“Boy, I needed that, thank you.” Jon made sure he didn’t leave any drool on his chin and tucked his napkin beside his plate.
“It takes a lot of energy to shift into a creature far bigger than your human self,” Dirk agreed as he pushed his plate aside. After returning to his office for a spare set of clothes, Jon had taken Dirk to one of Raoul’s restaurants. As a personal friend of the owner, he knew he’d get a table even without a booking and despite the lateness of the hour. Now the plates were empty though; it was time to talk.
“Did you mean what you said about returning to New York?” Jon wasn’t sure how he felt about uprooting his life, but he knew his first duty was always to be by Dirk’s side.
“I think I should.” Dirk picked up his coffee cup, sniffed it and then put it back down. “There’s something still not right with this whole set up,” he said leaning across the table so only Jon could hear. “My father has, by his own accounts, a huge hoard so, the Ahlberg dowry should be nothing more than chump change. Then there’s this business with pushing the marriage between me and Celine. We’ve had lifetimes of arranged marriages in our family and the Ahlbergs are probably the same; but they’ve never been forced. If either party doesn’t want to go through with it, they discuss it like adults and the pair announce their decision and that’s the end of it. Sure, there might be a bit of pressure behind closed doors to make them change their mind, but if the couple are adamantly against it, then the matter is dropped.”
“Celine still wants the marriage, although at least we know why now,” Jon said drily. “Will that be a problem?”
“Celine doesn’t feel anything for me. She just terrified of what will happen to her if news gets out she’s had a half-breed child. I’m thinking we might offer to give the child a home, if she agrees to give the child up, of course. If you didn’t mind children.”
Considering Jon spent the afternoon mentally trying to work out how he could make that happen, all he could do was grin like a loon. “I love children,” he managed when he realized Dirk wanted a formal answer. “Celine’s baby may be dragon, wolf, or half and half, and none of that bothers me.” He had another thought. “I won’t allow the baby to be a pawn though. We’d have to be married and the contract signing the baby over would have to be ironclad for both of us. I won’t keep any mother away from her child if she wants to have access, but I won’t have that poor baby used as a means for Celine to get what she wants. At the moment, she wants you and that’s not going to happen.” Maybe he was still channeling some of Dirk’s dragon, but Jon wanted his point made perfectly clear.
“I do love it when your practical side comes through,” Dirk laughed and pulled out his wallet.
Jon reached over and grabbed Dirk’s tie, pulling their faces together. “I’ve lived with threats to our mating all afternoon and we’ve barely been together twenty-four hours,” he growled softly, watching as an approaching waiter suddenly did an about turn. “If you need a reminder of who you belong too, then get that bill paid quick, so we can get home and I’ll reclaim you all over again.”
Dirk searched his eyes, must have realized Jon was deadly serious, and threw some money on the table. As he stood, Jon could plainly see his mate’s cock stretching the front of his pants. Trying to keep his inner smirk from showing, Jon sauntered out of the restaurant, watching the flex of Dirk’s ass. If he’d been in his dog form, his tail would be wagging.
/~/~/~/~/
“Jon? Oh, god, let me get the door closed first.” Dirk dropped the keys to Jon’s house on the floor as Jon attacked his belt and lips at the same time. Dirk could understand his mate’s frustration. While he was struggling to remember his life before Jon’s existence, it was impossible to think of it now. Had it really only been twenty-four hours? Logically, he knew their claiming was in its infancy, but with all that had happened, it felt like a lifetime.
“Gods, Jon, what you do to me.” He groaned as Jon attacked his neck, little nips, licks, and frantic suction that was bound to leave marks. A firm hand wrapped itself around his dick and he realized his pants were around his knees. “Jon, please.”
“You would have married her,” Jon snarled as Dirk’s shirt was ripped open – buttons pinging on the ground. “Three weeks ago, she was all you could think about. From now on, I’ll make damn sure you only think about me.”
Dirk banged his head on the door as Jon latched onto his nipple. He wanted to explain; to tell Jon that Celine meant nothing more than a scheduled business meeting that would have ended up with him married. They would have gone through the ceremony, which was more for the family’s benefits than theirs, they would have retired to a bedchamber and Dirk would have proceeded to do his duty so their dragons could bond, but there would have been nothing else. Definitely none of the feelings Jon was dragging from his body would have been evident in that union.
