wasn’t asking me for one-on-one time.

Should I initiate that as pack leader? See where things were with us when Hawk wasn’t in the picture?

I made a mental note to myself to do that at some time that didn’t feel tacked on to what had just happened with Hawk.

I watched the two of them kiss, feeling that bloody painful throb in my loins as I did.

Working out where we all stood should be done sooner rather than later.

I stepped outside, leaving the guys to sort themselves out, and smelled the delicious scent of roasting meat. I might not know what was cooking, but it smelled great.

“Jules.”

My head whipped around to see Slade weaving his way between the tents.

The boys were correct—we were close, and the walls of the tents were thin.

Everyone would hear us getting up to mischief tonight.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to meet the eyes of Aaron’s men tomorrow morning, which was perhaps why he had me simmering away right now, ready to discard some inhibitions as the need grew.

“Hey,” Slade said, drawing my attention back to him. His nostrils flared when he scented me, his eyes widening slightly, and then he drew me in closer. “Look, about before…”

“Before?” It took me a bit to remember the conversation by the cache. God, that felt like it had happened days not hours ago. That expansive feeling of contentment we’d experienced together pushed out little infractions like hard words. “Oh, you mean at the cache?”

“Yeah, look, love?—”

“Jules, you coming?” Aaron stood a little distance away, holding out his hand. “The guys have cooked up a storm, and it looks like it's ready.”

“Um…”

Slade watched me glance from him to Aaron and smiled. “It’s OK, it's his night tonight. Have a feed and a good night. We’ll talk later.”

“Thanks,” I said, bouncing up and kissing him on the cheek.

His arms closed around me automatically, holding me still for a second before letting me go.

“Smells bloody delicious,” Slade said, following the two of us to the campfire.

“There’s certainly something that’s making my mouth water,” Aaron said, his hand squeezing mine.

“So, where’s the beer at? Been a day since I’ve had one, and I mean to remedy that.”

Aaron directed Slade to where the drinks were sitting in a tub full of cool water. They probably needn’t have bothered, the wind was starting to pick up, making me shiver.

“I think I need to go grab a jumper,” I said, turning to return to the tent, but Aaron grabbed me and spun me around.

“I’ll keep you warm, mate,” he said in a low rumble. He drew me closer, sheltering me from the breeze with his body, and wrapped his arms around me, then dropped his mouth down on mine.

Aaron kissed slowly, thoroughly, patiently nipping and sucking at my lips until they parted, then slid his tongue in. He chuckled when he finally pulled away while I just stood there, dazed but certainly not feeling cold anymore.

“I can’t do this,” I whispered.

Everyone was seated around the campfire, the sun having already set.

Most were grabbing food or drinks, but I sat between Brandon and Aaron, centre stage.

Some of the guys raised their beers to us and shouted some kind of congratulations, but that wasn’t where my focus was.

Instead, it was on two points of my body—one at my nape, where Brandon’s fingers drew circles on my skin, and the other where Aaron’s hand rested on my thigh.

There was something possessive, slightly coercive about Brandon’s caress. Like his fingers were moving lazily right now, but could grip the back of my neck at any point if I decided to make a break for it.