Until We're Home

by Lina Langley

  “You don’t know that.”

  “I do,” Jesse said. “You wouldn’t let anything happen.”

  “I wouldn’t,” Taln said. “But if I’m distracted, I wouldn’t be able to protect you.”

  Jesse smiled. “Distracted? Did you have something in mind?”

  “No,” Taln replied, smiling back at him. “I really didn’t.”

  “I think you did,” Jesse said. He walked around the bed and sat down next to Taln, putting his arm around him and kissing him on the lips. “Didn’t you?”

  Jesse smiled at him as he moved his face away. Taln looked at him, really looked at him, for the first time that he had returned from his realm. He looked different. There were dark circles under his eyes and his cheekbones were more prominent than before.

  “You look sick,” Taln said.

  Jesse laughed. “You really know how to kill a party.”

  “Are you sick? Is this a party?”

  “No, on both counts,” Jesse replied, rolling his eyes before sighing heavily. “I don’t think so. I’ve just been really—I don’t know. things have been hard lately. This is going to sound so lame, but without you here, I felt so lost. I thought I would never see you again and I—I don’t know. I guess I was trying to get used to the idea. And then Jon died and I felt—”

  “You were not responsible for that,” Taln said.

  “Yeah,” Jesse replied. “That’s what I keep telling myself. I feel like a terrible person, too. There’s so much relief when I think about him dying, but it’s not just relief, it’s guilt, like, what about his family? His brother? I’m not—what happened with Jon was a tragedy and I played my part.”

  “What could you have done?”

  “I don’t know,” Jesse said. “A lot of things.”

  “If he wasn’t already dead, I would have hunted him down and killed him,” Taln said.

  Jesse laughed again. “Of course you’d say something like that.”

  Taln frowned, wondering if he had offended Jesse. The smile didn’t seem very sincere to him. “Am I supposed to keep my thoughts about this to myself?”

  “No,” Jesse replied, shaking his head. “Please don’t. To be fair, you don’t look so well yourself. Why are you covered in scratches?”

  “I’ve been given difficult jobs lately,” Taln replied, as he watched Jesse trace a long, deep scratch on his forearm. “It happens.”

  “Weren’t you recovering from a life-threatening injury?”

  Taln nodded. “Recovery is quicker in my realm. Look.”

  He took off his shirt. Jesse looked him up and down, stopping at the scar on Taln’s side. His hands moved to Taln’s stomach, where he stroked the scar. “It’s not bad. Did it hurt when you were having to work?”

  “No,” Taln said. “My body didn’t hurt.”

  Jesse looked up at him and frowned. “What do you mean your body didn’t hurt?”

  “The injury didn’t hurt,” Taln said. “I was in pain, though. Like—”

  Jesse waited for him to speak.

  “Like here,” Taln said, grabbing Jesse’s hand and placing it over his heart.

  Jesse nodded. “And now?”

  Taln shook his head. “I’m okay now.”

  Jesse was about to say something, but Taln couldn’t stop himself, he kissed Jesse before he spoke.

  It took Jesse a second to kiss him back, his eyes wide. He put his hand on Taln’s cheek and opened his mouth to allow Taln’s tongue into his own. Taln leaned forward as Jesse lay back on the bed. Jesse’s breath was noticeably faster and Taln was already hard when he finally climbed on top of him. He had missed this so much, he had missed him so much. Things hadn’t felt right until that moment, until he was kissing Jesse, until their lips felt like they were attached.

  He moved away and sighed. “You’re wearing too many clothes.”

  “Let’s fix that,” Jesse said. He lifted up his arms and allowed Taln to take off his shirt. Taln dug his fingers into Jesse’s sides, enjoying the feel of his warm skin under his fingertips. He stared at Jesse’s face as he closed his eyes and opened his mouth. Jesse did look tired, but when he was panting like this, with his mouth half-open and his cheeks red, Taln was pretty sure that there was no one else quite as beautiful in the world. He leaned down to kiss Jesse’s mouth again, then kissed down his chest and his stomach, tasting his salty skin until he was kissing the small strip of hair above the waistband of Jesse’s boxers.

