Chapter 7 #2
Ansell was shocked to hear what the younger man had gotten up to the previous night.
Not that he’d gotten up to anything better, but at least he hadn’t been feeding magick to Sascha so fully that it became visible.
His and Sascha’s little rendezvous had only resulted in an electrical black out.
. . or two. . . not that he’d really cared at the time.
His main concern was keeping the woman from biting through his bone.
SkinWalker’s had a terrible bite force, which generally meant they broke skin, if they were driven to it, but there were instances of them being able to bite through bone.
Either way, it was technically frowned upon to use magick on Tellurians in general.
. . at least, in any way they could feel it.
Magick had the little known side effect of being addictive.
“Be careful with that.” Ansell counseled when the man finished his recount.
“In large quantities magick can be as addictive as Heroin.”
“Is that why it’s rumored Mages don’t have libido until after they complete their training?” Warren asked curiously.
Ansell went rigid for a moment at the question.
He didn’t like that the man was asking questions about his kind.
Especially to him. As he smeared some of the healing cream into the man’s back wounds, he sent out a tendril of magick.
Small, untraceable, seeking out whether the man was trustworthy with the information or not.
“Are. . .” Warren turned his head to the side as if he were looking toward the older man. “Are you using magick on me?”
Ansell could feel the remnants of the woman’s magick within the younger man.
It flared at his presence as though sensing a threat.
. . but the man himself was trustworthy.
Ansell frowned. “Yes. I wanted to make sure the woman didn’t do any damage to you during your tryst.” Even with remaining magickal residue lying dormant within him, Warren shouldn’t have been able to feel Ansell inside of him at such a minor level.
It was concerning to say the least, but then, there had once been great and powerful magick users among the SkinWalkers.
All of them taught in the ways of magick by Mage for one reason or another.
Perhaps Warren was just one of those naturally gifted types who would have taken to magick like a sponge.
“But I will admit, I’m surprised you could feel me. You never have before.”
Warren shrugged. “Perhaps I’m just attuned now after everything I did last night. Maybe I’m still sensitive.” Ansell could hear the grin in the man’s voice when he bragged lightly. “Like a woman under your hands when you’ve been working at her for hours.”
Ansell felt the blush rise into his cheeks as he froze, an image of Sascha’s Janice popping into his head, face flushed and clutching tight to a pillow as she shied away from his touch.
He jerked his hands from Warren’s war torn flesh and turned his head sharply away as he willed the vision from him.
The last thing he wanted right now was to see that woman naked in his head.
If anything, he’d rather see Sascha flaunting all of her pregnant brilliance before him like she had last night.
. . Well, maybe not in the same context of last night.
The man felt as though he’d taken advantage of the poor girl.
Granted, she had literally dominated him at the beginning there, but he had been afraid that if he’d touched her he’d lose all sense of his rationality.
. . Not that her mouth on him hadn’t resulted in the loss of his rationality and his getting lust drunk off the woman’s magick enhanced pheromones anyway. . .
Oh, god, if he’d knocked her up during her pregnancy he might just kill himself— Well, maybe not kill himself.
. . But there would be a lot of guilt, groveling and some profuse apologizing on his part.
. . Please, just let it stay four. . . He prayed silently.
It wasn’t like the woman didn’t have enough on her plate already. . .
Though the woman’s ability to compartmentalize was truly something to behold.
“Doc?” Warren’s hand on his shoulder, shaking him lightly, reminded him of where he was and what he was doing. “Doc?” The younger man studied him a moment. “You sure you’re okay?”
Ansell closed his eyes, frowning hard as he forced himself to refocus. “I’m fine. Just tired.” He took a second to gather his thoughts. “Are you planning to see this woman again?”
Warren nodded, his torso twisted so that he was looking back at him. “Yes, this afternoon at one.”
“And after that?” Ansell asked seriously.
“For as long as she’ll have me, if I’m being honest.” The younger man admitted solemnly.
Ansell nodded. “I’ll give you the contract before you leave. Get it signed and bring it in by tomorrow so I can get it filed.”
Warren watched him quietly for a long time before asking soberly, “Yours is a hard position to have. . . Isn’t it?”
Ansell held the younger man’s gaze for a long time.
Feeling almost as though the younger understood him in a way no one he knew recently had in a long time.
Then, taking a deep breath, he nudged the younger man’s chin away so he’d turn back around.
He’d finish up with Warren and go to get a much needed caffeine fix.
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned, young man.
” His voice suddenly sounded old, as though something wizened and broken had come up to visit.
“It is hard to be anyone or anything that lives. Struggle is not something we can escape. . .” He scooped some of the salve onto a cotton swab and went back to work rubbing it into the younger man’s back wounds.
“It’s just different for every living being. ”