Two Times the Trouble (12 page)

“Damn, I figured you’d guessed. The plan was to make you jealous so you’d realize you screwed up, but I couldn’t stop myself. Everything felt so right.” Reaching to take one of Jolán’s hands in his grasp, Ivan furrowed his eyebrows. “Honey, this ‘having two mates’ thing...Do you really care for both of us, or is it something your family expects you to do?”

She finally looked up. “My family would never force me to choose a mate, or two. I meant what I said. I want both of you.” Her eyes darted from Ivan to Liam. “I guess I should explain how the mating works since you’re claiming you’ll stay. My birthday was on the day of the full moon this year, marking the beginning of my fertility cycle. My sex drive peaks, and my hormones take control. If I find my mate by the third-quarter moon, we’re joined—assuming we take the vows of love, loyalty, and life. If I don’t find my mate or my mate refuses the vows, I have to wait seven years for the next fertility cycle to seek another mate.”

Ivan frowned. “Sounds complicated. You said something about only true mates being able to get you pregnant. How will you know it’s us before the joining? And what’s the vow of life?”

Her voice softened. “A couple of my cousins possess the ability to know if a woman is expecting. We won’t be allowed to go through the joining ceremony if I’m not carrying your children. Only true mates may speak the vows and be joined for life. No divorce. No annulment. The commitment is until parted by death.”

“Wow, your joinings are a hell of a lot stricter than marriage laws.” Ivan seemed to consider the seriousness of taking that leap.

With his heart in his throat, Liam mulled over all the requirements for binding himself to Jolán. “Even if we love each other, we can’t become joined if you aren’t pregnant? That isn’t fair. How would anyone but us know whether or not what we feel is real?”

She heaved a sigh. “My emotions during the fertility cycle can be confusing. When my body is telling me to mate, it doesn’t discern between love and lust. Sexual attraction blurs the lines. Even now, desire is all that matters.”

That explained her aggressive nature during their encounter yesterday morning, and the love-lust line was a bit blurry from his perspective as well. “I guess getting pregnant protects you from joining with the wrong guy then, but I still don’t get why some of the woman in your family have two mates instead of one.”

“Great Grandmother says it has to do with the balance of power in our fight against Kazmer. The final confrontation is building. Every time one of us finds a pair of mates, he tries to prevent the joining from taking place. Before that, he hadn’t interfered since the prophecy predicted the uniting of our family with Sandor’s and Konrad’s clan of warlocks. Great Aunt Magdolna and her true mate, Boldizsár, are finally together after seven cycles of separation.”

A quick calculation of the time Jolán’s aunt and her love had spent apart cramped Liam’s stomach. “They waited forty-nine years to be together? Wait—Sandor and Konrad are warlocks? Okay, I get why you have to erase the memory of anyone who leaves.” Did he dare ask what other not-quite-ordinary people lived in the mansion? “The guys with the swords. Amalric and Ranulf. What are they?”

Her breathy exhale warned him the answer wasn’t one he expected. “They, um, hitched a ride with Lujza when she returned from rescuing a spellbook from the, um, fourteenth century. They’re knights. Grant and Ethan are pirates from the early seventeen hundreds...sort of. They’re also Protectors. Men trained to protect certain witches and their families. Orsolya is their charge.”

Ivan let out a low whistle. “You can travel through time? No wonder you need to keep secrets. Knights and pirates. Geez, we’re only a couple of construction workers.”

She lifted their clasped hands to her cheek and cupped Liam’s jaw with her other hand. “Your occupation isn’t important. Love and lust don’t care about those things. Fate brought us together for a reason, and that we’re still alive is a miracle.”

Turning his head to kiss her palm, Liam had to agree. “Kazmer meant to kill us, didn’t he? He wanted to stop us from discovering we’re mated. Why else would he make a house fall down on us?”

The hope in Jolán’s eyes made him determined to convince her he was right. Any other alternative was unacceptable.

