Noah's cock had hardened at the first glance of the man through the windshield of the car. He couldn't help but plunder that mouth. Jayden looked fucking edible.

  Noah smiled as Jessica berated her sons for their treatment of their youngest brother.

  James stepped forward and offered his hand. Noah reached out and shook it. "I'd like to apologise for my boys.

  They were out of line."

  Noah couldn't agree more. He wasn't about to tell the man that though. It was one thing to admit when your kids were in the wrong, but it was completely different to have someone tell you they were wrong. Instead he changed the subject. "You didn't tell Jayden you were all coming tonight?"

  The man looked slightly embarrassed but covered it quickly. "We thought it best not to mention it to him. His mother and I didn't want to make him nervous about tonight any more than he already may have been. I hope you'll still let us observe for a short time," James said.

  Noah looked around at Jayden's brothers. He could see the strong family resemblance in all of them. Every last one of them, including Jayden, took after their father. No one was smiling after Jessica had lost her temper with them though. "I'll stick by my original decision, but one more rude remark to Jayden and this is off," he said. Noah didn't like the look on Jayden's face as he had walked away. He had no idea that James had not cleared them coming to watch with Jayden and felt awful for agreeing without talking to him first.

  "Thank you. The boys will behave. God knows their mother and I taught them better manners than that."

  Noah nodded before he headed back to his car and got out the large duffle bag he had packed everything in.

  Slinging it over his shoulder, he locked the car and headed in through the gates towards his brother's grave.

  Jayden was livid with his family for turning this into some kind of spectacle. How dare they! It had been drilled into him from a young age that what they did was very emotional for a lot of people and they were to behave appropriately at all times. This was hardly appropriate behaviour.

  He was so lost in his thoughts about his family that he didn't hear anyone approach, until a gentle hand on his back startled him. "Hey. Shhh, it's okay, it's just me," Noah said, sounding reassuring. Jayden looked over Noah's shoulder and noticed his family walking towards them.

  "Yeah, you and my entire family apparently." He knew he sounded like a whiney brat but he couldn't help it.

  He could understand up to a point why his parents might want to see him work. After all he dropped a huge bomb at their feet yesterday. They worried about all their kids, Jayden included. His powers were something they had never seen before and he knew they would want to see him work to make sure he was okay. His brothers, however, didn't need to be here.

  "Just ignore them. Or you can try and antagonise them. I made a deal with your dad. One bad word out of your brothers' mouths and they're out of here," Noah said with an evil grin. Jayden couldn't help the snort of laugher that burst from his lips.

  He leaned forward and placed a quick kiss on soft lips before his family arrived. "Thank you," he whispered as he stepped back.

  "You're welcome."

  "Let's get this show on the road, shall we?" Jayden asked.

  Noah agreed and Jayden watched as he set down his duffle bag. He removed a camping chair and table, quickly setting them up, along with an LED battery-powered light.

  Then came the computer with batteries and recording devices, pens, paper, and last but not least, a small container with what he assumed to be food and a drink thermos.

  "Jesus, man, how the hell did you squeeze all that in there?" Jacob, one of Jayden's brothers asked. Jayden was wondering exactly the same thing. It was like a production watching the man set everything up.

  Noah laughed. "Very carefully. We used to go camping when we were younger. My dad taught me how to pack properly."

  Jayden enjoyed the small insight into Noah's past, but now he was booting up his computer. He looked ready to start their evening. Jayden took a deep breath before he went over to where he had dumped his bag and removed the items he needed. His bag was nowhere near as large as Noah's had been. He had forgotten that this wasn't going to be a quick consult and hadn't bothered to bring himself a chair or food, for that matter. He was glad he had a spare blanket in the bottom of his bag. He would use that.

  Jayden removed the blanket and spread it on the ground in front of Grayson's grave, ignoring his family milling around on the edges. Next he removed a container of salt and a small dagger.

