by Dakota Dawn
“Calm down. I just gave you some antibiotics. With time you’ll know I’m helping you, just like she will. Flower has to be wondering why I haven’t come for her yet.” The ferret struggled again, and the man gave it another shot. Within seconds the ferret went limp.
“Rest, my precious one. In a few days you’ll be good as new.” The man ran his hand soothingly down the ferret’s back. “I’m almost ready to test her and then bring her home. Not here, of course, the deal on our place is almost complete. Soon she will be mine forever.” He sighed as he put the ferret in a cage and closed the door. “I’ve been looking up ways to train humans. If she gives me any trouble, I’ll have to teach her how to be my perfect wife. I don’t think I’ll have to, but it never hurts to be prepared.”
A ball of fur raced into the room and dropped at the man’s feet. He picked it up and crooned, “That’s a good girl, Rosie. Soon you can do that for Flower, too.”
* * * *
Gaven walked into Lunn’s bedroom carrying three cups of coffee. Lunn sat up and stretched. After setting Katarina’s cup on the dresser, he looked toward the bathroom where she was taking a shower.
As he walked to the bed and handed Lunn a cup, he said, “Lunn, you’re not going to believe this, but I think Katarina is Flower! How many girls do you know that have violet eyes. That would explain the electricity between us. Hell, it’s been building for seven years.”
“‘Bout time you figured it out.”
His jaw dropped, and he stared hard at Lunn. “How long have you known, and why didn’t you tell me?”
“I’ve known since her second night here. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to freak out.”
“Freak out?”
“Yeah, she was still working for you at the time, and I sensed we’d all be together someday soon. I also wanted to watch her closer, you know, see if she’d be able to handle both of us.” Lunn shrugged his shoulder and took a sip of his coffee.
“I still can’t believe she’s Flower. Why didn’t she tell us?” Gaven asked with a shake of his blond head.
“Because I didn’t know how to tell you,” Katarina said from the doorway. She stood there wrapped in towel, her dark hair glistening with moisture. “I hope you two are not mad at me. I’ve been attracted to both of you from the moment I first laid eyes on you at my papa’s club. I came here to see if you two returned my feelings.”
“Rico is your father?” Lunn asked.
“Yes. He made me wear the mask so no one would know who I was. It also added mystery to all of us who worked at Rico’s. The customers like that.”
“I bet he also made you wear a mask so the customers wouldn’t know how beautiful you are,” Gaven said.
“What does he think about you staying with us?” Lunn asked.
“He’s happy for me.” She bit her lip then added, “He knows I’m attracted to Gaven.” Casting her gaze to Lunn, she said, “He doesn’t know I like you, too. At least I don’t think he knows.”
Gaven gestured to her coffee. “We’ll work it out. That cup’s yours. Drink up before it gets too cold, babe.” He watched her pick it up and take a sip. Her look of satisfaction made him smile. He could never be mad at her for long, or Lunn, either, for that matter. Patting the bed, he shifted so she could climb up and settle in her spot between them. Right where she belonged, for the moment, at least.
* * * *
Gaven opened the door for Katarina and Lunn to enter ahead of him. They all walked into the restaurant and were greeted by a smiling hostess. “We’re with the Cortino family.”
They were led to their friend’s table, and their waitress came over and took their order. When the hostess left, Rain blurted, “Whoo hoo! Looks like some folks have come to their senses.”
“Yes, and you three are looking well for it,” Branda added happily.
Katarina mouthed “thank you” to Rain and Branda.
Lunn pulled out the chair between them and seated Katarina. He and Lunn ignored the grinning women. The last thing he needed to talk about was their love life at this point in time. A hard-on in the restaurant wasn’t appealing. Maybe he could talk about sex and Katarina in ten years and not need her that second, but he doubted it.
Lunn gestured toward Cason and Carlo. “Katarina, this is Cason and Carlo Cortino. They are Troy, Trey, and Trent’s cousins. Cason and Carlo, this is Katarina. She’s taken so don’t get any ideas.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Katarina said, with a warm smile.
