That got Maddoc’s attention and he sat up so quickly he sloshed his scotch over the rim of his glass. “You’re kidding me. What was he doing there?”
“I don’t know.” Gavin took a sip of his whiskey as he thought about his short conversation earlier before relaying what was said to his brother. “He had a couple suitcases with him, which is even stranger, unless he and his brother have had a falling out. Perhaps the vampire coven isn’t as strong as we thought?”
“I don’t know, Gavin. Tonight now ranks as one of the strangest in my life. Our wards fail, Dannika literally falls at our feet, and now we discover there might be cracks in the vampire hierarchy?” Maddoc tilted his glass and finished off the last of the amber liquid in the bottom.
“Careful with the rumors. I don’t know for certain that there is a problem yet. I’m simply speculating.” Gavin copied his brother and finished off his scotch before placing the glass back on his desk. “Let’s try to get a couple of hours sleep before we start to figure this all out.”
“I’m going to head to my room. If I crawl in with Dannika, I won’t be able to keep my hands to myself.” Maddoc slapped Gavin on the shoulder. “I trust you won’t mind watching over her while she sleeps.”
Gavin understood Maddoc’s reasoning behind putting some space between him and Dani. Now that his brother had a taste of her, it would be impossible to lie next to her and not touch her. “That’s what you get for not having any patience.”
Maddoc didn’t spare any intimate details of his and Dani’s shared experience as they both headed upstairs, much to Gavin’s annoyance. He didn’t mind hearing about Dani’s reactions, but now he had to try to get to sleep with a massive hard-on.
“You’re such an asshole,” Gavin muttered before opening the door to the master bedroom. Maddoc’s evil chuckle echoed down the hallway.
Thanks to the blackout curtains that had been drawn, the room was dark as night. The only sound was that of Dani’s soft breathing. Gavin debated on stripping down to his boxers before easing into the bed but decided to simply unbutton his jeans for comfort.
While he had every intention of seducing Dani at the first chance, he didn’t want to freak her out by waking up with a nearly naked man next to her.
* * * *
Gavin blinked against an offensive bright light that interrupted his sleep. Dani was lying in the bed next to him. It was the light from a phone that had woken him.
“Is everything all right?” he whispered.
Dani jumped and covered up the phone. “I’m sorry I woke you, Gavin. I heard the phone vibrate and it woke me up.”
“It’s all right. “ Gavin reached out and rubbed her arm. “I wasn’t sleeping that deeply in case something happened or if you had a bad dream.” He couldn’t put into words how much it thrilled him that she knew who he was. He and his brother spent so much time pretending to be the same person or impersonating each other that it made her instinctive knowledge even more special.
“Oh, okay. I wondered why you were in here.” Dani was staring at the screen on Maddoc’s phone, gnawing on the corner of her lip. “Maddoc let me text my friends with his phone earlier.”
“Did your friends text you back?”
She nodded, passed over the phone, and let him see.
“I’m fine. Really tired. Is everyone okay? Going back to bed.”
“All’s good. I’m at the Voodoo Spiritual Temple.”
“That’s Shayla and Heidi.” She pointed to the text list on the phone. “But I haven’t heard from Erin. She wasn’t feeling well, and I’m really worried about her.”
Gavin could feel how upset Dani was. It radiated off her like a painful vibration. “Did you try calling the hotel?”
“Maddoc said it would be dangerous if I talked to my friends directly.”
Dani avoided making eye contact, and Gavin had a feeling that she hadn’t meekly followed his brother’s orders. “Yeah, and…”
“I spoke to a hotel clerk, not one of my friends, so it doesn’t count.”
Gavin wrapped his hand around hers where it gripped his brother’s phone. “I agree completely with that. What did the hotel say?”
“She checked out last night.” She looked up at him, and Gavin felt his chest ache from the pain in her eyes. “She wouldn’t do that, Gavin. She wouldn’t leave and not leave a message for anyone. What if she’s sick or… god, what if she’s dead?”
