Claiming Kara [Fate Harbor 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Read online

  Fate Harbor 3

  Claiming Kara

  Five years ago, Kara Johansen met and fell in love with brothers Ben and Quinn Shotbrook while on vacation with her fire fighter brothers in Sitka, Alaska. They planned to marry, when tragedy struck the Shotbrook family, leaving the brothers to care for their mother and younger brothers again. They sent Kara back home to Fate Harbor, Washington, promising that one day they would reunite.

  Years later, Kara has made the decision that she wants to marry and start a family of her own. She has put away her dreams of ever being with Ben and Quinn and instead focuses on men who are available to her here and now. Her meddling brothers inform Ben and Quinn of her plans. The brothers Shotbrook rush to Fate Harbor to do whatever it takes to reclaim the woman they never stopped loving. Has too much changed between them to save their love?

  Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre

  Length: 83,768 words

  CLAIMING KARA

  Fate Harbor 3

  Caitlyn O’Leary

  MENAGE AMOUR

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer.

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Ménage Amour

  CLAIMING KARA

  Copyright © 2014 by Caitlyn O’Leary

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-62741-887-4

  First E-book Publication: June 2014

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2014 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of Claiming Kara by Caitlyn O’Leary from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Caitlyn O’Leary’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. O’Leary’s right to earn a living from her work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  www.BookStrand.com

  DEDICATION

  There are five people I would like to thank who read my first book and went out of their way to give me encouragement, support and ultimately their friendship:

  Stacie T., one of the most analytical and thorough people I have ever met. I so appreciate her time, care and advice.

  Jenna P., one of the most giving and caring people I have encountered in a long time. She is also a bigger romance junkie than I am, and that’s saying something!

  Kristina G., a mentor to many, including yours truly. I continue to enjoy her care, support and snarky sense of humor.

  Amber TM., one of the funniest women I know and whose judgment I trust. I don’t know how she accomplishes all that she does.

  Marie B., who gave me a huge vote of confidence with her reviews and belief in my books! Her enthusiasm and light always lift my spirit.

  Special thanks to Deb and Michelle for reading through Claiming Kara providing input, and helping to make it a better story!

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  CLAIMING KARA

  Fate Harbor 3

  CAITLYN O’LEARY

  Copyright © 2014

  Prologue

  Present Day – Fate Harbor, Washington

  Just two more dates after tonight, and I’ll have to sleep with him. He smells nice, Kara thought as he drew her in for another kiss. His lips weren’t too dry, they weren’t too wet. They felt…nice. Another thing in his plus column was that she did not have to tip her head to be almost face-to-face when she was kissing him. If she wore heels, she wouldn’t have to tilt her head at all, she thought, and smiled. He must have felt that, because he redoubled his efforts, which was a little unfortunate. She really wasn’t ready for that much tongue. She slipped her hands between them and pressed lightly against his chest.

  “Kara?” he asked in a questioning tone.

  “We’re just going a little fast, Jim,” she said, looking truthfully into his blue eyes.

  “Yeah, especially for being out here on your front porch. Why don’t you invite me in?” he asked hopefully.

  “I told you that wasn’t going to happen tonight,” she said, extricating herself from his arms with a winning smile. “It’s important that we get to know one another.” Kara considered pouting to get him to agree, but she just didn’t have the energy for the performance. Let’s face it, he was already on the hook. She didn’t have to work that hard.

  “You’re right. I really do want to get to know you, in all ways. I’m sorry if I’m pushing you too fast.” Jim backpedaled.

  “Sex is something that’s important to me. Relationships are important and I don’t want to rush into anything. I explained that on our first date,” Kara said in a firm tone.

  “You did,” Jim agreed. He gave her arm a squeeze. “I got carried away, Kara. I know how lucky I am to be dating a woman like you, and I’ll go along with any schedule that you’re comfortable with, because you’re worth the wait.” And there you have it, she thought. This was the reason she was going to sleep with him in two more dates. He really was a good guy. Better yet,
he was a solid man who was here, who wanted to be with her, and thought he was lucky to be dating her. So, yeah, she was going to sleep with him.

  Kara leaned in and kissed him. “I appreciate your patience, Jim. It means the world to me. There simply aren’t enough stand-up men like you in this world.”

