Something Magic

by Justine Taylor

  “Oh my God,” Caleb pants, head falling to rest on Mack’s broad chest.

  “Yeah,” Mack pants back, somehow sounding even more wrecked than Caleb. He moves off of him to lie down on his back, gently pulling Caleb down to lay next him, pulling his head back to his chest. He runs his come-covered hand through Caleb’s hair, sighing deeply. Caleb thumbs playfully at the nipple he’s eye-level with, tugging slightly on the barbell, earning him a soft little moan from Mack. “I hope you don’t have plans today,” he says, settling in against his almost too-warm body with contentment that he’s never felt before. It’s early Sunday morning and the possibility of a day in bed with Mack sounds like actual heaven. “I want to spend the day in bed with you, seeing how many times we can make each other come.”

  Mack laughs and pulls him closer. “I’m tattooing Dante at eight tonight. I’m all yours until then.”

  “Just until then?” Caleb quips, meaning to be playful but there’s an edge of worry to his voice that he’s sure Mack notices.

  “I’m yours as long as you’ll have me,” Mack says with a smile, and pulls him up for a kiss.

  They don’t spend the entire day in bed, but they do spend the morning there, limbs tangled and messy with come and sweat. Mack seems to have a thing for them spilling all over each other and then relishing in the feel and smell and taste of it, like a wild animal or something, and Caleb is more than happy to oblige his kink. They share joints and talk between long, lingering kisses that turn into long, lingering blowjobs, untl eventually hunger drives them from bed and into the shower. They walk a couple blocks to Caleb’ favorite diner and eat a huge breakfast before going back to his apartment to smoke another joint (turns out Mack is an expert joint roller and the way his cheeks hollow and his lips pucker when he smokes makes Caleb’ stoner heart burst with joyful lust). When Mack confesses that he’s never watched Battlestar Galactica, Caleb insists on remedying that travesty.

  They order Thai for dinner, and when Mack answers the door wearing only jeans Caleb feels bad for the poor delivery girl, who stands there gaping for a solid thirty seconds before she can speak. Caleb tips her generously and shakes his head at Mack, an exuberant pride rising in his chest as he closes the door. “You’re a menace. A hotness menace.”

  “Look who’s talking,” Mack replies, planting a loud kiss on Caleb’s cheek and tweaking his nipple before grabbing the bag of food from his hands and heading towards the kitchen.

  When Mack has to leave, Caleb’s heart sinks a bit, but he walks him to his car and wraps him in a big hug that he never wants to end. Mack must feel the same, because he growls when Caleb finally pulls away.

  “You’re kind of a beast, you know that,” he says, smiling.

  Mack laughs and nuzzles his neck again, “Yeah, I know. But you like it.”

  It’s a tortuous eight days before they see each other again. Mack is booked solid with appointments, and then has to go to Boston for four days to judge an expo. He invited Caleb to go with him – hesitatingly, like he was worried the offer so soon in their relationship would scare him away. With anyone else, something like that probably would have, but not with Mack. Caleb can’t get away from work at such short notice so he can’t accept the invitation, unfortunately. They discover the joys of video sex while he’s gone, which helps with missing each other, but Caleb still sleeps poorly and only dreams of the Wolf once, and wakes up aching for him.

  All of the waiting is worth it when Mack says he wants to make it up to Caleb by having him over to his place for a long weekend as soon as he returns. Three whole days of Mack. At his secluded house in the woods. On an island. Caleb is so giddy with anticipation he can’t sit down on the ferry and paces the deck for the entire thirty minute ride, practically running off the dock into Mack’s arms where’s he’s waiting for him in the parking lot, leaning against the Camaro in a leather jacket and expensive sunglasses, like a damn movie star.

  They drive for awhile, Caleb chattering freely about his week at work and hanging out with Abbie and making plans with Leo to fly down to Lighthouse Cove together in a couple of months for their parents’ wedding. Caleb wants to invite Mack, but he’s not sure how he’ll respond to the idea of going back to Lighthouse Cove, so he doesn’t. Mack doesn’t say anything about it either, so he decides to let it go for now. Mack tells him about Boston – he went on three tours of historical sites with costumed guides, the giant nerd. He doesn't move his hand from Caleb’s the whole time.

