by Gigi Moore
He waited. He was sure his brother had more to say. Cade didn’t disappoint.
“It’s the bodies, Thayne. I’m so sick of seeing the dead bodies.”
“I know.”
“Do you?” Cade asked, his blue eyes fierce when he stared at Thayne. “I mean, how could you, really?”
“Okay, you’re right. My gifts aren’t nearly the same as yours. But hearing people’s thoughts, feeling their feelings isn’t exactly a picnic either.”
“I guess not.” Cade averted his eyes for a moment, staring at the decorative concrete floor before returning his glance to Thayne. “How do you deal with it day in and day out, especially in your profession?”
“Being out here helps.”
“Away from people.”
Thayne nodded. “But the exercises help, too. Knowing how to block things out and turn the gift off.”
“Yeah, guess I never mastered that part.”
“It’s not about mastering. It’s just about coping.”
“You always were good at coping.”
“So are you. We just do it differently.”
“I guess so.”
Thayne waited again as his brother gathered his thoughts.
He had a sudden flashback of himself and Cade in their bedroom at Aunt Aura and Uncle Jeff’s right before they’d told him and Cade about their parents. Thayne knew right away something was wrong and ordered Cade to come sit beside him on his bed. He put his arms around Cade, and when Aunt Aura told them what had happened to their mom and dad, he pulled his younger brother into his arms and held him tight as Cade cried.
They were both grown now, however, and Thayne didn’t know if a hug would go over so well with his brother. Cade liked to act as if he was above his emotions. Thayne knew better. He knew deep down there lived a romantic little Don Quixote inside his younger brother, and it remained just a matter of reaching him.
Cade reminded Thayne a lot of Maia, actually, and he couldn’t help thinking her a better match for Cade than him. They both had that wild sense of adventure and humor while he, according to Cade, remained too serious and settled for his own good.
Cade finally stood, rubbing his hands together. “So, uh, where can I crash? I’ve got jet lag, you know, and all that jazz.”
“Junior master bedroom’s upstairs to the right. Or you can crash in one of the other bedrooms on this floor. They’re both pretty sizable. They also have their own bathroom and are freshly made, so you should be comfortable.”
“I’d be comfortable on a rock right about now.” Cade reached down to grab the knapsack at his feet and hooked one strap over his shoulder.
Thayne eyed the paltry belongings and asked, “That all you’ve got with you?”
“Nah, I’ve got more stuff out in the rental car. This will tide me over until morning, when I can really settle in.”
Thayne wouldn’t even go there to tell his brother how happy that last part made him feel.
He didn’t trust himself to speak just then. He slapped his brother on the back in the most macho way he could instead before clearing his throat and getting up to leave the kitchen. “It’s good to have you home, Cade.”
Thayne smiled at his brother’s just barely muttered, “It’s good to be home.”
Chapter 3
Cade was fairly certain Thayne was holding out on him and that his brother was seeing someone. If she wasn’t important to him, then she was well on her way to being important.
His brother remained closemouthed on the regular about his romantic life, what there was of it, but this seemed different. Something was going on, and if the something was a woman who had been in the house and touched anything, Cade would find out what went on with his brother and with whom. Not that he had the energy to go playing Inspector Clouseau tonight.
He hadn’t been lying when he told Thayne he’d be comfortable on a rock. After the flight he’d taken out and the drive here from the airport, he was pretty much wasted.
Cade unpacked the essentials he’d need for the night, which amounted to his toiletries. He slept in the nude, so he didn’t have any pj’s in his knapsack.
He put toothbrush, deodorant, and toothpaste on top of the marble sink in the bathroom. There was already bodywash, shampoo, and conditioner in the shower, so Cade was set.
He stripped out of his clothes and left them on the bathroom floor for the time being. He hadn’t directly touched anything in the room yet except the bedroom door and didn’t want to risk doing so until he was ready, at least as ready as he ever got.
