Chapter Fourteen
They’d eaten and made love and eaten and napped and made love, slept, eaten. The one thing they hadn’t done was talk. But Deke knew he couldn’t wait too much longer. Bryan was going through changes and Deke was willing to bet that eventually Shae was going to poke his nose into things. He wanted to be the one to explain things to Bryan. All the things.
Both Jake and Shae had been circumspect, staying out of their way for the last day and a half since he’d gotten back. But Deke knew eventually he was going to have to broach the subject. Bryan had changes going on with him as his body grew stronger. Bryan would live as long as he did, now that they were together. Now that they were officially sealing their bond.
Bryan would require his presence, though, and his touch. They built their energy with sex, with the intense connection they would forge. With pleasure and pain and orgasm. With his seed.
He’d paid attention when Jake and Shae, mostly Jake, had told him about bonding with your soul mate.
Finishing the dishes, he found Bryan on the deck, took his hand and led him in to Bryan’s couch. Bryan snuggled in, warm from the sun. The fall was coming in, but in the light, it was gorgeous. He kissed one bare shoulder, thinking they should have removed their shorts before sitting. No. No, they shouldn’t have. They had to talk and if they’d both been completely naked, there would not have been any talking at all. Only making love. Not that there was anything wrong with making love. He totally approved of making love.
He cleared his throat, forcing his thoughts away from that path. “It’s a great sofa.”
“Are you leaving again?” Bryan tensed, lips drawing together.
“Nope. I’m not leaving you ever again. You have my word on that.” He tilted Bryan’s head and gazed into his eyes. “Never again.”
“What about your work? Your job? I-I think I’ve been fired from mine. I have some savings but...”
“I mustered out. I started the proceedings shortly after I got back. I knew I had to be here with you. I never thought it would take them three weeks to get it all done and dusted. And you don’t have to worry about money. I’m independently wealthy.” All the Beteferoce men were.
“Right. I’ll get another job. I only meant I might need help with the grocery bill for a little while.” Bryan was worrying about things that didn’t matter, which probably meant he was worrying about the bigger things, too.
“And I’m saying what’s mine is yours and vice versa. And I have to tell you, I think you’re going to want to hold off on that finding a new job thing. It can wait. What we have can’t.” To prove the point, he kissed Bryan, his tongue sliding into Bryan’s mouth.
Bryan moaned, opening up, letting him in easy as can be. Fuck, he could lose himself in Bryan’s mouth forever. Groaning, he delved deeper, drawing more of Bryan’s taste into himself.
“Mmm.” Bryan moved into his lap, pressing against his belly.
He looped his arms around Bryan, letting them rest in the small of his back, keeping them close. “Hey, baby.”
“Hey.”
“We’re supposed to be chatting.” He had to explain properly about the dragon and soul mates. And Bryan had to believe him.
“Okay. You’re not leaving me and you’ll help with the groceries. What else?” Bryan’s expression said he probably knew what else, but he was trying to avoid it.
“We’re bonding.” It was important that Bryan understand that this wasn’t some fleeting thing.
“Over sex?”
“With sex. With napping together, with being close. We’re bonding because we’re soul mates.”
“Okay...” Poor Bryan. His baby wasn’t hearing him.
He was going to have to bring up the dragon thing again. And he was pretty sure Bryan hadn’t believed him the last time. Okay, he knew Bryan hadn’t. On top of that, they’d had that big argument. He knew Bryan thought he’d been trying to break it off.
He took another kiss. Bryan would understand. He had proof. And he had backup—another dragon’s soul mate to talk Bryan through it.
Man, he had to give both Jake and Shae props for getting through this alone.
“So...you remember when I left, how I told you I was a dragon?”
“Yeah. That was weird, man.” Bryan poked him in the chest. Hard. “Be honest about your feelings and shit, huh?”
“That’s what I’m trying to do. Be honest. The thing is that I am a dragon. It kind of runs in the family.” Maybe they should go to the beach tonight, and he could show Bryan.
Bryan pursed his lips. “Okay. Okay, what exactly do you mean, because I’m not following.”
