Beckham, Hannah Page 3

  After dressing, Stephen followed Maya from the bedroom, buttoning his shirt while she towel dried her hair. Maya threw the towel on the couch beside Paula, working really hard at avoiding eye contact. “You recover yet?”

  “Look, I know you two are dating. But it doesn’t mean I enjoy seeing you naked and wallowing on a wet bathroom floor.”

  “Uh, my apartment. Hello?” Maya flopped down next to her and patted Paula’s leg. “Besides, we weren’t wallowing. We were just…”

  The sandy blonde woman threw her hands up over her ears. “I can’t hear you, la, la, la.”

  “Baby.”

  “Slut.”

  “Takes one to know one.”

  “Well.” Paula grinned. “True.”

  Stephen threw his hands up over his ears. “I can’t hear you, la, la, la.”

  Paula picked up the towel and threw it at him. “Shut up! Like you have any room to talk, Mr. Revolving Door.” Her eyes widened. She turned sharply to Maya. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean… I mean, his door hasn’t… Oh, man, I’m a jerk.”

  Maya laughed. “It’s okay. Really. Your brother’s a slut, also. It runs in the family, apparently.”

  Giving Maya a stern look, Stephen said, “My door hasn’t revolved in a while. So both of you can just shut up.”

  For a moment, they were all quiet. Maya picked at her wet crumbling cast during the awkward silence.

  Stephen grimaced. “We were supposed to keep that dry.”

  “Shit happens.” Maya went into the kitchen and pulled a pair of boning shears from her knife drawer and began cutting the cast off.

  “What are you doing?” Stephen joined her, watching with fascination. “We’re going to have to get you a new one, you know.”

  “That’s why I stopped by!” Paula exclaimed. “I ran into, uh, Jack down at the No Place and he told me you’d gotten hurt on the job today. Are you all right?”

  No Place was one of the local bars in Kansas City. Before Maya started dating two men, she used to frequent it regularly with Jack. The beer was cheap and the music kickin’, but it was a dive. Not Paula’s usual hangout.

  “I’m fine. Actually.” And she realized the pain in her forearm had pretty much disappeared, along with her rib and back pain. Just weird. “Better than fine.” The cast lay split open on the counter. Maya wiggled her fingers and twisted and flexed her wrist and forearm. It seemed during the whole black cloud of death incident, she’d miraculously healed. Double weird.

  Stephen put his arm around Paula’s shoulder. “I think Maya needs some rest, sis. Maybe you could come back tomorrow?”

  Paula looked decidedly disappointed, but Maya didn’t know for sure because she’d thrown up her empathic blocks the moment she felt the strong disgust rolling off her best friend after the whole naked in the bathroom incident. Paula felt strongly -- about a lot of things.

  Ducking under her brother’s arm, Paula walked around the counter and hugged Maya. “Okay, I can take a hint. I’ll see you tomorrow? I’ll even bring coffee and donuts?”

  Maya smiled and squeezed her friend back. “How can I resist an offer like that?”

  “It’s settled then. Tomorrow.”

  “Not too early.”

  Paula snorted. “Who you talking to? I know better than to show up before noon.”

  “You really do know me.”

  The blonde beamed. Trouble was, her friend really didn’t know her. Not anymore. Not since Maya started keeping secrets from her. A fact that ate away at Maya, inside and out.

  “Love you, brother,” Paula said to Stephen.

  “Love you more.” He leaned over and kissed his sister’s cheek then walked her to the door.

  Chapter 4

  “Do you know what’s going on? Do you remember any of what happened?” Maya paced back and forth, wearing a line in the plush carpet of the bedroom.

  “I remember it all too well. It was bad, really bad. I was completely aware of everything, but I didn’t have any control. It was like being a puppet with a brain.”

  “Did you get any sense of whatever it was that took you over?”

  “Nothing, unfortunately. One minute I was inside you feeling nothing but exquisite bliss, then the next minute my body is trying to kill you.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I have to tell you. I’m freaking out.”

  “Tell me about it.” She sat down next to him on the bed. “Uhm, there’s something else.”

  “Yeah?”

