by Marcy Jacks
There were a lot of rules, actually. More than Zack thought, and even though his heart was hammering right now, he was really wishing he’d paid more attention to Mike whenever he went over the rules that he had to deal with when making his bets on the televised dragon fights.
This was happening. This was actually happening.
The referee flashed the red light on his tower, then the yellow. The instant the green light blared on, both men roared at each other, wings and claws stretching out as they flew at each other in half human and half dragon shape.
Zack almost turned away as they crashed into each other. Almost. He couldn’t turn away. He had to watch every second of this because this was his mate.
And Zack was supposed to be doing… something.
Maybe cheering his mate on would help.
Watching as Tory managed to get his arms around Boris’ neck, flipping himself behind the man and swinging Boris up and over top of him, then slamming him down and hard onto the gravel of the ring was sure enough to make Zack cheer for his mate.
“You can do it, Tory! Come on! You’ve got this!”
Boris kicked his legs up, a move which Tory narrowly avoided. The claws on Boris’s toes would have made for a painful injury, but at least he got away from that one without getting his nose sliced off.
That would have been painful to say the least.
Boris did a kick flip, getting himself back and up to his feet before doing a roundhouse kick of all things, something else Tory was able to avoid, but it was clear he hadn’t expected Boris to have that kind of skill.
Zack couldn’t take watching this.
“Kick his ass, Tory! There’s no way he can beat you! Come on!”
Something inside him ignited. Maybe the excitement of the fight, or watching as Tory grabbed Boris’s ankle right out of the air when the man attempted another roundhouse kick, but something was suddenly alive and on fire within him as Zack felt himself getting more and more worked up, more and more excited over the possibility of an easy victory.
Especially when Tory swung Boris’s entire body like an oversized club, right over his head, hurtling him back to the gravel.
Zack felt the floor beneath his feet tremble.
A quick glance over showed that Tory was the one getting points for each successful strike, and each proper block. Even if this match didn’t end with one man giving up, so far, it was clear Tory would win.
No match was allowed to go beyond an hour.
The more Zack cheered for his mate, the more he felt that strange energy within him pushing forward and into the other man. It was like when he was cheering for his favorite hockey team, only he was excited because they were winning and it was the playoffs, and he happened to be in the arena instead of watching at home.
It was exactly like that but multiplied by a hundred.
That was what he felt, and that was what he was pushing into Tory.
More. He had to give him more. Zack had no idea how he was supposed to control this, or how he could make this more intense than it already was, but there he was, trying to do it anyway. Trying to give his mate more, because Zack was getting bloodthirsty.
It wasn’t enough that Boris was sweating, that he was tired and on the defensive now. No. The only thing that mattered was making sure Boris knew to never fuck with Zack ever again. Zack or Mike, otherwise he would have another battle on his hands that he was definitely not going to win.
So Zack kept cheering on his mate. He didn’t shut up. He didn’t care if he was embarrassing himself or doing it wrong either. He’d seen one or two clips of other dragon fights where the human support behind their lovers stayed silent, just watching, but that didn’t seem like the right way to do this.
If Tory needed power and energy, then Zack was going to use a damned rocket launcher to deliver it and his mate was going to be glad for it.
“You got this! He’s all yours!” Zack screamed again, feeling something exiting himself and rushing into his mate just as Tory grabbed Boris by the wrist, pushed himself beneath the man’s arm and behind him, and before Boris, or Zack, could brace themselves for what was about to happen, Tory pushed hard on the back of the man’s arm.
Zack was pretty sure he heard a light snapping noise right before the scream came, and he clenched up, his entire body not willing to listen to that.
Tory released Boris, who fell to his knees, clutching at his arm, still shrieking like a little girl as he wept and screamed. He actually sounded like a little girl. Like a four-year-old, and not just because he was crying. His tone of voice became so high pitched that Zack had to look around just to make sure there wasn’t a child anywhere around here.
Boris gave up, again and again, he announced his defeat and begged for the referee to call the hospital for him.
Apparently, even screaming as he was, barely gasping for breath, he knew he was in no position to fly himself to a doctor.
The referee announced the winner over the intercom, the green light turned red, and Tory whispered something into Boris’ ear before walking away from him, grinning like Cheshire cat.
Zack couldn’t bring himself to hear that pained screaming. Much as he wanted blood, he felt too bad right now to do anything about it.
