Book of Love

by Julia Talbot

  The world was a fascinating place. Seriously. He munched a little more sandwich. If Liam was hungry, Elijah would get another one, they were so good. That way Liam wouldn’t have to eat alone.

  Flour was flying madly in the kitchen, both women laughing, working together. He loved that sound. It reminded him of his mother and grandmother and sisters when he was a kid in Taos. They had made fry bread much the same way.

  He was done with his sandwich and considering that scone when the bell above the door jingled, a short, broad redhead waltzing in. That had to be Liam. The old headshot he had on his profile didn’t do him justice. Stocky, well muscled under a long-sleeved tee, Liam had dark red hair and some serious freckles, a bright, happy smile lighting up his face.

  “You are a real boy!” Liam came right over, sat with him, green eyes bright as anything.

  He reached out, offering a hand, which Liam shook firmly. “I am. You’re younger than I expected.” Elijah grinned.

  “Am I? You’re taller.”

  “Thank my Sioux grandmother.” Most of his people were Pueblo, but his gran had come from up in the plains, giving him some length of bone.

  “So, this place is…a baking pawn shop?”

  “And post office.”

  “And feed store and we have tarot readings on Fridays.” The younger lady plopped the most delicious-looking raspberry scone on their table.

  She smelled like vanilla, and goose bumps rose on his skin when her arm brushed his. His cock went hard in a rush that left him lightheaded, and when he glanced up, Liam stared at him, nose quivering.

  Okay. Okay, whoa. This felt…way more intense than normal.

  Liam waited until the lady named Shiloh walked away, then peered at him intently. “So, there is something going on up here. Mystical, I mean.”

  “Yeah. Who called you?”

  “Bella. Uh, Bellanotte93,” Liam said. “She said weird things were happening in her shop. You?”

  “CatsEye1980.”

  “Huh. She runs the hot springs, right?” Liam propped his chin on one hand. “She give you any real intel?”

  “Meeting her tonight. She’s supposed to tell me something about a manifestation in town.” Elijah stopped to sniff his scone. Yum. “Left hoof prints at the spa, or so I hear.”

  “I have a book from Bella,” Liam said. “I might have to get one of those.”

  “A book?” He offered his scone to Liam. “They’re making more of these. You want a coffee?”

  “No, go ahead. I’ll order a coffee and something.” Liam stood up and ordered a cappuccino and a brownie, the pretty blonde waiting on him. They looked good together.

  Edible.

  “Be good, Mourning Dove,” Elijah moaned quietly. This was not what he’d come for. He was here to investigate mystical activity, not get his horndog on.

  Liam was flirting, playing with Shiloh, making her grin. That was nice. Asshole. He found himself grinning a little too. They did look fucking hot together. So hot. He was overheating fast.

  Liam came back with a coffee and a sweet. “You okay, ’Lijah?”

  “Yeah. I am. She’s hot as hell, huh?”

  “Blistering.” Liam rolled his eyes. “And I’m not here for that.”

  “Neither am I.” He grinned. “Still, a man can’t help but look.” Just the way he was looking at Liam.

  “Look and fantasize, hmm?”

  “Uh-huh.” Elijah willed his dick to go down and gulped a swallow of coffee.

  “Where are you staying? Here?”

  “Waiting to check into the hotel down the way,” Elijah said.

  “Room three.”

  Well, he’d be damned. “So, what about this book?” he asked.

  “Bella found it locked in her office. Said it’s been tucked away for three years, and she has no idea how it got there. It’s active, giving off some weird-assed readings.”

  “Yeah? And you have it now?” He wanted to see it, if Liam had it.

  “I do. You want to come to the hotel and look it over with me?”

  “You bet.” He grinned wider. “Get that brownie to go, huh?”

  “Hey, can I have mine to go?” Liam asked Shiloh.

  She looked over. “You’re leaving already?”

  “Oh, we’re both in town for a bit,” Elijah told her, standing up so he could crack his back. All that driving. “Hopefully I’ll see you again. Shiloh, is it?”

  “It is.” Her sunny smile made his heart beat faster.

  “Nice to meet you, Shiloh.” He held out his hand. “I’m Elijah.”

