by Amy Sumida
“No fighting in my establishment, boys. Either take your seats or leave.”
Seth shivered. That voice was really working for him, no doubt about that, and he found himself wondering what it sounded like in the midst of passion. Next to him, a loud throat clearing interrupted his unexpectedly lustful and entirely inappropriate thoughts, and he started guiltily, looking hastily toward his lovers. He was shocked to see that they appeared to be just as transfixed as he was … and just as lustful if the heat coming off them was any indication. What the hell was going on here?
Early in their relationship, they had often invited others to join them in the bedroom. To his mind, multiple partners always added to the enjoyment and experience. But as their relationship had evolved from pure enjoyment to intimate loving, they had stopped sharing themselves with others. In fact, he hadn’t been tempted in years to revisit that part of their past, even though all three of them enjoyed the feel of feminine curves and the sound of feminine sighs. He knew the others felt the same way – what they shared was far too important to jeopardise for a mere roll between the sheets with a stranger. He was quite content to never touch another woman – or man – ever again. So why did the average woman in front of him stir such dormant desires?
“He started it! He hit me!” the drunk yelled childishly, pointing an accusing finger at Vaughn.
Vaughn merely raised one eyebrow looking handsome, bored, and belligerent at the same time – a look only he could pull off.
“I don’t particularly care,” the sexily average woman said, “No fighting. Full stop.”
“We apologise. We didn’t intend to start any trouble,” Ronan apologised, “We were just leaving,” he added, causing Seth to whip his head around and stare at him.
They were not just leaving – they were supposed to be having another drink. Besides, he was now more than a little intrigued not just with the bar but also its owner.
He opened his mouth to dispute Ronan’s claim, only to close it again when Ronan shook his head. The man was clearly serious about leaving. Sighing, Seth turned to the mysterious woman, “Right. Just leaving. Great place you have here.”
The woman smiled, revealing even white teeth, “Thank you. I like it.”
“Great name,” he added. What was he doing, he wondered? Was he stalling for time, creating conversation just so he could hear the woman talk some more? Glancing at Ronan and Vaughn, he saw they were both watching him curiously and he felt another stab of guilt. His flirting days were supposed to be over, “Anyway, sorry again for the trouble.”
Spinning, he forced himself to walk away without looking back – a task that was surprisingly and confusingly difficult. Feeling warmth on either side of him, he knew that Ronan and Vaughn had caught up. He had everything he needed and wanted right beside him, he assured himself. So why was there a small traitorous voice inside his head calling his bluff?
Chapter Two
Ivory waited a full ten seconds after the door closed behind the three strangers to release the breath she had been holding. Holy cow, talk about sex on legs! Those three men were absolutely spectacular in their virility. All so different in their looks and yet each one just as appealing to her from the tall black-haired one, to the shorter brunette, and even the blond broody one. She’d never really had a type per se, and with those three she figured she didn’t need to. She’d just take the trifecta, thank you very much. Shaking her head at her crazed, lustful inner ramblings, she turned and ran head first into her head bartender, Lee.
“Geez, I’m sorry, boss. I was just coming to check you were okay. Libby told me there was trouble.”
Ivory smiled, Lee was a little overprotective, “It’s fine, Lee. Nothing to worry about. One punch – not even what you would call a scuffle.”
He frowned, his blue eyes glaring daggers at the door as if daring the trouble-makers to come back, “I was on my break in the back, otherwise I would have been here. I’ve told you before that we need to hire bouncers for this place. We get so many more lowlifes now that the bypass has closed.”
Ivory sighed, pushing past Lee and picking up a stack of dirty glasses on her way back to the bar. The closure of the bypass six months ago had very likely saved her business. Tourists, businessmen, and truckers were now forced to pass through their small town instead of going around it. Business was booming. So much so that she had been able to hire Lee in the first place. Although, he was right about their clientele, which was far more varied than it used to be. As such, there was bound to be the odd troublemaker or two. So far, she and her current staff had been able to handle them easily enough. Besides, she didn’t mind a good pub fight once in a while – made the place more authentic.
She hadn’t heard or seen what had prompted the large man to sucker punch Trucker Pete, but she figured it was something to do with Pete’s foul mouth. Pete was a regular whenever he was on one of his supply runs for his trucking company. Largely, he was well behaved but he was a mean drunk when he had too much whiskey in him. If she had have been working the bar tonight, she would have cut him off three drinks ago. But she had been in the back working on her accounts – and checking her mail. Something she did rather obsessively these days thanks to her new little pen pal. Not wanting to get caught up in those depressing thoughts once again, she turned to Lee who had followed her back behind the bar;
“We don’t need bouncers. They’d ruin the ambience of the place. Besides,” she cut him off before he could argue further, “the only reason I stepped in was because those guys would have wiped the floor with Pete and his team and then used them as toothpicks.”
