Magic of Three Read online

  An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

  www.ellorascave.com

  Magic of Three

  ISBN 9781419911125

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  Magic of Three Copyright © 2007 Jenna Castille

  Edited by Ann Leveille.

  Photography and cover art by Les Byerley.

  Electronic book Publication June 2007

  This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

  Content Advisory:

  S – ENSUOUS

  E – ROTIC

  X – TREME

  Ellora’s Cave Publishing offers three levels of Romantica™ reading entertainment: S (S-ensuous), E (E-rotic), and X (X-treme).

  The following material contains graphic sexual content meant for mature readers. This story has been rated S-ensuous.

  S-ensuous love scenes are explicit and leave nothing to the imagination.

  E-rotic love scenes are explicit, leave nothing to the imagination, and are high in volume per the overall word count. E-rated titles might contain material that some readers find objectionable—in other words, almost anything goes, sexually. E-rated titles are the most graphic titles we carry in terms of both sexual language and descriptiveness in these works of literature.

  X-treme titles differ from E-rated titles only in plot premise and storyline execution. Stories designated with the letter X tend to contain difficult or controversial subject matter not for the faint of heart.

  Magic of Three

  Jenna Castille

  Trademarks Acknowledgment

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

  Corvette: General Motors Corporation

  Goodwill: Goodwill Industries International, Inc.

  Mercedes: Daimler Chrysler AG Corporation

  Mr. Clean: The Procter & Gamble Company

  ROUSH: Roush Enterprises, Inc.

  Tiffany: Tiffany & Company

  Velcro: Velcro Industries B.V. Limited Liability Company

  Chapter One

  Smoke and incense infused the air with a drugging scent, sandalwood the overpowering essence. But it did little to dampen the smell of a thousand sexual encounters that permeated the sacred chamber.

  Three shadows performed an ancient dance on the walls. Twisting and twining with moans and grunts their music, slapping of flesh their tempo. The room teemed with magic, pulsed with the pleasure of its creators. A pillar of pure, clean light flowed out from the three people sharing their bodies in the middle of the temple.

  A stone altar sat in the center, its edges etched with the sparkling gold symbols of a language long forgotten. Lise lay nude and moaning on the stone, its rough texture rubbing against her skin and adding another layer to her sensual surrender. Her long, flowing silver hair draped over the sides, gliding across the symbols with each thrust of the man between her thighs. She tossed her sweat-soaked head, raking her nails down Timon’s hard, gleaming chest as she fought against the rising waves of desire.

  Her nails marked his flesh with reddened lines. Timon jerked his head back, freeing his long golden-blond hair from its scarlet leather thong. He growled. His face contorted, harsh and nearly pain-filled, as he dug his fingers into her hips. The rhythm and force of his thrusts increased as he pounded his engorged cock into her, trying through sheer speed to make them one being.

  Julius stood at her head, soothing his cool hands across her heated breasts as his deep, masculine voice chanted in the lilting, ancient tongue. When the desires crashing through her body grew too much to contain Lise reached back and grabbed his bulging forearms for support. He leaned forward, letting his onyx flow of hair fall around her face like a curtain, cutting off the outside world. He kissed her cheeks, eyes and temples. Soft, tender, caring touches. Still he chanted between each caress. His presence, his very smell, soothed her.

  She stopped working to restrain her desires, the lust building, towering above her. She simply opened wide her heart and let fate run its torrential course.

  As her climax grew, so did the Pillar. The beam of bright amber light emanating from their joined bodies pierced the darkness. Blinding in intensity, it rivaled the violent emotions surging inside Lise.

  Finally the monotonous chanting came to an end. Julius strode around the altar to take his place behind Timon, bracing a firm hand on his twitching and heaving shoulder. Lise didn’t see Julius as he moved between her legs but she felt Timon inside her thrust forward with a harsh cry of rapture and agony. His rhythm faltered and then gained strength as Julius took control of the plunge. Each time the dark-haired man rammed forward into her lover, Timon shoved hard into her.

  Three made one. Three hearts beating with the same deep emotions. Lust and love binding together the three powers—Visionary, Empath and Catalyst.

  The Pillar grew even brighter.

  Lise arched, overwhelmed. Her head dug into the stone. Her sleek thighs and slender calves wrapped around her two lovers, pulling them into her body. Into her soul.

  They came together in a massive burst of energy, their powers feeding the pulsing Pillar.

  For a moment there was peace. Silence. With a triad of groans the three parted, the men staggering to take their places at each side. They stood guard above their Third as she regained herself, for it was she who controlled and guided the Pillar. Her love and power would send it forth and close the gate to hell.

  Salvation skimmed within their reach.

  Lise lay curled and panting on the altar while the two men stared at each other across her body. The tenderness in that simple meeting of the eyes tore at her tender heart. Neither man ever looked at her with that depth of emotion filling his gaze.

  Julius leaned forward, placing a soft kiss on Timon’s lips. A kiss of caring and commitment as well as passion.

  A kiss brimming with love, a gentleness she couldn’t remember either man showing her, especially Julius.

  Lise let out a keening wail as something precious inside her shattered under the weight of jealousy. She scrambled back off the stone, scraping skin. The two men looked down at her in amazement as tears trailed down her soft cheeks. Timon, who’d but moments before heaved into her body, reached out with one hand.

  She slapped it away. “A lie. All a lie,” she gasped between jagged sobs. The bitter taste of betrayal lay like ashes on her tongue.

  Confusion and pain etched in both faces as she cried out.

  “I’m a vessel to you, nothing more.” The woman gasped in heart-rending pain as she scrambled to her feet, backing away from the men, the altar, everything. “Your love has no room for me.”

  Before either man could prevent her flight, she escaped the Temple of Light. The Pillar thrashed and trembled. Its brilliance grew brighter and brighter, to an intensity beyond human measure, before shattering in a million glittering sparks. The fading embers fell around the two who remained.

  The bedrock of Atlantis heaved beneath their feet, sending the two men stumbling to their knees. Fissures began forming, shooting out from an ominous black void forming dead center above the altar of the Temple of Light.

  The pulsing black tear in reality grew wider with each passing second. Frigid wind whipped around the chamber, freezing every drop of liquid it touched as it doused every candle, lantern and torch. Only the stars and the moon still shone through the open w
indows, dimly lighting the once brilliant chamber.

  But the black void was not empty. No. Figures moved, serpentine, in its depths, surging forward. Growls and cackles came first. The thunderous sound of a thousand hoofed and horned feet. Then dark figures peeled away from the void, forcing their way into the mortal realm.

  Timon dragged Julius to his feet, forcing him toward the single doorway, their only escape. Only there would be no escape. Not for any Atlantean. Not that night. In an instant, Julius’ second sight flared, showing rivers of blood streaming down smooth marble streets. The screams of women and children competing with the growls and snarls of animal pleasure coming from their attackers.

  The world as he knew it had been lost the moment their Third fled from them.

  Julius saw a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye, a streak of steely blue. He felt a thump against his abdomen, not pain exactly, not yet. Just a hard, breath-stealing thrust. But the look of utter horror in Timon’s eyes slapped him out of the shock.

  Harsh, raspy laugher filled the air, the evil glee freezing marrow. As Julius fell to his knees he looked up at Timon. His love.

  A seven-foot demon, light gleaming off his ice-blue flesh, rose behind him. Timon never had a chance to see his death approaching, eyes locked on Julius. But Julius saw. The last sight to burn behind his own dying eyes was that of Timon falling lifeless to the ground.

  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.