Chapter One

Gage

Finding the upper middle piece of his puzzle, Gage grinned with satisfaction. His boyfriend had found this puzzle on the internet that was rated at the highest difficulty. Gage was going to get this puzzle done in record time. They had a bet, and Gage was determined to win this one.

He turned his head at the grunt from the floor. “Want a drink?”

Cary didn’t even lift his gaze from the coloring book in front of him. He simply held his hand up.Gage resisted snickering as he passed his boyfriend the sippy cup of juice from the edge of the table. After removing his thumb from his mouth, Cary took several long gulps of apple juice before holding the cup up again.

Gage barely had the cup back on the table before Cary had his thumb back in his mouth. Cary was regressing more and more lately, and Gage knew he was the reason why. Gage pushed back from the table and joined his boyfriend on the worn carpet.

“Done?” Cary asked, his words muffled by his thumb.

“Not yet. Just taking a break. Should I order us some food?” Neither of them cooked so they ate a lot of takeout, warmed stuff in the oven, and made sandwiches.

“Pizza?”

Cary always wanted pizza. “Pepperoni?” He always wanted pepperoni.

“Pwease.” The little word clearly heard.

“You got it, baby.” Gage kissed the back of Cary’s head. He rose and grabbed his phone from next to his puzzle. Ignoring the dozens of messages from his parents, Gage opened the app to their favorite pizza restaurant.

He had a large pizza ordered and on the way before walking to the bathroom. Cary’s house was two stories, and this was the only bathroom on the first floor. Gage took care of business then washed his hands. He left the bathroom and headed up the stairs.

The wall beside him was filled with photos and pictures of Cary’s family through generations. Gage loved looking at the memories that Cary’s grandmother had been so proud of. She’d loved talking about the family and telling stories. Cary’s grandmother had been a wonderful storyteller. Gage would sit and listen to her talk for hours.

He missed Cary’s grandmother more than he did his own.

Gage’s family wasn’t like Cary’s had been. Loving. Supportive. Caring. Cary’s life had been filled with love while Gage’s filled with responsibility.

Reaching the second floor of the landing, Gage went to Cary’s room. They kept the other doors closed. Cary didn’t like looking at his grandparents’ belongings, but he also wouldn’t even discuss getting rid of anything.

Gage had left the bag they used when Cary went into little mode on the bed. They didn’t have to hide their regression sides now that Cary lived in the house alone, but it had become habit. Gage grabbed the strap of the bag before he headed back down the stairs.

He trailed his finger over the picture frame at the top of the stairs. The one of Cary with his grandparents. It was Gage’s favorite. Cary had just turned eighteen in the photo and Gage had realized a week before it had been taken that Cary was his mate. Luckily, they’d grown up together, so Cary already knew about shifters.

Reaching the dining room, Gage dropped the bag. “Cary?” Where had his boyfriend gotten off to? “Cary?”

There was no response.

Gage checked the kitchen, walked past the open bathroom door, and continued toward the rear of the house. They didn’t normally go back here either. Cary’s grandfather’s office and an empty storage room weren’t any rooms they often needed to enter. The back door remained locked and unused.

“Cary!”

He turned to the corner, nearly running into Cary.

“What are you doing?” He wrapped his arm around Cary’s waist.

Cary pointed to the ceiling.

Gage groaned. “Do we have to?”

Thumb still in mouth, Cary nodded.

Damn it, they really needed to take advantage of having the big house all to themselves. “Fine.” He jumped, snagging the rope that hung from the attic door. His feline agility and ability making it easy enough for Gage to catch. Gage pulled hard, forcing the door open. The ladder fell. Gage had to pull Cary out of the way so he wouldn’t get hurt. They’d made that mistake too many times.

“I’ll go first,” Gage told his boyfriend. He started up the ladder and into the attic. He hated the small space up here. It was dusty, stinking, and hot. All those reasons were why they hid their small collection of toys up there. Gage was going to convince Cary they could keep their chest downstairs. It sucked to have to carry the heavy thing up and down every time Cary wanted to play.

He crawled to the dark blue metal chest in the corner and lifted it. Turning, he pushed the chest across the wood floor before spotting his boyfriend. Cary knelt at the entrance, looking around the attic with his sad eyes.

“Hey!” Gage crawled over to his boyfriend. Shoving that damn chest the entire way.

“We’re going to have to clean out the attic and all the rooms when I sell the house,” Cary said quietly.

“That’s not going to happen. You aren’t selling your family home.” They weren’t having this argument again.

