Page 28 of D’Vaire or Nothing (D’Vaire #44)

H eathcliff tugged a windblown mage into his bedroom suite for the second time that day and flipped on the light.

The sun had slipped behind the mountains as they’d hung out with the D’Vaires on the deck.

Brinley had survived dinner with the mages and exchanged numbers with them before they headed home.

Although Brinley had moved past his anger at Heathcliff for inviting the ruling mages, the phoenix made a mental note to carefully weigh all future surprises. Brinley didn’t like to be caught off guard, and Heathcliff would prefer to avoid his ire.

“Are you still pissed at me?” Heathcliff asked as he took a seat on a plush sofa, despite not finding any fury in Brinley’s pretty blue eyes.

Brinley curled up next to him and shook his head. “No, I’ve made an ass of myself all day. I know you were trying to be nice, and I was a jerk for getting mad.”

“But you don’t like surprises.”

“No.”

“Is it a control thing?”

With a heavy sigh, Brinley shifted so he was facing Heathcliff on the couch. He propped his head on his hand and balanced the weight of his arm on the back of the sofa. “I grew up feeling like I had control of nothing. So, I started trying to find power over my situation and life however I could.”

Needing to know more about Brinley, Heathcliff rested a heavy palm on Brinley’s thigh and nipped his chin. “We don’t have to talk about your past if you don’t want to, but I’m a good listener.”

“Chaos. I think people sometimes see fire that way. Bursts of flame. Riotous. Out of control. But for a mage who is fire, restraint is an essential part of life. We have the hardest element to master. The most dangerous one. As our former Magus Superus demonstrated, things can spiral and lead to doom fast as fuck. Everyone in my family is a fire mage. You’d think I would’ve grown up in an environment where I was advised to be cautious. ”

“The opposite was true?”

Brinley nodded, and Heathcliff reached up to push the errant lock of red-brown hair that had fallen on his forehead out of the way.

“My parents are dramatic. Everything is a crisis. They refused to tackle anything with maturity or reason. I’ll never forget my first day of school.

I sat in my chair, staring at the other children.

I have three older siblings. They were replicas of my parents.

All day long I sat there in this entire building full of mages, waiting for an outburst. People smiled.

Played. Talked. They did it without yelling, crying, or slamming doors. I was obsessed with the tranquility.”

“Then you went home.”

“I stepped into the house, and there were new holes in the walls. Everything was fireproof because no one controlled their magic. If they hadn’t protected things magically, our place would’ve been a pile of ashes in an hour.

So, they invented new methods of destruction.

Things were broken constantly. Stepped on.

Smashed. My brother even took a knife to the curtains once in a fit of pique.

I was probably channeling them earlier when I got pissed at you for being nice to me. ”

“No, you were overwhelmed and wanted to make a good impression. You didn’t want to feel inadequate, so you went with anger. Meeting so many people was too much.”

“See, this is why Fate put me with you,” Brinley enthused, giving Heathcliff a smacking kiss. “You understand shit. Nothing flusters you. My unflappable, strong, sexy phoenix. I was completely overwhelmed.”

“My guess is most people think I’m boring.”

“It’s been my experience that most people are idiots, so fuck them.”

“I really like you, Brinley.”

“You’re a super sexy beast, and I like you too.”

“Back to your family.”

Brinley sneered a little but nodded. “Yeah. Them. I’d waste energy with lectures on disciplined behavior.

As soon as I was taught to read, I grew obsessed.

There was a library between my house and the school.

Those librarians. They used to give me the weirdest looks.

My nine-year-old ass is in there reading self-help books because I was desperately trying to understand a home life that made no sense.

Reasoning with those idiots didn’t work. ”

“Do you still read obsessively?”

“Of course, but now I read magic stuff. Or get swept into a fun new release that catches my eye. Love me some gay romance novels too.”

“They’re great. I used to skip the sex scenes though.”

“You’ll have your hand in your boxers next time.”

“No, I’ll have my hand wrapped around your cock,” Heathcliff vowed, already imagining the delightful scenario. “I want to watch porn with you too. But let’s not get distracted by how much we want each other. You were trapped with your family.”