“The pleasure is mine, bella,” Cason replied, with a wicked smile.
“Tone down the smile. She’s taken, remember?” Carlo rebuked Cason and then turned to Katarina. “It’s nice to meet you. Welcome to our group of friends.”
Their waitress came back with their drinks. As she walked away, Gaven took a swig of his beer. He hated to be rude but he really wanted to know if the Cortinos’ had learned anything new about Concetta.
“What can you guys tell me about Concetta?” Lunn asked before he could.
“That her name means pure, and that she is powerful,” Branda answered.
“If she has a plan for you, she’ll do anything to get your attention,” Trent added.
“Yeah, Trent was rained on every time he went outside when he didn’t do what she wanted,” Rain chimed in. Trent frowned at his wife, but nodded his agreement.
“What’s going on? Why all the questions about Concetta?” Troy asked.
“She bound the three of us last night. What should we do?” he asked.
“Nothing. Just go with the flow and enjoy the fireworks,” Rain answered enthusiastically. Trent put his arm around his wife’s shoulders and nodded his head.
“That’s all you can do. If you feel led to do anything, do it. Concetta won’t stop nudging you until your destiny is fulfilled. She means you no harm. Always remember that,” Trey added.
Cason cleared his throat and then looked at Katarina. “Have you heard the story of how our family was blessed?”
“No. Just that she’s a good witch and that she blessed your family.”
“Our grandfather, Ettore Cortino, was the best fisherman in Capri—” Cason started his story.
Trent cut him off. “You mean he loved to fish. That’s how Nonno tells the story.”
Cason frowned at Trent. “No more interruptions. Who’s telling this story?” Cason retorted.
“We won’t interrupt if you’ll tell it right,” Troy stated.
“All right. You two are sticks in the mud.” Cason looked over at Katarina. “Like I was saying, because he loved to fish, Ettore was the best fisherman in all of Capri. He’d been told by his papa to never enter Gradola.”
At Katarina’s questioning look, Carlo leaned forward and said, “Gradola is a sea cave that was rumored to be the home of sea monsters and witches.”
“Yes, yes. But Ettore didn’t believe those stories because he’d fished all the waters around Gradola and had never seen anything out of the ordinary.” After a small pause, Cason continued. “So when a huge fish swallowed his hook and started pulling Ettore toward the cave, he let it. When he entered the cave, he loosened his grip on his fishing pole. He was so taken by the beautiful blue sparkling walls that he didn’t even care when the fish took off with his fishing pole.”
“Yeah, he was so awed by the cave that he didn’t care about the huge fish getting away either. That says a lot,” Carlo blurted excitedly.
“You said that right, bro. Ettore rowed his boat deeper into the notorious sea cave.”
“He was very brave,” Carlo whispered, with a serious nod of his head.
“Yes he was. That’s why when he saw a woman floating face down in the water, he rapidly rowed over to her, and dragged her into the boat, and pumped the water from her lungs. She didn’t come to, but he knew she was alive. Rowing as quickly as he could, Ettore headed to Capri. On the way in she woke up wondering how she’d gotten into his boat. He told her the story, and that he was t
aking her to Capri for medical attention.”
When Cason paused, Carlo broke in. “She shocked him by smiling, and putting her hand to his chest. Heat like he’d never known shot through his body. After she pulled her hand back, she said, ‘Your heart is pure. You have just saved my life, a life that an evil witch tried to take. For that and your pure heart, I am going to bless you and all your generations. You will marry this year. My blessing will guide you to her, and all your offspring to their true loves.’
“She put her fingers on his temple then said,
‘To your true love’s inner wrist
you must place a licking kiss.
If she’s yours you will not miss
the shudders of her bliss.
Her nipples will come to a hard peak.
You can have her within a week.
Her emotions you can feel
which shows you that your love is real.’