Jon’s mouth scorched his flesh as his mate fell to his knees. Fisting his hands, Dirk refrained from grabbing his mate’s face and forcing his dick into that willing mouth. But he wouldn’t. Somewhere on an instinctual level, he knew Jon needed this control. While he’d far rather have Jon leaning over the couch he could make out in his peripheral vision, he accepted, for now, that this was Jon’s show.
Falling on his cock like a starving man, Jon’s growls teased his ears as he slobbered, sucked, and nibbled up and down Dirk’s length. His balls already tightening, Dirk ran equations through his head, not that it made any difference. Jon wasn’t asking for his spunk, he was demanding it. With a half roar, combined with something suspiciously like a whimper, Dirk thrust and sagged against the door as his knees went weak.
“Enough, enough,” he whispered, pulling Jon to his feet. Still half hard, his cock gleamed under the hall light, slick with Jon’s saliva and remnants of come.
“You’re mine,” Jon growled, urgently seeking his mouth again. As he tasted himself on Jon’s tongue, Dirk realized his dragon was right. Jon still wasn’t sure; wasn’t confident in their union and Dirk’s father and Celine hadn’t helped increase his confidence.
There was only one thing to do. Cupping his hands under Jon’s butt, Dirk hoisted Jon off his feet, shuffling them both towards the couch he’d noted; taking care not to trip on the pants still caught around his legs. As soon as Jon came up for air, he swung his mate around, placing him over the couch, just as he’d imagined.
“Lube in my pocket,” Jon panted, shucking his pants to his knees and holding out the small packet. Must have been a Boy Scout, Dirk thought as he got to work ensuring most of the contents of the small package made it inside his mate’s tight hole. Jon was visibly trembling and Dirk moved fast; his own cock quickly rising to full hardness for the second time in the face of Jon’s eagerness.
Jon groaned as Dirk lined up and, hesitating just a moment, he slammed home. The heat and grip around his cock was almost painful and Dirk leaned over his mate’s back, twisting the man’s head around and taking another sloppy kiss. Jon was trying to move, but Dirk held his hips firm. Frantic was one thing, but Dirk would not hurt his mate.
“Please,” Jon whispered against his lips. In the same breath, Jon’s body loosened its killer grip on his cock and Dirk gently started thrusting. Back and forth, nothing heavy. He just wanted to enjoy their connection.
“You are perfect for me,” he muttered against Jon’s ear. “Strong, resourceful, powerful in your own right. When your body takes me like this, I can’t think of anything else but you.”
“Then get used to doing this often,” Jon thrust back, his motions hard and jerky. “You can do better than this. Show me what you’re made of, damn it.”
Dirk did one better. Sliding his hand around Jon’s rigid length, Dirk quickened his thrusts, pushing Jon’s cock through his hand. Having already come once, his own need had lessened somewhat. But Jon’s ass was crafted with him in mind, and that perfect pressure, combined with the scent of Jon’s need, his urgent grunts and long moans as Dirk’s cock brushed against his prostate; the slick coating Dirk’s fingers, shit. Even the trickle of sweat running down Jon’s temple was sexy. Dirk felt his orgasm blossom in the pit of his belly as he licked it.
His thrusts got harder; the sounds of their coupling now accompanied by the couch legs squeaking against the floor. A quick brush of his hand against Jon’s balls let him know his mate was close. With his free hand, Dirk ripped Jon’s shirt from his throat and buried his teeth in his mating mark; his spunk pulsing from his cock, coating Jon’s inside. Jon shuddered and moaned and warm stickiness coated Dirk’s fingers. Locking his knees, Dirk hung on, savoring the sensation for as long as he could.
“You are mine,” he whispered once his teeth were finally free of Jon’s skin. “You are mine and I won’t ever let you forget it.”
“So long as you know you’re mine, too,” Jon muttered, pulling Dirk down onto the couch. “Hold me.”
Dirk didn’t need to be told twice. With the smell of their sex fresh in his nose, and his cock still held hostage by Jon’s body, Dirk closed his eyes. Just five minutes and then I’ll get a cloth.