Chapter Sixteen
Deke didn’t speed as he made his way home. He really didn’t want to get pulled over while driving utterly naked. At least he’d had the blanket for Bryan. He smiled at his sleeping lover, who was snoring next to him.
Loving his soul mate made every other relationship he’d had pale in comparison. Every time he’d thought he felt love, every single lustful feeling he had, none of it could hold a candle to this. Even if you added them altogether against this, it couldn’t match it. Jake had never said exactly how amazing it was.
He turned onto the street where Bryan lived, then into the drive, pulling right up to the garage. If that hadn’t been where Bryan kept his workout equipment, he’d have been able to pull right in and avoid having to do any naked dashing into the house. He hoped it was early enough there wouldn’t be any neighbors to catch him at it.
As he turned off the engine, he saw Jake and Shae heading toward him. Damn it. They needed eating, fucking and napping, not discussions with his brother and his brother’s mate. Sure, that was going to be helpful, but not right this second.
He leaned out and called to them. “Get me a robe or a pair of sweats or something.” If he was going to have to deal with them, at least he could avoid the naked dash altogether. He didn’t really care, but he knew Bryan did.
“Seriously? You have impulse control issues, baby brother.”
“Fuck you, Jake. I had to convince my mate that neither of us was insane and that I really am a dragon.” And despite sharing the most amazing sea and air flight together, he still wasn’t sure that Bryan was convinced.
“Ah, I remember those days.” Jake pulled Shae in close and kissed him right there in the middle of the driveway.
“Hello? Are you going to help me out here or do I flash the entire neighborhood?”
“I’ll go grab a pair of your sweats, honey.” Shae headed off, bouncing away.
“Thanks,” he called after Shae. “He’s got better manners than you do, brother.”
“No shit.” Jake lowered his voice. “How did he do?”
Deke sighed. “I don’t know. Not great. Did you know his brother was seduced by a merman? And Bryan saw it, but they put him away when he told them that’s what happened. I wish I’d known.” He didn’t know if he’d have approached things differently if he had—this was a hard sell no matter what the circumstances, but a heads-up would have been helpful.
“No shit? Huh. That can skew your world view. Does he think he’s crazy?”
“Dead.”
“Wow. That’s impressive.”
“I know! I mean... No, I don’t know what I mean. I’ve never done this before. I know you have, but I do believe your experience was way easier.” Deke looked over at his boy, Bryan still sleeping. Yeah, it wasn’t easy—it was strange and weird and awkward and he wasn’t sure how he was going to bring Bryan around—but he wouldn’t change Bryan for anything.
“Hell, Shae thought he was crazy. Your boy didn’t even worry about his own brain. I’m impressed. Give yourself a month to secure the bond. You two didn’t get to...you know our peculiar requirements.”
“No, my leaving for three weeks so soon after starting the bond certainly complicated everything.” He knew that. Even if he hadn’t realized he’d initiated the bond already. It was a poor defense, but the only one he had. If he’d been paying attention, he would have realized things had begun the moment Bryan had first swallowed his seed.
Shae came back with a pair of his sweats, and he was thankful Shae and Bryan were close enough to have keys to each other’s places.
“Thanks.” He grabbed them and started putting them on, swearing when he banged his chin against the wheel and then his knee against the dashboard.
“I assume you’re going to carry Sleeping Beauty there?”
“I will be carrying my soul mate, yes.”
He got out and went around to the other side of the car, gathering Bryan to him without doing too much damage to himself, and closed the car door with his hip.
“Are you guys coming in?”
“Do you want us to?” Jake grinned at him. “Or do you want to fill your soul mate with your seed and nap?”
“The second one. I’m sure Bryan will give you a call, Shae, when he’s ready to freak out at you about it.” He strode to the deck out back. They could sit on a deck chair by the pool until Bryan woke up.
He could outstubborn Bryan. Of that he had no doubt. Not only because it was in his nature, but because he knew what was at stake here.
Oh. Steak. His stomach rumbled loudly. He was going to have to feed them both and fairly soon at that. Flying was hungry work.
He went up and unlocked the back door using the key he’d found under a fake rock, then propped it open with a deck chair before going back and hauling Bryan up against his chest. He carried his boy into the kitchen. He didn’t want to leave Bryan outside while he was inside, not just because he didn’t really want to be apart from his mate, but also because he had that growly, possessive thing going on. While he knew in his head that Bryan would have been fine, his instincts were screaming protect.
Bryan slept through it all, refusing to even try to open his eyes.
Deke suspected that the scent of cooking meat might be more than Bryan could resist, though. His boy had to be as hungry as he was, perhaps even hungrier, as the bond was working on Bryan, changing his very physiology.
Bryan was becoming, growing, his metabolism and universe altering. It was hard fucking work.
