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Chapter 11

Stepping out of the portal, his hand tucked comfortably in Magnus' soft grip, Alec gasped at the scene layed out before him. They were on a beach. A place he had only seen images of. A place he had long dreamed to one day visit, and see with his own eyes.

At his feet, white sand stretched out like a welcome mat before him, sea shells catching the light of the slowly setting sun, sparkling like expensive jewelry. To his right layed a blanket of blue as far as the eye could see, the sun gently kissing the water where the sky and the ocean meet.

Alec's breath caught in his throat and he could feel his eyes begin to prickle with tears. It was a most breathtaking scene, just a calming sea of blue, the crisp ocean air, something he had never experienced before, tingling his nose.

It was almost as if he was gazing into the eyes of his alpha again for the first time. Of course nothing would ever compare to that, but this was close enough and was the only way Alec could think to describe how he was feeling.

As Alec blinked back his tears, he could hear a roaring sound coming into focus, tugging at his ears and pulling him from his trance like gaze. Unthinkingly following the sound, he shifted his focus, and was once again left speechless. There, standing in the distance to the left of him, was a breathtakingly beautiful waterfall.

"Magnus." Alec's voice squeaked as he watched the water cascade down the mountain side over large boulders, streaming across the sand and into the waiting arms of the sea. "Where are we?"

"This is the Dunn's River Falls, Alexander," came Magnus' simple reply. "We're in Jamaica." He smiled, happy with his young omega's reaction. "It's one of my most favorite little places to visit."

Alec was in awe. "It's... beautiful."

"And yet still not as beautiful as you," Magnus confessed, earning him a soft elbow to the ribs from a blushing Alec. "No, I mean it, darling." Magnus chuckled. He was thoroughly enjoying watching the different emotions play across his sweet omega's face, seeing the world anew through those innocent blue eyes. "When I first looked into those amazingly gorgeous eyes of yours'... it's as if I was immediately transported here. This place reminds me so much of you," said Magnus, pausing for a moment in consideration. "Or maybe it is you who reminds me of this place. I'm not entirely sure which at the moment."

"How so?" Asked Alec, his eyes still diligently scanning the beautiful scenery before them.

"Well for one, your both naturally very beautiful... and I've always felt at peace here. Without all the crazy mundane tourists running around of course," Magnus explained. "That's how I feel whenever I'm with you... at peace, like all is right in the world..."

"Not to mention those gems of yours," he added after a few beats. "They're so much like the ocean... beautiful swirls of exotic blues." Magnus' tone was reverent, his words stealing Alec's attention. "So much depth," he continued, bringing his hand to Alec's cheek in a gentle caress, their gaze locking. "It's like there's a whole other world hiding behind their still waters. I could get lost in them forever... never finding all of their secrets."

"You should be a poet," Alec offered after a pause, the warlock's words melting his heart and warming his cheeks.

"Though I have been known to write a sonnet or two," Magnus confessed. "I doubt I could ever compose any that would do you justice." Alec's cheeks were aflame. "Oh Alexander," Magnus cooed, his eyes shinning. "You're simply delectable when you blush."

"And you're too charming for your own good," Alec countered as Magnus' thumb fell from his cheek, a searing imprint left behind. "And mine."

"All part of my plan to win you over, my sweet." Magnus offered Alec his hand.

"You already have," Alec confirmed, lacing their fingers together. He was torn between wanting to explore the beautiful beach that laid before them, or to simply remain where he stood, spending the entire date lost in his warlock's eyes. In the end, it was Magnus who made the decision for them.

"What do you say I feed you first." He brought his free hand up to brush a lock of unruly hair from the shadowhunter's eyes. "Then, we explore this amazing beach together?"

"Sounds like a plan," Alec agreed, but both of them were still unmoving.

This time it was Magnus who made the first move, his hand going to the back of Alec's neck, pulling him forward and crashing their lips together in a fierce kiss. It was now Alec's turn to be surprised, gasping at the sudden assault, his lips parting, giving way for Magnus' tongue.

