Page 13 of Weave the Dark, Weave the Light
Took only a moment for Jonathan to unlock the front door and usher Ari inside. The space was warm, both from the heated air and the rich wood that accented every room. “This is—cozy.” They hadn’t expected that.
“The house was built in the ’40s,” Jonathan said, “but it has lovely Art Deco touches from the ’30s. Adds to the charm.” There was pride in his voice as he took Ari’s coat and the scarf he’d given them, and hung both in the closet. “Let me show you around.”
Unlike the mad scramble into Ari’s apartment, this was settled and quiet, though desire lurked deep in Ari’s soul. The need to be naked again with Jonathan. To touch and tease and kiss and bite and scratch—and to cuddle.
Calm mixed with their growing passion.
Jonathan had book shelves filled to the brims. Artwork from simple to breathtaking. He also had dishes in the sink and junk mail. Bills. A computer and a TV. Old DVDs in the corner. Ari flipped through a few titles.
“Mostly, I stream now.” Jonathan scratched the back of his head.
Everything was so—mundane. “This feels like home.” Even more than their own apartment did. An unbidden, heady thought.
Every time Jonathan touched them, everything turned wondrous and dangerous, and this was no exception—a caress between the shoulders, meant to sooth. Ari turned to and pulled Jonathan into a kiss, one deep, full of exploration, and bent on subjection. Under Ari’s palms, he trembled.
Such a simple thing. They pulled back. “You could kill me.”
He stroked their cheek. “No, I can’t,” he whispered, painfully almost. “You’re stronger than you know.”
That’swhere this terror came from. Ari closed their eyes and leaned against him. Strong arms wrapped around them. All was crystal and light, like the selenite on their altar or the shimmer in Jonathan’s scarf. He and this damn house fit Ari in a way nothing ever had. The cosmos looked back when Ari peered at Jonathan.Theywere the one who should be afraid.
And theywere. So terrified that they could only move forward. “You gonna show me your bedroom?”
A chuckle. “Yes. Though the bed is far less…practical than yours.”
“I’m sure I can find a way to tie you down.” Ari let Jonathan’s warmth and element flow into them. Pushed it back into Jonathan.
A sigh and another tremble. “I have no doubt. No doubt at all.”
Weave me a spell.
Ari unwrapped themself from Jonathan. “What do you want?”
“Whatever you’re willing to give. Or take.”
That didn’t help at all. “Let’s see this bedroom of yours.”
Jonathan led them upstairs, and yes, the bed was less practical for tying someone up, but Ari managed. In the end, Jonathan cried out their name like an invocation as Ari wove a very different kind of magic into him, one born of blood and sobs.
Afterward, Jonathan held Ari and murmured absently, as tears welled in Ari’s eyes. “Tell me about stars.”
Jonathan did, with words that made sense and ones that didn’t, and then whispered truths in a language Ari didn’t know. About loneliness and eternity. Falling to earth. The song of the universe that still echoed in Jonathan’s ears. Ari shuddered and listened. Cold fire wrapped into their marrow, andthatat least they understood. Jonathan was here, now. And so was Ari.
It had been two days since the ice rink. The moon hadn’t even become full. Ari wanted whatever this was to last for the rest of their life, except their life would snuff out fast in the long exhale of Jonathan’s.
They knew of no spell that would fix that.
5
Jonathan’s bookstore reflected him.The shop brimmed with the old and new, light and darkness, and held his sense of passion and cold fire. Ari touched the leather-clad spine of a tome and soaked in all that was Jonathan, just as they had the previous night and this morning.
The starlight. The eternity. The joy. “This shop is beautiful.”
Jonathan’s smile was everything. “Thank you. I’m glad you like it.”
They stood close, like lovers, near a door marked STAFF in the back of the shop. Jonathan’s employee, Lillian, was at the checkout counter with a customer. Murmured conversation was as soothing as the leather under Ari’s fingertips and the bruise peeking from beneath Jonathan’s coat collar. “Do you need to work today?”
He hesitated before answering. “I usually work on Sundays, to catch up on paperwork and help Lil out. But I don’t have to.”
