Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
DAX
The poke bowl place was popular, which meant there was a wait, but they got lucky that the line moved quickly.
Miles could be a jerk when he was hungry, and Dax wasn’t any better after that run-in with the merman.
The guy was going to get hurt if he didn’t stop flirting with Dax’s mate.
Even after they said they were dating, the guy didn't back off.
Who did that? He was just lucky he stopped himself before he blurted out that Mateo was his mate without talking to him first. The merman just pissed him off so much, he nearly lost his head.
“Stop seething over that asshole,” Miles chided as they sat at a small table near the windows. “He’s a dick and not worth your energy.”
“What makes you say that?” Mateo asked.
He didn’t sound interested in the merman, just curious about Miles’s comment.
If he wasn’t so busy grumbling, Dax could admit too that he wanted to know the answer.
Miles had been eyeing the merman like a piece of candy last week.
He would’ve thought Miles had already gotten the guy’s number at the very least. Miles wasn’t shy about asking for what he wanted.
“Because it’s the truth,” Miles grumbled, stabbing his fork into his bowl and mixing it so roughly, a little spilled over the edges.
Miles could have a bit of a temper, but it wasn’t like him to stew over a guy like that.
He put his hand on his friend’s arm, waiting for him to drag his gaze off his bowl and look at him.
“What happened?”
Making an irritated noise, Miles shoved his bowl away, spilling a little more of his food.
“You know I’m always upfront about my preferences when it comes to hookups, right?
That asshole acted like I was playing coy at first, and when I set him straight, he sneered at me and told me I needed to give up the pretense of being a top because ‘men my size were meant to be bottoms’.
” He made quotes with his fingers, his scowl so dark, if he wasn’t a water mage, Dax would be worried he’d set things on fire with that glower.
“He tried to make it sound like he was doing me a favor, suggesting he could show me how much I’d like it.
Asshole. I think after three hundred years, I’d know my own shit. ”
Dax scowled. He knew that jerk wasn’t a good person. Who shamed someone for their preferences?
“That’s not right,” Mateo said with a frown. “That’d be like saying every species that’s a shorter stature can only be bottoms. What about dwarves? Gnomes? Goblins? Are they somehow all bottoms just because of their species? No. Height doesn’t matter. It’s an individual choice.”
“Here, here!” someone said behind them, making them all turn around.
A group of dwarves were sitting at a table nearby, and one of them lifted a can of beer, giving Mateo a friendly smile and a wink.
“I guarantee I ain’t interested in anyone fuckin’ my ass.
I bet I could show that jerk what he’s been missing and set him straight. ”
“Don’t think straight’s the word you’re lookin’ for,” his buddy chortled.
The camaraderie eased the tension a little, and Miles let out a breath as he sat back in his chair.
Dax gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. He knew how frustrating dating could be for his friend.
Miles had always been particular about what he wanted in a partner.
Unfortunately, the dating pool never seemed interested in making things easy for him.
Dax thought the whole thing was ridiculous.
Miles was kind, loyal, and funny. Someone should have snatched him up years ago.
Pushing out of their seats, the dwarves gathered their trash to head out, the one who joined their conversation clapping Miles on the shoulder on his way past. “Don’t worry about it, kid. You’ll find someone. You’re still young.”
Miles snorted, giving the man an appreciative grin, but Mateo looked stunned, his eyes wide as he leaned to whisper to Dax, “Three hundred is young? Or was he lying about that?”
Snickering, Dax shook his head. “Not lying. Three hundred is young for a mage. They live to be over one thousand. I think the oldest was something like twelve hundred? Don’t quote me on that though.”
Why was his mate so cute whenever his eyes got all wide like that. “Twelve hundred? Seriously?” He looked Dax up and down. “How old are you?”
Dax grinned. “Three hundred and twelve. Miles and I are nearly the same age.”
If human jaws could hit the floor, Mateo’s definitely would have at that revelation. He looked shocked, which was both hilarious and adorable. The reaction even helped put Miles at ease, making him smirk at Mateo’s expression.
“Come on. You might be human, but even humans know supes live significantly longer, right?”
“I mean, yeah, but I didn’t think that much longer,” Mateo replied. “Wait. Do I know anyone older? Like over a thousand?”
Dax nodded, swallowing a bite of his food before answering him. “Taron. Pretty sure the shapeshifter is over a thousand now. Shapeshifters live a long time. Way longer than krakens or mages.”
Miles nodded, talking around a mouthful of food because he was a monster like that. “I think the longest lived supes are fae, but shapeshifters are pretty high up there, similar to incubi and vampires.”
“How is the world seriously not overpopulated right now?” Mateo breathed.
“I mean, humans don’t live anywhere near as long as supes, but I know plenty of humans who have more than three or four kids.
Do supes not have big families then?” Dax raised his eyebrows, and Mateo made a face. “Okay, most supes then?”
“Supes have big families,” Miles corrected. “They just space out their kids more than humans do. Most supes will wait for one kid to be at least fifty before having another.”
“I think I also heard that humans are a lot more fertile than supes,” Dax added. “That’s why they had bigger numbers way back when.”
