by Nico Jaye
“I missed you too.”
“You’re back for good, right? You’re staying?” A knot of dread formed in Trick’s stomach in the half second before Edwin had a chance to answer the question. He didn’t know if he could handle hearing Edwin was leaving again. If that was the case, he’d put good use to the single closet he had in the apartment and lock Edwin in there.
Forever.
“I am staying. It became abundantly clear as I traveled back to Paravale that this is where I’m meant to be, not there. Paravale is no longer my home.”
“It’s not?” It was shameless, but Trick wanted to hear Edwin say the words.
“No. I belong here. With you.”
“Goddamn right you do.”
That was the end of the discussion. Trick closed the distance between them once more. The kisses quickly became heated, and Trick shifted to line their bodies up. He could feel the hardness of Edwin’s cock as it filled against Trick’s hip.
Blood surged south, and there were far too many clothes between them. Summoning every ounce of willpower, Trick pulled back and stood up, then reached down and secured his hands in Edwin’s to help him to his feet.
“We need to be somewhere that isn’t hardwood planks,” Trick explained.
Edwin nodded and pulled Trick to him once more, sliding his mouth along Trick’s jaw and down the side of his neck. Trick shivered at the contact and reached between them to start working on Edwin’s pants.
Their arms tangled, Edwin managed to unzip Trick’s hoodie and push it off and over his shoulders. The fabric fell to the floor with a soft thud. The sensation of Edwin’s mouth and barely there scruff made Trick dizzy.
It was a flurry of fumbling activity, each of them trying to take the other’s clothes off without actually moving apart. The distance needed to remove Trick’s T-shirt seemed like too much, but once they came back together, warm skin on warm skin, the world shifted back to where it should be. They were naked, completely bare, standing in the middle of Trick’s living room. A fleeting thought of gratitude for heat that actually worked was replaced by a different kind of heat when Edwin spun them around and pushed Trick toward the bed.
His arms were wrapped around Trick’s middle and his mouth was gliding across the curve of Trick’s shoulder, sending shivers skating across his skin. They plowed into the foot of the bed. Trick hadn’t been watching where they were going, all his brain cells centered on Edwin and the way his fingers splayed across Trick’s belly, his pinkie dipping into the curls at the base of Trick’s treasure trail.
Every molecule in his body longed for Edwin’s hands to drop just a few inches lower. His cock throbbed with the need to be touched. Trick didn’t know how much longer he could hold out.
He turned in Edwin’s arms, and when Edwin planted his hand on Trick’s chest and pushed him backward, it caught him off guard. Trick fell back, bouncing on the mattress, which pulled laughter from deep in his chest. Edwin laughed with him, his smile broad and his eyes twinkling in a way Trick had never seen before.
It was a mixture of joy and wickedness, and at that second, Trick vowed to put that look on Edwin’s face every chance he got.
Edwin crawled onto the bed but stopped short of landing on top of Trick.
“C’mere,” Trick said, reaching for him.
“Just a moment. I want to look at you first.”
Trick felt the blush suffuse his cheeks, but he let Edwin look. Edwin getting an eyeful of Trick meant Trick was able to get an eyeful of his own.
Edwin was beautiful. It’d been so long since Trick had seen him naked, and the last time had been tinged with longing and sadness. This was different, as though the light in the room came from a happier place altogether. In reality, it came from a mixture of the television and the lamp that hadn’t been knocked over in the living room, but the way Edwin glowed was all him.
Trick reached for him again, lifting Edwin’s hand and sucking two fingers into his mouth. He swirled his tongue around them, licking them languidly and making sure they were nice and wet. Anticipation was eclipsed by a magnetic fascination in watching Edwin get turned on. Trick could tell he was struggling to keep his eyes from rolling back. The knowledge was heady and it made Trick feel powerful. He channeled his concentration on Edwin and wrapped his hand around Edwin’s shaft.
Edwin groaned, wordless and guttural. Trick tried to make it good, to use as much finesse as he could muster at all the right moments, but between Edwin’s fingers in his mouth and his own hand around Edwin’s cock, all he could think about was getting Edwin inside him again.