  “Take them off,” Jesse said.

  Taln smiled and did as he was told, unzipping Jesse’s jeans first and then sliding them down his legs. He loved the way that his fingers left a white mark on Jesse’s skin, he loved the way that Jesse panted and groaned every time that Taln touched him. He grazed Jesse’s erection with his cheek then grabbed the waistband of his underwear and pulled it down, taking in a sharp breath at the sight of Jesse’s cock.

  “Can I—”

  “Yes,” Jesse replied. “Please.”

  Taln nodded, lowering his head as he opened his mouth to take Jesse’s cock. He had tasted him before, but every time, it felt like a new experience, and every time, Taln liked it more. He moved his head up and down, looking up at Jesse’s face as he sucked him off, speeding up when he saw that Jesse needed it, stopping only when Jesse threaded his hair and holding his head in place to stop him.

  Taln moved away from Jesse’s cock, his own dick throbbing, his gaze firmly on Jesse’s gorgeous uncut cock.

  “Sorry, I’m just—I’m about to come,” Jesse said between moans. “And I want to fuck you. Can I fuck you?”

  Taln took a second to consider this. He remembered the first time they were together, how it had taken so long, how much he had loved it. He remembered Jesse’s face when he had been the one to fuck him, how warm he’d felt, how Jesse had practically fainted in his arms in the shower, how he’d had to bite down his lower lip to stop himself from coming the moment that he was inside of him.

  How much he had wanted that again. Any of it.

  “What?” Jesse asked.

  “I was going to make you ask. Nicely,” Taln said, smiling at him.

  “I’ll ask nicely,” Jesse replied. “I’ll get on my knees and beg if you want me to.”

  Taln shook his head, licking his lips. “I want you inside of me, Jesse.”

  Jesse shut his eyes tightly, furrowing his brow. “Fuck, okay,” he said. “Just… get on the bed, on your back. I’ll be right back.”

  Taln knew what Jesse was going to the bathroom for, but he still hated that he had to leave, even if it was just for one brief second. He came back out of the bathroom with a little bottle of lube, one that Taln hadn’t even known was there, and moved his coated hand up and down his diamond hard cock.

  Jesse smiled at him as he climbed between his legs. “You’re so fucking gorgeous. I might come just from looking at you.”

  “Don’t.”

  “Okay,” Jesse replied. “Are you ready?”

  Taln nodded.

  “Take a deep breath.”

  Taln did as he was told, waiting only a few seconds as Jesse thrust his hard cock into him, slow at first, then slightly harder. It was uncomfortable at first, but Jesse knew what he was doing, and soon all that Taln could feel were fireworks spreading from his core through the rest of his body, to his fingertips and the tips of his toes.

  Jesse wrapped his hand around Taln’s cock and started to work him as he quickened the pace of his hips, getting deeper and deeper in Taln with each trust. Taln could hear Jesse saying something about how much he had missed him and then he could hear nothing as his orgasm built up. He was screaming something and Jesse was screaming something and Taln couldn’t hold himself back anymore, he came all over his stomach, all over Jesse’s hands, all over Jesse’s legs, all over the motel sheets.

  Jesse grabbed his legs, squeezed Taln for a second, then rolled off him and gave him a smile. He inched closer to Taln to kiss his mouth, a deep lingering kiss that would have hard
ened his cock again if he hadn’t come a second ago. Then he settled his face in the crook of Taln’s neck and breathed deeply.

  “Taln?”

  “What?”

  “I missed you so much,” Jesse said, his voice shaky. There were tears in his eyes again and, for some strange reason, Taln felt like crying too. He rolled over to face Jess.

  “I missed you so much,” Taln said to him. “I told you I would come back.”

  “I know.”

  “I’m not leaving you,” Taln said. He felt the tears sliding down his face and onto his nose. “Never again.”

  “Good,” Jesse replied, a smile on his face. “Good.”

  Taln smiled back at him, his heart leaping in his chest.

  * * *

  Jesse’s phone vibrated on the nightstand. He watched it, wondering if he should answer, before Taln stirred next to him. Taln was probably really tired. Jesse was really tired. They had gotten to sleep very late the night before.

