Chapter Seven
Vale
Vale's skin felt tight over his body. He'd stormed back to the castle intent on making good on his word to inform his people that until the perpetrator was caught, no one would be getting their emerald rose ration. Except, his feet had taken him past the platform he used to make announcements. He stood now, toes touching the door to Landon's room. Vale could hear the younger dragon moving around inside and wondered what he was doing. He heard a soft giggle and paused with his hand poised to knock. The mood he was in was likely to silence any giggle coming from Landon and Vale didn't know if he wanted to do that. He swayed back, repositioning his weight to the heels of his feet as he heard someone approaching from behind.
Vale pretended he didn't know who was coming, but the truth was he would have recognized the cadence of those footsteps anywhere. "Did we feel the same urge?" Vale asked Blaze. He'd turned the corner and spotted Vale, his eyes widening briefly in surprise.
"I thought you were out angering your people?"
"And I thought you were ignoring what had to be done because you didn't want to be disliked."
"Tyrant."
"Coward."
Landon's door wrenched open and the man in question stood on the other side. "Are you two just calling each other's names outside of my room?"
Neither Vale or Blaze answered him.
"I wanted to see you," Vale said.
At the same time, Blaze said, "You ate your last meal with the King, I was coming to see if you're ready for a midnight snack? Perhaps one without the bells and whistles."
It only made Vale angrier that for a moment, Landon seemed to want to say yes to Blaze's invitation. He'd been trying to impress the young guard earlier, which was why he'd gone a bit over-the-top with their eleven-course dinner menu. Blaze was right, though. Something a little smaller, a little quieter would have been exactly Landon's taste.
"I am hungry," Landon conceded. "I actually just got back a few minutes ago."
"Where were you?" Blaze's question was as sharp as Vale's would have been had he been the one to ask.
Landon winced and didn't answer right away. "I went to the field," he whispered. "I had to see the destruction for myself and then, I don't know, I felt so uneasy I had to see the roses healthy. So, I went searching for the other field."
"Were you hurt? Did anyone see you?" Vale couldn't help circling Landon to search him for injuries.
Meanwhile, Blaze remained quiet, thinking. "How were they?"
"They looked healthy. Not like the other field. I thought there was something familiar about the first field, but then I wondered if it was just all the stone reminded me of home."
Vale looked at Blaze over Landon's head. He didn't suspect Landon but if the townspeople knew he'd been to the fields alone, there would be many fingers pointing Landon's direction. Vale was just glad he'd made it there and back without being seen. "You're safe now, that is all that matters. If you're hungry, I could ask the kitchen staff if there are leftovers," Vale replied.
Fifteen minutes later, Vale found himself sitting on the floor of Landon's room. Cold leftovers from their earlier dinner sat in various stages of consumption all around them. Blaze grabbed the last of the sausage as Vale sat back patting his stomach.
Since finding Landon, Vale's temper had cooled. He even felt relaxed enough to laugh at a joke that Blaze had told about the sheer amount of meat-based dishes the diamond dragons consumed. Landon through a meatball at Blaze that he caught effortlessly in his mouth, making both Vale and Landon laugh.
They might have been going through the biggest emergency that The Garden had ever known but at that moment, Vale's stomach was full, he was with his favorite people in the world and they were both safe. "You make me happier," Vale blurted out without thinking.
Both Landon and Blaze stopped what they were doing to look at him as if wondering which of them he'd been talking to. Vale didn't even know. He'd meant what he said earlier, he was glad to have Blaze around--when they weren't fighting. And Landon had a gentleness about him that put Vale at ease.
Landon's gaze went from Vale to Blaze and back again, his eyebrows scrunched together, clearly deep in thought.
"Are you going to tell me what you're thinking?" Vale asked reaching to brush away a crumb from the corner of Landon's mouth. He shot a quick glance in Blaze's direction and saw the man's eyes warm with desire and nothing else.
"Only congratulating myself on a good choice I made earlier."
"What choice was that?" Blaze asked.
Vale rang a bell and two of the late-night waitstaff appeared to clear away their impromptu picnic. "Thank you, that will be all that I need from you," Vale said sending the two home for the night. The male server left immediately while the woman lingered in the doorway. She remained long enough that Vale stared at her curiously, attempting to remember the woman's name. He knew she had a husband and daughter. Vale couldn't remember what her husband did in The Garden but thought he might be a baker.
"Do you have something you need to say?" Vale asked her.
She squeaked and jumped, clearly not expecting Vale to address her so directly. Her throat bobbed as she visibly swallowed before speaking with a raspy, soft voice. "We've been hearing rumors, Sir."
