Page 146 of The Wolves of Forest Grove

“She’s right, you know,” Jared said, ditching his empty bottle in the sink to come around the counter.

My brows knotted.

“About having kids?” I asked, incredulous and a little terrified myself now. I was not ready for that.

He snorted. “No. About you needing rest. You’ve hardly slept at all in over a week, Allie. And I’m assuming you and Clay are going out to Glenwood again tonight?”

Clay and I shared a look that told Jared all he needed to know.

We’d been out there the last three nights in a row, and we were definitely going to be there again tonight.

Sam had only come back to the phone booth again once since three days ago, but right about now Clay’s guy was at the Glenwood bus depot, bugging the place.

There was no way we weren’t going to be there.

The guy set it up so that we could listen in to the bug through an app on Clay’s phone, but it only worked if we were within range of the signal.

We wouldn’t have to go quite so close this time.

We could stay a few miles away in the Chevelle, lessening the chance of her catching our scent even more.

At least it would be more comfortable.

“The booth is being bugged right now,” Clay confirmed in a low voice, ears pricked to make sure no one else was around to hear. “We’ll be parking a few miles out from the depot to listen in.”

Jared nodded. “Then now is your only chance to get some rest.”

I tried to picture myself actually closing my eyes.

Lying still.

Couldn’t.

“I really don’t think I can.”

“Try,” Clay urged, and Jared nodded his agreement. I squinted at Clay, a muscle ticking in my jaw.

“You’ve barely slept, either,” I accused him.

“And you,” I jabbed a finger in Jared’s direction, “are taking the night shift on security at the quarry tonight.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “You want me to rest? Then you can both take a fucking nap, too.”

They shared a look, expressions hardening. Clay’s nostrils flared. “Fine,” he gritted out. “You’re right,” Jared added.

Wait...that wasn’t supposed to happen. They were supposed to let me get out of taking a stupid ass nap because they were both too stubborn to take one themselves.

Jared grinned like a cat, realizing my intention and how they’d just thwarted it. The fucker.

“I’ll go to Seth’s cabin,” Clay muttered, tipping his head to one side to crack his neck before making for the door.

“No,” I said on a whim, stepping in his path. “I need you.”

He cocked his head at me.

“I need both of you if I’m going to be able to sleep.

Stay. Please?”

His bright blue eyes flicked over my head to Jared before settling back on me. “Okay, baby. If that’s what you need.”

“It is.”

The tension in the room grew, but nothing could subdue the high tingling in my blood at the idea of sharing our bed together. The three of us.

Just knowing they were both there with me. Both safe. All of us, together. It was what I’d been lacking for a long time.

I poured a glass of water before following Jared upstairs, dragging Clay with me by his arm.

Jared had just finished hanging the blackout curtains on the windows and turned on the lamp to the low setting while I undressed to get into bed.

“Aren’t you going to, like…?” Clay rubbed his knuckles over the back of his head, eyeing my naked body like a hungry predator. “Put on some pajamas or something?”

I cocked my head at him, confused. I never wore clothes to sleep. Why bother when we were all naked most of the time around here, anyway? “Um. No. But you can if you want to.”

He cleared his throat as I climbed into the middle of the bed and lifted the sheet to cover most of my body, leaving my breasts exposed, maybe kind of sort of on purpose.

Jared was the first to slide into bed with me, fully clothed to my utter dismay.

Clay, seeming to agree to some unspoken bullshittery between them, also lay down without bothering to remove his dark wash denim jeans. Without even bothering to get beneath the sheet.

Really?

Judging by the lustful emotions in the undertow beneath his waves of discomfort and macho need to claim me as his and only his, I’d say that he didn’t get beneath the sheet because he didn’t trust himself.

Jared pressed his leg against mine, and his hand came to rest on my stomach as he turned onto his side, making me shudder. I bit down on my lip to control the sudden overwhelming need to be closer to them.

Maybe Grams was right. I could use some...nookie.

