Juneau Heat Read online

  “Are you ready?”

  She raised her chin. “Oh yes, baby, give it to me.”

  Birk grinned. He captured her heels, lifted them, and thrust forward. She gasped and closed her eyes as her pussy walls expanded around him. “Not a virgin” meant nothing when it came to Birk’s size, and the feeling sent her over the top. He jerked her legs higher to rest her heels on his shoulders and thrust deeper. She cried out his name. When her muscles relaxed enough, he began an easy pump in and out of her pussy.

  Kotori wandered over and bent to kiss her. She curled her tongue with his, and he moved around behind her so he could take her weight. When she rested on his chest, he took her hand to place on his cock. Behind her back, Shiya stroked him. She rubbed a thumb over the rounded head and slid lower to play with his balls. All the while, Kotori nibbled on her neck and pinched her nipples. She’d never had so much attention before, and feeling Birk slide his amazing shaft inside of her as Kotori kissed her and teased her nipples took away all rational thought. She never wanted it to end.

  Birk stopped moving. He pushed in to the hilt and waited. “Hold on to me, baby.”

  She lowered her legs, but he didn’t pull out. Then she leaned forward and put her hands on his arms. Kotori stood to put a condom on. Shiya clenched her teeth together.

  “Shh, it’s going to be fine,” Birk told her.

  His change from cold commands to gentle comfort pleased her. Both attitudes appealed, in that he knew when to use which persona. She tucked her head low and nuzzled into the base of his neck.

  When Kotori was ready, they switched places, but Birk hesitated. “Wait, I want her relaxed more to take you.”

  Birk took off his condom and disposed of it. He stood her in the center of the bath and began washing her from head to toe. When he was done, Kotori waited with a towel, and she stepped into his arms. He carried her to the bedroom and laid her on the bed. Birk followed and took the position at her side.

  Kotori climbed onto the bed and kneeled below her. He grabbed her legs and dragged her toward him. Shiya’s breath came in short bursts at the sight of his cock. He pushed it to her hole and pressed forward, and she clenched the sheets under her fingers.

  “No, Shiya, relax,” Birk told her. “He’s not going to be rough this time around.” Birk cast his friend a stern look.

  “Do it,” she begged, wanting to feel him. She wanted the ache. When Kotori still hesitated, she put a heel on his shoulder and reached for his cock. The head threaded in, so tight it seemed like it would never fit. Kotori thrust forward. She caught her breath, and then his dick sank in inch after slow inch. If she said it didn’t hurt, she would be lying, but the sensation mingled with the feeling of overfullness and bliss.

  Shiya coaxed Kotori’s shaft to go deeper inside of her. She raised her hips to take him and lowered them when he’d gone as far as he could. Her pussy contracted around him, drawing on his shaft, and felt so amazing she pleaded with him not to stop. Kotori dropped over her, his arms locked at her sides with her legs over them, and he picked up the pace. He pounded his thick cock home, and each time, a growl erupted from his throat.

  She pulled her knees higher, loving the invasion. “Mm, it’s too much, but I don’t want it to stop.”

  “You’re so damn tight.”

  “I’m sorry,” she moaned.

  “Don’t be.”

  He pounded into her over and over. Shiya grew light-headed. The pleasure was too much, and she pushed at his chest. Kotori pulled out, and Birk, wearing another condom, slipped into her. Tag-teaming, they wore her little pussy out. When it was Kotori’s turn again, he sat back and raised her up to sit on his lap. She encircled his neck with her arms, and he held her ass in a viselike grip so she didn’t come down too fast. He raised her up and lowered her at lightning speed. Her breasts bounced over his chest, scraping her nipples. She screamed in excitement. Birk slid up behind her and reached between them to pinch her clit. The friction of Kotori’s cock inside her and Birk pinching her bud brought her to another orgasm. She collapsed on Birk’s chest when it ended.

  Kotori tugged her away from his friend, not allowing her to rest. He never lost their connection as he drove his cock deep inside of her. Each thrust accompanied him squeezing her ass and fingering her rear entrance. When Kotori jerked, she knew he was ready. Seconds later, he let go of a long, satisfied moan. Birk pulled her free of his arms and laid Shiya on the bed while Kotori rose from it. Birk stretched the length of his body over hers and ran a hand along her outer thigh. They stared into each other’s eyes, and Shiya felt herself becoming lost.

