Page 11 of Singing the Dragon’s Heart

Chapter

Eleven

K ami decided that he’d had enough of hesitating.

Reno was out doing his thing, and so he just got himself dressed, braided his hair, and headed to the seer’s.

This Cain guy, who he remembered, of course, could just…

Hell.

Cain had proven that he was a decent sort, had made him feel better so he could wait for Reno. They could just have a conversation. He didn’t want to be sent anywhere.

He wasn’t anyone’s to send.

Kami got lost a couple of times wandering through the keep, but he figured he just kept going up. In his experience, the guys who were in charge were always at the top, so he just kept following stairs.

Eventually, he came to a huge, open area, with sofas everywhere. And the skylight above was vast.

It was wicked cool, to be honest.

“Please have a seat. Can I help you with something?” A very prim-looking dragon sat there at a desk, playing on her phone.

Dude, he needed a phone. “Do you know who I ask about getting a phone?”

She offered him a smile. “That would be me. It used to be Jack, but Jack got busy, so I’m kind of funneling requests.”

She held out one hand, grinned. “I’m Betty.”

“Kami. I need to see the seer, please.”

“Let me let him know you’re here. Also, we’ll get you a phone.” She tapped away. “I’m very glad that you found a new stone.”

“You know about that?”

“Lots of people know about that, but I was actually here when you all came through. To be honest, I’m here all the time.”

“All the time?” Well, that sounded like hell on earth and absolutely zero fun.

“Basically, I live right there. I’m sort of Cain’s beck-and-call person.”

“Why?”

She shrugged. “It’s a good job. It’s interesting. I get to meet everybody, and I know all of the gossip. I like having my fingers on the pulse of everything. This is the best way to do that.”

Well, that was honest.

Her phone beeped, and she looked up. “Cain’s not busy right now if you’d like to go on in.”

She pointed, not to the great big doors that he was expecting, but to a kind of nondescript door on one side.

“Are you a tea person, a coffee person, or…?”

“Uh, actually I would really like a root beer.”

She nodded like that was not an issue. “No problem, I’ll have root beer and snacks sent in. It’s good to meet you. If you ever need anything, just text.”

She winked at him. He liked her. She seemed a little wicked. He required a little wickedness in his friends.

The door opened into a long hallway, and he thought about how the sci-fi horror fics all started this way. But he finally reached a double front door type entrance, and he rang the little electronic doorbell on the front.

“Kami!” He half expected Cain to have a butler or a valet or something to answer the door, but it was the man himself, beaming with pleasure. “Come in, come in. Oh, you look so much better.”

He walked into Cain’s apartment, looking around, not trying to hide his curiosity. He’d been to Cain’s rock room and shit, but this, he didn’t remember.

If surroundings told about the dragon, then Cain was a homey, bright, Boho kind of guy. He had comfy couches and chairs, big pillows in bright colors, and two cats and a dog who came running to see who Kami was.

“Well, hey, guys.” He rubbed ears and tails, and the belly on the dog. “So I thought you might come by. I was waiting for you to settle in. I do want to chat, but you were very ill, and you’re newly mated.”

“I am. But Reno is training right now, so I hope it’s okay that I asked the lady out there for root beer.”

“Oh, that’s a lovely idea. I adore a nice cold root beer. One of our dragons brews his own.”

Of course he did. This place was kind of like a crazy utopia. Like the zoo one in the movie…

They sat together on the big couch, Cain tucking his feet up under him, the big pit bull dog jumping up next to him.

“Do you want to wait for root beer and snacks?”

“Nah.” He sighed. “Look, I don’t know anything about stone singers, but I’m not interested in going to some cave city and calling the rocks.”

Cain chuckled, his blue eyes bright. He was an odd-looking dragon, all pale and slight, but so, so powerful. “That’s a vast oversimplification, but that is the gist of what usually happens.”

“Yeah, Jack was all, well, you might have to. But no one is sending me anywhere.”

