Broken Pentacle

by Eden Rivers

  “Don’t you dare turn on Zach. This is between you and me.”

  Oh, blessed gods, he’d give anything to turn back time. The three of them back at the cabin, before sanity and wisdom unraveled into chaos. Sky close in his arms, far from Jaimis, plotting spies, and a world gone mad. Beneath her bravado, he felt threads of fear twisting through her, cutting off air and light.

  “Our link’s not broken?” Stating the obvious, but he didn’t seem to be able to come up with much else at the moment.

  “Can’t.” Sky’s eyes conveyed a world of hurt. “A link like ours, what the three of us strengthened when we balanced powers, it just is. For all you tried.”

  Zach grabbed his arm and jerked him forward, catching him off guard. The deep water made him next to weightless, and as his feet slipped against the bottom of the tub, he fell face-first into Sky’s chest. She grabbed him to lift his head above the water, and though he tried to retreat back to his own territory, Zach moved in and wrapped them in an embrace he’d learned on the wrestling mats.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Pressed against Sky, he felt the remnants of the emptiness between them melt away, replaced by a mass of fear and betrayal. Alec had known she’d needed him. And he’d pushed her away ‑‑ lashed out with the full force of his fury over Jaimis’s escape, and tried to break their link out of his terror at having almost lost her. Just like he’d lost Linda so many years ago.

  Zach kissed him then, hot and probing. You need to talk to Sky about Linda sometime. You need to speak with her about a lot of things.

  Hell, at the moment, he and Sky could hardly exchange a civil word. Discussing his late wife didn’t even begin to make the cut for potential topics. Yet despite being thrown into a hot tub full of animosity and angst, with both of them pressed closed, skin on skin, his body reacted. Never mind that what he wanted most right now was a bit of solitude and time to think this through.

  When Zach released him, he took a deep breath and tried to get this right. “I lived each day of the past year for one thing ‑‑ to hold myself together long enough to hunt Jaimis down and claim a bit of justice. When you faced the rogue witch on your own, leaving me and Zach to flail at the wards, unable to help you…”

  Sky moved in closer and laid her head on his shoulder, and he slid his arms around her back. Someone wanted her dead. What if he failed to protect her again? And what if that someone succeeded? The thought turned him to ice.

  “You said you panicked, after Scott died. Panic doesn’t begin to describe what I felt, knowing you were with Jaimis. Between that, and hearing the helicopter blades whirring ‑‑ knowing the rogue witch will bury himself so deep it’ll be ages before anyone can dig him out again ‑‑ I lashed out. Pushed you away. You didn’t deserve that, and I’m sorry.”

  Sky bumped his aching jaw when she moved in to kiss him, and his mouth stung as her teeth and tongue explored areas too recently bruised. But as she shed the outer layers of her defenses and trailed her hands across his face, he didn’t give a damn about the pain.

  When she came up for air, she traced his eyebrows with her finger and then brushed her palm across a day’s growth of stubble. “Zach said you and he have this ‘Betcha won’t’ game you play. Said if you’re willing to tell me about some of your wilder experiences, he’s okay with that.”

  Holy gods, just like that, she’s willing to drop the rest and talk about sex? Alec targeted that at Zach, and flinched when he felt the brush of Sky’s thoughts.

  “Not just like that. I’m sick to death of being afraid. Don’t want to think about who wrote the threatening note. Or if Eric will ever be whole and strong again. Can’t stand imagining everything that could have gone wrong when you and Matt stormed into a dark lord’s stronghold and rescued a couple of intended blood sacrifices.” Breathing hard, she tilted her head back to let her hair fan out around the three of them in the water, then sank below the water and blew out her breath in a whoosh of bubbles before surfacing. “Given the alternatives, I’m seeking a bit of a diversion.”

  Maybe not such a bad strategy. Disconnected images flashed through his mind as he searched for a tale he could get out without too much embarrassment. Flashes of tangled limbs, the taste of salt on his tongue, the sounds Zach made when he came, and a wild assortment of locations and positions. His balls drew up tight against his skin, and his dick strained toward his belly despite the lull of warm water.

