“Ewan warned me never to travel alone,” Erica finally said, her voice still trembling a little. “In the old times it was dangerous for a woman to go anywhere by herself, but when we came to this country I saw how different it could be. American women were so independent, and I wanted that. I wanted to be free to do whatever I pleased. So I did, and when nothing bad ever happened to me I became less cautious. I stopped looking over my shoulder. I was so sure that no one noticed me, or suspected me.”
“You were caught by a Templar,” Summer said.
Erica nodded quickly. “Even when he took me I thought I could reason with him. I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I’d just been visiting an old friend. I noticed the Templar was sick, and even offered to help him. I assured him I would do no harm to him, even as he was tying me up.” She swallowed against a surge of bile in her throat. “And then he undressed, and ripped my clothes from my body. He beat me until I stopped screaming, and then made me scream again when he forced himself inside me.”
From there she told Summer everything. How she had been tortured, and raped, and beaten so many times that she became like a mindless, battered doll. How the Templar had become bored with her indifference, and begun using a knife on her. The terrible wounds he had inflicted. The night he had forgotten to take his blade with him, and how she had nearly cut her wrists to the bone while freeing herself from his bonds.
“It was the middle of the night when I escaped, so no one saw me. I bespelled a homeless woman so I could steal her filthy clothes to cover myself.” Erica could almost smell the stink of those pitiful rags. “I called Ewan to come and get me, and hid in a subway tunnel until he did. He wept when he saw what the Templar had done to my face. I didn’t tell him about the rest. A few weeks later I discovered I was pregnant with the Templar’s child, and I left again. I couldn’t kill my unborn child, but I couldn’t keep it, either. I arranged an adoption, had the child in secret, and came home alone.”
Summer went still. “Aileen is your daughter.”
Aghast now, Erica stared at her. “How could you know that? I’ve never told anyone, not even Ewan––and she doesn’t look like me at all.”
“She does, when she smiles,” Summer assured her. “But it’s actually your hands. I noticed it almost right away––the shape and length of your fingers, the square palms, the graceful way they move––Aileen’s are identical.”
“I knew it was foolish bringing her here once she was ready to join the Wiccans, but I couldn’t resist,” Erica said, and sighed. “The first time I saw her I realized she was nothing like her father, and all I felt for her was love, and regret.” A rush of panic filled her. “Please don’t tell her any of this, Summer. For her to know the truth about how she was conceived would only hurt her terribly, and it’s hard enough for me to live with the fact that I abandoned her.”
“You did no such thing,” Summer said, taking her hands and looking intently into her eyes. “You protected her life, and insured that she would have a good home.” Her expression softened. “But I won’t say anything to her, I promise.” She paused and glanced at the house. “In return I’d ask something of you.” Her opal eyes gazed deeply into Erica’s, her face solemn. “I want your word that you won’t do anything to harm Michael.”
Erica was stunned. “Of course I won’t hurt him. Do you honestly believe that I would try?” Before Summer could answer, Erica held up a hand. Given what she’d just revealed and the way she’d acted, it wasn’t unreasonable. “I promise that I won’t harm your Templar.”
“Troy and I will take Michael over to the old pavilion tomorrow, and we’ll stay there,” Summer said. “That way Wilson and Aileen can move back to the main house.”
Now she felt like a selfish old woman. “Summer, I never meant to drive you away.”
“You haven’t,” she said quietly, still holding Erica’s hands. “It’s just that the guys and I need some time alone. Could you tell everyone to keep their distance?”
“Of course. Yes, I can do that. If you’re sure.”
“Oh, yes.” The younger woman’s eyes took on a strange glitter. “The three of us need to settle a few things.”
CHAPTER SIX
IT ONLY TOOK one day for Michael to get back on his feet, and after showering and changing into clean clothes borrowed from Troy, he accompanied him and Summer to the old pavilion.