If the woman had visited the house or stayed over and used the bathroom, depending on how long ago, her aura or footprints might still be discernible.
Cade took a deep breath before he gripped the shower door. He didn’t get a flash and felt safe opening the door and stepping in—so far, so good.
He smiled at his own melodrama, but he’d learned the hard way he couldn’t just go barreling into other people’s spaces and touching things willy-nilly, at least not without gloves on. He’d gotten a few shocks touching a personal, history-laden object bare-handed.
Deciding if Thayne’s woman had visited, it hadn’t been this room, Cade stepped in the tub, adjusted the water temperature, and took a quick shower. When he stepped out, he grabbed one of the towels hanging on the rod and dried his hair. Not wanting to be wasteful, he wrapped the same towel around his waist and tucked it on the side as he came out of the bathroom and entered the junior master bedroom.
He stood in the middle of the room for a moment, at a loss. He’d been beat several minutes ago but now felt reenergized after his shower and nowhere near wanting to hit the sack.
Maybe it was being in the same house with his brother, knowing Thayne was close by, shouting distance, and that he could bounce off his feelings if he needed to. Problem was, he didn’t know where to start. Sure, he’d hinted at his dilemma downstairs but hadn’t gotten anywhere near the crux of his issues.
Seeing dead bodies had become a part of his job description in the last year or so, and for the most part he had learned to live with it up until a few months ago. He’d hung with the gig, helping out the police as long as he could, because he’d wanted to do something good with his powers. He’d wanted to do something meaningful with his life for once besides risking his neck in a rodeo arena or abusing his powers playing the horses or otherwise gambling.
Doing good, however, came with consequences, of course. Like they said, no good deed went unpunished.
Cade’s punishment was the nightmares, the missing people and dead bodies from cases that he had helped solve piling up on him at night when during the day he was able to hold all the ugliness at bay.
He was even tempted to go down the hall and knock on his brother’s door like he used to do when they were growing up and he’d had a nightmare. Thayne had always been good at calming him down and getting him to go back to sleep, better than even Aunt Aura or Uncle Jeff.
Cade finally patted himself dry, draping the towel over the back of one of the two stuffed chairs in the room before he pulled back the covers of the king-sized bed and slid between the cool, high-thread cotton sheets. He sighed at the feel of the material against his body, finally ready to sink into a good night’s sleep knowing someone who cared about him slept nearby.
He decided to give his brother and himself a break, at least until morning.
* * * *
Cade stood in a gorgeous, lush green field. Colorful flowers and trees abounded. A bright-blue sky and puffy white clouds floated above him, and a sweet river flowed nearby.
From the descriptions he had read in his parents’ and brother’s books on Wicca, he recognized his current location as the Summerland, which wasn’t possible. The Summerland was a way station in the astral plane where the soul rested before moving on to prepare for another incarnation, Wiccans believed. He hadn’t read anything about the Summerland being accessible through dreams.
Of course, he could have died in his
sleep and didn’t know or accept it yet.
Cade took several steps, testing his corporeality, and he felt solid, too dense and real to be in the nonphysical, formless reality that made up the Summerland.
Wherever he now dwelled, he knew he didn’t belong.
Cade felt on the verge of panic until he saw the two figures emerging out of the mist several yards ahead of him. Their movements and shapes seemed familiar, and a moment before the fog cleared, Cade recognized the couple as his mother and father.
Had Thayne dreamed about them earlier, too? Was that why his brother had looked so tense and tousled?
Troubled times are ahead for you and your brother, Cade.
His mother spoke to him telepathically. He didn’t see her lips move.
Shouldn’t Thayne be here with him? Reading minds was his brother’s domain, his specialty. God forbid Cade acquired telepathy in addition to the precognition and psychometry.
Cade looked around him, searching the rolling hills and fertile forest for his brother, sure he would appear soon.
It is you with whom we need to speak.