  “So, I’m still escorting you to your exhibit in Seattle next Saturday night?” he confirmed as he smiled into her eyes.

  “I’m counting on it,” she said, her twinkling blue eyes matching his. “Are you sure you don’t mind being here so early?”

  “Not at all, I like being able to help you.” Kara could hear the sincerity in his voice, and it warmed her heart.

  “Thanks, Jim. Good night.” Kara unlocked the door to her house and waved as he got into his Mercedes coupe. She immediately kicked off her shoes and pulled the pins out of her hair so that her white-blonde locks could be let loose. Then she bent over at the waist and quickly stood up again, whipping her hair back over her head to lightly lash her ass. She loved doing that. It pulled at her scalp and had such a decadent feel. She turned her neck each way, trying to loosen the kinks in her neck. She headed into her kitchen and pulled the bottle of tequila out of her freezer. She poured an icy shot and drank it down.

  Damn, kissing was supposed to either rev you up or relax you. It wasn’t supposed to stress you out. She went to the closed-in back porch and opened the back door. Her backyard was two acres of fenced in forest and rolling grass, perfect for her two best friends, Butch and Sundance. She didn’t have to whistle. They immediately knew she was out there and came running. They were a combination of Siberian husky and timber wolf, and were beautiful. When she put her hand out to pet Butch he gave a bark. Sundance sniffed her other hand and whined.

  “Goddammit, you’re going to have to get used to Jim’s smell!” she groaned at the two big babies. “I know he’s not Ben or Quinn, but he’s the man who’s actually here. So get over it!” She bent down and opened her arms for doggy hugs, because that’s what she needed, but they both turned up their noses and walked away.

  “Fine, I’ll take a shower, but don’t think you’re getting any treats tonight!” she yelled after them, and then spun around to bathe. “Damn dogs,” she muttered. “You’d think after five years of involuntary chastity, they’d give a girl a break.”

  Kara went inside and poured another shot of tequila, this time sipping a little of the drink before peeling off the pretty, chiffon, seafoam-green top she had worn, and draping that over the stool of her kitchen bar. She continued to undress on the way to her bedroom, leaving a trail of clothes behind her. That was one of the perks of living alone. You could roam around naked, you could leave your clothes wherever you wanted, and you only had to pick them up on laundry day or before you had company. The blue skirt ended up on top of the coveralls that she had worn two days ago. Apparently, she was more behind on laundry duty than she had thought.

  As she got into the shower, she noticed that she did smell like Jim, which was fine by her. He smelled nice. His cologne was nice. Everything about him was nice. She couldn’t really come up with another word to describe him. “Boring,” the wicked part of her whispered. But Kara did her best to tamp down the voice of Wicked Kara. Wicked Kara was like Butch and Sundance, always longing for something that wasn’t going to be. She was just going to have to put her hormones back up on a shelf and stop wishing for things that just were never going to happen. Grown-Up Kara was now in charge.

  While she had been busy having her crazy talk with herself, she had forgotten to pin up her hair. She supposed it was a good thing. Despite all of her pep talks, she didn’t want to smell like Jim all night. She wanted to wash out his scent and not have it clinging to her pillow for days. Damn, they’d better have sex at his place.

  When she got out of the shower, she reached for the lifesaving product that actually reduced the amount of time it took to blow-dry her hair. After spraying it on and combing out her hair, she spent the half hour it took to brush and blow dry. At thirty-one, she was beginning to think that it was ridiculous to still have the hair length of a young girl, but she loved her long hair.

  Kara looked herself over critically in the large bathroom mirror. In the last two years she’d put on twenty pounds. She was lucky. She was five foot-eleven inches tall, so those twenty pounds only served to add some much needed curvature to her lanky, muscled frame. She was finally a C cup. Jackpot!

  With her wheat-blonde hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes, the only real color in her face was her blue eyes, freckles, and pink lips. It was funny, but without makeup she really didn’t stand out. People never looked at her twice, but she could glam it up with a few brush strokes and really turn heads when she wanted to. She was blessed with the Scandinavian genes that all the Johansens displayed.

