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“You don’t,” Shaun said firmly, shaking his head, then he turned to the others and spoke much louder.

“We’re here for her heat, for her to choose who she wants to spend that with.

Nothing else. You’re affected, of course you are, the same way every one of us is when a single woman comes into heat, but there are no guarantees here—of a meeting, of being chosen, of anything.

What you got outside my place, that may be all you get.

If you can’t be content with that, get out.

” He studied the crowd. “I mean it, get out. Don’t come at Bec.

Don’t push her or pressure her. You don’t know her?—”

“And you do?” a voice from the crowd asked.

“No,” Shaun shot back. “None of us do. I want to, more than fucking anything.” He looked back over his shoulder at me, then his head dropped down. “It burns inside me, that need, so I know what you’re going through, but feeling entitled won’t help.”

“Awfully enlightened for a bloke Jules kicked to the curb.”

The guy who said the words was tall with an unruly shock of black hair, but I didn’t pay him any attention, as my focus was entirely on Shaun.

Oh.

So that was the deal, what people were dancing around, and right now, I could see the regret Shaun experienced, wishing he’d filled me in before now. Looking at the other guy and his smirk, I knew this was exactly what he’d meant to happen.

“And you,” I said, imperious as a queen, and wasn’t that a nice change?

“You’re out too. I don’t need people dragging up past bullshit to try and get what they want.

Axel offered me something I wanted, something hot and sexy, and he showed Shaun some basic respect.

If you can’t do that, then you may as well fuck off now. ”

The man’s face hardened, his lips pulling back in a snarl, but at the prompting of his mates around him, he turned and left.

They stayed however. But the spell was broken.

I stepped back within the confines of the two men’s bodies, somehow deciding that throwing my lot with a stranger and a near stranger was the right thing to do, because when I looked around the room, I imagined I saw hostility, resentment, frustration, where before, there was only potential pleasure.

They are not worthy if they see us thus , my Tirian growled and the looks on some of the guys’ faces made me think they sensed the spirit of what she said, if not her words. Because my men, they stood tall beside me, glaring at the rest of the room.

Which just made me stare. I jerked my eyes away from the dickheads to watch Axel and Shaun stand over me, protectively angling their bodies towards mine, and fuck, something shoved the omnipresent heat to one side to make room for this.

Disbelief, shock, wariness, and then something tender, sending up a small shoot before I smothered that ruthlessly. No time for that, no time for feelings. That rarely ended well.

“How about we call it a day?” Shaun suggested, struggling for calm, but we all heard the tense thread in his voice. There was a little grumbling at that, but Axel quelled it with a growl. “What do you think, Bec?”

What did I think? I could feel it, the rise of a clamouring, questioning, fearful tide, wanting to sweep me away in its pull, but I shoved that to one side too. I looked the guys over and knew I was gonna be twice as lucky as I’d thought I would be when my heat hit. I couldn’t complain.

“If you’re looking for someone to play with Axel, I’m in.”

Ethan, the smirking mechanic, pushed forward and ambled across the room. He had some of that well muscled grace of Channing Tatum during Magic Mike , moving under his own steam, but it was Axel he approached, not me.

“You reckon you can take me?” Axel asked with a slow smile.

He looked Ethan up and down, obviously liking what he saw, and the other man returned his look before his focus shifted to me.

That was where it stayed as his hand reached out, broad and strong, the nails still stained by motor oil.

He slid it up Axel’s arm, missing the other man’s reaction because he seemed to only want mine.

But I caught it all—the way he traced the muscular length of the other man’s bicep and forearm, when he brought Axel’s hand to his mouth, kissing his palm, then parting his lips and sucking Axel’s middle finger in.

Groans went up around the group, mine and Axel’s, and when Ethan pulled his hand free, he smiled, something too bright and easy for the mood in the room.

“Do you reckon you can take me?” Ethan asked, but I wasn’t sure if it was to me or Axel, but that was all right. I traded looks with the other man, saw a hunger there that matched my own, and just like that, I decided I liked Axel.

“Only one way to find out.” Shaun wrapped his arms around me, and the feel of his body helped ground me in this heady spiral of lust. I shifted as he stroked a hand through my hair, the weight of his arm on my breasts making me long for more, and they all watched that with rapt attention.

“She’s getting needy. We need to get her out of here.

Do you want Ethan with us, love? If you only want him with Axel, you just have to say. ”

But I didn’t, did I? The tide in my blood was coming in, and while everything Shaun had done had blown my mind, my overheated brain couldn’t help but wonder what three of them could achieve.

“I want them,” I replied, and wasn’t that the truth? What had been a low simmering heat was getting sharper, harsher, twisting in my gut, demanding more. “I want…”

“Shh…” Axel moved in close, putting a hand on my stomach, and rubbed the area, the circles dropping lower. “We’ve got what you need. Just say yes, greedy girl, and you’ll get more than you bargained for.” His smile was wicked, promising a world of delights, and I was here for that.

As if to seal the deal, Ethan slung his arm around Axel’s shoulders, then moved in slowly, planting a kiss on his temple while both of them watched me. That didn’t change when Ethan turned and then took Axel’s mouth in a very thorough, very intense kiss.

“Fuck, so that’s what it takes…” a man muttered in the crowd.

Yes, yes it did. I couldn’t look away, couldn’t move, even when Shaun pressed in hard behind me, his hands roaming, his fingers pulling at the fabric of my clothes, his mouth on my neck.

“Fuck, Bec,” he growled. “Your scent… You want them? Let’s get them into the car and get to the honeymoon suite, because fuck…”

Fuck yeah, that was what I wanted. A match had been lit, and when they turned back to me, lips swollen, breath coming hard, I was well and truly sold.

“Let’s go,” I said.