All Knight Long, Book I: One Warlock's Love Story Read online

  “I hate nothing worse than a mouthy bottom. That’s a real turn-off for me,” Tau said.

  “So, what does turn you on?” Zander asked, smiling.

  “I have list of things that turn me on,” Tau responded.

  “Do I have anything on your list?”

  “You have everything on the list,” Tau answered.

  Zander rolled his eyes. “I’m not that special.”

  “You are more special than you know,” Tau told him.

  Giovanni and Hung came out of the bathroom dressed in brand new clothes.

  “Very nice,” Zander said, snuggling up under Tau on one of the king-sized beds.

  “Even nicer to see that you two made up,” Hung said.

  “Can you get up from under Snagglepuss? We have work to do,” Giovanni said.

  “And I have a surprise for you,” Hung said, retrieving his suitcase and revealing brand new designer outfits for each of them. “Tau, I know you’ve bathed, but you’ve had on the same clothes since the club. I thought a change might do you some good,” Hung said. Dressed in black, they looked as if they could be waiters in a New York restaurant or salesmen in a high-end department store. Despite the color choice, Hung had impeccable taste. He had even remembered to get Tau pants with Lycra that would stretch when he shifted.

  Zander began reviewing the spell while Giovanni laid the ingredients out on the bed. Tau had been thoughtful enough to purchase a small cooler for the horse’s heart.

  “I have good news and bad news,” Giovanni said.

  “What’s that?” Zander asked.

  “I think we have everything that we need for the potion to reverse the ruby looking stone. We can even use the tub as a cauldron, and I can heat it with witch’s fire,” Giovanni said.

  “Then what’s the problem?” Zander asked.

  “The potion will have to sit for eight hours,” Giovanni said.

  “All the more reason to get started now,” Zander said.

  Tau took a quick shower while the warlocks prepared and portioned each of the ingredients. Once they were done, both Hung and Tau disrobed, jumped into their respective beds, and discussed what they had learned about the attack on the club and the supernatural community’s response. Zander and Giovanni took all of their supplies into the bathroom and eavesdropped on their boyfriends shamelessly.

  “So, what’s the human news saying about the attack on Arcane?” Tau asked Hung.

  “It was a complete cover up. They reported it as an explosion in a warehouse that was being renovated into a nightclub. They even went on to say that no one was injured in the explosion because it was after work hours and empty when it happened. We both know that wasn’t true.” Hung sighed.

  “That means that they managed to get rid of all of the bodies before the police arrived,” Tau said.

  “They said that it took a while for the fire department to get to the building because both access streets to the location were blocked by the time they got there,” Hung said.

  “I am just glad that we made it out in time. What about any of the vehicles that were driven by supernaturals who went to the club that night?” Tau asked.

  “There was no mention of them, but I’ve got to believe that whoever was responsible thought about that, too. Not that it matters. Most supernaturals live off the grid anyway,” Hung said.

  “True,” Tau agreed.

  ***

  Tau was snoring softly when Giovanni and Zander finally finished with the potion.

  “Now we just need to wait for eight hours. Don’t anyone go into the bathroom,” Giovanni ordered, as they came out of the bathroom drying their hands.

  “I know what we can do for eight hours,” Hung said, pulling back the covers for Giovanni. Zander rolled his eyes.

  “We can let me get some sleep,” Giovanni pleaded. “I’m exhausted. I haven’t slept since the attack on the club. I’ve had marathon sex, driven across the state with Hello Kitty, fought two warlocks, watched Zander come out to his family, and made the most difficult potion of my life. I am not a vampire. I need some rest.”

  “Then come here and lie in my arms. I’ll watch over you while you sleep.” Hung opened the covers once more. Giovanni smiled and took off his clothes, easing into the bed.