Gavin could feel her anxiety building like a whirlwind inside of her. “Hey, don’t go throwing things like that out into the universe. Words are power, sweetheart.” He rolled her against him and wrapped his arms around her. “I swear to you we’ll find her, okay? Between Maddoc and me, we know a lot of people in this town. I swear I’ll find out where she is.”
“Her room was right across from mine. Did you see anything when you were there? She’s tall, blonde, and very beautiful.”
Gavin felt his stomach clench up remembering the vampire coming out of that room. He knew it wasn’t right to keep that information from her, but he didn’t want to upset her until he knew the truth. Words are power. Although, he’d never heard of Elijah being a coldhearted killer, there was a very good possibility that Erin was dead right now. The vampire could have been cleaning up any evidence that might point toward his coven.
Dani lay peacefully in his arms, and the enticing vibration of trust slowly made its way through her muddled emotions to him. He had to do this for her. At least he had a place to start. If Erin is alive, how am I going to get her out of a coven?
Chapter Seven
Dani quietly padded down the staircase in search of Gavin or Maddoc. She felt much better after such a long sleep and couldn’t remember the last time she’d been up in time to have a proper lunch. She much preferred working in the lab at night when no one else was around to distract her thoughts. Perhaps if she’d kept better working hours, she wouldn’t have been so alone and it wouldn’t have been as easy for them to let her go when the budget was cut.
“Hello?” Her voice echoed in the large hallway, making her wince.
“Down the hall, Dannika. Second door on your left.”
She followed the voice and found Gavin in a room that made her neurons fire like mad. “This is a librarian’s wet dream.” There were books everywhere she looked. The shelves stretched from floor to ceiling, and there were more stacked up on top of each other.
There was only one thing that could draw her attention from the incredible sight of hundreds of unread books. Gavin sat on one side of a large desk that had obviously been made for two people to face each other. Last night flooded her head as her body remembered what Maddoc had made her feel and how he’d done it.
“Hi, Gavin.”
He smiled at her and held out his hand as he pushed away from the desk. Curious what he wanted, she moved closer to him and slipped her hand into his. A quick inhalation and she found herself pulled off balance and into his lap. She made a silly noise as she tried to jump back up but couldn’t battle his strength. “Stay here, Dani. I like having you like this.”
Dani sat crossways on his lap. His large arm supported her back while he laid his other hand on her stomach and made small circles. “What’s got you blushing so red this morning?”
She pressed the back of her hand to one cheek and could feel the heat radiating off it. “Oh, I thought about last night for a moment and got flustered.”
Gavin laughed. The sound was rich like chocolate, and she felt something inside of her respond to the happy sound. “You have no idea how much I appreciate your honesty.”
“Like I told your brother, most people don’t appreciate it.”
“Then they don’t deserve it. I’ll tell you something else, Dani. Aside from our mother, you are the only woman who can tell Maddoc and me apart. What gives us away?”
Dani shrugged. “I really have no idea. Somehow I just know, but I don’t know how.”
“That’s one of the many things I find fascinating about
you. How did you sleep?”
“Very well, thank you. I hope you slept well, too..”
“I had the pleasure of holding you in my arms for the entire night, there is only one way it could have been better.. Maddoc only got up about ten minutes before you did. When we heard the shower upstairs, he went to go and make you some breakfast.”
“Oh.” Dani wasn’t sure what to think about all of this. It was all so far out of her range of understanding. Maddoc had made her scream with pleasure then slept in another room while Gavin slept with her but didn’t touch her. Old ugly memories crawled up from her subconscious.
I don’t mind fucking ya, Dee, but other than that, we just don’t connect. I’m not sure you’re worth the effort for much more.
“Stop it.” Gavin’s sharp tone snapped her out of her thoughts.
“What?”
“Whatever you were thinking, don’t.” Maddoc cupped her face and angled her head, brushing his lips lightly over hers. “Don’t think of things that cause you that much pain. I could feel it like a razor on my skin.”
