Seducing Their Wayfaring Souls [3xtasy Lake 7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Corinne Davies Page B

offered.
    The rumble of Cris’s bike disrupted his memories and pulled him back to the present. He took a sip from his beer before resting the bottle on the arm of the wooden chair. He could sense the emotions vibrating off Cris as he practically ran down the dock.
    Lars reached into the small cooler beside him and twisted the cap off a cold bottle. He raised his arm and Cris lifted the bottle from his fingers. He took a long swallow and looked out over the lake before he spoke. “I found out tonight I’m a father.”
    “Zack?” Lars nodded. He had wondered about the boy’s resemblance to Cris when he looked at him earlier today. Lars fought the urge to hit the water and hide from the truth. Tara was the other half of his soul. He could never ask his friend to give her up. Nor would he ask Cris to share her. He’d had his chance.
    “Please tell me you felt something toward her.”
    Lars looked up at Cris, hoping he understood correctly what he was asking. “She’s your Mate, the mother to your child. Why would you want me to feel anything toward her?”
    “Because, you’re my best friend, Lars. We’ve shared everything with each other since the day I arrived here. I can’t imagine not sharing Tara with you as well.”
    Lars felt a large weight lift from his chest and he took another draw out of the bottle in his hand. “She might not want to be shared.” He played the devil’s advocate. “We might both lose her by trying to claim her together.”
    Cris gave him an amazed look. “Then we convince her.” He flopped down on the chair next to Lars’s. “Do you remember the day I came here?”
    “To Ecstasy? Yes.” Lars laughed at the memory. “You almost ran over Poppy McGuigan and then when you got out of your car to apologize, she hit you with her umbrella.”
    Cris laughed along with him at the memory. “If I hadn’t stopped that day, I don’t know where I would’ve ended up.”
    Lars remembered what Cris had told him about his past. He’d lost his Mate and had decided to wander around the country until he found her. Poppy McGuigan had hit him with her umbrella and then told him the best way to be found was to stay in one spot. At the time, he didn’t have a clue what the cryptic comment meant.
    “Do you know what she said to me last week?” Cris pulled a small knitted toque out of his pocket and held it up. It was in bright primary colours with a fluffy pompom at the top. “She gave me this and said I was going to need it. At first I thought perhaps she was confused because it’s way too small for my head. How much to you want to bet it fits Zack perfectly?”
    “Never underestimate the McGuigan sisters.” Lars laughed. “Lavender cornered me today and told me to stay out of the lake for a while.”
    “Why would she say that?”
    Because she knew I was thinking about hiding away again . Lars had hid in the lake for years when he lost his family the last time. He’d lived with the residents of Ecstasy for a few decades now and the loneliness was getting to him again. With River safely ensconced in the love of her Mates, Lars didn’t feel as needed anymore.
    “Maybe because she wanted me to keep my eyes on dry land?” he replied.
    “Do you think we’ll ever learn their secrets?”
    Lars had his suspicions, but he wasn’t going to voice them. “No, they’ll never tell us and we’re better off not knowing. Ecstasy has to keep some of its magic secret.”
    He and Cris sat in the dark looking over the lake, each of them lost to their own thoughts for a moment. Never would he have imagined when he woke this morning that today would mark such a drastic change in his life.
    “Tara was a virgin when I met her,” Cris blurted out. “I told her tonight I wanted to have a chance to get to know her and Zack. I wasn’t certain why it flustered her so much. I didn’t smell another man on her. She isn’t married or in a relationship.”
    “When I held her today, she felt as if she was