Finding You Bk. 02: Paradigm Shift

She may have been new to this life, but Marcus had done his job well. He had opened up their world and inducted her into it and despite not following their game plan; he had succeeded in tapping into her natural submissiveness and had helped her to free her inherent sexuality. All she needed now was patience, love and training and Cooper could hardly wait to see the exquisite submissive she would bloom into under their expert guidance.

There was no doubt in Cooper's mind that Tabby wanted him as well, even as she was being held in Marcus' arms, her attention was all on him. However, a small shred of insecurity wanted to hear her confirmation aloud before his head would be able to believe it.

"Are you absolutely positive that you want this, little one? Both of us? Because once we start, there's no turning back, kitten. It's all or nothing." He wanted to hear her say the words, had to be sure that she wasn't feeling pressured into accepting him as a means of pleasing Marcus.

In his heart of hearts, he wanted her to want him as much as she wanted his partner.

"Yes! I'm sure, Cooper." She flashed a look up to Marcus and received an approving smile and nod from him. "Please Cooper; you are a part of this...whatever this is growing between the three of us. I don't understand it but I know I want it. I know that I want you too."

Cooper nodded. "Thank you, kitten." He gave her a sexy smile, glanced down at his fingers and watched as they disappeared back inside her. Comforting warmth surrounded his digits and the strangest thought entered his head, he found himself wondering if this was how a baby felt nestled in its mother's womb.

They had vowed to protect her, but Cooper had a funny feeling that they had it all wrong. Feeling the way her body accepted his fingers and the peace that filled him with the connection, he knew that it was going to be she that protected them. With her heart and her body, she would welcome them home to the only safe place that truly existed. His blue eyes burned with desire as he lowered his mouth to her ear and growled, "Stay wet for me, kitten. I intend to have your apology for dessert."

Tabby's knees almost buckled when he removed his fingers from her pussy and pushed them into her mouth coating her tongue in her own musky flavor. He removed his fingers and sucked them into his own mouth, shooting Marcus a devilish smile.

"How do you keep your mouth off of her, brother? She tastes like honeyed wine."

"Wait until your face is buried in her cunt. You'll think you've died and gone to heaven." Marcus gave him a wink and nodded to the floor.

"Fuck breakfast!" Cooper growled and dropped to his knees.

Tabby found herself simultaneously lifted up against Marcus' chest and Cooper's arms hooked behind her knees, hoisting her legs up to rest on his shoulders. When his hot mouth fell upon her spread pussy, Tabby groaned and pushed her back against Marcus' for leverage, grinding her pussy against his mouth, while his tongue speared between her folds, licking a path from her opening to her clit and back again.

"Jesus, I'm getting drunk on the taste of her!" he moaned and sucked at the flesh hiding her clit so that his tongue could delve beneath it and flick the sensitive bundle of nerves.

"Holy shit!" Tabby screamed as she felt the scrape of teeth against her clit, setting off a firestorm racing into her belly.

"Be warned, brother," Marcus warned. "She gushes like Old Faithful."

Cooper raised his eyebrows in astonishment. "Seriously?"

"Fuck yeah. I made her squirt so hard that she soaked the bed."

"You get to have all the fun!" Cooper grumbled good-naturedly.

Marcus laughed. "Well, I'd hate for you to ruin your pretty shirt."

Cooper slid two fingers into Tabby's dripping opening and gave Marcus a wicked grin. "Fuck the shirt. I'll borrow one of yours."

CHAPTER 64

The minute Cooper's fingers hammered into her, striking her g-spot with every pass, Tabby unraveled and lost her grip on reality. With his mouth sucking hard on her clit and his fingers attacking her g-spot from within, Tabby didn't stand a chance of resisting when the urge to pee hit her again. She squirmed in Marcus' grip, crying out and gasping for breath.

"Trust us, angel. Let go," he crooned to her, sensing her panic.

The pressure became too much for Tabby and her lower body bucked up hard against Cooper's mouth. That was all the warning he got to back away before the intense orgasm hit Tabby and liquid sprayed out of her, splattering Cooper's black muscle shirt with damp spots.

"That is absofuckinglutely amazing!"

"Isn't it?" Marcus chuckled, his eyes twinkling with amusement and desire. "Taste her again, Coop. She tastes completely different after she cums."

