by Marcy Jacks
Which meant Sebby had so much he needed to make up for.
It was better to let the dragon go at this at his own pace.
Sebby cracked a third egg into the pan.
He’d overheard Gold telling his brother two days back how much he was craving over easy eggs. They were his favorite, but he was apparently shit at flipping them.
And with the planning the clan was doing, there was no time to go out to a restaurant.
Sebby wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near the kitchen right now. He was forbidden from cooking entirely.
Too many spices could be used in all kinds of spells, but short of salt and better, he had no intention of using any.
He just wanted to make his mate a good breakfast. That was all.
Gold was still in bed after last night. It was roughly seven in the morning. Sebby hadn’t expected to wake up before he did. So far every day Sebby had been here, Gold had been the first to wake. Now that Sebby did have a day where he was up first, he wanted to take advantage of this moment.
He grabbed the bacon and egg carton out of the fridge.
He wasn’t sure how much Gold would like, or if he wanted to save any of it for a later time, so Sebby decided to stick with a safe amount of bacon.
Four slices. That should be enough for a dragon.
He put the bacon in the pan then prepared some bread for the toaster. Eggs only took two minutes so if he timed this right everything would be nice and hot.
Sebby wasn’t much of a breakfast person. Gold had offered him food every morning, and Sebby dutifully ate it, but today he just wanted some toast with jam.
Something he could scarf down quickly before Gold came downstairs.
He got the eggs started, flipped them one at a time when ready, watching them carefully in case he burned or overcooked them.
So far, so good.
Time to flip again. They didn’t need to be on that side for long.
Sebby prepared a plate.
He broke the yolk on the first egg. Fuck. That was fine. That was what his spares were for.
And as luck would have it, he managed to get those two on the plate without breaking their yolks.
Perfectly cooked. Perfect.
He stuck the bacon on a prepared plate with paper towels next and went to the fridge, but not before pushing down on the toaster button.
He was on a cooking roll. He was making good time, and soon he and Gold would have their first real good morning since this whole thing started.
Even though Sebby had been the one to fuck up, monumentally at that, maybe he would work hard enough and they could actually be…friends.
Sebby grabbed a tomato from the fridge and a knife from the drawer. He was going to slice it for garnish and bring a tray upstairs. Breakfast-in-bed style.
“What are you doing?”
“Gah!”
The voice so close to his ear startled him. Sebby sliced the knife down his finger. He pulled his hand back, dropping the knife, clutching his fingers, trying to hold the skin together so he wouldn’t bleed all over the place.
“Careful!”
Sebby glared at the man. “I wouldn’t have done it if you hadn’t scared me!”
Gold lifted a brow. He reached for the oven, grabbing onto one of the dishtowels and yanking it free.
He brought it to Sebby’s hand. “You’re not supposed to be down here anyway.”
He looked to the spice rack, as though making sure Sebby hadn’t touched it.
Sebby looked away from the other man as he tended to his fingers. He was…kind of angry, but he didn’t want to show it.
“I was just trying to be nice.”
“Nice?”
“I was going to bring your breakfast.”
The toast popped just then. The remaining bacon in the pan still sizzled, though that was mostly because of the bacon grease that was still in the pan. Otherwise, it seemed to be on the verge of burning.
Sebby tried to move to it.
Gold pulled him back.
“Careful!”
“I need to get the rest of the bacon off the burner.”
“Leave it. You’re going to need stitches.”
“Your breakfast will get ruined.”
“I don’t care.”
Sebby winced. He didn’t? He didn’t care that Sebby had gone to all that trouble and had just wanted to feed him?
Or he didn’t care about…
No, he wasn’t going to think like that. Sebby’s only goal here was to try making friends with the man. To try getting close to him without guilting him into anything.
He didn’t want Gold feeling as though he owed it to Sebby to do anything.
“I’m sorry. I just wanted…I don’t know.”
Gold, unable to ignore the burner for long, pulled the pan off the burner before twisting the knob of the stove, turning it off.
He pulled Sebby away from the kitchen. Sebby glanced back, longingly, sad over his ruined breakfast. There was some of his blood on the counter. The eggs and toast were getting cold as he spoke, and now his chances for any sort of redemption were going down the drain.
Gold brought Sebby to the bathroom.
He instructed Sebby to hold tightly to his wound while he rummaged around beneath the sink, searching for something.
A first aid kit.
Now he understood.
“I didn’t know dragons needed those.”
“We still get some pretty bad scrapes sometimes. Let me see your hand.”
Images of needles and thread poking through his skin caught Sebby off guard. And freaked him out.
“Why?”
Gold rolled his eyes. “So I can stitch your cut.”
That made sense. Gold opened the first aid kit, and there really was a hooked needle in there he’d be able to use for this sort of thing.
He grabbed the thread next. Sebby thought he was going to puke.
“Uh, I think some bandages will work just fine.”
He reached for the kit. Gold, still holding the needle and thread, pushed Sebby’s hands away with his elbow then stood protectively in front of the kit. “You’re not doing that. Come on, don’t be such a baby.”
