Lachlan

I walked into our house and froze in the threshold. Magnus' scent was too strong for him not to be home. The grocery bags that dangled off my arms felt like contraband and my mind scrambled to come up with a game plan. I didn't want him to see them – to even know I'd gone out shopping – until later. I had gotten Mel to agree to give us the house to ourselves this evening and had been planning on spending the next couple of hours putting together a nice dinner for the two of us, and it would be hard to surprise Magnus if he was here. He was supposed to be working – I had even checked his schedule with Roy to make sure.

I realized I could hear the shower running and sighed in relief. Maybe Magnus spilled something on himself and had run home to clean up. He would wonder where I had gone, but that would be easy enough to smooth away. I could stash the groceries in the kitchen and get cooking as soon as Magnus left.

I was jumpy the whole time I put the groceries away, but the shower kept running. In fact, it was still going by the time I was done, so I headed upstairs and booted up my work laptop at my desk in our bedroom. It would keep Magnus from asking questions about what I was doing.

The bathroom door opened soon after and Magnus stepped out, a towel hanging low from his hips and his eyes bright with excitement. He yelped in surprise when he saw me, jumping back a couple of steps with his hand clutched against his chest. "Lachlan!"

"Hi," I answered, smirking.

"I, uh, didn't realize you were here," Magnus said nervously.

Wait... why would he be nervous? "I can see that. You okay?"

Magnus shrugged and stepped back into the room. "Um, yeah. Just a little jumpy, I guess."

He headed to his dresser and pulled out clothes while I watched, frowning at him. Magnus was usually so graceful when he wasn't tripping, but his steps now were stiff and cautious. "Are you sure you're okay?" I pressed. Scenarios flew through my head – rather than running home in the middle of his work day because he'd spilled something on himself, now I wondered if he had hurt himself. Maybe the shower was to wash off blood.

Magnus faced me with clothes in his hand, looking oddly uncertain. The fact that he still hadn't dropped his towel did nothing for my nerves, and his eyes were fixed on the floor. "I'm fine, promise," Magnus said, but he still wasn't making eye contact. I gently prodded at our bond, but he was blocking me out.

Hm. It wasn't like Magnus to be evasive, and it definitely wasn't like him to lie to me. What other explanation was there? Something was clearly going on with him. Magnus finally took off the towel and I sighed in relief when I didn't see any red on the white terry cloth, but I wasn't entirely comforted. Magnus' movements as he pulled on his clothes were jerky, lacking their normal fluidity.

I got out of my chair and crossed the room to stand in front of Magnus. As I stared into those dark eyes of his, searching for some explanation, he stared back. His expression was completely guileless and he showed no hint of pain. A small smile graced his lips and he put his hands on my hips. "Please stop worrying," he said. "I'm really okay and I need to get back to work, but I can't leave with you worrying like this."

I studied him for a few long moments and managed to shake off the worry. Magnus had always come to me before when something was wrong, and I needed to trust that he would continue to do so. Maybe he had just had a particularly strenuous workout with Felix. "Okay. I'll see you after work."

Magnus smiled brightly, triggering an answering smile from me as the last of my tension melted away. He stepped forward so we were pressed together and leaned down to kiss me with so much eagerness I had to either pull away or pull him to the bed. Since that would have messed with my plans, I reluctantly extracted myself. Magnus leaned down further, prolonging our contact, but we finally broke apart.

"We'll pick that up later, yeah?" Magnus said.

"Definitely." He turned away and shuffled out the door, and I laughed this time since at least there was a good excuse for his strange walking this time. One benefit of working from home: whenever my pants started to feel too constrictive, there was no reason not to shuck them off. Hopefully Magnus wouldn't be uncomfortable for too long.

Though... I kind of liked the idea of him being all worked up and desperate later, so maybe it wouldn't be too bad if he struggled with his arousal a bit now.

Shaking my head at myself, I headed downstairs to cook.

--

When I was finished with meal prep and cleaning the kitchen – just ten minutes before Magnus was due to get off work – I pulled out my phone to text him. He thought the plan was for us to meet in the dining hall like always, and I was planning on asking him to stop home for a few minutes without giving any explanation. He would come anyway and he would understand as soon as he walked in.

Before I could finish typing my message to him, the back door out the kitchen opened and Magnus ran through it. He froze when he saw me, his eyes wide and his chest heaving. Most notably, it was immediately obvious he was impressively hard, harder even than he'd been when he left earlier this afternoon.

Magnus' eyes flitted over the table with its vase of fresh dahlias – chosen because they were pretty and because they were mostly scentless. I had realized after my transformation just how unpleasant it could be to have too many scents around the dinner table. Magnus looked like he might cry and before I could wonder if anything was wrong, he flung his arms around me and said, "You're the most wonderful mate anyone's ever had."

I laughed and patted his back. "I'm glad you think so. Are you ready to eat? Mel gave us the house to ourselves tonight. She's staying in my old place."

Magnus backed away and his cheeks heated. When his eyes refused to meet mine, I looked down and was reminded of his problem. I laughed again – I couldn't help it, not when I was so happy – and I grabbed his hand, pulling him into the hallway where he was blocked from view of the windows. "Let me take care of you first," I said.

