Mated in the Stars (Starscale Mates #6)

Chapter Fourteen

Elio

I snuck Nelum into the bedroom and left Fred to deal with Teddy. None of us were hard by the time we arrived at the house but I wasn’t sure I wanted to talk to anyone else while my head was so boggled. Teddy and Minter would clear Fred’s up because of the biological drive to protect our young that most dragons and other shifters had. I was relieved not to have to explain anything to them but then realized I was alone with Nelum in the bedroom for the first time. Hell, it was the first time we’d ever been truly alone. Even in the Other World there were usually people around unless we were messing around.

“You can take your shoes off if you want. Whatever you need to do to get comfy,” I said when the silence started to drill into my eardrums.

“Thanks,” Nelum said and knelt down on one knee to untie one of his boots and then the other. I watched his long, nimble fingers work the laces loose and tried not to think about where those same fingers might roam over my skin later.

I sat on the edge of the bed and took off my own shoes and socks. What else could I do? I started this. I had the memory and dove into the past. Now he was here – gorgeous and smelling like a dream come true. Only now, my tongue was tied up in knots. Maybe being almost burnt alive was easier to process than silence for all dragons.

“It’s a nice place,” Nelum said, breaking the silence as he slid his second boot off. “Really nice. Smells cozy.”

“Thank you. We try. I made Fred help me clean up before we left. Usually, Minter has toys, pillows, and the ancestors only know what else everywhere around the house.”

“Eh, he’s at that age. At least you know he knows this is his home too if he’s leaving stuff everywhere.”

“So, wooly pigs?” I asked him.

“Yep. They’re sorta like sheep.”

“Nice,” I nodded.

This was so not going great. What had we talked about in the Other World? We’d fallen in love then. Were my expectations too high? Had Teddy been right that I hadn’t really known Lotus at all?

“No,” Fred said walking into the bedroom, picking up my thoughts. “He wasn’t right about that at all. It’s always awkward when you want to devour a stranger whole.”

Nelum blushed again and I bit my lip. He was so fucking beautiful when he was flustered like that.

“Add in some expectations and everything is a clusterfuck,” Fred said. “Teddy is taking Minter to his house. He smells off but that’s to be expected. I didn’t ask. Maybe I should’ve but if he wants to talk about it with me he knows he can.”

Fred ran his fingers through his hair in the way he always did when one of his egg brats had him stressed out.

“What can we do to make you feel better?” I asked him.

“I honestly don’t know. Part of me wants to call Clarence and tell him to get my house ready over there,” Fred said.

“For us or to run away from us?”

“For us,” Fred said quick and flashed me an apologetic smile. “But the egg. I know. I don’t want to move it either. It doesn’t feel like a good time to do that.”

“What are you trying to get away from?” Nelum asked.

“More so, what I want to go to,” Fred crossed his arms and leaned against the shut door. “My dragon wants to whisk you back to our house and make all the egg brats come over for dinner. He wants to make Duke gather up his kids and grandkids and bring them all. I want to hold Clarence at the wrong end of a fireball until he declares this day a Moonscale holiday to be celebrated every year until the sun burns out and Earthside withers away and even then, those who survive would have to celebrate it.”

Nelum’s mouth fell open.

“Guess he doesn’t remember Fred’s declarations of love,” my dragon chuckled into my thoughts.

“Maybe we can talk a bit before you introduce me to every person you ever met and make them celebrate the fact we’re horny for each other,” Nelum said, his voice raising in pitch again.

“It’s more than horny for each other,” Fred said, and I held my breath.

For Fred it definitely was. Even if Nelum recovered all of Lotus’s memories he might never feel all the things she felt.

“It is,” Nelum nodded. “It’s fate. It’s destiny. It’s overwhelming.”

“Before you get upset. You called me dude while we were about to have sex for the first time, Fred,” I reminded him as gently as I could.

Nelum laughed and Fred smiled. The latter was handling this better than I thought he would, honestly.

“Did Laken and Sunny feed you?” Fred asked, changing the subject.

“Today or in general?” Nelum blinked. “They didn’t starve me, if that’s what you’re asking. I wasn’t a prisoner.”

“Today, smart ass.”

“I can eat. I’m always hungry. That’s a dragon thing. If you’re not hungry, you should go to the healer,” Nelum laughed, his nervous scent spreading throughout the bedroom.