MoonlightTemptation (7 page)

So far, not so much.

“Dinner was…interesting.”

“That sounds cryptic. Wait— Hold up a sec. You’re not
holding the spell long enough for it to catch.”

“No, I just can’t seem to make it strong enough.” She sighed
and shook out her hand, which tingled from being held outstretched for so long.
“And I’m not being cryptic. It
was
interesting.”

“Try closing your eyes when you say the spell. Sometimes
that helps me to focus the energy. Try and hold that energy in before you
release it to spark the wick. Interesting how?”

With a sigh, Evie shook her head. How much did she tell a
seventeen year old about her love life?

Which wasn’t really much of a love life?

She’s kissed a guy. Okay, she’d kissed two guys…

And that wouldn’t shock a girl whose parents had been in a
ménage when she’d been conceived.

Cat groaned. “You’ve got that look on your face again.”

Evie blinked and consciously cleared her expression. But she
knew it was too late. “What look?”

“That ‘How much can Cat handle look?’” The girl huffed and
narrowed her gaze at Evie. “You do know I’m seventeen years old and I wasn’t
raised in a nunnery, right?”

“I know, Cat. I’m sorry, it’s just this thing with Dane and
Ryan has me all…” She shook her hands in front of her. “I don’t know.”

“Well, I know you’ve always had a thing for Dane. And now
you’re attracted to Ryan and that confuses you. I get it. But you know it
doesn’t have to be an either-or deal, right? It’s not like Ryan and Dane
haven’t shared the same girl before.”

Evie’s mouth dropped open but she couldn’t produce a word.
Her brain ground to a halt.

Cat’s eyes widened. “Oh. You didn’t know. Oh, shit, my bad.”

Evie barely heard Cat’s wincing apology as she considered
all the implications of Cat’s revelation.

Evie was far from innocent though she’d never been involved
in a ménage. Had never met two men she’d been attracted to at the same time.

And now that she had…

Could she really have both of them?

Was that what
they
wanted?

Blinking, she finally looked back at Cat, who smiled at her
tentatively.

“Evie? Are you okay?”

ABBA crooned about taking chances, which Evie thought was
eerily right on target.

“I’m fine.”

Cat took a deep breath, which Evie heard even over the
music. “Do you think you want to try the spell again?”

The spell? What— Oh, that spell.

“Sure.”

The spell flashed through her mind and her lips moved
silently as she recited it.

But her mind wasn’t anywhere near to being concentrated on
the spell.

Those kisses from last night ran through her mind. Ryan
hadn’t kissed her again after that first, chaste peck this morning, probably
because John kept staring at him, ready to take him down if Ryan accidentally
brushed against her.

Damn, what would her brother think—

“Whoa, Evie.” Cat’s hushed voice held a note of excitement
that snapped Evie’s attention back to her. “Holy crap.”

Evie looked first at Cat’s awestruck face then at the candle
flaming between them. “Hey! I got it.”

The glow of satisfaction warmed her. Finally that damn spell
had worked. What had she done differently?

She looked back at Cat to ask that question and felt some of
her excitement slip at Cat’s awed expression.

“Cat, what’s wrong?”

The girl just shook her head. “Um, nothing’s wrong.
Exactly.”

Then she pointed tentatively over Evie’s shoulder in the
direction of the living room.

Frowning, Evie spun on her heel…

And drew in a short, sharp breath.

Every single candle in the room was lit.

She hadn’t realized how many there were. Short ones on the
coffee table, tall ones on the fireplace mantel, votives on the bookshelves.

“Oh shit.” She turned back to Cat. “Did I do that?”

“Yeah, you did.”

“Oh shit.”

“Yeah.” Cat’s tone held a whole lot of awe. “I’d say that’s
about right.”

* * * * *

“Hello, Evie. Can we come in?”

Dane and Ryan stood on her front porch. Neither man looked
happy.

Dane looked tall and stern, his dark eyes cool. Not cold,
just unreadable. At least Ryan looked sympathetic and that worried the shit out
of her.

Even so, her heart gave a little jump in her chest.

A smile curved her lips, completely unforced, but when they
just stood there, waiting for her to invite them in, it died a quick death.