“Is he going to be all right?”
“He’s a dragon. Once the doctor sets his wound, he’ll be healed up better than knew in two weeks. I think. I might have broken his arm at the joint. Those are tricky.”
Tory pulled Zack into his arms, and Zack glanced back at the other man, watching as Boris became more and more silent, still holding onto his arm, tears rushing down his cheeks.
He forced himself to not feel too sorry for the guy, because Tory was right. Dragons did heal much faster than humans. He would be as good as new in a week or two, a hundred times faster than if that had been done to a human.
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” Tory said. “I should have gone easier on him.”
“I don’t know about that,” Zack said. “I mean, you did mention he’ll heal faster.”
Definitely much faster than Zack or Mike would have healed if this prick had done anything to them, had brought them to his house and tried turning them into his paid lovers.
Zack was suddenly ashamed of himself. He was ashamed for ever thinking about accepting that offer Boris made him and the temptation of his money. He was ashamed of himself for taking pleasure in Boris’ suffering now, and he was ashamed that he didn’t have the guts to tell this to Tory now that he had the chance.
Not that it mattered, because of course Tory could pick up on a little of what was going on inside his head.
“You have nothing to feel ashamed for. He brought this on himself for even thinking about putting his hands on you.”
Zack sank a little more into the man’s arms. He just wanted to be held.
The match wasn’t entirely over. The referee came over to have Tory sign some papers, and even Zack’s signature was needed. Tory paid the referee his commission of the prize money, and then there was nothing left for Tory to do but get dressed as the referee went to pay Boris his prize, all the while assuring him that there was an ambulance coming that would set his arm right before it healed incorrectly.
“Dragon fights are a lot more official than I thought they’d be,” Zack said.
Tory blinked at him as he righted his shirt, now fully dressed. “Did you think they wouldn’t be?”
“I don’t know.” Zack was embarrassed to admit it. “I guess I always thought that, outside of the televised fights Mike always watches, that they were a little more wild gun, you know?”
Tory shook his head, though he looked as though he understood exactly what Zack was getting at. “There are rules to everything. If other people can stick their fingers into something to make a profit, they’ll do it in a heartbeat.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I just feel bad for thinking this was all so… shady.”
Tory laughed at him for wha
t had to be the thousandth time. Honestly, Zack would rather his mate laughed at his foolishness than accuse him of being an ignorant bigot of some sort. At least this way his mate didn’t despise him, and Zack could keep on learning about the ways of the dragons.
Might as well now that he was mated to one.
“Want to get out of here?” Tory asked him, looking hopeful. “There is so much I want to talk to you about. I want to learn everything about you.”
That sounded like a good idea to Zack. “Sure. Harvey should be fine, and I don’t think Mike even noticed I’m gone. Can we maybe spend the night at your place?”
No it looked as though he’d just given Tory the gift of life with that request.
“Absolutely.”
Chapter Eleven
He spent the night at Tory’s house, in his giant bed, and there was something about winning a dragon battle and giving his energy and power to the man that made the both of them desperate for each other all over again.
The sex was fucking fantastic. Zack’s orgasm that time seemed to last only four minutes, which was still intense and crazy, but now that he was slowly starting to get down to something more normal, he was able to better enjoy his time with his mate.
He didn’t know whether he was looking forward to having normal orgasms or not but lying in bed with his legs wrapped up with Tory’s, talking until the sun came up, was paradise.
Of course, getting a morning wakeup call from Tristan, the friend of Tory’s that Zack forgotten he had, with a message that came from Mike wasn’t the best thing in the world.
Apparently he woke up and went to check on Zack, only to realize he was gone, then flew into a panic.
How Mike got Tristan’s number, Zack didn’t know and didn’t want to know, but he realized he’d left his phone back on his room, and so he had to go home, leave that wonderful bed and those amazing arms, to explain himself to his best friend.
Of course Tory flew him back. When Mike saw them coming in through the window of Zack’s bedroom, Zack swore he thought the guy was going to have a heart attack.
“I’ll wait outside for you,” Tory said.
Zack nodded, turning his attention back to Mike, who stared at him with his mouth open just enough to catch a fly or two.
“Come on, don’t look at me like that.”
