Riptide [Kismet Cove] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) by Susan Hayes Page A

could tell the second that Jess fell asleep, because her body finally relaxed completely and her breathing slowed and deepened. Evan cleared his throat very quietly and Rory finally met his blood-brother’s gaze and asked, “Do you know what the fuck is going on?”
    Evan nodded once and then tapped his temple.
    Great, Evan wanted to do this telepathically. Rory sighed inwardly. He tended to keep his mental shields up at all times, and not even Evan was allowed past them for more than a few sentences, usually when one or both of them were in seal form and all other communication was impossible. All selkies could relay their thoughts when in seal form, but only blood-bonded selkies could read each other’s thoughts and emotions when human. Still, Rory had learned early that as the future leader of the colony, it was important that no one be able to get into his head or influence his decisions.
    Rory opened the link to Evan, and the strength of the thoughts that flowed at him were so strong he winced. “Ease up, dude. You’re giving me a headache.” He sent the thought back to Evan.
    “Sorry, it’s a bit hard to be calm at the moment.”
    “Is the naked woman in bed between us distracting you?” Rory added a mental snicker to his message.
    “She’s not just any woman, Rory. Can’t you feel it?”
    “I’m feeling something, sure. But I have no idea what the fuck it is.”
    Evan’s next thought came with a surge of emotion so strong it made Rory’s breath catch. “She’s a true mate, brother. For us.”
    “No.” Rory’s first reaction was denial. She couldn’t be. True mates were rare these days, and they were always selkies, no exceptions.
    “Yes,” Evan argued back along the link between them. “How else do you explain what’s going on? She feels it, too, and she doesn’t understand it any more than we do. Less I think.”
    “She can’t be. She’s human!”
    “Human or not, I think she is. Try imagining letting her get up out of this bed and walk away from us so we never see her again.”
    Rory did, and the idea of letting her go had him seeing red. His arm tightened around her and he knew there was no chance in hell he’d ever let her out of his sight, never mind out of his life.
    “Yeah, I feel the same way. So, I’d say we found ourselves a mate.”
    Rory’s mind was reeling. They’d found her. After years of looking, they had finally found the woman destined to complete their lives, and she was human. Fuck. Dad isn’t going to like this.
    Evan picked up on his stray thoughts. “I know. The prince has to marry a selkie from one of the old bloodlines. But not even your father can’t make you marry someone else if you’ve found a true mate.”
    Evan’s blue eyes met Rory’s as they stared at each other across the sleeping form of their very human mate. “If he tries to do that to us, you know what will happen.”
    “That’s only a legend.”
    “True mates are only supposed to be a legend, too, and apparently we’ve got one sleeping between us right now.”
    They both glanced down at Jess and Rory could feel Evan’s feelings were the mirror to his own. Neither of them were willing to give her up, but to keep her they were going to have to break with traditions that went back to ancient times.
    “The things in life truly worth having are worth fighting for,” Rory said the words out loud and their exhausted mate stirred and then settled back down with a sleepy sigh that pumped all the blood in his body straight to his cock. As Evan chuckled Rory realized that the telepathic bond between them was still in place, and his blood-brother had felt his response to Jess’s sigh.
    Rory severed the link, but as he stared down at Jess he couldn’t help but wonder what life would be like if she agreed to stay with them. Mated trios often formed intimate bonds, even when one of the group was human. He had always kept Evan out of his head as much as he could, but if Jess was theirs, then