Page 29 of Cursed (Witchbane #8)

Rowan chuckled. “They always make magic look so easy in the movies and on TV. Even experienced practitioners get reaction headaches and fatigue. If you need anything, just let me know. I can’t zap you all better, but I’ve got some alternate remedies if the usual fixes don’t work.”

Seth thanked her and promised them that he and Evan would see them at Nash’s party.

When the call ended, Evan gently took his phone and set it on the table. “You took a big risk with magic from that grimoire.” Evan didn’t make it a question.

Seth knew he’d been caught out, and he could only offer the truth to temper Evan’s justified anger. “I couldn’t lose you,” Seth replied. “Defeating the witch-disciple wouldn’t matter if it cost your life. I’d walk away from all of them to keep you safe.”

“Gray magic has a cost,” Evan reminded him. “Every time you use it, it gets easier to rely on. I don’t want to survive a fight and lose you to dark power.”

“I’m sorry,” Seth replied.

“But you’d do it again?” Evan challenged.

Seth didn’t see the point in lying. “Yes. If that’s what it took to keep you safe.”

Evan looked like he weighed continuing the argument, and finally relented. “Let’s get you showered and changed into clean clothes, and then it’s time for some of that rest you promised you’d do,” Evan said.

Seth wasn’t foolish enough to think that the conversation was actually over. Evan was good at biding his time. Still, they had both just cheated death, and that deserved a celebration.

Seth leaned forward for a kiss. “I can think of alternate recuperation strategies,” he teased, but he knew that right now he was too exhausted to make good on the proposition.

Evan gave him a look. “We’ve done this more than a few times. Neither of us is up to wild sex right now, but some major cuddling and groping before sleep will set us up for a very happy morning.”

Evan led Seth into the bathroom and wordlessly showed his love and concern undressing him.

Seth appreciated the attention Evan lavished on him as he removed each piece of clothing, making him feel loved even if it wasn’t a build-up for sex.

Seth knew Evan was checking for any undisclosed injuries, but his gentle touches and soft kisses across Seth’s chest and back definitely did not feel clinical.

“You’re wearing too many clothes,” Seth said as Evan started to heat the water.

“That’s easy to fix.” Evan pulled his shirt over his head and revealed that he was commando when he pushed down his sweatpants.

Evan stepped into the bathroom and drew Seth with him.

“You know we can’t both fit in the shower,” Seth joked.

“I know.”

Evan turned Seth so his back was to Evan. Seth braced himself with his hands against the shower wall and stood with his legs apart to give Evan access.

Evan soaked a washcloth in the sink, got it soapy, and wrung it out. He began to work from Seth’s shoulders down his arms, to his firm buttocks, and then each leg, soaping and then rinsing with the warm cloth. Evan took his time with the spicy-scented soap, sluicing away sweat.

Despite how tired he was, Seth felt his cock stir as Evan washed between his buttocks and slid his hand between his legs to his taint.

“Just relax,” Evan murmured. It felt so good to feel Evan’s body plastered against his back, warm and wet and half-hard despite the circumstances. “Enjoy.”

“Feels good,” Seth murmured. He shouldn’t have been surprised at the intensity of the post-battle fatigue, but it always did him in when the adrenaline crashed.

“It’s supposed to.” Evan planted a kiss between Seth’s shoulders. “Otherwise, I’m doing it wrong.”

Seth knew that Evan had dealt with his own fear and worry despite not being present for the fight, but if he could joke, he was probably going to bounce back okay.

Evan turned Seth around, carefully wiping his face before moving to his neck and shoulders, then his chest and legs before returning to his groin.

“What do you want?” Evan asked as he slipped his hand over Seth’s cock and balls. “It’s okay if you just want to go to sleep. We don’t have to do anything tonight. I’m just glad to have you home, safe.”

Evan leaned forward and kissed Seth. Post-battle “thank God we’re still alive” sex was primally satisfying, even if it wasn’t the longest lasting or most seductive.

“I don’t know if I’ve got it in me, but you’re very welcome to give it a try,” Seth replied.

Evan wrapped one hand around Seth’s half-hard cock and the other hand around his own firmer prick. He stroked them both, setting a slow rhythm. With Evan’s body pressed against his and the friction of his hand, Seth’s cock responded, despite everything that had taken place that night.

Seth came a moment after Evan’s orgasm spattered his belly with hot come, fountaining over Evan’s hand. The intensity of his release surprised him since he thought he was already spent from the day’s action.

