Chapter Seventeen #2
Daire normally would’ve insisted on getting his own, but all he could do was sink onto the couch, mesmerized by the beauty outside, and the beauty he felt inside.
Jimryr returned with a cup for Daire, then dashed into the kitchen and brought back his own. He settled beside Daire, pulling a knitted blanket over them. Daire recalled the night before, exchanging mating bites. Uncertainty must’ve shown on his face.
Jimryr eyes filled with concern. “What? Is something wrong?”
“I…we…we….”
“Yes, the mating flight.” Jimryr grinned. “About damned time for both of us if you ask me.”
“But I didn’t ask you. I got caught up in the moment and….”
The smile left Jimryr’s face. “Are you saying you didn’t want to?”
“No! That’s not what I mean.” Daire’s face heated. “I’m not sure what I mean.”
Jimryr pulled Daire unresisting to his chest. “Was it sudden? Yes, but betas usually act quickly in these matters or not at all. We tend to overthink given too much time.”
Daire gazed into Jimryr’s eyes, their blue depths nearly enough to drown in.
Jimryr kissed Daire’s forehead. “I have zero regrets. I’d understand if you did. You’re a king’s son after all, and I’m a lowly beta dragon without a court.”
Could it be this simple? “You have a court now. We’re a court of two.”
“That we are.” Jimryr pressed his lips to Daire’s temple. “Do you want to do the human thing? Rings? A ceremony? I know several mated dragons here who’ve done that.”
Daire shook his head. “We couldn’t take the rings back with us, and we had all the ceremony I needed last night. Unless you want to.”
“Daire, if we could speak mind-to-mind in human form, you’d hear this big old dragon purr.
I’ve got all I want right here.” He took Daire’s mouth in a toe-curling kiss, then maneuvered them so Jimryr relaxed on the couch, with Daire nestled against him.
Together they drank coffee and watched the snow fall.
Mated. Daire and Jimryr had flown a mating flight and Jimryr wasn’t angry.
Neither was Daire.
He felt quite content, actually.
Daire and Jimryr spent the remainder of their time practicing flight, making love, and they even went hiking. His favorite moment, by far, had been the morning they’d woken to find snowflakes drifting peacefully to the ground.
Daire missed snow. None ever fell where he lived in Alabama, but High Reaches had sometimes seemed cut off from the rest of the world, blanketed in white.
He and his brothers used to shift and glide down snowy hills on their bellies. Now, he and Jimryr sat side by side on a porch swing, wrapped in a blanket, sipping coffee, Daire curled into Jimryr’s side. The third contented sigh in the last hour escaped.
The relaxed atmosphere gave Daire the courage to ask, “Where did you grow up?”
Jimryr stayed quiet for so long Daire feared he wouldn’t answer. Finally, he said, “I belonged to a small court near the southernmost coast. Instead of playing in the snow like you probably did, I played in the surf. The weather remained warm no matter the season.”
Daire couldn’t imagine such a life. “I’d love to see it one day.”
“The court’s gone, and I thought I’d never want to return, but I do want to share my former home with you. Explore the caves, picnic on the beach. The ocean breezes could keep most dragons gliding for hours. But not me.”
“Not you?”
“While my body is larger than most betas, my wings are the same size, so I can’t glide nearly as well as smaller dragons.”
“I’m sorry.” He’d done fine on their mating flight.
“Don’t be. I’ve made my size part of by battle technique.
” Jimryr chuckled. “I drop like a stone, crashing my full weight into my opponent. They don’t stand a chance.
They’re not taught how to defend against such tactics, which gives me an advantage.
I’m told there aren’t many who fight like I do. My opponents are never on their guard.”
Daire hated to ask, but they were mates now. He needed to know. “What about your left hand?”
“Oh, that.” Jimryr started to pull away, but Daire held tight until he relaxed again. With a sigh, Jimryr removed his glove, showing his hand with no fingers, only ropey scars and a thumb.
Daire tried not to flinch, imagining how such an accident could have happened.
“My cousin was a jealous son of a bitch. I wasn’t in line for the throne, but the court showed me respect. As our crown prince, you’d expect him to want to earn respect for himself. Instead, he thought the court should bow to his whims because he would one day be king.
“He was the type who couldn’t stand for anyone to be stronger, faster, prettier, or anything else than him.
