The Solstice Mistletoe Effect (15 page)

alone. “I promise that we’ll leave immediately if my parents

don’t behave themselves. No questions asked. You’ll only

need to look at me to let me know and we’ll be out of there.”

“I love you too, baby.” Lance looked up at him, his

soulful brown eyes pools of deep emotion that Magnus

wanted to drown himself in. “Thanks for supporting me. I

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needed that more than I realized before. I never thought that

external approval would be this important to me, you know?”

“Well, you have mine, all the way.” Magnus tightened

the arm he’d put around Lance’s middle and kissed his lover

on the temple.

Now he knew what he was going to do. He’d had a

feeling that something was missing, but hadn’t realized what

it was until Lance head expressed it just now. External

approval was something Magnus could give his lover in

spades. Especially now that they were considering a move to

Sweden. Magnus grinned. This was going to be fun.

“You look happy.” Lance smiled up at him, already more

relaxed than before.

“I am. I’ve got everything I want right here with me.”

Magnus didn’t care how corny that sounded; it was true.

“And that’s not going to change any time soon. Not if I

have anything to say about it. No more nights spent apart. I

don’t like sleeping alone anymore.” Lance frowned.

“Can’t say I’m sorry.” Magnus shrugged. “I’m much too

selfish, because I certainly wasn’t able to sleep without you

next to me either. As far as I’m concerned, we’re going to

sleep in the same bed from now on, no exceptions.”

“I like the sound of that.” Lance snuggled into Magnus’s

side, making him wish they could take off their clothes so he

could feel Lance’s soft skin against his own. Soon, he told

himself. Very soon.

When they arrived at his parents’ house, Magnus got

out of the taxi first and paid the driver. He took Lance’s hand

in his left and Jakob’s in his right and walked up to the front

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door. The symbolism wasn’t lost on Lance, who beamed his

approval at him.

The door opened before he could look for his key, and

his mother opened her arms to all three of them.

“Welcome home, Lance.” His mother had tears of joy in

her eyes. “I’m so sorry that our awful behavior made you run

away, and I promise it’ll never happen again. Thank you for

trusting Magnus enough to give us a second chance.”

“Thank you, Carine. I hope we will all be able to become

the family we should be.” Lance stepped back, looking into

the house.

Magnus’s father stood behind his wife and hadn’t

participated in the group hug. But he’d never been very

physical when showing his affection, so Magnus didn’t

worry. His words would be the real test of his willingness to

make amends.

“Welcome back, son.” Magnus’s father offered his hand

to Lance.

“Thank you, sir.” Lance’s eyes widened with the

realization that he’d been called “son” by the man who had

previously shown him nothing but disrespect. He took the

offered hand, and the men shook briefly before letting go

with slightly awkward smiles.

With the initial tension somewhat alleviated, they all

walked into the house and sat down to have dinner. Jakob

told his grandparents all about the wonderful day he’d had.

They enjoyed the stories about his adventures and asked

more questions than a bunch of paparazzi could have come

up with.

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After dinner, they sat in the garden to admire the

antique family midsommarstång in all its glory. Jakob stayed

in his chair rather than running around, a clear sign that he

was tired from his earlier activities. The sun wouldn’t set for

a few hours yet, but when Jakob started to yawn, it was a

sign that it was time for him to go to bed. He went under

protest, but by the time he’d brushed his teeth and his head

hit the pillow, he was already mostly asleep.

It was finally time for the grown-up part of the evening.

“I’m not ready for bed yet. What would you say to us

taking a bit of a walk along the waterfront?” Magnus hoped

fervently that Lance would say yes.

“I’d like that.” Lance took his hand, and they walked

back downstairs. “This midnight sun is getting to me. As

tired as I am and as much as I’d like to snuggle in bed with

you, I still have trouble with the sun being up this late. I

mean, it’s almost ten, and there’s no end to the day in sight.”

“It does take a bit of getting used to.” Magnus steered

them out the back door, making sure he had his keys in his

pocket just in case. “I miss it sometimes. I’ve done a lot of

polar expeditions where the days had very different lengths

from the nights. When I first moved to Arizona for my Park

Ranger training and experienced a day that wasn’t much

longer than the night, even in summer, I was very confused.

I mean, I knew that it was like that in theory, but

experiencing it was quite different.”

“I think it’s nice in summer, makes the day longer. But

I’m not looking forward to winter, when there won’t be much

sunlight.” Lance shuddered, obviously not enjoying that

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particular part about moving to Sweden. But it did sound

like he had already made up his mind about the move.

“Does that mean you’re actually okay with us moving

here? Permanently?” Magnus walked down the slight incline

toward the waterfront, the bottom of the garden with its

gazebo his goal. They’d have some privacy there for what he

had in mind.

“Sure. I don’t have to live in Mistletoe. Even though my

family is there, I lived away from them for long enough while

I was in Los Angeles not to really miss them most of the

time.” Lance looked thoughtful as they approached the

gazebo. “I’ll miss my sister, Katie, but we can stay in touch

via phone and e-mail just like we did when I didn’t live at

home. And we can still go visit, right?”

