Bound by Thorns (The Dragon Soul Series)

by Sean Michael

  “You ready for another encounter with my dragon side?” He made sure Grey was steady, then took a couple steps back.

  It took only a thought, his wings sprouting from his back, his body expanding, changing.

  Grey stared at him, shivering violently. “Hey, toothy wonder.”

  He snorted, the steam from his breath rising up in the air. Bending, he offered his leg for Grey to climb up. You can do this.

  “Okay. It’s cold, huh? And you’re stunning.”

  Thank you. Climb on and you’ll have my warmth.

  God, I hope so. “You got it.”

  Trust me. He snorted out more steam and waited patiently for Grey to climb up onto his back.

  Grey got up, shaking against him. What if I can’t do this? What if I can’t straddle him? What if I fuck this up?

  You can do this. You were made to do this. Lean in against my neck. Grey should warm soon.

  “Like this?” Grey leaned down against him, relaxing with a sigh.

  There, perfect. See?

  “Yes. Yes, you’re so warm.”

  Yes. For Grey. Are you ready to fly?

  Yes. “I guess so.”

  Hold on! He took a few steps and flapped his wings, letting them find the air and take them up over the trees.

  “Oh...” Grey held on tight.

  Yeah, oh. He chuffed happily, keeping them above the tops of the trees as he flew through the air.

  All of Grey’s worry faded, replaced by a wild fascination, an utter joy.

  Magic! You’re magic, Lukas-meine!

  He vocalized loudly. He was magic.

  Grey leaned down against him, warming his cold cheeks.

  Luke flew up into the sky, then came down, twisting as he did, doing acrobatics in the air. Yes, he was showing off for his soul mate.

  Grey laughed for him, praising him.

  He loved flying, but Grey’s added joy made everything even better.

  It felt delicious, the weight of his soul mate on his back. He flew all the way to the treeline, to where the ground stayed frozen. He dipped down to fly right above the snow, rushing along.

  Finally, he turned back, headed toward the forest, toward home. He didn’t want to push Grey too far. Not on his first flight.

  What would happen if I let go? Would I fall?

  I won’t let you fall. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.

  I hear you, all deep inside me. I hear you.

  I know. It’s a good thing.

  They got closer to home and he slowed, circling down toward the treetops, and Grey sighed.

  “This was amazing, Luke.”

  This is yours. He settled his feet on the ground and folded his wings back around Grey.

  Grey hugged him tight, held on to him. He shifted back into a man, Grey now clinging to his back. Putting his hand on Grey’s arm, he kept his boy in place and went inside into the warmth.

  “Are you tired? That had to be hard.”

  “Just hungry. It’s easy to be my dragon. Even easier with you here.” He felt like he could take on the world.

  “You want some brownie? Some ice cream?”

  Luke’s stomach growled loudly. Well, he couldn’t deny that, could he? “Yes, in fact I do.”

  “I’ll get it.”

  “No, I can do it.” He wanted Grey to get properly warm again after their adventure.

  “Hush. Just chill.”

  “Did you just hush me, Pet?”

  “Yep.” Grey headed toward the kitchen.

  He blinked a few times, a little stunned. Then he followed Grey, unconcerned that he was still naked. It was warm enough in here. “Nobody hushes me.”

  “I just did.”

  Bad pet.

  “Nobody hushes me,” he repeated, stepping up behind Grey and pressing against the long, still too lean body.

  “Shh. Be good. Have a brownie.”

  “I’d rather have you.” Luke nibbled at Grey’s neck, the only place he could find skin.

  He felt the sudden, sweet flare of arousal. He hummed, hands gliding along Grey’s belly.

  “I was going to feed you.”

  “You still can.” He nibbled at Grey’s neck some more and pulled up the T-shirt so he could stroke those abs skin on skin.

  “After you eat. I want to make sure you’re fed.”

  “I like having someone to look after me. I’m going to get spoiled.” He didn’t stop touching.