  “Okay, here’s one.” He settled on a sunken ledge provided for seating, and Zach and Sky sat on each side of him, their thighs brushing his as warm jets of water bombarded their backs. “We were hiking together out West.”

  “When you were young, or during your political years?”

  “When it would have been a royal pain in the ass if Senator Kouklakis was spotted having sex with a burly cop stretched across a flat rock formation in broad daylight.”

  Zach chuckled, and the throaty sound lodged somewhere in Alec’s gut and upped the heat another few notches. Sky squirmed around so that the water jets hit her breasts, rather than her back, and Alec reached out to steady her as she perched on the ledge. Her spine felt slippery under his hand, and the scent of her, as wild and sweet as blackberries, combined with the thick aroma of roses.

  “I’m thinking Zach wouldn’t have been hiking in uniform.”

  “Not the point.” Gods, he could still feel the August sun beating down on his skin, the bite of smooth rock under his fingernails as he clawed the surface and screamed Zach’s name. “The dare was all about the risk. Didn’t sense anyone in the area, but out in the open like that, the threat of discovery’s going to be a factor.”

  Zach touched Sky’s cheek and shook his head, as if she’d asked something privately. “Never got along for shit cooped up under one roof together. But put us outside, with the whole wide world around us, give us a tent, a tree to lean against, a shallow stream, a sandy beach. That’s the part of him that’s mine, Skylark. And I don’t see you getting in the way of that.”

  Right. Quite a jump from her throwing psychic barbs of fury his way to Sky and Zach reasoning out how to share him without stepping on each others toes. Alec struggled to regain his equilibrium. “Do I get a vote in this?”

  Ignoring him, Sky spread her arms and pulled herself through the water, as if she were about to start swimming, and propelled herself into Zach’s lap. Resting her head on his shoulder, she made a soft humming sound as her wet hair clung to his shoulders.

  Detaching her hands from his back, Zach handed Sky off to Alec, warm and wet and protesting, and climbed out of the tub. “Back in a minute.”

  Unsure what to do with Sky, who’d gone all rigid and prickly as soon as Zach thrust her his way, Alec let her float free. His ribs ached where she’d caught him with an elbow in her struggles, but he couldn’t find it in him to care as he watched her breasts bob in the bubbling water. She did a quick somersault in the deepest part of the hot tub, her hair floating wild around her, and settled on the sunken seating opposite him, well out of reach.

  When Zach returned, he set a bottle of oil on the tile near the edge, within easy reach. But his frown and creased forehead indicated he had other things on his mind.

  “What just happened?” Sky’s voice projected alarm, and she didn’t bother to mask her uneasy thoughts.

  “Another note. Tucked into my pack near the bottom.” Zach slid back into the water and dunked his head, then surfaced, shaking water droplets all over them. “But we’re not having that discussion until later. Didn’t say anything new, and we know the room’s clean and warded. Probably slipped the note in when we were down talking with Sorren earlier.”

  To his surprise, Sky forced a smile and picked up the bottle of oil. “Whoever it is wants us running scared. So anxious that we’ll make mistakes. Best thing we can do right now is unwind a little. I’m new at this, and everything comes in blurry flashes, but I keep getting bits of the three of us summoning an unbelievable rush of power together. Scared shi
tless. Fighting something.”

  Zach paddled over to Sky and rubbed her neck, and she leaned into the caress.

  “You filched this from Laura?” Sky opened the bottle and tilted a dollop of amber liquid onto her palm before placing the container back on the tiles, and the scent of gardenias mingled with the potted miniature roses.

  Alec massaged his temples, trying to catch up. “Hold on a minute. I knew you picked up the concealing trick, but this is the first I’ve heard about…”

  When Zach laughed, he realized how pompous he sounded. As Senator Kouklakis, he’d insisted on being the first to hear about new developments. Rules he evidently couldn’t enforce in their little threesome. “Sorry. So, you picked up Zach’s gift of Sight?”

  Paddling closer so fast he drew back in surprise, Sky reached down and rubbed her slick palm against his cock, stroking the full length until the oil negated the water’s natural friction. “Competitive, aren’t we? Couldn’t stand knowing I’d stolen your concealing spell, and now I’ve gone and picked up Zach’s best trick, as well.”