  Zander had snuck in his own shower before they started making the potion in the bathroom. The last one up, he made sure that the door was locked and lights were turned out before easing into the bed with Tau. He wasn’t in the bed two seconds before Tau rolled over and began spooning him. The pressure of Tau’s large, fleshy dick against his ass felt great. As he was drifting off to sleep, he noticed that Tau’s dick was getting harder and harder, but he couldn’t tell if Tau was awake -- or just his dick was.

  He tried to ignore it, but Tau’s body called to him. When Tau slowly slid down under the covers and began gently licking his hole, he knew for sure that Tau was awake. Zander tried to be as quiet as possible, but the feeling was exhilarating. Once Tau had him completely wet, he quietly returned to his former spooning position and pushed the head of his large dick against Zander’s tight hole, and then in one quick motion, Tau guided his throbbing dick inside Zander. It felt like a bolt of lightning shooting up Zander’s back, but he didn’t yell out. Instead, he steadied himself and slowed his breathing as the monstrous dick eased inside him. He knew it must have taken a lot of effort and patience for Tau to get his entire dick in Zander, and once again Zander lay still, trying to determine the difference between the pleasure and pain. When Tau was finally nestled inside Zander, he nuzzled his mouth and nose into Zander’s neck and pulled his lover close.

  And that is how they slept together, with Tau’s enormous dick deep inside him. Every time Zander shifted or inhaled, Tau’s dick jumped inside Zander, sending impulses and vibrations through his entire body. It was the most erotic night’s sleep that Zander had ever had. Witches and warlocks remembered all of their dreams in vivid detail, and Tau was in every one of Zander’s dreams. The strange thing was that in every one of his dreams, it seemed like Tau was trying to tell him something, but he couldn’t talk -- almost as if he was bound from speaking.

  Chapter 19

  “Wake up! I think it worked,” Giovanni yelled from the bathroom.

  It was more than just a little difficult for Zander to ease Tau’s large, still-hard dick out of him and then crawl out from under his massive, muscular frame. He had learned two things about sleeping with Tau last night. Tau loved to cuddle, and he was a very sound sleeper -- or at least most of him was.

  The daytime was when Hung normally rested, so it was no wonder that he, too, was fast asleep.

  Zander found Giovanni in the bathroom, kneeling and gazing into the tub, which was completely filled with a bubbling, red liquid.

  “How do you know it worked?” Zander whispered.

  “The potion’s still bubbling like it’s supposed to. Look at the very bottom of the tub. The ruby looks like it’s changing colors.” Giovanni pointed.

  “Why didn’t you pull it out?” Zander asked.

  “This is very personal magic. It’s your stone and your grandmother. We want it tuned to your aural energy. You need to be the first one to come in contact with it.”

  Zander expected the bubbling, red potion in the tub to be extremely hot. It was, instead, ice cold to the touch. He eased his hand in, grabbed the stone, attached the leather strap, and slowly pulled it out. He peered into it. Much to his amazement, he was staring at an image of his grandmother.

  “She’s all right! My grandmother is alive.” Zander’s head swam with relief.

  “Let me see,” Giovanni asked, careful not to touch the stone.

  “It is too bad that we can’t hear her,” Zander said.

  “Stop being so negative and just relax. At least we can see her. The good news is that I also found a binding r
ibbon in the book that belonged to your grandmother. We can use it with the divining rod to take us to her,” Giovanni said.

  “I don’t know what I would do without you,” Zander marveled.

  “Me either,” Giovanni smiled.

  “Look! She’s holding up the stone and showing us where she is,” Zander said.

  “It looks like some kind of holding cell.” The room was full of dozens of other people.

  “Is that the bodyguard from the club? How did they capture her big ass?” Giovanni wondered.

  “I think that is Ooba,” Zander said, astonished.

  “I’ll get your grandmother’s ribbon, fashion the divining rod, and wake up the guys if you’ll clean up this bathroom,” Giovanni offered.

  They were all up and dressed with the room completely scrubbed of any magical residue within the hour. Zander didn’t take his eye off the stone in hopes of finding some details of where his grandmother might be held captive.

