A Fairy's Embrace

by Maggie Morton

  A few moments later, light started shining from the pendant, and an image slowly shimmered into life – a woman with waist-length, golden hair and a stern, lightly wrinkled face, with an expression on it that seemed to say, “You damn well better not take up too much of my incredibly precious time”.

  ‘Yes?’ the woman said, her tone haughty and impatient.

  ‘It’s me, Vaherena. Persius.’ The pendant only worked one way – the person contacted from the human world couldn’t see you, but you could see them. Yes, there were certainly many problems with magic working so weakly here.

  ‘Ah. We recognise your voice, Persius. Proceed, we haven’t much time.’

  ‘Of course you don’t,’ Persius said, immediately regretting his response. ‘I mean, I understand.’ He cleared his throat, then said, ‘I have located my current charge, and am now working at his office. I will begin following him soon, and I already have a connection with him.’

  ‘Not a strong one, we hope,’ Vaherena replied, and Persius watched as she took a sip of liquid from a jewel-encrusted goblet.

  ‘No, my elder, not a strong one.’ Persius hoped that his lie wasn’t apparent in his voice, and he felt his chest tighten a little as he waited for Vaherena’s response.

  But she just nodded her head at his words. ‘Good. You should proceed as planned, then, and we will look forward to your next report. You are one of our favourites, you know.’ Vaherena’s lips turned up then, a grim imitation of a smile, but a smile nonetheless.

  ‘I’m happy to hear that, mistress.’

  ‘We must be going now. Good luck, and may Keole bless you.’

  As soon as she disappeared from his room, Persius felt his body loosen up. His thoughts were littered with human swear words now, but his face was full of relief. Thank Keole that she hadn’t figured it out – and Keole save him if she did.

  But in terms of saving anyone, right now it was his job to save someone else – Caden. Hopefully things wouldn’t be weird between them the next day at work. Had he … Had he screwed everything up? By screwing his charge? Who knew at this point, but all his thoughts, at least for the time being, seemed to point to “yes”.

  Persius sighed one last time. His limbs felt heavy, as did his thoughts. He put his pendant back on and went into the bedroom to get ready to go to sleep. These worries would have to wait until the next morning, he told himself as he changed into his silk pyjamas. But his mind did not quiet for quite a while, and sleep only came once the sky was becoming light. The rest of the night had been spent tossing and turning, as he tried to get comfortable, his thoughts far too full of Caden’s lovely face for sleep.

  Chapter Three

  Caden arrived at work the next morning feeling more than a little anxious. Would it be weird with Persius today? But as it turned out, he had nothing to worry about – Persius said hello calmly when he walked in the front door a few minutes after Caden had unlocked it, and there was no sign, either in his face or his greeting, that he was going act any way other than perfectly normal. Good.

  Caden had a busy day ahead of himself – ten clients and a staff meeting close to the end of the day. He went into his office and began flipping through his first client’s file – an 18-year-old kid named Lukas. Lukas had gotten out of juvie just a few months ago, and was now attempting to make a good life for himself. He worked at a gas station a few miles from Caden’s office, and his parole officer had directed him to Caden for some help with his anger problems. He had attacked a fellow student after the student allegedly said something rude to Lukas’s girlfriend. He wasn’t handling his anger perfectly by this point, but Caden could tell Lukas was really trying hard. After all, he hadn’t missed a single appointment, and he was starting to really show some progress, progress which included a recent indication of remorse about his violent past.

  Before Lukas was supposed to arrive, Caden went into the kitchen to get a cup of tea for himself and an energy bar for the boy. He always tried to have some kind of snack ready for him – Lukas was stick thin, and it was clear he didn’t eat enough. Once in the kitchen, though, Caden immediately regretted going there – Persius was holding a cup of coffee and stirring it with a spoon. Caden had never found coffee even slightly appealing, but in that moment, he found he wanted some, desperately, because the way that Persius was stirring the coffee, with each movement of his clearly muscular arm slow and steady … Well, it soon became clear to Caden that it wasn’t the coffee he was finding so appealing. And perhaps he only wanted to taste it on Persius’s tongue. He felt his dick begin to rise a little, then thoughts of the night before entered his head. They had half an hour before the rest of the staff would arrive, and in that moment, Caden desperately wanted to kiss Persius, and wanted Persius’s tongue to slip between his lips, coffee-flavoured or not.