“The witch removed her fingers from Ettore’s temple then added, ‘Health, wealth, and love will bless you and your generations from this day forward.’”
This time Carlo paused, and Cason jumped back in. “Ettore saw a bright blue light and then nothing more. He woke to an empty boat. That very year he married his true love and lived a long happy life.”
Carlo raised his drink, and they all followed suit. “May Concetta be happy and well. Salute!”
“Salute!” they all repeated.
After taking a sip of her tea, Katarina said, “Wow, that’s some family story. I enjoyed hearing it. Concetta sounds impressive.”
“Yes she does,” Lunn agreed.
Feeling at peace with their answers, and realizing they couldn’t know what Concetta had planned for the three of them, he changed the subject. “How’s business going?” he asked. A glance at Katarina and Lunn proved they were good with the change.
“The hotels are doing fine,” Trent stated then looked over at Troy.
“The bookstore had a little setback recently when a customer lit a candle and caught the tissue paper under it on fire,” Troy said.
Katarina gasped in horror. Gaven agreed with her reaction. Fire was dangerous stuff. He was glad his friends hadn’t been hurt.
Troy waved his hand and said, “It didn’t do much damage. Trey was coming out of the stockroom shortly after it started, and he put it out quickly. All we had to do was air the store out and sand the burn mark off the table and put a coat of polyurethane on it. Now it’s good as new. Of course, we are keeping a closer eye on that section of the store now.”
“We have good news,” Carlo said right before he fist bumped Cason. “We have decided to open Cason & Carlo’s Food & Family Fun here in Naples.”
“That’s awesome. What’s the business going to offer and when do you plan on opening it,” Trent asked.
“It’s going to be a family environment where families can come to eat burgers and pizza. We’ll have some games that they can play and win tickets from. The tickets can be exchanged for prizes. Kids love that stuff. It’ll be a party place,” Cason answered.
“Yeah, we love fun so why not run a business that makes fun memories for people. We’re hoping to open the doors in about a year,” Carlo added. His green eyes glittered with excitement.
“Is it going to be in this area?” Troy asked.
“Yeah, the building is around five miles from Coastland Center,” Cason answered.
“That sounds good. It’s close to my sports pub and Troy and Trey’s bookstore.” Gaven was glad they’d decided to open a business and even happier about them doing it in this area.
“That sounds real good. Now that you’re both settling down, maybe you’ll find your true loves soon,” Rain said then winked at Cason and Carlo.
“We’re in no hurry,” Cason answered easily and then fist bumped Carlo.
The waitress arrived with their food, and everyone was quiet for a moment as they took a few bites of their food.
“How are your jobs going?” Trey asked.
“Great, now that I fired Katarina and Lunn hired her,” Gaven stated then looked at Rain. “Does your brother-in-law want his old job back?”
“No. He’s firmly planted in our family business and Tamarisk is pregnant with their first baby.” Rain’s face glowed as she brought up her sister’s pregnancy.
“Speaking of pregnant, I need to go to the powder room,” Branda grumbled.
Watching her get up from the table and walk away, he admired her rounded tummy. “She looks so cute with her rounded belly.”
“Yeah, we think so, too.” Trey grinned from ear to ear.
“Where’s your baby?” Katarina asked Rain and Trent.
“He’s with my aunt and uncle. They insisted on keeping him.” Trent rolled his eyes.
Rain poked Trent in the side. “We’re lucky your family will keep him for us while we go out.”
“Don’t give them too much credit. They have ulterior motives.” Trent nodded his knowingly.
“What?” Rain asked.
“For you to get pregnant again,” Trent answered pointedly.
“That’s not true. They love looking after the baby.” The strawberry-blonde frowned at her grinning husband.
“True, but my parents want more grandbabies, and my aunt and uncle want Cason and Carlo to go and find their true loves so they can get some grandbabies of their own.” Trent sent Rain a you know it’s true look.
