The Apprenticeship of Julian St. Albans (2 page)

“They’ll
come back?” asked Julian, sitting up alarmed.

“No,
no, they’ve taken what they could from the nursery, they’ll have to find
someplace else for their next raising,” said Alex. “I’d have led with
that, if I thought you were in danger, love.”

Julian
huffed at Alex’s chiding tone. “You get distracted,” he pointed out,
then distracted him more with a kiss and a bit of raita from his fingers.

Alex
mmmed, nodding his acknowledgement as he sucked sweet milk from Julian’s
fingers. “You’re very distracting, but no, they won’t be back. Once we’ve
identified the victim and I’ve done some research, we’ll have a better idea of
what the ritual was about.”

“So,
what was it I’m supposed to be trying to remember?” asked Julian, eating a
bite of sweet on his own.

“Oh,
yes, well first you’d want to think if there’s anyone who bought lucky clover
and asked to choose their own seedlings, especially if they dug up a few
different plants from around the bed.”

Julian
thought about this, sipping his tea and accepting another bite from Alex’s
fingers, feeling very safe while he rifled through his memories. “There
were four, besides you, and only the one guy that was really annoying about it,
poking and staring and tasting things before he finally bought three little
plants.”

Alex
chuckled. “I forgot about my own suspicious purchase,” he said,
amused. “I think I still have one of those in my work room.”

“You
do, I watered it yesterday morning,” said Julian. “It was nice of you
to make those luck-charms for the department softball team, though.”

“Well,
how could I resist getting Smedley and Geoff in my debt?” teased Alex.
“Besides, I made a profit off the extras, which went to the 17th
precinct’s night patrols.”

“You’re
still nice,” said Julian, giving Alex a little poke. “When you want
to be.”

“When
I want to be,” agreed Alex, kissing Julian the way he did when Julian was
making a point Alex didn’t like to acknowledge but couldn’t deny.

Julian
had never discouraged this behaviour, because he enjoyed the extra kisses.
Plus, it meant he’d won even if they changed the subject afterward. “Well,
the suspicious man paid in cash, but he left his name and number because he
wanted some virgin white lilies, and we have to get those from the
Temple.”

“Did
he come back for them?” asked Alex, filing that away.

Julian
shook his head. “We got them in yesterday afternoon, but he didn’t answer
his phone… I wonder if they’re still there?”

Alex
looked distant, clearly trying to remember. “The office wasn’t rifled,
where were they kept?”

“We
have a special greenhouse where we keep stuff like that, off in the west
corner. It’s not really big enough to grow our own, but it’s good for storing
without tainting the plants with worldly pollutants.” Julian managed to
say the last without any irony, though he’d considered the whole thing pretty
silly at first. He wasn’t in the mood for a lecture on magical symbolism at the
moment.

Alex’s
lectures were usually pretty interesting, but sometimes Julian got tired of
being reminded of all the things his lover knew that he didn’t.

“Hm,
I don’t remember. Do you mind calling to ask Mary Margaret for me?” Alex
made a show of patting Julian down and pulling out his phone, which made Julian
giggle and squirm.

“I
suppose I could be convinced,” said Julian, dialling the greenhouse and
putting her on speaker. She was still there, of course, and she went right away
to check.

“Everything’s
still here, the lock’s intact,” she reported. “But the plants look a
bit wilted, maybe he needed them close but not right there?”

“Hm.
If there’s a mage with the crime scene techs, you might get him to look it
over, or I can come back after Julian’s settled in for the afternoon.”

“I’m
not a delicate flower, you know,” protested Julian.

“Alex
just likes to tend to you as though you were,” teased Mary Margaret.
“Enjoy it while it lasts.”

“I
know for a fact that your Mr. Stone still spoils you rotten,” retorted
Alex. “So don’t go making my Julian think I ever intend to stop.”

There
was laughter and goodbyes, and then more kissing, which made Julian very happy.
“And how will you ‘get me settled,’ then, hm?”

