Chapter Five
Roman
The second Oakley was asleep, I gently moved my arm out from under them, wrapped it around their shoulders, and pulled them in until their head was resting on my chest. Then I leaned my head in, burying my nose against their very short, shaved hair, and breathed them in.
Every tense muscle in my body eased as I held my viramore in my arms, as I breathed in their unique scent of a campfire deep in the woods, as my dragon relaxed, knowing Oakley was safe in my arms.
Mine, my dragon growled out in my head, and I could only hold them tighter in agreement.
Mine. Oakley was mine, there was no doubt about it.
After several deep breaths, I couldn’t help but place a soft, lingering kiss to the top of their head before resting my nose there again and closing my eyes.
Oakley shifted, and I froze, afraid I was caught being a creeper because I guess I was kind of being creepy right now. But my dragon was demanding I pull them closer, and I couldn’t deny him anymore.
Luckily, all Oak did was nuzzle into my chest a little in their sleep, making my heart flip.
Maybe… maybe a part of them really did feel the pull. Maybe they weren’t aware of it yet, but their dragon was.
Or maybe they just liked snuggling into a warm body because it was comfortable.
I internally sighed at myself.
Maybe I should talk to Oakley and ask them if they… felt anything.
Grimacing, I dismissed that.
How horrible would it be if they told me no? How defeated would I feel?
And what if I really did come off as a creeper?
Imagine having your dad’s best friend, a very, very old dragon, tell you he had feelings for you?
How the hell did I expect them to react?
They’d probably kick my ass, run the other way, tell their dad, and demand to be partnered up with someone else. Probably ask for a new guard too.
No, I couldn’t risk it.
So I’d just have to wait, as patiently as an old dragon could, for Oakley’s feelings to catch up with mine.
And they would catch up.
Eventually.
Or, at least, that was what I kept telling myself.
With another internal sigh, I wrapped my arms around them, held them as tight as I dared, closed my eyes, and allowed myself to drift off, more comfortable than I’d been in months.
I woke before Oakley and was surprised to find the younger dragon practically in my lap. My arms were still around them, but Oakley had wrapped their arms around my waist, slung a leg over the top of my thighs, and turned their body so they were half on top of me.
A smile tugged at my lips, and I couldn’t contain the contented sigh even if I’d wanted to. Oakley was hugging me. Cuddling me even closer than I’d dared last night, and there wasn’t an ounce of me that wanted them to ever move.
If I could, I’d pull them even closer, but I didn’t want to risk waking them. I wanted to hold them for as long as possible, and when they woke, they’d probably scramble away from me.
But even with that in mind, my hand moved of its own accord, rubbing up and down Oakley’s back as I held them tight with my other arm.
I wasn’t sure how long I sat there like that, but at one point, I was pretty sure Oakley woke up.
Since they didn’t say anything, I kept holding them and rubbing their back, hoping they found it comforting.
A long time later, Oakley squeezed their arms around my waist and whispered, “Good morning, Rome.”
I gave them a squeeze back. “Good morning.” I still didn’t stop caressing them.
Oak sighed and snuggled down into my chest further, and it felt like my heart sung in joy at the movement. They liked cuddling with me. They didn’t move away or freak out. They held me tighter.
Mm. I could seriously stay here all day.
“You’re really comfortable,” Oakley said around a yawn. “I might have to steal you every night from now on.”
“I’d be okay with that.” I froze when my words registered. I mean, I meant them, obviously, I just hadn’t really meant to say them out loud.
Oak chuckled and gave me another squeeze. “I like this plan, but maybe we can try it in a bed next time. Your legs have to be sore. I, at least, had a leg rest.” They wiggled their leg that was on top of my thighs, making me grin.
If I paid attention, they were right. My legs, especially my knees, didn’t appreciate not having any support under them since my feet were resting on the coffee table.
Before I could think of an appropriate response, a banging sound came from the back room, and we both sighed.
“Sounds like Porter’s pissed,” Oak said, yawning again but not moving.
“He probably wants to use a real toilet and needs more food and water.”
They sighed. “Probably. But I don’t want to move.”
“I don’t want to move either.”
We stayed there for a few minutes, but when Porter’s knocking became too insistent, Oak sighed, saying, “Alright, I guess we should go make sure he’s okay.”
I gave them a squeeze, and before I could stop myself, I kissed the top of their head, then released them. “Yeah, we should.”
Oakley leaned up a little without taking their leg or body off of me, sent me the sweetest, sleepy smile I’d ever seen, and bopped me on the nose. “Thanks for the cuddle, hot stuff.” Then they climbed off me and headed straight for the back of the house.