Magnus nodded eagerly and I grinned as I quickly got his pants around his ankles. I palmed him through his briefs while I drank in the sight of him. Magnus was beautifully aroused already, with a dark patch on the front of his briefs and his head leaning back against the wall behind him. From this angle, I could only barely tell that his eyes were shut – enjoying the sensations I gave him. I ran my thumb up the sensitive head of him and he moaned, biting his lip in a poor effort to keep in the sound.

Magnus made it impossible to take my time with him. He was so very eager for this, and my willpower was fading fast. I wanted to take my time with him – even with our dinner cooling on the table – but after maybe half a minute of playing with him like this, Magnus abruptly dropped the barriers he'd put up against our bond. Intense arousal like I'd never felt before slammed into me and I yanked his briefs down.

Magnus gasped, and when I grabbed his hips and pressed him back against the wall, he yelped. "Cold!" he complained.

I'll keep you warm, I thought with a laugh. I straightened my back so I could reach better and wrapped my lips around him, taking almost his whole length into my mouth at once. I worked my tongue while I focused on relaxing my throat so I could take the rest of him, and Magnus cupped a hand around the back of my head, holding me in place while he pulled out and eased back in, using slow and gentle thrusts so he wouldn't hurt me. I could feel him trembling with the restraint it took, and that wasn't what I wanted for him. Not this time.

I wanted Magnus to let himself go completely, and he never would while he was in charge. I pulled back so I could see what I was doing and I grabbed both of his hands, holding them against the wall. Magnus was leaking desperately while his hips still worked the air, searching for relief he wouldn't get before I gave it to him. He made a beautiful picture all wanton and desperate, and I would have dragged things out if it weren't for the urgency we were both feeling.

Besides, this was just an appetizer before we had dinner. I'd have him again for dessert, too.

It was hard to keep my teeth from partially shifting, but I managed to keep them back as I distracted myself by licking slowly up Magnus' hard cock. He tried to jerk his hands free, but I held fast and quickly sucked just the head of his erection into my mouth. I curled my tongue around it and Magnus trembled.

"Please," he whimpered. "Please, I need..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but he didn't have to. I let go of his wrists so I could pull him off the wall enough for me to cup his tight butt, using the leverage to pull him deeper into my mouth. Magnus moaned and I set a relentless pace, bobbing against him to give him the friction he needed and using my grip on his ass to make the thrusts even harder.

"Mmm!"

It was all the warning I got before Magnus released in my mouth, but I kept myself open for him and swallowed while he took over the thrusting. By the end, his movements were frail and seemed like a reflex as he twitched with aftershocks. I pulled away and wiped my mouth on the back of my hand, then grinned up at him. Magnus was sagging against the wall, his expression full of acute relief with his pants in a pool around his ankles. It was one of my favorite images of him, and I admired him for a long moment before gently easing his briefs back into place. Magnus let me, still breathing heavily as the rest of his body remained limp.

When I got his pants up, it was a struggle to get them situated on his hips right, so Magnus had to step in and finish the job. His eyes finally opened, and he looked down at me with an expression I could only describe as wonderstruck. I hoped he felt that way, since goodness knew he made me feel the same.

"Thank you," he said.

I got to my feet and kissed his cheek. "Any time."

I took Magnus' hand and led him to the table, and he blushed when I pulled his seat out for him. I quickly filled two plates for us and a few minutes later, we were settled down with freshly-reheateded food.

"So, what's all this for?" Magnus asked between bites.

I finished chewing – I had made steak, baked potatoes, and green beans, and steak was not a quick food for me to eat – before answering. "We've both been too busy with work and pack drama. I just wanted to take a night for ourselves before Felix and Everett get back with Marla." In the few days since our return from Albuquerque, I had hardly seen Magnus except during mealtimes and right before bed.

Magnus smiled and said, "I've been wanting some time with you, too. Thanks for this." Warmth filled me and I took his hand across the table just for a few seconds before reaching for my fork again. Magnus spoke again, making me pause. "I, um, I have a surprise for you tonight, too."

I didn't even need to look at him to know he was blushing, but I looked anyway and enjoyed the deep pink color that flooded his cheeks and trailed down his neck. Magnus was always a blusher, but this was a lot even for him and I could only think of one kind of surprise that would make him look this way: it had to be sexual. "A surprise, huh?" I asked, hoping he'd give me more.

"Mhm." Magnus' eyes flashed with a mischief he usually saved for his sister and I knew I wouldn't get anything out of him until after dinner, so I applied myself to scarfing down the rest of my food while Magnus, curse and bless him, ate neatly and tidily at a sedate pace. In fact, when he realized I knew he was stalling, he slowed down even more, and half his food was left by the time my plate was cleared.

Well, he could delay all he wanted; I could find other ways to occupy myself. I put away the rest of the food and turned my attention back to him. I started off rubbing the tension out of his shoulders and neck, which of course only slowed Magnus down even more since I was distracting him. It didn't bother me – I had him all night and the space we were in felt sort of timeless anyway. It was good to just be with Magnus, with my mate, and enjoy it.