Chapter 9
Noah sat on the bed, the coat spread beneath him, running his fingers through the dark brown fur. While there was a comfort in its silky warmth, there was also a burning need in his chest to slip it on. The cold ball of fear in his stomach was the only reason he hadn’t succumbed.
He didn’t like worrying about the coat when he wasn’t with it. Nan had said that if the coat was damaged, he would be damaged, possibly killed. And Pan had agreed that part of the tales was true.
Pan also claimed he now had the power to summon storms.
How that was useful, Noah didn’t know, and it didn’t seem like a fair trade.
Pan had wanted to know if there was a selkie in the family.
How the hell were they supposed to know that?
But Pan seemed to think that the only way the coat could’ve bonded with him was if there were selkie blood somewhere in the past. That meant a selkie had crossed between the worlds and fallen in love, or lust, with a human.
Nan had frowned and promised to look at the family tree when she went home—the frown was concerning.
Nan had always talked about fairies and never discounted local lore. Was there secret family lore? Was there selkie blood?
This should not be a set of logical thoughts. These were the kind of thoughts that made sense when he was high. But then, when had he ever laid on a fur coat in a vampire palace?
Nothing made sense.
David wanted them to come home instead of sleeping in the bar—he’d be more worried if he knew that Nan was sleeping in the vampire palace.
He thought they were spending too much time with the vampires.
David didn’t know about Pan yet. Or the drak.
Noah rolled onto his side, hugging one of the soft, furry arms to his chest. When he closed his eyes, he was sure he heard the sea rolling against a rocky shore.
His eyes snapped open when the door shut. The candles were still burning, so not much time had passed.
“I didn’t mean to wake you,” Pan said softly as he took off his boots
He sat up. “I didn’t plan on falling asleep…it was weirdly comforting being with it again.” He ran his hand over the fur, unable to stop himself. “How was your meeting?”
“Tedious.” Pan pulled off his shirt and tossed it over the chair. “I am not used to someone scrutinizing my every move.” His pants followed, and he walked around the room extinguishing the three candles, naked as if it were his palace.
It was far too easy to watch him, the way he moved with liquid grace as if he were more dream than real. It was a reminder that while he appeared to be human except for the horns, Pan was a god, a virtually immortal being who had lived for longer than Noah was able to imagine.
It didn’t make sense that Pan was here…in this room, with him.
So even though he’d helped find shoes for creatures that looked like cats, and discussed options for relocating the dragons, there were times when it still didn’t seem real. When his mind rebelled because everything was so far removed from what his reality should be.
Pan walked over to the bed, his pale skin catching in the moonlight that came through the window and bounced off cleverly placed mirrors and crystal.
“I should get undressed.” Instead of sitting on the bed patting his coat, he should’ve gotten into bed.
“I can help.” Pan’s voice lowered as he kneeled on the bed over Noah’s leg.
Pan only wanted to help because he wanted to taste magic.
But as his hand traveled up Noah’s thigh, there was a heat in his touch that made it easy to forget why this was probably a bad idea.
He didn’t know how to untangle himself from this thing with Pan, and there was a part of him that didn’t want to.
He liked the attention, the hunger in Pan’s eyes because, for the first time in his life, he mattered to someone.
Pan’s lips met his in a soft, yet demanding kiss.
He could push him away and claim that he was still mad about the coat. Except he wasn’t. It had happened, and if he hadn’t been so curious about trying it on, then nothing would have happened. Though for how long would he have been able to resist?
Probably not long.
Noah lay back on the coat, and Pan moved over him, caging him. “You are not still annoyed with me?”
“No…though perhaps next time you find a magical object, you tell me what it is first. And by that, I mean explain what it is and what you think it does and whose it was, not just the bits you think I should know.”
Pan’s eyebrows drew together. “You do not like it when I leave out information.”
“No, I don’t. But I’m also aware that sometimes you know too much and it’s more than I can take in.”
“So you would like to know everything and yet also only the important things?”
Another kiss that stole his breath and tried to derail his thoughts.
“Yes.”
Pan pressed against him, propping himself up on one elbow. “And how am I supposed to tell the difference? What is important to me may not be important to you.”