  “I am sorry that I can’t go with you,” Hung whispered into Giovanni’s ear.

  “I understand. You’ll come to me as soon as night falls?”

  “You can count on it,” Hung smiled.

  “And don’t worry. I’ll be thinking about you all day,” Giovanni said, and offered his neck to Hung for a quick bite. Hung kissed his neck and sweetly declined the offer to feed from him.

  “What’s wrong?” Giovanni asked, rubbing his neck along his MAGIC TRICK tattoo.

  “Nothing is wrong. I just want you to know that you are more than a quick high to me. We will enjoy each other later.” Hung softly kissed Giovanni on his lips.

  “You look worried,” Tau said to Zander, who was holding the ruby in one hand and his stuffed lion in the other.

  “I just hope that we can get to my grandmother in time. I’ve been looking at her in the stone all morning, and she’s been making these weird gestures. I am afraid she may be losing her mind.” Zander put his head on Tau’s chest.

  Tau pet his head. “I know, baby. What you are doing here is very brave. I’m proud of you.” Zander leaned in to let Tau look into the stone.

  Zander’s grandmother, Zoe, was performing a series of unique hand gestures and movements followed by even stranger head movements.

  “She doesn’t normally behave that way,” Zander said.

  “Wait. Those are shifter signs,” Tau said slowly.

  “What?” Giovanni said from across the room.

  “Yes, she is doing shifter signs. When we stay in our shifted state for long periods of time, we sometimes lose the ability to speak before all of our natural animal instincts kick in. The shifter signs were adopted generations ago to ensure that we could quickly communicate during the transition,” Tau explained.

  “So, why does Zander’s grandmother know shifter signs?” Giovanni asked.

  “That’s not important right now. The fact that she is doing shifter signs must mean that she knows that you’re with me.”

  “Well, what is she saying?” Hung said. Tau cradled Zander’s hands in his and studied the stone.

  “She is referring to the Potowatomi lands,” Tau told them.

  “Where the hell is that?” Giovanni asked.

  “In the Chicago area,” Tau explained. “There are six great packs in the United States. The first is centered in Arizona, covering parts of southern California and New Mexico. The second is in Washington and Oregon. The third is here where we are in the Alabama through Florida region. There are two in the upstate New York and Maine area -- one of those is mine. The sixth in centered in Chicago and includes the Great Lakes. The pack lands are designated by the Greek alphabet now, with the largest pack being the Alpha pack. They used to be called by the names of the Native American tribes. When we say the Potowatomi lands, we typically mean Chicago.”

  “Great. Let’s head toward Chicago and then use the divining rod to hone in on the exact location when we get there.” Giovanni started gathering his luggage.

  “That’s an eleven-hour drive from here,” Tau said. “Hung, do you mind if we take the Mustang?”

  “No at all. I am just bummed that I can’t go with you.”

  Zander looked back into the stone at his grandmother who was still making the same gestures. She dropped the stone, and the view changed. Suddenly, he saw a great commotion as what looked like the same soldiers who had attacked the club rushed into the room and pulled out a young, female vampire. It was the woman who had checked their IDs at the club.

  Chapter 20

  The drive to Chicago was filled with conversation about everything from the supernatural community’s waning numbers to the mortal population’s lack of knowledge concerning the supernatural community. Tau drove the Mustang as if he owned it, Giovanni sat in the front seat reading the divining rod, and Zander sat in the cramped backseat memorizing spells from his family’s Grimoire.

  “Who do you think has the greater numbers? Shifters, vamps, or magicals?” Zander mused.

  “It’s gotta be magicals, but not by much. I bet there are no more than three-thousand supernaturals in all,” Giovanni answered.

  “Maybe it’s a good thing that our numbers haven’t grown,” Tau pointed out. “The fewer of us there are, the less likely it is that we will ever be discovered.”