  “Hi, Elijah. Tomorrow is roast beef and provolone.”

  “Peppers?” He enjoyed a pepper ring or two with his roast beef.

  “I bet we can manage that, yeah.”

  “Then I’ll be here with bells on.”

  “I’d love to see that,” Liam murmured.

  His cock jerked. Okay. Yum. Elijah cleared his throat. “See you tomorrow, Shiloh.”

  “Have a good afternoon!”

  “Thanks.” He led Liam out into the chilly spring sunlight. “So, I thought you didn’t travel much.”

  “I don’t, but Bella is an old friend and she wouldn’t call if it wasn’t important.”

  “How did you meet her?” They headed back for the hotel. “Have you checked in?”

  “Yep. Room three, remember?” Liam dangled a key. “Bouncy little gal with dreadlocks registered me. And Bella has a knack with books. You need something that you can’t find anywhere? Email Bella. She’s got her fingers in pies all over, which you know, weird for an older lady with an iffy Wi-Fi connection, but it’s true.”

  “I’ll introduce you to Nova tomorrow. She’s a font of local mystical knowledge.”

  “It’s a deal,” Liam said. The wind was blowing hard by the time they got to the hotel, a hint of cold on the air.

  “Cool. Can we just use your room, man? Like I said, I haven’t checked in.”

  “Absolutely, come on up.”

  He followed Liam up the grand stairway, watching that tight ass move under Liam’s cargo pants. He’d never denied himself the pleasure of a hot man or woman, really, preferring not to be so specific.

  Sex was sex was fabulous orgasms.

  Elijah grinned, thinking how horrified his mom would be to hear him say that.

  Of course, thinking of Mom helped deflate him some. That was just wrong. Maybe he’d get through the book before he exploded.

  “Here we are.” Liam unlocked the door. “Come on in.”

  “Cute room.” It was. Simple. Normal. A hotel room. Not at all goldmine chic or whatever.

  “Uh-huh.” Liam waggled an eyebrow. “Bed’s nice.”

  “Perv.” He grinned, though, tickled that he wasn’t the only one reading the “oh let’s fuck now” signs on the air. The pheromones in this place hung so heavy in the atmosphere he was amazed no one was out fucking in the streets. “Show me. The book,” he added when Liam’s brows rose to his hairline.

  “Damn.” Those copper eyelashes fluttered playfully, and Elijah cracked up, the little coy play easing the tension. Liam pulled a huge old book from his backpack, then set it on the bed.

  The cover was leather, with the bare hint of leaves impressed on it. Summoning.

  “Nice. Your friend has some good instincts as a collector, huh?” Elijah said.

  “She’s amazing. It’s a gift.”

  “Beautiful.” Elijah finally touched it, the power of the words inside thrumming like tires on pavement under his hand. “Oh.”

  He looked up, his eyes wide, and Liam nodded. “It’s fucking buzzing with energy.”

  “Yeah. Wow. I think someone’s used it lately.” Elijah turned the pages, the book opening immediately to an engraving of a forest lord, a horned one.

  “Cernuous,” Liam muttered.

  “Uh-huh.” Whoa. The illustrator had been enthusiastic. That was a hot horned god. Hung like a horse and intensely attractive. “Is he supposed to be scary?” Elija
h asked. “This is way more your mythos than mine.”

  “Yes and no. He’s all about making energy. And fertility,” Liam told him.

  “So, that explains the sexual energy hanging on the air, a sultry mist. Nobody’d better drink the water.”

  “No kidding,” Liam said. They shared a grin. Elijah admired Liam just as much in person as he did online.

  “So…” Elijah bent back to the book, fingers tracing the edges of the page.

  “Yeah? I mean, if he’s been summoned, how do we get him banished?” Liam leaned in close.

  “I don’t know. We’ll need to know how he was called.”

  “And by who, huh?” That made a difference. Intent.

  “Exactly,” Elijah said. “What did they want? Who were they targeting?” They pondered the picture for another long moment. Elijah chuckled softly. “He really is something.”

  “Uh-huh.” Liam’s finger touched the long cock. “It’s enough to give a guy a complex.”

