Chapter Seven #2
“Embarrassed? I was literally naked in your lap all afternoon. Anytime you wanted to distract me from asking questions about your story, you would stroke me. You kept me hard for hours! And you’re embarrassed.”
He really hadn’t given the boy enough credit. “Caught that distraction technique, did you?”
“I really am smarter than I look.” Nix grabbed Evan’s wrist.
Evan forced himself to look at Nix. “I know you’re smart.”
“You would start telling a story, especially about other couples, but you always paused then changed direction.”
“Why didn’t you say something?” Evan asked.
“I figured you’d tell me when you were ready,” Nix responded in a gentle tone.
“Dragons like complete control over their partners,” Evan confessed.
Nix waggled his eyebrows. “Kinky.”
“More than you know.”
“What?” Nix frowned at him.
“I learned the art of Shibari to satisfy my dragon, Hell, I enjoy it just as much as he does.”
“Is that why we can’t have sex? Because you want to tie me up? I promise I would be so into that!”
Evan shook his head. “That’s not the reason. I sort of expected that you wouldn’t mind being in my ropes.”
Nix shivered. “Really wouldn’t mind.”
“It’s something that my first hockey trainer told me.” Evan smirked. “And you know how superstitious hockey players are.”
Nix groaned as he stared up at Evan. “You’re going to tell me no orgasms before a game.”
“Twenty-four hours,” Evan confirmed.
“Damn it! I hate that one.”
“So, you’ve heard it before?” Evan asked. Maybe he wasn’t as weird as he thought. Evan knew there was no truth to the superstition, but he’d literally never had sex twenty-four hours before a game. It was now his thing.
“In college. One of the assistant coaches tried that on us. It didn’t work.
We’d been playing for too long by the time he tried that with us.
Plus, sex! Who doesn’t want to have sex all the time.
Hey, wait! You gave me orgasms!”“Yeah, it’s only a rule for me.
I can make you come over and over but no orgasms for me,” Evan said.
“Fine!” Nix flopped his arms over his head. “But I will be getting my mouth on you once we win tomorrow! You have been warned.”
And now Evan was hard. Damn his boy! And Evan’s superstition included not jerking off. “I need to go. I still have to pack.”
“You’ll come get me in the morning?” Nix asked.
“First thing. I’ll even make sure we have time for breakfast.”
Pushing up, Nix captured Evan’s mouth with his own. Nix kissed him like he was never going to see Evan again. Evan drew back slowly. “I’ll be back before you know it. Sleep good.”
“You too,” Nix offered before lying back down.
Evan rose and crossed the room quickly before he convinced himself that it would be fine slipping into bed with Nix. It wouldn’t. Evan just wasn’t sure that he would be able to follow his own rules. Not when it came to Nix.
“Good night, boy,” Evan whispered as he reached the threshold.
Of course, Nix heard him. “Night, Daddy.”
The boy was trying to kill him.
He made sure that Nix’s front door locked behind him before making his way home. Evan hadn’t done much more than shower after he’d woken that morning. His dragon had been riding him hard to get to their boy.
It had been a good afternoon spent with Nix. The two of them starting the bonding process. Time was essentially the only way that their connection would grow. The dragon would eventually want to show off and take his human to their hideout.
Evan could already picture Nix padding around barefoot and naked in the cabin that Evan had built with his own two hands. He’d had centuries to take his time, making sure that everything was perfect. Nix would fit right in with all his other treasures.
Stalking directly to his bedroom, Evan went for the closet. He flung open the door then pushed his clothes to the side.
On the back of the closet wall hung a long mirror.
Ancient magic pulsed from his surface. Evan stared at his reflection until he felt strong enough. He placed his hand on the mirror and said the name. “Lithis.”
The mirror shimmered before his cousin’s face appeared.
“Evan! It’s been too long!”
Evan felt his lips twitch. His cousin was naked from the waist up, all that Evan could see. “I really hope you are at least wearing pants.”
Lithis rolled his eyes. “Such a stick-in-the-mud. You summoned me.”
“You could have dressed before answering,” Evan pointed out.
“And keep my favorite cousin waiting? After…how long has it been anyway? A decade? No, longer than that.”
“It’s been a long time,” Evan agreed.
“To what do I owe this call?”
Evan wasn’t really surprised by the hostility.
He and Lithis had been close growing up, closer than Evan had been to his brothers, and both he and Lithis had taken their journey to find their dragons in the same year.
When Evan had cut himself off from his clan, leaving Lithis behind had been the hardest.
“You look well,” Evan said instead of answering Lithis’s question.
“I’m sure you didn’t finally contact me just to tell me how pretty I am,” Lithis responded. “Although I am pretty. Prettiest in the family.”
Evan had missed his cousin. He smirked. “Is that a frown line I see below your right eye?”
Lithis gasped dramatically as he leaned closer in the mirror. Which put him closer to Evan as well.
“Oh, it’s two lines,” Evan snarked.
“Lies! You are telling lies!” Lithis exclaimed.
