Magic of Three (2 page)

Chapter Two

“Another nightmare?” a rich, deep voice asked from the graying darkness behind him, breaking through the haunting wail of sax music.

Julian Stern took another sip of scotch, letting the amber burn spread from his tongue to his stomach and outward. With luck, and enough strong alcohol, maybe he’d be able to sleep undisturbed through the rest of the night. Gods knew staring blindly out the window at the twinkling neon stars wasn’t helping. The glittering skyline couldn’t block out his dark dreams.

One of Tim’s hands slid down Julian’s bare shoulder while the other swept through his hair, ruffling the longer top. Tim bent down to place a tender, flesh-quivering kiss on Julian’s throat, sending shivers through his body. “Was it the same one, or was there more this time?”

“The same,” Julian growled, closing his eyes as he leaned back into his lover’s embrace and tried to block out images of destruction, shattered bodies and rivers of blood. He didn’t know how he’d survived so long in this lifetime without the other man’s core of strength to support him, the feel of Tim’s hard hands soothing his vision-ravaged body. Even the scent of the other man’s cologne, spicy and bold, eased his stressed senses. Only two years together and he felt as though he’d known Timothy Mercer for an eternity.

Of course, in a way he had.

He closed his eyes and let Tim massage his temples, willing his frazzled body to relax. “It’s worse now. I can see what happened through her eyes. I feel her pain, her despair. I know how much we—no,
I
—hurt her. She knew how you felt about her. You were open and honest. Your love was never the issue. She didn’t know how I felt, didn’t know how much she meant to me.”

Julian looked over his shoulder, agony twisting his face as he remembered a past he couldn’t change. “She died alone, Tim. If the spell hadn’t worked she should’ve died in our arms. She should’ve known only true love in those last moments. Instead she died alone, believing herself unloved.”

“The past is the past,” Tim whispered, his own voice tight with unspoken emotion. He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Julian, burying his face in his lover’s neck. “You’ve gotta to let it go.”

Julian allowed Tim’s words to sink in as he stared out the window of their condo. From the thirtieth floor of the building, the neon glitz of the Strip spread out like a fairytale land. Every form of human temptation, heavy on the greed and lust, lay there for the taking. But no amount of mindless entertainment could distract him from his burning guilt.

“You know it’s not that easy,” he whispered before tossing his head back without dislodging Tim’s embrace and letting another shot of scotch burn through him. “I’ve seen it, Tim. Apocalypse is coming again. If we can’t find her, can’t get her to trust us and love us, we lose. We all lose.”

His lover stopped touching him, comforting him. For a half-drunken moment Julian worried that he’d frightened Tim, sent him running as he had their Third. Instead Tim stalked around the couch to crouch on the russet fur rug by Julian’s feet. Tim laid his head on Julian’s thigh and wrapped his arm around his bare legs. “So we find her.”

“Don’t you think I’ve tried?” Julian asked, fighting against the urge to pull away, withdraw into himself. Resisting the urge to throw his glass against the wall and rage against his helplessness. But Tim didn’t deserve his anger. “She’s hiding from me. Her powers are hiding her from me.”

Tim let go of Julian’s legs and crawled up to sit next to him. He took the rattling scotch from his partner’s hand and deposited it on the side table. Flipping over, he curled his body like a well-loved cat, laying his head across Julian’s lap. With a soft light glowing in his eyes, he reached up to run his fingers over a well-loved, whisker-roughened cheek. “We hurt her, Julian. By not telling her what we felt deep in our hearts, by protecting her too much, we hurt her, devastated her. She cowers from half-remembered pain, not from us.”

Julian couldn’t resist the comfort of his touch, the large hand caressing his face. He leaned into the firm stroke, relishing what little reassurance he could. “Whatever she’s hiding from, time’s running out. God help us all if she isn’t in Vegas.”

“If this is the time and this is the place, then she’s here.”

