Chapter 9

Kaine woke before dawn.The room was lighter, but the sun wasn’t yet up. He checked the time to see how much longer he could linger, then got up and padded across the room to the bathroom. He hadn’t brushed his teeth before going to bed, and last night’s whiskey didn’t taste so great. He helped himself to a toothbrush, brushed his teeth, and had a drink of water, knowing he wouldn’t go back to sleep even if he went back to bed.

Last night churned through his head.

All of it. Every time he took another step forward, ten more roads opened up, and he had to decide which one was the right one. He was sure five of them were booby-trapped, and one held an ambush.

Only one held a future with his mate.

For a few moments, he paused at the bathroom door to watch Quentin sleeping. He was glad he hadn’t tried to run during the night, as that would’ve made things awkward.

More awkward.

“I know you’re watching me.” Quentin’s voice was soft with sleep.

“Can’t help it.” And he wasn’t sure that getting back into bed was a good idea. Even though his dick thought it was and now pointed at his mate when three seconds ago, it had been behaving itself. He wasn’t sure he had the ability to resist his mate and bring down the Shadow Board. Quentin was a distraction and a complication and possibly the answer to every prayer he’d never dared to whisper.

“Come back to bed,” Quentin murmured.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” Not when he didn’t trust himself.

“It”s the only good idea.”

Kaine snorted. “Explain how.”

Quentin pushed himself up on one arm. “It strengthens the bond. Strengthens my magic. And if I’ve interpreted all of this correctly, it should strengthen you…though I’m not sure how.”

“I’ll have access to your magic.” Which meant he’d have access to other people”s thoughts once he’d learned how to use the magic, and that would be useful. “And we will be able to draw strength from each other.”

“That sounds like a good thing given the situation, and even with a weak bond, if one gets killed, the other is going to die, correct?”

“Correct. How long were you awake for last night?”

“Long enough to realize I want to be a witch. I need to know that part of myself. And maybe I also like the idea of having someone to call mine. Though that could be because neither of my parents wanted me.”

Kaine smiled. At least Quentin had parents. Kaine assumed he’d had parents once, many lifetimes, and thousands of years ago. Since none of his brothers knew, they kept hatching each other and hoping for the best. Given that none of them had ever fathered a child, he assumed that could only happen with a female phoenix. And they had no record that they could read of such a thing.

Unless the five of them were something else. Something other than regular shifters. Perhaps there had only ever been five of them.

“I’m sure they loved you, even if you didn’t interrupt their life plans.” Which is what Quentin had done to him. He walked over to the bed and sat on the edge.

“That’s a very big assumption, and if you’d met my mother or my father, you’d reconsider.”

“Once you’ve got your magic under control, you might want to revisit your assumption. When you dig into someone’s thoughts, you find things even they don’t want to acknowledge.”

“How do you know that?”

“I have worked with mind reading witches.”

“So I”m not rare or special?”

Kaine put his hand over Quentin’s. “You are both. No one else could be my mate. Some witches and shifters spend their entire lives looking, and we ran into each other.”

“Let’s make it deliberate this time.”

He wanted to. But he didn’t want Quentin to decide in three days’ time that being a witch with a fated mate was too hard and too dangerous, and all he wanted was his quiet life back. In fact, his life would be improved if he gave up magic. He had seen the change in Lucian after giving up magic and breaking the bond. Lucian was happier. And Dalmon didn’t seem to mind the broken bond. If anything, it had made their relationship stronger. This was their second time as mates, as far as any of them was aware. Would there be a third?

And here he was, just finding his mate. And he was one hundred percent sure it was the first time. That didn’t mean there hadn’t been near misses in previous lives. He needed to look through his books and see if he had come across another mind reading witch.

“Everything we do will strengthen the bond.” Kaine kept throwing out warnings because he didn’t know how to say no.

He didn’t want to say no. He wanted to snatch this little piece of happiness, potential happiness, and hold on to it for as long as he could.

Quentin nodded as if he’d put everything together while Kaine slept. Had he practiced reading Kaine’s mind while he dreamed? “You make that sound like a bad thing.”

The bond was made. Did it matter how strong it was?

Would it hurt more or less, or would the other pine faster or slower, depending on the strength of the bond? Jacob and Orion had gone all in believing that a stronger bond would make them both stronger, and it may have saved their lives, but he didn’t want to find his mate, only to risk his life and find out the worst possible way.

“It’s not. It’s a fact.”

