STORY EXCERPT

“I can handle myself!” He slapped the man’s hand off his shoulder, backing away a step. “Stop babying me. I can do this, and I will do it. You need more than a couple of days.”

“James.”

“Just go. I’ll finish up here, burn your leftover shit with the others, and I will be the one to come to you when I’m ready, or when I get bored of doing this.”

Steve had just looked at him. He didn’t say anything right away, but he actually had looked… hurt. That was the worst thing about it. Terrible enough to make James’s heart ache.

“All right,” Steve eventually said, green eyes still carrying that confused sadness. “I’ll come back eventually anyway, but I do know you don’t need any help. I get that you’re a capable warrior.”

Even that had sounded insulting. James knew he wasn’t trying to placate him just for the sake of getting him to relax, but all the same, James had been annoyed. Because he didn’t want Steve to leave. He didn’t want to pretend he hated him, and he didn’t want to burn everything the man couldn’t hide or take with him when he snuck away.

He wished he hadn’t been such an asshole. He wished he hadn’t told Steve to not bother checking up on him, or coming back until James was ready to see him again. Because he was ready to see the man now. He wanted him back, wanted to know Steve was all right with more than just a text he snuck in during the middle of the night.

The strange thing was, that no matter how much he missed the man, how much he wanted to see him again, it was his stupid pride that prevented him from telling Steve that when they texted each other at night. He’d already snapped at the guy and basically told him to fuck off. How weak and sad would it look if James suddenly came crawling back and begged for the man to hurry up with what he was doing so James could follow him?

Worse, what if Steve didn’t want James following him now? What if he told James to go and fuck himself?

“Snap out of it!”

Something hard whacked him upside the head. Something hard enough that it made him see white stars when he blinked and looked to the side, seeing Brutus himself growling at him.

“The fuck you think you’re doing? Get back to work!”

James couldn’t stop his lip from curling. “Yes, sir.”

Stupid thing to do. He shouldn’t have mouthed off like that because now Brutus was looking at him like he thought James was getting ready to make a challenge.

“You got something you want to say to me?”

There was a lot he wanted to say to the old bastard.

He just couldn’t.

Brutus was pushing seventy, but he was still so strong. The guy had spent years of his life as a fighting dragon and had apparently been a professional dragon fighter back when he was younger.

Before his mate had died and before he’d blown all of his winnings on booze.

The man was cleaned up and sober now, but that didn’t stop him from being one mean son of a bitch, and a nasty fighter to boot. He could kick James’s ass in a hot second and tear out all of his teeth barehanded if he wanted to.

Since James happened to like his teeth right where they were, he decided to make the smart decision here.

“No, sir, nothing.”

“Good.”

“It’s just that this is such a waste. There are other people in the clan who could use this furniture, and the clothes.”

Brutus’s expression changed, like he was shocked out of his mind that James could be that dumb as to say anything. James was wondering what the hell was going on with himself, too.

“One more word, you little bitch. I swear to God, one more word and I’ll throw you to those other dragons your heart’s bleeding for and they can use you to keep warm tonight.”

Most of the dragons here weren’t like that, but there were a few who were a little on the… sadistic side. James would rather not mess around with that when he didn’t have any backup, especially since he just got off Brutus’s shit list.

“You know what? No,” Brutus said. “You’re the one who let Stark fly out of here when he and I were having our challenge. You’re the one who decided to step in and pretend like you had any kind of fucking say over what happens in this clan.”

Fuck. Apparently he wasn’t off the shit list.

“You were bleeding, sir. Your best men were gone and someone needed to defend—Guh!”

Air whooshed from his lungs. When Brutus moved fast, he moved fast. James didn’t have a chance to see the fist coming before it crash landed with all the force of a meteor in his stomach. James immediately went to his knees. Brutus grabbed a fistful of his hair with those big fingers of his and yanked him back to his feet, which was its own kind of torture because, holy fuck, his stomach did not want to straighten out right away. Standing so suddenly almost made him puke on Brutus’s shoes.

The guy would beat him some more if he did that, so it was the better option to keep his vomit down if he could.

“You ever want to mouth off to me like that again and I’ll give you something to complain about, you little shit!”

Brutus whirled him around. James’s heart launched itself into his throat as he thought for a hair of a second that the man was going to hurl him into the bonfire.

It didn’t happen, but he got close. Brutus held onto him tightly by the throat. He could hardly breathe, and he could feel the heat of the fire through his clothes on his head, spine, and the back of his legs.

“You think I don’t know that you were making kissy eyes at Steve?”

Oh shit.

