6. Earthly Delights

Doing magic with my werewolf partner in crime is a resounding success. Afterwards, Ewan’s hand cups my cheek, his touch warm and steady.

”You’re touching my face,” I whisper.

”I am.” He’s hushed too. The moment feels important. “Should I stop?”

Neither of us pulls away. Neither of us want to. We’re standing in the instant garden we created together with my magic and his connection to the earth. Surrounded by flowers and wild grass that tickles my ankles. All around us is proof of how well we work together. A beautiful fragrant garden of sensation, and it’s only the beginning. We could have more.

”No, don’t stop,” I answer his question. “But I’m not sure what to do now.”

”Oh, I’ve got some ideas.” Our position means I block the moon’s light from hitting his eyes, but I know they’re glittering with the possibilities. “Guessing you do too.”

”But can we, can we really…?”

“We agreed to a night of fun,” he reminds gently.

”Right, no strings attached.” Which has a new meaning now. “I know how it sounds, but I wasn’t aware sex was part of the arrangement.”

”Me neither.” He flashes me a smile. “Honestly, I kind of hoped so. What about you?”

”Uh, I…” I’m torn between putting distance between us or burying my face into his shoulder. If he’s trying to fluster me, he succeeds. “Do I need to give you the 20 dollars back?”

”Keep it,” he says. “Will it buy me an answer?”

Seeing his entire body naked when we met means that it’s impossible to ignore how attractive he is and how my body responds to the idea of him undressed.

He’s sexy. Part of me wanted to sleep with Ewan as soon as he appeared in human form after visiting my garden. The desire has only grown as I get to know him better. He’s friendly and kind. Ewan reminds me of the best of earth magic, alive, rooted, and full of possibilities.

”Y-y-yeah,” I force out the quiet admission. “I hoped we’d get here too. But that was just based on…”

”On?”

”Your body. Now I wanna sleep with you.” The kind, steady man who holds me in his arms so securely. Oh god, that sounds overboard. “Too much?”

”Just enough,” he decides, gently grabbing my hands. “Look, we can make this complicated or we can just go with it.”

He’s right. Despite the doubt, I told myself to accept his offer and see where a night with him leads me. There’s no regrets about my decision. Our magic was successful, and we work well together. This feels right, so why should we deny ourselves?

All I have to do is give myself permission to go after what I want, to go after him.

”One night,” I say. “You and me. There’s nothing stopping us, except us.”

”I’m in if you are,” Ewan says.

I press my lips to his and pull back with a smile. ”I’m so in.”

The next moments are a blur. Once we establish we’re both on the same page and ready to continue, we can’t get somewhere private fast enough. We rush to his truck and don’t stop touching each other for even a second. I sit in the middle seat of the cab instead of the passenger seat so our sides rest against each other. His hand lands on my thigh whenever we stop at a light on the drive.

We rent a room at a nearby hotel to spend the night together, and I press myself into Ewan’s back, basically hiding from the clerk at the reception desk. Given my hands are still wrapped around Ewan’s waist, the guy knows I’m there.

There’s no reason to be ashamed. The place isn’t a motel, and certainly not a dive or a sketchy by the hour establishment. But there’s too many desires running around in my mind and I’m sure anyone who looks at my face will see them all. I can hardly wait. We’ll have a room to ourselves until whatever time check out is tomorrow. That makes me dizzy with the possibilities.

A tasteful, impersonal room soon greets us. The door clicks shut and we’re alone. My body moves on its own, bridging the small distance between us as he turns to do the same.

We stumble into the wall and don’t let up, kissing in a frenzy. He ends up against the wall, so I follow and put my body against his. My hands are on his face, grazing against the faint stubble on his jaw. He starts shrugging out of his flannel shirt so I help him and then my hands must drag over his arms and enjoy his biceps, which flex and move as he gets distance and pulls off his V-neck, and then my hands and mouth are trying to get as much as they can of his muscles and warm skin.

