Thornhill’s corpse was still there, head twisted at a one-eighty angle. And there next to Tobias was Simon, his eyes closed and Soul Flame renewed, shimmering brightly, still visible, at least to him.
His clothes were bloody, but the wound in his side was healed. Tobias leaned over and pressed his hand against his face. His skin was warm, and at the touch his eyes opened, shining brightly.
“Simon…” Tobias whispered. “Is this real?”
“If it’s not, then Heaven needs a new decorator,” Simon replied, his smile lighting up the night sky.
Tobias began to cry once more, taking the mage into his arms and kissing him until he was certain that they would both lose their breath. In the kiss, Simon moved closer, on his knees, his head tilted to the side and just a little down, letting Tobias’ tongue plunder him as it was always meant to. He gripped Tobias’s shirt tightly, almost pleadingly, as he began to cry as well.
Tobias kept kissing him, giving him the care and the protection he was silently asking for, holding him tight as he felt their flames burning together.
“I don’t know how this is possible,” Tobias said when he came up for air.
“What did you mean?” Simon asked. “About the prophecy?”
“One of the last two mages must concede their name, not their life,” Tobias explained. “One mage house can survive. You can become a Bloodworth, or I could become a Moonspell. If you’ll have me.”
Simon’s mouth dropped, and he moved away, just a little. “Are you … are you asking me to marry you?”
Tobias burst into surprised laughter, grabbing Simon close again. “Not yet. I’ve got to break you down in the dungeon a little more first. Right now, I just want you at my side. I don’t mind conceding my name if it brings about a new era of magic.”
Simon looked up at the ruins of Moonspell Manor and said, “Maybe neither of us have to…”
* * *
One week later, Simon and Tobias were standing on the north tower of what had once been Bloodworth Manor. The public Ceremony of Mages had been performed, and the prophecy was one step closer to being fulfilled. Now it lay upon their shoulders to complete it.
“How do you feel?” Tobias asked quietly, his voice carried away by the soft spring wind that blew through the night.
Simon looked out over the village and sighed contentedly. “I feel happy … Sir. Though I wonder what would have happened if we still hated each other.”
“Then one of us would be dead and the prophecy would still have been fulfilled,” Tobias replied simply.
Simon felt different ever since his brush with death. No one was sure how he’d been saved, only that the Core had to have infused them both with new magic, because each time they cast a spell, it was glowing white mixed with their normal colours.
He’d been given a second chance, and he wasn’t going to waste a second of it.
The final ceremony which would combine their mage houses as one was intricate and intimate, to be performed in private. It required the branding of their skin, for one, and what an ancient spell had called “exchanging of life”.
Simon knew that that was something he could do. The branding, however, frightened him.
“Kneel down,” Tobias said. The stone here was the same as the stone floor in the basement, and it was high enough that no one could see them. Simon knelt on the cold, hard stone, clad only in a pair of trousers.
“Nomen tuum est,” Tobias intoned.
(“My name is yours.”)
Simon repeated it.
“Tuum nomen meum,” he said.
(“Your name is mine.”)
Simon again repeated the words.
He looked up at Tobias, who had a thin silver wire wrapped around him, as was part of the custom, silver being the Element of the Moon. Because of their names, the spell required something of the moon and blood to be complete.
Tobias took the sharp edge of the wire and began to carve into the palm of his hand, and it was so quiet that Simon could hear the sound of his flesh being carved and winced. At least he didn’t have to do that.
Blood leaked down Tobias’ wrist as he turned his hand toward Simon, placing the bloody palm over Simon’s heart.
“Innecto,” Tobias cast, and there was a sharp pain in Simon’s skin as the cuts began to make a magical brand, a bond that could never be broken. It took all his strength not to scream, because he knew that, like in life, this pain needed to be borne to get to the sweet side.
He threw his head back, eyes squeezed shut as it intensified, and then it was done. The pain was gone, leaving nothing but a faint sting in its wake. He looked down at himself. There was no blood there, instead there was a silhouette of a wolf, the mascot of the Bloodworth house, being encircled by a snake, the mascot of the Moonspell house. Their new brand, their new house.
