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He lay still for several seconds, waiting for the memories to assemble into some kind of logical order. Pan’s sun bright pupils, and bathing in that golden light like he was one with the universe. No, one with magic.

That Pan had…

Oh.Pan had nearly killed him with a blowjob.

And they were in the middle of a centaur camp.

Given the shit happening, dying from a blow job was not a bad option. Had he died? That might explain the hangover. He pushed himself upright and took a couple of breaths.

Nope, he definitely felt weird. Was it the centaur food?

Shit, what if he’d caught a mythological virus?

Was that a thing? If he needed to be vaccinated before traveling to some countries, surely there were things he should worry about when hanging around with mythological beings.

Which meant he shouldn’t be kissing them either.

And while the logical explanation was that he was coming down with something, it didn’t feel right. And he couldn’t explain why. It was like when he saw something in the pawnshop or at an estate sale and had to have it. He didn’t always buy it because money only went so far, but that knowing sensation was there, and stronger.

The tent door unzipped, and he pulled the blanket tighter around his body.

Pan stuck his head in and smiled. “You are awake. Good. Liam made you some breakfast.” He offered Noah a plate of food, which looked suspiciously like two bacon sandwiches. Nan had sent them off with about a kilo. “They are strange but delicious. He called them bacon butties. Not something I am familiar with.”

There was no sign of the golden light in Pan’s eyes. And what he’d dreamed had been far more intense than the glimmers he’d glimpsed before. Noah frowned, not sure what to say.

His body knew what it wanted, his dick hardening with each heartbeat.

Pan.

He blinked and glanced away. He was being ridiculous. “Thank you. I didn’t mean to sleep so long.”

“You have not overslept. Your friends are packing the bags, and the centaurs are preparing to lead us to the dragon. I would not have left you here, nor made us late.”

All of that sounded like the truth, yet there was something missing.

“What am I forgetting?”

“Why do you think you have forgotten something?” Pan countered without answering the question.

“I slept all night without waking once, despite the noises of the camp, and I woke up with a headache and…” He studied his hand and let it fall back to the blanket, unable to even describe what was going on. Pan studied him with one eyebrow raised, as if he’d lost his mind. Maybe he had. Or maybe he was still sleeping, and this was all a dream. “Don’t look at me like that. I remember you…” Heat rushed to his cheeks.

“I showed you what humans are doing wrong when they seek only pleasure.”

That was one way to put it. “What did you do to me?”

“I let you experience magic.”

Noah shook his head. “You edged me until I passed out.”

Pan shrugged. “Same thing.”

“What?” Noah peered up at him. “It’s not.”

“You were able to enter the in between state and channel magic.”

Noah’s lips parted, but it was a couple of seconds before he found any words. “The golden threads.”

Pan nodded, a smile curving his lips. “The magic that connects everything. You accessed the tiniest thread that you don’t know how to use.”