by J B Black
“Seriously, Gilroy, thank you,” William told the copper-haired magic user as he raced out the door.
Wulfric called after him: “Good luck!”
Running down the stone steps of the alchemy tower, the dark-haired warlock watched the red string, questioning over and over if it seemed shorter as he drew nearer to Ælfweard’s bedroom. He had practiced the words he would say over the winter break, but every single time, they didn’t seem enough. How could he convince Ælfweard he loved him? His heart ached for the man, but some doubt still remained. Someone as kind as the blond wizard deserved better. Deserved someone less selfish. Less likely to focus on what they wanted. Less likely to completely miss the first kiss their fated mate ever gave them.
When he came to stand outside the door, his heart leapt into his throat. Instead of trailing to vanish through the door, the string vanished further down the stairs instead. It froze his hand before his knuckles could tap against the wood.
This was it, wasn’t it? This was what he had feared. Ælfweard belonged to someone else, or worse — the wizard had been right. One-sided bonds had to foretell some sort of horrible fate. Death, perhaps, awaited. Which couldn’t be possible. Not for Ælfweard. He had to have a happily ever after in his future. Even if it didn’t include William, the man deserved so much better.
William stumbled back, leaning against the cool stone as he struggled to gather his thoughts. They rambled. Racing here and there, each escaped his reach until he sunk into a crouch, desperately struggling to catch his breath which suddenly seemed to escape him. Panic gripped his heart. This wasn’t right. He was supposed to return, and there was supposed to be this grand reunion, but if Ælfweard hadn’t been right — if they weren’t mates — then wouldn’t it be kinder to leave the wizard alone?
“Did you get glasses?” a soft voice asked.
Every muscle in William’s body tightened, and as he gazed up with teary eyes, his anxiety stumbled, floundering in the face of the red string wrapped neatly about Ælfweard’s finger. From the wizard, the string hung in the air between them, connecting one to the other.
“Oh,” William whispered. He raised his hand, watching the delicate line twist. “I thought…”
Ælfweard set down his bag, crouching down after glancing up and down the stairs. “Are you alright?”
Taking Ælfweard’s left hand in his own, William smiled even as tears of joy and relief poured down his face. “It’s real. You’re really mine.”
As if slapped, Ælfweard wavered. “William?”
The dark-haired warlock took off the glasses and held them out to the blond wizard. “I’m sorry, Ælfweard. I thought — I thought anything I felt was just because I’m in love with you, and I never thought — fuck, I had this whole stupid speech planned. I was supposed to start with how much I love you. I’m just so happy.”
Eyes darting studying William’s teary smile, Ælfweard took the glasses. Sliding them on, he blinked rapidly, pushing them down his nose and then back up as he stared at his hand and the warlock’s. He couldn’t believe his eyes. For the whole of the winter holiday, the wizard pushed down his emotions and grief. His mother had just given birth, and his siblings needed him when he learned that their father would once again be unable to come home for Christmas. If William had been there, he could have easily transported Ælfweard’s father back for Christmas dinner, but no one in Ælfweard’s family had mastered the craft. Most wizards didn’t, finding enchanted pathways easier. But beyond that and some moments of grief when he realized some joke fell flat with his siblings when William would have laughed, the blond had pushed down his heartbreak.
Now, faced with the sight of their string — bright and brilliantly crimson, Ælfweard floundered only a moment before he failed to hold the tidal wave of emotions back. His arms reached out. Wrapping his arms about the warlock, he pulled William against his chest. Their hearts raced. Knotting his fingers in the man’s dark hair, he clung to William, overjoyed and terrified that this moment would slip away if he let go.
Likewise, William embraced him tightly. “I’m so sorry,” he murmured as he nuzzled into the wizard’s shoulder, breathing in the taller man’s warm scent. “I should have realized — I’m so sorry, Ælfweard.”
Shushing him softly, Ælfweard pulled back, cupping the warlock’s face in his hands. “You know now. We both know now, and to know that we both fell in love before that — isn’t that beautiful?”
