Mage Partners: Lost
Dec. 13th, 2012 12:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
frogs_of_warI don't have a sequel for Claimed, but I did happen to have two sequels sitting on my desktop. Here is one:
Title: Lost
Series: Mage Partners
Status: Complete
Genre: m/m/m romance, fantasy, magic
Rating: R
Length: about 5,500 words
Summary: Gyorgy would have enjoyed himself more if Eligius and Phire weren't having fun together without him. He probably wouldn't have been waylaid by a mage either.
Mage Partners
Gyorgy normally liked bazaars. He loved the bustling people in their bright colored clothing, the scents from half the world in a single stall, the music that could be heard over the chatter of a thousand people, the animals for sale that he’d only ever heard about, and the dancers that twisted and swirled in clothing so light that they might actually have been comfortable in this heat despite their exercise.
He liked bazaars, but he always liked them more with Eligius and Phire beside him. He liked their takes on which were the best deals and whether something was authentic and which dealers were fair and honest. Gyorgy would be happy to be in the bazaar with them. He’d be happy to be doing anything with them now, especially doing with them what they were doing with each other.
He was old enough. He had been sixteen for months. He was old enough to be a mage partner in his own right. He was old enough to share a bed, not just a pallet, with the two men that were supposed to be his. He was old enough not to be kicked out as soon as they got to the good stuff.
They’d sent him on an unnecessary errand this afternoon so they could have a few hours without him. If he was unwanted, he should just go back to Gustav’s. And he would if he wasn’t sure that would prove him to be the child he was trying to show them he wasn’t.
He wanted to be more than just the boy they kissed in emergencies. He wanted to feel their hands on him. He wanted to do errands with them, not while they were getting their fill of each other.
Gyorgy looked up from the table of trinkets. If Eligius or Phire were with him, he’d buy those pretty wooden earrings for Anikó. They trusted him with a little spending money of his own. Robertson didn’t. Where was Robertson anyway? Gyorgy had heard both Phire and Eligius tell him to keep Gyorgy within his sight as if Gyorgy was a little kid or someone. They must think he was. Would he ever grow up in their eyes?
He stepped away from the stall. Where was Robertson? Where was the inn from here if he did need to find his way back? Why would Robertson, who was so concerned with pickpockets that Gyorgy wasn’t allowed to carry a penny of his own money, leave Gyorgy to fend for himself in a city he’d never visited before? Talk about irresponsible.
“Young man,” someone touched his arm, “may I help?”
Gyorgy yank his arm away and sucked back in the magic he normally allowed to float along his skin before he turned to get a better look at the man. He was a little taller than Gyorgy with a small beard but no other facial hair like most of the men in the crowd, but his beard was thinner and his clothes were brighter and his smile made Gyorgy uncomfortable.
Gyorgy stepped away with one of those nodding bows Zlanchad’s mage partner had shown him, much to Phire’s annoyance. Phire didn’t think Gyorgy should bow to anyone, but Gyorgy had notice that a small bow in the right place opened doors that might otherwise stay closed. “Thank you, but I’m here with someone.”
The man looked around. “Who are you here with? Let me put you in his keeping.”
Gyorgy still couldn’t find Robertson.
The man grinned. “Then let me take you back to your inn. It was Raven’s Corner, isn’t that right?”
Why would this guy think he knew where Gyorgy was staying? Gyorgy needed to get to the inn and the safely of the other mages as soon as he could. Where was the drat mage babysitter when Gyorgy needed him? But an inn with a raven on it wasn’t far from where the one Gyorgy was staying at. Maybe if he let this guy led him close, he could get back on his own. Or he’d see someone he knew and get away. “Who are you?”
The man bowed fluidly. “I am Mahyar, just a simple merchant.”
But as he stood up, his eyes caught Gyorgy’s and turned from the brown of the locals to a yellow-orange. He was a mage. Gyorgy was in trouble.
--
Gyorgy pretended his wasn’t remembering Gusztáv bácsi lessons on the dangers of mages as Mahyar took his arm. And he knew Eligius and Phire didn’t want anyone touching him even in the most neutral of ways except in emergencies. He’d feed his magic to other mage holders who had been depleted during the earthquakes that turned out to be monsters, who having been awaken by a young mage’s spell that went awry, got up and continued their centuries’ old battle. They had been asleep so long that tree had grown on them and lakes had formed. No wonder the locals had thought they were hills.
But even to save lives, Gyorgy’s mages didn’t want him to give directly to another mage.
Where was Robertson? Hadn’t anyone noticed Gyorgy was missing? Why couldn’t he see Zlanchad or any of the mage holders? Hadn’t Abena and Ife wanted to look at silks? Here was a stand selling many brightly colored swaths, but no mages or partners. If only Eligius and Phire were at the bazaar. They wouldn’t have lost him so easily.
The silk merchant proved to be the last in this direction. Moments later Gyorgy and Mahyar were one of only a few people on the street. Where were Eligius and Phire? How come they had excluded him? If they had just bottled up their desires for each other like Gyorgy had to bottle up his desires for them, he wouldn’t be so far from the bazaar that he couldn’t hear it anymore.
Mahyar turned a corner and led him to a fountain. “You recognize this?”
Gyorgy had walked past several fountains between the inn and the bazaar, but he’d been sulking too much to take in the sights. Maybe he’d seen one with otters on it, but if he had, that fountain had been in a much busier square. Another man bustled up to them. Mahyar tugged Gyorgy around another corner and down several narrow streets, but the man caught up with them. He was a mage as well if his eyes meant anything. Two mages would be worse than one.
As soon as Mahyar let go of his arm, Gyorgy ran. He didn’t know where he was going, but very few places would be worse than where he was. The sound of running feet died away behind him. But still he ran. He ran until his throat was dry and his side ached and his eyes burned from the sun’s glare. The months with the mages had increased Gyorgy’s stamina. Now he could walk all day, gather wood for the cook fire, and stand watch before going to sleep and do the same thing the next day. Had he been in this situation right after he came to live with Phire and Eligius, he would have been caught right off.
Life with Gusztáv bácsi had been easy and hadn’t prepared him at all for life outside. But maybe that was the way things should be. He couldn’t have had a better childhood, but he was a man now. And Gusztáv bácsi’s house was still a haven Gyorgy could run to if he needed it. Too bad it was so far away.
Gyorgy turned another corner and raced down an alley so narrow that he could have hit the walls with his elbows. He almost tripped on the stairs. What kind of alley had stairs? The stairs led to another street. Or maybe the one he’d been on earlier. He could be running in circles for all he knew. He looked around for the sun. If he kept the shadows on the same side of him, he’d go in a straight line, but probably a line away from Phire and Eligius and everyone he knew.
Was he still being chased? He couldn’t hear anything over the beat of his heart.
