Omari Haru
NINETEEN
Haru awoke to find himself drifting on a cloud.
At least, that was what it seemed like. He was lying on something so incredibly soft and fluffy.
When he opened his eyes, the walls and ceiling were white with all this golden light gilding them.
He drew in a slow breath and exhaled as he closed his eyes again, trying to order his thoughts, but everything was a muddled mess.
He recalled the nightmares: losing Adrian, finding Adrian, fighting a god, and then something had happened to Tyche, but he couldn’t tell what out of that was real and what was an illusion.
A noise escaped him, and he lifted his hand, pressing his fingers to his forehead to rub away the rising ache.
“Shhh, rest.”
Adrian’s warm voice was a caress, and he wanted to follow it back to sleep as rough fingers brushed his own hand aside and began massaging his forehead and temples.
“Adrian!”
His eyes popped open, and he was greeted with the sight of his handsome mate leaning over him from where he lay in the bed beside him. There were dark circles under his eyes and there was a horrible bruise on his right temple, but it was still his Adrian.
Tears immediately flooded his eyes, blurring his vision. He wrapped his arms around Adrian, pulling him close, and Adrian did the same. Holding him so tight, it was as if Adrian was afraid that Haru was going to disappear.
“My mate. You found me,” Haru whispered, his voice growing too choked to speak. He turned his body toward Adrian, and their legs instantly tangled under the heavy covers.
“I will always find you. No matter what. You are never getting away from me.” Adrian’s voice started as a growl, almost making the words into a threat, but they crumbled at the end.
“Forgive me. I…I don’t know what happened. The explosion. I couldn’t find you.” His arms tightened on Adrian’s muscular frame until Haru worried about snapping bones, but Adrian didn’t make a single sound of discomfort. He held on to Haru, a fine trembling coursing through his body.
“Don’t.”
“But I lost control. People…I think people were hurt. I don’t know. There’s so much I don’t remember. Nothing makes sense. What happened?”
Adrian finally gave him a push, putting enough distance between them so he could look Haru in the eye, but not so much that they weren’t touching any longer.
“The explosion appears to have been created by people from the Federation of Order.” Adrian sat up and rested on a mound of pillows.
With a smirk, he patted his chest, and Haru was more than happy to rest his head there while holding on to Adrian’s waist. “From what I overheard, I think they were trying to get you but couldn’t find you in all the rubble. They found me instead.”
Haru’s head popped up. He planted a hand under the pillow behind Adrian and lifted him into a half sitting position in the bed. “Did they hurt you?”
Adrian shook his head and winced. He lifted his left hand and gestured toward his face. “This was all from the explosion. They just chucked me in a room, unsure of what to do with me.”
“I lost control. After the explosion, I couldn’t find you. I—” His voice broke as he relived that agonizing memory of not being sure whether Adrian was alive or dead. Unsure if he’d failed in managing this new god power he was protecting and hurt his mate.
Yet before he could crumble into sobs, a soft smile on Adrian’s lips stopped him. “I’m a horrible person for saying this, but in a way, I’m glad you did.”
“What?”
Adrian huffed a sardonic laugh that seemed to be directed at himself.
He cupped Haru’s cheek with his rough, battle-worn hand, touching him as if Haru were the most precious thing in all his world.
“When I looked out the window and saw the nightmare landscape, I knew you were still alive. I didn’t want you to be in pain or suffering because of me, but as long as the city was falling apart in a nightmare, you were alive and I could save you. It was the thought that kept me going.”
One corner of Haru’s mouth hitched higher, and a lump formed in his throat. “You wanted to save me?”
Adrian opened his mouth, lines instantly digging into his brow as if he were going to curse Haru and deny everything, but he closed his mouth and his face smoothed.
A softness grew in his gray eyes. “It was the only thing I wanted. After I woke up in that crappy room and realized what happened, saving you became all that mattered to me. To hell with Erya and Caelan. To hell with Shey, Tyche, and the rest of the world. None of it mattered.” A tear slipped down Adrian’s cheek, and he let out a rattling breath. “I just had to get back to you.”
Haru couldn’t take it any longer. He zoomed close, crushing his mouth against Adrian’s in a bruising kiss that took everything he had.
The relief of kissing Adrian, tasting him, feeling the shudder that ran through him was more than Haru’s brain could process.
