A little bit bewitched, p.11
A Little Bit Bewitched, page 11
Except, he couldn’t stop thinking about what they were doing. He heard them. He felt the magic in the house. Daniel knew he should leave, go to his own flat, but chances were good they wouldn’t be locked upstairs for the entire night, and he wanted to be there when they emerged.
And if he was honest with himself, he wanted to be there in case they didn’t. The incident hadn’t been brought up much in the past two weeks—neither Charles nor Lucy seemed eager to talk about it, and Daniel didn’t know if he would be crossing some line if he did ask. He remembered Charles telling him to be honest. Lying, or avoiding them, wouldn’t do anybody any favors. Danny had agreed whole-heartedly, and he still agreed. He just didn’t know how to honestly tell them he was really, really uncomfortable with magic now.
A door opened and closed upstairs. Danny turned his attention back to his book, trying to make it look like he’d been reading all along, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw Charles descend the stairs.
“Lucy fancies Indian for dinner tonight,” he said as he stepped into the lounge. “Does that sound good to you?”
Daniel marked his place in his book with his finger and looked up. “It does, in fact. Does she want to go out or order in?”
“We’ll order it in. I’m having her rest for a little bit.” Danny caught Charles’s almost imperceptible glance upward. “She refuses to believe her own limitations sometimes.”
“So I’ve noticed,” Daniel said under his breath.
Charles paused in mid-step, a frown settling in his brow. “Pardon?”
Daniel could have shaken his head and turned his attention back to the book, but he didn’t. He looked up and met Charles’s eyes. “I said, so I’ve noticed.”
Silence stretched between them. When he finally spoke, Charles’s tone matched the grim set of his mouth.
“If you have something to say, Daniel, I suggest you do so. You’ve been out of sorts for several weeks now. Is this…arrangement not working for you?”
Daniel took a deep breath. He still didn’t want to talk about it. But he didn’t want Charles to think he was unhappy with them. Because he most assuredly was not.
“I guess you could say I’ve been out of sorts. But if I am, it’s because I can’t sleep, and when I’m awake, I’m distracted. Half the time I’m wondering if I should be prepared to drop everything in case Lucy needs me again, and the rest of the time, I can’t help but think even if I did drop everything, I probably wouldn’t get lucky twice.”
Something in Charles visibly relaxed, and he altered his course, coming over to the couch to sit down next to him. Plucking the book out of his hand, Charles set it aside, forcing Daniel to deal with him directly.
“You’re worrying too much about what happened,” he said. His voice was gentler this time, his gaze more understanding. “It was an anomaly. Lucy and I have already agreed not to attempt it again, so any energy you’re expending wondering if you’ll need to ride to the rescue a second time is completely wasted.”
“Maybe. But I can’t seem to force any real logic into this equation. I know you and Lucy know what you’re doing, and know your limits, but I remember finding the two of you unconscious, and I can still feel that fear. Not to mention the pain of turning myself inside out to do that bloody spell.”
“Which is why we haven’t pressed you to join us.” He leaned closer. “What is it you really wish from us? To stop practicing altogether?”
“Honestly, I wouldn’t complain if you did. But if you go that far, you might as well go all out and never drive again. Or fly anywhere. Or leave the house, because you could catch a flu or some other virus from all those kids. And solid foods are dangerous. You could choke.” He offered a wry smile. “I know I can’t and shouldn’t try to insulate you two from anything that could harm you. That doesn’t mean the desire isn’t there.”
Charles settled his hand over Daniel’s, warm and strong and reassuring. “You’re not the only one who has those desires, you know. I often feel that life would be infinitely easier if I didn’t love either of you. Between your youth and her enthusiasm, I’m fairly certain you’ll be the death of me before I’m fifty.”
“When did that happen?”
Charles blinked. “When did what happen?” He paused. “When did I decide I loved you?”
Daniel had blurted the first thing that came to his mind, but now he found he really wanted to know the answer. “Yes. That.”
Charles paused, contemplating his response. “There was no actual decision made,” he mused. “But I suppose I first realized it the morning after we returned from London. When we were walking to your first class together. You said something—I don’t remember what—but I thought, ‘Charles, you lucky bastard.’ Because I just knew, you see.”
Daniel did, in a way. “When I woke up, after the ambulance left, I remember thinking I didn’t know if I wanted to strangle you both for scaring me like that, or if I wanted to take you to bed and show you how much I loved you both…how happy I was I got here in time.”
“There’s a simple solution to your fear of being late next time. Move in with us.”