  “Are you too sore for a little more?” he asked.

  She almost fainted from the question, but she shook her head. “No.”

  He eased his cock inside of her and took his time, gliding in and out. Slow and easy, their bodies came together and drifted apart. A tormenting pleasure began in Shiya’s core and steadily grew. She buried her face in Birk’s neck. He held her tighter to him, and just when she came, he matched it, a tremor vibrating his limbs that touched hers. They both sighed when it ended, and Shiya found she couldn’t keep her eyes open as she drifted off to sleep.

  * * * *

  Shiya opened her eyes to a dark room. Birk and Kotori lay on either side of her, and she remembered how, while she slept, one or the other laid a heavy arm over her waist or slung a leg across hers. She’d had to thrust them away because she felt like they crushed her. At first she thought the two men slept like the dead in how still they were, but as soon as she put a hand up to rub her eyes, Kotori rolled over toward her, and Birk spoke.

  “Okay?” he asked. “Not too sore?”

  “I’m fine.” She sat up, but Birk rested a hand on her arm.

  “I want—we want—to say something to you.”

  Birk swung his feet over the side of the bed and clicked the lamp on. He seemed to have no compunction about being naked, but she pulled a sheet up over her. “Go ahead.”

  “I’ll take a shower and dress first.” He stood and disappeared into the bathroom.

  Nervousness stirred in her stomach. What could they have to say? Did they not enjoy themselves last night? No, that couldn’t be it. The men had let her sleep a short while and then woke her to go at it again. Their appetites were unbelievable, and she’d found it hard to keep up. Yet, every touch sent her into the stratosphere, so she didn’t mind.

  When Birk vacated the bathroom, Kotori took his turn. Birk walked to the living room to retrieve his and Kotori’s clothes and returned to dress where she lay. Once again, she admired his body, taking in the valleys and plains, the corded muscle and sinew. When he yanked his boots on, his arm muscles bulged, and she sighed, remembering how they felt wrapped around her.

  At last, they were both dressed, and Shiya had made no attempt to rise from the bed. She scooted up near the top and clutched the sheet under her arms. When Kotori eyed the imprint of her nipples behind the thin material, she crossed her arms. The man was impossible.

  “So what’s this about?” she said, hoping it wasn’t something bad.

  Birk leaned against the wall, arms folded. He opened the blinds and peered out as if he had nothing better to do with his day other than to watch the water. Shiya swung her gaze from first one man to the other. Kotori appeared content to let Birk head the conversation.

  She opened her mouth to prompt Birk, but when he spoke, she snapped her teeth together so hard it shot a clang of pain through her head.

  “You know what we are, Shiya.”

  The bottom dropped out of her world. He couldn’t mean what she thought. No, he meant . . . what? “What you are?”

  Birk sneered. “Let’s not play any more games. You know Kotori and I are shifters, and we know what you are.”

  Human? Not a Keith. She pushed her way to the edge of the bed and stood to wrap the sheet tighter around her figure. Shuffling through all of the training, all the information crammed into her head over the weeks before she came here, she
searched for what occurred next in a situation like this. The answer should be right there, engraved on her memory the way her dad lectured, but fear had wiped the canvas clean. With a glance, she checked the nightstand for her cell phone, but too late remembered she’d left it in the other room. Stupid move. No, it had been stupid to sleep with them.

  Play dumb. “Just what do you think you know about me, Birk?”

  He crossed the room in two or three strides. She backed up and hit the nightstand, knocking the lamp over. Kotori stood by, out of nowhere, to catch it and set it upright. Birk frowned down at her. “I thought we agreed no more games. If you’re afraid of us, why did you have sex with us?”

  Shiya stood straighter, hands on her hips. “Why are you so damn angry all of a sudden? Oh, I get it, all the charm flew out the window after you got what you wanted last night!”

  His nostrils flared, and his hot gaze raked her from head to foot. “I can have any woman I want. It doesn’t have to be you.”

