Dunn, Daisy - Earth's Desire [Elemental Magic 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (3 page)

They had been in town a month, setting up traps and stationing guns in strategic locations on their sprawling property and home. They wanted to be ready. Luke vowed they wouldn’t be caught off guard this time.

Levi had always been the calm, rational thinker between them, while Luke tended to be rash in his reactions. His brother kept him grounded, and together they worked well as a team, getting themselves out of dangerous situations with the hunters over the years.

Luke had finished talking to his brother, who acted mysterious on the phone and hung up abruptly on him. He shrugged his shoulders and continued to pretend to read the paper. He sat in a coffee shop across the street from the magic shop he had quite recently discovered.
This would be exactly the kind of place a hunter would frequent to stock up on wolfsbane and ask questions to the locals.
He would remain vigilant, watching the customers come and go. Even if he only took out one hunter, he would feel his effort well worth his time.

Two hours passed, and boredom had set in. He kept reading the same page of the newspaper over and over, the words not registering anymore.
I guess I’m not cut out for surveillance.

Something caught his attention, and he turned in the direction of a shapely brunette walking bewitchingly down the street. He couldn’t help but stare at her. The sway of her hips in her fitted jeans, the swell of her breasts in her pink T-shirt, and the confidence she carried enticed him. She walked to the magic store and entered. The curve of her ass had been the last glimpse of her, and it burned in his memory. He needed to meet this woman. The pull toward her was greater than any woman had ever pulled at him in the past. She had something unique about her. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he needed to find out what unique quality she possessed before she possessed his heart.

Chapter 2

Ivy knew she had been late for work, spending too much time in the forest this morning. She couldn’t believe what had happened to her. She had always touched nature, and it returned the caress, the love, and the embrace, but never had it touched her intimately. The heat she seemed to be cursed with right now had somehow awakened the plants to take care of her needs as they usually did in so many other ways. Sadly, Ivy came to the disappointing conclusion she should probably not be naked in the forest for a while in her present state.

Deep in thought about the morning’s events, she sauntered through the front door into the store she partially owned with her Elemental sisters, called Elemental Magic.

“I don’t get it. You live closer than any of us, and still you’re always late,” Raine scolded Ivy from behind the front counter. Even with her raven hair pulled back in a high ponytail and her violet eyes squinting, she couldn’t look mean if she tried.

“I know I am. I’m really sorry, but I have a good reason. I need to talk to everyone. Are the others here, too?”

“We’re here,” Flame and Skye called out in perfect unison, rushing out from the stockroom. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t really know how to say this.”

“Spit it out,” Raine commanded in her no-nonsense tone.

“Are any of you feeling strange lately?”

“In what way?” Flame asked as she and Skye walked up behind the counter to join Raine.

“For the past month, I’ve been getting these feelings, urges.” She looked into her friends’ faces, and their blank expressions told her she needed to be more graphic. “You know, sexual urges.”

Still, no comments were forthcoming from her baffled-looking friends, so she continued. “Basically, I feel like I’m going into heat every couple hours. I had insane erotic desires, and this morning, the strangest thing happened to me,” Ivy whispered as she realized there might be some customers in the store right now.

“Don’t worry, hon, we’re alone here. Go on,” Skye said, putting Ivy’s mind at ease.

“You won’t believe this. I went out this morning to go for a walk in the woods, and since the weather warmed up, I decided to spend some time communing in the forest. I removed my clothes and lay down on the earth. The surge of power the earth gave me filled me deep in my soul. Then I went into this confounded heat I’ve been suffering from lately, on the forest floor.”

Ivy watched as all three women leaned closer, seemingly hanging on her words. “The forest felt my needs and supplied me with relief.”

“What do you mean?” Flame asked. She knitted her eyebrows together with a confused look on her face. Her dark-red hair flowed around her like a waterfall, cascading curls spilling over her shoulders and down her arms, and her bright green eyes were full of love.

Ivy could feel her face growing hot with embarrassment. She knew she could talk about anything with her dearest friends, but this intimacy she shared with the earth suddenly seemed so private, as if she were telling secrets about her lover.

“I can feel you wanting to clam up about what happened, but you know you can tell us anything. Now spill it, Ivy,” Raine said as she reached over the counter and gently tapped Ivy’s arm lovingly.

Taking a deep, cleansing breath, Ivy began, “The plants seemed to sense my sexual needs and came to life to fulfill them.”

“Do you mean to say the forest had its way with you?” Skye asked with a shocked expression.

“Well, sort of. It sounds weird when you say it like that.”

“Why don’t you put it in your own words then, so we can understand it?” Flame interjected.

“Some of the plants came to life, as you all know they do when I’m around. Usually the earth senses my moods and either consoles or rejoices with me, depending on the situation. This happened to be the first time I’ve been in a crazy animalistic heat, and it felt my burning need. When I lay on the ground naked, the grass around me became fingers, and the vines, jutting out from the rocks, grew in length. They started to touch me and open me up, and then stroked me until I came. There, I’ve said it. That’s what happened.”

“Oh my God, are you all right?” Raine asked as she came running around the counter to hug Ivy.

“I’m fine. You know the earth would never harm me. She responded to my immediate needs. I think I’ll keep my clothes on for awhile, until this heat goes away.”

“Have you ever felt these sexual urges before?” Skye asked, her glasses sliding down the bridge of her delicate nose.

Ivy couldn’t help but think Skye had a sexy librarian look going on. Her long blonde hair had been piled loosely in bun, and her blue eyes sparkled over the rim of her glasses. Shaking her head to clear her mind of the sexy image, she answered, “No. I mean, I did have urges before. I’m sure all three of you get them, too, but this is different. It’s an all-consuming drive which needs to be satiated right then and there. It’s beyond anything I have ever experienced.”

