Inevitable (The Curse of Avalon Book 2) Read online

  It was again about four-hundred degrees—that pool Mathias and I talked about suddenly seemed like a really good idea right about now—and Bash, Xander, and I were gathered in the gardens, on the eastern side of the property. The only respite from the August summer heat were the tall sunflowers reaching towards the sun’s rays, their heads heavy as they swayed gently in the little southern breeze, and the occasional marshmallow-puff cloud that dotted the bright blue sky.

  “Well!” He protested. It didn’t help that neither he—nor Xander—were wearing a damn shirt. I was going to have to declare a new rule; until I could handle this damn magic, everyone was wearing a shirt. And full pants. And a nun’s habit.

  I was fully clothed, of course; in a sports bra that encouraged all the boob sweat (ew!), under a loose green swing tank that caught on the breeze and blew the hemline in different directions. And, also bike shorts that stopped mid-thigh I never used for biking, though; rather on the off-chance I wore a dress, I wore them underneath. I frequently “forgot” to be lady like and would “forget” to cross my legs. Whoops. That, and to prevent my thunder-thighs from rubbing against each other because in this extreme heat? It just wasn’t fun at all.

  “I’m not sure how else to show you!” Bash protested with irritation.

  I pouted and pulled away from him. “I just…need a moment.”

  “Why don’t you take a breather? Xander and I will just go through the routine. Sit down and take a break.” Bash whistled loudly, catching Xander’s attention as he artfully shot photos of the various blooms in the garden.

  Xander thrust his state-of-the-art digital camera towards me and nodded towards Bash.

  The gardens were a peaceful spot, that resembled a small courtyard. In the middle of everything was an empty patch of land with a picnic table, benches, and a covered swing off to one side. Ivy and morning glories climbed up the poles on which the swing was hung, and the canvas canopy offered some relief from the mid-afternoon blazing sun. Nearby were clusters of rose bushes where Xander plucked his flowers from daily for me; I sort of felt sad about that even though I kept every single one, because they were so beautiful on their green stems it seemed a shame to pick them. Surrounding the middle picnic area, a mix of various flowers and bushes were artfully landscaped and arranged carefully. Besides the cluster of sunflowers, a cherry tree stood out in the center. There was one individual swing hanging from a branch, and a wrought-iron chair nearby I’d often caught Xander sitting in, looking faraway. I didn’t tend to wander into his gardens often; I felt like I was invading his privacy. He was either deep in thought or working on an art project; neither of which required my company.

  Off towards the west were large vegetable and fruit gardens all the guys took satisfaction in growing. Everything from potatoes to corn, to various lettuces and herbs, two Honeycrisp apple trees, raspberry and strawberry patches—they had it all. Apparently, according to Xander, they had portable greenhouses they put over them yearly, to keep fresh produce all year round. That explained partially how Mathias’ was able to cook so well, he had fantastic ingredients to work with.

  But, it was hard to keep my attention on all the beautiful plants and flowers when Xander and Bash started their Tai Chi Chih movements. Both of them wore loose, woven shorts that resembled swim trunks; Bash in blue, Xander in black. And of course, both were shirtless. The two of them moved with fluidity as they went through the motions that resembled a combination of easy combat and simple dance. I’d of course seen Tai Chi Chih before, but never had it looked so inspirational. Or downright hot.

  My breath hastened as I watched them flex and loosen with masculine grace; every muscle on display from their fingers to their toes. I found myself fanning my face with my hand as my cheeks flushed. Smirking to myself, I raised Xander’s camera, and even though I had no idea how to work his complicated camera, I lifted it and clicked the shutter button. It made a quick clicking sound, and Xander’s gaze briefly tracked over to me as the camera was raised. The corners of his mouth quirked in an easy smile, as he and Bash continued the movements. I glanced away for a moment, hoping to figure out how to work the contraption to scroll back to see the photo I just took. Obviously, I scrolled too far, because I found photo after photo of Xander’s blooms, as well as a handful of Bash and I together, attempting to get me to do the moves. I eyed it cautiously, I didn’t know he’d been taking the photos, and normally I didn’t care for photos of myself. I didn’t even have social media, I detested them so much. But here I actually thought I looked…flattering.

