concentration, and I was guessing that none of them could do it more than once a day.
“Didn’t he wormhole here to you?”
I nodded.
“And,” Shane said slowly, waiting, “he’s gonna do it again?”
“I’m guessing,” Joe said as he stood up next to me, “that you guys don’t travel to and from other planes like the clutch in San Francisco does on a consistent basis, exercising that vortex muscle, huh?”
They didn’t say anything.
“Marcus’s sentinel told me that a warder builds power by being in a clutch of other warders that are dependent on one another. Did you know that?”
No one answered Joe.
“Warders have to spend time together every single day like they do in Marcus’s clutch. Do you guys do that? Are you guys even friends?”
He was listening for a word from any of them.
“Speak up,” Joe scolded them. “I’m blind.”
“No, we….” Shane stopped, then began again. “We don’t work like that, Joe. We all check in with our sentinel, but we all do different things and don’t talk to each other much. We’re all very strong warders. We don’t need to partner up the way they do in Marcus’s clutch.”
I was suddenly very happy that my sentinel was the kind of man he was. Jael had insisted on building a family, not just a team. He always said that together we were strongest, not individually.
“When do you want us back to go with you to the demon’s home?” Kyle asked.
“You don’t have to go at all. Just tell me where—”
“No,” he insisted. “We’ll be there. When will your warders be here?”
“Give them at least a couple of hours.”
“Okay, so it’s six now. We’ll meet here at eight,” Shane said, getting up from the couch to stand beside Kyle.
“We’ll see you then,” I agreed.
Shane moved forward to reach Joe, but I instinctively clutched him to me, and just like always, the man turned and folded in tight.
“You’re very lucky,” Shane said to me.
“I know,” I told him. “And keep your distance when you return.”
“Why?”
I cleared my throat. “Leith is the rational one.”
And Shane understood then that coveting my hearth when my friends could see him might not be all that good for his health.
J OE stayed downstairs with his parents and talked about warders and hearths and when he had found out and why they didn’t need to be afraid and how safe they all were now that everyone knew. I went upstairs to shower and try to wake up. When I fell asleep on my feet, I realized that maybe it was time to get out of the water.
I was yawning while walking from the bathroom to the bedroom I shared with Joe. My eyes were watering when I fell down spread-eagle on the bed, and I closed them for a minute, just for a quick rest.
The shaking woke me.
“Awww, crap,” I grumbled, rolling over on my stomach.
“You gotta change soon,” Joe told me, hand massaging the back of my neck.
“Oh God, that feels so good,” I almost purred, lifting up to move into his lap.
He was chuckling softly. “I wanna go with you.”
“What? No.” I yawned.
“Please, Marcus.”
“How ’bout hell no ,” I reiterated. “Not gonna happen, Joseph.”
“Why not?”
“You don’t go with me to fight demons. I—”
“But if I go as that offering they were talking about, then—”
“You heard him. It’s a dimensional door. There’s no telling what he’s got in there, and you are not going to be guessing with me. No.”
“Marcus, I—”
“No,” I said loudly, lifting up, grabbing him, and pinning him under me with my weight.
“Marcus, goddammit, don’t manhandle me!”
But he loved it and we both knew it. I shifted over him to press my thigh between his legs and began suckling on his throat.
“Stop.” He jolted beneath me, hands on my chest, clutching at my skin as I kissed over the line of his jaw back to his earlobe.
The whimper that came out of him sent blood rushing to my cock.
“Shit,” I groaned, realizing too
“Didn’t he wormhole here to you?”
I nodded.
“And,” Shane said slowly, waiting, “he’s gonna do it again?”
“I’m guessing,” Joe said as he stood up next to me, “that you guys don’t travel to and from other planes like the clutch in San Francisco does on a consistent basis, exercising that vortex muscle, huh?”
They didn’t say anything.
“Marcus’s sentinel told me that a warder builds power by being in a clutch of other warders that are dependent on one another. Did you know that?”
No one answered Joe.
“Warders have to spend time together every single day like they do in Marcus’s clutch. Do you guys do that? Are you guys even friends?”
He was listening for a word from any of them.
“Speak up,” Joe scolded them. “I’m blind.”
“No, we….” Shane stopped, then began again. “We don’t work like that, Joe. We all check in with our sentinel, but we all do different things and don’t talk to each other much. We’re all very strong warders. We don’t need to partner up the way they do in Marcus’s clutch.”
I was suddenly very happy that my sentinel was the kind of man he was. Jael had insisted on building a family, not just a team. He always said that together we were strongest, not individually.
“When do you want us back to go with you to the demon’s home?” Kyle asked.
“You don’t have to go at all. Just tell me where—”
“No,” he insisted. “We’ll be there. When will your warders be here?”
“Give them at least a couple of hours.”
“Okay, so it’s six now. We’ll meet here at eight,” Shane said, getting up from the couch to stand beside Kyle.
“We’ll see you then,” I agreed.
Shane moved forward to reach Joe, but I instinctively clutched him to me, and just like always, the man turned and folded in tight.
“You’re very lucky,” Shane said to me.
“I know,” I told him. “And keep your distance when you return.”
“Why?”
I cleared my throat. “Leith is the rational one.”
And Shane understood then that coveting my hearth when my friends could see him might not be all that good for his health.
J OE stayed downstairs with his parents and talked about warders and hearths and when he had found out and why they didn’t need to be afraid and how safe they all were now that everyone knew. I went upstairs to shower and try to wake up. When I fell asleep on my feet, I realized that maybe it was time to get out of the water.
I was yawning while walking from the bathroom to the bedroom I shared with Joe. My eyes were watering when I fell down spread-eagle on the bed, and I closed them for a minute, just for a quick rest.
The shaking woke me.
“Awww, crap,” I grumbled, rolling over on my stomach.
“You gotta change soon,” Joe told me, hand massaging the back of my neck.
“Oh God, that feels so good,” I almost purred, lifting up to move into his lap.
He was chuckling softly. “I wanna go with you.”
“What? No.” I yawned.
“Please, Marcus.”
“How ’bout hell no ,” I reiterated. “Not gonna happen, Joseph.”
“Why not?”
“You don’t go with me to fight demons. I—”
“But if I go as that offering they were talking about, then—”
“You heard him. It’s a dimensional door. There’s no telling what he’s got in there, and you are not going to be guessing with me. No.”
“Marcus, I—”
“No,” I said loudly, lifting up, grabbing him, and pinning him under me with my weight.
“Marcus, goddammit, don’t manhandle me!”
But he loved it and we both knew it. I shifted over him to press my thigh between his legs and began suckling on his throat.
“Stop.” He jolted beneath me, hands on my chest, clutching at my skin as I kissed over the line of his jaw back to his earlobe.
The whimper that came out of him sent blood rushing to my cock.
“Shit,” I groaned, realizing too
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