Page 27

CHAPTER 27

N oah groaned and rolled over, aware that something wasn’t quite right but unable to put his finger on what. He cracked his eyes open, not sure where he was, only that it was daylight and he appeared to be in a tent not wearing any pants or underwear, and the blanket wrapped around him smelled like horse.

He also felt vaguely hung over, even though he hadn’t been drinking. There was a fuzziness in his mind when he thought about last night, as if he had been drinking, and the pulse in his temples indicated he hadn’t drunk enough water.

He was also alone in the tent.

He lay still for several seconds, waiting for the memories to assemble into some kind of logical order. Pan’s sun bright pupils, and bathing in that golden light like he was one with the universe. No, one with magic.

That Pan had…

Oh. Pan had nearly killed him with a blowjob.

And they were in the middle of a centaur camp.

Given the shit happening, dying from a blow job was not a bad option. Had he died? That might explain the hangover. He pushed himself upright and took a couple of breaths.

Nope, he definitely felt weird. Was it the centaur food?

Shit, what if he’d caught a mythological virus?

Was that a thing? If he needed to be vaccinated before traveling to some countries, surely there were things he should worry about when hanging around with mythological beings.

Which meant he shouldn’t be kissing them either.

And while the logical explanation was that he was coming down with something, it didn’t feel right. And he couldn’t explain why. It was like when he saw something in the pawnshop or at an estate sale and had to have it. He didn’t always buy it because money only went so far, but that knowing sensation was there, and stronger.

The tent door unzipped, and he pulled the blanket tighter around his body.

Pan stuck his head in and smiled. “You are awake. Good. Liam made you some breakfast.” He offered Noah a plate of food, which looked suspiciously like two bacon sandwiches. Nan had sent them off with about a kilo. “They are strange but delicious. He called them bacon butties. Not something I am familiar with.”

There was no sign of the golden light in Pan’s eyes. And what he’d dreamed had been far more intense than the glimmers he’d glimpsed before. Noah frowned, not sure what to say.

His body knew what it wanted, his dick hardening with each heartbeat.

Pan.

He blinked and glanced away. He was being ridiculous. “Thank you. I didn’t mean to sleep so long.”

“You have not overslept. Your friends are packing the bags, and the centaurs are preparing to lead us to the dragon. I would not have left you here, nor made us late.”

All of that sounded like the truth, yet there was something missing.

“What am I forgetting?”

“Why do you think you have forgotten something?” Pan countered without answering the question.

“I slept all night without waking once, despite the noises of the camp, and I woke up with a headache and…” He studied his hand and let it fall back to the blanket, unable to even describe what was going on. Pan studied him with one eyebrow raised, as if he’d lost his mind. Maybe he had. Or maybe he was still sleeping, and this was all a dream. “Don’t look at me like that. I remember you…” Heat rushed to his cheeks.

“I showed you what humans are doing wrong when they seek only pleasure.”

That was one way to put it. “What did you do to me?”

“I let you experience magic.”

Noah shook his head. “You edged me until I passed out.”

Pan shrugged. “Same thing.”

“What?” Noah peered up at him. “It’s not.”

“You were able to enter the in between state and channel magic.”

Noah’s lips parted, but it was a couple of seconds before he found any words. “The golden threads.”

Pan nodded, a smile curving his lips. “The magic that connects everything. You accessed the tiniest thread that you don’t know how to use.”

“And you did, I suppose?”

“Well, I wasn’t going to let it go to waste.” His smile took on an edge, and he appeared far too happy with himself.

“What did you do?”

“Not nearly enough, because you were only open to magic for a few heartbeats.”

Noah tossed a sandwich at him. Pan fumbled and almost dropped it. “What did you do while I was unconscious?”

Pan took a bite and spoke around the food in his mouth. “You weren’t unconscious.”

“You used me.”

“I showed you what you are capable of.”

“You wanted a magical hit.”

Pan leaned in and put the sandwich on the plate. His eyes narrowed. “I am a god. I am a conduit for magic. And you are the only one with magic I can reach. You would deny me the chance to answer prayers?”

Noah swallowed and held the god’s stare.

Pan used him to touch magic. That’s all it had been. Yet at the same time, Noah couldn’t deny he wanted to touch magic, and Pan, again. “You should have told me how to use magic beforehand.”

“That will take practice and time. Last night was an opportunity for you to experience being one with the universe.”

That sounded like a good thing, yet it wasn’t. “I’m not your magical battery.”

A shout came from outside.

Pan glanced up, listening to the chatter. “They are ready to leave. Finish eating and put on some pants.”

Noah glared at him as he backed out of the tent, his stomach and chest bursting with rivaling emotions that threatened to tear him apart. How was he supposed to marry lust and curiosity with fear of the unknown?

How could he trust a god who only cared about magic?

Who’d never answered his question about what he’d done with the magic?

And how did he go back to human lovers, who didn’t make his brain explode with magic?