“We’re in this expensive room…we should make the most of it.”

Kaine laughed. “I can assure you that sex is not improved by the cost of the location.”

Quentin moved, sliding towards him and straddling him. “Care to elaborate?”

He did not want to talk about past lovers while his current one was sitting naked in his lap. He ran his fingers through Quentin’s messy curls. “What made you decide to embrace your magic?”

“Is that a hint of suspicion?” He looped his arms around Kaine’s neck and brushed his lips across Kaine’s mouth in the softest of kisses.

“It’s more than a hint. I’m suspicious of everyone at the moment.” Somehow, his hands ended up cupping Quentin’s ass.

“Because the bad guys think I’m human, because maybe for the first time in my life, I will have power. It might’ve saved me a lot of bullying at school.”

“Or brought more. Being able to read people’s minds is not one of the easy magics.”

“And what is an easy magic?” Quentin rolled his hips, the hot length of his cock brushing against Kaine.

He wanted to wrap his hand around it, around both of them, until they came. He wanted to suck on the velvety soft head and taste the salty pre-cum. He wanted to slick his cock and fuck him. Claim him. Mark him.

Quentin’s eyes were bright as if he’d heard every thought word for word. At the moment, all he probably got were emotions and a sense of knowing…though there was no secret about what Kaine wanted, given the way his dick strained towards his mate.

“Is shifting an easy magic?”

“The body wants to, but I wouldn’t call it painless or easy. No shifter does. There are plenty of witch magics that are also painful. Electricity witches have a tendency to die before they can be trained. I suspect that the other elemental magics are just as dangerous. Every magic has its hazards.”

“So does being human.”

“You were never human, Quentin. And maybe your grandparents were witches or an aunt or an uncle, and if they had been more involved, they might have recognized the signs or sensed the growing power.” While it didn’t run through bloodlines, witches often had witches in their family tree.

Quentin continued to rock against him, his pre-cum slicking Kaine’s belly. “I can’t be the only one to not know.”

“You aren’t. I’m sure there are plenty of witches out there who have a magic they are keeping secret or can’t explain. It is harder for witches because the magic is tied to your soul, and unless you are born into a family where someone is a witch, then you are on your own. At least with shifters, it is blood.”

“My father was adopted…so I never met his parents. And my mother didn’t speak to hers either. She left home at sixteen to perform, and they disagreed with her lifestyle choice.” He grinned. “They’d also disagree with mine. And I doubt they were witches.”

“Witches and shifters can be as bigoted as any human. We are not one homogenous paranormal community with one viewpoint. We are not one religion.”

Quentin pushed Kaine back onto the bed.

He could stop this. He was stronger and faster, but as Quentin caged him with his body, he wanted to see how far the young witch would go. How hot his desire burned. The tips of his fingers traced the cleft of Quentin’s ass, sweeping over his sensitive pucker.

“I gathered that from your talk about the bad guys.”

Kaine smiled. He already saw the way they slotted together, complimented each other. And it was far too easy to imagine long nights spent in the secret library going through old books in languages that no one knew the names for. Quentin could unravel those riddles, those lives.

“Hmm…” Quentin frowned. “You just got excited for all the wrong reasons.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, I can tell how much you wanna fuck me, but you’re holding out. But then you had an idea that created a different spark. I don’t know how else to describe it, but I sensed they were different. Or am I completely wrong and doing this all wrong?”

“You are correct. And you aren’t doing anything wrong.” Kaine glanced down to watch the way Quentin moved as though they were already fucking. “If not for the mate thing, neither of us would’ve slept last night.”

He would have taken everything he could from the encounter, leaving them both aching and sore. It would’ve been worth it.

It was all he wanted to do now.

“You’ve already said this is a dangerous situation… Why can’t we both enjoy something?”

“Because I don’t want to push, and I don’t know how much of my feelings are bleeding into you.” He released Quentin’s hips and closed his eyes. “I don’t want you to discover with a little training that this was all me, and the bond clouded your mind.”

When had he started being so honorable?

Ten years ago, he wouldn’t have given a fuck.

Was it getting older or the assumption of responsibility?

Quentin licked a line up Kaine’s throat that ended beneath his jaw. “Fine. You tell me to stop, and I’ll stop. Until then, you are mine.”

He licked and kissed his way over Kaine’s chest, pausing to lick one nipple and rake his teeth over the hard nub.

