Keeping Kaitlyn by Anya Bast Page B

sisters pulled at her from beyond the veil. Even now there was a faraway look in her eyes, a worry that no amount of soft words or gentle touching seemed to eradicate. It was a tie that Lucas could understand, since his parents had been taken so cruelly from him. She didn’t want her sisters to go their entire lives thinking something violent had happened to her. He could not fault her for that.
    The world beyond the veil was a mysterious place to him. Kaitlyn had explained what usually happened to women who went missing there. Why would men visit such harm against their females? They were to be cherished and treasured, loved and protected. He could not understand it.
    She twined her fingers with his and leaned her head against his shoulder. “When will Rafian be back?”
    “Soon. They’re not chasing off bands of hunters this time. They’re simply securing the border.”
    “But what if they run into hunters?”
    He squeezed her hand. “They probably won’t. If they do, Rafian will get to do what he likes best.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Knock Magi heads together.”
    She smiled. “And what do you like best to do?”
    “Besides be with you?” He ran his fingers up her arm, enjoying the softness of her skin. Rafian might be gone all night. He’d have her all to himself.
    “Yes, besides that.” Her cheeks had gone pink. It was curious such an innocent comment could do that, considering the sexual gymnastics they’d been performing lately.
    “I love to work in the forge. I love creating something useful from hunks of metal. I love the fire and the weight of the iron in my hands.”
    “You love twisting things to your will.”
    “Maybe. And, you, what did you do on the other side of the veil besides work and dream of writing a book one day.”
    “Other than spend time with my sisters, not much. I wanted a child at one point, but my marriage with Doug deteriorated and I put myself on the pill so I wouldn’t get pregnant.”
    “And now. Do you want a child?”
    She cupped his cheek and held his gaze. “With you and Rafian, definitely. It’s amazing how much closer I feel to you than I ever did to Doug, and Doug and I were married five years.”
    “Length of time has nothing to do with what the heart wants.”
    She smiled, but it was sad. “Not what it wants, what it needs. ”

     
     
     
    * * * * *
     
     
     

    She lay sprawled between Lucas and Rafian, all of them fresh from a long, hot shower. Their hands stroked idly down her body. If she’d been a cat, she would have purred. Every time they touched her, love radiated from their fingertips. There was nothing not to enjoy about being close to these men.
    Nothing not to love about cuddling with them on the couch late at night, fire burning. Nothing not to love about talking to them while they were snuggled in bed, or over a meal. Nothing not to love about spending blissful chunks of time watching them mold metal to suit their slightest whim. Nothing not to love about watching their bodies—man or dire wolf—flexing and moving as they performed a task. Nothing not to love about their kisses or the way they made love to her.
    Nothing not to love.
    And she did love them. She’d always been a sensible woman. She never would have thought she could’ve fallen in love this fast. Yet in just shy of two weeks she’d fallen in love not once, but twice. It made her believe in the power of soul mates. After Doug she’d figured something so fanciful didn’t exist. Apparently it didn’t exist, at least not in her reality.
    Only in this one.
    Lucas roused, twining his arm around her waist lazily and dragging her against his body. His mouth covered hers, lips searching. She melted against him, lost in a haze of decadent lust.
    From behind her, Rafian’s hands moved over her stomach, dipping between her thighs. He found her clit and stroked it softly, making her moan into Lucas’s mouth. Lucas palmed her breast, stimulating her nipple to a hard, little