“Of course we’re not. No one says you must go. Or stay. Although I imagine Reno would prefer that.”

“Yeah, he said he would go with me if I have to leave, but I can tell he loves it here.”

“What do you think of it?”

“Of the keep?” Kami asked. At Cain’s nod, he pondered that. “It’s a little too perfect, maybe? Which is a little freaky to a guy like me. But it’s cool.”

Cain grinned at him, the expression surprisingly youthful. “Now you sound like Triton did when he first came. No wonder you are friends with his brother.”

“Yeah. I guess when you’ve had it rough, you question good things.”

Cain sobered. “Certainly. You say you’re not particularly aware of dragon society, so you don’t know what happens to seers, do you?”

Aw shit, had he stepped in it? “Um. No.”

“In a traditional keep, we’re taken from our families at a young age and educated for a few years with any peers we might have. Then each of us are isolated, usually in the highest towers of the keep.”

“What? Why?” He just blurted it right out, but that sounded like a shit thing to do to a kid.

“So that our ability to See is not clouded by relationships. No biases or false visions brought about by strong emotions for others.”

“Jesus.” He sat back, eyes wide, feeling like he’d taken a hammer blow to the chest. “That’s inhumane. What do dragons call inhumane?”

“Anagraake. It literally translates to against dragon tradition.”

“Huh.” His mom had taught him some dragon words, but nothing that deep.

The door chimed, and Cain rose to let in a waiter with a tray loaded with covered dishes and bottles and glasses. “Root beer and French fries, pizza rolls, and those weird tiny fishes you like fried, Cain. Anything else?”

“No, that’s perfect. Thank you, Glen.”

Kami waited for the guy to leave. “He’s not a dragon.”

“No, he’s an otter shifter. He came here after he got arrested for swimming on someone’s private lands.”

Kami growled a little. That sucked too!

“Dig in.” Cain popped the top on a root beer bottle and poured it into a glass.

“Is it okay if I drink it out of the bottle?” That conserved the bubbles.

“Go for it.”

“Thanks.” He grabbed the root beer, then a pizza snack that he dipped in red sauce. Ranch next. All the little dip cups were there. He thought the fish one had cocktail and tartar sauces. He munched, humming at how good it was. “So is that your way of telling me you know from hardship?”

“More that I know isolation. I never lacked for comforts, but I never had company. And I can be a bit awkward.”

“Mmm.” Kami got that. He could be blunt and not very patient. He tried, for the sake of Reno and Talon, but…

“At any rate, I have no intention of asking you to go anywhere or stopping your rescue work.”

Well, that was good. Kami could handle that. He was totally into making sure people got what they needed. “So tell me how this whole thing started.”

“Believe it or not, we haven’t been around long. I know it looks like we have, but it hasn’t even been…” Cain frowned. “Felicity’s what? Seven years old?”

“Felicity?” It took a second for him to follow. “You mean that Jack guy, his little girl?”

Cain chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, that’s who I mean. Dex had lost his stone. It had been destroyed, and Jack came to ask me if I could help. We found Dex’s stone. That was when I figured out that it was possible, if not absolute, to save these omegas. And so that’s where it started.”

“This whole thing, this whole place? It’s only been around for seven years?” That didn’t seem remotely possible.

Cain offered him a shrug. “Give or take. Yeah.”

He ate another pizza roll, chewing hard, pondering all this. It was wild. “What’s your success rate?”

“It depends on the omega, of course, but I’d say thirty percent, give or take?”

Whoa. “That’s kind of crappy.”

“I know. I know, like I said, it really depends on what shape the omega is in. We’ve had way more luck with alphas. Keeps tend to dump them out with their stones instead of destroying them.”

“Right.” Alphas couldn’t carry unwanted babies, he guessed.

“So what about all the alphas that came with Talon’s brother. What about them? How did they get their stones out? Triton said they were in jail.”

