“Pretend we’re lovers. I need to touch you without looking suspicious if they are watching.”
“What?” he chokes.
“Just a kiss, to see if that can create enough magic,” I assure him.
What I’m not ready to tell him is that all of my thinking and pacing today led me to one major epiphany: sex magic has a long history as one of the best ways for a mage to draw power. If a kiss does end up giving me enough power to create a simple sound shield, then the possibilities with sex magic are practically endless. I don’t want to scare him though, so one thing at a time.
He swallows hard and turns his face towards me. Our noses bump and another little spark dances along my skin. Anticipation buzzes in my gut, my body craving another hit of the magic that’s starting to feel like a missing limb at this point. That’s why my lips are tingling and that strange place inside my chest where I can feel Atlas is starting to ache… I’m missing my magic.
“Okay,” he whispers. “Take whatever you need.”
Except once the words leave his lips, he doesn’t wait for me to take anything. He’s the one who closes the last half an inch of space between our mouths, catching my bottom lip gently between his. I gasp at the sudden rush of power thatfills me, sizzling through my veins and flowing all the way to my fingertips in an instant. It’s barely a wisp compared to the amount of power I’m used to, but right now it feels like a wildfire.
Atlas’s lips are soft and sweet, moving against mine tentatively, stealing the tiniest sips from my mouth and giving me quiet rumbling sounds in return. The feeling that vibrates in my chest and spreads down into my gut doesn’t feel like the magic I’m used to at all. It feels like something else entirely.
I slide my fingers into his beard and deepen the kiss, parting his lips with my tongue so I can lick into the hot, wet depths of his mouth. My cock stiffens and my heart thunders with the sensation of my magic pooling in my bones. This swirling, tightening,thrillingfeeling of his lips on mine makes my head spin.
Atlas’s hands roam over my back and down to cup my ass, and his kiss gets bolder and more demanding, his tongue meeting mine with hungry, desperate strokes. He pulls me onto his lap and the cot groans underneath us again, but I barely notice it. Who could noticeanythingwith Atlas’smassive, throbbing cock pressed against the inside of their thigh? I guess it’s true what they say about gargoyles…
He breaks the kiss with a heavy, panting breath. His eyelids flutter open and I notice a blue glow behind his irises—the same shade of blue my tattoos turn when I’m using my magic. I exhale and another flicker of magic dances on my lips, reminding me what the purpose of that kiss was to begin with.
I quietly whisper an incantation, and a softwhooshingsound fills the air, like the hum of an air conditioner—dull enough to go unnoticed, but enough to drown out anyone’s ability to listen in, even magically. They’ll think we’re being completely silent.
“Did it work?” Atlas asks.
I grin and nod. “It worked.”
TWELVE
ATLAS
That was unexpected.
Who knew the prickly mage with walls of steel could be such a passionate kisser? My body is still tingling as he slides off my lap and bounces on his toes, rubbing his hands together.
“I’m not entirely clear onwhyit works so well, but who cares. We need to do more.”
“More?”
Rune turns to me, popping his hip, with his arms folded across his chest. “Have a problem with kissing me, Gargoyle?”
I shake my head. “No, it’s fine.”
“Fine?” He scoffs. “I’ll try not to be offended. Most people who kiss me can’t get enough.”
No way am I admitting how much more of him I want. How I wouldn’t mind if he made me his own personal chair and sat only on my lap. How I want to lick my lips right now to savor his taste.
“I think your ego will survive,” I say dryly instead.
A light chuckle bubbles out of him. “What a surprise you are. I admit I have relatively few interactions with gargoyles. Sure, I’ve heard things, but I tend to wait until I can form my own impressions.”
“And? What do you think so far?”
“Your skin is warmer than I expected. I always heard it was cool to the touch, like stone.”
It usually is, but admitting that I’m turned on and that’s why my skin is warm seems awkward.
“What else?”
