by Fel Fern
“What if this is a practical joke?” he whispered.
“You’re overthinking things, Toby. If our positions were reversed, I’d definitely hit that.”
For some reason, he bared his teeth like some kind of animal. Ron raised his hands. “Hey, I was just joking.”
He knew Ron was, but he didn’t know what came over him. Tobias didn’t even think he had it in him to be jealous, possessive of a man he just met today. A stranger, except they weren’t that. Those hours they spent in BeastWorld chatting, laughing, joking—those moments were real to him. Tobias knew that for some people, gaming was just a kind of pastime, but not to him. He chose to spend so much time in that make-believe world, because the real world was too hard to handle, to understand.
Smoke frowned, stood up. He panicked, gripping Ron’s shoulder. He felt ready to hyperventilate. “I can’t, Ron,” he whispered.
“Okay, Toby,” Ron said with a nod. “Let’s leave before he—”
“Are you Toby?” someone interrupted.
Both of them turned in slow motion. Bloody hell. Did Smoke teleport or something? Smoke suddenly stood right in front of them, all six-foot-plus of him. He knew that voice, proving this wasn’t some actor, but the real Smoke.
“Say something,” Ron whispered in his ear.
“I don’t know what to say,” he whispered back furiously.
“Aw, you don’t need to be so anxious. Relax, Toby. It’s just me,” Smoke said. Smoke ran a hand through that amazing hair. He wanted to reach out, touch the strands. Was it as soft as he imagined? What a strange dye to pick.
“How in heaven’s name did you hear what we said?” Ron demanded, suddenly putting himself in front of Toby.
Incredibly touched his friend came to his defense, he stood by Ron’s shoulder, because who were they kidding? With those arms, Smoke looked like he could easily rip a person in two, and Smoke’s next words didn’t help one bit.
“Don’t you know? I’m a shifter.”
Both Ron and he traded shocked looks.
“What? You never mentioned that,” he blurted.
“Huh. Half of the gamers in BeastWorld are paranormals.”
“Did you know that?” he whispered to Ron, who shook his head.
“Who’s your friend?” Smoke asked, curiosity in his voice.
“This is Ron, he’s a fellow guild mate and a friend.” Crap. Was he talking too fast?
“Then, Ron, I appreciate you accompanying Toby here, but we’ll be fine. I promise you I don’t mean him any harm, not when I waited my entire life for him.”
Entire life? Smoke’s words stumped them both, until Ron stomped over to Smoke and pressed a finger into his chest.
“Listen here, you might think you’re a smooth player or something, but it won’t work on Toby,” Ron said.
He touched Ron’s shoulder. Ron looked like he had plenty more to say but bit his lip.
“I’ll be okay, Ron. Thanks.”
“Well, you have my number and that thing I gave you,” Ron said, walking away but stealing glances at him.
“A true friend, that one. Known each other long?” Smoke asked.
“Um, not really, but I’m lucky to have him,” he answered, fidgeting. Say something witty, he wanted to yell at himself, except he was a loss to what to do next.
“Well, why don’t we head back in? Get that coffee and cake? My treat.”
“Um, okay.” He shuffled after Smoke. In the queue, he stared at Smoke’s powerful back muscles.
“What are you in the mood for?” Smoke asked, and he realized they were in front of the cashier. Standing this close to Smoke, he became all too aware of how good Smoke smelled. Like pine and fresh mountain air.
“Coffee, black,” he managed to answer by some miracle. They grabbed his drink and began making their way to Smoke’s table. He began to despair. Meeting Smoke left him tongue-tied. How was he supposed to engage in an entire conversation with a guy so way out of his league? Smoke was a ten, and he was what? A one? Even lower?
“Hey,” Smoke said, reaching out to give the back of his neck a squeeze. He nearly dropped his drink, but Smoke easily caught it.
The gesture surprised and calmed him at once. Smoke’s hand was warm, big, even callused, as if he had experience with hard work.
“Relax. We know each other, remember?” They finally arrived at Smoke’s table. Smoke set his drink down, sat. He remained standing.
