Accepting Caladon’s Scales

by Charlie Richards

  “You know this person?” Raymond asked, pausing the video.

  Reaching out, Caladon traced the young man’s sharp cheekbones and fine brows. “I-I know him,” he admitted, his voice catching in his throat. “He is Taolma, my son.”

  Chapter Two

  Leroy Wilde heard the phone ring. Looking up from his reading, he noted the line to Raymond’s office showed on the ID. He remained seated on his rolling office chair and pushed away from the filing cabinet, sending himself careening wildly in the phone’s direction. Thumping against the wall, Leroy snickered and grabbed for the phone.

  “Hey, Ray,” he greeted. “What’s shakin’?”

  “I need you to come to my office right away!”

  From how his friend’s voice sounded half an octave higher than it should, Leroy realized this wasn’t a social call. With the phone pressed to his ear, he hustled to the storage closet and pulled open the doors. “What’s wrong? Is it Marty? Do you think you knocked him up?” he asked, referring to Raymond’s human mate, Martin Beakman.

  As odd as Leroy found it, he’d had to accept the fact that gargoyles could make their male mates pregnant. He’d been introduced to the fact that gargoyles and other paranormals existed—rather rudely, really, in his opinion—when they’d kidnapped him from the hospital along with his patient, who’d happened to be Marty. Since the clutch’s head doctor, Perseus, remained unmated and therefore stone during the day, Leroy had started working in the gargoyle’s infirmary for a few hours on his days off, giving the mated gargoyle, Cosmo, some relief.

  “No, it’s Caladon. I think he’s having a panic attack or something.”

  Raymond’s words, spoken in a clearly freaked out tone, yanked Leroy back from his musings as his gaze roved over supplies. His heart felt as if it skipped a beat in his chest. “Caladon O’Hara?”

  “Yes!”

  Leroy’s throat closed up for several seconds. Swallowing hard, he forced out, “I’m on my way.”

  He hit the off button on the handset and left it off the wall, which would automatically send any incoming calls to the intercom after two rings and a notice to the caller that he was about to be on speaker. Everyone knew that if they heard the intercom beep, then nothing, whatever doctor was on duty was expected to star-six-nine the line.

  Grabbing a bag filled with a variety of first aid supplies, Leroy slung it over his shoulder and headed out of the infirmary wing. As he strode down one corridor and up another, he tried to get his thudding heart under control.

  A couple of weeks before, Leroy had helped the gargoyles free some imprisoned shifters. Caladon had been one of them. He was a boa constrictor shifter, massive in animal form, and Leroy had appreciated the fact that he hadn’t had to do an examination of the male. He’d never thought he’d had a problem with snakes—hell, he’d been to the zoo plenty of times and even seen a few out hiking—but, damn, the guy’s animal form intimidated him.

  To make matters worse, days later, Leroy had spotted Caladon in human form. Kort, a marbled red gargoyle that could only be classified as a flirt, had been coming out of the dining hall. As he held the door open for Raymond and Marty, Leroy had spotted a tall, slender black-skinned male sitting at a table next to Sapian.

  He’d ended up gaping for several seconds before numbly whispering, “Oh, sweet Jesus.”

  Leroy had felt his blood flood his groin and he’d started to sweat. Every fiber of his being wanted to go over and rub against the slender male’s smooth body like a cat in heat. He’d wanted to pet the guy’s bald head and see if it was prickly or smooth. He’d wanted to crawl onto the guy’s lap and grind them both to completion.

  When the door closed, cutting off his view, Leroy had snapped out of his lust-induced stupor. He’d glanced around and had found himself the recipient of several amused smirks. Leroy had felt his face flush as a blush stole up his neck and over his cheeks.

  Kort had grinned widely, showing off his sharp, white teeth. “See someone you like?” he’d asked, winking.

  “Uh.” Leroy hadn’t even been able to get his scrambled thoughts in order enough to come up with a snarky comeback.

  “You know, if you want to meet Caladon, all you have to do is ask,” Marty had told him, smirking.

  Caladon? That was Caladon? The snake? Oh, shit!

  The fellow human must have misinterpreted what Leroy figured was a stricken look on his face, for Marty explained, “He’s the only new face in there. He’s a boa shifter who originated from the Caribbean.”