With as much as was going on, Vale could only imagine what rumors this woman had heard. "Go on."
The woman's eyes were kind but nervous as she flicked from Vale to Landon to Blaze. "There's been some talk that a field of roses was damaged. They're saying that you are going to begin stealing roses from people's homes and refusing to hand out rations. Our family, we've been planning to take leave of the island for a few years. My husband has a half-brother in New York City and we were waiting for our ration to ensure our health while traveling. But, if that's no longer going to happen…"
Had Blaze already told people? Was he working against Vale? When Vale looked Blaze's direction he seemed as on edge as Vale felt.
"I have given no royal decree," Vale replied.
"But you are going to?" the woman asked.
He didn't enjoy having his authority called into question, and if it were just Blaze there with him he might have responded with a little more anger. But he saw in the woman the same fear he'd seen in Landon the moment he'd arrived. It was that fear of the unknown that spurred this normally shy woman into speaking up in a situation where she clearly would have loved to remain silent. Vale could not punish that bravery. He would not "What's your name?"
"Claire, sir."
"Come with me, Claire" he told her bringing her to his private chambers. He hadn't told the other two to follow, but they followed just the same as Vale took a flowerpot from his own collection and handed it to the woman.
She gasped, but her wary grip quickly turned into one sturdier and she held the priceless flower to her front. "Sir?"
"These flowers are the backbone of our way of life," Vale told her. "There was damage done to an entire field, but, as a whole, we will discover what happened to them and if there is someone to blame we will find them. That is the truth and that is what you can tell your family and friends. Enjoy your trip. Last time I was there, they'd just received a huge statue as a gift from some other country. The Statue of Liberty, I think they called her. You'll have to tell me if they've erected it or not yet."
Claire's lips turned up in a wide smile and Blaze snorted in his attempt to hide his laughter.
"Thank you, King. Thank you so much." She hurried out of the room, clutching her rose firmly to her front. As she left Vale felt his lips turning up in a soft smile.
"Didn't that feel good?" Blaze sent in. Vale didn't have to look at him to know that he was smiling.
"What was so funny?" Vale asked, seeing that Landon didn't know either.
"That statue was finished over a hundred years ago."
Vale blinked. The world really did fly by their little-submerged world. "What about the Panama Canal? Next, you'll be telling me the humans finished that modern marvel."
Blaze laughed, though he was the only one. Landon blinked slowly, as clueless as Vale to the world of humans.
"They finished that one as well."
"Huh." Vale had been impressed by the concept but mostly the way humans made their world adapt to them. It was similar to the way the emerald dragons used their plants. Left unchecked, Vale couldn't imagine what snarled mess the vines would grow into.
"That was very kind of you," Landon replied. "Blaze, don't you think that was very kind of Vale?"
Both Vale and Blaze furrowed their eyebrows and confusion. "I already said as much," Blaze said. "What did you mean earlier? When you spoke about a decision?"
"Don't worry," Landon answered smiling smugly.
"I didn't ask if I needed to worry," Blaze replied. Vale watched them with unrestrained curiosity. Landon had his back against one of the dressers in the room while Blaze bent over him without touching. It was like watching a bird become ensnared in a net. Except, it also turned Vale on. He let the thought linger. He would have been lying if he tried to say he hadn't fantasized about of something just like this. A fantasy where it wasn't just him and Landon exploring their connection but him, Landon and Blaze. Could such a thing exist? If it could, did that mean they should? Just because something was possible didn't mean it was right.
Landon ducked under Blaze's arm quickly, reminding Vale that he was a Dragon shifter after all. Even if he was one that often fell over.
"Tomorrow will come soon," Vale said to the others.
Landon stood straight and jerked towards the door. "I'll let you get some sleep," he said over his shoulder. Vale did not miss the way he was leaving both himself and Blaze alone in Vale's room.
"Landon, stop."
Landon froze and peered back at him as if he'd been caught stealing cookies from the jar. "Is something going on here? A plan you devised that I don't know about?"
"No idea what you are talking about. I was just leaving and giving you time to sleep…"
"You were leaving me alone with Blaze to sleep?" Vale saw Blaze shrug in the background. He was watching Vale and Landon interact in much the same way Vale had watched them.
"That's none of my business. I'm not making any judgment on what you'll do today, only that you are free to do it."
That confirmed his suspicions. Landon had been leaving intending for Blaze to stay, for them to be intimate. Was he not interested? If that was the case, then why did Vale smell Landon's arousal? His pupils were becoming larger and he'd licked his bottom lip so many times it glistened.
