Page 29 of Hellhounds Never Lie

"Ejaculation? Did you just say the word ejaculation?" Ash snickered. “Is this high school biology class?”

"I'm being serious." I pinched Ash's side softly, making the mage squirm and laugh.

"Alright, alright," Ash said. "What else?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I've never done it before. But I think the part where our magic surrounded us and blended together was the next level of the same thing."

Ash jolted upright, out of my arms. "Wait. What did you say a minute ago? Something about an exchange? What did you mean?" He rubbed his chest through his T-shirt. "Oh, no."

The air stirred between us, and I knew it was Ash's magic.

"Ash? What's going on?"

"Are you okay? Can you still shift?"

"What do you mean? Of course I can."

"No." Ash scrambled out of bed. "Don't brush this off." He put his hands on his slim hips, just below the hem of his T-shirt, not bothering to cover his bare lower half. I sensed his blatant display of nudity wasn’t typical, but in his agitated state he didn’t seem to notice he wasn’t fully dressed. "Get out of bed and show me that you’re okay. Show me your hellhound."

"I'm okay. I feel fine," I said as I rolled out of bed and climbed to my feet. "I will shift for you, so you can see that, but then we need to have a conversation about what's going on. Just stand back okay. My hellhound is covered in fire. Your possessions will be okay, but my fire will burn any living being and I don't want you to get hurt. Okay?"

Ash nodded sharply as he retreated until his back hit the wall. Then his fingers dug into his hips with what seemed like bruising force as his foot bounced with impatience.

I kept my eyes on him as I let my hellhound form roll over my body. My hands became paws. My jaw elongated. My skin itched as black fur, tipped in fire, covered my body.

Ash stared at me. "Are you okay? Was all that normal? Did anything feel off? Was your shift slower or harder or anything?"

I could have answered in my shifted form—I’d never met a shifter who couldn’t talk in their shifted form—but I couldn't soothe my little witch like that. I changed back. "Everything is fine. I'm fine. Everything is the same as always."

Ash hugged his arms over his stomach and sank to his knees. He sucked in a deep breath. "Thank all the deities that ever existed…"

I raced over and scooped the smaller man into my arms. He was trembling. "You're scaring me, little witch."

"Yeah, well, you scared me too. Fuck." He rubbed at his eyes.

"Why are you scared?"

Ash closed his eyes and pressed his face into my chest. "I…" He swallowed hard. "I know I need to tell you. Just… just give me a minute. This… It's hard, okay?"

"Take all the time you need, little witch."

I didn't know what else to do, so I shut my mouth, held on tight to my little mage, and waited.

ChapterTwelve

ASH

I wished I hadn't freaked out, because then this conversation wouldn’t be happening, and we would be having another round of amazing sex instead. But if anything had happened to Dillon because of me, how would I live with myself? The short answer was I wouldn’t be able to.

Dillon swore he hadn't been harmed, but how could we be one hundred fucking percent certain? Sure, I’d seen him shift, but what if there were lingering effects? I drew in a deep breath and pushed it out slowly. He needed to know.

Okay.

I could do this.

“I come from a long line of mages, so it isn’t surprising I inherited an affinity for magic. I am listed as a fire mage in the records housed with my family’s coven. As the name suggests, my ability lets me manipulate fire, but also light and, to some extent, electricity." I paused and ducked my head. I couldn't look at Dillon. "It used to be stronger."

Dillon waited for me to continue.