So, he shut it off and ran on pure instinct.
He pushed Adrian into the pillows as he stole kiss after hungry kiss until Adrian was moaning softly.
Haru climbed over Adrian, positioning a knee on either side of his lover while shoving his hands into Adrian’s hair, holding the man completely captive to his every wish.
Adrian was his mate. He always would be.
Nothing would separate them ever again. Haru refused to allow it. He would destroy gods if he had to.
A gentle hand pressed on his chest, and another gripped his hip, but Adrian didn’t push him away. His fingers twisted in Haru’s shirt, pulling it tight across his shoulders.
Wait.
Shirt?
Haru broke off the kiss to gaze at himself and Adrian.
They were dressed in silky pajamas made of silver and blue.
He did not own clothes like these. His head popped up, and he peered at the exquisite room.
Everything was decorated in shades of creamy white and the same blue that was in his sleepwear.
“Where are we?” he inquired as his eyes skimmed the distant dresser, cushioned white chair, silver-gilded mirror, and colorful bouquet. This was certainly nicer than any hotel he’d stayed in. Even better than that last one in Bellcairn.
Adrian chuckled. “Your brain finally started working, huh?”
Haru flashed a cheeky grin. “I need to make sure my Adrian is safe before I fill him with my cock.”
Adrian rolled his eyes but didn’t lose his smile. “We’re in the royal palace. You’ve been unconscious for about a day. You seemed physically okay, so Shey and I thought it might just be exhaustion.”
“And you have been taking care of me?”
Adrian nodded. “It wasn’t all that easy getting you washed and dressed, but I wasn’t about to let any of the palace maids help.” He hooked a hand around the nape of Haru’s neck and pulled him close so that their lips brushed as Adrian spoke. “You’re mine, and no one else is allowed to touch you.”
Haru kissed Adrian, wanting to lose himself in the feel of his lips. His mate was in his arms at last, and he would let nothing happen to him again.
He stretched out on top of Adrian, and they rolled together, tangling their legs in the blankets.
Haru thrust his tongue into Adrian’s mouth and his hands smoothed along Adrian’s back, kneading muscles until a small, pained grunt escaped his lover.
Haru immediately lifted his hand and broke off the kiss, worry filling his eyes.
“Don’t give me that. I was in an explosion. Of course, I’m bruised.”
“I want to see.”
Haru didn’t give him a chance to argue. He started unbuttoning Adrian’s shirt and pulling off his pants.
They shoved the blankets off the end of the bed.
He stopped moving when Adrian was finally sprawled across the middle of the bed, completely naked and looking like a delicious snack that Haru desperately wanted to devour.
Yes, there were bruises. A couple marred his arms and another larger one spread across the right side of his rib cage. The ones on his back were larger and darker. Yet they went well with his motley collection of scars from a lifetime of danger and heroism.
As much as he worried about keeping Adrian safe, he loved that his mate was a daring man of action who never shrank from his duty. He dove in, always doing what had to be done and protecting the weak. His mate was a brave, honorable man. An excellent addition to the Omari clan.
“Well?”
Adrian’s voice cut through Haru’s wandering thoughts. He blinked and found Adrian staring at him with an expectant expression.
“Huh?”
“Are you going to do something about them or just look at them?”
“Do?” His mate was destroying his mind. What could he do?
A slow, wicked grin spread across Adrian’s lips. “Kiss them and make them better.”
Yes! He could do that. A brilliant idea. Not only was his mate brave but also very smart.
Without another word, Adrian rolled onto his stomach and shoved his arms under the pillows. He released a contented sigh as he stretched out, ready for Haru to do his work.
The dragon crawled on top of Adrian, placing his knees on either side of his lover’s hips and leaned close.
He pressed his first kiss to a dark-brown bruise on his left shoulder.
He moved across his back to the other shoulder, covering his warm skin in slow, wet kisses.
His tongue dragged along that wonderful skin, licking and kissing every inch of him.
Tension flowed out of powerful muscles built from years of activity and relentless training.
Happy noises rose from Adrian, and Haru smiled against his body.
He gradually moved lower, kissing each bump of his spine. He paused to work carefully around a large purple bruise that engulfed his right side near his ribs.
As he reached Adrian’s ass, he repositioned his legs between Adrian’s so he could sit on his heels as he kneaded those two perfectly round globes like mounds of dough.