Alex
grinned. “I thought perhaps once we’d had our sweets, we’d have a bit of
dessert,” he said sensually, stroking Julian’s side down his flank and
then sneaking up under his shirt. Alex’s hands were always so warm, all of him
radiating welcome heat into Julian’s body when they were close.

“I
do have a very favourite cream-filled treat I’d enjoy,” said Julian.

Their
tea was finished in short order after that, the dishes and sweets set aside for
the brownies to deal with. Alys could get tetchy if they tried to clean up
after themselves, which had taken Alex a lot longer — and several rather
inconvenient pranks — to get used to. Julian kept fond memories of the day
Alys charmed Alex’s soap to turn him bright blue, revealing that he was a very
thorough bather, but forgot the spot behind his left ear.

Alex
swept Julian off his feet, carrying his giggling body to their bedroom and the
big, soft bed they shared. Clothes were scattered, and they got tucked under
the warm blankets together, Alex’s longer legs tangling with Julian’s in a way
that always felt possessive in the best of ways. “I want to fill my mouth
with you,” whispered Julian, already thinking of how much he loved the
taste of Alex’s skin, and the firmness stretching his small mouth wide.

“Let’s
taste each other,” whispered Alex, stealing another kiss. “We haven’t
done that in a while.”

Julian
laughed as Alex’s long fingers tickled his sides, murmuring his agreement.
There were the usual clumsy moments getting arranged, but soon enough he had
Alex’s long body draped over him, with Alex’s hard, damp cock and heavy balls
hanging above him like the most tempting of fruit. He licked at Alex’s balls
first, teasing them both, moaning against the thin skin when Alex dipped his
curly head down to tickle at Julian’s thighs. Strong hands spread Julian’s legs
wider, pinning him down and sending a jolt of need straight to Julian’s cock.

Julian
loved the way Alex gladly took control of him like this, as generous with
pleasure as he was with his home and his affection. He slid his hands up to cup
and fondle Alex’s balls, and tug his cock down to Julian’s mouth, sucking on
the head. The skin was velvety soft, perfectly filling his mouth like a ripe
apricot, though the fluid that welled up was more salty than sweet. He relaxed
into the familiar need, whimpering when Alex’s hips pushed forward just a
little, and sucking harder in response.

Alex
sucked both of Julian’s balls into his wide mouth, that wicked tongue teasing
the sensitive skin. He rocked his hips lightly, letting Julian relax and take
the gentle, shallow thrusting, letting him forget the day and his worries and
just be Alex’s to have and to pleasure. He sucked and licked and swallowed,
taking more and more of Alex’s length as it was offered, feeling his own
pleasure ratchet up as Alex returned the favour. He wouldn’t last long like
this, not if Alex was determined, but sometimes Julian thought he could float
in this place forever, suspended between his own pleasure and his lover’s.

Alex
let sensation build slowly but steadily, pulling back whenever he sensed Julian
getting too close. Julian had no idea how long they spent there under the
covers, but he swallowed eagerly when Alex spilled into his mouth, and followed
with his own needy moan, the pleasure sweeping away the tension of the day and
leaving him worn and limp, sated and sleepy. And safe; Alex gathered him up and
got them turned around, curling around him and petting him until he dozed off.

CHAPTER 2

“They
still need me back at the crime scene, did you want to come? You’re learning to
listen to the plants, you might be able to tell them something I can’t,”
said Alex, to Julian’s sleepily blinking form.

Julian
snuggled a bit more in the covers, then sighed, letting the delicious post-nap
lassitude fall away. He stretched and yawned. “What time is it?” he
asked; he’d slept through the phone ringing, and awakened slowly to the sound
of Alex’s voice talking to the person on the other end, a familiar sound from
these past months. People did have a tendency to need to consult Alex at
inconveniently early hours, a fact that annoyed them both, which made it
better, somehow.

