Chapter Five
Tor
A tall man with a stern expression was waiting for me as I pulled into the underground garage. He wore a red and black plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows and dark blue jeans.
“You’re a lumberjack, and you just don’t care?” I hummed as I got out of the truck.
Typhoon, aka Ty, my best friend since childhood, looked at me in pure confusion. “What?”
“Get out more,” I said with a snort of laughter.
“Yeah, yeah. How was the auction?”
I hefted a folder of documents from where I’d wedged it between the seat and center console. “Pretty good, I’d say. Twelve purchases of various types. Nothing ultra-exotic. They didn’t have anything like that, but that’s fine. Some sports cars, muscle cars, that old truck, just like you wanted.”
“Sounds like it went well, then?”
“Yep, just fine. No hiccups,” I said, desperately trying to get images of the thick woman out of my mind.
I failed, as I had all day, causing me to growl in frustration.
She’d been such a distraction that I’d actually missed out on one of the cars I’d wanted to buy because I was daydreaming about spreading her legs and filling her tight pussy.
I could all but imagine the sounds she would make as I pleasured her in ways she’d never experienced before.
“Uh, you okay? I thought you said it went fine?”
I looked at Ty, the only other dragon I’d asked to accompany me to Fulmen Manerium, the formal name of the Storm Estates manor on Earth.
“Everything is fine,” I said begrudgingly. We both knew I was lying, but the needs of my cock weren’t something I would concern my best friend with. Especially because I wasn’t about to admit that a human, of all things, had me worked up.
Of course, if Ember the Fire Prince is right, your mate is a human. And you would want her to get you worked up.
My mate would do more than stir my cock, though.
She would make my heart soar on the clouds as I did in my true form.
That, I told myself, was how I would know she was the woman for me.
When I floated away from a single look; when the sound of her voice was enough to make me feel giddy on the inside.
“Right. Back to business, then. When are they being delivered?” Ty asked. “I’ll make sure I’m here and ready to receive them.”
“Thanks,” I said, squeezing his plaid-covered shoulder. “I appreciate that.”
It would be nice to have some variety to drive, too. The crew-cab truck had been the first thing we’d bought upon arriving on Earth, but sometimes, it was just too slow and boxy for my liking, and I knew Ty’s as well. We liked speed.
We headed inside, stepping into what would be considered the manor's basement. Of course, several floors were below us, but they weren’t living quarters.
Fulmen Manerium was a single-story affair above us, sprawling out in a U-shape, with the driveway entering through the open end, using the interior of the building as a pull-up for visitors to approach the front door.
“By the God-King,” I said, muttering an oath to our immortal ruler, the first of the dragons. “There’s still so fucking much to be done here!”
Ty chuckled and slapped my back heartily. “What did you expect? That we’d arrive, turn the power back on, maybe take some covers off the furniture, and everything would be ready to go?”
“No,” I admitted. “I didn’t think about it at all.”
We shared a laugh over that. Storm dragons weren’t exactly known for taking our time to make decisions. It was in our blood to act swiftly and deal with the consequences. Like lightning strikes. We didn’t waste time.
“Well, this is what happens when you leave a place empty for, what, fifteen years?”
“Seventeen,” I said immediately, pausing to look at some of the furniture. “We’re going to have to replace much of this, too.”
“The entire Manerium?” Ty questioned. “That’s a lot of furniture, Torrent. Like, a lot.”
He used my full name when he wanted to make sure I was paying attention.
“You mean a lot of money.”
“Yeah.”
“It’s not your money,” I said. “Why do you care?”
“Because if you want to just give it away, give it to me. My hoard could use some topping up.”
I rolled my eyes. “These are royal funds, Ty. From the coffers that all dragons pay into. I’m not spending it on personal things. You know this place will be open to everyone once we’re done setting it up.”
“Speaking of that, when are you expecting the others?” he asked. “And how many?”
“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “I left orders with Tempest to find some people who wouldn’t mind setting up shop here on Earth either permanently or for longer periods at a time. So, however long it takes him to find a handful of people like that, I suppose.”
I wasn’t in any rush to have others come to the manor either. As we’d said, it needed a lot of work. Until that was done, I wouldn’t be doing much else, including searching for my mate. If I were to impress her, it wouldn’t be with the house in this dusty, rundown state.
