"Yep. I named him Kimo. He's really cute. He's larger than a regular salamander and he can poison with his touch."

"Does that mean you have a fire affinity?" Most wizards had a tendency towards some speciality.

Dan shook his head. "I don't think so. Neither my brothers nor I seem to have any particular special skill. We have a good general magic, but that's it."

"Huh." Farren had never heard of that before. "Maybe you just haven't come into your power. What about the rest of your family?"

"We don't know. We were artificially inseminated from an anonymous sperm donor.

Our father had a low sperm count and our mother isn't magical at all. All of our ability comes from our mystery sperm donor. Our parents died in a car accident two years ago so we'll never know anything more."

"Sorry to hear about that."

Dan shrugged. "We were never particularly close. They were more cerebral than loving."

Maybe that was why the triplets were so bonded. If Farren had had siblings, he certainly would've been closer to them than to his unfeeling father. A stray thought had him asking, "Is it weird?"

"Is what weird?"

"Not knowing your family history. I don't think I'd like not knowing where my magic came from."

He would've already died from magical overdose if he hadn't known why he became so hot after prolonged lack of magic use. Without knowing about his mother's death, Farren might've died from not knowing the source of his power overload.

Dan shrugged. "It's not a big deal. We aren't strong enough for our magic to cause any real problems."

Farren rubbed Dan's back. "I think you underestimate yourself."

Dan shook his head. "I'm not. I'll never be the powerhouse that Jay is, or even Kevin with his healing abilities. Me and my brothers are stronger together. We'll get by."

31.

Farren didn't know Jay or Kevin, but he did know the triplets. He had no doubt they would do more than just get by. He didn't know of any other set of triplets in the magical world.

"Maybe you each just need to meet your match." Many wizards increased in ability when they met their other half, something about having compatible magic.

Dan grinned. "I'm hoping so."

They'd arrived at the dorm building before Farren could say anything else. He followed Dan up two flights of stairs and waited for him to unlock the door. Dan yanked open the door, pulled Farren inside then slammed the door behind them. Farren moaned into the kiss when Dan pinned him against the wall. Heat curled around Farren's body in a slow, luxurious path, sliding down his spine and hardening his shaft.

"Damn, you make me hot," Dan whispered against Farren's mouth.

Farren jerked back. Worried, he pressed a hand to Dan's forehead. "Are you okay?"

Dan laughed. "I don't mean that literally."

"Oh." Farren blushed. "Sorry, I-I'm a fire wizard. I didn't know if I was hurting you."

The lies spilling out of his mouth would come back to haunt him some day. How could he hide the truth from a man he wanted to start a relationship with? Farren brushed aside his conscience. Later he'd worry about the fibs. If this thing with Dan became long-term then confession time could begin.

"No, babe, you weren't hurting me. I know you wouldn't hurt me." Dan cupped Farren's cheek in a gesture so tender it almost melted him.

"I hope not." There were many levels of harming someone. Farren didn't want to hurt Dan in any way.

"I know it." Dan lifted Farren's satchel over his head and set it beside the door.

Farren wished he had the same confidence. Still, he couldn't deny he wanted the gorgeous wizard. He leant forward and captured Dan's mouth with his own. Rubbing against Dan, he relished the bump of their hard lengths together. He ached for Dan with a pain in his heart and a twisting in his soul.

"Come to my room."

The Stewartson suite took over the corner of the building. Dan had told him when they met that because of the trauma the triplets had experienced at the school, they were able to *

32.

pick their own rooms. Their dorm was more like a two bedroom apartment with two twin beds in each bedroom and a small common area in the middle. Dan had a room by himself since Kevin no longer lived there.

They stumbled to Dan's room, unsuccessfully trying to take off their shoes while they walked.

Dan pointed at Farren. "You take off your clothes and I'll take off mine. If I remove your clothing it will be over before we start."

Farren grinned. The thought of Dan wanting him so badly that he would come before they got started boosted his ego to stratospheric heights. "I can do that." Farren yanked off his shoes, pants and shirt with record speed. He then waited impatiently for Dan to follow his example.

Instead the gorgeous wizard just stared.

"Damn, you're beautiful." Dan's hushed tone had Farren rolling his eyes.

"I'd like to say the same, but you are still dressed."

"Mmm, yeah." Dan stepped forward and dropped to his knees. "I have a better idea."

Dan wrapped his hand around Farren's erection and gave it an appreciative lick.

"Oh, fuck." Farren clenched his fists, uncertain if he should touch Dan or not.

