Page 25 of The Mage’s Rake (Catkin Trilogy #2)

Hugh

A knight rises to any challenge placed before him.

Alan’s words, roughened with emotion, and his glimmering violet eyes nearly pushed me over the edge.

I wanted to devour his lips with kisses and fuck him senseless.

Every inch of me screamed to prove my dominance and claim my victory, but I knew that there was more than one way to win the battle.

Instead of rushing us to the climactic end, I vowed to take my time and make this moment a night he would remember.

Alan Carwick was about to discover my indomitable will and control.

Flashing him with a mischievous grin that made him glare at me reflexively, I began to tease him with light kisses.

My lips slowly traced a teasing path down his lightly muscled jaw and neck to the pale velvet of his chest. There, my tongue flicked out to lazily curl around the hard nub of his left nipple.

Alan gasped and shuddered, once again releasing the scent I had come to recognize—the familiar scent of smoky wood fire and incense, and behind it all, the teasing hint of rain before the storm.

Alan’s hands, now resting on my shoulder, gripped me hard as he arched up into my touch.

A soft moan escaped him, sending shivers down my spine.

Desire chased through me, and despite the fact that he couldn’t touch me, I was rock hard from the sight of Alan’s will slowly disintegrating beneath my fingertips and tongue.

Once I finished paying homage to his now flushed nipples and skin, my tongue traced another lazy path, past his lightly muscled stomach down to where the crest of his white down fur began.

Already his cock stood at attention. Alan moaned again as my breath ghosted over his hard, throbbing length.

The tip was wet with a pearl of cum that I flicked at with my tongue.

“Huuugh!” Alan moaned between heavy pants.

My eyes flicked up to meet his. Alan’s cheeks were delightfully flushed, and his violet eyes had darkened to a deep purple reminiscent of a summer’s day dusk.

I wanted to kiss those swollen lips all over again, but first, I had a few things to attend to.

While my tongue teased him, tracing a slick path up to the top of his cock’s head, my fingers fumbled for the oils.

Distracted by the expert ministrations of my tongue, Alan relaxed into my touch as my fingers began to prepare him.

As my finger found that nub of desire, Alan arched up, greedily pushing down onto my fingers. As my third finger gently pushed past the minimal resistance his body offered, my mouth surrounded his length, sucking hard. Alan lost control.

Half-sobbing, half-moaning, he clutched at my head, only releasing me when I pulled myself back up to surround him and reassure him with more teasing kisses.

“F-fuck, Hugh,” he groaned into the crook of my neck.

“Now,” I growled.

With that warning, I slipped my shoulders under his thighs, lifted him, bent him almost in half, and fulfilled my promise. With one smooth thrust, I buried myself in his slick warmth. The clench nearly undid me, but I was in control. The challenge had been laid, and I was about to meet it.

For the barest second, I paused. Enjoying the feel of Alan surrounding me. It was a perfect moment I wanted to hold on forever. I wanted to have this forever.

This isn’t about to be a temporary pleasure , I realized.

The thought came to me unbidden, but I welcomed it with open arms. For the first time ever, Hugh Starr was ready to settle down.

I wanted to have those moments I had seen my friends share.

I wanted to dress a Wintermas tree with Alan.

Go hunting and horse riding with Alan. Visit the southern beaches with Alan. I want Alan for all time. I love him.

“Alan…” I gasped as I withdrew a little only to thrust in deeper. I wanted to bury myself in him, lose myself there, and never return. My hands found his cock and began to stroke him in time to my thrusts. “Gods, Alan… I—“

Alan, as if reading my mind, responded in kind, setting a slow, steady rhythm.

We both clung to each other, trying to make sweet passion last for as long as possible.

Neither of us wished for it to end. Our scent mixed together, a perfect summer’s afternoon in Northrune, and our touches brought us ever closer to that sweet edge.

With one final thrust, Alan cried out, clinging to me as he gave way to a shuddering climax, spilling his seed between us.

Battling my own surge of white, I stared down in amazement at the expression of bliss that suffused Alan’s slender features.

Alan’s violet eyes opened, at first unfocused as if glimpsing an unseen world, but as his eyes met mine, I came.