Their eyes met. Gray found blue, and the upward curl on the wizard’s lip broke through the tears and the relief, allowing the joy to shine through on its own. William threw himself forward, almost knocking Ælfweard over as their lips met. Rough and solid, Ælfweard’s lips sent a zing of rightness through the warlock, and now aware, William laughed that he had missed how their unsolidified bond thrummed between them. It was as if the stars aligned. As if everything wrong in the world faded away to the simplicity — the warmth of this embrace.
Lickig across the wizard’s lower lip, William moaned when Ælfweard gasped, allowing their tongues to entwine. He tasted like ambrosia. Honey sweet and perfect, the taste coated the warlock’s tongue, drawing him closer as the warm radiating off the wizard leaked into the cold William hadn’t recognized making its home in his bones. Faster, their red string urged, sanctify and hold true this promise. Neither wished to deny it. Here in the messing aftermath — in the unexpected relief of the string which bound them — neither wished for anything more than to bind themselves to one another in this moment. Fate set them for each other, but both had fallen desperately in love to the point of almost missing what stood before them — doubting the truth of their connection in the aftermath of what had almost not been.
“I love you,” William professed, keening softly as Ælfweard drew him back into another kiss.
Holding fast, the wizard wanted nothing more than to live in this moment for eternity. His heart raced. Excitement mounted, and though he knew what would be ahead, Ælfweard found contentment in the hungry desperation of the kisses they shared. They spoke of the passion awaiting, and his heart ached, still tender — still sore and cautious. Despite his desire for a soft and slow return, Ælfweard could not deny his trousers tightened as his cock throbbed in want.
“I love you too,” the blond returned as they clung to one another in the stairs of the alchemy tower. “We can wait if you want. This is enough.”
Pulling back, William licked his kiss-swollen lips, doing nothing to ease the longing which threatened to sway Ælfweard to impatience. His body swayed like iron toward the magnet of the warlock’s touch.
Releasing a slow breath, the dark-haired man whispered, “What if I don’t want to wait?”
“We’re only first years,” Ælfweard murmured. “I don’t...I don’t think it would be wise to follow in Gilroy’s footsteps.”
William’s lips curled into a mischievous smirk. “I have full control over that, and believe me, I’m not ready either.”
Slow might have shown wisdom. Though fated for one another, they had come together and fallen apart so fast before the certainty of their bond settled warm and beautiful before their eyes. Patience would be reasonable, but the light in William’s eyes spoke of more than lust. Fear lingered there, and Ælfweard could not deny he felt the same. Their bond thrummed strong between them. Knowing what it was made it all the easier to recognize, but it still seemed so fragile. So ephemeral and dangerously fleeting that to settle it offered a respite from the risk of it simply shattering around them, leaving them broken and disappointed once more. Which was madness. Bonds like theirs did not break easily. Fate required more to see its designs cast aside. As long as they wanted it, the bond would exist. Still, logic rarely eased a panicking heart.
“Then just the bonding?” the wizard proposed.
William dragged him into another kiss by the collar of his coat. “Yes. Fuck, Ælfweard, I want to mate with you so bad.”
Stumbling one over the other, they stood, barely parti
ng as William’s magic caught hold of Ælfweard’s belongings and the wizard reached behind to open his bedroom door. Their fingers danced over each other. William shoved the wizard’s coat from his shoulders, working to find skin beneath the knit of the wizard’s jumper as Ælfweard unbuttoned William’s shirt and pants. Bit by bit, they bared themselves.
Paler than he had been when they first met, Ælfweard stood just as muscular. His broad shoulders and chest led to a narrow waist and strong legs. Coins would’ve bounced from his ass. He was perfect. Warm and bright with the scent of sunshine and lavender upon his skin. When he smiled, the sparkle in his blue eyes made William’s stomach flutter.
Running his fingers down the wizard’s chiseled abs, the dark-haired warlock moaned. “I can’t believe you’re mine.”
Ælfweard laughed. His eyes traced the warlock’s lithe form, and his heart skipped a beat at the sound which came from William’s lips when he squeezed the warlock’s ass and drew him closer by his grip there. Their cocks rubbed together as he stole the warlock’s lips in another kiss, desperate to devour the sweet noises of surprise and pleasure his mate released. From his flat stomach to his broad shoulders and long legs, William brought a near fever into Ælfweard’s veins. Resisting the hunger which thrummed at the sight of him in the baths had proved difficult, but with the permission granted to touch and taste, the wizard refused to resist the sensuous feast laid before him. He would lick every inch of the other’s body, burying himself inside the tight heat and leaving the other man unable to doubt the bond which tethered them. The anchor which claimed both their hearts.
