Mold Me [Dungeon Masters 4] (Siren Publishing Menage Everlasting) Read online

  “Well Phoenix said she’s always planned to adopt a dog from a shelter, so at least she likes animals. That’s a start. It would have been too bad if she was the kind of person who dislikes animals.”

  Lachlan shook his head. “She wouldn’t have been our mate if she didn’t like animals. The wolf is part of what we are. She had to be a match for us in all our lives, not just in bits and pieces. That just proves Phoenix truly is our mate. It’s telling her that has to be handled right. It’ll be a big shock and we have to do it gently. Tomorrow we’ll show her around the property.”

  “That might be hard if she’s wearing those fuck-me shoes again. We ought to have told her to pack boots and jeans.”

  “Yeah, probably. Well, it’s too late now. We’ll just have to hope she’s dressed casually.”

  Callum laughed. “Naked would work even better inside the house. Let’s walk down to the road. We can open the gates for her.”

  She wouldn’t be there for at least another half hour and waiting around in the house was making them both grumpy, so Lachlan agreed. Besides, he usually drove in and out. Walking would be relaxing.

  They each grabbed a large flashlight and headed for the road out front of their land. Lachlan closed the final gate and climbed up to sit on top of it, only to see the headlights of the electric blue Chevy Malibu heading toward them. Callum was already waving his flashlight as she slowed down and turned into the driveway. Lachlan jumped off the gate and opened it for her to drive through.

  “You made good time,” he said after he’d closed the gate and climbed into the backseat. Callum was riding shotgun.

  “Yes, but I’m damn tired. The time with my parents was pretty full-on. What the fuck?”

  She pulled up at the second gate and Callum stepped out to open it.

  When they reached the fourth gate she said, “How many fucking gates are there? This is like one of those nightmares with doors endlessly opening but the dreamer never gets anywhere.”

  “That’s the final one. Each field has a gate,” he said. Soon he might be able to tell her it was also a sort of security measure for them, but not yet.

  “Tomorrow we could take you around the farm and show you our land. Would you like that? Have you got boots to wear? Ours might be a little too large for you to borrow,” said Callum.

  Sitting in the backseat, Lachlan couldn’t see her feet, but it sounded as though she was wearing those sexy high-heeled shoes again. Lachlan held his breath. Would she agree to spend time with them tomorrow?

  “Not boots, but I threw a few things in the trunk of my car before I left home this morning. I have athletic shoes, and jeans, and a thick sweater.”

  He relaxed. Aha. So she did hope to spend time with them. Excellent. They’d take her around the farm tomorrow, introduce her to his basement playroom, and then visit the Dom’s Dungeon on Sunday. Lachlan smiled.

  Callum pointed to where she should leave her car, near the steps up to the stoop of the farmhouse, and she turned the engine off.

  “Are you very tired?” he asked.

  “Absolutely knackered. Twelve hours with my parents takes more energy than cleaning my apartment from top to bottom. I just want a hot shower and about eight hours sleep. Tomorrow I’ll be ready to play.

  “But they’re well? There are no underlying concerns with them?” He needed to reassure himself on that.

  “Hell yes. They’re looking better than ever because they’re excited about finally taking this cruise and vacation. Dad has just decided to get his life in order I think. He went through every line of their wills with me, and they went over and over which bank they use, and where the title deeds to their house are kept in a lockbox, and a million other details. I mean, I’m not totally stupid. If I had to I could visit the local banks with ID and a Power of Attorney and find out all that stuff anyway. Or just hire an attorney to do it all for me. But anyway, they wanted to tell me everything and if it makes them relax and enjoy their vacation more, I can’t really complain about that.” She gave a huge yawn and stepped out of the car, stretching her arms up. “Damn, I’m tired.”

  She walked around to the rear of the car and beeped her key at the trunk. Lachlan opened it and saw a small bag. “Is this what you need?”

