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on it,
sweetheart. We’ll spank you if you do something to warrant it and
not taking care of yourself is at the top of the list.” Apparently
Jarrod had lost his mind as well.
    “ If you think I’m going to
let either of you touch me after that threat, you’re both out of
your ever-lovin’ minds.” Pearl stared down at the plate that Duncan
had filled for her. “Not that there’s a reason for you to touch
me.” She closed her eyes. Good grief, was she transparent or what?
And why did she get all wet at their threats of spanking her? She
wanted nothing to do with them if they planned to hurt her. She
wasn’t stupid.
    Lifting her glass, she took a sip of
her water with a frown. All those years of therapy and the men
she’d lusted after weren’t any better than the men who had abused
her all those years ago. Only this time it was worse. This time she
was afraid she would like it, if the moisture gathering in her
panties was any indication. What in the world was wrong with
her?
    Duncan sat across the table from Jarrod
which put one of them on either side of her, if she joined them.
“Sit, now, or I’ll get up and put you across my knee.”
    “ I’ll sit, and I’ll eat, but
only because I want to. Not because you two Neanderthals told me
to.” She moved to sit on the edge of her chair. “I swear. You two
are like a couple of apes, or something.” She gave them each a
sideways glance. “I half expect you to stand up and start beating
your chests.”
    “ You know very well we
are not apes. I
don’t even think an ape shifter exists.”
    “ Really? You think not?” She
shrugged at Jarrod’s comment. “I think they used to.” She gave them
both an assessing glance. “You both must have at least one in your
family tree.”
    “ Stop stalling and eat,”
Duncan said, pointing a fork at her plate.
    Pearl stuck her tongue out at him and
picked up her fork.
    “ You shouldn’t give us
ideas, Pearl.” Duncan grinned. “I can think of a lot of things you
could do with that little pink tongue of yours.”
    What was it about them? She bowed her
head and stared down into her plate at Duncan’s comment. They
always seemed to know what to say to make her blush. She felt the
heat of it as it crept up her neck and into her face.
    Spearing a small piece of fish, she
brought it to her mouth. Nothing could have prepared her for the
flavor of the fish as the first bite touched her tongue. It was
delicious. Tall, sexy and they could cook. What more could a woman
want in her men?
    What was she thinking? They weren’t her
men. They never would be. She planned to use them, plain and
simple. They weren’t hers and she wasn’t their mate. What she was,
was one damned horny woman who wanted to know what it was like to
make love to the two men she’d fallen in love with before she left
the country.
    Bound and determined not to
bring her troubles to their door, Pearl had decided to take the
position in Scotland and nothing would stop her from doing so. A summer in Paradise
was all she would ever have and she planned to make the best of
it.
    During the meal, Pearl stole a few
glances at the two men, certain that they would never raise a hand
toward her in anger. It just wasn’t in them. They might hurt her
without meaning to, but she refused to believe that either one of
them would ever hurt her intentionally.
    She only hoped she didn’t live to
regret that belief.
    After dinner, she stood and gathered
the dishes. “I’ll do these. It’s only fair. You two
cooked.”
    “ Leave them in the sink.
We’ll wash them tomorrow. No one is going out to gather water in
the dark.”
    “ Don’t be ridiculous,
Jarrod. The well is just a few feet off the side of the cabin.” She
bent to pick up the pails. “I’ll be right back,” Pearl said as she
headed for the door.
    Just as she opened the door, Duncan
reached over her shoulder and pushed it shut with a bang. “Jarrod
said it could wait. Must you disagree with us at every