Abe lay with Nita nestled on his chest while Link cuddled up to her back and Tank lay at their feet. Their joy was a palpable thing, surrounding them in a bubble none of them wanted to break by leaving their bedroom. They fell asleep in an exhausted heap. He sent a silent prayer up to the Goddess to watch over and protect them.
Chapter Eight
ABE WOKE WITH A CERTAINTY that something was wrong. He checked the room for heartbeats without moving. A sigh broke from him as only four separate hearts beat in the same rhythm, which meant the Goddess had approved their mating. At some point, Nita had turned and was now laying half on his brother Link. He hated to move away from her fine ass. Shit, the last thing he wanted to do was leave such a beautiful sight as Nita’s naked body.
Before he could talk himself out of investigating the disturbance, he eased away, making sure to pull the sheet around her so that she wouldn’t feel chilled by his absence.
The moment he stood up, he saw blue eyes staring at him from the bottom of the bed.
‘I’m gonna check the perimeter. I feel itchy,’ he told Tank through their link.
Tank was on his feet and dressed in seconds, faster than Abe was. ‘Why don’t you stay here with these two, and I’ll go look?’
‘I need to go. You can come with.’ Abe knew Tank would prefer he stayed behind while he did his protector thing, but it wasn’t in him to sit and wait. In fact, the pull for him to go and check was too strong.
“Tank wait a minute. Let’s go into the kitchen for a second.” Abe didn’t like this uneasy feeling or the strange overwhelming draw that was telling him to go outside. It felt... unnatural.
“What’s going on, man?” Tank asked once they were in the large kitchen.
Abe paced from the kitchen island to the front window that overlooked the wraparound porch. They had the windows with a special tint that kept people from seeing in yet allowed them to see out. Yet he felt the hair on the back of his neck standing as if eyes were watching his every move. “I woke up with this burning need to go outside, and right now, I feel like I’m being watched. Like the need to walk out the door and do something is riding me hard. It feels like there’s this invisible chain around my neck, and it’s being jerked.”
Tank rubbed his own throat, staying silent. Abe began pacing again, his steps becoming closer to the door each pass.
“I don’t feel anything that screams danger except the closer you get to the door. Brother, I can’t let you open that.” Tank moved quickly, placing himself between Abe and the door.
“Dammit, the urge is pressing down on me so hard my head is hurting. You might need to knock me out, Tank.” Abe lifted his hands to his head. The pain was like he’d been struck by a diesel at full speed, then backed over, twice.
“What’s going on?” Nita asked, coming into the room, wearing one of their T-shirts with Link right behind her in a pair of jeans. They were all barefoot, ready to shift.
“Nita, you, and Link should go back to bed and rest. Tank and I are making sure everything is secure out here.” Abe looked at the door and back at the others.
Nita growled, her hands fisted at her sides. “Lie,” she snarled.
“Easy, mi dušo. Let’s see why he’s lying before you rip him to shreds,” Link said, his own voice a deep growl.
Abe tipped his head back, preparing to explain when his body jerked, slamming into Tank.