  She nodded, yawning again, and he pulled it out of the trunk and closed it. Callum had already taken her hand and was helping her up the steps onto the stoop. Lachlan couldn’t help but notice she still walked very gracefully even though she was so tired and her shoes weren’t so high. They were still high heels, but not ultra sexy shoes. However, her gracefulness of movement was outstanding. Or perhaps now she was out of the car and on her feet in the fresh night air she’d revive and be willing to play some games with them. That was a thought.

  “Are you hungry? I made some cookies,” asked Callum.

  “You bake? Wow there’s nothing as sexy as a man who can cook. But right now—” She gave an absolutely jaw-cracking yawn and Callum laughed, ushering her into the house.

  Lachlan locked the door and followed them only as far as Callum’s office, where he checked the security lights. Everything was as it should be, with no alarms triggered. Their land was safe. Good. They’d never had a security breach, but with the property to the rear of their farm for sale, Lachlan was seriously concerned that it would be sold to a developer for a passel of homes, all of them filled with noisy teenagers throwing endless loud, drunken parties, or younger kids keen to explore everywhere. Most likely on his land.

  He’d expected this farm to be his and Callum’s home forever, but now he was being forced to realize that there was no safe place for wolves outside their pack lands. And their pack lands were much too far away for his job. Callum would cope anywhere, working almost entirely online. But if they moved back to the pack he’d have to find another job. And lose his dungeon. And possibly lose Phoenix as well. No. No way would he risk losing Phoenix. She was theirs. He’d have to find another way to keep them all safe.

  Callum led Phoenix into the bedroom they’d prepared for their woman, the one they’d always intended to share with her. The bed was a king-size one and Callum had made it up today with the deep purple sheets and pillow cases they’d bought especially for Phoenix. This room was originally the master bedroom, and neither he nor Callum had used it. They each slept in their own rooms, Callum next door to his office, and Lachlan at the back of the house, overlooking their orchard.

  “Oh, I love the colors.” Phoenix sat on the bed then stretched out flat, facedown. “Just give me a minute to rest and then I’ll take a shower.”

  Lachlan smiled at her and wondered if they should take her shoes off. She’d left her feet hanging off the bed so her shoes wouldn’t dirty the quilt, but still…

  He heard the faintest, tiniest snore and looked up at Callum. His friend was trying hard not to laugh. “I’ve heard of speed reading, and speed skating. Even speed dating. But this is the first time I’ve ever known there was speed sleeping.”

  “We’d better take her shoes off and put the blanket over her.” Lachlan spoke as softly as Callum.

  Lachlan removed her shoes and placed them neatly under the chair where Callum had laid her small suitcase. He and Callum rolled her gently onto her side and wrapped the top blanket around her, then turned the light off and left the room.

  “We’d better leave the hallway light on, though, in case she’s confused about where she is when she wakes up,” said Callum.

  Lachlan agreed. “She transitioned from walking and talking to sound asleep in about one second, maximum.”

  “Don’t worry. Likely she’ll talk in her sleep as well.”

  “I expect you’re right.”

  * * * *

  Callum woke during the night and tiptoed down the hallway to peek in on Phoenix, but she was exactly as they’d left her, wrapped in the blanket and laying on her side. He listened hard, calling on all his werewolf senses, and smiled when he heard a tiny sigh. For a moment he’d been worried that she w
asn’t breathing. But it seemed she was just very tired, and a tidy sleeper who didn’t toss and turn and wreck the bed.

  Smiling he returned to his own bed, planning some of the things they could do when she woke up. He’d start by cooking her a big breakfast. Likely she’d be hungry after her long day.

  He woke at six as usual and checked the blogs and websites he administered, but there was nothing needing his urgent attention. His cell phone would have beeped and woken him if any of about twenty key inflammatory words had been used in comments on the blogs. Shortly after seven he was showered and dressed and began pulling ingredients out of the refrigerator and preparing breakfast.

  He’d scrambled eggs, fried crispy strips of bacon and hash browns, warmed up a batch of cinnamon rolls, and was just adding a gallon of orange juice and three glasses to the table when she appeared, still dressed as she’d been the night before.

