Martin eyedHarrison with a mixture of Masterly disdain and ordinary human curiosity. "And are you satisfied you can?"
"Partly. Look, I still don"t quite get it, but I feel more comfortable like this now."Harrison went to his knees. He caught Martin"s hands and held them in his own. "If I remember anything about D/s correctly, I"m permitted to ask my Master about things when I need clarification."
"True." Martin relaxed a touch. "Tell me honestly: the occasional topping treat aside, you"re really goingalong with the bargain?"
"I"ll answer you if you answer me."
"Pushing your limits, pet."
"How do I know when I"m pushing when we haven"t set boundaries?"
"Pushy and flip and impertinent. But, fine, go ahead. Consider it a bonus. I"m not always going to be this generous."
Harrisonrubbed Martin"s fingers between his own. "Did you enjoy being with me?"
Martin grinned. "Duh. It wasn"t bad, pet. Not bad at all. Was it good for you?"
"I had fun."Harrison paused. "I"m not sure, but in my research Dominants didn"t generally snuggle on their subs" chests to enjoy the afterglow."
"I"m not your average Dom."
"Fair enough. I"m pretty sure I won"t be your average sub."
"Hmm. Speaking of which. The contract we signed--"
"I didn"t come here expecting this,"Harrison said thoughtfully. "Truth be told, I"d often wondered why I didn"t just delete your e-mails in the first place. Do you think the Heart had his finger in the pie?"
"Possibly. It could have been the Heart. Or Liam."
"Liam?"
"I"ll explain later. Why didn"t you erase my e-mails?" Martin shrugged. "As a wise old owl once said, the world may never know."
"Beg pardon?"
"Tootsie Roll Pop commercial. You know-- "How many licks does it take to get to the center?"" Martin elbowedHarrison in a friendly manner. He slid his tongue suggestively over his lips. "I wouldn"t call what you"re packing a Tootsie Pop, but it does have a tasty filling, and I"d like to see how many licks it takes before I get there."
"You"re the Master."
"True, but..." Martin freed one hand and scratched the back of his neck. "Let me clear up something that"s suddenly bugging me. Finding subs.p.a.ce doesn"t mean turning into a zombie the rest of the time."
"No, really?"
"Smarta.s.s."
"Yes, Master." "And another thing..." Martin lifted a finger to his mouth and chewed at a nail. "I can"t help but think, again, how every time I look at you..."
"It feels like we"ve known each other for a long time now, even though we just met tonight?"
"In a nutsh.e.l.l, yeah."
Harrisonchose his words with careful thought. "I think the Heart knew. It wanted us to figure out the answer ourselves, though. Right?"
"The names it called you," Martin mused. "Harrison, yes. But also Harry and Hal and Henry, as you yourself observed. The Heart isn"t one for pet names, my pet. It knows something about us. Who we are, now." He nibbled the nail harder. "Maybe, it knows who we were."
"Were? Do you mean reincarnation?"Harrison didn"t bother to keep the skepticism from his voice or face.
"Reincarnation"s another kind of magic, pet, very basic, very elemental, very fundamental. The Wheel of Fortune turns and turns." He shrugged. "I think the Heart"s saying we knew each other in another life.
Maybe more than one life."
"He told me he had seen me before,"Harrison said slowly.
"He did, didn"t he? Hmm." Martin abandoned his nail and released his other hand. "Give me your hands."
"Your finger"s s...o...b..ry."
"Oh, for Pete"s sake." Martin dried it on the leg of his jeans. "Better? Hands. Now. Palm to palm."
"What are you going to do?"
"See if the Third Eye will finally let me look into the deep past."
Such things still sounded insane, butHarrison believed in them and Martin. "Is it dangerous?"
"Only a little. If my brain explodes, there"s a mop in the corner."
"Very funny. Is there really a chance you could be hurt?"
"Not really. I could get a headache if I try to push the Third Eye past the boundaries it chooses, that"s all. Lighten up, pet. And hush. This takes concentration." Martin shut his lids as they pressed their hands together; then he bit his lips and frowned.
Harrisonlater suspected that what happened next had not been Martin"s intention. The Heart had probably meddled again, or it wasHarrison "s own new magic. In any case, as Martin"s bi-colored eyes flew open, staring blankly,Harrison found himself sucked into the vortex of blue and brown, and he saw...
Hal -- begging with a guard at the foot of the Tower.
Henry -- stealing a moment in a medieval monastery.
A barker announcing the feats of the great Harry Houdini.
All his dreams.Be d.a.m.ned.They made sense now .
Both men gasped as their contact broke. They jerked away, staring at one another.
"Did you see?" Martin demanded.
Harrisoncouldn"t lie. "I saw."
"So that"s why we"re soul-bound in this life. We"ve always been bound. We probably always will be."
Martin glanced aside. "I haven"t died again since being taken from the Tower, where Hal waited for me.
I figured he had moved on around the Wheel and found someone else. Several someones. But I dreamed, sometimes, in my sleep, about finding him again."
Harrisonreached out to touch Martin"s cheek. "This night just gets more and more interesting, doesn"t it?"
"You believe me?"
"I have my own reasons. Please don"t ask right now. I"ll let you know when I"m ready."Harrison felt too dizzy to explain himself. The dreams that had haunted him for so long weren"t dreams, but memories.
