by S. E. Smith
“What the fuc….” his voice came out strangled.
Gabe blinked, lifting a hand to rub his eyes. His hand passed through his face. He lifted his hand and stared at it in wonder. He could see through it.
Looking around him, he saw that he was no longer on his boat, but on a beach. Turning in a circle, he looked up at the stars. A frown creased his brow as he tried to identify them and came up blank.
He turned his head when he heard laughter. His hands reached out when he saw Magna running toward him. He gasped when she passed right through him. Stumbling back several steps, he barely remained standing when a man followed less than a second later.
“That was good, Magna. Coralus never even suspected what you were doing,” the man laughed before he fell to the sand next to where Magna had collapsed.
A flash of jealousy hit Gabe when the man leaned over and tugged on Magna’s dark hair. She giggled and lay back on the black sand crystals. Gabe couldn’t help but notice how young and vibrant she looked.
She was wearing a thin, sheer green cover over a black body suit that hugged every curve. The leggings of the suit ended mid-thigh. He smiled when she dug her toes into the sand and they poked up on the other side of the hole, the rest of her feet buried.
Gabe listened in fascination to Orion’s teasing and her excited response. He wished that Kane could see and hear what he was experiencing. He took a step back when she suddenly rose to her feet and swirled toward Orion with a pleading look.
Gabe made a note to watch out for Magna if she ever pouted. The look she was currently using on Orion made him think of all kinds of things he’d like to do to her. The first was put those pouty lips to use around his cock. Just the thought of that had him wishing he was there on the beach alone with Magna instead of watching a memory of her with her cousin.
Gabe’s breath caught when he saw the full beauty of Magna’s smile. Her dark green eyes danced with mirth and her lips made him want to taste them. Her hair danced in the wind, as if she were caught in a current. He barely heard her reply, so captivated was he by the change in her.
He turned when he saw her look up at the sky. A soft gasp escaped her, and her lips parted in awe. Gabe followed the streak of light as it flashed across the sky. In the distance, he could see the explosion of water where it landed. Sea spray rose nearly fifty feet in the air.
It suddenly dawned on him what was about to happen. This was Magna’s memory of right before the alien creature took over her body. He opened his mouth to yell for her to stop. Even as he tried to follow her, he could feel the world dissolving around him. The outline of the cabin of his boat mixed with the beach and cove. He barely caught a glimpse of Magna climbing on the back of a creature that looked like a cross between a dragon and sea horse.
He swayed, and his hand shot out to steady himself. Holding very still, he fought against the disorientation. It took a minute for him to realize the sway wasn’t just from him returning from wherever in the hell he had been, but also from the stormy seas. The sound of rolling thunder warned him he’d better return to the house if he didn’t want to get stuck on the boat.
Turning, he grabbed the slicker that was hanging by the door. He pulled it on, pausing only long enough to safely tuck the necklace into the pocket before he stepped out and secured the hatch. Pulling the hood of the raincoat over his head, he climbed up onto the dock and headed for the stairs. Any doubt as to whether or not Magna had been telling him the truth was completely resolved in his mind. He had pulled a real-life mermaid out of the ocean and her name was Magna – the Sea Witch.
Chapter Eight
It was dark by the time Gabe heard the door to Kane’s SUV slam shut outside. When Kane walked into the kitchen, he glanced around with a frown as he dropped several department store bags to the floor. Gabe returned his attention to the meal he was preparing while Kane lowered the duffle bag from his shoulder and removed his gloves and his coat.
“How is she?” Kane asked, hanging his coat on the hook by the door.
“She slept most of the day,” Gabe replied.
“That’s good. She was obviously exhausted, and this will give her body time to heal,” Kane said with a satisfied nod.
“Yeah,” Gabe murmured.
