Magic of Three (29 page)

The bed shifted beneath her as Tim sat down, crooning. “Don’t worry so much. This is about pleasure, nothing bad. Making a connection with other human beings, people you care for. What’s to worry about?”

“I don’t know. According to you the fate of the world comes to mind.” She cringed at her own halfhearted nervous laugh following her words. “I mean, talk about performance anxiety.”

Julian stepped forward, sat beside her and took her cool hand. “You don’t need to worry,” he told her as he rubbed warmth back into her nerve-cooled skin. “Performance isn’t part of this. Just leave everything to us. All you have to do is focus on what is important. Emotion. Trust. Love.”

“Love?” she squeaked, heart thumping at the impact of the full meaning of the word.
I don
’
t know if I can do this
.
I don
’
t know if I
’
m capable of going there
.
Sex is one thing
,
but love
? “Isn’t that going a little fast, even to save the world?” she added with a forced chuckle.

“You tell me,” Julian responded, reaching out to smooth her hair across his pillow, a sheet of pure silver sparkling across a field of black satin. “I knew how I felt the moment I saw you, just like it was with Tim. I love you. The more I learn about you, the longer I know you, the deeper that love becomes. When this is over it will still be the three of us together. Why shouldn’t what we’re about to do be about love?”

Lisa felt tears well up, her chest tightening against her next breath. Not a good start for some mystical sex magic. But her heart ached. No one had wanted her before, not really. Why should it be different now? “But you two have each other,” she whispered, closing her eyes against the pain lashing through her heart.

Two sets of hands grasped hers, holding her in the present, forcing back the pain and fear of the past. Heartfelt warmth soothed her frayed nerves. Caring and acceptance filled her heart. “Don’t run from us, sweetheart,” Tim pleaded, kissing her knuckles. “Not even in your mind.”

“That’ll mess with the magic, huh?” she whispered, gripping the men’s hands, a drowning woman going down for the final count.

“Yes but that’s not the point,” Tim answered, eyes filled with a strange deep sorrow. An emptiness echoed in her own heart as Tim continued, “I have room in my heart for you and Julian. Don’t you have room for both of us? That’s the real question, the only uncertainty. You’re the one who ran from us before. Please don’t do that to us again.”

“Tim!” Julian snapped, glaring at the other man. But he didn’t let go of Lisa’s hand. He shared his strength with her even as he snarled at his other lover.

Tim stood his ground, staring down at her as waves of pain flowed out of him, enveloping her and bringing her to her mental knees. “She should know, Julian. We’ve told her so much already. We didn’t tell her everything before and we lost her.
We
lost her. I couldn’t stand it and survive. I don’t want to have that happen again. Do you?”

“You guys keep talking about past lives and how everything went to hell before, literally. But beyond the obvious fall of Atlantis, which I still don’t know if I buy yet, you haven’t told me much. What happened to us the last time?” Lisa asked, wanting to understand the sudden oppressive heaviness filling the room, sucking out all the joy she should be feeling.

“You thought exactly what you’re thinking now,” Tim answered, ignoring the heated looks shooting from the other man. “I love Julian. Julian loves me. We’ve played this game many times and we’ve always failed because of a lack of trust. In the end our bond is too weak.”

Lisa didn’t have to consider that long to find the problem. It had been the foremost question in her mind since hooking up with the two men. “Where do I fit in?” she asked, rubbing her chest with her free hand, heart aching even more than it had before.

Tim nodded, scooting closer to her to reach out and soothe his other palm down the side of her face. “Exactly. I don’t remember the past the way Julian does. I’m in the dark, like you, at least beyond what he’s told me. But I still have the feelings dragging behind me. Weighing me down. I know I loved you. I know you left us and it broke my heart. We lost everything. The demons came and people died. We died. But I don’t remember any of that. All I remember on my own is the pain of you leaving, the empty hole left in the wake.”

Lisa propped herself up on her elbows, pulling her hands out of theirs. She looked at the two precious faces. One dark, sharp and strong, filled with the heaviness of responsibility thrust upon him much too young. One light, shining and mischievous, his playfulness hiding a deep scar of abuse and mistrust. Even without the mystical mumbo jumbo could she turn these two precious men down without trying? Could she run before she got hurt? Or would she hurt herself more by avoiding pain?

Did she want to give up?

Lisa swallowed, loosening her tight throat. She reached up and cupped Tim’s face, letting his myriad emotions wash through her, pure and clean. The power in him amazed her. The love in him shocked her.

Another hand reached out for her face, turning her away from Tim to Julian. “I need to know now,” he whispered, his voice echoing with pit of need. She might not be able to feel his emotions like she could Tim’s but she knew a ripping heart when she saw it.

“Before the ritual?”

Julian’s face hardened, his grip on her chin tightening almost painfully. “Damn the ritual,” he snarled. “We could leave now and let the city burn for all I care. I need to know how you feel, this minute. I do remember the past. I remember the look on your face as you ran from us. I wake up every night with that memory gutting me. Every single night for as long as I have dreamed. I remember the tears flowing down your cheeks as betrayal ripped you from us. I can’t go through that again. I won’t survive it. Even with Tim here for me I can’t face that pain.”

Raw anguish filled Julian’s face, painful to even look at. Something warm grew and turned in Lisa’s chest, twisting like a living thing and expanding without pain. Open and loving Tim. Controlled but deeply passionate Julian. Stay or go, she loved these two men.

She loved them both.

