The summons exploded from me without warning, Austin’s green light allowing my magic the freedom to search. Those who fit the requirements we’d discussed would be called. The gargoyle would likely come immediately, Ivy House and its mistress figured largely into their lore, but the others… Well, I hoped they were just as curious as Sebastian.

I sucked in a breath and let it out slowly, dissolving the spell bubble around us. “Now we wait. Again. I hate this part.”

“That’s how you called me?” Sebastian asked.

“Yes. You and everyone else.”

“So what are we going to do about that invitation?” Niamh asked, eyeing my beer. She clearly knew I was planning my escape.

“I can put him off.” I touched the edge of the invitation. “I can say that Austin is forming his pack and it’s not a good time to visit.”

“In other words, we are vulnerable,” Niamh said.

“So maybe he’ll attack Ivy House. It won’t be any different than the other times we’ve defended her. Probably easier, since we’ve had more experience fighting as a team.”

“Why not just bring him to town?” Sebastian asked. “They wouldn’t be able to bring too many people because of the town’s size and lack of accommodations. You can even control how many rooms are available.”

“All of the Airbnbs are full,” Austin said. “House inventory is very low with everyone moving into town. He could put people in the other towns, effectively spreading them out. We’d let him, saying the size of his team is only an issue because of available space, not because we aren’t set up to defend against it. The problem would be when we all meet up. And if his people wandered the streets, intending to cause trouble…” He tightened his lips and minutely shook his head. “Let me think on this. But it’s a good idea. Bringing them here is probably the safest bet.”

“This place is like the Wild West right now,” Niamh said. “Ye can’t have a well-established magical muckety-muck coming through here. He’ll think we’re easy for the taking.”

“He’s a mage,” Sebastian said. “I don’t know about his setup, but mages don’t typically have shifters on their teams, as I said to…the Irish lady—”

“After all we’ve been through, you don’t remember me name?” she cut in, and I could tell she was delighted for reasons unknown.

“He’ll probably buy this as a normal shifter setup,” Sebastian continued, ignoring her. “I thought it was. It wouldn’t even matter if it were less…respectable. You turn into animals—why not live like animals?”

“Animals are typically much more organized than people,” Austin said, almost a growl.

“Someone give me a heads-up when I say the wrong thing,” Sebastian whispered, “so I can get ready to run or put up a spell or something.”

I spat out a laugh, not expecting that little bit of humor, made funnier because he was dead serious.

“Ye still need a good team in place, Austin, and ye don’t have it,” Niamh said.

Austin nodded and took a slow sip of his drink.

I wondered if that was his way of saying, Hold my beer.

Later that night I tucked myself into bed, my brain a little fuzzy from alcohol and my son thankfully asleep in his room. Niamh had strong-armed me into another couple of beers, Sebastian hadn’t escaped without another scotch being forced on him, and Austin had eventually walked me home, Ulric and Jasper flying high overhead. We’d all separated with the question remaining—how could we possibly play host to an established mage and not look like a Podunk outfit? Niamh didn’t think there was a way—she thought we should come up with a good reason to keep him waiting.

The question was, what would happen when he got tired of waiting?

I pulled the covers up to my chin, my eyes on the soft moonlight shining in the many windows of the largest room I’d ever called my own. I nestled into the soft bedclothes and fluffy pillow, thinking about the events of the night. As sleep dragged at me, warmth sparked down low and curled up through my middle. It spread, saturating my body, a deep ache tightening my core.

Pleasure came next, forcing out a gasp, localized between my thighs. I pushed my legs together, twisting as though I could move away. A sudden urge for fast, hard contact bled through my thoughts.

I gripped the sheets, trying not to give in to the sensations, which had come out of nowhere. At this point, everyone knew not to spy on me during certain times, but until they learned how to magically control the link to automatically shut down in private moments, Jasper and Ulric would know what I was up to before they could sign off.

Realization dawned.

I checked the links, the pleasure pumping higher now, consuming me. It was pounding between my thighs, massaging the bundle of nerves at my apex. I stifled a moan as I blocked my magical connections to Jasper and then Ulric. These feelings weren’t from them.

