Double Alchemy: Climax (17 page)

“Christ, Cade,” he groaned. “You are such a fucking bad boy. For God’s sake, either do it or get on the bed so I can make love to you properly.”

Cade tutted and flicked the tip of Quinn’s penis with a warm finger, causing him to hiss in sheer delight. “Stop your whining. I’m setting the mood. It’s not every day a man gets a marriage proposal.” His tongue snaked out and licked Quinn’s tip and Quinn thought he might explode.

“Cade, I’m warning you,” he grunted between clenched teeth. “Either suck it or get on the damn bed.”

His fiancé—
God, I love the sound of that
—sighed heavily and wrapped his mouth around Quinn’s cock, causing him to levitate onto his toes as a hot, wet tongue and greedy lips took control of that most sensitive part of his anatomy. Quinn’s hands clutched Cade’s hair in a grip so tight Cade felt like he was getting a facelift.

“Oh…my…God,” Quinn moaned, thinking hazily that Cade’s assault on his throbbing and needy erection made him eligible for a cock-sucking award of some sort. “Hell, you are so good at this.” His voice trailed off to a moan as his dick was clasped in rough hands and pumped with the sort of vigour he’d only seen in porn. Quinn’s knees threatened to give way, and he swore Cade was laughing, the rumble of his laughter reverberating against Quinn’s extremely pressured cock. There was no way in hell Quinn was going to survive much longer. His balls were scrunching up, his arse tingling with his imminent orgasm and the heat in his groin unbearable.

He let out an unmanly warble as he blasted his way into Cade’s mouth like a rocket launcher lifting off. His body shook, and he’d never realised he had the capacity to produce so much come. All the time Cade milked him dry, swallowing everything he was given. Finally, Quinn was spent and he lifted his hands from Cade’s hair, splayed them out against the wall for support and looked down at the silver-grey eyes observing him wickedly. Cade stood up, licking his lips salaciously and, from the large wet patch on the front of his trousers and dreamy eyes, already satisfied. He licked his fingers one by one as he watched Quinn’s face.

“That was so fucking hot,” Cade murmured. “And you made me come in my pants. What the hell was that noise you made at the end? It sounded like a damn bird of some sort.” He shivered in pleasure. “It was damn sexy whatever it was.” He stopped the erotic sucking of his fingers and looked down at his groin in steady contemplation. “I guess we both need a shower now.”

Quinn took a deep breath. “You bastard. That mouth of yours is pretty talented.”

Cade shrugged. “I have my moments.” He gazed over at the table, at the bottle of champagne. His eyes grew stormy. “Before we even think of getting clean, I’d like to get dirty again. I think we need to open that champagne and toast ourselves,” he murmured softly as his hands caressed Quinn’s jawline with fingers that smelled of sex. Quinn closed his eyes at the sensation. “In fact, I think you should pour it all over me and drink it off. I think I’d like that. Then I can return the favour.”

He leaned in and ran his tongue across Quinn’s bottom lip. Quinn’s heart stopped at the thought of drinking champagne from Cade’s body. Just when he thought the man couldn’t surprise him any more…

“I think I’d like that, my dirty fiancé,” Quinn murmured and Cade chuckled in satisfaction.

“Then stop talking, get undressed and open the bottle. I think this is going to get very messy.” With a wicked grin and a swing of his hips, Cade sauntered over to the bed and turned, beckoning Quinn over with one finger. Quinn was out of his depth with this rather bossy yet uber-sexy Cade but he had no intention of refusing anything the man wanted.

After all, it wasn’t every day a man agreed to be your husband.

Chapter 16

Cade awoke the next morning feeling both sticky and sore from the activity the previous night. The drinking of champagne from each other’s bodies had certainly been memorable but he didn’t think the hotel cleaning staff would appreciate the mess they’d made. He smiled when he saw Quinn snoring lightly still, his arms flung out above his head, his chest hair matted with sticky champagne. He raised his hand and looked at his ring, still unbelieving of the fact he was now Quinn’s fiancé. Cade felt a surge of happiness as he clambered out of the bed and made his way to the shower. Twenty minutes later he was towel-drying his hair when Quinn stirred and yawned, stretching his arms and his legs. He sat up, the sheet draped loosely across his waist and smiled at him widely.

“Morning. You’re up bright and early.”

