Chapter Eight
Blaze
I grabbed the bouquet of dragon flowers I’d bought for Ladon, the bag filled with goodies for his son, and our dinner, out of my truck then closed the door.
After turning around to face the apartment building, I took a deep breath.
Going to an omega’s home for a date was a big step I was sure my co-workers would advise against, especially since it was only our second date.
But my dragon was insistent. It was hard enough to convince that part of me to wait until four o’clock to show up, the time I’d told Ladon.
Before leaving, I’d texted him to ensure Kirin hadn’t gotten any worse and that Ladon wasn’t too tired for company. We’re both looking forward to seeing you was what he replied.
My dragon nudged me forward, with no qualms about dating etiquette or how to come off as an aloof alpha, only wanting to be with the omega he was sure was his fated. I wasn’t as convinced but did enjoy looking at and spending time with Ladon.
Inside the front doors, I buzzed 205 and waited for a response.
“Hi, firefighter,” Kirin whispered before the door unlocked with a click.
I pulled on the handle then went inside to take the stairs to the second floor.
One would think all apartment buildings would be built the same with the stairs and elevators in the same spot.
But no, some had stairs at either end with an elevator in the middle, while others had a set of stairs in the middle near the entrance and another at the other end, but no elevator.
Ladon’s place was like the latter, the staircase to my left before the door to the main floor.
I took them up, two at a time. It was easier with the momentum from my dragon’s anxiousness. When I opened the fire door to the second floor, a little boy ran down the hall toward me.
“Kirin, get back here.” Ladon rushed out the door after him and scooped him up. “You are supposed to be resting, remember?” Then the omega turned to me. “Hi. I was in the washroom and didn’t realize you’d buzzed up until I saw the open door and the back of my son.”
“Hi.” I didn’t know what to say. My plan to hand Ladon the flowers and kiss his cheek at his door was thwarted by a wiggly preschooler, so I followed them back to their apartment. “I guess he’s feeling better?”
“Yeah.” Ladon pressed his palm to Kirin’s forehead. “The fever went away within a couple hours, but I still don’t know what he’s fighting or if I’ll catch it, too.”
“Hopefully that’s the extent of it, but I’ll take my chances.” As Ladon entered his apartment, I waited at the threshold to be invited in. I wasn’t a vampire but found it awkward to enter someone else’s home without their permission.
“Come in.” After setting Kirin down, Ladon went to grab the bag of food from me.
I handed him the flowers at the same time. “These are for you.”
“Blech.” Ladon turned his head to avoid a face full of flowers.
I pulled my arms back when I realized what I’d done, but Ladon still had forward momentum and crashed into my chest. I resisted the urge to wrap my arms around him, not wanting to drop everything and make a mess on the floor.
He pushed off me and brushed his hands down his chest. “Sorry. I didn’t know… And you… I’m just so nervous.”
“It’s okay.” I removed my shoes then stepped over to the island that divided the kitchen from the living room, setting down the food and the goodies for Kirin. “Would you believe I’m nervous, too?” This time, I handed the flowers to Ladon and leaned in to kiss his cheek.
He blushed. “First of all, I do love snapdragons. Thank you.” He opened a cupboard and pulled out a vase. “And secondly, I didn’t think alphas got nervous. Especially hot firefighters.”
“Did you call me hot?” I was sure that was what he said, and I refused to let it go.
His cheeks turned a brighter shade of red before he spun around to the sink to fill the vase. “Um, maybe.”
I sidled up beside him, not sure what he would let me do, especially with his son around. I set my hand on the counter beside him and leaned closer. “Well, I think you are unbelievably sexy, and I haven’t stopped thinking about you.” My dragon wouldn’t let me.
Turning to face me, Ladon pushed on my chest. “Liar. I doubt you thought about me while at work. At least, you shouldn’t.”
I shrugged. “Okay, maybe not all the time, but a lot. I really like you.”
“What did you bring?” Kirin wedged his way between us and tugged on my shirt while looking up at me. “I only like pizza and nuggets.”
I ruffled his hair. “Lucky for you, your dad told me that, so I picked up some fries and nuggets for you. Plus, I have an extra surprise.”
“What is it?” He twirled around, twisting the front of my shirt as he did so.
Ladon pried Kirin’s hand off my shirt, brushing his own knuckles along the front of my pants. “How about you give Blaze some space and wait patiently over at the table. If you’re not careful, you’ll scare him away, and he’ll never come back.”
