by Eliza Gayle
“Don’t,” she pleaded. “Something is wrong with me.”
“Nothing is wrong with you.” His hand curled gently around her arm. “Please let me touch you again.”
Her heart lurched at his whispered words. When he continued to stroke up her arm to the curve of her shoulder her eyes slid shut. She wanted this. No matter how fucked up it was, she wanted both Jake and Denn, and she didn’t have it in her to deny it.
When a warm naked body pressed against her backside she moaned aloud. Denn now nibbled along the back of her neck and shoulders and Jake worked his way around the front. On a soft sigh, she gave in, dropping her clothes to the ground. She reached up and slowly undid the buttons of Jake’s shirt, revealing a sculpted chest she longed to touch. Raven slid her hands underneath the soft fabric of his shirt and pushed it off his shoulders. He released her arm just long enough to get it off before bringing his lips to hers in a crushing kiss.
Denn’s hands moved down to her ass, where he massaged each globe as he teased the seam of her bottom with a finger, alternately running the length and dipping inward to tap at her tighter, smaller opening. “Mine,” he growled.
Uncontrollable desire licked at Raven as Jake plundered her mouth and Denn worked her ass. She reached down to feel Jake’s hardness through his jeans, itching to touch his bare, heated skin against her own. She fumbled with the buttons of his fly, desperate to release his cock. Buttons undone, she was beyond pleased to discover that he wore no underwear, and she hastily freed him from the stifling confines of his pants. A choked noise came from him as he broke their kiss. “Oh God, yes, Raven, your hands are so soft. More baby, please.”
She wrapped her hand around his thick shaft, squeezing harder before moving her hand back and forth against the silky skin. He leaned in and rested his forehead against hers while he bucked his hips in rhythm with her movements. Her thumb flicked over the head, spreading his pre cum around and against the sensitive underside. She wanted to taste him, find out firsthand if he tasted as good as he looked.
She couldn’t keep that train of thought for long as Denn’s finger dipped into her pussy and began spreading her moisture to her back entrance. Over and over he added more, lubricating her. She tensed up when his finger pushed its way against the tight ring of muscle.
“Relax, Raven, I’m going to do this nice and slow, baby. I don’t want to hurt you and believe me, any pain you feel will dissipate if you just relax.”
“Do you know this from experience or are you just making that up?” she breathlessly whispered.
“Hmm, would you really like to know?”
She didn’t get a chance to answer because Denn sank the rest of his finger deep in her ass, taking her breath away. She hissed at the whisper of pain but quickly forgot when he stroked across a sensitive spot she didn’t know she had. So much pleasure…
“Oh damn, Jake, she is so fucking tight back here.”
“Be gentle with her, Denn, we don’t know yet if she can take it the way you like it.” Jake leaned close to her ear. “He likes things a little rough sometimes, baby.”
She shook her head through her lust-fogged thoughts to focus on what Jake had said. “What are you talking about, Jake? What does he like? And how do you know?”
He flashed a devilish grin at her before giving her a quick smack on the lips. “Don’t worry, Raven, I won’t let him hurt you this time.”
“This time?” She gulped in air, trying to catch her breath. It was hard to have a conversation with Jake while Denn worked on her. Not to mention the trail Jake was making down her body with his tongue. Her followed her neck to her chest and then swirled around her breasts before finally taking a nipple in his mouth. He passed back and forth between them, leaving them aching for more when he moved on.
As he moved downward she was forced to release his cock and grab his shoulders to steady herself. His tongue briefly delved into her belly button before he continued on.
“You’re doing great, Raven, relax and lean up against Jake.” She heard his words but didn’t comprehend them. Jake’s tongue trailed quickly through the curls covering her sex only seconds away from her nirvana. At the first touch of his warm, firm tongue against her clit she screamed out and Denn slid a second finger into her passage. Pain and pleasure exploded around her as both men moved in a quick rhythm that complemented each other. Jake’s tongue and teeth worked her clit and Denn’s fingers dipped in and out of her with swift movements, alternating a sensual pain with exquisite pleasure every time he withdrew.
When Jake’s fingers joined his tongue she dug into his shoulder and let loose with a moan of sheer delight.
“She’s close, Jake. Her ass is gripping and pulsing against my fingers”
Jake increased the pressure against her clit until Raven thought she would faint. Then he pushed two fingers into her pussy and the wave of her orgasm burst free and swamped her. She screamed and bucked against their fingers, unable to stop or get enough. They continued finger fucking her like that for what seemed like hours until she collapsed. Jake caught her from falling onto the hard ground.
She struggled for breath as Jake held her tightly in his arms, brushing her hair away from her face. His tender movements comforted at the same time stark fear shook her. Something intense was happening between them and she didn’t understand it. They talked in riddles around her and she needed to hear what they had to say, but first she needed to clean up and put on some clean clothes. Honestly she just needed some more time alone to consider what was going on in this house. And for that matter, inside her.
She struggled to sit up.
“What’s wrong, Raven?” Jake looked at her with a crease of concern running across his forehead.
“Nothing. I just need a shower and some clean clothes.” She stood on shaky legs, careful not to make any sharp moves.
