the greatest triumph proves the greatest blunder

Once, Maia noticed that when Magnus came into a room, everything else around him seemed to move slower in comparison. He had entered the Hunter’s Moon not twenty seconds ago, and he’d already talked to half a dozen people, all fluid movements and bedazzling smiles.

He approached the bar, and for once, instead of immediately ordering, he made a flyer appear out of thin air and handed it to her.

“Downwordler Halloween party at Pandemonium. You cannot miss it.”

“You came all the way down here to hand invitations?” she teased.

“Sadly, no.” He dramatically let his weigh fall on the bar, his metal belt chain tingling against it. “I need to talk business with your alpha. Thought I’d kill two birds with one stone.”

“He’s in the back.”

“Thank you.” He stood up to leave, but he turned and pointed to the flyer. “Costumes are mandatory.”

“I’ll think about it.”

He sent her a quick smile and started walking towards the door. And without turning back he said: “By the way, I like the new hair. Really suits you.”

His voice carried, making some people raise their heads to look her way, curious. She touched her shorter hair, a bit self-consciously, and shook her head, amused.

The full moon was set to arrive just a few days after Halloween. Maia, still not completely used to her new self, wasn't sure she’d be up to go to the party until the almost literal last minute. In the end, she figured: what the hell, she deserved to have a good time for a change. Go a bit wild, get a bit drunk, get a lot laid, whatever. She felt pent up, like she needed to release some energy. So she threw on last year’s costume and set out to go to the pub.

She knew some of the other wolves would be in attendance, but when she arrived the place was so packed she couldn’t find them at first glance. The myriad of scents made her dizzy for a few seconds. She decided to go straight to the bar, down some quick shots and start to enjoy herself as quickly as possible.

That’s exactly what she did for the next hour. She eventually found the pack, danced with Gretel for a while. She drank, and danced, and talked with every Downwordler around; even a very grumpy, very elegant vampire, for just a few minutes.

On one of her trips to the bar she felt a tap on her shoulder, and when she turned back Magnus was there, as stylish as ever, with his cat-eyes on display and highlighted with make-up.

“A siren. Good choice.” He said, pointing at her costume. “Are you having a good time?”

“A great one.” She smiled up at him, feeling her head a little clouded after all those shots. “And you’re a pirate. Wait.” She paused, looking at the rope and (fake?) bruises around his neck. “A hung pirate.” She lowered her eyes to his arms. “Really hung.”

He threw his head back in a witchy cackle, resting his arm on the bar and getting closer to her. “You look gorgeous too. I would gladly let my ship sink for you.”

“I doubt it. You clearly haven’t heard me sing.”

“Nonsense,” he dismissed, ”I’m sure it’d be beautiful. Though probably,” he paused to look around, “this is not the best place, acoustically.”

And Maia was great at recognizing openings.

“And what would be a good place for me to sing to you? Acoustically.”

“My office.” He said directly, looking straight into her eyes, without a hint of coyness. She felt her heart speed, the slight tipsiness brought those shots slipping away, as the whole room seemed to come into focus.

“Lead the way.”

She followed him to a softly lit room, with an elegant couch that was definitely big enough for a fuck.

She couldn’t resist the impulse to draw him in by the rope, head first into an immediately heated kiss. She had almost forgotten how easy sex could be. And how good kissing felt like. She hadn’t even kissed anyone since— well, since that night.

They took each other’s clothes off with some minor complications; sex in costume: not her brightest idea. Magnus started kissing down her neck, leading her towards the couch until they were both sitting on it.

The room was completely isolated from the noise of the club, so the only things she could hear were the sounds of their breaths, their kisses, their bodies in movement. She didn’t know if it was the alcohol, or her new enhanced senses, but everything suddenly became a little too overwhelming.

Seeing where it was going, she pushed him away a little more brusquely than she would’ve wanted. He stopped immediately.

“I don’t like to be laying down.”

He nodded, understanding. “Then you’ll have to sit on my face, because I want to eat you out.”

She laughed at his deadpan tone, and just like that, the weird tension in the room dissipated. Magnus laid down then, caressing her legs as she did what she was told. The posture, wearing only her bra, made her feel a bit exposed, as it always had. But she talked herself out of it in a second; she wasn’t going to renounce to oral sex, after all.

“Tell me if I’m pressing to tight.”

The look he directed at her couldn’t have been more charged with skepticism. “I’ll be fine.”

“It’s just I’m not fully used to my new strength and—“

Turns out, oral sex is a great way to shut someone up.

The man clearly knew what he was doing; sex with an immortal: a damn bright idea. He pressed just right with his tongue on her clit, and she had to grab the backrest of the couch to maintain the equilibrium, pulling his hair a little too roughly with her other hand. He brought her to the orgasm ridiculously fast; as she stood up, she idly thought that she would have beard-burn the next day, but it was fucking worth it.

She gave him space to sit up and proceeded to undo his belt and pull down his pants, as a condom magically got out of the desk and traveled through the air. She opened and directly put it on him, lowering herself on his cock without any more fuss. She loved that part, the full control of the movement it gave her. Just as she felt she was getting over the edge, he rubbed her clit, and she bit hard on his shoulder to drown the sound that wanted to come of her throat.

She felt him spill into her, both breathing heavily. He put a hand on the back of her head and brought her down for one last, languid kiss. With one last nip at her lower lip he drew back, an easy smile on his face she couldn’t help but return.

As they separated, she prepared herself for the awkward post-coital moments. In her experience, the best way to avoid as much as possible was to just power through it, so that’s what she did. She started dressing, her hands still trembling slightly. As she tied her boots, Magnus handed her a glass of water. He was already fully dressed, with his make-up intact, as if nothing had happened. Neat trick.

“Thank you.”

They smiled at each other one last time, as she stood up to leave.

“Go, I’ll leave in another minute.”

That was probably more for her benefit, but she was grateful for it. She could think of very few people it would be less embarrassing to sleep with than Magnus Bane, but a girl liked her privacy. The other wolves would smell it all on her, but she'd seen they knew how to be discreet when it came to those matters, thankfully.

She closed the door quietly as she left the room, taking a deep breath before going back to the dance floor to look for Gretel and the rest of the pack, a smile still on her face.

She couldn't have come up with a better way to end her dry spell if she'd tried.