Mage of Inconvenience

by Parker Foye

  “Are you okay, Julian?” West asked, prodding his thigh again.

  Julian sighed. “I just—My taxes at work, I guess. I’d not expected them to believe me.”

  “I don’t think I’ve paid taxes,” West said, wrinkling his nose and missing the point. Or choosing to look past it, perhaps.

  “What about your diner?”

  “Under the table.” At Julian’s look, West laughed. “I don’t have any ID! I arrived on Joe’s doorstep without anything. He took me in. He’s a good man.”

  “If you say so.”

  “I know one when I see one.”

  West prodded Julian again. Julian tried to ignore it. Unable to, he changed the subject instead. “We should check with Mariko about the will. Mariko is my lawyer. The library opened. Maybe that’s enough. Proof, I mean.”

  West’s expression dimmed more with each word Julian spoke. He rubbed his chest like it hurt. Like Julian was hurting. Chewing on his lip, West pressed more firmly where his feet touched Julian’s hip, like he wanted to leave a footprint there.

  “It’s only six months. We could… could make sure you inherit all of it. Like you wanted.” A flush rose from his chest to his face. “Start over without any lies between us.”

  Julian ears went funny, like someone had sucked sound from the room. Could magic do that? Why would someone want magic to do that? He should check his mother’s books.

  “You’d want to?” he managed to ask.

  “I said I would, didn’t I? What about you? Do you want to try? I mean, my family are criminals—”

  “So are mine—”

  “My last home exploded—”

  “So did my yacht!”

  “And I haven’t been able to stop thinking about kissing you.”

  Julian was sure his face shone as brightly as West’s. He felt like a virgin teenager all over again, but better. He cleared his throat. “Neither have I.”

  They met in the middle, West spreading his legs to fit Julian perfectly between. They kissed like they’d shared a thousand already and it could never be enough. A welcome home kind of kiss. An I’ve missed you kiss. Julian knelt over West and drew shapes around his ears, down his throat, over his strong arms. West simply wrapped his arms around Julian’s waist as if to keep him from leaving.

  Julian didn’t want to leave. He kissed West until breathing became a problem, his chest heaving as he sat back on West’s thighs. West kept him steady, gazing at Julian with something bright in his eyes.

  They stared at each other for an embarrassingly long time until West shifted in place. The movement did interesting things where their cocks brushed together through thin layers of sweatpants. Heat rushed through Julian’s body, and he rocked down to meet West’s seemingly unconscious roll of hips before West’s flush deepened and he stilled in place.

  West dropped his hands to Julian’s hips, drawing circles with his thumbs on the gap between his clothes. He licked his lips and looked at Julian through his lashes. “So, did you want to give this a try? Me and you. The wedding. What—what do you say?”

  Adorable. Julian ducked his head to press kisses along West’s jaw, from his perfect ear to his deliciously kiss-swollen lips. He lingered there, tasting West’s keen of desire before leaning back, trusting West to hold him.

  “Only one thing to say.” Julian grinned, then leaned in to kiss the words into West’s mouth. “I do.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  “I KNEW I’d find you in here.” Lauren marched across the library, her heels clicking against the wooden floor. “Stop being such an arse and come along. Everyone’s waiting.”

  Julian hunched his shoulders, trying to return to the book he’d been studying. He’d spent weeks searching for the perfect place for the armchair to take advantage of the sun in the afternoon, and he didn’t want to move. His stomach gave a nervous roll as if chastising him. Sure, the sun is the only reason.

  He put his finger in the spell book to hold his page. “Five more minutes?”

  Lauren had done something with her makeup and managed to look even less impressed by him than usual. She checked her reflection in the window behind him and adjusted her hat while she spoke. “Your last five minutes ended a quarter of an hour ago. Come on. You’ve been working on cures and concoctions for months. You can give it a rest for one hour.” Her eyes went soft as she focused on him again. “Just one hour. Maybe two, if there’s dancing.”

  “If I’m going through all this, there better be some damn dancing.”

  He slipped a scrap of paper into the book to mark his page, one of many bookmarks he’d left during his latest research bender. After performing the Undoing and disassembling Rabid to base components, Julian had spent a week recuperating from magical expenditure while West fussed and threatened to relock the library if it would help Julian rest. But, as much as it had been a relief to finally perform the spell, Julian knew he could do more. He’d turned his attention toward medical magic, and every spare moment was spent with texts.

