Which was why what she said about the spider was so disturbing.
“Shower spiders and Butterfly Maidens, huh?” Bailey grimaced. “Okay, that’s still too cryptic for me. Why do visions have to be vague? Just once, I’d like specifics instead of signs. What does it mean?”
Kaya’s own expression turned rueful. “I was hoping we could figure it out together. All I know is it’s connected to the three of us and something new that’s coming for us all.”
Dani hesitated. “My life, my name. That’s new.”
She nods with a smile. “Exactly. Freedom. Independence. Control. That’s what the maidens symbolize.”
She held out the hand not twined with Dani’s until Bailey took it with a scowl. “You are more than your goals for security, Bailey. You want to be seen. To be cherished. Not to be an afterthought.”
Bailey lifted her chin. “I can take care of myself.”
Kaya stared until she relented. “Sure. It would be nice if I didn’t have to do it all the time.”
There was vulnerability in Bailey’s expression that Dani hadn’t seen before. But it was clear in this moment that all her brash posturing, humor and overconfidence was mostly show. How had she missed that? Cursing herself for being too self-involved, she reached out to grip Bailey’s other hand in her own.
She sensed it then, the fine vibration beneath her feet. It traveled up her spine and down her arms to where their hands were joined.
Energy seemed to spark between them.
“Do you feel that? What’s happening?”
Kaya met her confusion with a brilliant smile. “Dani, you are one of the sweetest souls I know. Open and hopeful despite your scars. You had to remember that before you could move forward and take what you’ve always desired.”
It had never been easy to verbalize, but it was crystal clear to her now. “I want to stand on my own, and finally be able to trust someone with my heart.”
It was the one wound that time hadn’t healed. She couldn’t seem to let herself believe that the good things—her friendships, her life here, happiness—could last. That the other shoe wouldn’t eventually drop. She was stronger now than she’d ever been, but it was still there. Her fear of losing herself.
“You trust Liam,” Kaya whispered softly. “And the two of us. That’s a start.”
“What about you, K? What’s your secret desire?” Bailey tried to sound belligerent, but her voice was wobbly. Fragile.
Kaya raised one softly rounded shoulder. “I want control over my own life. To be allowed to make my own mistakes instead of spending a lifetime paying for someone else’s.”
Dani looked at the women beside her and felt closer to them than she ever had. They’d helped to heal her, shown her the kind of woman she wanted to be. Brave like Bailey. As intuitive as Kaya.
However they worded their wishes, she understood that they both wanted the same thing. Happiness. Love. She hoped they got it. They deserved to be happy.
They think you do, too.
“So, is this the part where we’re wishing? Because don’t forget—two Ewans.”
The three of them burst out laughing, then Kaya glanced skyward.
“Look at that. Possibilities.”
Dani gasped. “No way.”
A bluish-white star was falling from the heavens. And another. Before she could blink, a third one fell. All equally bright and dazzling.
What was in that sangria?
A coyote howled in the darkness, the sound closer than she normally liked, but Dani couldn’t bring herself to care. She felt connected. A part of something big and beautiful. Maybe the coyote felt it, too.
She wished Liam were feeling this with her.
Dani barely restrained a snort of laughter. Here she was, with two strong women beside her embracing their inner butterfly maidens as stars fell from the sky... And she couldn’t stop thinking about Liam.
What would she do without him?
Chapter Four
“And here’s the river.”
Jace flipped over the final cards to the sound of several good-natured groans, but Liam wasn’t really paying attention to the game. He was thinking about Dani again, which for him, wasn’t at all unusual. What was new were the images of her naked and wet from the shower, begging him to let her come.
Fuck.
He wasn’t sure whether to curse or thank that invisible spider for finally showing him how reality compared to his fantasies. Getting all that wet deliciously bare skin in his arms and letting him see the arousal in her eyes when he’d taken control.
There weren’t that many women that could pull off adorable and seductive at the same time, and Dani did it without trying. She was sweet to her soul with a body made to sate every wild, dark urge he’d ever had. The woman of his dreams. And since he’d met her, he’d had way more than his share of both.
She had no idea the effect she had on people. She never had, but then she hadn’t grown up with the positive reinforcement he’d been blessed with. She called her caramel curls high maintenance, and her deep blue eyes too small for her face. She hid her body at every opportunity, always worrying about her curves instead of celebrating them.