“Half
three, we had a good long nap,” said Alex, leaning down for a sweet kiss.
“Come on, let’s have a quick shower and we’ll stop at the bakery for
something for Mary Margaret.”

“She
likes the gingerbread men,” said Julian with a smile. Alex could be very
thoughtful, when he bothered, and it made Julian proud to be one of the people
about whom his lover bothered. “You’ll be up half the night researching,
make sure you let Alys know you’ll need snacks.”

Alex
grinned. “You’ll be up with me, after that nap,” he retorted, and
they bantered back and forth like that through their shower and into their
clothes.

Julian
was still getting used to the idea of work clothes, soft jeans and layered
shirts that could be shed if he got warm hauling boxes of seedlings or digging
in the earth. Alex said it looked good on him, especially the warm touches of
colour from his time in the sunlight, lightening his auburn hair and adding to
the dusting of freckles across his cheeks. He was building up muscle, too,
though Alys fed them like magic users so he hadn’t yet managed to lose all of
his posh softness.

Alex
seemed to like that, too, so he couldn’t really object. He liked Alex’s
whipcord-lean body, with its long lines and interesting scars. Julian still
spent long minutes sometimes kissing the little puncture scar on Alex’s thigh
from when he’d been attacked during the Courtship, and being glad Alex had been
with someone who listened well and thought fast.

Julian
shoved away those morbid thoughts and gave Alex’s creamy mounds a little
squeeze, getting a laugh and a kiss in response. “Thinking of giving me a
ride tonight, love?” asked Alex teasingly.

“Maybe,”
said Julian, blushing. Alex let him top when he wanted, but he still most
preferred being on the bottom.

“Perhaps
I’ll ride you, instead,” said Alex teasingly. They emerged from the
bedroom to tell Alys and Nat where they were off to, getting assurances from
the brownies that food would be waiting and their home kept safe and sound
while they were gone.

“How
many feathers are left from Horace’s wing?” asked Julian curiously,
setting out a fresh dish of milk, honey and bread as they left. The brownies
weren’t technically allowed to give the fairy offering, so they handed the
plate off to one of their humans and took the dirty one from the previous day
back. “We haven’t seen Con in a while.”

“Four,
I think,” said Alex. “He got two during the Lassiter case. Actually,
I should see if he can help here, having an earth sprite look around can’t
hurt.” Alex did one of those little tricks that he seemed to think were
nothing, but always made Julian’s heart fill with wonder. He whistled a little
tune, and a glowing green and blue butterfly appeared on his finger, listening
to his instructions before fluttering off.

They
caught a cab over, and got a whole box of assorted treats to take back to the
hardworking officers and agents overrunning the nursery like busy bees in their
hive. Tiny, still stuck on door duty, was especially grateful when Julian
brought him a fresh cup of tea and a gingerbread man.

“So,”
said Murielle, happily nibbling on a macaron, “whose idea was this?”

“Mine,
but Julian paid for it,” said Alex, snugging him proudly.

Julian
blushed. “Well, it was his idea to bring something for a few of you, it
was my idea to get a big box,” he corrected, grinning. “I wouldn’t
want you to think Alex actually cared if Armistead got cookies.”

“He’s
not even on this case,” said Alex smugly.

“Nope,
he’s busy so we get the far more pleasant Ms. Eberly, who is new and hasn’t
dealt with Alex yet,” said Murielle, amused. “You should butter her
up with a biscuit before she does.”

“I’d
say I’m on a diet,” said a voice from behind them, “but we all know
that’s a lie.” They turned, and Julian found himself impressed by Ms.
Eberly’s statuesque figure. She was nearly as tall as Alex but as curvy as Alex
was stick-thin, and as dark as Alex was pale. “What’d you bring us?”

“All
the good things,” said Julian, stepping forward with the box. “I’m
Julian St. Albans.”

“You’re
the one who found the body, then,” she said, “Ooh, gingerbread men. How
did you find these in August?”

