"You have nothing that I want," he spat.
He pushed away from me, his shredded wings laboring, and I didn't follow. I half expected him to attack me again, but with a muttered oath, he turned and sped toward the open ocean. A glittering rain of scales trailed in his wake, and the sight gave me a moment of concern, knowing how much damage I'd inflicted. Yes, he would heal, but if he was really leaving, he had a long flight across the Atlantic ahead of him.
I tentatively pushed my mind toward him. It felt different than my bond with Devin. With my mate, I could feel everything. His thoughts became mine, his feelings were inside me, his heartbeat felt closer than my own. With Ivan, it was a subtler sense, and not an automatic "knowing" as it was with Devin. I had to try to reach him … and as soon as he felt me trying, he blocked me.
But I was willing to bet he could still hear me.
I'm not giving up on you, I reminded him. And then, even though I suspected it was a wasted sentiment, I added, Be safe, brother.
For a moment there was silence. Maybe I had been wrong, and the bond didn't work the way I thought. But then I heard him.
My safety is not your concern, мудак.
With that final insult, he shut me out. Still, now that I'd discovered the bond, I retained a faint sense of him even after he blocked me. He wouldn't be able to surprise me again.
As much as I wished things could be different between us, I was glad he was gone for the moment. I longed to be back with my mate, to hold my children and put our lives back in order. But someday, under other circumstances, I hoped to see my brother again.
He was family, too.
30
~ Devin ~
Ben had hustled me downstairs and managed to put the fire out, but the master bedroom was a total loss. He offered to sleep in the nursery with the boys so Maks and I could take the guest room he'd been using, and he went to prepare it for us while I took care of the babies.
I stripped off the scorched remnants of their clothing as soon as I could and went over every inch of them. Their dragon blood seemed to have protected them from the fire, but I couldn't quell my instinct as a parent to see for myself. Michael patiently sucked on his fist while I fussed over him, then promptly went to sleep when I put him down. I could already tell he was destined to be an easy baby.
Zach was a different story. Even after knowing him for just one day, I trusted that his current crankiness had more to do with his personality than with any harm from the fire, but I still needed to make sure. He was restless, and quick to fuss-"Energetic," Ben had labeled it indulgently-and as he squirmed and twisted away while I tried to wash and dress him, I frowned. I didn't see any damage from the fire, but he had a faint mark on his shoulder in the shape of Ivan's grip.
I kept trying to get Zach to hold still long enough to get a good look at it, but he wasn't making that easy. The skin on his shoulder was discolored. I was sure it hadn't been that way before, but it didn't seem to bother him. It definitely wasn't a burn or a bruise. When the light caught it there was a silvery glint to his skin that reminded me of Maks's hide. And Ivan's.
Eventually I gave up worrying about it and got him to sleep. The fuss had been distracting enough that I hadn't worried too much about Maks, and by the time I was free to, he was already back.
I'd known that he wouldn't let Ivan harm us, and I wanted to ask what had happened, but I let my curiosity go as I felt his need for me-his need to feel connected after having both found and lost his brother in such a short window of time. Questions could wait.
"The boys?" Maks asked as he came to me and pulled me into his arms. He knew that they were okay-our bond saw to that-but I could tell that he wanted the reassurance of hearing me say it.
"Both fine, and sleeping." I would tell him about the mark on Zach's shoulder later. "Ben is with them in the nursery. We'll take the guest room tonight."
Maks nodded, taking my hand and pulling me up the stairs with a grateful smile. He grimaced as we walked past the remains of our bedroom, and as soon as we entered the guest room he closed the door and pulled me against him.
"I can still feel him," he said, and I knew he meant Ivan. "He feels so … empty. He didn't think you were important, Dev. He didn't understand that I could love you, rather than just use you. I'm afraid that the way he's been taught to think of humans is going to condemn him to being forever lonely. He can't even think of other dragons in terms of anything but a threat, and I doubt he'd be able to recognize his own fated mate if the man was standing right in front of him. I abandoned him to that life. I left him with our sire. I let him get brainwashed into a life of being so alone. It's my fault."
I covered his mouth with my hand, shaking my head. "It's not your fault, Maks," I corrected him, pushing through our bond so he could feel that it was true. "You were young, and you did your best. You weren't the one who taught him to be that way, but you can be the one who shows him that there's another option. Your lives are long. Don't give up on him yet."
"Our lives," he reminded me, smiling down at me even though I could still feel a lingering sadness inside him. "Our lives are long." He pulled me closer, resting his head on top of mine. "I know you're right, love. I just wish it could be different for him. And I told him the same thing, that I won't give up on him, but … it could have been me. He's living the life my sire intended for me."
I shuddered, and he tightened his arms around me.
"The thought of never finding you, of not having you … I can't imagine it," he went on. "If anything ever happened to you, Dev, I wouldn't want to go on."
I got a lump in my throat. I felt the same, and I'd never been as grateful to know that his fire truly did bind us together. As long as one of our hearts beat, so would the other. "You'll never have to," I reminded him. "You know I'm yours."
"I've known it since the first time I saw you, love," he said, and I could feel his gloom lift as he teased me. "I know you're mine, and my dragon knows it, too. If I remember correctly, you didn't seem to know it, at first."
"I knew it, I just couldn't admit it," I insisted, laughing. "You can't hold that against me-I was married. And I love you for respecting that, Maks, and for waiting for me."
"I'm glad the waiting is over," he said, his teasing smile turning into something hotter.
"And I'm glad this fated mate thing includes such fast recovery time," I said, my pulse starting to race. I'd been big with the pregnancy for so long that I'd almost forgotten how good it felt to be in his arms, pressed flat against the hard planes of his chest. His heart beat under my cheek as I leaned against him, and I savored the delicious feel of his cock hardening against my stomach.
"Are you sure you're really recovered, love?" he asked, concern flashing across his face as he sensed my rising excitement.
If I'd been human, it would have been impossible so soon after giving birth, but his fire had restored my body almost as soon as he'd taken the babies from me. And I was sure. I was very, very sure. I wanted him. I needed him-and I loved knowing that he needed me, too.
As soon as I nodded up at him, he gave in with a groan, pushing me gently to my knees.
He'd come straight to me after shifting, still naked from the change, and I let the last of my lingering fears fall away as I lost myself in the pleasure of his hard body under my hands as I sank down in front of him. He was here, and he was safe, and we had a lifetime stretching ahead of us. A long lifetime, as he'd reminded me.
I rubbed my cheek against the silken hardness of his cock, breathing in the musky scent that I loved. His tip was already leaking, and I swirled my tongue around the head, lapping up the salty evidence of his arousal as his fingers worked through my hair, finding purchase.
Maks rarely came in my mouth-usually he stopped me when he got close, preferring to fuck me. Normally, I had no objection to that, but this time I wanted to taste him, to give him the chance to let go completely, with no holding back. As much as I loved it when he took control, this time I wasn't going to give it to him until I got my way.
I licked my way down his shaft, cupping his balls as his hips started swaying toward me. He was huge, and I normally couldn't take his whole length, but tonight I was determined to try. I looked up at him and sucked him into my mouth, massaging his cock with my tongue while I worked it deeper and deeper into my mouth.
"Dev," he sighed, his grip tightening on my head. "That's good, baby."
His breathing sped up, and I would have smiled if my lips hadn't been stretched so wide. His thick head bumped the back of my throat, and I flattened my tongue and relaxed my muscles, drawing him deeper as he groaned his appreciation.