Page 27

TWENTY-ONE

MAC

I don’t know if it’s whatever magic is in the air or if it’s just the smell of my mate in my nose, but my dick has never been harder.

My tongue tangles with Drax’s, his large body blocking out the rest of the sex den around us as he boxes me in and presses me against the pillar to kiss me ravenously.

I can feel eyes on us, but I don’t care. Let them watch.

I moan and cant my hips, dragging my cock against the thick, heavy shape of his.

He rumbles a horny sound around my tongue, and I swallow it greedily.

Fire burns in the back of my throat, and my dragon vibrates inside of me like a dog barely restrained by a leash.

I know I just finished telling Drax we should live in the moment, but I can’t stop my mind from racing ahead and wondering what’s going to happen once we manage to get our hands on this amulet. What does the future look like for us?

I tangle my fingers in his hair, wishing his horns were out right now so I could stroke and caress them.

He groans and punches his hips forward, grinding against me, like he can feel the pleasure created by the fantasy alone.

Maybe he can. After all, I can feel the aching desire pouring into me through our bond, and I know he can feel the lust and need brewing inside me too.

A throat clears behind Drax, and he sags against me in defeat. I chuckle and nuzzle my nose against his before looking over his shoulder. Roman is back, and he looks both embarrassed and a little turned on as he shoots me an apologetic smile.

“Sorry to interrupt, but Jareth is ready for us.”

I nod, and Drax disentangles himself from around me, wiping the back of his hand across his damp lips and shamelessly adjusting his massive erection.

I do the same, dragging my fingers through my hair and giving myself a shake to clear my filthy thoughts.

It’s time to focus on the job. There will be plenty of time to enjoy my naked mate once we’ve talked to Roman’s friend.

I can’t fuck this up. I rushed in without thinking and got myself captured by Rune, I’ve made one mistake after another since Auri found me…

Okay, fine, that’s a lie. I’ve made one mistake after another since I hatched, and it’s time I finally prove to myself and everyone else that I’m not a complete and total fuckup. Roman glances around.

“Did you lose Cas and Atlas?” he asks.

“I think Cas found some company , and Atlas…” I shake my head. “No clue. He’s acting kind of weird, right?”

Drax nods. “Strange, yes.”

“You don’t think Rune could have put some kind of spell on him or something, do you?” I grimace. That would just be the shit icing on the cake, wouldn’t it? My bumbling causing one of the guys to end up under some kind of fucked up enchantment.

“Gargoyles aren’t directly susceptible to mage magic. They’ll fall for illusions just like the rest of us, but it would be damn near impossible to actually put him under a mage spell,” Roman says.

“Okay, good.” I breathe out a sigh of relief. “Should we just go talk to Jareth without them? They can get home by themselves, right?”

“I’m here,” Atlas says, parting the crowd with his stocky frame, still seeming distracted as he glances around and continues to sniff the air. “And I just saw Cassius. He’s fang-deep in some pretty twink, so I think he’d rather we go ahead without him.”

“Perfect, let’s do this.” Roman uses the power Auri gave him to pull all four of us into the void and deposit us in the middle of a field that smells like lilac and ocean water. “Now please remember that Jareth is a friend of mine and try not to act like a bunch of assholes.”

“When have we ever acted like assholes?” Atlas rolls his eyes.

Roman gives him a pointed look, and I choke back a laugh.

“We’ll be cool,” I promise.

“Chilly,” Drax says with a seriousness that has me sputtering another laugh.

With a skeptical glance at all of us, Roman leads us down a winding path to a small stone house.

Based on Roman’s story about rescuing Jareth from attackers who had left him for dead, I was picturing a petite, maybe even frail looking mage.

The man who answers the door is anything but that.

His hair is a glowing shade of silver like it’s made of moonlight, long tresses flowing down over his shoulders.

He stands at least a head taller than me, with broad shoulders that nearly put Atlas’s to shame, a chiseled jaw that wouldn’t be out of place in a superhero comic book, and a scar across his cheek from the outer edge of his left eye to the bridge of his nose.

“Thanks, Jare,” Roman murmurs, hugging the mage and rubbing his face into the crook of Jareth’s neck. Scenting him. The exchange feels too intimate to watch, and when I look away, I find Drax and Atlas doing the same.

After a second, they break apart and Jareth waves us into his house.

“Roman says you need my help?” Jareth’s footsteps are loud in the small space, and the smell of burning wood tickles my nose from the smoldering fireplace in the corner, along with the scent of herbs and old parchment.

It reminds me a lot of the way Rune’s cabin smelled, with magic hanging in the air.

Do all mages have quiet, hidden cabins in the woods?

I guess it makes sense considering how earth-based their magic is.