  Caleb’s jaw drops in awe when he sees Mack’s house. It’s nestled on a small cove on the northwest corner of the island with no other houses in sight, a dense forest behind it and the glistening waters of the Sound in front. The house is a clever blend of craftsman and modern, the western and eastern walls almost entirely glass, giving incredible views of the forest and the water, filling the place with gorgeous light..

  Mack gives him a tour of the place, walkinG him through his studio that takes up most of the second floor, an array of photography and painting equipment and half-finished pieces. He tells them about working with the architect to design the house, and how Maribel and Zoey made most of the decorating decisions.

  They finally sit, cuddled close together on a huge, insanely comfortable couch in the living room. The big windows let in the sunlight of a rare clear fall day that’s rapidly falling toward night, casting the room in a stunning glow that looks and feels magical. Mack seems a little tense, like he’s working up to saying something, his brow gently furrowed with concern.

  “Everything okay,” Caleb asks, gently.

  “Yes, yeah, I guess. I just…I’m just so happy you’re here, and I can’t wait to spend every second of the next three days with you, and I don’t want to ruin it but there are some things I feel like I need to tell you.” He's talking quickly, the way Caleb does when he's nervous. It cracks Caleb’s heart a bit to see him so worried.

  “Okay,” Caleb replies, trying to hide his own nervousness. His heart is beating so hard he’s sure Mack can probably hear it though.

  Mack studies his face for a long time, his eyes clear and wide, almost imploring. He takes a deep breath before finally speaking. “It’s my dream too, Caleb,” he says finally.

  That is pretty much the last thing Caleb expects, so it takes him a second to really understand what Mack’s trying to tell him. Or what he thinks Mack’s trying to tell him. Mack’s still watching his face closely, like he’s trying to read his reactions there so he can brace himself. “Your dream too? What do you mean?”

  “You have a recurring dream of a wolf. A big, black wolf with red eyes. The wolf that Zoey tattooed for you. You’ve dreamt of the wolf since you were a kid, right?”

  Caleb feels his eyes go wide in surprise, but Mack still seems so anxious, so he moves closer and twines their fingers together. “How do you know that? The only person I’ve ever told is my mom. She wouldn’t have told a student that.”

  “She didn’t. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I know about your dream, because it’s my dream too.” He squeezes his hand and takes a deep breath. “In my dream, I’m a wolf. I’m in a forest, waiting at the edge of a clearing, when a fox appears in the middle of it. I run to him, and he acts like he wants to greet me but can’t. I had that dream for years, until one night it changed. Do you know what happened when it changed?”

  Caleb sits back to gape at Mack, keeping their hands together. What Mack’s saying is impossible, isn’t it? People can’t share dreams…can they? His Wolf always felt mysteriously otherworldly, magical, even…and…so has Mack. The way he feels about Mack – the way his entire world brightened when they met, the way he feels home like he never has before when he’s with Mack, hell, when he even thinks about Mack.

  It shouldn’t make sense, but it does, and Caleb finally decides to just give in all the way and choose to believe. In magic, in fate, in destiny, in whatever the hell it is that brought him and Mack together. As he thinks about it, he finds that he’s not just ready
to believe, he’s ready to worship whatever twists and turns of the universe that brought him the gift of Mack’s hopeful eyes, wide and sparkling in the sunset light.

  “We share the dream,” Caleb says slowly, believing it more as he says it and smiling when Mack’s sighs in relief.

  “We do. I was thirteen when it started. You would have been, what, six?”

  “Yeah,” Caleb says, swallowing hard. “This is crazy. I mean, I believe you, it feels…true, you know? But this is still seriously crazy.”

  “Yeah, I guess it would be for you,” Mack says softly, like he’s talking to himself.

  Caleb wants to ask him what exactly he means by that, but he remembers Mack’s question. “I do remember, the first time the dream changed. It was the night before the fire, wasn’t it? You howled.”

  “Yes."

