by TJ Nichols
Angus shifted back and grasped Terrance’s cock. He licked the slick slit and then swallowed him. Terrance couldn’t help himself—his hips lifted off the ground, and he thrust up a couple of times and then gave in.
His climax tore through his body as his stomach muscles contracted and he groaned as if he were dying.
Then he realized he was. It wasn’t just come, it was magic flowing through him and out of him. It took him several breaths to clamp down on it as Angus released his dick.
His skin was still too tight, and every touch was too much. He closed his eyes, sure his heart was about to explode. That was what being boneless and spent meant. He shivered as a ripple of pleasure traced through him again. Then the room went dark, and he cracked open his eyelids.
The magic had left the orbs, and the circle was down. It was over. Disappointment swept through him. If it was over, Angus would leave him.
Angus leaned over. “You all right?”
“Yeah.” That was the best head job of his life. Nothing was ever going to come close. Ever.
Angus had ruined him for the rest of his life. And he was never going to be able to forget it, which was exactly what Angus wanted. Terrance’s heart stopped as pain lanced through him at the idea of losing Angus. He pulled him close and hugged him hard. “That was amazing.”
“It wasn’t.”
“It was to me.” He should have held out for longer, but that would’ve meant more magic gathered and more released from him, which probably wasn’t safe. But that was definitely a better way to rebalance than blood and souls.
He cupped Angus’s face. “You’re amazing.” Terrance kissed him and hoped Angus knew how much he meant to him. “And you’re still hard. We should take care of that.”
Terrance glanced at Saka and nodded.
The demon entered the room, and a new circle crackled to life.
Chapter 35
ANGUS GLANCED over his shoulder as the room shimmered blue. He hadn’t made the circle, nor had Terrance. Saka had stepped into the room while he was making sure that Terrance was all right. Angus drew in a breath. He was still astride Terrance, the taste of him still on his tongue, his skin tight, and his blood hot. As much fun as it was showing Terrance how it was done, he’d known how it would end.
There were things that weren’t being said between them. His possible death was a topic they were avoiding tonight. Even at the meeting of mages, no one had said it might kill him, but Angus knew that was a risk. It would be more magic than he’d ever controlled or channeled.
He wasn’t ready for it.
He wanted time with Saka and Terrance, to enjoy what they had and what they could have if he lived. A lump formed in Angus’s throat. He couldn’t think about that now. They had tonight, and he was going to make the most of it.
Terrance ran his hands along Angus’s thighs. He didn’t stop short and deny Angus the touch he needed. Would Terrance join in or just watch?
Saka cupped the back of his head and tilted it so Angus was forced to look at him. Saka’s eyes were black, and the blue of the circle flickered within them. A part of him wanted Saka to say no, to say it was an awful idea, to stop him from going to Vinland.
But there was no other plan.
Terrance cupped his balls and then traced his length, but Angus didn’t need any teasing. It had been hard to stay in control and he wanted to let go and enjoy.
Saka pressed his lips to Angus’s. They were warm and rough—familiar. He closed his eyes. If he never had to leave this moment, that would be fine. He’d be like a bug trapped in amber—happy forever. Saka probed his mouth with his tongue, and Angus parted his lips.
He gasped as Terrance pulled down his pants and wrapped his hand around Angus’s shaft. His touch was cooler than Saka’s, his skin smooth. It was too easy to roll his hips and thrust into the eager fingers. A little more was all it would take. His balls tightened, and his heart beat faster, eager for release.
Saka dragged him to his feet, and a groan slipped from his lips, but he didn’t resist. He was sure no one would’ve said a word if he didn’t rebalance for the magic used to heal him, but it didn’t feel right not to, and he’d wanted an excuse to get Saka and Terrance in the same bed with him. It had been just an idea for too long, and he wanted to make sure he didn’t have stupid regrets. So he found his balance, and Terrance pulled down his pants while Saka removed his shirt. Then he was naked between his lovers.
