Tamed by the Wolves [Werewolf Brides 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 6

  He rubbed a hand though his hair, which was getting more strands of gray in it every time he checked the mirror, and looked at his assistant. Okapi was a good man, smart, honest, and trustworthy, but right now he hadn’t expected to be interrupted. “What’s up, Okapi?”

  “Dera saw a couple men in a blue pickup on the private road between the far two west fields.”

  “Well, damn. Were they watching us?”

  “She was too far away to tell, but they must have been. That’s not a public road and no strangers should have been on it.”

  Cooper scrubbed his hands over his face trying to remember. “Refresh my memory. We did apply to the city authority for permission to put a gate across that road, didn’t we? And the other private road over by the far fence line as well?”

  “Yes, we did. It was approved. The paperwork should be in the file. Do you want me to find it for you?”

  “Yes, and then send a couple of men out to block both roads off with whatever is around. Then we need to do a proper job with a real fence and gate. But get something temporary up straight away for our security, and then schedule the work for an ongoing fix. Something wrong is going on in town and I don’t want us implicated in it.”

  “Uh, yes, Cooper, umm…”

  “Spit it out, Okapi.”

  “Well, sir, we really need to get someone to find out what is going wrong. Remember Xola and Kairu said they smelled a rat at the BDSM club in town? And one of the human women said some of the job ads looked like a company was setting up brothels.”

  Ah, fuck. He’d forgotten all about that. He needed to prioritize his work better and offload some of his tasks and some of Okapi’s work onto someone else or he’d find himself deep in shit and likely implicated in a mess he needed to avoid. “Get April and her sisters, if she needs help, to work with a couple of the human women to pinpoint what they think is dodgy. Also, get one of the human women who can handle paperwork and give her your recurring daily tasks to do to free yourself some time. Tomorrow at eight have all the details about what stinks on my desk. As soon as I’m up to speed, we’ll get Xola in here as well so we can plan out how to deal with it. I smell trouble.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Cooper watched Okapi leave his office and ran his hands though his hair again. He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his belly that trouble was being hatched.

  * * * *

  “Hi, April. Have you come to visit with us? Can I get you a soda or coffee?” asked Dera.

  “I was hoping to talk to as many of you as possible at once.”

  Dera led April into the living area of the community hall and looked around. Quite a few of the women were there, although it was possible some would be going out for dinner in a little while.

  “Qwera’s in the shower. I’ll go tell her to hurry up,” said Mailiki.

  “Tanisha just went over to the store. I’ll go get her.” Siyandra bustled out.

  “That’ll be most of us. So, coffee?”

  “Yes, please.”

  Dera wanted to ask what this was all about, but she’d find out soon enough and there was no sense in April explaining everything twice over, so she made a pot of coffee and brought cream and mugs across to the table. She opened their refrigerator and found most of a plate of muffins inside. She didn’t know who’d made them but she figured everyone might as well have a muffin while they talked.

  “Oh, good. You found the muffins. I was going to suggest we eat them now,” said Tanisha, dumping her purse on the table and sitting beside Dera. Siyandra settled beside Mailiki, and Qwera joined them from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her head. Nala had silently joined them and Keisha put down the book she’d been reading and pulled another chair up to the table.

  “Shakina’s not here?” asked April.

  “Yaro was helping her learn some computer coding program I’d never heard of.” Keisha shrugged.

  “So she’s on the farm somewhere? Can one of you call her and ask her if she’s available to join us, please?”

  Keisha pulled her cell phone out of her jeans pocket, and Dera suddenly understood this definitely wasn’t a social visit. April either had something important to tell them, or there was some bad news. It wouldn’t be that they were being sent home, because the head man himself would surely do that. But Dera couldn’t think what else it could be about.

  “She’s in the office building. She’ll be here in five minutes,” said Keisha.

  A couple of the women talked quietly among themselves, but Dera could feel the tension in the room that mirrored the tension in her own body. April was going to say, or do, or ask them something that truly mattered.

