Page 57 of The Mage on the Hill
Toby took him deeper and sped up, adjusting his hips so Darius could hit his prostate. “S’okay, big guy. More than okay. I’m right behind you.”
Darius surged up, hips pumping, as he locked their lips together and muffled his bellow against Toby’s mouth. Toby moaned and hung on for the ride, the skin of his sac drawing tight in a sudden rush as he came hard all over their chests and stomachs.
He collapsed, panting in Darius’s arms, content to let the world spin, never wanting to move from that tender embrace again.
EVERYONE HADgathered around the kitchen table for breakfast—an eye-popping feast courtesy of Zubayr and Arden competing for domestic god title. They ate in silence while they waited for Darius to finish writing whatever he’d been scribbling for ten minutes without a pause. Finally, he put his pen down and turned the pad to Zubayr.
“Dar, your writing is terrible.”
Arden stretched a long arm over the table. “Give it here. I had lots of practice reading his pigeon scratch.”
Reluctantly, Zubayr relinquished the notes, and Arden made a show of getting out his glasses and frowning over the paper for longer than anyone had patience for.
“Well?” Elias kicked Arden’s chair with a foot blade. “What’s it say, Mr. Translator?”
“It says—Dar, are you sure?” All of Arden’s affectations fell away in a serious moment of concern and confusion.
Darius nodded and waved to his words.
“All right.” Arden squared his shoulders. “It says that we’ve been looking at the guild issue all wrong. We’ve all been living as separate entities rejected by the guild, for one reason or another. Instead of being separate outcasts, we should be rejecting theguild.” Arden put the pad down. “Darius proposes that we form a different kind of guild. One that will teach young mages and wild magic sufferers regardless of anything the guild might deem an aberration or a dangerous level of wild power. A guild….” Arden removed his glasses and wiped at his eyes. “For us.”
“Cooperative,” Darius rasped out. “No director. Teachers. Students.”
“That sounds idyllic,” Zubayr said with a sigh. “But we’d never get recognized as a new guild by regional.”
Darius spread his hands. “Why… should we?”
“No, I get it.” Elias tapped his fingers on the table. “I get it. We’d be outside the system. And we’d get students by word of mouth. The local guilds might even send us their problem cases like they used to call Darius in for.”
“A place for wild magic insteadof oops, you don’t pass, so it’s death drugs time for you.” Toby gave Darius’s cheek an enthusiastic kiss. “It’s fucking genius!”
“They’ll come after us,” Zubayr pointed out, though his “us” gave him away. He’d already agreed.
“Maybe,” Darius said softly. “Let them try. We’re together. Stronger.”
“The guild on the hill.” Toby laughed as he threw his arms around Darius. “So everyone’s staying?”
Elias’s nod was more enthusiastic than Zubayr’s, while Arden held up a finger. “On one condition.”
Darius raised an eyebrow at him. “What?”
“That you don’t call it that. Maybe you don’t want a director, but let’s call it what it is. Valstad’s Guild.”
“Love it! Seconded! Everyone else is overruled!” Toby couldn’t contain himself any longer. He leaped up from the table, planted a kiss on Darius, and skittered to the door.
“Where are you going, small tyrant?” Elias asked with a laugh.
“Outside! The koi need food and the birds need food and I have to talk to some plants—all the plants!” Toby turned in the act of pulling on his jacket, his volume coming down from an excited yelp. “I’m going to live.”