“The more I lectured them, the crazier things got. They were furious that I would dare lecture any of them. Absurd rules started popping up. They refused to control themselves and decided I was the problem. It wasn’t them.

Not their outbursts or constant fighting.

It was me. Everything I did was restricted.

I couldn’t go to the library without an escort to determine which books were good for me. It was ridiculous.”

“Fuckers.”

“I was so furious. So, I stayed, but I made plans. What choice did I have? My first paycheck wasn’t even in my account before I was out of there.

I’d saved enough from holidays and shit to get myself into a crappy hotel.

Once I had money, I got a permanent roof above my head.

I never looked back. For four years, I’ve kept my distance.

I have no intention of doing anything to change that because I guarantee you nothing about them is different. ”

Heathcliff caressed Brinley’s cheek. “You did what was best for you. That took incredible courage. I’m proud of you.”

Joy filled Brinley’s blue gaze. “I did it for me, but thanks for saying that. It means a lot coming from you. A titled man and all.”

“You need to get over your issues with titles.”

“Why?”

“Because you share mine now.”

Brinley blinked heavily. “Say what?”

To please them both, Heathcliff rubbed his thumb across Brinley’s full lower lip. “You are Brynewielm Duke-mate.”

“What if I never learn to spell that?”

“I figured it out. You will too.”

“What’s it mean?”

“It’s an Old English word related to fire.”

“Oh damn, that’s cool. I’m guessing they chose that for you because you’re a phoenix, but I’m going to pretend it’s also because your mate is a fire mage.”

Heathcliff chuckled. “I like that it represents us both.”

“Fire and fire. I’m just realizing that should’ve scared the hell out of me because my parents are the same.

But it didn’t happen. Meeting you was overwhelming.

I had to work. Then we were together. You were so wonderful I never had a chance to freak out.

Fire requires control. To have it, I need peace within myself.

You give me that. So does this stupidly big house you live in.

I wish we had a tangible way to thank Fate instead of yelling into the sky. ”

“I understand, I’d love to give her my gratitude for you too.”

Brinley kissed Heathcliff until the fire lurking beneath their skin filled his veins with their desire. The mage pulled away. His fingers feathered through Heathcliff’s hair.

“You were right about the chandelier. It does look like there are little round drops of fire on the walls. It’s beautiful.”

“So are you.”

“I was thinking that about your hair. This iridescence. I’m obsessed with it. Heath?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I sleep over?”

“Did you honestly think I’d kick you out or want you to leave?”

“No, but I had to ask,” Brinley said. “Can we sleep now? I’m fucking exhausted.”

Rising, Heathcliff left his mate to pull out a pile of clothes from his closet. “Larissa gave me these to give to you. She didn’t have time to make anything specifically for you yet, but she keeps some sizes on hand for emergencies.”

“That was sweet of her. Remind me to thank her if I forget my manners in the morning. At least I didn’t yell at you for this surprise. That has to be one of my most embarrassing life experiences.”

“Already forgotten. It’s been a wild couple of days, and we’re tired. Let’s cuddle and get some sleep.”

“A few kisses first.”

Heathcliff hauled Brinley into his arms the second the mage rose from the sofa. “Definitely kisses.”

∞∞∞

Grinning, Heathcliff watched Brinley get tackled to the ground by the pair of pesky Faedrekans that lived in the backyard of D’Vaire.

Heathcliff wasn’t sure what game they were playing, but Brinley was enjoying himself immensely.

His laughter filled the air as the door behind Heathcliff opened to reveal Kieran, Scheredin, and the High Kings D’Vaire.

The two wolf sentinels tied to Aleksander and Rafe’s souls raced forward to join Brinley and the Faedrekans.

“I wish I could tell if Brinley is enjoying himself here at D’Vaire,” Kieran teased as he sat on a chaise and pulled Scheredin onto his lap.

“I guess we’ll lose a Duke when Heath moves out,” Aleksander drawled as he tugged Rafe into his arms.