  “I have to pull my weight.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Just what I said. I’ll have to look up how to cook a chicken.”

  “You know you don’t ever have to do anything around the house. It’s not a requirement of staying here or anything like that.”

  I want to be worth something to you. “I know that.”

  “You’re worth everything to me. Everything.”

  “Thank you.” Grey reached for him, cupped his jaw.

  Humming, he leaned in to the touch, nuzzled into it, and sighed. His mate. It was a good feeling, having someone looking out for him, caring for him.

  “I’ve got you. You’ve worked hard. Rest.”

  “Okay. I can rest here. With you.” He breathed in, enjoying Grey’s scent, and then he drew Grey into his arms and held on, rocking him.

  He didn’t want to spend the rest of eternity with Grey feeling like he had to work to be worth anything to Luke. Grey was the most precious person alive. Grey was the one who completed him.

  It didn’t take Grey long at all to put what was left of the brownies on a plate for him and add two scoops of ice cream. Good man. Grey was already understanding that his food needs were not your average person’s.

  “Take the bowl to the couch and we’ll eat it together. I’m gonna grab a couple of chickens from the freezer to thaw so we can cook them.”

  “I can do it.”

  “Sure.” He could indulge Grey’s need to cater to him—he understood the imperative to care for his soul mate. “The chickens are in the big chest freezer on the right of the door in the storeroom. You could pull a dessert out of the little chest freezer next to it, too, if you wanted.” Luckily, he always stocked more than he thought he would need, in case. It was why he had so many freezers.

  “Okay. Eat. I’ll be back.” Grey grabbed one crutch and disappeared into the kitchen, thoughts buzzing softly.

  Soon Grey wouldn’t need the crutch at all, and he suspected that it was currently in use only because Grey wasn’t ready to let it go yet. It would take time for him to trust in the changes. In the healing.

  He was quite hungry, so he went ahead and took a mouthful, enjoying the cold and the chocolate together in his mouth. Really, they’d taste better in Grey’s mouth. The thought made him chuckle slightly. Grey put him in a good mood.

  He’d eaten all the brownie before Grey came out of the kitchen. Luke frowned. What was his pet doing? He could hear a buzz of thought, but that was all.

  “Did you have trouble finding the chickens?” There were a ton of them, filling a third of the freezer they were in, all the way to the bottom. They should have been easy to find.

  “Hmm?”

  “What took you so long?” he asked instead. Was there something wrong with his pet? Grey.

  He could feel the pleasure that answered him. “I was looking at the cookbooks.”

  “You don’t have to go to any trouble, you know. I’d be happy with having them thrown in the oven for an hour or two.” He gave Grey a toothy grin. “I’d be willing to eat them raw, even. Or I could always fire them up myself.”

  “Raw chicken is bad for you, but it’s handy to have my own personal grill.”

  “Raw chicken might be bad for h
umans, but it won’t make me sick. And you’ve got dragon in you now—you’ll not get sick from it, either. It tastes better cooked, though.” He’d totally concede that.

  “There is absolutely no raw meat in my future, man.”

  Luke chuckled at the adamant tone. “You sound very sure of that.” He grabbed hold of Grey and tugged the man into his lap.

  “I am.” Grey chuckled. “How was your brownie?”

  “Good. Help me finish the ice cream?” He scooped up a spoonful and brought it to Grey’s lips. As soon as Grey had taken it in, he pounced, licking his way into Grey’s mouth to share the sweet.

  Greedy! The word was followed by warm mental laughter.

  For you, yes. The ice cream he could take or leave. Grey was special, though, and he would always want more.

  Grey smiled for him, then moved to lean close, cheek on his shoulder.

  “So you’re going to learn to cook for me? You don’t have to do all the cooking. I can sear meat. And unlike many of my brothers, I don’t mind having fresh vegetables with my meals.” Some of them thought vegetables were akin to poison. He liked things that came out of the ground. Especially root vegetables. His stomach growled at the thought.