  “It’s not the first time I’ve… uh… encountered this thing, or whatever it is. When I was in the ambulance, it came to me when I died.”

  Stephen reacted with alarm. “Before or after.”

  “I… I’m not sure. I’d just put it off to an out of body, don’t go into the light sort of thing, but now…”

  “Something’s trying to kill you, Maya.”

  So much for stating the obvious. “Ya think?”

  “Don’t be a wise ass. I’m not in any mood.”

  “You’re in a mood all right.” She scratched her arm. “Do you think it’s got something to do with a sorcerer?” Maya hated even saying it. Damn magic users were becoming the bane of her existence.

  Stephen shook his head. “I don’t think so. Magic feels different to me. It’s like ants crawling lightly all over my skin when someone’s using. With this, I felt nothing. Literally nothing.”

  “Why now? What the hell did I do to piss whatever this thing is off? This thing, this creature, it’s tried to take me out now, twice in one day. That’s pretty friggin’ persistent.”

  “What’s tried to take you out twice in one day?” Matt stepped into the room, his brow narrowed with anger.

  As with Paula, Maya hadn’t heard anyone come into the apartment. “I have really got to get a jingle bell or something for the front door.” Maya didn’t want to tell Matt about the entity. He could overreact at times, and she was too tired and too weary to deal with the drama.

  Stephen leaned forward. “Some sort of shadow creature tried to kill Maya today. Twice apparently.”

  Thank you, Mr. Tattletale. “Yeah, that about sums it up.” She glared at Stephen. He glared back. She fought the impulse to stick out her tongue.

  Matt roared. “What the fuck! How come I’m just hearing about this now? You should have called me.”

  “And you’d have done what exactly? Gone all fur ball and chewed the dark cloud of doom to death?”

  The skin on Matt’s body rippled where he wasn’t covered in clothing. His eyes went from bright blue to amber. He snarled. “I swear, Maya. Sometimes…”

  “What? You want to kill me yourself?”

  “Sometimes I regret loving you. You’re a dangerous woman.”

  Now she was pissed. “You can get the hell out of my life anytime you want, Matthew Brewer. I think I’ve told you that on more than one occasion. I. Don’t. Need. You.” But she did. She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth.

  “Fine!” he shouted.

  Maya stood up and got in his face. “Fine!”

  “Okay then.”

  “Okay.”

  “I’m going!”

  “Get out!”

  The next few moments were filled with moans and groans as their lips met in a frantic kiss, hands traveling over each other’s bodies. Maya pulled Matt’s black T-shirt off, wanting and needing to touch his skin, to be pressed against the heat of his beast. His tongue danced against hers, his teeth grazing her lips. Under her fingers, she felt his muscles shifting, changing -- hair growing rapidly, spreading across his flesh. She opened her eyes.

  Matt had turned, shifted. But instead of looking like he normally did when he turned full-on furry, his face remained almost human. Almost. He pushed her back onto the bed. She grabbed Stephen’s arm, who up until this point had done nothing. And his next action was completely unexpected. He kissed her, then pulled her to him so that he was behind her. He wrapped his hands around her front, effectively locking her arms down tight
.

  “No, no, no.” This was not happening.

  Matt undid his jeans, kicking them off onto the floor. He stalked toward the bed, erect and covered in black fur. “This is the only way I know how to protect you,” he growled.

  “Not like this.” She tried to pull away from Stephen, to get off the bed, but he held her firm. “Stephen, help me.”

  “I am helping.” He sounded as determined as Matt. “You’re human, Maya. At least if you were lycan, you’d have a fighting chance at survival. I’ve never seen anything like this creature, but I do know stopping it from killing you is going to be next to impossible.”

  “I don’t want to be a werewolf, goddammit. If you force me, I’ll hate you both. I swear to God, I’ll hate you.”

  Stopping at the edge of the bed, Matt roared his frustration again. “I can’t lose you!”

  Kicking out with her legs, she threw her head back, smashing Stephen in the face. It had to hurt, but he kept his grip. “You do this, you both lose.”

  So much physically stronger than she, Stephen held her tight. “At least you’ll be alive.”

  “You don’t know that. We don’t even know what this thing is. It might be able to kill you both. Besides, I said no!” Maya crossed her legs. Her pants were still on and as long as she could keep it that way, she had hope.

