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RUNESTONE

BY

Em Petrova

EXCERPT

 

 

Chapter One

    “When are you going to tell her?” Will Cochran leaned against the granite kitchen countertop, ankles crossed, muscular thighs straining against his jeans, and his arms folded so his biceps flexed beneath his fitted shirt. His stance appeared casual, but Sean knew better.

Across the room, he met Will’s level gaze. “Soon. She’s not going to be happy.” He jammed a hand through his hair. Keeping his and Will’s mutual lover, Evangeline, from knowing that he’d been summoned to America by his art dealer was misery. Being immortal, she was fiercely protective of his mortal flesh, and had confessed her terror that tragedy would befall him, and neither she nor Will, her immortal mate, would be around to Make him immortal too.

Yet, they refused to change him.

Sean opened his mouth to argue this point, but Will guessed what he was about to say. He held up a broad palm to silence Sean. “You know it’s out of the question, man.”

After throwing a glance at the kitchen doorway to ensure Evangeline wasn’t standing there to overhear, Sean dug in for battle. “My mortality is like quicksand, ready to pull me under any moment. She’s afraid of losing me. This is the only answer.”

Will shook his head. Auburn hair tumbled onto one smoldering brown eye and he knuckled it away. “We’ve discussed this. We can’t do it. Why do you want to upset a perfect situation?”
Sean slashed the air with a hand. Irritation burned in his chest, but so did fear. Fear that he’d be involved in a fatal accident on the twisting Argentinean roads, or be bitten by a poisonous snake while trekking through the wilds, and leave Evangeline truly devastated. They had a special connection—a connection akin to the immortal Calling. Her soul had chosen Will as immortal mate, but her heart and head had refused to let Sean go.

“I could go to Los Angeles for this trip and be a drive-by shooting victim. How would Evangeline handle that?”

A sharp puff of breath burst from Will as if Sean had struck him in the gut. His mouth twisted in pain, and he pulled away from the counter and crossed the room to Sean. Honestly, Sean lived for this man as much as he lived for Evangeline. Both of them would be stricken by his loss.

All the more reason to share their immortal blood.

Will stopped inches away, and his masculine scent filled Sean’s head. “Nothing’s going to happen to you, Livingston. Got that? Because Evangeline needs you. I need you. Now let’s deal with the real question here, and that is when are you going to tell her about your trip?”

“I said soon, dammit,” he snapped. He swung away and strode for the brand new industrial coffee maker. Their villa was still in construction phase, but the kitchen had been one of the first rooms to be completed. It was tricked out in top-of-the-line appliances and the latest gadgets. Since Evangeline was a coffee connoisseur, they’d spared no expense on this contraption.

But only Sean knew how to brew her favorite drink. He measured a precise amount of coffee beans, put them through the grinder, and then dumped them into the machine and added purified water. He could hear Will’s noisy, irritated breathing, but ignored it. Let him churn a little at the thought of Sean leaving, of dealing with Evangeline’s hysterics. For the past six months they’d cohabitated, she had grown increasingly more nervous about Sean being parted from her, and now wouldn’t let him leave the house without her or Will.

Down the hall, a door shut, and he knew his beautiful lover had finally awakened. While the upper floor of the villa was being finished, the three of them were sharing a smaller guest room downstairs.

“Either tell her or lose the attitude until you’re ready, Sean.”

He fixed Will in his stare. “I will,” he said through his clenched jaw. In minutes, she would walk into the kitchen, following the smell of fresh coffee, her hair mussed, and a sleepy smile on her face. Would she sense the tension humming between him and Will?

As he stared at the rich dark brew filling the glass pot, he struggled to think of a way to break it to her. His agent needed him. A big show. Better for him to appear in person. Huge group of collectors present. A lot of money on the line.

After he’d chased Evangeline to South America to save her from that sick fuck Marcus, he’d abandoned his career as a deejay and taken up his art full time. A few months before, the three of them had returned to America to close up his apartment and sell a few pieces of art to an important Chicago gallery owner, who had immediately contacted his colleague, an influential L.A. dealer.

“Got a grip, Sean? ‘Cause she’s coming.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He reached into an upper cupboard and withdrew Evangeline’s favorite mug.

“Let’s talk about the construction crew.” Will’s voice was pitched low, and a shiver of need ran through Sean. His dusky tone drew Sean into the memories of their encounters in bed.
Hardly a day passed that the three of them didn’t make love. With the extra person in their lives, they continually came up with new configurations. He didn’t think they’d ever recreated the same session.

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