  “That’s why I was at the station that day, you know. The dream upset me so much – I was so worried about you, I couldn’t go to school. And then I saw you. I was thinking of my Wolf when I saw you, hearing him howl.” Caleb thinks about how his mom had saved Mack from the fire. How his mom had saved his Wolf. His eyes grow hot and he blinks hard to keep the tears from spilling over.

  “And I was thinking about my Fox," Mack says, his own eyes shining. "About how badly he wanted to come to me but couldn’t." Mack leans over and kisses his forehead before speaking again. "The dream changed again, after your tattoo. We can run together now.” Mack smiles at the memory, and Caleb melts even more.

  “Why am I a fox to you? I’m me in my dream…an adult, even when I was a kid. I’ve never felt like a fox. And why are you a wolf?”

  “I think...and please don’t laugh at me too hard for saying this, but I think your spirit animal is a fox.”

  Caleb does guffaw a little, because spirit animal. Well, why the hell not? It makes about as much sense as the rest of this. “Okay…” he says slowly, mind racing with questions. “So that explains why you didn’t recognize me when we first met, right. I mean, we’ve been sharing dreams for years but I’ve looked like a fox to you, and you’ve always looked like a wolf to me. Huh. And why didn’t we have the dream when we were together? It seems like something should have changed about it then, right? When we actually slept next to each other for the first time.”

  “I think the dreams are more about our psychic connection. I think they were supposed to bring us together.”

  “I guess makes sense. Especially with the whole…spirit animal situation.” Caleb pauses, letting it all sink in. He lifts Mack’s hand to his mouth and kisses his palm. “I knew you were too perfect to be just some regular guy. You’re magical.” He smiles against his palm, closing his eyes when Mack moves to cup his jaw.

  “Look who’s talking,” Mack says before kissing him tenderly.

  “You’re my Wolf,” Caleb says with a smile and a sigh.

  “Yeah, and you’re my Fox. Which reminds me. I have a surprise for you,” Mack stands and pulls his shirt off, his smile wide and breathtaking.

  “Oh, I love this surprise already.” Caleb wiggles his eyebrows and moves forward to sit on the edge of the couch, eager to touch Mack, who's smiling softly as he steps closer to him and drops to his knees between Caleb’ spread legs. He lifts Caleb hand up to his chest, where his left pec has been shaved, and is bearing a fresh tattoo. It’s a black and gray fox with golden eyes, done in the same style as his Wolf, clearly Zoey’s hand –a companion piece to his Wolf. Caleb gasps and lifts a hand to run his fingers over it, smiling at the twitch of Mack’s pec, which makes it look like the fox is responding to his touch. “Mack, this is…incredible. When did you get this?”

  “When I told you I was tattooing Dante. That was a lie. Zoey was tattooing me. That night, at dinner, after we talked about Lighthouse Cove and your mom. I texted her and made her rearrange her schedule so she could do it. I knew for sure then that you were my Fox, and I wanted to mark myself for you, like you had done for me, even though I hadn’t even seen your tattoo yet. It just felt like something I really needed to do. I hope you like it,” he finishes softly.

  Caleb leans forward and places a kiss on the fox, his eyelashes brushing against Mack’s chest as he closes his eyes and sighs, so incredibly overwhelmed. Mack’s hands go to the back of his head and run softly through his hair, then press gently into the tendons of his neck. Caleb moans and melts into the touch, leaning down a bit further to take the nipple underneath the fox into his mouth, sucking gently, teasing the barbell with his tongue.

  Mack cups his jaw again, this time with both hands, and pulls him into a searing kiss, a low growl rumbling from his throat.

  Caleb breaks the kiss and laughs. “That reminds me,” he says against Mack’s cheek. “How come you know you’re a wolf in the dream, but I don’t know I’m a fox? What’s with that?”

  Mack’s body goes rigid, the tension from before seizing up his shoulders again as he leans back to look at Caleb. “That’s the other thing we need to talk about.”

  10

  Mack sits back on the couch, carefully not touching him. Caleb would pout at the loss of his touch if he weren’t so concerned about the deep line of worry creasing Mack’s brows and the tight line of his lips. “You’re freaking me out here, man.”