Sebby tensed. “I’m not a baby.”
“Are you afraid of needles or something?”
Sebby couldn’t answer that. He clenched his jaw instead. This was so unbelievably annoying. He couldn’t believe this was a conversation he was having right now.
Gold smiled at him. It was such a smile that Sebby was sure he’d never seen anything so perfect in his entire life.
“You’re scared of needles!”
“No!”
The first rule of these sorts of things. Deny. Deny. Deny.
That was the first three rules, actually.
Gold shook his head, still grinning, as though amused by the entire thing.
Amused, and still not willing to show Sebby any mercy on the subject.
“Give me your hand.”
“I don’t want to.”
“You’re going to do it. Otherwise, I might just decide to tie you down and do it against your will.” Gold’s expression took on a sinister, almost ghostly expression. “And with you thrashing around, trying desperately to escape, there’s no telling how many times you’ll get poked before I can get the wound closed. Might even sew a couple of different things together.”
Sebby swallowed hard. He looked down at his precious fingers, thought about what they would look like if they were all sewn together.
Would Gold really do that to him?
Maybe it was for the best if he didn’t tempt the man.
Sebby gave Gold his hand, letting the dragon work.
Sebby had to look away from his hand when the needle came down. He felt the pricking coming. He hissed and cringed, a soft noise forcing its way out of his mouth from the pain.
Gold laughed at him, meanwhile. “I didn’t even touch you yet!”
“What?”
&nb
sp; Sebby looked down at his hand, just in time to see the needle poking through his skin and sewing together the last little bit.
“You tricked me!”
“Hold still!”
Gold still laughed at him. “That was too easy.”
“You’re so mean.”
“I am not. You should have seen your face.”
“What was wrong with my face?”
Gold’s eyes glinted as he looked up into Sebby’s face. “You’re just a baby.”
“No I’m not.”
“And now you’re pouting.”
“I’m not doing that either!”
Gold shrugged. He pulled a little on the thread going through Sebby’s flesh, but then that seemed to be the end of it. There was nothing else to be done. The bandage came out next, and Gold wrapped Sebby’s fingers with care.
His middle finger needed the most stitching. His index finger only one. Both fingers felt hot and thick with the bandages wrapped around them, but all in all, Sebby had to admit it was a good job.
And Gold had done it for him. He’d bandaged and wrapped Sebby’s fingers without being asked to.
He’d taken care of him.
Best he didn’t let himself look too deeply into that. He might get the wrong idea, otherwise.
“Thank you,” he said simply.
Gold nodded. “Don’t worry about it. Just stay out of the kitchen. It looks as though you’re a worse cook than I am.”
Sebby wasn’t sure why he felt heat rising up in his cheeks. It was almost as if this banter of theirs was getting friendly.
He looked up into Gold’s eyes, unsure if that was the case.
Just to be shocked and disappointed when the other man abruptly turned his gaze away from him.
“Anyway, does it hurt? If the stitching feels off, I can do it again.”
Sebby shook his head quickly. “No. No, I’m good.”
He’d rather slice himself wide open and bleed out rather than let himself be put through that kind of pain again.
Needles were the worst.
Gold didn’t leave the bathroom. He crossed his arms, still smiling at Sebby, as though trying to figure something out.
“I always thought warlocks worked with knives and needles all the time. You were seriously afraid there.” Again, he smiled. “Those little noises you were making were kind of hilarious.”
More heat flooded into Sebby’s face. He couldn’t help it. He felt as though he was going to burn up from the inside out.
He wanted Gold inside him again. Sebby clenched his teeth. This need he had for the man, no matter how many times it was satisfied, never went away. There was always still so much more he wanted.
As though he couldn’t quite scratch that itch that plagued him, no matter how hard they both tried.
Sebby reached for his mate. He took ahold of Gold’s shirt, pleased when the man didn’t pull away from him. Sometimes Gold did that, reminding Sebby that he was still angry with him. Still hadn’t quite forgiven him.
“Gold, I need—”
A heavy banging sounded on the door downstairs. So loud and almost violent. Sebby felt the intensity of it from where he sat in the upstairs bathroom.
Gold growled, glancing toward the bathroom door as though he expected to see the guilty party there.
He looked back at Sebby. “What did you want to say?”
The pounding continued downstairs. That might be important.
Sebby didn’t want to get in the way of anything that might be important to Gold.
“Nothing.”
Chapter Nine
Why was it that the phone always seemed to ring or there was consistently a knock at the door whenever Gold was about to get somewhere with his mate?
He could smell Sebby’s lust for him, could hear the sound of his heart, and see the dilation in his eyes as he stood close to his lover.
Sebby had clearly been about to ask him if he wanted to be…intimate. Gold could no longer call it fucking, not even in his head.
As angry as he still was, the need to protect his mate, even from his own temper, was overpowering that.
He was starting to believe that perhaps the spell really had been an accident.
Silver had once asked Sebby what the extent of his power was. To showcase it, Sebby had been given permission to light a fire with his magic.
