His cool logic chafes. I don’t know how he can separate his emotions from this conversation. “What if it doesn’t stop at Poe? Is she going to be hooking up with Silas?” Now that my fear has leaked out, I can’t stem the flow. “What if she decides she wants some rando here at the Temple? Some guy she meets at a restaurant?”
Taj nods like I’ve brought up some important points for consideration. “Fine. What if it doesn’t stop at Poe? What if she’s some kind of rampaging sex maniac who has to fuck every guy in a five-mile radius? What if she sets up shop and has a line out the door and fucks every dick that comes her way from sun up to sun down?”
I throw up a hand. “Now you’re being ridiculous.”
“Yeah? Well, so are you.” He raises both eyebrows, holding my gaze, daring me to disagree. “If we’re going to make this work, we need the same rules as any other relationship—and that starts with communicating with one another. At the end of the day, none of this is about you. It’s about Bryn because she’s the one you want to be with. And you have to come to terms with what you’ll accept if it means being with her. Maybe you were okay with things when you and I were sharing her, but maybe bringing someone else in is too much. But if that’s your line, you can’t hold it against her.”
His words cut deeper than I want to admit. What is my line? How much sharing is too much?
Sharing. Maybe it’s the obvious way to think of the dynamic between me, Taj, and Bryn, but this is the first time the word has entered my head. Because since our second night here when I walked in on Bryn and Taj together, it hasn’t felt like we’re sharing her. Bryn isn’t some toy that one of us gets to play with before handing it off to the other. She’s a gift that has no limit. Somehow, even when she’s making love with Taj, she makes me feel like everything is about me. Not once have I felt left out, and I’ll bet Taj feels the same way.
But what if that changes with the addition of someone new? What if adding a fourth strains the beautiful, delicate bonds of the relationship we’ve been nurturing?
“Are you okay with Poe… joining us?” I ask.
Taj lifts a shoulder. “I’m willing to entertain the notion. But I’d like to talk before I commit to anything. We didn’t when it was just the three of us, but I didn’t feel like we needed to because I know you. I don’t know Poe nearly as well.” He puckers his lips thoughtfully. “And maybe lay down some ground rules about taking on new lovers whilst current lovers are in comas?”
I chuckle, and the knot of tension that’s been squeezing my chest begins to loosen. Maybe Taj is right and everything will be okay.
A knock sounds at the door, and before I can react, Taj pulls it open. As if our discussion summoned her, Bryn steps into the room, her expression cautious.
“Good, you’re both here,” she says. “Can we talk?”
Taj meets my eyes and doesn’t nod until I do.
Bryn releases a breath, her shoulders visibly relaxing as she crosses to the bed to sit.
Taj sinks down beside her, but I turn the chair and settle on it. I want to look at her when she’s speaking.
Bryn’s mouth works like she’s selecting just the right words to say. Something inside me responds to the movement of her lips, remembering the feel of them on my skin.
“While you two were unconscious, Kari and I did some research.”
I shake my head, not sure I heard her correctly. This isn’t what I thought she came to talk about, but I don’t interrupt.
“The healers were doing their best to fix you, but your own magic was at work, too,” she continues. “And the more magic you drew on to heal yourselves, the weaker I got.”
Taj nods with understanding. “Like when you were at the elders’ mansion and we tried to rescue you. I know my magic came easier than ever before, and I bet it was the same for Calder. But it weakened you.”
“Exactly like that,” she agrees. “You were pulling on more magic than usual because you were up against a mansion full of highly-trained shifters. When you were unconscious, you were using more than usual to heal yourselves.”
Taj turns to me. “The first night Bryn and I were together, we discovered that the closer we got, the stronger she got.”
I work through the meaning of his words. “That doesn’t make any sense. I mean, I’ve heard of sex magic before, but—”
Bryn shakes her head. “That’s not what it is. Have you ever heard of a magical focus?”
“No,” Taj and I both say.
“Every supernatural creature focuses energy through something. For a witch, we focus and manifest our power through the element of our affinity. For a psychic or a telekinetic, you might focus through the third eye chakra or through the object you’re attempting to manipulate. But for a certain subset of supernaturals, their power is anchored to a person—and once a connection is formed, that person can be drained.”
“So, we drain your magic when we use ours?” Taj asks.
Bryn nods. “And the only way for me to power up again is—”
“Sex?” I ask, dubious.
She shakes her head. “It doesn’t have to be. But the mutual facet of the intimacy is key.”
Taj chuckles. “It all makes sense now.” He turns to Bryn. “Poe. You were testing the theory. Calder and I were draining your energy, and since we were unconscious, we couldn’t give you what you needed to recharge.”
“Yes,” she says. “And… no.”
“What does that mean?” I ask.
She bites her lower lip. “I didn’t pick Poe at random. That’s not the way things work for a focus. Have you noticed that he doesn’t shift into his panther form? It’s because he can’t control it like most shifters can. According to the book, it’s not intimacy with just anyone—it has to be with someone who needs a focus.”
I get the sense there’s more she’s holding back. “And is there a reason you didn’t settle for a really long hug?”
