Matings and Magic [Fury 4] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove)

by Marcy Jacks

  Chapter Two

  Gold had no recollection of falling. He just remembered that his lungs burned, his eyes burned, and he could vaguely make out his house in the distance. All of the houses. The territory. It was within sight. The lights from the windows. They were right there.

  He was almost home.

  His wings ached to keep his body in the air. It was as if he’d been completely drained of any and all energy, but there was nothing to be done for it when he was so utterly drained.

  He wasn’t even carrying any of the omegas he’d helped to set free from that building. Which was pathetic, though when he opened his eyes and realized he was on the ground, Lightning standing above him, slapping his cheeks to make sure he was all right and awake, Gold was a little more glad that he’d been allowed to carry no one back home.

  “Idiot! What are you doing?”

  Lightning was pissed.

  Gold blinked, and then he smiled at the man, realizing he was laying in Lightning’s arms.

  “Buddy, didn’t know you felt this way.”

  Lightning blinked, jerked back, then growled at Gold as he shoved him off and back onto the ground.

  Gold groaned. He felt as though he’d landed harder than he really had.

  “You’re so lucky I caught you. Your stupid mate came out and pointed at you. I wouldn’t have known you were coming otherwise.”

  Gold was so tired, felt so weak, but instinct rumbled to life at the insult to his mate.

  He growled. A puppy’s growl compared to what he could normally do. “Don’t call him that. Where is he?”

  Gold attempted to look up and around. He didn’t see his mate anywhere. He really needed to look into those blue eyes and that freckled face after what had happened.

  He felt in the mood to be babied and comforted after being put through that.

  “He’s back at the houses. He didn’t cause any trouble that I could see.”

  That was good. At least Lighting didn’t have a reason to be a dick, which meant Gold was going to beat the hell out of him when he got the chance.

  “Didn’t my brother come down to check on me?”

  “He swooped in, but when I caught you, I guess he decided not to chance the omegas riding on his back. Why were you carrying none and pretty much everyone else had at least five each?

  Gold answered that question by turning to the side and puking.

  Lightning cursed and jumped back, desperate to avoid any traces of the vomit getting on him.

  As if the stuff would give him the plague if he got too close.

  Gold groaned, and though it was disgusting, he collapsed next to his vomit.

  He could hardly breathe.

  “What the fuck happened to you?”

  Gold was going to answer that just as soon as he woke up from this nap. He really needed a nap.

  When he opened his eye again, he was being carried by Lightning. It was embarrassing as all hell, especially when he threw up again.

  Lightning cursed at him and complained, loudly, but Gold couldn’t bring himself to care.

  Because right after that, the third time he opened his eyes, he was aware of a smaller, smoother pair of hands touching his face. Someone lovingly worrying over him while Lightning continued to complain.

  Instinct kicked in one more time, and despite how weak he felt, how his inner dragon wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep for the next one thousand years, the fact that the scent of his mate was surrounding him like a security blanket was enough to make him feel so much better.

  To let him rest.

  Gold woke up multiple times in the night. He was out of his burned and smoke-covered clothes, into clean pajamas, though he still smelled the smoke, and it still made him sick.

  He still threw up.

  And Sebby was always there with a pot for him.

  “I’m sorry,” Gold groaned, slumping back into bed, trying desperately to keep himself conscious.

  He barely managed it long enough to hear it when Sebby told him it was all right or when the man placed his gentle hand to Gold’s forehead.

  He passed out again, waking up only briefly to vomit the smoke out of his lungs and throat, for his mate to check his temperature, and even Silver came to see him.

  “What the fuck happened?” his brother asked. He sounded angry.

  Storm’s voice answered. When did Storm get in here?

  “We opened the bars in time to get most of the omegas out. He went back. There was one more. Gold went back for him, and I guess he breathed a lot of that shit in.”

  Gold really didn’t want to hear them talking about this while he was trying to recover. It was bad enough the smell of smoke was even stronger while his friends and brother were in this room.

  “So, Gold’s a hero then. He helped save that omega?”

  Sebby couldn’t have sounded more proud, and it was totally worth it to be half awake for that.

  “Of course he’s a hero,” Silver answered, sounding much closer. “He always was.”

  Christ. Gold might have thought he was dying.

  When he woke up the second time, daylight poured into the room through the open curtains of his window. Gold felt better rested, as though his throat was clear, but he was starving, he had to use the washroom, and he desperately needed to shower the smell of smoke off himself before he made himself sick again.

  Sebby wasn’t in here with him. Part of him was glad for that, but another part of Gold ached to have his mate here when he woke up.

  He only needed to console himself with the thought that at least Sebby wouldn’t see him struggle out of bed and walk slowly and carefully toward the bathroom.

  Gold peeled out of his clothes and stepped into the shower.

  He moaned long and loud as hot water hit his body.

  He didn’t even wash at first. He just stayed under the spray, hands propped up against the tiled wall.

  Then he washed, and it felt great.

  When he got out of the water, he couldn’t put his pajamas back on since they stunk. He tossed them into the corner, brushed his teeth thoroughly, and then made his way back out into his bedroom.

