It puts us close enough that I want to lean in and kiss him.
My dragon heartily agrees that I need to claim my mate. I remind my dragon there appears to be an age difference.
Although, fated mates are not bound by age. Only human society is bound by that. Austin is an adult, that much I know, because I needed to see his identification before I agreed to do the work. Legally an adult, so it’s not like I’m robbing the cradle, but there is an age gap here I feel would be a disservice to ignore.
“Alright.” I sit back to get some distance between us. My pencil drifts quickly over a new page on my pad as I work in his request.
“This is a lovely line of poetry. It’s a good choice, not just from a poetic perspective. It’ll be easy to tattoo. Why is it your favorite?”
Austin leans over to watch me work. “My heart soars on the breath of life which allows me freedom to choose. It reminds me that nothing is permanent, that life is always in flux, changing… growing, preparing us for what awaits us. Destiny, I guess.”
I have to force myself to ignore him being so close. “Her later poems address finding that special someone destined in the world just for us. I take it she loved your father and felt he was her fated mate.”
At mention of his father, Austin’s countenance closes a little. So there’s some tension there. I’m sorry I said anything to cause that look on his face.
“I don’t know about fated mates. I’m not even sure what that means. But she did love him very much. At least according to my aunt. I guess my father did, too. Right after her death, he started pulling away. Left me with my aunt.”
Austin is the son of a dragon poet so he’s a shifter by birth and he doesn’t know about fated mates? All shifters know about the concept at least, regardless of whether they believe or not. “Your aunt never explained the concept to you?”
With a breath that puffs his hair from his face, Austin rests a chin in a hand as he watches me work. “She hasn’t said a whole lot about my parents. My mom died when I was really young and after that, my dad just crawled into his work, leaving me with his sister to raise. She’s a bit… protective and tries to control every aspect of my life.”
“That sounds stifling,” I say. I was never raised with such restrictions.
“Well, it can be. I know she means well and that she’s just worried but…” Austin shrugs in resignation.
“So this tattoo is a way to take some of your life back.”
“Sounds stupid when you say it.”
“It’s not stupid, Austin.” I put my pad to the side and roll up on my stool to get close. “I suspect you’re sensing there’s a world out there your aunt hasn’t told you about and you want to see more of it without feeling like you’re being held back. To learn about your heritage.”
“I sort of know my heritage but maybe not as much as I thought.” Austin shifts in the chair to face me. “Because you said something about fated mates. I feel like I should know about that.”
“It’s just what it says on the package. It’s that person in the world you know for a fact, from a look, a touch, the sound of their voice, just being in their presence, is the one meant for you. You feel it here.”
I reach out to touch the center of his chest and his hand automatically rises to hold mine, our fingers finding their own way to twine together. That feeling I just described to him I now feel keenly within my own being.
“I see,” he says simply. We look at each other and understanding flows between us. “My mother writes about that, in one of her poems.”
Reluctantly, I let his hand go while he flips through his book. He opens to one of the pages he has marked with a post-it and turns it for me to read. “Here.”
I read it and smile.
A breath held upon sight
Burns my heart with soaring joy
Lingers from his simple touch.
* * *
Joined in common cause
Belief that disparate holds
Turning, completes fate’s circle
“I never made the connection before,” he says when he takes the book back. “It kind of puts things in perspective. I know that her family didn’t approve of my father as her mate because he was a wolf. They felt like she was wrong. I couldn’t understand why it was wrong if she loved him. I guess that’s not what they were addressing.”
“Fate and destiny were themes in her later poetic career so it makes sense.”
Austin smooths his hand over the book affectionately. “It never occurred to me until now. I’m still not sure what I think but it gives me something to think about.”
“Well, you can think about it while I do your tattoo, if you’re satisfied with the design.”
Austin looks startled, his eyes blinking rapidly. “You can do it now?”
“It’s not time intensive.” I put my sketch pad down and grab my gloves. “We can knock it out in an hour, two tops if you have the time.”
“Yes, please, I do.”
The smile is back and my dragon is smug. I have to concentrate on my work instead of inhaling Austin’s scent as I lean over his body to tattoo his shoulder.
Austin stays relaxed while I do his ink, almost to the point his eyes close. Our faces are close to each other several times during the process and the desire to take his lips in a kiss is a strong reaction I have to fight. It’s a simple design and I honestly have to say, it’s one of my most beautiful in its simplicity.
“Done,” I say once I’m satisfied. I help Austin sit up and take him to one of the wall mirrors. With his back to it, I hand him the hand mirror so he can see it.
He stands there for a long time, gazing into the mirror. The expression on his face is hard to read but eventually a smile spreads across his lips. “I love it. It’s perfect. Just like I envisioned it.”
Relieved, I grab the camera to take a picture of it, then put the protective wrap on it so he doesn’t get blood on his shirt. We walk up to the counter together. Bronaz and Varos are watching us as we walk, smirking when we pass. I give them looks that threaten certain death if they say anything. I’ll endure their shit once Austin is gone but if they do anything to embarrass him while he’s here, they’ll pay.
Thankfully for all of us, they don’t.