Cade saw the woman’s smile, and his heart ached at his loss. He’d never gotten to know his mother and father the way his brother had. Maybe that’s why Thayne remained so devoted to the Craft, his way of remembering and staying connected to their parents.
If she didn’t stop it with the wise-and-gentle-messenger act, though, Cade swore he’d freak out. This wasn’t his thing. Thayne was the spiritual devotee. This was his scene.
Either Thayne had gotten lost on the way to the forum or Cade had made a wrong turn in his dream.
You will have to be stronger than you believe you can be, stronger than you have ever been, to help your brother fight the evil that will soon be knocking at your door.
His father’s thoughts boomed through Cade’s mind, deep and demanding, the exact opposite of his mother’s dulcet mental tones.
You must protect each other and keep her safe.
“Keep who safe?” Cade blurted, shocked that he wasn’t speaking telepathically, too.
You will know when the time comes. She is The One, your mate, the woman who belongs to you and Thayne. Keep her safe.
One woman for both of them?
Cade had done some freaky things in his life, the meat in a threesome sandwich with two women among them, but a ménage with his staid and, as far as he knew, nonfreaky brother?
Was his mother serious?
Very serious, my son.
“But—”
This is but one issue you must deal with in the days and weeks to come, Cade. You must have faith, more than you have ever had before. You must trust in yourself and your power. You must believe in the magick. Your belief and the magick will save you. It will save all of you…when the time comes.
Now he knew his parents had made a mistake and needed to talk to Thayne, since this was some serious woo-woo stuff. Or maybe his parents had chosen Cade because he wasn’t a believer like his brother? Did they think he was the weakest link and needed the effort?
This is your path. Let it be so.
Cade listened to his father’s parting words as the two figures disappeared in the mist from where they had appeared.
He felt like they left him high and dry, because how on God’s green earth did he get his cautious, responsible, and unadventurous brother on board with a ménage a trois?
* * * *
Cade heard the blinds open a second before sunlight pierced his eyelids.
“Rise and shine, brother! Today is the first day of the rest of your life.”
“Shit, I hate morning people,” Cade mumbled and pulled the comforter over his head. Just as quickly, however, Thayne pulled it away, leaving Cade’s top half uncovered. In response, he went fetal. “Go. Away.”
“Early to bed, early to rise…”
“You can shove the adage, because I didn’t get to bed early.”
“And is that my fault?”
No it wasn’t, but that dream had messed with his mind so much after his parents had left him alone in that field, he’d woken right up and barely got any sleep afterward.
Thayne sat on the bed and put a hand on Cade’s shoulder. “You’re not going to while the whole day away in bed, are you?”
“I was kind of planning to, yeah.”
Thayne chuckled and slapped him on the hip as he stood. “Get up, lazy.”
Cade did sit up then, opening his eyes to peer at his brother.
Did that smile on Thayne’s face hold just a touch of I’ve-got-a-secret smugness to it?
“What’s your problem?”
“Nothing, just…” Cade shook his head. He debated asking his brother if he had seen Mom and Dad in his dreams. If he didn’t ask, he’d never know. What could it hurt, right? “Did you, uh, have a dream about, um—”
“Spit it out, man.”
He couldn’t do it. What if Thayne hadn’t seen their parents and Cade let something slip that he wasn’t supposed to, like there’s one woman out there for both of us and I hope you don’t mind sharing? Besides, his parents hadn’t told him to disclose any of their conversation with Thayne. They’d specifically said, “It is you with whom we need to speak.” Sounded to him like if they wanted Thayne privy to the tête-à-tête, they would have dragged him into the dream like they had hauled him.
“Are you okay? I mean if you’re really still sleepy, I’ll let you go back. I just didn’t want to leave without…talking to you first.”
“Something I need to know?”
“Nothing urgent. Just catching up between brothers. I’ll see you downstairs, all right?”