I blinked after them, surprised by the little pet name they’d used.
Hot stuff. Huh. They… didn’t actually mean that, though, did they?
No way.
I was old, not hot.
Shaking away the thoughts and deciding to be content with the night and morning of cuddles I’d received, I climbed off the couch, ignoring my cracking knees, and followed after Oakley.
Dragons didn’t really age, at least not in any significant way like humans did, because our healing abilities were vast. But that didn’t mean my bones didn’t creak every now and again before that healing kicked in, and after sitting in the same position for so many hours, yeah…
creaky joints were a given. But the soreness would go away shortly, so I wasn’t worried about it.
By the time I made it to the back room, Oakley had already disengaged the magical ward and was working on unlocking the door. They heard me approach, obviously because they were a dragon too, and said, “I don’t sense anything unusual from the room, so I’m going in.”
I bit my tongue to stop myself from suggesting that I go in first. Oakley was a trained fighter, a trained spy, and had training in fighting, weapons, and a shit-ton of other things, and probably a lot I didn’t know about from their time in that damn cult.
They knew how to sense magic, and they knew how to determine how cautious they needed to be when entering a room.
I’d learned early on that questioning Oak’s abilities and trying to protect them was a surefire way to get on their bad side. And holy hell, being on their bad side was… not fun at all. They could hold a grudge like nobody’s business—a trait they got from their dad.
It had taken me a long time to accept that they were a capable and independent person who didn’t need coddling and certainly didn’t need me questioning every single action they took.
But that didn’t make letting them take the lead on things… less difficult.
I hated it.
I didn’t want them in danger. Ever.
But this was a part of learning how to be true partners and not turn into a dragon that locked their loved one away in a tower far away from other people.
So I gave them a nod. “Alright. I’m right behind you.”
Oakley looked over their shoulder and sent me an appreciative smile. They knew it was hard for me to take a step back, and they appreciated that I tried.
I’d take that smile aimed my way any time of day.
Once the door was unlocked, Oak opened it, peeked inside, then pushed it open all the way and stepped through the doorway. “What’s going on, Porter?”
“Can I please, please, please use a real toilet?” As I stepped through the door, I saw the man stare at the bucket in disgust. “Please? I… I can’t be stuck in this tiny room with that… stink.”
Oakley glanced at me, then sighed. “Fine, but the chains stay on.”
“Right, sure. Makes sense. Thank you.”
I was surprised by the eagerness in the man’s voice after how nasty he’d been last night, but I supposed needing the bathroom put him in his place.
Oakley went about taking the half-cyclops man to the bathroom, and since they had things well in hand, I went to the other bathroom to use the facilities and brush my teeth before I headed to the kitchen to start breakfast.
Oak showed up a while later, took one look at what I was doing, and groaned. “Oh my Mother, you’re amazing. Thank you for cooking.”
I shrugged. Pancakes were no big deal to make, but I knew they were one of Oak’s weaknesses. They practically drooled every time I made them—which I’d started doing at least once a week since I realized. “Do you want apple pancakes, chocolate chip, or plain?”
“Ugh, you always ask the hard questions.”
That made me grin at them. “Uh-huh. So…?”
“Chocolate chip. Obviously.”
“Obviously.” I snorted. “Go shower and get yourself ready for the day while I finish up. I’ll shower after we eat.”
“You sure? I can help if you want.”
“You are never, ever, ever allowed to cook in the kitchen when we’re sharing a place. You know this rule.”
They sighed dramatically and placed a hand to their chest like I’d shot them there. “You’re killing me. It was one time.”
“You caught the entire kitchen on fire while making scrambled eggs. I still don’t even know how you did it.”
“One time! I cook for myself all the time.”
“Something that keeps me up late at night.”
They let out a laugh but tried to sound affronted. “Hey! Not nice!”
I snorted. “Catching the tower on fire would also be not nice.”
“As if you guys don’t have a billion spells to prevent that from happening. It would only burn down my apartment.”
I stopped cooking and met their eyes. “Are you hearing yourself right now? Is your argument really that you’d only burn down your own apartment?”
They scowled at me, and the look was so adorable all I wanted to do was kiss those puffy lips. “Shut up.” They flipped me off, turned on their heel, and marched toward the bathroom, pretending to be mad and offended.
All I could do was chuckle since I knew them well enough by now to know they weren’t actually upset. They were just as amused by the argument and situation as I was.