Many Blessings

He slanted his mouth over hers. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of his lips on hers, the scratchy stubble on his cheek, letting his energy wash over her. His hands drifted down his back, over her hips, until they came to rest on her ass. “I know I’ve already said this,” he said, “but thank you for the second chance. I won’t let you down.”

  She smiled up at him. “If you do, I’ll sic Sachi on you.”

  He laughed. “That’s more than enough motivation.”

  He slowly undressed her, kissing her flesh as he bared it, his lips and tongue teasing, tasting, exploring in a way they hadn’t yet had time to. She closed her eyes and kept her fingers buried in his hair, wishing he’d go faster and praying that he didn’t.

  When they were stretched out together on the bed, naked, he slowly worked his way down her body. Between her thighs, he pushed her legs apart and settled between them, still taking his time.

  He reached up and she laced her fingers through his. Playful blue eyes glanced up her body before falling closed again and focusing on pleasuring her.

  She couldn’t take her eyes off him. The feel of his energy surrounding her, she realized never before, only with these two men, had she ever felt this sensation. No other lover besides these men had touched her soul so deeply, rendered her so helpless with pleasure.

  Felt so tender and loving.

  The first orgasm curled her toes, but he didn’t stop there. When she tried to wiggle away from him, he squeezed her hands more tightly and kept his face pressed against her pussy, his tongue only slowing but not ceasing its erotic play.

  He waited until after he’d made her come again before rising up on his arms and reaching for a condom. He caught her under the knees with his hands and pushed her legs up and back before easily sliding his cock inside her.

  Like this, he hit her even more deeply than he had before. He hooked her ankles over his shoulders and then found her hands once more, leaning forward, pressing her thighs against her chest. In this position she couldn’t move, could only lie there, encased by his body.

  He took his time, slowly, his cock filling and stretching her in delicious ways.

  “Don’t close your eyes,” he whispered. “I want to watch you come for me like this.” His fingers tightened on hers. It felt like a spiritual free fall, her energy awash in his strength, his love.

  She had no doubts about how he felt.

  She had nothing but trust for him.

  He changed his angle and speed slightly until she gasped with pleasure.

  A smile quirked his lips. “That’s it.”

  He kept it up, every stroke perfectly hitting someplace inside her she’d never even knew existed. When the orgasm finally bubbled up and exploded inside her, she let out a soft cry of surprise and joy that he’d unlocked that particular secret.

  “Good girl,” he whispered, quickening his thrusts until he slammed into her, coming with her just as her release had begun to wane. Winded, he touched his forehead to hers. “I love you.”

  Overcome, she tried to speak, couldn’t, and simply nodded as she burst into tears.

  He put her legs down but she kept them locked around his waist as she held him, not wanting to let go.

  He stroked her hair. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded again.

  He chuckled. “I hope that was a good cry.”

  She nodded, a little laugh escaping her.

  He made her look at him. “Tell me.”

  She couldn’t. She didn’t know how. Instead, she kissed him, hard and deep and wishing she could just impart the information to him telepathically.

  “I love you, too,” she finally whispered.

  “You didn’t wear her out, did you?” Brad chastised from the doorway.

  They both looked over at him. Mandaline giggled as she watched him frantically stripping on his way to the bed.

  Ellis looked down into her eyes again, that sweet smile still curving his delicious lips. “No, just breaking the ice.”

  Her breath caught. Somehow, she sensed, he knew. She nodded, making his smile grow wider.

  “Gimme gimme gimme,” Brad joked as he bounced onto the bed next to them.

  Ellis kissed her once more before sitting up. “I’ll be right back.” He went to clean up in the bathroom.

  Brad immediately took his place, his stiff cock brushing against her thighs.

  “I don’t know if you can get another one out of me,” she admitted. “Between this morning, lunchtime, and just now, I think you two have made me come more in less than twenty-four hours than I’ve come in the last year.” She reached between his legs and gently tugged on his cock. “Suit up, mister. Doesn’t mean you can’t have fun.”

