After two funerals in so many days, Mac was feeling gutted. He was hollow inside as he struggled to deal with his grief. All he wanted was to get home and be with Idris. Before he’d left Lloyd and Bretta’s place, he’d sobbed into his mate’s ear. Idris had done everything he could to console Mac, but the healing wouldn’t begin until they were reunited. There were a few stragglers offering condolences to Mac as they filtered out of Alfred’s front door. Mac wanted all of them to leave so he could go to his grandparents’ house, snatch up every photo he could find, and get to D’Vaire.
He stood awkwardly in the dining room with his head held high while his mother and her family held court across the room. Food was laid out, but Mac had no desire to eat any of it. His mother shook hands with the last dragon shifter in the room, and Mac thanked Fate his duty was finally over. He’d already said good-bye to his grandparents, and now it was time to do the same with the woman who’d given him life.
Their eyes met, and Mac let his long legs eat up the distance between them. He wished he had time to put together his thoughts, but the truth was, he had little to say to her. “Mom.”
“Mac, thanks for coming.”
“Of course. My condolences.”
“I know they meant a lot to you.”
“Yes, they did.”
“Mac, we should talk before you go,” Alfred said.
Mac lifted his head and met the flat gray eyes of his former king. He was going to need to summon all the strength instilled in him by his grandparents to be as gracious as he could. “Of course, thank you for allowing me to serve you as duke for so long. I appreciate the ability to gain experience, which now helps me at Court D’Vaire.”
“Let’s be frank, Mac. We both know it wasn’t my choice to keep you on, but you’re a black dragon, and it would’ve caused quite the uproar had I dismissed you.”
“I realize that.”
“I wanted to send you to another court, but your mother didn’t want to separate you from your grandparents. It’s rather unusual for a man of your age to need to latch on to two old people, but Moina’s my mate and I didn’t want to disappoint her.”
Mac wasn’t sure he’d ever realized what a jerk his mother’s mate was until his last statement. “I appreciate you indulging us both.”
“Moina’s your mother, but I think we can all safely say that was a mistake she regrets.”
“Alfred, Mac wasn’t a mistake. He was an accident.”
“Wow, Dad. Way to be rude,” Carter said.
“Carter, you’ll speak to me with respect,” Alfred replied to his son, then turned his cold gaze onto Moina. “Any child born outside of a matebond is a mistake.”
“Mac, it’s not that I didn’t want to have you once I knew I was pregnant, but there’s a lot of truth in Alfred’s statement. I shouldn’t have had a child without him.”
Mac could almost hear his grandparents yelling from the other side of the veil in rage and disappointment over their only daughter’s words. As for him, he no longer cared. “I won’t apologize for being born, Mom.”
She shook her head rather violently. “No one’s asking you to, Mac.”
“Lloyd and Bretta are dead. There’s no reason you need to come back here,” Alfred stated without a flicker of emotion.
“Dad, you shouldn’t be saying this stuff to Mac today. His grandparents just died,” Carter said.
Mac thought it was pretty telling that Carter referred to their grandparents as being his instead of theirs.
“Carter, stay out of this.”
“Fine, be a dick.”
Alfred gave his son a ferocious frown. “Young man, go to your room.”
Carter started walking out of the room, but his words carried over to where they were standing. “Right, because I’m being the asshole. I’m not seven years old. I don’t need to be sent to my room.”
“You can have whatever you want from Grandpa and Grandma’s house, but Alfred and I think it’d be better if you didn’t stay the night. You aren’t a part of Court Stenet any longer.”
“I know, and I wasn’t planning on staying. I’ll get my things and I should be gone in a few minutes. Was there anything else you wanted to say?” Mac asked.
“No dear, that’s it. I mean it too. You can take all the mementos you want.”
Mac’s jaw clenched, but all he did was nod at her. Neither Bryony nor Alfred even glanced at him. Without a word, Mac marched out of the house. He’d driven his grandfather’s car over, so he climbed inside it. It took no time at all to travel the short distance between Alfred’s and the home Lloyd and Bretta had left behind.
Getting out of the vehicle, Mac stared at the place he’d all but lived in. The only thing he hadn’t done was sleep there each night. He would miss it—not because of the wood and windows which made it up but because of the two amazing people who he still could hardly believe were gone. Mac walked through the door for the last time and in a flurry, grabbed a box. He filled it with every picture and album he could find. They were the most precious things that remained of them. Once he was satisfied he’d gathered each and every one, Mac fired off a text to Dra’Kaedan.
The warlock and his mate knocked on the front door a few seconds later. Mac greeted them with hugs, then allowed them in.
“Give me your crown,” Brogan demanded.
Mac didn’t even realize he was still wearing it. He handed it over and Brogan carefully tucked it away inside the wooden case; then he snatched up Mac’s suitcase.
When Mac grabbed the box full of his precious photos, Dra’Kaedan made a move toward it. While Mac appreciated that the warlock wanted to help, he didn’t want to hand his treasure over. “I’ll carry it.”
“I know,” he responded softly. “I can see what’s inside. I lost my parents too. I know how valuable those contents are. If you’ll let me, I’d like to make everything indestructible.”
