He had a feeling this guy would too.
“Come over and help me get a drip going… What’s your name?”
“She calls me Ty.”
“Okay, Ty. Here’s what’s gonna happen…”
* * * * *
Dane opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling of his bedroom.
Pristine white.
How fucking boring was that? He really needed to think about bringing some color into his life.
A soft sigh caught his attention and he turned his head to see Evie lying next to him. She faced away from him but relief at the sound of her easy breathing made him weak.
Thank you, Blessed Mother Goddess.
“Finally. Jesus Christ, Dane, you scared the fucking shit out of us.”
Turning toward the door, he saw Ryan leaning against the doorjamb. The guy looked as if he hadn’t slept in two days.
Dane frowned. “Are you feeling okay? You look exhausted. You need to sit down before you fall over.”
A wry grin curved Ryan’s mouth as he shook his head. “You’ve been unconscious for thirty-six fucking hours and you’re already giving orders. I guess you’re feeling better.”
Thirty-six hours? Dane paused to take stock. No headache. No muscle aches. His stomach hurt but he put that down to hunger. Vaffanculo, he could eat a horse.
“I’m hungry. Is Evie okay? Did something happen to her?”
Ryan shook his head. “She fixed you. Whatever spell the guy put on you, she fixed it.”
Hell. He turned back to look at Evie. She looked to be sleeping soundly, her color good. His hand automatically went to check her pulse and her temperature. Both seemed normal.
“And she’s okay? She’s been awake, coherent—”
“Gio checked her out last night. He said she’s fine.”
The sense of relief that hit him felt like a ten-ton weight had been lifted from his chest and he let himself lie back for a few seconds before sliding to sit on the edge of the bed. He wore boxers and nothing else and he needed to drink about a gallon of water.
Ryan apparently read his mind because he told Dane to stay put and returned with a cold bottle of water that he opened and handed back to Dane.
Dane swallowed half of it before he gave Ryan a dirty look. “I’m not an invalid. What happened to Alex?”
“Marrucini took him. But Kaine’s already got a plan. She called in her dad.”
Whoa. They weren’t messing around. Kaisie Giliati was the lucani’s finest tracker. But he had no love for the Mal. Vaffanculo, he and Grace were going to get along like fire and gasoline.
“Evie’s upset,” Ryan continued. “John said they’re still not sure how Marrucini found the boy but Kaine’s confident her dad can find him.”
“Shit, Ryan—”
“Dane?” Evie stirred and rolled over, her eyes widening as she saw he was awake. “Dane.”
He turned and opened his arms to her, closing his eyes as she practically leaped into his arms and held him tight. “Hey, I’m fine. Everything’s going to be fine.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ryan turn to leave. “Ryan.”
Ryan tipped his head back. “I’ll just give you guys a few min—”
“No.” Evie’s head popped off his chest. “That’s not how this is going to work. Ryan, come in here.”
Ryan just shook his head. “Evie, I—”
“No. Don’t you dare.” With her hair tousled and her eyes still a little blurry with sleep, she looked so damn young. But the strength in her voice was unmistakable. “That’s not how this is going to work.”
Ryan’s expression didn’t change but Dane saw something light in his eyes before he doused it fast. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, you do. I don’t want you to go back to Philadelphia. I want you to stay here.” She took a deep breath and glanced up at him. Not for reassurance. She was staking a claim. His chest tightened with anticipation. “You can’t start this and then take it all away.”
Ryan leaned back against the doorjamb, hands jammed in his pockets. “And what about my life in Philly? My job? My teaching position? Am I just supposed to give those up because you want me to warm your back at night? We both know Dane’s it for you, sweetheart. He’s the Happy Meal. I’m just the toy you find on the bottom and forget after a few hours.”
Dane’s mouth fell open at Ryan’s matter-of-fact statement. He heard no trace of teasing, saw nothing on his expression that said he didn’t absolutely believe what he’d just said.
Vaffanculo, what the hell did he say to that? How did he make Ryan understand that it wasn’t only Evie that wanted him to stay?
Evie stilled in his arms before taking a deep breath, as if Ryan had wounded her somehow.
Hell, Dane felt as if Ryan had stuck a knife in his gut. He could only imagine Evie felt just as bad, if not worse.
Ryan stood there, staring at them, waiting. For what?
Shit. Shit. He was an idiot.
Ryan saw Dane’s eyes narrow and figured this was it. He’d head back to Philly tonight because there was no way he could stay.
Not even the stunned hurt in Evie’s eyes was enough to get him to reconsider.
Neither of them realized why he couldn’t stay. Which just proved why he needed to leave.
He was about to turn when Dane got off the bed, pulling Evie with him.
“There’s always been a place here for you. If I hadn’t had my head up my ass for the past few years, I would’ve realized that we need you here. That the lucani need your skills as a vet. And that I need you here just as much as Evie needs you.”
Ryan kept his gaze on Dane as Dane put Evie between them. “Your friendship keeps me grounded and I need that. Evie needs both of us to love her. I need both of you here to make my life complete. And you need us because you will be fucking miserable in Philadelphia without us.”
