Magic Touch

by Jayda Marx

  I walked over and smiled as I ran my fingertips along the soft petals. As unbelievable as it seemed, someone had thought of me and left this token for me to find. The note had my name on it, so it wasn’t left at my door by mistake, which had been my first thought when I found the flowers. And unless it was part of some cruel joke, the sender, Indigo, had feelings for me; his heart beat only for me. I whispered a prayer to anyone listening that my admirer was real and that I’d get to meet him soon...and that I didn’t screw it up with my awkwardness when I did.

  I flinched when a knock sounded at my door. I assumed it was my landlord, Mr. Robins, seeing as he was the only person to ever visit me; he came around every month to collect Mrs. Willoughby’s rent so that she didn’t have to make a trip, and he went ahead and gathered everyone’s payments while he was there. But my rent wasn’t due for another two days, so I wondered why he was there.

  My overactive imagination immediately jumped to the conclusion that Mr. Robins was here to warn me about a dangerous gas leak in the building or something equally as scary, so I hustled to the door and threw it open.

  My jaw dropped at the sight of a tall, handsome man with black hair and black eyes smiling at me. The man from my dreams! Wait, am I still dreaming? Did I fall back asleep after I whacked it? I pinched my thigh hard and winced. Nope, not dreaming; that hurt like hell. My fantasy man was actually standing in front of me, and my mind raced in a thousand different directions; I should introduce myself. No, I should ask his name. Damn, I want to pounce him. No, that would be wildly inappropriate, especially since I’m only wearing a towel.

  “Oh god, I’m naked,” I blurted out, and the man’s eyes widened slightly. “Sorry, I thought you were going to be my landlord. Not that I’d answer my door naked for my landlord,” I added quickly. “We’re not like...involved or anything. He’s married. To a woman. He’s not gay. I’m gay, though.” Shut the hell up, Puck! I took a deep breath, trying to talk myself back from the ledge of breaking down into tears from embarrassment.

  The only thing keeping me from falling apart was that the man didn’t look at me like I was the pathetic, bumbling moron I felt like. He just smiled gently and said, “I’m sorry to bother you at a bad time.” His deep, velvet voice made my skin prickle and my towel tighten. I blocked the evidence of my arousal with the door.

  “No, no, it’s okay, don’t leave,” I pleaded, surely making myself look even more pitiful. “Just let me get some clothes on really quick and I’ll be right with you. Would you like to come in and wait?” Oh my god, Puck, you just invited a complete stranger into your home! Just because the guy is hot as hell doesn’t mean he’s not a psycho who wants to chop you up!

  “I don’t mind waiting out here,” he replied, and I was both relieved and disappointed.

  “Okay, give me two minutes.” I shut the door and smacked my palm against my forehead. Fabulous first impression, Puck. Way to go. I ran to my room at top speed and yanked clothes out of my dresser, not even checking to see if they matched. “Motherfucker!” I yelled as I got tangled in my jeans and toppled to the floor. I stood up and pulled on a blue t-shirt before running back to the living room, praying that the reason the man offered to stay in the hallway wasn’t that he’d witnessed what a hot mess I was and decided to bolt while he had the chance.

  I was out of breath by the time I opened my door again. I wasn’t an athlete by any definition of the word, and sadly getting dressed in a hurry was enough to get me winded. “You’re...still...here,” I panted with a smile when I saw the man waiting in the hallway.

  “Of course I am. I’ve waited my whole life to meet you; what’s another few minutes?” he replied with a teasing smile. I nearly squealed with delight, but caught myself just in time. “You look beautiful, by the way; that shirt brings out the color of your eyes.”

  Don’t say something dumb, Puck. Just thank him for the compliment. “Thank you.” Thatta boy. “You’re beautiful too.” Dammit. It was true, though; he was dressed in tight jeans, a black t-shirt, and a black leather jacket and boots. He looked like the bad boy in all of those after school specials that you were supposed to be wary of, but you really just wanted to fuck them. Or maybe that was just me.

