Three Days of Night (14 page)

Once the memory ended and our mental contact was broken, we stood there for a moment, gazing up at the stars.

“I could make him your slave,” he offered.

I knew that his offer wasn’t meant to upset me. But a creature like Morgan should never be caged. What was the use in having a scoundrel like Morgan around if he wasn’t there because he wanted to be? The fact that he was not the kind of man to bend to anyone’s will was exactly what I loved about him. Hud made the offer from the bottom of his heart, but I couldn’t accept.

“I don’t want a slave. I want Morgan, of his own free will.”

I had yet to propose to him that we all continue this strange relationship after my three days were up. Maybe he would go along with it. Or maybe this was all just a dream and the instant I stepped back aboard Harsh Reality it would end.

“I’d love to see it rain,” I said suddenly. “Not right now, but before we go. I haven’t seen rain outside a simulator in so long.”

Hud remained silent, just watching me and after a few minutes I felt the need to fill the silence. I had to tell him what I was thinking.

“Do you remember when you asked me if I wanted one wish, just one?”

“Yes.”

“Would you still be willing to grant that wish if it wasn’t for me?”

He looked confused. “What are you talking about?”

I looked up to the balcony above us and saw D looking out at the night, unable to feel its splendor. Such a pity.

“I’ve decided on a wish, but it’s for D.”

Chapter Thirteen

After telling Hud my wish he left me alone in the garden. His only response was, “As you wish.”

Left alone with my thoughts, I kept going over the wish again and again. I believed I had done the right thing. But what was D going to think? I didn’t want to change anything about myself. I didn’t want to take over the world or rule galaxies; I just wanted one of my oldest friends to be able to have something that most people took for granted.

I could feel someone standing behind me and turned to find D. He looked like a statue even more in the midst of the lush garden. His pale blue eyes glowed in the semi-darkness and his white skin seemed to reflect the light of the moon, just like the flowers all around us. He was wearing the same long silver skirt as before and as he moved I saw that his feet were still bare. D was a vision to behold, moving toward me like a dream come to life. His long white hair still floated about his shoulders on a breeze that touched him alone.

I smiled and he moved to stand beside me without a word. D and I had been together for a long time. There wasn’t always a need for words. At least, not between us. He joined me in observing the night for a few minutes before saying, “Tell me what you see when you look at the darkness.”

I took a deep breath. “The night sharpens everything, heightens each sensation. It’s like an awakening. My senses come alive and I am helpless to resist the call. You don’t need eyes to see it. You can feel it. The night reaches out for me and I tremble at its touch.” I turned to look up at him as I finished, “In the dark I become who I truly am.”

“That’s beautiful. So, what’s on your mind?”

Even though he couldn’t fully understand what I was going through, D knew me well enough to know when something was wrong.

I sighed heavily. “I’m just having some … emotions about everything that’s been going on.”

He looked so sad that for a second I regretted my choice of words.

“What’s it like?” he asked softly.

I wanted to cry, but I did my best to tell D everything I was feeling, for Morgan, Hud, and even for him.

“It’s real, but feels like magic. Too much, but never enough. Calming to my senses, yet I’ve never felt anything so savage. It’s unmistakable.”

That was the best I could do. What I felt, it just
was
.

“From what I’ve heard, it sounds a lot like love.”

I turned to face him and wanted with everything in me to make him feel all that I felt.

“I still remember the night I found you.”

“We never spoke much of it. I know what happened, but—”

I reached up to touch his face and he didn’t stop me. “Let me tell you what I saw the first time I looked at you.”

I could feel my eyes darkening to red. I didn’t plan on biting D, but the memory of when I first saw him turned me on so much, I just couldn’t stop my eyes from turning. Being this close to him and finally letting myself feel all of the things I’d held back was causing me to lose control.

“At first, I thought I was dreaming. You were the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.” I smiled, continuing to stroke his face as I spoke. “And you were completely naked. I’m not sure how much you know about what a perfect man is supposed to look like. But if you ever wanted to know, all you have to do is look at your reflection.”

“You found me attractive.”

Although he said it as more of a statement of fact, I chose to answer as if he had asked a question.

“I wanted you. I always have.” I paused before admitting, “I want you still.”

“Why have you never acted on your feelings?”

“Because I didn’t think it would be fair to either of us.”

His eyes held the sadness of one who is completely alone. I would have given my immortality to change that.

“No one wants to be with someone who cannot feel.”

“I can change that, D, if you want me to.”

“What are you saying?”

“I used my wish tonight. I wished for you to be able to experience emotions.”

“You did that for me?”

“Of course.”

Rain began to fall softly, showering the garden around us and making it shimmer beneath the moon. I could feel the thin material of my gown beginning to cling to my body. And I could feel D’s eyes on me when he noticed this too.

“But, I don’t feel anything yet.” I started to lower my hand from his face and he stopped me. There was tenderness in his touch, whether he was aware of it or not. The look in his eyes touched something deep within me, wrenching my very soul with its loneliness. D took my hand and placed it over his heart. “Make me feel, Vivian.”

“As you wish.”

I stood on tiptoe and when I wrapped my arms around him he did not resist. D’s lips were warm and gentle against mine and I savored the feeling. I put everything I felt into that kiss and when I pulled back from him I thought he was going to cry.

“You love me.”

“Yes. I have always loved you. From the moment I found you I knew that one day you would be mine.”

“What about Morgan, about Hud?”

