Izzy didn’t seemed put off at the thoughts of her best friend
participating in a sin city threesome as she babbled excitedly. “You’ve really
let these two men you hardly know touch you and the big O and everything?”
Wren felt the red fire of blush filling her cheeks as she
whispered. “Yes it was all about me. Well, I could tell they really got off
with what they did to me. I mean they really got-off, when I did. I’ve never
had that happen before.”
“I didn’t need to know that. We are in the T.M.I. zone. So
what are the names of these two visions of testosterone? I know, I know,
Derrick and Swenn. They have to be Swedish. The sexual mores of that country
are much more flexible than ours. Although I’m finding it a little hard to
believe you’re into the ménage scene. My little country girl is really a wild
child huha?”
“No they aren’t Swedish. They’re bronzed, dark haired, Aztec
gods, Native American, I
think.
. . not blonde and
their names are Caleb and Ethan and, oh great Goddess. Here I am worried about
trusting my urge to have sex with them and I don’t even know their last name.”
Izzy’s smile evaporated
and all girly pretenses ended, putting Wren in mind of a street beat boxer D.J.
sticking the needle to an abrupt halt, Burrup
Wren didn’t like the turn
the
conversation had taken. Izzy grabbed Wren’s arm, her tone demanding. “What did
you say?”
“I said, oh Goddess, I don’t know their last name. They…I let
them… What is wrong with me?”
“
It’s
okay, Wren, I’ll settle for a
repeat of their first names?”
“Ethan and Caleb-- they’re brothers, identical twins
actually.”
“Did they claim you?”
Izzy shook Wren sharply when she didn’t answer. “Did you bond with
them?”
Her friend’s hand pinched her
arm, with a vice like grip that hurt.
Izzy shook her again, whispering intently. “Tell me, did you
bond?”
Her dearest friend in the world had never scared her as much
she did now. “What are you talking about, claiming, and bonding? You know I’m
not into that BDSM stuff. I do know when I’m around them I can’t think of
anything else but them. I feel giddy and light headed and I don’t know them
well enough to feel this way. But I’m pretty sure I want to have more sex with
them and I don’t care that I don’t even know their last name. I thought you’d
be more freaked out at me embracing the kinky side of life having sex with two
men at once.”
“Their last name is Monroe. And yes, ewww I’m pretty freaked
out that you’ve had sex with my brothers. That’s a picture I’ll never be able
to erase.”
“Your brothers?
Are you sure? I
didn’t even know you had brothers.”
“Well I do, and my eyes are eternally scared from the images of
you three doing the nasty together. I don’t have much doubt it’s them, you had
me at Aztec Gods. Are they at your store?”
And with one simple answer Wren was sucked further down the
rabbit hole. “I left.” She mumbled like a child caught stealing cookies. Her
stomach made a churning lurch.
“We have to get you back. How could they let you leave at a
time like this?”
“Well, actually they left on some errand and told me to stay
put. Have you ever known me to
stay put
when ordered to? I don’t think so. And no one let me have any caffeine today.”
“You’ve probably been inhaling their pheromones all day.”
“Inhaling? Oh! They do smell wonderful, like
a musky
sandalwood I can’t place.”
“We have to get you home.” Izzy drug her from the chair. Izzy
was quickly becoming Isobeau the crazed gypsy. Customers looked on with a
mixture of amusement and concern.
Izzy snatched the half-finished latte out of her hand. “You
can’t drink this,” and dumped it in the trash before ushering her through the
door.
“Hey, that was a five buck chai latte tea!” she complained.
Freaking Hell another caffeine opportunity lost.
Her protest was greeted by a piercing scoff noise from Izzy.
Her friend didn’t slow down as she rushed Wren across the
parking lot toward the car, never releasing her hold. Izzy was all shouting at
her about some bonding nonsense and now she was escorting her back to the
store.
Izzy froze. “Someone is watching us.” She continually scanned
people on the street as if searching for lurking danger.
“Watching us? Of course there are, you’re dragging me out of
the coffee shop.”
“No more than that. Tell me the hairs on the back of your
neck aren’t prickling in awareness.”
They’d almost made the safety of the car. Okay, there was a
strangeness nagging at her. Wren wasn’t sure how much of that was a result of
Izzy’s suggestion or just cream on top of her wacked out cake of a morning.
