Page 6 of Chosen Spirits (The Bartender Mage #4)

"I always loved those!" Rahul added, then looked Leif up and down, making a displeased grunt.

He then reached down to grab Leif's ankle, pulling until Leif was flat on the bed.

His bear of a boyfriend laid himself down next to him, propped up on one elbow as he laid a dark hand on his chest. "Generally speaking, you'd get the dossier a few days to a week or so in advance, then make your house call.

Usually a field call to No Man's Land, if I'm being honest. A lot of the time, it's just someone making a light-show at night with their magic, or a mythic critter running loose, but sometimes you find things like open portals to hell. "

"That only happened once ," Tucker said, laying his own sun-tanned hand on top of Rahul's.

"And it wasn't a hellgate, just a door to a sweltering spirit realm that some lazy, traveling mages didn't close behind them.

'Course, Rahul felt right at home while we tracked them down and made them tidy up their mess. "

"Gentle field missions do sound nice, actually.

" Leif took each of their hands into his own and linked their fingers.

It was a little awkward with Rahul's, on account of the odd angle, but that didn't stop him.

He looked up into their faces, then lost his smile.

"But, um, would it be safe for me, though? Because of the sorceress?"

He saw Tucker deflate, then exchange a look with Rahul.

"C'mere, cub," Rahul said, being faster with wrapping him up in his arms. "I'm not going to lie, a rogue sorceress taking an interest in you isn't exactly daisies and daffodils, but from what you told us about your encounter at the bar, I don't think she has ill intent."

Tucker nodded, sitting himself closer and running his hand through Leif's hair. "She also swore that you had nothing to fear from her, and she's not just any elf, she's a noble elf. They physically cannot break their promises."

"I suppose."

Tucker smiled, then leaned in to give him a kiss. "But why don't we save these tough questions for later? I think we were about to celebrate your recent outstanding achievement."

Leif felt Rahul rumble, and the hands that were holding him started caressing his torso. "Puppy's right. So you just lay back, and let your two boyfriends take over for now. "

As Rahul laid him back down on the bed and Tucker started planting soft kisses along his chest, Leif decided that he was more than happy to put aside his worries, at least for a short time.

Gentle caresses from four hands, accompanied by whispering kisses. It was nice, but… no . Sensual foreplay had its place, to be sure, but sometimes you just needed to express how you felt more ardently.

Brushing aside hands, Leif sat up, then climbed halfway on top of Tucker. Grabbing him tightly, Leif thrust his hardened cock up against the firm abs of his boyfriend, soon making a slick mess with his precum.

"I missed you," he said.

Tucker with his empathetic sense was quick on the uptake.

Growling delightedly, he grabbed Leif's head, directing him in for hungry kisses and letting Leif explore his mouth forcefully with his tongue.

Leif's fingers, meanwhile, dug into his back, and he was glad he'd trimmed his nails or else he'd be drawing blood.

After a moment, Tucker pulled back with a satisfied wuff, but only so that he could transfer him to Rahul.

Rahul leaned back on his hands as Leif started nibbling his way down his chest, then took one of Rahul's nipples in his teeth, tugging at it, making the bigger man gasp and his thick cock to twitch.

Impatient, Leif pressed his cock up against Rahul's, making slow thrusts.

While he continued to flick, circle, and twist at Rahul's sensitive nipples, his boyfriend grabbed their cocks together in his large, djinn-heated hand, using Leif's copious precum as lube while he stroked them.

His two boyfriends let him take the lead, clearly as eager as he was, and Leif set a fast pace.

In moments, Leif was sitting astride Rahul's ready cock, riding him with abandon, while Tucker pressed up against his back, grinding against him.

His boyfriends had their arms around both him and each other, crushing him between them.

Leif didn't last long at all, not with Rahul in his ass and Tucker reaching down to stroke him, and he leaned down to bite at Rahul's shoulder as he came.

With his head resting against Rahul's from the release of what felt like weeks of tension, he planted unsteady kisses on the bite mark, his lover making deeper thrusts, reaching his climax.

Breathing heavily, Rahul gave him a tender kiss. Leif lifted his head, receiving another from Tucker, and he reached a hand up to pat at the shifter's cheek.

While the afterglow settled in and they laid down together, with Leif being the middle spoon—Tucker, still hard, said that he was fine to wait until later to get off—Leif brought up his worry again.

"Hey, Tucker? What did you learn in the Glades about Lady I'ari?"

"Not actually a whole lot," Tucker admitted, laying a hand on Leif's hip.

"It took the first eight days just to get through the bureaucracy, even with her fingerprints from your bar, official statements from DOMA, and Arbiter Joseph insisting to the council representatives that time was a factor.

I did what I could with the time I had left, but… "

"I'm sure you gathered all the best info, pup," Rahul said.

"Thanks." Tucker reached over Leif to rub Rahul's arm, then returned it to its prior position. "Lady I'ari Lanathanon, a First Elf of noble lineage, formerly of Tenabrut but now of Terra since she was excommunicated. She's about twelve decades old, and in her prime. "

"Did you find out why she was kicked out?"

He heard Tucker grunt. "She declined a political marriage, and rumor says that it's because she had a favorite consort.

But the real kicker is that she used to be one of the mythic council's arbiters, active mostly in the Free Glades and the Mid-West, at least until she quit the Order of Arbiters some thirty years ago.

I couldn't get all the details, since elven royalty keeps the information tightly controlled, but she was disavowed by her family and removed from her position.

Since then, she's caused a handful of incidents for DOMA to clean up, but has especially picked up in the last year. "

"The soul mask," Rahul said, referring to the artifact that had been at the center of Leif's first case with them, and the precipitator of how they'd met.

"Also the release of the fire spirit Manoreth, the nameless faerie lantern, and a number of other incidents, presumably. I've got a list. Some unsolved cases might actually be her, once I compare council records to DOMA's records."

"And now she's taken an interest in our cub," Rahul said, and Leif hugged his boyfriend harder.

"Yeah," Tucker breathed against the back of Leif's neck, stroking the side of Leif's face with a calloused hand. "And I have no idea why."