A few of his friends grabbed me one night after they’d had enough ale to impair their judgment, dragged me outside, and cut off my fingers.
A mage gave my cousin a charm to keep me from shifting.
” Smug satisfaction filled Jim’s voice. “I killed the friends and put my cousin on notice. He died with the rest of my court, the one family member I didn’t mourn.
Sadly, in hindsight, I realized he probably killed my brother, too. ”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry too about my brother, but don’t worry about my hand. I have three more sets of talons, which I’ve learned to use equally. Humans believe if someone loses one of their senses, the others become keener to make up for the loss.” Jimryr lifted his other hand, now sporting talons.
Daire’s mouth fell open. “I’ve never known anyone who could partially shift. Some can call flame like you did the other day but never claws.”
“I rarely show folks.” Jimryr grinned. “Let it be a surprise. Though it took a lot of practice. Anyway, so many courts teach their betas to fight, but using the same old methods. Bring in something new? They’re lost.”
“Like a sword-wielding dragon?”
“Precisely. I can’t wait to introduce you to Zorah.”
“Zorah?”
“She’s an alpha and the president of our motorcycle club. Also, she’s the leader of our fighters.”
“Our laws forbid alphas from fighting.” Daire realized too late what he’d said. “Or they used to.”
Jimryr nodded, his cheek brushing Daire’s hair. “We have several alphas who’ve learned to fight beside us. If we’re met with alphas, we’ll answer with our own, but they’ll only flame other alphas, keep the enemy alphas away from the rest of us.”
“Any idea when this fight will happen?”
“The mage said when we were ready, he’d come back. We’re ready, but I now realize we were missing one piece I think we finally have.”
“What?”
“You.” Jimryr went silent save for a soft humming. After a few moments, he ventured, “Can I ask you about the friend you lost the day you were injured?”
Daire sighed, turning to look up at Jimryr.
He deserved the truth, no matter how much telling the story hurt.
“He’d been my friend ever since we started training to fight, when I left the castle for the barracks.
Ywain.” Memories brought a smile even though the story turned tragic.
“I could tell him anything, and he never treated me differently because of my family. He’d call me a dumbass as quickly as he would anyone else. ” Daire managed a chuckle.
“I’m sorry for what happened.”
“Me too. Asshole alpha had no right flaming him. He fell. All I could do was get beneath him and hope I’d slow the fall enough so we both didn’t die from the impact with the water.
” Daire pulled in a deep breath, then exhaled in a forceful huff.
“He didn’t deserve such a death, so very young.
Even now, I replay events in my mind, wondering what I could’ve done differently. ”
“I was there, remember? You did more than anyone could ask, letting yourself get burned to save him, after you’d already taken claws to the face.” Which in itself would’ve taken many betas out of the fight.
Daire put a hand to his face, feeling the scars. If he closed his eyes, he could still see those claws come out of nowhere, feel the excruciating pain. “You know how battle goes. You don’t feel hurts until later.”
Jimryr tutted. “You don’t expect me to believe you, do you? You must have been in agony, but you didn’t let your friend go.”
Daire tried for a nonchalant shrug. His choked words likely gave away how much the recollection hurt. “Turns out, Ywain was probably already dead when I tried to save him. Even if I’d known, I wouldn’t have abandoned him. Living or dead, he was my friend.”
Jimryr clasped Daire’s hand, bringing it to his lips to kiss the knuckles. “When I go into battle, I definitely want you at my back.”
Daire snorted. “Why? I can barely fly.”
“If you only needed determination, you’d fly circles around us all. That’s not what I meant. You’d stand over me, keeping others away if I got injured, wouldn’t you?”
“Actually, I’d do the same for anyone. Maybe even an enemy. The Goddess teaches that if they can no longer harm us, if they need our help, then we should oblige.”
Jimryr narrowed his eyes. “Many wouldn’t.”
Daire shifted his gaze downward. “I would.”
“I know.” Jimryr kissed Daire’s nose. “I saw the sacrifices you made. You impressed me.”
“You tried to save me, too.” Besides the hideous imagery, Daire also pictured the pale dragon, charging in to challenge the alpha.
“Yes, I’ll always be there when you need me. I’ll tell you something else.”
“What?”
“If I ever find the son of a bitch who maimed you wounded at my feet, I won’t be as generous as you.”