  Keisha had set another empty chair beside her, ready for Shakina, and the redhead slid silently into her place only a few minutes later. April set down her coffee cup and folded her hands, and Dera felt the tension in the room ratchet up another notch. All the women were looking at April and every one of them had a concerned look or worried frown on her face.

  “Cooper is concerned that something underhanded might be happening or about to happen, or is just being planned, in Coopersville. Because you’re all new to the area and because werewolves are very protective of their women, he wants you all to be on the alert and very careful to assess anything anyone from outside the farm tries to tell you. This has always been a very safe town, and one free from corruption, but that doesn’t mean anyone should walk down Main Street at midnight, naked and holding a gold bar. You might be perfectly safe, but then again…”

  “Yeah, even really nice people will take stupid risks if there’s no money to pay the bills,” said Keisha.

  Her voice was sad, and Dera wondered for a minute if someone had destroyed Keisha’s faith in them. Someone who had meant a lot to Keisha.

  “Now, one of you had a few doubts about Jackson Recruiting.”

  “Several of us did, actually,” said Dera as Keisha and Nala both nodded.

  “Rightly so. Okapi and Gowan have been digging into that company, and it’s a maze of shell companies which really looks very unprofessional. I’d definitely advise everyone to not apply for any jobs there. Has anyone applied for a job with them?” April looked each woman in the eye, but Dera was sure none had. They’d all come here to start a new life, not to get sucked into more trouble.

  “Good. Secondly, Xola and Kairu think something strange may be going on at the BDSM club. It’s recently taken on a new partner and seems to have become more like a brothel. The worry is that they’ll let inexperienced Doms partner with inexperienced subs and something truly dangerous could go wrong. If you need some punishment, or want to punish someone, speak to Okapi privately and that can be organized in safety for you here on the farm.”

  Holy shit. Dera hadn’t seen that one coming. She definitely wouldn’t mind a little punishment by the right man, but she was certain Gowan was the one who planned to scratch that itch for her, and possibly Maitho as well. She wasn’t so sure Maitho was a Dom, but he might be. Gowan she was sure about. He had that indefinable air of dominance all true Doms carried as an integral part of themselves.

  “Now the most important thing.”

  Shit! There’s more?

  “Several people on the farm have noticed outsiders watching us. This might be perfectly innocent. Maybe some tourists have gotten lost. But as I said before, werewolves are very protective of their women. Please don’t go wandering far from the center of the farm alone. You are, of course, free to go anywhere you wish. No one here is trying to hide anything from you. But Cooper has asked that you go in a group. He’d prefer you to take a couple of men with you, but if that is not an option, make sure there’s three or four women in the group.”

  She stopped and looked around at them but no one spoke. “To help protect you, when your own men are at work, three of our older men, Alfred, Eugene, and Milton, have offered to escort you anywhere you’d like to go.”

  April was trying to hide a giggle and Dera was about to speak wh
en Keisha asked, “What’s the joke with the old men, April? I think we all need a laugh right about now.”

  “Milton is eighty and his wife died fifty years ago. He said he hopes some of you want to go shopping at Victoria’s Secret because ‘I’ve almost forgotten what a brassiere looks like.’”

  “Is that what ‘bra’ is short for?” asked Tanisha.

  April nodded, still smiling. “I think one of you should definitely take him to a lingerie store, but make sure he’s got his heart medications with him. When he sees modern undergarments, it might send his blood pressure spiking.”

  Dera sat back in her chair thoughtfully. She had no doubt the story about Milton was true, but the way April had used it at the end of quite a scary message showed the woman was mighty clever. She’d hit them hard with the bad news, given them a moment or two to face it, then slipped in a joke to relieve their tension and have them wanting to take their protectors with them when they moved around the farm and into the town. April was one hell of a smart woman. She’d given them all the information they needed in such a way that the human women would automatically follow her instructions.