I was bared before him—helpless and vulnerable, and yet, I didn’t care. I gave way to passion and let myself ride it out, safe in Alan’s arms. As I climaxed inside him, Alan clenched about me again, and his arms drew me down.

I nearly collapsed upon him, but somehow, I propped myself up over him, panting as though I had just run a marathon.

Alan’s slender arms circled about my neck as he kissed me.

I could barely respond, slowly sliding down to lay beside him.

Alan drew me close, and I cradled his head against my shoulder as he wrapped his arms about me.

“Alan.” I finally managed to find breath. “That was…”

“Perfect,” Alan finished my sentence, sounding equally breathless. “I nearly didn’t make it.”

“Neither did I. I wanted to last longer—forever.”

“Mhmm… We will make it happen somehow,” Alan whispered back. “I assure you that you will have your tomorrow.”

“What about yours?” I asked.

Alan’s ears flicked back a little in dismay. His white eyebrows knit together. Then he slowly nodded.

“Well, of course, Hugh.” A small smile flickered across his face, but behind it, I sensed some kind of darker emotion. “But you do remember that I am not the one with a curse. You are.”

My warm hand came up to cover the cooler one that now rested against my chest.

“I have great faith in us, Alan. We will solve it. Together.”

“Together,” Alan said, but his gaze dropped.

Clearly something was bothering Alan, but I knew better than to press.

Not when he clung to me for comfort. Instead, I allowed him to drift into light sleep.

After a short moment, I went to retrieve a damp cloth from his privy.

Once we were more or less cleaned up, Alan and I curled up beneath his thick blankets and snuggled together.

Outside, the wind howled and tugged upon the wooden shutters. The thick glass of Alan’s windows frosted with ice and chill, but beneath our sheets, the warmth lingered. Whatever we faced, our passion had ignited a fire that would never die out. That, I promised myself… and to Alan.

I fell asleep with daydreams of a future spent with Alan at my side. I woke up to find him gone.

For a while, I drifted in and out of sleep, plagued by nonsensical dreams. At one point, I entered Landis’s favored private courtyard garden only to find him threading daisy chains with Alan.

Purple lavender threaded through Alan’s long white locks, tangled up in a glorious array of white and violet.

“I’ve been looking for you,” I scolded him.

Why had I been looking for him? I didn’t know. I just had to find him. It was important. I had something to say—what was it?

“How silly,” Alan laughed. “I was here all the time.”

When my hand touched his, however, Alan’s body seemed to dissolve into a thousand petals, blown away by the wind.

With a startled yelp, I jolted upright out.

Shaken and now thoroughly awake, I glanced around the room.

Through the cracks in the shutter, early morning light crept in.

How early? There was no telling. I was not about to fling open the window to find out.

One thing was clear, though. Alan’s side of the bed was now cool.

He’d been gone a while. My eyes noticed the traces of a hurried, secretive dressing.

Through the half-open door to his sitting room-cum-greenhouse, I glimpsed the barest embers of a fire burning in the grate.

Straining my ears forward, I attempted to get any hint of sound from the next room.

No sound of movement. Alan was truly gone.

I frowned, disliking the tension that began to build up within me.

Where had he gone? Why wasn’t he here? As usual, Alan had defied all expectations and fled our bed.

This was becoming a habit. A bad one , I decided.

But where had he gone? I mused over the possibilities as I quickly dressed.

Together. Alan had said that, but the latent tension within his shoulders and hand had betrayed…

had betrayed something. Something that had always lingered in his gaze when he thought I hadn’t noticed—pain and sadness and worry.

It was the curse. It weighed heavily on him.

Ever since that day… that night when he had danced for me.

The faint heartbeat beneath my fingertips.

It didn’t work. That’s what he’d said at first. That and nothing more.

What Alan had experienced when he’d fallen unconscious, he never shared.

I respected his privacy, and I had told myself that it was a momentary faintness…

But what if it wasn’t? For a second, I relived the moment.

The grim look that had crossed Aileen’s face.

Perhaps there was more to Alan’s unconscious state.

Aileen would have the answers. I had a feeling she would know what Alan was up to. I trusted Alan. I had to trust him, but at the same time, whatever I faced, he had stood by my side. I was not about to leave him.