Deke prepped porterhouses and potatoes, got them on the grill. His stomach rumbled loudly and he told it to behave. The food would be ready soon enough. In the meantime, he went back to the kitchen, loath to be even that far away from Bryan.
Bryan was standing in front of the fridge, drinking milk from the jug.
Deke had to grin—hunger would pull Bryan out of sleep every time. “Hey, baby. Good call on the milk. I’ve got steak and baked potatoes going on the grill.”
“I was thirsty.” Bryan licked his lips clean.
Groaning, Deke moved to his mate and his tongue followed the path Bryan’s had taken. “Fuck, you taste good.”
“Are we fighting?”
Deke blinked, startled by the question. “Do you want to fight with me?”
Bryan tilted his head like he was trying to decide. “No. No, I don’t. I want you to hold me.”
He planted his feet and opened his arms. “I’m right here, baby.”
It felt so good to have Bryan’s solid body press in close, snuggle into him like he was the only thing on earth Bryan needed. It was only fair, given that Bryan was the only thing he needed.
He wrapped his arms around Bryan, holding his baby before taking a kiss, sliding his tongue into Bryan’s mouth. His baby boy.
The kiss ended and Bryan wrinkled his nose. “I gotta get a shower.”
“After we eat.”
Bryan’s stomach rumbled and snarled.
“See? I know what you need.” Deke took another kiss and held his boy close. “It’ll be ready in a few minutes.”
“I feel like I’m in some weird dream,” Bryan admitted.
“We kind of are. The kind where you find your soul mate and get to spend the rest of time with them.”
“That would be a weird dream.”
“Not that weird. It’s where we are!” Silly man.
Bryan looked into his eyes, holding his gaze. “It was real, huh? The whole dragon thing?”
“It was totally real. The question is do you believe it?”
Bryan pursed his lips, then shook his head. “Not even a little bit.”
That made him growl. “Tell me you’re joking.” He was going to kick Bryan’s ass if they were back to “dragons aren’t real.”
Bryan’s jaw set stubbornly and his eyes narrowed. “I don’t intend to ever let anyone put me away again. I bet the steaks are ready.”
“They’ll wait for a moment. You have to know this first. I’m not going to let anything hurt you. No one and nothing.” He would protect Bryan from absolutely everything. No matter what. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.” Short, succinct and firm.
Deke didn’t know what to do. How could Bryan continue to disbelieve his own eyes? What was he going to do to convince Bryan of the truth? Surely their bond should be helping here. Could he have ruined them, leaving the way he had? Keeping them apart after the bond had already been initiated?
“You can’t tell me that I’m not real and that you think you’re dead because they put you away the last time you believed something was real...” Deke sighed. Introspection and being delicate or careful about things were not in the least his forte. “Tell me what happened.”
Bryan stared up for a long moment, searching Deke’s face. He must have found what he was looking for there, because he sighed, then looked away and started talking.
“After my brother left the foster home, my foster parents would let him come along if we were doing stuff like going to the beach. They weren’t awful people, just strict and religious and... Anyway. They thought it would be okay if I saw my brother under their supervision.
“One summer, when I was twelve, we all went out to the beach and he took me off down the beach with him, far enough that we couldn’t see my foster family anymore. I remember thinking, for a moment, that he was going to take me away with him, but that wasn’t it. He explained that he had found someone and he wasn’t coming back. He hugged me and told me that he loved me, then he swam out into the ocean and disappeared. He didn’t fight it or anything. I thought I saw someone, a man, wrap my brother in his arms and take him down into the ocean. I was still staring and crying, asking him to come back and take me with him when my foster father found me.”
Deke held Bryan tighter, heart breaking for his soul mate’s twelve-year-old self.
“Everyone said that he’d killed himself and when I kept insisting that he’d gone off with an ocean man—a merman—they locked me up until I realized that I’d made it up so that his suicide wouldn’t be so hard on me. Now you’re saying mermen are real and he’s alive—I was right. So, I... I have to take some time to understand all this. This isn’t normal. I live a normal life with boring things. I nap, I snack, I work on cars.”
“And now you can add make love to your soul mate who is a dragon to that list,” Deke suggested, offering Bryan a playful smile.
“Right. That’s totally a thing. Soul mates. Dragons. Lists.”
He wanted to shake Bryan and make his soul mate believe. This was a wonderful thing. What he’d been through was awful, but now something amazing was trying to come into Bryan’s life. “Don’t dismiss the good things happening now because you were treated badly before.”
“I didn’t think I was.” Bryan stepped away, a soft growl of his own sounding. “Come on. I’m hungry and then I want that shower.”
Deke shook his head. What was he going to do with his mate? What more could he do than to turn into a dragon in front of the man and fly him through sea and sky? At least now much of Bryan’s behavior made sense. If you couldn’t believe your own eyes and were locked up because of what you believed you saw... He wanted to go find the people who had hurt his mate and show them how real things could be.