I ran my hand down his abs, marveling at how warm he felt. How was it that a man who looked like stone could feel like velvet?

“Just because you love one doesn’t mean you can’t love another.”

There were definitely tears in his eyes now and not just raindrops.

“I think I’ve always loved you too.”

The way he pulled me to him was nothing short of thrilling. He could feel! I knew he could. No one could kiss like that and not feel something.

The rain was cold and when it caused my nipples to harden against his chest a low growl escaped D’s lips.

“I have no memory of making love,” he said, his voice hoarse with desire, “but I know how it’s done.”

“Show me.”

D’s hands on my thighs felt amazing. He moved upward slowly, raising my gown inch by inch, licking the water from my flesh. When he raised the gown to hip level I shivered. But then he lowered his lips to my pussy and I lost all coherent thought. For someone who didn’t have any memories of ever making love, he was doing a damn good job so far.

He pulled on my flesh, kissing it gently at first, then sucking it into his mouth with a moan.

“Yes, that’s it.”

I placed my hand on his head for balance as he lifted one of my legs over his shoulder. His hair was softer than I had imagined. I had gotten so used to the look of him that I’d started to think of him as actually feeling like stone. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I should have touched him sooner. It had been twenty years since my bare skin had touched his and even then, it was only to help him stand. How had I forgotten the way he felt?

I had given up wondering what it would be like to get next to him. D was right, no one wanted to be with someone who couldn’t feel. But it wasn’t for lack of wanting him. It was because I knew how easy it would be to let myself love him and I didn’t want to get hurt.

The moment he looked up at me I knew that he was mine. The look in his eyes said more than words ever could. There was silence all around. The soft shushing sound of the rain was the only companion to our heavy breathing. But that didn’t matter. Words were not necessary for what I wanted to say to him.

D rose to his feet and took me in his arms again. Long white hair trailed over his shoulders in damp waves, clinging to his throat and chest. I reached behind him and unclasped the garment he wore at the waist. With little effort it fell in a pool around his feet, laying him bare before my eyes once more.

He had no shame. D spread his arms wide, asking silently if he was everything I remembered.

“Perfect,” I whispered.

He held me close, running his hands up my body once more. Only this time he pulled the thin slip over my head and tossed it onto the ground. I smiled as he pulled me against him and when he returned my smile, this time I knew it was genuine.

“I understand now,” he said. “Touching you this way, holding your body against mine. There simply is no other response.”

He was still smiling when he kissed me. I was completely overcome. I had wanted this for so long. Not just for myself of course, but for D. For him to know what it was like. He lifted me and I wrapped my arms and legs around him. The rain that fell between our bodies caused me to slide down and I froze. We both did when the tip of his cock pressed against me.

“I want to know what it feels like to be inside you.”

I relaxed some of the tension in my thighs and let myself slide down onto his rock hard erection. D’s breath caught and the look of rapture on his face was enough to nearly make me come.

I had just begun to move slowly up and down when I saw Hud making his way back into the garden. The look on his face told me how aroused he was by the sight of us. Before I could speak D said, “They’ve been watching.”

“They?”

Morgan stepped out of the shadows behind Hud and was instantly soaked through by the rain. I was so shocked by their appearance that I stopped and D lowered me to the ground.

“It’s all right,” Morgan said.

The dark eye makeup he was wearing had begun to run, leaving a trail of what looked like black tears down his face.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Hud said, “but I took the liberty of discussing things with Morgan.”

“Things?”

I put my hand on D’s chest and realized that I was actually moving to hide behind him. I’d never proposed to someone before that we allow two other men into our relationship. I wasn’t sure how that was supposed to go. But given Morgan’s usual attitude, I was hiding. The rain was soft against my skin and so was the feel of D’s body beside me. I understood then how close I was to everything I wanted.

No matter how afraid I was, this was no time to be a coward. I stepped from behind D and crossed the short distance to where Morgan stood.

“Are you really okay with this?”

He stroked my face. “I don’t own you. Besides, watching the way Hud looks at you breaks my heart.”

That was something I hadn’t expected.

“And how is that?”

“He worships you with his eyes. I can’t hate him or D for wanting the same thing I do.”

I was at a loss for words. After working with him for the past ten years I felt like I knew Morgan fairly well. Then again, I had never gotten to know him on a personal level before. Perhaps my opinion of him was entirely wrong. After all, I’d never been intimate with a wizard before.

Hud stepped up behind me and put his hand against the small of my back. “We want to be with you,” he said.

I glanced back at D. “Yes,” he said softly.

Morgan took my hand and smiled at the look I gave him. “You have a lot to learn about wizards.”

“Do they all like to share their women?” I teased.

“You’re not just any woman.” He gestured toward Hud and D. “And these two, they’re not just ordinary men. We all have more in common than you think. I want all of us to continue whatever it is we’ve started here.”

Hud put his arm around me and I was almost completely enclosed by their bodies. Hud was at my right side, Morgan was in front of me, and D was at my back.

“I was just explaining to Morgan that we must all be joined by magic if we are to keep in touch.”

“It really is the fastest way to get in contact if we should need to,” Morgan agreed. “What’s the use in being close to a djinn if you can’t contact him when you’re in deep space?”

I wasn’t sure where this was going, but something within me stirred. What I felt was beyond arousal. I wanted them to become a part of me.

“What do you suggest?”

“My suggestion is to combine our power, but we need a conductor for such a ritual,” Hud answered.

“You mean me?”

“Yes.”