“Either I sell it so we have money to run away with or I sell it because I won’t watch you spend the rest of your life with her. Having children—”

“Stop! Just stop!” Gage pulled Cary into his arms. “We are going to figure something out.” Even saying the words made his heart hurt. Time was running out and they both knew it.

Cary sniffed as his tears dripped onto Gage’s neck.

“Shh, baby. We’ll figure it out,” Gage promised. They were going to have to run. He wasn’t marrying some woman that he didn’t even know. He wasn’t leaving Cary behind ever.

“It isn’t fair!” Cary pulled away. “We’re mates! That should be enough!” Flinging his arm, Cary knocked down the box closest to them.

Gage pulled Cary out of the way from being crushed by the massive box. The box hit the floor, spilling its content.

“I’m sorry.” Cary scrambled to pick up the mess.

“It’s okay. Hey!” Gage caught Cary’s hand. “Look at me.”

Cary lifted his gaze from the mess to him. His eyes were still watery.

“Ignore that.” Gage smiled. “I’ll clean it up.”

“You already do so much for me. What am I going to do without you? How will I live?”

“That’s not something you will ever have to worry about,” Gage vowed. Fuck, he hadn’t done right by his mate. Cary was his whole world, but they should have run months ago. He’d known sooner or later that his parents, the clowder leader, and the elders would demand his compliance. Gage felt like a total asshole.

“How?” Cary demanded.

“I don’t know!” Gage threw his hands up in the air. His elbow bumped another box, making it crash to the ground with a heavy thud. He took a long, deep breath. He knew better than letting his emotions get away from him. Gage’s most important job was making sure that Cary was safe and happy.

“What”—Cary picked up a big leather-bound book—“is this?”

“A book,” Gage said with a grin. Of course, his boyfriend would get distracted by some book. Story of their lives.

“I’ve never seen this before,” Cary said as he carefully opened the cover.

“What is it?”

“A book,” Cary teased. He looked up and winked. “A magic book.”

“Magic?” Gage shuddered. Magic was illegal. They weren’t even allowed to discuss anything regarding magic. Although Cary’s grandmother dabbled, and Gage had kept that a secret from his family and the clowder.

“Why would my grandma keep this up here?” Cary asked as he continued to carefully turn the pages.

The doorbell rang and Gage jumped.

“Put that away!” Gage pushed the book from Cary’s hands.

“Careful!” Cary shouted. He cradled the book to his chest while glaring at Gage.

“Someone is here!” Gage reminded him.

“You ordered pizza,” Cary responded.

“Oh.” Yeah, he had. “I’ll get it. Put that book away!” Gage scrambled away from Cary and to the ladder. He hurried to the ground floor. The doorbell rang again. He snagged his wallet from the table by the door before he pulled it open. “Hey.”

“Hey, Gage, how’s it going?” Josh, their usual delivery person responded with a smile.

“Good, man. How about you?”

“Can’t complain,” Josh replied.

Gage pulled a twenty from his wallet and passed it over. “Keep the change.”

“Thanks! Appreciate it!” Josh handed him the pizza before stepping back. “See you next time.”

“Have a good one!” Gage called. He waited until Josh was back in his vehicle safely before he closed and locked the door. Just seeing that book had made him jumpy.

“Cary! Food is here!”

“I’m in the kitchen getting plates and drinks!” Cary responded. “Meet you on the couch.”

Gage strolled to the living room but stopped short when he saw the book lying on the coffee table.

“I brought you a Coke. I’m going to stick with apple juice even though I’m not little… What’s wrong?”

“Why did you bring that down here?”

“The book?” Cary rolled his eyes. “It’s just a book.”

“About magic!”

“Yes. You know about my grandma.”

“But that’s—”

“Maybe our way out of this.”

Gage shook his head. “Huh?”

“Sit. Eat. You get cranky when you’re hungry.”

“I do not!” Maybe he did. Shifters burnt a lot of energy. Even small felines like him.

“Pizza!” Cary teased as he set the plates and drinks next to the book.

Gage really didn’t his drink by that…thing. “Can’t you—”

Cary flopped onto the couch. “It’s just a book. And I’m going to read through it to see if there’s anything in it to help us.”

Gage sat down much more carefully than his boyfriend. “But it’s magic.”

Cary lifted one of his bushy red eyebrows. Gage hated when his boyfriend did that. It was too cute and Gage always gave in to what Cary wanted.

“I… Okay. Tell me what you find.” He grabbed two slices and put them on a plate for his boyfriend.

Cary snorted. “I won’t bother you with the boring stuff. Just if I find something. Something that will help us, I mean. I’ve found tons already.”

