by Bobbie Rayne
Before I could reply, there was a loud thud on the door, and Davis’s voice came through mixed with his cackles. “Hey, maybe you two might want to warn the rest of us not to come home before you make that much noise. Zale just ran out of the house with his face all green trying not to puke.”
Panicked, I turned to Eeli who only giggled, kissed my shoulder, and laid his head back down and slept.
22
Eeli
“You ready for this?” I asked Christian after putting the car in park.
He glanced at me with a small shrug. “I don’t know yet. It’s weird coming back after”— he waved his hand around—“everything. You’ve been doing this the whole time?”
“It’s normal for me.”
“Isn’t it hard when you’re out saving people all night, then coming here and… it seems so boring and pointless.”
I reached over and grabbed his hand. “It’s not pointless. If I didn’t come to school, I wouldn’t know half the things I do because there’s no way my brothers would’ve been teaching me this stuff. And we only have a few weeks left.”
He sighed. “Okay.” Lifting my hand to kiss the back of it, he asked, “Can you ask Bo to tell Kite I appreciate him taking Kyla to school?”
“I’m pretty sure he knows already since you’ve thanked him about a million times., and she can still hear you when she’s in my tattoo.” I tugged on his hand, then released it and got out of the car. “Come on, Christian, we can’t be late for language arts.”
He got out, then walked around the car to grab my hand and thread our fingers together, then we walked into the school. I had a huge, goofy grin on my face, but I didn’t care. A few people looked at us and seemed surprised to see us together, but most people didn’t pay attention. When we got to our classroom, he kissed my cheek before I walked to the back of the room where my desk was.
Rachel sat beside me and did a double take before asking, “What’re you smiling so big about?”
A chuckle popped out. “Nothing, just staring at my boyfriend.”
“Who?” She sounded surprised, but I didn’t bother turning away from the awesome sight of my mate.
“Chr—Slash.”
“You’re dating Slash?” Her head was likely to explode.
“Yep. He’s amazing.”
She didn’t say anything for a long minute, but then she sighed. “I’m happy for you.”
That made me turn my gaze on her. “You are?”
She grinned. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile that much and we’ve only been here for a few minutes.”
“Oh… thanks.”
Her smile widened, but I turned my head to stare at Christian again.
I couldn’t tell you a single word the teacher said because I only had eyes for my mate. After the amazing night we’d had, all I wanted to do was curl up beside him and never leave his side.
Mate, Bo said.
Christian’s right there. He’s safe.
No, mate with him.
Oh. The mating ceremony?
Yes, Eeli. He’s ours and I want him.
I know you do. You think he’ll accept if I ask?
Yes, he’s ours.
I was glad she was so confident, but I was a little worried. A lot had changed for Christian in the past few weeks, and I didn’t want to pressure him into something he wasn’t ready for. But I couldn’t deny how strong the pull was to mate with him, how much I longed for that deeper connection to the one person fate had picked for me. To the one person I’d fallen for.
I love him, too, you know, Bo whispered.
I smiled to myself, and when Christian looked over his shoulder at me, my smile grew.
I’ll ask him soon.
After school, Christian and I found ourselves in the kitchen searching for something to snack on while we studied, but I kept getting distracted by his tasty lips. He had me up against the counter, hips pressed to mine, and arms on either side of me, pinning me there. And he kept kissing me. I wanted nothing more than to lose myself in him, but I couldn’t. I’d been slacking so much in the studying department lately that I knew I had to study today.
I finally peeled my lips away from him, but he dragged his tongue down my neck, making me pant as I breathed out, “Gotta stop.”
“Why?” His breath was hot against my skin and made my dick jump—which he obviously felt since we were rubbing against each other. I could feel how hard he was, and it was making my desire to study fade away quickly. I was about two seconds from dragging him to the bedroom.
“If I don’t ace the language arts test tomorrow, my grade won’t be high enough.”
He leaned back and turned his gaze on me. “High enough for what?”
I bit my lip. “Um… I might lose my spot; Rachel could beat me.”
“You mean for valedictorian?”
I nodded.
“You really want it that badly?” When I shrugged, he reached up to cup my cheek and asked, “Why does that matter so much to you?”
“I have to be the best.”
His brow furrowed, and his other hand came up so he was gently rubbing both cheeks. “Why? What’re you so worried about? No one will think any less of you if you’re not perfect, Aye.”
I shook my head. “That’s not true. My brothers need me to work hard; need me to be great at everything.”
He dropped his hands to my shoulders and considered me for a moment. “Why do you think that? From everything I see, they would love you no matter what. Hell, they accept me and my grades aren’t anywhere near yours.”
I shrugged, then sighed and admitted, “I overheard Az talking about it once.”
“What’d he say?”
“It was after our parents died and I… I was having some trouble with one of the forms he was teaching us, and I guess I was missing my mom and dad, you know?” He nodded, so I continued, “It was hard at first without them—I know you get it—and I was having trouble concentrating, so after Az released me from training, I started to run up to my room before I realized I left my water bottle in the arena, and the last time I did that, I got yelled at. So I went back down and heard Az and Kite talking about me. Az said something like, ‘He’s not getting it, and I don’t know what to do. He needs to train harder and be better—he needs to be better than the rest of us.’ Then Kite said, ‘Maybe he needs to concentrate and practice more.’ And Az replied, ‘He needs more practice than the rest of us. I need to get him to study harder, too. He needs to catch up.’ I ran away after that even though they kept talking.”
