Samantha

What the hell was I doing here? I had known the moment Dean and Sebastian had suggested a celebration at some dance club that saying yes meant taking the path to insanity. Or, more precisely, to Hussyville.

Yet, happy about Lucian and Monica Co. getting a prison sentence, I had exclaimed, "What a great idea!" before I could stop myself. I had tried to back out of the party afterwards, but Eric had asked me to accompany him. He had to go since the celebration was being thrown for him and half the pride would be going as well just to meet him. So I had agreed to his request, telling myself I was doing it for him, not myself.

He needed the emotional support after facing his sister in the courtroom. And meeting the pride was a first step in Eric getting accepted as a member, in case he wished it. Of course I should be with him tonight, right?

Wrong. He was doing perfectly fine without me in the company of the other two objects of my lusty thoughts and hungry secret glances. The three males who had been starring in my wet dreams for a week, were now gathered in one place in real life, smiling, laughing and barely frowning, respectively. Chatting the night away like besties while I was drooling over them from a nearby table in pride company.

I'd been wet ever since I had seen Dean and Sebastian hours ago, coming to pick me and Eric up for the court hearing. I had wanted to kiss them so badly but had restrained myself, and so had they. The game from the past week where they were starving me for their attention was still on, apparently. No way was I going to succumb to the hunger and admit defeat by throwing myself in their arms and kissing them senseless and–

No. I wouldn't let them win by breaking first. But, more importantly, I couldn't do this to Eric.

Before I had let him mark me, I had thought I would be okay with gradually increasing the number of my fated mates. But now that the mating bond was in place, the connection so special and intimate, it felt wrong to even think about Sebastian and Dean. It made me feel like a horrible person to be dreaming of them two when I had Eric sleeping next to me. It didn't matter that all three of them were in my dreams. That simply wasn't right.

Eric claimed the opposite but he was the kind of person who put others' needs before his. In this case, he believed I needed two more mating marks on me, so he would agree to them irrespective of the emotional cost to himself. I couldn't let him suffer for me, no way. He was looking out for me and I was going to look out for him, too.

Of course, there was the matter of Dean and Sebastian suffering as well... When they hadn't been before my eyes it was easy to think that since they weren't calling me, they might have lost interest. After the rescue operation, they might have realized they were better off without the drama I brought into their lives. Particularly since I was no longer single for them to share only among themselves.

But now that they were sitting steps away from me in the club, casting looks of longing my way when they thought I wouldn't notice, I couldn't deny it. Sebastian and Dean were suffering because of me.

I was torn as hell. Horny as well.

Darn it, why had I come here? Hiding at home from the hard decisions in my life would have been so much better...

Eric met my gaze and gave me a warm smile before resuming his conversation with no other than Sebastian.

Unbelievable.

"You still can't believe it, huh?"

I choked on my cocktail at the female voice right beside me. A hand patted my back as I coughed.

"Sorry, dearie, didn't mean to startle you."

I looked to my left. Where Rory had been sitting until a minute ago when his phone had rang, now sat a dark-haired woman in her late 40s. A jaguar shifter, if my nose wasn't mistaken in this packed club.

"Uhh... hi," I mumbled. I couldn't believe I had gotten so lost in thought that I hadn't noticed yet another pride member showing up at my table.

"Hi yourself. I'm Isabel." She smiled broadly, flashing me a golden tooth.

"Samantha. Nice to meet you." When I shook her hand, I noticed she had nine rings on seven of her fingers. She wore three necklaces as well.

She had to feel completely safe in this place to risk wearing jewelry. There could be no shifting in that unless she wanted to choke on her gold or destroy it in the process. Then again, with so many of the pride being here tonight, she shouldn't have anything to worry about.

I was the only one with worry on her mind.

"And I'm glad to meet you, dearie." My new companion sat more comfortably on the cocktail chair and tilted her chin towards the guys' table. "I was saying earlier that you probably still find it hard to believe you can be so lucky. A unique Omega plus the Tallie-Shortie duo? Damn, girl, you're one lucky cat."

I nearly choked on my drink once more. "Tallie and Shortie?"

"Mhm. Those are our enforcers' code names. The boys hate them but they totally fit. Don't tell me after ogling them for so long you haven't noticed how they look side by side?"

I blushed at the realization my staring had been so obvious; the several pride members I had met before Isabel must have noticed, too. I also giggled because she had a point. When standing together, Sebastian was dwarfing Dean big time.

"Now that Eric will be standing side by side with our boys, we'll have to come up with new nicknames," Isabel kept talking.

"Oh, but Eric... He won't be an enforcer. If he joins the pride, I mean."

"No?"

"It's up to him to decide, but... Eric hates violence. His gift is to prevent fights, not be part of them."

The truth was me and Eric hadn't talked about our future plans now that we were mated and also running dangerously low on money. In fact, we hadn't done much talking at all. We had been too busy testing the mattress and the sofa. And the kitchen island. And the wall in the living room...

"I see. That's a pity."

I shot her a surprised look.

She patted my knee. "Don't get me wrong, I'm against violence. Have seen enough of it in my 47 years of life before joining this pride of dreams. What's a pity is that I won't have a trio of sexy enforcers watching my behind during my weekend shopping. I had such high hopes for extra eye candy." Isabel sighed dramatically.

