Double Alchemy: Climax (26 page)

He sighed sadly. “There were other Sprites there too. I got to know them a little but it was Nydra who I was with the most. She was a Seer, with the ability to see the past and the future. She had some sort of light thingy, like a ball, that she could take out of herself, and she’d put it in me, and I could see some of my Sprite past.” His voice choked. “I saw my mum when she was young, saw some of her life events and others who came before her. It was pretty amazing though. I felt I began to know her and my family at last.” He smiled softly. “I have those at least in here now.” He tapped his forehead. “Nydra wouldn’t ever let me see the future. She said all I would look for was you and that would distract me.” His voice caught. “All I could think about was you. How you were coping, what you were doing, how much I wanted to be home with you. I missed you so damned much.”

Quinn reached up and brushed a strand of hair from Cade’s face. It had gotten longer and he quite liked it.

“Nydra said this ball of light was the past energy and knowledge of the Sprite. By having it in me, I could absorb it too and find my power.” Cade grinned mischievously. “I also found I could move things, anything composed of fluids or water and one day I actually managed to take all the water out of the Presusa pool in the complex and dump it on a group of people. They weren’t too chuffed at that, but it was an accident.”

Quinn chuckled loudly, hearing the self-satisfaction in Cade’s voice. “I’ll bet it was. I know you. It didn’t just happen to land on anyone, did it?” At Cade’s guilty glance, Quinn gave a large guffaw of mirth. “Hell, who did you dump it on?”

“There were some of them that were a little above themselves, all cocky and know-it-all. They got a little wet when the water drenched them, I’ll admit. But they deserved it.”

Cade stroked his hand. “They also taught me about the power I have to heal. Not to the extent you and Taliesin can, but it’s still quite powerful apparently.” Quinn was fascinated by Cade’s story, the desire to hear more and his need to feel Cade close to him at war with each other. He saw no such indecision in Cade’s expression. His lover’s eyes glinted with lust as he licked his lips, wetting them, and Quinn though he could come just from that action alone. Cade reached over, taking Quinn’s lips in a possessive kiss and Quinn was lost. He was pushed back on the bed as Cade’s tongue flicked in his ear, causing him to gasp and close his eyes.

“I think I want to shag you first then finish talking.” Cade deftly took hold of Quinn’s pyjama bottoms and pulled them off his body. Quinn’s cock leapt up as if commanded to stand to attention.

Cade growled, and the sound made Quinn’s heart beat faster and his groin flame. In one fluid moment, Cade had mounted him, sitting on his thighs and pinning Quinn down with a look of predatory greed. Quinn watched, open mouthed, at the sight of this sensual and perfect man preparing to take what he wanted from him.

Cade’s eyes gleamed with desire as he ran his hands down Quinn’s chest, rubbing his sensitive nipples with some force, leaving Quinn breathless. His cock was already wet and throbbing, and Cade leaned down, his hands on Quinn’s hips as he licked the tip and growled with pleasure. That sound alone was enough to make Quinn hyperventilate with lust. He relished the feel of Cade’s tongue on his prick, the long, slow lapping up the underside. Cade’s hair brushed Quinn’s skin, turning it into multitudes of nerve endings that threatened sensory overload.

“Cade, please,” Quinn panted, all rational though gone, and he didn’t recognise the needy tone of his voice. “Please, I want you to take me. I need you inside me.”

Cade’s eyes darkened as he licked his lips and Quinn moaned at the sight of that wet, swollen mouth.

“It’s been a while for you, Quinn, are you sure?” Cade’s voice trailed off as Quinn thrust his hips up under Cade.

“Yes, damn you. Now get
off
me and get
inside
me. I need to feel you, need to know you’re with me, that you’re real. Please.”

Cade shifted and moved off Quinn’s legs to kneel beside him. He reached inside the bedside drawer for the packets of lube and tore the corner off. The sweet smell of berries rose in the air and he laughed softly.

“
Berry
nice, Quinn. I like your taste in lube. I haven’t seen this one before.”

“Shut the fuck up about the damn lube and put it on your dick. Then put your dick inside me. Can you manage that, Cade? I thought your talking took place
after
sex, not before?”

