Maia's Magickal Mates [The Double R 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  He came hard, harder than he could ever remember coming before with a partner, much less by himself. Colorful fireworks pinwheeled and blasted off before his mind’s eye, a cliché he couldn’t dispute as he panted and rested his forehead beside his hand.

  Several moments later Cade slowly came back to himself, relishing the warm water that pounded the top of his head and shoulders.

  The orgasm almost made up for his unpleasant wake-up visit. If he could start all his mornings off like this on a regular basis, he’d be a happy camper and a morning person, too.

  He wondered how Thayne started his mornings, if he still meditated and did his morning yoga listening to…What were the names of those guys he admired, Deepak Chopra and Wayne Dyer? If not them, then some other self-help gurus that Cade just couldn’t countenance.

  Sure he believed in self-help, but he didn’t need someone else to help him achieve it now, did he?

  He took self-help to mean exactly that, helping one’s self.

  Thayne would say that we all needed a little guidance now and then, a little company on our journey to enlightenment.

  He guessed his brother wasn’t too far from the truth, either, because this was exactly why he had come home to Thayne.

  He needed help.

  God, it hurt to admit that, even to himself, but it was the truth, and the truth would set him free. Wouldn’t it?

  Showered and clad in his requisite jeans, T-shirt, and motorcycle boots, Cade made his way down the stairs to face the day but more importantly to face his brother, tension-free.

  Amazing what a good hand job could do for a guy!

  “What are you smiling at?” Thayne asked when Cade came into the kitchen several seconds later, drawn by the delicious aroma of home cooking.

  “Something smells good.” Cade stood behind his brother at the electric range and peeked over his shoulder. “Pancakes. Yummy.”

  Thayne chuckled. “That is not a something-smells-good smile. That is an I-just-got-laid smile. And what grown man says yummy?”

  “I’m surprised you still remember the look of a man who’s gotten laid, since it’s been so long for you.”

  Thayne silently gave him the finger as he flipped over the pancakes.

  “And for your information, ‘yummy’ is a universal term used by young and old alike when one is starving and food smells like heaven.”

  “You are such a charmer.”

  “I hope this isn’t all on my account.” Cade motioned to the place settings on the island and uncovered the tray in the center to reveal still-warm, smoked country sausages and scrambled eggs.

  “Figured I’d treat you to a nice, hearty breakfast your first day back, get you started on the right track. Don’t get too used to it though, especially the meat part.”

  Cade helped himself to a nice serving of the eggs and sausage, leaving a healthy portion behind as his brother made his way over to the island with the skillet of finished pancakes. “Right track for what?”

  “Not that you need the money or anything…”

  Cade knew how much his brother disapproved of him using his gifts to be ultrasuccessful on the professional gambling circuit. Thayne thought he prostituted his talents, much different than the altruistic and fulfilling endeavor of helping the police find the missing and dead.

  “Don’t you see how you serve the greater good helping the police find those people? You’re giving so many families closure…”

  Yeah, it was so very fulfilling. Those families got closure, and he got to see those dead bodies over and over again in his dreams.

  “What did you have in mind?” Cade asked.

  “That you could work while you’re here.” Thayne slid the three pancakes from the skillet onto Cade’s plate. “I’m not sure how long you plan on staying, but I figure you’d want to put your skills to good use and not get rusty, or any rustier than you already are.”

  Cade looked at his brother’s back as Thayne returned to the range to pour another batch of pancake mix into the skillet. “Are you talking about what I think you’re talking about?”

  “You always did like being a cowboy.”

  Cade released the breath he’d been holding. He’d thought his brother had been talking about a different set of skills altogether, and he was trying to get away from those as much as he could. “Here with you?”

  “Not necessarily. I already have one employee, Steve Marshall, you’ll meet him soon, and he’s pretty much enough for my spread. I only have four horses, nowhere near a cattle or dude ranch operation or even the spread Aunt Aura runs.”