“Our parents are going to have to make due with your babies for a while. We are going to be too busy getting our company going to even consider giving any woman a licking kiss,” Cason stated.
“Uh huh,” Carlo agreed.
All this talk of babies was making Gaven ill. He looked nervously at Katarina and then Lunn. He couldn’t have kids. They equaled a long-term, steady home.
Katarina leaned close and said, “Eat and stop stressing.” At his questioning look, she added, “It’s obvious what you’re thinking. Eat.”
The meal progressed peacefully, and Gaven calmed in the presence of all the people he loved the most.
Loved.
He couldn’t love Katarina, but when he looked over at her, he knew he was in too deep already. Damn it, I’m in love.
Katarina’s phone buzzed, and she checked the text message. A frown drew her brows together.
“What is it?” he asked.
“My papa wants us to come see him tomorrow. He has some news he wants to tell us,” she replied.
“Do you know what it could be about?” Lunn asked.
“No. I’m clueless.”
“Has he been healthy?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“That’s good.” he patted her shoulder. “If it was serious he would have called, right?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“Don’t worry, babe. We’ll see him tomorrow. For now let’s have a good time,” Lunn said with a comforting pat to her hand.
Gaven started sweating. Did her dad know she was with both of them? They’d have to be on high alert at this meeting. Pissed-off fathers could be very dangerous.
Chapter Twelve
Katarina yawned as she walked out of the bathroom. The second she saw the intent look in Lunn’s eyes, she knew she was in trouble.
He held up a piece of rope. “Come here, kitten. I think it’s time for you to start practicing your gift. I’m going to tie you to the headboard, and you won’t be able to get free unless you use a freeing spell.”
The only reason she agreed to do it was because she knew she needed to start practicing. No guts, no glory. Walking over to him, she held out her hands. He tied her wrists together with a knot that wouldn’t come undone by itself, and then he tied the other end of the long rope to the bed with the same knot. Although this might not bode well for her later, she loved Lunn even more for wanting to help her become an enchantress. One her family could be proud of.
At 4:00 am she woke with the need to go to the bathroom and tried to ease from between her guys. She was surpris
ed when her hands didn’t separate.
Shit!
She’d forgotten her lesson. The knowledge that she couldn’t just get up and go to the bathroom made her need to pee even greater. Squeezing her thighs together, she tried to ignore the fact that she desperately needed to go.
Not wanting to wake the men, she mumbled, “Powers that surround me, set me free.” She tugged on the rope, but it didn’t budge. A quick glance at Gaven and Lunn proved that they were still asleep. The need to pee became sharper. She crossed her legs and murmured, “I command thee to break these ropes.”
Nothing happened.
Fuck.
Maybe she’d been too rude. She squeezed her ass cheeks together this time, hoping she could keep on holding back the flow of urine that so urgently wanted out.
After exhaling, she said, “Powers that be, break this rope.” She felt a tingle in her hand and became excited. Her excitement was short-lived, and she felt like crying when the last two inches of rope broke off and landed in her lap.
That had been close, but she needed the ropes to break on the other side of the blasted knot. She glared at Lunn’s sleeping form. Why did he have to be so good at tying knots?
A few drops of pee escaped and dampened her panties. She freaked out and turned to Gaven. To her utter surprise, he was on his side watching her and grinning.
“You almost did it. I’m proud of you, babe.” His wide smile was endearing.
His being proud of her even though she’d fail kicked her frustration to the curb. Her love for him grew even more.
More pee threatened to flow from her. She squeezed her thighs tighter and begged, “Would you please release me? I really have to go. Maybe I’ll do better under pressure next time, but right now I’m about to release a tidal wave of urine that’s going to wash you and Lunn right off the bed.
“We can’t have that now, can we? Don’t be too hard on yourself. I saw the end of the rope drop off, so I know you’ve advanced,” he said as he untied the rope.
“Thank you.” She hurried to the restroom, more determined than ever to master her gift.