Nikolai's eyes glinted with amusement. "There is a spell for that. I will teach you."
His words warmed me. I finally had a teacher. Now if he could just show me everything I needed to know before the Andersons caught up to me, everything would work out fine.
Beyond that, I was looking forward to getting to know the Russian more. He was very good with his tongue, among other things.
Smiling, I watched as he shaped his magic, memorizing the spell, but also enjoying the grace of his movements and looking forward to the next time we would get to explore each other more.
∞ ∞ ∞
I sank down on the couch and stared at my hands. Doc found me a few minutes later. He sat next to me and put his arm around me. I pressed into his embrace.
"Is he going to help us?"
Needing some form of reassurance that everything was going to be all right, I curled into his chest. He hooked my legs with his free hand and pulled them over his legs so I could snuggle into him.
"Yes," I replied.
"Good." He clutched me close, taking a deep breath. "Enjoy yourself?" he asked, his voice low.
I groaned, not exactly having forgotten how good his sense of smell was, but I wasn't used to thinking in those terms.
"No?"
"Yes. It's just an adjustment. I haven't even gotten used to having the three of you yet, and now I have four."
He kissed the top of my head. "It will be an adjustment for all of us, but I think it will work out just fine."
I tilted my head back, and he kissed me, even though the scent of Nikolai had to be all over me. Doc didn't seem to mind as his mouth devoured mine.
We both looked up when Nikolai came in the front door.
"Must we send her back to school tomorrow?" The Russian mage sat in the armchair he seemed to prefer, his eyes consuming the two of us. His expression sent tingles down my spine to gather low in my core.
Doc tightened his arms around me, and his breath quickened. Apparently, I wasn't the only one affected by the heat in Nikolai's gaze.
If I'd had any doubts that Nikolai would be willing to share me, they were gone. At least with Doc, but then, he had admitted he had a thing for vampires, anyway.
"We all need to get back tomorrow," Doc grumbled. "But we can keep her tonight."
"Do I get a say in that?" I teased.
"Only if you're going to say yes," Nikolai replied, eyes twinkling.
"I've got news for you, Nik," I teased. "Modern women don't take orders well."
He chuckled. "No mage takes orders well, no matter what century they were born in."
Doc nibbled on my neck, and I tilted my head back to give him better access.
"I can't imagine you're hungry," Nikolai said through a laugh.
"For once, not terribly," Doc replied, though he continued to tease me, his lips traveling along my neck, biting gently.
Moaning, I clutched his shirt. "Jealous?" I had to ask.
"Perhaps," Nikolai answered, though he probably knew I was teasing him.
"Of which one of us?" My snicker turned into a cry of pleasure when Doc bit me just hard enough to draw blood. If that was supposed to be a reprimand, it didn't work. Nikolai replied, but I didn't hear what he said as Doc's tongue caressed my neck, driving other thoughts from my mind.
He relented after that. Kissing me on the mouth again, a faint coppery taste on his lips, before he went back to simply holding me.
"Before I am completely distracted…" Nikolai cleared his throat. "I do have a question."
I glanced at the mage. Blue motes sparkled in his otherwise dark brown eyes. I wondered if that always happened when mages were aroused.
"Yes?" Doc shifted his attention to Nikolai.
I hoped whatever he wanted to ask wasn't going to be emotionally difficult to deal with. I was already tapped out for the day.
"Do you know how to shoot a gun?"
The question was so far away from what I had expected him to ask that I stared at him in surprise. He was a mage, what did he need a gun for?
"Yes," Doc answered.
"Do you have any?"
"Several. Why?"
"I am used to fighting with various weapons, but these modern firearms I've not dealt with. I wish to practice shielding in case it becomes necessary. Is there a place we can do this?"
"Yeah. It's a bit of a hike from here, but there's a natural backdrop not far into the national forest. We can practice there."
"Excellent. As for the Andersons, if you won't allow me to kill them, the best thing we can do right now is keep her safe long enough for me to teach her sufficiently, so she is no longer useful to them."
"What if they try to expose us?" That was one of my bigger fears.
Doc's arms tightened around me. "Then they'll learn the hard way they should not have, and then we'll disappear for a while, if we can't talk our way out of any repercussions. Hopefully, the older Andersons are sufficiently afraid of me, and they'll keep Alex in check."
"What did you do to them?"
Doc clenched his jaw. "I'd really rather not talk about it."
I pressed into him. "Okay."
Doc tensed, and I glanced up at him. He tilted his head, as if listening, brow furrowed.
"What?" Nikolai stood and faced the door, as if ready to defend us.
"Sam's car."
I didn't want to move, and Doc didn't act like he wanted me to either, so I stayed put.
Nikolai answered the door when Sam knocked.
"I need your help." She didn't offer any other greetings, though she did look confused when she saw me on Doc's lap.
"What's wrong, Sam?"
"The fae are screaming about death metal blocking them from their land. Who else knows how to get to the portal?"
Doc shook his head. "I don't know."
"If the Andersons are determined to use