“This is why I love you,” Gage said happily. He hated school and any kind of learning, which was the complete opposite of his boyfriend. Cary should be off to college, but his grandparents hadn’t been able to afford to send him. Gage wished he could have taken up the slack, but he had less money than Cary’s family. No way would his parents ever help his boyfriend. They wouldn’t even acknowledge what Cary was to him.

“Just eat your pizza,” Cary told him.

Gage could get behind that order.

* * * * *

Cary

“I think I found something!”

Gage jerked awake from where he was pretending not to nap next to him. “Huh?”

Cary nudged his boyfriend. “I think I found something.”

“In that book of yours?” Gage ran his hand roughly over his face.

“Yes,” Cary hissed. “In the book. I think I found a way to help us.”

That got his boyfriend’s attention. Gage sat up. “You really found something?”

“Maybe.” Cary leaned his shoulder against Gage’s. Both of their backs to the wall as they shared Cary’s bed. “I think this is a summoning spell.”

“To summon what? Or who?”

“That I’m not sure about,” Cary admitted. He’d been reading through the magic book for two days and had almost given up hope. If he didn’t find something soon, they were going to run out of time.

“Why not?”

“I don’t read Latin,” Cary told him.

“Then how are you reading that book?”

“I should have said I don’t read it well. I know the common words.” He lifted his phone to show Gage his translator.

“That’s actually pretty fucking smart.” Gage kissed the side of his head.

“Thank you.”

“I knew you were brilliant. Haven’t I always said that?” Gage kissed lower on his neck.

“I haven’t figured it out completely.”

“You will.” Gage nibbled on Cary’s ear. “I have faith in you.”

Cary giggled as Gage that spot on him. “What are you doing?” He leaned his head farther back to give his boyfriend better access.

“Kissing you. Loving on you.” Gage pushed the book off his lap.

“Hey! Careful, we need that!”

“Then put it away,” Gage said. “I want you.”

Cary wiggled out from under Gage to set the book carefully on the bedside table. He turned back to his boyfriend. Even with everything that they were going through, Cary knew that he was a very lucky person. To have grown up and spent his entire life with Gage.

Gage yanked his shirt over his head. “Last one naked gets sucked off last!”

Crap! That was tricky of his boyfriend. Gage was wearing less clothes than him as normal. Gage ran hot due to his shifter DNA. Cary started to undress as fast as he could. Their clothes went flying and it was a race, but Cary beat Gage by seconds. Maybe because he kept brushing his palm over Gage’s thigh. It wasn’t cheating—it was using his big brain, as Gage called it.

“I won!” Cary lifted his arms up in triumph.

Gage snorted. “Cheater.”

“You're so easy,” Cary teased.

“Maybe.” Gage pulled on Cary’s legs until Cary was sprawled out on the mattress. He hovered over Cary. “I love you.”

Yeah, Cary was lucky. Gage never failed to tell Cary how important Cary was to him. “I love you too.”

Gage’s kiss was gentle. Coaxing. Cary wrapped his arms around Gage’s neck as he kissed his boyfriend back. Cary loved to kiss. He loved to kiss Gage.

Running his hands down Gage’s back, he paid special attention to the muscles as they bunched and hardened under his touch. Gage’s clothes hid most of the muscles and they were something that only Cary saw. That only Cary got to touch. There had never been any other boyfriends for them. Girlfriends either, for that matter. Just the two of them. They were meant to be.

“I love your skin,” Gage told him as he kissed lower. “I love having you like this.”

“More.” Cary spread his legs as Gage settled between them. His pale freckled skin flushed when he was turned on.

“I know what you want, baby,” Gage said.

“You. I’ll always want you.”

“And I want you,” Gage replied as he slid down Cary’s body. He grasped Cary’s hard cock and gave the head a lick.

Cary whimpered.

“I know what you like,” Gage told him. “You want me to swallow your cock.”

“Yes!” Cary hissed as he lifted his hips. He loved, and hated, when Gage teased him.

“What if I want to play?” Gage teased. He stroked Cary from root to tip.

“No!” Cary wailed.

“You got to play with your toys earlier,” Gage pointed out.

He had. Gage always made sure that Cary had time to regress. That Cary would give his mind a rest when he needed it.

“I should get to play with my toy.” Gage stroked him several more times.

“Please!” Cary was getting too worked up.

Gage ran his tongue on the underside of Cary’s shaft. Gage had a talent with his tongue. Not as good as Cary and didn’t that make him happy that he was the king of blowjobs. Still, Gage knew how to get Cary hot.

Cary squirmed.

“I’m going to taste all of you,” Gage vowed. “Until you spill down my throat.”

“Yes!”