  “Where, then?” Cade asked, glad his brother wasn’t suggesting working for him. He loved Thayne and all, but he imagined being employed by the little, fussy workaholic would put an unnecessary strain on their relationship, and he didn’t want to deal with more than one needless burden at a time, thank you very much.

  Thayne made his way back to the island with another batch of finished pancakes that he slid from the skillet to his plate. He took the seat opposite Cade and helped himself to some eggs before he leaned his elbows on the table and looked at his brother. “There’s a dude ranch nearby, The Double R, family owned and operated, and they’ve got a couple of openings for their buckaroo crew.”

  “You’re serious?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be? Goddess knows you’ve got the experience, and at best it’d be something to do while you figure things out and clear your head. At worst, it’ll be a nice change of pace from the concrete jungle.”

  “Hmph,” Cade grunted as he dug into his food, relishing the fluffy eggs and smoked sausage. He reached for the fresh-squeezed juice his brother had just poured in his glass and took a healthy swig to wash down his food. He noticed that Thayne didn’t touch any of his own food. He figured that the meal was mainly for his benefit and his brother only helped himself to any of it for show.

  “So is that an I’ll-do-it hmph or a no-way-in-hell-mind-your-business hmph?”

  “Do you need an answer right now?”

  “I’d like one before I head off to the hospital.”

  “Want to get all your ducks in a row, huh?” Or keep your errant younger brother in line.

  “Not really. Just that…well, you know the saying. Idle hands are the devil’s playground.”

  Yeah, he’d heard it enough from his Uncle Jeff when Cade took a longer break from his ranch chores than anyone else. His uncle didn’t believe in favoritism, and Cade and Thayne were expected to do their share just like everyone else on the spread. He hadn’t appreciated the hard-work-ethic speeches so much when he was coming up, but once he got out in the world on his own, he understood the code his uncle tried to instill in him and Thayne. It took more with Thayne than it had with him. Cade still lived by the all-work-and-no-play-makes-Jack-a-dull-boy philosophy.

  “What time do you have to be at work?”

  “Not until ten, but you know how I like to get an early start.”

  Cade glanced at the kitchen clock and saw that it was only eight. Early start was right.

  How the hell long had his brother been up before he’d bothered to wake up Cade?

  Thayne had always been an early riser, even before they’d moved in with their aunt and uncle, his circadian rhythms uniquely suited to the early-to-bed-early-to-rise principles of country and ranch living.

  He could just picture his brother up at the crack of dawn, even with the little sleep he’d gotten after Cade’s unexpected arrival in the wee hours. He’d probably gone for his early-morning run after meditating or maybe gone for a ride on one of his horses with plenty of time to come home, shower, and disturb Cade’s wet dream before making breakfast.

  “So, who do I see at The Double R about this job?”

  “You’ll go for the interview, then?”

  “You really take your primogeniture duties seriously, don’t you?”

  “Cade.”

  “Yeah, yeah. I’ll check it out. It’s gotta be better than whiling my ti
me away here.”

  Thayne grinned and produced a piece of paper from who knew where, presenting it to his brother over the island. “That’s the address and directions and the ranch contact, Jesse Reynolds. He’s in charge of general ranching operations over there, and he’s expecting you later this morning, about ten thirty.”

  “Presumptuous creep.”

  “Love you, too.” Thayne threw him a kiss as he stood and grabbed a suit jacket from the back of his stool. “There’s coffee in the maker on the counter. Sorry, it’s decaf. And help yourself to whatever else you need. I already let Steve know you’re here, so he won’t be surprised to see you around. Oh, and the sausages are thanks to him, so don’t be a stranger.”

  “You know me.”

  “Yeah, and don’t corrupt my employee with your gambling schemes, either.”

  “Don’t forget binge drinking.”

  “That, too.” Thayne grabbed his car keys from the Peg-Board under the clock.