And she had no doubt that was true. All three of them were tall – likely a few inches over six feet – far taller than her own five-foot-seven frame. She’d had to raise her head to look them in the eyes – and oh, what magnificent eyes they had been too. Even in the dark interior of the bar she had been able to see that each of the men had green eyes, albeit in varying shades. Maybe they were brothers? Their postures and familiarity hinted they were close. Whatever they were, they were three of the best specimens she’d had the pleasure of laying her eyes on in years.
“Boss? Ivory!”
“Huh?” she looked up to see Lee frowning at her. Oops, he must have been trying to gain her attention for a while now. Head back in the game, Ivory. You have enough complications without adding three strange men to the mix, “I’m sorry, Lee. What did you say?”
“I asked if you were sure you wanted to close up tonight. I can stay back, help out.”
Ivory smiled. He really was a good guy – too bad she didn’t find him as attractive as those strangers. If she had, she would have taken him up on his offer of a date when he had first started working for her. But he just didn’t ring any of her bells, “No, thanks. It’s your night to finish early. I’ll be fine. Besides, it’s already slowing down. I’ll be closing up on time,” she answered in response to his offer.
Lee nodded, moving back to the front of the bar to serve. He still had one hour left on shift. Pleased that Lee wasn’t going to argue with her, she picked up the rack of dirty glasses and walked them back to the kitchen and the industrial dishwasher.
“Well, fuck me sideways. Did you get a gander at those three?”
Ivory didn’t even jump at the voice or blink at the crass words as she continued to stack the dishwasher, “You are so articulate, Libby.”
“Hey, you didn’t hire me for my mouth,” was the quick, sassy reply.
Libby Fontane was another employee – waitress and bartender extraordinaire – who never failed to get the best tips. She was classically beautiful with blonde hair, blue eyes, full lips, and an even fuller cleavage. And she also happened to be Ivory’s best friend.
Hitting the big green button on the stainless-steel appliance, she turned and ran a critical eye over the blonde bombshell, “Remind me; why did I hire you again?”
“Ha ha – you’re hilarious. But seriously, who were they? Did you get their n
ames? Where are they staying? Do you think they’ll be back?”
Rolling her eyes, Ivory leaned back against the counter, deciding it was easier to answer Libby’s questions than it was to ignore them. Libby was rather tenacious, “I have no idea who they were, no – I didn’t get their names, no clue where they’re staying, and I highly doubt they’ll be back. I’m sure they were just passing through.”
That last statement brought a twinge of disappointment. She would have really liked to have seen them all again. Which was nuts, she assured herself. She had only laid eyes on them for a total of three minutes.
“Ivory!” Libby moaned, “Don’t tell me you wasted a perfectly good opportunity to finally get some action. How long has it been since you got laid again? A year?”
She glared at her friend, “It has not been a year!” eleven and a half months was not a year, she assured herself, “Besides, what opportunity? They hightailed it out of here quick-smart.”
Libby’s eyes widened in apparent disbelief, “You’re kidding right? Couldn’t you feel the heat they were generating in your direction? Hell, I was across the room and I could feel it.”
Ivory burst out laughing – she couldn’t help it. Hers was not a face that generated heat. Especially not from three sex gods with broad shoulders and cotton tee shirts that stretched tightly across defined pectorals and biceps. She looked down at herself and saw faded black jeans, a plain black tee shirt, and serviceable black shoes. She gestured to herself, “I’m not sure how they held back with all of this standing in front of them.”
“I’m serious, Ivory. My horny radar is fool proof. And those men were most definitely horny – for you. All of them, I might add,” Libby’s face was quite earnest – an unusual look for her.
Snorting, Ivory shook her head, “I really wish that was true but because I live on planet Earth and not planet Orgasm, I’m thinking my celibacy is safe for a while yet.”
“But …”
“Besides,” she cut in, “what in the world would I do with three of them at once?”
Libby shook her head sadly as if Ivory was the biggest disappointment in the world, “Oh, honey. That may be the most depressing thing I have ever heard you say.”
They stared at each other solemnly for a few seconds before breaking into a fit of giggles that would make fourth graders proud. She didn’t really need a pack of men when she had friends like Libby. Although she had lied – she knew exactly what she would do if she had the three of them in her bed at once.
And there was nothing depressing about it.
Chapter Three
Three hours later, Ivory had successfully shut up shop with no further incidents. She’d had to consciously force her thoughts away from the three mystery men a number of times throughout the night. And although she was a little embarrassed by how infatuated she was with them, it had also been a welcome distraction, taking her mind off her troubles. But as she neared the top of her stairs, her evening of reprieve was shattered. There, on her doorstep, was a small harmless looking package wrapped in brown paper. She approached it with trepidation, now uneasy about entering her own home – her sanctuary – the one place she had fought for single-mindedly for years. It was something she resented immensely and it pissed her off enough to have her stomping up the remaining two steps, and snatching up the parcel.
