Page 21 of Omega Captive of the Golden Dragon (Alpha Dragons #3)

VARIK

I n some distant land called paradise, a dragon roared.

My omega. When had I started thinking of Caylen as mine?

It had been before I’d come into his room. The sweetness, the life in his eyes. The way he had first told me he didn’t want me to leave the couch as he slept on the hearth.

I had been slow to understand. He wanted an alpha. He needed a guardian. Not that he wasn’t perfectly capable of looking after himself, even entertaining himself. But he needed more.

My omega.

Val had brought him to me, and I had closed up to his manipulations. But he’d done it out of love. All in good faith. A brother looking after a brother and making sure he had what he needed.

I didn’t need an omega. I hadn’t felt a calling to that. But now that I had Caylen, I wondered how I’d ever existed without him.

I held him tightly to me until my knot went down. During the process, he came again, dampening my belly with his essence. His insides contracted. My own orgasms rocked me until I’d lost count.

Afterward, it felt amazingly good to take care of him.

More pleasure coursed through me as I cleaned him, helped him to the bathroom, then cleaned him more intimately in there.

At first he was embarrassed but that quickly passed.

He bent for me, he spread for me, he let me lick him dry and suck more juice from the tip of his cock.

My beautiful little one.

I brought more food and water into the room. Later, we napped curled about each other, only to start up again in the nighttime hours as the wind blew in soft keens about the eaves.

Caylen grew bolder with each new moment he needed me. He now asked for what he wanted.

“Do it harder.”

“Take it out all the way and put it back in.”

“Pull out and squirt into my mouth.”

He had become so brave, begging to suck on my cock, fitting as much of it as he could down his throat. He got better and better at it every time.

His little sucks, and the way he popped me in and out of his wet lips, had me coming fast and hot. But his ass gave me the big orgasms. The ones that reverberated through to my soul.

Varikan did not interfere at first, but later he was not polite during some of these moments, making demands.

Don’t get so lost you forget to knot.

Push deeper. Push hard so I can feel it, too.

Nosy dragon. Horny dragon. Who could blame him? Caylen was addictive. Special. Ours.

His heat lasted two days. The following day, we stayed in his bed exhausted, sleeping and eating. That third evening was the first time we both felt like getting up.

We showered and dressed and went downstairs to make a proper dinner of spaghetti, meatballs and a fresh salad.

We ate until we were stuffed, then fell asleep together in front of the fire in the living room.

The next morning, my phone woke me. Caylen lay against my chest, sound asleep. I situated him comfortably on the couch pillows.

I grabbed my phone and walked into the dining room. It was Val.

Valcor: Surprise. I’m at the gate right now.

Varik: My gate?

Valcor: Who else’s?

Varik: I just woke up. Caylen is still sleeping.

Valcor: Sorry to surprise you like this. I thought it would be okay.

Varik: You know I sleep in the day.

I saw the security board by the back plate glass doors light up, and the small TV screen show the gate opening. Val’s sleek black car came into view.

I ran into the living room. “Caylen, beautiful. Wake up. Val’s here.”

He scrunched up, his face so cute I had to kiss him. I leaned down and pressed my mouth to his. After a few seconds, he drew in a breath and tilted his head back. His eyes popped open.

“Did you just say Valcor is here?”

“I did.”

He looked down at himself. “I’m not dressed.”

It was both a true and untrue statement.

His pajama shirt was unbuttoned and only clinging to one arm.

His pajama pants were wrapped around his ankles.

He jumped up, grabbing his waistband and tugging, but not before I got a glimpse of his slim, cheeky ass.

I reached out to run my hand over it, but he dodged me and ran out of the room and upstairs before I could say another thing.

I was in a better state to greet Val. My hair was a mess, but I had on sweats, socks and t-shirt. Not my usual fare, but comfort clothes for post heat coitus.

Even though Val had all the passwords and keys, I went to the inner garage door and opened it to watch him drive in. He got out and came straight to me and gave me a brief hug. Hugs were not our thing, but I hugged back and that caused him to tilt his head.

“How are things?”

“Fine.”

“Just fine?”

I shrugged.

He turned and walked back to the car. “I brought some things. C’mon, grab some bags and help me bring it all in.”

He had packed his car full of fresh groceries, plus other necessities. He never came empty-handed. As we lugged it all into the house, he asked, “Where’s Caylen?”

“Upstairs, I think.”