  Cade followed him through the house and smiled at the man’s drive and organization. He bet Thayne never lost his keys or misplaced them in, say, the refrigerator after a night of carousing and clubbing, because he had a place for everything and everything in its place. He was almost a hundred percent certain now that his health-freak brother had had breakfast earlier, probably some protein-rich smoothie or other liquid concoction to get his busy day started off on the right foot.

  “Oh yeah, another thing…” Thayne pulled up short at the front door and turned to him right before Cade would have bumped into him. “I’ve, uh, got a date tonight, so don’t wait up.”

  “Fucking A. Who is she? Have I met her?”

  “How could you? I only just met her a month or so ago myself.”

  “So will I meet her?”

  Thayne shrugged, and Cade couldn’t help thinking that his deliberate, settled brother looked flustered.

  “You’re blushing!”

  “I am not.”

  “Thayne has a girlfriend!” Cade chanted.

  “You see, this is why I don’t tell you anything.”

  Cade smothered a laugh, trying to be serious. “Okay, I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it. It’s just so cute seeing you like this.”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know, eager?”

  “I guess.”

  “Well, I don’t care who she is, she has to be better than that last one who left you up a creek without a paddle right before you came out here. What was the gold digger’s name? Hillary? Mallory? Muffy?”

  “Tiffany. And she wasn’t a gold digger. She just had different priorities.”

  “Right, and I’m a Trappist monk.” Despite his brother’s defense of the indefensible, Cade thought it was cute how Thayne found a way to put a positive spin on Tiffany’s desertion.

  Thayne had been so excited about the new job and coming out to Colorado and the place he’d just purchased for him and his woman, ready to settle down and probably start a family. A week before the move, however, Tiffany had dropped the bombshell that she didn’t want to leave LA, “where things are happening,” to move to a Podunk town in the dust bowl. Besides, she had fallen in love with Brad, some high-priced plastic surgeon with whom she was moving to Hollywood.

  Yeah, she had really strung his brother along, just one more reason that Cade liked his one-night stands. No lies, no expectations, no mind games, no emotions, just hit it and quit it.

  Not his brother. Thayne wanted commitment, monogamy, love. He wanted the package.

  Not the best candidate to participate in a ménage a trois, that’s for sure.

  Could one be in a ménage a trois and still be monogamous? Cade wondered.

  In the potential setup their parents had mapped out, technically one could be monogamous in a ménage a trois scenario that involved a single woman and two men, especially if one of the men was Thayne. “Just sex” didn’t exist for Thayne, so if he got involved, he would be in it for the long haul and loyal to the one woman.

  Would he accept his brother as part of the package, though?

  What about the mystery woman? How receptive would she be to being with two men? In that case he supposed he should be worried about polyamory and not monogamy. For him who barely believed in love between one man and one woman, love between two men and one woman wasn’t feasible.

  Cade sighed, trying not to drive himself crazy with the Sisyphean speculations.

  Regardless of what happened with the mystery woman and this sanctioned threesome, Cade had to hand it to Thayne. He hadn’t let Tiffany’s rejection get him down for long. He’d pulled up stakes and come out here despite her defection, because his existence wasn’t all about Tiffany or any woman. It was about Thayne and what was good for his peace of mind.

  You’re my hero.

  The words rested in Cade’s throat, fairly choking him with the need to be uttered.

  “So, we’re all good? You’ll meet Jesse at ten thirty?”

  “I’ll synchronize my watch.”

  Thayne pointedly looked at Cade’s naked wrists.

  “Fine, I’ll synchronize my BlackBerry.”

  Thayne chuckled and shook his head as he opened the front door to leave. “Be a good boy while I’m gone.”

  “You know me.”

  Chapter 4

  A month after Desiree’s birthday party and Maia still hadn’t seen any signs of the other man who had appeared with Thayne in her vision, and she hadn’t figured anything out about her future. Or was it her past?

