Chapter 22
Ravi had a plan.
Yes, it scared him, too. Mostly because he’d made it while unsupervised, and the whole clan could tell you what a bad idea that was.
But he was determined to romance Sora properly.
Ravi’s emotions were all over the map right now.
It was part of the reason why he hadn’t talked properly with Sora yet—he couldn’t pin his own emotions down long enough to explain them.
He was really, really afraid of saying the wrong thing at the right moment—Ravi did that a lot—and this was one thing he absolutely didn’t want to screw up.
Ravi had never dated anyone, not really, not with the future in mind.
So, there were lots of potential pitfalls all lined up, waiting to trip him.
It might not have been so nerve-wracking if Sora weren’t so awesome.
Everything Sora had done for him so far had been amazing.
He was always so incredibly supportive and fun.
Being around him made Ravi’s dragon want to roll over and present for belly rubs.
And the sweet things that fell from the man’s lips melted Ravi.
Seriously. Melted. Him.
Sora deserved to melt, too. Ravi could be romantic.
Well, he’d never honestly tried to be romantic, but he’d seen some movies with romance in them.
And he’d watched other dragons being romantic.
With the influx of new mages, it was beginning to look like a competition of who could be the most romantic.
But he could do this. He had a plan, and dammit, it was a good plan.
Probably. He’d cleaned out one of the top rooms in a turret no one bothered to use.
He had a comfy nest of blankets, pillows, and a picnic dinner with candlelight all set up.
The goal was to stargaze, eat delicious food, drink good wine, and hopefully get his game on.
He had to act quickly. With all the new dragons and mages in Burkhard Castle, it was becoming more and more difficult for them to have a moment alone together.
Alric had kept him busy running errands and entertaining the dragons over the past twenty-four hours.
Naturally, Sora was busy catching up with his parents and meeting with the mage queens to discuss the needs of the Burkhard and Valerii mages.
Ravi needed to get his hands on his mage!
Buying himself some time off from duty, he placed three poor dragons in Alric’s path as his replacements, and he started lurking outside the mage workshops.
The moment Sora stepped outside by himself, Ravi grabbed his hand and made a run for it. Sora’s laughter echoed down the hall, but he didn’t question it. He ran with Ravi, their fingers laced together. It had to be a sign that Sora was eager for this stolen time together as well.
“And where are we going tonight, my handsome dragon?”
Ravi gave him a quick glance over his shoulder as they climbed the spiral staircase. Good thing Sora was in shape, actually. Having him arrive out of breath and panting wouldn’t be conducive to romance.
“To a secret place.”
“A secret place, is it? Alright.” Sora’s dark eyes were warm, and he kept in step with Ravi.
Ravi, on his end, was being very careful to maintain a pace slow enough so Sora could easily keep up.
Sometimes, when he got really excited, he moved faster than everyone else and left them in his dust without meaning to.
Tonight, he was very, very excited, making it hard not to sprint up the stairs.
Don’t sprint.
Don’t run.
For god’s sake, don’t speed up.
“Oh, I think it’s raining.” Sora’s head tilted as he listened.
Ravi focused so hard on his mantra that it took him longer than it should have to realize what Sora meant. Then, the full impact of those words hit, and Ravi’s mind did the math without any conscious prompting. Open window plus rain equals ruined things.
“SHIT!”
Ravi let go of Sora and raced up the stairs three at a time, his hands gripping at the stone walls in order to gain purchase as he practically flew upwards. He was at the top in record time.
It did not help him.
The picnic dinner he had so lovingly laid out was soaking wet.
The bedding he’d stacked up was damp, only the bottom of the nest dry as it hadn’t been hit by the raindrops pouring in through the skylight.
Ravi rescued the bedding first, dragging it out of the way, then went back to stare at his plates of food with mourning.
“Noooo, food. You were once so tasty, and now you’re gloopy.”
Sora managed to catch up at that moment, and his eyes swept the area. Being a smart man, he put it all together in a moment.
“Ah. A romantic candlelight dinner with some stargazing?”
“Rain wasn’t in the forecast,” Ravi whined.
“Don’t despair; it’s not all lost.” Sora pulled out his phone and started tapping.
“Unless you have some magical app that turns back time, Plan A is a total loss. And I have to be frank, I have no ready Plan B.”
Ravi stared at his efforts with a groan. He’d thought this plan pretty foolproof, actually. For one of his plans, it was actually tame, so he’d given it a higher success rate.
Music suddenly trickled out from Sora’s phone.
