LogansEmpath (3 page)

Closing his eyes and leaning into the caress, Laughlin
sighed. “I’ll do my best to live up to that gift.”

“You always do.” His friend turned away, grabbing Sabine by
the waist and swinging her under him. “Come here, love, and let me have at
you.”

She giggled, swatting playfully at his chest but her fingers
lingered over his warm flesh. “And you think you can take me down? You might be
a big, strong warrior but if I didn’t want you, I’d have you on your knees in
moments.”

The big man leered and winked. “You can have me on my knees
whenever you wish, my sweet lady. You have only to ask.”

Sabine shook her head but reached out for him. “Come here,
fool. I feel left out.”

Brandr leaned down to kiss her, his hair falling around them
in a wave of deep reddish brown. Laughlin mourned the lack of view but used the
time to turn to find a small jar that he’d gotten from Ryo earlier. The Asian
man had teased him mercilessly for it, knowing what Laughlin hoped and planned for.
But it was worth the trouble now.

He had no intention of causing Brandr any harm. He wanted
this moment to be as perfect as possible. It just had to be.

He nearly dropped the jar as he heard Sabine cry out. He
spun around, already preparing to defend from attack only to see her ankles
wrapped around Brandr’s waist as she clawed at his back. Brandr whipped his
head back as he arched and thrust into her again. As Brandr’s hair fell away
Laughlin could see Sabine’s face, twisted with pleasure barely contained. The
sounds she made as Brandr pounded sent shivers down Laughlin’s spine.

He had to join them.

Taking a moment to cover his cock with the slick ointment,
Laughlin crawled forward between Brandr’s legs. He placed a palm on his
friend’s lower back, soothing for a moment before reaching down to spread his
cheeks. Looking down at the clenched opening, Laughlin felt his throat tighten
with fear. He had to make this good for Brandr but he hand no experience with
loving a man. Only Brandr appealed to him on that gut level. Laughlin had to
make this work but terror froze him in place.

Brandr stopped moving for a second and gasped as Laughlin
eased a slick finger deep into his ass, quickly joined by another.

Sabine whimpered under him, her nails digging into his flesh
as she urged him on. Brandr started thrusting again, riding both Sabine’s tight
body and Laughlin’s nimble fingers.

Once he’d calmed his own fears, Laughlin pulled his fingers
free. He braced himself with a hand on Brandr’s hip. Slowly, he guided his cock
deep into Brandr’s ass, stopping only when he was balls-deep, eyes and teeth
clenched as he tried not to lose himself in the tight grip. Brandr jerked
beneath him, pulling a scream from Sabine.

“Are you both all right? Should I stop?”
Please don’t say
yes.

“Are you mad?” Sabine panted, glaring at him over Brandr’s
shoulder. “You better not stop.”

“Brandr?” Laughlin had to ask.

“Don’t stop.” He turned to give Laughlin a pleading look. “I
want to feel both of you. Can’t you
feel
her?”

Until that moment, Laughlin hadn’t realized what it was that
nudged at the edges of his mind. He’d been so focused on being careful with
Brandr that he hadn’t noticed. But he could feel Sabine, feel her erotic
emotions mixed with her love, thrusting into him. He could also sense Brandr,
confused but still hungry for more.

The ritual will work. If this is how things are naturally
for us, add the words and the ritual will work.

But who cared about that right now. Now he had his two
lovers waiting for him. He eased out of Brandr then pushed slowly back in. The
man gasped but he followed Laughlin’s movements into and out of Sabine. They
developed an easy rhythm, one that brought them all to greater heights of
pleasure. The added sensation of Sabine’s ability to share their emotions tied
them tighter than just pure physical love.

So closely knit were the Three, Laughlin didn’t know who
climaxed first. Suddenly, all muscles tightened. His arms trembled and he felt
a heat building in his spine. Brandr trembled beneath him and Sabine’s breath
caught in her throat.

He slammed into Brandr, all thought of control shattered as
his balls drew tight and pumped his cum deep inside his friend. Sabine started
to scream, only to bite Brandr’s shoulder to drown out the sound. Laughlin
wished he could see Brandr’s face as he arched and groaned.