  “No shit.” Oh, thank the gods he wasn’t the only one who thought so. “No one could measure up to that.”

  “Well, ’Lijah, think of the kind of size queen you’d have to be to want to ride it.”

  That cracked Elijah’s shit right up, leaving him wheezing for air, he laughed so hard.

  Liam’s eyes twinkled, merry as spring, and when Liam’s husky laughter joined his, he started cackling again. They both leaned over, thumping each other, just howling.

  Every time it faded, one of them would look at the other and it would all start over again. They ended up clinging together, hooting like owls. God, he needed to get out more, meet people in person.

  When they straightened up, he realized he was clinging to Liam’s shirt. “Uh. Sorry.”

  “No worries.”

  Damn, but the man was stacked to the ceiling. To keep his hands to himself, he closed the book. The horned man had a disconcertingly real stare.

  “So, uh—”

  “Uh-huh. The blonde. Shiloh. Are you really going to make a play for her? The one at the cafe?” Liam smiled, the expression a little predatory.

  “I was pondering it, but she was looking as though she was wanting you.”

  Liam clapped him on the arm. “I like the look of her, for sure.”

  “Well, I guess we’ll just see what comes up.” Elijah knew what was up for him, and it was tough to concentrate. “Do we have a plan?”

  “No. I didn’t even know I needed one until an hour ago.”

  “Me either. This was reconnaissance,” Elijah said. “I’m meeting my contact at six. Wanna come?”

  “Definitely.” Liam paused, letting that joke sink in, maybe. “Sure.”

  They stared at each other a second, and that sexual heat started to build again. This wasn’t stupid, right? He already knew he admired Liam, so why was it bad to find him so fucking attractive?

  “The energy flying around here is fucking insane,” Liam said.

  He arched one eyebrow. “Pun intended?”

  Liam nodded, then adjusted himself in his pants, drawing Elijah’s attention to the happy bulge there. “Sorry.”

  “No. It is intense. I could fuck you through the floor.” He popped his hand over his mouth. He’d just said that out loud.

  “What makes you think you get to be on top?” All of Liam’s smiling affability disappeared, replaced with a dare, an expression of challenge.

  “We could arm wrestle for it.” Elijah loved that idea. He was extremely good at a couple of Native American wrestling arts.

  “Yeah?” Liam’s eyes were dancing.

  “Yeah.”

  “You’re on.”

  Oh, fucking A. Elijah loved a challenge.

  He sat up, heading for the little table. Even if nothing came of it, this meant he got to touch.

  Liam followed him, so close he could feel the heat. His cock rose from half-hard to tough to walk in those few seconds. He sucked in a little, trying to get more room in his jeans, a ridiculous but instinctive gesture.

  “Mmm. I can smell you, man,” Liam said.

  “No you can’t.” He sat, hiding his hard-on under the table. Then he plonked his elbow on the table, flexing his fingers.

  “Can too.” Liam tugged his braid on the way by.

  “Will you get over here?” Elijah rubbed the back of his head, feeling playful, hot.

  “What? I can’t admire?”

  “Oh, you can look all you want.” His breath came faster when Liam sat down and clasped his hand.

  “I like watching,” Liam said. The man was stupidly hot with his smattering of freckles and Irish eyes. Lord.

  “Football?” he teased. “Ice skating?”

  “Gymnastics. Baseball. Wild fucking.”

  He squeezed Liam’s hand. “What are we arm wrestling for? I forgot.”

  “Uh…blowjobs?”

  “Who gets to top!” Go, him. “One, two, go.”

  They both pushed, muscles bulging. Fuck, Liam was solid. Shorter than Elijah too, so he had more leverage. Elijah wasn’t giving up.

  He could totally tap Liam and turn the man’s world inside out. Straining, he pushed, resisting the urge to stand and slam that hand down on the table.

  The window rattled in its pane, loud enough they both jerked. Liam took advantage faster than Elijah, whose hand slapped against the table when Liam pushed it down.

  “Ha!”

  Elijah laughed at the sound of triumph. “Cheater.”

  “Yep.” That rattle came again, hard and sharp.

  “Did you hear that?” Elijah let go of Liam’s hand to get up and check the door.