“Wait, let us take care of you.”
“No, Jake, not this time. Right now I need some time alone and a long hot shower.”
“We need to talk. Explain, actually.” Denn’s voice sounded strong and clear behind her. She would bet that he always got what he wanted, what with that incredible aura of authority that surrounded him, although there was a darkness to it. She could feel the anger in his power every time he came near. It confused her as much as it drew her.
“Anyone ever tell you that you talk too much? 'Cause I would understand it if they did.”
“This is serious, Raven,” Denn warned.
“Of course it is. But it’s going to have to wait for a little while longer, okay?” The last line was delivered with more sarcasm than she had intended, but dammit she needed to get away from them right now. As she turned and walked away she heard Jake say something puzzling in a quiet voice.
“Hope it won’t be too late.”
Chapter Six
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Denn asked, reaching for his jeans, he tugged them on over his hips but left them unfastened. He watched Jake do the same, remembering that he was the only one in the house who hadn’t had an orgasm today.
“She’s behaving like a petulant child, refusing to listen when we both know how important she is.”
“Maybe we’re wrong.”
Jake started to say something and Denn put up his hand to stop him. “Seriously, Jake, it’s not as if we have an instruction manual on how this is supposed to work. But I would imagine that despite the prophecy we still have to deal with freewill and all that jazz.”
“Please tell me you aren’t trying to say that what just happened with her was against her will. You did see the way she responded to the both of us.”
“You know that’s not what I meant.” He scrubbed his fingers through his hair. “I won’t deny there is a strong sexual chemistry and even our magick is affected. But let’s not forget what brought her here and what keeps her here. If we were to let her go today, what would happen? She doesn’t look or act like she wants to stay here.”
“Now turn that around, Denn. I
f you didn’t know she was your woman from the prophecy would you want her to stay?”
Jake had a point there. He couldn’t say for sure what would be happening if they hadn’t figured out who she was. Even before Jake had told him, he’d known something was different about her, but he’d been torn. He already had a solid relationship with Jake and wasn’t looking to change that.
“You and I—”
“I know, Denn. You weren’t looking for this and neither was I.” He turned away and headed towards the house. Denn stared after him, trying to understand the conflict surrounding them. He wanted Jake, there was no doubt about that, and it wasn’t just the sex. No, their relationship had developed beyond the sexual exploration a while back. But, he also wanted Raven.
“Jake,” he called out. When the other man stopped he continued. “I don’t want you to leave.” He moved forward, bringing himself closer. “Nothing has changed between us. I need you to stay.”
“But the witch…”
“We’re going to work it out. I’ve been giving this a lot of thought. Maybe she is meant to be with us both. It’s not just me that she is drawn to, you know. I’ve seen the way you two long for each other when you think no one is watching.”
“Come on, Denn, us both? That sounds like a stretch.”
“Yeah, maybe, and then again maybe not. The whole situation is beyond unconventional, so who's to say what’s right or wrong here? Can everything we feel be wrong? I don’t think so. She fits well with us. Perfectly, in fact.”
“We need to talk to her.”
“Agreed.” Denn had a feeling they needed to do it sooner rather than later. His magick buzzed more than normal. It had him on alert. It made him think of Noah. Normally a surge like this came from his connection with his twin, but it had been weeks since he’d spoken with his brother. He’d gone off on a new quest to find a missing person and likely would continue to be out of touch until he’d found who he was looking for. He tended to have a single-minded focus when it came to his work.
Hell, Noah didn’t even know about the changes with Grae or Cash yet.
“You okay, Denn?”
Jake’s words broke through his thoughts of his brother and brought him back to the present. “Yeah.” He needed to read through his journal, make some notes and adjustments. He had a feeling the more he documented the more he could make sense of it.
“You worry too much, Denn.” Jake touched his shoulder, moving his fingers in a strong massaging motion. “Your muscles are all tense again. I believe that whatever is meant to happen with Raven will happen on its own. She isn’t going anywhere, so let’s just see where this goes, okay?”
Denn relaxed under his lover’s attempts to release his tension. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have found Jake. It restored in his faith in fate.
* * *
“I need to get out of here.” She rubbed her arms and crouched by the door, anxious.
“What’s wrong, Raven?” Denn asked.
“This isn’t right. Holding me here like this. I need to get away before something happens.”
“Like what?”
She didn’t answer right away. What could she say? An energy buzzed under her skin and she didn’t know how to explain it, nor did she know what to do with it. With her magick bound some of her normal coping mechanisms were missing.
“Does this have to do with being held against your will or with what happened between the three of us?”
She just stared at him. Unseeing. She stayed back by the door, afraid to get to close. Something about being in his proximity made her crazy.
“That’s it, isn’t it?” He came around the desk, headed in her general direction.
“No, stay back. Don’t come any closer." Panic rose within her, her heart raced, and her skin crawled.
“Raven, baby, what is it?”
“I don’t know, something is happening.” She couldn’t breathe. She held up her hands and focused on the energy in the room. She imagined the moisture in the air and mist rained down on them.
“What the hell? How are you doing that? Your magick is bound. I did it myself.”