  “What’cha looking at?”

  I jumped, startled, the camera nearly falling out of my grip but Xander was lightning—no pun intended—and swiftly caught it with a hand. I blushed profusely, as he stood before me with his sideways smirk, tapping his bare foot on the grass.

  “Umm…” I fluttered my lashes, feigning innocence. “I…accidentally hit a button?”

  Xander grinned, shaking his head. “I don’t mind, just let me show you how to do it so you don’t delete anything accidentally.” He took a seat next to me on the swing, camera in hand, and proceeded to show me the correct buttons to use, by flipping through his camera scroll, landing on another photo of Bash and me. I smiled lightly; it was actually a very beautiful photo. Bash and I were smiling at each other, he was knelt slightly to be closer to my level, one of his hands touched mine as he tried to get me to imitate his movements (but I was a bit of a clod).

  “I’m sorry, I should have asked if you minded,” Xander said sheepishly.

  I paused in thought for a moment before responding. “You know? Yeah maybe you should have…but you’re an artist, and I know you’re coming from a good place, so I don’t mind. These are actually…good. No one takes good photos of me. Just no nudie shots, okay?”

  Xander’s eyes darkened briefly before a wide grin spread across his face. “Deal. You just need someone to bring the best out of you. Bash does, clearly.”

  I winked at him. “You all do,” I said softly, looking away to avoid showing him the raw emotion on my face.

  “I hope so. And, I don’t show anyone, I promise. They’re just for me. Sometimes…I just watch people. Or things. But especially people. When you catch them at the right moment, they just…glow. They radiate. Everyone has something truly beautiful about them, I think. Sometimes you have to watch a while to find it, but generally everyone does.”

  I leaned into him, despite the heat of the air, and the warmth emanating in my chest. Looking up at him, I smiled fondly. “That’s amazing, Xan. Really. Such a great outlook.”

  Xander’s expression softened into a half smile, and with a crook of his finger under my chin, he lifted my face upward, his eyes searching mine.

  “I didn’t know it was break time,” Bash interrupted playfully.

  “Hey it’s hard work being a klutz,” I said, crestfallen. “Not sure why I just don’t get it.”

  Xander and Bash eyed each other over my head and nodded knowingly.

  “What?” I demanded, glancing between the both of them.

  Xander rose, and held his hands out, palms facing upward. “Remember how nervous you were about dancing with me at the Stargazer?”

  I lifted a brow. “Yeah?”

  “Just…follow my lead. You concentrate on me, Bash will stand behind you, and do the moves with you. I’ll mirror the both of you. If you do something wrong, Bash will easily correct you. It’s your confidence, Ava,” Xander explained. “Like, you feel like you can’t do the right thing.”

  “Correction. No one notices if I do the right thing,” I said, with a dry laugh.

  “Okay,” he said, with a quick roll of his eyes. “So it’s taken a toll on your esteem. You’re not a klutz, and you’re certainly not ugly.”

  I sighed outwardly. “Okay,” I said, throwing my hands up in defeat. “We’ll do it your way.” I placed my hands in his, and we stood, Bash directing me to the center of the small garden courtyard, with his hand on the small of
my back. I shrugged when we reached our spot, awaiting direction.

  Xander pointed two fingers at his eyes, then turned them towards me, and back to his again. “Just focus on me. Nothing else. Bash will force your movements eventually, you just relax.”

  “Close your eyes for a moment, and just breathe,” Bash whispered softly, his tone husky. I could feel his breath on my neck, and I broke out in gooseflesh at his close proximity. I glanced over my shoulder and flicked my eyes forward again. Both men were mere inches away from me. Oh, and from each other. Any closer, and they’d practically be “swordfighting”—and I’m not talking about with actual, literal swords. My breath caught in my throat as I tried to push the image out of my mind. Yeah, this was gonna help me concentrate—right!

  “Breathe, Avie.” Xander grinned and shook his head. “Just trust me.”

  I sighed, reluctantly closing my eyes, my lips pressed into a hard line of skepticism. “This isn’t going to work, guys.”