Squeezing toothpaste on his toothbrush, Ivan tried to focus on the present, but the complications of his relationship with Jolán wouldn’t rest in his mind. His brother seemed to accept the oddities and dangers of living as a Macska life-mate without hesitation. Witches, warlocks, time travelers, Protectors, and shifters. What other surprises would jump out at them?

Liam had experience being in love, even if the bimbo in question had taken him for a nasty ride. Ivan had nothing but his mother’s failed marriages to look to for examples of commitment. He hadn’t expected to be told he had less than a week to fall in love, become a daddy-to-be, and get hitched. Without a doubt, Jolán had captured his interest and affection. The sex was phenomenal, plus or minus the kinky factor.
But do I have it in me to give up my heart that fast?

Time wouldn’t wait for him to take things slow, though. He had to jump in the deep end or get out. No middle ground. Common sense told him that if he chose to get out, he’d never see Liam or Jolán again. He had a lot more to lose than gain by leaving.
I said I wasn’t letting anybody screw with my memories, and as rash as that statement was, I’m sticking to it.

He rinsed the sink then returned to the bedroom, where Jolán already lay in the huge bed and Liam stood waiting for his turn in the bathroom. As his brother closed the door, Ivan stripped off the clothes a couple of the men in the household had retrieved from the mangled camper.

“You’ve been quiet since I explained about my family.” Jolán’s eyes seemed to follow his every movement. “I promise we don’t use our craft very often. Most days, the only ones casting spells and incantations are the novices. They practice with their mentors starting at sixteen years old. We have to learn, in case something happens, like when Kazmer attacked.”

Slipping under the sheet, he adjusted the pillow behind his back to lean against the headboard. “Your being a witch doesn’t bother me. I’m worried—well, not actually
worried
, more like...
concerned
—about length of time we have to get to know each other before the joining ceremony. I figured we’d have a couple months at least.”

She paled, her fists clutching the covers. “I thought you...I don’t want you to leave.”

Letting his instincts lead him, he gathered her in his arms. “I’m not leaving. I don’t know if I can fall in love in less than week, though. Hell, I’ve never been in love before. How does everybody in your family make it happen so fast?”

“I don’t know.” He almost missed her whispered words. “It isn’t as easy as I thought it would be. My hormones are confusing me. I’m afraid I won’t be able to tell the difference between desire and love.”

That she shared some of his uncertainties soothed his anxiety a little bit. “I guess we’ll deal with it together. The three of us.”

Her warm lips on his bare chest sent a shiver to his balls. “Yes, the three of us.”

Trailing his fingertips along the silky skin of her upper arm, he savored the throbbing pulse in his hardening cock. “No more making love to your gorgeous ass until tomorrow. I don’t want to make you sore. How about if Liam and I take turns in your pussy tonight?”

She rubbed her foot up his calf and pressed her damp cunt against his thigh. “What if I want to give Liam a blow job while you fuck me?”

A low moan came from behind Ivan. “I don’t have a problem with that.” Liam rounded the end of the bed, smiling as he slid in the other side. “No such thing as too much of that sexy mouth.”

His infatuated expression ate at Ivan’s gut. His brother was obviously crazier about Jolán than he’d ever been about Apryl. Why did emotion come so much easier for him?
I don’t need a shrink to answer that question.
Vivian Janokov-King-Pattison-Longwood-Fuller-Standish had taught Ivan to be cautious with his heart. Open and willing didn’t necessarily equal head over heels with every woman he was attracted to.

Jolán was right about true love being for life, and rushing into a relationship usually meant making mistakes. They had no time for missteps. Their one shot had to occur practically overnight.

Ignoring the doubts, Ivan put his mind to celebrating still being alive after having part of a house collapse on him. He lifted her chin and bent forward to meet her sweet lips. Her teasing tongue had him opening to spar with her. First, he dove in with a quick, forceful swipe, followed by a slow glide and a thorough taste of her cool, minty mouth.

He traced the graceful curve of her lower lip before kissing a path along her jaw and down her neck. Pausing at her collarbone, he breathed in the subtle flowery scent of her skin, closing his eyes to let the summery fragrance draw him into the dream world of infinite pleasure. Each kiss took him to new territory. Smooth, silky skin led the way to the fullness of her tits. A puckered nipple tightened even more as he traced circles around and around the tip.