"No, no, no," Tabby whimpered, still coming down from the explosive rush of her climax. Her nether region tingled with oversensitivity and the thought of Cooper's tongue touching her again... "Oh...fuck!" she mewled, her legs quivering like jelly as Cooper took a torturously slow lick of her inner core and starbursts erupted in front of her eyes. "Please...Cooper...no more!" she wailed as he swirled his tongue around her opening.

"Easy, angel," Marcus' deep rumble soothed her. His arms became steel bands, cinched around her waist to keep her from writhing out of his grip. "Baby, stop wiggling or I'm gonna drop you."

Tabby slammed the back of her head into his chest. "Make him stop, please! I can't," she gasped and her muscles tightened, but Cooper kept leisurely licking her as if he hadn't heard her plea. Tabby was insensate with arousal, with Marcus binding her arms in his vice-like hold and Cooper's hand clamped around her legs; they had her trapped between them and she could do nothing to evade the influx of sensations washing over her.

Her sensitivity heightened to the point where she thought she could feel each individual taste bud on his tongue as it slid through her folds, driving her to the point of insanity. Body quivering, tense, and panting so hard that she was on the verge of hyperventilating, Tabby finally gave up fighting the waves of desire pounding at her defenses, and opened the floodgates, submitting to the storm of pleasure.

Sensing her surrender, Cooper blew lightly on her clit and the sudden change in temperature had Tabby exploding like a roman candle. Multiple orgasms rolled one into another as she soared into the stratosphere. Unaware of the tears streaming down her cheeks and with her voice hoarse from screaming out her pleasure, Tabby's body went limp in Marcus' arms and he quickly carried her into the living room and laid her on the sofa.

"Angel."

"C'mon, kitten."

Hands stroked her face while a damp cloth wiped between her legs. She heard their voices calling her back to them but she was too relaxed and exhausted to do more than mumble and turn into the strong arms caressing her.

"Open those gorgeous eyes, beautiful," Marcus teased her, tickling her gently under her chin until she obeyed. Opening her eyes, she found Marcus and Cooper grinning at her like a pair of happy boys on Christmas morning.

Cooper licked his lips. "You were right, brother. She does taste even better after she cums."

Marcus laughed, loving the bright red spots of colour that lit up on Tabby's embarrassed cheeks. "Told you!"

"We'll have to make sure she cums...A LOT because I think I'm going to get addicted to the taste of our girl's pussy."

Tabby groaned and tried to hide her face, but Cooper caught her hands and gave her a squeeze. He leaned down and claimed her mouth, filling her with a mixture of her own taste and his. "You were magnificent, kitten. Absolutely amazing," he murmured in appreciation.

"Oh my god!" Tabby shot upright, nearly colliding heads with Cooper. "The bacon! I totally forgot about the bacon in the oven!" She scrambled to get off the sofa, but Marcus caught her and held her down.

"Calm down, angel! Cooper took care of it while you were floating in sub space."

"I'm afraid I might have been a little late. It's a little...well-done," Cooper mumbled apologetically to Tabby.

"Ash?" Marcus asked, stifling a laugh at the dejected expression on his angel's face.

Cooper nodded sadly. "Yup. Pretty much. Sorry, kitten. It's a crime against bacony goodness, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

Tabby sighed and shook her head. "Scratch the bacon then. I can't believe I forgot about it."

"Um, seeing as I was doing my best to distract you, I suppose you could be forgiven this time, kitten." Cooper winked at her.

Tabby gave both men an exasperated glare. "You two are incorrigible, you know that."

"Fuck Marcus, she's using big words. I think we might have just been insulted, but my dick is still saying Yee-Haw!" Cooper whispered sotto voce to Marcus.

Tabby sat up and elbowed her way passed their big bodies. "Men!" she huffed, standing on wobbly legs and almost losing her balance.

"Whoa there, angel!" Marcus' big hands grabbed her by her hips before she could topple back onto the sofa. "Got your balance yet?"

"I'll be fine once I figure out where my bones went," she giggled.

Cooper leaned back into the sofa cushions, looking smug and blowing on his fingernails. "Yup...I'm just that good."

Marcus slugged him on the arm. "Shut up, asshole."

Tabby snorted and took a tentative step away from the ridiculous pair behind her. Once she was assured that her knees where going to keep her upright, she slowly made her way back to the kitchen, haughtily ignoring the low whistle that followed her retreating, bare ass.

"Holy fuck, that is a beautiful sight, isn't it?" Cooper's awestruck voice chased after her.