He ducked into a doorway and hid behind a potted plant on the shady side of the street. This cover was barely better than leaning against a wall, but he needed a breather. He closed his eyes and listened with all his might. Voices came from the house behind him and feet running…
He opened his eyes and pressed himself as far into the corner as he could.
A group of men ran by. They were wearing white, the first clothes of that color Gyorgy had seen in this city, but the bands around their right upper arms were the color of Mahyar’s eyes. Were these men after him? Why else would they be running? Were those swords they carried to force Gyorgy to do their will? He must never be caught. Eligius said that magic holders like Gyorgy were worth a lot and might be held against their wills or even sold to other mages. That was not going to happen to Gyorgy.
He darted to the narrow alley and ran back along it. He glanced out before racing across the street. If he stayed in the narrowest alleys the wide shouldered men couldn’t follow him.
An eternity later, as the shadows merged together, Gyorgy ran straight into the middle of a square when an alley ended unexpectedly. He froze and looked around, but this wasn’t a street. This fountain’s square was surrounded by walls with no way out save the alley or through one of the six doors which looked to led to houses. In one a baby cried. In another, children played. In a third, women laughed while an instrument was played. But listening as hard as he could, Gyorgy didn’t hear footsteps.
He dared the fountain. He was so thirsty that the cold water hurt his throat. He drank until his belly hurt. He was so hungry. Would he ever eat again? But more importantly, were the men still following him? He had to find a place to hide.
Most of the doors off the courtyard were surrounded by potted plants. A few even had small gardens, but one had nothing alive near it. All the pots were empty. Gyorgy snuck close. He saw a tiny bit of blank wall though a hole in the scrollwork window. No noises came from behind it. Better and better, now he needed to get inside without looking like he’d forced the door. He lifted the latch… and the door opened. He looked inside. Dust covered every surface.
He quickly closed the door and looked around for a way to bolt it. A board engraved with swirls leaned against a wall. He tried it and it fit, but every one of his footprints stood out plain in the dust. Anyone who looked through the right hole in the scrollwork windows couldn’t help but see.
He hunted through the house, looking in every cupboard and behind every door. On the second floor he found a broom in a cubbyhole behind a door. He started by sweeping up his steps on the ground floor. His heart beat quickly. Had his pursuers found the courtyard? Were they standing beyond the windows even now? He looked out, but the courtyard seemed empty. The windows were much easier to see out of than into.
Still he was glad to move to the rooms that didn’t face the courtyard. He swept everything and piled the dust up in the corner of each room. Then he tackled the next floor. That one had a stairs to the roof, which might be the safest place to be, but he didn’t want anyone to be able to tell. He climbed to the top floor and swept that and the stairs.
He would probably never keep house for Eligius and Phire. They both seemed to think that people should be hired for that, but that might be because they didn’t really have a home. When they’d shored up a dam so old that no one knew when it had been built, Phire had hired a house, paid a maid and cook and a boy for errands, and bought food from the locals and all that hadn’t taken much from the money they’d gotten from the town and surrounding areas. Plus they are also being paid by a king, Gyorgy didn’t know which one, to wander and deal with relics of an old war, like monsters.
After all the dust was in piles, Gyorgy hid the broom and crept up the stairs to the roof. Out in the open air, he felt exposed. He crawled to the west side of the roof where he leaned against a half wall and watched the sun set.
His stomach rumbled. He was hungry. He was always hungry, but he hadn’t eaten since breakfast. Robertson was supposed to feed him. So much for that. He should be back at the inn listening to Farzan insert himself into history he couldn’t possible have lived through or watch Sorrel fail spectacularly to win over the barmaids while Gyorgy leaned against Eligius’s side and whenever he glanced towards the table where Phire pored over papers or map for their missions, Phire’s eyes would drop from Gyorgy to the parchment in his hand.
Phire wanted him. Phire wanted his arms around Gyorgy, his hands against Gyorgy’s skin, not just when monsters attacked but all the time, every night and those afternoons Phire and Eligius spent time together alone. According to Kontar, those afternoons had gotten much more frequent since Gyorgy joined the group.
Phire wanted Gyorgy, but he wouldn’t let himself touch him. Gyorgy would always be a child in his eyes.
As the last of the light left the sky, running steps echoed up the street. Gyorgy slid further down. He didn’t want to be in this strange city. He wanted to be in his men’s arms, where he belonged. He close his eyes and thought of them. Phire was alive in ways most people weren’t, even other mages. He was bright and dark, gruff and stern and commanding of attention, but laughter rippled from him like water from a spring.
Eligius was good and kind and gentle to everyone, but still made Gyorgy feel special. And despite is soft heart, he had a backbone of steel. He was without mercy to the merciless. He was more likely to kill than maim an enemy, especially one who hurt women and children. But the moment after the enemy’s heart beat its last, he coaxed a motherless child from the arms of another and comforted both.
And he could do this because Phire was always around to organize the clean up and make sure the task was completed.
They had only traveled together for a few months before Gyorgy joined them although they’d known each other for longer, but Gyorgy couldn’t imagine one without the other.
Where would Eligius be without Phire’s clear vision, his leadership skills, and his thoroughness?
And where would Phire be without Eligius to calm crying children and reassure troubled villagers that someone cared about them and their plight?
Phire was good with nobles and people in authority. Eligius was good with the powerless, which left the middle, the crafters and farmers and tradesmen for Gyorgy if he was ever going to join them as an equal.
Footsteps on the stairs.
Gyorgy dare not even breathe. If he got caught again, he might never get away.
“Gyorgy?” Eligius’s voice echoed up from the street.
More sounds rose from the stairs. Gyorgy dove for the wall. “Eli!”
Eligius’s face was always pale, but it looked wane in the moonlight. “Stay put. We’ll find a way in.”
Gyorgy leaned over the wall. “Someone is here.”
He could hear them behind him.
Phire ran from the shadows to the wall and the momentum lifted him to only a few feet from the roof. Gyorgy leaned down. If he could just reach Phire, then Phire could use his magic to save Gyorgy.
Hands grabbed the back of Gyorgy’s tunic and hauled him away from his rescuers.
They turned him and dropped him in front of Mahyar. Mahyar crossed his arms and frowned. “My little chick, you thought you escaped. You three, keep those men away from us. They are powerless without him.
Mahyar advanced on Gyorgy, but Gyorgy was no longer scared. He knew something Mahyar didn’t. Eligius could hold a charge for hours.
The men watched something over Gyorgy’s shoulder. Mahyar sent two more men to stop Eligius. Light flashed and something hit the ground.
Mahyar grabbed Gyorgy and spun him around with Gyorgy’s back against his chest.
Eligius was beautiful. Magic wove through his hair like wind and his eyes shone brighter than the moon as he rose over the roof’s edge.