“I outta break both of your legs and rip your Goddamn wings out for that. You…” Brutus trailed off, a look coming over his face that suggested he had a sudden thought.

Which could be either good or bad, considering his current predicament.

“You knew, didn’t you?”

ADULT EXCERPT

He found Steve’s belt and fly, though he avoided those at first, letting his palm slide up and down across the bulge between his legs, and enjoying the way Steve’s nostrils flared, and how his eyes slid shut.

“Fuck.”

“That’s the idea.” James realized what he’d said, and he groaned. “Your stupid dad jokes are rubbing off on me.”

“You’re the one doing the rubbing here.”

Gah! James hated that so much!

And he was pretty sure he was mated to the guy. He was mated to the man, Steve was in love with him, and his dumb jokes were having an impact on James.

This was going to be an adjustment.

The positioning was awkward, and as good as it made James feel to touch the man, to stroke his cock and listen to the sound of his heart as he struggled to keep control over himself, it would feel even better with skin to skin contact.

James swiftly undid his belt buckle, pulling down the fly of his jeans and shoving his hand inside. He was stunned when he felt the man’s cock immediately in his hand.

Stunned by how good it felt just to touch it. As though he were touching himself.

There really was a mating connection between them.

“Why aren’t you wearing underwear?”

“You got a complaint with that?”

James smiled, his hand pumping. “No. I guess not.”

Another weird first for them. James had been in so much pain, in so much shock, that he didn’t have the time to process the fact that his best friend had given him a blow job back in his room before they had to pack up and run for their lives.

This was different. It was daylight, and though there were minimal windows and they had curtains covering them, it was still bright in here. He didn’t have to rely on night vision to know what was going on.

He could look Steve right in the face, could focus on the fact that he was touching the man’s cock, stroking his best friend’s dick.

“We really are the best of friends, aren’t we?”

“The absolute best,” Steve groaned, his arms trembling as he continued to hold himself upright.

James kind of wanted him to fall on top of him. He didn’t think he would mind it if the man collapsed right on him.

Maybe Steve would mind it.

Shit. James was finding himself struggling for what he should be doing here. He wanted to make this as good as it could possibly be. He didn’t want Steve to want for anything while they did this to each other.

Love you. Love you so much.

James leaned up, ignoring the pain in his spine as he did so, his lips finding Steve’s. Apparently, he could still feel pain when he was touching his mate like this.

Oh well. It was worth it.

Except Steve pulled back.

“Are you hurting?”

He wasn’t just checking in. He had a dark brow raised up high, as though he knew for a fact that a twinge of pain had licked up his back.

James wasn’t in a mood for his.

“I got it, all right? Get back to kissing me and letting me stroke your dick and stop ruining the mood.”

Steve jerked back. James almost felt sorry for him, but the asshole was going to learn to let James stay in control of himself sooner or later.

Sooner was preferable.

Which didn’t stop Steve from growling at him. “I want you to tell me the second something is wrong. You understand me?”

“Yeah, yeah, less talking, more kissing.”

With his free hand, he pulled Steve’s head back down.

God, the man really did have nice lips. He tasted so damned sweet. It was impossible to not love this.

He still wanted more. He was drunk on it. Addicted to it. More of those tiny flashes of pain worked up in his muscles and bones when he pushed his hips forward, working on instinct, desperate to be touched as much as he was touching Steve.

The other man was thrusting his cock into James’s hands, his tongue sliding into James’s mouth. He liked that especially. He wanted more of that. He kissed Steve back and fought him for dominance. He had no doubt who would be taking command of the sex. James wasn’t exactly in the best of shape here, but he could give as good as he was getting in the kissing department.

All the while, more of those love thoughts kept rushing through his head.

Were those his own thoughts, or was that something Steve was pushing into his head? Mates could read each other well. Not their thoughts, but they were basically empathic towards each other.

Whatever. Didn’t matter. James liked that word rolling around in his head, and he liked it when Steve took him by the wrists, gently, yet firmly, pressing them down into the sheets on either side of his head and thrusting their—

Oh God.

James threw his head back, letting out a soft sigh.

“That’s good. That’s so nice.”

Steve released one of James’s wrists, his hand scrambling down, he pulled James’s boxers down.

When had he undressed James? When they first arrived? Put him in bed? James thought it was strange he hadn’t noticed until now, but whatever. Something else he wasn’t going to think about because this was too nice for him to lose focus on.

“You want my cock inside you?”

James nodded. “Y-yeah.”

Something he never thought he would ever say in his life, ever, before Steve. Yes, definitely. He needed this. He had to have more of it.