Tobias had the same brand on the palm of his hand. He used that hand to pull Simon up to meet him in a heated, possessive kiss. Teeth nipped at Simon’s lower lip, and insistent hands tugged at his trousers until his erection was bared to the night.
The second part of the ritual was about to commence.
Tobias removed his own clothing quickly, his pale skin shining in the moonlight as he pushed Simon back against the high wall on one side of the tower. The stone was smooth up here, from the wind and rain of centuries.
“What are you?” Tobias asked, his voice a growl once more. Simon loved hearing that tone in his voice.
“Yours, Sir,” Simon replied. “I’m yours to use as you please.”
“Yes … yes you are. Bared for all the world to see, I bet you’d let me take you here or right in the town square,” Tobias said.
“Yes, Sir.”
“You’d love to show everyone that you’re a slut for me and me alone.”
Simon’s cock twitched as he again assented. Tobias was stalking around him, pressing him against the wall like a true predator of the night, and he was quite content to be prey.
“Normally I’d torment you for hours. But tonight, I need you.”
Those words took the breath from Simon’s lungs.
“You belong to me, but never forget that I, too, belong to you,” Tobias said, his lips pressing against Simon’s. His lips travelled, taking their time down his neck, his chest, laving and tormenting each nipple in turn, before he bit them both, leaving bruises from there down Simon’s chest and stomach. He engulfed Simon’s cock with his hot, sinful mouth.
Simon gasped and bucked into his mouth, but Tobias held him still with a steel grip on his hips. He sucked, running his tongue along the length and teasing the head until Simon was sure he’d burst. Just as he was nearing climax, Tobias removed his mouth and squeezed Simon’s bollocks quickly.
Tobias grabbed Simon by the hair and dragged him to one of the depressions along the top that overlooked the town. It was so close to the edge that Simon’s body froze in fear. It was quite a long way down.
Instead of getting angry, Tobias petted his back gently. “I would never let you fall,” he said. “Praeligo.”
Simon was suddenly bound by magical ropes that had appeared from nowhere, suspended over the edge but completely safe. His Master would never let him be hurt, this he knew.
“I want the world to see that you’re mine,” Tobias said. He caressed Simon’s arse cheeks and crack before whispering the lubrication and stretching spells. “I want everyone to know you’re my personal sex toy.”
Simon moaned aloud at the words and said, “Yes, Sir, I am.”
Tobias entered him fully, a slick burn and stretching sensation that had Simon keening and tugging against his fastenings.
Tobias had no mercy that night, fucking him hard and fast, each thrust seating himself deeper in Simon’s hole, hitting that bundle of nerves every time. One hand gripped his hip, and the other pulled and pinched at one of his nipples as he arched back against Tobias, to get him as far inside of him as he could.
“Master, Sir, please. I’m close,” he
begged.
“Then come, slave. Come for your Master.” With that, Tobias bit down hard on the side of Simon’s neck and gave one last thrust.
Simon came undone, his seed coming from him in thick ropes that fell over the side of the castle. At the same moment, Tobias came deep inside of him, filling him with his very essence.
The Soul Flames began to glow visibly again, surrounding them in red and white mist, binding them completely, forever. Together as one house, as one soul.
Simon felt a warmth he had never known was possible filling him as the restraints were removed and he fell into Tobias’ arms. His Master held him tightly, and Simon could still see the magic surrounding them.
“Tonight begins the reign of the last mage house,” Tobias said. “Bloodspell.”
FIN.
About The Author
Samantha Calcott is a secret lover of romance when it's done right, and after years of writing under another pen name in the horror and paranormal genres, she decided to dip her toe into a brand new genre.
She's a Midwestern girl who spent nearly a decade in the gritty heart of Los Angeles, where sex, drugs, and rock n' roll reign. When not writing, she's reading, at a concert, or cooking.
She also writes horror and paranormal books as USA Today bestselling author Lily Luchesi.
Find her via her newsletter, where you can receive a free ebook and get exclusive content monthly.
Bloodspell: An MM, BDSM High Fantasy Novella Page 8
