"Hey, Dean, guys." Daniella smiled. "I hope you don't mind if I steal Mary Sue."

"No, that's all right," Dean said. His longing gaze followed Daniella as she pulled Mary Sue after her.

Mary Sue tried to dig in her heels, but despite her petite shape, Daniella appeared to have no trouble pulling her along.

"She's strong," Eli commented.

"She's a wolf shifter." Dean fidgeted with his napkin when all eyes turned his way.

"Why isn't she at the pack house then? I thought they had a thing tonight?" Dan asked.

"She probably stopped by to get something. I don't know," Dean said defensively.

"You like her." Eli couldn't help commenting. "And she watched you like she'd love to make you her next chew toy."

Dean laughed, the tension easing in his shoulders. "I don't think she's interested."

Eli tapped his chin. "Considering you're the only one she greeted, I think she's definitely interested." The wolf shifter had her eyes on Dean even as she was dragging Mary Sue away.

"You think?" The hope in Dean's face was almost painful to watch.

"Yeah, why don't you invite her out sometime?" Eli prompted.

"Maybe I will." Dean grinned.

The gnomes arrived with two enormous pizzas with everything but mushrooms.

Without another word, they began to eat.

The night air cooled Eli's heated skin. It had been warm in the restaurant-the breeze eased some of the stuffiness clouding his head. He took a deep breath, letting the smell of fresh cut grass and blooming flowers fill his lungs.

"You're beautiful in the moonlight."

Devin's voice had a deeper quality than Eli had noticed before.

"Thanks."

Devin grabbed Eli's wrist and pulled him to a stop. "I like you, Eli. Will you give me a chance?"

"I like you too." Pleased his voice sounded calm instead of shaky with anticipation, Eli let Devin entwine their fingers and continue their walk. The moonlight brought out the shine in Devin's hair. Eli resisted the urge to pet him like a romantic sap. No, he'd wait until they knew each other better before his real personality came out. Devin's sudden intensity gave Eli pause.

"Do you think Mary Sue is going to cause problems?" Eli blurted out. The young woman had appeared obsessed with Dean.

"I doubt it. I think she'll turn her attention to someone new. She doesn't seem the type to keep going after someone who doesn't want her, and I think Dean made that pretty clear."

Eli nodded. "That's true. I think he found his fingernails more interesting."

Devin laughed. "Maybe."

On the steps of their dorm building, a girl appeared in front of them. For the first time Eli knew he was facing a real ghost. Her fearful gaze skittered back and forth between them.

"Beware of false words and false faces," she whispered.

Before Eli could ask what she meant, she vanished.

"That was weird."

"It sure was," Devin said.

"You could see her?" Eli asked. He couldn't make out Devin's features in the dark, another reason he'd known the girl was a ghost.

"It must be because I'm close to you," Devin said.

"Yeah, must be." Unease slithered through him. They weren't holding hands when the ghost came. Had they already formed a mental connection? "What do you think she meant?"

"Who knows? You can't necessarily trust everything a ghost says. Just because they're dead doesn't mean they're honest."

"True." Eli hadn't thought of it that way. Alstair had said something similar in their last training session.

"You're new to this whole necromancer thing and I'd hate for you to be led astray when you thought you were helping out a ghost. Are you sure you can trust Porter?"

Eli thought over his relationship with his roommate then nodded. "Yeah, I've roomed with him for months and he's never tried to hurt me. He's a good guy. Dead, but good."

Did dying change the essence of a person? He'd have to ask Alstair.

He skated over the fact that Porter had never told him about being dead. Some secrets were too personal to share. Porter probably hadn't wanted to freak Eli out.

"You could always move into my room if things get too weird. I have a nice comfortable bed."

Eli snorted. "I'm sure you do. Somehow I don't think Dean will want to share with me, though." No way would he be rushing into that invitation.

Devin grabbed Eli's arm, pulling him to a halt. "It's not just an offer. I really like you and I don't want you to be uncomfortable in the dorm. Dean can cope or sleep on the couch until we can find a better place. We've been talking about moving out of the dorms for a while now."

"Like I said, I'm fine for now, but I'll keep you in mind if something freaks me out. I don't think you need to completely rearrange your housing quite yet."

Devin wrapped Eli in his arms. "Let me just give you a few incentives to keep my room in mind."

Devin's kiss shorted out Eli's thought processes. Somehow Devin's lips cleared Eli's mind of everything but the taste and touch of Devin. Eli moaned softly-he couldn't stop the sounds pouring from this throat. He gripped Devin's shirt in a tight hold, unable to stand the thought of separation. Breath mixed and mingled along with the lingering touch of mouths rubbing together. Eli dared to let his tongue lap at Devin's lips, taking the lead. He usually remained the more passive partner in a relationship, but Devin called to him. The twisting need to claim Devin as his own swept through him like a tsunami wave, washing away his inhibitions.

"Get a room!" someone shouted, followed by a series of giggles.

Eli didn't know the size of their audience and from the grip Devin had on his hips, his partner in passion didn't care.

Devin wrenched his mouth away, pulling a whimper from Eli. His lips were wet and glistened in the moonlight while his eyes had turned deep cobalt, glowing with unspoken need. "I'd best say my goodbyes here. Unless you want me to strip you down and ravish you on the doorstep."

Gods and goddesses, Eli had to take a moment to gather his resistance. His hormones were singing a seductive song of heat and need, and Eli couldn't collect enough thought processes to form the proper words.

Devin pressed a tender kiss to Eli's forehead. "Go get some sleep, Eli. I'll talk to you tomorrow." With a gentle push, Devin sent Eli into the building.

"Goodnight, Devin," he tossed over his shoulder.