  Leroy had always had a thing for African Americans, the darker the skin the better. Something about the way his pale skin contrasted with a darker male’s turned Leroy on like nothing else. Unfortunately, his family barely managed to tolerate his condition, as they put his being gay, and considered anyone who wasn’t clearly Caucasian to be beneath them.

  Sometimes, Leroy suspected his parents, Colin and Whitney Wilde, were Nazis in a previous life. Still, they were his parents, and his two older sisters never disagreed with their views and always behaved as if they felt the same way.

  Arriving at Raymond’s office, Leroy found the door open and Raymond standing beside it, glancing between Leroy and whatever was going on inside. His friend instantly grabbed his arm. “Thank the Gods. I should have warned him, I guess, but how was I supposed to know he had a son?”

  Leroy missed a step before righting himself.

  A son? Damn am I glad I didn’t do something stupid like throw myself at him. I’d probably end up either decked by the shifter or humiliated in front of the gargoyles.

  “Okay, let’s see what’s going on,” Leroy stated, pulling his professionalism around him like a cloak.

  Leroy gently pushed Raymond aside and stepped into the room. He saw Sapian squatting beside Caladon, who sat in a chair. The gargoyle’s clawed left hand rested on the shifter’s knee. “Are you okay, Cal?” Sapian asked softly. “Talk to me, buddy.”

  Caladon barely spared Sapian a glance before returning his focus to the computer screen in front of him. “Isn’t he beautiful?” Caladon mumbled. “So handsome.”

  Not able to help himself, Leroy glanced toward the screen. His heart stopped in his chest at what he saw. A young male—very young even, maybe late teens or early twenties—African American stared into the camera. It appeared to be a candid shot, because the guy wasn’t smiling into the camera. Still, that didn’t stop the viewer from seeing the young man’s obvious beauty. In fact, Leroy thought he looked kind of familiar.

  So, Caladon is gay, or at least bisexual, and that’s the kind of guy he goes for.

  While disappointment zinged through Leroy, he also felt grateful he hadn’t approached the man. While he’d experienced his fair share of rejection, getting shot down by a handsome man never became less embarrassing.

  “Yeah, Cal,” Sapian murmured, obviously trying to placate the shifter. “He’s a good looking boy. What’s his name again?”

  “Taolma,” Caladon whispered, once again petting the screen. “Gods, I never expected to see him again.”

  Huh. That’s odd. Surely, the guy in the picture wasn’t that old. Wait, maybe the picture is old.

  Leroy put the thought out of his mind and stepped forward. “Hey, Caladon. I’m Nurse Leroy Wilde,” he stated, quietly introducing himself. “I’m here just to check that you’re okay.” Gathering his courage, Leroy reached out and gently touched Caladon on the neck. “Your friends are a little worried about you, Cal.”

  Leroy’s goal had been to slide his fingertips over the man’s pulse point, wanting to gauge his blood pressure. Unfortunately, as soon as Leroy touched Caladon, the shifter seemed to be yanked out of whatever reverie he’d been under.

  Caladon rose from his chair, spun around to face him, and grabbed Leroy’s hand in his right one, all in one smooth motion. Leroy found himself frozen, trapped in the other man’s assessing gaze. Caladon’s nostrils flared, his tongue slipped out and swept over his
bottom lip. Then, a wide smile curved his thin lips.

  “I have been truly blessed this day,” Caladon murmured in a hushed, almost reverent tone. He reached out his free hand and gently traced the forefingers of one dark, slender-fingered hand down Leroy’s cheekbone. “Nurse Leroy Wilde,” he whispered. “My mate.”

  Then, Caladon released Leroy’s hand and reached out to cradle Leroy’s hip. For all the world, Leroy wanted to sink into this man’s embrace, melt against him, and feel the tall—oh, holy hell, is this man tall—male’s muscles pressed against his own. Leroy knew it’d feel so good, better than he’d ever felt before.

  Except, when Caladon flexed the strong fingers wrapped nearly halfway around his hip, Leroy resisted. This shifter had called him his mate. What about the man on the screen? He’d been so enamored with him just a second ago.

  “W-Wait,” Leroy managed to whisper around a horribly dry throat. “What about—”

  Caladon didn’t wait, not even for him to finish speaking. He tightened his hold and tugged harder.