“I’ve stocked the pantry and woodpile, and cleaned out the fireplaces,” Troy told them as he unloaded their bags from the back of the Jeep. “I’ll air out the bedrooms today. Erica gave me a bunch of clean linens we can use.”
Michael took a moment to look around at the silver-frosted trees and the icy ground of the meadow.
“You left all this to join the Corps, Pagan? I think you must be addled.”
“You being an authority on the subject.” Troy handed him a box of linens, which Summer promptly took back out of Michael’s hands. “He’s not a cripple, lady.”
“No, but he’s on light duty, Major,” she told him firmly, and instead handed Michael her purse. “You’re not to pick up anything heavier than his, do you understand me?”
She strode off toward the house.
Troy stood beside Michael and watched the tight curves of her bottom as she crossed the meadow.
“I think we’re in a little trouble here, Paladin.”
“You don’t have to tell me.” Michael sighed. “I’m holding the purse.”
Once they were all inside, Summer took charge of making the rooms more habitable, and in between dusting, opening windows and storing their things, she issued orders like a drill sergeant.
“Troy, would you please turn on the main power to the house so I can turn on lights and get this food in the refrigerator? Michael, sit down over there and sort that box of linens for me. I need a set of king-size sheets, and see if there are any towels for the kitchen as well as the bathroom.” She hurried out of the room, and then returned to frown at both of them. “I’m sorry, what are you waiting for? The spring solstice?”
Working together it still took most of the day before Summer declared the place barely livable and retreated to the kitchen to prepare an evening meal. Troy silently gestured for Michael to follow him outside to the old barn, where he raided a cooler and took out two bottles of beer.
“It would be whiskey, but she caught me trying to sneak it out of the main house,” Troy told him as he twisted off the cap and raised his bottle. “To our lady. Do you think she was a platoon leader in her previous life?”
“To Beauty,” Michael replied, clinking his bottle against Troy’s. “A combat general, at the very least.” As he took a swallow of the beer he looked around the barn’s interior. “Did you keep your horses here?”
Troy nodded. “Before automobiles were invented they were the only way we had to get up and down the mountain. My father’s favorite punishment was making me shovel manure.” He looked down the rows of empty stalls. “I still miss horses. Damn Henry Ford. What do you miss from the old days? Singing in Latin?”
“May pole dances,” Michael said, and smiled. “Remember how the prettiest girls in the village would weave flowers in their hair, and wear those skimpy little frocks? And when the sun shone behind them?”
Troy chuckled and raised his bottle again. “To pretty village girls, and their lack of under things.” After they both drank he walked over to perch on the anvil where he’d once beaten iron into shoes for their mounts. “While we’re alone, we need to discuss the problem we’ve been avoiding since we got here.”
Michael eyed him. “Given that sleeping with both of us is her idea, what do you propose we do about it?”
“We could talk to her, together.” Troy rubbed the back of his neck. “Point out that while we’re both crazy about her, and lust after her, you and I are like brothers.”
“I might compare it to incest, or remind her of my vow of celibacy.” Michael didn’t sound too confident. “Only I think she will hit me again.” He fr
owned at Troy. “You have more experience with women. What do you think will persuade her to abandon this unseemly notion?”
“We could both refuse to have sex with her.” He saw Michael’s expression and grimaced. “Yeah, I know. I’d hold out for maybe thirty seconds before I caved.”
The Templar regarded him steadily. “I could leave.”
For a moment Troy was tempted to agree, so he could have Summer to himself. Yet even as he thought that, something inside him baulked over the idea of sending Michael away. Even before he’d nearly died protecting them from Alvis, the big man had been like a brother to him. A distant, estranged brother to be sure, but now that he’d left the Templars, that could change. He also had the feeling that if Michael left them, he wouldn’t survive long on his own.
“Not happening, Paladin,” he told him. “We’ve dealt with everything else. We can handle this. We just have to think of the right approach.”