I give Austin the care instructions and take his money.
Once that’s done, the awkward silence descends. Austin stands there as if he’s debating something, looking at the instruction sheet. “Nyve…” he says hesitantly.
Before I respond, he snatches up a pen and takes one of the shop cards, flipping it to the back. He scribbles a number and thrusts it at me. “I’d like to meet with you again. Soon.”
My dragon is doing aerial acrobatics in my chest. I’m trying to find a half a dozen reasons why that is a bad idea. Age difference should be a big one.
Instead of saying no, I tell him, “I’ll have a dinner break at seven if you’re still in the area.”
Austin smiles.
He is going to be my undoing.
3
Austin
I have a few hours to kill before I meet Nyve for dinner. That’s probably a really bad idea because it gives me time to think about what happened with Nyve while getting my tattoo.
Downtown is as good a place as any for me to find a place to park myself. I make a few phone calls, one to Ronnie to make sure the feed is still rolling on the drone. We decide to wait until the sun sets before we get some fresh footage of me doing something innocuous in the evening for the new loop. At least until I decide to go home for the evening.
I know Ronnie knows what he’s doing but there is that small part of me that isn’t sure this will actually work. The proof will be when I get home. We’ll see if my aunt bought it or not. In the meantime, I want to spend some time with Nyve so it’s a chance I’m willing to take.
It’s so weird how all of this came about. The last thing I expected today was to meet my fated mate. I know Nyve mentioned that some shifters don
’t believe in fated mates. I can’t say for sure if I do or not. The whole concept is new to me. I’m still wrapping my head around it.
There is no denying the connection I felt when we touched. That’s never happened before. I’m inexperienced but I’m not naive or dead.
Naive may be debatable, but I have dated a few times, even if it’s not gone anywhere. Even our sexual encounters weren’t anything special. I can hardly be called experienced on that front.
While I can fully acknowledge the flush of lust when meeting someone, none of those feelings ever cropped up until Nyve was looking at me with those amazing eyes. Every time he had his hands on me, I felt it through to the soles of my feet.
My rational mind wants to tell me that this is out of whack. I can easily tell that Nyve is older than me by several decades. I’m not a child, though, so there’s nothing illegal about our age difference, and we’re both dragons, so the longer lifespan is normal…
If I were to believe in fated mates, it seems logical that he would be a little closer to my age.
That’s where my mind is blown.
My emotional mind tells me something different. I find the gray at his temples fascinatingly sexy. The deep lines on his face are incredibly attractive. His deep, chesty laugh, the rough calluses of his fingers and palms, even his hands on me in a platonic way as he tattooed me, were rousingly erotic. It took all of my focus not to think of how they’d feel if Nyve touched me intimately.
Age or not, I’m comfortable in his presence like I’ve never been with anyone before. The only other person I’m that comfortable with is Ronnie.
It’s with anticipation I try to settle at the table and read on my phone to pass the time until Nyve calls.
At exactly 7:05 my phone rings. Nyve’s deep voice reverberates in my ear. We agree to meet at the canal dock for a light dinner. The air has a nice cool element to it, the soft breeze blowing from the water. Nyve is standing near the banister that separates the boardwalk along the canal to the stairs that lead down to a small ride stand.
When he sees me, he straightens and waits for my approach before taking my hands in his. “Hey, thanks for coming.”
“Thanks for calling.” Warmth spreads up my arms to my face again and my cheeks ache from my wide smile.
“I had a thought after you left.” Nyve brushes his thumbs across my knuckles and drops one hand so we can stroll towards the stand at the bottom of the stairs. “As long as I’ve lived in this city, I’ve never taken the canal tour through the historic areas. I thought that might be something good to do before dinner?”
“That’s a great idea! I’ve never been on one either.” The few guys I’ve dated were always interested in eating and fucking and were in a rush to do both. There’s something about the suggestion of a boat ride that lets me know that if there is fucking to be done, it won’t happen at least until after dinner. I think?
That is a cynical way to view it and I feel bad for even thinking it. Even with the tension between us sparking like it’s the fourth of July and Nyve being nothing but upfront so far, with no vibe of trying to get into my pants, I am still cautious.
Nyve pays for the ride and we climb in the boat. The boat drifts along at a lazy pace and my aunt’s drone continues to follow, just far enough back that it’s not intrusive. Nyve so far hasn’t mentioned it, which I appreciate. It’s already a sore spot with me, if I can just ignore it and trust that Ronnie’s program is working to feed my aunt some useless loop of me doing something equally useless. I’ve grown so used to ignoring it, it’s easy to push into the background of my mind.
The ride is leisurely and slow so we can see all the historic buildings. The tour guide got the hint early when Nyve shoved some money at him to just guide the boat and not bother talking, leaving us in our own little world.
“You know, I knew this was here and that there’s a lot of history to explore, but I never had the chance to do this.” I look at the buildings in awe as we pass. Nyve’s attention is on me and I can feel it, even when I’m not looking at him. It makes me feel, I don’t know, like I’m all there is in the world. That everything around us is just cardboard cut outs and slapdash paint. Nyve is so focused on me and what I’m talking about I start to get a little self-conscious.
