It was dark by the time Gabe heard the door to Kane’s SUV slam shut outside. When Kane walked into the kitchen, he glanced around with a frown as he dropped several department store bags to the floor. Gabe returned his attention to the meal he was preparing while Kane lowered the duffle bag from his shoulder and removed his gloves and his coat.

“How is she?” Kane asked, hanging his coat on the hook by the door.

“She slept most of the day,” Gabe replied.

“That’s good. She was obviously exhausted, and this will give her body time to heal,” Kane said with a satisfied nod.

“Yeah,” Gabe murmured.

He picked up the ladle and stirred the large pot of vegetable noodle soup he’d made after coming back in from the boat earlier. He thought the soup might be better for Magna. It felt strange and rewarding at the same time to be cooking for someone else. He normally just had to worry about himself and the occasional special meal he made for the dogs. Once a week, Kane would come over and they would grill something while watching either football, basketball, or soccer.

His mind wasn’t on food, but on what he’d seen and experienced today. The entire episode on the beach had shaken him. Since the weather made going out on the water impossible, cooking had been the next best thing to give him something to do with his hands.

“What’s wrong?” Kane demanded.

He was quiet for a moment before he decided that perhaps showing Kane what he’d seen was better than trying to explain it. Turning away from the stove, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the necklace he’d picked up earlier. He’d wrapped it in a paper towel. He held it out to Kane with a nod.

“I found this on my boat. It obviously belongs to Magna,” he quietly explained.

Kane frowned as he took the paper towel. Gabe watched as Kane carefully unwrapped the necklace. It was lying with outer side face up at the moment. Kane looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“It’s beautiful,” Kane observed.

Gabe ran his hand over the back of his neck before he rubbed his chin. Dropping his hand back down to his side, he nodded in agreement. He gestured with his hand.

“Let’s see if the same thing happens to you that happened to me. Turn it over,” he instructed.

He waited and watched. He saw Kane’s eyes widen and his friend stumbled backwards a step before remaining still. What he hadn’t expected was to find himself back on the beach next to Kane, as well.

“Where the hell are we?” Kane choked out, turning in a circle.

“You are locked in one of my memories,” Magna replied, stepping out of the shadows until she was standing between them. “It is a loop of my last night. I captured the memory in a spell and placed it in this shell. I wanted – needed – to be able to remember who and what I was before I changed.”

Gabe reached out to touch her, but his hand merely glided through her body. She turned to look at him with a sad smile before she returned her attention to the water. He heard Kane’s swift hiss of breath when the memory of Magna ran down the beach and through them.

“This isn’t real?” Kane asked in a hoarse voice, turning to watch the bright, laughing girl.

“It was,” Magna softly replied before she walked down to the edge of the water.

“Watch and listen,” Gabe cautioned.

Kane nodded, not saying anything else. The events from long ago continued to play out before his astonished eyes once again. He picked up some details he had missed before, small things. He took in the color of the water, the bright luminescence of the plants, and the sea dragons playing in the cove.

He turned his head when he heard Kane’s harsh cry of warning to Magna when she ran for the water. The memory of Magna passed through the present day one. Gabe was surprised when the scene around them didn’t fade, but instead became frozen. Unsure of what was going on, he walked across the sand to where Magna was standing looking out at the water. Behind him, Kane muttered a curse and followed him.

“What’s happening?” Kane asked, gazing around him before stopping near where Magna stood.

Gabe shrugged. “I don’t know. This didn’t happen earlier,” he admitted.

Magna didn’t turn to look at them. “Sometimes I would stop the memory, hoping to find a way to warn myself and Orion of the dangers.” She lifted a hand as if to brush away a tear. “Sometimes I just wanted to remain frozen forever at this precise moment, not moving any further ahead in time. I always loved coming here. It was a special place belonging only to Orion, Kapian, and me. We could hide from the world and all of our responsibilities, and imagine the adventures we would go on together. We were the Terrible Trio, always causing mischief and giving our parents headaches,” she murmured.

“It looks and feels so real,” Kane said.

“Yes… but it is all an illusion,” Magna replied, her voice tired and somber.

