Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 84237 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84237 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
“Hell yeah, it’s not like we stay celibate. Although the mornings after can be awkward beyond belief, so we don’t do it often. Two dragons choosing to stay with each other, though, I think those are the only two who have done it. Vasily told me once that he and Luka had started out as a hookup. They were both lonely, horny, and found the other attractive—nothing more than that. They just kept falling into bed with each other. Then he went to Luka one night and never left. Eventually, they were able to admit to the rest of us that they were completely in love with each other.”
“No one gave them grief over this?”
“Nah. I mean, at that point, we had no hope we’d see mages ever again. If they’d found a partner, good for them. That’s how we saw it. Now, we’re all a little worried about them. What if a mage does come for one of them? No one has ever heard of a mage being magically bonded to two dragons. Who’s going to be on the fallout end of the equation? It’s going to be brutal, whoever it is.”
“The magic bond…I’ve heard of that. It’s the spell that links the mates together.” Sam’s voice had become so soft Dimitri could barely hear it.
He grunted in agreement. “Yep. It not only allows us to share our magic more easily with our mate for their spells, but we share our long life. It’s how we stay together for centuries.”
“Otherwise, a dragon gets only a few short decades with their mage and has to live centuries without them.” Sam paused and shuddered as if shaking off the thought, then his brow compressed. “What if you’re wrong? What if there is no mage for them?”
“Not how it works, Sam-a-lam. Every dragon has a mage mate. Every single one. Now, not every mage is meant to be a dragon’s mate. It’s not an equivalent exchange. But every dragon has a mate, without question.”
“So, the two of them are in for a lot of heartbreak, one way or another.”
“Yeah. You see why we’re all worried. Vasily and Luka, though, they’re sure of their own hearts and refuse to break up.” Dimitri shrugged. “I guess we’ll see. Anyway, don’t tiptoe around them, no need.”
“Okay. That’s what I needed to know.”
Dimitri eyed him sideways for a moment before putting his eyes back on the road, letting their conversation die off naturally. He wished he could pry out of the man why he was so certain he wasn’t a mage. Was it something about how the family trained mages that made him believe he didn’t have the talent?
Dimitri would have many words to say to them if that was the case. None of them would be clean, and sharp claws might be involved.
The fact that Sam was certain it was only his twin who had magical ability was telling. Dimitri felt like he’d been handed this mystery box to somehow solve. If he hit the right magic combination, surely he could get to the answer trapped inside. It would just take time, charm, and likely a few kisses to get Sam to open up to him, that was all.
Okay, the kisses thing, that had been an addition by his dragon. Damn horny creature.
Dimitri sent an internal query to his dragon. You really like this one, huh?
The dragon gave a dreamy sigh in response.
Well, that was definite.
Apparently, history professors with glasses and cute faces were his type. Who knew?
But this one? Why couldn’t you pick an easier one? It’s not like we haven’t gotten laid in a while.
His dragon didn’t reply so much as made grabby claws in Sam’s direction. His dragon was giving him the impression that it wasn’t going to be happy with a few kisses. It wanted a lot more from Sam.
They wound their way up into the park, heading in the direction of the trailhead that would take them to the area Sam had indicated on the map. The archeologist seemed confident they were heading in the right direction, and Dimitri wasn’t about to argue.
He was a little perplexed on where they could be going, honestly. Most of the natural reserve was surrounded by civilization in one form or another. Unless the clan had lived at the peak of the mountain, well off the beaten path, and trees had now overgrown it, he couldn’t imagine how it would still be undiscovered five hundred years later.
At any rate, that was a tomorrow problem.
Tonight, they were going to stop early and set up camp at an actual campsite. They’d leave the vehicles parked here and rearrange things in the morning so they were prepared to backpack when they finally ran out of road.
Dimitri kept a sharp eye on Sam as they unloaded the tents and cooking gear from the cargo areas of the Jeeps. Something kept drawing his eye, something about the man that made it impossible to look away. He couldn’t put his finger on it.