Runes (15 page)

Will’s knuckles rammed into Sean’s damn perfect mouth. The skin of his knuckles split and he reveled in the physical pain. Anything to escape the haze of hurt Sean had inflicted on him.

Sean tossed him off, and they scrambled to their feet, shirtless, rain-soaked and dripping, circling one another like stallions.

“Come on,” Will goaded, more angry than he’d ever been. “Hit me again. I see no other path. You’ve got to get this hatred of me out of your system before you can agree to my suggestion.”

Sean lunged at him, catching him in the lower abdomen with a roundhouse kick. Will’s breath left him and he stumbled back, catching himself against a tree trunk. “I’ll never agree,” Sean spat, stalking toward him. “And you’ll pay for even thinking it.”

“But she wants us both, doesn’t she? Are you prepared to walk away from her? Because she cannot undo an immortal bond. You can’t take her away from me. You know the shaking? That will only become debilitating until she goes mad with the need for me, and the need for it to stop. Is that what you want for her?”

Sean slowed, his hands balled at his sides. “No.”

“Then you’re walking away?”

“Fuck, no.”

“Look beyond your pride and your mortal shackles and realize I’m right. There’s no other way. She loves you,” Will said, hating that his voice had grown hoarse. “And I’m willing to let her have you because I love her that much
.
”

Sean stopped a few feet from him, chest heaving with anger. His jaw set. But Will saw his words had broken through. He could see Will's mind working behind the dark eyes.

Then Will twisted the knife of his words. “How much do
you
love her, Livingston?”

A shudder passed through Sean, and he paced, his fingers working through his long hair. His strong thighs strained against the fabric of his wet jeans, sending an unwanted sensation of need through Will.

Could he go through with this? Will wondered. Could he sit by and watch this man fuck his immortal mate? And then he remembered his pleasure during the brief tryst between Evangeline and the soldier at thirty-two thousand feet. Evangeline’s ecstasy. He began to harden. Yes, he was more than willing to share that experience. Even though she loved Sean, her feelings for Will were bone deep and immutable.

Sean made a sharp gesture and he stopped before Will. “Are you out of your fucking mind?”

Will gave a harsh laugh. “I hope not. Look,” he said, calmer now. “We both love her. She loves both of us. I can’t hurt her anymore than you can. So why not try and live with it as it stands once we get out of this mess?” He gestured to the jungle.

Sean leveled him with a brooding gaze. His voice was still harsh. “What kind of arrangements are we talking about?”

Will shrugged. “Cohabitating. Sharing our lives with her in a more fulfilling way than most people ever get an opportunity to do.”

“And the bedroom?” Sean asked with a raised brow.

White heat sidled through Will’s balls, making them draw up tight. “Evangeline will decide the specifics,” he said hoarsely. “I’m willing to be her slave. Are you?”

At this, Sean laughed grimly. He yanked on the hair beside his jaw and then turned those marvelous dark eyes on Will once more. “I don’t know what kind of situation we’re getting ourselves into, brother, but I can’t see a choice. Count me in.” Then his countenance shifted and he took a menacing step toward Will, bringing him within striking distance. “For now,” Sean growled.

* * * *

Will waited in the forest near the shack for the signal from Sean, letting the soaking rain cool him. What had made him suggest such an arrangement? The thought hadn’t entered his mind until Sean stepped into view. The feel of the man working over Evangeline had muddled his brain, and if he was honest with himself, he longed for the same attention.

And the bedroom?
The question took flight in Will’s mind and splintered into myriad images of a threesome. Each man sucking a taut pink nipple while she raked her fingers through their hair, her eyes heavy with pleasure. And then forcing them away from her breasts and guiding them to one another’s lips.

Will’s cock bulged against his jeans and he shifted uncomfortably. He liked the searing pain of his imaginings. Though Sean seemed skeptical about forming a trio, Evangeline would know Will’s desires and feed them. She’d persuade Sean to press Will into the mattress and bathe his sensitive nipples with his hot tongue, his long black hair soft against Will’s abdomen. And then gently, Evangeline would press Sean down toward Will’s rock hard erection. His tongue would sink into the hole, gathering the pre-come there, and he’d groan at the taste. Will would feel the thick coil of Sean’s cock pressing against his own lips as they moved into the sixty-nine position. He’d tease Sean at first, lightly licking but never taking the length into his mouth the way he needed, and mouthing his balls until they swelled and drew up tight with the need to blow.