Cain nodded. “That was all Triton, believe it or not. He was smuggling the stones and supplies out like you wouldn’t believe. Seriously. He even got Leilani’s stone out.”

“That’s pretty impressive. So—” He stared at Cain, trying to figure out…well, anything to be honest. “So you’re a seer. Did you see this whole thing? Did you know this was what you were going to do? Build this thing? And what’s your end game? What is it you want?”

Cain shrugged, rolled his eyes. “A little bit of nap. I think a nap. I had no idea that I was going to end up with this very complicated situation. It’s more than what I had expected or intended. But I can’t stop now. This is a home for all of these people. This is their home. This has to stay a functional place.”

“Uh-huh.” Cain was a sweetheart, but Kami had been listening to Reno and everyone. This place had nobility and shit. Money. Big money. “I’m going to be real with you here, man. At some point, you’re going to need like a governing body. You’re going to have to make things official.”

He could tell that Cain wasn’t following, but this place was big, and it was only getting bigger. It had a seer or two, maybe more. It was very confusing, and everybody seemed to know everybody’s business but him, and goddess knew everyone wanted him to be in their clique.

Kami understood, since he was an outsider. They felt bad for him. It didn’t matter, but there were already groups of people. It wasn’t one big happy family. It wasn’t one big grumpy family either. That was sort of kind of his point.

This wasn’t a family. This was a community.

There were going to have to be laws and stuff and ways to deal with shit.

He just didn’t see this Cain guy being the one who was going to be able to do all that and see stuff.

“I know, that sounds awful, doesn’t it? This was just supposed to be a safe space for people.”

“Dude, you have like a pizza oven thing. You have a hospital. You have a school sort of, with two different teachers. This isn’t just a little safe space. If you’re going to make it a big safe space, you’re going to have to play with the big dogs.”

“So are you going to do that?” Cain asked him, and he snorted.

“Are you kidding? Do I look like the planning-shit kind? No, no. I’m not even the particularly big-happy-family kind. I’m more of the let’s-get-shit-done kind.”

“I think you’re kind of amazing. I’m glad you’re here.”

Kami tried not to let that affect him, because that was the kind of bullshit people said when they wanted you to do things. Still, it was nice to hear.

Even if he didn’t want to hear it.

“Thanks. Seriously. I’m glad. This is the safest place I’ve ever been. That’s why I don’t want you to fuck it up. More than that, I don’t want me to fuck it up.” He took another long swig of his root beer. “Now let’s talk rocks.”

“Very well. What about them?”

“Well, I’m meant to be this big-ass stone expert, right?”

“Ideally, yes.” Cain grinned at him. “You are, by birth, a stone singer. Now, honing that innate talent will need some work.”

“Okay, but practically, what do I do with it?”

Cain blinked at him, and then his eyes rolled back in his head, his lips opening on a weird sigh.

“Oh, holy shit, are you having a vision?”

There was no answer right away, and Cain began to shake, which was a little, uh, terrifying.

Kami was about ten thousand percent sure that whatever was going to come out of Cain’s mouth, he did not want to hear it. Why didn’t he have any duct tape? Where the fuck was his backpack?

“The stones know you’re here.”

“Well, duh. I sort of went not so crazy, and people were throwing rocks at me. Not people—Talon was throwing rocks at me until I found the right one. So yeah…” He didn’t know if he was supposed to talk back to a seer. He wasn’t sure if Cain knew he was here.

“And they’re going to be coming now.”

“Who? The rocks?” Was that a thing? “Dude, I’m fairly sure that rocks are stationary. That’s why they’re rocks.”

Cain’s eyes focused on him, and suddenly, he just couldn’t look away. “They’re coming. They’re going to need your help. They’ll all be coming here. You’re the answer.”

Shit, if he was the answer, he didn’t want to know what the question was.

“Come on, man, snap out of it. Seriously. You’re scaring me. You are way above my pay grade.”

“The stones know you’re here. They’re singing right now.”