Blaze cleared his throat and accepted the sea berry wine that Vale handed him. "Crazy idea—"
"It doesn't sound crazy to me," Vale cut him off. He'd taken a single sip before setting his cup down. "Blaze, you can stay, if you like." The weight of the day, the stress of their worries, Vale didn't let any of that sully this moment. He forgot it all, forgot The Garden, forgot he was King and chose to remember only one thing. He wanted these two men, desperately. They made him happy. His swollen length was an insistent force between his legs. "Landon, stay as well." Vale took a seat on the bed and patted the mattress next to him.
"Stay?" Landon asked, his mouth remained parted open after he spoke like he was also sucking in the air and tasting lust on his tongue.
Vale didn't hand him a glass of wine. Instead, he checked Blaze's expression to make sure the same heated desire that was on his own face was on Blaze's as well. Then, Vale patted the space that was between them. It wasn't large enough for Landon to sit without half sitting on one of their laps but that was his point. "I ignored you for days, my tour got ruined and then dinner was interrupted. I think, for now, we are well and truly alone. Until that sun rises that is and we have to face tomorrow's issues."
"Exactly," Landon squeaked. "So, I should go and leave you two alone."
"Do you want to?" Vale thrummed with untapped energy. He hadn't planned this moment, more like, the three of them were finally alone without the threat of being interrupted and Vale's dragon was responding in kind. He needed this and if the way Blaze was vibrating with excitement was any indication, he needed this too. "It's okay if you're nervous. I know I am the King, but you need to know, both of you need to know, you aren't required to do anything with me. You can leave at any time—"
Suddenly, Blaze bent to the side and kissed Vale solidly on the lips. He was warm and solid, and the kiss was so surprising that it took him a solid moment to react. When he did, it was like a dam breaking open. He speared his tongue into Blaze's mouth, enjoying his flavor while battling with Blaze for dominance of the kiss. His hands gripped the other man's hair pulling him closer, and yet, it didn't feel close enough. They'd been apart for so long, and now, it was like Landon had not only brought them together but allowed them to be together without fighting.
Vale ripped his mouth away, keeping Blaze's head in his hands as he searched for Landon. He was still in the room, squished tightly against the wall, one arm wrapped around his middle while his wide eyes took in their kiss without blinking. "Come here," Vale said, attempting to make it sound like a request and not a command. He lifted his hand and then Blaze did the same, extending the invitation to Landon.
One that he was having a hard time refusing. "Holy heck, this is…" Landon licked his lips as his erection tented his pants. "But you two should…"
"Come," Blaze repeated and Landon slapped his lips shut as he stepped forward. They embraced him together, each wrapping and nestling him into the small space between them, the space large enough for just Landon's body. "Since arriving, I have many times wondered if you were gifted with magic, working a curse on us both. Now I know you are gifted, but not with cursing. With patience."
Blaze caught Vale's eye and he leaned in at the same time so that their next kiss was shared between the three of them. It should have been awkward, but it wasn't. Instead, it was the best kiss Vale had ever experienced. He didn't know whose lips he was nibbling or whose hand had settled on his upper thigh, but he didn't care, not so long as it was one of the other two people in the room with him. Keeping hold of the two men, he urged them up the bed so that they could recline back.
"He's wearing too many clothes," Vale muttered and the next second, Blaze used his claws to slice them open. Landon's shirt fell open, revealing a smooth chest. "Beautiful," Vale murmured, bending his head to suckle a nipple as Blaze did the same on the other side.
Crying out, Landon threw his head back, his mouth remaining open in an "o" of lust. "This wasn't supposed to happen this way!" he wailed.
"Do you wish for me to stop?" Vale asked before taking Landon's nipple between his teeth and tugging it. Blaze hadn't sliced off the man's underwear and now he was making a wet spot in the fabric.
"I don't want you to ever stop!" Landon screamed as Blaze gripped his dick over his shorts.
Vale sat up, leaning against the bed frame as Blaze took control of Landon's body. He had a hand on the man's dick, and the other wrapped around the side of his neck so that Blaze could manhandle his body as he wished. When Landon made eye contact with Vale, he whimpered before his head was gently guided upwards. With his lips to the sky, Blaze kissed him deeply. The moment felt so surreal, like a dream he hadn't thought to have yet. But it was here, and it felt so right. At that moment, he didn't know why he and Blaze ever argued and he didn't know why he ever doubted what both these men were to him. His mates.
"Vale, he's about to explode in his pants," Blaze said, his voice rough with arousal.
Blaze held Landon from the back now and he had been accurate in his guess. The man looked like a piece of taffy being pulled tight as his muscles stretched and corded with exertion. His wild eyes latched onto Vale and he whimpered. "Help me, help this feeling," he begged.