He suppressed a shiver of pure anticipation as he flipped through every possibility that he’d already put too much detail into. Saka slid his hand over Angus’s belly but didn’t dip low. He pressed against Angus, and Angus leaned back into the embrace. Then Terrance kissed him softly, as though he weren’t sure he should he doing anything.
But Angus knew Saka wouldn’t send him away or make him watch. His two lives and loves had imploded, and it was only with both of them that he could do what needed to be done.
He turned to face Saka to kiss him and then wondered if Terrance felt left out. Saka kept him from glancing back, but a smooth hand caressed the curve of his ass and then traced the crease, barely pausing over the tight ring of muscle. His breath caught as he waited for more.
It didn’t come.
Saka drew back from the kiss, leaving Angus breathless and hungry for more. Then he put a hand on his shoulder, and Angus obeyed the silent command and dropped to his knees. He watched as Saka slowly undid his pants, let them fall, and then stepped out of them. His cock was hard and thick, streamlined from root to tip. There was no crown to tease.
Angus glanced up at Saka, but Saka wasn’t looking at him. He nodded and his tail pointed at the shelves. Angus glanced over as Terrance stepped toward a familiar little pot, and then Saka cupped his jaw and brought his attention to the waiting dick in front of his face. Saka brushed his thumb across his cheek in a soft caress. This time his gaze didn’t waver even as Angus took him in his mouth. Saka’s skin was hot and rough against his tongue.
Soft footsteps grew closer. It was Terrance with the oil.
He took Saka a little deeper and released him slowly, working over his length and tracing over the tight skin of his balls with his fingertips. Saka didn’t make any effort to stop him or change what he was doing, and Angus was sure Saka was doing it for his pleasure and not for ritual.
Angus didn’t mind either way.
His damaged foot ached, unable to lie flat on the floor. Too much kneeling was taking its toll. He fidgeted to be more comfortable without stopping until a smooth hand ran down the back of his thigh and lifted that leg so he could place his foot flat. The change in position also gave Terrance greater access, yet Angus still flinched when Terrance touched his hole with slick fingers. For a moment it was too much, but he took a breath and sank into the feeling. Lips brushed between his shoulder blades, and much like he’d teased Terrance earlier, Terrance now teased him—one hand across his belly and the other circling and pressing deeper.
Saka ruffled his hair and then smiled and pulled away.
Angus gasped. His lips tingled from Saka’s rough skin. He’d expected more than such a quick taste. Then the one slick finger within him was joined by another, and he bit his lip as a wave of pleasure raced through him. His dick twitched, and for a moment, he hoped Terrance would stroke him or Saka would suck him… anything.
He forced a breath out between his teeth as Terrance withdrew his fingers. Then he took a chance. He stood and moved toward the bed, and when no one stopped him, he lay down. Saka joined him. He moved between his legs, took a hard kiss, and ground his hips against Angus’s, but Angus needed more. He bent his knees and lifted his hips.
Saka didn’t ignore the hint the way he did so often when drawing it out for ritual. Had they moved into something more personal? If they had, he didn’t care. His demon pressed into him, and the stretch and friction of the rough skin drew a shudder that was part pleasure and part pain. He lifted his legs, and Saka thrust deeper. His tail curled and beck
oned, and Terrance approached the bed.
Angus looked at him but didn’t know what to do.
But Terrance did. He lay down and kissed him, explored slowly with his tongue as he reached for Angus’s dick and stroked and rubbed his thumb over the slit. Precome leaked out and made each stroke slick. He should be trying to hold back, but Saka wasn’t slowing, and he wasn’t telling Terrance to stop.
Terrance shifted and tracked down Angus’s body with his mouth until his lips were teasing the head of Angus’s cock. Angus could barely breathe, but he held back because he didn’t want it to end. When Terrance sucked him, it was almost too much. Terrance released him and stretched out as Saka slid his tail over Terrance’s hip. Terrance didn’t pull away from the demon’s touch.