Almost every night for the last week, there had been a ‘gift’ waiting for her on her doorstep or in the mail. The surprises had been coming for a while now but lately they had been getting more frequent … and more disturbing. It had all started a few months ago – small things which seemed harmless at first. A bunch of flowers here, a box of chocolates there. At first, she had been quite taken by the gifts and her secret admirer. What girl didn’t like a bit of intrigue and romance? But after a few weeks, when the gifts kept coming with no name or return address, she had begun to feel a little uneasy. A secret admirer was one thing, but some anonymous creeper was another.
When a dozen white roses had shown up at the bar with no note for the third time, she had decided to bin the lot. Two days after she had thrown out the blooms, she had woken up to a small, neatly wrapped package on her doorstep. Feeling more curious than anything else, she had immediately removed the brown paper and opened the box – only to fling it half way across the room. The box had been filled with decaying white rose petals and a note that read; ‘Bad Ivory’. To say it had freaked her out was an understatement. She had no doubt that her secret admirer had discovered she had disposed of his generous present, and that he wasn’t happy about it.
Libby had been outraged on her behalf when Ivory had explained the ongoing situation. But she had also been worried and had demanded she go to the police immediately. But Ivory had been reluctant to go to the police – a fact she couldn’t explain to Libby or anyone else. Her current name, bank accounts, tax file number, and identification photos were only five years old. Although they were well done, she couldn’t take the risk of them being found to be fraudulent. She loved it here – the bar was her dream and the three bedroom apartment above it had taken her months of renovations to make it perfect. It was her home.
So she had laughed it off, keeping the numerous other strange happenings to herself until about two weeks ago, when she had found a dead rabbit with a red bow tied around its neck in her letterbox. Dead flowers were one thing, but dead animals were another nightmare entirely. She had confessed to Libby that her admirer had never really gone away. After much swearing, ranting, and tears, Libby had suggested a bodyguard because it was clear Ivory had no intention of going to the police. Again, she had hesitated – she didn’t want anyone in her space. What if they discovered her secret? She wasn’t exactly running from anything, but she was most definitely hiding. Some might consider it cowardice to hide – she didn’t. She considered it smart. So in the interest of being smart once again, she had finally caved and called the bodyguard business Libby had researched and recommended. He was coming tomorrow.
Looking down at the brown package she held, she decided to leave it unopened until then. Let her bodyguard deal with it. That’s what she was paying him for after all. A quick check determined her front door remained secure – the match stick she placed in the doorjamb was still solidly in place. As far as security systems went, she knew it was a pretty shitty one. She had installed a state of the art electronic one inside, but she still liked to see the physical proof that no-one had touched her door.
Unlocking the door and disarming the alarm quickly, she simply leaned her head back against the solid wood. What she wouldn’t give to have three muscle-bound men keeping her company right now. Shaking her head over her wasted thoughts, she locked her deadbolt and secured her chain in place. She really wished she could have placed her own personal safety mechanisms around her apartment. Hell, she could probably even have searched out her creeper if she really tried. But then, that would expose her to the very people she was trying to hide from in the first place.
And it would expose her for what she truly was; a witch.
Chapter Four
Dawn broke cold and grey and just a little bit depressing, Ronan thought as he stretched his limbs, cramped from the tiny hotel bed. His feet were hanging off the end of the bed and his neck was stiff as hell. Cheap hotel beds were not made for men of their size and what made matters worse – he had drawn the short straw and had been forced into the single bed the evening before. Looking to his left, he saw that Seth and Vaughn were still nestled quite cosily together in the queen bed. Reminding himself he had been lucky enough to win the ‘rock off’ on their three previous jobs, he forced himself to stop pouting and get out of bed.
Ten minutes later, he had showered and shaved and was dressed for the day to meet their new client. Stopping in the doorway of the bathroom, he saw that the other two were yet to make a move. Lazy beasts, he thought, but it was with affection rather than rancour. If they could have, Ronan knew they would both sleep in till noon. A soft purr he reco
gnised as Vaughn’s had him looking that way again. Vaughn was now awake, a rhythmic satisfied purr rumbling lazily in his chest as he stroked a calloused hand over Seth’s back. Ronan smiled; Vaughn’s biggest secret? He was a snuggler.
“Time to get up, boys,” he said, walking to the small desk and taking his phone off the charger. Their new client was supposed to email them with their meet-point today.
“Don’t wanna ...” came the muttered reply from Seth.
“What he said,” Vaughn followed up, neither making a move.
Ronan rolled his eyes. They went through the same routine every morning. They’d start moving soon enough, probably because one of them would grab the other one’s morning wood, but still …
Scrolling through his phone, he saw that they had an unopened email in their business inbox from more than an hour ago. Looks like their new client was an early riser; “Move it, fellas. We got our email,” he threw over his shoulder, opening the email at the same time. Their client suggested they meet at nine, and the location … “Huh.”
“Huh, what?” Seth asked, planting a kiss on the top of his head from behind.
“You’re never going to believe the address for the meet with our mysterious client,” he angled his phone so Seth could see it. A huge yawn and a creaking bed signalled Vaughn had also deigned to get up, and Ronan tapped at the address, bringing it to his attention as well.