Let her go?
Cabal watched as Tanner’s eyes flared with an inner rage. Oh yes, this was funny as hell. Tanner share that pretty little thing? He looked back at Scheme. There wasn’t a chance in hell he would be given the chance to slide his dick into that hot little pussy.
But some things were worth fighting Tanner for. Once Cabal touched her, he had no doubt the animal Tanner kept so deeply hidden inside him would break free. It could get messy. Tanner would lose all control and try to destroy the man touching his woman. But it would be better than laughing in Tanner’s face at the very idea that Scheme wasn’t his mate.
“She seems unwilling to be shared, Tanner,” he pointed out. “How do you suggest we do it?”
“She’s your mate,” Tanner whispered bitterly. “She’ll want you. We won’t have to deceive her. ”
Poor Tanner.
Cabal lowered his head to hide his knowledge. If the barb was taking its own time to show itself, then Cabal could understand the mistaken conclusions his brother had drawn. It didn’t change the facts though, facts that even Sanctuary would have to take into account. Tanner and Cabal might be brothers, but there were still distinctions to their scent and their DNA. Slight ones, he admitted, but there all the same.
Things such as the fact that for ten years Tanner had been consumed with fantasies and thoughts of Scheme Tallant. Cabal had been amused, but not in the least fascinated. She was pretty enough, but nothing exceptional.
Crossing his arms over his chest, he leaned back and met Tanner’s gaze directly.
“Okay. ” He nodded easily. “I’ll accept her as my mate. ”
He nearly flinched from the wave of savagery that swept from Tanner. His brother was perfectly calm. Neither his expression nor his gaze altered, but Cabal felt the animal inside. And to say it wasn’t pleased was an understatement.
Poor Tanner.
CHAPTER 19
Tanner meant to leave. He really did. He pulled himself through the opening at the top of the farthest tunnel and crouched in the back of another series of caverns that led to the small cliff-sheltered valley beyond, before forcing himself to move to the exit.
He couldn’t stay here. His hearing and sense of smell were too strong. He would hear Cabal taking her, smell the mating heat, and he feared for his own sanity if he did. The animal within was clawing for freedom, enraged, desperate to force him to return, to jerk her from Cabal’s touch.
How many women had he shared with his brother? Dozens. Neither of them had been monogamous in the least, and the sex games they played with their women had always been bold. Hot.
Yet he couldn’t stay in that damned cavern with Cabal and Scheme. He had forced himself to le
ave, ignoring her confused tone when she called out his name, forcing himself to leave as fast as he could go.
His and Cabal’s DNA was too closely linked. It was nearly identical. They were just short of clones of each other. It made sense that he would hunger so desperately for Cabal’s mate. That he would burn for her. Lose his mind for her.
He was losing his mind now.
He paused at the exit of the caves, drew in a deep, hard breath and stared up at the cliffs that sheltered the narrow valley.
The mountains in Sandy Hook were littered with cliffs and caves and hidden pockets of tunnels. Callan’s scientist mother had played in the cliffs and caverns as a child, and had used them several times to hide Callan. But it was Callan who’d found the small, narrow tunnel beneath the main caverns, and the caverns connected to it.
They were completely hidden, even from the satellites in orbit equipped to see beyond the surface.
Tanner stared up at the jagged overhangs, through the pine, oak and locust trees that filled the area. Inhaling deeply, he fought a battle within himself, one he wasn’t certain he would win. The animal he fought to keep hidden roared in outrage, clawing at his mind, his flesh, demanding his return.
That he take what was his. His.
His jaw clenched as he shook his head with a quick jerk, fighting back an impulse so primal, so bestial, it shocked him.
A growl rumbled in his chest as his lips pulled back from his teeth and he fought an enraged roar. It was a battle he almost lost.
His woman.
The primitive declaration raced through his head.
His woman.