  She wandered into her bedroom, found her oldest sweatshirt and jeans, and pulled on some tennis shoes. She piled her hair into a knot on her head and made a fresh exit out the back. This time, Butch and Sundance jumped up on her, excited to play. She went and got the three drool-drenched tennis balls awaiting near the side of the house, and threw them far out into the field, then started running with the dogs. They played chase, fetch, and hide ‘n go seek for an hour, until she was finally tired enough to sleep.

  Chapter 1

  Five years ago – Sitka, Alaska

  Kara had originally planned to go up to Sitka, Alaska alone. She had become friends with a man on a glass-blowing forum who lived in Sitka, and he had sent her pictures of some of his work. It was amazing. He had learned his craft from his father. When she had mentioned it to her brothers, Dane and Eric, they told her how they had always heard that Sitka was a great place for recreational fishing. So, the three of them had headed up to Alaska for two weeks.

  Dane had also gotten in touch with two of the fire jumpers he had trained with in Montana who lived in Juneau and might be able to join them. They found a lodge to stay in that was close to Nate Lussun’s studio. Kara was booked for both weeks, while her brothers only booked for one, saying they wanted to camp the following week. She thought they were crazy, but she loved them anyway. It might have been August, but it was still Alaska, she had thought. Who wanted to sleep outdoors in Alaska?

  When they finally arrived, she couldn’t believe how absolutely beautiful it was. She was used to the Pacific Northwest, but this was nature on steroids. The blues, the greens, the yellows, the whites, it was as if a paint store had exploded and splashed everything with its brightest hues.

  “Kara, are you listening?” Dane asked.

  “Hmmm?”

  “She’s gone into her little artist world, Bro. Just grab her arm, and treat her like luggage,” Eric told his younger brother as he picked up their bags. The threesome walked up the front steps into a small living-room area that doubled as a lobby. The lodge boasted ten guestrooms, some that actually had bathrooms attached, while others shared bathroom access. Kara had reserved a room with a bathroom attached.

  Kara stumbled over the homemade oval rag rug, and would have fallen if Dane hadn’t still been holding her arm.

  “Geez, Kara, you need a keeper!” he griped. Kara wrested her arm away and looked down at the beautiful rug. It was done in deep forest green and salmon colors, with a splash of sky blue in the center. It was perfect. Everything was perfect. She hated cookie-cutter hotels.

  “Dane, isn’t this beautiful?” she enthused, pointing at the rug.

  “Kara, we need to check in.” Eric was standing in front of a desk, where an older Native American woman was smiling at Kara.

  “I’m glad you like the rug,” she said. “My grandmother made it.” Kara walked over to her and held out her hand.

  “Hi, I’m Kara Johansen, and I love your grandmother’s rug. The colors are so vibrant, they really complement one another, and with that patch of blue in the middle, it’s gorgeous.”

  “I can’t remember the last time someone even noticed it lying there. It’s nice to meet you,
Kara,” the woman said, taking her hand and shaking it. “My name is Lacy Begay. My husband and I own this lodge. Welcome,” she said with a warm smile.

  “Thank you for hosting us,” Kara said. “These are my brothers, Eric and Dane Johansen. They’ve come for the fishing and I’ve come for the glass.”

  “Oh, yes, I know why you’re here, Kara. Nate’s been talking about you non-stop for weeks at bingo,” Lacy said, her eyes twinkling. “He told me to tell you that he’s babysitting his granddaughter tomorrow morning, so he won’t be able to pick you up until about one o’clock.”

  “That’s not a problem. You have so many interesting things to sketch here, I’ll be fine.” Kara kept looking at the beautiful woman in front of her, wondering if she could talk her into sitting for her.

  “I thought you were a glass blower, like Nate,” Lacy said.

  “She’s the family artist,” Dane piped up. “She sketches, paints, sculpts, blows glass, and molds glass. If it’s artistic, she does it.” The pride in his voice was obvious.

  “What about you?” Lacy asked.

  Kara linked her arms between both of her brothers. “They’re firefighters and they are also fire jumpers,” she said proudly.

  “Fire jumpers?” Lacy asked.

  “If a fire starts in a remote location, before it gets out of hand, fire fighters can parachute in and put it out before it turns into a forest fire. As a matter of fact, we have a couple of fellow fire jumpers from Juneau who we hope to have join us for some fishing next week,” Dane explained.