One of Mahyar’s hands held the knife close to Gyorgy’s neck while the other moved below Gyorgy’s waist. Gyorgy struggled and pushed that hand away. “What do you think you are doing?”
Mahyar was persistent, but no one was going to touch Gyorgy there except Eligius and Phire. He grabbed Mahyar’s arm that was holding the knife and bit as hard as he could.
Mahyar screamed. Phire pounced from the shadows. Gyorgy forced a great ball of power into Phire’s arm.
Phire roared and the world went white. Gyorgy breathed in, filling his cistern like he’d been practicing. He didn’t want to be caught powerless.
Mahyar and his men lay on the floor. A few moaned.
Eligius crossed his arms and stared at the fallen men. “His heart is still beating.”
Phire rested his hand on Eligius’s shoulder. “We can’t kill them.”
Eligius glared at Phire. “Why can’t we?”
“El.”
“Don’t El me.” Eligius opened his arms and gathered Gyorgy close. “Are you all right? They didn’t hurt you, did they?”
He kicked the nearest man in the ribs. Phire wrapped his arms around Eligius and Gyorgy and then lifted a hand to Gyorgy’s cheek. “How are you fairing?”
“Better than if you’d been a few minutes later. Just a little scared.” His stomach rumbled. “And hungry.”
Phire grinned. “A good meal will cure that.”
Eligius pushed Phire’s arm back and held Gyorgy away from him and looked his over. “They didn’t… They didn’t force your magic from you?”
Gyorgy shook his head. “I turned my magic off the moment I started feeling uncomfortable. They didn’t get any from me.”
“Gyorgy dear,” Eligius pulled him close. “We aren’t talking about what leaked off of you. The way a mage forces a magic holder to give up magic is rape.”
“Is that why…”
“Why what?” Phire put a hand on Gyorgy’s shoulder.
Gyorgy looked from Phire to Eligius and back. “Why he tried to touch my shaft.”
“I thought… I hoped… I wanted…” Eligius straightened his shoulders and puffed out his chest. He looked so much bigger than normal. “I’ll kill them for threatening you.”
“You can’t kill them.”
Eli turned in Phire’s arms. “And why not!”
Phire rubbed Eli’s shoulders. “You can’t kill all of them or no one will be around to warn others away.”
Gyorgy frowned. “I’m not hurt.”
“That’s not the point.” Eligius took Gyorgy’s hand. “You are mine. When I take you to bed, I want a boy that has never been forced, that has no hang up about sex and magic. You were raised so beautifully, so innocently.” He scowled down at the men. “And they come and try to take what should only be given for pleasure.”
Eli sighed. “Gusztav has a wonderful dream. You don’t want to know how many people I had to touch, to kiss, to have sex with to practice magic. People I didn’t know, didn’t like, or even hated. I never want you to know that pain. Which of these men touched you.”
“Nobody—”
“Who put their hand on your arm or clothes?”
Gyorgy found three who he didn’t think touched him in any way. Eli took his hand and Gyorgy felt a steady flow of magic leave him as Eli woke all the men up. But the men didn’t move, so Eli must be exerting power over them. Phire questioned them one by one about what they had done and whose idea the kidnapping was and whether they had laid a hand on Gyorgy.
One of the men that Gyorgy thought hadn’t touched him had brushed against him in the bazaar.
Eli grew in the moonlight until he was a giant with an enormous shadow. He declared Gyorgy his and all magic uses and holders protected, even if he didn’t know them, even if he didn’t know they existed.
And then he killed each man by turn until only two were left. “Now go. If I ever see you again, that is the moment you will die.”
They ran.
Phire rubbed his thumbs into Eli’s shoulders. “So cold blooded. I can only kill in the heat of battle.”
Eli frowned. “Am I too cold and scary to love?”
Gyorgy stepped into Eli’s arms. “No. You are gentle and kind even to magic holders you’ve never met. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Phire’s stepped behind Gyorgy. “Don’t scare us like that again. They put a double for you in the market, so Robertson didn’t know you were gone until we felt your need for us.”
Gyorgy leaned back against Phire’s strong chest. “You could hear me.”
Eli buried his face against Gyorgy’s chest. “We can tell when you are thinking of us. That’s how we found you at all.”
Gyorgy relaxed in his men’s arms. “I’m glad. I’m glad you found me and I’m glad… I’m glad I’m linked to you in some way. I…”
He wanted to tell them how he felt pushed away, but now with their arms around him that no longer seemed so important.
Phire stepped back. “We better get going.”
“Back to the inn.” Eli stepped over a body and turned toward the stairs. “We have lots to teach you.”
Eli took Gyorgy’s hand and practically dragged him into the street. Phire took Gyorgy’s other hand. “Our first lesson will be about not releasing power unless you want to.”
“But I can already to that.” Gusztáv bácsi had taught him something.
“Not just skin to skin.” Phire raised their linked hands. “While we are kissing and more. As El keeps reminding me, I can’t keep a charge. That means that any power I don’t use immediately comes off my skin in little sparks, sometimes enough that I glow. It is not comfortable.”
Phire turned down a street with lit candles in every window.
“On the plus side I attract power easily, which is why kisses have always been enough. Some mages have to climax before they can take in power, which has lead to stories of orgies in the snow surrounded my flesh-eating trolls. I’ve always felt sorry for them. While in a group of strangers with someone you don’t know and under attack from creatures that only you can save yourself and others from has never seemed like the easiest time to get it up.”
Gyorgy shivered at the thought of being the magic holder in a case like that. Gyorgy had always hoped those stories were exaggerations.
Phire laughed and told the story from when he was sixteen with his first magic holder. He hadn’t been attracted to her but she was sure she could change his mind once she had him in bed. Unlike most users that suck up great amounts of power when they climax, Phire let it all out at once. She shrieked at him and swore and called him the foulest names. Then she ran him out of her house without any of his clothes. While they were outside, the assembled crowd of other holders and mages noticed smoke coming from the house. She ran back inside and even though she’d just banned Phire from ever entering her home again, she called him inside to drag her mattress out. He’d caught it on fire when he loosed the power.
He’d also filled the house with static. The holder’s hair stood up like a rat’s nest that no brush could tame and she got zapped each time she touched anything metal for the next month, but she insisted on staying in her home.
Gyorgy grinned. Too bad she hadn’t known Gusztáv bácsi’s trick for sucking power off objects.
After than she warned off all other magic holders, but since he only needed a kiss to get his power, he never had a problem getting one when he needed magic. That Gyorgy believed. Phire was gorgeous.
Phire told other stories about growing up as a young mage. All of them were funny, but Eligius didn’t smile even once. Gyorgy held his hand tighter.
“We’re here.” Eligius walked into the crowded inn. Shouts rose up, mostly versions of, “You found him.”