“Are you like them?” She blurted.
Izzy resumed her march and asked in a guarded but curious
voice, “Like them?”
“Can you hear people’s thoughts?”
She snorted. “They can’t hear people’s thoughts.”
“They can hear mine.”
Izzy’s beautiful golden complexion noticeably paled. “No I’m
not like them. Damn. You may have started the bond and didn’t realize what
you’d done.”
Wren remembered the pizza order. “Wait, I have to go to
Georgieo’s.”
Izzy didn’t look like she
was going to let Wren make a detour. “You wouldn’t let me finish my latte you
can at least let me get food.”
Izzy closed her eyes and grimaced at Wren’s statement “You
can have it delivered.”
“No I can’t. I’ve already paid and it won’t take a second for
pick up.” She turned toward the pizza shop with Izzy in tow.
“You’re feeding them? Don’t tell me you also obeyed a random
urge to clothe them?”
“No they left in a big rush over something. I ordered enough
for left overs in case they come back though. And yes, I’d bled all over
Caleb’s shirt so giving them T-shirts couldn’t be called a random urge.”
Wren’s lips burned with the memory of Ethan’s kiss.
Izzy mused more to herself in exasperation. “You’ve got to
stay with them to overcome your Daevedar?”
“My what?”
Wren didn’t feel good. She hoped the head
spinning vertigo didn’t start again.
“Didn’t they tell you anything?”
Izzy hissed keeping her voice down so no one could
hear what they were saying. “You each have a test. Usually some weakness you
have to conquer.
The Daevedar challenge.
The Goddess
won’t bless your union until that is accomplished, no blessing, no marks,
no
relief from the irrational urge to fuck like bunnies all
the time. I can’t believe they haven’t already told you this.”
“I don’t want a union, blessed or otherwise.” Although
fucking like bunnies, now that had some appeal. Wren just walked deeper into
her own personal freaked out Wonderland.
≽
∞
≼
Caleb took a firm
grip on his pissed off angst. The psychic pathway led them here following
Isobeau, only to find Wren, sitting in a public coffee shop talking to none
other than the Watcher in question. The guy who ran them off the road must be
here somewhere too, for whatever place he held in the drama unfolding.
“I’ll bet if we catch that guy he can tell us something about
Wren’s stairs.”
Ethan’s meltdown wasn’t much of a surprise. The vein
throbbing above his clenched jaw kept time to his agitation. “That’d be a
sucker bet. As much as I want to get my hands on him, our first priority is
getting those two back to a secure location.”
“She took off on her own. Unbelievable.” Ethan frowned at his
twin, speaking in the old language was much easier than English. The words
flowed between them in a rush.
“She’s pretty determined. I don’t think we could have stopped
her without a fight. She’s fierce.”
“Someone is determined to hurt her and you condone her lack
of regard for personal safety.”
Ethan
hung onto the blame theme.
Caleb shrugged.
“I’m going to go and bring her back.” Ethan moved to open the
truck door.
Caleb blocked him. “Hold on, she’s used to being independent
and won’t like you going all, ‘I’m the boss, on her’.”
Ethan’s scowl deepened and the throbbing in his jaw sped up.
“She’s our responsibility and she’ll not leave us.” He grabbed Caleb by the
shoulders.
“She didn’t leave us, we left her.” A worried itchiness was
grating on his nerves as well. Maliciousness stalked her “Now, you need to
fucking calm down.”
“The plan was for her to stay at
Salynne’s
, not run off without any preparation for her safety.”
Caleb wondered how much time he had before Ethan refused to
be placated. “She just needed a little time to herself. Even with him watching,
it’s very unlikely that she’ll come to any harm out in public.”
The times Caleb had tried to stand between his brother and
something he’d wanted hadn’t ended well. The cab of their truck was not the
place to have a brawl.
However, his twin wasn’t listening to reason. If Caleb didn’t
think of something fast they would come to blows. “What does prey do when you
chase it?”
Ethan snorted dropping his hands. “You know it runs.”
“Yes, it runs harder.”
Caleb nodded hoping his brother would make the connection. Ethan was going
to have to learn to lighten up. His rigid perception of the world blocked him.
The frown and throbbing vein were back. “Right, I will have
to get hold of her before she sees me.”
