Chapter 31
It was mid-morning when David woke the next day, finding Zane’s arms holding him close and providing the warmth he missed since leaving Tuscany.
Closing his eyes, he smiled, remembering his first ride on a dragon.
Sandwiched between Kieran and Zane, he gulped when he saw the ground fall away as the dragon lifted them into the air.
Having never flown before, even in an airplane, David’s stomach flip-flopped a few times before he became mesmerized by the apparent nearness of the stars; he wanted to reach out and grab one to keep.
Then the dragon swooped down into the clouds, enveloping them in a billowy softness that parted as they flew through it.
Fascinated, David extended his hand to run his fingers through it.
Though he tried to touch the elusive clouds, he only felt air.
When the dragon emerged from the clouds, miniature houses and buildings, nestled in the Scottish countryside appeared below him.
Feeling like a bird, David was dumbfounded at how far he could see.
He loved the night’s silence and his eyes roamed over the landscape below until he saw Kieran point to the horizon.
Shifting his eyes in that direction, David saw Edinburgh’s city lights on the horizon, acting like a homing beacon for the dragon.
Breathless, David’s eyes grew large as Logan flew over the city, seeing it as he’d never been able to before.
Spotting the Wolf Pack Pub, he smiled, knowing his friend, Morgan, would be happy to see him again.
Then he felt the dragon slowing down before landing on the roof of the hotel and he was sorry the ride had ended.
After getting off with his mate, David watched as the dragon shifted back into Zane’s brother still finding it hard to believe it was Logan and not a dragon.
Now, the sun was shining; last night was just a memory and David hoped it hadn't been a dream.
“Hey, babe, are you awake?” Zane asked.
His mate’s sleep-roughened voice sent shivers down David’s back as his cock hardened. “Yes, I was just thinking about our dragon ride last night. It was so fantastic! I hope we can do it again, and soon,” he proposed.
Chuckling, Zane said, “Yup, I can’t wait till Jackson sees Logan flying and breathing fire.”
“I don’t understand. Doesn’t Jackson know about it?”
“Yeah, he does. He just hasn’t seen it. Logan was in Ireland when he received his gift from the Fates, and then he and Kieran met Theo and Norm in Scotland so he hasn’t been home yet.”
“Okaaay, then why would he think it so special that Logan could shift into a dragon?” asked David, slightly confused.
“Jackson loves dragons! I didn’t know it until the summer I was working with Logan to build the new pack house after our family was…
you know. We were up on the roof, nailing shingles and it was boring as hell, but that was our job.
To make the time pass, Logan told me stories of their childhood and one of them was about Jackson’s love of everything dragon. ”
“Ohhhh! So that’s why,” David said, finally understanding.
“I bet my brother will insist on Logan taking him for a ride,” Zane laughed, picturing the whole thing.
“Poor Logan! I bet everyone’ll want a ride on him,” giggled David.
“You’re probably right,” Zane said, his stomach growling.
“Is that you?” asked David, smiling at his mate. “Are you telling me it’s time we eat breakfast?”
Lowering his head, Zane puffed a few noisy kisses along the side of his mate’s face. “That would be an affirmative,” he said, as more of his stomach rumbles rocked the room. “How about a shower, then breakfast?”
Shoving his ass back against his mate’s hard cock, David murmured, “I was thinking of something else first.”
Groaning as his cock swelled even more, Zane was treated to a horizontal lap dance as his mate began to grind against him.
Visual images flooded his mind, picturing David on his knees with Zane’s cock in his mouth.
Just as he was reaching for it, he heard someone pounding on their door.
Ignoring it, his fingers wrapped around David’s cock, his hand sliding up it, loving the feeling of its velvet skin.
Giving David more kisses down the side of his face and neck Zane finally reached the place he’d marked him and licked it lovingly.
David melted at his mate’s touch, inhaling Zane’s scent that was now home to him. As much as he wanted to continue, David was distracted by the person at their door. “Love, don’t you think you should see who’s knocking? They seem very insistent. Maybe it’s bad news.”
Groaning, Zane knew his mate was right but it didn’t mean he was happy about it.
It was the first morning no one was hunting David and he was looking forward to a lazy day of sex with his mate, spent mostly in bed.