She arched upward, pressing the taut berry against his cheek. “Lick and suck me, Ivan.”

Not wanting to deny her anything, he obeyed her instructions, savoring the bumpy texture and her feminine moans. Sweeping his hand over her flat stomach, he dipped between her thighs. Heat radiated from her pussy, and slick moisture eased his entrance into her snug tunnel. Her muscles gripped his finger, squeezing in fitful pulses.

He withdrew and glided between her folds to find her clit. Her abdominals contracted as he slid through the wetness to her neatly trimmed bush.

She groaned again. “I want your cock, Liam. I need you in my mouth. Don’t stop, Ivan.”

Were her hormones behind all the passion? Did it matter?

Glancing up at her as Liam leaned forward to kiss, Ivan pushed aside every thought but pleasing her. He flicked his tongue across her nipple and caressed the swollen bud between her thighs. Each circular motion spread more of her juices over the bundle of nerves. When she came and he slid inside her, she’d be so damn wet that he’d probably shoot his load in seconds.

Liam gasped, telling Ivan that Jolán had wasted no time going down on his brother. Her muscles shuddered as she arched and let out a muffled cry. A couple more flutters and strokes drew another longer cry.

Unable to resist the call of her body, Ivan shifted to settle in the vee of her legs, lifting her hips to position himself at her entrance. With a single thrust, he buried his cock in her still-quivering pussy. His lungs seized for several moments. “God, honey, you feel amazing.”

Grabbing for the headboard, Liam leaned his head back to roll on his shoulders. “Where did you learn that thing you’re doing with your tongue, sweetheart? Skip the finesse and make her come again, Ivan. I’m about to explode.”

More than ready to give her more pleasure, Ivan set a beat that had his heart pounding in his chest and his eyes seeing spots. Every advance took him balls-deep. Her sweet cunt clutched at his dick, building pressure in his nuts, and he grasped her ass tighter to steady himself.

Liam’s labored breathing changed to a roar, and he stiffened as Jolán trembled and jerked upward. Her scream sent Ivan tumbling over the edge. He plunged into her one last time before letting out a throaty yell and surrendering to the blast of euphoria. His panting echoed in his ears. He struggled to keep from falling on the one woman who could make him try to love.

Lying beside her, he waited for slow, even inhales and exhales before he finally relaxed.

Did she love him and Liam? Liam certainly seemed to have dived in heart first.

She’d engaged Ivan’s mind and body, but could he give her the rest of him?

* * * *

Easing from between her lovers, Jolán shrugged into her robe as she slipped out of the bedroom to stand at the sitting room window. She couldn’t see the illuminated section of the moon from her vantage point, but she didn’t need a reminder that only one more day remained.

Five amazing days had passed since she and her men had barely escaped the collapse of the new wing, and love had blossomed in her heart to blend with nearly unappeasable desire. Every night and day she’d spent getting to know them had reinforced her instinct that they were her true mates. Her greatest concern—her men accepting that she was a witch—had been a nonissue.

Tomorrow marked the end of her fertility cycle. Her third-quarter moon ceremony would take place in the evening, and she had no idea whether she would be allowed to join with both Liam and Ivan. The lighter brother, her first lover, had spoken the words she’d needed to hear. Although she’d told her men that she loved them last night, only Liam had responded. Ivan had given her a gentle smile, but he’d tensed and stayed silent. Didn’t he share her feelings?

She wiped away a tear that tried to trail down her cheek, and her stomach cramped at the thought of not spending the rest of her life with him. Doubts crowded around the certainty that both brothers were her life-mates. Only one method of determining the truth came to mind.

Tightening the tie at her waist, she quietly opened the door to the main corridor of the wing. She turned the knob to keep it from clicking as she pulled the door closed behind her. The short trek to the stairway and the second floor took less than a minute. At Lujza’s apartment, she raised her hand to knock.