She concentrated harder past the pain of pushing at the barrier. Deep breaths in and out and it burst. Pain shot through her body as magick filled the room. She briefly looked at the shock on Denn’s face as the flood of power swamped her. She ran past Denn and out the French doors into the courtyard. The mist changed to a soft rain that her skin soaked up greedily. She tilted her face skyward, using her freed power to call more water until the rain turned into a torrential downpour, flooding the courtyard and boosting her beyond measure.
Now this is more like it.
After weeks of being trapped in a powerless body her energy and magick were back and she was free.
As the rain soaked her hair and clothes it dawned on her that whatever magick had been not only binding her magick, but also holding her in Denn’s home, had been broken. She could finally leave.
Her breath halted. I can leave. Her mind automatically flashed to Denn and Jake. Her sexy dark witch and fair-haired sweetheart, but her thoughts darkened when she remembered the journal entries she had read early that morning. Curious about what they were up to but not yet ready to face them, she’d snuck into Denn’s office and found his journal.
No, Denn and Jake weren’t with her out of some kind of fanciful love. Her heart fractured when she’d read that they thought she was the woman prophesied for Denn. His savior. Tears welled and she lifted her head again, letting the rains cleanse her of them.
She wasn’t anyone’s savior. She wasn’t even a very nice person. Raised in a coven that believed in a cause she didn’t understand, her whole life had been focused on nothing but honing her craft and training to be a hunter. A job she was really good at. At least, until now. Now she would be the hunted. Something she couldn’t tolerate and had to fix.
She followed the winding path through the courtyard, refusing to look in the direction of the sitting area, where the lounge chairs were. Where they’d…
It was time to go.
Her feet moved faster, changing from a walk to a run as she streaked through the gardens and slipped into the kitchen, heading full force for her room and what little belongings she could take with her.
The house was eerily quiet, yet the magick buzzed stronger than ever before. It was soft and familiar, encouraging her to hurry.
In her room she grabbed the duffel bag she’d confiscated earlier in the week, already packed with necessities from the clothes and things Jake had bought her. On the dresser there was a small frame that held a picture of Denn and his twin brother Noah. She swiped it and dropped it in her bag.
With no time to waste, and not knowing who might be coming up behind her, she swung her legs out the window and down the fire escape she had scoped out the first week she’d been awake.
As she climbed down the ladder she thought about New Orleans and what she could remember of it from her last visit, which had been many years ago. There was a large coven nearby but she imagined that Denn knew them well and would look for her there first. Her own coven may be looking for her as well, and with her recent failed mission she wasn’t sure she could trust them to keep her safe, either. She needed to talk to Scott, but on her own terms and from a safe location. His reach was long and wide and if he had plans to eliminate her or worse, she couldn’t just pop up on his radar.
That left her with only one desperate option. Severina. A voodoo priestess in the quarter that Raven had sought in the past. She’d been here on a job and needed some sensitive information and a friend had recommended Severina’s services to her. In exchange for the information she sought, she helped the woman out with a little extermination problem. It had been an uneasy alliance because Severina disapproved of her and her connection to Scott, but she was a woman of honor and her word was solid.
Now all she could do was seek her out again and see if they could once again do business. She didn’t
have much to bargain with but she did have her magick, which in New Orleans used to be a highly valued commodity.
Turning down Benton Street, she thought about the house she’d just left behind. Or, more to the point, the men she’d run from. Before Denn had come into the office she had been rummaging through his desk looking for something, anything that would help free her.
As she methodically searched his desk, magick had crawled across her body. A different sensation filled the room than what had been there when she arrived. Something was happening. She’d shoved the contents she’d removed back in the drawer and headed for the door when Denn entered from the courtyard.
Now, as she moved farther and farther away from the safety of Denn and Jake she wondered what had happened back there. Denn had been genuinely shocked when her magick had returned. What did it matter? She was free. She was with the one person she knew she could trust no matter what happened. Herself.
Finally reaching Bourbon Street, she turned right and fell into the crowd, absorbing the familiar sights and sounds of the heart of the Quarter. It may have been a long time since she’d walked this path, but New Orleans was one of those cities you never forgot.
After about fifteen minutes of walking she found the alleyway she was looking for. There was litter and trash strewn across the entryway and as soon as she turned in, the odor of rotten filthy waste assailed her. Wrinkling her face and opening her mouth to breathe, she pushed on knowing this was her best shot at success.
Thirty yards later she found herself at a black metal door that merely said Severina across it. She didn’t need to advertise what she did. All the locals knew exactly who and what she was, and anyone not a local didn’t find Severina unless someone local referred them and gave them directions.
She twisted the knob and pushed open the heavy metal door. Once inside her eyes had to adjust to the dark interior after the bright sun outside. The first thing to strike her was the aroma of the store. There were rows and rows of candles and aromatic oils in a variety of ritual scents and colors. The racks in the middle of the floor were covered in a wide assortment of dolls in every variation of dress as well as baskets of gris-gris bags. Every available surface was covered with every item you could think of as necessary for a ritual. And Raven knew if she didn’t have it here in the store, Severina would have it in the back just waiting for a customer to ask for it.