Gabe blinked when she raised her hand, and everything faded. They were once again back in his kitchen. Kane was still standing by the door, the necklace in the palm of his hand. Magna stood near the breakfast bar that separated the kitchen from the casual dining room while he remained by the stove.

His body tensed when Magna held out her hand, palm up, and the necklace rose from Kane’s upturned hand and floated through the air to land in the center of her palm. He knew he and Kane both had the same expression of awe on their faces. She closed her fingers around the necklace and lowered her hand.

“I didn’t imagine it. You really can do magic,” Kane said in awe.

Magna lifted her chin. “Yes. I can also breathe as I swim under the water. That is why I was called the Sea Witch,” she stated, before turning her gaze to the steaming pot on the stove. “I smelled your wonderful cooking again. I’m starving.”

Gabe released the breath he was holding in a strained chuckle. “One large bowl of soup coming up. I have some fresh bread and butter to go with it or would you prefer crackers?” he asked.

Magna bit her lower lip and gave him a wan smile. “Can I have both?” she asked with a hopeful expression.

Kane chuckled. “I brought you some clothes – not that I mind you running around in Gabe’s shirt, we just thought you might like something else as well,” he teased, bending to pick up his duffel bag and the department store bags filled with assorted clothing items. “Anything you don’t like, I can return. Once you are feeling better, Gabe and I can take you to town to go shopping for more.”

“Kane…,” Gabe growled in warning.

Kane looked up, his eyes filled with determination. “If she is going to live here and fit in, she needs to be able to move around. I’ve been thinking of nothing else all day, Gabe. Trust me,” Kane asserted, a thread of steel in his voice.

Gabe saw the flash of uncertainty and fear on Magna’s face. He didn’t want to argue in front of her. He was also mentally kicking himself in the ass for not thinking about the challenges Magna would face here. He’d been so shocked after seeing her glow and seeing her memories that his mind hadn’t moved beyond that to how she was going to fit in their human world.

“I would love to see the clothing. Once I am stronger, I will be able to create my own,” she confessed.

“Yes, well, that’s one of the things we’ll have to talk about,” Kane said with a wink.

“I’ll set dinner on the table,” Gabe muttered.

He started to turn away, suddenly feeling like an outsider. For the first time, he wondered if the relationship that he and Kane had talked about could work. It was one thing to dream about finding a woman who would accept both of them, it was another to find and deal with one in reality.

His stomach knotted at the thought of losing Magna to his best friend. He would never let Kane know that he was dismayed by the thought. He needed to come to terms with the realization that perhaps Magna was like his first wife – horrified at the thought of being with two men at the same time.

He was so focused on his dark thoughts that he only vaguely heard Kane mention taking the items back to the bedroom and Magna’s soft response. The light touch on his arm made him stiffen in surprise.

Turning his head, he found himself drowning in a pair of warm, curious green eyes. He swallowed when she slid her hand down his arm and over the hand holding the knife he had been using to slice the bread. She wove her fingers through his and gently tugged on him until he set down the knife and turned to face her.

“Thank you,” she said, gazing up at him.

Gabe frowned in confusion. “What for?” he asked in a gruff voice.

Magna guided his hand down to her waist as she stepped closer. A mischievous smile, similar to the one he’d seen on her face in her memory, curved her lips. Her eyes had more of a sparkle to them as well.

“For finding my necklace,” she said, sliding her right hand up his chest to his shoulder.

Gabe’s eyes darkened. A hint of a smile lifted the corner of his mouth. His doubts from a few minutes earlier were beginning to evaporate in the heat that was building between them. The dark thoughts were quickly shifting to more pleasurable ones – like her on top of him and Kane leaning over her from behind.

“I’m going to kiss you,” he stated in a rough voice as his arm tightened around her waist.

Magna leaned against him. “I was hoping that you would. I… enjoy the touch of your lips against mine,” she confessed.

“Just wait until you feel them everywhere else,” he retorted before bending and capturing her lips.