He picked up the ladle and stirred the large pot of vegetable noodle soup he’d made after coming back in from the boat earlier. He thought the soup might be better for Magna. It felt strange and rewarding at the same time to be cooking for someone else. He normally just had to worry about himself and the occasional special meal he made for the dogs. Once a week, Kane would come over and they would grill something while watching either football, basketball, or soccer.
His mind wasn’t on food, but on what he’d seen and experienced today. The entire episode on the beach had shaken him. Since the weather made going out on the water impossible, cooking had been the next best thing to give him something to do with his hands.
“What’s wrong?” Kane demanded.
He was quiet for a moment before he decided that perhaps showing Kane what he’d seen was better than trying to explain it. Turning away from the stove, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the necklace he’d picked up earlier. He’d wrapped it in a paper towel. He held it out to Kane with a nod.
“I found this on my boat. It obviously belongs to Magna,” he quietly explained.
Kane frowned as he took the paper towel. Gabe watched as Kane carefully unwrapped the necklace. It was lying with outer side face up at the moment. Kane looked at him with a puzzled expression.
“It’s beautiful,” Kane observed.
Gabe ran his hand over the back of his neck before he rubbed his chin. Dropping his hand back down to his side, he nodded in agreement. He gestured with his hand.
“Let’s see if the same thing happens to you that happened to me. Turn it over,” he instructed.
He waited and watched. He saw Kane’s eyes widen and his friend stumbled backwards a step before remaining still. What he hadn’t expected was to find himself back on the beach next to Kane, as well.
“Where the hell are we?” Kane choked out, turning in a circle.
“You are locked in one of my memories,” Magna replied, stepping out of the shadows until she was standing between them. “It is a loop of my last night. I captured the memory in a spell and placed it in this shell. I wanted – needed – to be able to remember who and what I was before I changed.”
Gabe reached out to touch her, but his hand merely glided through her body. She turned to look at him with a sad smile before she returned her attention to the water. He heard Kane’s swift hiss of breath when the memory of Magna ran down the beach and through them.
“This isn’t real?” Kane asked in a hoarse voice, turning to watch the bright, laughing girl.
“It was,” Magna softly replied before she walked down to the edge of the water.
“Watch and listen,” Gabe cautioned.
Kane nodded, not saying anything else. The events from long ago continued to play out before his astonished eyes once again. He picked up some details he had missed before, small things. He took in the color of the water, the bright luminescence of the plants, and the sea dragons playing in the cove.
He turned his head when he heard Kane’s harsh cry of warning to Magna when she ran for the water. The memory of Magna passed through the present day one. Gabe was surprised when the scene around them didn’t fade, but instead became frozen. Unsure of what was going on, he walked across the sand to where Magna was standing looking out at the water. Behind him, Kane muttered a curse and followed him.
“What’s happening?” Kane asked, gazing around him before stopping near where Magna stood.
Gabe shrugged. “I don’t know. This didn’t happen earlier,” he admitted.
Magna didn’t turn to look at them. “Sometimes I would stop the memory, hoping to find a way to warn myself and Orion of the dangers.” She lifted a hand as if to brush away a tear. “Sometimes I just wa
nted to remain frozen forever at this precise moment, not moving any further ahead in time. I always loved coming here. It was a special place belonging only to Orion, Kapian, and me. We could hide from the world and all of our responsibilities, and imagine the adventures we would go on together. We were the Terrible Trio, always causing mischief and giving our parents headaches,” she murmured.
“It looks and feels so real,” Kane said.
“Yes… but it is all an illusion,” Magna replied, her voice tired and somber.
Gabe blinked when she raised her hand, and everything faded. They were once again back in his kitchen. Kane was still standing by the door, the necklace in the palm of his hand. Magna stood near the breakfast bar that separated the kitchen from the casual dining room while he remained by the stove.
His body tensed when Magna held out her hand, palm up, and the necklace rose from Kane’s upturned hand and floated through the air to land in the center of her palm. He knew he and Kane both had the same expression of awe on their faces. She closed her fingers around the necklace and lowered her hand.
