by Sean Michael
He propped Grey up in the shower against the tile and started the water. “You didn’t have a shower at the cabin. I bet the hot water feels good on your leg.”
“God, yes.” Grey looked dazed, almost drugged.
He couldn’t believe Grey had planned to spend the winter in that cabin with as little as he had. A part of him wondered if Grey hadn’t planned, subconsciously at least, to let go, let the cold have him.
That would have been a disaster—not only for Grey, but for him, as well.
He grabbed the soap and began to rub it between his fingers, getting a nice soapy foam he could rub Grey down with.
He wanted to explore each and every inch of Grey’s lean body.
“You ready?” He didn’t wait for an answer before he slid his hands along Grey’s neck, rubbing.
Those poor overworked muscles were hard like thick, cold rubber bands.
“You need to let go. To relax. Getting all tight isn’t going to help anything.”
“I don’t remember how.”
“Then I guess I’ll have to remind you.” He dug harder into Grey’s neck and the tight muscles of the man’s shoulders, refusing to back down.
“I’ll fall,” Grey whispered.
“I’m not going to let that happen.”
That was totally not on the table. Not at all.
He was strong and he was quick. And motivated. He worked Grey’s muscles harder. He made it to Grey’s ass, working the huge muscles, pushing deep. He had to admit, he wanted to do a lot more than massage this stunning butt. In fact, he might have to make a list. Fucking, plugging, fisting—he had ideas. He pushed his fingers deeper into Grey’s flesh, demanding the lovely muscles give way.
“Oh.” Greyson’s legs buckled, a sigh sounding.
He caught Grey against his body, rumbling happily at the sensation of flesh against his, all wet and slippery.
Grey shook his head. “Sorry. Sorry, I can’t help it.”
“You want an excuse to rub up against me.”
Now that earned him an almost silent chuckle. Good. He wanted Grey to enjoy this, to play and tease and feel amazing with him.
“You don’t need an excuse, you can do it anytime you want, Pet.” Luke loved the idea of Grey initiating contact, of sharing his need.
“Why do you call me that?”
“Because it feels right.” It tripped off his tongue unbidden. It was what it was. He hadn’t specifically picked the nickname for Grey.
“Oh. As long as you don’t think I’m a dog. Or a cat.”
Luke shook his head, pushing the hair out of Grey’s face. “I know exactly what you are, Grey. A beautiful man who is here with me.”
Grey’s cheeks went pink and he ducked his head, but didn’t stop leaning against Luke. Which he took to mean that Grey still wasn’t quite steady and, no doubt, in pain. He went to his knees, rubbing Grey’s legs, refusing to let Grey hurt without doing anything about it.
Grey’s head dropped forward, his eyes closing, a look of bliss on his face. “God, your hands. No one has hands like yours.”
“No, they don’t. And mine were made to touch you.” Not just pretty words, either. He meant it. He rubbed his cheek against Grey’s cock.
“Careful. You don’t want to drown.” Grey’s voice had gone thick and he licked his lips.
“A little water can’t hurt me.”
“Good to know.” Grey laughed down at him.
That was a very good look on Grey. Luke turned his head and nibbled at Grey’s cock.
“No biting, now.”
“That was not a bite.” Not even close.
“No. That’s what I mean. No biting.”
“Not today,” he agreed. But he wasn’t taking it off the table.
In fact, he was taking precious little off the table.
He grinned and dragged his lips down Grey’s cock, stopping once he got to his lover’s balls. He breathed on them, then licked, and finally nibbled again, loving how hot they felt against his lips.
“One day I’ll shave these.” He would shave the pubes around Grey’s cock, too, leave Grey as bare as he was. It would be beautiful and it would feel amazing, for both of them.
Grey snorted. “Stop it.”
“I’m serious.” Deadly serious. He looked up, meeting Grey’s gaze to prove it. “You’ll look stunning,” he promised.
