Dirk stirred, dimly aware of a loud ringing noise. It was the hotel phone. He didn’t want to talk to anyone; his limbs were heavy and he couldn’t move if he wanted to. Burying his head under the pillows, he closed his eyes. He was dreaming about claiming his mate; in the dream world, his dragon was back and showing him all the joy he could have in a true mating. It was glorious. He could be with Erskine as much as he wanted. The stupid phone wasn’t going to take that away from him.

/~/~/~/~/

More ringing or is that knocking this time? Just go away. Leave me alone with my mate. There was a nagging awareness that there was something Dirk should be doing. But he couldn’t remember…and besides, it wasn’t important. Jon was cooking him breakfast wearing nothing but an apron. He drifted away to where his world was full of nothing but Jon.

/~/~/~/~/

“Get off me,” Dirk growled as someone tugged on his arm. “Leave me alone.” He opened his eyes slightly to see someone in a hotel uniform standing by the bed.

“You were supposed to check out yesterday,” the young man persisted. “If you don’t get up, I’ll have to call the manager.”

“I’m staying. Need sleep.” Dirk waved the man away. “Charge it to my credit card.”

He barely noticed the man leaving the room. He was on a picnic with his mate. The sun was shining on Jon’s slimly muscled chest and he wanted to lick it. There was nothing stopping him.

/~/~/~/~/

“How long has he been like this?” Dirk didn’t bother opening his eyes this time. He knew that voice. Bryce was back. Good. He could take care of pesky people who were trying to come between him and his mate.

“Since last Wednesday night as far as we can tell. Mr. Hollingsworth’s visitor left the hotel thirty minutes after you did and no one has been up here since. He told the bell boy, Martin, he was staying on and didn’t want to be disturbed.”

“Okay. Leave it with me.”

See. I knew Bryce would take care of things. Now, where were we? Ah, yes, Jon’s in the bathtub…all those lovely, shiny bubbles catching the candlelight….

“Dirk! Dirk! You have to wake up.”

“Just a few minutes more.” Dirk rolled over, turning his back on his PA. Hmm, look at that lovely cock waving at me. I wonder if it tastes as good as it looks? I think I’ll just…. Someone rolled him roughly onto his back. “What the hell? I told you I was busy. Leave me alone.” He peered up, barely making out Bryce in his blurred vision.

“That was five days ago.” Why was Bryce yelling? “You missed the board meeting; you haven’t showered or eaten. What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Nothing. I told you. I’m with Jon. Now leave us alone.” Dirk tried to roll over, but Bryce’s hand stopped him.

“Jon’s not here, you idiot. You kicked him out last week. Told him you never wanted to see his face again.”

That couldn’t be right? Dirk remembered their claiming night. Jon was so good to him, teasing him through his first time. They’d laughed and cuddled up together and it was perfect. Dirk had taken him on picnics; they went out on his yacht. They’d just got home from dinner and now…. “Jon’s in the bath. I told you we’re together now. We don’t want to be disturbed.”

“There’s no one in the bathroom.” Bryce kicked open the bathroom door. “The only one in this smelly hotel suite is you. You’ve been dreaming, you idiot. Dreaming of your life with your mate, but none of it’s real. You told him to get out. You rejected him!”

“No. No. No. No. No!” Dirk’s words turned into a roar and before he knew what happened he’d shifted. The bed thudded on the floor as it broke beneath his weight, but Dirk’s focus was on the lying man in front of him. “Jon loves me,” he growled, the words garbled in his shifted form. “He’d never leave me. He’s mine.”

“In your head maybe, but not in the real world.” Bryce flung his arm towards the window. Dirk noted it was dark outside. “Jon’s spent the last five days trying to find out who stole your money; working from his office. He doesn’t even go home to sleep. But no matter what you think you two have been doing since you kicked him out, he’s been working himself to the bone, and you’ve been lying here like a dead man stinking up the hotel room.”

“NO!” The chandelier rattled from the force of Dirk’s roar. A quick sniff told the dragon that Bryce wasn’t lying. Shoving his human half firmly to the back of their shared consciousness, the dragon lumbered to the window, smashing it open with his head. Scenting the night sky, he tried to think of where his mate would be.

The office! Bryce already said that. Of course. Thank you, puny wolf shifter. Ignoring the pounding on his suite door, the yells of alarm and Bryce’s shout, the dragon wiggled his way through the French doors and opened his wings on the balcony. This is the only way to fly, he thought as one pump of his wings had him soaring high into the air. Banking wide around the hotel, the dragon headed for Jon’s office.