Yeah, he got it. He sounded like a fucking nutter. Deke took a deep breath. “I was born about eight hundred years ago and I’m a dragon shifter.”
Bryan leaned back, stared at him. “Okay, barring the whole impossible part of this, what’s going on? I really don’t want to have another fight, so tell me. You don’t have to hide behind this crap.”
“I know it’s hard to take in. Hard to believe. I know that. It’s the truth, though.”
“But. Look. What is it you want? Is this... Are you delusional? I can totally get you help.” Bryan looked so earnest.
“I want you to understand who it is you’re in love with and what the ramifications of that are. Because there are some, though I think they’re all good. And no, I’m not delusional.” At least Bryan hadn’t run away yet and wasn’t yelling. Yet.
“Ramifications...” Bryan frowned at him. “How’s your blood sugar?”
“What?” He didn’t follow. “We just ate, I’m fine.”
“Okay. So you don’t feel shaky...”
“There’s nothing wrong with me, Bryan. I’m telling the truth. We should go talk to Jake and Shae.” If his best friend was telling the same tale, Bryan would know it was true, right?
“Okay. Does Jake know about this whole monster thing?”
“Dragons are not monsters!” Deke cleared his throat. “And of course Jake knows. All five of us are dragons. Which is why I think we should go talk to them. Shae will tell you neither of us is crazy, then we can go to the beach tonight and I’ll show you.”
“Dragons are, by definition, monsters. I really, really don’t want you to be insane, Deke.” Bryan looked...sad.
Deke took comfort in the fact that he wasn’t angry this time.
“I’m not insane. Come on. Let’s go next door.” He supposed he should take it as a positive that Bryan was still sitting with him. He took his lover’s hand and stood.
Bryan sighed and slipped on his shoes. “I think we’re going to have a cold snap soon, huh?”
Weather. God, they were talking about the weather. He sighed and forced himself to not growl. Surely everything would be explained once Shae and Jake backed him up. Then he and Bryan could get back to the business of making love. Of bonding, of becoming them.
“I’m sorry, man. What the fuck do you expect from me? We’re going to see my next door neighbor to discuss your imminent monsterhood and you’re frustrated with me?”
“I’m not frustrated with you, I’m wishing there was a better way to explain this. I’d rather be making love to you than going to see Shae and Jake and would you stop calling me a monster, please?”
“I could call you a delusional nutter, but that seems harsh.” Bryan offered him a grin that almost reached his eyes.
“I might prefer it to monster. Have faith for a little longer.” Deke pulled Bryan up the deck stairs and banged on Shae’s back door.
“Coming! Just a second! We were... Just a second!”
Deke would have felt bad about interrupting them, but he needed their help with the whole telling his lover he really was a dragon thing. Besides, the two of them made love more often than rabbits.
Hopefully that would be his and Bryan’s life soon. Making love and exploring their bond...
He banged on the door again. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important.”
“Stop banging on the motherfucking door, baby brother!” Jake was in a pair of shorts and was covered in some kind of oil.
Deke let an eyebrow go up. “You marinating? Are we having you for dinner?”
“Fuck off! What do you want?” Jake asked.
“I told Bryan and he’s having a little trouble believing.”
“You told Bryan what?”
Deke rolled his eyes. “Really? What do you think I told him? That we both hate brownies?”
Jake wrinkled his nose. “Ah. It’s true. No matter how many chocolate chips are in them.”
Deke was going to beat his older brother. “This is serious, Jake. He thinks I’m crazy.”
“I thought Jake was, too.” Shae appeared beside Jake. “It’s a lot to take in.”
“Are you suggesting you buy into this, man?” Bryan asked. “That they’re—”
Deke didn’t let him finish. “Don’t say monsters, baby.”
Jake stepped back and Deke tugged Bryan in.
“Shae, tell him dragons aren’t monsters,” Deke demanded.
Shae snorted. “Jake is totally more dangerous in his human form. He’s way less horny as a dragon.”
“Which is damn lucky for you,” Jake noted.