“I was all sticky and I really needed a shower.” He grinned. “You were very edible last night. We’ll definitely have to do that again.”

Quinn chuckled as he swung his legs out of bed and padded naked into the bathroom. “I have to say it was quite an experience. I had no idea champagne could get drunk out of so many places in the human body.”

Cade flushed slightly at remembering exactly where Quinn had drunk his fill from. He heard the shower start and Quinn’s whistling as he got into the water. His mobile bleeped as Quinn came back into the room, a towel around his waist, towelling his hair dry. Cade glanced at his phone then put it down.

Quinn raised an enquiring eyebrow. “Is that your friend Cooper again? What does he want now?”

Cade nodded. “He stayed over in the hotel too. He was wondering whether we’re coming down for breakfast.”

Quinn frowned. “He’s quite a tenacious little bastard, isn’t he? What’s he going to say when he hears you’ve gotten engaged? I hope it cools his ardour a little.”

“He’s harmless,” Cade said with a sigh. “He knows full well I’m attached.”

“Hmm. He certainly seems to be a little
hands-on,
from what I saw last night. The man was all over you like a leech. That toad spell was starting to look pretty attractive to me.”

Cade stood up, moving over to Quinn, leaning in and enjoying the fresh, soapy smell of him as he hugged him.

“You can’t go around turning people into toads and frogs. You know you’re the only one for me. Cooper’s just a little showy, that’s all.” Cade kissed Quinn softly. “Once I show him this,” he waved his engagement ring, “he’ll get the message.”

Quinn grunted. “He’d better. Right, shall we go down and get breakfast? I have to confess I’m starving after all last night’s activity.”

He picked up the room key as Cade followed him out. “Perhaps I should tell young Coop exactly what we got up to last night,” he said slyly as he locked the door. “That would give him something to think about.”

Cade shook his head fiercely. “Don’t you dare embarrass me. I know you. You’ll drop little sly innuendos just to make a point.”

Quinn grinned. “You do know how to spoil my fun.”

The lift pinged and as they stepped inside, Cade hoped he’d behave himself. Quinn could sometimes be too mischievous for his own good.

*****

The next week passed far too quickly as the date of the seventh of May and the eclipse drew nearer. Quinn and his team had managed to find the hidden cottage where Jeremy and Rowan were staying, thanks to some local knowledge. A helpful land conveyancer in the local council office and a rather eccentric botanist who knew the flora of the area backwards were able to identify the seven trees.

Quinn, Percy and Magnus put their plans in place to gather at the Mistley Flats to perform the ceremony to banish Matthew Hopkins.

Daniel, who’d been given the task of getting something personal from Rowan Kirkpatrick, had to get creative in his efforts so as not to draw attention to himself. He finally managed to achieve his objective one cold morning as he waited in line behind the stork-like man at the local coffee shop. Daniel was not a coffee drinker but it looked as if Rowan and his friend Jeremy Payton were. The man ordered two cappuccinos and two flat whites along with a variety of muffins and what looked like large, round biscuits. The two men definitely had a sweet tooth.

Daniel stood behind the tall, gangly man as the human vessel dithered with the change in his hand, deciding what coins to count out into the patient barista’s outstretched hand. Daniel shifted behind him slightly, seeing a few stray hairs on the man’s rather soiled coat shoulder. He made as if to lift his hand and swat something, and quickly made his action into something else, plucking the hairs off the man’s shoulder and clutching them tightly in his hand. The man went still and then slowly turned around. Daniel had noticed the large sunglasses the man wore and wondered why in hell’s name he needed them on a cold, grey Essex morning. He smiled as Rowan’s gaze met his eyes. Daniel felt the stare even through the dark mirrored glasses.

Daniel nodded at him congenially. “Morning. Bloody cold out there, isn’t it? I can see why a good cup of coffee might go down a treat.”

The man simply stared at him. Daniel kept the smile on his face and Rowan turned back to the still waiting but now getting slightly impatient shop assistant as the young man cleared his throat.

