“I wish I could have met him,” Cyrus said quietly.
“He’d have loved you. He had a knack for finding good friends.”
“Is that all I am?” Cyrus said in a teasing tone. “A friend?”
“God I hope not,” Mark said, laughing.
Cyrus sipped his beer. “So how did work go today?”
Mark frowned. “Super busy. People are panicking about the dragons, even here in Prospect. We had a lot of people show up to get their blood drawn.” He held up his arm and pointed to his elbow. “I even had blood drawn for testing.”
“Why’d you do that?” Cyrus’s tone was sharper than Mark expected.
“Well, because. It seems like the right thing to do. Test, tattoo, show the world I’m not dangerous. Nobody has to fear me, because I’m human. It’s a public service.”
Cyrus’s mouth had closed to a thin line. Shit, Mark hadn’t meant to upset him. What if Cyrus was one of the people advocating for dragon rights? Mark didn’t understand. Cyrus knew where he was coming from on this.
Cyrus
Cyrus needed to get his emotions under control before he ruined his date with Mark. It wasn’t Mark’s fault that people were being idiots about the dragon testing. This was shared, massive reaction to a major, worldwide trauma.
He tried to soften his tone. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to come off as judgmental for this choice. I just was thinking the testing will be just another way for people to show prejudice and hurt beings that are ‘other.’”
“But dragons are other,” Mark said.
“I know.” Cyrus knew it better than anyone else, actually.
He was even getting some pressure from the fire station to have testing done. Even Zane had gotten tested and gotten the tattoo. Cyrus had nearly exploded when he saw it over lunch with Zane that day. He’d pointed at the tiny shaded-in square, wordless.
“I might not agree with it,” Zane had said, frowning, “but if it helps the people we save feel more comfortable, then yeah, I’ll get the damn tattoo.”
Cyrus shook off the unpleasant memory. He’d felt so betrayed by Zane getting the tattoo, but that would be nothing to what he felt when Mark got it, too. Instead of brooding over it, he hunted for a new topic—they had to change the subject, and fast.
“Let’s talk about something else,” he said.
Their food had arrived, and Mark took a bite and closed his eyes, seeming blissful at the first mouthful of red curry.
“I can talk about how great the food is here,” Mark said, before quickly taking another bite.
Cyrus took a bite from his own dish of noodles. “Wow. That is amazing.”
Mark nodded. “You know, I can tell we don’t exactly see eye to eye on the whole dragon testing issue. But I love that we’re not going to let it interfere with our date.”
“Of course not,” Cyrus said. “You’re more important than that.”
“Or maybe you just really want to get laid tonight.”
Cyrus sputtered, then laughed as he recovered. “I’m hoping that means a sleepover is on the menu?”
Mark’s smile was nothing but wicked. “Who said anything about sleeping?”
“You’re killing me.” Cyrus shifted in his seat, trying to make more room in his jeans for his hardening cock.
Mark laughed and started telling Cyrus about the hospital. Cyrus was happy to listen to stories about drama between the doctors and nurses.
At the end of the meal, the two walked out to Cyrus’s truck. Cyrus couldn’t resist crowding Mark against the truck door as he opened it—it reminded him of how he’d pinned Mark against the wall during their first night together.
“Are you coming home with me?” he breathed into Mark’s ear.
“As if I could say no to you,” Mark said, brushing his lips against Cyrus’s cheek.
Cyrus shivered. Tonight would be special, just like the other night had been. Something told him Mark would be his undoing.
Mark
Mark rushed into the hospital the next morning. It was tempting to veer off to the north wing and check in at the lab with Jenny, but he was already late.
Cyrus had tried to get him up early, but Mark had just snuggled into Cyrus’s warm embrace and begged for five more minutes. Then five more. Then five more.
“Why didn’t you make me get up?” he accused on the way to the hospital.
“I tried,” Cyrus said. “But you were so cute when you begged.”
Now in the hallway approaching the nurse’s locker room, Mark sighed. He’d begged Cyrus for a lot more than sleep last night. Numerous times Cyrus had brought him close to climax, then held off. In the end, Mark had to plead with Cyrus to let him come.
