Pieces of Three by Kim Carmichael Read Free Book Online Page B

easily.” With no tools at their disposal and his own irritation and arousal growing, he needed an outlet. “You need to watch me, but we need to fix her, heal her and take care of her.”
    He shut his eyes and in a burst of energy, shifted to his wolf form. The bed creaked with the extra weight.
    “Porter.” Julian’s tone let out a warning.
    He took his time inhaling and exhaling, forced his mind to remain with his human side, the part that could reason, the part where he wouldn’t turn the naked female in bed with him over and satiate his own desires. Instead, he licked her wound imparting their special brand of healing properties.
    “You’re going to scare her.”
    His fur encompassed her and she curled up to him, in her uneven sleep she raked her fingers across his pelt but slowly, slowly her shivers subsided.
    “She’s warming up,” Julian whispered.
    He concentrated on her temperature, the way her breath brushed against his fur setting off a cascade of pleasure, how her heartbeat echoed around him.
    “Now how do we get through the next few days?”
    Without speech at his disposal he didn’t answer. They both wanted her and soon they would both need her more than anything. If their own battle didn’t do them in, the female lying between them might do the trick. No, he didn’t have an answer and didn’t want to care.
    Damn those big blue eyes. Damn Julian. Damn him.
     
    * * * *
     
    Warm, cozy, safe. As consciousness tried to wake Alyssa she tried to push the nuisance away, wanting to say in the incredible place in her dream where her body was encompassed by nothing but softness and the faint breathing of another. All she wanted was to drift away and remain in her private paradise.
    She hugged her pillow closer, the scent of earth and musk overtaking her and a bit of fur tickled her nose. A chuckle escaped her throat.
    “Alyssa?” A man’s lips grazed her ear and a set of hands grabbed her hips.
    She moaned and willed her body to stay in her dream where a man held her. Maybe he wanted to make love to her, his erection pressed against her back. Her body flooded in preparation. She was ready to lose her virginal status if anyone ever wanted to take it.
    “How are you feeling? Does your head hurt?” the man asked.
    Strange question for someone who wanted to be with her, but oddly enough her forehead throbbed. She slid her hand up, across more fur to her head, gasping at the pain caused by her own touch and the distinctive flakes from dry blood. Fur? Blood?
    In an instant, her mind jolted fully awake, her muscles seized, and her she opened her eyes into an expanse of brown fur. Living, breathing, brown fur. A wolf! “Help!” Strength found her, she pushed the monster away and turned smack dab into a different expanse, a man’s bare chest. “Oh, God!”
    “It’s okay.” The man took hold of her.
    “There’s a wolf!” She attempted to swat him away, but he kept a firm grasp on her. They needed to run, hide, get away before the wild animal woke and killed them both.
    “Alyssa, it’s me, Julian.” He bent down. “Julian and Porter.”
    Her heart sped, thumps that ran together, and she couldn’t catch her breath as her mind replayed the events of the night before in a flash. The boat, the storm, and the shifters. The incredible shifters. She garnered her courage to look up at his face. They may have only spent a scant few hours together, but she would never forget his face.
    Only in her dreams would a man, or male, like him want her. Even on the off chance he did, they could never even have one night of fun. Still, his eyes seemed to glow, a beautiful shine that she wanted to stare at and explore. She didn’t notice that before.
    “The wolf in your bed would never hurt you. Porter shifted to keep you warm.”
    As if by magic the fur behind her morphed into skin, hands and arms. She bit the inside of her mouth. Wolf or shifter, either one was dangerous, and she was in bed with two.