Each of Saka’s thrusts was measured and deep. The room had brightened again as the orbs gathered the lust they created. Angus ran his fingers over Terrance’s too-short hair, wanting to feel his lips on his dick again, and Terrance obliged. He sucked and teased him as though he were hungry for a taste.
So he didn’t hold back.
He let the hot, fast release tear through him and unleashed the magic held in his body. Terrance swallowed and moaned. Before Demonside could suck him dry, Angus clamped down on the magic, but his body still trembled.
Saka gripped his legs, gave another few hard thrusts, and then gave in. His cock thickened and twitched inside him and then flooded his channel with come.
His heartbeat was erratic, and he was happy to revel in the shadow of his release. Terrance leaned over and kissed him. His mouth was salty and his skin warm.
Saka pulled out and lay on the other side of him, and Terrance leaned over and kissed him too. Then he flopped on the other side. They lay in silence, the way they had on the trek across the desert. But Angus had never felt that good on the trek. He wanted to hold on to it, so he reached out and grasped both their hands. There was barely room on the bed for the three of them, but they fit.
The orbs were lit, and the circle was still up, as though even Saka wasn’t ready to let go. Angus closed his eyes. His body was heavy, and sleep was waiting for him. Then Saka kissed his cheek and released the magic. The air tasted like rain, and the room became almost black, lit only by the moonlight that slid through the slats in the walls. Saka got off the bed. Angus cracked open an eye to see Saka with a washcloth, and his lips curved. He should’ve known Saka would get up. Angus felt the cloth move up his inner thigh, bringing the lightest touch of magic with it.
Angus clamped his hand over Saka’s wrist. “No magic.”
He didn’t want the tenderness erased. He wanted to hold on to everything. Then the magic dissipated, and all that was left was the cool touch of the cloth. He was aware of Terrance wiping himself, and then Saka eventually coming back to bed and curling against him.
Terrance kissed the knuckles of their joined hands. “You were right. Magic can be beautiful.”
Angus smiled. He’d done something right.
“I am glad you’re a mage. No matter what, you’ll always have part of Arlyxia with you.” Saka traced the mark he’d carved into Angus’s chest.
The scar always glinted red, like it held some of Saka’s skin. At the time, Angus thought it was made to prove that Angus was his. But it was because of the scar he’d been able to hold magic within him and reach into the clean sweep to feel how the magic worked and to direct it.
Saka covered the mark over his heart with his hand, and Angus placed his hand over Saka’s. He didn’t need the mark for there to be a bond.
Terrance’s breathing deepened as sleep claimed him, and Saka soon followed. Angus lay awake and traced Saka’s mark. It had saved his life so many times.
Then he ran through the plan again and again.
Terrance lay next to him, his face relaxed. Angus should be asleep too. He wanted to enjoy lying there, but all he could think about was the plan and the magic. He tried to sweep all that aside for tomorrow, because the sun would rise regardless of how much sleep he’d had.
Crossing the void would mean he’d have to tell Terrance what his part was, and there were never going to be the right words for that, and no magic could ever make it right.
Chapter 36
SAKA LAID out the final stone representing each mage and where they’d need to be when the doorway was opened from Vinland. They were sharing the plan beyond the head mages—with all mages in the village. Fifteen had assembled, and hopefully more would arrive as word spread.
“Angus?” Was he paying attention? It was his plan they were working on, but Angus wasn’t ready. It was dangerous magic, and he couldn’t entirely hide his pride. Angus was his human. He was doing this for everyone, and his name would be remembered for generations.
Saka wasn’t ready to let him go and face it on his own, yet he had to. While he’d made Angus a mage, their plan would be a test more grueling than any apprentice ever had to face on Lifeblood Mountain.
Angus looked at him. “This mark.” He pulled his shirt aside. “It’s a connection to here?”
Angus had fidgeted all night until Saka ignored the protest about no magic and sent him to sleep. If Angus remembered, he hadn’t said anything. Was this what he’d been thinking about?