  The real questions remained however. Who was behind this trouble? And was it aimed at the werewolf community, or at the human women, or was it just coincidence that it was happening right now?

  * * * *

  Gowan spent most of his free time the rest of the week planning for Saturday. Once it was clear in his head, he talked to Maitho to flesh out the details. They weren’t going to be caught out a second time. This activity would be done in their house. It took a lot of planning and Gowan spent time trying to decide which items would be best suited to his plans and which would be optional or detract from it. But by Friday, his side of the arrangements was complete. He’d suggested to Maitho, who was a better cook than him anyway, that he plan a meal for them, and Maitho entered into the spirit of the game with his meal preparations. At noon they each sent a prepared text to Dera. Maitho’s text invited her to lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner, while Gowan’s said he’d planned some vacation-inspired activities for them all.

  Only a few minutes later Gowan’s cell phone beeped with Dera’s reply.

  I don’t promise to look at anyone’s endless vacation pictures but apart from that, I’d love to come.

  He texted a smiley face back to her and to Maitho. Meanwhile she must have answered Maitho’s text message as well, because Maitho sent back two smiley faces to him. So it was all good. Tonight they’d set up the house ready for Dera’s minivacation.

  The first thing he did was borrow one of the community’s huge outdoor gas heaters which he set up on the back porch of their house. Next he and Maitho hung giant tarpaulins from the roof to the bottom of the porch railing. This not only made the area completely private, but it also meant the gas burner would keep the temperature there plenty warm enough for them to be outside the house and wearing minimal—or no—clothing.

  That was all he had time for on Friday evening. The rest he could do by himself Saturday morning while Maitho was getting the food prepared.

  All Saturday morning as he worked, he kept hoping Dera would like what he’d done. It was all planned with her as the centerpiece and he was sure she’d be polite. But he didn’t want polite. He wanted excited and happy. However, even though he’d been watching her all the time since she’d arrived in the community, and despite allowing for the few days they’d spent together, he couldn’t honestly say he knew her extremely well. He had to hope his guesses and feelings were accurate. Well, if he fucked up, he’d just have to do better next time. But this date still meant a lot to him. He wanted Dera to be relaxed and happy, enjoying her time with them.

  Gowan sighed. He’d done all he could do, and Maitho had slaved over the food preparation. He hoped they’d correctly guessed her interests and her nature, and, most of all, that she liked them as much as they liked her. No, he loved her. He truly did. It was much too soon, but that didn’t change the facts. What he felt for Dera wasn’t lust or liking. It was genuine love.

  By the time they both walked to the women’s barracks to collect Dera, he was almost itchy with the need to move, to see her, to know he hadn’t made a mistake. At least getting out of the house and moving helped him get his feelings under control. They were five minutes early, but as usual Dera didn’t keep them waiting.

  “You’re always early. We are truly blessed to have found a punctual woman,” he said, kissing her cheek in greeting.

  “I’ve never understood why some people think it proves how busy and important they are to always be late. Unexpected things happen, but being on time mostly is just a matter of planning ahead.”

  “I agree. But so many managers consider it their right to make people wait and the less they like a person the longer they make them wait,” said Maitho.

  “I know. It’s so childish. They need to get a life.”

  When they reached the stoop, Gowan didn’t open the front door. Instead he drew a blindfold out of his pocket. “I don’t want to spoil our surprise. May I blindfold you and lead you to the first scene?”

  “This isn’t some Halloween trick where you put spider webs on my face, and itching powder down the back of my neck is it?”

  “Absolutely not. Everything should be most enjoyable.”

  “All right.”

  She stood still and let him put the mask over her face, then held Maitho’s hand as Gowan hurried to open the front door. He locked it behind them and Maitho walked her slowly down the hallway, through the house, and out onto the back porch. The gas burner had been blowing for an hour now, and the air here was definitely several degrees warmer than anywhere else.