The two allowed themselves to get lost in each other, though just for a moment, their passion and need consuming.

Magnus didn't know what he had been doing all this time, before Alec, but it wasn't kissing. It had simply been a mechanical movement of body parts doing what they had been programmed to do. This, what he was doing with his Alexander, the way their tongues danced together and how their lips fitted together, curving smoothly against each other, every bend, every fold, molding together perfectly like matching pieces of a puzzle, this, this was how it was meant to be.

Alec melted into the kiss, into Magnus, moaning wantonly when the warlock tangled his fingers in his hair, griping the raven strands tightly as his tongue delved into his mouth, tasting him. When Magnus' tongue traced the roof of his mouth, he felt his knees buckle and had to grip Magnus' sides to keep from falling. The warlock couldn't help but chuckle as they pulled back, catching their breaths. However, he wasn't finished with Alec just yet, he wanted more, and would always want more of his beautiful omega.

Leaning back in, he brought his lips to Alec's neck, just below his scent glands, causing the shadowhunter to shudder at the warm touch. He took his time kissing the sensitive skin there, nipping gently then sucking on it. He wanted to mark Alec as his own the only way he could for now, showing everyone that Alec was his. As Magnus ran his tongue over the purpling bruised skin, soothing it, he could smell that his omega was fast becoming aroused by what he was doing, even before he felt it at there closeness. He quickly pulled back before he lost himself completely in his omega's scent. It wouldn't do to attempt taking his mate right then and there, Magnus thought. It was far too soon for that.

He gently brought his lips back to Alexander's, the kiss softer this time, less desperate and more languid, just the two of them enjoying each other. Alec could feel his body tingling from head to toe, every nerve in his body buzzing as Magnus' tongue danced in his mouth, neither of them wanting to pull apart.

When at long last the need to breathe became too much, overriding all else, only then did Magnus pull back, resting their foreheads together as they both tried to catch their breaths, lips only but a few centimeters apart. "It's becoming harder and harder to control myself around you, Alexander," Magnus whispered in a sinfully husky voice.

"Maybe you should stop trying to," Alec suggested, pulling back more so he could properly look into his alpha's eyes. Magnus' glamour had fallen away and Alec couldn't breathe. Magnus blinked a few times, putting them back up. "No, leave them," said Alec. "I want you to always be your complete self when we're together."

"Are you sure you can handle them?" Magnus smirked, his mind flashing back to images of the shadowhunter on his knees before him in a long hallway. "You seem to loose control of yourself whenever you see them."

"You're the one with control problems if I recall," said Alec, looking flushed and thoroughly wrecked. Magnus wanted to see him even more wrecked, writhing in pleasure beneath him. But that would have to wait, for now he would enjoy the bits and pieces of Alec that he could until they were ready to take the next step and give themselves to each other completely, becoming one.

"Alright, shadowhunter," he said, blinking away his glamour and watching as Alec took a deep shaky breath, steadying himself. "Are you alright?" Magnus snickered. "I don't need to worry about you pouncing on me, do I?"

"I'm fine," said Alec, rolling his eyes as he held back a smile... and himself from pouncing on the warlock.

"I think it's safe to say that we both have issues with self control," Magnus offered.

"Only around you." Alec blushed. Magnus seemed to be able to bring out a side of him he didn't even knew existed.

"Like wise," said Magnus, taking his mate's hand, giving him one last kiss, pressing their lips firmly together, before quickly pulling back. "Now, lets go eat before I pull you down into the sand and ravish you."

Alec chuckled, thinking he wouldn't mind being ravished by Magnus on a beautiful exotic beach. He licked his lips as the two of them took off, walking along said beach, the sun slowly setting in the background.

~ooOoo~

Magnus led Alec up a seemingly never ending wooden staircase that stood adjacent the large waterfall. They stopped at a large platform, a kind of balcony of sorts, the stairs continuing on ahead. It overlooked the waterfall, providing the most perfect view. From there they could see most of the beach, the trees, the ocean, and the sun half disappearing behind the blue waves.