  Smelled of smoke in here, too. He was going to need to change those sheets. Or maybe toss them into the trash.

  If he ever smelled anything burning again, he was going to vomit blood.

  Not in the mood for his usual jeans and leather jacket, Gold gingerly eased himself into a pair of joggers and a T-shirt. He grabbed his bathrobe and put himself into it, tying the robe around his waist.

  He was going to surround himself in comfort after that near-death experience.

  Gold had always thought dying would suck, but now he knew how bad it was to die by asphyxiation.

  Not that he had died, but it had been fucking torture going down there, trying desperately to hold his breath while blindly searching for that omega in the back of his cage and then being unable to hold it any longer as he was forced to breathe in the fumes as he made his way out.

  It had been a miracle he’d heard the man moaning unconsciously because he’d barely smelled a thing other than the smoke. He should be dead.

  He was alive, and Gold got to return home to his mate a hero. At least according to Silver.

  Gold was just selfish. The only reason why that was important to him was because he wanted to prove to his mate that he could be more than just the angry, vengeful bastard who had mistreated him when Sebby had first arrived here.

  Gold had needed to prove to Sebby that he could be a protector, as well.

  He wanted to see him. Where was Sebby?

  No sooner had Gold stepped out of his bedroom than he got his answer.

  Smells. Nice smells this time. He couldn’t make out Sebby’s scent in his own bedroom beneath the smoke, but the signs of his presence remained. The bottles next to the bed on the nightstand. The damp clothes, the clean pails waiting in case Gold puked again.

  Sebby had been there. He’d cared. And now Gold smell
ed something almost as good.

  He smelled sizzling meats. He smelled good cooking frying downstairs.

  He followed his nose.

  The smell of food combined with the scent of his mate was oddly erotic. He didn’t even care that he walked around with his dick hard and tenting his robe.

  It was his own damned house, after all. He could do as he wished here.

  Gold walked carefully down the stairs and to the kitchen. He spotted his mate in there. Sebby had his back to him when Gold stepped into the room. The man managed to flip pancakes as well as see to the bacon on the other burner. He had eggs cracked and whisked into a glass bowl, as though readying to make an omelet out of them.

  The last time Gold had startled his mate in the kitchen, Sebby had accidentally cut his fingers.

  The bandages were still there, so Gold couldn’t have been sleeping that long.

  He watched his mate instead, impressed and touched by the show of affection.

  By the fact that Sebby had cared for him when he’d been at his worst and was now cooking up a storm.

  For him.

  Maybe the frequency in the air changed with Gold’s presence because, suddenly, just as Sebby flipped the pancakes onto a stack on the plate he had ready, he looked up from what he was doing then slowly turned.

  Gold’s heart did a little flipping thing at the sight of his lover. He wanted to cry. He really fucking did.

  Sebby turned back around, quickly shutting off the oven before facing him again.

  “How are you feeling?”

  Gold nodded. “Better.”

  Sebby smiled a little. “That’s good. I heard the shower going upstairs. I figured you’d be hungry. I know you said you didn’t want me in the kitchen the last time, but I was thinking that, after our last talk, it would be okay?”

  Gold nearly forgot about that rule. It had been partly Silver’s rule, as well. There were too many cooking spices that could be used in potions and spells, and Sebby had been forbidden from the kitchen as a result.

  Gold didn’t care about any of that shit anymore. “You can do whatever you want.”

  And because Gold needed him so badly, because the one face he’d thought about most when he’d pushed himself to get the hell out of that suffocating basement, was right here.

  Gold walked around the counter island. He grabbed onto his mate’s face and pulled the man close, kissing the lips he’d dreamed of kissing when he’d had some good hours of rest.

  And they tasted like heaven.

  Better than the bacon Sebby had been trying to cook for him, sweeter than the pancakes, and a thousand times more fulfilling.

  He hadn’t realized Sebby still had the spatula in his hand until the smaller man dropped it.

  His arms looped around Gold’s neck, holding on tightly before he suddenly pulled back.

  “Ah, fuck, we shouldn’t. You’re still recovering.”

  “I’m more than recovered for this.”

  Gold aimed to prove that to his mate when he took the man by the hand and brought it down to his cock.

  Sebby gasped at the feel of it, his pale cheeks brightening, though he didn’t pull his hand away.

  “You were the one person I thought of most when I was there. We all thought it was going to be an easy mission. Fuck, it was my idea to light the fire, baby. I had to go back in there when I realized there was someone we’d left behind. If I’d let him die, it would have been entirely my fault.”

  “You didn’t let him die,” Sebby said, and he looked up at Gold with such an expression on his face, as though he really did think Gold was some sort of hero. “You saved him. You risked your life to save a man you didn’t even know. You’re amazing.”

  This…this was everything Gold had hoped for when he’d returned home to the waiting arms of his mate.

  He’d hoped to see this glint in Sebby’s eyes, the look of admiration and respect.

  And yet, now that he had it, Gold was left with the feeling that he hadn’t yet done enough to earn it.

  There was so much more to do. So much more he would do.

  And he was going to start right now.

  “Baby, come here,” he groaned, even though Sebby was already in his arms. He pulled the man closer still, ignoring Sebby’s minimal protests as Gold sank to his knees.

