by Marcy Jacks
“Do you want to go home?” Tory asked, though he looked at Zack when he did.
As though trying to determine whether or not Zack did want to be away from him.
The strange thing was, Zack didn’t have to do much soul searching to realize that, no, in fact, he didn’t want to go home. At least, he didn’t want to go anywhere without Tory. Not if it meant severing whatever this thing was between them.
Maybe it really was a mating.
“Yeah, we’re going home, right Zack?” Mike actually grabbed onto his shoulder, gripping it tight.
Zack felt Tory’s hope that he would stay, but even without that kind of connection to his best friend and cousin, he could still feel Mike’s unease.
He couldn’t let him go home alone. Not after what happened.
“I think we should go back home,” Zack said. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for us.”
Chapter Six
Zack hated himself just a little bit when he said that, but the relief he felt coming from Mike made it impossible for him to deny the other man. Mike wanted to go home. He was freaked out. He needed some time, maybe a night or two. Zack was definitely going to be calling in sick for his job at the call center because after today, and the day he was going to have tomorrow, there was no way he was going back in to work.
At least not until he had the chance to ease Mike into what happened. He’d deal with the dent in his next pay stub later.
“God, that was fucking crazy!” Mike laughed the second they were back home, the chain pulled across their apartment door. “So good to be home!”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Zack said, then he immediately went to check the traps for new bugs. He didn’t see anything scurrying, so that was a good sign. The bugs hadn’t been so bad since the winter rolled around, but he didn’t want to risk that their specific apartment turned into a breeding ground for the little bastards once it got warmer.
“You want something to drink? I think I need something after that.” Mike went to the fridge and rummaged through their slim pickings. He grabbed the last can of Coke Zero and two glasses, filling them both with ice before pouring.
“Man, I’ve been telling you. What did I tell you?” Mike asked. “No more walking alone when dusk rolls around. We can’t do that anymore. We should dye our hair, too. As soon as we get our next pay in. We’ll get black hair. You don’t often see a dragon with a black-haired lover behind them, do you?”
“They can sniff out the power they get from a person. Supposedly.” Zack was wishing he’d bothered to ask before they left Tory’s amazing condo building. He really wished he was there right now, and not just because the place was spacious, beautiful, and most likely bug free.
He couldn’t get the image of Tory’s face out of his head.
The man had put on a brave front, sending them off with a paid cab and his blessing, but even when he smiled, there was something sad in his eyes. Zack felt it wafting from the other man, and now that they were so far away from each other, he also felt the loss of him.
He might as well be on the other side of the Earth.
Fingers snapping in front of his face yanked him out of the sad little haze he’d fallen into, and Mike’s concerned face was suddenly right in front of his.
“Are you all right?”
He didn’t feel all right. He felt like complete shit and like he didn’t want to do anything else but go back to Tory’s arms and the eternal orgasm he offered.
“You and I need to talk,” Zack said. He needed to get this part over with as quickly as possible. He had no idea what he was going to do with Tory after that, or how soon the other man would want to welcome him back, but he couldn’t wait for tomorrow to tell this to Mike.
“Uh, sure,” Mike handed him the coke glass. “Are you all right?” His eyes suddenly took on a note of panic. “Did he do anything to you?”
Zack pressed his lips together for a moment. “Kind of. Yes,” he said.
Mike took in a breath.
Zack hurried and explained before the man could fly into a panic and call the cops to report a crime. Even after he finished explaining, it still didn’t feel real, like something that would have ever happened to either of them.
It felt like winning the lottery, in a sense.
Mike didn’t look as happy for him as Zack hoped he would.
“He said you were mated to him?”
“He did.”
“Did you believe him?”
The hole in his heart was screaming at him that there was no choice but to believe him. “I think I do. I feel weird now that he’s gone, and the sex was… Christ, Mike. You hear people describe it and then you get it, and I think I could get addicted to it.”
“Uh huh, and you’re sure it was consensual? I mean, I woke up in a strange dragon’s bed with the guy standing above me and everything.”
“I would’ve thought you would love the idea of waking up in that situation.”
Mike tensed up. “What’s that mean?”
“I mean you’re always going on and on about how much you love dragons, how you wouldn’t mind being one of their mates or lovers. That guy had a nice apartment.”
Mike glared at him, and Zack was honestly shocked by it. So much so that he didn’t know what to do with himself for a hot minute.
“That’s what you think of me? That I’d be cool with seeing you getting assaulted and just wake up to some random guy above me and let him fuck me? Really?”
“I didn’t mean it like that. Come on, you’re always going on about Draggis.”
“That’s different! He’s a TV celebrity, someone I will never get the chance to meet. This is real life! I saw you surrounded and thought you were going to get sold off to a sex trade or something, and while I’m freaking out and worried about you, you’re getting off with your dragon mate or whatever.”
Zack couldn’t process this. He barely knew where this was coming from and he struggled to keep up.
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking about it like that.”
When Mike did put it like that, that he thought the person standing above him might have been one of the dragons to attack them, then it made more sense for him to have the reaction he did to Tristan.
