Free Mating Rituals [Impulse 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Zara Chase

alone in there?” Tyrone asked. “She won’t feel lonely?”
    “She’ll be fine.” Kane shrugged. “Those records have to be a meteorologist’s version of a wet dream.”
    “Yeah, but it’s mean to give our mate hope when we both know she can’t be allowed to get at the truth. At least, not until she knows who we really are, and then she won’t be able to tell anyone. I feel like a jerk for misleading her.”
    Kane shot his buddy a look. “Can you think of a better way to keep her here and occupied while we sort out our personal shit?”
    “I guess not.” Tyrone expelled a frustrated breath. “But still, I feel for the poor baby. We’re not playing nice.”
    Kane flashed a wicked grin. “Then we’ll just have to think of ways to make it up to her.”
    “Amen to that, brother.”
    They stepped into the Institute, where Mikael was waiting for them.
    “Valium,” he said without preamble. “Your system was full of the stuff.”
    Kane elevated both brows. “You’re kidding me?”
    “Afraid not.”
    “How could it have happened? I might have had a few, but I’m sure I’d have noticed if someone tried to slip me an enormous pill.”
    “Valium comes in liquid form, too. It’s colorless and tasteless. If you were busy staring down Miss Congeniality’s cleavage, you’d never have noticed.”
    “Obviously not.” Kane thought about it for a moment. “But it wouldn’t have knocked me out, surely? I’d have been conscious and so I’d know whether or not I dipped my wick in a female’s pussy for the first time. That ain’t the sort of milestone a guy forgets.”
    “Under normal circumstances, you’d think not,” Tyrone said mildly.
    “But there’s nothing normal about being a shifter,” Kane agreed, nodding.
    “Side effects of Valium include drowsiness, fatigue, confusion, and cognitive impairment, to name just a few,” Mikael told them. “Remind me how you felt when you woke up, Kane.”
    “Yeah.” Kane inclined his head. “I didn’t know where I was, had a raging headache, and felt dizzy when I stood up.”
    “You were actually quite lucky.”
    Kane rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I feel real fortunate.”
    “Sarcasm notwithstanding, what I meant was that the drug acts on the central nervous system. If you’d been given too much and mixed it with alcohol, it could have led to respiratory arrest.”
    “Right, so it was my lucky day.” Kane paced the room, rubbing his chin between his thumb and forefinger as he digested what Mikael had just told him. “But, wait a minute. If I was out of it, surely I wouldn’t have been able to get it up?”
    Mikael flexed his jaw. “For ordinary men that’s true, but—”
    “But not for shifters,” Tyrone said, his voice grim.
    “Which means,” Mikael added, “that whoever gave you the drug knew you’re a shifter. She, or whoever sent her, also knew that shifters’ abilities to rise to the occasion transcend mere pharmaceutical barriers.”
    “So I was set up.” Kane grimaced. “I guess I knew it already but was hoping there’d be some other explanation.”
    “Me, too, buddy,” Mikael said. “But, here’s the good news. I don’t think you actually fucked the woman. She probably played with your cock and got it up, but even a shifter wouldn’t have been able to perform when he was that loaded with drugs.”
    “Unless you lay down and she was on top,” Tyrone said.
    “Possibly, but it would still require some coordination and cooperation on Kane’s part. No matter how far gone he was, resisting such situations is too solidly ingrained to be ignored.” Mikael shook his head. “No, I’m guessing that she jerked you off, smeared your semen over her thighs, and made sure you saw it there the next morning.”
    “Very likely, but how can we know for sure?”
    “That, my friend, exceeds my remit,” Mikael replied. “I’m telling you what happened to you from a medical standpoint. How you figure out the rest is beyond