“Sure thing.” Cade waited until Thayne left the room and closed the door before he threw back the covers and got out of bed. His brother could be a bit of a prude, and Cade didn’t want to shock him with his morning wood.
He guessed he had managed to fall back to sleep for a little while after all, at least long enough to have a dream about the mysterious woman who was his and Thayne’s soul mate.
So the universe had deemed some hapless woman a soul mate for a commitmentphobe like him? He didn’t envy this unknown female to get stuck with a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am perennial bachelor like him.
Maybe that’s why he and Thayne were supposed to be with her, kind of like a good cop, bad cop scenario, but only with lovers complementing each other. At least when he looked at it like that, the woman and he and Thayne couldn’t lose. Except he still didn’t think Thayne would go along with the whole sharing his woman thing. Maybe if Cade told him that their parents had deemed it so? He’d have to at least consider it then, the wishes of their two dead parents and all.
Cade sighed and raked a hand through his hair. It was a little long he had to admit, even for him. He was surprised Thayne hadn’t mentioned it, but then it wasn’t nearly the hippy-length style Cade had been sporting when he’d gotten back from backpacking in Europe.
His aunt and uncle thought he’d dropped out of college his junior year and left the country to find himself. It had been more about getting away from the visions, though, a useless endeavor, since they were a part of him and followed him wherever he went.
He looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror and debated the merits of shaving before finally deciding against it. He thought the two-day stubble and light mustache shadowing his jaw and upper lip fit his perfectly rustic surroundings just fine. It wasn’t like he was a doctor and had to see patients in a hospital like Thayne. He didn’t need to look “respectable,” at least not yet. It remained to be seen what his big brother had planned for him, and knowing Thayne, it wouldn’t be casual and laid-back.
After the mandatory facial inspection, pointedly ignoring the dark circles beneath his eyes, Cade glanced down at his erection, contemplating. After a moment, he decided to take care of himself in the shower and get better acquainted with his and Thayne’s mystery woman.
From his memories of her in his dreams, he pictured a light-
skinned African-American woman, not that that mattered to him. A woman was a woman was a woman, and the one in his dreams had been hot—smoky, dark eyes slanted like a cat’s, sexy, full lips perfect for wrapping around his cock, and a stubborn cleft chin hinting at the kind of chutzpah he liked and respected in his women.
Cade stepped into the shower, turned on the water, adjusted the temperature to suit him, then closed his eyes and tilted his head back, ready to let her rip.
Oh yeah, that was it. He could see her now, all well-proportioned, luscious curves on a petite frame—a tiny, café au lait package of dynamite.
He wrapped his left hand around his hard and still burgeoning cock, gripped it firmly, and gave it an introductory tug. Fuck, yeah. The woman in his imaginings danced before him on lean-muscled legs, all sinuous arms and hips, like a hula or belly dancer. God, she had a tight body, athletic but not too muscular.
Was she a cowgirl? Did she live in the area or work on one of the many dude ranches he’d passed on his way out here? He could just picture her atop of a horse, naked like Lady Godiva and galloping through a vivid purple-and-emerald field like the one he had seen in his dreams last night. Her thigh muscles would tense against the horse’s flanks as she straddled and steered him to the forest where she made her home like the woodland imp she appeared.
He pictured her riding him, her thighs squeezing against his hips as her hot, wet pussy sucked at and gloved him.
Suddenly the picture changed, his brother appearing behind their little African-American princess, sliding his arms around her to cup her plump tits.
Cade pumped his fist faster, braced his other palm against the tile wall in front of him, and released a guttural groan. He thumbed the pearl of pre-cum as it leaked out of his slit, spread the thick, warm liquid around his smooth head and veiny shaft, then slid his hand up and down at a frantic pace now.
He wasn’t sure what excited him more. Being inside the mystery woman’s cunt or watching his brother take hold of her breasts as if they belonged to him. Cade didn’t know, didn’t care, just pushed his cock into his fist until the friction proved too much to deny and the vision drove him over the edge.