“Has anything changed in your life lately?” Flame questioned with a quizzical look.

“No, everything’s the same as it has always been.”

“You haven’t been with a man in a few years. Maybe you’re super horny for a sexual encounter,” Skye commented with a wink.

“Thanks for pointing out my pathetic love life.”

“Sorry, Ivy, but I’m trying to find a solution to your dilemma,” Skye replied.

“I do have one theory,” Ivy stated.

“What’s your theory?” they all asked in unison.

“You all know we’re running out of time. The summer solstice ceremony is only four months away, and none of us have found our soul mates. I’m the firstborn out of all of us, so I think the earth is calling me to find a mate. Maybe the burning hunger driving me mad is happening so I’ll look for a partner immediately. If I’m right, since Skye is the next one born, she will be experiencing what I’m going through soon. Then Flame will feel it, and finally Raine. This is just my theory, but it’s the only one I can logically come up with.”

“I hate to admit it, but I think Ivy might be on to something here. We have locked ourselves away in this shop for the past four years, not looking for men or even opening our minds up to the possibility of a relationship. It hasn’t really hit me until lately. Time is running out for us. We need to get out there and socialize more,” Skye said, concern laced through her voice.

“I’ve been too scared to mention anything because none of us have met our soul mates, and I didn’t want to point out the obvious. Honestly, I don’t want to lose my powers, but I didn’t want to pressure you guys into relationships so I can retain my power,” Ivy admitted her concerns to her friends.

“I’ve been feeling exactly the same way, too,” Flame conceded as Raine nodded in agreement.

“All right, then we’re all agreed. We need to change our lives, and we have four months to do it in. That’s not much time to find a soul mate. What should we do first?” Ivy asked her Elemental sisters.

Skye walked around the counter and went up to the front display window in their shop. She pulled a blue piece of paper off the window she had taped there a few weeks ago. Sauntering back to her spot behind the counter, she showed the ladies the notice. “There’s a town dance tomorrow night, and I think we all need to be there. We’ve been here long enough to know some of the residents, but there are so many others we need to meet. We can all go together and support each other. Think about it, our soul mates could all be at the dance, waiting for us to walk in and steal their hearts.”

“You’re such a romantic, Skye,” Ivy said as she shook her head.

“What have we got to lose? I’m in,” Raine stated.

“Me, too,” Flame agreed.

“Count me in, as well,” Ivy concurred with the group. “But if I go into heat while I’m there, I’m holding you personally responsible for my actions, Skye.”

“We’ll all watch you, Ivy. Don’t worry,” Raine said.

Suddenly, the door to the shop opened. They all turned together to face the customer. Standing before her, only a few steps away, stood the sexiest man Ivy had ever seen in her life.

* * * *

I can’t take this anymore.
Luke abruptly stood up, knocking his chair over. All the patrons at the coffee shop turned to look his way. He picked up the toppled chair and placed it upright again. Embarrassed, he left the shop immediately and marched across the main street to the magic shop on a direct mission to meet this mystery woman. The enticing brunette hadn’t left the store, and she’d been in there about ten minutes. When he opened the door, four women, standing by the cash register, turned to face him. He felt as if he stared into a bouquet of beautiful flowers, each one a different, enticing species.

His senses remained on high alert as energy seemed to pour off these women in constant, soothing waves. As gorgeous as all the women were, the brunette stood out to him, calling to his soul. She smiled at him coyly, her perfect white teeth making her ruby lips even redder. His angel stepped forward from the group and broke the silence filling the room. “Hi. Welcome to Elemental Magic. Can I help you?”

Her voice vibrated through his body, singing to his heart.
She’s breathtaking.
He stared at her, taking in every last detail of her being. He didn’t know how to respond. He felt as if a force field of desire, mixed with something else, something magical, trapped him in his steps, and the words in his mouth.

She took another step closer, bridging the gap between them. Her smile faded to a look of concern. Still, he stood awestruck by this petite beauty.

She took a few more steps and reached out her arm to him. Time seemed to have slowed down. He watched her arm rise up from her side, slowly edging closer to his body, the anticipation of her touch paralyzing him with a combination of fear and ecstasy.
Say something, dammit, anything!

She finally made contact with his forearm, gently stroking it, and asked, “Are you all right?” Her touch sent jolts of fire running through his veins, and her voice, a soothing cadence, embraced his soul. He slowly came to the realization she might be his mate.

Luke’s easy-going nature had all but disappeared, leaving him a babbling fool.
“Yes, I’m…ah…I’m fine,” he lied as he found his voice. He would never be fine again. He knew a mate would only complicate things in his dangerous world. But now he had found her, and an all-encompassing passion would draw him to her forever.

“Do you want to sit down?”

Her hand still remained on his arm, her gentle fingertips bringing him to heights of pleasure he never knew existed from such a simple touch.

Regaining his composure and snapping back to reality, he responded, “No, really. I’m all right. I don’t know what came over me. It must be something in the air.”
Something in the air…idiot.

“Can I offer you something to drink, a glass of water or coffee, perhaps?”

“No, thank you. I promise you I’ll be fine.”

She pulled her hand away from his arm, and he felt bereft without her touch.
She’s my mate. Can she feel it, too, I wonder?

“Well, now I know you’re feeling better, what brings you into our shop?”

“Wolfsbane.” He didn’t mean to say it, but it slipped out.

“Ah, aconite, also known as the devil’s hood. I do believe I can help you out there. I think we have some in the back. Since it’s poisonous, we don’t like to keep it out on the store shelves. Are you trying to chase away werewolves?” she asked with a broad smile.