Page 41 of Consorting with Dragons (Bloodlines #4)

Rylan

It was a few days after we got back home that Quinn got ready to leave for camp again, now that things were more or less back to normal.

Quinn was doing much better and recovering from his injuries.

Over the next few days, the Riders were able to confirm that King Travon’s lifeless body had been found in the woods, near the edge of camp, struck down by some of the big rocks that Talon had dropped on him and his entourage.

All the Horvathian traitors had been rounded up too, though most of them had been killed in the fight.

Colonel Bentine wasn’t found, though it was suspected he was among the bodies that were burned beyond recognition inside the tents.

It would take some investigation to discover which members of the Conservative Party had been backing King Travon, and if my theory about them wanting to substitute him for the new king had been true.

So far nobody was talking, but the queen has suspended Parliament until she could investigate any traitorous activity.

Quinn was confident he would be able to ferret out the truth in time.

He was anxious to get back to the Riders Training Camp, and after I watched him packing up his things, I wandered out into the main living area and sat on the sofa to start reading.

I was trying to be calm about it and hide my resentment.

No mention had been made about me coming with him.

He came in the living area and stood near the bedroom door, watching me carefully.

“I’m leaving in a few minutes,” he said, watching me closely. “But I’ll be home in a week and conducting interviews in the capitol. You should go with me when I return. The queen would love to see you and thank you in person for all you’ve done.”

“I’ll miss you,” I said. “Be safe, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to go with you to see the queen. I can try to be here, but it depends.”

He frowned at me. “Try to be here? What do you mean? Where else would you be? What do you mean by, ‘it depends?’”

“Oh, on when my grandfather is picking me up. He offered to give me a ride to Moravia as soon as he finishes his investigations on Horvath. I’m not sure when that will be.

Since you’ll be busy with your training camp and Parliament, I may as well go for a nice, long visit with my parents.

Grandfather said Talon will fit in the cargo area of his star cruiser, since it’s not too long a trip.

That way, I can keep riding him on Moravia, and he won’t be missing me and pining for me while I’m gone. ”

“But…what about me?”

“Oh, will you pine for me too?”

“No. Because you’re not going anywhere.”

“Quinn, that’s unreasonable, don’t you think? You don’t need me here.”

“Who said I didn’t?”

“I overheard you speaking to the queen on your communicator. I heard you tell her quite clearly that you’d be gone most of the time from now on, and that I would ‘settle in’ and get used to it.

I’m trying to learn to do that. You said that you’ll only come home for visits, because you’ll be busy with the Goldens.

I want to accommodate all that by finding my own things to do when you’re gone.

I thought you’d be happy for me. You surely don’t expect me to sit around all day and twiddle my thumbs, I hope. ”

“I don’t know what that means. But yes, I expect you to be here, thumbs and all. At our home, like a proper mate.”

“Oh, so I’d be convenient to come home to.”

“No, damn it. There isn’t anything convenient about you and there never has been. But I want you here anyway.”

I started to open my mouth and tell him my thoughts on that, but then he crossed over to the sofa, sat beside me and took my hand in his.

“Don’t you see, I can’t breathe right when I’m worried about you.

Like when you left me, and I couldn’t find you anywhere.

I had pains right here the whole time I was looking for you,” he said tapping his chest and looking tragic.

If he hadn’t had that look he got when he was irritated over something I’d done or hadn’t done, as of I’d inconvenienced him, then I think it would have meant a lot more. He might have even pulled it off.

I looked up into his beautiful jade green eyes, and it was my turn to have trouble breathing.

I’d do almost anything he asked of me, but that was a slippery slope.

I had to stand up for myself or lose myself entirely.

I had to be strong and not give in to him on everything.

We needed to get this straight between us or this marriage might not work. And I desperately wanted it to.

“I didn’t mean to leave you after we argued. I was mad, I admit. But I would never just take off like that without talking to you first. Talon and I simply got lost.”

“You can’t ever leave me, Rylan.”

“I know. But this isn’t like that. This time, you’ll know where I am, and that I’m safe. I’ll be at my home on Moravia.”

“This is your home. Wherever I am is your home. And I want you to be with me. Moravia is too far away. It won’t work, don’t you see?”

I smiled at him, putting all the love I felt for him in it. He blinked at me a couple of times and said, “Your omak-ahn was right about what he told me.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Just something he said. That you’d smile at me in a certain way, or you’d do or say something that would let me know for sure that you’re the one, and that I can’t live without you. I think it happened while you were cooking me that fish on the mountain.”

“Of course, I’m the one. I could have told you that. Did you ever doubt it?”

He shook his head and smiled at me. “Maybe a little.”

“Then you were wrong. I’m the only one for you. But you said it’s not possible for me to be with you at the camp, right? That’s what you said. You won’t be here, and I can’t go with you to camp.”