Ryan’s mouth had already started to curve into a smile when Evie wound her arms around his waist and pressed herself against him. He glanced down and got caught in the stormy gray eyes of the woman he loved.
“I love you, Ryan. I don’t want you to ever doubt that.” Then she turned to Dane. “And I love you. I don’t want to lose either of you.” When her gaze turned back to Ryan, he saw the sheen of tears in them. “Please don’t leave.”
He lifted his hands to cup her face and draw her to his mouth. He kissed her long and hard and felt her melt against him.
“Well, since you asked so nice…”
With a muffled squeal, Evie threw her arms around his neck and clung to him as he stepped forward, making her step back. Into Dane’s arms.
Evie’s hands slid under his t-shirt, flattening against his stomach then moving to the button on his jeans.
Ryan smiled against her lips as her fevered motions made his body respond with a surge of lust.
When he felt Dane’s hands sweep her underwear down her legs, he lost the smile and lifted her into his arms. He set her on her knees on the bed and tore off the rest of his clothes.
Dane had a head start on the clothes since he was only wearing boxers and was already lifting Evie’s shirt over her head when Ryan began to strip out of his jeans. By the time he was naked, Dane had his hands on Evie’s breasts, caressing the tips into hard little peaks.
With her eyes closed and her mouth parted, she looked wanton. And so beautiful he would have been content to watch Dane slide one hand between her legs and play with her clit. But when she arched and moaned, he practically fell over his feet to join them.
Evie opened her eyes to see Ryan toss his jeans aside and kneel on the bed in front of her.
His hands cupped her breasts as Dane’s hands grabbed her hips.
She knew what was coming. Craved it.
As Dane lay back on the bed, Ryan turned her, lifting her until she was facing Dane, her knees on either side of his hips. Dane urged her forward, just enough that Ryan could position her slit directly over Dane’s
cock then let her slide slowly down the shaft.
Dane filled her, stretched her tight around him then pulled her down to kiss him. Love, hot and all-consuming, filled her as Dane’s mouth played with hers, coaxed her to open to him.
And when Ryan began to spread the cool gel along the entrance to her ass, she moaned and tried to entice him to go faster.
Apparently Ryan was just as hot for her because he wasted no time fitting his cock into the tiny aperture and pressing forward.
Ryan breached her with a groan, echoing the one Dane gave when Ryan began to fill her with every inch he had.
“I love you, Evie.”
“Love you, Evie.”
“Always.”
Epilogue
Grace Bellasario paced her room in the lucani holding facility, trying not to let the fear and the anger drag her down into the depths of despair.
Kyle had told her the lucani would go after Alex. He’d promised they would find her son. He’d told her they were bringing in their best tracker and he would find Alex.
She had to believe it. Otherwise she would go crazy.
She couldn’t lose Alex. If she did…
Life just wouldn’t be worth living. And she would allow her grandmother to fulfill her promise to “put her out of her misery”.
Life without Alex would be misery.
It’d only been twelve hours since he’d been kidnapped and she’d told Kyle everything she knew.
He’d said he’d tell her the second they had news. Obviously there was no news and, as each second ticked by on the clock, she grew more frantic.
So when the door opened to her room, she flew toward it, expecting Kyle. Or maybe Dane or Duke or Nic.
She very nearly hurt herself trying to stop when a man who looked as if he’d just returned from a six-month trek through the jungle with no access to baths or razors stepped in front of her.
His brown hair fell in a tangled mass below his shoulders. He had a full beard and mustache that looked as if it had never seen a razor.
And his green eyes blazed with a terrifying intensity.
As she froze, he closed the door behind him then let his gaze dissect her from her own disheveled hair to her bare feet.
When he finally trapped her gaze with his own, she thought she might just go crazy after all.
“I understand you want your kid back,” he said. “I’m Kaisie Giliati. And I just became your new best friend.”
About the Author
Stephanie Julian is an avid reader who used to have a book-a-day habit. Then she realized she not only wanted to read books but write them too. Romance has always been her first love, the sexier the better. Hot men, strong women and a heaping helping of magic dominate (and she does mean dominate) her blazing hot stories.
When she’s not writing, she’s, well…she’s certainly not cleaning. And she only cooks when her guys complain that they’re hungry (ain’t cereal grand!). Otherwise, she’s got her fingers on a keyboard, her butt in a chair and her head in the stars.
Stephanie welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.
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Also by Stephanie Julian
Lucani Lovers 1: Kiss of Moonlight
Lucani Lovers 2: Moonlight Ménage
Lucani Lovers 3: Edge of Moonlight
Magical Seduction 1: Seduced by Magic
Magical Seduction 2: Seduced in Shadow
Magical Seduction 3: Seduced and Ensnared
Magical Seduction 4: Seduced and Enchanted
Magical Seduction 5: Seduced by Chaos
Magical Seduction 6: Seduced by Danger
Magical Seduction 7: Seduced by Two
Size Matters
Print books by Stephanie Julian
Magical Seductions: Shadow Magic
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