Bryan headed out and served up the food, offering him a plate with hands that trembled violently. If they didn’t need to eat so badly, he would have dragged Bryan off and made love to him until he forgot his own name and then held him for days.
Bryan ate a few bites, then pushed the food away. “I’m not hungry.”
“You have to eat.”
“I’m not hungry, I said.”
“You have to eat.” He growled and cut a piece of potato off, putting it up to Bryan’s mouth. Not eating would only make things harder for Bryan and he wanted this to be easy, joyful, wanton and fun.
“I said no.” Bryan pushed at him, eyes flashing.
“So, you’re going to starve yourself because you’re annoyed or mad at me?” He forced himself to take a deep breath, and then another—it wasn’t Bryan he was mad at.
“Fuck you. I’m not starving myself.”
He made himself answer calmly. “I know you’re hungry. I know you should be devouring that steak like you haven’t eaten in a month.” They were fucking bonding. Fucking soul mates. This was supposed to be a magical time, damn it.
“Well I’m sorry I’m such a motherfucking disappointment, you prick!” Bryan stood, the chair going flying into the pool.
Bryan stormed off, slamming and locking the door behind him. Deke stared, then grinned. Bryan had heard him. He hadn’t been deliberately sending Bryan his thoughts and still his baby had heard him. That was the strength of their bond already, despite everything.
I love you, my stubborn baby.
Bryan’s moan leaked through the bond.
I love you, and I want to make love to you and hold you and fly with you and make you feel such joy.
He ate another bite of steak, moaning at the flavor. One of them had to keep their strength up and if Bryan wouldn’t do it, he’d have to do it for both of them.
Besides, Bryan was listening. Bryan heard him.
I’m going to love on you until I’m the only thing you know.
He ate half his potato, letting the starch help fill him.
There’s a steak here, waiting for you.
“Shut up!” Bryan was in the bedroom, right there by the window, watching him.
He smiled and ate another large bite of steak.
It’s so damn good. Filling that hole in my belly. It could fill yours, too. He wasn’t even trying to play fair here.
“Fuck you!”
No, baby. You want my cock. You want things that scare you, too, I bet. You know, now that we’re bonding, I’ll be able to ferret those secrets out. Every last one of them. It was going to be glorious. They were going to have an amazing life together. As soon as his stubborn baby let them go for it.
I’m going to turn you inside out. It was a promise.
You already have.
Then let me in and turn you outside in again.
He knew Bryan wanted to. He knew Bryan felt their call, strong and steady. His darling mate had to give in to him, meet him halfway.
He finished his steak and turned to meet Bryan’s gaze through the window. Those dark eyes watched him like a hawk. He got up from the table and walked toward his baby, boring into his boy’s soul with his eyes.
Beautiful man. Bryan’s thought was like a balm.
Yours, baby. Every single fucking inch of him and for the rest of time. Let me in. I’ll feed you, love you. I’ll make it better.
I’m not sure I believe you. I’m still not sure you’re even real.
I fucking swear I am. We are. He would stay steadfast. He would be here for Bryan no matter how long it took his boy to accept every part of him.
Bryan stepped away from the window, and Deke went to grab Bryan’s plate, hoping the movement meant that Bryan was coming to him. Sure enough, when he turned around, the door was open, waiting for him.
He went in, grabbing new utensils, then heading toward the bed, following his heart to lead him to his baby.
Bryan was in bed, watching him, staring at him. He stalked over there and climbed on, sitting beside his mate. “Food first. I don’t want you fainting while I’m making love to you.”
He cut a bite, stroked the corner of Bryan’s lips. Open for me, baby.
Butthead. Bryan opened up, ate the bite.
Takes one to know one. He grinned as he offered Bryan another bite.
Bryan turned a warm red, but ate that mouthful, too. And then the next one and the one after that. All in all, he got half the steak and some of the potato into Bryan. He was sure that assuaging Bryan’s hunger was helping, but he liked to think his presence had something to do with it.
The more time passed, the closer Bryan scooted... By the time he put the plate on the side table, Bryan was in his lap. Fucking perfect.
He stroked along Bryan’s spine, petting in long, slow strokes. He held Bryan’s gaze as he touched, keeping the focus right there. Eye to eye, skin to skin, they were becoming more and more in sync.
Bryan was still scented with sea water, was still right there with him. Groaning, he finally made his move, bringing their lips together, and Bryan opened right up for him. He slid his hands along Bryan’s back, right down to that wonderful ass, which he grabbed and squeezed.
I have you now. It will get better. I swear to you.
He let his words sink in as he continued to kiss Bryan, as he stole his mate’s very breath.