And as they went at each other, Evangeline would sit next to them, stroking their chests and pinching their nipples and then pinching her own. She’d dip her head to one and suck it while she watched her men sucking each other off. Her fingers would sink into her sweet pubic curls and stroke her hard nub. The scent coming from her spread legs would ignite a fire in both men, and they’d rock against one another. Will would finally succumb to Sean’s wants and take his length into his throat, flicking the underside of his purple head with his tongue until Sean’s muscles strained for release.

Two flashes of light. Sean had done it. He’d gotten hold of the weapon as promised. Abandoning his sexual daydreams, Will strode into the yard and yelled for Marcus.

The fog in Evangeline’s brain set her free to dream. She dreamt of the hard bodies of her two men entwined with her standing near, and she a voyeur. She saw the dim glow of candlelight across their sculpted chests and their cocks dancing in the air. A palpable feeling of desire hung between them as they shared a deep tongue kiss. Wetness trickled between her thighs, and she shoved a finger between them now and stroked her clit. She began to quietly sing.

Surrounded by dirt walls, she felt strangely sheltered and she allowed her fingers to explore her pussy. The pressure on her nub made her forget the ache in her head and the sting of her abused hands, as the smell of Sean filled her senses. He wasn’t with her now, but he had been.

In her mind Will walked. He hadn’t spoken to her in so long, but she knew his closeness by the way her tremors had eased. To set eyes on him again, to throw her arms around him and kiss his smiling mouth made her breathe faster.

Hold tight, baby. I’ll be with your shortly. Follow Sean’s lead and let him do the work,
he said now into her mind, jarring her from her self-pleasure.

From above, she heard Will’s voice. His shout struck her heart, and she clawed at the earth surrounding her. “Let me out,” she shrieked, and instantly was stricken by a searing pain in her head. It didn’t stop her. “Let me go.”

Quiet down, love. Sean and I are drawing out Marcus and we’re both armed.

The gravity of their situation broke through the cloud around her brain.
Be careful. I love you. I love you. . . both.

I know.

With her head spinning, she collapsed to the dirt floor and strained to hear what was happening above her. She had no memory of how she’d gotten here. She only recalled Sean asking her to tell him her birth date several times in the past hours.

Where was he?

As soon as the thought formed, she saw through Will’s eyes. Sean sneaked around the side of the shack just as Marcus tore out of the house, gun in hand. The chickens scattered in a squawking flight of wings and falling feathers.

Will faced Marcus across the yard like a gunslinger. At his side he held a machete, which he’d used to hack through the jungle to reach her. In his other hand, he gripped a small pistol, and she recognized it instantly. He’d carried it to Chicago to kill her father. Thank God, he’d abandoned that pursuit. Evangeline hadn’t wished for her father’s death no matter how he’d mistreated her during her childhood. She wanted to forget and move on with her immortal life. But Will’s twisted sense of heroism and personal needs had driven him to seek revenge. Little did he know the door of her soul he thought closed to him stood wide open. If he took a hard look, he’d see every part of her exposed.

Through his eyes, she watched Sean now. He was shirtless and sweating in the midday sun. The slick wetness gleamed on his rippling muscles, and she could feel Will’s physical reaction to the man he was supposed to despise. He liked looking at him. He watched the way Sean strode behind Marcus and watched the pull of his low-slung jeans against his hips. Sean’s hair hung loose about his shoulders, and Evangeline shivered with the memory of it trailing over her thighs.

Confusion hit her again.
Why am I here? Why won’t you get me out?
she asked Will.

Soon, baby. You’re safer where you’re at while Sean and I take care of business.

She liked the way he said that. Sean and I. As if they were a team. Partners.