“You think too much, Pagan,” Michael said, and drained his bottle. “There are enough bedrooms here for us to sleep apart. If we are not in her bed, nothing can happen. Just as nothing did last night.”
“When I was sleeping on the couch, nothing could.”
Michael was probably right. Avoiding a threesome might be as simple as keeping to their own rooms.
“All right, we’ll try that. But what if something does happen?”
“Then we put a stop to it,” the big man said. “No matter what she says, we are not her possessions, or her playthings. She cannot force us to do anything.”
Troy nodded. “Except when she touches the two of us at the same time, and that green light shines in her eyes, and things start getting weird. Then she’s definitely in charge.”
“I’m glad you’ve finally realized that.” Summer walked into the barn and stopped to survey them. “I don’t believe it. Hiding in here so you can drink beer and get out of the housework? What’s next? Sneaking off to stripper bars?”
“We were just taking a break,” Troy said.
Under his breath in Latin, Michael said, “Don’t touch her” and elbowed him.
“What do you need, lady?” Troy asked.
Her eyes narrowed as she studied their faces.
“Dinner’s ready.”
She turned on her heel and walked out.
• • • • •
Summer nibbled on a buttered biscuit as she sat back to watch the guys eat. Making the gigantic tourtière for dinner had been a good choice. Not only did the delicious meat and vegetable pie melt in the mouth, it was also very filling. She’d have to remember she now had two very large men to feed.
My men, she thought, feeling a surge of satisfaction blend with a pang of annoyance. She’d watched them sneak out to the barn and followed them, and had heard everything they’d discussed. Why isn’t it as simple for them to accept as it has been for me?
Once they finished, the men insisted on clearing the table and washing the dishes.
“Go take a shower and relax,” Troy told her. “You’ve earned it. We’ve got this.”
“And we will not drink beer,” Michael assured her with a straight face.
Since she was sweaty and dirty from the house cleaning and cooking Summer decided to give in gracefully and went back to the bath in the master suite, which had the only shower in the house. As she passed the king-size bed she paused and ran her hand over the duvet she’d spread over the clean sheets she’d put on it. She’d planned to sleep in it with Troy and Michael, but after what she’d heard them discuss in the barn now it seemed that she would be occupying it alone.
They’re right. I can’t make them do this if it’s not what they want.
Summer went into the bathroom and turned on the shower before she stripped out of her dusty, grimy clothes. When she stepped into the old claw-footed tub and ducked her head under the spray she discovered the water was only lukewarm, but still felt good on her skin. It grew warmer as she soaped herself, and then hot enough to fill the bathroom with steam. She rinsed herself clean and then stepped out onto the damp tile floor as she reached for the towel she’d tucked on the rack by the window.
Two baleful orange eyes peered in at her, making her scream. As she turned to run, her foot slipped on the damp floor, and she went down so fast she couldn’t catch herself. After banging her head on the wall, she ended up sprawled in a heap.
“Beauty.”
The door burst open and Michael came in, his mouth flattening as he saw her and bent down to pick her up in his strong arms. He looked over his shoulder at Troy.
“She fell.”
“Damn it.” Summer pressed a hand to her throbbing temple. “When I got out of the shower I saw someone outside the window looking in. I think he was watching me.”
“Put her on the bed and stay with her,” Troy said.
He slid past them and jerked open the window.
Michael carried her out into the bedroom and lowered her gently onto the duvet, looking over her shivering, wet body before pulling the other half of the coverlet over her and sitting down beside her.
“Where are you hurt? Your head?”
“It’s just a bump.” When Troy came out of the bathroom she sat up. “Did you see him?” He nodded. “Who was it?”
“It’s more a what was it,” he told her. “Big orange eyes, scary stare, right?” When she nodded Troy smiled a little. “It was an owl. A great horned owl, to be precise. I saw it sitting on a tree branch a few yards from the window.”
Summer pressed her hand over her eyes and dropped back on the pillows.