  Persius looked up, and before he could even think it over, Caden strode straight to where Persius stood and took the coffee out of his hand, placing the cup on the counter. Caden was now standing dangerously close to this gorgeous young man, so close the slightest movement would cause them to touch. Then that tiny movement came – not from Caden, but from Persius – and they were kissing, and then they were stumbling into the cleaning closet next to the kitchen.

  ‘Fuck, I can’t believe how much I want you right now,’ Caden whispered, his mouth against Persius’s ear. Persius gasped as Caden sunk his teeth into his neck, and gasped again as Caden’s hand grasped his crotch, moaning as Caden’s hand stroked him through his slacks.

  ‘Do you have a condom?’ Caden had removed his mouth from Persius’s neck, but his hand still gripped Persius’s dick.

  ‘I’m – afraid not. But I’d love to jack you off, if you’ll only let me.’

  ‘Gladly. I insist on doing the same to you, though.’

  ‘Thank God. I was worried I’d have to walk around all day without you returning the favour. I was actually,’ Persius said, as he opened his pants and pulled out his cock, ‘I was actually worried you’d never want to do this again. Sex that hot, well, I don’t get to have it very often.’

  ‘Me neither.’

  Persius slid down the wall to the floor, watching with complete attention as Caden pulled his hard cock out of his now-unzipped fly.

  ‘You have a perfect dick, my friend. I can’t wait till I get to have it inside me.’ Caden sat down next to Persius, wrapping his hand around the young man’s dick, a hand he had spit into, a hand whose subtle movements were now causing Persius to grow even harder.

  And then he returned the favour – he spit into his own hand, and grasped Caden’s dick, saying, ‘Kiss me. Now.’

  ‘Gladly,’ Caden said for the second time. And Caden certainly meant it, each time he said it, especially this time, because Persius was absolutely terrific at kissing. Caden didn’t really care when he’d gotten so good at it. But he still found himself asking Persius, ‘How did you ever get so good at that?’ Then gasped as Persius ran his thumb back and forth against the head of his cock.

  ‘It’s magic.’

  ‘Must be some pretty strong magic,’ Caden said with a chuckle.

  Then Persius tilted back his head, and he swallowed hard and fast, seeming as if he couldn’t hold off much longer. And neither could Caden, because moments later his dick began to spasm, and he arched his back as he began to come all over his stomach. Only a short while later, Caden resumed what he had been doing up until then – jacking Persius off, and, from the man’s shudders and quiet, stifled moans, he must have been doing a damn good job of it. Then Caden placed his lips near Persius’s ear, and began to whisper filthy things into it, about what he’d do if he had some handcuffs, or a huge butt-plug, or perhaps a third man in the room, who would help Caden stuff Persius’s holes full, fucking each one of them until he just couldn’t take it any more.

  Moments later, Persius truly couldn’t take it any more, and he came all over himself, gasping and quivering as he did.

  ‘Hope yours was as good as mine.’
Caden grinned then, fully sated. And he couldn’t help wondering, just a little, if they would get to do this again.

  Persius smiled back, and said, ‘It was,’ as he passed Caden a few napkins from the shelf next to them.

  ‘These’ll have to do for now, I’m afraid. After all,’ Caden said, glancing at his watch, ‘Tina usually gets here around 7.50, and it’s 7.47 right now.’

  ‘Yeah, I’d hate to have her walk in on this – she might think I was hired for my bedroom skills, after all, and not my wonderful resume.’ Persius wiped the last of the semen off of his stomach, placing the napkins in the wastebasket next to him.

  ‘I bet it was a damn good resume.’ Caden pulled Persius up off the floor, his grin getting even wider as he said this to him. ‘But as good as it must have been, the sex we just had was better. Too bad I can’t promote you.’