Across the yard, Marcus glared at Will. His icy blue eyes penetrated Will’s, reading his soul, as only an immortal could. He saw the story of Will’s life, his love story with Evangeline, and he recognized Will’s ‘Making’.

A ripple of shock rolled through Will at the sight of Marcus’s eyes. His 'Maker'.

Evangeline flew back in time to 1970s Harvard and a brilliant young mortal Will, studying for his doctorate, crossing a busy street with his nose in a book. His head swam with equations and theorems. He was a mathematical genius, who had, at the age of three, scribbled his first formula on a wall in crayon. He’d skipped grades in math in both elementary and high school.

A promising future lay ahead of him. He’d been destined for travel and lectures and an entire world of uncovering new and useful theories. Until the instant he’d stepped off the curb into the path of a bus.

He awoke to find himself in an alley behind a campus building. He had no clue what had happened except that his clothes were ragged and his book mangled. Only much later, he’d discovered the rows of digits marking his lower abdomen. It took half of another decade before he understood that he wasn’t aging and couldn’t die.

Evangeline watched her mate’s mind reel with the memory of his ‘Making’. Marcus stepped forward with an oily laugh. The gun waved carelessly.“Ah, so it’s my dear friend Will Cochran who has taken Evangeline as a mate. Isn’t that precious? An immortal of my own ‘Making’. You know,” he said, cocking his head, “you were at the right place at the right time, Will. I saw that bus bearing down on you and knew my destiny. It happened so fast, with everyone in a flurry, it was nothing to whisk you away and share my blood. I was a good guy then.” He bobbed his head as if convincing himself. “Yes, a good guy. It wasn’t until Cora was stolen from me that I grew into the delightful monster that you see before you. Now name your poison. Head or heart?” he asked, raising the gun.

Will’s foot drifted forward. From the corner of his eye, he saw Sean dart into the house where he hoped to find weapons galore.

“It doesn’t need to be this way,” Will told Marcus, bargaining for time. “Let us go free. You have nothing to lose in doing so. But if you insist on detaining us, I’m sure you understand I must take your life.”

A high, keening laugh came from Marcus and his mouth stretched into a mask. His eyeglasses flashed in the now bright overhead sun.

The hole where Evangeline lay was illuminated as the sun climbed the sky, and she blinked at its piercing glare. Nausea struck her and she rested her head on her knees gasping to control the urge to vomit. She was shaking with fear.

Take deep breaths, baby. We’ve only begun,
Will said into her mind. His soothing warm voice calmed her, and she released a stuttering sigh.

Marcus and Will glared at one another, at an impasse. “And what if I surrender?” he asked. “You three walk off on your merry way, arm in arm in arm? Where does that leave me? Shaking and alone.” He made a violent gesture with the gun, and Evangeline shrieked in fear for Will.

Her scream made Marcus laugh. “Ah, that’s rich. She can see everything. How lax of me to have forgotten. How’s this for a show, Evangeline?” he asked, and suddenly lunged forward and captured Will in a choke hold, digging the gun into his temple. She could feel Marcus' trembling through the weapon and into Will’s skull.

“Oh my God. Oh my God,” she rasped, doubling in half, clutching her stomach. If only she could speak into Sean’s mind. Where was he?

Will.

A streak of dark hair rounded the corner of the house as Sean sprinted into view, a bandolier looped across his chest and an AK-47 in his grip. His face was ferocious, the skin drawn over the beautiful high cheekbones and firm jaw. His brow was low with menace and determination.

At the sound of his step, Marcus spun with Will still in his grasp. The gun shook against Will’s head, and Evangeline convulsed with horror. If Will was killed, she’d be destined to a half-life, the life of terror and shaking that had driven Marcus mad.

A sudden and inexplicable calm came over her as she realized what she must do.
Speak for me, Will.

He silently agreed, working to remain calm and let Sean and Evangeline control the situation until he could get the upper hand.

“
Who was Cora?”
Evangeline’s words were delivered by Will’s mouth. Marcus jerked at the sound of his immortal mate’s name. His forearm locked against Will’s throat, choking the breath from him. He shook him, irate. “Don’t you speak that name to me. Only I can say that name.”

