AMAND #3
“You’re making up rules again,” Rowan says, but there’s no heat in it. Lev shifts one leg across mine and sinks deeper into the mattress, looking far too pleased with himself for someone who spent the last day threatening bodily harm every time Rowan stood without permission.
I drag my fingers once over Lev’s stomach and feel something beneath his skin that makes me pause. His magic is usually restless after sex, especially lately, flickering with the bond or reacting to touch before he can control it, but right now there’s none of that uneven movement.
Lev catches me staring and follows my attention to the hand on his stomach. “What are you doing? Because if this is another medical inspection, I would like it noted that I’m not the one who tried to become architecture.”
“Your magic feels different.” I flatten my palm against him and let mine brush closer, waiting for the usual twitch or accidental shift. “It’s steadier than it normally is after this.”
“That sounds suspiciously like a compliment.” Lev looks down at my hand again, then back at me. “Be careful. I might start expecting those.”
Rowan rolls onto his side more carefully and settles his hand against Lev’s hip. “He’s right. Usually you’re still flickering afterward, especially if one of us touches you.”
Lev looks between us with immediate offense. “I prefer to think of it as enthusiasm. Flickering makes me sound defective.”
“It isn’t happening now,” I tell him, letting my magic press against his again while he pays attention this time. “You’re holding steady.”
The joking eases out of his face as he concentrates on the feeling beneath my hand. Rowan’s magic brushes his from the other side, and instead of Lev’s signature jumping toward one of us or shifting unpredictably, it settles between both with almost no effort.
“Okay.” Lev frowns and presses his own hand against his stomach like that will somehow help him feel it better. “That is weird.”
“Try Rowan’s signature,” I say, and his head immediately turns toward me with the same expression he gets whenever somebody starts sounding too much like Gerald.
“You’re very bossy for a man who just got everything he wanted.” Lev keeps glaring for another second before curiosity wins anyway. “Fine, but if this gives me a headache, I’m blaming you.”
The change comes almost immediately. Lev’s scent shifts cleanly toward Rowan’s without the messy overlap or hesitation he usually fights through, and Rowan’s fingers still against his hip before Lev even opens his eyes.
Lev looks from him to me. “Did that actually work?”
“Fast,” Rowan says, keeping his hand where it is. “Usually you have to work harder than that.”
“And concentrate until my brain feels like somebody stirred it with a fork.” Lev pushes himself up a little on one elbow. “I don’t even feel tired.”
I move my hand higher along his stomach. “Try mine.”
He gives me another look, but he doesn’t waste time arguing now. A second later, my own signature rolls back at me from his skin clearly enough that I can separate it from Rowan’s without any effort.
Lev’s brows pull together as he looks down at himself. “That used to take longer too. I don’t know whether to be impressed or deeply suspicious.”
“Both are probably reasonable.” Rowan shifts closer without putting pressure on his healing ribs. “When I was petrifying, your magic adapted around mine, and now it’s copying both of us more easily after being connected to us.”
Lev turns his head toward him. “You make that sound very clinical for something that involved considerably less clothing.”
I rub my thumb once over his side before he can derail the thought completely. “The point is your magic was strained after what happened yesterday. Now it’s steadier than I’ve felt it in weeks, and mimicking us isn’t taking the same effort.”
Lev goes quiet long enough that I know he’s actually considering it. His hand comes down over mine, not moving it away, just holding it against his stomach while he looks between Rowan and me. “You think it’s the venom.”
“Maybe partly.” I let my magic press against his again and feel that same clean stability answer me. “The bond could be part of it too.”
Rowan’s hand tightens once around Lev’s hip. “Could be both. We already know your body needs the bond differently than ours does.”
Lev stares at us for another second before his mouth slowly twists. “So what you’re saying is that getting fucked by my mates may now qualify as magical maintenance.”
Rowan laughs and immediately winces when his ribs object. Lev points at him without sitting up any farther, irritation returning just as quickly as the humor. “See? This is exactly why you’re not allowed to enjoy my scientific breakthroughs.”
“You’re the one calling sex maintenance,” Rowan says, adjusting his position more carefully this time. “I’m not taking responsibility for that.”
“I’m trying to understand a medical phenomenon.” Lev looks at me as though I’m supposed to support this. “Back me up.”
“You called your body a group project ten minutes ago.” I slide my hand away long enough to let him test what happens without my magic pressed against his. “I’m not helping you make this sound respectable.”
Rowan adds his hand at Lev’s hip while mine stays against his stomach. Lev’s signature strengthens between us in one smooth pulse, and his expression changes as he feels it. “It’s easier with both of you touching me.”
“And steadier,” I say. “The venom and the bond are affecting more than the fatal attraction.”
Lev looks between us, then down at our hands. “So my designation is developing around you.”
Lev drops back against the pillows with a sigh and stares at the ceiling. “Wonderful. My designation has decided the two of you are performance-enhancing drugs.”
I lean down and kiss his shoulder while Rowan pulls him a little closer without straining his chest. “You’ve complained about worse developments.”
“I reserve the right to complain about every supernatural indignity that happens to me.” Lev settles between us anyway, one hand landing over Rowan’s while the other catches mine. “Especially the ones that make you two smug.”
His magic stays steady beneath both our hands while the room settles around us again. Whatever changed didn’t disappear when Rowan recovered, and whatever happens between the three of us now is feeding something in Lev’s Chameleon magic that wasn’t there before.