The little doubt that remained vanished when she eagerly opened for him. Her fingers threaded through the hair at his nape. The way she kneaded her fingers, lightly scraping her nails along his skin turned him on. He bent his knees slightly and slid his other hand under the thin material of the shirt she was wearing.

A muffled moan filled the air when his hand connected with soft, naked flesh. A shudder ran through him when it dawned on him that, of course, she was bare! He’d laid a shirt out, but he didn’t have any under clothes for her. Hell, that would also mean that she wasn’t wearing a bra.

The knowledge that the only thing separating her from his lips was the thin shirt hit him in his gut with the force of a major league slugger hitting a line drive into his stomach. His hands slid upward, taking the soft, blue material with them. She whimpered against his mouth when his left hand caressed her breast while his other hand stroked the curve of her buttock.

“Damn! You have no idea how sexy that looks,” Kane exclaimed.

The sound of his friend’s voice broke through the heated daze of desire. He reluctantly released Magna’s lips, but kept his hand on her bare breast and buttock. His glittering eyes locked with Kane’s over her head.

“You have no idea how sexy it feels,” Gabe stated.

Magna tilted her head back and looked up at him with dazed eyes. “My body feels like it is on fire,” she informed him. “I never knew a kiss could cause such an ache.”

“You never…. Magna, if you don’t mind me asking, how many lovers have you had?” Kane enquired, stepping into the kitchen.

She looked over her shoulder at Kane with a frown. “None. The creature wanted me to take Orion as my husband, but I have always thought of him as a brother,” she said with a shake of her head. “I would not allow the alien to use me that way. It is why I helped Dolph when the boy approached me for assistance. The alien had me draw up a contract meant to force Orion to sacrifice himself to save his son, but I made it possible for Dolph to come to this world and find the one who could help him break the contract. Of course, I couldn’t guarantee that Dolph would find a woman from this world who would match the detailed description I was forced to include in the contract,” she confessed.

“Woman?” Kane asked.

“You’re a virgin?” Gabe demanded at the same time.

“Yes – to both of your questions. Carly Tate and Jenny Ackerly. I told you that Carly is the one who woke Drago. Jenny is the fiery-haired woman who married Orion,” she explained.

“And Mike Hallbrook?” Gabe asked, sliding his hands to her waist while at the same time pulling her shirt back down as his mind reeled at the fact that she was a virgin.

Magna tilted her head and looked up at him with a puzzled frown. “I told you, he is the one who shot me. He was with one of the witches who fought against me,” she said.

Kane cleared his throat. “Why don’t you go try on some of the clothes I bought you? I’ve laid them out across the bed. Anything you don’t want, just stack it on the chair and I’ll return them. I’ll help Gabe get dinner on the table while you get dressed,” he suggested casually.

Gabe felt Magna’s reluctance when she pulled away. He bit the inside of his cheek in an effort to keep his groan from escaping. His cock was still hard as a rock. He would be lucky if he didn’t end up with a set of blue balls. It didn’t help when he thought of the fact that he and Kane would be Magna’s first – and hopefully last – lovers.

He waited until he heard the dogs following her down the hallway before he said anything. From the painful expression that crossed Kane’s face, his friend wasn’t in much better shape than he was. He reached down and brushed a hand over the front of his jeans.

“A virgin,” he said.

Kane grimaced. “This should change things…,” he said.

“… but, it won’t,” Gabe finished, his hands flexing his fingers.

“You’re damn right it won’t,” Kane chuckled. “You two looked hot. I have to tell you… that was the sexiest thing I think I’ve ever seen,” he stated.

“Well, I’m planning on there being more. Now, help me get dinner on the table. Before anything else delays dinner, I want her healthy,” Gabe replied.

“I’ll check her shoulder after dinner,” Kane said with a shake of his head. “I swear she makes me forget things like being a good doctor when I’m around her.”

Gabe chuckled. He knew exactly what Kane was talking about. The next few weeks were going to be torture waiting for Magna to heal – yet, he wouldn’t change it.

Kane absently listened as Gabe worked with Wilson after they had eaten dinner and cleaned up. The pup still had a lot to learn. At eight months, the Husky’s attention span was almost as long as that of a gnat – almost. He chuckled when he heard Magna giggle when Gabe told the pup to sit and the Husky fell over and showed his belly.

