Chapter Five #2
Fireworks explode through me, and my eyes drift closed.
His lips are soft and warm and part readily, and his mouth is hot, sending burning lust coursing through me.
He wraps one arm around my torso and plunges the other hand into my hair, grasping the back of my skull and tilting my head to suit him better, and I love that take-charge part of him.
I love it even more when he grinds against me, the hardness in his pants delightful evidence of how much he wants this… wants me.
In the back of my mind, I’m barely aware of the knock.
“Caolan, are you in— Ohhhhhhhhhh.”
David leaps out of my arms, opens his mouth, then closes it again. A flurry of emotions crosses his face—shock, horror, resignation.
I will make this better for him.
Turning to Alistair, I’m somewhat taken aback by the naked delight in his expression.
“I was going to ask if you knew where David went, but now I don’t have to.” He clasps his hands under his chin. “This is wonderful!”
“You can’t tell anyone,” I order. “This is private between me and David.”
Alistair seems shocked and dismayed, but David smiles gratefully at me. I would do anything for that smile.
“Why?” Alistair whines. “Why would you hide the beautiful shining light of your love? Your relationship should be celebrated. By me. With karaoke.”
The translator spell struggles with that last word, but it doesn’t really matter right now. The important part is making Alistair understand.
“We’re not in a relationship. David and I are going to use each other for sex.”
Alistair’s jaw drops. David moans.
Did I say something wrong?
Based on the slow grin spreading across Alistair’s face, I think maybe I did.
“Ohhhhh,” he says. “Well, in that case, there’s no point trying to keep it a secret. Unless you take crazy precautions, half the team will be able to smell it on you, you dirty birdy.” That last is directed at David, who sucks in a deep breath.
“You should have been spanked more as a child,” he says, but it’s with that exasperated, hopeless fondness most people use when talking to Alistair. I’ve heard the same tone in my own voice when speaking with certain dragons.
Most dragons.
“People say that to me all the time.” Alistair shakes his head, mischief in his eye. “Aidan tried spanking me as an adult, but I liked it too much.”
“ Alistair! ”
The distant shout is proof that David was right to worry about people hearing us. We may have been successful at keeping quiet before, but Alistair has been his usual loud self, and obviously at least one person has been listening.
“Oops.” Alistair doesn’t sound at all remorseful.
“We may as well go down,” David says with a big sigh. “I guess it was na?ve to hope for a secret in this group.”
I grab his hand and squeeze it, then lift it to my mouth and kiss it. “I will make it worth the sacrifice,” I promise. David shivers, his gaze going hot, but then Alistair ruins it.
“That was de lightful, Caolan! Both sweet and sexy. Well done!” He walks out of the room, calling, “Did you all hear that? Wasn’t it just the best? Caolan’s got game!”
The translator spell stumbles. “What’s ‘game’?” I ask David, and he huffs a laugh.
“It means you’re good at flirtation and seduction.”
I straighten my shoulders and puff out my chest, then wink at him. “I have game.”
His laugh this time is more natural and actually seems happy. It’s a nice sound. “Yeah, you do. Come on; there’s no escaping this.” He tugs on my hand, leading me toward the door.
“We could just go to your house now,” I point out, really liking that idea. “We have finished talking about work, haven’t we?”
“ Don’t even think about it! ” someone shouts from downstairs—Elinor, I think.
“Better to get it over with now,” David says, but he’s smiling and much more relaxed than he was a few minutes ago. He also doesn’t let go of my hand the whole way back to the dining room, which is nice.
All eyes turn to us as we enter the room. Alistair is standing behind his chair, but everyone else is still seated. Dustin’s eyes are wide, and he’s grinning from ear to ear.
“Elinor said you and David are ‘hooking up,’” he announces. “That’s slang for sex.”
I nod. “Yes. David and I have decided to satisfy each other’s carnal needs.” Lucifer Percy chokes on his wine. I look at David. “Did I say it wrong?”
“Not exactly. Uh,” he looks back at his friends and colleagues, “can we not make this a thing?”
“No,” Noah says, then turns to me. “I have questions about how this would work.”
“No, you don’t,” Sam says firmly, then looks at me. “He doesn’t.”
Noah’s expression clearly shows disagreement, but he doesn’t say anything more.
“Well, I have questions,” Alistair declares. “I thought Caolan was in love with David. That’s the reason I gave my approval to this whole courtship. I’m not sure I can approve of you slaking your lust on him and then tossing him aside.”
