Maia's Magickal Mates [The Double R 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Gigi Moore

he’s gay, he has an incurable disease, or he has a wife and kids somewhere that he neglected to tell me about. “Okay, Thayne. Shoot.”

Chapter 7
     
    Funny that she would use that particular verb, especially since that’s what Thayne wanted to do…to himself…in the head.
    Now that she had given him the floor, staring at him and waiting patiently for him to air his dirty laundry, Thayne couldn’t pull the trigger to tell her what he was and what he could do.
    The more seconds ticked by, the more uneasy he became until it was all he could do not to just run from the car, escape into the safety of his home, and never call or see Maia again.
    That last thought alone made his heart ache and finally unhinged his jaw.
    He cleared his throat as he returned Maia’s intent look. “You know I’m a Wiccan.”
    “I think we got our mutual spirituality out of the way before our first date when I asked you about your crystal.”
    Thayne smiled at her aide-m é moire, recalling her forward, flirtatious manner in the treatment room when he’d tended to her raccoon bite. “It’s actually a scrying pendant.”
    “Made of quartz crystal.”
    “Yes.”
    “Have you ever used it to see into the future?”
    No, but I could tell you what you’re thinking right now if I wanted to. “No, never.”
    “That’s too bad. Maybe it would help you decide how to handle this thing that’s living and breathing between us.”
    “I don’t need a crystal to tell me how to do that.”
    “Are you sure? Because it seems to me like you’re having some issues with moving forward.” Maia reached for his tie, and he silently watched as she unknotted it before sliding it from the collar of his shirt and discarding it over her shoulder. Next, she moved to the buttons on his shirt, undoing several before she evidently reached her prize. She took his pendant in her hand, bouncing it up and down in her palm a few times before looking up at him.
    He flashed back to the treatment room, when she had reached for the sterling silver chain around his neck and boldly pulled up on it to reveal the pendant attached to it and hiding beneath his shirt. He remembered how she had gasped at what she had deemed its odd beauty and how she had professed to never seeing anything like it before. He’d admitted that his mother had given it to him a little before she had died. She’d apologized for his loss, gently caressing his crystal before replacing it beneath his shirt.
    He’d known then that Maia was different from any other woman he’d ever met or would meet. He knew that she was a game changer.
    She had gotten him over the awkward moment in her inimitable way when she leaned back against the treatment table with one arm folded behind her head and asked, “So, you going to fix what ails me, Doc?”
    He only wished he could fix what ailed him as easily as he had fixed her so that he wouldn’t have to tell her anything at all about his gifts.
    “I’m clairvoyant,” Maia whispered now.
    “I knew you were gifted.”
    “Now it’s your turn.”
    When he didn’t respond, only silently looked at her, Maia laid her head against his chest and curved her arms around his waist as she snuggled close.
    “You can tell me, Thayne. Don’t be afraid.”
    Despite him using his gifts to communicate with and help him heal hundreds of patients over the years, the only people alive in the world who knew what he could do were his brother and his aunt Aura. He’d never trusted anyone enough to tell them, not even Tiffany. Maybe her leaving him had been an overdue blessing in disguise.
    “I’m telepathic,” he rasped.
    She didn’t move for a long time and seemed to snuggle closer, her ear pressed against his chest. “I like the sound of your heartbeat. It’s a pure, strong sound. I could listen to it all night.”
    “Did you hear what I said?”
    She raised her head then and looked at him. “Was your confession supposed to mean something to me? Was it supposed to