  “Thank you.” His lips stretched into a gorgeous grin and I had to remind myself to breathe. He held his hand out to me and said, “I’m Indigo.”

  “Holy shit,” I replied, my eyes bugging out. How is this happening? It was as if this man materialized out of my dreams and appeared at my door. The fact that he was also the man who left the flowers - just like my fantasy - was too much to wrap my brain around. Indigo furrowed his brows and tipped his head in confusion, and I realized I’d just been staring at him like a creeper. “Sorry. It’s just...I was thinking about how badly I wanted to meet you right before you knocked on my door.”

  That didn’t seem to clear up his confusion. He swallowed hard and asked in what sounded like a hopeful tone, “You were expecting me?”

  “Well, not expecting you necessarily,” I corrected, and Indigo’s shoulders drooped a little. “I just meant that I wanted to meet the man who left the bouquet so that I could thank him. So thank you. Oh, and I’m Puck, by the way.” For the love of god, he knows your name; he left you the note, remember?

  I mentally rolled my eyes at myself. Hoping he didn’t catch my dumb slip of the tongue, I tucked my hand into his still outstretched one. The moment our skin connected, sparks erupted between us. And not just a warm, tingly sensation; actual sparks.

  Beams of green light burst from our clasped hands and circled around us. They danced up each of our arms and wrapped around our chests. The glow reflected in Indigo’s pretty black eyes, and it was easy to figure out the light was coming from inside him somehow. It didn’t hurt me; rather, it filled me with the same emotions as my dream; comfort, affection, and desire, but it was still a green light coming out of a man. That sure as shit wasn’t natural and it scared the hell out of me. I pulled my hand from Indigo’s, and the light slowly faded away.

  “The fuck was that?” I exclaimed, stumbling backwards and rubbing my hands together. They were ice cold now that the warmth of the light was gone.

  Indigo blinked wide eyes and his chest jerked with shallow breaths. “I’ve never seen that happen before.” He looked at me with a concerned but hopeful expression. “How did it make you feel?”

  I blinked at him. “Freaked the hell out! How else would it make me feel?” I threw my arms into the air. “None of this makes any sense; I’m positive I’ve never seen you before in my life, but you popped up in my dreams looking exactly like this,” I waved my hands over his body, “And it felt so real, like you were actually with me.” I left out the bit about nearly yanking my dick off to his image. “Then you randomly show up on my doorstep and start shooting off lasers like a goddamn rock and roll show.” I put my fingertips to my temples, trying to rub away my increasing dizziness. “I need to sit down.”

  Indigo followed me to my sofa and sat down on the cushion beside me. I was too confused about what was happening to worry about getting chopped up. He reached out to take my shaking hand in his, but I pulled away. I didn’t think I could handle more lasers.

  “It’s okay,” he whispered, and damn if I didn’t believe him. He slowly inched his fingers toward mine, giving me time to pull away again. I didn’t, and when he clasped my hand, my skin got all warm and tingly again, but there weren’t any more light beams.

  “Oh, thank fuck,” I sighed, and Indigo smiled gently.

  “I’m sorry I scared you,” he said quietly. “I honestly didn’t know that would happen.”

  “It’s okay; how could you know? That’s not exactly something that happens every day.” I felt a little bad for not asking sooner, “Did it hurt you?”

  “No.” He squeezed my hand and explained, “It felt really nice.”

  “It did for me too,” I admitted. “But...what the hell was it?”

  Indigo took a deep breath and stare
d at me for a moment before finally answering, “Magic.”

  “I’m sorry, what?”

  “Magic,” he repeated louder.

  “That’s what I thought you said.” I scrubbed my free hand through my hair and stood up, letting go of Indigo. “I don’t know who put you up to this shit, but it’s not funny. Please just go.” My heart was breaking, and it was taking everything in me not to lose control of my emotions.

  I really thought he cared about me; that he’d seen me from afar and wanted to get to know me better. Somehow, I’d already grown attached to Indigo; from the moment I saw him in person, it was like my heart and soul called out to him. I thought he could be the one who’d make me feel a little less lost and lonely in the world, but it was just a cruel joke.