  He grinned and reached for a condom. He easily slid inside her, then made her put her legs down straight. Moving carefully, he stretched out over her. “How’s that?”

  She grabbed his shoulders as she let out a little gasp. Every stroke had almost the full length of his cock sliding against her swollen, sensitive clit.

  He grinned. “Yeah, I thought you’d like that.”

  Ellis returned and stretched out next to them. He leaned in and kissed her, his hands playing with her nipples and adding even more of a delicious ache to her clit.

  “Don’t worry, baby,” Brad said. “I’m going to keep doing this until you give in and give me just one more.”

  She dug her fingers into his shoulders, unable to believe her body was still capable of responding to them, much less that she suspected they were going to get another orgasm out of her.

  More proof I was meant to be here.

  And that was her last conscious thought before Brad picked up the pace a little and managed to trigger one more avalanche inside her. She let out a cry, muffled by Ellis’ mouth.

  “That’s our girl,” Brad said. He began fucking her hard and fast, each stroke only keeping her own orgasm going until she thought she couldn’t take it anymore. With one final thrust his body went rigid, his cock buried deep inside her as he groaned.

  Ellis lifted his mouth from hers.

  “And that, folks,” Brad joked as he leaned down and kissed her, “is a wonderful way to end an evening.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Mandaline actually managed to get out of bed Wednesday morning without being molested by her men only because she woke up before them. She was already out of the shower and dressed and downstairs working on putting the order away by the time they got out of bed.

  Brad wandered downstairs looking like a pouty boy. “No fair.” He pulled her in for a kiss.

  “Yes fair,” she said, smiling. “I have readings this morning. I need to clear my mind, not have my brains bonked out. I’ll make it up to you tonight.”

  He surveyed the stock they still had to put away. “Looks like it bred and multiplied over night.”

  “You never know. We are a magick shop. It might have.” She released him after giving him another kiss.

  When she went upstairs to refill her coffee, she met Ellis coming out of the shower and gave him a kiss, too. “Morning.”

  His blue eyes sparkled as his cock hardened. “No fair.”

  She burst out laughing. “You guys reading from the same script? That’s what he said downstairs.”

  “No.” He pointed at his cock. “I just rubbed one out in the shower and you got me all excited again.”

  “Aww, poor guy. Like I told him, I’ll make it up to both of you tonight.”

  He gave her another kiss before letting her go. “Fair enough. I have an early appointment anyway.”

  Wednesday night, the men piled into the Element with Sachi and Mandaline to go do the investigation. “So what exactly are we supposed to be doing tonight to help?” Ellis asked from the backseat, where he sat with Brad.

  “You mean other than being great eye candy?”

  “Sachi!” Mandaline scolded.

  She shrugged. “What? I’m just being honest. I thought saying ‘pack animal’ or ‘equipm
ent bitch’ would sound a little rude.”

  Ellis and Brad laughed from the backseat. Mandaline felt some relief over that. Secretly, she was worried Ellis might have another freak-out during the investigation. Or at the very least that seeing what she did up close and personal might totally turn him off of a relationship with her.

  But the only way to find out was to see what happened.

  I have to believe.

  “You know,” Sachi continued, “you should be thanking me, boss. The fact that I haven’t scared them off yet says a lot about their character.”

  Mandaline gripped the steering wheel a little harder and tried to ignore her friend. “To answer your question,” she said to Ellis, “you two can help us get the equipment set up. It’s not that hard. You saw most of what we’re doing tonight when we were at your house. We’ll do an initial walk-through with the homeowner, find out what they’re experiencing and where, and go from there.”

  “Do you think there’s anything supernatural going on?” he asked.

  She hesitated before answering, weighing his tone first for any hint of sarcasm. She found none. “I don’t know. Percentage-wise, probably not. We can almost always find something completely benign as the reason. Or we might find something we can’t explain, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s supernatural in origin.”