  “I’m sorry,” Mack says. “It’s just…I’ve never told anyone this before, and I don’t really know how to say it, because I honestly can’t even begin to guess how you might react.” Still shirtless, the lines of his shoulders stand taut with tension.

  Caleb scoots across the couch and cautiously places his hand over Mack’s heart, on the fox tattoo. “Mack, I meant what I said the other day. There’s nothing you can tell me about yourself that will change how I feel about you. So just tell me, okay?” He hopes he sounds reassuring; he’s telling Mack the truth about his feelings not changing for him, but that doesn’t stop the fact that he’s still anxious as hell, as if Mack’s feelings were contagious.

  Mack takes a deep breath. “The dreams. I’ve always known that they meant that one day we would meet. I’ve always known I’d meet a man, a fox spirit, who would share my dream. When we first met at the shop…you felt so familiar to me, even though I knew we had never actually met. Because you were my Fox, the one I’d been waiting for.”

  “You’ve always known? How? I’m a fox?” Caleb is utterly confused and certainly doesn’t see how this is connected to his question about Mack experiencing the dream as his Wolf, but he's willing to go with it.

  “That’s something that happens, sometimes…to my kind. Dream sharing.” Mack looks at him warily, like he's waiting for him to laugh, or maybe run away.

  Now Caleb is beyond confused. “To your kind? Twins?” Mack actually rolls his eyes a bit, and Caleb breathes a sigh of relief. Whatever he’s trying to tell him can’t be that bad if he can still do that, right?

  “Werewolves.” Mack says. With a straight face. “I’m a werewolf, Caleb.”

  Caleb doesn’t laugh, even though he kinda wants to. But everything about Mack’s expression and how he’s holding himself, the steady beat of his heart under Caleb’ hand – the sense of surety he feels all tells him that Mack is completely serious. “A werewolf…,” he says slowly, drawing the word out. “You said your kind. There are others?” Caleb isn’t really going along with this, is he? Dream sharing is one thing, but werewolves?

  “Yes. I’m the alpha of our pack. Maribel, our uncle Liam, Zoey, Dante, and Boyd.”

  “Werewolves,” Caleb says again, still searching Mack’s face for a sign that he’s totally fucking with him. It’s not there. “Like, you turn into a wolf on the full moon?”

  “Not just the full moon. We can control it, mostly. It takes practice, like controlling your emotions. It’s harder on the full moon, or when we're feeling something emotionally intense.”

  “And you turn into a wolf? Or like a half-wolf man?”

  “Most of us can only shift partially. Fangs, claws, glowing eyes. I can also shift into an actual wolf
. The wolf you see in your dream. The alphas in my family have always had that ability.”

  “An alpha. Mack…this…this is totally crazy.”

  “I know. But it’s true. I can show you, if you want.” Mack moves then, away from him, but Caleb flinches all the same, and then immediately feels ashamed as he sees Mack’s crestfallen face.

  “Caleb, I will never hurt you. Never. And I’ll never shift in front of you without warning. Not until you’re comfortable with this. If you still want me, that is.” His voice breaks a little bit at the end, his wide eyes darting away from Caleb’s.

  And that, Caleb realizes, is what Mack’s anxiety is really all about. Not that Caleb won’t believe him, but that Caleb will leave him because of it. Caleb doesn’t want to leave, not at all, but this...he’s got to think about this.

  He stands quickly, suddenly needing some space. Mack’s shoulders slump in defeat. “I’ll drive you to the ferry, or I can call you a cab, if you’d rather…” he says softly.

  Caleb races to sit back down, practically in his lap, and wraps his arms around his neck, using his forearms to hold his head still, forcing Mack to look at him. The sadness in his face looks too much like the hollow expression he saw in his teenage face years ago, and Caleb has to close his eyes against it. When he opens them again, Mack’s are closed, so he places a soft kiss on each eyelid, just below his expressive eyebrows, before he speaks again. “I have absolutely no intention of leaving you. Not tonight, and not ever, okay?”