Deke didn’t think this was helping anything. “TMI, guys, we’re here for you to help me convince Bryan that I’m not crazy.”
Bryan didn’t look like he thought they were crazy. Bryan looked hurt more than anything, like he was being made fun of.
“Okay, guys. No more fooling around.” Deke took Bryan’s hand. “Tonight we’ll go to the beach and I’ll show you. But it’s the truth. I’m a dragon and you are my soul mate. Like Jake is a dragon and Shae is his soul mate. We’re not making this up. We’re not playing a prank on you. It’s the truth.”
“It’s true.” Shae stepped up, the man reaching for Bryan’s arm. “I thought I was losing my mind. I couldn’t wake up. I was starving all the time and aching for...” Shae’s cheeks went bright red. “Uh. Attention.”
“That’s why you were so sick when I left. We’d started bonding and once that happened, we had to work on it. I should never have left.” Deke couldn’t tell if Bryan was being convinced or not.
“I’m going home. I’m tired and I have a headache.” Bryan turned tail and left, heading to his house.
“Thanks for trying guys.” Deke hotfooted out after his lover. “Bryan. Baby. Come on.”
“I need a nap. I need a nap.”
A nap? Seriously, now? It was the last thing he’d expected, but he nodded. “Okay. Napping sounds good.” He put his hand in the small of Bryan’s back. Whatever else, Bryan couldn’t deny they felt better when they were in contact.
“Yeah.” Bryan headed straight to his bedroom and curled up in the sheets, eyes falling closed. Hiding from him.
“Bryan. Please. Come on, baby. Don’t shut me out like this. I don’t think I could stand it.” He climbed into bed and rubbed Bryan’s back. “Nothing’s changed from ten minutes ago, I swear.”
“So why? Why are you fucking with me? And how did you get Shae to play along? He and I have been friends for a long time...”
“I’m not fucking with you! I swear to God, I’m not. Neither is Shae. He was trying to reassure you.” He wrapped his arms around Bryan, aching for his soul mate’s pain. “We could go to the beach now.” They hadn’t seen anyone there the last time, maybe he wouldn’t have to wait for dark.
“I don’t want to go out. I’m going to nap.” Stubborn boy.
“Okay, but then we’re going to the beach so I can show you that we’re not messing with you. I would never mess with you like that.”
“Dragons. Aren’t. Real.”
Deke tried a different tack. “Do you believe I love you?”
“I do. It would break my heart if you stopped. If it was a lie.”
And he guessed that probably made this whole dragon thing harder. If Bryan hadn’t loved him, it would have been easy to shout and push him out again.
“It’s not a lie. So, if you believe that I love you, why would I make something like that up? Why would I hurt the person I love like that?”
“Because you’re a nutter?”
“Well, I don’t think I’m crazy. I’ll show you tonight. Then you won’t think I’m crazy or that I’m punking you or anything.” He would win his soul mate over. He had to because it was killing him, knowing his boy was upset.
* * *
This corner of the beach was not only secluded, but a hill shielded them. The place was deserted anyway, so Deke felt as safe as he could about shifting here. Bryan stood, staring out at the ocean, eyes distant, unhappy.
Deke began to strip. When he was naked, he reached out and touched Bryan’s arm. “You should watch.” His dragon itched to come out. He had to show Bryan. “It’s time.”
Bryan sighed softly. “I really just want to curl up in your arms.”
It sounded so tempting, but Bryan had to see him in his dragon form, to know this wasn’t some bullshit prank, to know that Deke wasn’t a nutjob. “Watch me.”
“The water’s going to be chilly.”
“I have thick skin. Please, Bryan, look at me.”
When Bryan finally turned, Deke gathered him close and kissed him hard. “I love you, baby.”
“I love you. Don’t disappear into the water.” There was a sadness in Bryan’s eyes, a hopelessness almost. He couldn’t wait to prove himself to Bryan, to wipe that sadness away.
“I’m not going into the water right now. Watch me.” He let his hands slide from Bryan’s skin and took a step backward, then another. Okay, quit stalling. Bryan had to see this and everything would be okay once he did.