  ‘Yeah, I don’t think I can pull a psychology degree out of my ass, after all.’

  ‘Well, hopefully I can put mine into it, later.’ Caden nudged Persius and winked at him. He figured that it was quite clear he wasn’t talking about inserting a piece of paper.

  Chapter Four

  It was nearing the time for Caden’s last session, which was going to be with Lukas. He had called Caden early that morning and asked to reschedule – apparently, as Lukas told him over the phone, he had picked up an early morning shift at the gas station, and he told Caden that he really needed the work.

  Caden hadn’t minded the extra time to himself in the morning. Besides the fact that it let him catch up on some paperwork, it also let him think over what was going on with Persius. He couldn’t help picturing their last few encounters, and had to fight the arousal caused by his thoughts. It was so unlike him, all of this! Yes, he didn’t mind the occasional one-night stand, but this was obviously turning into more than just one night. Besides which, he worked with the guy, and who knew what was going through the young guy’s head? Men at that age were good at leading themselves on, Caden thought. He remembered his own experiences a number of years ago, full of confusion and mistaken assumptions, and he hoped Persius wasn’t confused about what their “relationship” meant to Caden. And then there was the fact that if this went sour, he’d still have to see Persius every day. At least he wasn’t his boss. But fuck, what had he gotten himself into?

  Heaven forbid they should screw again, he thought, because if he got to fuck that sweet, perfectly-shaped ass, he’d never be able to turn Persius down again. Then and there, he decided that this was the end of things between them. Hopefully, Persius would understand.

  Around 4.45, Lukas showed up, 15 minutes late, leaving them only half of his 30-minute session. Being so late to a session was not exactly something which would delight his parole officer, Caden thought, but beyond that, it was a bit surprising – Lukas seemed to really enjoy his appointments. First rescheduling, then being late – it seemed something might have happened that morning, Caden thought. Hopefully there was a very good reason, instead of the much likelier possibility of a bad one.

  Lukas sat down in his usual chair, a delicate, feminine rocking chair with a pastel, paisley cushion. Caden got up from his desk in the corner and walked over to the chair across from Lukas, bringing his notebook and a pen.

  ‘Man, I’m sorry, Caden. I didn’t mean to be so late, but something came up, you see, and so I just couldn’t make it in time. Sorry,’ Lukas said again, a flush rising to his cheeks.

  ‘What came up?’ Caden asked, careful to keep his voice mellow and calm.

  ‘A friend of mine needed a favour – a ride home.’ Caden could tell that Lukas was lying, or at least he wasn’t telling the whole story. Either way, Caden knew he had to just let Lukas’s attempt at deception pass, at least for the time being. If Lukas didn’t want to tell the truth now, he still might change his mind by the end of the session.

  ‘That was very nice of you to give your friend a ride. What’s his or her name?’

  ‘Um … Noreen. Yeah, Noreen. She and I, uh, go way back.’

  ‘Well, I hope you and she go way back in a good way, Lukas. I hope she isn’t a bad influence on you.’

  ‘Noreen? Nah, no way. She’s awesome. Clean too.’ Lukas hadn’t just been violent when he was younger – he’d also experimented with drugs, and was caught with some pot and some coke when he’d been arrested. Lukas had been clean for years, though, as he’d had to agree to monthly urinalysis as part of his parole. Caden was incredibly proud of the progress Lukas had made, but he couldn’t help but be a little worried that the young man was keeping something from him. Caden hoped it wasn’t something that would land him back in jail, because it seemed that, deep down, Lukas was a good guy, especially now he had his anger in check and was keeping clean. But was he still clean? He didn’t seem twitchy or out of it, just nervous. Very, very nervous. Caden knew that if he pushed him right now, though, it might be too much, and he usually preferred to use a gentle touch in his sessions, especially with his younger clients. And certainly with the ones who had hardly – if ever – experienced gentleness. Lukas had thanked Caden multiple times for how kind he had been to him.

  Fifteen minutes later, with nary a word about what might have really happened that day, the session was over.