The tiny flame that had farted from his fingers and died before the bark of the collected wood could singe had been an embarrassment.
Lightning hadn’t believed it. He seemed to think Sebby was faking it to gain sympathy or to lower the guards of the dragons around him.
Gold knew better because he could sense the genuine shame within his mate at such a failure.
Mates could lie to each other, they could hide things from each other, but there was no way the humiliation he’d sensed from his mate could be faked. No one was that good an actor.
Sebby really was a terrible warlock.
And he might be innocent in all of this.
Sort of. He’d still attempted to make Gold into his temporary slave. Gold still wasn’t pleased by that.
The pounding increased as Gold made his way to the door.
“I’m coming! Hold on a second!”
He was irritated now. He wanted a day where he could be left alone, but with so much going on, the likelihood of that happening seemed less than zero.
Sebby followed closely behind. He could have stayed upstairs, but he seemed intent on going with Gold.
Gold opened the door. Drake and Blaze stood on the other side. Their smiles were irritating in their brightness.
“Rise and shine, sweetheart,” Drake sang.
Blaze nodded, his fingers linked together behind his neck. “Today’s the day.”
“For what?” Gold asked, even though he realized what they were on about seconds after they spoke.
“We’re going to the compound today?”
Both men nodded, as eager as children readying to go to Disneyland.
Not too long ago, Gold would have been grinning with eager anticipation right along with them. Right now, he didn’t want to leave Sebby’s side.
Brad was getting everyone worked up over the fact that there was now a warlock in the clan. He’d been pissed off when Aiden had come into the territory, and he’d managed to swirl together enough fear and anger to bring together a few of the parents.
They’d confronted Aiden. Rey had been furious. He’d punched Brad in the nose and made the asshole bleed all over himself. He was lucky Rey didn’t shatter his face for it, and while some men might have learned their lesson, learned to keep their mouths shut and their opinions to themselves, Brad was at it again.
“What’s the matter?” Blaze asked, picking up on the mood Gold was throwing out there.
He shook his head. “Nothing.”
If Gold weren’t here to protect Sebby, would something happen to him while he was away? Best-case scenario, Gold would be away for at least four hours. It was likely to be longer than that.
Gold had spent so much time bitching about Sebby, about accusing him of forcing him into a mating, that he’d practically done all the work for Brad in making the clan angry with Sebby.
“Is it bad?” Sebby asked. “Are you not ready yet? I can go over that map I made one more time.”
Gold rubbed his face, wishing Sebby hadn’t spoken at all.
Drake leaned to the side, catching sight of the man. He smiled, looking at Gold with such confidence in his eyes. “Don’t worry about him. Lightning’s staying behind.”
“He is?”
Gold wasn’t sure if he liked that. Lightning wouldn’t hurt Sebby, but as of late, he was still an asshole.
“Lightning’s got Tim to watch over, and with a bunch of more powerful warlocks running around, it’s not such a great idea to send in an albino dragon. If they capture him, they’ll make a soup out of him.”
Blaze looked at Sebby after that. “No offense.”
/> Sebby nodded. “None taken.”
He said that, but Gold could tell there was something hurt in that tone of voice he used.
Sebby most likely didn’t want him to go anyway. As a mate, he would worry for Gold’s safety.
Drake just had to throw in his two cents, as well.
“If we can catch one of those warlocks alive, we might even be able to get him to undo the spell Sebby put on you.”
Gold felt his spine go stiff. He hid it well, was sure he’d given off no outward signs of distress, but inside, he was a mess.
“Break off the mating?”
“If you want to.” This time Drake was the one to look back at Sebby. “No offense.”
Sebby nodded. “None taken,” he said again.
“What do you think?” Blaze smacked Gold on the arm, the look on his face suggesting he’d thought he’d given Gold some kind of gift.
And Gold…wasn’t sure what to do. His palms were strangely clammy in that moment. He didn’t know what to do. He really didn’t.
Drake’s eyes changed. He no longer had that excitement written all over his face. He looked at Gold as though waiting for him to have a heart attack.
“Gold? You all right, man?”
Gold nodded. He didn’t mean to glance back at Sebby, but he did.
The man had his gaze cast down. His bangs hid his expression.
He didn’t exactly look as though this news was destroying him, but no one slumped like that when they were thrilled to hear something.
“That sounds good,” Gold said. “Assuming we can get a warlock who won’t poison me instead. I didn’t want to be mated to anyone, but I’m not willing to risk my life to get out of it.”
The fact that those words were true made them all the easier to say.
“No, yeah, of course,” Blaze replied, waving his hand. “It’s just, you know, a formality. If we find someone who can take that spell off you, then all the better, right?”
Gold sighed. “Right.”
Both Blaze and Drake looked at him as though unsure of this reaction he was having. Gold couldn’t even explain it.
Whatever. He was still barely dressed. The shirt and pants he wore were what he’d slept in the night before. He wanted his jeans, his boots, and a new T-shirt if he was going to get anything done.