Chapter 13
Baldewin orchestrated for everyone to meet at a particular hotel. The dragon and mage coming to meet them could fly in and make it by evening. Even with multiple countries in between them. Apparently, a dragon could fly nearly as fast as a jet.
The realization made Tori feel a little guilty for insisting on not flying, as they could have already been at Burkhard Castle by now if not for him.
But every time he even thought about strapping himself to a dragon and flying, his palms got sweaty and he nearly threw up, so—no. No flying.
The hotel was nice, not one of those commercial things that was all industrial grade carpet and weird-but-boring art. This was more of a bed and breakfast style, with cozy rooms and wooden floors. He liked it, including the street art hanging on the walls.
Baldewin had reserved a suite with two separate bedrooms connected by a central sitting room. Tori’s had a queen-sized bed with a fluffy blue quilt, with a bathroom tucked into the far end that he promptly made use of.
He moved quickly to the bags on his bed.
He hadn’t had a chance to check anything since this morning, when the bags were dropped and scattered during the attack.
He could only hope that his guitar was alright and the few glass vials he had on him weren’t broken.
They were empty at the moment, but he didn’t want to replace them, either.
A knock sounded on the door, and he answered it to find Baldewin on the other side. There was a slight smile on his face as he held up a black box. “I thought you might need this.”
Another gift? Not that Baldewin ever called it that, but these simple things he kept picking up certainly felt like one present after another to Tori. He accepted it, as it was rude to do anything else, and it was surprisingly heavy for such a slim package. “Thank you?”
Tori had no idea what the practice was in Germany, but in Finland, you always opened the gift in front of the giver to show your appreciation for it.
He promptly did so, and what came out of the box was a rather nice multi-tool.
No wonder it had heft to it, then. It was an entirely practical gift.
Baldewin was correct; he’d need half the tools on this to make their necklaces later this evening.
But it was also thoughtful, as all Baldewin’s gifts to him were.
“Thank you,” he husked. “It’s precisely what I needed.”
“I’m glad.” If words could convey affection so strongly that it felt like an embrace, then that’s how Baldewin’s simple words felt to him. It was there in Baldewin’s eyes, his tone, the open way he stood.
Tori looked up into this man’s face, this amazing dragon who took such excellent care of him, and felt every reserve disappear.
He’d had doubts regarding Baldewin and Warin, but they were already so much better to him than his own clan had been.
There was no reason to distrust either of them.
And Tori was tired of hiding behind lies.
Not when it kept him from what he really wanted.
He turned, put his gift and the box carefully down on the nightstand behind him, then closed the distance between him and Baldewin. He levered up onto the balls of his feet to carefully brush a kiss against those plush lips.
Before he could drop back down, two large hands cradled his face, and Baldewin pressed in, deepening the kiss. A happy sigh slipped from his throat as Baldewin took control of the kiss. Their first two kisses had been a matter of desperation, hard to enjoy. But this, this was pure, sinful pleasure.
Baldewin’s hands trailed down over his shoulders and back, snugging Tori tighter into him. He went happily, pressed up against that broad chest, his own hands traveling up to hang onto Baldewin’s shoulders and neck, enjoying the prickly texture of his short hair.
Then Baldewin slipped his tongue into Tori’s mouth, and he startled.
Oh! That was…rather nice, actually. Having that hot, firm slickness tangling with his own tongue.
Tori tried to mimic him and felt the vibration of a groan as Baldewin growled his pleasure.
It immediately went to his head that Baldewin liked their kiss as much as Tori.
A little too much, perhaps, as he could feel himself steadily hardening, and he had to restrain the urge to keep from grinding into Baldewin. Tori was torn. He didn’t want to end the kiss, but letting things ramp up would mean sex, wouldn’t it? Should they—
Baldewin’s hands caught him at the backs of his thighs, lifting Tori further up and into him in a casual display of strength, and Tori’s thought process immediately suffered a cataclysmic failure. All he could think about was how good this felt, to have a man this sexy in his arms.
“Baldewin? Are you in—oops!”
They broke apart, both panting a little, with Baldewin snapping around to see who had interrupted them. He kept Tori close, one arm protectively around his back, as if ready to haul him behind him. But as quickly as he moved, he almost instantly relaxed. “Cassie. Sasha. You made good time.”