Gage took the tip of Cary’s dick into his mouth. Just the head and sucked. And Cary’s boyfriend was very enthusiastic. Cary nearly launched himself off the mattress. Gage hadn’t been joking. He planned on playing with Cary. He knew just how to make Cary’s body sing. Gage bobbed his head, taking more and more of Cary’s cock until he was gagging.

Pumping his hips, Cary tried to get even more of his shaft down Gage’s throat.

Gage pulled away to grin at him.

“Again,” Cary begged.

“Spread your legs,” Gage ordered.

He didn’t even hesitate.

Gage’s shoulders kept his legs wide as Gage licked at his hole. Teased him with a finger. They didn’t have anal sex often, but since they both loved bottoming, they did often play with each other and their own holes.

“More,” Cary demanded.

Gage chuckled against Cary’s flush then licked his hole again before thrusting his tongue inside. Gage pulled back, kissing and nipping at Cary’s sensitive flesh. Gage’s teeth scraped along his hole.

Cary screeched. Oh, that was so good. He melted into Gage’s hands, letting his boyfriend take his entire weight. Have all of him. Gage didn’t disappoint. He returned to rimming Cary. Focusing on Cary’s pleasure.

It didn’t take but minutes for Cary to become a blubbering mess. Begging and pleading. Wanting the ecstasy to last forever while also wanting to come so bad. So, so bad.

He pushed down as Gage speared him with a finger then licked around his pucker. Cary reached for his shaft, but Gage knocked his hand away.

“Please!”

A second finger was added and that was the most perfect feeling ever! He pushed back, taking the digits deeper. With two fingers still buried, Gage lifted his mouth before returning to Cary’s cock.

Gage sucked him down with the right amount of suction. Gage’s mouth was hot, tight, and perfect. Cary writhed and gasped. Chased his high as Gage worked him faster.

Digging his fingers into Gage’s silky black hair, Cary tugged nearly punishingly. Cary plunged deep into Gage’s mouth then pushed himself onto those digits. He fucked himself over and over until grunting out his warning. Cary waited until Gage had pulled back a bit before he gave one last hard thrust.

He came hard with his boyfriend, swallowing every drop.

Gage popped up between Cary’s legs.

Panting, Cary blinked up at his boyfriend. Gage’s black hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat. His lips were red and swollen. He was gorgeous. “Come here. My turn.”

Gage flushed. “I…sort of…already…”

“Already what?”

“Came when you did,” Gage confessed.

Cary laughed. Yeah, he was the luckiest guy in the whole world. “Then come up here to cuddle me.”

Gage shook his head while sliding up the bed. “You get to sleep in the wet spot. Since you got sucked off.” He settled next to Cary.

“You would have gotten sucked off too if you could have waited.” Cary didn’t care if he was in the wet spot. He had his boyfriend holding him tight. They were together. Cary wanted to remember these moments just in case he never had them again.

“Guess I need better control,” Gage quipped.

“This is why we need a Daddy,” Cary replied carefully. They discussed trying to find a more dominant partner in the past. Of course, that was before Gage was set to marry a woman. If they ran away, would that be something that they could still search for?

“One day,” Gage said before yawning. “Now go to sleep.”

“I need to finish translating the book,” Cary argued. They were running out of time.

“Just a nap,” Gage told him. “A small one.”

His boyfriend always slept after they’d been intimate. Cary knew that if he gave it a couple of minutes, Gage would be snoring and he could get back to reading. They would figure this out and Cary would not lose his boyfriend.

Closing his eyes, Cary sent his wish out into the universe. Please don’t let me lose my boyfriend.

* * * * *

Gage

“Why do we have to do this up here?” Gage questioned for the fifth time. He peered around the small circle Cary had made in the attic. It was silly how much Gage hated the attic, but it didn’t bother Cary being up there. And that made Gage feel stupid.

“Do you really want a salt circle, candles, and blood downstairs where someone could see through the windows?” Cary replied. Like he had every other time.

He knew what Gage needed to hear. Gage scowled at his boyfriend. He had a point to this bitching. He was worried. “I don’t like it up here. It’s cramped.”

“Gage.” Cary looked up from where he sat cross-legged in the middle of the circle. “Do you not want to do this?”

What? Mess with magic? No, no, Gage did not.

“We still have two days,” Cary said.

Which was why they had to do this now. “I want to do this,” he lied. “If you do.”

“I’m out of ideas,” Cary said. “If we summon this demon, he might know how to help us. Or at least scare your parents and the clowder enough for us to run.”