I clear my throat and step forward. “We need advice on how to capture a powerful mage.”

He frowns deeply, his bushy eyebrows lowering and a menacing look entering his gray eyes.

“To kill him?”

“What? No.” I shake my head quickly, taking a step back to find Drax directly behind me. “No, we don’t want to kill him. He’s actually a really cool guy if you put the whole kidnapping thing aside. I just need something he has.”

“Hm,” Jareth grunts.

“We won’t hurt him,” Atlas says firmly.

“It’s just a job,” Roman assures him.

“A job for a demon.” Jareth scoffs.

“Auri isn’t what you think he is,” Roman growls.

“Listen, I don’t want to cause a problem. If you can’t help, we’ll figure something else out.” I rush the words out, hoping to break the rising tension between the two of them, staring each other down like they might fight or fuck at any second.

Jareth breaks eye contact with Roman to look over at me again, his nostrils flaring as he exhales slowly.

“No, it’s fine. I owe Roman a favor, and I’m going to pay up. Every mage has a weakness, no matter how powerful they are. None of us are gods,” he says.

“How are we supposed to—” Before I can even finish my question, the answer comes rushing in. I spent days with Rune, and I already know what his weakness is. “We need to overwhelm him.”

“Overwhelm him?” Atlas says.

“When he was holding me captive, right after you guys gave up and left, he came into my room and noticed I was feeling claustrophobic. His magic was stretched thin by the illusions he was already holding in place, and he had to borrow my energy to make my room look different,” I explain.

“If we overtax him, we weaken him and level the playing field,” Drax concludes.

“Exactly.”

“Smart, mate,” he murmurs, invisibly stroking our bond.

I shiver and grin.

“How exactly do we do that?” Roman scratches his beard and cocks his head. It’s easy to picture him in his wolfish form with big ears flopping with the head tilt and a tail wagging slowly as he screws up his face in thought.

“There are at least four of you,” Jareth says with a shrug. “And… here…” He crosses the room and kneels in front of a chest in the far corner. He rummages around for a minute before returning to us with a few small satchels in hand. “Each of these is a momentary illusion to help create confusion.”

“Thanks.” I take the bags. “How do they work?”

“Throw one at the ground and a lifelike image will appear for approximately thirty seconds.”

“Got it.” I stuff them into my pockets.

“You still have his scent, Atlas?” Roman asks, and Atlas nods with a serious look on his face. “Perfect. Then why don’t we go home and get some rest, and we’ll try again tomorrow. But this time we’re going in prepared.”

DRAX

A satisfied feeling swells in my chest when Mac follows me into my quarters instead of disappearing into his own when we get back to the compound. The scent of lust is still lingering in my nose from the sex den, made more intoxicating by my mate’s smoky pheromones surrounding me.

As soon as the door swings closed behind us, I let the glamour of clothing fade away, along with the illusion of human skin. Mac smiles at me and wraps his arms around my neck, leaning his weight into me and bringing his lips teasingly close to mine.

“Tell me something I don’t know about you,” he murmurs, running his fingers through the fur that trails down the back of my neck.

“What do you want to know?” I slide my hands down to his ass and pull his body more fully against mine.

“Anything.” He smiles, pecking a kiss against my lips. “Everything.”

“I think it would take an incredibly long time to tell you everything about me,” I warn, walking backward slowly to the bed and towing my mate along with me.

“I’ve got time,” he says agreeably. “Dragons live thousands of years.” He huffs a laugh and I feel a little pulse in our bond, like he’s stroking an invisible finger along it. “Even longer, I guess, if we…”

If . That word sends a jolt of fear to the deepest parts of me that Mac feels immediately. He tightens his arms around my neck and presses his chest against mine.

“I didn’t mean it that way, Drax. I just meant…” He shakes his head and gives me an apologetic smile. “This is what I meant about always messing things up. Having me as your mate is going to mean a lot of foot-in-mouth moments and dumbassery.”

I frown. “Why would you put your feet into your mouth? Oh, is it the foot fetish thing that’s so common in your realm? Would you like to lick my feet too?”

He sputters a laugh. “No, it’s just an expression. It means I say a lot of stupid shit without thinking.”

“So, you do want to be mated to me?” I check, knowing he can feel the hopeful stutter in my heart.

“I don’t know. I think I do.” He chews on his bottom lip and looks at me with worry in his eyes. “I need time to adjust to all this, okay? But I do like you. A lot .”

“I like you a lot too, dragon,” I purr, nuzzling my nose against his.

He smiles and unloops his arms from around my neck, giving me a little nudge towards the bed.

“Let’s snuggle, and you can tell me as much of your life story as you can manage before I fall asleep. How does that sound?”

Warmth rushes through me and I nod.

“It sounds perfect, mate.”