Seal of Solomon (Journeyman Book 2) (24 page)

“Put it on,” he ordered, stepping back. He was rock hard and so heavy, hanging straight down.

Joey dropped to his knees at last and as he struggled to unwrap the package, he gave the beast a long lick from the base all the way to the head.

Gage closed his eyes as a stream escaped the tip, dripping to the floor, then watched as Joey slid the sheath over him using his pre-cum as lubricant. It was really tight as usual, veins bulging out from the plastic prison.

“Okay, back up you come,” he said, lifting Joey up off his knees and to the cold glass for a third time. “Now we’re talking.”

He touched the head of his dick against Joey's expectant hole and pressed forward, spreading him apart. He went in an inch, then another, until Joey gasped from the pleasurable pain.

That was Gage’s signal. He brought up the rune stone and held it next to Joey's face. “Ya know what this?” he asked as a mere nicety before pushing in another inch.

Joey winced, letting out a sigh. “A… binding… stone.”

“Bingo. Now, activate it,” he ordered, “or I'll go in more.”

Joey knew that was coming, so didn't answer right away.

Gage, always reliable, delivered as promised, forcing out another cry. “Turn it on… like I know you are right now.”

Joey's face contorted as he whined, Gage moving in one more euphoric inch. Joey didn't know if he could take much more and Gage was only halfway in. Through deep huffs he said the magic words, with the fleeting hope that Gage’s advance would halt.

“
Vinculum
,” he said as a whisper, the last puff of his hot breath activating the runes. They sparked with effervescent light between the inset lines, their golden glow growing brighter and brighter.

Gage flicked the stone in the air like a coin as he withdrew and it burst into shining filaments. The shimmering lines wrapped themselves around Joey’s wrists and the corners of the curtain rod, pulling his arms taunt up into the shape of a Y. The warm light faded away and all was again cast in blue hues; thick magical ropes now restraining Joey in an incredibly vulnerable, yet enticing position.

The sight of him, spread out like that, drove Gage back in, forceful and animalistic, wanting nothing more than to make Joey scream in pleasure. He was there to deliver on Joey’s pent up needs and already back in halfway, then beyond. Inch by fucking pleasurable inch he pushed, until he was balls deep.

When Joey’s ass touched Gage’s torso, a scream of ecstasy came and Joey nearly did the same. It was so tight that he couldn’t help but clench around Gage’s monster, filling him inside. Then the strokes began, long and powerful. A smooth rhythm took over, directed by Gage’s hand wrapped around a fistful of Joey’s hair.

Gage yanked Joey’s head backwards and thrust himself deep inside, several times, until Joey was unable to hold in another carnal moan.
Gage looked down at himself, raging thickness shining in the night lights of the grand vista window before them. His emotions soared so high, higher than they were hovering above the world. He shoved Joey into the glass, so hard that it cracked.
That didn’t stop them as it should have, grinding and writhing until they couldn’t contain themselves any longer.

Joey’s eyes rolled back in his head as he exploded onto the window without touching himself. Gage watched as it slowly glided down the glass, loosing himself in the moment. He pulled out as his own voice thundered, removing the sheath as he unleashed a deluge across Joey’s strapping back.

Gage staggered back from exhaustion and reached over to unhook Joey from his restraints. With that done, he collapsed to the floor as a sweating mess. His eyes never left Joey as he watched him look out the window one last time.

Joey then came to sit down beside him and their eyes met, exchanging numerous questions. The foremost that stuck out in both their minds as they embraced:
what now?

The answer to that could wait, for now.

AS ADRIENNE APPROACHED
, the large doors opened like some sideways maw and Adrienne stared at a lone stone column, set atop a plinth of jagged rocks in the center of the immense room. Stained glass windows encompassed it, of a scale so large it boggled her mind. Colorful streams of light rained down on the pillar and suspended just above its slightly concave top was a dull ring, caked in rust. Unsure what she actually expected to see, the Seal of Solomon wasn't what she had imagined in the slightest. In fact it was quite plain, though that may be exactly why it was such a powerful artifact.

Taking in the majestic scale of the room, she looked to the enormous towers of colored glass, noticing a story was being told in its panes. It was of a war between all the realms –there were scenes from Heaven, Hell, Earth, and other places far beyond – soldiers and monsters pouring across the boundary layers into places they did not belong.

She couldn’t help but identify with what she saw, minus the ill intent of invasion. Like a fish out of water, she was stuck in a place she need not and should not be.

There was little time for such thinking now, work still needing to be done, and so she returned her mind to the task at hand. In any case, all of this wouldn’t matter soon enough – she would be back home with Gage and Joey. She longed to talk with them right then and there, if to let them know she was okay.