Half grossed out, I blocked the rest, the pleasure cutting out immediately, leaving an absence in its wake.

Panting, now off-kilter, I felt Mr. Tom downstairs, tidying up the kitchen after making me a late-night snack. Wasn’t him, thank God, something I was happy to ascertain through his position in the house and not through the link. Edgar was out in the wood, doing God knew what, but he was walking around. Couldn’t be him.

“Please don’t be Niamh. Please…” My stomach twisted in distaste.

I couldn’t not know. I couldn’t have that hanging over my head as a maybe.

I unblocked the link and blocked it back up super quick, the briefest of feelings. Nothing. She was probably asleep.

“Thank all that is holy,” I said, heaving out a sigh. I wasn’t sure I would’ve ever recovered from…

My phone vibrated on the nightstand. Frowning, I pushed up to an elbow to peer at the screen.

Text from Austin: You okay?

I frowned harder. When I unblocked the link between us, the pleasure didn’t resume. He must’ve felt my distaste.

Phone in hand, I was about to text him a quick answer and let him get back to things, but…

A spike of unease pierced my middle. What if he was with someone?

It felt like acid dripped down through me.

I wasn’t, by nature, a jealous person. Never had been. Boyfriends had flirted with other women at parties and my ex-husband had been known for his “charm.” I’d never worried about it.

I didn’t have any right to Austin, but I hated the thought of someone else sliding against his amazing body, or delighting in his expert, passionate kisses.

My stomach turned at the thought of him taking someone else on the perfect date, or directing her with a gentle but firm hand on the small of her back.

The phone rang this time, vibrating in my fingers. Austin’s name was on the screen.

I slid my finger across it, answering the call.

“Hey,” I said, uncomfortable, hating that I felt this way.

“Hey.” His voice was thick, rough. His breathing came faster than normal, like he’d been working out. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“For what?”

“I… Uhm.” I swallowed. Now that I was in this position, I suddenly understood why he’d been hesitant to tell me about listening in through the link. “I accidentally forgot to close down everyone’s links, so…”

A rush of heat flooded my body from Austin. He’d liked hearing that.

His voice lowered, his tone softer now. “Is that why you felt so disgusted?” I could hear the teasing.

“I didn’t know who was…” Another rush of heat. I barely stifled a gasp. “I usually only have one or two of them open at a time, so I haven’t practiced deciphering who is who when they’re all open. I closed them all—”

“How’d you know it was me?”

Another sheen of sweat broke out on my forehead. An insane part of me wanted to dip my hand south, like we were in college in different dorms, unable to stand the distance separating us and desperate for the time when we could feel the rush of each other’s bodies again.

“I had to check each person. It came down to you and Niamh, and I couldn’t live with the not knowing… I had to know if I’d ever be able to look her in the eyes again.” I laughed nervously. “But anyway…” I licked my lips, needing to know. Not able to help it. “I should let you get back to your date.”

“I haven’t had a date since the one with you.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Yes, I do. I haven’t had a date since the one with you. There’s no one here, Jess.”

Heat coursed through me, my own this time. His groan was soft, and suddenly I didn’t know what we were doing. I didn’t know if I was about to make a big mistake.

I was certain I didn’t care.

“Have you ever listened in on me?” I asked, my voice belonging to another woman, thick and sultry and wanton. “Through the link, I mean. When I’ve…”

“Yes.” His voice dripped with arousal. My nipples tightened and I rubbed my thighs together, unable to stand the pounding heat.

“I should be mad at that,” I whispered.

“Probably,” he replied, and pleasure once again swirled between my thighs. I moaned, the feeling threatening to sweep me away. “It happened by accident at first. I was reading and the pleasure caught me off guard. Most of the time I block the link, but sometimes…”

I sighed at the pounding deep inside of me, my knees parting, my hand slipping down my stomach and between my legs.

He growled into the phone.

“Does it feel like someone is touching you?” I asked, arching.

“It feels like you are touching me. Sometimes it feels like you are sliding onto me. I assume that’s when you use…help…”

I should’ve been embarrassed, definitely. But I groaned into the phone.