Grey rolled his eyes. “I won’t let you. That’s just wrong.”
Luke laughed. The things humans found wrong were strange, and often very random. “What’s wrong with shaving your body hair? You shave your face. Many swimmers and bikers shave their arm and leg hair. It’s a choice, not a moral imperative.”
“I haven’t shaved my face since before I left the hospital.”
“Yeah, about that...” He did prefer a clean-shaven man. Hell, it was because of skin—he loved feeling smooth, warm skin beneath his fingertips, his lips. He loved the vulnerability, the sensations, the pleasure.
“Let’s do your beard today.” It was time for Grey to realize he was not going to be allowed to die. It was time for him to be back in the land of the living.
“No. No way.” Grey shook his head, pursed his lips.
“Why not?” He wanted to see the lovely face beardless. And he wanted to encourage Grey to remove one of his barriers. He thought this one would be fairly painless.
“Because I said so?” Even Grey didn’t sound convinced.
“But why do you say so?” Luke asked. He scratched his fingers through the beard when Grey didn’t answer. “Why do you have this?”
“Because I couldn’t shave myself at the hospital and I didn’t want anyone to touch me.” Grey looked surprised, like he hadn’t meant to say any of that out loud.
“Do you want me to touch you?” Luke asked.
Grey nodded. “Yes.”
“Do you have scars on your face, too?”
“No.” Grey rolled his eyes. “No. I’m just... I’ve gotten used to it.”
“So there’s no deep-seated need to keep it.”
“I suppose not.”
“So...” His fingers itched to run over Grey’s face without any impediments.
Grey rolled his eyes again. “Okay, okay. If you really want to, I guess I don’t have any objections.”
“Thank you.” Luke stood, tugging on the unkempt beard. “It won’t take long to do at all. And it’s not like it doesn’t grow back.” He, on the other hand, couldn’t grow a beard to save his life, and he was pretty much hairless outside the top of his head, his eyebrows and eyelashes.
“You must shave a lot. Everywhere.”
He shook his head. “Nope. I’m naturally hairless. It runs in the family.” Something to do with their dragon natures, he was sure.
“Weird. Saves on razors, I guess.”
“It does. Lucky for you, I have a very sharp knife so we can deal with this fuzz.”
Grey touched his own face. “I’ve needed it, man. It’s like...armor.”
“I know. You don’t need to wear it around me. And there’s no one else here.”
There was a sudden flash of fire in Grey’s eyes. “I don’t know you! I don’t know you and I’m naked with you, man!”
Luke had to remember that Grey didn’t have the same knowledge of the soul mate bond that he did. “You know that I’m good for you. That you’re safe being naked with me.”
Grey nodded, chewing on his lip, watching Luke.
“Then why not let me shave you? Let me see you.”
“I thought you were supposed to have a beard in the winter.” The teasing tone let him know Grey was relaxing.
“That’s just...” What was it they were called? He’d had a bunch of them get lost last spring a
nd he’d had to rescue them. “...hipsters.”
“Hipsters.” Grey snorted and seemed to relax even more.
“Yes. With their hair all up in a bun and these crazily groomed beards. You’re nothing like them.” Grey was real.
“No. I’m just an ex-soldier.”
“There is nothing ‘just’ about you, Grey. You’re...intriguing. And that’s the tip of the iceberg.”
“Thank you.” Grey reached down, touched his face.
Turning his head, he kissed Grey’s palm, and Grey gasped. Oh, that was sweet. He liked that little sound. Keeping hold of Grey’s hand, he nibbled his way up one of Grey’s fingers, taking the tip between his lips. He could see the shock in Grey’s eyes, knew that no one had done this for him.
Luke took Grey’s finger all the way in, sucking strongly. Grey made the most amazing sound and eased down to the floor of the shower with him, pushing closer.
“Careful of your leg.”
“It’s tired.”
“Not too sore?” Luke asked, rubbing one hand along Grey’s leg, looking to ease any pain.