“Thank you for coming back safely to me.” Evan gave Seth another kiss before he let go and used the cloth to clean up.

“I will always come back to you,” Seth promised, willing that to be true with all his heart.

Evan gave Seth a gentle nudge and handed him the detachable shower head. “Go ahead and wash your hair, rinse off. You’ll feel better.”

When Seth finished, Evan used one of their fluffiest towels to dry them off and sop up the water that had gotten on the floor. Exhausted, they fell into bed naked, too tired to even bother with pajamas.

Seth lay on his side with Evan’s back against his chest and wrapped an arm over his lover.

“I knew you would save me from Vernon’s curse,” Evan said quietly. “I was scared because I didn’t know what you’d do, but I didn’t doubt that you’d figure something out.”

“Damn right.” Seth didn’t plan to fully explain the lengths and risks he had taken to protect Evan from Vernon’s dark magic.

“I worried that it wouldn’t work, breaking the curse aside from outright killing Vernon.

I couldn’t tell. And no matter how the fight ended, I wasn’t about to accept anything short of you, safe. ”

Evan laced their fingers together over his belly. “I know you drew on some pretty dark resources for that spell. Please tell me that saving me didn’t create new dangers. I never doubted that you would beat Vernon, even if I couldn’t be there to help this time.”

Seth didn’t want to burden Evan with more worry, but he also refused to lie. “I don’t know for sure,” Seth confessed. “Teag and Rowan and Kinsley disapproved for all those reasons, but they didn’t think there was permanent damage.”

All three witches had made their opinions clear, warning Seth not to make a habit of questionable magic and promising their help if the aftermath proved worse than expected.

“Thank you.” Evan lifted their joined hands to his lips for a kiss. “But I never want to bring harm to you. Please don’t take that kind of risk again.”

Seth wasn’t surprised at Evan’s response, although it didn’t make him regret his choice or convince him to avoid a similar gambit in the future. “I don’t want to live in a world without you in it,” he said in a voice just above a whisper, confessing his greatest fear.

Sometimes the lengths he would go to for Evan’s safety rattled Seth. He had never felt so deeply for someone aside from his brother and parents, but Evan made him believe in the idea of soulmates.

“Neither do I,” Evan replied after a moment’s silence. “So, we’d just better make sure we both stay safe.” Something in his voice told Seth that his lover knew that if the situation repeated itself, Seth would make the same choice.

Instead of answering in words and risking making a promise he couldn’t keep, Seth burrowed his nose into Evan’s hair, drinking in his scent and loving the feel of being pressed together skin-to-skin.

Tonight, his exhausted body couldn’t muster the mojo for a second round of sex, but Seth didn’t doubt that in the morning, they would both be ready for a welcome home fucking.

He fell asleep wrapped around Evan, listening to his breathing, feeling the beat of his heart, and couldn’t imagine anything more worth fighting to keep at any price.

Seth woke Evan with gentle touches that gradually grew more urgent, rubbing his nipples, rolling his balls, and stroking him into hardness with Seth’s morning wood snuggled between Evan’s ass cheeks.

Evan made a happy noise and shimmied his hips, pressing Seth’s cock deeper into his cleft. Seth reached for the lube and opened Evan slowly, taking his time and enjoying every moan he wrung from his equally hard partner.

“Please, Seth. Don’t make me wait.”

Seth pushed in, reaching around with a slick hand to give Evan’s leaking cock a channel for friction. Despite trying to make it last, it didn’t take long for them both to crash over the edge, bucking against each other as they came.

“Good morning,” he murmured when they stilled. Evan reached for the box of tissues on the nightstand and passed him a handful to clean them up.

“Always the best way to wake up,” Evan replied in a rough, sexed-out voice that always made Seth want to go again.

“Absolutely,” Seth agreed, holding Evan close for a few minutes, unwilling to leave the warmth of their bed or break the moment.

“I hate to kill the mood, but I’m hungry and I need to piss.” Evan wiggled loose and padded to the bathroom with a sexy swish of his naked ass for Seth’s viewing pleasure.

They cleaned up and dressed quickly, but that still left time for stolen kisses and a few teasing gropes that promised passion later.

“Did you decide what you want to do today?” Evan asked as they opted for a quick breakfast of coffee and cold cereal. “We have plenty of time before the party at Nash’s bar tonight.”

“By the way…the turpentine factory exploded late last night. Must have been all those old containers of flammable liquid,” Evan continued as if he were sharing a random headline. He rolled his eyes, clearly not convinced it was a coincidence.