There was a table set for two, draped in red and covered in white rose petals. A five armed silver candelabra was set in the middle and tiny fairy lights were strung up overhead that were sure to look even more beautiful as the evening grew darker.

It suddenly dawned on Alec that since their arrival he had not seen a single person around; remembering that Magnus had made mention of mundane tourists. "Why haven't I seen anyone around since we got here?" he asked.

"The beach is usually closed for a few days each year for upkeep and whatnot," Magnus explained. "Luckily for us our date coincide with one of those days. I simply had to make arrangements with the overseers for us not to be disturbed."

"Oh." Alec couldn't help but wonder what those arrangements may have entailed. "You didn't have to go through all of this trouble for me, you know. I wouldn't have minded having people around, or even just going to a regular old resturant back in New York. You don't need to arrange a whole beach for me, Magnus."

"Well first, it was no trouble at all," Magnus assured. "And Like I said before, this place reminds me of you. Plus, I also selfishly wanted you all to myself... no interruptions, no distractions. So, shall we?" He gestured to the table, pulling out a chair for Alec.

Alec sat down gingerly, smiling as Magnus kissed his cheek then took his own seat, opposite his. He quietly picked up the floral patterned menu that layed before him, not recognizing any of the foods that were written on it. Seeing his confusion, Magnus quickly assured him that he didn't have to try the local cuisine if he didn't want to.

"I can get you anything you want, just name it," said Magnus, blue sparks of magic already gleaming at his finger tips.

"No." Alec shook his head, staying Magnus' actions. "I want to try something different," he said, studying the menu card. "I just don't know what on here I would even like. Why don't you help me choose?"

Once again blue sparks of magic crackled at Magnus' finger tips as with a florish of his hand, and a snap of his fingers, a bottle of wine and a variety of delicious looking dishes appeared on the table before them. "I thought you could sample a few and see which ones you like. Though I must warn you, some are a bit spicy. Like that one..." Magnus pointed at one of the bowls. "The jerk chicken."

"I'm sure I can handle a little bit of spice," Alec assured. "I'm with you aren't I?"

"Yes you are," Magnus chuckled. "And I'm happy that your are." He couldn't disagree with his shadowhunter. He was known to be a bit, 'spicey' at times, and not everyone's taste buds could handle him.

"So, how did your parents react when you told them about our date?" Magnus asked after a few beats as he poured wine for the both of them. He knew that their relationship was putting quite the strain on the young shadowhunter's relationship with his parents.

"Mom is away in Idris... so luckily I only had dad to deal with," said Alec. "He's more understanding I think. But it was a bit weird though."

"How so?" Magnus raised a curious brow as he took a sip of his wine.

"Well, I knew he wouldn't react as crazy as mom, but he didn't even really try to stop me."

"Really?" Magnus couldn't believe that. Would Robert really be so easily accepting of their relationship?

Alec nodded. "He just basically asked me to be careful and to call him immediately if anything went wrong... Weird, right?."

"I'm sure he's just trying to be a supportive father," said Magnus, not believing his own words.

"I hope so," said Alec, equally doubtfull.

"And your friends? You weren't lying when you said your sister was a real fire cracker," Magnus continued after a moment, watching as Alec sampled a few of the dishes, then adding the ones he liked to his plate. "A few minutes in her company and I could tell right away she was a handful."

"My friends are being really supportive. I honestly don't know how I would've managed not having them around." Alec smiled. "And you're right about Izzy, she's really firey and passionate. Infact, you remind me a lot of her."

"I do?" Asked Magnus, brows knitting together in thought. He guessed they probably did have some things in common from the little he saw of her and what Alec had already told him about her.

"Yes. You're both very..." Alec paused trying to think of the right word, "Sassy? Yes, that's the word, sassy, and really into fashion."

"She was wearing some really killer heals with her shadowhunter gear," Magnus noted.

"Infact," Alec began. "Now that I think about it, we probably partially have her to thank for us being together."

"Really?" Magnus drawled, dragging the word. "How so?"