Glimpses into his past lives.
He understood at last why he"d given in almost as soon as he"d seen Martin. Harrison-the-scholar might not have known Martin from any average Joe, but Harry and Henry and Hal most definitely had.
It all made sense now, and although this was a head-trip of no small proportions,Harrison "s acceptance brought a flooding, calming sense of peace that hushed his whirling thoughts.
"I"m all right," he said with a smile. "Thank you, Master. It"s good to meet you again."
"Yes. It is, isn"t it?" Martin gnawed at his lip. "Knowing what I know now, I wonder...Harrison -- not "pet" for this question, justHarrison -- I need to understand. Do you think the magic of our reunion overpowered you? If you believe your acquiescence to our contract was unduly influenced in any way, we have to revisit the terms, blood oath or no blood oath."
"Huh."Harrison tented his fingers under his own chin. "Can I have a minute to think?"
When Martin nodded,Harrison pondered. So many different thoughts, all flashing through his mind at once. Stories. Fables. Myths. Wild colors. Yarns unwinding. Balloons soaring free into the sky. Whips and cuffs and feathers and candles.
Who he had been, and who Martin had been to him. The mistakes he could now remember making.
The gift of being able to choose differently.
"I think,"Harrison began, weighing the words, "I think you"re the man I"ve always loved, and will continue love again and again. I"m still willing to call you my Master, but, no, I"m not a magic-drunken drone. In fact, I have to warn you I"ll probably drive you crazy with questions about magic and subs.p.a.ce and a thousand other things. I suppose it"s a stupid thing to ask, but I will be able to access any library I want to from here, won"t I?"
Martin beamed in obvious relief. "You can have books and research papers literally out the wazoo, pet."
"One more thing. I think our Master/slave relationship should stay in the bedroom for now. Until I"m ready for more."
Martin noodled that one over for a few. "Seems fair." He cutHarrison a wicked look. "Bedroom sounds like a good idea. Want to go and try out this nifty flogger I got from a nyxie? It has little thorns that--"
Harrisontossed his head back and laughed. Martin grinned at him, eyes crinkling at the corners.
"Come on,"Harrison said, as Martin pulled him to his feet. "I"m game. Master." He paused. "You know, you really don"t sound like a Magician to me, no more than the Heart sounds as old as he is."
"Things aren"t always what they seem, pet." Martin leaned in for a short, sweet surprise kiss. "Not even here."
"Especially not here,"Harrison agreed with deep feeling.
"Amen." Martin kissed him again. "Let"s go. I owe you a spanking of your own."
Epilogue.
"h.e.l.lo? Er, h.e.l.lo? Is this whatever-it-is working, Martin?"
"Tuned in and turned on. Go ahead. Ten-four, good buddy."
"Patronizing a.s.s." A cough. "Liam? It"sHarrison . Are you there?" Muttered: "Honestly, this is like the arcane equivalent of walkie-talkies. I still don"t see why I need to let Liam know what my plans are.
Simon"s the leader of the Brotherhood."
Hoot of laughter. "So Simon says. Trust me on this one. Liam"s the guy to go to right now,pet ."
Grumble. "Yes, Master."
Slap. "Behave."
"Yes, Master."
Liam raised his head from the desk in his control room, blinking with weariness and wondering if he were dreaming. Had he fallen asleep? He"d only meant to close his eyes for a moment.
Glancing up, he saw the single "live" screen aglow with light. By the Tear,Harrison seemed to be peering through a peephole, his face distorted in the particular way of such viewports.
Harrisontapped on the screen from his end. "Liam?"
Liam rubbed his eyes. They felt dry and scratchy.
"So hard to think," he muttered aloud. "What has happened? Oh. Oh!Magic ." Smiling broadly in triumph, he spoke to the monitor. If Liam could hearHarrison ,Harrison would most certainly be able to pick up what he said. "I am here; this is Liam. Such a pleasant surprise to see you again tonight!"
"Likewise." The lecturer"s voice had changed. He sounded somewhat less stuffy, more human, his tone laced with a static-electricity tingle of... yes, magic. "I"m not exactly sure how I"m talking to you. Or why, exactly."
"I believe I know the reason, but you shall tell me in your own words. First, however... I trust you have enjoyed your time at Amour Magique?" Liam teased. Even distorted through the lens,Harrison bore the unmistakable look of a man who"d drunk deep from the waters of love and l.u.s.t. l.u.s.t had the stronger taste to begin with, of course, drawing a man in for a second taste, and thus, if one were fortunate, love soon followed in pa.s.sion"s wake.
"You could say so. It"s been, er, rather educational."
Liam stifled a small laugh as he noticed a slim pair of hands fastening a collar aroundHarrison "s thick neck. Ho, ho, this was worth the trouble he"d gone to in matchingHarrison up with Martin, wasn"t it?
"Educational, yes," Liam repeated, hiding his mirth. "Of that much I am certain. But again, in your own words, in your own time."
"I swear to G.o.d, there are too d.a.m.n many people giving me orders today."
"And you"re having the time of your life," Liam heard the Magician croon.
"Fine, fine. Liam, my, well, Martin, the man I met tonight... I"m staying with him."