In Good Hands

[yolandekleinn]

In Good Hands
by Yolande Kleinn
M/M, Contemporary Magical Romance, Explicit
[Coming January 29, 2026 / 5,400 Words]

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Being married to a talented mage has its advantages, especially on a night like this. Henry hates traveling without his husband, but sometimes an urgent business trip means spending unwelcome days apart. Tonight, alone in his hotel room, he misses Shawn so much he can't stand it.

When Shawn calls him in the middle of the night, Henry answers despite his exhaustion. And when Shawn suggests a sexy experiment involving a new bit of magic, sleep is suddenly the furthest thing from Henry's mind. He's got no idea what Shawn has planned, but he can't wait to find out.


Excerpt:

"Miss you too," Henry echoes, hating the wide-open quiet of his room, the fact that there is a whole ocean stretching insurmountable between them. "I wish you could've come with me on this one." Even if this were a practical daydream—which it absolutely is not, at least not during the school year—it's a selfish desire; it always is, which is why Henry rarely tries to convince Shawn to join him on these trips. They wouldn't have any time to spend together, with how busy Henry stays from start to finish. They'd have little more than this, exhausted conversations stolen in between, albeit in person rather than over the phone. Shawn would be able to take in the sights, but he'd be doing it alone, and Shawn has never enjoyed doing things alone. He's too aggressively sociable for solitude.

"Me too, sweetheart." Shawn has no compunctions about using terms of endearment, adorable hypocrite that he is, and Henry is selfishly grateful for this fact. "I'd either snuggle you to sleep or fuck you, not sure which."

Henry groans. "That's not fair. You can't say stuff like that when you're not here." He doesn't actually mind, though. He closes his eyes as he pictures Shawn in their bed, probably already in pajamas—boxers and a threadbare t-shirt that leave little to the imagination—gangly limbs sprawled across the mattress and rumpled sheets, because magic or not, there's no way Shawn will have bothered to make the bed while Henry is out of town. He'll do it for the sake of Henry's fastidious streak, but left to his own devices Shawn would let everything devolve into a chaotic nest of bedclothes.

The Shawn in his mind is smiling mischievously at him, dark hair shining in the light of a single standing lamp, brown eyes almost black in the dimness, sharp features casting fascinating shadows.

This is only one of Henry's many favorite images of his husband, and he lets himself linger on it now, wishing more than anything that he could reach out and touch.

"Um," Shawn says, in the tone he uses when he's about to suggest something that might be disastrous or might be the best thing Henry's ever heard. "So. I've been working on a new bit of magic. Can I... try something?"

Henry is immediately intrigued. Shawn is always candid about his magic—at least, he has been since finally confessing its existence to Henry, three days before their wedding—but for all his willingness to talk about it, about the challenges of spell casting and the frustrations of finding new books to study, he rarely involves Henry directly in his experiments. The last time was the quiet little protective spell that even now hums pleasantly inside Henry's chest, an ocean and half a continent away; and that turned out well for him. He's desperately curious to know what might be up Shawn's sleeve now.

For a fragment of a second, he considers asking what this new magic actually entails. Shawn would certainly explain, if Henry asked. But there is something appealing in the prospect of allowing it to be a surprise, and he trusts Shawn completely. Odds are, if this is something Shawn wants to do, Henry will like it.

He cannot fathom what magic he might be able to perceive over a phone line, across several disparate time zones of geographic distance, but he's game to let Shawn try.

"Go ahead," he says, and a shiver of anticipation rolls through him with the words.

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