Page 21 of Kidnapping Their Third

Why did he think that? Now that the thought of someone breaking into her home was in his head, he’d never get his bear to leave. He’d hoped to be back to his apartment before nightfall so Kimble wouldn’t realize he’d been left alone. When the vampire rose from his daytime sleep, he was going to panic when he couldn’t find Pike or Cora. That meant burning through the blood they’d fed him and setting back his recovery.

Frustration made Pike want to bash his head on the steering wheel. He either stayed here and watched over his human mate or rushed home to keep his vampire mate calm. Indecision kept him from moving. His bear side wanted to stay because Cora was the most vulnerable of the three of them. But his human side was more logical and wanted to hurry back to Kimble.

“If we go home, we can collect Kimble and come back here,” he reasoned with his inner bear. Yes, that was an acceptable solution. Reaching for the keys, he was about to start the car when he saw a small pickup truck come to a screeching halt and park cattywampus in Cora’s driveway.

As Pike watched, the man in the pickup got out and jogged around the back of the truck. Instead of taking the little path made of stepping-stones, he jumped over a planter to get to the front door fast. Pike was out of the car and sprinting across the street by the time the man opened the front door and boldly strode into Cora’s house.

Fear for Cora and rage at this stranger made Pike’s bear push to get out. It was hard, but Pike kept his inner beast locked down. When he got to the open door, he almost lost his hold on his bear. The stranger had Cora in his arms and was holding her in the air.

“Let go of me, you idiot!” she demanded, trying to kick her heels back into her attacker’s shins.

With a roar, Pike grabbed the back of the guy’s jacket and hauled him into the air. The attacker let out a surprised grunt and let go of Cora.

“What the fuck?” the guy screeched. Cora landed on her feet and only stumbled a step before she regained her balance.

“How dare you!” Pike shook the man violently. The guy lifted his arms and slipped out of his jacket, getting free of Pike’s hold. With surprising speed for a human, the man twirled around and landed a solid punch to Pike’s belly.

He barely felt it, but the man staggered back, yowling in pain. Holding his hand protectively against his chest, he backed up, herding Cora behind him.

“Run Cora!” the stranger said as he looked around, probably for a weapon. The man's actions were odd considering he’d attacked Cora first, but Pike was too enraged to think deeply about it.

“I’m going to break your legs first, then your arms,” Pike said as he stalked forward. “Then I’m going to keep you alive in a basement until they all set crooked before I let you out!”

“Shit, that’s dark,” Cora said, neatly stepping around the stranger and standing between the two of them. “I think I might be turned on a little.”

“Now isn’t the time to be funny!” the stranger barked at Cora. “Get back behind me!”

Pike got the feeling Cora knew this man. Still unsure, Pike sounded a warning growl when the stranger reached for Cora. “Don’t touch her!”

That made the man flinch back and stop trying to get a grip on her. She was within arm’s length of Pike, so he reached for her. Her gaze intense, she held up a finger, and he stopped, hand in the air.

“That’s one of my brothers,” she said, gesturing behind her with a thumb. “Cooper, meet Pike, the guy I spent the night with. Pike, meet Cooper, my third oldest brother.”

“Brother?” Pike’s anger vanished and a healthy dose of worry set in. Looking beyond Cora, he tried to smile at her sibling. “Hi, uh, sorry about the hand. Want me to look at it?”

“I want you to stay the fuck over there,” Cooper spat out, holding up a hand with one finger bent oddly. “Are you wearing some kind of armor or something? It felt like I punched a brick wall!”

Pike lifted his shirt to show his bare chest. “No armor, I’m, um, just naturally hard.”

Cora snickered, and it took a moment to realize she was reacting to hisnaturally hardcomment.

Cooper shoved her with his shoulder. “Shut up! I'm wounded here, and you're laughing.”

Brother or not, Cooper didn’t get to touch Cora like that. With a scowl, Pike moved Cora away from her sibling. “I’m sorry about that finger, but brother or not, I’ll break more if you keep touching her like that. She’s hum–small, so you need to be more careful.”

“Calm down,” Cooper said even as he backed away. “She’s used to roughhousing. It’s what we do. You know, it’s how we show affection.”

“Not any longer,” Pike said as he drew her back against his front and wrapped his arms around her. His bear calmed considerably now that they were holding their human mate.

Shaking his head, Cooper frowned at Cora. “Tell him we do it all the time.”

“And I tell you to stop every time,” Cora answered. “Everyone else listens to me except you. I’ve even tased you, and you still pick me up. I don’t like it now, and I’ve never liked it. I know you’ve hit your head a lot, but even you should’ve gotten the message by now.”

“Cora, you’re being mean,” Cooper whined as he held up his hand again. “I was hurt trying to defend you.”

“You got hurt punching my new boyfriend,” Cora corrected, then smiled evilly. “But I could fix it for you. Come over here.”

Cooper tucked his hand protectively against his chest at the same time Cora tried to step out of Pike's arms, but he tightened his hold. “Maybe Cooper should go to the hospital.”

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