“Alex
knows a place,” said Murielle. “This is our famous consultant, Alex
Benedict, the man lucky enough to have won Julian’s heart.”

“I’m
Ellora Eberly,” she said, switching hands with the cookie so she could
shake with him, and Julian as well. “Armistead really hates you, so I
expect we’ll get along.”

A
nearby officer nearly snorted his tea at that.

Alex
just looked smug. “If you like Murielle and Geoff, I’ve been told it’s a
good litmus test.” He handed her a cup of tea, and then Julian helped her
get sufficient sugar in it to go with the cookie. “We’re here to look at
the virgin plants greenhouse, Mary Margaret said there was some wilting.”

“Since
you were already here, they didn’t send over an evidence mage,” said
Ellora. “So we do need you to take a look. But why’s he back?”

Julian
found he liked her directness, which made him think of Alex. “I’ve got an
affinity for plants, so Alex wants me to see if I can get a feel for what’s
ailing them,” he said, feeling shy about his newly-discovered talents.

“He’s
coming along quite well, for all we’re muddling through teaching him,”
said Mary Margaret, coming up behind them and jingling her keys. “Come on,
lads, finish your treats and let’s get this over with.”

“Will
we spoil them, going in there to listen?” asked Julian curiously. He’d not
yet learned all the protocols for dealing with the two special greenhouses, so
he didn’t have much to do with their maintenance.

“It
shouldn’t do any more damage than the murder did,” said Alex wryly. They
finished their tea, then left the cups on the counter with their names scrawled
on them.

“He’s
right, we’ll have to get it all re-consecrated,” said Mary Margaret with a
sigh.

“Alex
had an idea for that,” said Julian, telling her about Master Stephen’s
request as they walked back to the greenhouse in question.

“I’ll
help you, and if we provide most of the plants, then, the Temple should be
happy to trade the blessing, that’s a good idea,” she said, pleased.
“That’s one less worry, anyway, I knew you were a good one under that face
you put on for show,” she said to Alex.

Julian
snickered. “He doesn’t put it on as much anymore, now that he’s realised
how nice it is to be liked.”

Alex
harrumphed. “The lock?”

But
he was smiling as he said it.

She
chuckled and unlocked the room, and Julian felt a wave of distress coming off
the plants the moment the door opened. “Oh, you poor babies,” he
said, slipping inside.

Mary
Margaret sighed. “Ah, well, they were all a write-off anyway.”

“You’ll
rebuild,” said Alex. Then he pulled out one of his tuning forks and did
his magic thing, pinching the tines and coming into the little room behind
Julian.

Julian
was touching the plants, cooing to them, feeling their indignation and
violation from whatever foul magic had touched them. They were all quite
depleted, and he was worried several of them might die. “Can you get some
of the special liquid fertiliser, please, ma’am?”

“Oh,
of course, I’ll be right back.” Mary Margaret hung the open lock on the door
and went off to the supply room on the back of the office, so Julian turned his
attention back to the plants.

Alex
ignored him completely, his hearing in another realm entirely as he listened to
each plant individually. Julian led him over to the little clutch of lilies,
which were nearly gone, then snuggled up to his side. He’d learned that he
could ‘steal’ a little of Alex’s magic this way, just by sending his own energy
to plants with Alex touching him, and his lover had given him permission ages ago
to do it when needed.

“I
hope this doesn’t interrupt,” Julian said softly, then he began talking to
the dying lilies, sending the energy where it needed to go.

They
drank in the magic the way parched soil drinks water, and by the time he’d led
Alex around the room, everything was looking healthier and Mary Margaret was
back with her dropper.

“You’ve
done a good job, haven’t you?” she said, peeking inside. “Go on, it’s
always got a bit more charge when you do it.” She handed him the bottle
and dropper.

Julian
smiled softly, “Thanks. We’ll be fine here if they need you, I can lock
up.”

