Grlind shook his head. “No. I won’t accept.”

  Jade stomped over to the orc, shaking a finger at him. “You will not refuse a gift of payment from the Storm King!”

  Blaze tugged on Griff’s wrist. Heat flared between them as Griff looked into Blaze’s eyes. Images from their lovemaking the night before flitted through Griff’s mind. That part of the sleepless night had been amazing. He didn’t regret anything about it, and in fact, felt the warmth of arousal beginning in his groin.

  “We don’t have to talk with them if you aren’t ready,” Blaze said, pulling Griff closer.

  Griff shook his head. “No. As much as I hate to admit it, Jade’s right, and this…this situation is growing direr.” He ran a hand through his hair. “That’s not the word I want. I can’t think of it. But it’s— Oh! It’s escalating! It must take a great deal of power to commit such a hallucination. This can’t be happening to everyone in our world, so it must not be real.”

  “Oh, are we discussing this now?”

  Griff gritted his teeth, biting back a growl. He didn’t know why Jade was bugging him so much more today than before.

  Then again—Griff glanced at Grlind, who was obviously angry, his green skin a mottled, ugly gray on his cheeks and neck. He was scowling hard enough to turn Medusa into stone. Jade was still irritated as well, and Griff wasn’t himself—

  He turned back to Blaze. “Do you feel angry? Grouchy? Not exactly yourself?”

  Blaze frowned. “Jade bugs me as much as he always has.” He shrugged.

  “What are you thinking?” Jade asked.

  “That it’s odd how angry three of us are,” Griff answered. “If Blaze was feeling it, too, I’d think we were bespelled.”

  Jade cocked his head, narrowing his eyes as he considered what Griff had said. After a moment, he said, “Not all spells work on all species.”

  Griff darted a glance up at the sky. “Surely a deity would know that, though,” he whispered, as if that would keep the gods from hearing him. “If it were a deity casting the spell?”

  Jade snorted, and while he didn’t answer, his expression made it clear that he didn’t think the gods were all that bright. Not every one of them, at least.

  “We could just be tired and stressed. As to spells…there are others besides gods with great powers,” Grlind contributed. “Wizards, warlocks, witches—and why do they all start with a w, do you think?”

  Jade rolled his eyes. “That hardly matters. What’s important is that Griff is the son of a favored goddess, and his entire frolic has to know he isn’t one of them. At least his king and family must know.”

  “I might not be the son of Ahndwa,” Griff protested. “I don’t feel like a demigod. Or a full-blooded god. I don’t feel like anything other than a very confused fairy!” And he was so tired of it. “Surely if I carried the blood of Ahndwa in my veins, I would know it.”

  Wouldn’t I?

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  “Maybe, if we all pool our powers, we can do…something,” Griff finished, flailing his arms as if to chase off the uncertainty in his voice.

  “What powers?” Grlind asked. “I’m just an orc. I can’t breathe fire or control the weather or chant and bring magic out of my body.”

  Griff sent him a sweet little smile that warmed Blaze just to see it.

  “Magic out of my body?” Griff asked of Grlind.

  Blaze happened to know for a fact that Griff’s body was overflowing with magic, albeit probably not the kind the other two men were talking about. But Blaze believed there was something to sex magic, and Griff had it. He could enslave Blaze easily with his loving, though Griff would never do such a thing.

  Of course, Blaze had willingly given Griff his heart, but Griff had his in return.

  “Pay attention, Smoky,” Jade grumbled.

  Blaze turned his head enough to glower at the Storm King. “Shut up, Flash.”

  “Flash?” Jade blinked. “Oh. You mean like lightning.”

  Blaze could have been mean and said no, like gone in a flash, as in toppled in a coup, but even he wasn’t that snarky. “Yeah. Or I could just call you Hail. Or Puddle. Oh, Puddle would work.”

  “I can have a lightning bolt hit you in the ass,” Jade threatened, sparks dancing over his fingertips.

  “Are you two done sniping?” Grlind asked. “Ready to listen to Griff’s plan?”

  “How did—?” Blaze shook his head. “How did we miss a whole plan that quick?”