  “Have I got time for a shower, or should I eat first?”

  Lachlan appeared in the doorway behind her, his hair still damp from his shower. “How about we all eat first? Then Callum and I can organize what you’d like to do today while you take your shower.”

  “Good. That smells really great. I remember you said last night that you can cook. It certainly lives up to the advertising.” She picked up a cinnamon roll, held it to her nose, and inhaled the scent, making him laugh.

  “Most people eat them instead of smelling them,” he teased her.

  “Don’t rush me.” Her words were mumbled because she’d already taken a bite. Once again he laughed. Her hair was escaping from her braid, which made him long to brush it away from her face, but instead, he concentrated on eating his own breakfast.

  “Would you like to see around the farm this morning?” Lachlan asked her.

  “Yes, I would, please. What animals do you have? Do you grow any crops or your own fruit and vegetables? Is there a lake? Can we walk or is the farm too big? Oh, do you have horses we can ride? Or a tractor I can ride on? Oh, oh, do you have dirt bikes or those four-wheeled things. Um, quad bikes?”

  Callum started laughing. He’d already forgotten her first couple of questions and wouldn’t be surprised if she had as well. Lachlan was just sitting there looking stunned, but Callum loved the way she was so interested in everything. Even if she did talk a lot.

  “What’s so funny?” Phoenix stared at him.

  “You didn’t give anyone a chance to answer you.”

  “I can see I need to buy that ball gag right away,” added Lachlan.

  “Are you going to answer my questions or not?”

  “I can’t even remember what half of them were.” Callum was still struggling not to laugh. Then his jaw opened in amazement as she repeated the questions in exactly the same order as she’d asked them. He turned to look at Lachlan, who appeared to be stunned by her questions.

  Lachlan recovered faster than Callum. “We only have cattle so no horses to ride. No tractor, dirt bike, or quad bike either. We have an orchard of fruit trees, but don’t have a vegetable garden or other crops. There’s water in each of the large fields but that’s for the cattle to drink. There isn’t a lake to swim in or go canoeing on.”

  Callum noticed Lachlan hadn’t mentioned about their running track so he didn’t refer to it either. “We have favorite places we like to walk to. We don’t usually walk the fence line or anything like that.”

  “I’d like to see your favorite places, please. I’ll have a shower first, though. Thank you for breakfast, Callum. It was delicious.”

  Callum loaded the used dishes into the dishwasher, but once he heard the shower water running he said softly, “Showing her our running track might be a way to gently introduce her to that other matter we urgently need to discuss.”

  “It’s very much a case of playing it by ear. We need to judge her responses as we progress. We can’t risk alienating her. But I agree. It has to happen soon, and having her here is the perfect opportunity.”

  * * * *

  Phoenix happily put on her jeans and athletic shoes. She was quite content to dress nicely for work, and to wear anything other than good clothing to visit her parents would have greatly upset them. They’d have been horrified if she’d arrived wearing jeans. But to relax and go walking on a farm, casual clothes were needed. She was also pleased she’d thought to throw some clothing into her little carry-on bag. She’d thought maybe she was overstepping the mark. That if her meeting with her parents took too long, Callum and Lachlan wouldn’t be interested in having her visit the farm. But she’d hoped they could spend today together and was really excited that’s what was happening.

  Even if she had fallen asleep in her clothes last night. She must have been even more tired than she thought. Certainly not knowing what the problem was with her mom and dad had been emotionally draining as well as worrying. But now that was all sorted out. They’d be at the airport ready to start their vacation while she was looking forward to this day with her men. Well, she assumed it was all day. They hadn’t said. But they also hadn’t hinted the look around the farm needed to be quick.

  She’d just take what was offered. It was nice to relax and talk with them. And some hot sex later might be good, too.

  She bounced back into the kitchen. “I’m ready. Where are we going first?”