  Leroy fell heavily upon the much taller man and a gasp escaped him.

  Peering down at him, Caladon smiled, his dark eyes a-light with some inner glow. The shifter roved his gaze over Leroy’s face. He cupped Leroy’s jaw and smoothed his thumb back and forth over Leroy’s upper lip. His fingertips massaged across the sensitive patch behind Leroy’s ear, sending shivers across his skin.

  His mind shutting down at the gentle stimulation, Leroy fought the urge to just sink into Caladon’s embrace. He should be doing something, pushing away, pulling back, something…but this man’s touch felt so wonderful. Especially when Caladon leaned down and nuzzled his temple against Leroy’s own…marking him like the shifter he was.

  Right. He’s a shifter…and he said we’re mates. Damn!

  Even while, deep down, Leroy could admit that he liked that idea very, very much, he knew he couldn’t. His family would never accept it, and he couldn’t put any lover through the ridicule his parents would heap upon him. No man deserved that. Besides, his father’s antics could get down-right dangerous for a shifter.

  Leroy slid his hands between them and placed his palms on Caladon’s chest. The desire to rub over the hard pec muscles he felt was strong. Instead, he controlled his urge and pushed against the firm chest beneath his fingertips. “Release me,” he whispered.

  “Oh, of course,” Caladon rumbled. Still smiling, the man eased away from Leroy, although he didn’t release him completely. “Please, forgive me. I have just had a number of shocks today.” Caladon moved his hands to Leroy’s shoulders and gripped the strap of the medical bag that rested on his right shoulder. “We will put this down and get settled, so we can talk,” he urged. “I should introduce myself properly.”

  Caladon seemed so pleased with the idea that Leroy couldn’t find it in himself to protest. The shifter pulled the bag from Leroy’s shoulder and set it aside, then he urged Leroy into the chair Caladon had vacated. The shifter glanced around and spotted another chair covered in folders next to the wall. Without hesitation, he moved the files to the floor, then dragged the chair across the room until it faced Leroy’s position.

  Finally, Caladon sat before him and reached out to Leroy, taking his right hand. He cradled his hand with both of his own. “Leroy Wilde, I am Caladon O’Hara, uh, Wykert, now,” he amended. Smiling depreciatively, he added, “It will take a while to get used to that.” Lifting Leroy’s hand to his lips, Caladon kissed his knuckles softly. “It is very good to meet you.”

  Listening, Leroy watched in stunned silence. He’d heard that Caladon had taken on a new last name, that Raymond had supplied all the rescued shifters with new identities, he just hadn’t heard what Caladon’s was. It seemed Caladon was still getting used to it, too.

  As Caladon smiled at him, Leroy felt his heart clench in his chest. He could so easily become addicted to the look directed at him. Gaping, he couldn’t find words to respond.

  “I have overwhelmed you,” Caladon murmured, leaning closer toward him. “I apologize. I, too, have had a number of shocks today.” His brows drew together as he started gently kneading Leroy’s hand. “You are a human allowed in the gargoyle manor, so you know about our kind. Does that also mean you are aware of what being mates means?”

  “Yes,” Leroy immediately responded to the question.

  Damn, I need to get away from this sexy fucker.

  Grimacing, he tried to tug his hand free, but Caladon refused to release him. Instead, the shifter tightened his grip rhythmically, which sent shivers down Leroy’s spine to settle in his balls. Leroy couldn’t remember the last time he’d been turned on just from a touch.

  Yep, I definitely need to get out of here.

  “I do understand,” Leroy admitted, meeting Caladon’s clearly affectionate dark eyes. “I just think I’m a bad bet for you. I, uh, a relationship with me would be, um—”

  Crap, how can I explain without sounding like an asshole?

  “No, Fate would not make a mistake, little one,” Caladon murmured, drawing Leroy’s hand to his mouth and pressing a light kiss to his knuckles.

  Leroy narrowed his eyes as he stiffened, knowing he was visibly bristling. Damn, though, he hated having someone tell him point blank that he was wrong…as if what he said didn’t matter. His anger managed to push aside his lust, and he snapped, “What would you know about it, Stretch?”