“Not—” Grey arched, head falling back.
Luke grinned and kept rubbing. Grey was feeling pretty good, or his name wasn’t Lukas.
“Lukas...”
Luke’s eyes flew open. He’d never told Grey that was his name. Nobody ever called him that but his brothers. When they were being buttheads. Maybe it had been his imagination. Maybe it had been the soulbond.
“What did you say?”
“Huh?” Grey looked up from where he had been touching Luke.
He shook his head. Maybe he’d imagined it, though he hoped he hadn’t. “I thought I heard you call me Lukas.” He shrugged it off, not wanting to make a big deal of it. “If you’re comfortable where you are, I’m getting my knife.”
“Lukas is your name, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, yeah. I usually introduce myself as Luke, that’s all.” It had to be because Grey was his.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to piss you off.” Grey shifted, tried to get his legs up underneath him.
“I’m surprised, not pissed off. There’s a difference.” He didn’t let Grey go.
“Still. I should get up, huh?”
“I’m going to shave you. Get rid of all this facial hair. Sitting will probably make it easier.”
“You are kind of single-minded, aren’t you?”
He grinned and he had a feeling it was wicked as hell. “Maybe a little.”
“A little?”
“Yes, little. As in a tiny bit, a small amount. Just a tad or a scootch.”
“Scootch.” Grey began to chuckle.
“It’s a perfectly good word!” There were lots of amazing words that had simply slipped out of use over the years.
“I beg to differ.” Grey snorted.
“You can, but I haven’t seen you begging at all. I’d like to, though.” A lot. “Can you imagine it?”
“What?”
“I was picturing you on your knees, begging me to fuck your mouth.”
“No. No, I...” Grey’s eyes were wide with surprise. “I wouldn’t. It’s impossible.”
“A simple thing like that? Impossible?” Luke knew better. He thought Grey did, too.
Grey blushed, cheeks going bright. Yes, Grey not only knew better, he liked the idea.
“There are things in this world that you think are impossible, but are totally possible.” He thought that was a pretty smooth segue.
Grey sighed, the sound wistful. “I wish that were true.”
“It is true. Let’s take say, dragons. They’re pretty impossible, aren’t they?”
“Dragons? Like in the fairy tales?”
“Yes. Dragons. Like in fairy tales. Possible or impossible?” He waited for Grey’s answer. They were going to have to get out of the shower before he could show Grey. Hells, he was going to have to go outside.
“Possible. Unlikely, but I’ve seen things I never thought I would.”
“I love that answer.” He beamed at Grey. “And it’s not just possible, but they do exist.”
“Have you seen one?”
How surprising. How utterly charming. It wasn’t the reaction he’d been expecting, but he liked it. A lot.
He met Grey’s gaze, holding it as he spoke. “I have seen several. I have four brothers and we all turn into dragons. Or rather, we are dragons who take human form.”
“Show me.”
Just like that. No disbelief, no gasps, no denials. Just show me. “I can’t do it in here. We’ll have to go outside.” He turned off the water and stood, reaching for Grey, to pull him up. Grey was shivering by the time he left the hot water and Luke began to wrap him up in towels.
He was eager. He wanted to show Grey his true form. No, he needed to. But he had to get Grey dried off and dressed up for the cold. “You can wear my coat.”
“Okay.” Grey shivered, teeth chattering. “Let me towel my hair off.”
“I can do it.” He turned on the heat so there was a flash of warmth as he took the amazing, long strands of hair between layers of terry cloth and rubbed.
“Oh...” Grey leaned into his hands.
“Did you know that you’re a hedonist?” Given half a chance, anyway.
“Am I? No one’s ever said so before.”
“No, I imagine you don’t let very many people know. I wonder if even you realized it.” He made sure Grey was dry. “Okay. Let’s get your clothes and go out.”
Grey didn’t ask a lot of questions or even seem terribly worried. How did that happen? How was Grey so calm and not disbelieving? He’d take it, though.
