It was taking a great deal of time to move Mac’s belongings into the room Idris picked out five years before. While Mac wished he could blame that on the amount of stuff he owned, the reality was neither he nor Idris could keep their hands off each other. If Mac wasn’t grabbing him for a kiss; then it was Idris giving him a world-class hug. Mac thought it was the perfect way to celebrate the night they spent together.
Vadimas’s restaurant recommendation had worked out flawlessly. The food was incredible and the company even better. In the low light, Idris’s stunning eyes were filled first with happiness, then annoyance. Mac cherished knowing Idris had the same depth of emotion he did. Idris wasn’t happy when he refused to schedule their mating ceremony, but Mac managed to remain steadfast.
There were only two wizards in the Council working their way toward High Arcanist, and he would be damned if he’d allow Idris to be distracted by anything while he finished such an important journey. A few weeks would only give their love more time to flourish, and Mac had no issue waiting for Idris. Nothing would change his heart, and they’d be together soon enough. It was a subject he had no plans to bring up again until Idris was finished with his ascension.
Like all the bedrooms in the house, Idris’s was designed for a pair of mates. There were two closets, and there were now plenty of empty drawers in the two dressers. It made finding a home for all of Mac’s clothing easy. Mac hung up the rest of his dress slacks and ventured out to find Idris. The wizard was lying almost prone over their bed. His firm ass was high in the air and Mac lifted a brow at the tempting scene.
“If you want me to make love to you, you should probably lose the jeans,” he teased. Roger grumbled on Mac’s shoulder. He guessed the little guy didn’t appreciate the sexy talk, or perhaps he was complaining because he might be asked to give them privacy.
Much to Mac’s disappointment, Idris straightened up from the enticing position. “Larissa made us a new bedspread. I was just putting it on.”
Mac peered around him to see a gorgeous indigo velvet duvet trimmed in his black dragonskin. “It looks cool.”
“I’m glad she was finally able to make stuff with your dragonskin.”
“We make a pretty good pair.”
Idris walked over and pressed his head to Mac’s chest. His hands snaked around Mac’s waist as they hugged. “Yeah.”
“You give the best hugs.”
“Stick around. My mate says I’m good in bed too.”
Mac chuckled. “Shhhh, he might hear you and find out we’re together.”
Idris rose up and kissed him. Then he pulled away to finish tugging their bedcover into place. “Sorry to hurt your feelings, but I’d never cheat on him.”
“Finding out you have integrity only makes me want you more.”
Standing up to his full height, Idris narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. “Your Grace, if you can’t behave, I’m going to have to ask you to leave my bedroom.”
Mac lifted a brow, then copied his pose. “Arcanist, this is my room as well.”
Idris’s face was full of mock surprise. “Wouldn’t that make you my mate?”
“Don’t you recognize me?”
Shaking his head, Idris said, “Nope, sorry. It must be because you’re wearing clothes.”
Mac’s laughter filled the room. “Roger’s going to get pissed if I get naked.”
“I’ll let you keep your pants on for now.”
There was a knock on the bedroom door. “Good thing I didn’t rip them off when you wanted me to,” Mac replied as he walked to answer it. When he pulled it open, he found Aleksander on the other side.
Their king offered Mac a smile. “Got everything moved in?”
“I do. Are you the welcome wagon?”
“No, but let me in anyway.”
Mac stepped out of the way, so Aleksander could come into their bedroom. The dragon king took stock of the new things Larissa had created for them.
“Hey, Aleksander. What’s up?” Idris asked.
“I like the dragonskin in here. Larissa’s outdone herself again,” Aleksander replied.
“Yeah, it took Mac forever to shed his scales.”
“Take it up with my dragon,” Mac retorted.
“Do you two have any plans for the rest of your morning?” Aleksander asked.
“I was going to work on my research paper,” Idris confided. He turned to Mac with a questioning glance. “I’m not sure what Mac had planned.”
“Books. I have books to read.”
“When the two of you have a minute, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you,” Aleksander said. “I’ll be in my office all morning—just pop in.”
The D’Vaire king made his way back toward the door as Idris asked, “You can’t talk to us now?”
“Sure, I can but it’s weird for me to hang out in your room. I wanted to see all the changes, and it looks great.”
“Okay, I’m curious. Mac, do you think we could go talk to Aleksander now?”
“Absolutely,” Mac replied and took his hand, so they could follow Aleksander down the hall. He was just as interested as Idris in knowing what brought Aleksander to their room. Mac was also glad they’d found a reason to get away from the bed, or neither one of them was going to get anything done besides each other. It was simply too tempting after having Idris make love to him. He wasn’t only anxious to repeat the experience but wanted desperately to switch roles with his sexy wizard. Dredging up his patience, he led Idris to Aleksander’s office and focused on what news he would impart instead of allowing his cock to rule his every thought.
* * *
Idris sat down on the couch next to Mac, who brought their lips together in a brief kiss. Aleksander strolled around his desk and picked up his phone. Whoever was on the other end of the line must have expected the call, because Aleksander only had it to his ear for a few seconds. After he hung up, he walked back over to where Idris was plastered to Mac’s side and dropped down onto the sofa across from them. Seconds later, Vadimas shimmered into the room.
“I heard you two have moved in together. Congratulations,” the leader of the wizards said as he took a seat near Aleksander.
“Thanks. Did I do something wrong?” Idris asked. He could think of no other reason the Prism Wizard would show up at their home so suddenly.
“Of course not, Idris. You’re not only an exemplary young man but an incredible wizard.”