Something was bringing out Ethan’s most primitive instincts.
“No bro, I don’t think that is such a good idea. You know there are laws in
this world that prevent that kind of stuff. Besides if you go caveman on her
ass, she will really get mad. Trust me that
isn’t
going to work.”
Caleb had to shake his head. For a moment the Neanderthal
plan seemed like a good one. Part of him wanted to agree. Damn straight. Let’s
give her a psychic call,
Wren
--
Nothing. I don’t think she can hear me. There’s too much distance. We’ll have
to go get her.
“Wait Ethan something is not right in the way she’s affecting
us.”
Ethan turned toward him a mixture of emotions marching
through his expressions.
“Tell me you don’t feel it too.” Caleb tried his most
persuasive voice.
“The blood.”
Ethan slammed his hand
against the steering wheel, looking up with a punched exhale.
“Her blood.”
Caleb examined the
tension riding up his spine. “Our skin absorbed the stuff. I’ve never heard of
such a thing. I don’t know what that might be causing under our hood.”
“Neither do
I
. We can’t let our
guard down. That necklace contains both queen stones to open portals to and
from our dimension. We have to keep her distracted while we figure it out.”
“We don’t know what she is or what her motives are. I don’t
think she even knows.”
Ethan grabbed for the door knob.
“Look, Isobeau knows something is up. They’re headed toward
the parking lot. If he’s going to make a move, now would be the time.”
“Stay sharp.” Ethan started the truck, watching to ease onto
the street.
≽
∞
≼
The guys were
not at the shop waiting when Wren returned from the great, but
thwarted,
coffee escape. Then, Ethan’s dilapidated truck
slid into the side parking place right next to Wren.
“Upstairs, Now.”
He ordered.
Wren wanted to argue but Izzy still wore a worried expression
so Wren decided to head up the stairs. She didn’t miss Izzy’s attentive scan of
the alley and the way she struggled to keep her body between Wren and any open
spaces. Wren’s friend, Izzy the gypsy, had become Isobeau the ninja.
Ethan and Caleb flanked the two of them in a second layer of
buffer. Whatever they’d been up to had left them agitated. She wasn’t too
appreciative of their testosterone dump on her. They were going to have to get
a grip. She put the pizza and soda on the table, adding a stack of paper plates
and napkins.
Ethan could have passed for a thunder cloud as he entered the
room.
Those faded jeans and the tight black t-shirt she’d given him
to wear-- lust hit her with a packed double punch. A girl had to be true to
that inner compass and she wanted hot sweaty mind-blowing sex between the two
sun browned hunks and she wanted it now. All emotions totally out of character
for her usually practical grounded self.
Caleb’s mental voice whispered in her mind talking with
Ethan.
We have to tell her about
following the trail from Izzy’s to the coffee shop. She has no idea what she’s
in for.
We have no idea what
we’re in for,
Ethan countered.
His voice soothed her as nothing else ever had. “You’re safe,
good. You shouldn’t have left. We got one step closer to identifying your attacker.
The reason we left so quickly, our talent took us to Izzy’s and discovered
someone we couldn’t find or identify was watching her.
“He forced us off the road. He was there watching you at the
coffee shop but we again couldn’t find him, too many energy signatures and not
enough time. We concentrated on being ready to intervene if he made a move on
you two there. We will know his feel if we run across it again.”
Izzy nodded. “We both felt someone watching. That’s why we
hurried back here. Hoping you had returned.”
Wren had to shrug. Yes, she’d felt something. She didn’t want
to be frightened but the idea that someone was stalking her creeped her out and
she was thankful for the guys being around.
As urgently as she had needed to leave before, she needed to
touch, to reassure herself and to have her hands on their satiny tanned skin.
She fought the need, refusing to give in to her fantasy. Clenching and
unclenching her fingers was the only clue to her inner anxiety.
“Hello Watcher. How about you tell me why you’re involved.”
“Brother. You always underestimate me. If you must know,
she’s my friend.”
Wren gasped at Izzy’s response to his strange formal
greeting. She’d said the men were her brothers. What was a Watcher? Looking
back and forth between the two, she saw the family resemblance for the first
time. Also, the nagging familiarity of the men’s accent hit, of course they
were Izzy’s brothers.
“These two clods you’ve
attached yourself to are my older brothers.”