Sweats, a sweatshirt, boots, and Luke’s parka, and he took Grey’s hands, leading him outside. A part of him couldn’t believe he was doing this, that after so many years of hiding, he was going to shift in front of another man.
A man he’d only known for a few days. This was a mistake. A terrible mistake.
He froze at the door. Grey looked at him, nodded once. “Coffee?”
He shook his head. “No. You believed me. I’ll show you.” He wasn’t a coward. That the stakes were higher than they would ever be had given him pause. He couldn’t afford to have Grey reject him.
“You don’t have to show anyone anything you don’t want to,” Grey told him, clearly willing to let him take the lead on this.
“I’ve never shown anyone before,” he admitted.
“Then let’s have coffee, man. I’m ready to sit.”
“I tell you I’m a dragon and you not only take it at face value, but you don’t demand immediate proof?” He tugged Grey to him, kissing him, the hood from the parka warming his face.
“Man, I was blown out of the sand by an IED. There were monsters in that sand. Real monsters, and I am not making that up. You tell me you’re a dragon—until I have reason to think you’re a liar, you can be a dragon. Me? I’m not one. I’m a broke-dick ex-soldier.”
“But you’re a broke-dick ex-soldier who is with a dragon.” He took Grey’s hand and led him out the front door, his sudden nerves eased again by Grey’s straightforward acceptance. “I want to show you. I want you to know.”
“Whatever you want, man.” Grey grabbed his crutches.
He didn’t think Grey needed those, but he didn’t say so. Luke wouldn’t be right next to Grey supporting him when the dragon took over.
They went out, him still naked, Grey wrapped in winter gear.
“Ready?” he asked, ignoring the cold.
Grey leaned back against the house. “Bring it on.”
He took a few steps out from the place and imagined his dragon self. Unlike his city-dwelling brothers, he was able to do this on a regular basis, and his dragon skin fit him
easily. The cold disappeared and he spread out his wings before settling them against his back. He looked to Grey. Here he was in all his glory.
Grey stared at him, silent and utterly still, waiting for him to make a move.
He leaned in and breathed on Grey, a big puff of hot air that steamed in the cold. Then he nuzzled their cheeks together.
Pet.
“Oh. Okay. So, not interested in eating me. Not cold-blooded. Excellent.”
He snorted, blowing more air onto Grey. He wished he could take Grey for a flight, but he thought maybe that would take time. Grey’s leg needed to heal. So they would save it. He stretched out his wings again, flapped them a few times.
Grey chuckled. “That’s damn impressive, man. Seriously. You’re beautiful.”
How did this man simply accept him?
Obviously his belief that Grey was meant for him had been absolutely right. He preened a little more, knowing his brown-tipped green scales made a lovely pattern over his body. His chest was entirely white, aside from the mark over his heart. The mark that looked remarkably like a G.
“Can I touch you?”
Yes. He put his head down again, offering himself to Grey.
Grey pulled off his mitts and reached out, warm hands caressing his face, stroking his eye ridges, his long whiskers. He rumbled happily and flicked the ridges around his face, touching Grey in return.
“That’s a great sound, man. Seriously. That’s like music.”
He let it get louder, and nuzzled Grey’s chest, wishing he had skin to explore, to feel. It was too cold for human skin out here, though. Not for him. The snow around him was melting.
“I need to go in, man. The cold makes me ache.”
Of course. Soon that wouldn’t be so, and he and Grey would fly, his preternatural heat keeping Grey warm.
For now, he thought about his human form and in a matter of seconds stood naked in front of Grey. He shivered, the warmth of his dragon form gone. “In,” he barked.
“Shit. Yes. Come on. Your dick will freeze off.”
“We can’t have that,” he noted, chasing Grey into the house and closing the door firmly, keeping winter outside. “Let’s sit by the fire. I’ll warm quickly. And then you can check out my cock for frostbite.”