She was joking. I knew she was joking. That didn't stop a warning growl from escaping me.

Isabel lifted her hands in surrender. "Just looking, no touching your hunks, I swear. The same applies to the girls in the pride. One's mated with a kid anyway, another has a boyfriend, and then there's our poor, traumatized Anna... You'll meet them one of these days, I'm sure. Tonight I can introduce you to my daughter, Janine."

She pointed at a young woman on the dance floor, dancing together with three human women, all of them with hairs in bright colors rivaling the disco lights in the club.

"She turns 21 in four months but has caused so much trouble I swear I've had her for twice as many years." Isabel shook her head in disapproval. "Sometimes she dresses so provocatively I suspect she does it on purpose. Not just to drive me nuts but also to cause some man-on-man action – the scratching and biting type – and get to watch our enforcers handle it."

I smiled. Who could blame Janine? The sight of Sebastian flexing those corded muscles and Dean moving fluidly in those martial art moves...

"Right?"

"Uhh... yep." I refocused my attention on Isabel.

A sparkle of mischief had appeared in her eyes. Or was that a trick of the light?

"So, Eric is no fighter... I bet he's skilled in other departments, though?"

Another memory hit me, of Eric eating ice cream. Using his tongue to catch any runaway drops. Curling the tip to–

"I'll take that blush as a confirmation, dearie."

Darn, what was wrong with me? I had to stop thinking about naughty things!

"Judging by what I've heard through the floor over the years," Isabel continued, "Tallie and Shortie are skilled, too. How much time do Janine and I have to buy earplugs for a soundless sleep every night?"

"Excuse me?"

"Our apartment is over Shortie and Tallie's, and the soundproofing in the building is more or less non-existent. So, how much time until you and Eric move in and it gets too noisy on the second floor to sleep without earplugs?"

I gaped. "No, it's... It's not like that... Eric and I–"

"I see. You're not going to share a bedroom for starters. Of course. How could all four of you fit in one of the bedrooms as they are now? You'll probably knock down a wall to merge the two bedrooms into a large one. After all, you will need to put a double king-size bed in there."

I gaped some more.

"What, dearie? Don't tell me you expect a king-size bed to be enough. For sleep maybe you won't be squashed at the centre of the menburger, but for hanky-panky? Huh-uh."

At this point, my mouth was permanently agape and my eyebrows had reached my hairline. But did that stop Isabel? No.

"You'll have to expand the bathroom as well. Playing hide-the-salami under the shower would be dangerous in the current tight space."

I grabbed my drink and down it in one go. The alcohol in it burned but not as much as my face was.

"You seem flushed, dearie. Are you all right?"

"I–"

"Look how inconsiderate I'm being!" She patted my knee again. "I'm talking about four-way hanky-panky without considering how exhausting that could be for you. Of course there will be nights where you will choose one male only. The others can watch or not – personally, the first option gets my dusty engine going. Just think of–"

I didn't hear what the devil in sneakers said after that. I was already lost in the visual her scandalous ideas had inspired in me.

In my head, I saw myself standing in front of three closed doors, a showman presenting my options to an invisible audience. "What shall it be tonight, dearie? Door No. 1 for a sweet Eric who will do whatever you ask and make you feel bold enough to issue commands in bed? Door No. 2 for an easy-going Dean who will get you exactly where he wants you without you minding at all, because you crave the same things? Or shall it be Door No. 3 for a very impossible Sebastian who'll behave like a caveman in the bedroom, dominating you completely, and you will secretly love every second of it?" While I sweated cartoonishly over the impossible choice, the showman pulled a curtain to reveal a fourth door. "Folks, we've just received news that there is a fourth option! I can't reveal who is behind this door but I'll tell you this: there is a double king-size bed in there... It's time to make your choice, dearie–"

"Dearie? Samantha!"

I blinked as if waking up for a dream to find Isabel watching me with concern.

"Jeez, girl, you got me worried there for a sec."

"Sorry, I must have zoned out." Hussy daydreaming, better said.

"Mhm... I'll go get you a glass of cold water from the bar just in case. You're as red as the tomato I had for breakfast. Be right back."

She left before I could come up with something to say. Not that she had cared much about what I had to say. Plus, it was better that I didn't interact with her more tonight.

The ideas she had put in my head had only made me needier. My panties were soaked. My skin was burning up and I felt like scratching at my neck, the turtleneck dress I was wearing not making things any easier.

I looked around in search for the ladies room. Some freshening up should help.

That was when I noticed Isabel. She was walking in the opposite direction from the bar and... exchanging a look with Dean? She nodded at him before she disappeared in the mass of people.

I must have had too much to drink, to be seeing conspiratorial glances where there were simple greetings. No more cocktails for this tigress tonight, nope.

"Dance with me."

I turned to my left so abruptly that I nearly fell off the cocktail chair. One strong arm caught me by the elbow before I could.

I looked up into the familiar face of Mr. Tall, Dark and Grumpy.

"Sebastian?" Hadn't he been at the table with Eric to my right a moment ago?

"Glad you remember my name, darlin'." He let go of my elbow only to offer me a hand. "Join me for a dance."