Saka nodded. At the start it had been about making sure Angus knew that he owed his life to him, but that was before Saka started caring too much. But it had also been about forging a bond faster and giving Angus a better way to control magic. “It is a way of binding a part of you to here.”
“It’s why I survived the clean sweep the first time. I can store magic here… like a focus. It allows the magic to flow through me.”
It also tore open the scar when too much magic burned through.
“You can’t hold all you need with one mark,” Saka said. That was never the intention of the mark.
“What if I had more?” Angus glanced around the circle of mages.
“Still not enough to hold the magic required,” Iktan said carefully, his ears flicked forward as though he were interested. Saka could feel the ground start to crumble beneath his feet, and he hoped he was wrong.
“But I’d have better control as I channeled it? I would be able to store more?”
Silence from everyone. Saka didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing.
“I will have no weapons. They will put me in magic-dampening cuffs.”
“And you will be relying on Terrance,” Saka finished. That was the flaw in the plan, but there was no other way.
“I trust him,” Angus said as he held Saka’s gaze daring him to argue. Saka would’ve once, but he knew Terrance wouldn’t do anything to hurt Angus, which made his job the hardest.
“So do I,” Saka said. He’d watched them work together and had decided that Terrance could be left in charge of Angus’s life. But there were so many ways it could unravel. He didn’t trust the warlocks, and if they killed Terrance, it would all come undone. “What you are asking is to be bound more tightly to Arlyxia. For every mage here to mark you, to have a connection to you.” He spread his hands and glanced at Iktan. “I don’t know what that will do to a human.”
Iktan’s ears flattened. “Nor do I.”
“I’ll deal with that if I survive. I want to survive. I think that’s the only way.”
Angus had tried to explain the clean sweep to them, but weaponized magic was something they didn’t use, and it was hard to create new magic when none of them knew what it was supposed to feel like. There would be no trial of it either. It worked or it failed. They were saved or they were dead.
Given that they were dying slowly and there were no other options, the vote was unanimous. But horror gripped Saka and refused to be shaken off.
No one had said a word about it as they shared a bed, but they had all known it might never happen again. Losing Angus would be like carving out his heart. Even the thought wounded Saka in a way that was unbecoming to a mage.
The other mages were looking at him like he kn
ew what to do. As Angus’s mentor he needed to say something. He couldn’t deny the request, not if it meant Angus lived. But lived how? How could a human be tightly bound to Arlyxia and still be human? If Angus channeled all this magic, what would be left of him? Saka nodded. “As you said, anything that helps. Do you remember the pain?”
Angus blinked slowly. “Something like that is hard to forget.”
“You want to do that, for every mage?” He didn’t want to see Angus go through that.
He held Saka’s stare. “It will be worth it to live.”
A part of him didn’t want Angus marked by others. Angus was his. Saka looked away. All scars could be erased when the wearer was ready to move on, but Angus had chosen not to remove Saka’s mark despite having the skill. “You will wear many scars.”
“I know,” Angus said softly. He brushed Saka’s fingers with his own. “But only yours is on my heart.”
“I will give you my mark,” Iktan said carefully.
The other mages murmured their agreement and left to get their knives.
They would also need food and water for after. Saka waited until they were alone and Angus was sitting, staring at the stones that represented each mage. He ran his fingers through Angus’s hair. It was so much longer than it had been at first.
Angus glanced up, looking grim. “Thank you for letting me sleep.”
Saka smiled. It was the least he could’ve done. He’d take Angus’s place if he could—go to Vinland and deploy a clean sweep, but he wasn’t sure that even a mage with decades of experience could do what needed to be done. His eyes were hot and gritty as he walked away to get what he needed.
Terrance was still in bed. He watched as Saka collected his knives and a cloth. “What are you doing?”
“Finishing preparations. You will be leaving soon with Angus.” He wanted to shake Terrance and tell him how important his role was, but he respected Angus’s wishes not to say anything yet. “Keep him alive.”
