Lust Magick Read online

  He felt, as if it were happening, the Magus sliding inside him, fucking him, becoming one with him…

  With a gasp, Pedri pulled out of the mind cloud. “Nice try,” he said, a little breathless. “Do you say hello to all your visitors that way?”

  “I don’t get many. I’m not exactly prepared for company. As you can see.” The Magus gestured around himself at the vast cave he lived in, clearly untouched by anyone but himself for generations of time. “So what makes you think you’ll be welcome here? Which, by the way, you are not, so why don’t you turn around and walk right back out now, before I get angry?”

  This was a Master of Lust? Pedri shook his head faintly, staring at the Magus. A hostile man, totally uninterested in company or in practicing his magick, a man who kept himself hidden away in a cave miles below the earth, in the middle of a forest only Magick had allowed him to find? What good could he be doing down there? He hadn’t abandoned his powers, to be sure, but what did he use them for besides playing mind games? Had he given up on the life of the Magi?

  No. Pedri wouldn’t allow himself to believe such a thing. He took another long look at the man he hoped would be his teacher, taking in the broad shoulders and lean flanks, the strong arms and the cock between his legs, broad and long despite being flaccid. He looked closely and saw the aura of power clinging to the Magus.

  He hadn’t abandoned his power. But what he was doing with it, Pedri couldn’t begin to guess. Maybe letting the Magick rest? In which case, time for a wake-up call. “I’ve come for you to teach me Lust Magick,” he said simply, not betraying any of his doubt or confusion. “I have the right to ask you for this, Dominic Adair.”

  “Call me Magus,” Dominic said, crossing his legs at the ankle. Those cold eyes raked Pedri up and down, leaving him with the feeling that he was being weighed in the balance and found wanting.

  Pedri held his ground. He knew he wasn’t hard on the eyes. Lean and supple, young and muscled, and although he might have been grimy from travel and the hard work it had taken to make his way down to the Magus’ cave, he knew he was a fine piece of man meat. He’d heard enough about which way the Magus swung to know he should have been a tasty temptation with his loose blond hair, his boyish features, and his toned ass that showed to best advantage in the tight jeans he wore, thin as a tissue and torn in several places, one hole directly over a cheek of his ass.

  He rotated once, arms held up as if he were modeling, making sure the Magus got a good look at him. “So,” he asked, “do you like what you see?”

  “Like has nothing to do with the matter. If I took whatever I liked, that would make me a very bad Magician, wouldn’t it?” The Magus folded his hands behind his head, throwing his chiseled abdomen into stark relief. Pedri’s mouth all but watered.

  He shook his mind free of fog again. These are Lustful tricks, he warned himself. Don’t fall for them, but don’t be afraid. He wouldn’t be worth much if he didn’t test you first.

  “Somehow I don’t think you worry all too much about the rules,” Pedri said, proud to hear his voice coming through clear and steady.

  “Smart man.” The Magus tapped his nose, the rest of his face blank. “So,” he said, voice empty. “Let me guess. An apprentice, come to see the Wizard. Where are your friends? You’re missing a scarecrow, a tin man, and a lion.”

  Pedri shook his head. “No, I’m not. I have a brain, a heart, and courage.” I’m facing you down, he added to himself. “All I need is myself, and I’m standing right here. And so are you.” He paused. “You’re not exactly what I was expecting, though.”

  The statement earned him a derisive laugh. “You were looking for, what? A wizened old wizard in purple robes? Maybe with a few silver moons and stars embroidered on the fabric? How about a handful of sparkling dust when I wave my magic wand?” The Magus reclined back in his stone chaise and stared flatly at Pedri. “I don’t do flashy.”

  Pedri stood his ground. “It doesn’t matter what I came expecting to see,” he argued. Especially a man so incredibly fuckable that I can barely keep from flinging myself down at his feet and begging for a chance to suck his cock until it’s full and sticky in my mouth…

  “Doesn’t it?” the Magus asked. He opened his hands. “Surely you’re disappointed.” He paused. “So why do you need me? Don’t you already have all the power you need to get by in life? You’re obviously learned and gifted.” He laughed, a small and cruel sound. “You can mix up a love potion, can’t you? Or is that beyond you?”