“Yeah, we did,” the petite, Korean-American woman responded lightly.
Behind her stood a tall, blonde woman who made Tori think Valkyrie goddess warrior.
She had the build of a power lifter. If not for the smile on her face, Tori would have been a little intimidated.
The two women couldn’t have been more different in appearance, but the slightly possessive arm the blonde had around the smaller woman convinced Tori they were probably perfectly matched.
The smaller woman pushed light blue hair out of her face, looking a little windblown, with a hint of color still high in her cheeks. She was pretty, but what caught Tori’s attention was the hint of mischief that lurked in her dark eyes.
“Annnnd I’m seriously interrupting. Totally my bad.” Except she didn’t look remorseful in the least for her poor timing.
Tori wasn’t at all happy about the interruption, that was true. But he was curious about this mage who looked slightly aglow to him. Her power was steady and true, her aura clear, and he liked the look of it.
He also very much liked that even when they were caught kissing, Baldewin hadn’t moved away and even now kept an arm around Tori’s waist. He wasn’t ashamed of Tori. And Tori reveled in it.
“I should probably thank you for the interruption”—Baldewin’s expression made it clear he had no intention of actually being happy about it—“as apparently I have no situational awareness when kissing him. I didn’t even hear your approach.”
“Not often I manage to sneak up on a fellow dragon,” Sasha admitted with a laugh. “He must be a good kisser. Hi there, by the way. We skipped introductions.”
“Yes, we did,” Tori agreed, trying to get his blush to fade through sheer willpower. He had a feeling it wasn’t going away any time soon. “I’m Tori Taavi.”
“Cassie Burkhard,” the Asian-American woman responded readily, extending a hand. “Mage of the Burkhard Clan. This is my amazing and sexy wife, Sasha.”
Tori’s hand was in hers—she had a surprisingly strong grip—before he fully registered what she was saying.
He blinked and jerked his gaze over to the smiling blonde.
He had to admit he was a bit dazed when he shook the dragon’s hand, but she didn’t seem bothered by it.
He was meeting a same-sex couple. A mated couple.
“It’s good—great—to meet you both,” he corrected awkwardly. His face was burning with embarrassment, but neither of the women seemed to notice.
“Come join us for dinner. We can catch up on everything,” Cassie invited.
Tori was reluctant to break the moment with Baldewin, but it was apparently broken anyway. There was no helping it now.
Not content to just follow her out of the room, Baldewin paused them long enough to lean in and give Tori a chaste kiss. Above his mouth, he murmured, “I would like very much to pick this back up later.”
He couldn’t contain the bright smile or resist the urge to kiss Baldewin back, a soft exchange of lips. “Yes, please.”
Chuckling, Baldewin gave him one more kiss before taking his hand and pulling him out of the room.
With the promise of later, Tori was content to follow, although still a little nervous. All he knew was that he wanted to kiss Baldewin again. And he was glad that Baldewin made it clear he felt the same.
Their hotel had a small restaurant next door, and they met up with everyone in front of it. They’d picked up quick food for lunch on the way here but limited their stops as much as possible. Tori, at least, was famished.
The restaurant was a nice one, a local business run by a family. The food was exquisite and full of flavor. Tori ate enough to put himself into a food coma and didn’t care.
But what caught his eye in the course of the meal was the earring Cassie wore.
She only had on one, and it was a flat disc much like a slim mirror.
The spellwork on it was ingenious, simple in design and flawlessly executed.
He could read it once Cassie stilled long enough for him to get a good look. A translation spell.
She’d come that prepared?
Knowing she couldn’t readily speak his language, she’d created and worn that on the flight in so she could speak with him?
It was high-level magic, what she had done. The crafting said something not only of her skills but of her as a person. Apparently, everyone in the Burkhard Clan was thoughtful and kind.
Tori sat in the middle of the table, conversation flowing easily around him, looking at the bright smiles. He was wrapped in kindness on all sides, and the lesson hit all over again that these people were not his enemies. Far from it.
On the contrary, he was fast beginning to believe they could be friends. Happiness and an amazing feeling of peace started to seep into him. He’d never had this before, and he was starting to let himself truly believe this could be his new life.