He wanted to reconnect with him, to feel him there and know he wasn’t going to be gone the following morning. The need pulled at him. Tugging at Edwin’s wrist, he let Edwin’s fingers slip free of his mouth.
“Inside.”
Just the one word and Edwin’s cheeks were flushing harder, his breath stuttering.
“I was an idiot to think that just once would ever be close to enough,” Trick mumbled, his speech starting to go. The longer Edwin touched him, the more the peripheral parts of his brain shut down, leaving only the centers focused on perception—mainly the perception of pleasure.
For a newbie, Edwin knew what he was doing. Maybe it was instinct. Maybe it was magic. Or maybe it was just that he and Trick were meant to be together. Whatever it was, his hands found all the places Trick needed to be touched, the pressure from his fingertips perfect as he explored Trick’s body.
“Trick?” Edwin pulled his fingers out before plunging them back in, filling him.
“Mmmmm?” Trick was barely coherent.
“Do we need… I mean… is it necessary for us to use….”
“What, Edwin? Use what?”
“The sheath. I’d really like to be with you without any sort of physical barrier between us when we make love.”
Make love.
Trick wasn’t sure he’d ever heard anyone other than old people call it that, although at this point, his capacity for coherent thought was pretty much nil. He supposed, though, that’s exactly what this was. They weren’t fucking. This was far too slow, too thorough, too all-consuming. This went way beyond the thrusting and grunting that accompanied just getting each other off.
Trick loved Edwin—the kind of heart-stopping, life-altering, once-in-a-generation type of love—and all he wanted was to show Edwin exactly that.
Chapter Twenty-Four
EDWIN MET Trick’s eyes before Trick traced his features with a warm gaze. The look on his face made Edwin flush all over, and when Trick took hold of him and twisted his wrist in a certain way, Edwin gasped.
After giving him a lopsided smile, Trick spoke. “You’re right, we don’t. I want to feel you like that too. I want to love you in every way I can.”
He sealed his words with a kiss, pulling Edwin in and pressing them tight together. Trick slung his leg around Edwin’s waist and rolled them sideways, adeptly switching places and never breaking the kiss.
With one last stroke, his fingers caressing the skin at the head of Edwin’s dick, Trick released him, taking away the delicious pressure Edwin had been unable to stop thrusting into. When Trick reached for the box and brought out the little bottle again, Edwin raised his brows.
Trick flashed him a quick smile. “Trust me, we still want this.”
Slipping his fingers free of Trick’s body, Edwin squeezed Trick’s hip with his other hand. “I do. Trust you, I mean,” Edwin managed to say, even though the excitement of the moment and the arousal that coursed through his body made coherent speech difficult.
Trick squeezed some of the liquid into his palms and rubbed them together. Edwin could see Trick perfectly from where he straddled Edwin’s hips, and Trick was beautiful in the moonlight, his pale skin glowing with health and a sheen of sweat. Trick caught his watchful gaze and grinned wickedly. Time seemed to rush by and come to a standstill while Edwin watched Trick reach for Edwin’s cock, erect and jutting up between them.
It was amazing
to Edwin the way time had passed recently. When the day had begun, he’d not been sure of his welcome—or whether he could make it to New York City at all. Such uncertainty seemed both moments ago and a lifetime past, because now, lying here with Trick, feeling his hands on his body, feeling his skin pressed against his, it felt like the world had righted itself, and Edwin had found his way to exactly where he belonged.
Edwin sucked in a sharp breath when Trick’s warm, slick grasp closed around his length. It felt good, but nowhere near as incredible as being inside Trick had been.
“Inside,” Edwin choked out, echoing what Trick had said earlier.
Wordlessly, Trick nodded and moved his grip to the base of Edwin’s dick. Trick shifted his hips, holding Edwin in place, and Edwin let out a gasp when the tip of his cock slid up against the furled skin at Trick’s entrance.
“Trick,” Edwin said breathlessly.
Trick wet his lips. “I know, I know.”