He wraps his arms around me, using both hands to grab my ass and drag me back into him. We’re both getting hard in our pants. I feel his length and instinctively roll my hips into his and he groans and pants against my neck. I mean to keep exploring his chest and flat stomach, to curl my fingers into the light-colored patch of hair in the center of his chest, but then he starts kissing and nipping my neck and I find it hard to concentrate.

I pull back and watch as he takes in my flushed face and kiss bitten lips. I’m positive no one has ever stared at me with such hunger. He follows me as I lead us to the bed, growling into the space between my neck and shoulder as he catches me from behind and drags me back. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“The bed? The bed is—oh.”

Ewan bites at my skin and makes it impossible to keep talking. When I basically melt into his arms, his lips press in near my collarbone and he nips and drags his teeth there. It’s like a livewire jolting right through me. My cock throbs and I don’t even try to be sexy. I separate from him in order to follow through on my plan, getting us both to the bed and naked. I fling off my shirt and start kicking off my pants and we both race to get undressed.

Throwing most of my clothes off without worry for where they land and making a mess isn’t like me, but Ewan is much more important than neatness in this instance. The only part that requires some care is my elemental keyring. I place it gently in the drawer of the nightstand nearest to me. I’m a firm believer that elements respect the people who respect them and treat them with the reverence they deserve.

Non-casters don’t always understand, but Ewan watches with a fond smile like he gets it. And I thought needing him more was impossible.

The bed turns out to be a wise decision. I make the mistake of looking at him too soon and then I stop functioning and stumble, falling down onto the mattress which breaks my fall. I’ve already seen him naked, but the sight still stuns me. I can’t believe that I get to do more than just look.

The wiry golden hairs on his arms aren’t extremely visible nor is the patch of hair on his chest, but I feel it against my skin when he joins me on the bed. He feels so good against me, and I drag my hands over as much of him as I can, hardly knowing where to focus first.

Then he’s gone a second later and I’m tempted to pout. He’s back after picking up the bag of items he bought from a convenience store near the hotel. “Should check, do you want condoms?”

“Uh, what? What?”

He stands in front of the bed, putting his hardness right around my eye level. His cock looks heavy and red against the blond patch of hair at his groin. My mouth goes dry.

Ewan waves a hand in front of my face. “Condoms?”

Thinking clearly is challenging at the moment, but I do my best. “Shifters are their own type of magical being. They have stronger immune systems and aren’t susceptible to the same illnesses as humans and can’t spread the same things either. A shifter only poses risks to another shifter.”

“And us wizards are basically regular humans,” I ramble on as I think out loud. “Until we take the brand. Though in certain cases, exposure to an element results in superficial changes before branding.” I give him a wry smile and pat the top of my head. “Which is why I have never ever dyed my naturally black hair and yet it’s pure white.” The same shock of white as both my parents.

I’ve never thought it suited me but at least Ewan seems to like it. His fingers curl in the strands at the back of my head as he presses light kisses against my jaw. He seems unable to stop touching me entirely. He’s incredible and I like this, I like having nothing between us. Oh right, that answers that question.

”No, no condoms is fine. Um, did you bring—”

My request is cut off. I shudder when his palm cups me near the base of my erection and stops all my thoughts. His fingers wrap around my length, and he slowly moves his hand up like he’s experimenting, trying to get a feel for me and the best way to touch me. I rock into him, needing more. His hand is slick and glides over me easily, wet with the lube I’d been trying to ask about.

”I’ve got it covered.” He looks smug about that, and I can’t argue.

And he covers me a second later, moving us both down on the bed. He settles over me, and my hand immediately sneaks down between us to feel his hardness, but he beats me to it. He wraps a hand around us both and starts stroking and we both groan. He uses a steady, measured pace, but it’s nearly too much because he’s right there with me.

“Come here,” I demand.

He lifts his head, our mouths find each other, falling open as our tongues tangle in the same rhythm, even but insistent.

I rock into him as his tempo finally increases and then we both start moving together and flying towards our release.

I wonder if we’ll come at the same time, spurting together over our cocks, and mixing in a wonderful mess over our stomachs. I need that with a ferocity that feels almost lupine like him. This is more than enough to get me off just like this, it’s amazing, but I can’t help being greedy. I have to speak.