He forced himself to count backward from twenty so he wouldn’t get a hard-on. And he’d have to be careful all day because it would be even worse to get one while wearing his scrubs.
“Mark! Over here!”
He looked up and saw Jenny. She looked wan, and he rushed over to her in concern. “You okay?”
“Fine. Just up late.”
He pulled her into a hug. “Something bothering you?”
“No, not at all.” Her brow crinkled too much.
“I can tell when you’re lying, you know.”
“Fine. It’s just all this dragon testing stuff. But it’s okay. I mean, it will be.”
“So, look.” He lowered his voice. “I know you guys were slammed yesterday. But is there any chance my results might be in? The sooner I get my paperwork all signed, the sooner I can get my tattoo and move on, you know?”
“Oh, yeah. Um, let me check.” She hurried behind the counter and typed some commands into the computer. “Let’s see…Rollens…there you are. Results are in!”
“Great! Can you print that out for me? I’ll try to hit the tattoo parlor on my break.”
Her forehead crinkled again. “Yeah, sure, no problem. Here we go.”
She typed a few more things into the computer, and the printer started whirring behind her.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Mark asked.
“Totally.” She whipped the print-out from its tray and handed it to him. “Congratulations, human.”
***
“It would just be more fun if we could get our tattoos together,” Mark said.
Cyrus scowled at him from across his dining room table. “I don’t want a tattoo.”
Mark clenched his fork in his hand tighter so he could refrain from throwing it down on the table like a misbehaving child. But he really wanted to throw the fork.
The tattoo parlor had been completely booked when he’d gone in for his tattoo yesterday during his break, so he’d had to schedule an appointment. They wouldn’t be able to fit him in until the following week. He’d decided to look on the bright side and determined that at least this way, he could go in with Cyrus. If Cyrus would cooperate, anyway.
He got up from the table and started clearing dishes. “I guess I’ll just have to get the tattoo by myself. But Cyrus, dammit, would you at least come with me?”
“No.” Cyrus came up behind him, crowding Mark against the counter.
Instantly, Mark was turned on. “Don’t change the subject,” he said, but there was no real censure in his words.
“But I want to change the subject,” Cyrus breathed, nibbling at Mark’s ear. “I want to make you say something else. Like, please let me come, Cyrus, and oh, Cyrus, yes.”
Mark reached back, touching Cyrus’s hardness. He supposed he could be distracted for a little while.
But only for a little while, because he really wanted Cyrus to get his tattoo at the same time as him.
***
After the amazing session Cyrus had started in the kitchen, which had moved to the living room and finally up to the bedroom, Mark left the warmth of Cyrus’s arms. He walked into the bathroom and found the spare toothbrush Cyrus had given him. After flossing, he tossed the used string in the wastebasket and noticed a flash of color. Another to
othbrush, but the end of it looked mangled.
No, not mangled. Melted.
Surely it couldn’t mean…
Mark felt cold all over. He wanted nothing more than to climb back into bed with Cyrus and pretend he’d never seen this toothbrush.
No, really, he reasoned with himself. It didn’t mean anything. Nothing at all.
Still, he grabbed the toothbrush and got dressed, then tucked the toothbrush in his jacket pocket. He scrawled a note out to Cyrus, letting him know he had to get up early and he’d call him tomorrow.
The toothbrush, he’d give to Jenny to test for DNA. While Mark didn’t actually believe the man he loved could be a dragon, he needed to get an answer and reassure himself, otherwise he didn’t think he’d ever be able to enjoy Cyrus’s warm arms again.
Cyrus
Cyrus woke with a smile on his face. The bed smelled like Mark.
His smile faded. Mark wasn’t here anymore. Heart pounding, he sat up and looked toward the bathroom, wondering if Mark was already in the shower, but the door was open and there was no light.
A piece of paper was on Mark’s side of the bed, a note about Mark needing to go into the hospital earlier than expected. Mark promised to call.
Well, it wasn’t the same as having morning sex with the man who made his heart feel so full, but at least he’d get a phone call.