Closing his eyes, Deke called forth his dragon.
It happened all of a sudden, the sound of his scales clinking like sleek metal. He wasn’t scarlet like Jake. His world was deep blue green. He spread his wings out behind him, knowing they’d be glowing in the sunlight, then settled them against his sides, bringing his head down to Bryan’s height.
Bryan stared at him, totally still, absolutely no expression on his face.
He breathed out of his nostrils, flooding warm air across Bryan’s face. Say something, mate.
He couldn’t even hear Bryan’s thoughts. He wasn’t sure Bryan had any.
He reached one clawed hand out and touched Bryan’s cheek with a single nail. Baby.
You’re not real.
Of course I’m real. I’m standing here, aren’t I? He was going to get grumpy if Bryan didn’t believe his own eyes.
Bryan closed his eyes, opened them again, staring at Deke, then began to shake. He wrapped one wing around Bryan and pulled him in, holding him, closing his claws together behind Bryan’s back. With his wings around Bryan, too, it gave his boy a warm, safe cave.
Human brains weren’t ready to know about dragons. Soul mates were special, though, and Bryan should be able to accept this. He knew it would take love and persistence and a desire to believe.
I’m real and right here, baby boy. Right here.
Still no response. It was time to change back and talk to his boy, maybe shake some sense into him.
He remembered his human form and shifted, keeping his arms around Bryan as he did.
Bryan watched him, so close, so quiet.
He met Bryan’s gaze as a human once again. “You see? I’m a real dragon. No joke. No punk. I’m not trying to make fun of you in any way.”
He could feel the waves of confusion, of fear, of panic filling Bryan. He held on. “Shh. Shh. Come on, baby. It’s still me.”
“I think I’ve lost my mind a little bit,” Bryan whispered as if speaking it out loud would make it true.
“You have not. You saw me change. I told you I was a dragon. Shae and Jake told you I was a dragon. Don’t go to the crazy place. Just don’t.”
“Dragons aren’t real, though. We know this. You can’t make things that aren’t real, real all of the sudden. You can’t say there are mermen out stealing brothers!”
“Sure I can, because it’s true. And while you don’t have to believe me about your brother, you do have to believe your own eyes. You want me to shift again? I’m a magnificent dragon.” And deserved to be admired as such.
Something in what Bryan said caught his attention and he frowned. “Wait. Did you see someone when your brother drowned? A merman?”
“Of course not. They’re not real.”
“Why else would you have said that, baby? Why bring that up instead of focusing on me being a dragon?”
“Because none of this is real!”
Deke stepped back and took on his dragon form again. He flapped his wings, the air buffeting Bryan. Then he carefully touched Bryan with one claw. How is this not real?
Bryan growled. “You’re not real!”
He touched Bryan again with his wing this time. I am, too! He was going to beat Bryan’s ass if his boy didn’t stop this.
“You’re not! You’re not real and mermen aren’t real and...” Bryan pushed at him, trying to move his immense bulk.
Of course he didn’t budge. He was a dragon for Christ’s sake. Believe in me yet? He was getting tired of this. Why couldn’t Bryan believe so they could fly and swim together, and then go fuck a lot more.
“Don’t you fucking make fun of me. They put me in a hospital before. Don’t you ever...” Bryan tore out of his hands and began to run.
Oh. Oh, suddenly this made a lot more sense. Staying in his dragon form, Deke chased after Bryan, catching up to him easily. He wrapped his wings around his baby, catching Bryan against him. Not making fun. Not.
Go away. The agony in the curve of Bryan’s body made him ache, and he held on, drawing Bryan against him.
Here, Bryan could feel his chest rising and falling, could feel his heartbeat. You’re mine. This was meant to be.
I’m exactly like my brother.
Tell me. Whatever it took to keep his baby talking, get him to open up.
Bryan shook his head, forehead rubbing against Deke’s chest.
He rumbled, knowing Bryan would be able to feel the vibrations. I love you. And I know you’re not crazy.
“I don’t believe in things that aren’t real.”