Cade’s answer to Quinn’s sexually frustrated tetchiness was to lean down and take his mouth in a kiss that sucked the snark from him and left him dizzy. He watched through hazy eyes as Cade lathered his dick in lube and then pushed Quinn’s legs back as far they could go. Keeping his silver eyes focused on Quinn’s, Cade slowly slid a slick finger inside him, coating him with sweet-smelling gel. Quinn gasped at the cold feel then the burn as Cade stuck another finger inside and moved his fingers around. Quinn moaned, his head pushing back against the pillow, as his eyes closed and he revelled in Cade’s touch.

“Do you feel met?” Cade whispered as he opened Quinn up. “Do you believe I’m here and I’m real now?”

Quinn gulped and nodded. “No more prep. I need you.”

Cade ran his hands up Quinn’s arms and slowly, lovingly, he pushed into Quinn, filling him up inch by inch. Quinn’s legs ached from the position he was in and he loved every minute of it.

“God, yes,” Quinn’s voice was husky. “All of you, Cade. Every bit of you in me.”

Their ballet of lovemaking was an intimate dance of two men so in tune with each other’s bodies and emotions that it played out like a soaring symphony and Quinn roared in ecstasy at the beauty of it.

Cade’s body, his skin, his lips, his silver eyes and his sweat all took possession of Quinn and he closed his eyes and gave himself up to the miracle that was Cade Mairston. Finally, with a loud cry of pleasure, he let go and threw himself at the mercy of the man who had returned from the dead, just to be with him.

Chapter 25

With Cade satiated and Quinn still in a state of shock at both the aggression and possessiveness of his new man, they lay together, Cade spooning into his back with his hands draped across his stomach. Quinn’s arse hurt, his cock was sore with the amount of manhandling it had been subject to, and from the look on his face, Cade was also feeling the after effects of their violent and passionate coming together.

“That was intense,” he whispered hoarsely, his throat still sore from all the shouting and gasping he’d done. “Christ, we’re going to die if that’s how it going to be from now on. Not that I’m complaining, it’s a great way to go, but fuck, Cade. That was just—” Words failed him and Cade laughed as his fingers caressed Quinn’s sticky belly.

“I agree. I think we just made the bloody earth move.”

They lay quietly together, comfortable in each other’s arms.

“Are you going to tell me more about your experiences now seeing as how you’ve had your fill of me?” Quinn chuckled softly in the dark. His sense of well-being at having Cade lying beside him still hadn’t disappeared.

“I wouldn’t say I’ve had my fill of you. I’ve got some weeks of lust to catch up on. But for now I’m okay.” Cade laughed softly as his tongue trailed its way across Quinn’s shoulder. “I like getting my Fey on. My instincts to ravage you seem to have gotten more intense since being gone.”

Quinn chuckled. “I can’t say I’m not liking it—even though it’s going to kill me.”

Cade shifted next to him. “I don’t remember where I stopped my story, though, so you’ll have to remind me.”

“You dumped a load of water on some of your fellow Sprites.” Quinn’s voice was wry.

“Oh yes. That. Nydra taught me how to breathe in water.” Cade’s voice was awed. “It was quite the most incredible experience I’ve ever had. Nydra told me what those words meant that I said in the water when that Sprite tried to pull me down. It was ‘áse me na fýgo’ which is Greek for ‘let me go.’ She said I dredged it up from my subconscious. So you’re not the only one now who can speak another language.”

Quinn chuckled at his lover’s smug tone even as his insides churned with fear.

Cade is different now. I will have to tell him everything I know now about being Fey to keep him safe. He may be in danger with healing powers like his, being descended from someone like Hester Vickers. Not to mention the fact any Fey is fair game for a Collector to steal their powers away. But that can come later. Now I just want to be with him. This homecoming is all that counts right here and now.

Cade crept closer to him, his hands gently stroking Quinn’s hip and his stomach down by his groin, arousing him again. “It was a truly unbelievable experience being shown all these things and having Nydra tell me about my past and who I was.” He laid warm lips against Quinn’s shoulder. “Yet every minute I was there, I was waiting to get back to you. I would have given it all up just to see you again. Who I was just didn’t seem to be as important as who I wanted to be with. Nydra said I could use more time with them, but I made such a fuss about coming back to you, finally she relented and got me back.”