“I really don’t remember Buck being this difficult to train,” Gabe complained, glaring down at Wilson.

“If I were a changeling, I could talk to him,” Magna said, resting her chin on her hand.

Kane frowned when he noticed that she appeared to be favoring her left arm and shoulder. He rose to his feet and knelt on one knee beside her.

“Is your shoulder hurting? I can give you something for the pain, if you’d like,” he offered.

Magna straightened and shook her head. “It is barely throbbing,” she answered with a shy smile.

Kane reached up, his fingers pausing on the buttons of the soft pastel pink, blue, and green blouse he had picked out. The colors had reminded him of Magna. The women in Yachats Mystic Boutique had been extremely helpful. In a few weeks, the three of them could go down to Portland or up to Seattle for anything else Magna might need.

“I’d like to check it,” he said.

She nodded her permission. Kane expertly released the buttons. He’d only released a few of the buttons when he knew she had not tried to wear any of the bras he had purchased. That made sense considering the location of her wound and the difficulty she would have trying to put it on, but damn if it didn’t throw off his concentration!

He was surprised that she had removed the bandage covering the stitches. He swallowed when he saw that not only were the stitches gone, but the only evidence of the wound was a red line. The skin was sealed.

“How is she?” Gabe asked, coming to stand next to him.

“Good,” Kane replied, his fingers delicately probing the tissue around the wound. “It looks like it is almost healed.”

“Healed? She had a bullet in her yesterday!” Gabe exclaimed, bending to look at her shoulder more closely.

Magna glanced down at where Kane’s fingers were before she looked up at Gabe. “I would have been completely healed if I had been stronger and remained in the water,” she said with a grimace.

“The area is still a little warm,” Kane noticed.

Magna nodded. “I can feel the heat in my body. The metal heated the tissue as it pierced me. It is healing, but because I am still weak, it will take longer. If I could go to your ocean, the water would help,” she said with a sigh of longing.

Kane looked outside. The wind was strong enough to blow the driving rain under the covered deck. He could see the shadows of the trees bending and swaying as lightning lit up the sky. The long rumble of thunder had Buck warily eyeing the doors.

“Well, swimming will have to wait for a bit,” Kane chuckled.

“Kiss him, Magna.”

Kane’s fingers froze against Magna’s skin at Gabe’s rough command, his eyes locked on her face as he waited for her reaction. Magna slowly turned her head to look at him. Her green eyes turned darker. Her full lips parted.

“Kiss him, Magna, but only if you want to,” Gabe repeated in a softer voice.

Kane continued to wait. The hand he had resting near her side on the couch slid closer until he was touching her thigh. The next move needed to come from her.

Her delicate fingers rose to trace his face. He couldn’t resist touching the pad of her thumb with his tongue when she brushed it across his bottom lip. Her breath caught, and her eyes locked on his mouth.

His fingers curled when she leaned forward. He didn’t bother to smother the slight growl of frustration when she paused a fraction of an inch from his lips. He could feel her warm breath and wanted more than anything to close the distance between them.

He didn’t. This was her choice. He just wished she’d quit torturing him.

That thought flew from his mind when she tentatively touched her tongue to his bottom lip. Her tongue caressed his lip, touching, retreating, and touching again before she closed the distance. Instead of deepening the kiss, she nibbled on his lip.

“Damn, but she is driving me crazy,” Gabe muttered in a hoarse voice.

Kane wanted to respond, but he was afraid to. Gabe had no idea of the meltdown that Magna was causing inside of him. He was going to have to remember this, because payback was going to be hell if he had any say in it.

His lips parted when Magna continued her exploration. Unable to keep his hands from touching her, he slid the one by her leg up under her shirt while his other hand finished unbuttoning it. His hands cupped her breasts, lifting them as his thumbs ran across the distended nipples.

She pulled back with a cry, arching toward him. Kane took advantage of her movement to bend and capture one nipple in his mouth. He pinched the other, feeling her response as she threaded her fingers through his hair and held him against her.