“Is something wrong?”

After a second’s hesitation, Dane shook his head. “Nothing’s
wrong. I just need to talk to you.”

Ooh-kay. That sounded ominous. And why had he brought Ryan?

Waving the men into the house, she closed the solid oak door
behind them then leaned back against wood. The scent of snuffed candles still
lingered in the air and she watched Dane’s nose twitch as his eyes narrowed.

It’d taken her and Cat a few minutes to blow out every
candle in the house. Her spell had worked really,
really
well. She
hadn’t even realized there were candles on top of the armoire in the bedroom
until today.

When neither of them said anything, she rushed to fill the
silence. “Spell practice with Cat. We, uh, got a little carried away.”

Dane nodded, watching her with an intensity that was
starting to make her really nervous. “How’s that going? Are you making
progress?”

She snorted and pushed away from the door, heading for the
kitchen. “Sure, I’m making progress, if you call lighting every candle in the
house without meaning to progress. Would you guys like something to drink?”

“Sure, Evie, thanks,” Ryan said.

Dane just nodded.

The old “Coffee, tea or me” phrase ran through her head and
she had to bite her tongue before it escaped.

Cat’s revelation earlier today had really knocked her
off-kilter.

“Coffee? Or soda?”

She knew Dane mainlined Coca Cola. And it just so happened,
she always stocked Coke in her fridge. And no, that was not a coincidence.

Maybe she really did need a psychiatrist.

“Soda, for both of us.” Dane paused then sighed. “Look,
Evie, we need to talk and I’m not quite sure how to begin.”

Pouring the Cokes into glasses, she suppressed a shiver as a
chill skated up her spine. “Is John okay? Did something happen? I just saw
him—”

“No, John’s fine.” Dane shook his head. “This doesn’t have
anything to do with John. This has to do with you.”

She set the can down with a metallic clink. Her hands wanted
to shake but she refused to let them as she passed a glass to Dane over the
counter then poured one for Ryan and finally herself.

“Then just spit it out, Dane. I’m tired of trying to
decipher everyone’s cryptic comments today.”

Ryan moved closer to the counter. To her. “Is everything
okay?”

Of course not. The magic she’d been hoping was fading away
had only been waiting to make itself known again in grand fashion and she had
the hots for two men.

Yeah. Just another day in the life of Evangeline Simmons.
“What’s up, Dane?”

“We need to talk about Alex Bell.”

Everything inside her froze. Her stomach seized into a cold
little ball while she fought with her lungs to breathe.

“Is he okay? Did… Did something happen?”

She blinked, aware that the blackness around the edges of
her vision was not a good thing.

Vaguely she realized both men had hustled around the corner
of the island. Two sets of hands reached for her shoulders, both helping to
steady her.

Surprisingly, it was Dane who caught her when she took a
step back and felt her knees buckle under her.

He lifted her in strong arms, held her against his hard
chest and carried her to the couch.

Shock held her immobile as he sat with her on his lap.
“Breathe, Evie. Slow and deep. In through your nose and out through your
mouth.”

The cadence of his voice worked as a calming influence and
she did as he said, drawing in each breath laced with his masculine scent. That
more than anything brought her back to her senses.

And awoke the heated desire she felt only with these two
men.

Images of both men kissing her raced through her mind,
combined with the information Cat had spilled this morning and made her blood
begin a slow burn.

She wanted to put her arms around Dane’s waist and cling.
Wanted to feel Ryan’s hands on her back, stroking through her hair.

Her imagination took off, whether as a defense mechanism
shutting out thoughts of a dying little boy or as a lust-fueled response to
what she wanted from these two men, she wasn’t sure.

She only knew that when either of them touched her, she
burned. If they both touched her at the same time, she might literally set the
house on fire.

Dane shifted, the muscles of his thighs bunching beneath
hers and she realized Ryan had sat on the couch next to Dane.

“Maybe this should wait.” Ryan’s soft words took a few
seconds to penetrate the fog in her brain but when they did, she shook her
head.

“No. I’m fine.” Looking up, she stared into Dane’s eyes.
“Just say it.”