“I didn’t imagine it. You really can do magic,” Kane said in awe.
Magna lifted her chin. “Yes. I can also breathe as I swim under the water. That is why I was called the Sea Witch,” she stated, before turning her gaze to the steaming pot on the stove. “I smelled your wonderful cooking again. I’m starving.”
Gabe released the breath he was holding in a strained chuckle. “One large bowl of soup coming up. I have some fresh bread and butter to go with it or would you prefer crackers?” he asked.
Magna bit her lower lip and gave him a wan smile. “Can I have both?” she asked with a hopeful expression.
Kane chuckled. “I brought you some clothes – not that I mind you running around in Gabe’s shirt, we just thought you might like something else as well,” he teased, bending to pick up his duffel bag and the department store bags filled with assorted clothing items. “Anything you don’t like, I can return. Once you are feeling better, Gabe and I can take you to town to go shopping for more.”
“Kane…,” Gabe growled in warning.
Kane looked up, his eyes filled with determination. “If she is going to live here and fit in, she needs to be able to move around. I’ve been thinking of nothing else all day, Gabe. Trust me,” Kane asserted, a thread of steel in his voice.
Gabe saw the flash of uncertainty and fear on Magna’s face. He didn’t want to argue in front of her. He was also mentally kicking himself in the ass for not thinking about the challenges Magna would face here. He’d been so shocked after seeing her glow and seeing her memories that his mind hadn’t moved beyond that to how she was going to fit in their human world.
“I would love to see the clothing. Once I am stronger, I will be able to create my own,” she confessed.
“Yes, well, that’s one of the things we’ll have to talk about,” Kane said with a wink.
“I’ll set dinner on the table,” Gabe muttered.
He started to turn away, suddenly feeling like an outsider. For the first time, he wondered if the relationship that he and Kane had talked about could work. It was one thing to dream about finding a woman who would accept both of them, it was another to find and deal with one in reality.
His stomach knotted at the thought of losing Magna to his best friend. He would never let Kane know that he was dismayed by the thought. He needed to come to terms with the realization that perhaps Magna was like his first wife – horrified at the thought of being with two men at the same time.
He was so focused on his dark thoughts that he only vaguely heard Kane mention taking the items back to the bedroom and Magna’s soft response. The light touch on his arm made him stiffen in surprise.
Turning his head, he found himself drowning in a pair of warm, curious green eyes. He swallowed when she slid her hand down his arm and over the hand holding the knife he had been using to slice the bread. She wove her fingers through his and gently tugged on him until he set down the knife and turned to face her.
“Thank you,” she said, gazing up at him.
Gabe frowned in confusion. “What for?” he asked in a gruff voice.
Magna guided his hand down to her waist as she stepped closer. A mischievous smile, similar to the one he’d seen on her face in her memory, curved her lips. Her eyes had more of a sparkle to them as well.
“For finding my necklace,” she said, sliding her right hand up his chest to his shoulder.
Gabe’s eyes darkened. A hint of a smile lifted the corner of his mouth. His doubts from a few minutes earlier were beginning to evaporate in the heat that was building between them. The dark thoughts were quickly shifting to more pleasurable ones – like her on top of him and Kane leaning over her from behind.
“I’m going to kiss you,” he stated in a rough voice as his arm tightened around her waist.
Magna leaned against him. “I was hoping that you would. I… enjoy the touch of your lips against mine,” she confessed.
“Just wait until you feel them everywhere else,” he retorted before bending and capturing her lips.
The little doubt that remained vanished when she eagerly opened for him. Her fingers threaded through the hair at his nape. The way she kneaded her fingers, lightly scraping her nails along his skin turned him on. He bent his knees slightly and slid his other hand under the thin material of the shirt she was wearing.
A muffled moan filled the air when his hand connected with soft, naked flesh. A shudder ran through him when it dawned on him that, of course, she was bare! He’d laid a shirt out, but he didn’t have any under clothes for her. Hell, that would also mean that she wasn’t wearing a bra.