Clearing my throat, I shift in my seat. “So have you always been a poetry fan?”
My inner dragon groans with my idiotic question. I do, too. I can’t believe of all the things to talk about, I mention that.
Nyve settles back in the seat with a laugh. His arm is draped behind me. I fit perfectly under his arm. His bulk is warm and comfortable and I start to relax. “Not a huge fan but I try to keep up with the creative scene among dragonkind. I think it’s important to support the community. But your mother’s poetry? One of my parents used to read it to me all the time. The other let me read comics. Her work spoke to me, though. She captured the essence of being a dragon in a world that isn’t ready for us.”
“Yeah.” A wave of melancholy sweeps over me. “I miss her a lot. She died when I was young. I remember how beautiful she was and how my dad used to look at her with this odd expression, as if he couldn’t figure her out.”
My eyes prick with unshed tears. The last thing I want is to cry in front of Nyve. Somehow, I know it would be okay if I did. Still…
Nyve must have been reading my mind. He cups my chin and pulls my face to look at him. “Hey. It’s okay. I don’t judge. I know what it’s like to miss someone.”
Up close like this, his eyes sparkle. They don’t miss anything. His intensity is breathtaking.
I lean into him, our lips almost touching. Pausing… I don’t know what I’m waiting for. Maybe for him to tell me I’m too young or that he’s too old or this won’t work. Or maybe I’m waiting to come to my senses and forget all this fated mate stuff.
My chest fills with a longing I have no other frame of reference for. The welling of emotion that comes from deep in my core makes me dizzy.
Then, he smiles at me, closing the distance, and I breathe in his scent. The soft touch of our mouths is achingly slow. A crazy thought occurs to me.
Until he kissed me, I thought he would be rough and demanding. Our kiss is nothing like that.
He’s gentle and patient and lets me set the pace. I press against his chest, fighting the desire to climb in his lap so I can wrap my arms around his broad shoulders.
His tongue dives between my lips and he claims my body with such confidence that it would be easy to give myself over to him. With every fiber of my being I want to be with him and have him claim me in every way imaginable. There is a deep connection developing with every passing breath and it makes me dizzy. Is this what it means to be fated to be together, to feel this way all the time?
With a gasp, I plant a hand in the middle of his chest and push. He pulls away almost immediately, his brow furrowed. “Austin?”
“No, nono, I’m not… I just need a minute to gather my thoughts.” I sit back in the seat and take a few deep breaths. “I was overwhelmed.” His expression is still worried. He smooths a gentle hand along the top of my thigh and the gesture is anything but erotic. It’s soothing, actually.
“I’m sorry, Nyve.” I stumble over my words. “I really feel the connection between us. It’s a little overwhelming and frightening. I just need some time, that’s all. This has never happened to me before. I need to find a way to handle all this,” and I finish by waving a hand between us.
Nyve catches my hand and kisses my fingertips. “I get it, Austin. I didn’t mean to push you.”
“It’s not so much that you pushed me but that… I don’t know what this means. This fated mated business. I know there’s something here between us, you know? But I’ve never been on my own. I’m still trying to find my own independence in the world and this is just too much pressure right now.”
His hand grips my chin again and he places his thumb over my lips. “I understand, Austin. I have some years on you so I know
very well who you are and what you are to me. I’ve waited decades to find you. I can wait a little longer.”
Through the rest of the ride, I kept expecting Nyve to pull away from me after having been turned down, ready to move on. He doesn’t.
In fact, he’s just as respectful and solicitous of me as before. Maybe even more so. He doesn’t try to guilt me and it’s not brought up again. He’s definitely not like anyone I’ve ever known before.
The ride is over too soon but a glance at the time sends me into a slight panic. “Shit, I really need to get home.”
Nyve helps me from the boat and laces our fingers together to hold hands. “I’ll take you home.”
“It’s really not necessary,” I protest, but it’s pretty unconvincing, judging by Nyve’s laugh.
“If you’re not comfortable with me knowing where you live, that’s okay.”
How is this guy so accommodating and real? He’s making it really hard for me to want to take it slow. “No, I’d like that, actually. If you don’t mind.”
“Austin,” Nyve pulls me around to face him and he drapes his arms around my body. “I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t want to. That’s the thing about me. I don’t do anything I don’t want to do. I want to take you home.”
It would be so easy to ask for a kiss, knowing he’d give it to me. “Okay.”
Even with me asking for the space, Nyve continues to be respectful. We step off the bus a few blocks from the neighborhood where my aunt and I live. “This is it,” I say, slowing down. “It’s funny, but I don’t want the night to end.”
“Good,” Nyve says with confidence. I like how he does that. He’s so comfortable in his skin. I find it very attractive.
There’s a violent rustle in the bushes and a shadowy figure steps out. He’s back lit against the street light at the end of the block. This isn’t something that happens to me every day but it’s pretty obvious this man isn’t lost. The malevolent vibe I’m getting from him causes me to automatically take a step back.
Alpha Dragon_Nyve Page 2