Something about Mark made him feel whole again, made him feel like the world wasn’t as harsh and cruel as his dragon kin had led him to believe.
He just wished Mark wasn’t so interesting in the dragon DNA tests. Mark’s obsession with and hatred of dragons was problematic.
But the way Mark gave those little half-smiles right before he laughed, the way he sighed into Cyrus’s kisses, the way he seemed to feel and see the world in a way wholly new yet wholly beautifully—Cyrus was falling in love.
Getting out of bed, Cyrus checked in with the station. He was scheduled to go in today, but Chief always wanted the men to sound off beforehand—it helped him know they wouldn’t be shorthanded.
Chief texted him back: Have you gotten your test done yet?
Dammit. Cyrus typed back a cursory no, then went to get in the shower. He swore when his phone buzzed again.
It was a text from Zane this time. Just do the test, get it over with. Your true friends will still be your friends, no matter what.
Could Zane have guessed? Zane had guessed that Cyrus was gay.
By the time he actually got under the spray of water, Cyrus felt like a sopping mess of emotions. There were the dragon tests going on, the tattoos that proclaimed a person’s allegiance even if he didn’t want them to, then there were all the secrets Cyrus had been holding close since he left his kin, all those secrets pressing down on him.
It was painful to live a lie.
It was painful to lie to his lover.
Cyrus turned off the shower. Washing away everything had helped everything become clear. He wasn’t going to lie to Mark anymore. He was going to live the truth, tell the truth, and be completely himself.
And once Mark knew the truth, Mark could help him decide what to do. If it came down to it, Mark could even help him fake his test…no. No, Cyrus was tired of dishonesty.
Once Mark knew, he’d start taking steps to come out as a dragon shifter.
Mark
“Mark, Mark,” Jenny hissed from behind the counter.
“Do you have the results yet?” he asked, rushing over. His heart was in his throat and pumping double time. He had a feeling that he’d break a blood pressure monitor if someone tried to use one on him right now.
“No.” Her forehead crinkled.
She was lying. Why would she lie to him about this?
Unless…
“Jenny, what aren’t you telling me?”
“Nothing!” There was that forehead crinkle again. “I’m just—I’m just wondering if this is something you really want to do. I mean, ethically, morally, I shouldn’t have even gone along with it, and there’s so much more to this story than you’ll even know.”
“You did get the results back. And Cyrus’s test came back positive.”
“I’m not saying anything about this until we leave the hospital and go back to my apartment to talk.”
“Jenny, this is ridiculous.”
“Take an early lunch with me. We really need to have a conversation.”
He crouched next to her behind the counter. “Just tell me what you found.”
“No, I can’t.”
“Then it isn’t good news.” He rocked back on his heels. “Jenny, tell me.”
She shook her head.
“Fine, I’ll just have to find it myself…”
“Mark, no!”
But now he was determined. He went straight for the stack of pages in the tray beneath the counter. He was already acting amorally, unethically by having Cyrus’s DNA tested without his permission. Jenny was right. But if Cyrus was a dragon, Mark needed to know. It wasn’t something he could overlook, laugh away, learn to get used to.
“Stop, Mark,” Jenny said, pulling on his arm. “Those are peoples’ secrets. This is wrong.”
“I have to know.”
“Why don’t you just ask him?” Jenny whispered.
“I can’t.”
“Well you should,” she said, tugging on the sleeve of his scrubs, “because he’s right there.”
Mark looked up, mouth agape, as Cyrus strode down the long hall toward his counter. Well-fitted jeans, a sweater that fell over his shoulders perfectly, clinging to what Mark knew from carnal experience was a majestic set of abs.
“I have to go to the station in an hour,” Cyrus said, “but we need to talk. Can I take you to lunch?”
Mark shook his head. He’d never seen it before, but now he didn’t need Jenny’s paperwork. He didn’t need proof. Because he knew it in his heart. “You’re a dragon, aren’t you?”
Cyrus stopped in front of him. Jenny scampered to the other side of the counter to pretend to do something else, but Mark couldn’t tell what.