“Well, I changed my mind. I want you to come with me. You and your little Golden.”

“Just like that?”

“Yes.”

“You know, Talon’s not so little anymore. He’s grown almost as tall as Sulamon.”

“Whatever.”

“Whatever what?”

“Whatever you say. Whatever you want. Whatever you need to hear. I changed my mind, and I want you to come and be with me. I think I need to rethink this idea of the Riders as some kind of—what did you call it? ‘Warrior monks,’ I think you said, with no lives outside of our work. Why should we not build housing for our mates there at the camp? So we could go home most nights and still keep our mates by our sides. Just because we’ve always done things in a certain way doesn’t mean it’s the best way. ”

“Exactly! But do you really mean that?”

“Yes, I do. I’ll let Talon work with the other dragons, like your grandfather suggested. Talon was an amazing help when I was looking for you. And even Sulamon seemed better at communicating when he was with us. Anyway, it couldn’t hurt, and Talon has the new Goldens to try his lessons on now too.”

“Well, this is…different. Do you really mean all this?”

“Yes and no. I mean it, but I’ll probably hate every second of it at first. You may have noticed, Rylan, that I’m not what most people would call a flexible person.

But I can learn new things, right along with Sulamon.

I still hate the idea of you being in that dirty camp with no privacy and all of the soldiers ogling you all the time.

I don’t think you realize how attractive you are.

I want you here at home where it’s safe, and I hate the idea of you being in danger.

But you’d be in my bed at night, and that would make up for a lot.

” He heaved a big sigh. “The bottom line is that I’d hate being away from you even more, so there’s no real choice. ”

“And this would be for everybody, so you wouldn’t have to worry about the other men being jealous of you having your foreign husband with you.”

“That’s right. Though I finally realized I really don’t care what they think anymore. Not enough to be miserable without you.”

“Wow, I don’t know what to say. This is totally new.”

“When I couldn’t find you, I stopped caring what anyone else thought.

I don’t care. Besides, you’ve more than proven yourself in battle, Rylan.

The way you saved me from those Thalians who were about to hang me…

It was smart and brave and amazing. I’ve been foolish to deny it for so long.

Say you’ll come with me today when I go. ”

“But won’t I be in the way?”

“Of course, you will. But come with me anyway. I’ll manage if you will.”

I threw my arms around his neck to pull him down and kiss him for a long time. He sighed and didn’t fight it too much after the first few seconds.

“You can’t do this at camp,” he said, after a while as he came up for air. “Not all the time, anyway. We’ll all need to be discreet.”

“I understand. And I’d love to come with you. I know that all the mates will love it. In fact, I never want to be parted from you again. But you need to be sure about this. What if Talon and I will get on your nerves?”

“Oh, I fully expect you will, but there’s nothing to be done about it. Now get your things together, and I’ll go let Talon know. He can eat a few snacks to hold him off until his next meal. A flock of sheep should be enough to hold him off until we get there.”

“He’s a growing boy.”

“What about you? What will be enough to hold you off?”

“An hour or so of you making love to me before we go should do it. We could stop along the way, too. I can take a blanket with us. Then of course, after we get there, we could take a ‘nap.’” I waggled my eyebrows at him.

I laughed at the look on his face and jumped up on top of him to wrap my legs around his waist and kiss him again.

“Tell me you love me.”

“I can’t be doing that all the time. It’s unseemly.”

“I don’t care. I need you to do it at least once a day.”

He sighed heavily. “All right. Once. At night. After we’re in bed.”

“Let’s practice it now.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“I want to hear how it sounds.”

I smiled as he growled and then leaned up, bumping my chin with his nose and letting his head fall back to give me access to his throat.

He moaned long and loud as I licked him and nibbled at him, and then he turned the tables and began to lick me and bite down on my neck, laving his tongue over my mating bite and giving me little love bites all around it.

My neck would be covered in his marks if he kept this up.

I pushed him away. “Tell me.”

“All right. I love you. Are you happy now?”

“Say it again, like you mean it.”

“No, you said I only had to do it once.”

“We’re practicing.”

“This is silly and indulgent.”

“Is it? What about this then?”

I pushed down my trousers to take myself in hand and stroke myself.

Then I laughed because of the look on his face and how he was so torn between being afraid someone would come in and see me and wanting to push my hand aside and take over himself.

He groaned and tried to hold my hand to stop me from continuing but wound up doing exactly that.

He began to pull off the rest of my clothes and put his hands all over me.

In seconds, he fell down on top of me and his fingers were sliding between my ass cheeks. Things progressed quickly from there.

He made love to me more than just once as it turned out, and I made him tell me he loved me many times before we were done. It was actually a while before we left for the camp. But I don’t think either of us was really in that much of a hurry at all.

The End