“Great. Perfect. My first Peeping Tom, and it’s a bird.” She heard Michael cough to cover another sound and lifted her hand. “Oh, you’re not laughing at me, are you?”
The Templar’s broad shoulders shook for a moment before he told the ceiling, “No.”
Troy touched the small bump on the side of her head.
“We’d better put some ice on this.”
“I’ll get it.” Michael rose and turned toward the door.
“Wait.” Summer reached out and caught his hand, and saw him go as still as stone. “Michael?” She glanced at Troy, who was now staring down at her, his expression blank, and his eyes filled with green light. “Oh, no, not again. Wait, I’m not doing this, Troy. I swear.”
“No.” Michael turned around to face her, and looked down at her with the same light filling his eyes. “We are.”
Troy pushed the duvet aside to expose her damp, nude body before he regarded Michael. “It’s time, Brother.”
Summer’s eyes widened as both men began stripping out of their clothes.
“Hold it. Stop. You’re not in control of yourselves. It’s the curse, or some kind of spell, or maybe it’s me. But I heard you out in the barn. I know you two don’t want to be with me like this, and I respect that.” They were ignoring her entirely. “Guys, please.”
Troy smiled down at her as he unfastened his trousers and let them drop.
“We are yours, lady. But you are not yet ours.”
Michael walked around to the other side of the bed and climbed on beside her, stretching out on her left as Troy lay down on her right. Both men faced her and looked at her, and both of them had huge erections, but they didn’t try to touch her.
“What is your desire, Beauty?” Michael asked, his voice dropping to a low rumble. “We are yours to command.”
“Okay, if I’m in charge, then I want both of you to do what you want,” she told him firmly. “Only what you want. So it’s okay. You can get dressed now, and leave me, and go sleep in another room by yourself.”
Troy exchanged an amused look with Michael. “That is not what we wish to do.”
They lay close enough that Summer could feel the warmth their skin radiated. Though her fingers ached to touch them, she knew she couldn’t. But in a moment, it wasn’t up to her. From the right, Troy cradled her breast with his hand and began laving his tongue over her hardened nipple.
She gaspe
d as a shiver ran down her core.
From the left Michael bent over to give her a deep, wet, open-mouthed kiss, as his hand slipped between her trembling thighs. Summer groaned against his lips as she felt him press his fingers between her folds and stroke them back and forth in her slick softness.
Troy lifted his head to watch Michael end the kiss, and then they were tugging her upright, turning her as Troy shifted back against the headboard and Michael knelt behind her.
“She is very wet now, Brother,” Michael told him. “She needs to be pleasured.”
Troy nodded and tossed him something small. “Thoroughly.”
As a deep, aching need began to pound inside her, Summer tried one last time.
“What I need doesn’t matter,” she said, her voice breathy and pleading. “You’re going to hate me for letting this happen. Please, I don’t want that. I never wanted that.”
“We know this, Beauty,” Michael murmured against her ear as he briefly rested his hands on her shoulders. “We will remember it after we are done loving you.”
“This is how it always begins, lady.” Troy looked up at her, the green light still shining from his eyes. “You have bound us to you. Now we must bind you to us.” He brought her hand to his stiff, swollen erection and curled her fingers around his thick shaft. “Your hunger is for both of us. We have what you want. We wish to give you what you need.”
“However you need it,” Michael told her, and when she glanced back at him she saw he was rolling a condom over his penis.
Summer bit her lip, and then moaned as Michael gently eased her onto her hands and knees. Troy twined his fingers in her long, dark waves to cradle the back of her head.
This is going to happen. I can’t stop it.
What was worse was, she didn’t want it to stop.
Michael’s hands gripped her hips as the heavy dome of his sheathed penis nudged against her sex. “Open your lips for him, Beauty. I want to see you put your mouth on him as I fill your sweet little pussy.”
United (Book Three of the Silver Wood Coven Series): A Witch and Warlock Romance Novel Page 5