“Yes,” she cried, her body taut.

Kane sensed Gabe moving to kneel on the couch, then Gabe combed his fingers through her thick hair, tilting her head toward him as he captured her lips in a passionate kiss. Kane continued his heated attack on her breasts, but now he added another element.

His left hand moved down to slide under the long skirt she was wearing. He paused when he reached her knee. Her legs parted, and she moved one leg enough that she could press it against him. Encouraged, he slid his hand up to her mound. He felt smooth skin instead of soft curls.

The knowledge that she was bare was too much. Things were about to quickly get out of control if they didn’t stop now. Releasing her nipple, he pulled his hand out from under her skirt and straightened. Gabe felt his withdrawal and reluctantly released her lips.

“We need to give her time,” Kane stated in a voice that had an edge to it.

Gabe nodded and pushed off the couch. He ran his hand through his hair, not bothering to hide the fact that he was still highly aroused. Kane could see the distress in Magna’s gaze as she looked from him to Gabe and back again in confusion.

“I know, but damn. I’m hard as a rock,” Gabe groaned in frustration.

“Why do I need time? I have had nothing but time. Centuries of time!” she complained, pouting at him.

With a curse, he bent and buttoned her shirt with fingers that weren’t quite steady. He grimaced when Magna slapped his fingers away and waved her hand. The shirt closed and buttoned itself.

“As your doctor, I have to think of your health – both physical and mental. You’ve been through a traumatic event, have been basically held hostage for more than a….” His throat tightened at the thought of actually voicing the length of time.

“Centuries,” she snapped.

“Centuries,” he repeated with a heavy sigh. “I think Gabe and I need to be clear about the type of relationship we want with you, Magna. It is rather unorthodox.”

“We both want you – as in a threesome. Me, you in the middle, and Kane. Any and every way possible, and as often as I can reload,” Gabe stated in a blunt voice.

“Geez, Gabe! Can you be any more of an ass?” Kane complained.

“What? She might as well know what to expect,” Gabe retorted.

“She is recovering from a horrific ordeal, has been thrown into an unfamiliar world, and doesn’t even know who in the hell we are! You could try being a little more compassionate and a little less crass,” Kane growled, crossing his arms and glaring at Gabe.

Gabe turned to look down at Magna with a raised eyebrow. “Are you offended?” he asked.

“No, it all sounded good to me,” she replied with a grin.

Kane shook his head. “Neither of you are thinking rationally,” he muttered, just as his cellphone vibrated. “Why do people decide to get hurt during the worse possible moments? I have to go back in.”

“Take my truck. It’s in the garage,” Gabe said, pulling his keys out and tossing them to Kane.

“Thanks… and…,” he started to say, stopping when he saw Gabe’s wry grin.

He didn’t need to say anything. Gabe knew how much this meant to him. If they were going to make the relationship work, they needed to trust each other and respect the unspoken rules – one of which was they would both be there for Magna the first time they came together.

“I might be late getting back,” he warned.

“We’ll be here,” Gabe said.

Kane looked down at Magna. She had grown quiet. Wilson and Buck were now on each side of her on the couch. She was stroking them behind their ears. Bending down, he captured her chin in his hand and tilted her head back slightly.

“We want to take care of you, but you also need to take care of yourself. You come first – always,” he murmured before brushing a kiss across her lips.

He straightened, then paused when she reached out and grabbed his hand. His throat tightened when she lifted his hand to her mouth and pressed a kiss to his palm.

“Thank you,” she whispered, her eyes dark with emotion.

Kane caressed her cheek before turning and heading for the mud room door off the laundry. He pressed the garage door opener before he pulled open the door to Gabe’s four-wheel drive diesel truck. He inserted the key and started the engine. For a moment, he stared blindly at the door to the house, wishing for once he’d picked a different profession. Then he shook his head and shifted the truck into reverse. Who was he kidding? If he hadn’t been a doctor, he would never have met Gabe or Magna.

“Now that would have been the true tragedy,” he muttered under his breath as he slowly drove down the driveway.