While they spoke, Mateo looked relatively relaxed, but the minute Miles got up to use the restroom, he started fidgeting over the mess on the table, trying to pretend he didn’t notice while staring at it out of the corner of his eye.
Dax felt his lips twitch against the urge to smile, and when he offered Mateo some napkins and picked up Miles’s mostly empty bowl, Mateo grimaced.
“It’s fine. I don’t need to–”
“If it makes you uncomfortable, then go ahead,” Dax urged. “If you hurry, I bet he won’t even notice by the time he gets back.”
Something like hope flashed across Mateo’s expression before he finally gave in to the urge to clean up the mess Miles had made.
Mateo scooped up all the food on the table, wiping it down with another napkin to get rid of any sauce remnants.
When Dax put the bowl back, it looked like the mess had never been there.
And he was right, Miles didn’t notice when he sat back down, shoveling the last of his meal into his mouth without a care in the world.
Mateo had been sitting stiffly when Miles returned, probably worried about the potential comments about him cleaning up after the mage, but he relaxed a little when Miles didn’t notice and even cracked a smile when he glanced at Dax, and Dax winked at him.
In his opinion, there was nothing wrong with Mateo liking things clean.
It was a personality quirk, and he was never rude about it.
And he knew Miles wouldn’t mind either. He’d actually be happy to let someone else pick up after him if given the chance.
His friend was a bit lazy sometimes when it came to cleaning.
If he didn’t have a charm to deal with it, he would ignore it until he couldn’t anymore.
“Feel better?” Dax asked after Miles scraped his bowl clean.
“I guess,” Miles grumbled, pulling out his phone and swiping through it. “People are irritating me today.”
Mateo leaned forward curiously. “This might be a stupid question, but how can your roommate keep you up at night? Don’t you have your own sound ward?”
Miles rolled his eyes, but Dax didn’t think that expression was directed toward Mateo.
“I do. But the idiot likes to party on work nights and either forgets his key or gets too drunk to get home and calls me non-stop until I pick him up. He’s a decent enough guy on any given day, but goddess he’s fucking annoying sometimes. ”
“Yeah, I get that,” Mateo murmured in commiseration. Dax frowned. He’d met some of Mateo’s roommates over the weekend. They seemed nice. What was his mate hiding from him?
Miles eventually headed home, mumbling something about working off some tension before he froze his roommate’s phone and stopped him from being able to make calls.
Dax hoped for his sake, the roommate was respectful tonight.
Otherwise he’d have an exhausted and angry water mage to face, and Miles could be vindictive if he wanted to be.
Dax walked Mateo home, stretching out their time together as long as possible, and when he saw the doorman in the distance, he snatched Mateo’s wrist, pulling him into a nearby alley before capturing his lips.
He wouldn’t push for an invitation upstairs, it was a worknight, and he was trying his best not to come on too strong, but if he was going to survive another night without being wrapped around his mate, he needed a little affection first. Especially after that run-in with the merman.
That asshole made Dax feel like he was going crazy with the need to claim his mate.
Mateo didn’t seem to mind, tangling their tongues together as he let Dax push him up against the wall.
Dax felt a little wild, like he needed to put his mark on his mate somehow, and when Mateo broke the kiss to suck in a breath, Dax went for his throat, latching onto a spot along the slender column and sucking lightly.
“Dax… I don’t bruise easily,” Mateo panted.
Dax pulled back a little, just enough to look at the mark in question. There was barely anything. He frowned. “Should I stop?”
“No. Harder,” Mateo encouraged, using his grip in Dax’s hair to pull him back to his neck.
Instinct took over at that perfect command.
Dax groaned and snatched his mate closer in his tentacles, latching onto Mateo’s neck again with enough force to make Mateo gasp, his back arching in surprise.
White noise filled Dax’s ears, and he vaguely heard seams rip as his whole world narrowed to just one point, making sure his mate was marked so everyone knew he was taken.
He felt so consumed by that thought, it wasn’t until Mateo started struggling that he realized what was happening.
Jerking his head back, he looked at his mate in horror.
Mateo’s shirt was torn, exposing his throat and shoulder, his lips were swollen, and Dax’s tentacles had gone rogue, one down the back of Mateo’s pants while the other was rubbing against Mateo’s groin.
He was still tied up by another, and his mate’s breath came out in sharp pants.
His eyes kept darting to the opening of the alley where people were walking past. It was dark, and it wasn’t likely anyone had noticed them, but if Dax had kept going and Mateo started making those noises he had the other day?
Yeah, people definitely would’ve noticed.
Horrified with himself, he jerked away, releasing Mateo so fast, he stumbled and nearly fell. Dax lurched forward to catch him, steadying the poor man before taking a big step back. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to– I should go.”
“Wha–”
He was too embarrassed to let Mateo finish.
He took off at a run, practically throwing himself into the subway station to get out of sight and pressed himself against a wall near the entrance so if Mateo followed him, he wouldn’t see where he went.
Not that he’d be likely to follow. Dax had just mauled him in public.
He’d yanked his mate into a random alley, attacked him, and then ran like a coward when he realized what he’d done.
What the hell had he been thinking?