Chapter 15
“C am!”
Cameron turned at the hail. He had been crossing the courtyard but paused, waving back as Ravi jogged to him. “Hey.”
“You’re going out?” Ravi asked in worry.
“Well, I’m kind of running low on a few essentials,” Cameron explained to him with spread hands.
“I packed for a two-week vacation, not an extended stay. I thought I’d ask someone to drive me into town and guard me.
” Well, he wasn’t too low thanks to the castle having nearly everything, but after being in the castle eight days, Cameron needed to just get out and stretch his legs.
“Ohhh. I can do that.” Ravi bounced a bit on his toes as he admitted frankly, “Alric’s given firm orders that we’re to protect you. You have priority if you want to go anywhere.”
“Um, thanks?” Cameron felt like that should be flattering but really, it was weird. Having a bodyguard available to him who was also a dragon was just really, really weird. He felt like an imposition, and it wasn’t a comfortable feeling. “I only need about two hours or so.”
“You can take as long as you’d like,” Ravi assured him cheerfully. “I’m tired of being stuck in the castle.”
“Oh. Well in that case, let’s definitely get some fresh air.”
“Wait right there. I’ll grab one of the cars.” Ravi darted off to the garage. He returned in under a minute with a Jeep, one of the more modern versions with an enclosed hard top.
Cameron hopped in, still buckling as Ravi headed for the main gates. “Do we need to alert anyone?”
“I texted Baldewin as I grabbed the keys, no worries.”
Ravi darted him a quick, hopeful look as they passed through the gates. “So, you really intend to stay? You don’t want to return to your home?”
“Eh, not really. I mean, I have friends I’ll miss in the States, and of course, I’ll want to visit family too, but…I don’t know how to explain this and have it make sense.”
Ravi made an encouraging noise.
Heartened by it, Cameron wet his lips and tried.
“I went to Berkley for my master’s and when I did that, the world changed on me.
I visited my hometown during the summers to find that most of my friends were gone and had no intention of coming back.
My sister went to school in Massachusetts.
I felt uprooted after that. There’s not anything pulling me back to the US.
But here—god, Ravi. It’s like I finally found where I was supposed to be all along.
It’s this incredible feeling of belonging, like I’m rooted to the ground.
I didn’t realize how disconnected I was in the US until I came here and met all of you. ”
Ravi nodded as if this made perfect sense and Cameron wasn’t waxing poetic. “Yes, I understand that. I felt the same before Alric invited me into his clan. It was such a relief to find a home truly my own and not one I was trying to fit into.”
“Yes,” Cameron said with relief. “That’s it exactly. So I want to stay, but so much has been thrown at me that I’m also kind of overwhelmed on where to start. I’m trying to take this one thing at a time.”
“Perfectly understandable.” Ravi slowed to take a curve, his eyes on the road but his head cocked as if he were thinking about something.
“I think shopping and getting a few things is a good step. Alric wants you to be comfortable here, and I think he’s giving you some space to work through it all before formally inviting you in. ”
That was one of the questions lurking in Cameron’s head, and he was glad someone had finally voiced it. “So, there is a formal invitation to be issued?”
“Absolutely, yes. And Alric will be happy to issue it to you when he feels you want it. He’s not pushy, our king. Not unless the situation calls for it.”
Cameron was of the opinion Alric could be pushier.
He really didn’t know where he stood with the man.
In fact, this might be a good opportunity to ask some questions.
Ravi was a chatterbox, after all. “Yeah, I’ve got that impression off of him.
Hey, Ravi, clear something up for me. Sometimes, being near Alric is Mixed Signals Central, and I really don’t know which way the man will jump. ”
“Yeah?” Ravi encouraged. “Like when? How?”
“So, like the first time I worked magic, he offered a bit of dragon’s breath to do a spell with. And he kissed me to give me the breath. And it wasn’t just a peck, it was this body-tingling, sensual caress, and I went a little gooey.”
“I love the gooey kisses,” Ravi sighed, but his eyes were sharp on Cameron. “Really? My stiff king did that? Ohhhh, this is interesting. What else has he done?”
“I may have taken advantage of Lisette’s order to put oil on him and sexed it up a bit.
And I swear to you, the man looked like he wanted to pounce and eat me right there.
But he didn’t make a move.” Cameron spread his hands.
“I thought I was pretty fucking obvious, but I can’t seem to pinpoint if he’s really interested or not.