  Matt clenched his hands into fists. “Let her go.”

  Stephen closed his eyes. Reluctantly he released her. For the moment, it was over. “I want you both to leave.” Her throat felt raw, tight. She wanted to cry, but not with them around. “Get out. Get the fuck out now!”

  Stephen tried to reach out to Maya, but she jerked away. “Don’t touch me. Don’t you dare.” She buried her face in the pillow until she heard the bedroom door close behind them.

  * * *

  “It was a bad idea, Matt.” Stephen scratched his head. Guilt, worry, anger and fear all pulsed through him at once. As a lust demon, they were strange emotions. He couldn’t believe what he’d just done. Almost done.

  “Don’t blame this all on me. You went along with it, so you must’ve thought it was a good idea at the time.”

  When the darkness had swallowed him, taking over his body, he’d never felt so out of control. “Whatever this thing is that’s trying to kill her, it’s strong. Really powerful. I’m scared for her.”

  “You’re scared for yourself, demon. Admit it, without Maya you’re back to a string of one-night stands.”

  He focused his anger on Matt, leaping at him, tackling the lycan to the floor. “I was willing to let her become your mate. I love her.”

  Matt didn’t fight him. “You think I don’t? I’ve given up any hope of having a true bond to be with her.”

  “No, you haven’t. You’re just biding time, wishing against wish that she’ll someday see the light and let you change her.” The look on Matt’s face when he said it showed the truth of Stephen’s words. He rolled off of Matt. “She’s not going to let us help her, not in the way you want. She’s tough. Probably the toughest human I’ve ever met. She thinks she can handle anything that comes her way. And even though she doesn’t want our brand of help, somehow, we have to protect her.”

  “Agreed.” Matt nodded, sitting up.

  “This thing, it possessed me. Completely took over and tried to drown her. So, until we know what it is and how to stop it, we can’t leave her alone, or be alone with her. Both of us need to be with her constantly, so that if one of us is taken over the other can step in.”

  “What if it can possess us both at the same time?”

  It was a valid question, one to which Stephen had no answer. “Well, let’s just hope it can’t.” Now, to convince Maya.

  “I know someone who might have a clue about this, whatever it is.” Matt pulled his cell phone from his pocket.

  “Who are you calling?”

  “My mom.”

  Just great. “I don’t think…”

  Matt held up a hand. “Hey, Mom? Yeah, it’s me. I need to talk to the shamus. Can you arrange a meeting?”

  “I’m going to go check on Maya. Hopefully, she’s calmed down.”

  Matt followed him down the hall, finishing the conversation with the last person Maya would want involved. He clicked the phone shut as they approached the door. “Should we knock?” Matt whispered.

  Stephen rapped lightly with his knuckles. Maya didn’t answer. He knocked louder. “Screw it. If she shoots me, she shoots me.” He opened the door, Matt right behind him. “Coward.”

  “You’ll heal faster.”

  Maya was sprawled on the bed, her pillow covering her face.

  “Maya.” Stephen and Matt looked at each other. “She’s not moving.”

  “Oh, God. No.” Matt ran to the bed, throwing the pillow off her head. “Maya!”

  Her eyes snapped open, her hand coming up, finger on the trigger of her 9mm. Alert, she aimed around the room. “What? What?”

  “You’re okay.” His voice choked.

  “Cripes. Yeah, I’m okay. No thanks to you bozos. You woke me from a perfectly sound sleep. Thank you very much.”

  Matt buried his face against her shoulder, his fingers stroking through Maya’s hair. She dropped her gun on the floor. “Might as well be a paperweight as much good as it’s done me lately.” Maya patted Matt’s shoulder. “It’s all right,” she soothed. “I’m fine. Jeezus.”

  “We were wrong before and we’re sorry,” Stephen said.

  “Damn right you are.” She lay back, pulling Matt with her. “Two of the sorriest sons-of-bitches I’ve ever seen. I just don’t understand why every time something goes to shit you want to force me to change.”

  “At least you’re not screaming at us to get out again. Progress.” Matt nuzzled against her chest.