  “As much as I’d like to tell you that yes, you were too busy bickering to hear what I was saying, it wouldn’t be the truth, but I did mention the plan before that—us pooling our powers,” Griff said. “And despite what anyone else might think, every creature living in our world has magical powers. We are magical beings. It flows through us and creates us, sustains us. None of us are without it.”

  Grlind’s eyebrows were nestled together as he frowned, but Blaze thought Griff was right.

  “You are a treasure,” Jade told Griff.

  And apparently, the Storm King knew it, too.

  Jade patted Griff’s back. “I have always had a thing for intellectuals. Too bad you’re taken.”

  Blaze growled, but Jade flicked his fingers at him. “Please. I’m not interested in taking your man. I was only praising him for being useful. Isn’t that what a good king or queen would do? I know you don’t think much of royalty, Blaze, but really, I try to do better, and you look like you want to singe me.”

  “Doing better and handing out praise doesn’t mean flirting,” Grlind explained while Blaze still struggled with getting a word out past the rage knotting his throat. “Jade, stop being a prick. If you’re into intellectuals, try to act intelligently yourself.”

  “Why—” Jade flushed dark, anger rolling over him like the clouds rolled up in the sky. “You big ignorant oaf! You can’t speak to me like that!”

  Grlind scowled. “I just did, and now you’re going to have a temper tantrum like a babe who didn’t get his way. Very kingly.”

  “It actually is,” Blaze muttered as thunder clapped loud enough to make his ears ring.

  “Stop it!” Griff shouted. “Stop arguing! We’re being manipulated and fighting will be playing into the hands of whoever’s trying to pull our strings.”

  “And who might that be?” Jade asked after taking a deep breath.

  Griff bit his bottom lip until Blaze saw a speck of blood well up, the dark red contrasting vibrantly against the white of Griff’s teeth.

  “Don’t.” Blaze thumbed Griff’s lip. “You’re hurting yourself.” He swiped at the small hurt.

  Griff shivered, his eyes huge as he looked at Blaze. “My king has to be involved,” Griff whispered. “He can’t be ignorant of what we’re doing now. He’s had to have found out we left to find my wings, and that you’re my bonded.”

  “Why should he care?” Blaze asked. “He wanted you in his harem, but he has more people in it than he has time for fucking. Sorry,” he tacked on quickly. “No offense to your sister.”

  “No, I know you didn’t mean anything bad toward her.” Griff brushed a few strands of hair off his cheek. “I still don’t think Gia is involved. She helped us, and Artaxis… He might have wanted me in his harem for reasons other than because he found me desirable.”

  “Like that you’re the son of a goddess?” Jade asked.

  Griff shook his head. “I don’t know if I am, and that’s the most I can admit to right now. I don’t feel like I am. I’m still just…just me. That doesn’t mean I’m not—her son, I mean. I just don’t know.”

  At least Griff was keeping an open mind about it.

  Jade nodded curtly. “All right then. So you believe your king is involved. Is he powerful enough to do this?” He gestured to their surroundings. “Create an illusion so great we can’t tell it’s an illusion?”

  “I thought he was just a fairy king,” Griff said. “What do I truly know of his powers? Nothing. He could also be working with other, more powerful people. But to what end?”

  “It’s always something stupid like wanting to take over the world because they got their feelings hurt when they were rebuffed by a crush,” Blaze pointed out, not really joking. “Something little that makes someone crack, and they crave power.” Like Bonny. Oh shit! Like Bonny! He turned to Griff. “Bonny. She is powerful. I don’t know how much, how strong, but she’s definitely powerful, and she’d be pissed that I got to have you, that I have a bonded. She wouldn’t like it that I’m happy, I don’t think. Or she’d at least be jealous.”

  “And maybe scared that Fyre might find a bond mate of his own, and leave her,” Griff mused. “Still, what would any of that have to do with me being Ahndwa’s son, if I am?”

  “She could be a seer,” Jade offered. “One who can detect power and magic.”

  “Such people exist?” Griff only grunted when Jade assured him they did.