“Stay here, babe, I’ll be right back,” Zane said, rolling out of bed and slipping on some pajamas before walking to the door.
Yanking it open, he opened his mouth, ready to snarl at the interrupter, but quickly swallowed it when he saw Kieran standing there. “Hi Ki, what’s up?”
“Yeah, hi. You haven’t answered any of Logan’s texts and he was worried. Right now, he’s with Oracle who told him she had to speak with you and David as soon as possible. So, can you guys put the hanky-panky on hold until later so you can have your chat with her?”
Quickly slipping into his sweatpants, David joined Zane at the door.
“Hello Kieran, we just woke up. Wasn’t that ride last night on Logan’s dragon fantastic?
I just loved it. We were just about to shower before having breakfast, but we could talk to Oracle after that, right love?
” David smiled at his mate before giving Zane a quick kiss.
“Sure,” Zane agreed, though reluctantly.
“Perfecto,” Kieran said, adding, “I’ll order breakfast for you, so it’ll be here by the time you’re done showering.”
“Thanks, Kieran,” said David, “that’s very kind of you.”
Inwardly groaning at his mate’s sweet amiable acquiescence, Zane agreed for now, unwilling to argue with Kieran about Logan’s demand for an immediate meeting. Swallowing his frustration, he gave a tight smile and said, “Thanks, Ki. See you in a little while.”
Grinning, Kieran responded, “Righto. Oh, and thanks for doing this for me guys. Logan has been a bear this morning. Huh, a bear. Maybe he should shift into a grizzly bear and I can feed him lots of honey and see if that makes him happy. Or maybe I should order him salmon this morning. Bears love fish, and Scotland has lots of salmon, so that should be easy to get…and fresh, too. Maybe Brian could help me. I wonder what else bears eat? Oh yes, berries, they love berries. Hmmm, let me see…”
Zane watched as Kieran walked away googling on his phone and murmuring to himself, heading for his and Logan’s suite.
Shaking his head and chuckling as he closed the door, he pictured the breakfast his brother was about to get—perfect payback for the cock-block Logan had thrown at him this morning.
“C’mon, babe, let’s have some fun in the shower,” Zane said, smirking at David.
~/~/~/~/~
Theo cuddled close to Norman on the sofa, looking at Fionn staring dejectedly out the window.
Playing absentmindedly with his mate’s fingers, Theo was trying to figure out what was troubling their friend.
Ever since the night Slate had been rescued at the castle, Fionn had acted differently.
If he were asked to describe it, the only thing that came to Theo’s mind was sadness—and maybe depression—about what, he didn’t know, but he was determined to help Fionn shake out of it.
“What would you like to do today, Fionn?” he asked.
‘Nothing’ was the answer rising inside him but Fionn held back, knowing Theo wouldn’t accept it.
Sighing at the mess his life had become, all he wanted was to stay with his hoard, but he’d promised Ki he wouldn’t; instead he had to be content with short visits.
But it wasn’t enough, especially after Penn told him last night about relatives now fighting to gain custody of him.
Out of the frying pan into the fire! Where were these relatives when my father treated me badly before locking me up in a cave without any food? Where the fuck were they then?
No matter how many times those questions surfaced in his mind, he still had no answers.
Penn suggested a meeting with the different relatives in order to help him make a decision but Fionn feared his relatives might try to kidnap him if he did that.
Well, his father’s relatives probably would, but he wasn’t sure about his mother’s—but that raised another question in his mind about why they weren’t around when his mother was so sick.
Fionn couldn’t help thinking his mother might still be alive if her family had stepped in to help when she fell ill.
So where does this leave me? After tossing and turning all night, Fionn made a quick visit to his hoard, drawing from it the strength he needed to give Penn his answer.
But before that happened, he wanted to talk to Ki and see what he thought about it; he was worried about what his relatives might do to his new family.
The last thing he wanted was for any harm to come to them. What a fucking mess!
“Fionn? Any ideas?” asked Theo.
Glancing at his friends and wanting to forget his problems for a while, Fionn said, “Ki told me about his friend who gives tours of Loch Ness in search of Nessie.”
“Ohhh, that sounds like fun. Do you think Ki will come with us?” asked Theo, already thinking about the outfit he was going to wear.