“I wanted to tell you,” Cyrus said.
“Bullshit.” Mark clenched his fists at his sides. Here he was, confronted with the enemy, and it was someone he’d grown to love. “You betrayed me in every possible way.”
“I didn’t want to lie.” Cyrus’s gray eyes were wide open and pleading.
Mark steeled his resolve. His brain felt white and blank with anger. “You’re a liar. You lied to me. You pretended to comfort me when I was sad about Eli’s death. Inside, you were probably laughing.”
“That’s not true.” Cyrus’s voice was hard. “I never was a part of that. I never wanted anyone to get hurt, least of all you, Mark. I—I love you.”
Jenny gasped, but Mark made a snort of derision. He was too blinded by pain and rage and betrayal to think clearly, but he spoke anyway. “Like I can believe that. I don’t ever want to see you again. You made me believe you were a hero, but you’re nothing but a murderer.”
As soon as he said the words, he wanted to take them back. Of everything he knew about Cyrus, he knew that Cyrus loved helping people. Cyrus was like Eli in that way. But Cyrus wasn’t really Cyrus, was he? He was one of the enemy. He was a dragon, not a person.
And right now, Cyrus the dragon was wiping fiercely at the moisture on his cheeks.
Was he crying?
No, it couldn’t be. Dragons couldn’t cry, could they?
Mark watched, numb and ashamed, as Cyrus turned around and walked back to the main doors to the hospital, and left.
Jenny came up at Mark’s side. He leaned into her shoulder and wept.
Cyrus
“My god, Cyrus, are you okay?” Zane asked, falling into step beside him.
Fifteen yards from the front of the station. Cyrus had nearly made it inside before getting hounded. He kicked at the snow bank at the edge of the lot, pissed. At least the snow had stopped coming down. “No, I’m not really okay.”
�
��Dude, let’s talk it out, then,” Zane said. “Whatever the problem is, you can talk to me.”
“Really?” Cyrus’s voice sounded bleak, even to himself. And the empty hole in his chest—the place where his heart had been—pounded and echoed with recklessness.
How come Mark couldn’t even give Cyrus a chance? Cyrus had tried to tell him that he’d had nothing to do with Eli’s death. He’d tried to talk to him.
But Mark wouldn’t listen. Mark felt like Cyrus had betrayed him, but this felt like a betrayal, too. Cyrus had thought they’d meant more to each other than that.
Fuck, he loved Mark.
Zane walked to the front stoop of the station and pulled Cyrus down to sit next to him. The stoop was freezing cold against Cyrus’s ass, but it didn’t seem to bother Zane, so Cyrus stayed put.
“Yeah, you can talk to me about anything,” Zane said. “You didn’t even need to come out to me. But there’s more to your story, isn’t there?”
It was hard to believe this giant of a man was such a mushy teddy bear on the inside. Cyrus grinned despite everything else.
“And if I told you I was a dragon—”
“Shit, no way. That’s a big deal.” Zane’s face was a mask of feigned surprise.
“Shut up,” Cyrus said. “You’d already guessed.”
“It’s not hard,” Zane said. “You’re all secretive, you get all weird around fires, you won’t get the tests done. All of it points to one thing.”
“I think those tests are stupid, and I wouldn’t have had it done even if they were testing for shapeshifting jellyfish.”
Zane laughed. “Find someone to do your tat on the sly, then. Chief won’t know or care.”
Cyrus shook his head. “I’m taking off. This is going to be my last shift. I’m not wanted here—humans are too intolerant. Not all of them,” he added quickly when he saw Zane’s wounded expression. “But it’s too soon for most of you guys.”
Not even the man he loved could see past Cyrus’s dragon nature to love him back. Everything in the world felt wrong and unfair.
“Take off where?” Chief asked, coming up behind them.
Cyrus jumped. How long had Chief been listening?
Chief’s mustache twitched. “Son, I always knew there was something different about you. It didn’t make me like you any less before, and it doesn’t make me like you any less now. Screw the tattoo. You always have a place here with us.”
The Dragon’s Flight: Gay Paranormal Romance Page 11