Eligius held up his fee hand and the inn quieted down. “Gyorgy is safe and the mage who kidnapped him will not be doing that again.”
A few men sighed and complained how merciful sweet Eligius must be. Ife handed Gyorgy a bowl of stew and a hunk of bread. The food smelled so good that he’d wolfed half of it down before she returned with food for Phire and Eligius. Zlanchad waved them to a table where Gyorgy attempted to eat his second helping a bit slower. The other mages, from their group and others, called for the tale of Gyorgy’s rescue. Phire waved them all away. “It’s enough that he’s safe and whole. I’ll save the full tale for a quiet night on the road.”
The mages and holders from other groups protest loudly, but ones from their group nodded. New stories were few and far between. But eventually people gave up and Farzan began the story from the old wars with himself in the lead. Zlanchad leaned close to Phire and asked if any bodies had to be moved.
Phire shook his head. “We are leaving the bodies as a reminder not to mess with our mage partner.”
“Or any mage holder.” Eligius growled.
Zlanchad clapped Eligius on the back. Phire stood up, saluted him and tugged Gyorgy and Eligius upstairs. Their room smelled of sex which Gyorgy hadn’t been able to participate in.
He pulled away from Eli and Phire and sat on the bed.
Phire barred the door. “I am overriding El’s rule that we wait for you to join us, because I don’t think you ever will and I can’t wait.”
Gyorgy sat up. “You mean if I had insisted on joining you, I could have been with you this afternoon.” He groaned. “But wouldn’t that have made me seem more of a child?”
Eli sighed and sat down beside him. “Where I come from a person is old enough when they ask for sex, except of course, if they are a mage. Then the rules don’t apply.”
Gyorgy got the distinct feeling Eli hadn’t been ready.
“I expected you to tell us you were joining us the next time. I thought you’d do it months ago.”
Phire touched Eli’s shoulder. “Different cultures. At home anything that happens before you’re fifteen is child abuse, even if the other party is also under fifteen. What about where you’re from?”
“Gusztáv bácsi’s place? The subject never came up.”
“And before that?” Eli took his hand. “With your grandparents?”
Gyorgy shook his head. “I don’t remember much. I was cold and hungry and my belly ached all the time. I spent most of my time alone in the dark trying to stave off the headaches that plagued me. Gusztáv bácsi came by. He never said how he came to be in my village, but when he arrived my grandmother led him to me. He put his hand on my forehead and all the bright shiny lights that floated in front of my eyes disappeared. Gusztáv bácsi said I would need to go with him and he gave my grandparents money they desperately needed.” He sighed. “I don’t know where that was or what I was called before I became Gyorgy. It never mattered.”
Phire pulled off his tunic. His muscular chest was covered with a light layer of dark brown hair that disappeared into his pants. Gyorgy had seen it before, but not where the trail led. Gyorgy tucked his hands under his legs to keep from finding out for himself. He could be patient. He was getting his heart’s desire.
Phire unbuckled his belt. “El has been the only person I can safely have sex with that I’ve been attracted to.”
“And Phire has been my only lover that isn’t about magic.”
Phire nodded. “But tonight that’s going to change.”
“It doesn’t have to.” Gyorgy glanced from one to the other. “Change that is. I want you. I want to spend time with both of you. I want to waste away an afternoon in bed with you. But I don’t want this — us — to be about magic. I want you to love me, sleep with me not just because I provide you with magic.”
“Oh Gyorgy.” Eli touched his cheek. “There has never been any doubt about that.”
Eli’s lips came down over Gyorgy’s and when Gyorgy leaned back on the bed, Eli’s body covered his.
“Keep him busy,” said Phire, “until I get out of these clothes.”
Gyorgy wasn’t sure who he was talking to but Eli’s hair felt silky between his fingers and Eli’s hands, making their way to his skin, where just as gentle and insistent as Gyorgy had dreamed they’d be.
Gyorgy’s boots were taken off which made scooting up the bed easier, but then Eli slipped his hands out of Gyorgy’s clothes and he got off the bed. Had Gyorgy done something wrong?
Phire leaned over the bed. He was bare and Gyorgy’s body tightened just to see him. The curls that peeked above his belt the few times Gyorgy had seen him shirtless were thicker down below, framing his erect shaft. The curls spread out across his strong thighs. Phire tugged Gyorgy into a sitting position and pulled off his tunic then laid a hand on Gyorgy’s chest. “I knew you weren’t the child those too big clothes you wear would lead someone to believe. You are beautiful naked.”
Were Gyorgy’s clothes too big? Phire ran his hand down Gyorgy’s chest to his hip. “Now let’s get rid of these.”
Gyorgy leaned back and lifted his hips. Phire slid his trousers off. “My word. I can’t believe I waited this long.”
And then he straddled Gyorgy and their bodies rubbed against each other as they kissed. Gyorgy could not get enough of him.
Gyorgy tried to keep a hold on his magic, but it kept slipping away. The air filled with static and when Phire moved down Gyorgy’s neck, Gyorgy took in the stray magic as he caught his breath. But then Phire settled on a nipple and gave it his full attention.
Eli grinned as he crawled on the bed. “Phire is a nipple teaser and to add insult, he only ever does one at a time.”
Phire moved his kisses to Gyorgy’s belly. “No attention span.”
Eli laughed. Gyorgy knew from the hours Phire poured over documents that that couldn’t be true.
Eli rubbed his fingers across the nipple Phire hadn’t touched. “Would you like me to balance you out? Or,” he blew on Gyorgy’s cheek, “kiss you for a while?”
How could Gyorgy decide? He wanted everything. “Touch me.”
Eli grinned. “Then I will.”
His mouth closed over Gyorgy’s and his hand roamed lower. He gave Gyorgy’s jewels a gentle squeeze. Phire batted the hand away. “My turn.”
And then he took Gyorgy’s shaft into his mouth.
Gyorgy saw stars.
Eli pulled out of the kiss. “Suck some of that back in. Phire is sparking.”
Gyorgy tried. He sucked for all he was worth as Phire licked and sucked him relentlessly and Eli caressed him and coaxed him on.
Every deep breath pulled magic back, but his body was on fire and he was sure some of those sparks were his.
The world went white and his body exploded. Phire’s body covered him and Phire’s rock hard shaft pressed into Gyorgy’s thigh as Phire kissed him. He tasted himself on Phire’s tongue.
“Phire, let him up,” Eli said. “He can’t draw in magic while his mouth is occupied and the beds about to burst into flames.”
“So am I.” Phire moved one arm around Eli and kissed him like Gyorgy had never seen anyone kissed before. They were each other’s world, but Phire’s arm was still around Gyorgy and their bodies against him kept him from feeling left out. Did Eli look this gorgeous when he was kissing Gyorgy?