  Jesse grabbed the phone and answered it. He didn’t want to wake Taln up, so he whispered his greeting. “Hello?”

  “Jesse,” Rayne said. She sounded upset. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” Jesse whispered. “What’s wrong?”

  “Someone broke into the house last night,” Rayne said. “They trashed the place. The police are here and they have no leads, nothing.”

  “What about your security system?” He wasn’t whispering anymore. Taln sat up next to him, rubbing his eyes with his fist and listening.

  “It’s broken,” Rayne said. “Whoever broke in, they knew how to disable it or whatever. No, not disable it, it’s just broken, it didn’t work at all.”

  “Are you okay? Is Peter okay?”

  “We’re fine,” Rayne replied. “Peter’s still at the hospital. I couldn’t sleep so I drove home early. The furniture isn’t just overturned, something really weird is happening, like, someone blew the bed in the guest bedroom to smithereens. I’m not even joking, it’s like in tiny pieces, there’s bits of mattress everywhere and wood on the walls and ceilings and the police keep asking me if someone has threatened me.”

  “Tell them to stay somewhere else,” Taln said to Jesse. He slipped out of bed and grabbed his clothes from the floor.

  “Taln said you should stay somewhere else,” Jesse repeated over the phone.

  “We are,” Rayne said.

  “Take the week off if you can,” Jesse said. “I don’t know how long this will last and I don’t want you to get caught in the middle.”

  “What about you?”

  “What about me? I’m going to be alright.”

  “How do you know that?” Rayne said.

  Taln threw Jesse’s clothes at him.

  Jesse sighed. “I don’t know. I mean, he’s with me though, right?”

  There was a pause. “Right. Yeah. You’ll call me if anything happens, right?”

  “Of course,” Jesse said. “And you’ll call me if anything else happens with you guys?”

  “Yes,” Rayne said. “Of course.”

  Jesse hung up and sighed.

  “Get dressed,” Taln said. “We have to go.”

  “Why?”

  “If she already found them, there’s a chance that she’s going to find us very quickly.”

  Jesse shook his head, grabbing his clothes and starting to put them on. “What are we supposed to do? We can’t be on the run forever.”

  “You’re right. I’m just trying to come up with a plan.”

  Jesse chuckled. It was a dry humorless sound that made Taln worry. “How’s that going for you?”

  “I have a plan,” he replied. “It’s not a very good plan, but it’s something.”

  “Oh?”

  “We lure her somewhere secluded. Somewhere there aren’t many people, but there are plenty of trees and places for you to hide when the fight actually happens.”

  “And then what?”

  “And then I confront her. And if I win, she dies.”

  “And if you don’t?”

  Taln put his hand on Jesse’s shoulder. “Even if I die, I will make sure nothing happens to you. I will take her down with me.”

  Jesse paled. “Even if you die?”

  “I won’t let anyone hurt you,” Taln said. “No matter the price.”

  Jesse nodded, unsure what to say. He was glad he was sitting down. He wondered, for a second, if he was going to faint.

  “We need to bring some sort of protection, Taln.”

  “Protection?”

  “Like a gun, or a sword, or something. Fuck, I don’t have a gun. Maybe Peter can give us some tranquilizer. I can get a sedative from—”

  “No,” Taln said. “We’re not involving anyone else in this. And I won’t let you put yourself in danger because of me.”

  “What are you talking about? We have to be prepared,” Jesse replied, hating how whiny he sounded.

  “No.”

  “Taln, be reasonable.”

  “I am. If you’re getting in my way, I’m not going to be able to protect you.”

  “Taln—”

  “No, Jesse. I don’t want you to interfere. I need to protect you. Do you understand?”

  Jesse set his gaze on the floor and nodded, his cheeks burning. Tony grabbed his shoulder and squeezed it. Jesse smiled, though he couldn’t look at him. Not yet.

  “So are there any places like that?”

  “Like what?”

  “Secluded. With plenty of trees.”

  “Yes,” Jesse said. “We’re going to the park.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  Taln looked around the pavilion for maybe the fortieth time.