As if Vale could resist. "I've felt connected to you from the first moment, when you almost fell over," Vale chuckled as Landon let out a keening cry in response to the lips at his neck. Blaze nuzzled his flesh there, sucking on his skin, marking Landon as taken.
Oh yes, he was taken. They both were. At that moment, Vale vowed to do whatever it took to keep these two people in his life daily. "You are so sensitive," Vale commented as he slid up Landon's legs, settling between them.
"I'm sorry, I had no idea," Landon let out. "I've never—"
Bot Vale and Blaze paused, staring at each other for a brief moment. "I forgot that you've never…" Blaze began.
"…had sex." Vale finished his sentence.
Landon had to blink more than once before he was able to respond. "You stopped. No! You both stopped. I shouldn't have said anything. Oh God, please, my body feels like it is on fire like there's something in me that needs to burst."
"You want us to continue?" Blaze confirmed.
Vale felt something swell inside him as he and Blaze grinned like fools. "You'd want us to be your first?"
"Oh no, you two are stereotypes!" Landon said, pushing to sit on his own, but Blaze wouldn't release him, so he just fell back against his chest. "Dragons and virgins, man," he said like it was a curse.
"I wouldn't be less enthralled if you were experienced," Vale told him.
"Exactly," Blaze added. "But I do like knowing." He slid his fingertip up Landon's front starting at his belly button and sliding up the valley of his chest. "Especially since that means we don't have to go kick some handsy diamond dragon's ass."
"That's hardly fair," Landon gasped. "Whose asses do I get to kick?"
Landon clearly didn't realize the type of question he'd asked. Vale had been dying to know about Blaze's years spent with the humans. Had he found love? A boyfriend? Human lives were generally shorter, Blaze could have found several men to spend their lives with. He avoided the other man's gaze and looked only at Landon. "For me, it has only been Blaze and now you." He kissed the tip of Landon's toe affectionately before Blaze leaned over to cup his chin, bringing his gaze up to his.
"For me as well. You were my life. You remained that way. And now…" He leaned back and looked at Landon with affection that Vale shared.
"This is messed up," Landon said though his body told a different story. His hands were clenched, but into the blanket, like he was afraid of what he would grab otherwise. Vale watched the young man attempt to control his arousal. He breathed heavily through flared nostrils while holding his body so tightly his toes were curled.
"This plan you had," Vale asked. "Did it involve Blaze and I only?"
Blaze made lazy circles against Landon's skin with his fingers.
"You were made for each other."
Vale didn't disagree, but at the same time, there had always been a wall between him and Blaze. Until now, Vale thought that wall was insurmountable. "I want you," Vale replied. "And Blaze." He rumbled low. "Hold him," Vale said to Blaze as he went to his knees. From that vantage point, he could look up and see first Landon's dick towering in front of him. Beyond that, Landon's face, his bottom lip firmly placed between his teeth and then Blaze, looking down on them all, his eyes a vivid contrast of black pupil against a bright green iris.
When Vale slid Landon's pants down, giving them their first glance of cock, Vale's mouth watered. For so long, he'd dampened these sensations. It wasn't that he didn't have urges, but to be physical without emotion felt empty. He'd abstained and now, he had more than two hundred years' worth of sexual energy pent up.
That was why he wasted no time slipping the firm dick inside his mouth. He sucked on him for a moment, enjoying the taste and feel. Landon screamed with pleasure once. Blaze bent his neck to swallow the second cry. If it weren't for Blaze's firm hands, Landon likely would have shot off the bed, but Blaze kept him steady. Vale swallowed his length, sucking the man's dick like he'd been doing it for years.
"Vale!" Landon screamed, his dick releasing the sweetest liquid Vale would ever taste. He swallowed it all down and when Landon was soft, Vale let him slide lewdly from his mouth. He rose up on knees, giving Blaze a kiss that not only shared Landon's sweet flavor but joined them at that moment.
"He tastes amazing," Blaze said before looking down at Landon who stared at them with drowsy eyes. "One time is all it took? We need to work on your stamina," Blaze joked allowing Landon's head to slip onto one of the pillows. They were both as hard as a rock, but the evening had taken its toll on Landon.
"He's passing out," Vale said with thick amusement. "I am good."
Wordlessly, the three of them settled into bed with Landon in the middle. Vale spooned his backside, so he could face Blaze who had his arm draped possessively over Landon's front. The game between them had changed and for the moment, Vale wasn't sure what to say to his best friend. With Landon already almost asleep, their spell was broken for the night. Vale caught Blaze's expression and saw it mirrored his own. He didn't know what to expect, but they had hope.