Chapter Three

“~I need you. Meet me at the penthouse in half an hour.”~

Garen stared sleepily at the screen of his phone. He groaned and kicked the covers off, went to his closet and grabbed his jeans and a t-shirt. He cursed his hard-on as he tried to pull his jeans past it.

Fucking Skye.

The late-night calls only ever meant one thing. Skye had found a nubile human woman, or three, to share his bed and fill his well, and had left them without seeing to his secondary needs. The foolish Blue had some strange hang-up about coming in a human pussy.

Garen was loath to complain, though. If it meant ~he~ was the lucky recipient of Skye’s Nirvana, why should he? The two had shared so much as young dragons prior to their hibernation. He’d pledged his loyalty as a Guardian to Skye’s higher rank when they were fledglings. Skye was only a step down from a Court dragon, after all, and his mother had been a forbidding presence to a young dragon.

Guardians were meant to serve their superiors. Garen accepted that role eagerly. Only occasionally did he wish he’d been the chosen one during the Ascendance ritual that released his generation from their hibernation. He’d been trapped in his stone form next to the Queen’s throne that day when a sweet-smelling man came along and stroked his stone-hardened cock. He’d sensed the Virgin nearby, too. She’d been all over the temple, yet had given her gift to another Guardian rather than him.

He was trapped there, a silent observer, until the ritual was finally complete. The lower-ranked Roka had secured the Virgin. Garen, one of the Queen’s guardians, had been left with nothing. Displaced.

Skye, his best childhood friend, had been his salvation. They’d shared everything growing up, and even more after their Ascension. Yet their ranks still dictated a dynamic that Garen had fallen into more easily than he’d like to admit.

What would his friend ask for tonight? Garen pondered the possibilities as he took the stairs down to the garage of his San Francisco apartment building. He never took the lift if he could help it. It felt too much like flying and it made his shoulder blades itch to let his wings out.

He’d become acclimated to the acrid scents of the modern world. Parking garages used to make him sneeze, but he had developed a love for cars, and cars required garages, so he had adapted. His treasure, the vintage white Stingray, rested in her regular spot. Simply sliding down into the soft leather seat still gave him a rush. Thrusting the key into the ignition almost always made his dick hard. It would’ve now, if he hadn’t already been hard from Skye’s call.

Then the ignition lit and the engine kicked over. Every single second of the process sent thrills through his body. He almost wished his car could harness the magic they needed so much, but that was never going to happen. It was either dragons or humans. Humans were preferable. They made better mates because human women had easier pregnancies than dragons.

Human women were sweet. He’d had his share since ascending. But none of them had ever been as responsive as Dove. His car did everything he asked without question. He was almost always hard as a rock while he drove her. A slip of his finger across the wheel and she turned. A twitch of his wrist on the gearshift and she went faster.

Sweet Mother, the modern world was amazing.

More amazing was that admirers regularly told him his car was an antique.

If they only knew how old the driver really was.

He pulled into the garage of Skye’s tower a few minutes later. Dove’s engine rumbled in contentment after the run he’d given her. She liked to get a workout, once in a while, just like he did.

“ID, please?” the guard at the desk in the lobby asked.

Garen flashed the silly white card that let him into Skye’s tower.

He regretted leaving Dove behind, but Skye called. This close, he could feel his friend’s presence. Their connection was strong. It always had been.

~Service him then get out. No snuggling. ~

The penthouse was dark except for a dim light in the kitchen. A figure moved restlessly, pacing in front of an open refrigerator.

“I can’t find it,” Skye’s voice carried across the room.

“What are you trying to find?”

“Mochi.”

“Mochi?”

“She tasted like it. Sweet Mother, her pussy tasted just like mochi.”

“I can go get you some mochi if that’s what you want,” Garen said.

“No, I need it now. Jesus!”

“Jesus?”

“Humans say it. It rolls off the tongue. It’s a good curse they recognize, at least. So are you going to help me?”

“What flavor?”

“I don’t fucking know. Flowers?”

Garen turned and left. He wasn’t pissed at his friend’s irrational demands. They weren’t uncommon. Dove let him breathe at least. The nearest Japanese market was several miles away, which only meant he got to drive a little more. Flowery-flavored mochi wasn’t a hard thing to find, either. Garen just hoped they were the right flowers for Skye.