I shrugged and added, “Since then I’ve tried to be the best at everything they throw at me, but I almost always come in second. They’re all bigger and have been training longer than me since they’re older, so it’s really tough to beat them, you know? I can’t be the best at fighting because my brothers are just as good as I am, but… I can be the best at this. I’m good at studying, I’m good at school, and I want to be the best at something so Az has something to be proud of me for, you know?”
Christian ran his hands through my hair and over my cheeks. “Oh, Aye, Az is proud of you, I know he is.”
“No, he’s not.”
Before he could respond, a loud voice said from the doorway, “He’s right, Eeli.”
I jumped and turned toward my oldest brother with wide eyes.
Az walked in and Christian moved to the side of me as my brother stood before me, saying, “Is that really what you think?”
I shrugged and looked at the floor.
“Eeli,” my brother whispered. “I’ve been proud of you your whole life. You’ve always worked so hard and you’ve accomplished amazing things at such a young age.”
I tilted my head to meet his eyes. “I heard what you said, Az.”
He shook his head. “Are you talking about when we first moved here?” I nodded and he sighed. “Eeli, I was terrified when we moved here. I was overwhelmed with responsibility and so incredibly scared something was going to happen to you, Za
le, and Malachite. I was in over my head, but I remember telling Malachite that I was scared for you more than anyone else.”
“Why?” My voice sounded small.
“Because you’re the youngest, you had the least amount of time with Mom and Dad, and your… everything—your training, education, your childhood—it was all left up to me. Malachite and Zale were a little older, but you were so young and so tiny—no offense.” He nudged me, forcing a very tiny smile to come out before he continued, “Being the youngest in a dragon rider family has always put that person at risk, being the youngest in a family whose parents were hunted and killed made you even more vulnerable.” He put his hand on my shoulder. “I’m so sorry you heard me saying those things and that I made you feel like you weren’t doing enough. That wasn’t about you, I mean, it was, but it wasn’t. It was more about me being worried I wouldn’t be able to train you and keep you safe.”
I nodded, and even though everything he was saying made sense, it didn’t really make me feel any better.
Azaran sighed and ran a hand through his long hair before catching me in his gaze again. “I’m proud of you, Eeli. I would be proud of you no matter what; no matter whether you failed every damn class you took or you passed with flying colors. I love you—unconditionally. And I’m so sorry if I ever made you think otherwise.”
Then he surprised me by pulling me into a tight embrace.
I hugged him back and felt my eyes get watery.
“I’m proud of you, we all are. And I have no doubt in my mind that Mom and Dad would be, too.” He squeezed me tighter. “You’re allowed to go out and have fun sometimes, little bro. You work hard, so you should play hard.”
I snorted out a laugh at that.
He released me after one more tight squeeze. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, Az. And… thank you for that.”
He nodded and patted my shoulder.
With a deep breath, I searched the kitchen for Christian, then walked out and found him in the living room. He smiled at me and said, “I thought you two might need some privacy.”
“Thanks.” I sent him a smile, and he opened his arms up, so I crawled onto his lap, resting my head on his shoulder. “Sing me a song… please?”
“Sure.” He kissed my forehead, then sang a beautiful song as I closed my eyes and soaked him up, letting his song and Az’s words comfort me in a way I wasn’t used to.
“Hey, babe, you ready?” Christian called out from the bathroom.
“Yep, I’m coming,” I called back. It’d been a few weeks since we’d gone back to school—we were getting ready to graduate next week—and I wanted to do something special for my mate. We’d been so busy finishing up our finals and me going on missions to fight off wraiths that we hadn’t had much time to spend together. We’d only snuck down to our spot a handful of times, and I was ready for some alone time with my mate.
Plus, I had a very important question to ask him. And I wanted to show him how much he meant to me.
Christian grinned when he walked out of the bathroom and found me wearing a light blue dress shirt and slacks, so I looked a lot nicer than I usually did. Christian was wearing a black button up with silver buttons and black pants I was pretty sure were painted on—please turn around so I can see your ass in those—and some black boots. It was almost typical Christian fashion, but a little more dressed up, and a lot sexy.
He looked down at himself and brushed a hand over his shirt. “Is this okay? I don’t really have anything—”
“You’re perfect.” He blinked those hazel eyes at me, so I smiled at him and said, “You look great, Christian.”
“Thank you. So do you.”
“Thanks.” I walked over and grabbed his hand, pulling him out of our room. “Let’s go so we’re not late for our reservation.”
“Is Bo taking us?”
“I was going to drive, but I’m sure she wouldn’t mind flying us, if you want. It might mess up our clothes, though.”
“Hmm… okay, let’s drive, but…” he trailed off and stepped behind me, grabbed my hips, and nuzzled my neck, then ran his tongue up to my ear and whispered, “She might have to bring us back fast because I don’t know how long I can stand looking at you without peeling your clothes off.”