“Maybe. I’ll text him and see,” Fionn said. “In the meantime, I’ll go and change.”
~/~/~/~/~
Zane grinned at David as they walked towards Logan and Kieran’s suite.
It turned out his brother hadn’t cock-blocked him after all, because he was able to introduce his mate to the pleasures of shower sex.
Hoping it would be a short meeting with Oracle, he was already thinking of introducing him to other sexual delights.
He pulled David tight against him, loving the tingling of tiny shocks that sparked between them.
After giving his mate a light kiss that deepened quickly, he knocked on the door.
“Oh, my gods! I knew you wouldn’t control yourselves,” burbled Kieran. “Come in, breakfast is waiting and if you don’t hurry, Logan will eat yours up and you’ll have to eat what I ordered for him,” he chuckled, stepping aside to let Zane and David enter.
David’s eyes widened. “Did you really order him fish and berries?”
“No, he didn’t,” said Logan, joining them at the door, before looking at Kieran. “Is that what you meant when you told me if I didn’t stop being a grouch this morning, you were going to order something to fit my mood?”
“Well, you were being a bear and I didn’t think on the first morning David was here he’d appreciate you being like that,” Kieran giggled.
Lifting Kieran, who wrapped his legs around his mate’s waist, Logan smacked the ass he loved so well. “Are you trying to get me to punish you?”
Kieran winked at David, before saying, “Maybe, macushla. How bad have I been?”
“Bad enough, I think,” Logan growled before covering his mate’s face with lots of kisses. Then he said, “C’mon guys, the food’s just arrived so let’s eat before I take a bite out of my mate.”
Looking at David, Zane was relieved to see him giggling at Logan and Kieran’s make-believe repartee.
Reminding himself to thank Ki for talking to David about their kooky behavior, he led his mate into the dining room where the table was laden with a variety of scrumptious breakfast dishes.
After sitting down next to each other, Zane leaned over and said, “Babe, if you want something else, let me know and I’ll order it for you. ”
David’s eyes sparkled as he looked at the feast before him, mentally comparing it to the meager meals he’d eaten growing up.
If I never see another bowl of oatmeal in my life, it would be too soon.
Morning after morning, all those years, just tasteless, luke-warm oatmeal.
But now, looking at all the possibilities, David’s only answer was, “Thank you, love, this is perfect.”
Zane waited until his brother and Kieran sat down; then plates were filled and the only sounds were silverware clinking and then scraping to get the last bits of food. Finally, Zane sat back in his chair and realized Oracle wasn’t there. “Hey bro, I thought Oracle was waiting for us?”
“She was, but when Kieran told her you were going to shower and eat before meeting her, she decided to go back to her suite so she could answer some emails. She’ll be back shortly.”
Kieran looked up from his phone. “Macushla, Theo, Norm and Fionn are going to Brian’s for a ride on the lake to see Nessie and they want me to join them.”
Logan looked at Zane. “Should I be worried about my mate being attacked by the people who are after David?”
David answered instead, “Michael is dead, his men are in custody and the only one left who’s a threat to me is the High Priestess and she’s in Tuscany as far as I know.”
“Do you have any reason to believe she might be here?” asked Logan.
“I don’t think so, because she wouldn’t know about Michael yet,” David replied.
“Bro, why don’t you send some enforcers with them?” asked Zane.
“Macushla, that’s a good idea,” Kieran said. “Please, Fionn has been so depressed and for him to want to go is amazing and Brian can protect us too and I think it would do a world of good for him to get out in the fresh air.”
“I agree, babe. You can go as long as Groose goes too, with whoever he picks. But you have to promise you’ll follow his orders without question,” Logan said.
Beaming, Kieran replied, “Of course, macushla!” Kissing Logan, he jumped up from the table and headed to the bedroom.
“Ki, are you changing your outfit again?” Zane called, chuckling.
“Absolument! I bought the perfect outfit to go boating! Wait till you see it,” Kieran yelled, his voice fading as he shut the bedroom door.
Logan watched his mate leave, then, grinning at his brother, said, “I love him so much.”
Wrapping his arms around David, Zane replied, “I know exactly how you feel, bro.”