  Not everyone had to use salt, but for Jayden it was essential. Most fiction books will say that a necromancer needs a circle of salt to contain the newly risen so it doesn't wander off, but that was a load of rubbish. They didn't physically raise the dead and create zombies. Jayden couldn't even contemplate just how difficult it would be to break out of a coffin and dig through at least six feet of dirt to get to the surface. No, what they did was to call forth an incorporeal form of the deceased, almost like a ghost. This form took on the image of the deceased, prior to death, and had all memories of that person, making it possible to converse with them.

  This meant they couldn't wander anywhere, they just sort of floated. They couldn't even float away as they were bound within a certain radius to their graves.

  For Jayden, a complete circle of salt was essential to restrict the number of beings he would raise. The salt acted as a barrier and kept his power and magic within its confines. Even a small break in the circle would cause his magic to leak out and touch other graves.

  Despite the bright light on the table, Jayden grabbed his own torch and set off to complete his circle around Grayson's grave. He doubted any other member of his family was as meticulous as he was in regards to the salt circle, but after one night when he had made a small error that resulted in a dozen people popping up out of their graves, Jayden took the extra time to get it right.

  Twenty minutes later when he was entirely happy with his work, he put away the salt and torch and picked up the dagger. He looked at Noah. "You ready?"

  "As I'll ever be."

  "I know seeing your brother again after everything might be difficult. If you're having trouble and you need a break just let me know."

  "Thank you." Turning away, and ignoring the rustles and murmurs from his family, Jayden carefully stepped over the salt line and knelt on the ground. Grayson Michaels had been dead for nearly five weeks so the grass was just starting to grow again.

  Jayden picked up the dagger and placed the sharp point to the tip of his left index finger. He pressed down just enough to draw blood. He had stopped hissing at the pain a long time ago. Another difference between him and other necromancers was that he only needed a small drop of his blood, whereas they needed more. He could have gotten the desired result using a diabetic pen but he thought his dagger looked better and added more flare.

  He squeezed out a drop of his blood and watched it hit the ground. With just that one small drop the magic that he kept tightly leashed rushed from his body. Jayden could feel it burrowing into the ground conversing with Grayson.

  "With these words I summon thee, with my blood I summon thee, and with my magic I summon thee. Come to me, Grayson Michaels," Jayden said. He really didn't need the ritual words, but he thought with his family watching it was probably best not to show exactly how different he was.

  Before the last word had left his lips Grayson Michael's incorporeal form hovered in front of him. CHAPTER 6

  Noah ignored the surprised murmurs coming from the Thompson family and just stared at his brother. This whole experience was so surreal. After he got the phone call about his brother's car accident he never thought he would see him again. Noah swiped at his cheeks as he felt the tears rolling down them. Now he completely understood why Becca couldn't do this.

  Noah stepped forward. "Gray," he said, his voice cracking on that single word. Grayson looked back at him with a sad smile.

  "Noah, I'm sorry."

  "Not your fault. Nothing to be sorry for." Noah wiped away another tear.

  "How are Bec and Nik?" Gray asked as he moved up to the edge of the circle. Jayden had moved out of the way and had taken a seat on the blanket he had set up.

  "They're devastated. Becca couldn't handle seeing you again and then going home and not having you there with her. I'm sorry."

  Grayson nodded as if he understood, which he probably did. He knew his wife better than Noah and knew what she was capable of. "Would you tell them I love them, even in death?"

  "Sure, Gray."

  Noah quickly grabbed his chair and pulled it up to the outside edge of salt circle and sat down. He and Grayson sat and just talked for about an hour about life, death, and everything that had happened since the accident.

  Noah constantly glanced over at Jayden, in order to make sure the young man was okay.

  Even though Jayden had to maintain his presence within the circle he was giving the brothers as much privacy for their talks as he could. Currently, he was concentrating on his iPhone. Noah had no idea what he was doing with the phone, but he was grateful to Jayden for the perceived privacy.

  He looked good. His creamy skin glowed in the artificial light from his phone. A piece of hair that had fallen free from the loose braid wisped back and forth in the gentle breeze. Noah closed his hands into fists to stop himself from reaching out and tucking the stray piece of hair behind Jayden's ear.