“Got it. So, tomorrow’s plan?”
I wandered down the hallway, dragging a finger along the top of an uncovered side table. My fingertip came away gray, covered in a thick layer of dust.
“New furniture,” I said, rubbing my fingers together to rid it of the dust. “Fuck, this is dirty.”
“Yeah, it needs a good deep cleaning from top to bottom. How do you want to handle that?”
“Hire a human to do it,” I said dismissively.
“You want humans in here?”
“It’ll be fine,” I said, waving aside his concern. “We’ll just keep them out of the Rift room and make sure we don’t do anything wildly obvious to reveal what we are. It’s just you and me in here for now anyway. What could go wrong?”
“Famous last words,” Ty warned.
“You want to tackle cleaning all this?” I said, waving a hand around as my voice echoed down the hallway.
“Fuck, no,” he said immediately.
“Exactly. So I’ll find a cleaning agency while I’m in town tomorrow, and they’ll handle it.”
“What do you want me doing, then?”
“Grounds search,” I said. “Go over it with a fine-tooth comb and discover any major issues. Then you can start on the perimeter, making sure it’s secure, seeing if any repairs to the walls need to be done, etc.”
“Can do,” Ty said, bobbing his head. “Sire.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’ve been my best friend since we were kids, Ty.”
“And soon, you’re going to be my prince.”
“It’s not going to change our relationship,” I promised. “Still friends to the end, right?”
I held out my elbow, my forearm horizontal in front of me.
Ty hesitated for a moment, then grinned, and we bumped elbows and fists at the same time. “Friends to the end. Though I’m going to poke all sorts of fun at you, highness.”
I laughed. “I’m not prince yet.” The smile faded swiftly. “I still have to find her and then take the Test. If I fail that …”
“You won’t,” Ty said strongly, but his face was solemn. “You won’t, okay?”
“Appreciate the confidence,” I said, not wanting to think more about it. I had to find my mate first. Then we’d take the Test before the God-King himself to see if we were truly Eternal Mates.
I fingered the ring on my right hand, nervously twisting it in circles around the knuckle. An onyx band encased a sapphire that burned with a flame at its heart. It was a piece of the God-King himself and was the symbol of my family. The royal family of the Storm clan.
It had been passed to me several months earlier when my father and mother, along with the princes and princesses of the other three dragon clans, had been called to the God-King and disappeared.
“You’ll be fine,” Ty said, sensing my downward spiral into the past. “You will rule for a hundred years, just like your father and his father before him. Then, a century from now, you, too, will visit the God-King and do whatever it is y’all do there.”
I nodded. Then frowned at him. “Y’all?”
He shrugged. “The TV still works. I was bored while you were gone. There was a Western on.”
“You’re so easily influenced, Ty,” I said. “And I’m hungry.”
“Can you get some real food tomorrow, too?” he complained. “I’m getting tired of frozen meals for dinner.”
“Yeah, I’ll handle it,” I said. “But I’m hungry. So much to do.”
“Speaking of things to do,” he said. “Have you given any thought to the other issue?”
“What?” I looked at him sharply. Other issue?
What was he talking about? There was no way he could know about the woman from the auction, could he?
She wasn’t a distraction to finding my mate.
Not yet, at least. Just a pleasant body that made my cock swell each time her image came to mind. That was it. Not a problem.
“Yes, the other issue,” he said. “You know, the reason why we left Earth in the first place, which is why this place is as rundown as it is? That reason?”
“Oh,” I said. “No. I haven’t. Not yet.”
“You’re gonna have to,” he admonished.
“I’m aware,” I said, a bit sterner than was perhaps necessary. “And I will deal with it if it becomes a problem.”
“If?” Ty challenged, standing up straight, the plaid shirt stretched tight across his equally powerful chest and shoulders. “We both know it will happen. The only question is how long before it does, Torrent. You need to be ready to handle it. To possibly do what your father didn’t.”
“I said I’ll deal with it,” I growled, turning away. I didn’t want to fight with Ty, not then. I’d figure out a way to deal with the situation if it came up.
Not that I had any idea how I would do that. Things were tricky when they involved family.