"Go ahead, grip my hair. I like men who take control when I'm on my knees."

"I don't want to hurt you," Farren confessed. He'd never had a guy give him a blow job while he was standing before.

"I'll be fine. Now yank my hair and fuck my mouth and I'll consider you the best boyfriend ever."

Farren laughed and his anxiety flew away beneath Dan's determined cheer.

Without warning, Dan swallowed Farren down again. Farren instinctively grabbed Dan's hair and held on as he pushed in, spreading Dan's kissable lips around his cock.

Glorious suction pulled Farren farther into the hot cavern of Dan's mouth.

"Oh fuck," he whispered. He didn't have a way to resist Dan's touch. In that moment he was torn between hating anyone who'd ever had sex with Dan before and wanting to thank them for Dan's expertise.

"I'm going to come," he warned.

Dan pulled off. "No. Not yet. I'm not inside you."

33.

Farren froze. "I..."

Dan stood. "On the bed."

Farren settled awkwardly on the narrow twin bed. There wouldn't be a lot of room to manoeuvre, but it wasn't as if his bed had been any roomier. This would be the first time they made love in Dan's dorm room since Maddox normally wasn't at Farren's and Dan didn't want to deal with his brothers' teasing.

"I believe you wanted me to suck you a few minutes ago," Farren reminded Dan. He loved the taste of his lover on his tongue. Once Dan climbed onto the bed beside him, Farren slid down Dan's body, placing kisses and licks as he went. He nipped Dan's hip then lapped at his ball sac, humming contentedly. Dan's taste exploded across Farren's mouth.

Yum.

Copying Dan's previous behaviour, he licked at the sticky pre-cum dripping out of the tip then he wrapped his lips around the warm spongy head and tentatively sucked. Farren didn't have a lot of experience giving blow jobs, but he was an eager student.

"Yesss!" Dan hissed.

Farren closed his eyes to concentrate on the texture and flavour of his lover. He could taste Dan all day, but from the grip Dan took on his hair he doubted Dan could handle that.

He wrapped his hand around the base of Dan's erection and bobbed his head down farther, letting the tip of Dan's cock slide down his throat. He stopped when he began to choke and backed off a bit. He focused on sucking harder and squeezing lightly at the base.

He licked under the head. Dan's sudden inhale had him repeating the motion.

"Easy, babe. I'm going to come."

Farren hummed. He'd read about doing that in a romance book once.

"Oh, fuck!" Dan shouted, then poured his seed down Farren's throat.

Farren swallowed repeatedly, trying to keep up with the fluid spurting out. Some dribbled down his chin, but he was pleased with his overall skill.

"You did well," Dan agreed as if he could read Farren's mind.

Farren licked his lips, relishing his lover's flavour. "Thanks."

"Now come up here and kiss me." Dan grabbed Farren's shoulders and dragged him back up until they were mouth to mouth, Farren lying on top.

34.

After a long session of tangling tongues, Farren collapsed against his lover. "That was great, thank you."

"You're welcome." Dan snuggled him close.

As Farren's eyes began to droop, Dan spoke again. "What's this?"

"What's what?"

Dan pressed a point on Farren's shoulder. "This mark. When did you have time to get a tattoo?"

Farren placed his fingers where Dan was touching. The djinn's words about a mark rang through his head. Farren sat up. "It's nothing. A family thing."

"What does it mean?" Dan cupped Farren's cheek forcing him to look at him.

"I don't really want to talk about it." A chill slid through his body. What if the djinn had done something to Farren? Could he be possessed now that he had a djinn mark? He'd have to do some research to discover what the hell was up. "Hey, could you take a picture of it for me so I can see how it's healing?"

"Um, sure." Dan grabbed his phone off the side table. He quickly snapped a picture then handed it back. "Here you go. I'll message you a copy. Does it look how you were hoping?"

Farren's heart skipped a beat. He bit his lip as he examined the picture. A series of words were swirled into a circle. The language wasn't one Farren could read. He doubted anyone on this plane knew the language.

Fuck!

"Yeah, it's perfect. Thanks!" He hoped he didn't sound sick as his stomach sloshed about queasily.

"What does it say?"

Farren shrugged. "I don't know. My grandfather designed it."

"Oh, well, it looks cool."

"Thanks."

"I'd better get going." Now that Dan pointed it out, the mark in his shoulder hurt like someone had buried a glowing red pitchfork beneath his skin. He hated to have sex and run, but he needed to see if he could find out more about his mark.