  “There’s no telling why anyone is after us. We’ll only get answers if we find the people or person responsible,” Grlind added. “So perhaps we should do that. Griff said combine our magic.” He looked up at the sky. “When the moons are centered, that would be when we are strongest, correct?”

  “The magic time, yes.” Jade sighed. “What do we do? Join hands and dance around naked?”

  “Not a bad idea, but no,” Griff told him. “Although, there is powerful magic in sex. But no. No orgy will take place tonight. But we will do what we must. Sex, blood, sacrifice—those all strengthen magic. Blaze and I can take care of the first and—”

  “And no,” Jade cut in. “I mean, yes to that part, but Grlind has already sacrificed, more than anyone should have ever done, or would have ever done, for me. So that leaves only me to contribute, and we need blood. The blood of the Storm King should be quite a gift to give. Gods know there’s plenty of people who’d love to see it spilled.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  “This is a little, er, different.” Blaze just knew he was blushing all over with embarrassment.

  Or arousal. He didn’t want to examine the cause too closely.

  Griff caressed his cheek. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked in a low voice meant only for Blaze to hear.

  Blaze cast a quick look at Grlind and Jade, who were having their own two-person conference several feet away. Neither of them appeared to be happy, and he thought they were bickering. Jade was gesturing animatedly with his hands while Grlind’s expression grew dourer by the second.

  “We can come up with another way,” Griff continued, now framing Blaze’s face in his hands. “We don’t have to do this. Sex magic is something Love fairies are good at, yes, but if I’m not a Love fairy, this might all be for naught.”

  “Sex magic isn’t just a Love fairy thing,” Blaze pointed out. “It’s the intent that counts, too, not just the bloodlines.” He leaned in and took a quick kiss. “I’m fine. I’m actually—” Blaze had to clear his throat to get the admission out. “Kind of turned on. From knowing. You know. That they’ll be watching us.”

  Griff’s eyebrows shot up his forehead, and his eyes rounded. “Really?” He ran his hands down Blaze’s chest, beyond his belly, farther south until he was fondling Blaze’s cock. “Hm. Not hard.”

  “Yet,” Blaze grumped out. “Not hard yet.” But even in that short period of time, his shaft had begun to firm up. “Anything you want to do, anything, I’m all for.” He meant it. Griff could fuck him, suck him, jack him, all three, other things, any combo— “Anything. I’m yours. I’m ready.”

  Griff’s delight showed in the smile he gave Blaze. “Let’s see what we feel like doing once we begin.”

  “Which will be…” Blaze glanced up at the sky. The moons were still off to the east. “Ugh. Too long.”

  Griff chuckled and moved one hand down to palm Blaze’s balls. “A couple of hours, yes. I wonder if I can keep you hard that long?”

  Blaze groaned. Griff probably could—and would—do just that.

  As much as Griff had wanted to keep Blaze hard until it was time for their magic, he had to intervene on the fighting that broke out between Jade and Grlind. Once he got them calmed down, he checked the moons’ positions.

  Part of sex magic was in the fluidity and connection made between those involved in the act. Orgies were strong conductors of magic, when the group could focus on the power they brought out.

  He wasn’t willing to go that far, not if it meant sharing his bonded.

  If Grlind and Jade decided to make an…additional…contribution to the magic, then so be it. Griff couldn’t imagine them doing anything with one another, but masturbating wasn’t out of the question.

  He’d be too busy with Blaze to pay any attention anyway.

  The air carried with it a definite hint of foreboding. Griff felt it blow in, a supernaturally chilly sensation that had him glancing at Jade with an unspoken question.

  Jade shook his head. “That’s not me. That’s…that’s evil.”

  “Even I can feel it,” Grlind said, rubbing his arms. “Someone isn’t willing to wait for us to begin.”

  “No, they aren’t,” Griff whispered, noticing dark shapes rippling through the trees, coming their way. “Look!”

  “They hope to stall us so we must wait another night?” Jade muttered. “I don’t think so!” He raised his arms, and his eyes rolled back until only the whites showed. Lightning swirled in the sky a moment later, a tornadic show of the Storm King’s power.