  “When was the last time you found something really supernatural?”

  She glanced in the rearview mirror. “I’d consider Julie coming to both me and Brad after her death supernatural. And obviously Julie experienced something not of this world over in Croom before she was murdered.”

  “Ouch,” Sachi grumbled from the passenger seat. “That was harsh even by my standards. Go a little easier on him, boss.”

  Mandaline took a deep breath. “Sorry.”

  “No, it’s okay,” Ellis said. “I deserved it. If you’d heard me the other night, you wouldn’t be defending me right now.”

  “He’s right,” Brad agreed. “He was an asshole.” Mandaline glanced in the mirror and spotted his playful grin. “But he got better,” he said in a fake British accent.

  “Just to let you know, in case you like, lose your brain or something, I’m calling permanent dibs on both of them,” Sachi joked. “They’re cute and they like quoting Monty Python. You tell me they like skeet, too, and I’m stealing them.”

  They easily found Marjorie Caswell’s home. Tucked at the end of a cul-de-sac, it wasn’t much different from the other well-kept homes in her deed-restricted community. Steam wafted from the pavement, which had been thoroughly soaked earlier by afternoon thunderstorms.

  “Let’s go do a walk-through before we unload any equipment,” Mandaline said as she shut the engine off. “I want to make sure she’s not just suffering dementia or something.”

  Marjorie met them at the door with a smile. “Thank you all for coming.” She led them inside to a neatly kept living room. “I really hope you can convince Gerald to move on.”

  “Could you show us around?” Mandaline asked. “We’d like to get a feel for the house, and where you’re experiencing the phenomenon.”

  Marjorie looked a little confused. “I’m not sure where it happens. Just that I’m hearing it.”

  “Maybe you’d better start at the beginning,” Mandaline suggested.

  “Well, we bought this house fifteen years ago and moved in. Gerald was very much a creature of habit. If we weren’t going out with friends or something, he always wanted to eat dinner at seven, so that he could…” She hesitated, a smile finally breaking through. “Well, not to get too graphic, but he wanted to have time to have a constitutional, if you know what I mean, before his TV shows came on at eight.”

  She looked a little sad as she clasped her hands together. “Well, Gerald had been in the Army for a lot of years. He was in artillery, and did two tours of Vietnam before he was able to retire. He was deaf as a doornail, as they say. Every night after he’d go to the bathroom, I’d hear this noise, like someone knocking on the pipes, at the same time.”

  Mandaline exchanged a glance with Ellis, who looked confused. Brad, however, looked like a lightbulb had gone off inside his brain.

  Marjorie continued. “I still hear that noise. It started the night he died.” She smiled. “I told him, ‘Now, Gerald, I appreciate you don’t want to go, but I’ll be all right.’ Heaven knows I spent a lot of time alone as an Army wife. I love him and miss him, but he didn’t need to hang around on my account.

  “I thought maybe after a few days, he’d get tired of it and go on. But it’s still continuing!” She leaned in conspiratorially. “Now, don’t get me wrong, I love my children. But if I told them this, do you know what they’d do? They’d want to ship me off to some assisted-living facility. Or worse, make me move in with one of them! I might look frail, but I do okay. I haven’t broken any bones, I get a driving test every year to make sure I’m still safe behind the wheel, and I’m perfectly capable of adding my own bank balances.”

  “Let’s go ahead and do a tour,” Mandaline said, “before we set up our equipment.”

  Brad singled Mandaline out as Marjorie led the way. “She’s not senile,” he whispered to her.

  “I know.” She glanced at her phone. “It’s not quite eight yet.”

  He nodded. “I think I know exactly what’s going on, but we’ll have to wait for it to happen for me to prove it.”

  She wanted to ask him what, but Marjorie turned at the door to one of the bedrooms. “This is the master bedroom,” she said as she reached in and turned on the light. She walked across the room to another door. “This is the master bath, where Gerald used to come every night. So if I had to make a guess, maybe this is where the phenomenon happens, as you called it.”