Gyorgy was hard again and his breath evened out. Eli pushed Phire back and turned to Gyorgy. “Ready for more?”
Gyorgy was.
Title: Lost
Series: Mage Partners
Status: Complete
Genre: m/m/m romance, fantasy, magic
Rating: R
Length: about 5,500 words
Summary: Gyorgy would have enjoyed himself more if Eligius and Phire weren't having fun together without him. He probably wouldn't have been waylaid by a mage either.
Mage Partners
Gyorgy normally liked bazaars. He loved the bustling people in their bright colored clothing, the scents from half the world in a single stall, the music that could be heard over the chatter of a thousand people, the animals for sale that he’d only ever heard about, and the dancers that twisted and swirled in clothing so light that they might actually have been comfortable in this heat despite their exercise.
He liked bazaars, but he always liked them more with Eligius and Phire beside him. He liked their takes on which were the best deals and whether something was authentic and which dealers were fair and honest. Gyorgy would be happy to be in the bazaar with them. He’d be happy to be doing anything with them now, especially doing with them what they were doing with each other.
He was old enough. He had been sixteen for months. He was old enough to be a mage partner in his own right. He was old enough to share a bed, not just a pallet, with the two men that were supposed to be his. He was old enough not to be kicked out as soon as they got to the good stuff.
They’d sent him on an unnecessary errand this afternoon so they could have a few hours without him. If he was unwanted, he should just go back to Gustav’s. And he would if he wasn’t sure that would prove him to be the child he was trying to show them he wasn’t.
He wanted to be more than just the boy they kissed in emergencies. He wanted to feel their hands on him. He wanted to do errands with them, not while they were getting their fill of each other.
Gyorgy looked up from the table of trinkets. If Eligius or Phire were with him, he’d buy those pretty wooden earrings for Anikó. They trusted him with a little spending money of his own. Robertson didn’t. Where was Robertson anyway? Gyorgy had heard both Phire and Eligius tell him to keep Gyorgy within his sight as if Gyorgy was a little kid or someone. They must think he was. Would he ever grow up in their eyes?
He stepped away from the stall. Where was Robertson? Where was the inn from here if he did need to find his way back? Why would Robertson, who was so concerned with pickpockets that Gyorgy wasn’t allowed to carry a penny of his own money, leave Gyorgy to fend for himself in a city he’d never visited before? Talk about irresponsible.
“Young man,” someone touched his arm, “may I help?”
Gyorgy yank his arm away and sucked back in the magic he normally allowed to float along his skin before he turned to get a better look at the man. He was a little taller than Gyorgy with a small beard but no other facial hair like most of the men in the crowd, but his beard was thinner and his clothes were brighter and his smile made Gyorgy uncomfortable.
Gyorgy stepped away with one of those nodding bows Zlanchad’s mage partner had shown him, much to Phire’s annoyance. Phire didn’t think Gyorgy should bow to anyone, but Gyorgy had notice that a small bow in the right place opened doors that might otherwise stay closed. “Thank you, but I’m here with someone.”
The man looked around. “Who are you here with? Let me put you in his keeping.”
Gyorgy still couldn’t find Robertson.
The man grinned. “Then let me take you back to your inn. It was Raven’s Corner, isn’t that right?”
Why would this guy think he knew where Gyorgy was staying? Gyorgy needed to get to the inn and the safely of the other mages as soon as he could. Where was the drat mage babysitter when Gyorgy needed him? But an inn with a raven on it wasn’t far from where the one Gyorgy was staying at. Maybe if he let this guy led him close, he could get back on his own. Or he’d see someone he knew and get away. “Who are you?”
The man bowed fluidly. “I am Mahyar, just a simple merchant.”
But as he stood up, his eyes caught Gyorgy’s and turned from the brown of the locals to a yellow-orange. He was a mage. Gyorgy was in trouble.
--
Gyorgy pretended his wasn’t remembering Gusztáv bácsi lessons on the dangers of mages as Mahyar took his arm. And he knew Eligius and Phire didn’t want anyone touching him even in the most neutral of ways except in emergencies. He’d feed his magic to other mage holders who had been depleted during the earthquakes that turned out to be monsters, who having been awaken by a young mage’s spell that went awry, got up and continued their centuries’ old battle. They had been asleep so long that tree had grown on them and lakes had formed. No wonder the locals had thought they were hills.
But even to save lives, Gyorgy’s mages didn’t want him to give directly to another mage.
Where was Robertson? Hadn’t anyone noticed Gyorgy was missing? Why couldn’t he see Zlanchad or any of the mage holders? Hadn’t Abena and Ife wanted to look at silks? Here was a stand selling many brightly colored swaths, but no mages or partners. If only Eligius and Phire were at the bazaar. They wouldn’t have lost him so easily.
The silk merchant proved to be the last in this direction. Moments later Gyorgy and Mahyar were one of only a few people on the street. Where were Eligius and Phire? How come they had excluded him? If they had just bottled up their desires for each other like Gyorgy had to bottle up his desires for them, he wouldn’t be so far from the bazaar that he couldn’t hear it anymore.
Mahyar turned a corner and led him to a fountain. “You recognize this?”
Gyorgy had walked past several fountains between the inn and the bazaar, but he’d been sulking too much to take in the sights. Maybe he’d seen one with otters on it, but if he had, that fountain had been in a much busier square. Another man bustled up to them. Mahyar tugged Gyorgy around another corner and down several narrow streets, but the man caught up with them. He was a mage as well if his eyes meant anything. Two mages would be worse than one.
As soon as Mahyar let go of his arm, Gyorgy ran. He didn’t know where he was going, but very few places would be worse than where he was. The sound of running feet died away behind him. But still he ran. He ran until his throat was dry and his side ached and his eyes burned from the sun’s glare. The months with the mages had increased Gyorgy’s stamina. Now he could walk all day, gather wood for the cook fire, and stand watch before going to sleep and do the same thing the next day. Had he been in this situation right after he came to live with Phire and Eligius, he would have been caught right off.
Life with Gusztáv bácsi had been easy and hadn’t prepared him at all for life outside. But maybe that was the way things should be. He couldn’t have had a better childhood, but he was a man now. And Gusztáv bácsi’s house was still a haven Gyorgy could run to if he needed it. Too bad it was so far away.
Gyorgy turned another corner and raced down an alley so narrow that he could have hit the walls with his elbows. He almost tripped on the stairs. What kind of alley had stairs? The stairs led to another street. Or maybe the one he’d been on earlier. He could be running in circles for all he knew. He looked around for the sun. If he kept the shadows on the same side of him, he’d go in a straight line, but probably a line away from Phire and Eligius and everyone he knew.
Was he still being chased? He couldn’t hear anything over the beat of his heart.