“Then let’s not think about the past,” she replied, reaching out to wrap her arms around both men, both lovers. “Let’s forget about the future. Let’s wipe out everything but the three of us. Do what you have to and start this ritual but then I want you here, now, with me.”

Julian relaxed for the first time since entering the room. Joy cut through the harsh edges of his face as his smile spread. With a nod he stood, walking to the wardrobe and bringing out a small wooden chest. Opening it, he pulled out several white candles and sticks of incense.

The man was stuck on candles and incense. Must be an Atlantean fixation. What, they weren’t advanced enough to have electricity?

As Julian placed the candles and incense around the room, muttering to himself and counting paces, Tim tossed his t-shirt over his head. Gleaming skin and contracting muscles distracted Lisa for a moment before he bent over to pull his pants off. She wasn’t overly surprised to see that he didn’t wear underwear. Pleased but not surprised. Still she had to tease as he lay down naked next to her, reaching for her blouse.

“Aren’t you getting ahead of yourself?” she asked as his fingers tripped across her buttons, popping them one by one.

“Just getting you ready,” he answered, staring up at her with that bit of devilment dancing in his eyes. Her heart skipped at the sight like that of a teenage girl with her first crush. “Don’t want a cold start.”

Lisa’s laugh melted into a moan as his hands slid down her arms, peeling her blouse off and tossing it over his shoulder. “I somehow don’t think cold is going to be a problem with you two around.” She gasped, her nipples pebbling beneath more black lace. Never had she felt such desire from a simple caress.

“Count on it,” he whispered, leaning in for a kiss as his arms wrapped around her to reach the back clasp of her bra.

Lisa shivered, abandoning herself to the sensation of bare skin on bare skin. She whimpered as he moved back, taking her bra with him.

“Damn, you’ve got great breasts,” Tim said, eyes devouring her chest. “Fucking wonder of nature.”

Lisa blushed but kept her arms lying at her side. “Well, now you know. Not that you didn’t see them last time. Be happy.”

“Oh, I plan on being more than just ‘happy’,” he replied with a leer.

The silliness of a leer on his almost angelic face killed any nervousness. Lisa sent him a coy look under lowered lids. “Well then, let’s see some action,” she replied, putting in every ounce of husky tone into her voice that she could muster.

“Your wish is my command.”

Tim pulled her pants off with a quick tug, tossing them halfway across the room. He smiled at her choice of panties, fingers caressing where cloth met skin. “Love the black lace but it’s gotta go.”

“Impatient much?” she teased as she arched up her hips to help him. “What happened to slow easy foreplay?”

“Julian’s almost done with the prep work,” Tim murmured, sliding the damp slip of lace inch by inch down her thighs. “If I want any alone time with you it’s gotta be now.”

Lisa resisted the urge to cover herself with her hands, covering her insecurity with teasing words instead. “But I thought you didn’t like to work alone.”

“Oh, I don’t mind working you alone,” he replied, licking his way from her pelvic bone to flick at the skin below her breast. “It’s just more fun with three. I thought we already taught you that.”

“Looks like I need to be reminded,” Lisa gasped, arching ever-so slightly.

“We have the rest of our lives to remind you,” Julian said as he came to stand at the head of the bed between the two posts.

“Damn,” Tim cursed, moving back to let the cool air dance across her skin. “Done already?”

Julian grinned at the disgruntled Tim. “Don’t worry, you have more time.”

“Oh,” he nodded, moving back to loom over Lisa’s supine and hungry form, “you still have to get with the chanting?”

She shot Tim a puzzled look. Again his boyish grin broke through the golden god persona. “He has the memories so he gets to play high priest, which I think is kinda like being a glorified porn director. Calling action and keeping track of everything.”

Lisa rubbed her naked thighs together and sat halfway up. Hot nectar pooled between her legs. She was ready for action but not sure how to get him to put out. Did they wait? Did Julian tell them what to do? Exactly how choreographed was this ritual and when did the fun stuff start? “Director, hmm. Didn’t think we were filming this. You should give a girl some warning.”

Tim crawled up beside her. But he didn’t take her right away. Instead he tapped the very tip of her nose. “Naughty, naughty girl. Maybe some other time. What it means is this starts out with you and me. He gets to provide background for most of it.”

“Okay, nice to know,” Lisa replied, looping her arms around his neck and grazing the hard tips of her breasts against his smooth warm chest. “But when do you get to the good part?”

“The good part?” he asked, running one hand up and down her bare leg.

“You know. The part where you start fucking me already. Or at least more touching or something. I’m getting all cold and shivery.”

Tim grinned. “We can’t have that.”

That was all the warning he gave her before pouncing. He pushed her, giggling, down into the huge satin comforter. His hands grasped her wrists, stretching her arms above her head, arching her body into his as he tossed his leg over her. Then he kissed her.

Damn, but the man knew how to kiss. No gentle teasing seduction. No playful nibbles. His mouth ate at hers, devouring her and sucking out her soul. Tongue grazing between lip and teeth then plunging in deep, conquering and memorizing each dark wet crevice.

Lisa’s mind crashed around her. Everything centered on the feel of his plundering mouth against her own. Wave after wave the erotic pleasure grew.

After an enticing eternity he pulled back, panting. “I’ll make sure you don’t regret this, that you don’t regret us. We’ll give you everything we have, make you crave more. And you’ll stay with us. Even after. You have to stay with us.”

“Why?”

Tim pushed up, bracing himself with his arms so he could rack her with his poignant, soulful gaze. “Because we need you. We’re better with you than we are without you.”