Chapter Seven
Moira didn’t question Jules overly much during dinner that evening, though Radomir lifted his nose into the air a time or two, a puzzled frown on his face.
Could he smell Elouan’s cologne? All they’d done was kiss and hold each other.
Alphas were famed for their powerful sense of smell, but Moira had said nothing about betas sharing the same abilities, and she and Radomir were both betas.
Jules’s insides grew all warm and melty recalling those kisses.
Elouan had kissed him. Called him cute. The intensity in his dark eyes when he’d spoken those words implied he meant every word.
So unlike the guys at school who tried ineptly to be seductive, the same prepared speech used for anyone who paused long enough to listen, but which actually meant nothing to them and likely never would.
If only Elouan weren’t human. A gorgeous, kind human, but a human. Or if Jules could escape the mysterious destiny Moira talked about and live an ordinary life.
Would he and Elouan actually go on dates? Like going to the movies and dinner, as shown in books, instead of sneaking off to the lake to be alone? Not that Jules minded the alone at the lake premise, his new favorite thing ever.
“Jules?” The way Radomir said the name suggested he’d spoken more than once.
Jules snapped out of his daydream.
“You’re quiet this evening. Is everything okay? How was your day?” How odd for Radomir to be the one asking instead of Moira, gray brows knit together over his hawklike nose and a concerned frown on his face.
The Goddess of Fire herself couldn’t have made Jules’s cheeks any hotter. “Fine. I’m just a little tired. Studying, you know.”
“Studying.” How could someone put so much disbelief into one word? The raised eyebrow also dared Jules to continue lying so Radomir could catch him in the act.
What was Jules thinking? Moira and Radomir weren’t plotting against him.
They merely came from a world without TV, where humans kept themselves separate from dragons so much that they mistrusted each other.
If Moira ever sat down and talked to a human or two…
well, depending on the human. Those bullies in the alley would only raise her suspicions all the more.
She and Radomir promised Donovan to keep Jules safe and prepare him to be a good little alpha’s mate one day, and she barely said two words to the human housekeeper during her visits.
Jules usually relayed instructions to Mrs. Tracy.
Well, what about the alpha destined to one day claim Jules? Was someone teaching him or her how to be a suitable mate? Or did society in Adrakus only concern itself with preparing omegas for the roles they never got to choose?
Screw that. Jules was equally important to his intended mate. Elouan seemed to think Jules important. Important enough to spend a day with. He’d kissed and caressed, and though Jules could see the rather remarkable bulge in Elouan’s jeans, he hadn’t tried to take things further.
Hell, guys Jules merely looked at for too long tried to take things further. Another reason to avoid some of his classmates.
He’d wanted to continue. Or thought he did. He’d read books, like the romantic suspense he’d told Elouan about, but the reality of someone inside him would be far different. Or what would it be like to be inside Elouan? And…there Jules went, thinking inappropriate thoughts at the dinner table.
“Moira, Radomir. I’m not very hungry tonight.
” He’d never admit to eating two hotdogs and an order of fries from a vending truck near the lake, having heard enough lectures about the garbage humans called food.
Not like the quarter pound of steak currently lying on Jules’s plate.
“I think I’ll go to my room. Get to bed early.
” He forced a yawn to reinforce his story.
Moira and Radomir exchanged unreadable glances. Moira nodded. “I’ll put your dinner away. I can reheat it if you get hungry later.”
“I can take care of that myself if I need to.” On top of everything, Moira unknowingly or knowingly piled on the guilt.
At his age, Jules should live independently, seeing to his own cooking, cleaning, and whatever.
He’d learned much simply by listening to his classmates, most of whom lived with roommates or partners.
Some were even married with children at his age.
Yet here Moira, essentially his mother, promised to reheat his dinner later.
When later? In the middle of the night? She undoubtedly would if Jules asked.
Mrs. Tracy came twice per week, but Moira mostly pushed her aside and handled the cleaning. Kind of a control freak, Moira. Mrs. Tracy mostly handled shopping or dealing with other humans.
Jules paused, taking in his guardians. Their once wheat-colored hair now contained more gray than he recalled a mere few years ago, and their cheeks appeared hollower.
He’d never thought to ask how old they were.
Dragons aged slower than humans, sure, but were Moira and Radomir old even for dragons?
They still shifted occasionally, but not as often as ten years ago.
They’d sacrificed so much to be here with him, for what they likely thought was only a few months' assignment, and had been here as long as Jules could remember. Away from family, friends, their children. There could be no greater loyalty. Guilt further stole Jules’s appetite.
They’d given him so much. He could at least be grateful.
“I’ll see you two in the morning.” Jules dashed to his room before either of his guardians could speak, closing the door with a decisive click. He looked around his sanctuary, which didn’t offer its normal comfort.
Moira disapproved of the furniture, but Jules enjoyed the very human-style room with furnishings picked out by Mrs. Tracy.
Or rather, human for this realm. According to Moira and Radomir, things like electricity and cars didn’t exist “back home,” as they insisted on calling Adrakus.
They slept on a pile of fake fur in a room forbidden to the housekeeper.
Sleeping on the floor couldn’t be good for their old bones, could it?
How could Jules call a place he’d never seen home?
In the books he’d read, people kept pictures of loved ones or even a lovely image they liked on their walls.
His fellow students were constantly showing thousands of photos from their cellphones.
Nothing hung on Jules’s walls, and he had no cellphone.