  Brad caught Mandaline’s eye and winked. As everyone started filing out behind Marjorie, he stuck his head in the bathroom and looked around.

  Twenty minutes later they were outside unloading equipment. “Spill it,” Mandaline asked after he returned from taking a tour around the back side of the house.

  He grinned. “A good magician never reveals his secrets.”

  She gave Ellis credit where credit was due. He threw himself into the work and didn’t utter a single sarcastic comment about their purpose.

  Maybe there’s hope for him yet.

  They set up the cameras and sensors. They were about to go dark when an odd, faint pinging noise started. Mandaline glanced at the time as Marjorie’s face lit up. “See? There it is!”

  Brad bolted out the front door. A moment later, the noise happened again.

  Marjorie frowned. “He’s never done that before.”

  It sounded again.

  And again.

  Brad returned a moment later. “Marjorie, if you’ll follow me I’ll show you what’s going on.”

  Everyone followed Brad outside and around the back of the house. He led them to a water softener unit, which had been installed within feet of the master bedroom window.

  “Marjorie, did this come with the house?”

  She frowned. “I believe so. A company comes out every couple of weeks to service it.”

  He lifted an access panel at the head of the unit and changed a setting.

  The noise started again.

  Her eyes widened. “How did you do that?”

  Brad turned his mega-smile on the woman. “It’s set to go off at the same time every day. To complete its cycle. I don’t know why it’s set this early in the evening, usually they set them up to go off in the middle of the night. But there’s something going on in the pipes when it starts its flush cycle, and it’s making air hammer in the pipes. That’s your noise. Sometimes there’s a thing they can add on to the pipes to make that stop happening.” He tweaked the setting back to where it had originally been. “I’ll leave it set to the current time so it doesn’t wake you up in the middle of the night, but here’s how you change the time.” He showed her how to adjust the setting.

  “Oh!” Mand
aline worried the woman might be disappointed it wasn’t her husband, but Marjorie surprised them. “That’s all?” She laughed. “What a relief! I’ll have my plumber come out tomorrow to look at it. I’m so sorry I dragged you all out here for something so silly.”

  “No, it’s quite all right,” Mandaline said, relieved to have the mystery solved so easily and drama-free. “This is what we do.”

  “Well, can I at least pay you for your time?”

  “No, that’s not necessary. We do this for free to help people.” She paused. “If you wanted to make a donation to a charity of your choice in my friend Julie’s name, that would be greatly appreciated.”

  “I’ll do it tomorrow. I’ll send a donation off to the animal shelter.”

  Mandaline hugged her. “Thank you.”

  It took them longer to pack up than it did to unpack. They were back on the road by ten, headed to the shop.

  Sachi shook her head. “I’ve got to hand it to you, Tarzan. That was brilliant. I honestly thought we were dealing with an early dementia patient.”

  Mandaline glanced in the rearview mirror and saw him shrug. “When you’re rehabbing an old house, you learn a lot about plumbing issues. We had a problem with ours, the washing machine would make the pipes hammer like crazy. Remember?” he asked Ellis.

  Ellis nodded. “That’s right. I forgot about that.

  “So, chief,” Sachi said. “What’d you think of your first investigation? On this side of things, I mean.”

  “I have to admit I’m impressed.”

  Mandaline kept her mouth shut, but felt a little more of the cloud inside her lift. She could tell from his tone he wasn’t just giving Sachi lip service. He really meant it.

  Sachi turned in her seat. “Really? Pray tell.”

  “I respect that you take a logical, step-by-step approach to things. You don’t just jump in and assume something is supernatural. Like with our house, you found a non-supernatural cause, solved that woman’s problem, and everyone’s happy.”

  “They don’t all go like this,” Sachi said, turning back to the front. “We do have some that leave us scratching our heads.” She shuddered. “Although there was that one house last year that literally left us scratching. We all ended up with head lice from that dump. Blech!”