Page 14 of Xarius (Shunned Mages #1)

Xarius

Niam needed to tell Jerry where he was going so he wouldn’t worry.

While he was inside the station, I sat and waited in my van.

We would drive somewhere for the night and try the ritual.

I was getting less patient by the minute, wanting to bind him to me for eternity.

Making him mine fully. The kiss we’d shared had been the best moment of my life.

Nothing could compare to the way Niam made me feel, and I was greedy for more of it. More of him.

The door opened and I blinked at Niam as he sat next to me. I had been so far gone in my head, thinking of ideas for us to try, really, really fun ideas, that I hadn’t even seen him approach.

“Where to?” he asked, blushing a little.

We both knew what we had to do tonight, and I wasn’t even sorry about how much we were rushing this.

Niam was like a craving I was dying to satisfy, and I knew I would want him for the rest of my life, making it even better. I didn’t mind getting addicted to him.

I began to drive out of the parking lot, and, pointing towards town, I said, “There’s a motel in town.

It’s clean and safe. I already bought lube a few days ago, so first thing would be dinner, anything you’d like?

” We wouldn’t need condoms, since neither of us would be able to catch or give each other anything.

He was blushing and I could tell he was trying to answer without his voice betraying him.

I waited for his response, not wanting to rush him.

“I um, I could eat some burgers,” he finally replied.

I loved how he could get so flustered but then other times have this confidence to him.

In time, I would learn what triggered the different responses. I wanted to learn .

“I love burgers,” I replied, shooting him a smile as we neared town.

I’d eaten at the diner and they had amazing burgers.

I wasn’t feeling us driving to another town tonight, and we would eat at many places, Niam and I, so tonight it would be local and then I would all but carry him back to the motel room.

We pulled up behind the diner and, being the gentleman that I was, I held my hand on his lower back as we entered the diner.

The owners were an old married couple called Sussi and Lee, both so sweet and welcoming.

I greeted them and waited for Niam to do the same, but when he simply waved, I figured he hadn’t met them yet.

We got a booth next to the windows which I always preferred.

I loved looking outside as people walked past, going about their day.

Niam sat down across from me, so I tugged his legs between my own, somehow needing to touch him as we sat there.

Sussi came over with a menu. “Here you go, boys. Just holler when you’re ready.” I gave her a big smile and looked over the options, like I hadn’t just been there two days ago. The cheeseburger had been mouthwateringly good, but now I saw there was an option to add bacon. Gamechanger .

I peeked over at Niam, watching him closely as he read over his options. He seemed confused, like he was doing complicated math in his mind as he read the menu.

“Is there something wrong?” I asked, looking closer at what he was reading.

“I’m still getting used to the currency and I’m trying to figure out how much money I have left to be able to afford something. My brain still wants to think back to how things were back home.” I grabbed his hand, stroking it.

“I remember struggling with that, too, but I’m here now and I’ve been saving up for five years for us to live on the road.

My treat.” I was glad I’d spent so much time working for Julie.

It wasn’t a high-paying job, but the first year I’d lived for free at her place, and then I’d been living in my van the rest, making it easier to save up.

We were far from rich and if this search for mages took longer than expected, then we would need to figure out how to work while searching.

“Are you sure?”

I chuckled warmly. “You do realize we’re about to be bound together, right? That’s for life. What’s mine is now yours and vice versa. ”

He laughed then. “God, I hadn’t even thought about that! Shit… we are.” Was he having second thoughts? Damn me and my big mouth. I was not about to chase him down the street and demand he love me. But I would. Obviously.

Sussi came over, done with waiting for us to call. “What’re you having tonight then, boys,” she held her notepad open, ready to jot our order down.

“I’ll have the cheeseburger with two added pieces of bacon, and a large coke,” I said, looking over at Niam for him to order.

“Um, I’ll have the same but with onion rings on the side instead of french fries, please.”