Or if he’s just enjoying the flirting but isn’t interested.
Sometimes straight guys do that, just flirt to mess around.
But my gaydar’s going a bit haywire around him. Is Alric gay?”
“Pansexual. All dragons are.”
Cameron blinked at him. “Get out. All of you?”
“All of us.” Ravi shrugged as if this wasn’t anything to be surprised by. “We’re just made that way. I can’t think of a single exception to that rule. I think part of it is that we never know what gender our true mate will be, and so dragons are just naturally open to any possibility.”
Fascinating. Cameron was truly intrigued by this turn in the conversation. “Baldewin said something to me about needing mages to have kids with, so I guess I assumed you guys were mostly straight.”
Ravi snorted. “Not at all the case. The majority of mages are female, that much is true. I’d say about eighty percent of mages are women. Male or nonbinary mages are in the minority there. It’s why when I first picked up your scent, I assumed you female.”
Cameron felt the world tilt a little bit more on him. “Whoa. Seriously? Most of them are women? No wonder Alric was excited to hear I have a twin sister, then.”
“It really makes sense to me. When we do see male or nonbinary mages, they’re generally a twin. Or at least, every male mage I’ve known was a twin.” Ravi thought about it for another moment before offering, “If you’re curious, you should ask Gunter about it. He knows more than I do.”
“I will totally do that. I suddenly have a lot of questions about this.”
“I bet. And as for Alric, trust me, he’s interested. I’m not sure why he’s holding back, either. But it’s obvious to all of us that he’s interested. Do not let up on him, okay? I honestly cannot remember the last time he even flirted with a guy. Could be he’s out of practice.”
“Oh. Yeah, I didn’t think of that. I thought maybe culture gap?”
“Maybe also playing into it. My advice? Go for it, be even more obvious. And he does better if you say things outright instead of hinting through actions.”
“That…is very good to know. Thanks.”
“My pleasure. Hopefully soon to be yours.” Ravi slowed at a cross-road and stopped. Mischief danced across his face as he turned to look at Cameron. “I know you said you wanted to go into town….”
Cameron eyed him suspiciously. Should he trust that expression? “Yes, and?”
“Well, do you want to blow off a little steam first?”
Oh, it might be the fun kind of mischief. “Sure? What do you have in mind?”
Gesturing off to the left road, Ravi explained in growing excitement, “There’s a spot over here where paragliders go. You want to do a little skydiving? I can catch you.”
“Wait.” Cameron held up a hand. “Wait, you’re suggesting I jump off a cliff and freefall, and trust you to catch me? In dragon form?”
Ravi waggled his eyebrows outrageously.
“That is by far the stupidest thing I’ve heard suggested all year.” Cameron pointed toward the cliffs. “Let’s do it.”
Ravi cackled as he made the turn.
Cameron belatedly realized that he maybe should have asked a few more questions. “You have done this before?”
“Of course! And think of it this way, it’s good practice. If we’re ever in a situation where you need to run for it, you can call for a pickup and throw yourself into the air. Easier for us to catch you than land and try to take off again.”
That all sounded valid enough. It didn’t explain the smirk on Ravi’s face. “It’s a total adrenaline rush for you. Isn’t it?”
Ravi tossed a hand. “That goes without saying. Don’t worry, I’ve never missed. Even if by some bad luck I do, you’ll have a parachute. You’ll get safely to the ground.”
That all sounded reasonable enough to Cameron. And fun. And frankly, he could use some fun about now. “Then let’s do it.”
They may or may not have skipped out of the Jeep once they arrived.
And there may have been nothing more than a minute crash course of how to operate the parachute.
It came down to ‘pull this cord, bend your knees, and roll as you land.’ Cameron’s caution didn’t get a chance to say much in between Ravi’s quick explanation.
There wasn’t anyone else out here, just a locked building with parachutes lined up along the wall, some hang-gliding equipment.
It looked like a storage container left up here for people’s convenience instead of an actual shop. “Is this in your clan’s territory?”
“Hmm? Oh, sure. We sky-dive with our mages, this is our storage cache for the gear.”
Ravi went dragon and then shook like a dog exiting a bath. He looked around, getting his bearings, and his tail lashed side to side in a happy wag. “It always feels so good letting loose like this.”
“I bet. Does it feel like you’re too confined in human form?”