Chapter 14 #2
It would be his luck if Tori fell in with those troublemakers. Not that he could be too upset over it. He very much wanted Tori to make friends and be comfortable at the castle. The mage needed to see it as his home.
The bedroom door opened, and the two mages stepped out. They both carried something in their hands. Cassie naturally dropped into Sasha’s lap, wrapping her long, slender arms around her mate’s neck as if they had been separated for days rather than a few minutes.
“Did you miss me?” Cassie purred, nuzzling Sasha’s neck.
“I missed you like the flowers miss the sun at the end of each day,” Sasha murmured.
Tori lifted one eyebrow at Cassie. “So, is that a mate thing or a Sasha thing?”
Cassie hummed for a second. “I want to say it’s a Sasha thing, but Cam claims that Alric can be just as romantic and sweet.
I guess it could be a mate thing.” She turned her attention to her mate.
“Tori showed me how to make the coolest amulet for you to contain the masking spell.” The mage looped a length of chain over Sasha’s head and laid it against her chest. The ruby-colored stone winked in the lamplight, and Cassie gave a happy sigh.
“We tested the ones we made for ourselves with a seeking spell, and the amulets are effective,” Tori explained as he handed Warin an amulet on a chain that looked similar to the one Sasha was now wearing.
He also stepped over to Baldewin and held out one for him.
Baldewin was watching his face, and a new tension seemed to creep into his expression.
There was a mild smile on his lips, but there was fresh worry in his eyes that hadn’t been there when he’d handed the amulet to Warin.
Baldewin lowered his gaze to the amulet resting on his fingers, and his heart skipped a beat.
It was similar to Sasha’s and Warin’s except that the stone was green with hints of greenish grey.
The wire that was wrapped around it to hold it in place had been stretched across the top of the stone and formed a swirling B.
Tori had made this for him. This was more than just protection for all of them. Tori had made him a gift.
“Thank you,” Baldewin said in a rough voice as his throat threatened to close off. He looked up to see the worry evaporate from Tori’s gaze, and the mage’s smile turned a little wry.
“With any luck, the magic will last until we can get to Sonthofen at least.”
“I’m sure it will.” Baldewin’s hands itched to reach out and pull Tori to him, to kiss the mage thoroughly for such a gift, but he wasn’t sure how he’d react to such a display of affection in front of the others.
The man was coming from an extremely homophobic clan, and he might not yet feel comfortable with displays of affection.
“I think I’m going to see how it looks in a mirror. ”
There were two in the main sitting area of the suite, but Baldewin bypassed both of them and went straight for the bathroom attached to Tori’s bedroom. As he’d hoped, Tori followed closely on his heels.
Standing in front of the mirror, Baldewin looped the long chain over his head and allowed the amulet to settle against the middle of his chest on his soft cotton shirt.
“The stones themselves aren’t really that important,” Tori volunteered in a soft voice. “They’re just a porous material to hold the magic in, but when Cassie showed me the materials she’d brought for us to make the amulets, I thought…”
Baldewin turned to face Tori, smiling at him in a reassuring manner. “You thought?”
Tori swallowed hard enough for Baldewin to hear it. “The green stone reminded me of your eyes.”
Taking a step forward, Baldewin cupped Tori’s cheek, letting his thumb slowly caress the man’s cheekbone. The scruff on his jaw scraped against his palm, and he savored the feeling, savored everything that was distinctly Tori. “It’s perfect. I love knowing that it was made just for me.”
“You’ve already done so much to protect me.” Tori paused and winced. “Even after I froze you. I like…like that I can use my magic to protect you a little.”
“And I’m honored.”
Tori shook his head and started to step out of his touch. “You don’t have to keep saying that.”
Baldewin captured his chin and forced his head up to meet his gaze. “But I am. You were born with this amazing gift. You could do anything with your magic, and yet you’ve chosen again and again to use it to keep me safe. I am honored.”
He leaned in with the intention of taking a small kiss, but either Tori had guessed his plan or didn’t wish to wait, because the mage pushed up on the tips of his toes, meeting him halfway in such a rush that the gentle kiss quickly became something entirely different.
Baldewin groaned as those soft, plush lips smashed against his own. Tori’s hands gripped his broad shoulders, fingers biting into them as he tried to steady himself. He wrapped his own arms around Tori’s slender body, pulling him in tight so he could feel the tremble that ran through the mage.