“We don’t even know where we’ll go. Or how we’ll live,” Gage pointed out. Again. He gave most of the money he made at his part-time job to his parents. Or they took it and gave him a small allowance. He squirreled away some tips but that wasn’t enough for them to live on for long.

“We’ll figure it out,” Cary told him. “The important thing is that we’ll be together.”

“Okay.” Gage carefully stepped over the salt circle to stand within. He helped his boyfriend to his feet. “What do I need to do?”

“Nothing. I think.”

This was why Gage was so worried. They didn’t know anything about summoning or demons or any of this. Cary could barely read the book. He sighed. This was wrong. Gage knew it was wrong.

“Just hold on to me while I say the summoning.”

Gage wrapped his arms around Cary’s waist, resting his chin on Cary’s shoulder. Cary opened the book and didn’t waste time as he began the summoning. Gage didn’t understand a word that his boyfriend was saying but he could feel something was happening. Feel it in his bones. His feline prowled inside him—something wasn’t right.

Gage opened his mouth to warn his boyfriend when the floor disappeared underneath his feet.

* * * * *

Lucifer

Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. And one. Lucifer snapped his fingers at the stroke of midnight. It was December first. Finally.

Instantly the view from his large picture window changed. Gone was the red dirt of the hell realm soil. White, crisp, and gorgeous snow covered every inch of the ground. The orange hue of the sky had given way to the small slow flurries that had started to fall. As he watched, they began to fall harder. Faster. Soon the snowstorm would be all he would be able to see from his windows.

His cell began to ring from where he’d set it on his desk, but Lucifer ignored the interruption. Besides, Lucifer already knew it would be one of his princes, dukes, or demons calling to complain about the changes he’d just made.

One month. He gave himself one month a year to indulge in his happy time, and Lucifer was not going to give it up. No matter what the other demons said. Or how much they complained that hell should be scorching hot. Technically, they weren’t even part of the hell realm. This private plane that Lucifer had made for himself and his oldest and closest friends existed between realms and could only be entered if Lucifer allowed it. If the other demons didn’t like the changes that Lucifer made every December, they could leave.

It only took a wave of his hand for the fire to roar to life in the hearth and for him to have a mug of hot cocoa piled high with marshmallows in his hand. He didn’t feel the change of temperature himself, but he knew some demons were more sensitive.

In his red silk lounge pants, thin white camisole top, and red silk robe, Lucifer was going to enjoy every minute of his celebration.

Lucifer took a sip of his cocoa before sighing in pleasure. This was the life.

He could let the worries he constantly carried go for a short amount of time. The longer he isolated himself on his private plane, the more out of touch he’d become to his people. Lucifer had vowed to do better, be better for his people, but after his favorite holiday.

For the last several months, changes to the hell realm and for the demons under his care had Lucifer paying more attention to what was happening to the world at large. The paranormal creatures were finding mates again. After decades of struggles, there was true hope for all of them. Meaning Lucifer needed to embrace the changes to make sure that all his demons were on board.

There was time for him to worry about his demons and mates later though. December…December was all for him. He might have had to create his own traditions, but they were all his. He knew that any moment his inbox would start to fill, aided by the magic he wielded.

He’d be busy making wishes come true. Using his magic for good. Even for realms that called him evil, or the devil, or Satan. They didn’t know better. People who feared him didn’t know the true Lucifer or his story.

It hurt but Lucifer had lived many centuries and knew he should be over the pain of how others saw him. His father and brothers loved him. Supported him. Understood him in a way no one else, not even his closest demons, did. Lucifer had been given a task that no one should ever have to endure. It was up to him to make sure that evil souls were delivered to justice and good souls found their paradise.

Even his father and brothers indulged in Lucifer’s favorite holiday with him. They might find the whole thing ridiculous, but Christmas dinner was still the event that every member of his family attended.

Just thinking of the feast that he would put on had Lucifer smiling. That wouldn’t come until after all the hard work was completed. The children from other realms deserved to have a happy holiday as well.

Lucifer jumped as a bright white portal appeared in the middle of his office. Quickly he set his mug down and prepared to defend himself. No one would dare enter his domain without permission unless they were there for nefarious reasons.

With a fireball hovering over each palm, Lucifer prepared to attack.

The portal popped out of existence, leaving two young men standing in the middle of his office.

One young man, black hair, dark eyes, smelling of shifter, stared at Lucifer with his mouth open. The other, human, from what Lucifer could tell, was red-haired, fair-skinned, with an adorable sprinkle of freckles across the bridge of his nose and on his cheeks. The shifter had frozen in place while the human was muttering and staring at the big thick book in his hands.

Lucifer extinguished the fireballs with only a thought. “Hello.”