I expect her gaze to drop or for a hint of hesitation, but Bryn locks her eyes on mine. “I told you how my magic has been reaching for him the way it reaches for the two of you. But it hasn’t just been my magic. I have been wanting him.”
Somehow, her admission doesn’t hit me like I thought it would.
“And I swear, I wasn’t planning to do anything about it—even after we talked. And I meant what I said when I promised I’d discuss it with you before anything happened with Poe. But then you were unconscious, and I was afraid if I waited too long, I’d be laid out right next to you.”
“And it worked, didn’t it?” Taj asks. “That’s what woke us up.”
“Like magic,” she agrees, the corners of her mouth twitching.
Silence descends on the room as the situation settles over us. I love Bryn, and I want to be with her. She wants to be with Taj, too, and that’s something I’m willing to accept. And if Poe is part of the bargain, too… I might be able to live with it.
“How many?” I ask.
Bryn and Taj both turn to me.
“You can focus magic,” I say to Bryn. “But for how many people? Is there a limit?”
She lifts a shoulder. “I imagine so. I went back to the library and read through the information in the book Kari found. It said that people like me are very rare. And I could’ve gone my whole life without knowing I have this ability. The only reason I know now is that you and Taj and Poe all need focuses for your magic. Usually these bonds develop more slowly, but Kari thinks the curse bonded us in a way that made it happen all at once.”
“What about Silas?” Taj asks, giving voice to the question on the tip of my tongue.
Something flickers in her eyes, but it’s gone too fast for me to identify it. “What about him?”
I motion to the three of us. “Any plans for him to join in?”
Several seconds pass before she answers. “Kari wasn’t sure if the magic works the same for daemons.”
It isn’t exactly an answer, but I decide not to push her.
She waits
a few more seconds, but when neither Taj nor I speak, she springs to her feet. “Okay, then. We should probably head back to Poe’s room. It turns out the staff is here.”
I blink, convinced I misheard her. “What now?”
Taj grins. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all day.” He stands and swoops down to plant a sultry kiss on Bryn’s mouth. She turns into liquid in his hands, a soft sigh of satisfaction escaping her. When they part, he strides to the door. “I’ll see you two down there, yeah?”
When the door clicks behind him, Bryn focuses on me. “Are we okay?”
“Of course,” I say automatically.
She takes a step closer. “For real?” She pulls her mouth to the side, studying me with narrowed eyes. “Because I read in that book that for a focus to be at the top of her game, her partner needs to be with her. Fully. I know it’s not ideal how things started between me and Poe, but you have to know the only reason I didn’t wait and talk it over with you first is because I was afraid you and Taj weren’t going to wake up.”
I nod. “I get that. Now.”
“So you’re with me?”
The question requires a simple answer, but something in me rebels against giving it. Am I supposed to live my life wondering when Bryn will drag home a new guy, insisting she has a connection with him and his magic? Is accepting Poe one more step down a slippery slope that takes Bryn away from me?
The questions resolve themselves in my mind with a resounding no. Despite the misgivings I’ve had about our romantic arrangement, I’ve never doubted Bryn’s love for me—or mine for her. And it’s true that years have passed since we first knew each other, but she is, at her core, still the same girl she was then. She’s the same person who tried to take all the punishment when the guards found the two of us together. She went so far as to claim she put me under a spell to make me break Mona’s rules.
I didn’t allow her to take the fall for me then. And I’ll continue to stand beside her now.
I reach my hands and link our fingers. “I’m with you. Always.”
A smile blossoms across her face and she leans down to kiss me. As our lips dance against each other, my lingering insecurities melt away. Bryn’s burgeoning connection with Poe doesn’t take anything from me. She’s still right here. Wanting me. Loving me.
She lowers herself until she’s straddling my lap, the hem of her tunic hiked to reveal the creamy expanses of her thighs.
As my hands skim up her legs, my body responds to her nearness like a teenage boy taking his first peep of a naked woman on the glossy pages of a magazine. Although I’m intimately acquainted with all the dips and curves of her body, something about this moment feels entirely new, like we’re exploring each other for the first time.
But there’s nothing novice in the way she grinds against me, and it doesn’t take long for my cock to swell with need. She leans back only far enough to undo the button and zipper of my pants and free my dick from inside my boxer briefs. Pulling the crotch of her panties aside with one hand, she uses the other to guide my head toward her center.
And then I’m inside her. My ego melts away as our bodies join together.
“I love you,” she murmurs against my mouth. “I never stopped, and I never will.”
I wrap my arms around her back, pulling her close. “I love you, my darling Bryn.”
She cradles my head against her chest as she rides me hard and fast, her breath coming in needy gasps.
I grip her ass, squeezing the soft flesh as she finds her rhythm.
I can feel my climax coming, and I do everything I can to hold on, wanting to hold out for her sake. Her breath comes faster and I know she’s close, but when her nails rake across my scalp, I lose myself, exploding inside her.
She cries out, her pussy clamping down over me as she continues to ride, drawing out every last drop.
When her last whimper dissipates, she leans down and kisses me fiercely, possessively. “We should probably get to Poe’s room for the meeting.”
