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His stomach grumbled, loud enough that he was sure everyone in the bar heard. “Is there food?”

“I’ll heat you a bowl of stew.”

Instead of going into the bar, he followed Noah into the kitchen, unable to walk away from him. It was the magic that was drawing them together, that was all.

Noah put a bowl into a box with a glass door and jabbed a few buttons. It lit up and hummed. He turned, resting his hip on the kitchen counter, then beckoned Pan closer.

He hesitated for a second, because who was Noah to order him around? To make demands of a god?

But they had established that Noah was the one with power, so why shouldn’t he act as a supplicant, pleading for a blessing?

He took that first step, and it was easy to close the few steps between them.

Noah slid his hand around Pan’s waist and kissed him, without pausing to ask. And Pan didn’t mind at all as their lips met. The heat and sweetness of Noah’s lips took every thought. And it wasn’t magic that he wanted.

It was the man.

Which was odd, because he was so used to having whoever he wanted that he never craved anyone. Noah’s tongue traced over his lower lip and Pan invited him in. A shiver of expectation raced through his blood, and he didn’t want this to end.

Is this how others felt when he had invited them closer?

Something beeped.

Noah drew back, his teeth raking over Pan’s lower lip. “I wasn’t sure if it was a one off.”

Pan frowned. One off?

“You know, in the tent…” His cheeks reddened.

“Ohh, I know.” He ran his thumb over Noah’s lower lip. “Not a one off. You are turning me into a sex demon.”

Noah licked the end of his thumb, then pulled away. “Your dinner’s ready. Come and have a drink.”

A drink was the last thing he wanted. He wanted to take him to bed. Not that he had a bed. He had nowhere to sleep.

“Were you waiting for me to get back?”

“Yeah. And everyone has had too much to drink to drive home. Feryn said we can sleep in the palace.”

Feryn must be impressed with the humans…or he planned to ask them for a favor. “That is quite the honor.”

“Well, it was that, or sleep with the dead vampires, which to be honest, sounds like the start of a horror movie.”

Pan lifted one eyebrow, not understanding the words, yet sensing the vibration of fear. “You fear the dead?”

Noah lowered his voice. “They are vampires,” he said as if that explained everything.

While Pan had questions about Noah’s assumptions about vampires, they could wait for another time. “If Feryn has offered you a place to sleep in the palace, you will be safe. It is his duty as host.”

Noah nodded and opened the box. He pulled out the now steaming bowl of stew, which smelled amazing. “That’s what he said.”

What else had Feryn said? Did they all know what he was?

If all the people from Tariko knew he had no magic, they’d never worship him again. While it was interesting to be on the other side of magic use, he didn’t want to live like this forever. He wanted Noah to whisper his name in prayer…and he wanted to be able to respond and give him everything he wanted.

Which was magical objects. That’s what Noah liked.

“Feryn has been keeping the magical object I promised you.”