  Maybe I’d seen Indigo in passing or heard him laughing at me from a distance, and that’s why he showed up in my dream. Maybe it was a warning that I was too clueless to understand. Either way, he went to a lot of trouble to hurt me, and it worked. I wasn’t sure how he pulled off the light illusion, but he was dedicated to his prank, I’d give him that.

  “Please don’t send me away,” he begged, standing up beside me. “I’m not like those other boys, Puck. I would never hurt you, I swear it.”

  Other boys? I thought back to my encounter at the restaurant the previous day. “You mean Lance and Nash? Are they the ones who put you up to this?” It was too big of coincidence to be anything else; maybe this had something to do with their odd behavior and embarrassing declarations.

  “No one put me up to this, darling; I just wanted to meet you. I’ve waited so long to see your beautiful face in person.”

  The endearment that brought so much joy to me now cut me like a knife. I huffed a humorless laugh; Indigo was here to chop me up. “Just get the fuck out of my house.”

  He looked so hurt by my request that I almost apologized. “Puck, I swear on my life that I would never deceive you. I only want to be with you and make you happy. If I can prove to you what I’m saying is true, will you please give me another chance?”

  I didn’t answer; I just stared at him. My soul screamed to trust him and give him a chance, but my emotions were fragile. I’d been tricked and hurt in the past, and I didn’t want it to happen again.

  “Thank you,” Indigo whispered, apparently taking my silence as agreement. My eyes widened as I watched him remove his jacket and toss it over the back of the couch. I swallowed hard when he took off his shirt and did the same, revealing his gorgeous body. He was slim but strong; his chest and abdomen were firm and smooth, with divots carving the outlines of his muscles. Deep ridges lined his narrow hips and disappeared into his jeans.

  I nearly forgave him on the spot without proof because he was just that sexy, but before I could do anything, my attention was drawn to the green sparks that were erupting from Indigo’s hands. They jumped and skittered across the skin of his palms and forearms. He held out his arms and whispered words I couldn’t make out. When he snapped his fingers, the light faded away and he held another bouquet of beautiful blue roses.

  I suddenly understood why he took off his jacket and shirt; to show he wasn’t hiding anything in his sleeves. I couldn’t deny that the flowers materialized from nothing; I’d seen it with my own eyes. I couldn’t doubt what he said when I’d just seen the proof.

  “Magic,” I whispered, and my knees went weak.

  Chapter Five

  Indigo

  I dropped the bouquet and stepped forward just in time to catch Puck under the arms. I guided his shaky legs back to the sofa and sat beside him once more. After pulling my shirt and jacket back on, I wrapped my arm around his shoulders for support, and traced my fingers in shapeless patterns over his upper arm to soothe him.

  “I’m sorry,” he said in a barely audible voice after several minutes of silence.

  I looked at him in confusion. “For what?”

  “For telling you to get the fuck out of my house.” His foul mouthed honesty made me smile. “I thought you were playing a mean trick on me.”

  That wiped the grin right off of my face. “Why would you think that? Is it because of those other boys?” I refused to call them men; they didn’t deserve the title. He nodded and my blood boiled. I knew they were no good by the way they spoke to Puck, but I needed to know what happened so that I could make them pay properly. “What did they do to you?”

  “I don’t really want to talk about it right now,” he shrugged. As much as I wanted to know about his past pain, I wouldn’t push him. “How do you know about them? Have we met before? Because I’m positive I’d remember you.”

  His sweet words brought my grin back. “No, we’ve never met before; not properly, anyway.” Puck’s brows furrowed and I took a deep breath. “I need to tell you something, and it may be a little hard to believe.”

  “I just saw you sprout flowers from your glowing fingertips,” Puck replied flatly. “Try me.” I loved his humor.

  “You appeared to me in a dream, just as you said I did with you. The dream evoked powerful emotions within me and even before I saw you in person, I knew that you were very important to me.”

  “That’s just like my dream,” he interjected. “When I saw you, I knew in my heart that I needed to be with you.” His eyes dashed away and his cheeks pinked. “That’s why it hurt so badly when I thought you were fucking with me.”