"Well she was the one who showed me pictures of the hot new High Warlock of Brooklyn," Alec replied cheekily. He then began telling Magnus about how Izzy had showed him his pictures that morning in the caferteria, and how he had immediately felt drawn to him.

"Wow," Magnus exclaimed. The two had momemtarily forgotten their meals. Though really, when Magnus was with Alec food was not something he needed. "So, us running into to each other in the hallway wasn't an accident?"

"No it was," Alec corrected, then began explaining. "Sure I wanted to meet you, but that wasn't my intention then at that particular moment. I just knew after seeing your pictures that I wanted to see you, so I thought I'd sneak a peek at you while you were in the council meeting."

Magnus reached his hand across the table, requesting for Alec's, who happily obliged, placing his hand in the warlock's.

"You're amazing, do you know that?" asked Magnus.

"No," Alec replied, smiling broadly. "But now that you've told me..."

"Well you are." Magnus chuckled. "You're amazing and brave to have taken such a risk, and I'm very lucky that you've chosen me." Magnus smoothed his thumb gently across Alec's knuckles. "I know that there's a long line of suitors..."

"Don't," said Alec, cutting him off. "I didn't choose you, Magnus... we chose each other. And you're the only suitor I'm interested in."

Magnus could only smile and nod, almost shyly. Despite his inexperience, his shadowhunter was continuously surprising him.

As they silently gazed into each other's eyes, a message was passed between the two of them; alpha to omega. Silently they promised not to let their insecurities or fears breed doubts in their minds, that they were fully commited to each other.

"Let's eat before our food gets cold," said Magnus, releasing Alec's hand, already missing the connection.

The two fell into a comfortable silence as they ate, just enjoying the other's company. He could get used to this, Alec thought, travelling with Magnus to exotic places. He was certain that there would never be a dull moment the with warlock as his mate. Not just because of his obvious magical abilitites, but the man himself. Magnus' personality was like a ray of sunshine on an otherwise cloudy day, and he had never felt more relaxed and safe than when he was with Magnus. The warlock made him feel like he could do anything...like he no longer had to be afraid.

As much as he blamed his parents and the clave for him having been stuck in the Institute for so long, Alec knew he also had to take some of the responsibility himself. Sure he knew there were dangers out there for him, but he was a shadowhunter, he's trained hard all of his life and he knew what he could handle. So as much as he wanted to blame everyone else, he had to aslo share in some of the blame. His panick attack earlier had proved just that. He had allowed fear to rule his life. If not, he would have left the the walls of the Institute a long time ago, gone on missions...parents be damned. He would have fought harder for what he wanted.

He supposed that there was a time and a season for everything and nothing could ever happen before it's time. One thing was for sure though, now that he was out in the sun, nothing was going to pull him back into the shadows again.

Magnus tried to think of what he had done in his life to deserve such a blessing, to deserve someone like Alexander, but he could not think of anything. Sure, he hadn't led a completely bad life, but he was a downworlder, a demon spawn, surely there were others more deserving than him. Alec was of the angels, an omega... the only omega... How could he be his? Yet, somehow he was. Somehow Alec was meant to be his mate, there was no doubt about it. This beautiful being, this angel on earth was his. He had looked pass all the other angels, all the others more worthy and had chosen him. Magnus Bane. A demon.

Whatever it was that he'd done to deserve this gift, Magnus was going to treasure it. He was going to cherish and protect Alec with all he had.

~ooOoo~

"So how did it go?" Robert asked in way of greeting as an exhausted looking Maryse stepped into their joint office. He didn't even bother getting up from behind his desk as he watched her approach.

"Is that how I'm going to be greeted?" She groused, her glare biting.

"You of all people know I'm no good at pretending," Robert replied politely. "I wasn't happy with you when you left and I'm not happy with you now that you've returned. I may have given in to this stupid idea of yours, but don't expect any support from me."

"Yes, you've said that already." Maryse frowned, sitting down in a black cushioned chair opposite Robert.

"Well it bears repeating," said Robert, holding her gaze. "This is all on you. If anything goes wrong, you are on your own."