  His voice was mocking, and it stung Pedri’s pride. He wasn’t any penny-ante half-assed dabbler. He’d earned the right to call himself a Demi-Mage, and be damned if he was going to take shit from anyone about his status, no matter how powerful the challenger.

  Pedri shook his head, setting his blond hair swinging, brushing over his shoulder. “Who or what I am doesn’t change anything. I’ve still come to you to learn. The rules are pretty clear, you know: if a supplicant comes and you don’t have a previous standing arrangement with another apprentice --”

  “Fuck the rules.” The Magus reached over to the bowl of fruit, selected an apple and a paring knife, and held them balanced as he looked at Pedri. His eyes were so flat, betraying no emotion at all. “I don’t play nicely with others.” He cut into the fruit, the crunch of fruit flesh echoing loudly in the cave, reverberating off the walls. Pedri held back a flinch, knowing it was what the Magus had wanted to see.

  “I can see you don’t,” he answered neutrally, not budging an inch. “I’ve come a long way to get here.”

  “Over the river and through the woods, I’m sure.” Another slice into the apple and the Magus had a wedge speared on his knife. He brought the fruit to his mouth and sucked on the juicy segment, then bit off the end. Once again, the sound was loud, and his disdain flagrant. “And you found your way to me. Down my flight of stairs too narrow for human feet, across the slippery stones in the moat, and through the dark and winding path through unlit tunnels. How… determined of you.” He smiled, an unpleasant smile. “Too bad you’re only in for a disappointment.”

  Pedri firmed his jaw. “It’s not going to work, you know.”

  The Magus paused in going after a second bite of apple. “What?” He sounded suspicious.

  “Trying to drive me away by acting pricklier than an angry porcupine.” Pedri let his knapsacks drop on the cave floor. “I know all the tricks, and I think I’ve gotten you figured out.”

  “Do you now?”

  “I do.” Pedri let himself shine with a little of his own power, staking his claim. “By the rules of power and the laws of the Council that give you your Magick, you can’t kick me out, so I’m staying, and you’re going to teach me.”

  The Magus’ eyes narrowed. “Am I really?”

  Pedri nodded, smiling faintly. “You are. I want to learn Lust Magick. You’re the most powerful practitioner on this coast. Do you know what I went through to get here? I hitchhiked through four states. I fended off offers from men, women, and indeterminates. I risked my life every time I got into a car. I slept on the side of the road with the ground for a pillow. And you know what? I didn’t begrudge or regret a second of it because I knew I was coming to you. That you’d teach me. So no matter what you say or do, you’re going to honor your vows to the Council of Magi and you’re going to educate me.”

  His speech done, Pedri stood with his feet spread and planted firmly on the stone. He stared down the Magus, who was looking at him like something the cat had dragged in. “My vows,” he said, “don’t mean a thing to me. Give me another good reason why I should take you in.”

  “Your vows should mean everything to you. If you violate them, the Council could strip you of your powers.” Pedri glanced around himself at the stalactites and stalagmites, the stone depressions, daises, and collected bits of magickal supplies. The stack of clothes in one crevice. The bowl of fruit, all fresh, all gleaming with life and health. His stomach rumbled.

  Both Pedri a
nd the Magus ignored the noise. “The Council could, sure.” The Magus nodded. “If they found out. And who’s going to tell them? You?”

  “If I have to.”

  The Magus stared a minute longer, then started to chuckle. “I’ll give you this much: you have balls, ked’ri.”

  “Pedri.”

  “I know your name. Ked’ri means ‘little boy’. Which is what you are. Look at those cheeks, so baby smooth. Do you even shave yet?”

  “I’m twenty-five, and the amount of facial hair I have is none of your damned business,” Pedri fired back.

  The Magus cut another slice of apple and popped the fruit into his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully, as if taunting Pedri for his own hunger. Pedri couldn’t help himself -- he was starving. He could all but taste the mealy sweetness on his own tongue, could just about feel the sugary meat crunching between his teeth, and could almost feel the tart juice running down his throat. His stomach grumbled again, this time loudly.