  His breath hissed through his teeth as she slid a finger into his ass, stroking deep enough to shatter his concentration. “Sorry. I can be a competitive jerk sometimes. Ask Zach. He can tell you. Think you can put up with me?”

  A second finger joined the first, and with his arms wrapped tight around her back, he moved into deeper water with her, until they could stand and still have water coursing around their ribs. Zach’s breathing quickened, and he lifted the oil and poured a stream onto his hands, rubbing them together once he set the bottle down.

  Her breath warm against his neck, Sky nuzzled close, and Alec groaned as she worked a third finger into his willing ass. Around the time Zach moved in and started massaging his balls with his oil-slick fingers, Alec abandoned the struggle to speak. Their hands made up for the last twenty-four hours of hell, and then some. No one had a right to feel this good. When Zach shifted Sky to the side and slid his arms around Alec’s waist, pressing their cocks together, and Sky reached down and cupped his balls under her slippery palm, he groaned as the rest of his blood supply headed south.

  “Laura’s going to be pissed we employed another bottle of her medicinal massage oil for erotic purposes.” Sky slid her fingers free, and he resisted the urge to beg her to put them right back where they’d been. “But good thing we’ve got it. Water’s not exactly conducive to adequate lubrication.”

  Fuck. Just hearing the word lubrication made him want to sink himself so deep inside her, they’d end up sliding underwater in the heat of the moment. “If she’s our spy, the last thing we’ve got to worry about is her anger over a missing bottle of oil.”

  When Sky drew back, he realized his mistake. Should have left his suspicions for later. This time belonged to them, to paste themselves back together individually and as a unit. At least Zach kept up the delicious rhythm, rubbing their cocks together as water swirled around them.

  “It’s not Laura.” Sky’s voice came out a bit strained. “If you’d seen her with Eric, soothing him as she tended his wounds… Laura may have her rough edges, but she’s not the one pasting together threats.”

  “Hate to go there, but Nicole blew up my Jeep the other day, and she’s demonstrated just as much compassion for Eric as Laura has. Just because Laura’s a competent healer and has a soft spot for children doesn’t mean she’s not our spy.” Zach trailed off when Sky pulled herself up out of the water and wrapped a towel around her shoulders.

  “Look, Laura’s not the one out to see us dead. And neither is Nicole.”

  Sensing an argument brewing, Alec pulled away from Zach, climbed out beside Sky, and pulled her against him. Warm terrycloth pressed against his chest as he cradled her against his dripping body, and he wrapped the towel tighter around her to keep her warm. Her hair hung heavy around her, midnight dark against the white towel. When Zach climbed out beside them, he figured he’d succeeded in derailing the discussion, at least for now.

  “What I have in mind is best played out on a bed, rather than attempted in a hot tub.” Zach leaned close to kiss Alec, then Sky. Grinning, he picked up the container of oil and tilted his head in the direction of the bedroom.

  Intrigued, Alec clasped Sky’s hand and they followed Zach into the master suite, dripping water across the plush, white carpet. Zach pulled back the thick duvet and piled it onto a chair, then rolled back the blankets to reveal satin sheets. Bless it, he’d have to buy Sorren some new sheets after this, but taking time to towel off didn’t seem like an option at the moment.

  Sky abandoned her towel and bounced on the bed, and something inside Alec squealed for the sheer joy of seeing her playful side surface. As he tumbled beside her, he reveled in the feel of satin under his skin, so different from the rough kicks and punches he’d taken earlier.

  Zach tossed a pillow into the center of the king-size bed and managed to get his arms around Sky. She shrieked and put up a mock struggle, laughing as Zach flipped her onto her tummy with the pillow beneath her hips. When Zach grabbed his hand and pulled him over, Alec took a moment to process what his friend expected.

  “You sure you want to sit this one out?” Lest Zach actually have second thoughts, Alec lowered himself onto Sky’s back, supporting his weight on his elbows.

  “Only fair. You missed out last time around.” Reaching underneath her from behind, Zach spread oil between Sky’s legs, massaging the slippery stuff into the swollen lips of her pussy. “Besides, I like to watch. And more importantly, Sky put in a request.”