“You got it, boys. It’ll be ten minutes tops.” Then she was gone.

“I’m so glad I work at the gas station, otherwise I wouldn’t know what any of those drink options were,” Niam laughed lightly.

“It took me a long time to get used to everything, too. The good thing is that my mothers gave me extra money to use, something the other council weren’t aware of.”

“Do you know how they make the money?” he asked.

I shook my head. “I was just told they’d made it. I didn’t really question them, not wanting to embarrass my mom. I was the first so everything seemed like an experiment with me,” I admitted, recalling the horrible day I was kicked out of our home world.

“I can’t imagine how hard that must’ve been. I thought my banishment day was cruel, but you must’ve had a huge audience.” His voice was filled with empathy and I appreciated it. This was the first time I could share it with someone, someone who understood.

“Thousands came to watch. My poor mom was seen as this coldhearted parent by some and others felt sorry for her for birthing a defective mage.” It wasn’t easy talking about this part, feeling like I’d failed my mom.

Then I realized Niam had experienced the same but from what I’d heard of his past, his parents hadn’t been devastated to see him go.

Deciding to change the subject a bit, I asked, “how many have been shunned since I was?” It was a good thing to know, if it was raining with shunned mages then we needed to get our asses in gear and get to them.

“Two, if we aren’t counting us,” he replied. Sussi showed up with our food then, easing the souring mood and replacing it with the delicious scent of grilled meat, melted cheese, and French fries .

“Thank you,” we said in unison as she handed us our food and drinks.

“You boys enjoy yourselves,” she replied with a soft smile, then strolled back behind the counter to wipe it down.

We both descended on our food, almost inhaling it.

I’d skipped lunch and it seemed Niam had too.

We ate in silence; it was comfortable and I was grateful for it.

I kept waiting for things to get awkward or uncomfortable, but he was so easy to be around.

Maybe it was because we came from the same place, or the fact we were soulmatches.

Niam stopped eating, looking sadly down at his half-eaten burger. “Is something wrong with it?” I asked, looking at his plate. It seemed fine.

“I, um,” he muttered, then started blushing. “I figured, since we, you know, um.” He took a deep breath. “I figured since we have plans for tonight, that maybe I shouldn’t get too full.”

The smile that spread across my face must’ve been feral. “Oh? What things are you planning for me to do to you?” I asked, loving how easy it was to tease a blush out of him .

He glared at me. “Oh, we’re doing nothing now,” he said, staring me straight in the eye as he took a huge bite of his burger. I groaned. Why was that so fucking sexy?

“You already have your magic,” I accused.

“Fucking seduction magic.” He giggled at my pout, and it warmed me up hearing him so happy.

“Eat until you’re full, we can always wait until the morning, but I am sleeping with you in my arms tonight,” I declared, not wanting to give that up.

I had been looking forward to sleeping with my person ever since my mother told me about the legends.

Now he was here, I was done sleeping without him.

He continued eating and even shared his onion rings with me. We were so cute together. I was tempted to take a picture of us together to show Julie, but I figured I could wait a little before showing him off.

“Where did you live before coming here?” Niam asked, and my mind returned to Julie.

“A few days drive away, south from here.”

“Hmm, did you like it there?”

I shrugged. “I have my best friend there, but otherwise it means very little to me. ”

“Best friend?” he seemed a little shocked, and I might be hopeful now, but was that jealousy I detected?

Deciding not to tease him, because I was sweet like that, I replied honestly. “Her name is Julie and she’s also my boss. We met when her dog was close to choking to death and became instant friends. It was her place I lived at before getting my van.”

“And you and her never…?”

“No,” I shook my head. “I told you, I was waiting for you.”

The smile he gave me. I shivered. He was beautiful. I’d made him that happy. Me. I’d never felt so powerful before. I vowed to make him smile like that every day. I needed him to smile like that for the rest of our lives. And I needed to be the one causing them.

They were my smiles now.