“You’re home now.” Quinn looked at Cade fiercely. “You are home for good though, aren’t you? They don’t want you back? Because I can damn well tell you I won’t let you go—”

Cade’s mouth found his and smothered his words. “No, I’m back with you,” he whispered into his mouth. “No one’s taking me away again from you again. I promise.”

Quinn groaned as Cade’s hands found him again and he caressed him softly, sliding his fingers up the length of him. “You’re pretty perky again. I think I can put that to good use. But this time you can ride me, cowboy. I’m all dun tuckered out from last time.”

Cade’s terrible attempt at a Western accent made Quinn chuckle softly even as he got back in the saddle.

Chapter 26

Quinn took a deep breath and straightened his tie in the bathroom mirror. He’d needed a few minutes on his own before going into the conference room next door and facing what he knew was going to be a tough audience. He took a long, critical look at himself. His beard was gone and he was back to just his normal faint gold stubble on his chin. Cade had been fattening him up over the past four days, making sure he ate three times a day and snacking in between to get him back to what his bossy fiancé called his usual “brawny” self. Quinn wasn’t sure he’d been brawny to start with, but Cade had insisted and Quinn had decided not to argue. Besides with all the sexual activity Cade was subjecting him to, he’d needed to replenish his energy levels constantly.

Quinn had spent the last few days with Cade as he showed him what Nydra had taught him. The Warlock was impressed with the extent of the Sprite woman’s teachings. She’d certainly shown Cade a lot of his past and how to manage his powers.

Percy had convened a meeting for today, the eighteenth of July, and Quinn had a lot of ground to cover and claim back. His absence over the last four weeks had cost him dearly. Whilst his council had understood his so-called “compassionate” leave, Barton Sinclair had been busy doing everything in his power to undermine him.

Now Quinn had to go in and face the people he knew he’d let down due to his personal circumstances and try and get them to have confidence in him once again.

Percy walked in to the bathroom, going over to the urinal. Quinn turned away and once again regarded himself in the mirror, looking deeply into his own eyes as if searching for something. Percy finished his pee and zipped himself up to come over and wash his hands, standing beside Quinn.

“I’m glad Cade’s back. It’s good to see you getting back to your old self.” Percy looked at Quinn in the mirror. “I know it’s going to be tough for you in there, but remember, you have more friends than enemies. Justin’s in the room too, and you know he’ll support you. Just stay focused. Be your usual charming and autocratic self and the meeting will go just fine.” He grinned.

Quinn smiled slightly. “Thanks, I know I’ve got my work cut out for me in there and I wouldn’t expect anything else after neglecting them all for nearly four weeks.”

“They knew about Cade. They understood you were taking some personal time. So people would have expected a little less face time from you anyway.”

Quinn turned away from the mirror and took another deep breath. “Right, let’s do this.”

You will be successful. I can feel it.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Taliesin.” Quinn murmured softly. “At least one of us feels sure about the bloody thing.”

He walked out of the bathroom and into the corridor, Percy following behind him. Quinn reached the boardroom door and opened it with a show of confidence he didn’t feel. The room was noisy with chatter and as he stepped inside, it quietened and people looked around expectantly. Quinn took his place at the head of the table and remained standing up, waiting for the room to settle down.

“Gentlemen, please, sit down.” Quinn motioned with his hands to everyone to seat themselves. “Once you’re all comfortable, I have something I need to say to you.”

Justin Leichner was seated, watching the room. His friend’s narrowed eyes slowly assessed the people around the table. Then Justin smiled and nodded at him. Quinn nodded back. Finally everyone was quiet, watching Quinn carefully.

James Barton Sinclair and his partner in crime, Troy, sat at the far end of the boardroom table. James had a sneer on his face.

Quinn took a deep breath. “Gentlemen, thank you for attending this extraordinary Council meeting today. I appreciate the time you’ve all given up to be here.” He sat down and leaned forward. “As most of you know, I had a family bereavement some weeks ago and I decided to take some personal time off. Unfortunately it turned out to be longer than I expected and I apologise for that.”

He looked around the table at the faces staring back at him.

Here goes. They say honesty is the best policy.

“I need to be truthful with you all. My intention was never to stay away so long but events took me over. I ended up feeling far sorrier for myself than I should have been.”