The newly formed Three fell into a sweaty, sticky, exhausted
heap.~

Chapter Three

Bree slid the hunting knife back in its sheath at her hip,
took two steps back from the still-smoldering imp and leaned against a large
maple tree. She waited until her breath evened out from the jagged pants and
her heartbeat eased back down to normal. Her burning lungs would take a while
to recover. Peeling back her sleeve, she eyed a deep scratch across her wrist.
Not too bad for a night’s work, all things considered. She closed her eyes and
rubbed her temples as she tried to block out dark thoughts. How many of these
things were there? How long would this hunt go on?

Would it ever end?

The sound of snapping sticks and crumpling leaves brought
her up straight, hand falling to the knife at her side. She didn’t draw it,
though, as two hulking shapes shot into the clearing. “Took you long enough.”
She folded her arms and leaned back against the tree.

The older of the two men stepped forward to examine the body
as the younger stood back, looking a bit sheepish as he rubbed his free hand
through his dark hair. “Sorry, Sis. The other one had a friend waiting for it.
Took Matt by surprise.”

“I doubt that, Jordan. Matt is rarely surprised by
anything.” But Bree walked over to her older brother as he toed the pile of ash
left by the imp, spreading it in the dirt. “You okay?”

“Few scratches, nothing I don’t get after breaking up fights
after the high school basketball games.” He gave a reassuring smile. “Hell, I
got worse going over to old man Boggs’ place to talk to him about not letting
his dogs chase every person who walks by.”

Slipping his own hunting knife back in its sheath, Jordan
wrapped his arms around his older siblings and peered over their shoulders.
“Yeah, hang tough there, Mr. Deputy. You’re just lucky I had your back.”

Matt reached over and whacked Jordan on the back of the head
before Bree had a chance to. “Keep thinking that, baby brother.”

Jordan chuckled, shooting Bree a mischievous look. Matt
must’ve had a tough time of it if Jordan felt the need to act like the class
clown to relieve the stress. But it seemed to work. After spreading the ashes
so no one would recognize them for a body, Matt dusted his hands. “Ready?”

Bree followed the two down the mountain toward their home,
ducking under a patch of mountain laurel. They’d discuss what happened once
everyone was there.

It was a long hike back to their place but it was a peaceful
night, now that the imps had been taken care of. Cicadas chirped in the
distance and the fireflies were still out, looking like so much glitter thrown
into the trees. It was moments like this that Bree actually loved her hometown.

Instead of feeling trapped here.

They broke through the tree line and into the Collier
version of a backyard. Several apple trees dotted the hillside leading down to
their home. A small vegetable garden, in remembrance of their mother, still
lined the side of the house. Several types of wildflowers grew in planters on the
front porch and along the stone steps leading up to it. And bright lights shone
inside, waiting to greet the weary hunters.

The screen door popped open as they trudged up the stairs.
Tyler poked his head out, his relief so apparent that she didn’t need any
special powers to read his emotions. “Everything all right? No wounded?”

“We’re fine,” Bree called back. “Just a few scrapes and
bruises.”

“But I’m starving.” Jordan bounded up the stairs.

“Then get those boots off.” Ty shoved Jordan back a step,
away from the door. “Mama taught you better than to be tracking mud all over
her hardwood. I brought leftovers home from the cafe. Today’s special was
chicken and dumplings. We’ve got cornbread, fried tomatoes and a salad to go
with it.”

Jordan hopped on one foot as he yanked off a boot. “And
you’re my new favorite brother, Ty.”

Ty rolled his eyes but Bree knew that he was pleased with
the compliment. “I’m the only decent cook in the family so I’m always your
favorite brother.”

Having already peeled off her mud-plastered boots, Bree
shoved her fool brother out of the way. “Aaron back yet?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine.” Ty stepped to the side, letting
her into the large, open living room. While overall masculine, the Collier
living room still had a few feminine touches left from their mother. A lace
tablecloth covered the hand-carved coffee table. A quilt made by their
great-grandmother lay across the back of the massive couch. “It was some type
of clerical error, the usual transfer between the savings account and checking
broke or stalled or something. Aaron tracked it down and raised some holy hell
at the bank. Believe me, they’ll pay closer attention to our accounts from now
on. I mean let’s face it, with the insurance and the funds raised after what
happened, we should never have an overdrawn account.”

