Chapter 33
They were back in the room in Crofton Hall that had once been Dorian’s.
Alex stood to the side while Karl and Jack finished casting another layer of reinforcement and protection spells.
Ashley had insisted on double-checking everything, not wanting permanent damage to happen to his betrothed’s ancestral home.
Alex could understand his concern; Simon had extracted the signature of another fae, and if it was to be handled incorrectly, it could explode, causing significant damage to anything in its path.
He could tell from the way his fellow magic users were acting that they were as uneasy as he was.
Simon was in control here, and only he knew what he was going to do.
There was an edge of excitement from getting to witness something that hadn’t been seen before, but the underlying trepidation was difficult to ignore.
Except for Dorian, who was oblivious and sitting in the middle of the room, blowing smoke bubbles and letting loose rumbles of happiness.
“Are you fine for me to proceed?” Simon asked Ashley.
“Yes. I think we have saturation now. Adding more protection wouldn’t help.”
Alex had only experienced Simon’s magic a few times, and each occasion had left him with a realisation that Simon was unique.
Not an adjective he threw around lightly.
His magic was growing more powerful, but it wasn’t just its magnitude but its composition.
There was a firm fae basis, but his vampire nature added different layers.
He’d met fae who’d been turned by vampires, and Simon was different, darker, richer, and they were lucky he was such a level-headed bloke most of the time.
Simon took off his jumper, leaving him in a T-shirt and jeans. He pulled back his hair into a high ponytail and looked more like he was about to go to the pub and not perform a fuck-load of complicated magic.
From his jeans pocket, Simon removed a shiny blue rock, about the size of a goose egg. The hair on the back of Alex’s neck stood on end, and he wasn’t alone in reacting. Karl winced, and both Jack and Ashley took several steps back.
“This is Isana’s signature. In simple terms, it’s his core energy harvested into a rock,” Simon said to Dorian. “I will be making my fellow magic users in the room very uncomfortable.”
Dorian turned to Alex. “Are you all right?
“Yes, Simon isn’t going to hurt us. But the fact that he was able to do that to Isana’s signature means he could if he wanted to.”
“Only if I had a lot of time and energy,” Simon said, flashing a smile. “There are much easier ways to kill someone. If I hadn’t needed this to fix Dorian, I wouldn’t have bothered.”
Alex didn’t think that was as comforting as Simon had intended the statement to be.
“Dorian,” Simon began. “I’m going to channel a spell through the stone into the middle of your chest. It might tickle at first, and then if it’s working, you’ll know.”
“How?” Dorian asked.
“You’ll feel the change, and then you’ll shift.”
Alex appreciated the simplicity. No potion, no three-way casting, or chanting under a waning moon. Simon was confident this was going to work, and Alex finally allowed himself to believe that too.
Dorian sat up straight and puffed out his chest. “I’m ready, Simon. Make me whole again.”
It wasn’t lost on Alex that Simon could’ve refused to help.
Dorian had originally wanted Robin, had been tricked into a ruse, and most fae would have left Dorian to his misery.
Many people underestimated Simon, but Alex realised it wasn’t just his magic but that in the future the Calanti would have a king capable of both great empathy and total destruction.
A purple beam of light poured from the stone and into Dorian. Alex’s skin tingled as if static electricity was dancing across him. Dorian giggled, smoke rings escaping, and the expression on Simon’s face told Alex he was happy with how the spell was progressing.
Dorian’s wings sprang open, and he let out a long, low growl.
“I think it’s working,” Simon called.
A loud crack, and a cloud of smoke filled the room. Seconds passed as the smoke cleared, and finally Dorian was revealed in his full naked human glory.
“Fuck!” Dorian cried. “It worked!”
“Stay still,” Simon ordered. “I know you want to run off and throw Alex over your shoulder, but we need to check you can shift on command.”
Not even Dorian’s amazing arse could distract him from his nerves. Then Dorian shifted back into a dragon and spun around in a circle, waving his tail.
“Back to human,” Simon demanded.
And Dorian shifted again. Whooping and bouncing around, not giving a flying fuck that he was stark bollock naked.
“One more time. Dragon and then back, and I’ll be happy to declare you cured.”
Dorian the dragon reappeared. He trotted over and stood in front of Alex. Then he shifted, and Alex was swept into Dorian’s human arms and kissed.