“Give me a break. There is no such thing as mind reading.” Dani placed her hands on Gavin’s chest and pushed away from him. “I might be able to tell the two of you apart, but I don’t understand anything else that’s going on. I have to find my friends.” When she hopped out of his lap he didn’t stop her, but he did grab one of her hands, preventing her from leaving the room.
“Wait please.” Gavin tightened his grip on her hand but not so tight that it hurt. “There is a lot we need to talk about. You, me, and Maddoc.”
“Why didn’t he sleep with me last night, too?” The question was out of her mouth before she could stop it. It was the same thought that had struck her when she woke up to check the phone and saw Gavin beside her, fully dressed. Insecurity was a vicious beast that made her believe she’d done something wrong or something about her body had disgusted Maddoc.
“I wanted to, Dannika. Hell, I didn’t sleep at all last night because all I could think about was your reactions when we were together.” Maddoc came in the room carrying a large tray. “But I knew if I stayed I wouldn’t have kept my hands to myself. You had already gone through enough shocks. I didn’t want to take advantage of you.”
Gavin refused to let go of Dani’s hand in case she tried to pull away from him. The pain that had ripped through her following whatever she’d been thinking of still radiated up his arm. He knew that Maddoc would never do anything to cause her that much pain. This was a reaction to something else. It has to be a misunderstanding of some sort.
Someone, somewhere, had hurt her deeply, and Gavin would happily string the bastard up by his intestines for what he had done to her. She was off balance enough that it didn’t take much to get her to fall into his lap again. Her soft, rounded ass landed on his thighs, and he wrapped his arms around her, tucking her back into his lap.
“Can you feel that, Dani?” he whispered against her ear. Other than a cute little eep sound, she hadn’t said a word. He flexed his hips and did his best to rub his erection against her ass. “My cock has been hard as a rock since I heard you whisper my name in your sleep last night.”
“Really? I don’t think that is healthy, Gavin. You might need to see a doctor. I read somewhere that having an erection for more than four hours is dangerous.”
Maddoc let loose a snorty laugh and then tried to cover it up with a cough. Gavin shot his brother a dirty look because he didn’t want Dani to feel bad. He kind of liked the literal way she took things. “I exaggerated a bit with that last comment, Dani.”
“Oh.” A red flush crept up her neck, staining her cheeks pink. “I guess that was a dumb thing to say.”
“Not at all. We want you to feel comfortable enough to say or ask anything of us. You’re that special to us.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Magic, of course.” Maddoc set out some serving dishes from the tray he’d been carrying.
“Magic?” Dani looked at Maddoc like he was the village idiot. “Like pulling rabbits out of hats and sawing people in half?”
“No, those are illusions. Gavin and I are what used to be referred to as Druids.” Maddoc pulled up a chair in front of them and lifted Dani’s feet into his lap.
“Druids? I’m always envisioned them as old men with long beards and hooded cloaks.”
Gavin exchanged a frustrated look with his brother. They both were well aware of the romanticized version of their religion that had been created over the years. “We’re older than we look, but not that old.”
“As long as we shave every morning we manage to keep our beards out of our soup.” Maddoc’s teasing seemed to work because Gavin felt her relax back against him as his brother started massaging her feet. “I’m surprised at how easy you’re accepting this.”
“Considering everything that has happened in the last twelve hours, it would be illogical to argue with you at this point. I don’t have enough information to completely believe you, but I’m not so arrogant that I’d call you liars without any solid proof.
She wiggled a bit as she got comfortable, and Gavin almost lost his mind at the incredible feeling of her rubbing her ass against him. Images of her riding Maddoc while he pressed his cock into her ass filled his head. A white hot tingle slithered down his spin and pooled in his groin. I’m going to come like this if I don’t pull myself together. He wasn’t about to take his pleasure without making certain she’d experienced at least two orgasms.
“I don’t understand. What do you mean, energy manipulation?”