“I am,” Evan finally said. “And I’m sorry it’s been so long since I called.”
Lithis gave a deep sigh. “I can’t stay mad at you. Does this mean you’re done throwing a temper tantrum?”
Evan sniffed. “I was not—”
“You went off the deep end,” Lithis interrupted.
“I…” Evan shook his head. “I couldn’t watch another member of our clan fall. We lost so many.”
The smile fell from Lithis’s face. “I know.”
“There are so few of us left. We’ve been hunted to the ends of earth more times than I can count,” Evan said. “I couldn’t take it any longer.”
“That’s funny as you’ve become the only dragon known,” Lithis said. “Not like you’re keeping yourself hidden.”
“I should have never been revealed,” Evan said. “We were betrayed by the paranormals that decided to no longer keep us hidden.”
“You could have made yourself disappear after,” Lithis pointed out.
“I was going to,” Evan confessed. Until Vin, Luca, and Laney had dragged him back to where he belonged. In hockey. Where he’d found his boy.
“So, all of a sudden you decided not to hide any longer?” Lithis asked.
“It was better to have the attention on me when my species had already been revealed than have them go after one of you that can still lead a private life.” His life had been ruined by the decisions of others.
The least he could do was try to protect the rest of the dragons.
Evan needed to stay away from other dragons so no one else’s secrets were revealed.
Association with him could be dangerous if others were outed without their consent.
There were still some places in the world that being paranormal meant being hunted down.
Lithis nodded. “Are you safe?”
Evan patted his chest. “I’m charmed.”
“Charmed? You know a warlock strong enough to charm a dragon?”
“I know all kinds of people,” Evan quipped.
“Well good for you, I guess.” Lithis leaned closer again. “You look well too. Not as pretty as me but so few are.”
“I met someone,” Evan confessed.
“A man?” Lithis questioned. A smile began to grow on his face again. “So the mighty has fallen.”
Evan snorted. “I haven’t fallen for anything.”
“Except your man,” Lithis pointed out. “And your dragon is in agreement.”
“He is.”
“Congratulations.” Lithis clapped his hands. “When can I meet him?”
“Later,” Evan promised. Much later. Nix and Lithis would be pure chaos together and Evan wasn’t ready for that stress in his life. “It’s very new.”
“Must be,” Lithis said. “A dragon hasn’t bonded with a male partner in decades. Mine is pretty damn stubborn. I swear half the time I think he wants a woman.”
“Maybe he does,” Evan replied.
“That will be a problem since I’m all about the dick,” Lithis responded. “So much dick. Can’t get enough of it.”
“That could be the real problem,” Evan told him. “Your type of men. Hopefully your dragon has better standards.”
Lithis hummed. “Maybe. Not that I can be bothered with settling down. There are so many more men that need my cock.”
Evan snorted. “Sure. You keep telling yourself that.” Crazy as he was Lithis was the one person that Evan had wanted to share news of Nix with.
“Is there anything you need?” Lithis asked. “Is that why you called?”
“No,” Evan said quickly. “No, I just missed you.”
Lithis dipped his chin. “I missed you too.”
“I’ll call more,” Evan promised. “I wanted to share this news with someone. Someone who would understand.”
“I’m very happy for you. I can be to you in a matter of a day or so. Just let me know when I can meet this special person. I want to know everything,” Lithis said.
“His name is Phoenix. Nix. And he’s perfect. Handsome, sweet, and the kindest person I’ve ever met.”
“The rookie on your team?”
Evan jerked back. “How do you know that?”
“I follow your career, of course,” Lithis said. “I never miss a game. Never. I’ve even been to a few games in person.”
“You have?” How had Evan never felt his cousin so close? The knowledge that his cousin had been supporting him behind the senses touched him. Evan really did have good people in his life. Something that he needed to remember.
“I cloaked myself but I’ve actually become a fan of hockey. There are so many very attractive players in this new league. I wouldn’t mind getting to know some of your friends.”
That was all Evan needed. His very horny and incorrigible cousin corrupting his friends. “We’ll see.” Which truly meant no chance in hell which they both knew.
Lithis cackled. “Fine. But you will introduce me to Nix soon, or I will do it myself.”
Placing his hand over his heart, Evan dipped his head. “I promise.”
“Thanks for calling,” Lithis set his palm against the mirror.
Evan did the same. Even though there was distance between them, Evan could almost feel the heat from his kin. “Talk soon.”
“You better. I will track you down,” Lithis said.
Evan had no doubt.
The mirror shimmered and Evan was left staring at his own reflection.
Nix would probably get a kick out of the way Evan could communicate with his family. Evan would show him one day. There was much that Nix would learn about his nature.
Evan’s dragon wanted to return to Nix, steal him out of bed, and fly him up into the mountains to be alone. Tempting, so very tempting. Evan had to rely on his more rational human side to turn and start collecting clothes to pack.
They’d take Nix to their mountain sanctuary as soon as possible. That was a vow Evan made to himself and his dragon.