The ballad twirled and soared around the small room, hauntingly seductive as it pulled Ravi to Sora’s side.
The mage put the phone down on the floor next to the door before catching Ravi in his arms, smoothly spinning him into a dance as if he’d done it a million times before.
Ravi, always quick on his feet, went willingly enough. A slow grin took over his face. Sora did not look upset at the ruined date, but rather had a hint of mischief in his expression.
“Don’t tell me you plan on us dancing in the rain.”
“Okay, I won’t tell you that,” Sora agreed peaceably.
Then immediately twirled them both under the open skylight.
Ravi laughed outright, going along with it, enjoying the confident way Sora led. Ravi rarely danced like this, but it was easy to follow Sora’s lead. And he loved it, being held in this man’s arms as if he were precious.
The rain pelted them without mercy, slicking their hair and skin, making their clothes stick to them. Wet was a very good look on Sora. Ravi totally approved, ten out of ten, five stars. Naked and wet could only be an improvement.
And from the dark, hungry way Sora regarded him, it seemed he was having the same thoughts about Ravi.
Ravi leaned up to kiss him, and Sora met him halfway, both of them desperate for each other. The kiss wasn’t gentle—it took and demanded things, asking only a question. Yes?
Yes.
Ravi’s hands went for Sora’s shirt, quickly undoing buttons and pulling it sharply down the man’s arms. As soon as Sora’s hands were free, he attacked Ravi’s shirt in return.
Ravi cooperated even as he got an eyeful.
He’d had the feeling Sora worked out regularly and wasn’t surprised by his toned definition.
Slender and powerful, but not buff. Ravi liked. A lot.
No one could blame him for a nibble, right?
He really had to go for the neck first, that slender column just asking for a hickey. He carded his hands through silky dark hair, now damp with the rain, and lifted it out of the way before latching on with lips and teeth.
“Oh!” Sora relaxed with a sigh of pleasure, his own hands latching onto Ravi’s waist and pulling him in tighter. “Ravi.”
“Hmm?” Oh, look at that, Sora was growing steadily harder against his stomach. He could feel the man clearly even through two layers of pants. Neck was a good spot, noted.
“Please tell me there’s lube somewhere in those blankets.”
Ravi lifted his head long enough to get out, “Brand new jar. Oh, and I’ve never had anal sex before, so you take lead, okay?”
“Hmm,” Sora hummed dreamily, “that’s fine—wait, what? Ravi, stop sucking my nipple. You have to talk to me about that.”
Ravi didn’t want to stop. He liked the way Sora was shivering. He had a feeling Sora didn’t really want him to stop. So, he switched to the left side and kept going.
Sora made a pained sound. “You’re killing me, sweetheart. Five seconds. Just take five seconds to explain.”
That sounded mostly reasonable. Ravi could possibly behave for five seconds. He lifted his head long enough to explain. “Mostly, I’ve had heterosexual sex. Once with a trans woman. Only exchanged blow jobs the one time I was with a man.”
“I see.” Sora looked as if he were doing high-level calculus in his head. It was probably hard to think since all of his blood had gone south. “And I take it from your earlier comment that you want to have anal sex with me, but you want me to top?”
“Exactly. Can I go back to sucking your nipple, now?”
“Oh, no,” Sora murmured. “I think it’s my turn.”
Ravi had no time to question what he meant before Sora scooped him up by the back of the thighs and tossed him onto the mound of pillows.
He went with a delighted laugh, which ended in a moan as Sora climbed on him, kissing him avidly.
His hands were busy on Ravi’s waistband, and he lifted up only enough to strip Ravi of the rest of his clothes, leaving him thoroughly naked and enjoying every second of it.
Ravi’s hands went into that luscious dark hair, fingers tangling in the damp strands and giving it an experimental pull.
Sora paused long enough to shudder, color high on his cheeks from lust and excitement burning in his dark eyes.
“Gods above,” Sora whispered in awe, looking him over from head to toe. “No wonder you’re so quick. Look at that muscle definition.”
“I have a very healthy exercise regime of dodging responsibility, looking for trouble, and running for it,” Ravi responded lightly.
“That was too many words.” Sora’s hands flexed a little. “Clearly, I’ve not done my job correctly.”
“Oooh, whatcha going to do, then?” Ravi hummed happily, loving Sora’s playfulness. A tingle of excitement danced through him, and he was desperate to know what the man would do next.
Sora leaned in, planting his knees on either side of Ravi’s hips, his hands drifting over Ravi’s chest ever so lightly.
And then he hit a spot.