“Huh. You two getting along? I got a rather frantic text from him last week.”

“Yes. We’re fine.”

“You sure do use the word fine a lot around here.”

“It’s a fine word.” I started unbagging the groceries.

Val and I unpacked everything and sorted through. As we worked, he asked, “So, you never sent your new batch. I had buyers.”

I faced him. “Is that why you came? To pick up the goods?”

He crossed his arms and tapped his foot. “No. I’m in no rush. The buyers will always be there.”

“Then why the surprise? Checking up on me? You could have called ahead.”

He sent me a tight smile. “Varik. I did call. No one answered. Not my calls or my texts. I sent some to both of you. When I didn’t hear back, I checked all the security apps. Everything looked okay but I decided to drive here anyway and see for myself.”

I cleared my throat. “I didn’t realize. You know you’re welcome here any time.”

We put away the perishables, then left the sundries on the table for later.

I grabbed us a couple of drinks and we headed to the living room.

I had forgotten how lived-in it had become.

It wasn’t too much of a shambles. Caylen’s bedding was neatly folded and rolled.

The pillows on the couch were piled up and dented, but I quickly puffed them up and put them to the side as we sat.

“Where were you sleeping? On the couch?” Val laughed, thinking he’d made a joke.

Just then, I heard footfalls on the stairs. Caylen jumped off the last step and made his way to us. He’d changed from pajamas to jeans and a sweater.

Val nodded. “Hello, Caylen. Nice to see you again.”

“Hi. Same.” He scrubbed at his hair and sat on the nearest chair.

He was mine. I couldn’t stop thinking it.

“Val brought groceries. There’s fresh juice and sodas if you want to grab one.”

“Sure.” Caylen jumped up and left the room.

Silence landed between me and my brother. Val broke it.

“You’re being nice.”

“Am I?”

“Very much. I guess things were bad when he found out how you get the gold for your projects. And then got better?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s good.”

“He’s all right. We both are.”

I watched Val scan the room and stop at the neatly stacked bedding by the fireplace. He looked at me in my thin shirt and stocking feet, then said, “Is he sleeping with you?”

So much for keeping anything private from Val.

I pushed out a huge breath. “What of it?” I replied. “If you must know, he just finished a heat.”

Val smiled. “I see you didn’t kill each other so that’s a good sign.”

He was my brother. He knew everything. Yet still my cheeks flamed.

“It is, isn’t it? A good sign?” He insisted on some sort of answer.

“It is.”

“Good. I’m glad.” He fiddled with a gold ring on his finger. His wedding ring. I’d made a pair of them for him and his husband.

Val continued. “When I first went to the auction, I was unsure if I’d go through with finding someone.

” He shut his eyes. “For you. They were all beautiful. And all in varying states of shock. But Caylen stood out. There was a tap at my shoulder. When I turned, no one was there. I told myself it was Fate letting me know it was him. I went with my gut.”

“That’s terrible,” I said. I hated to think Caylen had gone through that.

“It is? Fate tapping my shoulder?”

“Yeah. It’s shit and you know it. The auctions are a terrible part of our society.”

Val lowered his head. “I know.” He sighed. “He reminded me of you.”

“He’s nothing like me.” I had heard Caylen come back but he didn’t appear. He was standing just behind the wall listening.

“He is. In the way he was standing, how he walked, how he held his head. How he looked up at me when I approached with his eyes wary, his mouth pressed tight. Then he held up his chin to me and watched me, never looking away. You had all the same body language when I found you. That’s when I told Caylen he didn’t have to worry, that I’d buy him.

He didn’t understand what I meant, of course. ”

Caylen chose that moment to come out. “I didn’t know you were rescuing me,” he said, sitting back in his chair. He had a glass of orange juice in one hand.

Val smiled at him. “How could you?”

“I don’t believe in Fate, either, but… thank you.”

“I wish things were different,” Val said. “But they aren’t. You weren’t going to meet anyone nice on that auction block and my brother here was never going to meet anyone. So I meddled. And I’m not sorry about it.”

After Val’s little speech, I felt Caylen’s gaze on me. Waiting.

I turned away from Val and met my omega’s eyes. In a low voice, just for him, I said, “I’m not sorry about it, either, beautiful.”

He got up, set down his juice, and I reached my hand out to him. He took it and our grips met with force. I pulled him to me, cradling him in my lap, kissing his forehead.

“I can see I’m a third wheel now,” Val said, grinning.