  I cupped his jaw in my palm until he looked back up at me. “Puck, I’d never do that. And you don’t know what it means to me to hear that you felt the same way.” He finally gave a little smile, but I didn’t remove my hand; the next part was when I was afraid he’d doubt me, and I wanted him to feel my sincerity.

  “Mages like me are granted-”

  “I’m sorry to interrupt,” he said quietly, “But what’s a mage?”

  “Don’t be sorry,” I pleaded, stroking his cheek. “Please ask me anything; I want to tell you everything about my life.” My heart skipped a beat at his answering grin and the way his beautiful blue eyes sparkled. “I trust you’ve heard of wizards and sorcerers?” Puck nodded. “Mages are similar because we can manipulate the natural world, but we pride ourselves on being scholars and creators; not just users of magic.”

  “A scholar,” Puck repeated, nodding his head. “That’s why you speak so properly. It’s beautiful; I love the way you talk. I probably sound like a straight up hilljack to you, don’t I?”

  “I’m not familiar with the term,” I admitted, though I assumed he was using it in a negative way. “But I love the way you speak as well. You’re honest and humorous and I can feel your emotions in your words.”

  “Well damn,” Puck replied, and I couldn’t stop my chuckle. “Okay, so you’re a super smart creator wizard. Go on.”

  I laughed again and continued, “Mages are granted one person by Fate who is their perfect match in every way. We are to love them, serve them, and ensure their happiness. When you came to me in my dream, I knew my person was you.”

  “Whoa.” Puck’s big blue eyes nearly spun as he pieced everything together. “So is that why our hands went all ‘sparklers on steroids’ when we touched?”

  “I’ve honestly never seen that happen, even though I know many fated couples. I can only guess it happened because you’re human.”

  He cocked his head to the side. “Do you not know many humans? Because we don’t have sparkler powers.”

  He’s just too damn adorable. “No, I meant it may have something to do with the fact that a mage has never been fated to a human.”

  “Oh.” Puck backed away until my fingers slid off of his chin. “Maybe it happened because it’s a mistake. Maybe our dreams were wrong. Trust me, there’s nothing special about me; especially not special enough to be matched up with a mage.”

  “Puck, no.” I scooted closer and took his face in my hands again. “It’s not a mistake. I knew it from my dream, but I confirmed it when I saw you yesterday. And being in your presence today leaves no room for doubt.
You’re special to me, and I’m so blessed to be the one lucky enough to be paired with you.”

  “Indigo, that’s so...wait, what do you mean ‘when you saw me yesterday’? I didn’t see you yesterday.”

  Oops. “Well, when I told the High Priest and Priestess that-”

  “Sorry again, but who are they?”

  “No, I’m sorry; I keep forgetting that this is all foreign to you.” I thought for a moment about the easiest way to explain it. “The High Priest and Priestess are in charge of my coven, or village of mages. They set boundaries and perform ceremonies. The wellbeing of the coven rests on their shoulders and they do all they can to keep us safe. I guess they’re sort of like your royalty; they’re also my parents.”

  “Hold up,” he requested, lifting one of his hands. “You’re telling me that your parents are in charge? Doesn’t that make you like the prince wizard of your village?”

  I tipped my head back and laughed. “I never thought of it that way, but I suppose it does.”

  “Holy shit. Okay, so you told your parents-slash-royalty about your dream. What did they say?” His eyes filled with worry. “Were they upset that I’m not a mage?”

  “Of course not.” I took his hand in mine and stoked my thumb across his knuckles. “They were thrilled that I found my mate; meeting one’s fated match is always a cause for celebration.” Puck’s face beamed with happiness, and I hoped that my next words didn’t take it away.

  “But because you’re human, we had to take extra precautions. It was nothing personal against you,” I added quickly. “But mages and humans don’t have the best history between them. To make sure my dream was not a trap, I visited you yesterday veiled in secrecy and invisibility. I followed you to confirm your identity and reported back to my parents that you were indeed my mate.”

  “You...you spied on me?”