Page 20 of Xarius (Shunned Mages #1)

Xarius

My beautiful bonded had looked sexy as hell as he owned that fire and water, making it do whatever he wanted it to. I quickly realized that whatever Niam did was sexy to me, the man was just seduction incarnate. I couldn’t stop getting hard around him.

When the locket showed us the letter from my mothers, I’d been surprised, not even thinking something had been locked away in there for years.

I hadn’t realized how much I’d needed to read those words.

They were waiting for me and my bonded to come home, but at least they knew they wouldn’t see me for at least a few years, making me less guilty over taking my time, not that I could do anything about it.

Niam had been perfect, like he seemed to always be, comforting me as I let my heart ache with the loss it felt from being away from my mothers.

It wasn’t until my mind had remembered we were being hunted that I’d pulled out of it, determined to get stronger. Determined to protect my bonded.

Said bonded was looking at me with a soft smile.

He wasn’t the same shy guy I’d met a week ago.

With our bonding complete, we now had the pleasure of being together without fear holding us back.

I was one hundred percent myself around him and if his comment earlier about taking my dick out was any indication, then he wasn’t holding back either, demanding what he wanted from me without fear of sounding too bold or demanding.

I loved that for us, almost as much as I’d loved taking my dick out for him.

We’d decided to dismiss our familiars and hit the road, stopping at the first fast food drive through we would find, and eating in the van before following the locket’s direction.

The glow would dim if we made a wrong turn, quickly alerting us of our mistake and would then glow brighter once we were back on course .

“Here,” I said, handing Niam the locket to hold for us. “I’ll be too busy driving to look at it.”

He took it and pulled it around his neck, tugging it inside his shirt as we drove into the drive through lane.

We were both starving, our magic had been used plenty so we needed to gain some energy back.

I ordered way too much, but Niam seemed excited when we were handed our food and I pulled us over to devour it.

We shared some nuggets and fries while having ten different burgers to pick from and both a coke and a milkshake, because we were adults who couldn’t decide on what to drink.

“Do you think Silver will trust us?” Niam asked while he ate some fries.

“Hmm, I haven’t really thought about it. You clearly didn’t like me at first,” I said, remembering back to our first meeting.

“That’s because you stalked me before that!” he snapped, his cute brown eyes glaring at me.

“Aww, did you watch me as much as I watched you?” I asked teasingly. “Did you think I was handsome? Strong? I bet you thought I was really sexy, right?” I grinned .

He calmly informed me, “I named you Creepy Steve, you take that information and do what you want with it.”

“Creepy Steve?!” I exclaimed, feeling awfully indignant.

I could feel his immense joy, but he was doing his best not to show it on his face, acting unbothered while his emotions were filling with mirth. “Want to hand me the chicken burger?” he asked, changing the subject before he cracked and laughed, I was sure of it.

“Sure.” I gave in and handed him the burger, licking the bun demonstratively first. He wrinkled his nose, then proceeded to scarf it down, humming with satisfaction. My life would never be boring again with him in it.

We hit the road again, and since it was getting darker, we used my phone to bring us to a campsite where we could sleep for the night. It would take us an hour and a half to get there, which was perfect for us.

“I was thinking of letting our familiars out while we sleep, you know, for added protection,” Niam said, breaking the silence. We were both exhausted and looked forward to catching some much-needed sleep .

“I think that’s a good idea. But outside the van,” I quickly added. It was a comfortable home for Niam and me, but no animals were allowed.

“Completely agree,” he said, sighing as he laid his head back.

“You can rest now if you want to. The locket is getting brighter, so I know the direction we’re heading in is the right one.

” Niam didn’t have a driver’s license, so I would be doing all the driving for us, not that I minded.

I rather liked driving. But there was no reason we both had to stay awake for it.

“Are you sure?” he asked on a yawn.

“I’m sure,” I smiled, taking his hand in mine and stroking his thumb.

“Mm… k,” he said, already drifting off to sleep. I still had some miles to go, but I was glad to do it since with each minute we got closer to Silver.

I woke Niam up as soon as I’d parked at the camping site. No one was around where I’d placed us, and it didn’t seem like the most popular area this time of year. Their website warned campers that the mama bears were out and apparently this park had several.

“Snowflake won’t get eaten by a bear,” I promised as we brushed our teeth outside the van.

Snowflake and Leon had been tasked with protection duty and were told to go invisible if humans neared the van.

And yes, they could go invisible, something we found out by accident when Niam got nervous that people would see them.

Snowflake had turned invisible and purred loudly so we could hear him.

“I just worry,” he sighed. “We should order them to stay invisible no matter what, at least until we say otherwise.” I couldn’t see the harm in that.

“Leon, go invisible until I tell you otherwise, stay at the van and protect us if anyone wants to get to us.” My big bird just blinked. I guessed that meant “yes, master, your word is my command!”

We relieved ourselves and climbed inside the van, then closed the back doors and the roof window. I had some curtains that could black out all-natural light and I felt better knowing no one could look inside on our sleeping bodies.

I changed out of my clothes, so I was only in my boxers, before lying down on our mattress.

I was glad I’d gotten a queen from the beginning, wanting our home to be ready for when Niam joined me.

The mattress was all the way in the back and I’d closed off the window to the front seats with a little curtain so people wouldn’t be able to look in.

The rest I had done so it looked like a bedroom/living room, lots of shelves and now I had the fairy lights, too.

I had yet to show Niam the books I’d bought for him.

I’d had those two days where I’d been determined to keep my distance and what had I spent them doing? Buying Niam books.

Niam snuggled into me as soon as he was in his boxers, too, eager to get some more sleep.

“I really hope Silver and Wilston are soulmatches,” Niam whispered into my neck. He was snuggled against me, our limbs tangled together. It was everything I’d imagined it would be.

“I hope so, too,” I said. “We know two others will also join us, but Silver and Wilston came before you did. Maybe they don’t want their magic.

” Niam had fought me on it, wanting to be at peace for once and enjoy life.

Maybe they did, too. But if the legends were true, we would be six in total. Three pairs.

“We won’t know until we reach him.” He kissed my neck and I sighed, feeling so full of love I was afraid I could burst from it. “How long of a drive do you think we have left?”

“Hmm, it’s hard to know for certain, but it’s dimmer than it was when I searched for you, so maybe a week? Maybe more. Not quite sure yet.”

“That’s okay. We can enjoy the adventure while it lasts.”

I was sure every minute spent with Niam would be enjoyable, but I didn’t say that. Sensing his breathing change I knew he was already asleep. I kissed his temple and fell asleep with a smile on my face, something I figured would be a new night routine for me.