  “We haven’t been discovered in all of these years, so I doubt that it will ever happen. The myths are enough to keep the humans satisfied,” Giovanni said confidently.

  “I hear that humans can’t have sex without covering their sexual organs in plastic,” Tau said.

  “They’re called condoms, and they keep humans from exchanging bodily fluids,” Zander weighed in from the back.

  “Then what’s the point of sex?” Tau asked, bewildered.

  “I know, right,” Giovanni agreed.

  “It’s complicated. They can give each other diseases when they exchange bodily fluids,” Zander explained.

  “So how do they have children if they don’t exchange bodily fluids?” Tau asked.

  “They don’t use the condoms when they are trying to have children,” Zander answered.

  “Then what about the diseases?” Tau continued.

  Zander giggled. “Nevermind. Don’t you ever talk to any humans?”

  “Why would I?” Tau asked.

  Giovanni laughed. “Humans can only have sex for a few minutes at a time, they get old and wrinkly really fast, and they are not very interesting -- they have no magic. They can’t even shift.”

  “Fuck you. Shifting is high magic,” Tau said.

  “Yes, but it’s your only magic,” Giovanni said.

  “It is enough,” Tau said.

  “I know that’s right.” Zander agreed from the backseat.

  “Tell him, babe,” Tau said.

  Zander winked at Tau’s reflection in the rearview mirror before putting the book down and taking another look into the stone. “I’ve been trying to make this out for a while now, but I actually think I remember a few of the people from the club. Some of them have cuffs around their necks, some have bands attached to their arms, and some of them look mildly sedated.”

  Giovanni and Tau looked at one another.

  “What does that mean?” Zander asked.

  “That explains how they’re holding them,” Tau said.

  “What do you mean?” Zander asked.

  Tau took a deep breath. “The metal collars are designed to keep the shifters from turning. The collars are fit with razors inside. The minute a shifter turns and grows, the razors will cut into his jugular vein and kill him. The collar is used to contain the most despicable and untrustworthy of our species.”

  “A witch or warlock’s blood pressure increases when he is about to do magic,” Giovanni added. “The arm cuffs are probably designed to tell if anyone is about to do magic. I’m sure that they have
some type of warning device or weapon attached to them, too. They probably don’t suspect that your grandmother’s ruby looking stone is more than just a piece of jewelry.”

  “There isn’t much you can do to subdue a vamp,” Tau continued.

  “True!” Giovanni agreed.

  “That’s probably why they have the vamps all sedated,” Tau finished.

  Zander looked back into the stone. “What are we going to do when we finally find them?”

  “Free them,” Giovanni answered.

  “Just the three of us?” Zander asked skeptically.

  “Hell yes!” Giovanni and Tau responded in unison.

  Chapter 21

  The trio reached the Chicago suburb of Rosemont shortly after sundown.

  “What is the divining rod thing saying?” Tau asked.

  “Keep going north,” Giovanni said.

  After several more minutes and a few more wrong turns and arguments, they ended up in a parking lot on a hill overlooking an isolated medical-testing facility.

  Tau peered out the window. “What is this place?”

  “It’s like a doctor’s office. It is where humans go to find out what diseases they have,” Zander explained.

  “More about weak humans and their diseases,” Tau said.

  “There are some advantages to hanging around humans,” Zander defended, as he took out his smartphone and searched for details on the building.

  “This seems like a strange place to keep supernaturals,” Giovanni said.

  “They’re here,” Tau said, rolling down his window.

  “How do you know?” Zander asked, still searching through the Internet for details.

  “I’m a shifter. I can smell them.”

  “This building is owned by a Mr. Archer Carmichael,” Zander read from his phone.

  “That doesn’t really help us much,” Giovanni responded.

  “It might help us if we knew why he was keeping them,” Zander said.

  “He’s just the owner of the building. He might not even know they’re being kept there,” Giovanni pointed out.