  The crack of her hand slapping his face punctuated the air. Birk didn’t move. A muscle twitched in his jaw.

  “Feel better?” he said in a low tone.

  She scowled at him. “Okay, I know you’re shape-shifters.”

  “And you’re a Keith,” Kotori added. “From a family of shifter hunters.”

  Oh hell, so they did know. From the looks of it, they’d known from the beginning. Her family had hatched a plan for her to seduce them, and at the same time, they’d intended to draw her in.

  She rubbed moist palms down her legs. “So what does this mean? You’re kidnapping me to draw my dad to Juneau?”

  “Interesting,” Kotori muttered. “If we didn’t have a plan like that, you would have given us the idea.”

  Shiya swore. “What then?”

  Birk stepped closer. The heat from his body permeated her sheet, and even while she feared him in this state, she remembered how tender he had become several times during their time together. She recalled his funny jokes while they spoke online, the ones he told well and the ones he screwed up. They’d laughed, but that could be the charmer in him, a natural ability they all had to capture their prey.

  “All of us have heard of you,” Birk told her.

  She lit on the word. “All?”

  “Shifters in the United States.”

  Her research showed there were whole families of shifters, and some who were rare, producing one or two every so often. The time span might be a generation, or it might be a century. She knew that there might be shifters to come who hadn’t been born yet. Their fight spanned over generations of Keiths and would likely go on into the future.

  Kotori’s voice broke through her reverie. “I want to know why you slept with us. As you’ve no doubt checked into who we are, we’ve done the same with your family. Like shifters, you close ranks and squash information that might leak out about your methods.”

  Birk picked up the conversation. “You use beautiful women to lure the shifters into trusting you. I thought it wouldn’t lead this far. After all, the most common knowledge about the Keiths is that they think all shifters are killers. Yet, your men send the women in to fuck them without qualms.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about!” He leaned over her, but at that point, she would not back down. He made it sound like she and her sisters were whores, and he knew what he could do with his superior attitude. “You think you’re better than us? You and Kotori were right there with me in bed, and you knew who I was, just like you said. You can say what you want about me, but you’re going to take back insinuating my sisters are whores. They do not sleep with the men.”

  “There again, Shiya, why did you sleep with us?”

  She saw he didn’t want to let it go, and Kotori, standing next to him, was in total agreement. What difference did her answer make since they’d already made their minds up about her character? If they knew all along, why did they sleep with her? The answer came to mind as soon as she formed the question. As shifters with a high sex drive, they didn’t care who shared their bed. Any woman would do, and she’d seen evidence of that at Birk’s office when he accepted that blonde’s card. A pang of jealousy hit her, but she tamped it down.

  “I want you both to leave. You’re no longer welcome.” She stepped around Birk and squeezed by Kotori to get to the door. In the front room, she held the door open, waiting for them.

  Birk walked up and put his hand on the knob. “We’re not done here. You do not get to dismiss me.”

  When he slammed the door, she stumbled away from him in alarm, but before she could speculate on whether they intended to kill her, the door burst open again. Birk moved seconds before it did and pulled Shiya out of the way. She cried out at the sudden sound and the fact that Joe stood in the entryway.

  “Get your hands off of her, now,” Joe barked.

  “Joe, what are you doing here?” Shiya thought to defuse the situation, but she realized she helped nothing wedged against Birk’s chest, his hands still around her waist, and her sheet slipping dangerously low over her breasts. She struggled to get out of Birk’s hold, and he let her go after holding on for a while as if he sought to piss Joe off.

  “Who are you?” Kotori demanded, and Shiya glanced at him. His eyes didn’t look right, and she worried he was about to change.

  “Look, everybody calm down.” Her hands shook as she held them up, and both Birk and Joe seemed to notice.

  “Shiya, go to the bedroom,” Joe commanded. “I’ll take care of this.”

  “You’ll take care of what?” Birk demanded.

  He stepped around Shiya to get to Joe, but Joe had been taught to strike hard and fast. Delays would get a person dead. He produced a weapon she knew well because she had bought it for him. The eight-inch steel blade was half serrated on the top and sharp enough to cut through wood—or bone. She’d had the handle customized with a bright red grip, Joe’s favorite color, and his name carved at the end.