  Putting the book aside, Julian eased from the armchair and smoothed down his clothes. Wrinkles lined his shirt, and he grimaced, buttoning up his suit jacket and hoping it’d hide the worst creases. He glanced at the window and dragged his hair into a messy bun, only to be spun around by Lauren so she could tease a few strands free.

  “How do I look?” Julian asked, when she seemed to be done. His smile felt wobbly.

  Lauren tossed a tie at his face and turned on her heel. “Fasten that while we walk.”

  Reasoning he must’ve passed muster, as Lauren wouldn’t let him embarrass himself utterly on such a day, Julian fastened his tie as instructed and tried not to trip over the library’s ever-changing furniture arrangements as he followed her. Movement in the western stacks made him turn his head, but Lauren snagged his elbow and kept him moving toward the door.

  “You don’t want to be late, Julian.”

  “But—”

  “Not today.”

  They left the library and entered the cottage proper. Julian hadn’t returned often, as it hadn’t felt safe since the whole mess with Pimlicoe, and he’d forgotten how the cottage lit up with sunset colors. Checking his reflection in the mirror in the hall and finding both hair and half-Windsor acceptable, he let Lauren lead him downstairs and through the cottage.

  Voices grew louder as they neared the garden, and Julian flexed his fingers to wind coils of magic around them, like a kid with a safety blanket. Passing the kitchen, he heard Mariko arguing on the phone, and twisted to look. Lauren didn’t release his arm, but Julian managed to catch Mariko’s eyes. Stunning in a red dress, Mariko dragged a gaze from Julian’s hair to the tips of his shoes and smiled at him approvingly. Before he could say anything, she returned to eviscerating whoever was on the other end of the phone. Julian was relieved it wasn’t him.

  They stepped outside, where Lauren paused in her stride to brush a kiss on Oliviera’s cheek. Oliviera, whose first name Julian could never remember, wore a dress patterned with sunflowers, looking deceptively gentle by Lauren’s side. Julian would take bets she had a weapon secreted somewhere. Perhaps in her tiny purse. Lauren could fit all sorts of things in her handbags. He frowned, wondering how people fit so many things in such small bags. Maybe he could make a charm that would increase capacity to—

  “Congratulations, Mage Colquhoun,” Oliviera said, cutting into his thoughts. “You’re a very lucky man.”

  “I—I know.” Julian’s reply cracked in the middle, all thoughts of inventions dissipating. He cleared his throat, the tips of his ears burning as Lauren and Oliviera exchanged a look. “I know,” he repeated. Lauren tugged his elbow again, but he held his ground. “Give me a second.”

  Nodding like she knew a secret, Lauren intertwined her free hand with Oliviera’s, and the three of them stood by the doorway for a moment, the breeze blowing in from the lake messing Julian’s hair. He could smell wine, thick in his nose, and something sweet. Mariko’s heels clicked back and f
orth as she chastised some poor soul, while in the garden—oh, God, in the garden there were dozens of people chatting and laughing and waiting for him. He could hear them.

  Lauren released his elbow and smoothed his jacket, her hand lingering. She tilted her head at him. “Shall we go? Are you sure about this, Julian?”

  Julian pressed his chest, beneath the knot of his tie. He nodded. “I’m ready. I’m sure.”

  He didn’t wait for Lauren to tug him into the garden, but set his shoulders and began walking. Cigarette smoke mixed with the smell of food and perfume, making his nose wrinkle, but he smiled when Joe stubbed his cigarette on the sole of his shoe and went to take his seat. They’d spoken a little since their first meeting and come to an understanding. An understanding where they shouldn’t really speak to each other without an intermediary, admittedly, but at least they’d agreed on the point.

  Taking a breath, Julian stepped forward to follow Joe. He’d never shied from the center of attention, but as the voices fell silent, Julian felt heat creep to his hairline and his steps became heavy. He curled magic around his fingers to steady himself as he passed Dana and some members of her new pack, where she’d moved after the mess at the foundry, sitting across the aisle from his academy friends. He pulled magic tighter still as he reached Philip and Emily and their gum-snapping parole officer.