Hope and realism waged bitter war. Julian wanted Tim to be right, yearned for him to be right. But it felt too much like wishful thinking. “It’s a big city, Tim. A very big city.”

Tim cupped Julian’s face with both hands, forcing his eyes away from the window. His fingers slid across Julian’s lips, leaving a burning trail of longing in their wake. “We’ll find her. That much is destiny. Everything else is choice.”

“But what’ll she choose this time? Will she leave us again?”
Will she rip out our hearts again
?

Ever the joy-filled optimist, Tim’s irresistibly devastating smile projected his utter belief in their powers of persuasion. “This time we tell her the truth. This time we let her in. We don’t have to make the same mistake.”

Julian pulled his face away and stared once more into the darkening shadows. His hands tightened into white-knuckled fists. “I don’t want it to end again.”

“It won’t. We won’t let it. This time we’ll be able to enjoy a full life together.”

Tim came to his knees, balancing precariously to face Julian. He took his lover’s face in his hands once more, turning it toward him. Julian knew what he was up to but he was damned if he’d stop him. The comfort of Tim’s strong, trim and athletic body blocked his thoughts. The anxiety gnawing away at the edges of his mind calmed.

Tim’s lips met his own. Hard but gentle. Rough yet soft. Familiar and comforting. He opened his mouth to the soft invasion, the exploration of each moist recess, closing his eyes against the harsh nightmares.

Julian reached forward, dragging Tim into his arms. He sought solace in the comfort of a warm embrace, the feel of the other man’s sinewy body against his bare chest. A groan accompanied the hands lacing around the back of his head and crushing him into the kiss.

The crisp smells of aftershave and Tim’s soap filled his senses as he closed his eyes to the darkness building in the outside world. He was safe with Tim. Tim’s lips rubbed warmly against his own in an extended, drugging kiss. Tim’s tongue reached in and plumbed every secret crevice of his mouth. Seconds stretched into minutes, lost in the pleasure of lips, teeth and tongue. Spirals of growing ecstasy.

Tim pulled back, trailing nibbling kisses across Julian’s cheeks. “I love you,” he whispered before pushing Julian across the couch.

Julian allowed himself to fall. It would’ve taken no effort for him to assume the more dominant role. No matter how many hours in the gym the other man put, Julian was physically stronger than Tim. A harder life gave some gifts, like large, ropy muscles. But Julian needed to feel overpowered. He needed the weight of the world, or at least his small part of it, off his shoulders. Someone else could take control for a while.

Tim knew exactly what he needed.

With a quick pull, his lover tugged off his boxers. Julian’s groan of relief as his bulging erection sprang free of its silk bindings brought a voracious smile to Tim’s face. “Somebody’s happy to see me. Very happy, and about to be happier.” He licked his lips and stared coquettishly up through lowered lids. “Better hang on, lover. Time to fly.”

Tim felt the power surging through his blood, the power to pull his lover out of his dark thoughts, out of his mind.

He wasted no time reaching down and taking Julian’s rigid cock in a firm, knowing grip. He knew how to bring the man to his knees with one ruthless caress. “You like it nice and hard, just this side of rough and brutal. Bring you fast. Have you shooting in minutes.”

“Oh gods, that feels so good. Gonna make me come so good.” Julian thrust his hips up as Tim leaned down to lap at the very tip of his cock while pumping his hand slowly, so slowly. The salty taste danced across his tongue, a testament to his effect on his self-controlled lover. Each steely stroke sent Julian’s balls tighter, closer to his thick, angry purple cock. Tim knew how Julian loved the sweet, rough torment, how close to bursting he really was.

Now time to switch tactics, Tim thought as a wicked grin danced across his face.

Tim relaxed, taking a deep breath before he let Julian’s thick cock slide down his throat. Julian nearly came off the couch as he swallowed, forcing his silky slick muscles to twist around the lengthy, broad cock before hollowing his cheeks in slick suction, ending as the mushroom head met the seal of his lips. Julian wove his fingers through Tim’s thick golden locks, holding his head down as he begged and whimpered.