With my focus still on Ladon’s accidental but welcome touch, I almost didn’t catch the chuff of smoke Kirin released when he crossed his arms and pouted over to the small dining table. “He really is doing that. Does he do it often?”
Ladon gasped. “Too much for living in Saramto. I tell him over and over that he’s going to get in trouble for chuffing, but he doesn’t understand.”
I rubbed the back of his arm. “If he wants to be a firefighter, just remind him that we have to put fires out and get rid of the smoke. Maybe that will help.”
“I hope so.” Ladon glanced over at his son. “I should have thought of that, but I’m always so worried about who might be around when he does it that I panic. I forget that I was taught to control it when I still lived in Hawthorn.”
“Hawthorn? You lived there?” I’d spent my entire life in the dragon shifter town, and I was sure I would have remembered Ladon. Especially if he was my fated, as my dragon believed.
“Well, just outside.” He went back to the flowers, cutting the ends off before putting them in the vase. “My parents moved here before I started school, so I don’t remember much about it.”
“That’s where I lived until just over a year ago.” I set about getting the food out of the bag, needing something to do with my hands.
“I’m surprised you left.” He carried the flowers over to the table. “Dragons aren’t really common in Saramto.”
“I’ve noticed.” Though I didn’t have much choice.
I didn’t need a reminder of my ex’s betrayal and couldn’t stand the idea of others being punished because I didn’t take him back.
Though, according to my father, his construction business still lost many contracts because of me even though I no longer lived there.
Ladon turned around, standing in front of me with his hands on his hips. “Is that why you’re here? Because I’m the only other dragon you’ve met in Saramto?”
“No. Maybe.” I wasn’t sure, only that he was the first omega in the city who made me want more than one night. “I’m attracted to you. You’re cute, nice, sexy, and maybe that has something to do with it, too.”
With flushed cheeks, he pulled the top containers of food out of the bag. “It was kind of weird that we kept meeting that week you did the fire inspections.”
It was, almost as if Fate really did try to throw us together, as my dragon maintained.
But after the betrayal of my fiancé, my heart feared believing in such things.
I reached into the other bag to get the stuffed fire truck that I’d bought for Kirin.
I’d thought about getting one with a working siren and flashing lights, but I worried Ladon would hate me every time he heard it. “This is for you, big guy.”
His face lit up when I handed it to him. Taking it from me, he pulled it into his chest and hugged it tight. “Thank you.”
“Okay.” Ladon pointed to the high chair beside Kirin’s chair. “Put the fire truck down while you eat so you don’t get it all dirty.”
Kirin kissed the stuffie then placed it in the chair as if it were eating, too. “Can I sleep with it tonight?”
“As long as you keep it clean.” Ladon placed the nuggets and fries on a plate for Kirin, along with some sliced apples with cinnamon on them. No ketchup or any kind of sauce. Yet, when he placed the plate in front of his son, the boy happily ate it all.
“Now, for our dinner.” I pulled the other two meals out then removed the lids for Ladon to see what was inside. “I hope you like it.”
“Can’t go wrong with chicken and ribs.” His smile let me know I’d made the right choice. It wasn’t as if there were a lot of options in Saramto when it came to restaurants for predator shifters. Many used other sources of protein to make meat-like foods, but dragons needed the real thing.
We sat down to eat our meals, making quick work of the food.
One of the benefits of dating another dragon.
Small talk wasn’t required and children didn’t play with their food.
After dinner, I cleaned up while Ladon gave Kirin a bath.
It felt very domesticated, the way I expected my life to be once I’d married Dennis.
I didn’t know if I was looking for that when I asked Ladon out, or if it was purely based on my first impression, when I didn’t know he had a kid.
Either way, my dragon pushed down any doubts and refused to let me leave.
“Blaze!” Kirin ran out of the bathroom with wet hair and wearing cotton pajamas with fire trucks printed all over them. “You’re still here.”
“I thought we could watch a movie before you go to bed.” I shook my cell phone and looked to Ladon. “That is, if it’s okay with you and I can cast to your television.”
He nodded. “I think we’d both like that.”
Kirin raced onto the couch, bouncing in the center and patting one of the cushions beside him. “Sit beside me. Right here.”
Ladon shrugged, smiling. “I guess we have a seating arrangement.”
The moment I sat, Kirin bounced onto my lap. “What movie are we watching?”