“Please don’t stop.”

”Not planning on it,” he grunts.

”C-cool, I’m just saying that in advance because I also need to ask something.”

”We’re doing 20 questions now?” he grits out, struggling to focus on a conversation, which is so hot that I have this effect on him.

”Only one question! We said one night together. That’s different than one round, right?”

”Oh yeah,” he says without hesitation. “Lots and lots more rounds, all the rounds.”

”Great. Just checking. Because I really need you to fuck me. That can wait until later! Hey, don’t stop, I clearly said don’t stop.”

Yet he is and rolling away too, the exact opposite of my pleas.

”You take over.” He’s feeling around on the bed, looking for something. “Where’d that lube go?”

Oh. While I hated to stop the fun, we promised ourselves one night of each other. I had to clarify we wouldn’t be calling it a night after we came once. Because we can’t go our separate ways without me knowing what his cock feels like inside me. Apparently, he appreciated my idea and is being so thoughtful to soothe my fears. We won’t be letting up anytime soon because he’s getting the lube so he can get me ready for next time.

With me taking over, I nearly moan aloud when I realize I get to be the one to take us over the edge, that I get to make Ewan come.

I commit myself fully to the task.

We maneuver so that I’m straddling Ewan and have access to both our erections while he can reach around me when he’s done slicking up his fingers.

Even though we’re about the same height, I spend my days around old books and other future wizards in classrooms while he spends his days working with his hands and building things. His hand fit us both but mine falls a bit short. I’m not even embarrassed to use both hands to get the best grip as I work with single-minded focus.

He approves or at least part of him does because I feel his cock throb next to mine and his hand falls heavily on my backside where it journeys to my hole.

“Aren’t you glad I suggested this after all?”

“Good call,” he agrees huskily. “Such a great call.”

I bite my lip to hold back an extremely undignified noise when his thumb traces my rim. I wouldn’t call myself someone who has enough sex to really develop a preference for topping, bottoming, or both. Quick handjobs with the handful of harried wizarding hopefuls I tried to date for a month or two before it fizzled out were pretty standard. Ewan is showing me just how inadequate those experiences were.

Taking a bit of time and really enjoying someone else’s body is incredible, especially when the body belongs to the strapping wolf shifter in bed with me. The sudden visceral need to have him inside me was almost surprising. But as Ewan lifts one globe of flesh in his hand, spreading me open with gentle precision, I know I made the right choice.

”Fuck, Jack,” he groans, his voice rough and full of desire.

One slick finger teases its way inside me. My body responds immediately, pushing into the digit with one breath and then into the motion of my hands around us. My hips rock against him in a desperate attempt for more contact.

”More,” I whimper, arching my back to give him better access.

I need so much more. Like rounds two, three, and four worth of more.

When it comes to round one, however, I’m reaching my breaking point. I do my best to keep stroking and to bring him over with me too.

We groan and pant into each other’s mouths as we do indeed find our release together. His cock pulses in my hand, hot liquid coating my palm, and if I wasn’t already coming, that would have done it.

My orgasm hits me hard, just as steady and forceful as the rhythm he set up, washing over every part of me and not letting up until the end.

We come down and catch our breath together. His fingers have stopped their journey inside me, but not retreated, just paused. The hand cupping my ass has relaxed yet still holds on loosely in an almost proprietary gesture.

We don’t move away from each other. Clearly, we aren’t done yet, just taking a moment until we’re ready to continue. I’m not thinking of much. Anything I am thinking about lies on this bed with me.

So, it takes a moment to place the odd musical sound that starts up somewhere in the room. A phone.

“Ignore it,” Ewan says.

“And I totally will, after I ask why your ringtone is Hungry Like the Wolf.”

“Oh shit.” His eyes widen like this is a monumental revelation. “You’re right.”

”You didn”t know?”

”No, I knew. My sister did that.”

”Should I be offended you didn’t put your phone on silent?”

”I did, except for that number.” He doesn’t look happy about it, but he starts pulling away from me. “It’s never on silent because it’s the only call I can’t ever ignore. That number belongs to my alphas.”