“They weren’t there to hurt us, and look, we’re home now and everything is all good.”
“Right, after I faint like some kind of fucking…” Mike trailed off, shaking his head. He took a long drink of his half of the soda, but that was it. He set his glass down hard enough on the counter that Zack was shocked the glass didn’t shatter. “I’m getting in the shower and going to bed. See you tomorrow.”
“Mike, come on. Please. We can watch a movie or something. I can tell you more about what happened.”
“I don’t need to know the details of you getting banged by a dragon. Just say you want to go back. I’ll find another roommate later.”
He went to his room, shutting the door behind him. There was no sound of a lock, but the hint was clear that he did not wish to be disturbed.
What the hell was that? Zack was all alone in their tiny kitchen, standing at the even smaller countertop, wondering what the hell he’d done to make Mike act like that. Was it the fact that he’d fainted when he thought he should have been protecting Zack? The fact that he woke up thinking he’d been kidnapped by rapist dragons? Or the fact that all that had happened to him, and Zack had been having the time of his life finding his soulmate?
He supposed all that put together would make for a pretty pissed off best friend.
Hell, Zack would be miffed about it, too.
He tried knocking on Mike’s door, but there was no response.
Leaning in close, Zack could hear something, but it sounded more like Mike had stuffed his headphones in his ears and had turned the music up to full blast.
Trying to drown out the rest of the world around him.
That sadness got him in the heart again.
Zack went back to his own
bedroom. His was smaller compared to Mike’s since he paid a bit less in rent, but still comfortable. He checked on his rabbit, who seemed happy that the bearer of food had returned. Zack checked on the water bottle, the food, and the bedding. Everything looked in order, so he pulled Harvey out for a good snuggle.
“You’re not mad at me, are you?”
Harvey wiggled his nose, unaware that Zack almost left him alone for the night, as well, in favor of staying with a new mate.
Zack hugged his rabbit, wishing Mike wasn’t mad at him and that he had Tory here with him.
“You want a carrot stick? Let’s go and get one.”
He left his room briefly to check the crisper in the fridge, just to realize there were no carrot sticks left.
Another thing he had to buy.
Not like Harvey understood him when he said the word carrot, but it seemed as though his rabbit did perk up a little when brought to the fridge, as though he’d learned by now that, that was where the treats were kept, and when he was held over the fridge like this, it usually meant he was getting something good. Only there was nothing good in the fridge for him, and Zack wanted to cry for disappointing his rabbit.
For disappointing everyone.
“I’m sorry, buddy,” he said over the lump in his throat, though he did a cursory check in case there was something in there for his little friend. A stray bit of lettuce, a limp piece of celery he could chop, anything.
Nope. Because of course there wasn’t.
“But your food is still nice, too, isn’t it?”
Zack closed the fridge, and Harvey looked up at him, adorable nose still twitching, as though asking where his treat was.
“Please don’t look at me like that.”
He didn’t want to feel like a failure tonight, so he brought his rabbit back to his room, grabbed his laptop, and decided to put on some Netflix through the account he and Mike shared before Mike got so mad at him that he cut Zack off.
Wrapped up in his blankets, Harvey getting his exercise around the room, Zack settled in and tried not to think about what Tory was doing. Or if he had carrots in his fridge.
Everything happened so fast. The day itself was all right, but the night had been beyond crazy. He didn’t even have the words to describe how fucked up everything was. The ups and downs… Zack never wanted to have a night like this ever again.
Tory, and every other dragon in the world, did say that the mate of a dragon, their true mate, could see into their thoughts and feelings, could figure out what they wanted and what they needed on an emotional level. They did that while also taking power and energy from their mates in their dragon fights. Benefits all around for the dragons.
With how much Zack thought about Tory that night, even while trying to watch something to take his mind away from the man, he should have known that his thoughts would send out a signal for Tory to come to him.
He still didn’t expect to wake up in the middle of the night and see Tory by his window or holding a bag of carrots.
Chapter Seven
Zack sat up on his air mattress, part of him wishing this was all just a dream that he was going to wake up from very soon, and also torn with hoping Tory really was here.
“What are you doing here? Wait.” He looked around, searching for Harvey since he forgot to put him back to his cage. He was snuggling in the cat bed Zack splurged on for him a while back, ignorant to everything going on.
For a rabbit, he had no sense of fear for anything.
Zack looked back at Tory, noted how the other man didn’t vanish, and he got to his feet, stepping away from the air mattress, trying not to think about how cluttered his bedroom was.
“Hi. I guess,” he gestured to the carrot bag, “you felt me wanting those?”
Tory lifted the bag with a smile. “I was wondering why I felt the desperate need to pick these up before coming here. Now I can see why.”
“Yeah, he’s litter trained, so don’t worry, I wasn’t just letting him roam around, peeing on the floor or anything.”
Not that it mattered since the door was shut and Harvey couldn’t get out to go to his litter box in the bathroom.