  “I did.” Liam went for the window, lifting the curtain and peering. “Not a damned thing out there.”

  “Nothing out here, either. Wind?”

  “Had to be a gust, although it’s still as glass out here.”

  “Weird.” He moved close to Liam, feeling the heat from that sturdy form.

  “It is.” Liam turned abruptly, bumping noses with him. “Oh. Oops.”

  “Uh-huh.” He leaned in and took the kiss that was right there, offered up to him, the touch of lips electric, pushing lightning through him. Right down to his cock. They jerked apart, staring at each other.

  “That’s…new.”

  “Uh-huh.” The intense need that made his cock strain and his balls ache was definitely magical. Oh, he would happily love on Liam any day now that they’d met in person, but this was beyond normal.

  “Okay. Okay. Let’s sit,” Liam said. “I could totally fuck you, but I’ll be damned if I’m magicked into it.”

  Laughing, he pecked another kiss on Liam’s mouth then moved away, dodging when Liam reached for him automatically.

  “You said sit,” Elijah said.

  “I was stupid.”

  “No, we have to figure this out.” Damn it, he hated being reasonable.

  “Man, tell me once we do there will be orgasms.” Liam was almost bouncy.

  “Hell, yes.” How fucking adorable was that? He sat on his hands because he wanted those orgasms now.

  “Okay. Sitting. Not humping like we’re bunnies. Someone summoned enough sexual energy to defrost a mummified nun.”

  “No shit.” Elijah drew in a deep breath. “The book is where we start.”

  “Yeah.” Liam reached for the book, the big tome flipping open as he did. Weird.

  “There he is again.” The horned god stared at them. This time it was more creepy than sexual. Menacing.

  “I don’t think he’s feeling friendly toward us,” Liam said.

  “No. No, I think you’re right. That’s not a happy face.”

  “Huh. I wonder.” Liam touched the book, then pulled back.

  “What? What did you feel?”

  “Fucking burns, man.”

  “I have sage in my bags downstairs.” It might be handy to clean any spirits out of Liam’s room.

  “I’ll come with you.” Liam gave the book another glance before rising.


  “Sure. Come on.”

  Elijah felt more grounded the minute they left the room. More clearheaded.

  They looked at each other, and Liam asked, “Better?”

  “Better.”

  “Yeah.” Liam followed him, both of them heading downstairs.

  They were ready for him to check in now, so Elijah got his bags and his room key and he led the way, Liam padding along behind him.

  “So.” He closed the door behind them, then put his bag up on the little suitcase stand. “Sage.”

  “I have salt and silver upstairs in mine.”

  “We should have brought your bag down, huh?” Live and learn. “Summoning. Someone definitely summoned something.”

  “A god? Do you think? Something powerful.” Liam was chewing his lip.

  “Certainly a huge presence, but why would a god give a hoot about a tiny town in Western Colorado?”

  “Well, it’s certainly hungry.”

  “God, yes. Breathe the air and get a woody.”

  “So—” Liam made the best faces. “What about the girls? Are they feeling it?”

  “I don’t know. You talked to someone today, right? I meet my contact this evening.”

  “Bella’s not exactly the most sexual human being alive.”

  “Oh.” Elijah grinned. “That’s you, huh?”

  Liam beamed, cheeks going pink. “Flirt. You’re pouring off more pheromones than is sane.”

  “I want you.” He shrugged. “It’s enhanced by whatever is going on, but it can’t fake an attraction, just intensify it.”

  Liam reached out, finger brushing his lips. His cock and his hips jerked.

  “We really need to behave.”

  “Totally. We totally do.”

  They drifted toward each other, lips brushing, and things were just getting deep when Elijah’s phone rang.

  “Shit. Sorry.”

  “Answer it.” Liam’s voice was rough as a cob.

  “Hello.” He knew it was Nova as her number popped up on his screen. “We still on for tonight?”

  “Yeah. Can we meet at the bakery? I’m starving.”

  “Sure.” He grinned at Liam. “May I bring a colleague?”

  “Anything that will help. It’s getting a little scary.”

  He raised a brow at Liam, mouthing, “It’s affecting women too.”

  “Good to know.” Liam pursed his lips and started typing on his phone.