  Uneasy as he might be at the thought of them sharing mental chatter behind his back, knowing Sky still wanted to be with him after all the anger and betrayal melted away a heap of worry. Sliding forward until the head of his cock rested against her warm, slippery folds, he shivered under the force of his need. Not just for sex. For Sky.

  “Need you too, much as I hate to admit it.” Sky trailed her fingers along his arm. “Now will you ‑‑”

  So hungry for her that he trembled with need, Alec buried himself inside her, the last of his sanity rocked loose by her satiny heat as her pussy clenched around him. He reined himself in, all too aware that she couldn’t see him in this position and wary of spooking her. Crooning bits of an Irish lullaby, he moved like rain over the surface of a glass-still pond. Slow. Gentle. Wet.

  Zach stroked his spine as he made love to her, from his neck to his tailbone and back again. At some point, he eased down beside them and nuzzled close, and in response to Zach’s caresses, Sky murmured soft, passionate noises. As Alec continued to move in a rhythm slow enough to leave him panting with impatience, Zach grabbed a handful of his hair and held on tight.

  Sky lifted her bottom against his stomach, tilting to invite him deeper inside her warm, tight pussy. When her shields came crashing down and her lust swamped across his senses, mingling with his own, Alec struggled to sort out the carnal images.

  One rose to the surface, sharp with its intensity and fierce with its hunger. Sky, lying on her tummy as he made love to her doggy fashion, and Zach entering his ass from behind, creating an erotic chain, front to back, front to back. “Zach?” Alec felt him with them, knew his friend had seen what Sky wanted.

  “Fuck, yes!” Zach touched Sky’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Skylark, I’ll make sure to support my own weight ‑‑ no worries of getting squished under a couple of horny witches.”

  At that, Sky laughed, free and wild. But Alec tensed when Zach poured oil between the cheeks of his ass, wondering if he could do this without gazing into someone’s eyes. Moving slowly, Zach knelt behind his raised ass and grasped his hips. Without either Sky or Zach facing him, anchoring him to the present and making sure he didn’t succumb to bitter memories, he wondered if he’d lose himself in the violence of the past.

  We’re here in your thoughts. Sky’s whisper-soft contact steadied him. Can’t get any closer than that. And you know Zach would never hurt you.

  “Same as you and Sky, my f
riend. Gentle as rain.” Kneeling between Alec’s legs, with Sky’s legs pushed wide to make room for both of them, Zach supported himself on his hands and knees as he angled closer.

  Alec held still, deep inside of Sky, as Zach eased past the outer ring of muscle. The nudge of pressure turned to stretching, and after a moment of uneasy discomfort, to intoxicating pleasure. Slicked up with that damn oil, Zach slid deep inside his ass ‑‑ moving almost too easy, lacking the friction he suddenly craved.

  “Another time, friend. This one’s about trust, not intensity.”

  Alec shook with the gentle rhythm of Zach’s thrusts as he claimed the last few inches. Sky milked his cock with a series of clenching motions that just had to be intentional, and he felt himself start to come unglued.

  Seeing both the back of his own head and Sky’s against the blue sheets through Zach’s perspective made him dizzy. And hungry as hell. Forcing himself to keep his movements slow, he pressed into Sky as Zach withdrew, then pulled back to press into Zach’s downward strokes. When Sky reached down to stroke her clit, whimpering and bucking beneath him, the world unraveled, and he felt the inevitable rush of liquid fire.

  “Can’t hold off much longer.” Desperate, he tried to think of something mundane. Shoes. Spells to find lost items. The almanac predictions for this fall’s weather.

  “Now!” Stroking herself so hard, he could hear her fingers sliding through her slick juices, Sky shook like a tree in a hurricane.

  By now, he should be accustomed to feeling her orgasms through her, wound up so tight in her mind he might as well be her, but the frantic spasms rocking her body knocked the wind out of him and hurtled him over the edge.

  Never mind he’d wanted to make this last, his body shook and bucked over her ‑‑ and under Zach ‑‑ and he came so hard, his bruised ribs burned and his jaw ached from clenching his teeth. Damned if he didn’t feel like weeping at how fucking good it felt to come in a fiery rush ‑‑ buried deep inside Sky’s frantically clenching pussy ‑‑ as Zach filled him with cum.