When the Starrs Align (3 page)

“Typical arrogant bastards. How about you apologise for being such dicks? For making my life a living hell for the last two years I spent in this godforsaken town?”

Warrick flinched inside, but he didn’t budge from his stance next to his brother. The shy kitten who’d left town had turned into a hellcat. She’d need that to handle them. God, he was hard.

“And what the hell, Warrick? Are you eating steroids for breakfast, lunch
and
dinner?” She sneered at him and Chance. “Because your work-outs have given Fathead here some muscle for the first time in his life.”

He and Chance stilled.

“See, that’s what’s always interested us in you, Regan,” Chance said softly while Warrick studied her. “You see what others don’t. How do you know that it’s Warrick that’s the warrior? Why not me lifting those weights? I mean, how could I get big if I’m not doing the work?”

“Magic?” she said with a saccharine innocence.

“No.” Warrick spoke, and her gaze shifted to him and stayed there. He felt the weight of it, as if she were touching him. By the blood, she made him ache. “You see us. You’ve always seen us.”

She seemed shaken, then she tossed her hair and shrugged. “Whatever. Can I go now?”

Chance gritted his teeth. “No. Not until you hear us out.”

“Let me condense it, okay? You were assholes as teenagers. You bullied and tormented me my freshman and sophomore years of high school, after being my supposed friends while growing up. And now I’m to believe you only did it because puberty was hell on you and you couldn’t control your magic. That it in a nutshell?”

“Almost.” Chance looked at Warrick. “
She nailed it. But now what? I’m not sure how to handle this.”

“A first in your life.”

“Shut up. You take over. She seems to listen better to you.”

“Um, right here. Hello?” She wiggled her fingers over the arm of the chair she was tied to.

Warrick continued to watch her, standing with his arms crossed over his chest. “We wanted you to know how sorry we are.”

“Apology accepted. Can I go now?”

He unconsciously flexed in an attempt not to put his hand over her mouth to shut her up. Getting too close would be a mistake, because he couldn’t stop thinking about fucking her. Then he saw it. That telltale sign of interest. A flicker of her eyes as she lingered over his arms.

“Yeah, I saw it too,”
Chance said mind-to-mind, sounding excited.
“Keep going.”

“But you don’t mean it,” Warrick continued. “And I don’t blame you.” To his surprise, she seemed to be listening. For his brother, and for her, he talked more than he normally felt comfortable with. “We never meant to be cruel. We liked you back then, but our attempts at trying to be nice always backfired.”

“Snakes in my room?”

“Cats like to play with snakes. We thought we’d help you to shift. Had no idea you had a phobia until it was too late.”

She scowled. “Setting my antique dollhouse on fire?”

“That was all Warrick,” Chance said, pointing at him.

Warrick shot him a glare then turned back to Regan. “I tried to fix up your doll’s dresser, and it backfired.”

She still looked suspicious, but less tense. “What about Leo Treymore? My very first date. It was at the sundae shop in front of everyone. You turned him into
a frog
. Was that so I’d shift too?”

“No. That’s because he was and still is a dick,” Warrick said bluntly.

“What?”

“He bet his friends you’d let him kiss you. The date was a setup. Didn’t you think it strange half the freshman class had shown up to the shop on the same day you did?”

“I thought it weird to see you guys there.” She paused and nibbled her lip, and he barely swallowed a growl. “You know, I had wondered about the crowd, and why Leo ignored me after that. I mean, he knew I blamed you for it. But he seemed almost angrier at me.”

“That’s because my dear brother threatened to smash his face in,” Chance said with a wide smile. “See, Regan, we didn’t want anyone kissing you.”

“Nice. So while I’m all virginal—”

“You were
fourteen
.” Warrick couldn’t help it. He growled.

“—you two are getting lucky every which way! Yeah, we all heard about the Swoony Starrs. How you were getting laid all over the place.”

“So not true,” Chance denied. “Not until we hit nineteen. Then we were whores. I admit it.” He flinched when Warrick slapped him on the back of the head. “What? You wanted me to be honest with her. So I am.”

She started to smile, then saw him looking at her and cleared her expression. “Okay. So you weren’t intentionally mean. I can understand that. You even, in your own weird way, tried to save me from disgrace. Which in high school might have been scarring. But why the no kissing?”