“Of course we can. That’s what school holidays are for.”

Magnus waited for a reaction from Lance once they were

close enough to see details. He wasn’t disappointed.

“Wow, this is beautiful!” Lance stood and stared at the

gazebo, which was now covered in green garlands and

blooming mistletoe. There wasn’t an area that wasn’t covered

in green leaves, little white flowers peeking out from between

them.

“I thought you might like it. Remind you of anything?”

Magnus pulled Lance under the doorway and made him look

up.

“Yeah.” Lance giggled as he inclined his head, ready for

the kiss he knew was going to come.

Magnus took him into his arms and bent down until

their lips touched. Enjoying Lance’s hot breath on his skin

for a moment, Magnus moved their bodies closer before he

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started licking along Lance’s lips. They were so soft and

welcoming, he had to close the distance and deepen the kiss.

Mouths melding together, their tongues started a dance of

love and desire that made Magnus hard in no time. Lance’s

little whimpers as he stroked along his tongue, showing what

he intended to follow, made him moan, and he had to

withdraw to catch his breath.

“Älskling, God, what you do to me!” Magnus stepped

into the gazebo and pulled Lance with him.

“No more than you do to me, baby.” Lance’s pupils were

dilated with lust. “I need you so much.”

“I need you too, more than I can say.” Magnus made

Lance sit down on the bench that ran around the inside of

the structure and knelt down in front of him, taking one of

his lover’s hands in his own.

“Magnus?” Lance stared at him, eyes wide.

“I love you, Lance. I want to spend the rest of my life

with you. I don’t want anyone to ever again doubt that we

belong together.” Magnus took a deep breath. “Will you

please make an honest man of me and marry me?”

“Oh, Magnus.” A small tear ran down Lance’s cheek,

and Magnus wiped it away with his thumb. “I love you too,

and of course I’ll marry you. There’s nothing in this life I

want more than to be your husband.”

“Oh, thank God!” The relief Magnus felt was all-

encompassing. He hadn’t really had any doubts, but still,

there had been that little voice at the back of his mind that

had warned him that Lance might not be ready to make a

lifetime commitment to a man who had so recently

disappointed him deeply.

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Magnus moved between Lance’s legs and slid one arm

around his middle and the other up his back so he could

hold his head. The kiss that followed was tender and gentle

at first but quickly grew in passion until they were both

panting for breath.

“I want to make love to you, min älskling. Will you

please let me?” Magnus had managed to slip some lube into

his back pocket when he’d put the travel bag into their

bedroom earlier while Lance supervised Jakob brushing his

teeth.

“What—out here in the open?” Lance looked scandalized

for a few seconds, but then that wicked grin spread across

his face. “It wouldn’t be the mistletoe that is making you do

this, would it?”

“I didn’t think it was the mistletoe’s fault. I always want

to make love to you. You just bring it out in me.” Magnus

grinned. “But you never know, this solstice mistletoe might

have more of an effect than it’s been given credit for.”

“Definitely. And we do have a history with mistletoe,

don’t we?” Lance’s lips twitched as he tried to suppress a

grin. “So, who knows, we might have discovered not just the

Mistletoe Phenomenon but also the Solstice Mistletoe Effect.”

“You make me crazy when you talk like that.” Magnus

growled, finding Lance’s forays into scientific thinking

incredibly sexy.

“I do?” Lance slid his arms around Magnus’s neck and

brought their foreheads into contact. “Do you want me to

continue talking like that, or do you want to do something

about this problem you seem to be having with your pants

being too tight?”

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“I’ll take door number two, älskling. I may be a scientist,

but I’m also a man of action.” Magnus pulled Lance closer

and started kissing him in earnest.

When they next came up for air, they focused on

removing their clothing as quickly as possible. It being

summer, that was a task accomplished in under a minute.

Magnus barely remembered to retrieve the little sachet of

lube from his shorts pocket before Lance distracted him by

spreading his legs to give Magnus the perfect view of his

lover’s very excited cock and already tight balls.

With a moan, Magnus slid his arms under Lance’s

thighs to pull him forward far enough so he could reach the

tempting little opening he wanted to get into as soon as

possible. Lance grabbed the railing that encircled the gazebo

at mid-back height with both hands and held on, his

smoldering look driving Magnus’s arousal even higher.

Opening the sachet with his teeth and covering his

fingers in lube, Magnus brought his index finger to Lance’s

asshole, making Lance hiss with the cold.

“God, please, need you, baby.” Lance spread his legs

even further. A clear invitation for Magnus to get on with it,

so he did.

Sliding first one finger, then two slowly into the hot

channel that was waiting for him, Magnus took his time to

make sure Lance was stretched for him. When he found

Lance’s prostate, the other man threw his head back and

started humping the air. Magnus held on by sheer force of

will, adding a third finger and scissoring his digits until

Lance’s head snapped forward.

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“Please, Magnus, just fuck me.” Lance’s eyes had a