Kami glanced around the room. He wasn’t sure which door led to the cave with all the rocks, but, if they were singing, he wasn’t going. “It’s going to be fine, man.”

“It is. Because you’re going to be able to help them all. You’re so much more than what you think you are.”

Unlikely. He had a fairly healthy sense of self-importance.

“Well, this has been a great root beer, but?—”

Cain blinked up at him. “Sorry, what?”

“I think Reno is calling me.”

A little smile appeared on Cain’s lips. Could he remember what he saw when he did that? Or did someone need to be around to hear it.

“Of course,” Cain said. “Thank you for coming. Take all the snacks but the fish.”

“Oh, cool. Thanks. Reno will love them.”

“Kami. Just give some thought to the stone singer thing. I can pull someone in to help train you.”

“Sure. Of course. I’ll do that.” Nope. Nuh-uh. No way. In hell.

He grabbed the plates with the food and took off.

Kami? What’s wrong? Reno asked it as soon as he left Cain’s airspace.

Nothing. I was just talking to Cain. I have snacks.

Well, meet me at the picnic area.

Okay. That he could do. He wanted to see Reno so bad all of a sudden. Maybe he needed to ask his mate to take a few days off. Just to, you know, bond.

He felt very itchy and out of control at the moment.

But not in public. Wait. Can you come home?

Sure, baby. I just thought you liked getting out and about.

I do, but I just want to see you. Only you.

Okay. On my way.

Thanks. This whole thing with Cain had given him the jitters. Kami preferred to just do things, not think about them too hard, and this situation was a hell of a lot to think about.

He made his way back to Reno’s apartment, their apartment he guessed. He still felt like a guest. Which was not Reno’s fault. Kami just hadn’t settled in. And Reno acted a little like he was a roommate.

Maybe Reno didn’t know any other way to be.

Kami sighed. God, he was an idiot.

He got to the apartment about the same time as Reno, who opened the door for him, then took the plates. “What’s wrong, baby?”

“I don’t know.” He sighed. “Come sit with me. I ate like a bird with Cain because he wasn’t eating.”

“Did he get the weird fish?”

“Yeah. They have eyeballs.” Kami shuddered.

“I know. He doesn’t like to wig anyone out.” Reno fed him a bite.

“Well, good for him. He wigged me right the hell out. I’m all…itchy.”

“Are you sure that’s not from the stone room? I mean, I bet you heard them all singing to you.” Reno watched him carefully.

“I guess?” Kami scratched his arm. “Can you take some time off?”

Reno blinked, maybe at the change of subject. “Sure. How much?”

“Just a few days. I know I said I didn’t need you to, and I was all good with life moving on as usual, but I feel like we’re ships passing in the night.” He blew out a breath. “I also feel like one of those needy omegas I always read about.”

“Mmm.” Reno reached out to pull him into that warm lap, arms going around him. Reno nuzzled his neck, which made goosebumps rise up on his arms and his nipples harden. “I want to be with you, baby. I was just trying to give you what you wanted. You were recovering from losing your stone.”

“Well, what I want is you.”

“You got me.” Reno’s eyes went unfocused for a moment, and Kami had a feeling he was talking to someone. “Okay. I got three days off, and I can add more if I need to.”

“Thanks.” He leaned on Reno’s broad chest, taking in his scent. It was all toasty warm and a little brimstone, but also musky and male and perfect. His cock hardened in a rush, leaving him a bit shocked. Because he was getting wet, too.

“You smell damn good, baby.”

“Onion rings and root beer?”

“No, you smell like mine. Earthy. Hot. Something herbal. Your soap, maybe? But it’s the perfect combination. And you fit perfectly up against me.”

“I feel that way too. You’re making me all hard and hot.”

“I’m hard as rock for you.”

He looked up, meeting Reno’s crazy bright blue eyes. “Bedroom?”

Reno bent to take a kiss that seared his mouth and curled his toes. He clung to Reno’s neck, trying to get more, and he felt like he was flying again when Reno picked him up, striding to the bedroom, kissing him all the while.