“I still need twenty pence,” he said politely. Rowan nodded as he fumbled in his pocket. As he hunted deep down in his jacket, a rather dirty handkerchief slipped out onto the shop floor. Daniel held his breath, hoping the man wouldn’t notice, or some helpful but interfering soul wouldn’t point out to the man that he’d lost his hanky. He might be human but his late wife and nephew were both well versed in magyck and he’d learnt a lot. He knew a used handkerchief would make a perfect totem or talisman for Percy’s spell. He breathed a sigh of relief when no one seemed to bother and Rowan handed over a coin and turned swiftly to walk away with his coffee and pastries. Daniel leaned down quickly, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible, and picked up the grey hanky, putting the stolen hairs neatly inside and slipping it into his pocket as he stood up. Thankfully the people in the queue were fairly apathetic and no one challenged why he was picking up another man’s dirty handkerchief.

He smiled at the shop assistant. “A plain filter coffee please, black.” The barista nodded and turned to do his bidding. A few minutes later, armed with a cup of coffee he had no intention of drinking, Daniel left the shop and tipped the still-full cup into a waiting rubbish bin, checked his pocket for his prize once again, and returned to his Lexus to drive to meet Percy so he could start his preparations for the ritual to destroy the Witchfinder General and his human host.

Chapter 17

Quinn, Percy and Magnus sat shivering on the outskirts of the cold Mistley marsh flats as they waited for the right time to perform their ritual. The eclipse was on its way and all they could do was wait. They’d been there for two hours now and it was half past midnight with just under an hour to go. Then they could perform the ritual that would hopefully destroy both Jeremy Payton and Matthew Hopkins. They knew that gradually the moon would have covered the sun and with less than an hour to go, they waited patiently for the maximum time decreed in the texts that Percy and his researchers had discovered. As the eclipse wasn’t visible in the Northern Hemisphere, all they had to go on was the time.

Percy hadn’t been sure whether the ritual would adversely affect Rowan Kirkpatrick, aside from sullying him so that the spirit of Hopkins could no longer use his body. They knew Jeremy Payton might end up very badly off though and were prepared for that. The hairs Daniel had plucked from Rowan’s shoulder when he’d got close to him would do the trick for that, together with the soiled handkerchief with its extra treasure of snot. The two men were still in the cottage and had not moved since the Warlocks had gotten there.

“We need to get as close as we can to the cottage when we do the ritual,” Quinn muttered. “The closer we are the better the result. It will have to be timed just right so they don’t sense us. We can’t afford Payton dissipating like he did on the yacht.”

Percy nodded. “Once the ritual is started, Hopkins won’t be able to use his power. It will prevent him from doing so if the texts are correct. The ritual itself is fairly short. We chant the words exactly on time, burn the hair and the handkerchief with an energy burst together, and supposedly Payton and Matthew Hopkins should separate somehow. They could disintegrate, burn or just disappear. We honestly don’t have a clue what to expect.”

Quinn looked at the other two Warlocks in apprehension, a sinking feeling in his stomach. “
If
the tests are correct? Do we have a contingency plan in case this ritual is a load of bollocks?” he muttered quietly. “I didn’t really want to have to consider an alternative, but under the circumstances, being so close to a progeny of Hopkins and Hopkins himself, that could be bad for us all if things go wrong.”

Magnus chuckled softly. “That is a valid point, Mr. Quinn. I’d suggest we simply invoke our Withinners and let them take us away. Failing that, we can always try fighting our way out of any situation.” He grinned widely, his teeth gleaming in the dim light.

“I promised Cade I’d try not to die again on this one,” Quinn smiled wolfishly. “He made me promise before I left. So I don’t really fancy going home to my fiancé in any other state that what I am now. He’ll kill me.”

Percy chuckled. “Well put. I wouldn’t like to face him either if anything happened to you. So we have to hope that the bloody ritual works.”

It was precisely one-fifteen a.m. when the three Warlocks made their way surreptitiously up to the stone cottage. Thirty feet away, lights flared from the small mullioned windows through slight cracks in the curtains. The clearing was shrouded in trees and the seven oak trees in particular looked like broad-shouldered giants. Quinn, Magnus and Percy waited in anticipation for the exact time. All of them had synchronised their watches to make sure they got the chant started at the right second. They’d memorised the chant, and the handkerchief and the hair were ready on the ground between them for the burn.

Quinn started as one of the lights in the cottage went out. He looked at his watch. One twenty-two a.m. “Nearly time, chaps,” he whispered. “Get ready.” He glanced at Percy. “We don’t have to hold hands or something, do we?” He grinned at them as he tried to relieve the tension he felt in the air. “Because then I’d feel like I’m in a bloody boy band.”