Warrick let Chance take over. His brother was much smoother with words than he could ever hope to be.

“Because, sweetheart, we were supposed to be your first kiss. And your last.”

Regan goggled at them, not sure she’d heard right. “Come again?”

“We’ll get to that soon enough,” Chance said with a smirk.

When she caught his meaning, she flushed. “Just explain what you meant. This isn’t funny anymore.” To think that all that time they’d been trying to help her, not hurt her, put a new spin on things. She didn’t absolve them of all their crimes, because they might have explained themselves long ago and saved her the heartache of moving. Then again, maybe
all this
was a joke. Get her to believe they were good guys. Then somehow force her to admit she’d had a crush once—and still did, despite knowing how stupid she was—then drop the ball on her
again
.

“You’re right,” Warrick spoke. The normally silent twin, the dark, brooding giant with fathomless eyes who carried the weight of responsibility on his broad shoulders at all times.

Despite the men being twins, Warrick had always seemed taller and tougher, while Chance seemed happier, lighter and not as mean. Anyone could tell by looking at them that they were identical in all ways except for their hair. Black, shoulder-length silk framed Warrick’s face, and cropped strands of white blond capped Chance.

“Right?” she parroted Warrick.

“About this not being funny. We’re Becoming, Regan. You know what that means.”

“You’re coming into your full power.”

“Yes, but it’s more than that. We need the connection, that special someone who will connect us to the Great Mother as well as to each other.” He sounded serious.

“You’re connected. You’re freakin’ twins.”

Chance cut in. “Yes, but we’re not whole. We haven’t been for a long time. Not since you left.”

She stared at them wide-eyed. “You want me to be your familiar?”

Warrick blinked at her. Chance opened and closed his mouth. Then they both looked at each other, and she felt the push of energy signalling their telepathy.

Chance broke the eye contact and looked at her once more. “Our familiar? Not exactly.”

“How exactly?”

“In a way, yes, we want your help. But it’s more than that. We figure we owe you more than we can say.”

“Well, yeah, you do. I guess.” Bummer that they were stealing her thunder. She didn’t think she could feel right about messing with them now.
That’s if I believe them. Which I don’t know yet. No. Don’t fall for the looks and charm and talk about missing me. Gah. Weak, weak woman. Grow a pair, Regan.

She swallowed hard, aware of their lingering stares that had begun to drift over her body. Her aunt’s sweater clung to her breasts like a second skin. And the pants made it difficult to sit without dying, they were so tight. Aunt Olivia weighed a good twenty pounds less than Regan on a good day.

She took a deep breath and saw Chance lick his lips as he stared at her hard, traitorous nipples. “Right. So now that we have this straightened out, how about you untie me? I swear I won’t screw with you again.”

“My watch is a mess,” Warrick said, his face sour.

She snickered. “Yeah. I bet.”

Chance shared her mirth. Then a serious pall settled over the room. She scented undertones of longing and worry.
Wait. What?
Since when did she experience her cat’s sense of smell when human? Had she been feline, her whiskers would have been twitching, curiosity turning into understanding.

“You want the truth?” Warrick finally said.

Considering he didn’t normally do the talking, she nodded, inherently knowing he wouldn’t lie.

“We want to prove to you we’re sorry.”

She squirmed in her seat when he crouched in front of her and put his hands over hers, flattening her palms on the armrests of the chair. Heat licked through her, sensual arousal awakening in her once again, the way it always did around him and his brother.

“Okay, already. I accept your apology. This time I mean it.”

“I know you do. But I’m not done showing you how sorry I am.” He kissed her before she could breathe, and she couldn’t do more than follow his lips and tongue, because her entire world came into focus in a way it never had before.

Power lit her up from the inside out. Hands touched her hair, her arm, her thigh. But his mouth didn’t move, drawing the need she’d kept balled inside her for so long to the surface.

He broke the kiss, panting. “Shit. I knew it.”

“My turn.”

Before she could form a coherent thought, Warrick moved aside and Chance kissed her. And just like his twin, Chance stole her will to do anything but moan and arch into his touch.