  Both Lachlan and Callum stared at her, looking so totally delicious she was ready to forget about sightseeing and move straight back to the bedroom. This time with both of them in the bed with her. Lachlan’s hair and eyes were both black, but in the early morning sunlight she noticed for the first time that Callum’s hair and eyes were actually dark brown, not black. She’d always seen them indoors in the evening before, and had just assumed Callum was as dark as Lachlan. But he wasn’t. His coloring was very dark but still brown. That was one fascinating thing she’d learned already today.

  They left the house through a mudroom packed with coats and boots, and walked past a barn and then down a gravel track to some trees. As they got closer she realized it was their orchard.

  “We planted the trees over three years, so they’re at different stages of growth, but they all bear fruit now. The apple trees are on this side of the orchard and the peach trees are on our right.”

  Phoenix didn’t know much about gardening, but the trees looked strong and healthy to her. “Yum, imagine growing peaches. I’d never stop eating them. Although, I suppose you grow them to sell and don’t eat them really.”

  “Both. We can plenty for ourselves to eat all year round, and sell the rest at a local farmer’s market,” said Lachlan.

  “That makes sense.” She walked slowly though the plantation, enjoying being among the sweet-smelling trees, and noticing the occasional piece of fruit sill hanging there.

  “I should have bought a bag with us and we could have picked them,” said Callum.

  “Why don’t you go back and get a bag. Lachlan and I can pick them while you do that.”

  “Do you mind? We didn’t bring you here to work,” said Lachlan.

  “It’s not work. It’ll be fun.”

  Callum ran back toward the house and Phoenix walked on through the orchard, holding the bottom of her sweater up like a kid and carefully piling fruit into the bag she’d made.

  “Your sweater will be dirty,” said Lachlan, although she noticed he’d done exactly the same thing.

  She shrugged her shoulders. “It’ll wash.”

  By the time Callum returned they had enough fruit to almost fill the three bags he’d brought with him. They left the bags at the end of the orchard to collect later, and walked along a narrow dirt track that was just wide enough for her feet, and headed up a small hill.

  It wasn’t much higher than the surrounding fields, but Phoenix did get the sense of being able to look out at their land. “Show me which is your land and which is your neighbors’.”

  The men drew lines in the air following the fences which were the borders of their property. “I see. You actually have two
fences. An inner one and an outer one. Is your land like that all around or just this bit?”

  “It’s right around it. We have an electric fence so the cattle don’t stray. They know not to go too close to it,” said Lachlan.

  “But wouldn’t a regular fence work as well? Why are there two fences?” It didn’t make sense to her.

  “Animals like to lean on fences. After a while the fence falls over and they walk away and get lost. That’s why farmers are always fixing their fences. But the cattle know not to lean on an electric fence, so the outer fence lasts much longer,” explained Callum.

  “I see. But if you had the electric fence as the outer fence wouldn’t that work even better?”

  “For a start the outer fences were already here when we bought the farm. But also, this way, if some child touches the electric fence, they’ve already had to climb into our property through the outer fence to do that, so they must know they’re trespassing. We also have signs on the electric fence saying it’s activated,” said Lachlan.

  “That property there, the one immediately behind us, is up for sale. The sale board makes it clear they’re hoping a developer will buy the property and build family homes. They’ll be on large allotments. There won’t be dozens of them, but still it’s worrying us that soon there’ll be a lot more people who might choose to trespass on our land, eating our fruit, and frightening our cattle. Maybe exploring in our barns and even in the house while we’re gone.”

  Phoenix had never thought about that. A city person could lock their apartment, garage their car, and their property was safe. Well, pretty safe. But except when it snowed, the animals were all out in the fields, walking free and eating grass. To lock them in barns all year around would be both cruel to the animals and expensive as well. And there was no way to lock up crops.

  “What do your other neighbors think? Are they worried, too?”

  “Most of them are concerned. We’d all hoped it would just be bought by another farmer. Ideally by one whose fields border it to add to their property, but none of us can afford it,” said Lachlan.