"The best. And do you know what makes it even better, brother?"

"There's something better than that perfectly round, begging-to-be-fucked, little ass? Fucking doubt it," Cooper snorted skeptically.

"You're missing the best part, you idiot."

Tabby was pretending to ignore their exchange but the dark current of possessiveness that ran under Marcus' words had her full attention focused on what he was going to say next.

"Enlighten me, then."

"That magnificent, soon-to-be-fucked, little ass and the amazing woman attached to it..." he trailed off, pausing for effect. "Is. All. Ours."

Cooper's rushed intake of breath sent a shiver down Tabby's back.

"Fucking right, she is," Cooper fervently agreed. "Marcus?"

"What, buddy?"

"We can't fuck this up. I think that this is it, man. She is it. The one... the one we've been looking for...isn't she?" The wonder and uncertainty in his voice, almost made him sound like a little boy, but the intent behind his words was pure alpha male.

She heard them stand and footsteps approached her from behind. Marcus' strong arms caught her and wrapped around her waist, halting her mid-stride. The cool skin of her bare back met the smooth, heated plains of his stomach and the difference in temperature gave her a shock. When his lips found the hollow of her shoulder, that shock turned into a live wire, shooting jolts of desire into her nerves as he kissed his way up her neck until he found her parted lips.

"Yes she is," he growled and turned her to face him. "And we are never letting her go, are we, brother?" He was speaking to Cooper, but his laser bright eyes never left hers, holding her in thrall to his dominance.

Cooper appeared beside Marcus and took his turn in claiming her mouth, kissing her deeply. "Not a fucking chance," he breathed the vow into her open mouth before sealing his lips on hers again and kissing her roughly. When he was done, he tilted her breathless face up with a hooked finger under her chin. She gawked between both men, each focused exclusively on her, feeling the bond's vibration surge with vital energy between them.

"From this moment on, kitten, you belong to us. Understand?" All the playfulness left Cooper's face and a greedy possessiveness simmered in its place. Tabby felt the impact of that intense desire and dampness pooled between her quivering legs as arousal spread its liquid warmth through her belly.

"Yes," she whispered, unable to form any other words. At her answer, electricity seemed to arc along the invisible bond, flowing from both men into Tabby and pulling her soul closer to them; her simple word of acceptance somehow binding her to them.

Cooper's face brightened and his boyish charm returned. He gave her a cocky grin and a light smack on her bruised ass. "Awesome, now go make us some food woman! Your men are starving!" He and Marcus both tried to keep a straight face but only managed it for a second before breaking out into belly laughs.

She let them wheeze on Cooper's joke, slapping her hands to her hips and feigning an indignant glare, but inside, she was shaking with amusement. She was attracted to their dominant sides but loved the silly, playful boys that hid inside those tough outer shells. As they laughed, she wondered how many people were lucky enough to see this side of them and suddenly pitied those people for what they were missing.

"Funny," she grumped, fixing Cooper with the stink-eye. "And the operative word would be?"

He bent and gave her an elegant bow. "Please, m'lady."

She laughed and spun on her heel, taking two steps before casting a sultry, speculative look over her shoulder that instantly silenced the men. "If I'm yours...then you do realize that means, you two idiots are both mine," she added with a happy purr and a sultry wink, leaving them with jaws agape.

CHAPTER 65

The first thing she did when Tabby returned to the kitchen, was dump out Marcus' cold coffee and grabbing a second cup, poured two, steaming cups of fresh coffee. She returned to the living room and handed each man a cup. "Here, work on these. Lunch will be about half an hour, okay?"

"That's fine. I think we'll go drink them on the deck and leave you in peace, angel."

Tabby nodded and went to leave when both men called out to her simultaneously.

"Kitten?"

"Angel?"

She turned to see them glaring at one another with odd expressions on their faces, reminding her of an old married couple that were suddenly annoyed with one another for finishing each other's sentences.

"Yes, boys?" she replied, stifling the urge to laugh at them.

"You tell her," Cooper mumbled, elbowing Marcus in the ribs and making Tabby smile.

Marcus cast an irritated glare at Cooper before turning his attention back to Tabby. "Thanks," Marcus said quickly to her. "From both of us, angel."

Tabby cocked her head in confusion. "For what?"