He ducked into a doorway and hid behind a potted plant on the shady side of the street. This cover was barely better than leaning against a wall, but he needed a breather. He closed his eyes and listened with all his might. Voices came from the house behind him and feet running…
He opened his eyes and pressed himself as far into the corner as he could.
A group of men ran by. They were wearing white, the first clothes of that color Gyorgy had seen in this city, but the bands around their right upper arms were the color of Mahyar’s eyes. Were these men after him? Why else would they be running? Were those swords they carried to force Gyorgy to do their will? He must never be caught. Eligius said that magic holders like Gyorgy were worth a lot and might be held against their wills or even sold to other mages. That was not going to happen to Gyorgy.
He darted to the narrow alley and ran back along it. He glanced out before racing across the street. If he stayed in the narrowest alleys the wide shouldered men couldn’t follow him.
An eternity later, as the shadows merged together, Gyorgy ran straight into the middle of a square when an alley ended unexpectedly. He froze and looked around, but this wasn’t a street. This fountain’s square was surrounded by walls with no way out save the alley or through one of the six doors which looked to led to houses. In one a baby cried. In another, children played. In a third, women laughed while an instrument was played. But listening as hard as he could, Gyorgy didn’t hear footsteps.
He dared the fountain. He was so thirsty that the cold water hurt his throat. He drank until his belly hurt. He was so hungry. Would he ever eat again? But more importantly, were the men still following him? He had to find a place to hide.
Most of the doors off the courtyard were surrounded by potted plants. A few even had small gardens, but one had nothing alive near it. All the pots were empty. Gyorgy snuck close. He saw a tiny bit of blank wall though a hole in the scrollwork window. No noises came from behind it. Better and better, now he needed to get inside without looking like he’d forced the door. He lifted the latch… and the door opened. He looked inside. Dust covered every surface.
He quickly closed the door and looked around for a way to bolt it. A board engraved with swirls leaned against a wall. He tried it and it fit, but every one of his footprints stood out plain in the dust. Anyone who looked through the right hole in the scrollwork windows couldn’t help but see.
He hunted through the house, looking in every cupboard and behind every door. On the second floor he found a broom in a cubbyhole behind a door. He started by sweeping up his steps on the ground floor. His heart beat quickly. Had his pursuers found the courtyard? Were they standing beyond the windows even now? He looked out, but the courtyard seemed empty. The windows were much easier to see out of than into.
Still he was glad to move to the rooms that didn’t face the courtyard. He swept everything and piled the dust up in the corner of each room. Then he tackled the next floor. That one had a stairs to the roof, which might be the safest place to be, but he didn’t want anyone to be able to tell. He climbed to the top floor and swept that and the stairs.
He would probably never keep house for Eligius and Phire. They both seemed to think that people should be hired for that, but that might be because they didn’t really have a home. When they’d shored up a dam so old that no one knew when it had been built, Phire had hired a house, paid a maid and cook and a boy for errands, and bought food from the locals and all that hadn’t taken much from the money they’d gotten from the town and surrounding areas. Plus they are also being paid by a king, Gyorgy didn’t know which one, to wander and deal with relics of an old war, like monsters.
After all the dust was in piles, Gyorgy hid the broom and crept up the stairs to the roof. Out in the open air, he felt exposed. He crawled to the west side of the roof where he leaned against a half wall and watched the sun set.
His stomach rumbled. He was hungry. He was always hungry, but he hadn’t eaten since breakfast. Robertson was supposed to feed him. So much for that. He should be back at the inn listening to Farzan insert himself into history he couldn’t possible have lived through or watch Sorrel fail spectacularly to win over the barmaids while Gyorgy leaned against Eligius’s side and whenever he glanced towards the table where Phire pored over papers or map for their missions, Phire’s eyes would drop from Gyorgy to the parchment in his hand.
Phire wanted him. Phire wanted his arms around Gyorgy, his hands against Gyorgy’s skin, not just when monsters attacked but all the time, every night and those afternoons Phire and Eligius spent time together alone. According to Kontar, those afternoons had gotten much more frequent since Gyorgy joined the group.
Phire wanted Gyorgy, but he wouldn’t let himself touch him. Gyorgy would always be a child in his eyes.
As the last of the light left the sky, running steps echoed up the street. Gyorgy slid further down. He didn’t want to be in this strange city. He wanted to be in his men’s arms, where he belonged. He close his eyes and thought of them. Phire was alive in ways most people weren’t, even other mages. He was bright and dark, gruff and stern and commanding of attention, but laughter rippled from him like water from a spring.
Eligius was good and kind and gentle to everyone, but still made Gyorgy feel special. And despite is soft heart, he had a backbone of steel. He was without mercy to the merciless. He was more likely to kill than maim an enemy, especially one who hurt women and children. But the moment after the enemy’s heart beat its last, he coaxed a motherless child from the arms of another and comforted both.
And he could do this because Phire was always around to organize the clean up and make sure the task was completed.
They had only traveled together for a few months before Gyorgy joined them although they’d known each other for longer, but Gyorgy couldn’t imagine one without the other.
Where would Eligius be without Phire’s clear vision, his leadership skills, and his thoroughness?
And where would Phire be without Eligius to calm crying children and reassure troubled villagers that someone cared about them and their plight?
Phire was good with nobles and people in authority. Eligius was good with the powerless, which left the middle, the crafters and farmers and tradesmen for Gyorgy if he was ever going to join them as an equal.
Footsteps on the stairs.
Gyorgy dare not even breathe. If he got caught again, he might never get away.
“Gyorgy?” Eligius’s voice echoed up from the street.
More sounds rose from the stairs. Gyorgy dove for the wall. “Eli!”
Eligius’s face was always pale, but it looked wane in the moonlight. “Stay put. We’ll find a way in.”
Gyorgy leaned over the wall. “Someone is here.”
He could hear them behind him.
Phire ran from the shadows to the wall and the momentum lifted him to only a few feet from the roof. Gyorgy leaned down. If he could just reach Phire, then Phire could use his magic to save Gyorgy.
Hands grabbed the back of Gyorgy’s tunic and hauled him away from his rescuers.
They turned him and dropped him in front of Mahyar. Mahyar crossed his arms and frowned. “My little chick, you thought you escaped. You three, keep those men away from us. They are powerless without him.
Mahyar advanced on Gyorgy, but Gyorgy was no longer scared. He knew something Mahyar didn’t. Eligius could hold a charge for hours.
The men watched something over Gyorgy’s shoulder. Mahyar sent two more men to stop Eligius. Light flashed and something hit the ground.
Mahyar grabbed Gyorgy and spun him around with Gyorgy’s back against his chest.
Eligius was beautiful. Magic wove through his hair like wind and his eyes shone brighter than the moon as he rose over the roof’s edge.
One of Mahyar’s hands held the knife close to Gyorgy’s neck while the other moved below Gyorgy’s waist. Gyorgy struggled and pushed that hand away. “What do you think you are doing?”