The knowledge that the only thing separating her from his lips was the thin shirt hit him in his gut with the force of a major league slugger hitting a line drive into his stomach. His hands slid upward, taking the soft, blue material with them. She whimpered against his mouth when his left hand caressed her breast while his other hand stroked the curve of her buttock.
“Damn! You have no idea how sexy that looks,” Kane exclaimed.
The sound of his friend’s voice broke through the heated daze of desire. He reluctantly released Magna’s lips, but kept his hand on her bare breast and buttock. His glittering eyes locked with Kane’s over her head.
“You have no idea how sexy it feels,” Gabe stated.
Magna tilted her head back and looked up at him with dazed eyes. “My body feels like it is on fire,” she informed him. “I never knew a kiss could cause such an ache.”
“You never…. Magna, if you don’t mind me asking, how many lovers have you had?” Kane enquired, stepping into the kitchen.
She looked over her shoulder at Kane with a frown. “None. The creature wanted me to take Orion as my husband, but I have always thought of him as a brother,” she said with a shake of her head. “I would not allow the alien to use me that way. It is why I helped Dolph when the boy approached me for assistance. The alien had me draw up a contract meant to force Orion to sacrifice himself to save his son, but I made it possible for Dolph to come to this world and find the one who could help him break the contract. Of course, I couldn’t guarantee that Dolph would find a woman from this world who would match the detailed description I was forced to include in the contract,” she confessed.
“Woman?” Kane asked.
“You’re a virgin?” Gabe demanded at the same time.
“Yes – to both of your questions. Carly Tate and Jenny Ackerly. I told you that Carly is the one who woke Drago. Jenny is the fiery-haired woman who married Orion,” she explained.
“And Mike Hallbrook?” Gabe asked, sliding his hands to her waist while at the same time pulling her shirt back down as his mind reeled at the fact that she was a virgin.
Magna tilted her head and looked up at him with a puzzled frown. “I told you, he is the one who shot me. He was with one of the witches who fought against me,” she said.
Kane cleared hi
s throat. “Why don’t you go try on some of the clothes I bought you? I’ve laid them out across the bed. Anything you don’t want, just stack it on the chair and I’ll return them. I’ll help Gabe get dinner on the table while you get dressed,” he suggested casually.
Gabe felt Magna’s reluctance when she pulled away. He bit the inside of his cheek in an effort to keep his groan from escaping. His cock was still hard as a rock. He would be lucky if he didn’t end up with a set of blue balls. It didn’t help when he thought of the fact that he and Kane would be Magna’s first – and hopefully last – lovers.
He waited until he heard the dogs following her down the hallway before he said anything. From the painful expression that crossed Kane’s face, his friend wasn’t in much better shape than he was. He reached down and brushed a hand over the front of his jeans.
“A virgin,” he said.
Kane grimaced. “This should change things…,” he said.
“… but, it won’t,” Gabe finished, his hands flexing his fingers.
“You’re damn right it won’t,” Kane chuckled. “You two looked hot. I have to tell you… that was the sexiest thing I think I’ve ever seen,” he stated.
“Well, I’m planning on there being more. Now, help me get dinner on the table. Before anything else delays dinner, I want her healthy,” Gabe replied.
“I’ll check her shoulder after dinner,” Kane said with a shake of his head. “I swear she makes me forget things like being a good doctor when I’m around her.”
Gabe chuckled. He knew exactly what Kane was talking about. The next few weeks were going to be torture waiting for Magna to heal – yet, he wouldn’t change it.
Kane absently listened as Gabe worked with Wilson after they had eaten dinner and cleaned up. The pup still had a lot to learn. At eight months, the Husky’s attention span was almost as long as that of a gnat – almost. He chuckled when he heard Magna giggle when Gabe told the pup to sit and the Husky fell over and showed his belly.