Daniel opened his mouth to point out his suggestion was a really big step, but Charles no doubt knew. The weekends he spent with them were always perfect. When he woke up in Charles’s bed, he did so with the sense of being comfortable, of belonging.
“I…well, honestly Charles, I want to, but your house is hardly large. It’s more…cozy. And we’d be getting under each other’s feet. My library is easily the size of yours, for example.”
Charles took a moment to consider Daniel’s words, his fingers stroking absently over the back of Daniel’s hand. “Would you consider letting a larger place then? Something with a conservatory, perhaps. It’ll be harder for Lucy to kill all my plants then.”
Daniel chuckled. “Well, if it’s in the name of saving your innocent, defenseless plants, I would definitely consider it. What do you think Lucy will say when we tell her we’ve been making plans without her?”
“I think she’ll be very relieved she doesn’t have to nag me any more about asking you.”
Charles tightened his grip and rose, pulling Danny to his feet at the same time. Their bodies pressed together, lean muscle to lean muscle, and his strong arm looped around Daniel’s waist.
“Lucy’s far better at expressing herself than I am,” he murmured. “But it would please me to no end if you’d share a home with us. We love you, Daniel. And I believe our lives are better for you being in them.”
Daniel ducked his head, his lips almost close enough to Charles’s neck to touch him. He inhaled, briefly made heady by Charles’s aftershave, mingled with Lucy’s soft scent, and the trace of coppery electricity, which Daniel now recognized as magic. His heart tripped, and a chill passed through him.
“I will on one condition.” He looked up. “We go upstairs right now and celebrate the decision with Lucy.”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “Lucy’s not up to the type of celebrating you have in mind, you know.”
Daniel stepped back without releasing Charles’s hand. “I promise to keep my hands to myself…” He paused, realizing what he was saying. “Okay, we both know I won’t do that. I promise to refrain from that type of celebrating until she’s rested. Fair enough?”
“Fair enough.”
Charles led him back to the stairs, leading him up to the bedroom. The door was ajar, and just before he pushed it open, the sound of the bed creaking filtered through the crack. He sighed and rolled his eyes.
“I need to put a collar on that girl,” Charles said, pulling Danny inside.
“I actually think that’d be a good look for her.”
Lucy was stretched out on the bed, looking serene, and not at all like she had just scampered across the room to settle on the mattress again seconds before.
“How are you feeling?” Danny asked as sat on the edge of the bed, near her knees. “Rested?”
“Much.” She smiled at Charles as he sat down on the opposite side. “Did you get dinner ordered? I’m starved.”
“Not yet. Daniel and I have some…news.”
“Oh?” Her bright eyes swiveled back to Danny. “What?”
“I think I’ll start at the beginning. I love you, and it feels like I always have. So in the interest of my books, and Charles’s plants, we think the three of us should move into a larger place.”
Her mouth made a tiny o, and her gaze snapped back to Charles, as if waiting confirmation. When he smiled and nodded, Lucy launched herself forward, throwing herself against Daniel’s chest as she began peppering his face with kisses, each one warmer than the one previous.
“This doesn’t look like resting,” Charles chided, though his amusement was more than evident.
“I don’t care.” Her eyes burned as she met Daniel’s. “I’ve been waiting so long for you to say that out loud. I love you, too.”
Daniel wrapped his arms around her and gently lowered her back to the mattress—in the interest of her need for rest, and not because he wanted nothing more than to stretch out beside her. She linked her arms around his neck, not allowing him to move away.
“I should have told you sooner.” He rested his forehead against hers. “And I fear I might have waited even longer, but Charles…broke through that barrier.”
“He’s kind of good at that.”
“I’m rather good at a lot of things.” The mattress bowed where Charles laid down next to them, propping his head up in his hand. “Including recognizing exactly what’s best for all of us.”
Lucy chuckled. “That’s just because you’re old.”
“It’s not age. It’s experience.”
“And age,” Daniel said in a mock whisper.
“Children,” Charles muttered. But the tender stroke of his hand down Daniel’s back said far more than their gentle banter.
It said, this was always more than magic.
It said, we love you.
Most importantly, it said, welcome home.
THE END
ABOUT JAMIE CRAIG
Jamie Craig is the collaboration of Vivien Dean and Pepper Espinoza. Both have been in love with romance, adventure, fantasy, and the written word since childhood. Pepper lives in Utah with her dog and cats and loves to golf when she’s not working. Vivien lives in Northern California with her husband and two teenagers.
For more information, visit jamie-craig.com.
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Jamie Craig, A Little Bit Bewitched