When he presented the tiny, rose-flavored orbs to his friend, Skye snagged the first little confection and bit into it. His eyes rolled back in ecstasy. He opened them again after swallowing, the piercing blue gaze meeting Garen’s with that particular intensity that always left him feeling like lightning had just struck, making all the small hairs on his arms stand on end.

Skye closed the distance between them in a quick stride, reached up to clasp his palm tight at the back of Garen’s neck, and pulled him down into a hard kiss. The sweet, starchy flavor hit his taste buds along with Skye’s cold tongue. Garen moaned into Skye’s mouth.

~“She tasted good, didn’t she?”~ Skye sent to him in a quick blast of thought.

~“You taste good~,” Garen replied, pressing his hips against Skye’s and rubbing his erection tighter against his friend’s.

He pulled away from the kiss, dazed, his cock throbbing almost painfully. In a quick tug, he pulled Skye’s shirt off over his head and bent to trail hungry kisses down his torso, lowering himself to the floor as he went. Skye leaned back against the kitchen counter with a heavy sigh while Garen unfastened his pants and let Skye’s erection come free.

Garen trailed his human tongue along the entire length of the sweet shaft before him, now more eager to take his time and savor the experience than get in and get out like he’d originally intended. He loved Skye’s flavor, and particularly loved it mixed as it was now with the distinct aroma of two different women’s essences.

He hummed in appreciation as he slipped his lips over the hot, smooth head, rubbing his tongue between the small slit at the tip. He could imagine how magnificent Skye must have been, fucking the women one by one, or pleasuring them with his tongue. Occasionally they did share a new lover, but rarely—only when they were both desperate enough and the selection of potential partners was slim.

The modern human world was overflowing with beautiful people, men and women both, all ready to let themselves be pleasured and their energy absorbed whether they knew it or not. If Garen could only enjoy them as much as Skye did. He often wondered if Skye’s reluctance to find release with any of them was some kind of sign of solidarity for Garen’s own issue. No matter how many humans Garen had coupled with since his Ascension, he’d found true release with none of them.

Skye was too stingy with his own essence, but Garen was grateful for the privilege to partake on such a regular basis. He sucked Skye’s shaft deep into his throat, cupping his friend’s balls and gently rolling them in his palm. Skye raised a hand and threaded his fingers through Garen’s hair, urging a faster rhythm. Garen complied, salivating at the chance to give Skye more pleasure. Garen lived for these moments, convinced that this might be the best he’d have—though he’d love nothing more than to service Skye for a lifetime.

“That’s right. Sweet Mother, your tongue is so hot. Take me deeper.”

Garen opened wider, savoring the slick heat of the flesh that filled his mouth, rubbing against the back of his throat. He let his tongue elongate and coil around Skye’s cock, pulling back and running the taut, agile muscle down to the tip and back to the root, over and over. Garen invited Skye fully back into his waiting mouth, sucking harder with each pass. His own cock ached with need and he pulled it out with his free hand to stroke himself.

A slow vibration began to grow in Skye’s sack under Garen’s hand, rising up through the shaft. Skye’s voice rose at the same time, his low moans coming quicker with each deep shove of his cock into Garen’s waiting mouth.

With a harsh cry, the dam broke. Skye’s hot semen shot against the back of Garen’s tongue and Garen swallowed, sucking greedily on Skye’s cock like a hungry child at its mother’s tit. At the same time, the pulsing energy of Skye’s arousal let loose, surging into Garen in a rush. He lost himself from the overwhelming thrum of the power sinking into his core, his own hot semen spurting forth and covering his hand and wrist.

He was loath to release Skye now, wanting to linger here even on his knees as he was. He’d gladly have submitted to his friend in other ways, if Skye asked, but he never did. They made love on occasion, but a true submission meant even more—it meant ownership in a sense that not even mating signified.

Skye released Garen’s hair and slid his hand down to cup Garen’s cheek. His salty, silken skin slid past Garen’s lips for one last, slow stroke as he pulled back. Garen flicked his tongue once more around the tip, enjoying the way Skye’s hips twitched.

Skye chuckled softly. “You always know just how to satisfy me.”

“What will you do when you finally find a mate?” Garen asked, peering up Skye’s torso. He spent so much time on his knees for Skye, both literally and metaphorically. The idea of their dynamic changing, if and when either of them did finally find a mate, left him apprehensive.

Skye closed his eyes tightly. “Don’t remind me of obligations now, please. Just let me enjoy the moment.”