They landed on the bed, and he grunted when part of Reno’s weight came down on him. But then he wrapped around Reno and clung like a monkey on a branch, and they were kissing again, Reno’s tongue pushing into his mouth to stroke his.

Delicious.

Heat spread through him like a wildfire, and he was desperate all of a sudden, using his legs for leverage to wrench Reno to his back, and then he climbed up to rub them together while they kissed again and again.

Reno got busy with his clothes, the cool air when he was naked making him shiver.

“So damn pretty,” Reno told him, pinching his nipples.

“Am I? Do you really think so?” He loved that. “Prove it.”

He was totally willing and able and ready for Reno to?—

Reno grabbed his hips and yanked, pulling him down so that their cocks rubbed together good and hard. “Okay, does this feel real to you?”

It did, but it wasn’t what he craved right this second. He didn’t want to mess around with blow jobs or hand jobs, or any kind of job, he wanted to be fucked, and he wanted to be fucked good and hard, and now was good for him. He didn’t bother trying to explain all of this, of course. He just surged up and back, hitting the tip of Reno’s cock against his hole and slamming them together. It was like the very best scratch to the very worst itch.

Reno’s lips curled away from his teeth, and he growled, deep and low under his breath. “Don’t let me hurt you.”

“I’m in control of this right now. I know exactly what I want.” So Kami leaned up, almost losing Reno’s fat cock before he slammed down again. His entire body arched with the deep waves of sensation filling him. The base of Reno’s prick began to swell, and his eyes crossed as each motion threatened to lock Reno within him.

His lover’s—his braaken’s—hands came to rest on his hips, and Reno began to thrust and roll up with his hips, meeting each and every bounce he made down.

“Hailee.”

Kami loved how breathless Reno was, how the hunger showed, how much Reno needed him. In fact, he was over the moon.

If only he could focus.

“Look at me, hailee. Right into my eyes.”

Kami blinked, then stared down at Reno, nodding. His breath came in pants, and he bounced harder, his cock slapping around, his thighs shaking.

There. Everything slid into startling clarity, and he could feel every nerve ending. Every hair and scale. His whole body shook with need, his entire self on fire, the feel of Reno’s knot swelling in him making him want to scream, it was so good.

Reno grinned. At least it was probably a grin. Kami wasn’t sure, and he didn’t really care because it was a look of pleasure so huge that it was painful anyway. He understood because he was feeling it too.

Don’t stop. Please don’t stop. He’d never wanted anything quite as badly as he needed this right now, right this second. He wanted Reno to fill him up, he wanted to shoot, he wanted to come and to be one with Reno, locked together, breathing as one.

You can have it. You can have it all. Reno’s hand slid down his leg and then moved up over his inner thigh. Reno grabbed hold of his cock, pulled from base to tip, and then rubbed hard in the slit with his thumb . You can have every inch of me. I’m yours, hailee. All of you. I’m all yours.

He felt it the second that they clicked together. It was a kind of magic that seemed to ring out.

All Kami could do was feel, his body squeezing Reno tight. As he did, Kami came, heat spilling over Reno’s belly.

That was all he could do. He didn’t have anything left.

Then he felt Reno’s knot swell and felt heat filling him up inside.

He’d never felt anything like it. Kami understood all the stories about mating now. All the tales about joining in this amazing, perfect fucking way. He’d thought he and Reno had done that before…

Gods knew, he understood now. This was mating. This was perfect. He could hear Reno inside him. Reno’s heartbeat in his ears, throbbing right along with his.

And he was stuck there, that knot seriously keeping him right there, not letting him move.

Fuck, it was taking his breath.

Reno held him close, stroking his spine, keeping him close and warm, letting him breathe. “I have you, hailee. I have you.”

Kami sure hoped so, because he wasn’t going anywhere for a few minutes. Not even turning a hose on them would accomplish separating them now.