  Caladon straightened, his brows shooting up. His mouth sagged open a bit and something told Leroy that, if he’d been slapped, the shifter would probably wear that exact same look. After a second, Caladon nodded quickly. “Of course, you are right. We should date. Humans date to get to know each other. While nothing would please me more than to bend you over the desk and have my way with you, I—”

  “Not to mention I wouldn’t be too pleased by that,” Raymond commented dryly.

  Leroy turned his head, gaping at his friend. Damn, he’d completely forgotten they weren’t alone. The intrusion gave Leroy enough time to drag some thoughts into his brain. When he refocused on Caladon, he blurted, “Look, I find you sexy as fuck, but I’m white and you’re not and my family are assholes and they have a hard enough time with the fact that I’m gay.” At Caladon’s confused look, Leroy hurried to add, “If they find out I’m dating a black man…hell, even if you were a black woman, they’d have a fit.”

  Caladon’s jaw snapped closed and his brows drew into a scowl. “You refuse to accept me as your mate because of your family?”

  “No. Yes.” Leroy growled. “Damn it.” Taking advantage of the fact that Caladon still held Leroy’s hand, he squeezed, hard, trying to convey the seriousness of the situation. “It’s for your own safety. Hell, for all shifters, really. If my parents find out, first, they’ll try to run you off with snide comments and disparaging words. If that doesn’t work, they’ll attempt to buy you off. Then, if that fails, they’ll resort to blackmail. They’ll find something in your past to wield against you, and with you being a shifter, we can’t let them do that.”

  Leroy felt a great wave of sadness wash over him the more he spoke. No longer able to meet Caladon’s rejected expression, Leroy turned and looked at Sapian, beseeching the gargoyle for understanding. “I can’t let them expose shifters or paranormals because of me.”

  Sapian sighed. He lifted a clawed hand to a brow ridge and rubbed. “Your parents are truly that bigoted?”

  Nodding, Leroy managed to squeak, “Yeah.”

  “Why do you think they would do that?” Caladon whispered the question,

  Returning his focus to Caladon, Leroy spotted the disbelief in his eyes. Leroy smiled, full of sadness, and admitted, “Because they’ve done it before.”

  Chapter Three

  Caladon’s first urge was to tug Leroy closer and tell him that everything would be okay. Except, considering his mate was trying to pull away from him, Caladon didn’t think he’d welcome him.

  Oh, hell, no! After all
I have been through, finding my mate is a damn reward from Fate. No way am I passing that up, fucking bigoted family or not.

  “No,” Caladon growled. “That is not acceptable.”

  Leroy’s attention snapped to him, soothing the snake inside Caladon. He should be his mate’s focus, not the gargoyles who watched them with obvious concern. While Caladon had forgotten their presence for a moment—he’d be the first to admit that finding his son had access to his accounts coupled with finding his mate had completely thrown him—now Caladon had regained his wits.

  “No?” Leroy sounded confused. “No what? No my parents wouldn’t do that?” His irritation grew, betrayed by his scent and the twitching of the hand Caladon still refused to release. “I can assure you,” he pressed. “My parents will do those things. They spent years throwing every blue eyed, blonde haired woman they could find at me. It took me five years to convince them that the right woman wasn’t going to fix me.”

  The snarled words told Caladon of the depth of his mate’s pain. Yet, still, Leroy tried to please them…at least in part. Then, he remembered Leroy’s words. His human wanted to protect shifters and other paranormals from his obviously obsessively controlling parents.

  Taking a chance, he released Leroy’s hand with his own right one and leaned toward his mate. Leroy just stared at him, his frustration and desolation shining so clearly in the human’s pretty brown eyes that it nearly took Caladon’s breath away. He wrapped his long fingers around the much smaller male’s nape, managing to cup half of his jaw in the process.

  Relief beyond imagining flooded Caladon when his mate didn’t pull away.

  Hot damn, I sure like touching this cute human.

  “What I mean is,” Caladon stated slowly. “Just like your parents do not choose for you, you do not get to choose for me. You are my mate. I want to be with you,” Caladon told him bluntly. “If you choose to reject me, that is on you, but it will not stop me from trying to woo you. Your parents be damned, Leroy,” he finished on a whisper. “We have friends here who will help us. They have already proven that.”