  Stephen rubbed his hands together. “We’ve made a decision. Until we can figure out what’s going on, we’re sticking with you. We’re not going to let you be alone. So you sleep, we’re there. You eat, we’re there. You…”

  “Take a dump?”

  “We’re there. Got it?” He crawled up next to Maya on the opposite side of Matt. “We may not be able to keep it from coming, but it’s better than doing nothing.”

  A relieved sigh escaped her lips. “Good, because I don’t think I can handle this alone.”

  Matt kissed her neck. “You won’t have to.”

  “Great.” She pressed her lips to Matt’s forehead while smoothing Stephen’s hair. “But, we’re going to set down some ground rules. You are both physically stronger than I am, and I’m not going to go around worrying about fighting you while fighting this ghost.”

  “I say…” Stephen stretched, then slid his hands up her stomach. “It’s time for makeup sex.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “How about it?”

  “Horn dog.”

  “He’s the dog. I’m the demon.”

  “Not much of a demon,” Matt grumbled. “Can’t do much besides incite lust and heal.”

  “Don’t forget he can grow parts back,” Maya pointed out.

  “I consider that part of the healing thing.” Matt’s hand traveled above Stephen’s, cupping Maya’s right breast.

  “I don’t think I agreed to anything here.” Her insides were agreeable though, wholeheartedly. Even under the worst circumstances, she wanted them. Both of them, constantly and obsessively. Not that she’d admit it to either man. She moved her arms behind her head. Besides, she still felt a little angry and betrayed. “Stand up.”

  They looked at her, confused.

  “I’m talking to the two of you. No arguments. Stand up.”

  Surprisingly, they obliged. Guilt at work there, no doubt. She wasn’t above using it.

  “Take off your clothes.”

  Stephen readily began stripping, while Matt looked slightly embarrassed.

  “Come on, now. Strip for me.” She half-grinned, biting her lower lip. “I’ve had a rotten day, and it’ll make me feel better. You want to make me feel better, don’
t you?”

  Matt rolled his eyes. “Evil.” But he pulled his shirt up over his head and began to unbutton his jeans.

  “Slowly,” Maya said. “Move closer together so I can see you both properly.”

  Within moments, both men were down to their underwear, Matt in flannel boxers, Stephen in silk briefs. “Lovely.”

  Matt nervously ran his hand across his chest. “You’re having a go at us, aren’t you?”

  Side by side, Stephen was several inches taller than Matt, but not nearly as broad. His build was that of a swimmer, long waist and legs, wide shoulders, sleek muscles leading in deep V cuts down under the fabric of his briefs, his skin smooth and flawless. Matt on the other hand, stood wide, like a barbarian, thickly corded muscles, not as defined, more rugged, stocky. His arms were nearly as thick as his thighs, coarse black hair covering his chest.

  Maya sighed, taking them both in, beautiful, handsome. “Not yet, but I plan to,” she eventually answered. “Now hush. No talking.”

  She wanted some control, because the whole day up until this point had been out of her hands. Getting up from the bed, she walked around them, admiring their bodies. She went to Matt first. He was the more insecure of the two, and Stephen would understand, whereas if she took the incubus first, Matt’s feelings would be hurt. Besides, if she’d learned nothing, she knew that Stephen liked to watch.

  She knelt before Matt, her face level with his groin. He moaned, his shorts tenting before she even touched him. She blew across the flannel and watched his cock jerk to the left under the soft breeze. Instead of taking down the boxers, she parted the fly, and grasped his cock in her right hand. The thick shaft pulsed against her palm.

  Matt shifted, uncomfortable. She held him firm, her left hand sliding up Stephen’s thigh to the large bulging shaft under his briefs. She caressed his balls while taking Matt’s cock into her mouth. Sucking the lycan’s cock was a pleasure, the feel of the silky skin slipping past her teeth, sliding over her tongue.

  She peered up and to the left, satisfied with the look of hungry passion on Stephen’s face as he watched her. Groping for the waistband of the silk briefs, she pulled Stephen’s underwear to his thighs. His shaft, longer than Matt’s but not as thick, felt warm in her hand. She rolled her thumb across the tip, smearing pre-come.