“Marc is flying in from Ventura,” he countered.“He’s my partner.You remember I said?”
“So, you’re gay?”
“No!”Trip and he barked that particular answer at the same time.It boomed around the room, making her jump.
“Sorry!I didn’t mean to offend you.I’m just trying to understand.”
Trip held up a hand.“We’re sorry.”He grimaced.“You’d be surprised how often we’re asked that.”
Her lips twitched, and Ryan was relieved to see that her sense of humor was coming to her aid.“I can imagine.If Marc is as hot as you two, people must wonder if you all work so closely and live together too?”
“Yes,” Ryan admitted with a grimace.“We all live here.We work together… people make incorrect assumptions that are very annoying.”He blew out a breath.“When we come of age, like humans at twenty-one, we separate from the den and go our separate ways.We choose our Triad brothers, and as a threesome, seek out our mate.”
“I’m not a Lion Shifter,” El pointed out softly.“Surely that’s an issue?”
“No.It’s not.Even though we’ve addressed the population imbalance with the Triad, it’s not enough.There are as many human-Shifter pairings as Shifter-Shifter ones.It’s always been our way.”
She sucked in a deep breath and reached over to pour herself a drink.As she did, she bent over, and the perfect swells of her tits plumped up over the neckline of her dress.Trip let out an indiscreet groan that caught her attention.
When she realized what he was looking at, her cheeks flared bright pink, but she didn’t try to cover up, just sat back and began to sip at her vodka.The truth was, that was probably the smartest way to deal with Trip’s wandering eyes—ignore him.
“Let me get this right.Shifters have a soul mate like in the books.But, it’s not one on one, it’s three on one.”
“Unless it’s a Lioness,” Trip corrected.
She blinked at his correction.“So, that’s the part that’s wrong.That’s the part I’ve misunderstood.”El gulped down some more vodka.“Does that sound crazy to anyone else?”
As her question seemed to be aimed more at the room at large than at them, Ryan just took a sip of his own drink and let her process the information he’d just divulged.
She lifted a hand and rubbed at her eyes.Her fatigue hit him square in the jaw, and he grimaced at his selfishness.“You need to rest.”
El started to shake her head, but then she blew out a shaky breath.“M-Maybe I do.It’s been a long night.”
Trip clambered to his feet.“Let me show you to your quarters.”
A faint tension running through her limbs pricked Ryan’s attention.“You’re safe with him, El.As safe with him as you are with me, and as safe as you’ll be with Marc too.”
She swallowed.“This is too much to process.”
“That’s why you need to rest,” Trip said softly.He stepped around the glass coffee table and hovered next to her legs.When she peered up at him, the weariness on her face hurt Ryan to behold.He was about to concede defeat and offer to take her upstairs himself, but she surprised him by holding out her hand.Trip reached for it and helped her up.
Good.She needed to connect with his Triad brothers.
It was always difficult starting a relationship one on one when it was, as she’d so succinctly pointed out, one on three.The woman usually clung to the first male she met for a while until she felt more at ease and could respond to all of the Triad.
They had some trying days ahead, but hell, they’d be more than worth it.
She frowned as she settled beside Trip, then to Ryan, asked, “The picture in the hall.Of your parents?There are two of them.”
“My mother’s a Shifter, my father’s human,” he explained softly.
“Oh.”Her mouth rounded into a perfect circle that had his cock jerking to attention.
“Ryan’s unusual,” Trip pointed out softly, jerking her attention back to him.“Pride leaders such as him usually don’t spawn from such a coupling.”
“They don’t?”
“Nope.His mother’s strong though.Inordinately so.Lionesses are known for their wit and cunning, but not strength.Jane’s definitely different.It figures that her son would be different too.”