“I’m just scared you’ll be disappointed with what you see, what you’ll discover,” he blurted, unsure why he told Smoke the truth.
Those laughing green eyes that seemed so relaxed, so friendly, suddenly turned serious. They even seemed to change color, to slitted amber, and he stopped breathing for a few seconds. That only happened if a shifter lost control of his emotions, he remembered reading that somewhere.
Then he took a deep breath, said what was needed. “So please, spare me the heartbreak if you think that, and we’ll end this now.”
Chapter 5
End this now? What the hell was this human saying? Smoke’s dragon went haywire inside him. He flared his nostrils. Not good. He knew the instant their gazes crossed that the skinny, cute guy standing outside the glass window with the dirty blond hair and inquisitive blue eyes was Toby.
Dragons had a keen sense of smell, and for some reason, he easily separated all the other interesting scents and zeroed in on one. Toby had no idea how his control over his dragon hung by a fragile thread.
Was this how his brother felt, when Dark found his mate? He let out a growl, and Toby’s eyes went wide. Okay, not good.
Breathe, he told himself. Terrifying Toby hadn’t been part of the plan. Getting Toby to like him enough to start a relationship outside of the game was.
“Why would you even think that?” Shit. Even his voice sounded harsh, barely human.
“Um.”
“Is the air-conditioning down?” he heard a woman complain to someone nearby.
That was him. He cooled his head, taming the silver beast in him. Setting this café on fire by accident wouldn’t sit well with Toby or the owner. Dark was the one who usually wrecked things, bloody hell. He hadn’t felt this out of sync with his dragon since puberty.
Smoke had to rectify his mistake, Toby’s first impression of him, because even when they first met, Toby looked ready to bolt. He’s still here, he reminded himself. Smoke could fix this.
“Give me a chance, Toby. I’m not a bad guy, but you seem to have all these preconceived notions about me.”
He didn’t bother hiding the genuine hurt in his voice. Smoke usually used his jokes, his smiles to get around a problem. Dark once said he envied Smoke’s ability to charm the pants off everyone. Most people usually forget what he was, but with Toby, he didn’t want to act, to pretend.
“I’m sorry.” Toby took the seat opposite him. “I didn’t mean to come off that way, it’s just…”
Toby seemed to consider his next words carefully, but he didn’t interrupt. Through their conversations, Smoke had the distinct impression Toby didn’t feel comfortable being around other people, but he wanted Toby to be comfortable around him.
“I keep expecting this to turn out to be a joke,” Toby finally said, not meeting his gaze. “It’s just, from personal experience, you know. Tell me it’s not.”
He clenched his fist, nearly incinerating the table in front of him, but he reeled in his dragon. Anger surged through him. “Who hurt you? Tell me their names and I’ll hunt them down.”
Fuck. He always prided himself on being the more stable brother and yet here he was, becoming all primitive and savage, like Dark. Maybe all dragon shifters were hard-wired the same way after all.
Toby stared at him. He’d done it, scared off the human for good, and he cursed himself silently for it. He waited.
Toby didn’t leave or walk away, thankfully. Instead, the human said, with huge eyes, “You sound dead serious. It’s kind of scary and truthfully, kind of hot.”
Hot. Smoke could accept that. “I am. It pisses me off, knowing some clueless, stupid asshole would prey on someone else for kicks.”
“It’s fine. I got over it.” Toby shrugged, seemed to think he had some acting chops, but he wasn’t fooled.
“Lie. We shifters can tell.” All Smoke needed were names. Hell, with a laptop or even a tablet at his fingertips, he could dig through Toby’s past, and if there were complaints filed against a kid in Toby’s school—no. Smoke getting all aggressive and possessive wouldn’t help his situation, not now.
“What kind of shifter are you, anyway? Oh, it kind of makes sense suddenly when you talk about living near the woods,” Toby said quickly.
“Changing topic?” he asked with a smile. At least Toby was still here.
“Well, yeah. I’m not good with real life things, with dating, with talking casually to others.”