  Lauren’s heels kept time with him, clicking over the wooden slats leading from the cottage to a temporary magically constructed pier. The construction had been a pain in the arse to get permissions for, with weeks of bureaucracy and groveling, but as Julian raised his head to look at the man waiting for him, he knew it had been worth it.

  Sunset turned the lake to gold, but more precious still was West, standing proudly in a slim-fitting gray suit that broadened his shoulders and narrowed his waist, his small smile soft and welcoming. He looked devastating, and Julian almost missed a step as his knees went weak, blood rushing to his dick as he had a flash of how West’s suit would look on their bedroom floor after the ceremony. Ordering himself to get under control, he tried not to hurry to where West and the MAA official waited at the end of the pier, but the quirk of West’s lips told him he’d failed. Julian shrugged slightly. No one could blame him for hurrying toward the man he loved, who looked so stunning in the wedding suit he’d kept secret, saying he wanted it to be a surprise.

  Julian was surprised—and he wasn’t. He knew West was stunning, and it had nothing to do with the fit of his suit.

  Heart full to bursting, Julian snapped his fingers for a way to free the pressure. But he’d forgotten about the magic coiled around his fingers, which jumped at the motion and burst into harmless sparks around their heads, turning into confetti as they fell to dust West’s hair and shoulders. West laughed, his delight shimmering through their bond. Julian ached with love.

  “That’s for later, you plonker!” Lauren heckled from her seat in the front row, while the MAA official merely raised her eyebrows disapprovingly.

  Julian barely noticed. His world was West.

  “Was that magic?” West asked quietly, like everyone wasn’t already looking at them. Like that wasn’t the point. His smile had yet to fade.

  Julian reached for West’s hand and dropped a kiss on his knuckles. “Always.”

  PARKER FOYE writes speculative-flavored romance under the QUILTBAG umbrella and believes in happily ever after, although sometimes their characters make achieving this difficult.

  An education in Classics has nurtured a love of literature, swords, monsters, and beautiful people doing stupid things while wearing only scraps of leather. You’ll find those things in various guises in Parker’s stories, along with kissing (very important) and explosions (very messy). And more shifters than you can shake a stick at.

  Originally from the UK and currently based in Canada, Parker travels on a regular basis via planes, trains, and an ever-growing library.

  Twitter: @parkerfoye

  Website: parkerfoye.com

  Coming in April 2018

  Dreamspun Beyond #17

  Kiss Me Forever by M.J. O’Shea

  Forever is too long to be alone.

  Professor Avery Cook thinks he knows everything about the magical city of New Orleans, where he makes his home. Superstitions, legends, and lore… Avery has an academic explanation for all of them….

  Until one night when he walks into a bar and his life changes.

  In a sea of impossibly beautiful people, Tyson stands out, and he sweeps Avery off his feet with his old-world charm and romanticism. But there’s a darkness in Tyson too, and Avery discovers Tyson is part of a world he thought existed only in books and stories—the paranormal tales he studies at the university.

  Tyson’s been lonely and lethargic for a long time, and he’s falling in love with Avery. But his past is a long one, and it’s full of enemies and danger. The best way to keep Avery safe is to push him away….

  Dreamspun Beyond #18

  Lost Souls Found by Kris T. Bethke

  Dying is all in a day’s work. Love is more dangerous.

  Ghostwalker Sam Jones has been half in love with Michael King since he started working at Requiem Inc. But Michael is his boss and a Guardian, to boot. Sam thinks they could make it work anyway, but Michael uses his position and his age to keep Sam at arm’s length.

  When Sam continues to volunteer for the most dangerous cases, Michael has to intervene. He tells himself he’s just doing his job, but he’s always seen Sam as more than another operative, and he can’t bear the thought of not taking his chance. The connection between them has been strong from the beginning, and Michael’s telepathy adds unexpected depth and an edge to their new romance, but working together while they try to build their relationship might be the hardest part of their job if they don’t make some sacrifices.

  Coming Soon to

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  Published by

  DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Mage of Inconvenience

  © 2018 Parker Foye.

  Cover Art

  © 2018 Aaron Anderson.

  aaronbydesign55@gmail.com

  Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.

  All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.

  Digital ISBN: 978-1-64080-246-9

  Mass Market Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64108-038-5

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2017912380

  Digital published March 2018

  v. 1.0

  Printed in the United States of America

 

 

 
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