The warlock tipped back, falling into the blond’s bed and dragging Ælfweard with him. William spread his legs, drawing the wizard between. Nothing felt as right. His whole body thrummed with the potential growing along their bond. So terrified of not deserving, he refused to recognize the bond, but he could no longer deny it, and as Ælfweard set the glasses aside after one final look at their left hands which lay entwined on the sheets, William adored that it wasn’t fate alone but love as well which pushed them closer as the weight of the wizard settled upon him, and their lips met once more.
“I love you,” Ælfweard proclaimed.
His hips shifted, rutting their hard cocks together. Like this, they would easily come, but neither wanted their bonding to be made of such a shallow love-making. Their bodies thrummed with want, and from the way William positioned them, Ælfweard understood what he was meant to do, but his heart raced with his inexperience. For all that William was similarly unfamiliar with such things, Ælfweard wanted to ensure his mate’s pleasure.
Pressing William’s hands into the bed beside his head, Ælfweard ordered, “Keep these here.”
The warlock’s brows furrowed, but he didn’t protest as Ælfweard kissed his way down William’s body. His fingers trailed down his mate’s lean chest. Peaked and rosy, the dark-haired man’s nipples begged to be touched. To be twisted and rubbed. Each caress drew new reactions. William’s cries — like music — filled the air.
Loving him came easily. From the taste of his skin to the way his voice rose, everything William did left Ælfweard desperate for more. Dragging his nails down the other’s hips, the wizard massaged the pale shapely thighs, nipping at warlock’s hip as those gray eyes watched him. They tracked his every move. Lust dark and half-lidded, those beautiful grey spheres had often pierced him in place, but their attention urged him onward now. Silent praise in that bright gaze left him heady — intoxicated with what his fingers and mouth could achieve. Words alone kept the warlock pinned. The hands tangled above his head, knotted there in the sheets, had no reason to stay but the will which William gave to Ælfweard’s words.
“Beautiful,” Ælfweard murmured, sucking a livid mark right where the other’s fitted jeans would sit. All through the next day, William would remember this moment with every move he made. “Heaven among us, William, do you have any idea how much I love you?”
Biting his lip, the warlock smirked, parting his legs just a bit further as he arched, showing off the smooth expanse of his skin as his hard cock leaked his interest. “Didn’t you say you wanted to taste me?”
“I did.”
“Well?” the cheeky dark-haired man prompted.
With a chuckle, Ælfweard enveloped the other’s cock in his hand. Up and down, he trailed his fingers, enraptured with the keen which his touch brought forth from William’s lips. The warlock canted his hips, thrusting up into the tight ring made by the wizard’s fingers, and for a moment, just the sight of his desperation sated the thirst which curled like a tightening coil in the wizard’s core, but soon enough, the soft moans and gasps weren’t enough. He wanted more. Needed more.
Leaning down, Ælfweard ran his tongue across the tip, tasting before he sucked the head of William’s cock into his mouth. Inexperienced, he kept the other’s cock only shallowly in his mouth, laving the tip and pressing his tongue against the weeping slit as his hand moved lower and lower to fondle his mate’s balls. William whined, reaching down for a moment before he caught himself and with a growl of frustration, the warlock brought his hands back up.
“Please,” he begged. “I want to touch you.”
Ælfweard said nothing. His blue eyes silently reinforced his command, and sliding his free hand across the smooth skin from behind the warlock’s balls to the tight furl of his hole, he made his intentions clear. Proud and rebellious William sunk back into the sheets, throwing an arm over his face as he flushed. Though he hid the desperate hunger in his eyes, the way he bit his swollen lips and trembled at the wizard’s slightest touch gave him away.
Round and round, Ælfweard trailed his finger in circles about the other’s hole without dipping inside. The blond trailed kisses up one side then licked the underside of the other’s hard cock, trailing up and down so no portion of the other’s cock was left unattended even as his fingers continued to tease. No amount of rocking brought his fingers inside. Despite the way William trembled, Ælfweard pulled away every time the warlock almost succeeded.