  “No, you should be resting.” Sebby pressed his hands to Gold’s shoulders, as though getting ready to push him away.

  He didn’t seem capable of putting up that fight. His hands, his legs, his entire body trembled as Gold pulled down the jeans he wore, exposing his cock.

  “I shouldn’t do this. It’s taking advantage of you.”

  Gold snorted. “You’re worried about taking advantage of me? Seriously?”

  That color on his face deepened. “I put a lot of medicine into the water I was giving you. You’re probably high or drunk on pain killers.”

  Ah, so that was the problem.

  Well, too bad for Sebby that he didn’t know Gold wasn’t the type of person to let a little something like that get in his way.

  He licked at the head of Sebby’s cock, enjoying the hiss Sebby released, the way his hands clenched tighter to Gold’s shoulders, and the way Sebby moaned out loud when Gold sank his mouth around the entire shaft.

  He needed this. He was going to get it.

  Chapter Three

  Sebby knew he should have pushed Gold off him, that he should be forcing the dragon shifter back into bed so he could feed the man a proper breakfast and help him recover, but the touch of that heated mouth on his cock…

  This was the first time Gold had ever put Sebby’s dick into his mouth. This was the first time Sebby had anyone go down on him full stop.

  He still had yet to tell Gold that he’d been a virgin before the mating happened. He wasn’t sure if he would ever tell him. Gold felt guilty enough about everything as it was. He didn’t want to saddle him with something else. Especially when the heat of his mouth, how wet it was, and how tight, was just so utterly, achingly good.

  His hips undulated without his control. He couldn’t stop himself from canting his cock forward and back into that mouth.

  “Ah, God,” he groaned, losing himself in the pleasure.

  His hands found the back of Gold’s head. The man kept his head shaved, so there was nothing but skin there and the light scratch of incoming hair.

  He liked that feeling. The sensation only added to his pleasure as he thrust in and out of the man’s willing mouth.

  He was going to pop. Every lick, every moan from Gold’s mouth, and the grip of his hands on Sebby’s hips were overloading his fragile senses.

  He wasn’t used to this. He wasn’t used to being able to hold back his orgasm yet.

  Gold had accused him of having a hair trigger inside him.

  He’d done it with such a smile on his face, back when he was still angry at Sebby for the spell he’d cast, that it had been enough to make Sebby believe there might be a chance for them.

  He felt he should warn the other man, that he should let Gold know what was happening deep within him, but Sebby couldn’t get the words out as the pleasure inside him continued to coil tighter and tighter.

  And then it sprang.

  Sebby gasped. His body spasmed. He had to hold tightly to Gold’s shoulders because his knees continued to try giving out on him.

  And Gold drank him down, as if he were used to this. As if he were a professional.

  Sebby knew he shouldn’t, but he leaned against the other man, desperate to keep himself from falling over.

  He shouldn’t have put his weight on Gold the way he did. Christ, the other man was still recovering from his own trauma.

  But Sebby couldn’t help it as he gasped for breath.

  That had been such a rush.

  Meanwhile, Gold continued to suck on his softening cock, as though wanting to drink every last drop be could get out of him.

  The pleasure turned to something a touch more un
comfortable now that he was spent and so sensitive, but even like this, Sebby could tell that if Gold decided to keep that up, Sebby would be hard again very soon. He would want more.

  “Gold.” He sighed the name, his hands stroking the back of Gold’s neck and head.

  Only then did Gold pull his mouth away to look up at him. His golden eyes glazed. Beautiful. “Yeah, baby?”

  Sebby smiled at him. He didn’t think he was ever going to get used to hearing such a sweet name coming from Gold’s lips. He liked it when the man called him baby.

  “Not that I didn’t like that, but you should be resting.”

  “I should be inside you.”

  Sebby tensed then gasped when he felt Gold’s large hands slide around to his ass, his fingers pushing through his crease, touching his hole.

  That felt good.

  And those bright, golden eyes continued to gleam. “I need you.”

  How could he say no to that?

  Sebby nodded. He couldn’t say no. It was that simple. He was just going to have to make sure they were both gentle with each other.

  “Okay, uh, I can take you upstairs—”

  “Not up there.” Gold shook his head a little too quickly. Some of the color left his dark cheeks. “Fuck, I can’t stand the smell of the smoke.”

  Sebby blinked, shocked to hear that. He’d thought he’d cleaned up in Gold’s bedroom fairly well, but he supposed the smell of smoke would have clung to Gold’s body after sleeping in bed for several days. It wasn’t as if the man had been capable of showering.

  Though Sebby had washed his face and arms.

  Right. Of course it wouldn’t have been enough.

  “Then, maybe in…my room?”

  When he’d come here, he and Gold kept separate bedrooms. Because of the forced matings, they’d fucked but never in Gold’s bed, and they’d never slept all night in the same room together.

  Sebby was curious as to what would change now that they’d both come to an understanding of each other.

  Everything had seemed perfect the last time they’d made love. They’d talked, and Gold forgave Sebby for what he’d done, but now that Gold was back, Sebby felt as though he were back at square one.