  “Yes, it will. Just trust us, Avie.” Bash’s breathy words were sultry on my bare shoulder, and I shuddered gently.

  Xander wrapped his hands tightly around mine, and I felt a surge of energy as he closed the distance between us. He placed my hands directly over his heart and breathed steadily. “Just follow my lead.”

  I nodded once and mimicked his breathing until we were in tandem. I was highly aware of Bash’s tightly-muscled body behind me, and Xander’s in front of me. It was a hot-guy, incubus sandwich, and my body responded with tingles in my belly, that began to seep to my inner core. I let out a small gasp, as Bash grasped my shoulders gently, running his fingers down my arms, and placed his hands over mine. My heart thudded against my ribcage, and an inferno of fiery lust began to smolder deep inside. I felt the inexplicable place in the back of my mind blaze to life, and the uncomfortable magic surge began to tug at my mind, resulting in a very uncomfortable, sharp muscle spasm. My neck twitched moderately and the sexy stimulation in my core began to be replaced with a feeling of nausea.

  “Guys,” I said hesitantly. “You probably should step back, I’m going to explode again if you don’t.”

  “That’s what we’re counting on, Ava.” Xander’s baritone voice was honey to my soul, and I about melted, feeling his body shift even closer to me.

  “Just trust us. Please.” Bash whispered, pushing the ponytail that hung down my back aside, and grazed his lips against the soft spot on my neck.

  “Oh god…” I spoke through clenched teeth. The nausea was replaced with a gush of pleasant warmth, but the strange spot in my mind still hummed, anxious for release.

  “Breathe, Ava.” Xander instructed.

  I inhaled deeply, and held it, as Xander tipped his forehead against mine. I bit my lip, as the tension inside hit a fever pitch, and I had to focus on not allowing my knees and legs to turn to Jello. Especially when Bash kissed up my neck and nibbled gently on my earlobe.

  Deep in a breath, I resisted the urge to moan. Mostly because it would have sounded weird, but also because I was almost embarrassed to admit just what an effect the two of them were having on me; that I couldn’t control my baser urges. They knew just what they were doing, and I was quickly losing control. Which wasn’t good—because in one way or another, I was going to detonate.

  Then Xander pressed his lips against mine, as Bash continued nipping at my earlobe, both of their bodies pressed tightly against mine. I moaned quietly, as Xander parted his lips, tongue eagerly seeking mine.

  Bash’s hands were tight on my waist, inching slowly; my hands still gripped in Xander’s, against his chest and his rapidly beating heart. A couple of Bash’s fingers gently sought the bottom of my tank top, and pushed aside the fabric, tracing a gentle line at the newly exposed skin.

  “Let go, Ava…” he whispered into my ear, as Xander broke the kiss.

  I protested quietly, as Bash abandoned my hip, and cupped my chin, turning my head towards him. He pressed a kiss on my lips, where Xander’s had just been moments before.

  Bash mastered my mouth with his, and Xander’s hands trailed over my shoulders, stopping to squeeze my breasts gently, before trailing down, and daring to just barely dart into my shorts.

  I panted against Bash’s mouth. Pangs of extreme heat throbbed between my legs and I panted, once again begging for release…when the magic surge began ebbing at my mind, once again. My fingertips started to tingle, and I knew it was just a few moments before I exploded in all the wrong ways.

  Bash broke his kiss, and his hands found mine. “Just concentrate on the movements. Breathe through the magic, Ava. Just breathe…”

  I whimpered uneasily, but nodded slightly, as Bash bent towards me easily, and moved my hands gently in some sort of fluid motion. He had me hold it there momentarily, before shifting, and positioning my hands and arms into another form.

  I felt Xander before me, mimicking the motions. I squeezed my eyes shut—resisting the urge to squeeze my legs together as well—and gritted my teeth, trying to concentrate on the motions only.

  I didn’t quite get the footing, but with Bash’s help, I managed to move in time with them. Awkwardly…but I was concentrating so hard on the moves, that I forgot about the magic surge.

  “See?” Xander kissed my cheek, and squeezed my shoulders triumphantly.

  “Told you to trust us!” Bash said, with a nudge, and kissed my other cheek.