“Please, go ahead. Thank you.”
Dra’Kaedan offered him a small smile and a golden glow formed around the box. “My pleasure. You ready to go home? I’m going to teleport us straight to your room. Idris is waiting for you. You don’t have to deal with the rest of us crazies until you’re ready.”
“I need to see him.”
Without a word, Dra’Kaedan cast the spell to take them to D’Vaire. The only thing Mac saw was a pair of indigo eyes filled with compassion and love. They were as irresistible to him as they were the day he met Idris.
“Thanks, guys,” Mac said to Dra’Kaedan and Brogan.
The pair headed to the door. “No problem,” Brogan replied.
“Right, because your fat dragon ass did anything but carry the suitcase,” Dra’Kaedan remarked.
Whatever Brogan may have retorted, Mac didn’t hear because the pair exited. Mac set down his box of treasures and Idris ran into his arms. All Mac could do was hold on as he breathed in the wonderful and welcoming smell of cinnamon. “I missed you,” he whispered.
“I missed you too. I’m so sorry about Grandpa and Grandma.”
A tear slipped down his cheek. “Oh, me too.”
“It’s a stupid question, but are you okay?”
Mac loosened the death grip he had on Idris, so he could look into his beautiful eyes. “Will you love me, sweetheart?”
“I do love you.”
“I mean, take me to bed. Love me. I need to feel you inside me. I need to know I belong to you.”
Idris raised his hands to Mac’s face and gently kissed him. It might have been soft, but there was also the heat that bloomed between them whenever they got close. Letting go of the gorgeous wizard, he pulled the D’Vaire sash over his head and tossed it aside. He tugged off his jacket as Idris loosened his tie. Next went his socks and shoes; then he tackled his shirt. Idris concentrated on removing his own clothing as Mac got rid of his.
Once they were both naked, Idris led him to the bed. He yanked down the covers and Mac climbed onto the mattress. Watching Idris fish the lube out of the nightstand, Mac focused only on the lanky body on full display. The low light in the room highlighted every muscle under his pale skin.
“You’ve got one hell of a body.”
“No, that’s you,” Idris replied as he joined him. He leaned down and ran his tongue over part of Mac’s painted dragon. “And you know what this tattoo does to me.”
Mac reached out to capture Idris’s length, which was almost fully rigid. “Does it get you hard?”
“Everything about you gets me hard.”
Grabbing the back of Idris’s neck, he licked his way into his mouth. “Lube up those fingers and get them inside me,” he ordered against his lips, between kisses.
The wizard didn’t offer an argument as Mac bent his knees and made sure there was plenty of room between his legs for Idris. His mate wasted zero time working two slick digits into his hole. Mac focused on them and could hardly wait until it was Idris’s cock doing the same as they pumped in and out.
There was a sense of urgency as the passion heated between them, but this was more of a homecoming than anything else. His heart and mind were so empty. He needed Idris to fill him up and make him whole again. To make him feel alive again. Lifting his weight up to rest on one elbow, he reached out and caressed Idris’s jaw. Then he buried that hand into his dark curls and tugged him forward.
Their mouths met in a heated kiss as Idris found his prostate. He moaned as he hardened fully and leaked on his belly. He couldn’t resist the temptation of sliding his palm over his own sex.
“I like it when you touch your dick. You have such a nice one.”
“I like yours. Especially when it’s inside me. Three fingers now.”
Idris pulled out two and returned with the requested three. “Okay.”
Mac laid his head back down on the pillow and arched his back. He continued to lazily stroke himself as Idris opened him up. Locating the lube, he dumped a little in his hand, then took a firmer grip on his cock. “I’m ready for you, baby.”
“Okay.”
Mac smiled at Idris. He was wearing a look of extreme concentration as he applied the slick, then grabbed the base of his sex. The head pressed against Mac’s hole and he closed his eyes to absorb every sensation of Idris filling him. Idris moved slowly, and Mac both appreciated his care and wanted him to hurry at the same time. When he was finally fully seated inside of Mac, he said, “Can I move? Are you ready? I am.”
“Oh yeah, I want you to. I love the feel of you.”
“You’re really tight inside,” Idris panted out as he slid in and out of Mac. “And hot.”
Mac needed release, and so he tightened his hold to jerk himself in earnest. He used his inner muscles to clamp down on Idris’s cock with each stroke. It made his wizard babble. “Oh. Oh. You…well, oh. That feels…yeah, you should do that again.”
Doing as he was told, Mac did his best to work them both toward orgasm as fast as he could. Idris pummeled him harder, and Mac reveled in their combined passion. Mac’s skin grew damp as they raced for a common goal. It took no time at all for sparks to fly down his spine, and every muscle in his body clenched as his balls emptied. Idris yelled something incoherent as Mac felt the hot splash of his come.
Heart racing, and chest heaving, Mac let go of his dick and pushed up off the mattress. He grabbed Idris’s biceps and pulled him down against him. Mac held on tight as their bodies cooled. Whispering words of love, Mac wept. Only the tears were not ones of sadness or grief. This time he was overcome with joy that Fate gave him the most incredible man, and he was extremely grateful to have his heart.