He’d had to borrow one from a classmate to contact Elouan under the guise of having lost his.
Whose picture would he hang on the wall if given the opportunity?
Moira and Radomir, for sure, and he’d love a photo of Donovan to know what his brother looked like.
Moira said Jules and Donovan favored each other in looks, but how so?
How about Jules’s parents? Or maybe a photo of Elouan taken by the lake?
How depressing. Jules owned not one single picture. The guys at school sometimes got goofy grins while talking about their girlfriends or boyfriends and showing pictures. Jules’s heart ached with loss each time for something he’d never had and might never find.
He emptied his pockets into the bowl on his dresser, smiling as he took the quartz he’d found today to the shelves on the other side of the room to join his collection. His hoard never failed to elevate his mood.
He’d arranged most of the stones by color.
Semiprecious stones shared space with rocks he’d found on the ground, an arrowhead—a discovery that sent him researching for weeks about the human history of this region—a couple of geodes he’d bought at a gift shop, a relatively tiny diamond that must’ve fallen from someone’s jewelry, four marbles, and a gold nugget.
Most of his collection formed a river of blue. The rose quartz component made an interesting contrast. Lastly came the pebble spelled to alert Radomir of emergencies, though Jules never invoked its power.
His hoard, the reason Radomir and Moira never came into his room unless invited. Although his upbringing wasn't in Adrakus, he clearly possessed ingrained characteristics, such as the instinct to collect.
Moira had been so proud the first time Jules growled when she cleaned under his bed, coming too close to the box where he’d kept his then-meager findings.
Her hoard contained colorful glass bottles, while Radomir collected carved wooden figures. Some he’d created himself. If humans hoarded, what would Elouan tuck away? Motorcycle parts?
Jules flopped down onto the bed, relatively safe from his guardians and distressing thoughts.
Here, he could think of Elouan at leisure, body so firm under Jules’s hands, how his rounded buttocks pressed against Jules’s groin on the bike.
The feel of his fingers lightly stroking Jules’s skin.
The mere thought of Elouan calmed fears, putting Jules instantly at ease.
Why? Even Jules’s normally suspicious dragon calmed in Elouan’s company.
The slight roughness of Elouan’s hands felt sublime, delivering a tiny scrape as they caressed Jules’s sensitive neck. Jules trembled at the memory of beard stubble against his face. What would those rough fingers feel like on his neck scales?
The intriguing bulge in Elouan’s jeans came to mind.
Jules kept an additional hoard between the mattress and foundation of his bed, vintage magazines he’d found at yard sales showing men in various stages of undress.
Some lifted weights, wearing nothing but shorts and a tank top, while others ran in shorts so thin they left little to the imagination.
Jules possessed a fantastic imagination.
While he’d arranged the stones by color, he'd arranged the magazines by the amount of clothing.
If Moira looked, she would have first seen the fashion magazines, followed by the sports magazines, then those with tasteful nudes, and finally the collection's highlight—magazines depicting men having sex with other men, the pages worn to near scraps.
The man at the yard sale had noticed the muscle magazines Jules bought, asked his age, then sold him more explicit publications he’d kept stashed in the garage, wrapping them discreetly in an old shirt before handing them over.
Jules had run home and secluded himself in his room for the rest of the day. Okay, maybe several days.
Some men in those magazines boasted muscles similar to Elouan’s, while others more resembled Jules’s slighter but still muscular frame.
After all, if a dragon didn’t keep its muscles in good shape, it couldn’t fly when the next opportunity presented itself, and Jules’s training sessions with Radomir were excellent at toning.
Some men in the magazines would definitely be impressive as dragons. Couples Jules considered alpha/omega pairings intrigued him the most.
He searched his memory for a couple resembling himself and Elouan. Yeah, what the magazine called a bear and a twink. While the bear seemed so commanding, appealing to Jules’s omega nature, the alpha, or bear, stared tenderly at the omega…er…twink.
Jules unzipped his jeans, shucking them and his boxer briefs down to his knees. He spat into his palm and stroked his cock, already hard and leaking from the mere thought of seeing Elouan naked.
Oh, for his hand to be Elouan’s. Elouan would stroke him, kiss him, and whisper dirty suggestions into his ear. Then Elouan would slip down, slide the head of Jules’s cock between his lips, and….
Oh, Goddess! Jules jerked, fighting a moan as he shot spunk onto his T-shirt. Dream Elouan drank every drop, humming in satisfaction at having made Jules climax so easily.
Jules lay panting on the bed, one arm thrown over his eyes. That was…that was…beyond words—and far too brief. He’d never fantasized about a person he knew before, just guys from vintage magazines.
None of them came close to Elouan. Elouan, who gave Jules an incredible orgasm without even being present. Jules snorted at himself. What would the real thing be like? He would’ve been horrified if he’d finished so quickly with in-the-flesh Elouan.
Or would Elouan see a fast finish as a compliment? Probably not, since he likely had plenty of experienced partners who didn’t shoot like a virgin the minute he touched them.
Then again, would Elouan shy away from Jules for never having taken a lover? The guys at university made fun of men who’d never had sex before, calling them losers or incels.
Jules hadn’t had sex with anyone, as he’d heard his whole life that he should save himself for the alpha of his destiny, who he’d then imprint on, and neither would ever want another.
What if he’d found the one who already made him never want another?
A human.
One his dragon also wanted?