Then you can believe in me because I’m real. It was as simple as that.
He was real and he had his lover, had his soul mate, and he wasn’t letting go. Once they had their soul mates, they didn’t do well without them. Just the thought of losing Bryan sent a jolt of utter panic through him. The memory of their three weeks apart was enough proof for him that he needed Bryan.
He drew them toward the ocean, the water calling them, so close. As long as you stay in contact with me, you can breathe. The water of the Atlantic was cool, perfect against his claws as he walked into the waves, keeping Bryan moving with him. You could ride my back.
I’m going to drown.
Don’t be ridiculous.
“Shut up!”
I won’t. I won’t be quiet and I won’t let you drown. I won’t lose you. I need you more than I need to breathe. More than I need to feel the water. He moved them deeper into the water, the waves getting stronger. They were no match for his strength.
Bryan sobbed softly, shaking his head, but he didn’t fight, didn’t struggle in Deke’s arms. So Deke kept walking them to the water until it was chest high. As his soul mate, Bryan would have an affinity to water, even if he didn’t know it. Of course, if a merperson had seduced Bryan’s brother, maybe the family had a gift, a call of their own. Maybe there was a bit of Fae blood somewhere among Bryan’s ancestors. He knew those mischievous spirits had it in them to mess with people.
The water splashed over them, becoming deeper as the tide came in. I have you, baby. You are mine.
“You’re going to drown me.”
Bryan’s words shocked him—he’d never hurt his soul mate. Never!
No! You can’t drown with me. The water was already over their heads at times. Climb onto my back and we can fly through the water.
Bryan shook his head, eyes huge, staring. He grazed Bryan’s cheek with his claws. Stubborn mate.
“My head is going to split.”
Stop fighting me.
He moved deeper into the water and rolled onto his back, riding the waves as he cradled Bryan against his belly.
The water held them, her chill embrace glorious, perfect in all ways. He purred and rumbled, his wings embracing his mate.
Please, he prayed. Please, mate. Wake up and be here with me. Now.
“I’m frightened. I’m either going to drown or they’re going to take me away again. I don’t want to go back to that place. I worked so hard to make them believe I wasn’t crazy. I can’t go back.”
His heart broke for his soul mate. Poor Bryan, having already gone through so much and then abandoned by his brother, and no one believing what he’d seen. They had done a good job convincing Bryan that things like mermen weren’t real, or Bryan wouldn’t be fighting his own senses so hard now.
I will keep you safe. Trust in me. He needed Bryan to believe in him, to believe in them both. He would never let anyone hurt Bryan like that again.
Bryan closed his eyes, and leaned into Deke’s throat. He stroked Bryan’s back carefully with a single claw, humming as they sank into the waves.
Isn’t it wonderful? He loved being able to play in the water.
I don’t understand this. Bryan’s eyelashes brushed his skin and he began to remove the wet clothes from his lover, using his claws to tear them apart.
You will if you stop thinking so hard. Deke had never met anyone so stubborn before.
He began to use his wings to propel them through the water, moving farther out, where the water was colder, darker. He wanted to roll and pull them both into the water, soar through the cold depths. He wanted Bryan on board for that. He wanted Bryan to hold on, to fly with him.
Fly with me, mate.
I don’t know how.
I roll and you climb onto my back and hold on. It was as simple as that.
Climb onto... He felt Bryan’s shock and it made him laugh.
The laughter bounced Bryan on his belly.
Bryan began to laugh, and if the sound was more than a little hysterical, he decided not to notice. He simply focused on the fact that it was laughter and it felt good dancing against his nerves.
Come try for me. Please. Just try.
For you. Impossible lover.
Thank you, baby. Nice and easy. He spread out his wing in the water and rolled slowly, holding Bryan on the wing, helping keep his lover above the water.
He could feel Bryan’s excitement battling the disbelief.
Bryan slipped into the water as he made the full turn, then climbed onto his back, hauling himself up.
Straddle me. Hold on.
“Don’t drop me.”
Don’t let go, he countered. And trust me.
With that, he dove into the water.