Kaine kept his eyes closed, trying to find the ability to say ‘stop, let’s take it slow’. But as the kisses trailed lower, he couldn’t find the word in any language.

Quentin’s hands smooth up his thighs, and his breath caressed the head of Kaine’s cock, but he didn’t stop for a taste. He licked Kaine’s belly button, the line of his obliques, and the crease of his thigh.

His pulse quickened, and so did his breathing, and he was sure that wherever Quentin touched, flames were about to bloom on his skin. It was the bond that made his magic flare.

Quentin continued to kiss and taste and explore, nudging Kaine’s legs further apart to kiss his sac. His tongue traced a line up Kaine’s dick to the head. He held his breath, waiting.

He was going to burst into flames without shifting. “Fuck it. The lube is in the drawer.”

“It’s under my pillow. I moved it when you went to the bathroom.”

Kaine reached overhead and pulled the lube and condom from beneath Quentin’s pillow.

Before he ripped the foil open, Quentin’s mouth closed over his cock. His tongue flicked over the head and pressed against the slit.

“If you keep doing that, you won’t get anything.” He was already on edge. And he blamed the bond for that, too.

Quentin released him. “Pass me the lube.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t already prepare.”

“I thought about it, but I didn’t want to be caught with my fingers up my ass. Although maybe that would’ve been the way to go, given the way you’re smiling.”

“It made for a nice image.” He rolled the condom on. They would talk about the lack of need for them later. He watched as Quentin straddled him again and reached his slick fingers behind. His teeth pressed into his lip, and Kaine knew exactly how many fingers Quentin had inside his ass.

Kaine stroked his mate’s cock, giving his hand a little twist each time and sweeping his thumb over the head. Pre-cum leaked from the slit, slicking each movement. The little noises he made were like a drug. He needed more. He wanted to keep going until Quentin spilled all over him.

Quentin pulled his fingers free. “I don’t want to come until you’re in me.”

“I might come as soon as I’m in you.” He couldn’t remember feeling this keyed up ever.

He didn’t release Quentin’s length as he lifted up, angling Kaine’s cock so he could sink onto it millimeter by millimeter. Kaine’s toes curled. It was too slow and too much. The tight heat of his body around him was like coming home. As if he’d found a place where he belonged. And someone to belong to.

Quentin muttered little curses with every movement.

“Too much?” They were going slowly, but there hadn’t been much prep.

“You’re thick. And…” He groaned as he sank halfway down. His ass clenching around Kaine. “Oh, fuck.” His cock twitched in Kaine’s hand, and he came, spilling over his fingers and onto his belly.

He needed a taste.

Unable to resist, he brought his fingers to his mouth and licked them clean, watching as Quentin sank the rest of the way, taking him all.

He gripped Quentin’s hip with his other hand and thrust into him. With the taste of his mate on his tongue, he slid over the edge too fast. The climax burned through him, stealing his breath. As he came, Quentin gave a shudder of pleasure, his ass milking Kaine for every drop.

The tickle on Kaine’s skin was enough to let him know he’d failed to hold back his flames and his orgasm. He sighed. “I usually last longer.”

He’d wanted longer. It felt as though everything had a time limit, and they were running out.

“Same. Do you usually do the fire thing?” He pointed without touching.

“No.” Not since he was sixteen, anyway, and having a wank could end up with setting fire to the sheets. “It’s my magic being affected by the bond. They won’t hurt you, as you’re my mate.”

Quentin reached out and ran his fingers through the flames dancing across Kaine’s chest. “They feel warm. You’re always warm to touch.”

“I am. I pass for a fire witch.” With his next breath, he got control of himself, and the flames went out.

“Got it. You’re a fire witch, and we met for a hookup, and you discovered I am also a witch in need of training.”

Kaine would’ve skipped the hookup part, but it was always best to leave as much truth as possible. “Has anyone told you how smart you are?”

Quentin smiled. “Only if it’s accompanied by talk of how if I talked less and paid attention more, I’d be a whole lot smarter.”

“No…you’re perfect the way you are.”

Quentin shook his head. “Untrained and dangerous?”

“Aside from that part.” Kaine sat up, keeping one arm around Quentin, not ready for him to pull away. “You can take the first shower, and I’ll make the first of my calls.”

“Can I order room service while you’re in the shower?”

“Yes. Get whatever you want.”

“And for you?”

“Coffee, chocolate croissant, and fruit.” Maybe they could linger over breakfast and put off the start of the day a little longer.