Aidan groans, then meets David’s gaze. “I’m so sorry.”
“I’m used to it.” David shrugs. “Alistair, this may come as a shock to you, but your approval is not needed for anything that happens in my life. And ,” he continues as Alistair opens his mouth, “Caolan is not ‘slaking his lust’ on me. If anything, it’s the other way around.”
Elinor gasps. “You’re taking advantage of his feelings for you just to get your rocks off?”
“That’s not nice!” Dustin snaps, glaring at David. “Caolan deserves better!”
It takes me a few moments to get over my surprise. “Nobody is taking advantage. David and I have mutually agreed to… hooking up. Hook up?” I glance over at Elinor, who nods. “I still love him, and I also love sex, so it’s an excellent solution.”
“Ohhhhh,” Andrew says. “Nicely played.”
There are nods and knowing smirks around the table, and David shakes his head. “I’ve changed my mind. We’re leaving. I’d appreciate it if all of you could try really hard not to be unprofessional about this.”
“How are we supposed to be professional about you fucking Caolan?” Alistair demands, sounding confused. “I don’t think that’s legal in this country.”
“Just go,” Sam says to us. “I'll take care of this. Have fun.” He blushes bright red. “Uh, I mean—”
“They know what you mean,” Gideon tells him.
I look at Dustin, then Garin. “Do you mind—”
He waves his hand. “I can manage one baby dragon on my own,” he promises. “Go. As Sam said, have fun.”
I follow David from the room as Dustin protests being called a “baby dragon” and declares that he doesn’t need to be managed.
We stop in the entranceway. “Aidan told me you can open a portal to places you’ve never been,” David says. “Is that right?”
I hesitate. “Yes, but I need a picture or a thorough description of a unique landmark. The picture is best. And I can’t get through wards.
” Working with only a verbal description is something I’ve trained for extensively and done quite a few times, but the portal is never as secure as when I have an actual image or memory.
I like the idea of flaunting my skills for David, but I also want him as safe as I can make him.
“I don’t have a picture of my place,” he says. “And it’s definitely warded. Let’s take the train.”
The word is one that doesn’t translate completely. Instead, the translator spell conjures an image of some kind of machine. I assume it’s a form of transportation.
“Yes, let’s,” I agree. I’m eager to learn more about Earth.
David unlocks and opens the door to his home, and I follow him inside, feeling the now-familiar resistance of sorcery wards as I do.
The wards created by sorcerers feel somewhat different from the protective shields we use.
Theoretically, I should be able to replicate sorcery wards, but I would first have to teach myself not to use the life force in my spellcasting, and I’m not certain where to begin with that.
Something to check in the living archive—I can’t be the first elf in history to have thought about this.
The train journey was rather mundane, although I did find the method by which the train worked to be interesting. David answered as many questions as he could and promised to find the answers to the rest for me. His patience is one of the things I love about him.
His home is not.
It’s not like him at all.
In fact, it seems as though nobody lives here.
The rooms I can see from where I stand are all furnished, but it’s impossibly tidy, and there are no obvious personal effects anywhere.
Perhaps some of the trinkets or furniture have special meaning to him, but it’s impossible to tell, because they all complement each other perfectly, as though they were designed to do so.
The overall effect is cold and neutral, whereas I know David to be a warm and caring person. Even if he is obsessed with timekeeping.
“Let me show you around,” he says. “Living room, obviously, and the kitchen is through there. Help yourself to anything you want, although I don’t think I have much at the moment.
Down here is the bathroom”—I follow him down the hallway and look in the doorway he points to—“and this is the bedroom.” It’s also impossibly tidy, except for the desk in the corner, which has papers stacked on the surface and an assortment of pens and those lovely ink markers that Sam calls highlighters.
That desk is the most David thing I’ve seen here so far.
“So…” He hovers beside me awkwardly. “That’s it.” He shifts from one foot to the other.
He’s nervous ! My beautiful David is nervous about us having sex.
Well, I can fix that.
I grab his hand and lift it to my mouth. He seemed to like that before, and if nothing else, it creates contact between us.
His lightly indrawn breath is a good sign.
I kiss the inside of his wrist, lingering over his pulse point. I can just feel his heartbeat, even with such light pressure. If my memory of sorcerer physiology is correct, that means his heartbeat has increased.
Good. Mine certainly has.
Laying his palm against my cheek, I move closer and bend to kiss him.