  When Noah turned back to his brother, Grayson was watching him speculatively. He raised an eyebrow then nodded his head in Jayden's direction. Noah smiled and blushed. He knew what his brother was asking, and he nodded slightly.

  "Nice," Grayson said chuckling. "Different, but nice. I hope you're happy."

  "We'll see," Noah said, "but yeah, I think he might just make me very happy."

  A throat clearing from behind him had Noah turning to face the Thompsons. He had completely forgotten they were there.

  "We'll be on our way so you guys can get down to business. I just wanted to say thank you for letting us intrude on this private time of yours." Noah watched as James turned to face his son. "Jayden, you truly are a gifted young individual. We love you and don't forget about Sunday dinner. Bring Noah along."

  "Thanks, Dad. See you Sunday." Noah watched surprise and happiness flit across Jayden's face at James's words. He was a little surprised by the dinner invitation himself but didn't mention it until after the rest of the family had left.

  "Umm, Jayden, why am I being invited to dinner at your parents' place?"

  Jayden looked a little embarrassed but turned back to his phone. "Can we talk about this later please?"

  Noah looked from Jayden to his brother and back again. "Yeah, okay."

  Turning back to Gray, he thought it was about time to get to the reason they were there. "So—"

  "So," his brother answered back a knowing glint in his eyes.

  "We have a book to finish."

  "So we do."

  "Stop being an ass," he grunted at his brother.

  Gray threw his head back and laughed, Noah

  chuckling along with him.

  "Let's do this," Gray said still mirthful.

  Noah nodded and moved the table closer. Once he was happy with everything he sat down ready to go.

  "Can you read me the last chapter so I can reacquaint myself with where I was up to?"

  "No worries." Noah searched through the file until he came to the last chapter break and started to read.

  Jayden was exhausted; the strain of what he had been doing was finally starting to take its toll on his body.

  He wiped the sweat from his forehead, his muscles were aching, and he could feel a throbbing at the base of his skull. If he didn't cut his magic soon he would be in a world of hurt.

  The sky was just starting to glow with the pre-dawn light; Noah and his brother had been at it for hours. It had been fascinating to watch Grayson's mind at work as he recited his book to his brother.

  He had absolutely no idea how far they had gotten in the story or even how long the story had to be. But right now he didn't care. He needed to rest and recharge so he could do this all over again tomorrow night. Sighing, he shut off his phone. It was down to less than ten per cent of its battery. He would have to remember to bring a book or something else with him tomorrow—no, tonight.

  Shoving the phone in his pocket he stood up and stretched, arms reaching for the sky, before his back bowed as his body relaxed into the moves. He waited patiently for a pause in the proceedings in front of him before clearing his throat.

  Noah blinked several times before he finally seemed to focus on him. "I really hate to interrupt the flow but it'll be dawn soon and I need some rest so we can do this again tonight."

  Noah looked startled as he checked his watch. "Shit, Jayden, I'm so sorry. I didn't realise it was so late, or early as the case may be. Crap. How are you feeling?" Noah reached out as if to touch him but must have realised he was still within the circle because he dropped his hand back down. Jayden's heart fluttered at the concern he clearly saw on Noah's face.

  Jayden smiled at Noah to hopefully ease some of the man's guilt over losing track of time. "I'm okay, but I think ten hours is about my limit."

  "You look exhausted," Noah murmured. Jayden just nodded. There was no reason to say anything else. It was more than likely written all over his face anyway.

  "Thank you, Jayden, for allowing us this time."

  Grayson moved until he was once more standing over his grave. "Brother, I can't begin to explain what it means to me that you are here trying to finish my work. Thank you.

  Give my love to Bec and Nik. I'll see you again soon."

  "You're welcome," Noah said in reply. His voice had grown quiet at Gray's goodbye.