A long silence ensued. Sean stood frozen near the pair wrestling for their lives. Sean’s gun was aimed at Marcus’s chest, but Evangeline knew it was futile. No bullet would kill Marcus unless it was fired by Will or her. Her hands grew clammy with the urge to kill him, and she twisted them into the fabric of her shirt.

“Cora. . . ,” Marcus said in a drifting voice. “Cora was a country girl. Long blond hair, cowboy boots, freckles, the works. First time I heard her, I thought it was the voice of an angel. I was in Iraq, blowing away Arabs for the love of my country. But when I heard her, I knew I had to abandon ship and get to Oklahoma. When I drove up, she was waiting for me on the porch. She stood up from the wicker chair and leaned against a porch post, watching me. A summer breeze blew her hair straight back, and I thought I’d gone to heaven.

“I couldn’t climb out of the truck fast enough, and then I was running. We met in the yard, and she jumped into my arms, wrapping her soft thighs around my waist, and her arms around my neck. Lovely, feminine creature, Cora was. All country cut-off denim shorts, riding high on her ass and skimpy tank top with her nipples poking through.

“When I kissed her, it blew my mind. We were perfectly matched, as the ‘Calling’ intended. We kissed and touched, and all the while she was speaking into my mind, telling me how long she’d waited, how many centuries she’d sat on that porch and waited for me to come. I was out of my head with love and lust and the need to complete our bond. So I carried her into the corn field and laid her down between the rows. Her eyes—they were blue, the color of the sky above us. I stripped her slowly, and she helped me out of my clothes. Then I sank between her legs and cut us both. . . . ” His voice wavered with emotion because obviously the cut had killed her. He had killed her.

Will’s voice cut through his reverie, using Evangeline’s words. “Does this act you intend to commit honor her death?”

A long hesitation followed. Marcus’s chest heaved, his arm still crushing Will’s windpipe. For a moment the gun wavered and then slipped down to Will’s eye socket. His arm slackened its chokehold.

And then, “Nice try, gorgeous,” he said directly to Evangeline.

The world exploded. Sean sent several rounds toward Marcus’s feet, and Will reached across himself, clutched Marcus by the shoulder and flipped him to the earth. Marcus landed with a grunt, but squeezed off a shot. The bullet raked Will’s cheek, leaving a deep furrow that spurted blood.

Evangeline screamed. She jumped to her feet and clawed at the ground, turning in circles to try and find an escape.

Will stomped Marcus’s chest, and Sean loomed over him with AK-47 pointed at his guts.

“You can’t kill me, young mortal,” Marcus spat out. His gun lay inches from his fingertips. Sean kicked it farther from his reach. It skidded across the dirt and landed at the feet of a passing rooster who ran at it, pecking as if it was the enemy.

In a blindingly quick move, Marcus twisted and rolled, then leapt to his feet like a martial artist, pistol in hand. He threw Will facedown beneath him.

“Sean,” Evangeline shrieked. “Do something.”

But the man who held the power to incapacitate Marcus long enough to grab the pistol and perhaps hurl it over the cliff froze. From Will’s point of view, Evangeline saw Sean’s dark eyes flare.

“That’s right, mortal,” Marcus said. She could hear his voice but no longer see him. “You’re no dummy. Here, at the point of my gun, lies the obstacle between you and your love. Cut him out of the picture, and she’s all yours. If you’re lucky, maybe she’ll make you immortal before you get too old to satisfy her.”

His words were bullets to Evangeline’s heart. She stopped scrabbling at the dirt walls of her prison and blinked away her tears.

“Take him out yourself, Livingston. A touch of the trigger will end your misery.”

“No,” Evangeline screamed, frantic. “Sean, no!”

Sean’s gaze flicked down and met Will’s. Understanding passed between them. Their love for Evangeline. And they were united once more. Sean signaled Will with his index finger, twitching it twice to the right, and Evangeline’s heart seized. Her lovers were taking on her kidnapper who was mad and dangerous. Fear rushed through her, dizzying her, and everything went dark.