I expect the sound of his name to twist something inside me, but I feel nothing but peace. Poe isn’t a threat to my relationship with Bryn any more than Taj is. If anyone is going to mess up things between us, it’ll be me. And I’ll be damned if I let that happen.
Keeping my arms wrapped around her, I press a kiss to her mouth. “The sooner we get that staff, the better. I can’t wait to start the rest of my life with you.”
Her nose wrinkles in response, and I can’t help laughing. “And Taj,” I amend. “And Poe, if he’ll have us.”
She laughs before kissing the tip of my nose. “I can’t wait, either.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Bryn
Our plan is to strike during dinner.
While Poe and Silas spent the bulk of the afternoon sweeping the grounds a quarter mile south of the temple for the emergency escape hatch Kari spoke of, Taj, Calder, and I make the rounds saying goodbye to members of the Order. We thank everyone we pass for their hospitality and slip into conversation about our plan to leave before the evening meal. Without fail, the priests, priestesses, and acolytes offer us wishes for safe travel and hopes that the spirits will see fit to break our curse before our time runs out.
It would be touching if it weren’t all a lie.
Any qualms I had about stealing from these people have evaporated. If they’ve been lying to Kari for years, they can’t be trusted. Who knows what kind of plans they have for a relic as powerful as the staff?
A voice in the back of my head questions Elowen’s motives for wanting the scepter, but those are easier to quash. She is, after all, a mage like Rahn was. And she may play her cards close to her chest, but at least she doesn’t pretend to be one thing when she’s really another.
A small crowd gathers outside the temple an hour before dinner to bid us all farewell. I hike my pack higher on my back as I scan the faces of those assembled. Kari isn’t present. True to her word, she’s remained cloistered in one of the meditation rooms all day. I wish I could say a proper goodbye to her, but part of me fears if I interrupt her, she’ll change her mind about staying out of our way when we make a move on the staff.
Poe leads us down the main road, keeping a deliberate pace until we’ve put enough space between ourselves and the temple.
After talking things over with Taj and Calder earlier, I haven’t had the chance to have a similar conversation with Poe. I still don’t know where he stands on what happened between us in the forest. Part of me itches to leave my spot between Calder and Taj and jog to catch up with Poe—but I know now isn’t the best time.
We round a curve in the road and the temple finally disappears from sight. Only then does Poe spin to face us.
“The emergency hatch is about a mile due east,” he says, keeping his voice low. “Silas didn’t pick up on any concealments, so I’m pretty certain it’s not a decoy. But we want to get a move on if we want to time everything right.”
Something inside me responds to the authority in his voice. He’s so confident I can’t help trusting in whatever plan he’s got churning in his head. We didn’t chance discussing it while still at the temple for fear Kari may have tipped someone off about our intentions, although Poe and Silas may have worked out the finer points using Silas’ mind-speaking ability.
Still, no one hesitates as Poe cuts a path into the woods to our left. Even Taj, who likes to talk through every aspect of the plan and map out contingencies, is quiet.
My skin tingles as we walk. This is it. By tonight, we’ll have the staff and be well on our way back to Twin Rivers. By this time tomorrow, Elowen will have broken our curse, and then…
The thoughts swirling in my head stutter to a stop when I try to plan beyond tomorrow. The truth is, I don’t know what the future will hold. Where will we go? The idea of staying in Twin Rivers is appealing. I’ve liked the parts of the city I’ve seen so far, and the idea of not having to hide that I’m a witch is a plus. Except, for me, it might be safe
r if no one knows about my magic. While the elders absolved me of charges related to the death of one in their number, the same might not be the case for those seeking justice for the harm my other potions have caused. Besides, Taj and Calder have jobs. They have lives I know nothing about. And Poe is still a bounty hunter. And Silas…
Yes, I have no idea what the future holds. But the idea of saying goodbye to any of these men hollows me out.
Poe slows as we step between two large maple trees with trunks wider than his shoulders. Beyond is an almost perfect circle of low-lying shrubs. He and Silas step forward and bend down before pulling up a layer of the forest floor.
It takes several seconds before it dawns on me what’s happening. It’s a trap door. The plants on top of the six-foot square swinging open on creaky hinges are there to camouflage the emergency exit tunnel.
Poe raises his chin at Taj. “After you.”
The sudden shift in leadership strikes me as odd until Taj summons a fireball in his hand as he descends the stone steps into the tunnel. Silas goes in next, followed by me and Calder. Poe pulls the trapdoor shut before bringing up the rear.
The light from Taj’s flames dances off the walls of a circular tunnel that’s just tall enough for me to stand upright in. Taj, Calder, and Poe all stoop as they walk, but Silas barely needs to duck his head.
“The tunnel should be about a quarter-mile long,” Poe whispers, his voice filling the enclosed space. “As long as we take it slow and steady, we shouldn’t have any problems getting in.”
“It’s getting out I’m worried about,” Silas mutters.
A weight lodges itself in the pit of my stomach. We’re really doing this. Soon, we’ll be making our way into the temple’s most sacred space. Although Kari said it’s currently empty, I don’t know if we can trust her intel. If Anson lied to her face about the Order possessing the staff, there’s no telling what else he might have misled her about.
Cursed Witch Page 20