  The memory of Thayne in Old West garb, complete with a gunbelt and gun, left her confused and a little shaken. For a Wiccan like her and like she knew him to be, that did not bode well at all, but she supposed when in Rome…

  It remained to be seen when either of them and the mystery man, who looked so much like Thayne that she had a good feeling he was Thayne’s brother, would be traveling back in time to the Old West.

  Maia shook her head at her ludicrous thoughts. Of course they weren’t going to be traveling back in time. Time travel outside of science-fiction books and movies wasn’t possible.

  How could she, a clairvoyant who had experienced her share of the unbelievable and who had recently acquired two shape-shifter brothers-in-law, be so skeptical?

  If she used the recent happenings in her life, especially since moving out to The Double R, then any weird scenario, including time travel was possible.

  Still, maybe Thayne hadn’t actually been in the Old West in her vision but just dressed in Old West clothes. There was a difference. He could have been in a costume like her four brothers-in-law routinely wore while performing sets at the popular Old-West-town section of the ranch. That scenario was more feasible than any of her time-travel theories, of course.

  She supposed she was so excited and idealistic after her sister Desiree recently achieved her happily ever after with Carson and Sam, two wolf-shifters from that den of magick and the occult, Louisiana.

  Now that both of her older sisters had set up house with their mates, Maia felt adrift among a sea of couples and threesomes. She felt like an outsider or, worse, a poor soul to be pitied like one of those perennially crazy and single old ladies who doted on lots of cats.

  She didn’t miss the housekeeper, Maria’s, sympathetic looks or her mother’s overly solicitous manner.

  Everyone seemed to handle her with kid gloves, afraid to upset the fragile emotional balance of the last single sister.

  Even Carson and Sam’s mother, Helena, had become nice and cozy with Jesse and Jax’s father, Jeremiah, in the last several weeks, more so than they ever had been, at least.

  Maia couldn’t describe the feelings of envy that washed over her whenever she watched all these trios and couple together and happy. She felt surrounded by them with no escape from the kissy-face going on.

  At the main cookhouse, where Jeremiah often visited Helena during the day, the couple could often be seen canoodling at a dining room table in the corner, all but ignoring
their food.

  Desiree visited the Old Western town more often than ever since she had hooked up with Carson and Sam, sometimes participating in the shows after bringing her men and the other performing cowboys a basket of her famous homemade authentic Louisiana pecan pie and lemonade to enjoy after the show. Of course, she’d stay after the audience left to spend some quality time—wink, wink—with her men. Finally, Maia couldn’t count the times she had just avoided getting sick to her stomach watching the still-infatuated trio of Tamara, Jesse, and Jax making out on one of the many comfy stuffed sofas beneath the romantic, muted lighting of Loaded Joe’s when they all hung out in Eagle County on the weekends to unwind.

  Maia grew tired of being a third wheel, or in the case of accompanying either of her sisters and their husbands and lovers, a fourth wheel.

  She needed something of her own. She needed someone of her own.

  Which brought her to the shock she’d felt when Thayne called her earlier that morning asking to take her out on a date later in the evening.

  She’d wondered what burr had gotten under his ass, because spontaneity wasn’t his strong suit. She knew this from just their two dates and her brief stints spent in his company, which probably was what she liked about him so much. He wasn’t anything like her. In fact, aside from them both being Wiccans, they were complete opposites.

  She wanted to think that opposites more than just attracted but that they could make a go of things. However, the more she learned of Thayne, admittedly not as much as she wanted, the more wary she became of furthering their relationship.

  Thayne wasn’t about games. She knew this.

  Maia had witnessed his intensity and seriousness at the hospital when he was in doctor mode. She had no reason to believe that those traits weren’t repeated in his personal life.

  She wanted someone of her own, yes, but was she ready for a man like Thayne?

  She hated being so wishy-washy but couldn’t help questioning her wisdom when it came to men. She wanted to trust her instincts telling her that Thayne was the real deal and his seriousness was a positive that should be celebrated and not a negative for which to penalize him.