Bryan reached up, fingers tangling behind his neck. He fell back, bringing Bryan down with him so his boy lay on top of him. Bryan’s weight was so welcome. More welcome was the soft hum of Bryan’s thoughts.
He cradled Bryan’s body, rocking them together. Bryan’s kiss was lazy, almost sloppy. He knew his boy had to get more sleep, but Bryan needed this more, needed this first. Needed connection and joining. Needed to have his seed deep inside.
Gonna show you that I’ll always take care of you. He rolled them, putting Bryan beneath him and rubbing all up along his baby’s muscled body.
“I don’t need anyone to take care of me.” Stubborn boy. There was loneliness in those words, though, that broke his heart.
“No, but I want to whether you want me to or not. It’s my privilege and my joy.”
He tugged Bryan in close and planted another kiss on his lips. Enough talking. More doing. They would figure this shit out or die trying. And he wasn’t planning on dying anytime soon. Or at all, really. No one was dead. He pushed the thought into Bryan. No one is dead.
He deepened the kiss, pouring himself into it, into Bryan. His soul mate opened up, took it, took him, gaze holding his. Groaning, he rolled Bryan onto his back, rocking their bodies together. Bryan wrapped long legs around him and tugged him in closer. This was what they needed to be doing. This was what they were meant for. Especially this early in the bonding. They had to connect on all levels.
Bryan required his strength, his presence, his magic. And he required his soul mate. He would be lost without Bryan, a ship without his anchor, lost and forever searching for home.
He grabbed the lube and slicked up his fingers, holding Bryan’s gaze the whole time. Once he had them good and slick, he pushed two fingers inside. The tight heat gripping at him immediately was a sign that Bryan needed this, even if he didn’t believe. He growled deep in his chest, the desire to care for Bryan, to make this good and convince Bryan of the truth was huge. Hell, it was everything.
He laid himself bare for Bryan. “Fuck, I want you. I want you so badly, I ache for you.”
Bryan reached up and touched his cheek. “I need you so much it literally hurts.”
He groaned and pressed their foreheads together. I’ll fix you, I promise. This was all his fault, but he would make it better.
Pulling his fingers out, he slicked up three this time, then slipped them into Bryan’s body. He worked them in gently, and began fingerfucking, looking for Bryan to catch his rhythm and return it. It was only moments before it happened, and Bryan began rocking to keep his fingers in for longer, gasping softly.
Pulling his fingers out, he used them to rub lube onto his cock, then he pushed right into the wonderful heat of his boy’s body.
“You’re here. We’re real.” He groaned the words, his world dependent on this man.
He began to push in, filling Bryan up over and over, feeling the pleasure build between them. The ring of muscles squeezed him like a circle of fingers. It was fucking perfect and he pushed and thrust, taking Bryan like a madman.
Need you. Need you. Need you. The words pushed into his mind and Bryan’s thoughts made his eyes cross.
Yours. Here. Love. He pushed Bryan’s legs up, rolling his ass so Deke could thrust in even deeper.
“Deacon-meine.”
Yes. Fucking yes. He roared, slamming in now, not able to be gentle or slow or careful, the power of their bonding too big for any of that.
Bryan cried out, his voice adding to Deke’s, roar mingling with his.
Fuck yes! It was a deeper joining than any they’d ever had. He felt a loosening around his heart, like a metal band had released, allowing him to breathe.
My heart. My soul.
He met Bryan’s gaze, holding it as he sent them both flying.
Yours. Yours. Bryan’s thoughts were louder inside him than the word his boy spoke out loud, “Soon.”
“Yes. Come for me.” He grabbed hold of Bryan’s erection, tugging hard. “Soon we’ll begin to play.”
“Begin to—? Deke!” Seed sprayed over his fingers, Bryan’s ass holding him like a vise.
“Yes!” He roared again, filling Bryan with his come.
He slumped down, covering Bryan with a soft sob. He pressed kisses over his baby’s face, one after the other, sloppy and wet and soft. He wanted to put the plug in, to make sure Bryan got the full benefit of his seed. He flailed his arm toward the side table, finding the little silver plug. He had to find the rest of his stash so they had a better variety.
“What are you doing?” Brian asked, trying to hold him close.
“I’m putting the plug in. It’s so little. I’ll find you a bigger one soon.”
Bryan tugged him close. “Shh. Sleep. We’ll work out the rest. Later.”
“We will. But you need this.” Maybe more than anyone else had. Maybe Bryan would believe he was real if he filled him with enough seed.
Deke worked the plug in after he withdrew from Bryan’s ass.
“It’s going to be okay, baby.” He made the promise, desperately hoping it was true, that he hadn’t broken things irreparably by separating them when they’d only just begun. He couldn’t help but think that Bryan’s disbelief was entirely his fault.