STORY EXCERPT

He didn’t expect to find a human male, shivering in the stream, hidden in the weeds, staring up at him with wide, dark green eyes.

He thought they might be brown at first but then realized the pupils were so large due to the cold.

Winter wasn’t quite officially over, and the waters were freezing.

The male was pale, his torn clothing hanging from his body, and he sank deeper into the weeds as though terrified Vince would punish him.

One of his eyes was bruised, his lower lip bleeding.

Vince didn’t recognize this human. Not that he went to the main house too often where the mates of the dragon who owned it lived, but he was aware the new owner had brought some mates of his own.

Vince might not approve of dragons who took more than one mate, but it was also not his place to criticize the male who paid him.

Vince frowned, about to ask the male what he was doing and what happened to him, when he heard the heavy flapping sound of wings from above.

The male shuddered, a terrified noise escaping him before he sank deeper into the weeds, almost submerging his whole body in the cold water.

Hiding, as Ian Benedict, the new owner of the land and vast house, and Vince’s tiny cottage, landed on the bank only a few feet from where Vince stood.

Vince adjusted the rifle strapped to his back, standing a little straighter.

“Sir,” he said as Ian approached him.

The man was still mostly in his human shape. Two legs, two arms, but there were red scales covering the bits of skin that were visible beneath his long-sleeved shirt and around his neck and face. Red horns and his eyes were that of a reptile as he folded his wings behind his back.

“I have a job for you, hunter,” Ian said.

Vince bit back his annoyance. His job was to hunt for the meat for the house and for the town this land was meant to care for. He also had a name.

George had been an annoying drunk, but he at least knew well enough to leave Vince alone.

“What is it?” he asked, already thinking he had a good idea.

“One of my mates ran away. I want him back.”

“I see. What did he look like?”

Ian proceeded to describe the male Vince had spotted in the water and give his name. Teddy, his name was Teddy.

“He may have some bruising about him. He’s been stealing.”

Vince frowned. “Why?”

“Because humans steal, it’s their way, and they need reminding of why that can be a mistake. I lost his scent, but he must be nearby. If you see him, bring him home for me, won’t you?”

“I will,” Vince said without thinking.

He absolutely should not have said that. He should have pointed out the runaway in the water right then and there.

Too much trouble. He was going to get in so much trouble for this, and even if he didn’t, the hassle alone was annoying enough.

Vince wanted quiet. He wanted to be left alone. He didn’t want to deal with…whatever this was.

Apparently, he sounded convincing enough because Ian clapped him on the shoulder. “Good hunt?”

“Not so far. I will have to put my search on hold unless I come across your mate while searching for animals.”

“Try not to shoot him. He’s an annoyance, but I like his fire.”

There was something in Ian’s eyes when he said that, something that gave Vince pause.

“I understand.”

He thought of Teddy’s bruised face and was fairly sure he really did understand.

“Right. Well, bag me a moose or something if you can. The meat stores are drying up.”

“My apologies, things have been quite dry as a general rule around here this winter.”

“Yes, I’m sure that will turn around soon enough.”

Ian eyed him up and down as though he was searching for a lie in something Vince said to him.

He must have decided it was no bother as he spread his wings and, with a powerful jump, launched himself back into the sky.

Vince watched him go, higher and higher until he was nothing more than a dot in the sky, then flying west, searching for his runaway mate.

Vince sighed.

He was in trouble. There was no getting around it. This was a mistake that he wouldn’t be able to take back now.

When Ian eventually found his little runaway, and realized what happened, Vince would pay the price for lying to him.

He’d done it. There was no taking it back now, so he might as well get this over with.

“He’s gone,” Vince said.

The immediate sound behind him was a splash of the chilled stream water, a heavy gasp for breath, and Vince heard the rustling of weeds as Teddy dragged himself out of the water.

Vince turned to look at the pathetic sight.

Teddy shivered from top to bottom. His clothes, as wet as they were, would not have been protection from the light chill in the air even if he was not soaked.

He would catch his death.

“Th-thank you,” Teddy said, the first words he’d spoken to Vince since they spotted each other.

He sounded rough, horrible, but Vince’s heart tugged for him.

“Do not thank me. I have not yet decided what’s to be done with you.”

