Chapter Two
Roman
Being at a nightclub with Oakley was a new form of torture for me. Oakley was so free, especially out there on the dance floor. Seeing them light up so happily, seeing them really come into themself, really figure out who they were, was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever witnessed.
But being stuck on the sidelines while Oakley was in the middle of the dance floor, grinding on whoever came up to dance with them was giving me new lessons in restraint.
I wanted to be the one dancing beside them. I wanted to be the one with my hands on their hips as we moved to the beat. I wanted to be the one to lean in close and breathe them in. I wanted to march over there and growl at anyone who dared to lay even one finger on my Oakley.
But I couldn’t.
They weren’t ready.
I couldn’t even put my finger on the moment I realized who Oakley was to me.
It was more of a gradual thing where I kept wanting to spend time with them, even if it was just for work, and then it went from wanting to spend time with them to needing to.
It went from enjoying their company to missing them profusely when we were apart for even a few minutes.
And then one day, about six months ago, I realized exactly what this feeling in my chest was. And the second I thought Is Oakley my viramore?, my dragon roared in excitement and shouted in my head, MINE!
The joy of finding my viramore had been overwhelming, and I honestly couldn’t have asked for a more perfect person than Oak.
But the joy didn’t last long when I realized how… impossible this situation was.
First of all, it was clear that Oakley hadn’t realized it yet, that they didn’t feel the same pull I did.
They made it very clear that they didn’t like me following them around all the time, and if they felt it, they would want to spend even more time with me.
They wouldn’t push me away and ask me to leave them alone.
Second of all… Garrick.
He was going to murder me when he found out.
I winced even thinking about it.
He was going to be pissed. He’d probably shift to his dragon and try to eat me even though we’d been best friends for thousands of years.
Oakley grabbed onto the neck of some tall guy with muscles bigger than my head, pulled him close, and ground their hips together. For a moment, I thought they were going to kiss him, but they stopped with their lips only centimeters away.
A low growl formed in my throat before I could stop it, and I had to force myself to stay still, to stop from marching over there and ripping that guy’s arms away and biting his head off before grabbing Oakley up in my arms, shifting, and flying them out of here.
Running my hand over my face, I tried to shake away the ridiculous thoughts.
Even if I had the right to pull the guy off—which I didn’t since Oak had no idea about our connection—the thought of shifting in here and flying away was illogical.
I’d hardly fit in this place in dragon form. And hello, there was a ceiling.
Also, I wasn’t a murderer, so I wouldn’t be ripping limbs off some random innocent guy.
If he hurt Oakley, that was a different story entirely, and he would suffer the consequences.
But Oak seemed perfectly happy to dance the night away out there while I sat on the barstool, watching from a distance and making sure no one hurt the royal child of Sedoba—not that anyone here knew who we were. At least, I hoped they didn’t recognize us.
It was possible they’d seen news articles about us, but Garrick had done a good job of keeping our faces out of the spotlight the past year or so, and we’d both changed our hair, put on makeup, and made ourselves look just different enough that people would probably question whether we really were the royal child and the king’s right-hand man or not.
Being so far away from our territory’s capital helped. No one would expect a royal to be in a place like this.
If someone did happen to guess, we were ready to play up the whole child-of-a-public-figure-rebelling-against-dear-old-dad thing. Hopefully, that would be enough.
It hadn’t been a problem so far, so I was keeping my fingers and toes crossed that we’d done enough to blend in with the local crowd.
Oakley was so elegant on the dance floor, and they were absolutely the most beautiful person here, so I wasn’t surprised they were turning so many heads. It was difficult to take my eyes off them in order to keep an eye out for any threats.
After what felt like an eternity, Oakley walked off the dance floor and over to the bar beside me. They shot me a wink on their way by before they leaned on the bar and ordered a water bottle.
I turned on my stool to watch the bartender. He grabbed the water bottle and passed it to Oakley with the lid still on. Oak thanked the man, and I reached out with my magic to make sure there wasn’t a spell or any kind of drug inside the bottle.
“You know I can check my own drink, right?”
I shrugged. “Makes me feel better if I do it myself.”
Oakley let out a long, exasperated sigh as they opened the water, then drank a few long gulps. I watched their Adam’s apple bob, and I had the urge to lean in and give it a little nibble.
Shaking that away, I concentrated on my… friend, asking, “Having fun out there?”
“Oh yeah. It’s been a blast.” They shot me a cheeky grin and leaned in close to my ear. “Did he see me?”
I nodded. “Sure did. I’m sure you can make your move now.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded again. “Unless you’d rather dance some more?”
They shook their head. “Nah. I’ll go over now while I have his eye. Wish me luck.” They shot me another wink, and I watched them walk over to the back table where Barney Porter sat.
Porter was the owner of the bar we were in. This was the third night in two weeks that Oakley and I had come in and tried to get his attention. He’d noticed Oak both other times, but he’d already been entertaining other people those nights, so we’d come a little earlier this time.
It looked like it worked.
Now I had to sit back and watch Oakley saddle up to Barney Porter, the douchebag.
Sigh.