  I pried my eyes open, grinning at the both of them. My skin still tingled at the idea of them both touching me, but I no longer felt like exploding with magic.

  “Not only did you work through your magic surge while you were aroused,” Xander said, catching his lower lip between his teeth, expression heavy, “but you didn’t blast us.”

  “I for one am grateful,” Bash said, with a snicker.

  I smiled still, but my expression fell. “Yeah, but it took both of you. Not sure how practical it will be to start busting into Tai Chi every time I feel like I’m going to blast something.”

  “Tai Chi Chih. There’s a difference,” Bash corrected, with a wink.

  I snorted. “Fine, fine.” I glanced between the two of them, with their shit-ass grins. “I have a feeling you’ve tag-teamed before. Want to tell me about it?” I asked, with a flirtatious smirk.

  They both whistled, and looked in other directions, feigning innocence.

  A phone chirped. Bash chuckled. “Saved by the bell!” He reached into his back shorts pocket, pulling out his phone.

  I turned to Xander, placing my hand on his stomach, feeling the ridges of his lithe abs under his shirt. “You need to tell me.”

  He cocked his sidelong smile and ignored my pleas. “So. Bash…what is it?”

  “I have a hit on that paper we found last night.” He said, not taking his eyes off the screen. “However, I need to get to my computer to check it out.”

  I raised a brow. “Paper?”

  “You tore off so fast, you didn’t notice. There was a piece of parchment found after Sammy took off into the woods, with an unfamiliar handwriting, and language we don’t recognize.”

  “You translated it?” I asked.

  Bash shook his head. “No, but we might have found a handwriting match.” He nodded towards the house. “I’m going up. Good progress today, Ava. I think Lachlan would be proud.”

  “You’re changing the subject!” I called, and darted after him, Xander hot on my heels. “I want to know!”

  Xander caught me in mid-run—damn those long legs—and spun me by the waist. His eyes were heavy, and his cheeks flushed as he rested his hands on my hips. “You’ll soon find out, I promise,” he said, with a flirty wink.

  “Did you two ever—” I swallowed, suddenly intrigued with the prospect.

  Xander grinned. Instead of answering, he swept me off my feet. I shrieked in surprise, as he effortlessly followed Bash to the house, carrying me in his arms while I protested not knowing their secret, and not letting me down.

  Chapter Eleven

&nbs
p; Xander set me on the sofa when we entered the living room. Trystan was with a couple of the pooches, and Nessie, and they stood there watching us with strange expression on their faces.

  Well, Trystan wore the strange expression, I’m sure I just imagined the dogs’.

  “You’re feeling better today, lass?” he asked rhetorically.

  I chuckled, as Xander stood. As he pulled out his hand from under me, he clenched a handful of my asscheek, and grinned playfully.

  “Och, I don’t wanna know,” Trystan said, rolling his green eyes, but he still smiled, indicating he wasn’t actually perturbed. “What was Bash in a huff about?”

  “Apparently, he got a hit on the handwriting on that paper we found last night,” Xander explained, flinging himself on the other end of the couch. I stretched my legs out, smirking, setting my feet in his lap.

  “Really?” Trystan said. “That’s good. I was sure that was going to be a dead end.”

  “We don’t still know that it’s not,” Xander said, with a heavy sigh, mindlessly stroking the front of my ankle with a lone finger.

  “Um, I’d like to see this paper,” I said.

  Trystan cocked a brow. “I don’t see why, there’s no way you’d recognize it. The language is undecipherable. I’m not even sure it says anything.”

  I blew a raspberry. “Still. Gimme.”

  Trystan shook his head, but obliged, and fetched a paper from the kitchen counter. “This is only a copy; Bash has the real one in his room.” He crossed the room and handed it to me.

  My eyes narrowed, as I examined the writing on the page. I looked at him with disbelief, and then Xander. “Really, guys? You can’t read this? Come on. It’s not even written badly. A little scripty but come on. Didn’t they have cursive five billion years ago, when you were younger?”

  Trystan and Xander exchanged wide-eyed looks. Xander stood up a little higher, abandoning his stroking of my leg. “You can’t read that.”