Origin (Scales N' Spells #1) - A.J. Sherwood Page 0,128
to her about the angry sex? Nah. “Yeah, that’s kind of still a work in progress.”
“Your work in progress is more effective than anything we’ve tried. We want our king happy and healthy. We’ve all tried for centuries to make that happen, to return some of the service he gives us on a daily basis. You seem to be the lynchpin to his happiness.” Leaning forward, she put a hand over his, tone sincere. “Please don’t let the uncertainties scare you away.”
Alric might still need to reassure him about all of this. Cameron really didn’t want to make any assumptions or put his big feet where they didn’t belong. But that wasn’t something Lisette could help him with. “Okay. I’ll try. I do think—”
The door opened, and Alric’s head came around it as he leaned into the room. “Everything alright?”
Cameron stared back at him, perplexed. How the hell did Alric know he’d just had a mini meltdown mixed in with an anxiety attack?
Oh. Oh, don’t tell him….
Cassie started cackling. “He felt a disturbance in the Force!”
Cameron shot her the bird. “Shut it, you. Uh, come in, Alric. We’re discussing something that kind of involves you. And our sex life.”
Alric took a good look around the room with a dubious expression. “That sounds like a conversation I’d rather avoid.”
“Me too, trust me, but come here anyway.”
Now more worried than before, Alric stepped in and crossed to him readily. Cameron shifted in the chair to give him room, which Alric used, squeezing them in. With him settled, he looked Cameron over carefully, blue eyes taking in every facet of his expression. “What has happened?”
Lisette cleared her throat. “First, Alric, tell me why you came. Did you feel something?”
“It was an odd sensation,” Alric admitted, still watching Cameron carefully. He tapped a finger over his heart. “A slight tug and pull, a sense of unease. I felt that Cameron was disturbed by something, although I didn’t have any ready explanation for why. It was persistent enough that I finally came down here to check. To allay my suspicions, or so I thought until I saw the two of you sitting here. Cassie, what did you mean by disturbance in the force?”
His sister grinned rather smugly. “Turns out you’ve been oversharing, Alric.”
Alric blinked at her. “I’m sorry?”
Lisette shot her pupil an exasperated glare. “Wards, Cassie.”
“Teasing them is more fun,” she responded, wrinkling her nose. But she turned her back on them and returned to building wards.
“Alric.” Lisette waited until the king was facing her once more before continuing. “As it turns out, you’ve opened yourself so much to Cameron that his magic has, in turn, opened up to you and absorbed some of your power. We noticed it just now in the ward he built.”
Alric went abruptly still, so still that he wasn’t even breathing for a moment.
Cameron eyed him sideways, also holding his breath, as he wasn’t sure how Alric would take this.
“Not a bond,” Alric stated, although it lilted up at the end like a question.
“No,” Cameron agreed with a tiny shake of the head. “More like a conduit? My magic is aware that you’re a powerful source. And you’re open with me—there’s no guard up there. So it absorbs power from you whenever we, um, interact.”
“And this disturbs you?”
Cameron ran a hand over his face, hiding his expression for a second. Then he blew out a breath. “Kinda feel like an energy vampire, not going to lie.”
“You are not.” Alric turned his head, resting their foreheads together in a sweet tilt of the head. Against his mouth, Alric murmured, “All that I have is yours. I do not begrudge you anything, Liebling.”
Cameron’s heart strings gave a sharp tug at those words. Cameron had to kiss him then. Alric was being too sweet, he couldn’t resist him. Alric hummed back into the kiss, not at all shy about doing so in front of Lisette. But because of their audience, Cameron kept it short and drew back. The sincerity of it was in Alric’s eyes. He truly didn’t mind, was maybe a little happy about this whole thing.
Which was a relief, but Cameron had one more question he needed answered. “Lisette, this isn’t harmful to him, right?”
“Not at all.” Lisette made a throwaway gesture. “Living beings are constantly in a flux of energy on some level. We make, dissipate, and use it without notice or care. You’re just absorbing Alric’s extra energy before it can fully dissipate.”