He nodded and shifted her to the couch between him and Ryan.
Not a bad place to be but now neither man was touching her.

She decided she liked their touch. It grounded her. And
right now, she could use it.

“Alex’s condition is deteriorating. The treatment I had him
on is no longer working. I don’t think the boy will get any better.”

Without her blood.

Dane didn’t have to say the words. She knew exactly what he
was thinking.

And she could no longer escape the fact there was a
ten-year-old boy dying of an unknown disease and only she had the power to
relieve him of the symptoms and to at least slow the progression.

“Why didn’t you come to me sooner?”

Dane just looked at her.

“Oh, that’s right. Poor little Evie couldn’t handle it.”

With a shove against the cushions, Evie scrambled off the
couch. Both men made a move to rise as well, but she stopped them with one
finger held up in front of her.

“Oh, don’t even think about it. You know, I’m so sick of
this, how everyone treats me like I’m about to break. The only person who
doesn’t is Cat. How many people have you discussed this with before you came
here to talk to me? Did you talk to John? Kaine? Tam?”

Dane’s jaw looked tense enough to shatter and his voice
sounded strangled as he said, “Evie—”

“No. No way. This is my life we’re talking about, Dane. Not
anyone else’s.”

“Evie. I didn’t talk to anyone else. Only Ryan, because I
wanted his opinion. I didn’t realize you thought so little of me.”

Oh. Great. She wanted to roll her eyes but controlled the
urge.

Holy shit, she’d hurt Dane’s feelings. She hadn’t known that
was possible.

Closing her eyes and shaking her head, she sighed. “I’m
sorry I jumped down your throat. It’s been kind of a trying day.”

Then before she could think twice about what she was doing,
she leaned forward, put her hands on his shoulders and kissed Dane.

She’d shocked him. She could taste it in the stillness of
his lips, in the quick, indrawn breath. His mouth remained closed but she
wasn’t looking to deepen the kiss. She’d only wanted to reclaim a little bit of
normalcy in her life and kissing Dane, for some odd reason, felt normal.

She didn’t draw it out and retreated after only a few
seconds. When she opened her eyes, she found Dane staring into hers.

His eyes mesmerized her. They had from the first moment
she’d met him. So dark, so intelligent. Now growing even darker with desire.

Then she was falling and she didn’t mean figuratively.

Ryan had tugged on her arm and brought her down into his
lap. Somehow he maneuvered her until she sat in his lap and when he kissed her,
there was just the slightest bit of tongue.

Just enough to tease.

Startled, her eyes widened as she remembered what Cat had
said about these men. That she wouldn’t be the first woman they’d shared.

He pulled away then moved her to sit on the cushion between
him and Dane. As she sat blinking up at him, Ryan’s smile curved and she swore
she saw the devil in it. “There. Now we’re even. I felt left out for a moment.”

“I don’t think this is the time to do this, Ryan.” Dane’s
expression had tightened again.

“I think it’s the perfect time.” Ryan never took his eyes
from hers. “Might as well get all the big stuff out of the way at the same
time. Right, doll?”

Evie didn’t know what to say but she was thinking maybe Dane
had the right idea this time.

So she decided to ignore Ryan because she needed answers to
other, more important questions.

Hopping off the couch again, she stood in front of Dane, hands
on her hips. “I want to meet him. Alex. I want to talk to him.”

Dane nodded, his expression showing nothing of his feelings.
He was so good at that, at hiding his feelings so she had no idea what he was
thinking. Then again, sometimes she’d found people were too easy to read.

And she didn’t really want to know what they were thinking.

“That can be arranged.”

“Without his mother.” She’d yet to confront Grace Bell, the
woman who’d kidnapped her and turned her life into this freak show. She knew
she’d have to. Eventually.

“Not a problem.”

“Can we do it now?”

Dane nodded again. “If that’s what you want.”

“That’s what I want.”

Dane stood, rising several inches above her. Every time he
stood so close, she was surprised again by his height. She didn’t know why. She
only knew she liked it.

She had to tilt her head back to look him in the eyes or she
stared at the broad expanse of his shoulders. Again, not a bad view.