Swallowing back his disappointment, Eli continued on to his dorm room. Devin was right. They weren't ready for full-on sex, no matter what his traitorous body proclaimed.

Porter was sitting on his bed when Eli walked in. "How was your night?"

"Overall, good." Eli told Porter about Mary Sue and Dean's reaction.

"It sounds like he's into you. The fact he didn't try to seduce you back to his place says a lot."

"You don't think it means he's not interested, do you?" Eli spilled out his fear to his friend.

"No." Porter shook his head. "I think it means he's a nice guy who doesn't want to push you too much. Cherish that. I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to date assholes."

"Umm... Thanks, I think." Eli thought back over his time out with Devin. It had been a good night with pizza and friends. He liked Devin's brothers and, although they were identical in looks, they had very different personalities.

Exhaustion beat at him. Studying and ghost detecting took a lot out of him. "I'm going to go grab a shower then go to bed. I have an early class tomorrow."

"Sounds good."

Eli grabbed his kit, a towel and his robe and headed for the shower. He just needed to unwind a bit.

Devin crawled into bed. His body still hummed from contact with Eli. It had taken all his resolve not to grab the gorgeous necromancer and drag him back to his room. Dean and Dan had assured him they wouldn't be back for a few hours but instead of snuggling up to his redhead, he was lying in bed alone.

Sighing, Devin rubbed his erection. It hadn't gone down even after Eli had left. Images of skimming his hands across Eli's warm skin bolted through his head like a heated dream. Devin bit his bottom lip, holding back a grunt of need. Almost guiltily he moved his right hand in a secretive slide beneath the band of his sleep pants. He'd rather it were Eli rubbing against him, flesh against flesh.

He gripped his cock in a tight, warm hold. Reaching beneath his pillow, he snatched up the container of lube. His hands shook as he released his erection to pop open the lid. Liquid spurted out across his chest, across the sheets, and very little landed on his fingers.

"Fuck!" Devin resealed the container and tossed the lube onto his side table. He had lost his initial urgency but with all the lube on his hand, he might as well use it. Closing his eyes, he envisioned Eli's warm expression. The slightly bashful look in Eli's eyes when he caught Devin watching him never failed to make Devin's cock weep in his jeans.

As the picture built in Devin's head, his erection hardened back to his pre-lube levels of desire. Groaning, he fisted his cock, sliding his slicked hand up and down his shaft while imagining Eli's elegant fingers in the place of his own thicker ones. Eli wouldn't have calluses from playing sports with his brothers but smooth, perfect digits that could pluck the need from Devin like a maestro. Devin didn't have to imagine Eli naked to get off. The image in his mind of Eli's soft, sweet mouth erupted the seed from his body with surprising force and volume.

Sweat beaded his forehead and his hands tumbled to mattress and away from his sensitive body.

"Eli," he whispered.

He had hoped for a heavy make-out session with the man of his fevered dreams, but his resolve couldn't handle the tempting necromancer. If they'd stayed kissing on the front stoop much longer, he would've stripped Eli naked regardless of who had been watching.

Forcing his body to move, Devin slid out of bed then stripped the mattress in quick frustrated yanks. He bundled up the linens and shoved them in the basket. Gnomes would come and take care of their laundry, a leftover from when Jaynell had shared lodging with them.

He quickly remade the bed, wiped himself clean then lay back down. Before long, sleep embraced him.

The room was long and wide, a classroom Devin didn't remember. Laughter, desks banging and the sound of chalk scratching across a blackboard whispered across his eardrums.

He didn't see anyone.

"Step in here and let me know what you see." A familiar voice had Devin spinning around in time to watch Alstair and Eli enter the classroom.

Eli's eyes widened. "Wow, there are so many of them."

Alstair nodded. "I did some research. A lab explosion took out the entire class."

"That's so sad." Eli tucked his hands into his pockets as he stared at the empty desks.

Devin walked closer to stand beside Eli. The redhead looked straight through him as if he weren't even there. Reaching out a hand, Devin's fingers brushed through Eli's arm.

"Oh." Devin re-evaluated his surroundings.

Must be a dream. A freaking realistic dream.

Devin watched the necromancers for a moment as they approached the chairs.

"Now close your eyes and find them with your mind," Alstair instructed Eli.

Eli obediently shut his eyes. Energy crackled and Devin plunged back into darkness.

"Wait." Devin sat upright, sweat pouring down his back.

"Hey, Dev, you okay?" Dean leaned over him, concern etched on his face.

"Yeah, I just had the strangest dream."

"Want to talk about it?" Concern filled Dean's eyes.

Devin shook his head. "It wasn't anything important."

He pushed the dream out of his mind. There hadn't been anything in there to worry him. No sense of danger or tingles of impending doom. He brushed it off as just a strange dream.

"Okay, if you say so. How did your date with Eli go?" Dean asked.

Devin thought over the night. "I think it went well. I didn't rip off his clothes and fuck him on the dorm steps. I figure I should get points for that."

Dean punched Devin on the arm. "Way to keep it classy, bro."

"What? I said I didn't do it. Fuck, he tempts me, though." His need for Eli burned inside him like a wildfire, crackling and almost out of control.

"He is a cute thing even if I don't like guys. Hey, what do you think of Daniella?" His brother's entreating expression all but begged Devin to say good things.

Devin remembered Eli's comments. "I think you should go for it. She seems to be a nice girl."

"No. My biggest concern is, what if I'm not her mate? She'd dump me as soon as she finds him."

Devin thought it over a moment. He didn't want Dean's heart broken all over again, but he also didn't want his brother to be afraid to love. "How about you check with her? I'm not sure if male and female shifters have the same mating instincts."