Mike didn’t say a word to him. Instead he walked right by Zack and to the window, making sure it was shut and that the curtain was in place so that they couldn’t be seen or heard. Not that it mattered since Tory would be able to hear what they said no matter what they did short of whispering very, very quietly.
“You know he’ll probably still be able to hear us, right?”
“Doesn’t mean I can’t try,” Mike said. “What the hell are you doing? I thought you didn’t like dragons?”
That was something he never wanted Tory to know about, but he supposed it was going to come out eventually. Interestingly enough, Zack was comfortable in the knowledge that his mate would forgive him. Tory would still love him and want to be with him regardless of what Zack used to think.
“I’ve never disliked dragons. Not really. I just didn’t want to be around them when they were fighting. I didn’t want to be around other humans when you were all drooling over them.”
“I never drooled over them!” Mike looked positively horrified, and Zack rolled his eyes.
“Give me a break. You’re always going on about that one guy, Draggis? You remember him?”
“It’s not the same thing,” Mike said, sounding sullen.
He seemed to be pouting. Zack was stunned. Could it have been that he’d been wrong about Mike this whole time? Maybe Mike had been wrong about himself? About what he thought he liked or what he wanted?
Either way, it didn’t matter. The point now was that Mike was uncomfortable with everything that happened, clearly, and he was hurt Zack might be leaving.
“I’m not going anywhere. Not really. I’ll still be in the city, and maybe I can see if you could get a place in the same building as me?”
Mike snorted. “How the hell would I ever afford a place in that tower? The dragons live there. Even if I could get an apartment, it would be on the second floor and renting out someone’s walk in closet for my room.”
That did make sense. But he was determined. “The roommate idea isn’t bad.”
Maybe Tristan would want someone to share a space with? It was a long shot. Zack had to remind himself that these were the sorts of people who didn’t need roommates. They were perfectly fine on their own, and they didn’t have the money troubles that required them to get someone to live with them.
Still, it was something to think about.
“Zack, for real, please don’t. I don’t want to be anyone’s charity case, and I don’t want to live with the dragons. I’ll get another roommate here if you decide not to come back.”
“Are you sure?”
They always promised they would leave together. They’d been saving their money for a better apartment, and now Zack was leaving on his own to go and live somewhere he never would have dreamed he would be able to live before.
Mike smiled at him, even if it seemed a little forced, it did make him look better, happier even.
“I don’t know what you’re doing worrying about me for. I’m fine. You go off and have your epic romance with your dragon. Lucky bastard. Maybe I will ask to room with you and ruin your privacy.”
Zack hugged his friend. Mike squeezed him a little tight, as if it was the last time they were going to be in the same room together.
It wasn’t. Zack told himself that. He wasn’t going to go off and live somewhere fancy and forget about his friend.
They talked some more about their plans, about what Mike was going to do now that he had the entire apartment all to himself, but eventually, Zack packed up a few more of his things into a bag and left. It was strange, leaving his old apartment as though he didn’t live there. Technically, he still lived there, but taking Harvey with him, holding onto the little bugger’s cage, cemented it.
This was really happening.
Downstairs, Tory and Tristan waited for him in the lobby. Their apartment did not have a doorman, so Zack had to wonder how they got in.
Then it didn’t matter as Tory was smiling at him, his hands reaching out for Harvey’s cage. “Need some help?”
“Yeah, thanks. I forgot how heavy that is.”
He didn’t have Harvey’s bed or litter box with him, but he would grab those on his next visit.
“You ready?” Tory asked, holding onto the cage, looking at Zack as though he’d won the most amazing prize in the world.
Zack’s body warmed up, no more guilt rushing through him for leaving Mike. Now, he was just excited to go. To be with Tory.
“Yeah.”
“Is your friend coming down?”
Zack almost forgot Tristan was there. “Uh, no, I think he’s staying up top.”
Tristan nodded, but he didn’t say anything else or mention why he was even curious at all.
Weird.
“You think your little friend would mind a quick flight?” Tory asked, looking into the cage with interest. Harvey lifted himself up to stare back at him, nose twitching.
“Uh, please no.”
“I’m joking.” Tory said, leaning in and quickly kissing him on the mouth. “I’ve got my car outside.”
Zack sighed. “That sounds perfect. I get shotgun?” he asked, Triston growling just a little at him.
“Every single time,” Tory said.
THE END
MARCYJACKS.COM

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