Mel hadn't shown up for closing arguments, but Magnus and I had seen her stroll confidently into the courtroom a few minutes before the judge had taken his seat for the reading of the verdict. She'd sat in the second row on the defendant's side, right behind the man's stone-faced young wife and battalion of lawyers.
"Defendant will rise for the reading of the verdict," the judge ordered as the bailiff took his time making his way back to the jury forewoman.
"Finally," I muttered under my breath. Magnus squeezed my hand and I saw him shoot me a grin.
Him and his damn perfect hearing.
I had no idea how he was keeping it together so well. While I really didn't have a personal stake in this trial since I had no connection to the victim, I wanted the win for Magnus. I wanted those twelve people in the jury box to say they understood that Magnus was perfect in all the ways that mattered.
It seemed to take forever as the juror read the charge, but then she finally got to the important part, and that word – that one word – flowed over me like water.
Guilty.
There was a mix of gasps and applause as the verdict registered with everyone, but all I noticed was the sensation of Magnus's fingers briefly squeezing mine before he released my hand and stood to shake the prosecutor's hand. I glanced at the defendant's table to see an infuriated Lachlan Trent quietly arguing with one of his attorneys as court officers were putting him in cuffs. My eyes shifted to Mel who looked equally pissed, though I doubted her fury had anything to do with Trent's predicament. She flashed me a hateful look as she rose and left the courtroom.
"Let's go home," I heard Magnus murmur in my ear.
Gladly.
I was tempted to take Magnus's hand in mine as we left the courtroom, but I knew we weren't at that point yet. The fact that I even wanted to hold hands with the man was a monumental leap for me. I'd somehow gone from dreading being in a relationship to suddenly wanting all the things that came with it like hand-holding and attaching a cutesy label to what Magnus and I were to each other.
I almost laughed at myself at the need to call him my boyfriend.
It was insanity.
The best kind though.
There was a throng of reporters standing outside the courtroom doors, but Magnus ignored them as they asked for his comments. Luckily, they didn't follow us since they were waiting for the more important prey like the lawyers for both sides and the defendant's wife. Much like the day Magnus had left the courtroom in a rush after his humiliating encounter on the witness stand, we saw Mel waiting by the elevators. She saw us coming towards her, but this time Magnus was calm and he didn't veer off towards the stairs. Despite the several people around waiting for the elevator, Mel came right up to us. "This isn't over," she bit out, her pretty features twisting into a mask of fury.
The real Mel.
"I've already contacted a lawyer in Seattle. Tell your little queer friends that I'll see them in court."
"If you go near them-" I began as I reached for the woman's arm, but Magnus grabbed me and pulled me back.
"Try it, Mel," he said calmly. "And I will come at you with everything I have. Every guy you fucked behind my back, every drug you put up your nose or in your arm, every time you left our daughter alone in the house to go meet up with your dealer." Magnus motioned to the courtroom behind us. "Trent will look like a fucking choir boy compared to you when I'm finished." Magnus stepped closer to Mel until he was practically nose to nose with her. "No court is going to give you custody of the child you tried to have aborted before he was even born."
Mel opened her mouth and then closed it again. She finally managed to stammer, "That was Jenna's choice-"
"No it wasn't," Magnus snarled. "She told me you took her to that clinic. I believe your exact words to her were, 'This kid will ruin your life. Trust me, I know.'"
Mel paled and stepped back. "No one will believe you," she sputtered, though there was no confidence to her words.
"Stay away from Matthew and his fathers," Magnus warned, not caring that we'd gathered quite an audience around us. To me he said, "Come on, let's take the stairs." Then, to my shock and most certainly to Mel's, he took my hand in his. "I'm ready to go home."
I didn't even spare Mel another glance as I followed Magnus towards the stairwell. He kept holding my hand. "Nicely done, Strider," I said as we began making our way down the steps.
"Strider?" Magnus asked in confusion.