  Except it wasn’t just for show. Jade’s lips moved, the sound that left them that of s gusting through anything that stood in their way. He had said that Grlind had given him too much, and Griff wondered if this was a result of that.

  The power Jade was giving off was incredible, and it wasn’t until Grlind shouted that Griff saw it—blood running down Jade’s arms from his wrists. Only the fact that the blood wasn’t flowing thick or gushing reassured Griff that Jade hadn’t gone too far with his sacrifice.

  And if Jade was starting the magic early, so would they. While having the moons overhead just so was the ideal, it wasn’t absolutely necessary.

  “Watch over Jade,” Griff shouted to Grlind as the noise increased. The pressure in the air made Griff’s ears ache, and he had to grit his teeth to counter it.

  Whatever was coming for them was about to get blasted. Every hair on Griff’s body stood up as Jade’s voice grew as loud as a thousand storms.

  Griff grabbed Blaze and wrapped his arms around him. “Now!” He gripped Blaze’s nape and used the hold to bring Blaze’s head closer.

  “But—” Blaze began, trying to turn around.

  “No! We can’t let them win!” He wasn’t sure who or what he was talking about, only that the words wouldn’t be held back. Griff growled as he tussled with Blaze in an erotic shuffle, the pursuit of pleasure a goal not secondary to the magic it would inspire.

  He wanted Blaze, with every particle of his being. More than he’d ever wanted him.

  And Blaze wasn’t fighting to get away. He was struggling to get closer, to get more of Griff.

  Griff clipped Blaze’s left heel, catching it with his own foot and tumbling Blaze to the ground. He was on Blaze in less than a heartbeat, crushing their mouths together as thunder shook the ground. Great flashes of lightning were followed by otherworldly shrieks. Whatever was out there in the trees had met the first blows of Jade’s powers.

  Blaze panted and arched under him, bucking, feeding their mutual desire with rough hands and rougher thrusts.

  Griff bit him, leaving a line of red marks from Blaze’s jaw to his clavicle. Magic thrummed through Griff, through Blaze. Despite the turmoil around them, Griff’s focus narrowed down to Blaze and the need they shared.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Blaze felt the magic swelling in him, pulsing between him and Griff and filling the air around them. The tingling heat that spiraled through his body when Griff thrust into him was unlike anything he’d ever known before. Blaze could only assume that same magic made it possible for Griff to push into him so easily, without hurting Blaze at all.

  It was almost too intense, the power too great, the intimacy a deeper level even as he felt exposed to the world.

  Blaze locked gazes with Griff. In his eyes, he saw a myriad of colors, images so fleeting Blaze couldn’t make them out. They moved like clouds in the depths of Griff’s eyes, and Blaze shivered with the surety that there was much more to Griff than any of them knew.

  Then Griff kissed him, and at the same time, thrust his cock in the last few inches. Blaze’s lips parted on a gasp and a moan. His pleasure centers went haywire as Griff drove his thick shaft into Blaze’s ass again and again.

  Blaze could do nothing but feel. He tried to get his hands and legs to move, and maybe they did. Maybe he was able to wrap them around Griff and hold on to him like he wanted to.

  Every thrust, every grunt and slap of flesh on flesh, incited more rough need in Blaze. He wanted every bite and nip, every hard grasp and deep penetration.

  Griff raised his head, ending the kiss, and still, Blaze couldn’t close his eyes. Griff’s gaze held him entranced as the electric charge of their mating sizzled between them.

  There were no screams, no storm, only muted sounds as Blaze’s focus was on his bonded and himself. He heard their breaths, their moans, their curses and vows, words he knew and ones he didn’t spilling from his lips as fast as they appeared in his mind.

  A great light surrounded him and Griff, then Blaze’s vision dimmed under a mighty wave of rapturous pleasure. He arched and keened as he came, Griff’s hand suddenly on his cock, working it with harsh strokes.

  Barely a moment later, Griff’s broken breath had Blaze’s focus centering on him. Griff’s skin seemed to glow, tiny beads of sweat glistening on his brow as he drove in harder and harder. His full lips thinned, and the cords in his neck stood out. His hair swirled around them, caught by the wind or something magical.