“I don’t know. I guess we need to figure that out on a case-by-case basis.” He ran his fingers through Pan’s curls and traced the curve of his horn. “Your lips taste like wine.”
“I had a drink with Feryn.”
“And he had a drink of you.”
“Yes…and now I shall taste you.” Pan kissed Noah’s throat, then his collarbone. The hard length of his dick pressed against Noah’s thigh.
“You do not need to…worship me.” He needed something normal, if that was at all possible when sleeping with a god. “We could just have sex.”
Pan lifted his head.
“You do just have sex, right? Or do people only sleep with you because they want something?”
He couldn’t read Pan’s expression because of the shadows, but the silence was enough.
“Seriously?” Had Pan never had sex for fun?
“I was thinking…” His frown deepened. “A lot of the time, people would worship me because they wanted something, and I enjoyed it. There is nothing like lying back and being pleasured.”
Noah made a small noise of agreement. Even though Pan had only done it to him once, it had seared an impression into his soul…or was that the magic he’d touched?
“I’ve had lovers.” But there was something in the way he said it that suggested it wasn’t in the same way that Noah thought of lovers.
“So you’ve had hook-ups which existed for no reason other than mutual enjoyment? No magic. No favors. No reason beyond getting off.”
Pan snorted. “Of course. I have been to many orgies.”
“Really? And were you the guest of honor, and they were thanking you for magic or hoping for magic?”
Pan blinked, and his expression became unreadable. “I don’t want to talk about the past.” He kissed Noah, his tongue dipping into his mouth while his hand unlaced the pants and slid in to stroke the length of his cock. “And I don’t want to think about the future either. Can we enjoy the now?”
“That’s what I was planning on doing.”
“And you do not want to be worshipped?”
“I don’t…and I don’t want to worship you either. I want to enjoy your body. And who knows? Maybe you will still get that hit of magic that you crave.”
“It is more than a craving. I crave cheese from the city of Velice, but I need magic the way you need to breathe. My lungs burn with the need to take a breath.”
“The way I needed to touch the coat.”
“Yes. A kiss is enough that I can gasp and hold on a little longer.” He licked Noah’s jaw, his tongue tickling over the stubble.
“But I need to gulp down what I can, when I can. And sometimes being around you and not kissing you is almost worse. Because I can feel the magic in you.” He nipped Noah’s throat.
“Do not take this the wrong way,” he growled.
“But sometimes I want to rip it out of you. Which would be pointless.”
How was he supposed to take it? “Um, yeah, if you kill me, then no more magic.”
“But that is how much I want to kiss you. Worship you.” His hand moved in a slow, seductive rhythm, only changing slightly to add a twist or a sweep of his thumb.
He’d had centuries to perfect his skills, and it was hard to know if this was him calculating every movement or if it was part of his nature.
Noah lifted his hips, unable to resist as Pan played his body. He rolled, pushing Pan onto his back and kneeling over him. Was it rude to push a god around?
“I thought you said I wasn’t your type.” Pan lifted the edge of Noah’s shirt. “So why do you want to have sex with me if not to be worshipped?”
Noah sighed. He should’ve known that would bite him on the ass. “You’re shorter than me.”
“I can change that with magic.”
“That isn’t what I was asking.” And there was something sad about it, too. “Do you always change how you look so people want to be with you?”
Pan tugged on the shirt, and Noah let him drag it off and toss it to the side.
“Why wouldn’t I? And why did you lie?” Pan shoved Noah’s pants over his hips, as if he wanted Noah naked as fast as possible.
It took an awkward moment for Noah to wriggle out of them before sprawling over Pan. His skin was warm as if magic burned within him. “Why do you think I lied?”
“I felt it.” Pan’s hands trailed over Noah’s ribs to his hips. If he was annoyed, it didn’t show.
Noah rested on his elbows and stared down at him. “You are a god, and I’m…me. I figured it would be easier for me to act as though I didn’t want you.”
“But you do want me.”
“Clearly.” Noah rolled his hips, loving the way Pan felt beneath him. Sure, Pan was out of his league, but he was also irresistible, though that could be the magic or maybe the way Pan looked at him as though he were the center of the universe.
“Mmm…it does not appear that much can happen in this position.”