"Everything," both men blurted. Each of them wore a similar expression that seemed to be a potent mixture of awe, sincerity and raw need that struck Tabby with a lightning bolt of emotion, immediately warming her from the inside out. She smiled back at them and nodded simply before reentering the kitchen.

With Cooper and Marcus out of her way, Tabby quickly finished her hastily abandoned preparations, getting the frittata into the oven and the home fried potatoes chopped and sizzling in some bacon grease on the stove. While they were cooking, she threw some spices into the raw, ground pork and shaped them into patties. Heating another frying pan, she cooked the homemade sausage patties and arranged them on a large serving platter that she had found in one of Marcus' cupboards. Looking at the charred remains of the bacon, she took a small bite and decided that not all was lost after all. She crumbled the strips and set bacon bits aside to sprinkle on top of the frittata.

Outside, Marcus made sure that he closed the patio door behind him and walked to the rail of the deck where Cooper waiting, sipping at his cup of coffee.

"So...what was with the look you had when you arrived? What's happened?" Marcus questioned him, knowing that something had been bothering Cooper earlier.

Cooper sighed heavily, a dark shroud dimming the pleasure in his eyes and making tense lines groove his forehead.

"Work shit." He took a long sip of his coffee. "We found another body this morning."

"Shit!" Marcus swore, shaking his head. "The same guy?"

Cooper nodded and sat down in one of the lounge chairs. "Yeah, probably. This girl didn't take as bad a beating as the last one but...fuck! Two in as many days? He's escalating. This time, the bastard savagely raped her and then left her with her throat slashed."

"Was she a working girl like the others?"

Cooper tilted his head back and pinched the bridge of his nose in hopes of dulling the ache in his skull. "Yeah. So far, there are no witnesses or fingerprints to give us a clue as to whom this psycho is. Jaz is out canvassing the area where the girl worked, but nobody saw a thing. Fuck, Marcus, we need to catch break on this one before there's another one." He looked wistfully through the patio door, where he could see into the kitchen. A soft smile melted some of the horror and strain from his face as he watched Tabby cooking.

"She helped me forget for a while, Marcus. I want to lose myself in her and I barely know her." He turned questioning eyes to his friend. "How did that happen so quickly? She's...she's...fuck! I don't know!"

"She's ours," Marcus stated simply. "There's no rhyme or reason to it, brother. I felt it the moment I laid eyes on her and the force of it keeps throwing me for a loop. The minute I saw her, something inside me instantly recognized that she was the piece to a puzzle that I never knew was missing."

Cooper nodded his head excitedly. "That's exactly it. I thought I had a good life: friends, lovers, money. Overall, I thought that I was a lucky bastard. That was until Tabitha. She cast her brilliant light into my life, and suddenly everything that existed before her paled and I could see all the holes, patched over with duct tape, but there nonetheless. When my mouth was on her, I would have killed to stay right where I was, because for a shining, beautiful moment, all those holes had disappeared, all the horror of the murders was gone and everything was whole again."

Marcus turned and leaned on the railing, looking into the yard but not seeing the landscaping. All he could see was Tabby and he knew exactly what Cooper was trying to say.

"I've turned this over so many times in my head, questioning, analyzing and I still don't understand it, Coop. I have never, ever felt this strong a pull to a woman before." He shot a look over his arm to Cooper. "If anyone threatened Tabby, fuck, I'd kill them without blinking an eye."

"And I'd be right there to help you bury the body. She's ours and we will protect what belong to us."

"Did you bring the collar?" Marcus asked.

"Yeah. I stopped at the club and got it out of your desk. Are you going to give it to her today?"

"We are going to, after lunch. We need to get our collar around her neck so that everyone knows to keep their paws off her."

"Okay. I'll follow your lead on this. When are you going to start formally training her?"

Marcus turned so that he could watch Tabby's lithe form in the kitchen. He wished she'd taken that apron off so that he could see more of her but understood the necessity for the garment. "We'll start now. When we go in to eat, keep her in the kitchen, while I get things arranged at the table, okay?"

Cooper stood and leaned his hips against the railing so that he could enjoy the view inside. "You got it. I'm curious to see how she's going to take to the training."

"She's going to be beautiful, brother. Her submissiveness shows up unexpectedly, knocking the wind out of me every fucking time. Sometimes she does things or says things that would make you swear that she's had training, but I know that she hasn't. It all natural with her and it's like a breath of fresh air to experience it. She may even have a masochistic streak in her that was a fucking surprise to discover."