  “It’s so beautiful here,” Taln said. His eyes shone. “So green. Why haven’t we ever been to the park before?”

  Jesse laughed in amusement but an awful sense of dread hung over him. “We managed to go on like, two dates. We’re bad at dating.”

  “Is this a date?”

  “God, I hope not,” Jesse replied, a smile dawning on his face. “Once this is all over, I’ll take you to the national parks around here. They are really nice, full of animals and trees. There’s this one where you can swim in the springs and sometimes you even see manatees.”

  “What are manatees?”

  “They’re ridiculous animals,” Jesse replied. “They’re big and round. They live underwater.”

  Taln tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. “Why are they ridiculous?”

  Jesse laughed again, thinking about how much he had missed Taln’s incessant, weird question trains. “Wait ‘til you see one. Then tell me if you think they’re ridiculous or not.”

  “Are there any—”

  Taln stopped talking and was focusing instead on something in the distance. Jesse was about to ask him what he was looking at when Taln started to groan and hold his head.

  “Are you okay?”

  He hated himself for asking that as soon as he said it. Of course Taln wasn’t okay. He was holding his head with both his hands, and his groaning had turned into screaming. Jesse stood next to Taln and barely managed to grab him and steady him as he fell to his knees.

  Taln set his eyes on Jesse’s for a second. Jesse could tell that he was trying to say something, but as soon as a scream stopped, another one started. Tears streamed down his cheeks.

  “What can I do? How can I help you?”

  Jesse’s words sounded incredibly hollow as soon as he spoke them and he could barely hear them over the volume of Taln’s anguished yelling.

  “He’s trying to tell you to run,” a calm voice said. Jesse turned to his left. He saw the same woman he had seen trying to break into his apartment days ago, though it took him a while to recognize her. She was wearing normal clothes and had a headscarf wrapped around her hair. They weren’t just normal clothes—they were Rayne’s clothes. “Ugh. Be quiet.”

  She moved her hand around and Taln’s lips clasped together. He writhed around where he was, still on his
knees, his hands still firmly on his head.

  “I wanted us to have a conversation,” the woman said.

  “Stop,” Jesse said, kneeling down next to Taln, his hand on Taln’s shoulder. “Why are you doing this?”

  “Well,” she said. “I wanted us to talk, like I said. He’s a bit loud, isn’t he?”

  “You’re hurting him,” Jesse said.

  “I know,” the woman replied. “I thought I would make it fun, too. Honestly, I’m only doing that because I don’t want him to interfere. He has a habit of interfering. Him, his father, his mother—everyone in his clan is famous for it.”

  “You’re the Conjurer,” Jesse said.

  “I did hear you weren’t too sharp,” she replied. “That took you a while to figure out.”

  Taln fell onto the ground. His body was now spasming and the pain hadn’t seemed to stop at all.

  “It’s incremental,” she said. “The longer that we’re here, talking about this, the more pain he’ll be in.”

  “Don’t hurt him, please,” Jesse said. “Please. I’ll do anything you like.”

  “Great,” The Conjurer said. “All I need is for you to come here and sit still. He will not die. I promise. As long as you keep your end of the bargain.”

  “Which is?”

  “Just sit in front of me,” she said. “Don’t run. Don’t fight. Just sit in front of me. It’s fairly simple, wouldn’t you say so?”

  “Yes,” Jesse replied. He swallowed and glanced at Taln, who was on the ground. He grabbed a medium-sized rock from next to Taln, brushing against Taln’s skin and putting the rock in his pocket as he stood up. He knew it would probably do nothing—if this was the effect she was having on Taln, there was no way he was getting out of it. Still, it felt nice to have something he could turn to, if there was even the slightest chance that he got out of this alive. “Will you stop before I do that?”

  “As soon as you do, he won’t be in pain anymore,” she replied. “He won’t be able to move, but there will be no more pain.”

  “Fine,” Jesse said, sitting down in front of her at the plastic green table. “I’ll do what you’re asking.”

  The Conjurer smiled.

  “What’s your name?” Jesse asked.

  “What?”