Mahyar was persistent, but no one was going to touch Gyorgy there except Eligius and Phire. He grabbed Mahyar’s arm that was holding the knife and bit as hard as he could.
Mahyar screamed. Phire pounced from the shadows. Gyorgy forced a great ball of power into Phire’s arm.
Phire roared and the world went white. Gyorgy breathed in, filling his cistern like he’d been practicing. He didn’t want to be caught powerless.
Mahyar and his men lay on the floor. A few moaned.
Eligius crossed his arms and stared at the fallen men. “His heart is still beating.”
Phire rested his hand on Eligius’s shoulder. “We can’t kill them.”
Eligius glared at Phire. “Why can’t we?”
“El.”
“Don’t El me.” Eligius opened his arms and gathered Gyorgy close. “Are you all right? They didn’t hurt you, did they?”
He kicked the nearest man in the ribs. Phire wrapped his arms around Eligius and Gyorgy and then lifted a hand to Gyorgy’s cheek. “How are you fairing?”
“Better than if you’d been a few minutes later. Just a little scared.” His stomach rumbled. “And hungry.”
Phire grinned. “A good meal will cure that.”
Eligius pushed Phire’s arm back and held Gyorgy away from him and looked his over. “They didn’t… They didn’t force your magic from you?”
Gyorgy shook his head. “I turned my magic off the moment I started feeling uncomfortable. They didn’t get any from me.”
“Gyorgy dear,” Eligius pulled him close. “We aren’t talking about what leaked off of you. The way a mage forces a magic holder to give up magic is rape.”
“Is that why…”
“Why what?” Phire put a hand on Gyorgy’s shoulder.
Gyorgy looked from Phire to Eligius and back. “Why he tried to touch my shaft.”
“I thought… I hoped… I wanted…” Eligius straightened his shoulders and puffed out his chest. He looked so much bigger than normal. “I’ll kill them for threatening you.”
“You can’t kill them.”
Eli turned in Phire’s arms. “And why not!”
Phire rubbed Eli’s shoulders. “You can’t kill all of them or no one will be around to warn others away.”
Gyorgy frowned. “I’m not hurt.”
“That’s not the point.” Eligius took Gyorgy’s hand. “You are mine. When I take you to bed, I want a boy that has never been forced, that has no hang up about sex and magic. You were raised so beautifully, so innocently.” He scowled down at the men. “And they come and try to take what should only be given for pleasure.”
Eli sighed. “Gusztav has a wonderful dream. You don’t want to know how many people I had to touch, to kiss, to have sex with to practice magic. People I didn’t know, didn’t like, or even hated. I never want you to know that pain. Which of these men touched you.”
“Nobody—”
“Who put their hand on your arm or clothes?”
Gyorgy found three who he didn’t think touched him in any way. Eli took his hand and Gyorgy felt a steady flow of magic leave him as Eli woke all the men up. But the men didn’t move, so Eli must be exerting power over them. Phire questioned them one by one about what they had done and whose idea the kidnapping was and whether they had laid a hand on Gyorgy.
One of the men that Gyorgy thought hadn’t touched him had brushed against him in the bazaar.
Eli grew in the moonlight until he was a giant with an enormous shadow. He declared Gyorgy his and all magic uses and holders protected, even if he didn’t know them, even if he didn’t know they existed.
And then he killed each man by turn until only two were left. “Now go. If I ever see you again, that is the moment you will die.”
They ran.
Phire rubbed his thumbs into Eli’s shoulders. “So cold blooded. I can only kill in the heat of battle.”
Eli frowned. “Am I too cold and scary to love?”
Gyorgy stepped into Eli’s arms. “No. You are gentle and kind even to magic holders you’ve never met. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Phire’s stepped behind Gyorgy. “Don’t scare us like that again. They put a double for you in the market, so Robertson didn’t know you were gone until we felt your need for us.”
Gyorgy leaned back against Phire’s strong chest. “You could hear me.”
Eli buried his face against Gyorgy’s chest. “We can tell when you are thinking of us. That’s how we found you at all.”
Gyorgy relaxed in his men’s arms. “I’m glad. I’m glad you found me and I’m glad… I’m glad I’m linked to you in some way. I…”
He wanted to tell them how he felt pushed away, but now with their arms around him that no longer seemed so important.
Phire stepped back. “We better get going.”
“Back to the inn.” Eli stepped over a body and turned toward the stairs. “We have lots to teach you.”
Eli took Gyorgy’s hand and practically dragged him into the street. Phire took Gyorgy’s other hand. “Our first lesson will be about not releasing power unless you want to.”
“But I can already to that.” Gusztáv bácsi had taught him something.
“Not just skin to skin.” Phire raised their linked hands. “While we are kissing and more. As El keeps reminding me, I can’t keep a charge. That means that any power I don’t use immediately comes off my skin in little sparks, sometimes enough that I glow. It is not comfortable.”
Phire turned down a street with lit candles in every window.
“On the plus side I attract power easily, which is why kisses have always been enough. Some mages have to climax before they can take in power, which has lead to stories of orgies in the snow surrounded my flesh-eating trolls. I’ve always felt sorry for them. While in a group of strangers with someone you don’t know and under attack from creatures that only you can save yourself and others from has never seemed like the easiest time to get it up.”
Gyorgy shivered at the thought of being the magic holder in a case like that. Gyorgy had always hoped those stories were exaggerations.
Phire laughed and told the story from when he was sixteen with his first magic holder. He hadn’t been attracted to her but she was sure she could change his mind once she had him in bed. Unlike most users that suck up great amounts of power when they climax, Phire let it all out at once. She shrieked at him and swore and called him the foulest names. Then she ran him out of her house without any of his clothes. While they were outside, the assembled crowd of other holders and mages noticed smoke coming from the house. She ran back inside and even though she’d just banned Phire from ever entering her home again, she called him inside to drag her mattress out. He’d caught it on fire when he loosed the power.
He’d also filled the house with static. The holder’s hair stood up like a rat’s nest that no brush could tame and she got zapped each time she touched anything metal for the next month, but she insisted on staying in her home.
Gyorgy grinned. Too bad she hadn’t known Gusztáv bácsi’s trick for sucking power off objects.
After than she warned off all other magic holders, but since he only needed a kiss to get his power, he never had a problem getting one when he needed magic. That Gyorgy believed. Phire was gorgeous.
Phire told other stories about growing up as a young mage. All of them were funny, but Eligius didn’t smile even once. Gyorgy held his hand tighter.
“We’re here.” Eligius walked into the crowded inn. Shouts rose up, mostly versions of, “You found him.”
Eligius held up his fee hand and the inn quieted down. “Gyorgy is safe and the mage who kidnapped him will not be doing that again.”