Matt bumped Jordan out of the way as his little brother
still struggled with his second boot. “Yeah, thank god for small favors. I call
shower first.” He gave Jordan a warning glare. “But there better still be food
left when I’m done.”

“Hey, don’t just look at me. Bree can pack it away too.”

Matt raised a single eyebrow. “Yes, but our sister has the
decency to think of others and not just her stomach. I don’t trust that hollow
leg of yours.”

“Can’t help if I’m still growing.” Jordan pouted.

Bree rolled her eyes. “Lord, you better not still be
growing. At twenty-two years old and six foot three, you’d damn well better be
done or we’ll have to raise all the doorframes.”

“You’re just afraid I’ll get taller than Matt.” Jordan
stepped behind Bree, making a point to look down his nose at her. “You don’t
want your little brother to be your
biggest
brother.”

“No way will I ever consider you my biggest brother. You
have to be mature for that type of title.” She locked eyes with Jordan,
smirking. “That’s never going to happen.”

Matt snorted and shook his head at the two of them before
heading upstairs. Bree and Jordan looked at each other in silence for a moment
before bursting into laughter, wrapping their arms around each other and
heading to the dining room.

Aaron sat at the head of the table, already halfway through
his meal. He smiled and nodded at his siblings as they sat on either side of
him. “Everything went well, I take it?”

“Guess that depends on how you define ‘well’.” Jordan
grabbed for the dumplings, dishing out an ample helping. “Nobody got seriously
hurt. But there were more than we thought.”

“We’ll hash out the details when everyone gets to the
table.” Bree passed Jordan the basket of cornbread, trading for the bowl in his
hand as Ty walked in with a plate of fried green tomatoes. Wes followed close
behind with the salad.

They talked about the day, nothing particularly out of the
ordinary for any family over supper. Jordan talked about the classes he had at
community college. Aaron explained about the bank problem he’d fixed. Wes
moaned about deadlines and the lack of any real news to write about. Bree and
Ty talked about the people in the cafe that day and some of the drama they’d
watched. Browningsville might lack for news but it didn’t lack for drama.

When Matt finally joined them, fresh from the shower, the
supper conversation took its usual turn for the weird.

Aaron, as the eldest, broached the subject. “So, did you
find the nest?”

“Yeah, it was bigger than we expected. We should’ve brought
you, Wes and Ty.” Matt took a deep drink of iced tea. “Two got away. Bree
chased down the smaller one alone. Jordan and I took out the other but he had a
friend waiting for him, so things didn’t go smoothly.”

“But the nest is gone?” This time Aaron looked directly at
Bree.

Bree reached out with her emotions, trying to pinpoint the
strongest source of negativity. As always, it seemed shadowed and blurred,
difficult to get a position on. And like the last time, she could feel smaller
pockets peeling off from the main mass. “We finished off that nest but it was
only imps. None of the bigger demon things or any possessed humans. I can still
feel the main nest out there, with more small nests forming around it. But I
still can’t get a good grip on it.”

Ty patted her shoulder. “It’s okay, little sis. We’ll find
them eventually.” He turned to Jordan. “So, are you going back to the
university next semester and have you figured out what you’ll be majoring in
yet?”

Jordan grimaced, his anxiety spiking. Bree watched in
concern as he pushed food around on his plate. “I’ll go back if I have to but
I’d rather stay here.”

“You know if you stay out another semester you’ll be dropped
from the roll and have to reregister.” Aaron pinned Jordan with a hard,
piercing gaze. “Will you actually go through that trouble?”

“Should I bother?” Jordan gave Bree a pleading look for
support but while she understood his feelings, she didn’t agree with him. “I
should be here helping you.”

“Mom and Dad wanted all of us to finish college, especially
since Aaron dropped out to work in the mines.” Bree stared down at the table,
unable to meet Jordan’s eyes when talking about their parents. “Matt and Wes
made it and they wanted to see you and me make it too.”

“So why don’t you go back?”

Bree flinched at the accusation in his voice and her own
sense of guilt. “None of you can feel the imps and demons like I can. None of
you could find them without me.” She grimaced. “Plus, it’s been seven years. I
don’t know if I could get back into the groove again.”