  “Here.” The Magus smirked and selected an orange from his bowl. “Since you seem to have an appetite.”

  He tossed the fruit, and Pedri caught it neatly. “Not bad,” the Magus allowed.

  “All those years playing softball as a kid finally pay off.” Pedri let himself grin, playing his ‘cute’ card to see how it went over.

  Not well. The Magus rolled his eyes and leaned back in his stone chaise, an odd formation of rock with a depression in the center. “So you managed to get through all the booby traps in the outer rings of my home. Want to tell me how you managed that amazing feat?”

  “Not really.” Pedri stuck a thumbnail into the leathery skin of the orange and began to peel it away. He paused. “Where do I put the pieces of rind?”

  The Magus raised an eyebrow. “And here I thought you had the answers to everything.”

  “Not everything. But I do all right. The rind?”

  “You don’t eat the rind?”

  “I can.” Pedri slipped a fragment in his mouth and chewed. The fruit’s casing was bitter and tough on his tongue, making his gag reflex trip, but he gamely chewed on and then swallowed, facing the Magus down to make sure the man had seen him do what he’d done.

  The action earned him another laugh, albeit one where the Magus tilted his chin at the cave ceiling and chuckled dryly. “Throw them into the air,” he allowed. “They’ll disappear.” When Pedri raised an eyebrow, the Magus made an impatient gesture. “What, you think I can’t handle a little waste disposal now? How the mighty have fallen in your eyes. Go on, try it.”

  Watching the Magus suspiciously, Pedri peeled off a chunk of rind and flipped it up into the space between them. In the midst of its flight, it vanished. “It’ll appear on the forest floor outside,” the Magus said, crossing his arms and uncrossing his legs. “Go on. Eat your lunch.”

  Pedri peeled loose a segment of orange and bit into the soft fruit, all but moaning when the tart juice tingled on his tongue. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten, and the last drink he’d had was from a spring a mile or so before finding the entrance to the Magus’ cave. His throat was dry as a bone, and as he swallowed, his whole body thanked him for the gift of food and liquid.

  The Magus watched Pedri as he ate, not saying a word. When the last of Pedri’s orange was gone, he put his apple aside, sticking his knife -- bone-handled, Pedri saw now, carved with runes -- definitely a magickal instrument, being used with as little care as a kitchen blade -- into the fruit to pin it into place. He lifted one leg and draped the limb over the ‘arm’ of his chair, opening his legs almost as if in invitation.

  Pedri gazed at the thick cock between the Magus’ legs, and his mouth watered for an entirely different reason. He loved to suck cock. Years of practice with Tomnas had helped him perfect the art. Looking at the Magus’ member, he was seized with a sudden urge to go down on his knees between those long legs, duck his head between the thighs, and take that magnificent prick into his mouth. He’d pause for a moment to taste the rich, salty flavor, swirling his tongue around the head as if it were a lollipop. Feel it growing inside his mouth as he worked his way down the shaft, drops of pre-come landing on his tongue to be hungrily swallowed. The Magus would reach down and seize Pedri by the head, holding him still so that his mouth could be fucked, and oh, God, he’d do it like the Master he was. No mercy, no guilt. Pure lust.

  Pedri came to himself with a gasp and shook his head to clear it. “Stop,” he demanded.

  The Magus looked innocent. “Stop what?”

  “The Lust tricks. You’re trying mind games on me,” Pedri accused. “They won’t work, you know. Not completely. I know when I’m being played.”

  The Magus laughed again. “Not bad. You didn’t fall as easily as I thought you would.” He arched his leg higher and arranged his face in a moue. “Don’t you want to give me a blowjob, though? Can’t you just taste me in your mouth, all salty with spunk and sweet from the fruit I eat all the time?”

  Pedri swallowed. “So what if I can? What does that mean?”

  “It means,” the Magus said, leaning forward, “that I’ve awoken Lust in you, and I barely even had to try. You want me, and you know it. I know it. Truth?”

  Pedri had to nod. “You have. And of course I want you. I’m not blind or stupid. And you’re a Master of Lust. What else should I have expected?” He firmed his stance. “I’m not going to fall for this, though.”