“I’m not going to make you guys guess why Vadimas is here,” Aleksander stated. “He’s received contact from the Consilium Veneficus after the press releases went out announcing the impending crowning of you and Del.”
“Since Del isn’t here, I’m guessing they want to discuss Idris,” Mac surmised.
“Indeed,” Vadimas replied. “Idris, have you ever heard the names Theirry or Zahra Vioric?”
Idris might not have recognized the first names, but it was impossible to miss that the two people he spoke of had his last name. He turned his wide eyes to Mac, whose own gaze was full of surprise. “No, I don’t know them.”
“They claim to know you. Theirry and Zahra are alleging that they’re your parents,” Vadimas revealed.
Molten anger burned through Idris at the wizard’s words, but he doubted pissed off was an appropriate reaction to hearing your parents were searching for you, so Idris smothered it down. The last thing he wanted was for Mac to think he was a bad person. Gathering his wits, he asked, “What do they want?”
“Theirry and Zahra Vioric have requested that the Council allow them to have a meeting with you.”
Idris’s first inclination was to yell. He didn’t want to meet with them. Where the hell were they his whole life? Were they only interested in speaking to him because he was about to be a High Arcanist? Had they ever looked for him, and why had they left him with his grandfather? He turned to Mac. “What to do you think? Should I meet with them?”
“That decision belongs to you. No matter which way you decide to go, I’ll support you.”
Mac’s reply frustrated Idris. He genuinely wanted his opinion on the matter. The dragon shifter was close to his family and had experience with this type of thing. His brows drew together in irritation. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Idris, you don’t need to make a decision right now,” Aleksander said. “I know this has to be quite a shock to hear from them, and I believe you should take as long as you need to think this over. I will say, no one’s going to think less of you—no matter which way you decide to go.”
“The Consilium has tried to get Idris before. Do we know for sure Thierry and Zahra are his parents?” Mac asked.
Idris hadn’t even considered this pair might be lying. He was grateful his mate was smart enough to ask the question.
“We have only their word to take,” Vadimas replied.
“What do you think the chances of us getting DNA samples from them would be? I don’t like the idea of handing over a sample of Idris’s. My natural inclination is to forbid it,” Aleksander stated. His troubled gaze met Idris’s. “I’ve always advocated for you making your own decisions about everything, but I do feel I need to step in when it comes to matters of security. You’re a powerful wizard, and we already know we can’t trust anyone in the Consilium.”
“I understand. I wouldn’t be willing to give them a sample of my DNA.”
“I don’t know if they will comply with our request, but I’m certainly willing to ask,” Vadimas said.
“You can tell them I refuse to even consider the request of meeting with them or even speaking on the phone if I can’t verify that they’re related to me. Not only am I powerful, but I’m a D’Vaire. There are a great many people willing to do anything to be connected to our family in some way. I’m twenty-one years old and until I was sixteen, I was easily found at my grandfather’s house. I find it highly suspicious that they wish to meet with me now. It’s difficult for me not to wonder if they have ulterior motives.”
“I’d be happy to relay your words to them,” Vadimas promised as he got to his feet. “I’ll leave you all to enjoy the rest of your weekend. I’ve got about a thousand things on my to-do list.”
Idris stood to hug his wizard leader; then the sorcerer teleported out of the room. Mac rose and got Idris’s attention. “Are you upset with me?”
“I wouldn’t have asked for your opinion if I didn’t want it. I want honesty.”
“Then I’m sorry I didn’t understand that. I can truthfully tell you I don’t know what I’d do in the same situation, but I think you did very well to ask for proof. All I can offer is to trust your instincts. We’re in this together, and I believe we should approach this with extreme caution.”
Idris snaked his arms around Mac’s waist. “Okay.”
“As long as we are speaking our minds,” Aleksander said. “I’d like to say I don’t trust any of this. The Consilium’s involved in the whole Latarian and Carvallius situation. Now they’re missing, and suddenly two people pop out of nowhere claiming to be your parents. Even if the DNA comes back as a match, the timing of this cannot be ignored.”
“I don’t know if I’ll want to meet with them yet or not. I’m not going to think about it until I know this is real. I promise I won’t be meeting them anywhere that isn’t safe. If they want to see me, they’ll have to come to the Council. I’ll never return to the Consilium for any reason, not even for a second. It won’t be at D’Vaire either. They don’t need to be anywhere close to my real family.”
Mac kissed his temple. “We’ll figure out the best way to approach it if or when you’re ready. I’m sure there’s someplace at Council Headquarters we can use, but I would suggest this wait until after you finish—”
“High Arcanist. I know. I have no time or energy for anything else,” Idris said with an exaggerated eye roll.
“Aleksander, do you need anything else from us before I drive Idris insane with frustration?”
Aleksander smirked at Mac’s question. “Nope, that’s it. You better run before he decides he doesn’t want your dragon ass after all.”
“I’d never decide that, but he does get on my nerves sometimes,” Idris confessed as he pulled away from Mac, so he could go work on his research paper.
“Thanks, sweetheart. I love you too.”
Idris stepped back over to his mate and kissed him. “See you later.”
“You’re supposed to say you love me back,” Mac called out after Idris resumed his journey out the door.
Idris never broke stride. “Okay, love you. Bye.” He heard Mac’s laughter and was happy he hadn’t aggravated him. Idris needed to get his work done for the day, so he could enjoy another hot night with his sexy dragon. While he was thinking about the future, Idris also wanted the next few weeks to fly by to allow him to be united with Mac in truth.