“Neither, if our submissive doesn’t stop trying to be funny,” Viv said.
“Trying? I’m offended.” Sasha was not offended. “Can I touch you? One of you? Both of you?”
“No. You had yours,” Micah said, because apparently he was going to keep domming Sasha—and that was great, too. “Watch and keep your hands to yourself.”
Apparently Viv also liked it when Micah dommed Sasha, because she came right after that. Micah moaned, bucking up hard enough that some of their mountain of pillows fell to the floor.
Sasha couldn’t help himself. “Told you so, didn’t I?”
It wasn’t clear whether Micah heard him, because he took Viv’s hips in his hands—he was so gentlewith her, it made Sasha’s heart swell—and arched up into her, clearly at the end of his patience. He was quiet when he came, but his whole body shook, and when it was over, he pulled Viv down to kiss her, flailing one hand out to find Sasha’s and squeeze it.
Sasha squeezed back, turned, and wrapped them both in his arms. “That was so hot, I can’t wait to do it again.”
They both smacked him for that, but it barely counted. He appreciated the effort, though.
As they lay there, tangled together on the bed that was now theirs, Sasha could feel himself drifting into sleep… but then he heard Micah murmur, “I think I already love you both.”
“Yeah, well, IknowI love you both,” Sasha said, eyes still closed. “So I win.”
Micah sighed.
Viv laughed, the soft sound that always made Sasha’s heart thrill to hear it. “I love you both, too, but Sasha, there’s no winning involved.”
Sasha drifted off, thinking she was wrong. There was a winner here, and it was definitelyhim.
ChapterTwelve
They built the door at noon on a day when the weather was quiet, without so much as a breeze. Micah had mixed sand with salt and walked around the entrance to the cave while spilling the mixture over the grass. It didn’t matter if the wind blew it away later—what mattered was that the circle had existed. The ground, Viv told him, would remember.
Micah felt like his brain was stuffed full. Viv was a font of ideas, and their experiments had taught him more than he’d learned since he first moved to his great-grandmother’s cottage. He knew that there were different types of magic and that witches from the old empire practiced one of the oldest types. Viv thought their magic was inborn, like having brown hair or your mother’s eyes, but it worked better if you had something to channel it.
“There’s magic in everything, in a way,” she’d said. “We bring that magic out, and the magic in us makes it stick. That’s why there’s all this ritual.”
The salt spilled in a perfect line as Micah walked backward around the entrance. Sasha had already built the doorway, which was just a flimsy frame of sticks and twine lying flat on the ground. Sasha stood on the other side of it, watching Micah.
When the sand-and-salt line reached the door, the frame lifted off the grass, standing straight up. Micah caught his breath, staring at Sasha through the open frame.
“Give it a try,” Micah said, and Sasha walked toward the door. When he reached it, he cursed and fell back as though he’d slammed into a solid wall. He held out a hand, pressing it against the open air.
“That’s a hell of a wall,” Sasha said, grinning. He checked the air next to the door, but his hand wouldn’t pass through. “Good job, boss. Let me in?”
“You’re always welcome, Sasha.” It was important to make that distinction, so Sasha didn’t leave at some point and find himself unable to get back in. Sasha stepped through the door, beamed, and spent a few seconds hopping in and out. Then it was Viv’s turn, though she spent a half hour testing every inch of the circle for weakness before she let anyone welcome her inside.
“Baby, get in here. There’s literally a shadow mirror thing out to get you,” Sasha said, walking back in with her.
“Yes, but have you noticed it only calls at night or in the woods? If it’s a shadow, I think it needs shade. During the day, this field is as good a protection as a spell.”
“Maybe we need to test it,” Sasha said, looking toward the woods. Micah knew he was itching to hunt again—and he needed to, if they were going to have enough supplies for the winter—but they couldn’t risk it until the shadow creature was destroyed. “We can go inside if it gets too close.”
“Fire helps.” Micah eyed the woods. He wondered if it was out there now, watching them, waiting for dusk to fall. He didn’t like the idea of seeing it again, but it might be necessary to ensure the spell worked. “I’ll stay, Sasha. In case you need backup.”
Sasha lit up as if Micah had just told him to strip down and brace for the cane rather than wait till dusk to watch a creature slither out of the woods. He went down the stairs with Viv and came back alone, carrying two mugs of water, a basket of food, and a blanket.
“Picnic,” he said, setting the supplies on the ground in front of the door. “My sister and I used to do this with our cousins. Underground, obviously, because we had to keep ourselves secret from you all in the village, but there’s this cave that opens up to the beach, yeah? So we’d go and stay all night telling stories, trying to scare the shit out of each other. It was great.”
“You have a big family, then?” Micah took one of the mugs and uncovered the basket to find nut bread, seasoned chicken, and a jar of spiced jelly.
“Yeah. Two aunts, five cousins, Inessa, and Nan. Mom wanted kids, but she wasn’t all that into having a husband. She had a hunting accident when I was a kid, and we all moved in with my aunt Bell, ’cause Mom had it up to here with us and she had just one arm. You should meet Bell. She’d love you.”