“You seemed to be fine with Ron.” Smoke wasn’t hiding what he was or anything like that, but he wasn’t entirely sure Toby was ready to hear what kind of monster shared his skin, if his physical appearance scared Toby off already.
“Ron’s not you. Ron and I share common interests. We’re alike.” Toby looked like he wanted to say more, but he bit his lip instead.
He was losing Toby, might never talk or see Toby in person again at this rate. Smoke tried another tactic. “Aren’t we the same, as well? Toby, we’ve gone on entire four-hour raids multiple times together. Hell, we didn’t even sleep one entire night to finish that limited-time dungeon. Remember?”
Toby relaxed his shoulders and blinked several times, as if slowly processing his words. “Of course I do. I remember everything,” Toby blurted. “Even all our conversations, even those not related to the game.”
He beamed. Cute human. Toby had no idea how tempting his mouth looked at that moment, that all Smoke wanted to do was lean in and close in for a kiss. Toby already acted like a skittish kitten around him, so that probably wouldn’t be the best idea.
Talking about BeastWorld seemed to melt all the tension away, so he stuck with that for the moment. Toby began to open up more, much to his relief, because his dragon didn’t understand what they did wrong. Maybe meeting him for the first time overwhelmed Toby a little bit, but now that they stood on common ground, hopefully everything would go a lot smoother. Slow steps, he told himself. No use rushing, and besides, he couldn’t afford to fuck this one chance up.
* * * *
“You clearly work out or do a lot of physical activity. What got you into gaming?” Toby couldn’t believe he managed to get those words out of his mouth.
Liquid courage did that. Toby had never been able to hold his alcohol, so he avoided it, but when Smoke suggested they move from the café and have a drink and dinner, he jumped at the chance. He wanted to spend more time with Smoke. Their initial meeting might have not gone as he imagined but talking with Smoke confirmed this was the same guy he slowly began to fall for, who he spent hours with online.
“When you’re born with a monster in you, the only way to control it is to find other outlets. Physical activity keeps me in fighting shape in case another shifter challenges me to a fight, and computers, well. I always had a talent with programming and security systems.”
Toby was about to take another sip of beer, but Smoke gently pried the bottle away. In the background, some unfamiliar country music played. This felt so unreal. Toby usually didn’t frequent bars, couldn’t imagine himself in such a crowded space with strangers on their way to getting drunk.
“Hey,” he protested, slowly processing what Smoke told him. It sounded like shifters had it tough, if they needed to be constantly on guard against other shifters who wanted to brawl with them.
“I think you had one too many drinks for the evening. Eat your fries and finish that burger.”
He scowled. Smoke choose two empty seats at the corner of the bar, which suited him just fine, because it gave them a measure of privacy. “You’re bossy,” he blurted.
“And you’re drunk.”
Some part of him knew Smoke made a good point. He’d probably spend his entire morning the next day hurling his guts out, but alcohol, despite tasting awful, made him brave. Toby had never been that and despite relaxing around Smoke a little, part of him still couldn’t believe this sexy, funny guy was into him.
He kept expecting it was all an elaborate prank. An unnamed emotion wormed its way into his heart, and it took him a while to understand what it was. Hope. Hope was dangerous for guys like him. Not only could it be snatched away, but once he fell, he wouldn’t be able to get up easily.
“Smoke,” he whispered.
“What is it?”
Wow. Smoke suddenly looked intense, sat so close, their shoulders brushed. His entire body felt like it was on fire. It terrified Toby still how attracted he was to Smoke, that if they were somewhere private, he’d let this man do anything to him and beg him for more.
Terrifying thought and exciting all at once.
Who was this guy? This wasn’t him, or he simply suppressed this side of him all his life.
Smoke gave him an expectant look and reached out but pulled his hand back the last second, as if he wasn’t sure he could touch Toby. God. That told him volumes. Any other guy would have taken advantage, but not his Smoke.
His Smoke?
Toby risked telling the truth. “Don’t end up breaking my heart, okay? I can’t survive it.”