Teddy looked up at him, his eyes wide once more, his shivering not stopping.

A sight that reminded Vince terribly of something he’d seen before.

Something he should not have.

“I will get you something to eat. Put you in front of a fire. For now,” he said, approaching Teddy and holding out his hand.

Teddy flinched away from it.

Vince felt that tugging in his chest again.

Gentle. He needed to be gentle.

“I will not hurt you.”

Teddy stared at his hand. “Will you…will you send me back?”

Vince could not answer that. He did not wish to lie to the little male.

ADULT EXCERPT

He absolutely should not be doing this.

This was by and large the worse mistake Vince could be making, but Teddy tasted sweet. He tasted of the baked apple with cinnamon they’d had for dessert.

And Vince was completely lost to him. There was nothing he could do but kiss, taste, and touch.

He pulled Teddy closer to him, enjoying the way the human moaned against his mouth.

Teddy clearly did not like his mate, and it was obvious from the outset that Ian wasn’t exactly worried for his wellbeing.

This couldn’t last, but that did not mean they couldn’t have tonight.

As Vince peeled himself out of his clothes, easily stripping Teddy, with his enthusiastic assistance, since all the clothing he wore belonged to Vince and were far too large for his smaller, human body.

Teddy seemed to breathe a sigh of relief when he was free of Vince’s oversized shirt. A smile, a real smile pulling at his lips for probably the first time since Vince had met him.

Nothing forced or awkward or shy about it.

“Kiss me,” Teddy demanded.

Vince was only too happy to obey.

In the darkness of his cabin, in the furs on his bed, the fire still crackling in his tiny, wood-burning stove, Vince would have to be blind to not notice the romance of the air around him.

He decided not to think about it. This was going to be nothing more than a fond memory for the both of them in the morning, but with the way the light glowed and flickered golden across Teddy’s pale skin, Vince was almost able to allow himself to believe the magic of the night could last.

He kissed his way from Teddy’s mouth to his jaw, down his throat and chest.

Teddy’s body jerked.

Vince looked up.

“Sorry, ticklish,” Teddy said, looking away and shrugging.

Even now, even when there was something he wanted, he was clearly still shy.

“My apologies,” Vince said, unable to resist sliding his beard across Teddy’s ribs, loving the way the male jerked and shuddered. “Was this what made you ticklish?”

Teddy tried to glare at him, but there wasn’t nearly enough heat to it to make it effective.

“Yeah, that,” he said.

Vince kept right on smiling at him as he returned to the task at hand.

Much as he would like to keep kissing and stroking his little human with his beard, there was another part of him Vince would much rather be stroking.

Teddy seemed to realize it, too. As Vince moved lower and lower, Teddy gasped, suddenly clutching Vince’s shoulders.

“W-wait.”

Vince barely looked up at him, his hand taking hold of Teddy’s cock.

His palm was big enough that the hard shaft of Teddy’s cock practically vanished in his grip.

“Yes?”

Teddy stared at him with confusion and concern in his dark eyes as though he couldn’t believe this was happening.

“Are you seriously…you don’t have to.”

Vince wasn’t detecting any true desire from Teddy for him to stop. “Why not?”

He knew why. Some nonsense about Teddy being a human and how dragons did not do that to humans.

But it seemed Teddy was still too shy to put his protest into words.

“You wanted me. You’re going to have me,” Vince said, sinking his whole mouth around Teddy’s cock.

Teddy exhaled a heavy sigh, his spine going stiff, hands gripping tightly to Vince’s hair as he began softly thrusting his dick deeper into his mouth.

Vince was more than happy to allow it. In fact, he preferred it. There was something to be said about feeling the distinct pleasure of a lover as they lost themselves to what Vince did to them.

He’d worried he would be rusty, that it had been so long since he’d been intimate with anyone that he would surely fumble.

That seemed to not be something he needed to worry about if the evidence presented was anything to go by.

Teddy’s cock was a nice fit into his mouth as well. He’d come across some well-endowed humans, but even the hung males were nothing compared to dragons.

Teddy’s prick was just right. His cock wasn’t small for a human, but there was enough to him that Vince had to focus on relaxing his jaw. Teddy’s cock couldn’t quite reach the back of his throat, but it was damn near close.

“Oh God, oh please, please, please,” Teddy begged.