  “Are you still hungry? I’ll go get you the rest of the brownies.” Grey stood, a little wince crossing his face. “You want more ice cream?”

  “This was the rest of the brownies, remember? And I can wait until the chicken is ready.” He rubbed his hand along Grey’s bad leg, hating that his pet hurt. “It’s time for your massage. I bet everything’s a little sore from flying, isn’t it?”

  “I’m fine. Really. The chicken is really frozen. I’ll go work on defrosting it.” Grey’s thoughts were suddenly a jumble, worried and unhappy.

  “The chicken can wait. There’s stuff in the freezer that cooks up from frozen. We’ll eat that and let the chicken thaw overnight. Cook it tomorrow.” He would have to remember to take stuff out of the freezer the day before. Especially if Grey wouldn’t eat anything raw. He assumed raw but frozen was still a no-go. In the meantime, something was bothering Grey and by extension, that meant something was bothering him. He got up and nudged Grey. “Lie down so I can give you your massage and you can tell me what’s bothering you.”

  “I’m fine.”

  Luke snorted. “You can pretend all you want—I know something is up—I can feel it. And we have the rest of eternity for me to ferret it out of you. I don’t think you’re that stubborn, though, so tell me already.”

  “I’m tired.” And hungry. And worried. And I need a hug.

  Growling, he drew Grey into his arms and held on. He would totally heat up a couple boxes of chicken fingers, then massage Grey until he’d melted and was asleep. “I can help with all of those but the worry, because I don’t know what you’re worried about. That you have to tell me. And you do have to tell me.”

  “You’re amazing. How do I...how can I even give you anything you want? You need?”

  “Of course I’m amazing. I’m a dragon. You, on the other hand, are amazing without being a dragon. You’re my soul mate. You complete me. No one can compare to that. You make me laugh. I see you and everything inside me takes notice. You’re better than a roomful of anyone else. I’m boring. You’re extraordinary.” Besides, it wasn’t a competition.

  Grey chuckled. “Right.”

  He hugged Grey tighter, as if he could push his own belief right into his soul mate. “It’s the truth.”

  Grey let him hold on, and slowly he could feel his pet beginning to doze. Standing right there in his arms. Whether Grey believed it or not, at least he trusted Luke enough.

  Humming, he lifted Grey and carefully laid him on his belly on the couch. Then he slowly massaged him, working to ease those poor muscles, ease Grey down deeper and deeper.

  When he got to Grey’s injured leg, Grey whimpered in his sleep, but Luke was careful, starting gently and slowly working his way up to really digging in. Grey sighed and settled, sinking into the couch like he was a part of it now.

  The scars that marred the tattoo were fading. He couldn’t make it out completely yet, but there was definitely more of the crest visible than there had been. He rubbed it a few times, humming with the tingles that he felt. The tingles that had Grey moaning, his lips curved into a smile.

  There was the promise of eternity in the touches, and the promise that said eternity would be incredible in Grey’s smile.

  Chapter Nine

  “I fell asleep.” God, he had to stop that shit.

  He’d fallen asleep and somehow wound up sacked out on the sofa, his head on Luke’s lap. And something smelled really good.

  Luke stroked his hair from his face. “Yep. You did. You needed a nap. You’ll sleep a lot over the next while, I’m sure.”

  “I’m sorry, man. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” Except he did. He was changing. But if that was it, he needed to be stronger.

  “I do. You’re changing. And it’s going to take lots of sleep, lots of food, and lots of loving. Just go with the flow. Trust me, if anything’s going on that shouldn’t be or I’m not happy with you, you’ll know. I can be a little...brusque.”

  “I’ll do my best to be acceptable.” He didn’t want to lose Luke, not yet. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that Luke would change his mind. He was a broken-down soldier. He’d never done anything but be a grunt. Luke was magical.

  Luke growled, the sound low and deep and moving through him in a shiver. “You’re not ‘acceptable’. You are so much more than that. Stop putting yourself down! If I have to spank some sense into you, I will.”

  “Oh, stop it.” He didn’t need idle threats.