Locking gazes with Edwin, Trick lowered himself slowly. Edwin’s lips parted at the feel of Trick enveloping him, taking him inside, and surrounding him with the wet, tight heat of his body. The experience was unlike anything in this world or the next, and he wanted to keep Trick with him, be a part of him, forever.
Releasing the hold he had on Edwin, Trick sat back fully, taking Edwin’s cock all the way into himself, and let out a stuttering gasp.
“Fuck, Edwin. You feel….”
When Trick rotated his hips a smidge, Edwin could only let out a low groan in response. The grip Trick had on him was incredible, and the sight of Trick above him, the expanse of his lithe muscles and smooth skin, his eyes shining down at Edwin with trust and desire, filled Edwin with so much need for Trick.
So much love for him.
Before Edwin could find the words, Trick laced their fingers together and tilted forward to press his lips to Edwin’s. Their chests were skin to skin, and the way Trick was moving his hips in minute, swirling motions had Edwin lifting his own to meet him at each turn, seeking to push himself as deep as he could into the welcoming heat of Trick’s body.
The kiss was sweet with a rough edge, all tongues and teeth and lips and groans, and it was exactly what they needed. It spoke of possession and desire and told them that they were keeping each other and not ever letting go.
When Edwin tightened his grip on Trick’s hands and thrust up into Trick’s body, seeking pleasure and seeking even more to give it, Trick gasped into his mouth, squeezing his hands in return.
“Edwin, Edwin….”
Heat skated across Edwin’s skin, and he operated on the instincts that told him they belonged together and that he knew exactly what Trick needed—as Trick knew of him. He moved with Trick, their bodies twining together and finding a home in each other—finding a place to stay within each other’s hearts.
Their kisses grew sloppy as their movements became more frantic. Edwin met Trick thrust for thrust, his own orgasm tantalizingly close, when Trick tensed above him. Trick’s cock was hot and heavy between them, pressing against Edwin’s belly in a wet slide with each thrust.
The play of expressions across Trick’s face was beautiful, and when Trick’s lips parted in a low gasp, his body tightened around Edwin in a pulsing grip that pulled Edwin’s release from him.
Edwin’s muscles went tight, and he bucked his hips upward one last time to hold himself still within Trick. He let the sensations wash over him, engulf him, and he released Trick’s hands to wrap his arms around Trick, holding him as close as possible.
Trick collapsed on top of him, his breaths harsh and his muscles relaxed, and Edwin found that he couldn’t let go—that he wouldn’t let go.
Not now. Not ever again.
WHEN EDWIN brushed back the lock of hair that lay across Trick’s brow, Trick lifted his head from where it rested on Edwin’s chest.
The corners of Trick’s eyes crinkled softly as he gave Edwin a sated smile. “I don’t know if I remembered to say this, but um… hi.”
Edwin chuckled and shifted his hold on Trick, letting his hands rest at the small of his back. “Hello.”
Trick was staring as though he didn’t want to lose sight of him. “You’re here now,” he finally said.
“I’m here now.”
“I almost can’t believe it.” Furrowing his brow, Trick bit his lip before he spoke again. “And you mean it? You’re staying for good?”
Splaying his fingers across Trick’s back, Edwin pressed into his skin, causing Trick’s lids to droop. Trick was here, in his arms, and Edwin never wanted to let go.
“For forever. If you’re agreeable.”
Trick’s eyes shot open. “If I’m—”
Trick’s sudden movement caught Edwin off guard, and he found himself being pulled closer and kissed fiercely. When Trick leaned back a moment later, he wore a wide grin.
“I am abso-fucking-lutely agreeable. Holy fuck. How? Why? Oh my God.”
Trick kissed him again, his tongue moving along Edwin’s in a slow, sinful slide.
After several long, pleasurable moments, the kiss ended, and Trick let out a satisfied sigh. He propped himself up on his elbow and ran his other hand over Edwin’s chest, his fingers threading through the light dusting of hair there. Trick’s gaze landed on Edwin’s necklace, and he touched the fairy-dust pendant briefly before looking up with a soft smile.
“For forever,” Trick said softly. “My own fairy godfather.”