“Right,” Simon said, “I think you two have better places to be.”
A portal appeared, and Alex felt a shunt of magic. They fell into his rooms at Crofton Hall.
“Oh, fuck, Alex. We need to get you naked and into bed. I can’t wait to fuck you.
” Dorian lifted him off his feet and carried Alex over to his bed.
The last time they’d made love, he’d been on top, but with the worry that Dorian might shift mid-way through removed, Alex was more than happy to let Dorian lead.
He removed his clothes by magic and conjured a pot of lube as Dorian pressed kisses to the underside of his jaw.
“No love bites above my collar line,” he said as Dorian got a bit too excited with his teeth.
“I want to mark you as mine,” Dorian whined, but turned his attentions to Alex’s nipples.
Alex let out a high-pitched mewl. He loved having his nipples played with, and Dorian was a master.
His hands seemed to be everywhere at once, and his lips and tongue charted the planes of Alex’s stomach.
Alex knew Dorian was an experienced lover and was using his skills to Alex’s advantage.
He almost lost his mind as Dorian fastened his hand around his cock and used his other hand to tease his entrance. He was a begging mess by the time Dorian’s fingers were inside, and he wanted to be fucked into the mattress.
“Oh, my beautiful elf, you’re so wanton. I’m going to make you mine.”
“I’m already yours.” He meant it. While there’d been no sexual part to their relationship while Dorian was a dragon, there was no way to pretend they weren’t together; the affection he’d felt for Dorian, the closeness of being held, kept him coming back time after time to Handor.
If there’d been nothing, he’d have been able to walk away.
He muttered a protection spell as Dorian pushed his cock inside.
The stretch from being breached a delicious burn, and he panted as Dorian took control.
The rhythm of Dorian’s thrusts were pure perfection, pushing Alex to the brink.
His body awash with desire and delight, he could hold back no longer and cried out as his orgasm ripped through him, stars exploding behind his eyes.
Dorian growled as he came, and Alex clung tighter as he tried to catch his breath.
Alex’s cheeks hurt from grinning as Dorian nuzzled into his neck. “We’re going to do that several more times before we leave this room,” Dorian said.
“We’re going to need to visit Handor at some point, and you’ll need to decide what you’re doing now that you can shift again.”
“I know that I want to make sure my cock and arse are fully working, and that my kisses haven’t dulled from being scaly for too long. We’ve tested two of the three, need to make sure of the third.” He sniggered and blew a raspberry on Alex’s belly. “Oh, I love having proper lips.”
Alex carded his finger through Dorian’s dark curls. “I can confirm your cock and lips are all working magnificently, but I was thinking afterwards.”
Dorian rolled onto his back, grabbed Alex and pulled him with him. “We will go on dates. I will need to go to LA and check in with Debi, but you can portal and I don’t intend to be away from you for more than a few days at a time. Less if possible.”
Dating would be a good first step, and Alex would need to adjust to having a partner in his life again. “We do need to get to know each other.”
Dorian snorted. “We know each other, we’ve been dating for months without all the sexy snuggles. You don’t think I let any old elf use my dragon belly as a cushion, do you?”
He was glad Dorian had come to the same conclusion as himself.
Dorian twirled a lock of Alex’s hair in his fingers. “You’re not going to want to leave Crofton Hall any time soon, I can tell. But you can portal to wherever we set up home.”
“Home?”
Dorian licked his ear, and Alex trembled in delight. “You’re my nestmate, Alex. We’re together, and we need a home base. I can buy a property in the UK, and a new place in LA or split time between.”
“I hadn’t really thought that far ahead. You already have a place in LA. Why do you need a new one?”
Dorian rolled his eyes. “You don’t set up a nest in a place you’ve entertained others. Silly elf.”
“Dragon thing?”
“Yup.” Dorian sighed happily. “I was thinking I could reprise my acting career. Dorian Marsten returns to the screen, Hollywood rejoices at the return of their leading man, glowing with happiness, having found love with a beautiful elf.”
Alex realised Dorian wasn’t joking. “Don’t think you’ll be dragging me down red carpets. I’m happy behind the scenes.”
Dorian rolled them over and kissed him, leaving Alex breathless with delight. “I think I can find a way to persuade you.”