Teeth scraped, and his tongue glided along Tori’s in a silken dance. What should have been a simple thank you kiss was turning needy and demanding. He couldn’t tell which of them was more starved for this moment. It didn’t matter because Baldewin never wanted it to end.
Tori wobbled in his arms, little noises escaping him as they kissed and nipped at each other’s mouths, trying to get closer.
Growling in the back of his throat, Baldewin broke the kiss so he could reach down and grab Tori by the back of the legs.
Confusion gave way to shock on the man’s face when Baldewin lifted him up and set him down on the sink counter.
Now Baldewin was no longer six inches taller than Tori.
The mage was now at least two inches taller than him, giving them both perfect access to each other’s mouths.
A low hum vibrated in Tori’s throat, and he locked his heels behind Baldewin’s thighs, pulling him in close between his legs. “This is much better.”
Baldewin smiled, tilting his head up to offer himself to the mage. “You’re enjoying this?”
“Very much.”
Wrapping his arms around Tori, Baldewin allowed himself to sink into the feeling of touching him, feeling the play of muscles under his fingers. Naked would have been better, but he was cherishing every little step they took together.
“Good, because I’ve been wondering if you might be willing to do this more when we reach the castle. Of course, that would be when you have any free time you can spare me between your meetings and hanging out with the other mages and dragons.”
“Or when you’re not busy with the king,” Tori replied with a smirk.
“I’m happy to rearrange my schedule for you. Besides, Alric has his own mage to keep him busy.”
“Keep him busy, huh? Like this?” Tori leaned in and kissed Baldewin deeply until the dragon was dizzy from a lack of air. It was hard to remember to breathe when Tori kissed him like this. The mage put all of himself into every touch, sweeping Baldewin away in a haze of pleasure and need.
“Baldewin!” Warin shouted from the next room, causing Tori to jerk away.
His dragon snarled, and Baldewin’s human side might have done the same.
Before he could snap at his friend for ending a perfectly wonderful kiss, Warin continued, “Stop kissing your mage and bring him in here. We need to know if he needs chocolate. Oooh…or pie!”
“Hmmm…that’s a tough choice. You or something sweet?” Tori said, his smile returning.
“Do you think there’s any chance we might try this again very soon?”
Tori made a face like he was considering it. “I think we should. I had no idea that kissing would get better each time we did it.”
Baldewin grinned. “You know, I never encountered that phenomenon until I kissed you. We should probably try it some more.”
“I like—”
“Baldewin,” Cassie called out in a sing-song voice. “We need chocolate. Release Tori, please.”
Tori leaned around Baldewin and toward the open doorway. “We’ll be right out!”
Tori moved back to his previous position, and Baldewin could only grin like a fool at him. “You are just perfect. Absolutely perfect,” he said with a laugh.
The mage’s cheeks turned red, and he looked down at the amulet hanging against Baldewin’s chest. He turned it over with his fingers for a moment before looking up at the dragon.
“This actually should go inside your shirt. The magic works better if the amulet is against your skin.” As he spoke, he tucked the amulet inside Baldewin’s shirt so that it brushed against the center of his chest, the metal wire and stone warm from Tori’s touch.
He looked up into the mirror to find only a little bit of the chain was visible beneath the collar of his shirt.
“I will admit that I liked the idea of everyone being able to see the amulet so they would know you’d made it just for me.
” He paused and smiled at Tori. “But I also like that it rests right over my heart.”
“Who knew dragons could be so sweet?”
Baldewin leaned in for another kiss when Cassie and Warin called out in unison.
They both sighed heavily.
“We should go in there before they send a search party,” Tori muttered.
“Yes, but we will return to this at a later time. We have not explored this kissing enough,” Baldewin pressed.
Tori nodded. “Definitely.”
Reluctantly, Baldewin stepped back, allowing Tori to hop down from the counter and start for the main living area.
He lingered in the bathroom a moment, his hands drifting up to the amulet resting against his breastbone.
Tori had made that for him, personalized it just for him.
Tori had kissed him again and wanted to do it many more times.
It may be too early to call the mage his gefreogen, but they were at least taking steps in the right direction. This was a very excellent start.