  Maitho gently began taking off her sweater and shoes while Gowan stripped out of his clothes. Under his jeans he was wearing a lurid pair of Hawaiian-print board shorts. Gowan stacked her outer clothes and his on a chair while Maitho removed his clothing. He’d gone for the natural look and was wearing only a bright yellow thong.

  They turned her to face the view and removed the mask.

  Dera blinked and stared. Facing her were six tall palm trees, all in pots and rented from the Coopersville plant nursery for the weekend. One side of the deck was covered in sand. It was actually piled onto a heavy-duty plastic sheet so it didn’t all drop between the slats of the decking, but it looked good to him. And beside that was a child’s blow-up swimming pool full of hot water. Gowan knew if they all sat crossed-legged, there was enough room for them to sit in it.

  Maitho raced into the kitchen and returned with a tray holding three highball glasses and a pitcher. “Mai Tais. Eight parts white rum, three parts orange curaçao, three parts orgeat syrup, two parts lime juice. Added last is four parts dark rum, a garnish, and voila!”

  Gowan was watching Dera, but she smiled happily as Maitho placed pineapple chunks on the sides of the glasses, then floated a tiny hibiscus flower on her drink before handing it to her.

  Dera sipped it cautiously then nodded. “This’s great. I’ve never had a Mai Tai before. What’s curaçao and what’s orgeat?”

  “First you need to put your costume on. Here in Hawaii, all the beautiful women wear bikinis.” Gowan handed her a tiny scrap of fabric. He’d chosen pink, in deference to Maitho, but he’d also chosen the tiniest one he could find. Of course it was late in the season so the rack didn’t offer much choice, but he knew she’d look wonderful in the tiny swimsuit.

  Dera handed her drink to Maitho. “Will you hold that for me, please?” She quickly stepped out of her underwear and dressed in the bikini. And it looked more amazing than he could ever have imagined. The tops of her breasts flowed out of the pink fabric, which stretched tight across her chest, and the bottom just covered the cheeks of her ass. His dick was standing up in joy and he was glad he was wearing board shorts, not a thong like Maitho.

  He waved her to the three beach towels spread out on the sand and when she’d sat down, he handed her the drink. On a little low table beside Maith
o, the chef for the day had placed a platter of watermelon pieces, grapes, strawberries, pineapple triangles, chunks of tasty cheese, and tiny slices of salami for them to nibble on with their drinks.

  “Curaçao is a liqueur made with citrus peel. It’s often colored blue to look pretty in cocktails. Orgeat is made from almonds, sugar, and rose water, so it’s quite sweet which offsets the slight bitterness of curaçao,” said Maitho.

  “Thank you, for explaining that and for providing the drinks and food. And thank you both for setting the scene up. It must have taken you hours. I can’t believe the air is so warm.”

  “But the air is always warm in Hawaii,” Gowan teased her. He pushed her gently to lie back on her beach towel, then he tipped a tiny bit of his drink into her bellybutton and licked it up.

  Maitho laid some watermelon pieces, pineapple chunks, and strawberries, along her sternum from her ribs to her bikini bottoms, then picked a piece up between his teeth to offer her. Dera giggled, but gripped the edge of the watermelon with her teeth, and the two of them bit the fruit in half. Gowan went next, offering her a strawberry from between his teeth, while Maitho poured a few drops of Mai Tai into her bellybutton and drank it.

  “Let me have a turn.” Dera sat up and pushed at Maitho who immediately lay down, spreading his legs wide and letting his cock stand up, pushing at the tiny yellow thong. Gowan lay back, leaning on an elbow, to see what she would do. First she arranged the cheese and salami alternately across his waist, then she added some grapes and strawberries on his sternum. When she was happy with her arrangement, she nibbled some cheese and salami, then offered Maitho a taste of each one, and one to him as well. Gowan had to acknowledge her thoughtfulness in including them both. She never favored one of them above the other, but was always scrupulously fair.