“She
might be enjoying the respite,” teased Alex, snuggling back up to Julian
from behind. “That was smart, reenergising them while I was listening. I
got a lot more information that way, hearing where the plants were most damaged
and how they healed.”

Julian’s
smile turned into a grin. “Really? I just wanted to borrow off you, like
you showed me.”

“That
was smart, too,” Alex assured him. “Come on, I want to listen while
you add that,” he said, pointing to the fertilising potion. It wasn’t just
nutrients, but a charged magical potion that would help with the depletion.
Usually they used it when they needed an extra-potent batch of plants for a
mage’s special order, but it would do perfectly here.

“I’ll
go see if your Agent’s done with my week’s accounts, we did put her onto the
man who ordered the lilies,” said Mary Margaret. “Don’t forget the
lock, they may not be virgin anymore but some of those are still
valuable.”

“Yes,
Mary Margaret,” said Alex and Julian in unison.

She
laughed and waved them off as she disappeared among the maze of greenery.

Julian
turned to Alex for a warm, sweet kiss. “You can snuggle again if it helps
listen,” he said, mock-innocently.

“I
will, and it does,” said Alex, cuddling up behind him in such a way that
Julian would have his hands free and could just tug Alex along with him as they
went around the room. “But I’d do it even if it didn’t,” he added,
before pinching his tuning fork again.

Julian
had grown used to the pure, soft tones whenever Alex worked, though he still
liked the rarely-used flute better. Julian relaxed and started at the top right
shelf and worked his way methodically through the whole room. He gave each
plant the dose that felt right with that new sense he was only just learning to
use, that seemed like intuition until he paid attention to it. It was almost
like seeing something, but not the way James or Jacques said they saw magic.
His magical sense was subtle, but it was like the plants could signal to him
when they were full and happy again.

In
the end, they saved every plant in the room, even the delicate fire orchids and
the original white lilies that seemed to have taken the brunt of things. The
bottle of potion was three-quarters gone, but Julian didn’t think Mary Margaret
would resent replacing it. She hated to see a plant wither and die just as much
as Julian did, even though she maintained that she herself was a purely mundane
Master Grower.

Julian
swayed against Alex as they stepped out into the main nursery, suddenly
exhausted. “Wow, that was…”

“A
lot of magic,” said Alex, giving him a sweet, tingly kiss. “You’ll
need a good, big meal and a nice long sleep.”

Julian
smiled and pulled him down for another kiss. “I had all this enchanted
stuff in my house, but I never really had magic before you,” he said.

He
loved it when Alex blushed for him.

“Come
on, let’s see if there’s any sugar left from the ravaging hordes, and I can
report to Lapointe.”

“Sir,
yes, sir,” said Julian with a giggle. He felt a bit punch-drunk, like he’d
been up all night, and he could tell a crash was coming.

Alex
took the bottle of potion and led him back to the front desk, proving once
again that he was one of the few people who could find their way around the
nursery just as well as the people who worked there.

“I
used a lot of it, but I think I saved everything,” said Julian, handing
the bottle back to Mary Margaret.

“If
you saved that fire orchid, then it’s worth every drop,” said Mary
Margret. “I’m glad Alex convinced us to give your apprenticeship a
go.”

“Me,
too,” said Julian. “Ooh, sugar,” he added, when Alex put a
fairy-cake and a cup of very sweet tea in his hands. He bit into the cake,
mmming, then washed it down with the tea.

“He’s
a little depleted, he hasn’t learned yet how to regulate his own magic,”
said Alex, before nibbling on a jam tart. “We both put a fair amount of
energy into your plants today.”

“And
did you learn anything from your extended snuggle?” asked Murielle
teasingly.

“Physical
contact facilitates magical transference,” said Alex, pretending to be
huffy.

“He
learned loads, he told me he had things to report,” said Julian, giving
Alex a little poke.

“Let’s
go sit in the office,” said Murielle, eyeing them. “You both look
about to fall over.”