"Come on, you're kidding me, right?" I said in mock horror. "Lord of the Rings … Aragorn … Viggo Mortensen's character? He was a Ranger and his nickname was Strider?"
"Not ringing a bell," he said, his voice thick with amusement.
I sighed loudly. "I have so much to teach you, Padawan. Now that we know you like dick, it's like a whole new world has been opened up for you."
"I like your dick," Magnus said, not even bothering to lower his voice as a young woman passed us going up the stairs. I chuckled at the look of confusion on her face.
"I like my dick too," I said with a smirk and I wasn't surprised when Magnus yanked me forward and pressed me back against the wall. His mouth closed over mine and I moaned as his tongue dipped into my mouth.
"Not sure I'm liking 'Strider,'" Magnus breathed against my mouth.
I was having trouble focusing as his groin pressed against mine. "I think he was also known as Longshanks … does that work for you?"
"Not really."
"Well, Ranger Rick wasn't doing it for you so … fuck," I bit out when Magnus reached his hand between us and rubbed it over my erection.
"I trust you to come up with something that's" – Magnus gripped my dick – "fitting."
I managed a nod. "I'll work on it," I promised and then I kissed him hard. I was reaching for his zipper when he grabbed my hand to stop me.
"Home," he murmured.
"Home is a fucking hour away," I muttered.
"Then you'll just have to drive quickly," Magnus said as he dropped the car keys into my hand. He left me there, leaning against the wall, my dick aching in protest and my breath coming in heavy pants.
"How about Cocktease?" I groused as he opened the door to the garage floor.
"Come on, Blueballs," he said with a chuckle. If you're good, maybe I'll show you a couple of nice, quiet, private spots on the way home.
"Fuck yeah," I said and then I was following him as quickly as my traitorous cock would allow.
* * *
"Hurry the fuck up," I muttered as I dropped my head to the hood of the car. The sound of Magnus's belt jingling had my cock throbbing with need. I glanced over my shoulder at him and saw that he was still working his big ass belt buckle loose. "Why the hell do you need such a fucking big buckle?" I snapped impatiently.
"Because it's Texas," Magnus responded, as if that was somehow explanation enough.
Since he wasn't moving fast enough, I spun around and swatted his hands away. I ignored the buckle and the button on his pants and merely tugged the zipper down and stuck my hand in the opening and carefully extracted his cock. I was half-tempted to drop to my knees and suck all that beautiful flesh into my mouth, but my too empty ass won out and I basically ripped the condom from Magnus's hand and began working it down his shaft.
The private spot turned out to be about fifteen minutes outside of Austin. It was some kind of nature preserve that had lots of little roads weaving through it along with numerous trails. I'd wanted to stop at the very first pull-off we'd seen, but Magnus had made me drive farther and farther into the park. Which would have been fine if he hadn't been playing with my dick through my pants the whole time. When he'd finally spotted the access road he'd wanted, he'd told me to turn onto it and then drive all the way to the end. Then he'd unzipped my pants, pulled out my cock and sucked me down in one smooth swallow.
And I'd nearly run the SUV right into a tree.
The access road hadn't been more than a mile or so in length, but it felt like it had taken forever to reach the spot Magnus had been talking about. The small clearing by the pond had thankfully been empty and the second I'd put the car in park, I'd grabbed Magnus by the back of the head and held him in place while I'd jammed my hips upwards. He'd gagged, but when I'd started to pull back, he'd placed his hand under my ass to hold me in place. I'd used the steering wheel for leverage as I'd fucked his mouth repeatedly, but just as I'd been ready to come, he'd popped off my dick, kissed me hard and then ordered me out of the car.
"Turn around," Magnus demanded as soon as I got the condom on. He didn't actually give me a chance to do what he'd said because he grabbed me and whirled me around and shoved me down over the hood. I heard a tearing sound and felt cool lube being pressed against my hole a second later.
"Don't prep me," I demanded.