  “Only if you stop putting yourself down. You’re mine. I will take you as you are and I will be glad of it.” Luke glared, holding his gaze.

  “Am I supposed to be intimidated?” He didn’t intimidate easily and for all his gruffness, Luke was really a teddy bear of a dragon.

  “You’re supposed to listen to me and to believe me.”

  “I’m listening.” He wanted to believe that he could be what Luke needed.

  “The other half of that was equally important,” Luke noted. He took a breath and pressed a kiss on Greyson’s mouth. “It hurts me to see you think less of yourself.”

  “I want to be—” Whole. Needed. Necessary. Good. “—right.”

  “You are! All those things. Okay, maybe not whole yet.” Luke stroked his leg, which was currently only throbbing the tiniest bit, almost too little to notice. “But that’s coming. Trust me, you are both needed and necessary. Right to my soul.”

  “Okay. Do you want food?” He did, but he didn’t want to be all grr-arg about it.

  “I do. There are ribs in the oven. I had a bunch frozen that only needed to be sauced and heated up. The chickens will be thawed by tomorrow.” Luke headed to the kitchen. “I even made french fries in the deep fryer. You want ketchup?”

  “I could cook for you.” Not ribs. But... God, he wanted to pull his weight around here, not be waited on hand and foot by Luke.

  “There are ribs and french fries both ready to eat and keeping warm in the oven. You can make something for dessert and I’ll totally let you cook those chickens tomorrow. But we both need to eat sooner than later, so let’s go with what’s already made.”

  “Okay. Sure.” He needed to read deeper in those cookbooks. It had never occurred to him that cooking could be anything but a chore.

  “I can always show you how to make stuff, too. I’ve had a long time to experiment.” Luke put on a pair of oven mitts and tugged out two big plates, one with ribs slathered in sauce and the other with a mound of french fries.

  He nodded, feeling utterly overwhelmed for a second—the smell of food like a deluge. How could he be so hungry it nearly froze hi
m to the spot? They’d had an enormous breakfast, snacks, lunch...

  Luke put the plates on the table, along with some salt and ketchup, several napkins, and two heavy glass mugs. “You drink beer?”

  “I was in the service, Luke. I drink beer.”

  Luke chuckled and put a couple of cold bottles on the table next to their glasses. “There, food and drink. And if you want anything strange on your french fries, let me know. We’ll likely have it somewhere here.”

  “Thank you. No. No, I’m easy.”

  “I used to think even ketchup was wrong on french fries. But I’ve come around in the last twenty years or so.”

  He chuckled. Twenty years ago he was in grade school. It was hard to come to grips with how old Luke was. He looked like he was in his early thirties.

  “Are you laughing at the old man?” Luke asked, eyes twinkling.

  “No. No, not at all. Ketchup is a great thing. It covers up a multitude of sins—trust me, I know.”

  “It’s okay. In the appropriate places.”

  “On fries.”

  “Exactly.” Luke grabbed a bunch of napkins. “Ribs are messy.”

  “They smell good, though.” And he hurt, he was so empty.

  “Eat.” Luke pushed him into the chair and pushed the plate toward him. “Eat,” Luke said again, out loud and in his head, too.

  “I’m sorry. I’m so empty.” He said it out loud this time.

  “I know. Just eat. Until you’re full. And you can always take anything you want from the fridge or the freezer. Don’t feel like you’re a guest here. This is your home now, too.”

  He didn’t argue, just dug in because if he didn’t he was going to scream. The ribs were amazing, although that might have been the hunger talking. He feasted, licking the sauce off his fingers. Luke ate, too, matching him rib for rib and lick for lick. His stomach felt a little better after his eighth massive rib, and Luke took his hand, bringing it to his mouth and licking, sucking the sauce from his skin.

  His eyes crossed, a buzz filling him as Luke’s tongue dragged over him.

  “Mmm. As one hunger is sated, another wakes.” Luke sucked his thumb in, nibbling on the tip.