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“I’m not pissed,” Alex said through gritted teeth. Jacob had taken
to half-hiding behind a nearby tree. One arm hugged the tree close to
him, as if it were a great wooden shield or his only ally. The massive
trunk dwarfed his body. Alex’s eyes raked over him again, this small,
slight man who had so completely demolished his world. He was
adorable. It pissed him off.
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“You look a little pissed now, actually.” Jacob swallowed. “Kinda
scary.”
Alex felt his hands balling into fists at his sides. He opened and
closed them to release the tension. It didn’t help. Even now, Jacob’s
presence had awakened every cell in his body, flooding him with a
sense of purpose and hope that he couldn’t quiet down. His mind
screamed at his body to shut up, that there was nothing special for
him about this arrival, but like always, his big, bulky body won out.
For years, his younger, smarter brothers had pitied him, watching him
believe in Morgana and continue with his training long after they’d
given up. They were wrong about Morgana, but right about Alex’s
stubbornness, his desperate need to believe in the supernatural realm.
In the presence of this planeswalker, this small man on a mission from
Morgana, Alex felt alive. Anxious. Excited.
Even his cock was hard.
Alex adjusted himself uncomfortably, hoping he could tamp down
that embarrassing reaction before Jacob misinterpreted it. Or Alex
did. His eyes drifted over Jacob’s thin body again, the slender waist
and hips and chest like an adolescent’s. Just how badly had this
planeswalking fantasy fucked him up? Alex sighed. Even for him, this
was weird.
“What are you doing out here, anyway?” Alex asked, trying to
gather his scattered thoughts.
Jacob’s wide eyes flitted quickly upward to meet his, and Alex
felt himself flush at the need in those eyes. “I have to ask you
something.”
“I thought you said you didn’t need me.”
“Morgana doesn’t,” Jacob said.
“Thank you,” Alex said tersely.
“Not right now, anyway.”
“Keep rubbing the salt in my wounds.”
Jacob furrowed his brow. “What salt?” He glanced over Alex
again. “Are you hurt?”
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Ellen Ginsberg
Alex groaned. “It’s an expression.” Jacob stared at him blankly.
“Do you have those wherever you’re from?”
“What, like ‘that guy doesn’t know a planesgate from a hole in his
neck?’”
“Why would he have a hole in his neck?”
Jacob rolled his eyes. “Because he’s a vampire, obviously. Get
it?” Jacob was grinning at Alex, but he only shrugged in response.
“Because it’s like, you know, he’s like, so stupid he doesn’t know if
he’s a vampire or a planeswalker...and it’s confusing for him.”
“Um…”
“I mean, you’re half-planeswalker, so…” Jacob’s cheeks
reddened, and his hands flew to his mouth. “Crap. No, I didn’t
mean…That’s not to say you’re stupid or anything. I mean, I’m sure
you’re smart. Your brothers seem smart, so I’m sure you’re not a total
idiot.”
Alex breathed in and out carefully, trying to quiet his rising anger.
He spoke through gritted teeth. “What did you need to ask me?”
Jacob’s blush deepened, and his eyes dropped to his shoes. He
cleared his throat. “Can I…touch you?”
Alex raised both eyebrows at him. It was not what he’d expected
to hear. Where? he couldn’t stop himself from thinking, and his cock
twitched at the idea of it, but he couldn’t very well say that. He tried
to clear the thought from his mind and think of a more appropriate
substitute. What came out was hardly that.
“Why?” he asked.
“I just…I wanted to see if...I had this feeling…” Jacob searched
Alex’s eyes for something. It was unnerving, having him stare into
him like that, like he was trying to see past the pale blue of Alex’s
eyes into the hurt that lay behind them. Alex couldn’t stand it. He
turned away from him. He looked up when he heard Jacob’s
embarrassed voice murmur, “Forget it. It’s stupid. Anyway, I have to
go.”
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Jacob turned to walk away. His delicate shoulders slumped, and
Alex hadn’t missed the look of rejection on his face when he backed
away. He took a few quick steps to close the gap between them.
“Wait,” he said, grabbing Jacob by the hand.
When their skin touched and Jacob’s eyes met his, Alex gasped at
the word that ran through his head. Mate. The word pulsed through
his brain. Mate, mate, mate. He bit his lip as he reminded himself how
quickly Jacob would be leaving him. His thumb grazed over the soft
skin of Jacob’s wrist, and his throat tightened at the unexpected rush
of emotion it brought to him.
“Oh God,” Jacob gasped. The fear in his eyes was as strong as the
fear Alex felt in his gut.
Alex nodded weakly. “What do we do now?”
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Ellen Ginsberg
Chapter Nine
“What do we do now?”
Ben stared straight ahead as he asked the question, and he got no
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