Page 114 of The Dragon Warlord

We get to kiss some more. My cock strains against his in the confines of my pants.

“Whatever bans your father had in place before, they are gone now. He spent the morning listing all the reasons I should stick my cock up your arse. It was a lovely conversation.”

I giggle into his neck. I pull back to stare into his sapphire eyes. “Sorry, but I’m relieved. I thought he’d do the opposite.” Tristan bites his lip, and his expression loses its shine. “He said something, didn’t he?”

He nods, holding me tighter.

“H-He can’t do anything without appearing as a hypocrite.” I fucking knew it.

“Now you’re lost to wishful thinking. You know your father better than that.”

He’s right and I don’t have to think about it for long. “He can keep you busy enough to keep us apart. He can send one of us away. He can keep you with him every day all the time if he likes because he’syouralpha.”

“Yep.”

“What do we have to do?”

He sighs. “This is what I didn’t want to talk about, Riv. I’m afraid if I do, I’ll say something unforgivable. That’s not fair though, this is an ‘us’ thing after all, but I need to process it.”

“That’s fair. Take all the time you need.”

“You’re a lot more understanding than he is. He gave me a time limit and before you ask, it’s the same amount of time until I can next have release.”

And he still wants to surprise me. “Wow. That must have been a horrid conversation.” I’m sure Father is the last person Tristan wants to discuss his sex practices with.

“You have no idea. This was perfect though. I controlled myself.”

Unfortunately. “You did.” I rub noses with him.

“All right, up with you.”

It’s hard not to complain, which is new for me. I climb off him. “Where to now?”

“Don’t you have work you should be seeing to?”

My mouth gapes like a fish before I find the words. “But you have the day off.” Which is so rare that even uttering the words feels weird.

“I do. You do not.

“But—”

“Please, River. I need to sort myself out and I can’t with your scent everywhere.”

It’s only going to be worse for him with me gone, but he’ll have to experience that for himself. “Do you want your jacket back, Warlord?”

“Wear it back to your chambers where you’ll dress properly before you go anywhere else. Leave it in my room.”

Right. “Yes, Warlord. I’ll get on with it then.” I bend to one knee and wait for him to formally dismiss me, mostly to give him a semblance of “normal”.

But we’ve moved passed that and we can never return to the way things were. His hand pauses on my crown, sinking into my wild hair. “Dismissed, Omega.”

* * *

For the rest of the day, I can’t eat, but I force myself to drink honey water, so that I don’t dehydrate. Father would keep us apart if he felt it necessary—at least he’d try in a careful way. Separating mates can end disastrously, which is why it’s not done. Father would only do it if he thought that our being together was causing more harm than good and so I can’t dismiss his methods easily should he choose that route, but I don’t want them. Period.

The only short-term solution I can concoct is not to add to Father’s concern. If I begin showing signs of mental deterioration, we’re done for.

Efficiently, I take care of Tristan's business, meeting with several members of his staff. I head back to the fields to make sure some of the lower-level warriors have what they need. I stick around to help with more training and speak with the weapon smith. She’s been given a dark wyvern in her care so she can forge new weapons with their fire.