  The Magus quirked an eyebrow. “Fall for what, would-be apprentice?”

  “An easy out for you. It would be, wouldn’t it? Make me want you so much that I forget what I’ve come here for and just suck you off without any arrangements in place. Then, because I’ve broken the rules myself, you get off and you get me out.” Pedri shook his head. “Not happening.”

  A smile half-tilted the Magus’ mouth. “You’re sharp.” He glanced at his knife. “I could kill you for coming in uninvited, you know. That’d be within my own rights.”

  A matching smile curved up Pedri’s lips. “You could, but you won’t,” he said with confidence. “You want to teach me.”

  Ah. Finally, a sign of genuine interest. Letting his leg fall back down to join the other, the Magus leaned forward. “And why would I want to teach you?”

  “Because I have the balls to stand up to you,” Pedri answered firmly and truthfully. “You’ve locked yourself away down here where no one can get to you, and you’re bored. You want a challenge.” He crossed his arms over his own chest, thrusting his hips forward. “You want this body, too.”

  The Magus laughed. “Do I, really?” He swung his legs easily over the edge of his reclining rocks and stood up, then walked toward Pedri. Upright, he was taller by a full head, and his muscles worked in a fascinating play as he moved. Pedri’s mouth went dry at the sight of the Magus’ body. He fought down the urge to fall to his knees again, almost tasting the man’s cock in his mouth. No easy outs. Don’t fall for his traps.

  He came to a stop in front of Pedri, almost, but not quite intruding into his personal space. With his head tipped to one side, he reached out to touch Pedri, running his fingers through a lock of hair, then tracing his fingers down the line of Pedri’s cheekbones and his jaw. “You are a pretty one,” he said, almost absently. “You have nerve. You’d be a challenge.”

  Then, he dropped his hand as if Pedri were hot enough to burn. “But what do you know about Lust?” he asked, turning aside. Looking at a small stack of old, damp-warped books, he opened one and began to flip through it. “Do you have any idea how powerful it is?” He stopped at one page, marking his place with a finger. “Tell me, have you ever heard of David and Bathsheba?”

  Puzzled, Pedri nodded his head. “He saw her taking a bath on her roof one night.”

  “Oh, he knows his Bible.” The Magus traced a few lines of text. “Do you think it’s odd that I’d have a Christian holy book down here?”

  Pedri shrugged. “It’s not my place to question you. You’re the Master down here, not me. The Master
of Lust.”

  “Ever read the Song of Solomon? Who, by the way, was the son of David and Bathsheba. But you didn’t finish the story. David saw Bathsheba on her roof, and he felt such Lust for her that he summoned her to his sleeping quarters. She was married, but she had enough Lust for -- whatever -- his money, his power, his pretty face -- that she went. And she got knocked up. Did you know that part of the story, too?”

  Pedri held still, listening. He made a ‘go ahead’ motion with his hand, knowing it was rude -- but what the hell? He didn’t think the Magus cared all that much about protocol, anyway.

  The gesture earned him another faint smile of approval. “So, he can learn,” the man said. “When David found out he was going to be a proud daddy, he Lusted even more. A son with the beautiful Bathsheba? He wanted that boy for his own. So he sent her husband into the thick of battle, putting him right on the front lines, leading him into a death trap.”

  The Magus let his Bible snap shut with a heavy, leathery thump. “That, in case you didn’t understand, is the power of Lust. It’s life or death, ked’ri. It leads people into all sorts of situations they might not consider if they were thinking straight, or takes them where they wouldn’t otherwise go.” He looked up, directly at Pedri. “It brought you down here.”

  “And I’m staying,” Pedri said again, more determined than ever. “Unless you kill me, I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Really?” The Magus crossed the distance between them in a flash. He put a finger beneath Pedri’s chin, tilted it up, and kissed him softly on the lips. Pedri could feel the power coursing through the man’s veins, so tempting, so enticing, almost making his own blood boil with the need to be with this man, to taste him from nipples to nuts, to lie on his stomach and be filled by a cock powered by the Magick of pure, unadulterated Lust. He clenched his ass muscles and ached with emptiness from not having the man inside him.