Chapter 6
“Tobias, do you think I’m a bad guy?” Smoke asked carefully, tuning out the music and noise of the bar.
Maybe he should have taken Toby out to dinner elsewhere, but he thought one or two drinks might help loosen them both up. Smoke held no ulterior motives—all he wanted was for Toby and him to have a little fun, for Toby to unwind, knowing whatever happened, he’d be by his side. Toby had nothing to fear.
He didn’t anticipate Toby being unable to handle alcohol all that well. His error, one he wouldn’t make again.
“I—I didn’t mean,” Toby began, face turning green. “I need to head to the men’s room.”
“Hey there, handsome. Why don’t you leave that boring human and buy me a drink instead?” said a voice that tried too hard at being seductive. He looked over his shoulder and glimpsed a lean, tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed shifter looking hungrily at him, who had no idea who was the real predator in the room.
Overconfident guys like this irritated him the most. They frequented bars that catered to both humans and paranormals, hoping to hook up, thinking with one smile and a crook of their finger they could have any man or woman they wanted.
Smoke would have done something he regretted, like setting the guy’s expensive-looking red leather coat on fire, but Toby saved him. His human rose unsteadily to his feet and bowed over, hurling the contents of his stomach right on his boots. The shifter who flirted with him wore a disgusted look on his face and turned up his nose. He used that opportunity to pull out a couple of bills from his wallet, slide it on the counter, and grab Toby’s arm.
“I’m so sorry,” Toby cried once they were in the quiet parking lot of the bar. Toby paled, staring at his feet. “Oh my God, I didn’t mean to—”
“Don’t worry about it. Here,” Smoke pulled out the napkin he snatched from the bar and wiped Toby’s lips.
“B-but your boots,” Toby murmured, entire face and neck turning red, and he had a feeling it wasn’t just from the alcohol.
“Hey, I can easily replace them. About time, too, because I think I can feel one of my toes poking out,” he joked.
Toby stared at him and hissed. “Why do you have to be so nice? Why couldn’t you just leave me there and walk away?”
He gripped Toby’s cheek, because his human harbored some kind of foolish notion that he planned on abandoning ship any moment. Toby stilled. “Let me just say this once, because we dragons don’t like to repeat ourselves. I’m not leaving, now or never. You can’t get rid of me easily.”
“I ruined the evening, I ruin everything.”
“Just because of some vomit on my boots?” Smoke took both off and tossed them away, not caring that he stood barefoot on the road. “There, see?”
Toby let out a nervous laugh. “You can’t walk like that.”
“Sure I can. I got thick calluses under my feet. I know, gross right?”
“Me hurling over your shoes is even more gross,” Toby said, but at least the human looked more at ease now. “I’m really sorry.”
“Stop apologizing. We can put this behind us if you want and start over. How about it, Toby? Another date?”
“You’d really go on another date with me?”
He scoffed. “Of course. Weren’t you listening to me sticking around?”
“I’m drunk, not deaf.”
He grinned at Toby’s petulant look. Oh, the fire in Toby’s eyes did wonders for his cock, for the dragon in him that only wanted one thing—to claim the unsuspecting human in front of them. Would be too easy to bite Toby on the spot between shoulder and neck. He bet the human wouldn’t even put up much of a resistance.
Except what would that make him? A monster, like the entire world said he was. Breathing hard, he gave the back of Toby’s neck a squeeze.
“Come on, I’ll take you home.”
Toby squared his shoulders, sighed, and nodded. “Wise choice,” Toby mumbled. He led the human to his truck.
Smoke drove here, although flying was much faster, but he wanted to blend in, not stick out. Ease Toby into the truth slow and easy because most shifters who found out he was the silver dragon either ran or picked a fight with him for the challenge. Ex-lovers only saw him as a conquest, something to brag to their friends about that they managed to bang a dragon shifter. Enemies went right for his throat.
Enemy or conquest. Those were the two things most folks seemed to define him by, but not Toby. Toby was special, saw something good in him that he couldn’t see himself. Smoke would burn in hell first before he let Toby go. They got into his car.