“Ælfweard, please!” the warlock begged so prettily.
“Not yet,” Ælfweard replied, sucking down the tip of his mate’s cock once more. He pressed his fingers against the warlock’s perineum, massaging and pressing before sliding back teasingly over his lover’s hole.
William whimpered. “Fuck, Ælfweard, I’m going to start leaking.”
Lifting off William’s cock, the wizard pressed a kiss to the head as he hummed softly. “Leaking?”
Peeking out from underneath the arm he threw over his face, the warlock blushed, flushing a deep red. “I’m a warlock. When I get aroused with a male partner…” he trailed off, inhaling as he glared anywhere but at Ælfweard.
The wizard tilted his head, dragging his thumb nail backward over the delicate furl before pressing his thumb against where he would enter his mate’s body. “You’ll get wet here?”
“Yes, like a fucking pussy, okay?” William snapped. Despite his obvious embarrassment, his cock remained stubbornly hard in Ælfweard’s hand. “Just — just get on with it, okay? You don’t need to — to wait or anything.”
The wizard frowned. “It sounds like I should. Like I should tease you until you’re dripping wet for me.” He pressed his thumb inside, testing. Sure enough, clear slick coated the tip. “I don’t have condoms.”
“I won’t get pregnant,” William insisted. His grey eyes met the wizard’s blue. “Believe me. I’m with you on the waiting.”
Again, Ælfweard hummed softly. “I can see the appeal. You would be round and full of our child. Those tight clothes of yours would give you away. Everyone would know you’re mine.”
“I’ll be yours either way,” William retorted, but he flushed all the brighter from the wizard’s words, and the globs of slick which oozed out of him gave away how Ælfweard’s words affected him. “We’re mates.”
Those words lit a fire in the wizard’s heart. Finally, he pressed further insid
e. Slick heat encased his thumb. Soft and warm, the warlock’s body welcomed him, and Ælfweard’s cock throbbed, hard and heavy between his thighs as he ached to press within his mate’s body, but his mouth salivated, desperate to taste the sweetness of William’s body.
Attuned to his mate’s desires, the warlock shifted. “Here — it’ll be easier if I’m on my knees.”
Ælfweard pulled back, and the dark-haired man rolled over, pressing his chest into the sheets as he coyly glanced over his shoulder with his ass in the air and thighs spread. Slick dripped down from his hole. Taking handfuls of the muscular ass, the blond dove between, humming in pleasure as he lapped the musky liquor of his fated mate’s lust. His tongue dipped inside, sending shivers down William’s spine as the warlock moaned. In and out, the wizard thrust his tongue inside the tight furl, nipping at the slick rim as he massaged the soft, pert cheeks of his mate’s bottom. William clenched, keening with every touch, and Ælfweard swallowed down every noise he made. Absorbed each shiver. Thrived upon the arousal coursing through his mate’s body which he brought by his own hand.
“Please,” the warlock begged. “Don’t just tease me!”
Temptation offered so many delights. Pale and unblemished, the warlock’s body held so many different delights, and of each, Ælfweard yearned to partake. It was perverted — all the desires which cycled round and round inside the wizard’s head. He wanted to eat him out. Leave William wrecked and loose enough to press a fist inside. Loose enough to gape, dripping seed as he sprawled upon the blond’s bed. Defenseless and completely at his mercy.
Swallowing, Ælfweard wrapped his large hands on either side of William’s hips, tugging his hips to tilt up and display more of himself even as the warlock whimpered into the sheets. Fingers ought to go first. Though the taste of that slick filled Ælfweard’s mouth, he understood his cock would hurt the other man if he thrust inside after only licking into his mate’s body. Watching his forefinger disappear into the warlock’s slick hole, Ælfweard groaned, biting back against the wave of lust which urged him forward when he needed patience. His cock ached. It throbbed, red and wanting. He needed to feel William’s tight heat around him. To feel the drag of the warlock’s body holding to him with each retreat and submitting to his every thrust. Opening for him. Creating a space for Ælfweard inside as their bond solidified at this physical manifestation of their reciprocated adoration.