Dani’s question pulled Gavin away from the erotic edge he skated and gave him something to focus on. She and Maddoc had continued their conversation while he’d tried to control his body.
By the smart-ass grin on his face, Maddoc was obviously completely aware of Gavin’s precarious position and momentary inattention. Thankfully, he continued talking, giving Gavin a moment to catch up with the conversation. “We’re tapped into the energy that surrounds the earth. Every living thing on this planet, including the planet herself has a unique energy.”
“You mean like the force in Star Wars?”
“Pretty much. George Lucas must have had some Druids in his family to come up with that one, because the similarities are too close to be a coincidence.” Maddoc had taken off Dani’s socks and was massaging her feet as he spoke. He was doing a good job, too, because Gavin could feel the way she was relaxing back against him.
He rested his hands on her hips and fought the urge to pull her harder against him and grind his aching cock against her ass. “The human body has its own energy and triggers, too.” Gavin watched as Maddoc manipulated some of the points in Dani’s feet. “That’s the basis behind Reiki and acupuncture.”
“Is that what you’re doing to make me feel like this?” Dani asked, her voice a little softer and more relaxed than it had been.
“A little bit,” Maddoc replied honestly. “I’m working on the areas I know will help keep you calm and even. This is just the beginning, though.”
“What do you mean?”
Gavin met his brother’s gaze, and Maddoc nodded slightly. Gavin knew without a doubt that Dani was meant to be theirs, but it was good to see he and Maddoc were on the same page.
“Why don’t I show you?” He adjusted the way he held her until her head was rested back on his shoulder. Running his hand over her body, he tested the level of her natural energies. Dani was a healthy, beautiful woman, and he desperately wanted to watch her fall apart in his arms.
“I don’t feel any different.” She moved her head and looked up at him. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing and this isn’t some elaborate trick?”
“Now you’ve done it.” Maddoc shook his head as he made a tsk noise.
“Done what?” Dani looked back and forth between him and his brother.
She didn’t look all that nervous, which he was happy to see. Gavin loved the gauntlet she’d thrown at his feet. �
��I’ll take that challenge.” This time, when he traced his hand over her body, he allowed his natural abilities to manipulate her body’s energy.
Holding his hand about a quarter of an inch above her, he created a tiny vibration in the energy under her hand and allowed it to ripple over her. Her skin broke out in tiny goose bumps as the soft translucent hairs on her arm flexed and she shivered.
“God, what was that?” Her words were as soft as a whisper.
“Merely the beginning, my sweet Dani.” He moved his hand over her again, this time pausing at her chest to make an infinity symbol around her breasts, concentrating the tremors there. Gavin knew Maddoc would continue to massage the pressure points on her feet in relation to where he concentrated the energy. The two of them would build up the pressure in her body this way, continuing the ripples until they morphed into an erotic sensation.
“That’s just…oh, my.” Dani rolled her hips, pressing back against his rigid cock. The pressure was incredible and he wanted nothing more than for her to continue rocking against him, but he was determined to make this moment all about her. If he had it his way, they would have a lifetime for him to ravage her and plunder every delicious part of her body.
“That’s right.” Gavin slipped her T-shirt over her head and tossed it onto the chair across from them, followed quickly by her bra. Her nipples were tight and flushed, tasty rose-colored nubs that made his mouth water. He cupped her breasts and rolled the hard tips between his thumb and middle finger, adding more sensation on top of the vibrations.
Dani rocked her body, her movements a tad jerkier than they had been a moment ago. Gavin liked her this way, a little less controlled and more emotional. He had no problem with her ability to separate herself from her surroundings as long as she was able to forget that while in his arms.
He watched as Maddoc extended his ministrations to her ankles and calves. Their gazes met, and Maddoc nodded at the lounger on the other side of the room. A quick finger motion let Gavin know that he wanted to switch positions, a completely acceptable idea to Gavin.
Magical Redemption Page 8