Tim answered the pleading by slurping down again and humming, knowing how those vibrations would feel on his lover’s straining cock. Incoherent words of pleasure tumbled from Julian’s lips as Tim sucked him deep. Throat muscles rippled around his pulsing cock in a wet clinch.

Julian’s back bowed, his head pounding into the couch cushions. Pressure built, erasing all thought, all cares. His whimpers filled the air. He wanted release, needed release. Fought against release. “Tim, no more,” he gasped, hands falling helpless to his side, grasping at couch cushions. “No more. Can’t stop. You have to. No more.”

“Then come. I’ll take it. I’ll take whatever you got to give.” With that said Tim sucked even harder, swallowing the swollen cock head. Lightning skittered up Julian’s spine, his balls clenching tight, struggling to release. With a harsh groan, spasms racked his body. Tim swallowed splash after splash of Julian’s warm cum. His skillful tongue licked up the last few drops dotting his lips.

Julian opened his eyes to stare at his gloating lover. Love and promise as well as a spark of an infinitely deep if indefinite emotion filled his gaze. “Give me a moment to recover.”

Tim’s infectious grin peeked out as he wiggled back to lean against the arm of the couch. His smile warmed the last bleak places frozen in Julian’s heart. “Don’t worry about me. This was about you. You needed it. Not that I’d refuse if you really want to do me. I’m loving, not crazy.”

Julian let his head fall back as he basked in Tim’s unconditional love. Friendship, loyalty, caring and desire. These feelings marked every lifetime he spent with Tim.

If only she were as constant.

Chapter Three

“Hey, love,” a playful voice yelled in her ear over the pounding beat of the punk song blasting through the darkened, smoke-filled room. “Your friend looks like she could use some loosening up. Twenty bucks and I’ll put a smile on her pretty little face.”

Without hesitation Lisa Harrington reached into her purse, an evil, impish grin spreading. The male stripper was right. After being married to the slug for five years her newly divorced friend, Janice, did need to loosen up. That was the point of this whole outing, a Happy Divorce Day party.

And Lisa intended to make sure Janice’s day was happy indeed. Positively electrifying. She might not be able to punch out the jerk who’d hurt her oldest, dearest and almost only good friend but at least she could take the haunted look off Janice’s face for a few hours. Still, she’d prefer the bloodier option.

The dark-haired man in the black felt cowboy hat tucked Lisa’s twenty into his shiny black leather g-string, letting his hand linger on his skin to emphasize his bulging package. His eyes roved over her body and he licked his lips, showing appreciation for the man-eating red dress she’d picked as a colorful form of camouflage before winking and turning to Janice. He stalked forward in rhythm with the music, his hips undulating in a provocative dance. Janice’s eyes widened like a deer trapped, frozen, in headlights. The stripper tossed his taut leg over her lap, pinning her to her plush chair. He licked his lips and braced his hands on her chrome chair back.

Janice was trapped.

But oh, to be trapped like that. Public anonymity. Music pumping hot through your veins. Sweaty male flesh writhing over your body. People cheering you on as he grabs your hand and forces you to slap his hard, luscious, flexing ass. Just watching her friend basking in the center of attention made Lisa hot.

Too bad she wasn’t entirely comfortable with the whole lap dance idea. She wanted it but at the same time didn’t like the idea of being so exposed, even among friends.

Pure sexual haze followed by soul-shaking release. Nothing in the world compared. But the possibility of public humiliation…

Lisa almost wished she still had a husband at home waiting to fulfill her every need. Almost. But then again, Sam had never thought much about her needs anyway, greedy, insensitive bastard. She was better off with her realistic-looking, if a tad beyond natural size, vibrator with its nice little rabbit ears. It was always there when she needed it, with the exception of dead batteries. And it was never unfaithful. Guaranteed clean and non-threatening.