She held out the compass as a final check, all signs saying she was in the right place. Following a thin walkway with no more than a foot on either side and no rails to stop her from falling, she inched her way forward to the ring. The air buzzed with energy as she stepped up to the pillar, reaching out to take hold of that ferrous circle.

That's when she heard them again, the guardians from before. Looking down into the pit, her eyes widened to their fullest when she saw them: a sheer whitewash of death cascading up the walls, gnashing their claws and baring their teeth with the sole purpose of ripping her to shreds for coming to this place.

She didn't know what to do, where to go; her mind was gone, as were her options. Looking down at the ring, she exhaled and just did what she came there to do. With a quick grab, she snatched it up into her closed fist and ran.

She hadn’t made it all too far before the room began to shake in that all too familiar fashion, the stone itself trembling and groaning. The vibrations soon reached the great windows and they shattered, raining down on the creatures coming at her. The pieces sliced through them like butter and sent the guardians back down to the far ground in chunks.

The walkway buckled then faltered, collapsing down into the chasm along with Adrienne. All around her the temple fell as if it just gave up, but not her. She held onto the ring tightly, maintaining a glimmer of hope that she may yet survive.

As she continued to plummet, her eyes began to water and then, through the rushing wind she could make out distant words being spoken and, at last, could breathe easy.

“
De malorum via!
”

ADRIENNE STRUCK THE
ground hard, the wind knocked out of her; the sensation having worn out its welcome.

Lifting her head, an outstretched hand was there to guide her onto her feet, its owner the man who had been helping her all the time she had been in the Astral Plane.

“Are you alright?” Silver asked with great concern. “I won't bother to ask if you've been successful, as the evidence you were is quite obvious.”

Not sure what he meant, she looked across to her right and all suddenly made perfect sense. A massive heap of rubble laid where the temple once stood and still clutched tightly in her hand was the ring.

Opening it, she looked at the brown and red crust, her guide joining her in examining it.

“The fates of so many worlds rest in items so comparatively small, “ he said. “I'm not so sure I like the universe’s sense of humor.”

She giggled and he soon joined her, kicking a foot through the glowing sound line so their voices could spread out into the valley and surrounding trees. The green aura faded and the border was once again a roughly etched scraping.

“We did it!” she exclaimed, the amazement of what she had just done sinking in at last.

“No,” he said softly and with a smile, “YOU did.”

She returned one as well, attempting to hand the ring over to him.

He held his hand upright then waved it. “It is yours,” he responded, “and I believe I promised you a little chat with someone. Please, my dear, put it on and join me.”

He moved to sit further up the hill leading back the way they came.

She followed, heart racing at the prospect while slipping the ring onto her finger. It felt like a plain ring, no warmth or chill or buzz making it feel anything other than ordinary. Despite that, she took a seat beside him and they both surveyed the temple once more.

“So, in order to do this you must clear your mind” he instructed. “Reach inside your soul and find the path that connects you both together. That should be the hardest part to do, as your residual earthly energy can fuel the connection without issue.”

“How do I do that?” she asked, concerned that she would mess everything up after all they had been through.

“Firstly don't be so nervous. Clear. Your. Mind. Relax for all intents and purposes, feeling your connection to there; to Gage. I have a feeling you love him?”

“Yes,” she answered without delay.

“Then focus on that and whatever part of him made you feel most special.”

Nodding, she nervously closed her eyes and breathed out deeply. Taking in another breath, she repeated the process a total of three times.

The ring began to heat up, albeit mildly, without too much discomfort. The darkness then began to shift, splashes of color like blobs of wet ink appearing at random before her. As the seconds ticked by, each splash became clearer and before long she could make out some form of conference room. There were four figures seated at a table at the far end of the room, with three in front of them, their backs toward her. Adrienne knew exactly who two of them were, because she had seen them so many times, especially the one in the middle – whose trademark back was unmistakable.

“Gage!” she said loudly, yet they didn't respond. “Gage it’s Adrienne, can you hear me at all?”

There was still no indication that they could, the muted conversation carrying on normally.

“GAGE!” she cried, trying to pierce the veil.

As if answering her call, his head twitched. Taking that as a sign, she continued calling his name, the longer she did so the more notable his response became until one final moment when she shouted his name at the top of her lungs and he responded.

“Ady?”

MARCUS AND JOEY
twisted their necks to give Gage the strangest looks. Similarly, the council members present did the same.

“Adrienne is that you?”

“Are you okay big man?” Joey asked.

“Gage, are you alright?” Jane repeated, growing highly concerned that he wasn't paying them the slightest bit of attention.

“Adrienne is that you?” he asked again, more desperately. “ADY?”

Tyrol stood from his seat. “Mr. Crosse, please, let us know what is…”