Whatever. Zack glanced at his phone to check the time. He hadn’t been sleeping that long. He hoped Harvey had no accidents, but he didn’t see any bunny pebbles anywhere, either.
Thank God.
“This really is real, isn’t it?” Zack looked at the carrot bag again. There was no other explanation for how Tory would know to bring those. He understood what Zack wanted and he brought it right away.
Zack was grateful for it, too. He was so damned happy to see the other man that it took his breath away a little.
Maybe Tory could sense that, too, because he tossed the bag onto Zack’s plastic dresser he’d picked up from Walmart on sale, reaching out for him, and Zack was only too happy to be pulled in. His mouth was exactly as Zack remembered it, only way more intense.
Had it only been a couple of hours since they’d been together? Shit, Zack remembered that he hadn’t showered since then.
“Don’t worry about it,” Tory said. “I know what you’re worried about, and I love it.”
“You do?”
Tory’s green eyes flickered, like a fire with copper thrown in.
He knew a few science-y things.
“I love smelling myself on you. I love knowing that you’re mine.”
Zack never considered himself a prude before, but in that moment, he had a few questions and uncertainties that he couldn’t help but dwell on. “Is this only because you think I can make you more powerful? I don’t feel like I’m giving you anything, and I don’t know if I want to be with a dragon who only wants me to go into fights with.”
“No, sweetheart. It’s not just for that,” Tory said, his large hands a comforting presence on the back of Zack’s head. “The instant I saw you, I knew you were mine. I knew you would make me great, but I also knew how much I wanted to shower you with my love and affection. You’re my mate. I can take care of you. I will give you everything you want.”
That sounded so… amazing. But Zack immediately thought about it, and he stepped back from Tory’s arms.
A confused, hurt flicker passed over Tory’s face, but Zack wasn’t going to let that get to him.
“All right, but you need to know something first,” Zack said, sucking in a breath. “I want to be with you, too. I want to see where this goes, and maybe get back at those fucks for tricking me into going into that alley.”
He was never being nice to strangers every again.
“We can do that. Whenever you please,” Tory said.
Zack nodded. “But you’re not going to take care of me. I’m an adult. I can get a job. Clearly it won’t be nearly close to what you’ve got, but maybe I can at least pay for groceries in your house or something. I don’t know how dragons expect their humans to be, but I’m not going sit around, doing nothing and waiting for you to come back.”
Tory tilted his head a little, and Zack got the impression the man was trying to do that thing he did where he could see into what Zack was thinking, and what he wanted.
When he smiled, as though pleased, that made Zack so happy.
“Very well. If this is what you wish for. I would not have chained you to my home, just so you’re aware.”
“I know,” Zack said, his cheeks burning up. “I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page.”
“Will you at least come home with me? I would not fight you if you wished to keep this apartment. I know not all humans trust dragons, and if you needed your space here, if only because you would have a place to go if you felt you had to run from me, I would respect your decision.”
“Would I ever need to run from you?”
“Never,” Tory insisted. “A dragon takes care of their mate. You are not a mere lover that I have found, a powerful human that I would hope to use for the sake of my battles. I am yours for life.”
Zack blinked at that. To
ry had been saying that Zack was his again and again, but he was pretty sure this was the first time that Tory had clarified that he belonged to Zack.
His guts warmed up in an instant. He wasn’t sure if this was a result of the mating between them, but he was happy enough to hear Tory tell him that.
So happy that he went to the other man and kissed him again.
Tory held onto him firmly, and in an instant, Zack was immediately aware of the heat between them once more.
There was no question they were going to fuck again. Zack thought he was done with those intense orgasms for a little while, but it seemed he was massively wrong, because he wanted to get Tory down onto his air mattress yesterday.
He barely had time to register that he was a little embarrassed about having to sleep on one.
Tory didn’t seem to mind. His focus, for now, seemed to be devoted entirely to Zack’s mouth, and he was more than all right with that as the other man pressed him down into his blankets, kissing him, climbing on top of him while Zack fumbled and struggled to untuck his shirt and pull it over his head.
Tory pulled his mouth back a moment later with a gasp, allowing Zack to get him out of his shirt. There were so many holes, including the slits where the wings were expected to shoot through whenever they made an appearance.
“How do dragons get dressed in the morning? Your clothes are so complicated.”
“Not that complicated,” Tory countered.
“I sometimes stick my head through the arm of my shirt in the morning when I’m too tired. Yes, it’s complicated having two huge holes on the back of all your shirts.”
Tory chuckled at him, shaking his head as though the entire conversation was as little too strange for him to want to comment on right then. That was okay, back to kissing it was. Zack would much rather enjoy the taste of Tory’s tongue than do anymore talking.
He had the time of his life stroking his hands across Tory’s shoulders and chest, as well.
Everything had been so fast, so desperate back at Tory’s apartment, that now that Zack was finally getting the chance to take his time, he realized he barely knew what the man felt like. Being fucked while on his hands and knees wasn’t quite the same as having his thighs spread open and Tory between them, their two bodies chest to chest as they touched and kissed each other.