  ‘Try to be on time next time, Lukas.’ Caden rose from his chair and opened his office’s door. ‘I’m going to let it slide just this once, but if you’re late again, I’ll have to tell Mary Anne.’

  ‘I know, man, I know. I promise, it won’t happen again.’

  ‘Good. See you next week, same time. Have a good night.’

  ‘You too, Caden. Seeya.’ Lukas looked calm for the first time since the session had started, and Caden hoped it wasn’t only because the session was ending. People often thought therapists were psychic, but Caden was just more aware of certain tells that his clients seemed to have. And Lukas had shown him, during the short time he was there, that something was up with him. And in Caden’s mind, that “something” did not seem to be good.

  Caden filed away his paperwork after he’d read the notes he’d taken during the session, then put on his coat and got ready to leave. Persius was just walking out the front door when Caden reached it, which gave Caden a nice view of Persius’s lovely backside. What the hell. As he joined Persius outside, Caden took a few quick steps to catch up with him, tapping him on the shoulder.

  Persius turned around. ‘Yes?’ he asked, a languid smile spreading across his face as he waited for Caden to speak.

  ‘You want a ride to your place?’ Caden asked, then immediately wanted to take his words back. But when Persius slowly nodded his head to say yes, Caden’s regret faded to nothing. Maybe he’d finally get to do what he’d been dreaming about all day, because he didn’t think that Persius would stop for a second before inviting him upstairs.

  ‘Want to come up for a bit?’ Persius asked as Caden pulled up to the kerb in front of a two-storey, brick building.

  ‘Sure,’ Caden replied. Had he answered too quickly, though? Did he sound too eager? But Persius didn’t seem to notice – or, possibly, Caden thought, he just didn’t care.

  Upstairs, Caden checked out Persius’s place. It was a studio apartment, with a large, Japanese screen painted with a beautiful, blossoming cherry tree blocking off what was probably the bedroom.

  Persius gestured to a pale grey, comfy-looking couch. ‘Why don’t you have a seat? I have some beer, or there’s wine, if you’d prefer it.’

  ‘Beer sounds good.’ Caden walked over to the couch and settled down on it. It was as comfortable as it looked, if not more so; one of those couches which were almost impossible to get up from. But if a trip to the bedroom were suggested, rising from the couch certainly wouldn’t pose much of a challenge for Caden.

  ‘You like stout OK?’ Persius asked as he walked toward a small, silver fridge, which sat next to a sink and behind a large, wooden table.

  ‘Stout’s fine, yeah.’ Caden couldn’t help sighing as he sank deeper into
the couch. It was the first time he’d been relaxed all day. No, strike that – it was the first time since he’d left that closet at work, the one where he and Persius had jacked each other off. And maybe – well, almost definitely – he’d get to do something like that again. Tonight. After all, the distinct possibility of getting naked with Persius again was why he’d offered him the ride … Wasn’t it?

  Then Persius brought over two bottles of beer and sat down next to him, and having Persius so close wiped away any thoughts other than how long it would be before Caden could get him back behind that screen and onto his bed. Caden reasoned with himself, though, that a little small talk wouldn’t hurt.

  He took a sip of his beer, then cleared his throat. ‘So, Persius, how long have you lived in this area?’

  ‘Not very long at all.’ Persius took his beer in between his hands, rolling it back and forth for a few seconds. ‘Just a few weeks, actually. I was lucky to find work so quickly, because I only had a little bit of cash left over from my last job.’

  His voice … Is he telling the truth? Caden couldn’t be sure. But those thoughts disappeared only moments later. What had he just been thinking about? Caden couldn’t remember, but the fact that he was sitting next to this gorgeous young man, whose amazing eyes were now looking into his – this man who he’d had incredibly hot sex with not once, but twice in just as many days … Well, that would distract anyone with similar taste in men – very good taste in men, that is.

  ‘How do you like it here?’ Caden asked.

  ‘I really love it, actually. It’s so different than where I’m from. There’s a lot more variety in pretty much everything – buildings, all the places people have come from, the food you can get, the music you hear around here … Everything you could possibly think of.’