Sweet yet hot. Passionate and tender while still managing to turn her panties into a sopping mess, the man had the art of the kiss down to a science. Down to magic…

He pulled away, and she saw a flash of green in his pupils. Wow. That she’d never seen before. But it disappeared before she could blink, and she wondered if she’d really seen that or was seeing stars.

“Your nipples are hard,” Warrick mused and cupped her breast.

Her breast.
She wanted to deny him, to tell them both to stop playing with her like this, but then he rolled his thumb over her nipple and her head fell back. A moan slipped from her of its own volition.

Chance put a hand between her legs, increasing her arousal. “I know we tied you up and all, but we definitely don’t want to do anything to you that you don’t want. Regan, are you willing to let us make it up to you? All that bad shit we did back then. We owe you.”

Warrick pinched her nipple and she cried out. So embarrassing. But when she dared a look at him, she saw a smile actually reflected in his eyes. “Yeah. We owe you big time. Let us show you how sorry we are.”

They sat there, not moving. Warrick’s hand on her breast, Chance’s between her legs. She was in heaven and hell, because she wanted a crack at them before they took their power to heart and left her and the other peons far behind. But what if they didn’t mean it? What if it was all just a joke to them? Taunt the stupid shifter girl, the one with magic all locked up inside her. As a feline she could kick their asses. As a witch? She sucked. And not in a good way.

“Come on, Regan. Say yes.” Chance leaned in to kiss her again. Then he removed his hand and stood, and she saw up close that he wasn’t kidding. He wanted to show her something, all right. A huge erection filled the fly of the jeans before her. “Look, we want you. Have always wanted you. What do you say? No strings, just good fun. And I swear, you’ll orgasm at least twice before we come.”

We.
Both of them. The fantasy of every sexual woman and gay man in covens from here to Alaska. “This isn’t a joke?” she whispered, looking from Chance to Warrick, wanting badly to believe, if only in the now.

“No, sweetheart. Not a joke.” Warrick let go of her breast and untied her restraints. Then he whispered a few words and the bands holding her from shifting let go.

“Oh, much better.”

The brothers stood next to each other, waiting for her. No sudden moves. No bullshit. Nothing but sheer need.

“You want me?”

They nodded in unison.

Decision time. No regrets. Time to go big or go home. After a few moments, she made her decision. “Strip. Show me.”

Chapter Three

Expecting them to baulk at her orders, Regan couldn’t stop staring when they started to undress right in front of her. The entire time they kept their gazes fastened on her face. She should have told them to stop, that she’d had enough, accepted their apologies, and would be on her way. But she could only gawk at perfection.

“You’re…hard.”

Thick and long and
hung. Dear God. Now what?

“For you.” Chance didn’t blink.

Neither did Warrick. “All for you. So yes or no?”

“Because we have a lot of grovelling and pleading to do for your forgiveness.” Chance winked. He held himself, and she licked her dry lips, encouraged when his stare lingered on her mouth and stayed there. “Say yes.”

“Better yet, let us convince you to say yes,” Warrick added and took a step forward. Still not demanding, but forcing the issue as if he didn’t know how not to take control.

“Convince me how?” she breathed.

“Say yes and find out.” Chance pumped his cock, and she saw a bead of cum at the tip.

So incredibly sexy. “Okay. Yes. But anytime I say no, you stop. I mean it.” Like that would happen. But they needed to know this wasn’t about putting another notch on their bedposts. This was about Regan finally getting what
she
wanted.

“We swear,” they said in unison.

“Then show me why I should say yes.” She put her hands on the hem of that blasted sweater and yanked it off. Then she removed her slacks and breathed easier. Standing only in lacy panties and a matching pink bra—and thank God she and her aunt were pretty much the same size there—she stood waiting.

“Christ. I’ll be lucky if I don’t come right now.” Chance let go of himself and looked even larger than he had before.

“Yeah,” Warrick agreed, his voice hoarse. “Um, Regan? You on anything?”

“Drugs?”

Chance laughed. “No. Birth control.”

“Oh.” She blushed. “Yeah.” She had been since she’d turned sixteen, wanting to be ready just in case. And five years later, she’d finally had her ‘in case’. Nothing to write home about. But this… She had a feeling today would certainly be a day she’d never forget.