Page 14 of Pointy Ears and Purple Glitter
Tynan groaned. He could picture it so clearly. “Please don’t go giving my magic any ideas. I’m not even sure I can swim.”
“You’re doing it again,” Malik said softly. “Your magic is you, the same as my rhino is me. My rhino and I are one and the same. Your magic and you are one and the same. Honestly, I think your magic has just been trying really hard to make you feel good, or to show that it can do things, and that’s why we had all the glittery accompaniment.”
“I can’t even change a light bulb with my magic without setting off fireworks.”
Malik burst out laughing. “Is that true? Did that actually happen?”
“Yeah, it did. In my office.” Tynan chuckled. He couldn’t do anything else when Malik was looking at him as if he’d hung the moon. “I was terrified when it happened, but nothing burnedor anything else like that. My magic’s not destructive, but I just wish I could taper it down a bit.”
“Or you could use it more,” Malik suggested. “I know if I don’t get a chance to go out on the weekends and let my rhino out for a bit of a stroll, then he gets downright grumpy with me for the following week. I can’t go more than two weeks without shifting into my animal side. It’s not fair to either one of us.
“Maybe your magic feels the same. If you just let go, if you just stopped worrying, if you didn’t get so anxious about it every time you thought about using your magic, then maybe things would be easier. Just accept the magic as part of you. It does work. You’re full of good intentions. I can tell that just by looking at you.”
“Are you sure you’re not just saying all those things because we’re mates?”
Malik seemed to think about it for a moment and then he said, “There was a good chance that if you were a typical fae, then you wouldn’t have spoken to me in the first place. I’m nothing special, just a mechanic in a run-down part of town. There are very few people who understand that I just wanted a simple, quiet, peaceful, and useful life. I built that for myself.”
Tynan got the impression that there was nothing simple about Malik at all. It wasn’t that he felt Malik was trying to hide anything from him, just that, like Tynan, Malik clearly had history as well.
“I’m not sure what we’re meant to do now,” he said slowly. “As I said, I only came…” He stopped himself.Tell the truth.“I really wanted to see you. I was going to say something silly, like I only came to say thank you, but that’s not true at all. I really wanted to see you. There was just something about you. You are so calm and solid, and…”
“And he’s got a chest worth drooling over,” Sparky called out.
“Oh, my goodness.” Tynan groaned. “Why did I think bringing my raven was a good idea?”
“Because I wouldn’t let you leave me behind,” Sparky said. “Admit it. Our Malik is drool-worthy.”
“That’s okay. It’s time for Sparky to go and stretch his wings.” Malik cupped his face with one gentle hand. “I’m going to kiss you now. Do you think your magic will agree?”
Tynan looked into those deep blue eyes and said, “I don’t care if it doesn’t. I’d really like you to kiss me now.”
He closed his eyes as Malik’s face got closer and he felt the gentle brush of Malik’s lips on his own. He might’ve groaned again, Tynan wasn’t sure, but he leaned in, feeling Malik’s calm strength cover him like a blanket. A very sensual blanket.
Chapter Nine
Tasting Tynan’s lips was both the best idea Malik had ever had and the most foolhardy. The moment their lips touched, he wanted more. The way Tynan leaned into him called to something deep in Malik’s soul.
Cradling Tynan’s face in his hands, he enjoyed the taste and flavor of his mate. Malik could sense an underlying hesitation, not in the enthusiastic kissing, but from Tynan’s inner self. It was as if his sweet fae was weighed down with the weight from the years that he had spent thinking he wasn’t good enough. Malik was determined to change that, even though he knew it wasn’t something that could be done overnight.
The kiss was clumsy. Clearly, Tynan didn’t have a lot of experience. But Malik was gentle with him, sucking on each lip, coaxing Tynan’s mouth open with his tongue, and gently mapping out the insides of Tynan’s mouth and encouraging his mate to do the same with him.
There was a unique brightness in Tynan’s essence. Malik had never come across it before, although he was more familiar with the deeper tones of the magic underneath it. Tynan’s hands were gripping his shoulders as if he worried Malik was going to move away, and Malik could sense that Tynan’s magic was wrapping around them both – an invisible embrace that felt as warm as Tynan’s torso against Malik’s chest.
Pulling away slightly, Malik switched the angle of his head, coming at Tynan’s lips from the other direction. He chuckled softly as their noses bumped each other. “You’re so beautiful,” Malik said softly. “Inside and out, I can see that in your soul.”
Tynan’s deep moan sent shivers through Malik’s body. His eyes were still closed, but he pressed the top half of his body closer,and Malik moved his hands down Tynan’s back, helping to give the pressure his mate seemed to want.
Tynan’s hands ran up the sides of Malik’s neck, causing another all-over-body shake. Strong fingers mapped out the bumps on his skull. It was as if Tynan had decided to start exploring and he was starting from the top. It was Malik’s turn to lean into the touch. It had been a long time since he’d had anything but a quick five-minute relief with another person in the back room of a bar somewhere.
Tynan’s fingers trailed down the back of his neck, reaching the collar of Malik’s overalls. Before he could blink, Malik ended up on his back with Tynan on top of him – Tynan’s magic was giving them a helping hand, it seemed - their kisses morphing into desperate territory. Malik’s hand gripped Tynan’s back more firmly, his palms and fingers mapping out the slender lines of Tynan’s back through his robe, cupping his behind. Tynan’s leg lifted, hooking over Malik’s hip, and Malik slid his hand along Tynan’s thigh, moving them slightly so two hard cocks could rub together, separated by just two layers of clothing – his overalls and Tynan’s tights.
Those tights.Malik groaned against Tynan’s lips as his hands slid under the bottom edge of Tynan’s robe, feeling the soft silkiness of the sensual material. The material did nothing to hide Tynan’s tight butt cheeks, curving around them like a second skin, and Malik’s fingers were curving with them. Tynan thrust and moaned, breaking his lips free of Malik’s as he thrust again.
“Too many clothes,” Tynan groaned. “My body…it’s like it’s on fire. There’re too many clothes.”
I can help with that,but even as Malik thought it Tynan clearly had, too. Suddenly he was the one groaning as the silkiness of Tynan’s skin was pressed against his own.
“Good use of magic,” Malik purred as he buried his nose in the crook of Tynan’s neck, sniffing along the area that would soon host his claiming bite. Tynan’s hair was brushing against his ears, and he tilted his head slightly, feeling it drape over the top of his skull.