Edwin’s breath hitched. “Not exactly….” When Trick raised his brows, a question in his eyes, Edwin explained. “I… I’m just Edwin now. I have hardly any powers and am to keep what little magic I’m allowed to perform within the scope of communications and travel amongst Paravale and the mortal realm. I… I’m no longer a fairy godfather.”
Trick’s light petting stopped, and he watched Edwin closely. “You gave up your magic to come back?”
When the result was a lifetime with Trick, it’d been the easiest decision Edwin had ever made. Edwin placed his hand over Trick’s, holding it in place over his heart. “I’d give it all up to come back—to be with you. I love you, Trick.”
“And I love you, Edwin.” Trick’s eyes shone with goodness and a hint of the mischief that made life with him so very interesting. “And you were wrong, you know.”
“How’s that?”
Leaning forward, Trick brushed a soft kiss across his lips. “You’ll always be my fairy godfather.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. You should know that you being here is truly my heart’s desire.”
Edwin’s chest swelled at the words. He might not be one officially, but he was delighted to be Trick’s special fairy godfather. For now and forever.
Edwin could not wait to see what the future held for them. Together.
SEVERAL SEASONS later, it was clear the future only held good things. If Edwin did not know better, he would think they had a touch of magic to their lives that had brought them luck and good fortune.
He had achieved gainful employment at none other than Away With the Fairies. Glinda, his boss, was a kindhearted soul who seemed quite taken with his tales of a faraway land called Paravale.
With his limited powers, Paravale was not out of reach, and he had returned for the union of Elwood to his longtime sweetheart. Introductions and arranged matches had fallen out of favor, as was only right when there was such a magic out there as love. His mother had also made good on her promise to visit them in New York City. Although Trick had been nervous, his quick-witted humor and her keen intellect had ensured they had gotten along swimmingly.
Trick was the proud owner of the renamed Grigsby and Associates. After losing the lawsuit that forced him to relinquish ownership of the firm formerly known as Redden and Sons, Redden had fled the New York architectural scene. In fact, it was rumored he had also fled the country, his assets in shambles after the legal fight and stripping of ill-gotten gains by the court, with the potential criminal ramifications hanging over his head
like a specter. Trick had put it behind him, focusing his efforts on growing the company his father had established so many years ago.
They were also the first tenants at the Tudor Arms, a small, twelve-unit building that had not had its grand opening yet. As the architect behind its winning design, however, Trick had received his one-bedroom apartment before the other tenants had moved in.
While Edwin was no longer capable of turning milk crates into armchairs, he was finding the process of furnishing the space with Trick fulfilling in its own way.
“Edwin, what do you think? Green? Brown?”
Edwin turned from his perusal of a strange llama-shaped soap dish to look at Trick, who held up two different colored towels and raised each one in turn. Fingering the soft cotton, Edwin pursed his lips. “Maybe navy? Let’s inquire whether such a color is available.”
“Good idea.” Trick looked around and called down the aisle. “Hey, excuse me? Can we get some….” Trick trailed off when the man turned around. “Jasper?”
The dark-haired man’s name tag indeed pronounced him to be Jasper. Curious, Edwin looked at him. He’d seen Redden’s son briefly in court at the civil proceedings, but he was hardly recognizable with his poorly groomed hair and wrinkled khakis.
Jasper sneered. “Patrick.”
Scowling, Edwin stepped forward. “His name is Trick.”
Jasper snorted. “Appropriate, considering how you tricked my dad into letting you steal the company.”
“You bastard. You know he’s the one who stole from me.”
“Yeah fucking right, you know—”
A sharp titter was followed by a high-pitched clearing of the throat. “Ahem. We do not speak to our guests in such a way, Mr. Redden, do we?” The question came from a short, rotund woman who wore her hair in a militantly precise bob. She had a cat-shaped brooch pinned beside a name tag that said Dorothy.
Jasper sent Trick a sharp look before turning to Dorothy. At her raised brow, he visibly cowered. “No, ma’am.”
Turning to Trick and Edwin, Dorothy smiled pleasantly. “Now, what were you young men needing help with?”