Epilogue
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“HOW ABOUT EGYPT?” GRAHAM asked. “I’ve always wanted to see the pyramids.”
“See as in go inside of them?” Emory asked, sounding less than enthusiastic about that.
Graham didn’t let it dampen his enthusiasm. “You can wait outside if you don’t want to come in.”
“You think I’d let you go anywhere inside a pyramid without me?”
“I mean, I understand why it might feel constrictive for a dragon shifter. It’s a small space. I really would like to see inside of it, though. It’s fine if you don’t want to, and I don’t expect you to like the same things as I do.”
“It’s not that I don’t like it.”
Graham bit his lower lip. It was hard to take Emory seriously when it was clear he was freaking out at the thought of going into a pyramid.
“I just don’t want you to do these things on your own,” Emory continued.
“But I wouldn’t be on my own for long. Besides, it’s not like I can disappear or anything. I’m pretty sure there’s only one entrance.”
Emory’s jaw clenched. “I’ll come with you.”
Graham could tell he wouldn’t change his mind.
Emory was stubborn, especially when it came to Graham.
Graham still wasn’t sure what he’d done to deserve a relationship like this, with a man like Emory, but he’d stopped wondering as much as he had before.
It didn’t really matter. The only thing that did was that he was with Emory, and Emory wanted him.
Things were going great between them, so much so that they were planning a vacation together.
Graham had never had the opportunity to travel, and Emory had kept himself away from the world for decades.
They both wanted to see what was out there, but at the same time, Graham didn’t want to leave the castle just yet.
It had just started to feel like home, and he wasn’t ready to give that up.
He still couldn’t believe it. He had everything he could ever have dreamed of, except for one thing.
He had a home, people he considered family, even though he was pretty sure that some of them didn’t feel the same way about him.
He had someone to rely on—a boyfriend. He knew that as long as Emory was in his life, he would never be alone.
He’d always have someone to support him, whatever happened.
The only thing missing was his brother. He wished Simon could be there to see him, but at the same time, he was glad that Simon wasn’t.
He’d always been more bitter than Graham.
He probably would’ve thought that Emory was with Graham for reasons that had nothing to do with feelings.
He wouldn’t have tried to break them up, but he would have been annoying about it.
Graham had loved his brother. He still did, even though Simon wasn’t with him anymore.
That didn’t mean he hadn’t been able to see his brother’s flaws.
Simon had had plenty of them. Graham had ignored them because he loved his brother and Simon was the only person he had in his life, but sometimes, it hadn’t been easy.
Sometimes, he’d wanted to leave Simon behind and never look back.
In the end, it was Simon who’d done that.
He hadn’t looked back, not even when Graham had left Carlyle.
“How about Scotland?” Emory suggested, sounding excited again.
Graham blinked himself back to the present. “You just want to hunt sheep in your dragon form,” he accused.
Emory shrugged. “Sheep are cute.”
“Wouldn’t they leave wool in between your teeth?”
“I never said I wanted to eat them.”
“You’re a dragon. Why wouldn’t you want to eat sheep?”
“I don’t actually eat that often in my dragon form,” Emory said.
“Maybe you should. A dragon your size needs to eat.” Graham still didn’t understand how that worked, but he’d been told it was magic, and he’d gone along with it. What did he know about magic? Definitely not as much as the dragons and the mages.
Emory grinned. “It’s a pity that the only thing I want to eat is you.”
Graham blushed and looked around the living room, but they were alone. That was good. “You can’t say things like that when we’re around the others. One of them could hear.”
“So?”
“It’s a little weird.”
“It really isn’t, but fine. I’ll keep this kind of conversation to the bedroom.”
“Thank you.”
Emory bumped their knees together. “But just know that I’m thinking about it.”
Graham groaned. “Why did you tell me? Now I’m going to be thinking about it the rest of the day.”
“We could do something about it,” Emory offered.
They could. They were in the living room, discussing places they wanted to travel to, and it wasn’t like they had anything else to do.
They didn’t work like the mages. That made Graham feel guilty, but after talking to Jarvis, he felt a little better.
Jarvis didn’t have any problems paying for Graham, and he’d reassured him that, considering how much money the mages had accumulated over the decades, he didn’t even notice.
That had blown Graham’s mind because he couldn’t imagine having so much money that one wouldn’t notice paying for food and everything else for a second person, but he’d learned not to argue too hard when it didn’t benefit him.
It wasn’t like the mages were going to expect repayment or kick him out.
No, he was at the castle to stay, as incredible as that seemed. This was his home and his family.
And his boyfriend, who apparently couldn’t stop thinking about having his way with him.
* * * *
EMORY LIKED IT WHEN Graham was flustered. He liked it when he managed to put a smile on his boyfriend’s lips. He’d do anything for that to happen, including crawl into a pyramid.
He still wasn’t sure that was a good idea.
He’d do it for Graham, though. He was pretty sure that at this point, he’d do anything Graham asked of him. He wasn’t sure when that happened, when he’d fallen madly in love with him, but he didn’t care. He just knew how he felt and that he wanted more of this.
He wanted more of teasing Graham. He wanted more of them waking up in the same bed in the morning. He wanted more of seeing Graham with his expression all soft and sleepy, or distorted by pleasure. He wanted more of Graham, period, and he could have it.
Sometimes, all of this scared him. For so long, he’d thought he would die alone, and he’d been fine with that.
He’d been betrayed by the one person who should have loved and cherished him.
Not only that, but that person had stolen part of who he was without hesitation.
How could he trust anyone after what Carlyle had done?
And now, here he was, trusting one of Carlyle’s descendants.
Not only that, but Graham had actually worked for Carlyle for a little bit.
He and Emory had talked about it, so Emory knew what Graham had or hadn’t done, but still.
It felt like a miracle that he’d managed to trust Graham at all after everything that happened.
But he did. He did trust Graham, and he never wanted all of this to stop. Graham was his future. It might be a future he’d never thought he’d have, but he had it, and he wasn’t giving it up. He didn’t care if he had to crawl into pyramids or hunt sheep for this man. He’d do it.
Carlyle was both the best and the worst thing that had happened to Emory.
He’d been happy with him—or at least, he’d thought he was happy back then—then, incredibly hurt.
He’d been broken, and in part, he still was, but at the same time, he wouldn’t have met Graham if it hadn’t been for Carlyle.
It was odd to feel grateful to him, but when Emory opened his eyes in the morning and the first thing he saw was Graham, he couldn’t help but feel exactly that way.
Carlyle had hurt him, but he’d also made him stronger. He was strong enough that now that he was with Graham, he knew he could be happy. He could leave the past behind and focus on their future.
Pyramids, sheep, and all.