Garen stood and grabbed a kitchen towel, then leaned against the opposite counter to clean himself up. “You know it has to happen. Both of us need to, for the sake of the race. You have a greater obligation than I do, due to your bloodline, of course. The women you were with earlier …” He let the implication hang between them, his gaze meeting Skye’s.

Skye’s brow creased and he looked away. “They weren’t appropriate. Entertaining, and fulfilling in some ways, but not potent enough on their own.”

“So find more than one. Find a whole harem if you have to. That’s one law I doubt the Court will ever change now that they’re in control. Multiple mates are encouraged, particularly for the males.” Silently, he hoped that Skye would find several. If he fell in love with one woman, it would hurt too much, but an entire harem would at least let Garen still feel like the most prominent feature.

“I don’t mind playing with more than one at a time, but if I’m going to find a mate, she’d better be good enough to breed with, not to mention live with, and the chance of finding that many perfect human women is close to nil.”

Garen pursed his lips and nodded, though he grimaced inwardly at his uncharitable thoughts. One woman would be hard enough to find. As many human women as there were who responded to a dragon’s seductive nature, few of them were truly of the caliber a dragon could be happy enough to love for a lifetime. Dragon females were more ideal mates in some ways, but there were too few of them as it was, and they were too spread out. Not to mention any of the ones Skye would find worthy outranked him, and he wasn’t the kind of dragon who would easily submit to another of their race.

There was a limit to their patience with each other, however. As much as Skye tortured himself with his restraint around human women, he did occasionally become irritated if Garen was unavailable when he needed that release.

Sometimes Garen wondered what it might be like to have the tables turned—to have Skye on his knees, seeing to his needs. Or on his belly with his ready ass poised in the air for Garen’s cock to sink into. His cock twitched again in interest at the mere thought. To have Skye submit to him for once was a fleeting fantasy that he’d likely never experience. As much as dragon laws had changed this year, one thing that hadn’t was the psychology of their ranks. His White Guardian rank would always be subservient to Skye’s Blue. Only one Guardian in a generation had the privilege of outranking a dragon like Skye, and Garen wasn’t him.

Garen wanted more than to be merely a friend with benefits, but if he couldn’t, he’d prefer to see his friend with a mate who made him happy.

“We have time to make it happen. At least the new laws have allowed for that, finally. You know you can always call if you need me, until that time comes.”

Skye’s lips twitched into a half-smile of gratitude, but his brow didn’t relax. “True enough. I have more crucial business to deal with now, at any rate. I decided to appeal to Kol for recompense over losing Trevor.”

Garen raised an eyebrow at that, but the admission wasn’t a surprise. “Oh? So you decided not to challenge Rowan or Rafe for possession of their human?”

Skye sighed. “I don’t really want my mother’s leavings. And I hear he’s very happy. But the insult still requires redress.” He flashed Garen his sweetest smile and his eyes brightened just enough for Garen to know the emotion was genuine. “Tonight was a perfect diversion from the issue, but I’ll have to deal with it sooner rather than later.”

“Call me soon, then? I’d like to know how that plays out. If I can help …” He always offered, and Skye always declined. They both had their own positions in the Magnus Empire. Skye was an executive. Garen was technically an operative in Magnus’s intelligence division, but his assignments tended to align with Skye’s business associates, so they had frequent contact. Garen rather thought Kol had arranged everything just so.

He said farewell and left Skye brooding over their complicated situation.

On the way home, his mind churned. He’d be happy if their situation never changed, but knew Skye secretly still lived under the sway of his dead mother. Even after five hundred years, the female dragon’s influence hadn’t waned. Carrying on the family line was a task Skye took very seriously, so he wouldn’t be satisfied settling. Any woman he mated would have to live up to the rigorous standard of a female dragon who was now dead, but whose desires still tormented her son.

He’d known Skye’s mother when they were young, had respected her and been in awe of her idealistic nature, but had always been secretly grateful that his parents were unobtrusive and forgiving of his weaknesses. If anything they’d completely overlooked them, choosing instead to praise him for his strengths.

Being a Dragon Guardian required a level of obedience. Garen had always been one of the best Guardians of the brood, which had earned him a prominent spot in the temple where they hibernated. But a Blue like Skye didn’t have such an inclination for obedience, and so it tortured him to be forced to comply with his mother’s will in order to gain his inheritance. And by extension, it tortured Garen to watch his friend deal with his own personal conflict.

Something would have to give.