A few men sighed and complained how merciful sweet Eligius must be. Ife handed Gyorgy a bowl of stew and a hunk of bread. The food smelled so good that he’d wolfed half of it down before she returned with food for Phire and Eligius. Zlanchad waved them to a table where Gyorgy attempted to eat his second helping a bit slower. The other mages, from their group and others, called for the tale of Gyorgy’s rescue. Phire waved them all away. “It’s enough that he’s safe and whole. I’ll save the full tale for a quiet night on the road.”
The mages and holders from other groups protest loudly, but ones from their group nodded. New stories were few and far between. But eventually people gave up and Farzan began the story from the old wars with himself in the lead. Zlanchad leaned close to Phire and asked if any bodies had to be moved.
Phire shook his head. “We are leaving the bodies as a reminder not to mess with our mage partner.”
“Or any mage holder.” Eligius growled.
Zlanchad clapped Eligius on the back. Phire stood up, saluted him and tugged Gyorgy and Eligius upstairs. Their room smelled of sex which Gyorgy hadn’t been able to participate in.
He pulled away from Eli and Phire and sat on the bed.
Phire barred the door. “I am overriding El’s rule that we wait for you to join us, because I don’t think you ever will and I can’t wait.”
Gyorgy sat up. “You mean if I had insisted on joining you, I could have been with you this afternoon.” He groaned. “But wouldn’t that have made me seem more of a child?”
Eli sighed and sat down beside him. “Where I come from a person is old enough when they ask for sex, except of course, if they are a mage. Then the rules don’t apply.”
Gyorgy got the distinct feeling Eli hadn’t been ready.
“I expected you to tell us you were joining us the next time. I thought you’d do it months ago.”
Phire touched Eli’s shoulder. “Different cultures. At home anything that happens before you’re fifteen is child abuse, even if the other party is also under fifteen. What about where you’re from?”
“Gusztáv bácsi’s place? The subject never came up.”
“And before that?” Eli took his hand. “With your grandparents?”
Gyorgy shook his head. “I don’t remember much. I was cold and hungry and my belly ached all the time. I spent most of my time alone in the dark trying to stave off the headaches that plagued me. Gusztáv bácsi came by. He never said how he came to be in my village, but when he arrived my grandmother led him to me. He put his hand on my forehead and all the bright shiny lights that floated in front of my eyes disappeared. Gusztáv bácsi said I would need to go with him and he gave my grandparents money they desperately needed.” He sighed. “I don’t know where that was or what I was called before I became Gyorgy. It never mattered.”
Phire pulled off his tunic. His muscular chest was covered with a light layer of dark brown hair that disappeared into his pants. Gyorgy had seen it before, but not where the trail led. Gyorgy tucked his hands under his legs to keep from finding out for himself. He could be patient. He was getting his heart’s desire.
Phire unbuckled his belt. “El has been the only person I can safely have sex with that I’ve been attracted to.”
“And Phire has been my only lover that isn’t about magic.”
Phire nodded. “But tonight that’s going to change.”
“It doesn’t have to.” Gyorgy glanced from one to the other. “Change that is. I want you. I want to spend time with both of you. I want to waste away an afternoon in bed with you. But I don’t want this — us — to be about magic. I want you to love me, sleep with me not just because I provide you with magic.”
“Oh Gyorgy.” Eli touched his cheek. “There has never been any doubt about that.”
Eli’s lips came down over Gyorgy’s and when Gyorgy leaned back on the bed, Eli’s body covered his.
“Keep him busy,” said Phire, “until I get out of these clothes.”
Gyorgy wasn’t sure who he was talking to but Eli’s hair felt silky between his fingers and Eli’s hands, making their way to his skin, where just as gentle and insistent as Gyorgy had dreamed they’d be.
Gyorgy’s boots were taken off which made scooting up the bed easier, but then Eli slipped his hands out of Gyorgy’s clothes and he got off the bed. Had Gyorgy done something wrong?
Phire leaned over the bed. He was bare and Gyorgy’s body tightened just to see him. The curls that peeked above his belt the few times Gyorgy had seen him shirtless were thicker down below, framing his erect shaft. The curls spread out across his strong thighs. Phire tugged Gyorgy into a sitting position and pulled off his tunic then laid a hand on Gyorgy’s chest. “I knew you weren’t the child those too big clothes you wear would lead someone to believe. You are beautiful naked.”
Were Gyorgy’s clothes too big? Phire ran his hand down Gyorgy’s chest to his hip. “Now let’s get rid of these.”
Gyorgy leaned back and lifted his hips. Phire slid his trousers off. “My word. I can’t believe I waited this long.”
And then he straddled Gyorgy and their bodies rubbed against each other as they kissed. Gyorgy could not get enough of him.
Gyorgy tried to keep a hold on his magic, but it kept slipping away. The air filled with static and when Phire moved down Gyorgy’s neck, Gyorgy took in the stray magic as he caught his breath. But then Phire settled on a nipple and gave it his full attention.
Eli grinned as he crawled on the bed. “Phire is a nipple teaser and to add insult, he only ever does one at a time.”
Phire moved his kisses to Gyorgy’s belly. “No attention span.”
Eli laughed. Gyorgy knew from the hours Phire poured over documents that that couldn’t be true.
Eli rubbed his fingers across the nipple Phire hadn’t touched. “Would you like me to balance you out? Or,” he blew on Gyorgy’s cheek, “kiss you for a while?”
How could Gyorgy decide? He wanted everything. “Touch me.”
Eli grinned. “Then I will.”
His mouth closed over Gyorgy’s and his hand roamed lower. He gave Gyorgy’s jewels a gentle squeeze. Phire batted the hand away. “My turn.”
And then he took Gyorgy’s shaft into his mouth.
Gyorgy saw stars.
Eli pulled out of the kiss. “Suck some of that back in. Phire is sparking.”
Gyorgy tried. He sucked for all he was worth as Phire licked and sucked him relentlessly and Eli caressed him and coaxed him on.
Every deep breath pulled magic back, but his body was on fire and he was sure some of those sparks were his.
The world went white and his body exploded. Phire’s body covered him and Phire’s rock hard shaft pressed into Gyorgy’s thigh as Phire kissed him. He tasted himself on Phire’s tongue.
“Phire, let him up,” Eli said. “He can’t draw in magic while his mouth is occupied and the beds about to burst into flames.”
“So am I.” Phire moved one arm around Eli and kissed him like Gyorgy had never seen anyone kissed before. They were each other’s world, but Phire’s arm was still around Gyorgy and their bodies against him kept him from feeling left out. Did Eli look this gorgeous when he was kissing Gyorgy?
Gyorgy was hard again and his breath evened out. Eli pushed Phire back and turned to Gyorgy. “Ready for more?”
Gyorgy was.