  Grayson turned to Jayden and nodded once. Jayden started to draw his magic back, watching as Grayson slowly sank back into the earth. "May you rest in peace," Jayden said softly as the last of his magic returned to him.

  Jayden took a deep breath. His knees shook before his legs gave out from under him. He would have fallen if not for the strong arms that circled his waist and drew him back against a hard chest. "Shhh. Just relax. I've got you."

  Deep breath, in and out. Jayden stood there and just breathed for several minutes. When Jayden thought his body was finally under his control again, he let his head fall onto Noah's shoulder and tilted his chin up, wanting a kiss.

  Noah caressed his cheek, thumb stroking across his bottom lip, his eyes never leaving Jayden's.

  Jayden inhaled at the intensity of longing he saw in them. Then, Noah bent down and kissed him. Noah's tongue slowly pressed forward into Jayden's mouth, wrapping around his. There was no urgency to the kiss, no battle over who was in charge. Just a sweet, gentle, unhurried kiss filled with want and need.

  Jayden turned into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Noah's neck. With great reluctance he eventually broke the kiss. "We shouldn't be doing this here," he muttered even as he leaned forward to press their lips together again. Noah allowed the second kiss but didn't deepen it. His hands travelled the length of Jayden's back to rest on his ass.

  "Come home with me?" Noah whispered in his ear as he bit down gently on his lobe. Jayden shivered. Noah tightened his grip and pulled him hard against his body. Jayden's cock woke up and took notice of the hard ridge pulsing behind Noah's jeans.

  "Yes," he whimpered at the thought of making love with his mate. He would have to explain things to Noah when they got back to his place, but right now he couldn't think.

  Noah quickly kissed him again before letting him go and stepping away. Jayden felt bereft without Noah touching him, but he began packing his things away, concentrating on the fact that the sooner they left, the sooner he would get to feel Noah touch him again. When he finished, Jayden looked over to see Noah zipping up his duffle bag. Noah slung the heavy bag over his shoulder before he reached out and took Jayden's right hand in his free one.

  Jayden smiled shyly at him as they made their way back through the cemetery to the entrance. He stumbled a couple of times on the way as his legs felt like they were made of jelly. If it hadn't been for the hold Noah had on him, he would have fallen. Happy to see the entrance and their cars just beyond Jayden willed his body to hold out.

  Noah led him to his SUV and unlocked the car before he opened the passenger door and waited for Jayden to get in. "You're far too exhausted to drive. We'll go to my place and since we'll be coming back here later, your car can stay here for now."

  Jayden was too tired to argue, so he let Noah take his bag from him as he climbed into the SUV. He pulled his seatbelt on and settled back in the seat and closed his eyes.

  Jayden distantly registered the sounds of the back opening and closing then Noah climbed into the driver's seat. He felt a gentle hand caress his face and Jayden moved into the touch. Noah leaned over and placed a soft kiss to his temple. "Sleep, sweetheart."

  The sound of the engine starting and then the vibrations of the tires on bitumen lulled Jayden into a light sleep, until all too soon, the familiar noises stopped. Jayden tried desperately to drag himself out of sleep, but before he could, his door opened and warm air hit him. Jayden tried to open his eyes, he could feel his lashes fluttering, but he didn't think he was too successful. Partial images of Noah were all he got to let him know he was safe.

  Jayden felt Noah lift his leaden arms and place them around his neck. Then Noah slid one of his arms around Jayden's back. Jayden sighed and cuddled in closer to the warmth surrounding him. The man smelled intoxicating.

  Taking a deep sniff he relaxed against Noah's solid frame.

  "Come on, Jay, let's get you upstairs and into bed," Noah murmured in his ear. Jayden barely heard him through the haze of the exhaustion he felt. But he tried his best to stumble along beside Noah. He enjoyed the feel of Noah next to him, his solid presence supporting him as they made their way to Noah's apartment.

  The walk into the apartment was a blur; the next thing he knew Noah was undressing him, leaving only his underwear in place. Usually Jayden would be embarrassed at being naked in front of someone he barely knew, but with Noah he felt at ease.