  Shiya ran her hands through her untidy hair, only now realizing she looked a hot mess. “Joe, what are you doing? You know you don’t handle this kind of thing here. It’s too dangerous.”

  “You want me to wait until they drag you out in the forest to eat you, Shiya?”

  “Joe.”

  He lunged at Birk, but Birk parried the attack with the flat of his hand, knocking Joe’s hand away. Her ex winced in pain, but to his credit, he didn’t drop the weapon. He came at Birk again, jabbing with his knife, but when Birk went to block, Joe dropped low and kicked out. His foot slammed into Birk’s legs, and her lover hit the floor. Joe sprung up from his crouch and swung his arm to drive the knife into Birk’s chest, and Shiya screamed. She ran forward to somehow stop Joe from killing Birk, but in the next instant, Kotori plowed into Joe, sending him and his knife flying. Kotori’s growl didn’t sound human as he stalked over to Joe. He jerked her ex up from the floor and dangled him from a powerful fist wrapped around his neck. Shiya saw the life leaving the man and knew if she didn’t do something, he would die. Birk, picking himself up from the floor in obvious disgust that he’d let a human get the drop on him, made no move to stop it.

  She ran over and grabbed Kotori’s arm. “Stop, Kotori, please. Don’t kill him.”

  Kotori snarled down at her, his eyes jet-black with little white showing. Fear stirred in her belly, but she refused to back away. Somehow she didn’t think he would hurt her, or he already would have.

  “Don’t do this.” She stood on tiptoe to reach up to his hand holding Joe in its iron grip. No amount of prodding could open his fingers. “Birk, make him stop! He’s killing him.”

  “What do I care if another human dies, Shiya? He’s one of you, isn’t he? A Keith?”

  “No, he’s not. He works for my dad, but he’s not related.”

  Shiya didn’t know where Joe got the second weapon. The smaller knife, no longer than the palm of a woman’s hand, swiped over Kotori’s arm, cutting deep. Kotori drew back as blood gushed from the woun
d. He dropped Joe on the floor, who gasped and choked trying to drag in air to fill his lungs.

  “Seems this man wants to die,” Kotori spat and started toward Joe. Shiya darted into his path and held out her arms.

  “He’s my protector. It’s his job to look out for me. Just, please, get your arm taken care of. If you two go like I asked you to, no one else has to get hurt.”

  “I’m her fiancé,” Joe said in a raspy tone.

  Both shifters froze. Shiya rolled her eyes. Seriously, Joe? Jealousy now, when Kotori almost snapped your neck?

  “Be quiet,” she demanded. “If you hadn’t jumped the gun in the first place, none of this would have happened.”

  She expected Birk to accuse her of not only sleeping with the enemy like a two-bit whore, but also not respecting the commitment he thought she had to Joe. He said nothing. Rather, he strolled to the door, still standing open, and left. Kotori grabbed a towel for his arm and followed his friend, shutting the door behind him. Shiya took in the destroyed state of the lock and recalled the way the door wobbled now on its hinges. How the heck would she explain it to the manager? She closed her eyes and sank to the floor. A raging headache pulsed behind her eyes. The last twenty-four hours had gone from amazing to a nightmare, and it had all started to go wrong when she elected to veer off the path set before her.

  “Shiya,” Joe called out behind her.

  She twisted around to look at him and took in the ugly purple bruises beginning to form on his neck. She wondered about Kotori’s injury and hoped no major arteries had been cut. Would the hospital be able to help him? Or would Birk treat him in secret?

  “Shiya!”

  “What!”

  “I will have to report this to Kasen and your dad.”

  She swore. Like she would ever marry this bastard in a million years. If he loved her, he would cover it all and say something went wrong, not that she screwed up. Well, she didn’t need his help. She could explain it to her dad. Not about the sex, but about misjudging Birk and Kotori. That everyone would know she wasn’t cut out for the field was fine. She never wanted to do it again, and her experience with Birk and Kotori could remain an insane memory—one that would fade over time into something unreal.