“We probably have too much royalty anyway,” Scheredin added, humor dancing in his green gaze.

“Leave Heath alone,” Rafe said. “Things are going well with you and Brinley?”

Heathcliff’s smile grew wider as he thought about the way they’d cuddled that morning. They’d kept their clothes on and slept through the night. Heathcliff hoped to get his hands on the mage again soon, but he was happy there was more to their burgeoning relationship than desire.

“It’s hard to believe I met him on Friday,” Heathcliff remarked. “Fate looked inside me and brought me someone who fits me.”

“Now do you understand why I pretended to be elven?” Kieran asked. “I didn’t want any obstacles in joining my life with Scher.”

Heathcliff shook his head at his brother. “No, because you were deceitful. If Scher were a less forgiving person, you’d be sitting in an ugly house with me while Filmore continued to hurt his people.”

“Not true. I was given a guest room here at D’Vaire.”

“Scher, you can do better than my brother.”

The dark warlock chuckled. “Nope, he’s my match. Just like Brinley is yours.”

“I didn’t understand myself,” Rafe commented. “My life was a mess. So was I. But still, Sander touched something in me on the day we met. We were texting within hours. I thought the last thing I wanted was a mate. But Sander had already stolen my heart.”

Aleksander kissed Rafe’s blue-streaked black curls. “That was only fair. You stole mine.”

“Honestly, I thought people moved fast in books. Not in reality,” Heathcliff said.

“Well, I’m glad Brinley is sweeping you off your feet,” Kieran responded. “You deserve to be happy, and if it wasn’t moving quickly, you’d be thinking it to death. Have you discussed D’Vaire?”

“I haven’t shied away from discussing anything with Brinley,” Heathcliff informed him.

“From the beginning, I made it obvious that I refused to be parted from you. No force on the planet is keeping Scher from your side, and naturally he needs Brexton too. I didn’t want to spook Brinley completely, so I didn’t mention that I’d be packing up the entire household to move us in with him.

Turns out I probably didn’t need to say shit to him.

I saw his face in the living room. This place did its magic and sucked him in.

He mentioned it to me last night. He needs peace.

Fire requires control. This place and me give him serenity. ”

“No place better on earth,” Rafe said, grinning as he snuggled into Aleksander’s embrace.

“Where are we talking about?” Brinley asked as he jogged over to join them. His clothes were dusty, but the mage appeared unconcerned as he lifted his chin to offer Heathcliff a kiss. Happy for the opportunity, Heathcliff brushed their lips together and tugged his dirty mage into his arms.

“I was telling my brother how much we’re going to love living in your apartment,” Heathcliff commented with a grin.

Brinley rolled his eyes, and his glance cut to where Kieran sat. “Heath hasn’t even been to my apartment. I already told your brother I’ll move here. And that was before I visited. I love this place.”

“Good, because we’re not letting Heath go,” Aleksander said.

“And Renny has already mentioned to me how exciting is that we’re finally getting a D’Vaire mage,” Scheredin said, referring to the Grand Warlock’s familiar. “We have the Arturuses in our extended family, but none of them carry our name or live here.”

Brinley gasped. “I can be a D’Vaire. Brynewielm Duke-mate Brinley D’Vaire. No more silly Brinley Brimstone. My parents are the worst.”

“I think it rolls off the tongue nicely,” Heathcliff teased. “You should keep it. Or hyphenate.”

Pulling away and heading for the pair of wolves waiting for him at the edge of the deck with their tails swishing through the air, Brinley smiled slyly.

His gaze locked with Heathcliff’s. “I’d mention what else rolls off my tongue nicely, but shifters have sensitive hearing, and Heath doesn’t want me discussing certain lovely purple objects in their earshot. ”

Heathcliff’s jaw went slack as Brinley jogged off to play with the animals, and the men around him laughed. “He just…he… well .”

“I love your mate, Heath,” Kieran crowed.

Although he hadn’t said those words aloud yet, Heathcliff was quickly realizing that both he and his phoenix adored the spunky mage rolling in the dirt with the beloved D’Vaire animals.