I ran a hand down Clay’s arm, making the latent muscle tense and bulge as goosebumps rose over the trail where I’d touched him. I tugged gently on his arm, guiding him closer. He obliged, shuffling nearer on the bed so that both of my mates pressed in close to either side of me.

Nothing beat this.

Having them both this close settled my soul in a way that nothing else could.

I sighed breathily, nuzzling against Clay’s shoulder and twining my fingers with Jared’s beneath the sheet.

Their combined scents of cedar, birch, whiskey, and spice washed over me like a drug, dulling the sharpness of the stress I’d been shouldering for weeks.

Making everything seem softer. Easier. Until, for just a moment, I was able to forget it all and just be here.

I pushed Jared’s hand lower on my belly, until his knuckles brushed the sensitive inner corner of my thigh. As I did that, I snaked my hand around Clay’s neck, pulling him around. He turned with only a little hesitation, meeting my drugged gaze with pure blue flame.

My lips parted, and with one more tug, he bent to my will, bending as he turned to press his lips to mine. A soft moan was smothered between our lips as Jared’s hand brushed my hot core, sending flashes of intense pleasure coursing through my blood.

A growl reverberated in Clay’s chest, and his and Jared’s testosterone levels spiked, breaking down the wall I’d tried to erect against their feelings.

Clay pulled back and Jared’s hand slipped from mine, making my thighs press together with the loss of his touch. A pained sound came from the back of my throat as I squeezed my eyes tightly shut and pressed my forehead to Clay’s.

“Please,” I murmured, searching beneath the sheet for Jared’s hand again. When I found it, I re-twined my finger with his and squeezed.

“Please,” I repeated more clearly this time in case they didn’t hear. “I need you. I need both of you.”

“Allie...” Jared trailed off in a hollow whisper that threatened to break me from the inside out. “You know we can’t do that. We tried before and—”

“It’s been years,” I all but snapped, trying to rein in my inner wolf’s urge to jump down both their throats at the gall of denying her. “Try again.”

I peered up at Clay, finding him staring off into the dimness of the room, a furrow in his brow. “Clay?” I asked, living on a hopeless prayer that he would take my side on this and together we might sway Jared.

His gaze hardened, and I knew before he opened his lips to speak what his reply would be.

I suppressed the ridiculous urge to cry, and he surprised me by wrapping an arm around the back of my neck and pulling me into his side.

He nodded to Jared, who came closer until he was pressed along the line of my back, his arm around me, tucked up between my breasts to hold me tight.

I shuddered, glancing up at Clay curiously.

“Can this be enough for now?” he asked with a pain in his eyes that broke my heart. I stopped trying to block out their feelings and gasped at the rawness of it all as it came crashing in.

Even this—just being this close with me—together was incredibly difficult for them. Guilt twisted my lungs up in a vise, and I bowed my head, unable to look him in the eyes anymore.

“Don’t feel guilty,” Jared whispered against my bare back, his warm breath skating down my spine in a way that made me shiver. “This is on us. I...I wish we could give you what you want, Allie. I really do.”

“But we’ll try,” Clay gritted out, making both Jared and me stiffen. “It’ll just take some time.”

Jared didn’t make any comment to the contrary, and it was as much of an agreement as I would get out of him. Between the two, strangely enough, Jared was the more possessive. The one who was more territorial.

In the beginning, I would’ve thought it to have been Clay, but that was until I got to know him better.

He didn’t think he deserved me. Didn’t think he was good enough.

He wanted me to be with someone kinder, more patient, less hot-headed.

So, when I told him I did want him and that I wouldn’t take no for an answer, he was just glad to have any part of me he could.

I could tell, even after almost four years, he still felt the same way.

Stupid fucker.

“I love you,” I whispered.

“Us too,” Jared replied while Clay shoved my head down into the crook of his arm and brushed my hair back from my face, sighing.

“Close your eyes,” Clay demanded. “You’re supposed to be resting, not making us horny as fuck. Don’t make me smother you with a pillow.”

I let out a short laugh, convincing myself that Clay was right. This was enough. At least for now. But I wouldn’t forget his promise to try for more. It was more than I’d dared hope for in longer than I could remember.