I shivered and held in a moan.
“Oh god, nope,” Zale’s voice came from down the hall, and I saw my brother put his hand over his eyes. “Nope, Davis, we have to go… somewhere else, anywhere else.”
“What’re you talking about?” Davis came around the corner into the hallway. “Oh. Aren’t you two horndogs supposed to be going out tonight? Why are you in the hallway?”
My face flushed, and I was sure Christian’s did as well, but I said, “You’re worse than we are. Get out of the way so we can leave.”
“Our room’s off the same hallway,” Zale said with a scowl.
Rolling my eyes at him, I grabbed my mate’s hand and pulled him past them, then out the door.
Bo came barreling through the hallway and shimmered before moving into my tattoo and saying, Tonight, right?
Yes.
Why so nervous, ma’cordhe?
What if he’s not ready?
He’s your mate.
Holding back a sigh, I walked out to my car with Christian beside me. It was only a few minutes’ drive to the restaurant, and once we were inside and seated at the table, Christian said, “It’s weird doing something normal.”
“Did you want to do something else?”
He shook his head. “Nope. I’m good with eating nice food with you. I was just saying that it’s weird since we haven’t really done anything normal yet.”
“I’m sorry I haven’t taken you on a date.”
“Aye, that’s not what I’m saying.” He smiled at me, making his hazel eyes sparkle. “We’ve been on plenty of dates if you count the times Bo has taken us flying.”
I nodded at him and sent him a smile back. As dinner progressed, I was surprised by how quiet Bo had been. It was nice being out with her and not having her trying to escape my arm every five seconds, but I guess I would get used to it; now that Christian was in our lives, she’d been calm and comfortable in her tattoo.
After dinner, I walked him to the car, leaned him against the side, and pressed my mouth to his. We made out for a few minutes before I whispered, “Can I take you to our spot?”
He nodded, grabbed my cheeks, and kissed me hard, then pushed my chest a little so I’d back up, which I did with a laugh.
Taking in the area and seeing no one else around, I released Bo from her tattoo. “Aroko.” She shimmered with a purple energy before us, already in warrior form, then I grabbed Christian’s hand and pulled him up on her back.
He held on tight as we flew, his wandering hands making me impatient to get there.
Once we landed on the beach, Bo shrunk to her wyrmling size, and the three of us made our way to our pond. Instead of stopping at the edge of the water, I led Christian up to the flat rock, and he gasped when he saw what I’d done.
“When did you do all this?” he whispered.
“Bo and I snuck out when you were in the shower.” I grinned at him as he looked at all the blankets and pillows I’d brought here earlier. I’d set them up like a big comfy bed so we could lie under the stars or look out over the water. I also had a basket full of drinks and snacks in case he wanted something. “There’s water and some food in the basket if you need anything.”
He pulled me close and immediately started unbuttoning my shirt without replying to me, not that I minded. I got to work on his shirt, and once we were both shirtless, I pressed our bodies together so I could feel his skin against mine as he kissed me senseless.
Eeli?
Hm? I was hardly paying her any attention.
Ask first.
Hm?
Eeli, ask him.
Oh, right. I broke our kiss and leaned back, but before I could speak, Christian jumped.
He found Bo rubbing against his leg, so he bent down and asked her, “You alright?”
Sit.
“She wants us to sit,” I said.
We sat as close as possible with our shoulders and thighs touching, and Bo climbed in Christian’s lap, then pulled something out of her pouch. For Christian, my ma’cordhe.
Christian took the large blue gem from her and asked, “Is this for me?”
She nodded her head, then pushed his hand with her snout, and I said, “She’s been searching for the perfect one to give you for weeks.”
He smiled at me, then pet Bo and said, “Thank you so much, Bo. This is beautiful. I love it. I can’t wait to find a place for it at home.”
The little dragon preened under his affections, then she licked his face a few times before hopping away and sitting down, staring at me. Your turn, Eeli.
I shot her a grin, then grabbed Christian’s hand and whispered, “I have something to ask you.”
Christian searched my eyes. “You can ask me anything.”
I bit my lip for a few seconds, then nodded to myself. “I was wondering if… if you’d do the mating ceremony with me?” Christian’s eyes went wide, so I rushed on, “I understand if you’re not ready yet; I’ll wait for however long you need, but I wanted you to know that I want to. Do the ceremony, that is. Whenever you’re ready. I mean.” I huffed in frustration with myself. “Christian, I love you. I fell in love with you the first time I brought you here, and I’ve been falling deeper in love every day since. I know we’re young and we haven’t been together that long, but I—”
He surged forward, pressing his lips hard against mine and knocking me back a little. Luckily, he wrapped his arms around me, so I didn’t fall over. Draping my arms over his shoulders, I leaned into the kiss as he pulled me tight against him, then mumbled against my lips, “Yes.”
I leaned back. “What?”
He grinned. “I want to do the mating ceremony with you.”
“You do?”
He laughed. “Yes, Aye, I want to.”
“You’ll be permanently connected to me, for the rest of our lives. We can’t take it back once it’s done.”